Program Archives

THE GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE
August 9, 2010
Guests: Patrick McCarthy
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Giant Magellan Telescope Director Patrick McCarthy. Emily Lakdawalla on Mars' acne. Bill Nye says a solar sail could test relativity.  more »

THE SUN - THIEF OF COMETS
August 2, 2010
Guests: Hal Levison
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A computer model indicates that most of the comets in the vast Oort Cloud were stolen by the Sun billions of years ago. The Southwest Research Institute's Hal Levison describes his team's findings....  more »

THE EYES OF WISE DELIVER SKY SURVEY PRIZE
July 26, 2010
Guests: Ned Wright
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Principal Investigator Edward L. (Ned) Wright returns to report on the completed first whole sky survey by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The mission has discovered thousands of new...  more »

THIS IS GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH
April 5, 2010
Guests: Mike Simmons
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Mike Simmons is president of Astronomers Without Borders. He returns to Planetary Radio to tell us how we can be part of this new month-long celebration. Emily Lakdawalla gains a new title and...  more »

SAVING THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IN IMAX 3D
March 22, 2010
Guests: Scott D. Altman, Toni Myers
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An IMAX 3D camera watched last year as astronauts aboard Atlantis repaired the famous space telescope. We talk with Mission Commander Scott D. Altman and the just released film's producer/director,...  more »

STEPHEN HAWKING ACCEPTS THE COSMOS AWARD
March 8, 2010
Guests: Stephen Hawking
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The man who is probably the world's most famous living scientist received the Planetary Society's Cosmos award last week. Listen to exclusive excerpts of Professor Hawking's acceptance...  more »

100 MILLIONS SOLAR SYSTEMS LIKE OUR OWN?
March 1, 2010
Guests: Scott Gaudi
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Award-winning astronomer Scott Gaudi talks about the MicroFUN exoplanet finding project, and the first estimate of how many planetary systems in the Milky Way galaxy look like our home system. Bill...  more »

GALAXY BUILDER ANDREW BENSON
January 25, 2010
Guests: Andrew Benson
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Almost 85 years have passed since Edwin Hubble first categorized galactic shapes. Now we finally know why they form this way. Cal Tech cosmologist Andrew Benson takes us through his...  more »

CELEBRATING THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY WITH PAMELA GAY
January 11, 2010
Guests: Pamela Gay
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2009 was the year fans of astronomy went all out to share the wonder of the universe. Astronomer and Astronomy Cast co-host Pamela Gay reports from the closing ceremonies for the IYA in Padua,...  more »

GETTING WISE WITH THE UNIVERSE
January 4, 2010
Guests: Ned Wright
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The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is ready to reveal much more of our solar system and beyond. Ned Wright is Principal Investigator for this new space telescope. Emily Lakdawalla laments Mars...  more »