It’s time to begin a new mini-series, where we’ll look at different classes of galaxies. Today, we’ll start with the dwarf galaxies, which flock around larger galaxies like the Milky Way. Are they the building blocks for modern structures?
Our Hosts
Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
Production by
- Richard Drumm, Audio Engineer
- Ally Pelphrey, Video Engineer
18 Seasons
700+ Episodes
2018 Winner Parsec Award
Ep. 717: Understanding the Ages of Distant Cosmic Objects
How old is that star? That planet? That nebula? Figuring out the ages of astronomical objects is surprisingly challenging. Fortunately, astronomers have developed a series of techniques they can use to work out the ages of stuff.
Ep. 716: The God**** Particle – Remembering Peter Higgs
Last week, we learned about the death of Peter Higgs, a physicist and discoverer of the particle that bears his name. The Large Hadron Collider was built to find and describe the particle. Today, we’ll look back at the life of Peter Higgs and his particle.
Ep. 715: Total Eclipse of the Science: Experiments During the Eclipse
The next great eclipse is upon us, with viewers across North America witnessing the moon passing in front of the Sun. It’s an amazing experience, but also an opportunity to do science. Let’s talk about what we can learn from this momentous event.
Recent Episodes
Ep. 575: Observing the Moon
https://youtu.be/-jvklCr8btg As amateur astronomers, we curse the Moon every month. Seriously, why doesn't someone get rid of that thing? This week, something occurred to us. What if we actually pointed our telescopes at the Moon? What would we see? Download MP3 |...
Ep. 574: Trojan Asteroids
https://youtu.be/-ttZy7UXp6s We imagine the asteroid belt as the place where all the rocks hang out in the Solar System, but there are two huge bands of asteroids that orbit the Sun with Jupiter called the Trojans. And soon, we might actually get a chance to see them...
Ep. 573: Exoplanet Atmospheres
https://youtu.be/Q7uWOp7kxwU Not only have astronomers discovered thousands of exoplanets, but they're even starting to study the atmospheres of worlds thousands of light-years away. What can we learn about these other worlds, and maybe even signs of life. Download...
Ep. 572: Twists in Planet Formation
https://youtu.be/Scs9NHSSNu0 We're all looking forward to the next generation of exoplanetary research, where we get to see pictures of planets directly. But astronomers are already making great strides in directly observing newly forming planets, helping us...
Ep. 571: Extreme Binaries
https://youtu.be/lcbALEjp0k4 We're familiar with regular binary stars. Two stars orbiting each other. Simple. Of course, the Universe has come up with every combination of things orbiting other things. And this week we look at the extreme version of this. Download MP3...
Ep. 570: Discovering Comets
https://youtu.be/B3MFSCdyNHE Discovering comets is one of the fields that amateurs can still make a regular contribution to astronomy. But more and more telescopes are getting found by spacecraft, automated systems and machine learning. This week, we'll talk about how...
Ep. 569: Ethics of Commercial and Military Space, Part 1: Private Space Flight
https://youtu.be/QFeuXhIOxNI Every year, more and more people are making their way to space. Some private citizens have already gotten their astronaut wings, paying for a trip to space out of their own pocket. What are the ethical implications of this as the costs of...
Ep. 568: In Situ Resource Utilization
https://youtu.be/Ud7BCycI820 The key to surviving in space will be learning how to live off the land. Instead of carrying all your fuel, water, and other resources from Earth, extract them locally at your destination. It's called In Situ Resource Utilization and if we...
Ep. 567: When Satellites Need a House Call
https://youtu.be/Xj6x1AK6BOE Space is really far away, so when you send a satellite out into the void, that's pretty much the last you're going to be able to work on it. And if anything goes wrong, too bad, you're out a satellite. But a new test has shown that it's...
Ep. 566: When Comets Fall Apart
https://youtu.be/-dQtA9h1tUc As everyone knows, the Universe owes us a bright comet. There have been a lot of promising candidates, but in the end, they always fail to live up to our expectations. Comets keep on breaking up with us. Download MP3| Download Raw Show...
Ep. 565: When Worlds Collide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idra0yV3QvU So much of our Solar System has been shaped by enormous collisions early on in our history. Seriously, the nature of every planet in the Solar System has some evidence of massive impacts during some point in its history....
Ep. 564: Mini Moons
Last month astronomers announced that they had detected a tiny asteroid that had been captured by the Earth's gravity well and had been sharing our orbit for a few years. Today, let's talk about the smallest moons in the Solar System. Download MP3| Download Raw Show...
Ep. 563: White Dwarf Mergers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUiGEfdJsK4 White dwarfs are usually about 60% the mass of the Sun, so it was a bit of a surprise when astronomers found one that was almost exactly twice that. What happens when white dwarfs merge? Download MP3| Download Raw Show with...
Ep. 562: Dealing with COVID-19 and the Changes it will Bring
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2WFmyfrEdE&feature=youtu.be Pamela and Fraser discuss the implications of COVID-19 and it's changes on the world, and what we all can do during this time. Download MP3| Download Raw Show with Q&A| Show Notes | Transcript Show...
Ep. 561: Remembering Katherine Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sen2rMwYPnY We lost a bright star here on planet Earth last week. NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson passed away at the age of 101, after an incredible career of helping humans land on the Moon. If you saw the movie Hidden Figures,...
Ep. 560: Betelgeuse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tw-Xe_AxJM You might be surprised to hear that we've never done an episode of Astronomy Cast featuring Betelgeuse. Well, good news, this is that episode. Let's talk about the star, why it might be dimming, and what could happen if it...
Ep. 559: The Surface of the Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jSRhDKtpFg A brand new telescope has completed on Maui's Haleakala, and it has just one job: to watch the Sun in unprecedented detail. It's called the Daniel K. Inouye telescope, and the engineering involved to get this telescope...
Ep. 558: Supernova SN 2006gy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJQFrgxlmus We've been following this story for more than a decade, so it's great to finally have an answer to the question, why was supernova 2006gy so insanely bright? Astronomers originally thought it was an example of a supermassive...
Ep. 557: Red Dwarfs: Friend or Foe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh1Ocfgmptc On the one hand, red dwarfs are the longest lived stars in the Universe, the perfect place for life to hang out for trillions of years. On the other hand, they're tempestuous little balls of plasma, hurling out catastrophic...
Ep. 556: Multi Messenger Astronomy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8kJy-_90Y&feature=youtu.be For the longest time astronomers could only study the skies with telescopes. But then new techniques and technologies were developed to help us see in different wavelengths. Now astronomers can study...