The 365 Days of Astronomy

Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been found in a massive cloud that dimmed the light of a star for nearly nine months. This discovery, made with the Gemini South telescope in Chile offers a rare glimpse into the chaotic and dynamic processes still shaping planetary systems long after their formation. In this podcast, Dr. Nadia Zakamska describes the discovery of this object, stemming from a mysterious dimming of a star, to the analysis of the gas cloud. Bios: - Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF's NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona. - Dr. Nadia Zakamska was born and raised in Russia and received a Masters degree from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. She came to the United States in 2001 to pursue graduate education in Astrophysics in Princeton University. After her Ph.D., she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and at Stanford University before moving to the Johns Hopkins University for a faculty position in 2011. She is now a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, with a wide range of research interests across many areas of astrophysics. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and four children. NOIRLab social media channels can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/NOIRLabAstro https://twitter.com/NOIRLabAstro https://www.instagram.com/noirlabastro/ https://www.youtube.com/noirlabastro We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

From May 21, 2020. Join us today as we discuss the impressive work by an undergraduate student who figured out how galaxy mergers influence the growth of supermassive black holes. We talk about a gigantic galaxy found in the early universe. And finally, we look at amazing images of a planet being formed around a distant star. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

A nostalgic look back at Cassini’s journey to Saturn, its long-term orbital science, and why an orbiter matters more than brief flybys. They explore Saturn’s seasons, storms, and the famous hexagon. The conversation covers ring structure, moon interactions, and the towering B‑ring features. They highlight discoveries at Titan and Enceladus and explain the reasons behind Cassini’s dramatic final plunge.

A podcast about rocks, big and small. Dear Cheap Astronomy – What's Psyche really like? Psyche is an asteroid in the asteroid belt and apparently a very metal rich one, which makes it a prospecting target for budding asteroid miners. Pysche is also a spacecraft, launched on October 13, 2023. We're recording this episode about one month after launch when it's already over 15 million km from Earth – and its destination? Yep, Psyche – the asteroid. Dear Cheap Astronomy – How is Mars Sample Return mission going? Here at Cheap Astronomy we've often said that landing on Mars is one thing – getting off it again is quite another. But this is the intention of the Mars Sample Return mission – which has already commenced insofar as the Perseverance rover is currently collecting samples for it – some of which have dropped for later retrieval, while others remain stored within the rover. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7FAg_AYXaw From April 14, 2025. Astronomers using the JWST have made direct observations of the black hole at the center of our galaxy: Sagittarius A*. These observations are possible because the Webb Space Telescope can peer through the dust at the center of our galaxy using infrared light. These observations surprised astronomers. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpZRjII8qkc Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest) Streamed live on Feb 2, 2026. One long standing mystery in astronomy were the quasars. Incomprehensible energy blasting out of a point-like source, billions of light years away. We now know these are actively feeding supermassive black holes, which can turn off and on in a startlingly short period of time. Today: When black holes awaken! Our Universe is filled with sleeping monsters. And sometimes, whether we want it or not, they wake up hungry. In this episode, we take a look at the science behind how and why black holes of all sizes can go from nothing to the triggers of massive high-energy power release. This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero Image credit: LOFAR/Pan-STARRS/S. Kumari et al. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org From June, 2025. Today's 2 topics: - In the search for life on Mars, Europa, Titan, and elsewhere in the universe astro-biologists are scouring the Earth for creatures tough enough to flourish under really difficult conditions. So far the leading species are the Tardigrades commonly known as water bears or moss piglets. - Data are consistent with the hypothesis that the planet K2-18b is a Hycean planet with a warm liquid water ocean teaming with life and a thin hydrogen rich atmosphere containing methane and other molecules containing carbon. Scientists in an opposing camp point out what we might be observing is a rocky world with a hot life killing atmosphere. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Hosted by Avivah Yamani, our Director. February 2026 is packed for stargazers at the equator, with a dusk-time planet parade, dark New Moon skies for astrophotography, and the year's first "Ring of Fire" annular solar eclipse on February 17 (visible from Antarctica). Catch beautiful Moon pairings with Antares, Saturn, the Pleiades, and Jupiter, and join the Globe at Night campaign to help measure light pollution in your area. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

From January 28, 2026. In this episode we look at highlights from the latest American Astronomical Society Meeting. An accidental theme came out: with each new telescope and each improved instrument we can look more closely at our Universe - we can and do learn more and understand more even about the things we thought we knew best. In this episode, Rubin Observatory brings rapidly rotating asteroids, and JWST peers at objects thriving in the first 2 billion years of our universe. Observatory after observatory brings us new science. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan. actualastronomy@gmail.com This month we talk about the Moon occulting Regulus, Saturn and Neptune pairing up while Mercury is visible in the evening sky and occulted by the Moon for some. The Zodiacal light also becomes visible in February and we give you the details on seeing lunar features and some of the best Deep Sky objects plus the Carbon and Double Stars to see at this month. Feb 1 - Full Moon - 26 Aur Coulorful Double Feb 2 - Regulus occulted by Moon for Most NA 8:50pm EST Feb 3 - Zodiacal Light becomes visible this month in W evening skies when Moon isn't in sky. Feb 6 - Carbon Star W Orion best this evening Feb 7 h3945 CMa, a Colorful Double well placed Feb 9th Last Quarter Moon - Gegenschein high in S at midnight for next 2 weeks NGC 1502 Well placed at the end of Kemble's Cascade Feb 10th - Antares 0.7 degrees N of Moon - Not here in NA! - Lunar Curtis X visible Feb 17 - New Moon / Young Crescent Moon visible in W after Sunset - Annular Eclipse…for Antarctica Feb 18 - Venus 1.7 degrees S of Moon and Mercury .1 degrees N of Moon, Occultation for S USA. Feb 19 - Mercury at greatest Elongation 18-degrees from Sun in evening sky. Feb 23 - Hipparchus Ray - 20 Gem Colorful double star - Carbon Star UU Aur best Feb 24 First Quarter Moon & PLEIADES - Magnus Ray visible and Mons Pico & Beta Feb 25th - Lunar Straight Wall Visible - 38 Gem colorful Double Feb 26th - Mercury 5-degrees N of Venus Feb 27th - Jupiter 4-degrees S of Moon - Not here - NGC 2403, NGC 2392 & NGC 2237 Well Placed Feb 15 - Saturn .9 degrees S of Neptune - NGC 2362 Well placed this evening We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.