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  • Shows Index
    • Amateur Astronomy (5)
      • Observing (5)
    • Astronomy (91)
      • Cosmology (16)
      • Galaxies (6)
      • Nebulae (1)
      • Observing (8)
      • Planets (24)
        • Extrasolar Planets (5)
        • Our Solar System (18)
      • Stars (11)
        • Compact Objects (3)
        • Stellar Evolution (7)
    • Listeners (11)
      • Questions Shows (9)
      • Student Questions (2)
    • People (6)
      • Doing Astronomy (2)
      • Interviews (3)
      • Meetings (4)
    • Physics (22)
      • Forces (6)
      • Particles (7)
      • Relativity (3)
    • Space Flight (1)
    • The Show (3)
      • Meetups (1)



  • Collaborators
    Universe Today Star Stryder Bad Astronomy



    Past Shows
    • Ep. 88: The Hubble Space Telescope
    • 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. 75: Stellar Populations

  • February 11th, 2008
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(2)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
The stars being born today aren't the same as stars born shortly after the big bang.
The stars being born today aren't the same as stars born shortly after the big bang. credit: NASA

After the big bang, all we had was hydrogen, a little bit of helium, and a few other trace elements. Today, we’ve a whole periodic table of elements to enjoy, from oxygen we breathe to the aluminium cans we drink from to the uranium that powers some people’s homes. How did we get from plain old hydrogen to our current diversity? It came from stars, in fact successive generations of stars.

Episode 75: Stellar Populations (14.4MB)


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. 68: Globular Clusters

  • December 24th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(5)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
M80 is a globular cluster 28,000 light years away containing thousands of stars.
M80 is a globular cluster 28,000 light years away containing thousands of stars. credit: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA)

This week we're going to study some of the most ancient objects in the entire Universe; globular clusters. These relics of the early Universe contain hundreds of thousands of stars, held together by their mutual gravity. Since they formed together, they give astronomers a unique way to test various theories of stellar evolution.
Episode 68: Globular Clusters (14.3MB)


Ep. 46: Stellar Nurseries

  • July 23rd, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(0)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
The Orion Nebula is a small but dense stellar nursery
The Orion Nebula is a small but dense stellar nursery credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (STScI/ESA) and The Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

We've discussed star formation in the past, but now we wanted to talk about the different kinds of stellar nurseries we see across the Universe. We know where our Sun came from because we can look out and see different stellar neighborhoods at every stage of development. It takes a village of gas and dust to raise a star.

Episode 46: Stellar Nurseries (13.1MB)
 


Ep. 38: Neutron Stars and their Exotic Cousins

  • May 28th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(1)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
In the middle of this supernova remnant lies a pulsar emitting high energy x rays
In the middle of this supernova remnant lies a pulsar emitting high energy x rays credit: NASA/CXC/Eureka Scientific/M.Roberts et al.

Huge stars become black holes, and small stars become white dwarfs. But medium-sized stars can become neutron stars; exotic objects that overcome the nuclear force holding protons and electrons apart. What was once the size of a star is compressed down to only a few dozen kilometres across.

Episode 38: Neutron Stars and their Exotic Cousins(14.64MB)
 


Ep. 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts

  • May 14th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(1)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
An artist's impression of merging neutron stars, one of the theoretical progenitors of gamma-ray bursts.
An artist's impression of merging neutron stars, one of the theoretical progenitors of gamma-ray bursts. credit: NASA E/PO, Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the Universe, releasing more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will put out in its lifetime. It's only been in the last few years that astronomers are finally starting to unravel the cataclysmic events that cause these energetic explosions.

Episode 36: Gamma-Ray Bursts (14MB)
 


Ep. 30: The Sun, Spots and All

  • April 2nd, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(2)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Our Sun: not just a heat lamp
Our Sun: not just a heat lamp credit: NASA/ESA

It's Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means the Sun is back. But it's more than just a free heat lamp for your garden, it's an incredible, dynamic nuclear reaction complete with flares, coronal mass ejections, twisting magnetic fields and the solar wind. Put in your headphones, head outside and enjoy the sunshine while you listen to this week's podcast.

Correction: At the beginning of the show I say the Sun has 50 billion years to go. I mentally combined two numbers. In 50 million years life will become untenable or impossible on Earth. In 5 billion years the sun goes off the main sequence. We are very sorry for the mistake. -Pamela

Episode 30: The Sun, Spots and All (14.4 MB)


Ep. 22: Variable Stars

  • February 5th, 2007
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(0)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
V838 Mon in March 2004
V838 Mon in March 2004 credit: NASA / Hubble Heritage / AURA / STScI

Our Sun has been around for billions of years, and will last for billions more. We're lucky, it's pretty stable and regular as stars go, only changing in brightness a little now and then. But there are stars out there that change dramatically; astronomers call them variable stars, and they demonstrate just how bizarre and dangerous the Universe can be.

Episode 22: Variable Stars (28 MB)


Ep. 14: We're all Made of Supernovae

  • December 12th, 2006
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(1)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
M74: Supernova dust factory
M74: Supernova dust factory credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B.E.K. Sugerman (STScI)

No more suspense. This week we blow the biggest stars up. Kaboom. Want more details? Then you've got to listen.

Download Episode 14: We're all Made of Supernovae (12.3 MB)


Ep. 13: Where Do Stars Go When They Die?

  • December 4th, 2006
  • Show Notes
  • Comments(2)
  • Like it? Digg-it | Reddit | del.icio.us
Planetary Nebula MZ3
Planetary Nebula MZ3 credit: NASA/STScI/Univ. Washington/B.Balick

We've celebrated the birth of new stars, but the stellar lifecycle doesn't end there. Stars like our Sun will spend billions of years fusing together hydrogen and pumping out energy. And when the fuel runs out, their death is as interesting as their birth. This week Fraser and Pamela trace out this stellar evolution, and explain what the future holds for stars, large and small.

Download Episode 13: Where Do Stars Go When They Die? (12.3 MB)


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