PODCAST

SkyCaramba

Podcast about astronomy and the joys of watching the skies at night--and sometimes during the day

science astronomy

All Episodes

00:05:04

See Ceres

SkyCaramba ·

2021/10/31

You certainly heard about Pluto being demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006. But the news about Ceres being promoted to that status didn't get nearly as much attention. (This edition has been edited to remove the incorrect date for Ceres' close pass by Aldebaran. The correct information is they will be closest at 0.1° apart on the 3rd. My apologies for the error.) Venus crosses the teapot lid. Saturn and Jupiter hang out in Capricornus. The moon helps you find Mercury. Uranus is up all night this

00:06:00

Getting closer to and farther from the sun at the...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/10/24

Venus is getting closer to the sun, but you'd never know that from the way things look lately. The deceptive view of the solar system we get from Earth made it hard for sky watchers to figure out how the planets actually move.

00:05:00

Emerging Mercury and Mars; Spy on Jupiter's spot;...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/10/17

Mercury is emerging into the morning sky and will soon be joined by Mars. Try to spy on Jupiter's "Great Red Spot". It's not actually red. Venus goes through the southern end of Ophiuchus, the zodiac constellation most people don't know about. Get to know the Hyades.

00:05:00

Venus is the scorpion's head, Lacerta, and more about...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/10/10

This week's astronomical action: Venus passes through the scorpion's head. The moon passes in front of the archer's bow. Jupiter and Saturn keep hanging out in Capricornus. Naming a new constellation after a reptile turned out to be more popular than naming it after any king. And how did one variable star get the name of something fearsome but another is called wonderful?

00:05:00

A splendid clutter in Scorpius, opposite behavior by...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/10/03

Watch Venus and the moon making a nice cluster--or clutter--in Scorpius. Opposite behavior by stars on opposite sides of the sky from the same cause. Not all variable stars are thought to be ghoulish. One is considered to be wonderful.

00:05:00

Daytime meteor shower, Venus goes through the...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/09/26

You won't be able to see it, but there's a meteor shower this week. It happens in the daytime. Venus goes through the Libra diamond. Astronomy tails and tales. Don't panic or you might end up like Capricornus the goat-fish.

00:05:00

Equal day and night--or not

SkyCaramba ·

2021/09/19

What you've heard your whole life about day and night being of exactly equal length on the equinox is wrong. I'll tell you why. And remember that myth about eggs standing up on their ends only on the equinox? For some reason, the myth only considers the March equinox. Follow Venus into the evening sky and see Jupiter and Saturn nearly all night.

00:05:00

Algol, the demon star

SkyCaramba ·

2021/09/12

What would you think of a star that blinks? Maybe you'd think there's something sinister about it. That's how Algol got its name. It's from Arabic for the demon. To the ancient Greeks, Algol was a blinking eye of Medusa. Before that, the ancient Egyptians may have thought of the star as a bringer of luck--good or bad depending on when the eye of Horus looked upon them. Algol still blinks. Listen to this podcast to understand why and then go see it for yourself. Neptune is at

00:05:00

Zodiacal light

SkyCaramba ·

2021/09/05

This is the time of year to see the dawn before the dawn. Depending on the circumstances, this faint glow might make you think the sun is rising sooner than it is or that you're approaching a city when there's just open country ahead.

00:05:00

September 2021 astronomical events

SkyCaramba ·

2021/08/29

Mercury moves farther into the evening sky and Venus scoots along Virgo while Mars is elusive in the evening light. Jupiter and Saturn are retrograde in Capricornus. Neptune's at opposition. Earth's at equinox.

00:05:00

Northern solstice on Mars and interstellar space

SkyCaramba ·

2021/08/22

Mars is at its northern solstice. There's more to space than what we see orbiting stars. And between the stars, there's more than just nothing. Mars and Mercury start the week close. Venus voyages through Virgo. The moon with Jupiter and Saturn. And try to find Neptune.

00:05:00

A traditional blue moon, Mars and Mercury meet up,...

SkyCaramba ·

2021/08/15

A traditional blue moon is coming up. That's not the second full moon of the month. Mars and Mercury are close this week. And learn how to identify the satellites and space junk you see going overhead.

00:05:00

Zavijava, Perseids, Cygnus

SkyCaramba ·

2021/08/08

Venus passes by a star named Zavijava this week. The name is fun to say. Find out what it means. Viewing this year's Perseids meteor shower should be good. A celestial swan flies high in the August evening skies. Hear some of the old legends about how it got there.

00:05:00

August 2021's astronomical events and the martyr's tears

SkyCaramba ·

2021/08/01

There are a couple of close pairings this month--Venus and Zavijava and then Mars and Mercury. Saturn and Jupiter are both at opposition. Northern hemisphere viewers have a chance to see the northern and southern crowns. Several animal constellations feature well this month. And there's a meteor shower that produces what some call the tears of St. Lawrence.

00:05:00

Precovery

SkyCaramba ·

2021/07/25

In astronomy, the person who first sees an object isn't necessarily the person who gets credit for discovering it. The discoverer is the one who recognizes it as something new or different. If you think it's a star, but someone else figures out it's a planet, you'll be lucky to get a footnote for "precovery" in a chapter about someone else's discovery. Usually, only a few years pass between precovery and discovery. But in one case, several astronomers saw an object and called it a star for more than

00:05:00

Orders of Magnitude

SkyCaramba ·

2021/07/18

It doesn't make sense that stars shining at magnitude 31.5 are among the dimmest the Hubble Space Telescope can see, while one shining at 0 is one of the brightest in the sky. And objects with magnitudes below 0 are even brighter! How can the lower number mean a brighter body? It starts making sense when you understand how this measurement system got started more than 2,000 years ago. And find out what's happening in the sky the week of July 18 through 24, 2021.

00:05:00

Coriolis Effect

SkyCaramba ·

2021/07/11

A popular misconception says toilet water goes one way in the northern hemisphere and the other way in the southern hemisphere. Unless your toilet's a giant lake, its location doesn't make a difference. Follow Venus and Mars in the evening sky while Jupiter and Saturn continue rising earlier.

00:05:00

Sagittarius

SkyCaramba ·

2021/07/04

A half-man, half-horse crosses southern skies. Much of the world only gets a partial view of him. In the northern hemisphere, the visible part of this constellation looks like something we keep in our kitchens. And find out what to expect from Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury this week.

00:05:00

July 2021 astronomical events

SkyCaramba ·

2021/06/27

Venus meets Mars in the evening sky. Jupiter and Saturn continue their morning co-dominance. And they help out with identification of two meteor showers. Mercury moves into the morning. Also, there's an upcoming anniversary of a total solar eclipse associated with a hit song. Are people mistakenly thinking the song is about that event?

00:05:00

Antares and Sagitta

SkyCaramba ·

2021/06/20

On the way from Earth to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, one would pass a bright orange star that happens to be the bright star in Scorpius. An arrow crosses the night sky this time of year. Several ancient legends tell who may have shot it and who might have been its target. And find out what to look for in the skies the week of June 20 to 26, 2021

278 results

SkyCaramba

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter