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  • Shows Index
    • Amateur Astronomy (5)
      • Observing (5)
    • Astronomy (90)
      • Cosmology (16)
      • Galaxies (6)
      • Nebulae (1)
      • Observing (7)
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        • Our Solar System (18)
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        • Stellar Evolution (7)
    • Listeners (11)
      • Questions Shows (9)
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    Past Shows
    • Ep. 87: The End of the Universe Part 2: The End of Everything
    • Ep. 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System
    • Ep. 85: Detectors
    • Ep. 84: Getting Around the Solar System
    • Ep. 83: Wave Particle Duality
    • Ep. 82: Space Junk
    • Ep. 81: Questions on the Shape, Size and Centre of the Universe
    • Ep. 80: Craters
    • Ep. 79: How Big is the Universe?
    • Ep. 78: What is the Shape of the Universe?
    • Ep. 77: Where is the Centre of the Universe?
    • Ep. 76: Lagrange Points
    • Student Questions: Curtis High School
    • Ep. 75: Stellar Populations
    • Ep. 74: Antimatter
    • Ep. 73: Questions Show #8
    • Ep. 72: Cosmic Rays
    • Ep. 71: Gravitational Waves
    • Ep. 70: How To Win a Nobel Prize
    • Astronomy Cast Meetup at AAS Austin
    • Student Questions: Farmersburg
    • Ep. 69: The Large Hadron Collider and the Search for the Higgs-Boson
    • Ep. 68: Globular Clusters
    • Ep. 67: Building a Career in Astronomy
    • Ep. 66: How Amateurs Can Contribute to Astronomy
    • Ep. 65: The End of Our Tour Through the Solar System
    • Ep. 64: Pluto and the Icy Outer Solar System
    • Ep. 63: Neptune
    • Ep. 62: Uranus
    • Ep. 61: Saturn's Moons
    • Ep. 60: Questions Show #7
    • Ep. 59: Saturn
    • Ep. 58: Inflation
    • Ep. 57: Jupiter's Moons
    • Ep. 56: Jupiter
    • Ep. 55: The Asteroid Belt
    • Ep. 54: Questions Show #6
    • Ep. 53: Astronomy in Science Fiction
    • Special Episode: Panspermia
    • Ep. 52: Mars
    • Ep. 51: Earth
    • Ep. 50: Venus
    • Ep. 49: Mercury
    • Ep. 48: Tidal Forces Across the Universe
    • Ep. 47: Tidal Forces
    • Ep. 46: Stellar Nurseries
    • Ep. 45: The Important Numbers in the Universe
    • Listener Survey
    • Ep. 44: Einstein's Theory of General Relativity
    • Ep. 43: Questions Show #5
    • Ep. 42: Magnetism Everywhere
    • Ep. 41: The Rise of the Supertelescopes
    • Ep. 40: American Astronomical Society Meeting, May 2007
    • Ep. 39: Astrology and UFOs
    • Ep. 38: Neutron Stars and their Exotic Cousins
    • Ep. 37: Gravitational Lensing
    • Ep. 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts
    • Ep. 35: Questions Show #4
    • Ep. 34: Discovering Another Earth
    • Ep. 33: Choosing and Using a Telescope
    • Ep. 32: The Search for Neutrinos
    • Ep. 31: String Theory, Time Travel, White Holes, Warp Speed, Multiple Dimensions, and Before the Big Bang
    • Ep. 30: The Sun, Spots and All
    • Ep. 29: Asteroids Make Bad Neighbors
    • Ep. 28: What is the universe expanding into?
    • Ep. 27: Questions Show #3
    • Ep. 26: The Largest Structures in the Universe
    • Ep. 25: The Story of Galaxy Evolution
    • Ep. 24: The Fermi Paradox: Where Are All the Aliens?
    • Ep. 23: Counting Aliens With the Drake Equation
    • Ep. 22: Variable Stars
    • Ep. 21: Questions Show #2
    • Ep. 20: What We Learned from the American Astronomical Society
    • Ep. 19: Comets, Our Icy Friends from the Outer Solar System
    • Special Alert: Go See Comet McNaught
    • Ep. 18: Black Holes Big and Small
    • Ep. 17: Where does the Moon Come From?
    • Ep. 16: Across the Electromagnetic Spectrum
    • Ep. 15: Questions Show #1
    • Ep. 14: We're all Made of Supernovae
    • Ep. 13: Where Do Stars Go When They Die?
    • Ep. 12: Where Do Baby Stars Come From?
    • Ep. 11: A Universe of Dark Energy
    • iPod Issues Fix
    • Ep. 10: Measuring Distance in the Universe
    • Ep. 9: Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity
    • Ep. 8: Meteor Showers. Yes, the sky is falling.
    • Ep. 7: Getting Started in Amateur Astronomy
    • Ep. 6: More Evidence for the Big Bang
    • Ep. 5: The Big Bang and Cosmic Microwave Background
    • Ep. 4: The Search for Dark Matter
    • Ep. 3: Hot Jupiters and Pulsar Planets
    • Ep. 2: In Search of Other Worlds
    • Ep. 1: Pluto's Planetary Identity Crisis
    • Welcome to Astronomy Cast!


Ep. 87: The End of the Universe Part 2: The End of Everything

  • May 5th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(10)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Artist illustration of a White Dwarf.
Artist illustration of a White Dwarf. credit:

Hopefully you've all recovered from part 1 of this set, where we make you sad about the future of the humanity, the Earth, the Sun and the Solar System. But hang on, we're really going to bring you down. Today we'll look far far forward into the distant future of the Universe, at timescales that we can barely comprehend.

Episode 87: The End of the Universe Part 2: The End of Everything


Ep. 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System

  • April 28th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(15)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
A planetary nebula. The future of our Sun. Image credit: Hubble
A planetary nebula. The future of our Sun. Image credit: Hubble credit:

This is a show we wanted to do since we started Astronomy Cast but we always thought it was too early. We wanted you to know that we're positive, happy people with enthusiasm for astronomy and the future. It's time for some sadness. It's time for a grim look to see what the future holds for the Universe. This week we stay close to home and consider the end of humanity, the Earth, the Sun, and the entire Solar System. Next week we'll extend out to the very end of the Universe.

Episode 86: The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System


Ep. 81: Questions on the Shape, Size and Centre of the Universe

  • March 24th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(9)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Listener Questions
Listener Questions credit: Rebecca B-F

As predicted we got a lot of questions from people about our trilogy of shows on the size, shape and centre of the universe. Today we'll do our best to clear them all up.As always, if you're still confused drop us an email to info at astronomycast dot com.

Episode 81: Questions on the Shape, Size and Centre of the Universe (14.7MB)


Ep. 79: How Big is the Universe?

  • March 10th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(19)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field can see galaxies as they existed 400-800 million years after the big bang. But are they at the edge of the universe?
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field can see galaxies as they existed 400-800 million years after the big bang. But are they at the edge of the universe? credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team

We’re ready to complete our trilogy of discovery about the universe. We’ve learned that it has no center; rather everywhere is its center and nowhere. We discovered that the universe seems to be flat. It's not open, it's not closed, it's flat. If that doesn’t make any sense, you need to listen to the previous show because there’s no way I could give that an explanation.

So now we want to know: “How big is it?” Does it go on forever or is it finite in scale? How much of it can we see?

Episode 79: How Big is the Universe? (14.7MB)


Ep. 78: What is the Shape of the Universe?

  • March 3rd, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(7)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
WMAP has helped answer these kinds of questions.
WMAP has helped answer these kinds of questions. credit: NASA/WMAP

Some of the biggest questions in the universe depend on its shape. Is it curved? Is it flat? Is it open? Those may not make that much sense to you, but in fact it’s very important for astronomers. So which is it? How do we know? How did we figure it out? Why does it matter?
Episode 78: What is the Shape of the Universe? (13.4MB)


Ep. 77: Where is the Centre of the Universe?

  • February 25th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(10)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
The basic elements of the Ptolemaic universe - a geocentric model that ruled for centuries.
The basic elements of the Ptolemaic universe - a geocentric model that ruled for centuries. credit: Wikimedia Commons

There are some people – I’m not naming names – who think the universe revolves around them. In fact, for most of humankind, everybody thought that. It’s only been in the last few hundred years that scientists finally puzzled out that the Earth isn’t the centre of the universe at all. That begs the question: where is the centre?

Episode 77: Where is the Centre of the Universe? (14.5MB)


Ep. 73: Questions Show #8

  • January 28th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(14)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Listener Questions Show
Listener Questions Show credit: Rebecca B-F

We’ve been so crazy following our own whims through the universe that we’ve neglected your questions. That ends today. It’s time to dig deep into our overflowing email box to retrieve the puzzling questions our listeners have sent in.

Episode 73: Questions Show #8 (16.8MB)


Ep. 71: Gravitational Waves

  • January 14th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(6)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
LISA / NASA
LISA / NASA credit:

When he put together his theories of relativity, Einstein made a series of predictions. Some were confirmed just a few years later, but scientists are still working to confirm others. And one of the most fascinating is the concept of gravitational waves. As massive objects move in space, they send out ripples across the Universe that actually distort the shape of matter. Experiments are in place and in the works to detect these gravitational waves as they sweep past the Earth.

Episode 71: Gravitational Waves (13.2MB)


Ep. 45: The Important Numbers in the Universe

  • July 16th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(0)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Numbers make the Universe go.
Numbers make the Universe go. credit: P. Gay

This week we wanted to give you a basic physics lesson. This isn't easy physics, this is a lesson on the basic numbers of the Universe. Each of these numbers define a key aspect of our Universe. If they had different values, the Universe would be a changed place, and life here on Earth would never have arisen.

Episode 45: The Important Numbers in the Universe (12.4MB)
 


Ep. 28: What is the universe expanding into?

  • March 19th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(0)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Baby Picture of Universe
Baby Picture of Universe credit: NASA / WMAP Science Team

Come on, admit it, you've had this question. If the Universe is expanding from the Big Bang, what is it expanding into? What's outside the Universe? Ask any astronomer and you'll get an unsatisfying answer. We give you the same unsatisfying answer, but really explain it, so your unsatisfaction doesn't haunt you any more.

Episode 28: What is the universe expanding into? (25.3 MB)
 


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