#761: It’s Here! The Vera Rubin Observatory

The time has come. The mighty Vera Rubin Observatory has finally come on line and delivered its “first light” images

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Fraser Cain
Universe Today

Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest

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  • Ally Pelphrey, Video Engineer

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Ep. 161: Launch Facilities

Launching a rocket into space requires a big effort on the ground. Space agencies have built up huge infrastructures to store, prepare and launch rockets. Let’s take a look at what’s involved on the ground at a place like Cape Canaveral. What happens before, during and after a launch.

Ep. 160: Eclipses

Every now and then, the Moon destroys the Sun. Okay, not destroys, covers. Well, not really covers, but from here on Earth, sitting inside the shadow of the Moon, that’s what it sure looks like. These events are called eclipses, or more precisely, transits and occultations. They occur whenever one object passes in front of another from a 3rd perspective. They’re beautiful and exciting, and deliver a tremendous amount of science as well.

Ep. 159: Planet X

Astronomers have been searching for the mysterious Planet X for hundreds of years. It was the search for a theoretical planet beyond Uranus that turned up Neptune, and then again for Pluto. And even now there are some astronomers who think there’s a more distant planet out there. Oh, and there are a bunch of pseudoscience cranks trying to freak people out about the end of the world. Don’t worry, we’ll make time for them too, but first let’s start with some real science.

Ep. 158: Pulsars

Imagine an object with the mass of the Sun, crushed down to the size of Manhattan. Now set that object spinning hundreds of times a second, blasting out powerful beams of radiation like a lighthouse. That’s a pulsar, one of the most exotic objects in the Universe.

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