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PODCAST

Astronomy Cast

Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Take a fact-based journey through the cosmos. Tune in to hear weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Hosted by Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (Planetary Science Institute), this show brings the questions of an avid astronomy lover direct to an astronomer. Together Fraser and Pamela explore what is known and being discovered about the universe around us. Astronomy Cast is supported thru patreon.com/AstronomyCast.

science astronomy

All Episodes

41:51

Ep. 770: The Ethics of Mars Exploration

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/11/10

Astronomy Cast Ep. 770: The Ethics of Mars Exploration By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 3, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay. It is arguable that humanity now has the technological ability to live on Mars. It would be done at enormous expense and sacrifice, and there are some tricky problems that we haven't solved yet. Although we could live on Mars, should we? There is a famous quote from Jurassic Park: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not

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30:40

Ep. 769: Little Red Dots

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/10/27

Astronomy Cast Ep. 769: Little Red Dots By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Oct 20, 2025. New instruments bring new mysteries, and when James Webb came on line it uncovered a collection of strange, compact, bright objects shifted deeply into the red end of the spectrum. These were dubbed "Little red dots" or LRDs. And the astronomical community continues to puzzle over what they are. When JWST first peered into the distant past, it discovered the early universe had a rash of little red

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31:00

Ep. 768: Comets' Unpredictability

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/10/20

Astronomy Cast Ep. 768: Comets' Unpredictability By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Oct 13, 2025. So it’s been decades since we’ve seen a bright comet in the sky. And actually there was a pair — Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake. And then, silence! And unmet promises by the Universe to give us a bright comet. Comets are unpredictable, and they arrive precisely when they intend to. Is it time again for a bright comet? If you asked us in January if 2025 was going to have any outstanding comets

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30:57

Ep. 767: Black Holes in Extreme Circumstances

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/10/13

Astronomy Cast Ep. 767: Black Holes in Extreme Circumstances By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay Streamed live on Oct 6, 2025. You can only describe a black hole by its mass and its spin. And maybe it’s charge. But allow us to propose a new criteria: the personal experience. Some black holes have seen things… Experienced the laws of physics at their most extreme. And today we’ll tell their stories. The more of the sky we observe, the more bizarre situations

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30:28

Ep. 766: How Spacecraft End

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/10/06

Astronomy Cast Ep. 766: How Spacecraft End By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay End-of-Life Planning for Your Spacecraft! Streamed live October 1, 2025. Your spacecraft has reached the end of its mission. You’ve done everything you can to keep it operational, but now it’s time to say goodbye. How do space agencies deal with spacecraft to shut them down gracefully, protect future missions and life on other worlds. So, the time has come to see your mission across the Rainbow Bridge. How exactly do you say

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35:18

Ep. 765: Rockets vs The Environment

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/09/29

Astronomy Cast Ep. 765: Rockets vs The Environment By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Sep 22, 2025. We don’t launch a lot of rockets every year, so their impact on the environment is minimal compared to other forms of transportation. But that number is steadily increasing with rates that we’ll have to take seriously. What’s the current and future impact of rockets on the environment Rocket facilities are often surrounded by wildlife preserves and they always fly through our atmosphere

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33:03

Ep. 764: Cleared For Launch!

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/09/22

Astronomy Cast Ep. 764: Cleared For Launch! By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live September 17, 2025. This week, we look at the process behind rockets getting licensed to launch, and everyone around the pad getting notified to stay away as T-0 approaches. (Can you say "errant boat"?) We have a saying around here: “One does not simply book a return trip from a rocket launch.” That’s because they are an intensely complex chain of events that need to go right before it’s wise to let that rocket

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30:11

Ep. 763: Interstellar Comets

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/09/15

Astronomy Cast Ep. 763: Interstellar Comets By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live Sep 8, 2025. Welcome to the first episode of our 19th season! This week we look at objects coming from other solar systems that come passing on by our Sun. During the summer hiatus the 3rd interstellar object was discovered: Comet 3I/ATLAS! So now we have 3 different interstellar interlopers to compare & contrast. What are we starting to learn about other star systems from this small sample size and how will

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48:09

Ep. 762: Science in Crisis - NASA’s New Budget

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/07/07

Astronomy Cast Ep. 762: Science in Crisis - NASA’s New Budget By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Jun 30, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay Normally we try to end the season on a high note. But there’s unfolding news that we just HAVE to cover before we leave you for the summer. NASA’s new budget is here, and it’s 25% smaller. We’ll cover what the changes are and try to understand the implications. It's a bad decade to be a researcher. We're going to look at why, and

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30:31

Ep. 761: It's Here! The Vera Rubin Observatory

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/06/30

Astronomy Cast Ep. 761: It's Here! The Vera Rubin Observatory By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live June 25, 2025. The time has come. The mighty Vera Rubin Observatory has finally come on line and delivered its “first light” images. And by Pamela’s rules that means we get to talk about it! So let’s do that! After decades of waiting, we have images from Vera Rubin Observatory! SUPPORTED BY YOU This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or

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28:59

Ep. 760: What to Look For This Summer

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/06/23

Astronomy Cast Ep. 760: What to Look For This Summer By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Jun 16, 2025. It’s almost time for our annual summer hiatus, but before we go, we wanted to direct you towards all the fun and space stuff we’ll be enjoying this summer. We’ve got meteor showers, planets, rocket launches, TV shows, movies! Here’s what’s good. In a couple of weeks, we'll go on hiatus, but we want to make sure you are ready for stuff we can anticipate happening. SUPPORTED BY YOU

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35:06

Ep. 759: The Commercial Space Program

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/06/16

Astronomy Cast Ep. 759: The Commercial Space Program By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Jun 9, 2025. Humanity has turned its focus back to the Moon, sending a fleet of spacecraft to the lunar surface. Some are run by the government, but there’s a whole new group of commercial landers bearing instruments to the lunar surface. Is this the future of lunar exploration? Space used to be a place occupied by government-funded and military missions, but today, we're seeing the rise... and fall

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31:03

Ep. 758: Non-Roving Rovers

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/06/02

Astronomy Cast Ep. 758: Non-Roving Rovers By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on May 26, 2025. Some of our favorite robots are rovers currently roving around the surface of the Moon & Mars. But there’s some pretty tricky terrain out there and engineers are scheming up clever ways to explore other worlds inspired by life that crawls, slithers, hops and flies. As we explore more surfaces and more complex surfaces throughout the solar system, mission teams are designing robot explorers that

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33:13

Ep. 757: CubeSats

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/05/26

Astronomy Cast Ep. 757: CubeSats By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on May 19, 2025. Computers are getting smaller, faster and more capable, which has enabled an entirely mew class of satellites: CubeSats. A mission small enough that you can hold it in your hands, and yet powerful enough to even travel to other planets and send messages home. Every year, our electronics seem to get smaller and more powerful, with today's smart watches being more fully featured than the computers Pamela

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28:21

Ep. 756: SphereX

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/05/19

Astronomy Cast Ep. 756: SphereX By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on May 12, 2025. NASA’s newly launched SphereX mission is up & operational and has completed its initial checkout and “first light”. Everything looks good! And now it’s starting its science operations. And that’s good enough for Pamela! And THAT means we can talk about it. So let’s do that! There's a new space telescope in town (or at least in LEO). Let's check out what it's looking at and looking to do. SUPPORTED BY YOU

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31:55

Ep. 755: Intermediate Mass Black Holes

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/05/12

Astronomy Cast Ep. 755: Intermediate Mass Black Holes By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on May 5, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay. There are stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. But very little evidence of anything in between. Where are all the intermediate-mass black holes that should be the building blocks of the biggest ones? Actually, the science has been accelerating rapidly and we now know of hundreds of them. The question marks in our understanding are

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32:51

Ep. 754: K2-18b

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/05/05

Astronomy Cast Ep. 754: K2-18b By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Apr 28, 2025. You’ve heard the news! Astronomers are reporting the discovery of biosignatures at K2-18b. Is this proof of life or should we all be more skeptical? It's in the news and people are claiming aliens... but is it aliens? Let's see what the data actually says. SUPPORTED BY YOU This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreon. Join at the Galaxy Group level or higher to be listed in our YouTube

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35:33

Ep. 753: Why is the Moon's South Pole So Interesting?

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/04/28

Astronomy Cast Ep. 753: Why is the Moon's South Pole So Interesting? By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Apr 21, 2025. I’m sure you’ve heard that all eyes are on the Moon’s southern pole. This is where various NASA and Chinese missions are targeting. What makes this region so special and what are the special challenges that explorers will face. From TV shows to real-world missions, it seems like everyone just wants to explore the Moon's South Pole. But why? Learn here! SUPPORTED BY

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36:33

Ep. 752: Should We Go to the Moon or Mars Next?

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/04/21

Astronomy Cast Ep. 752: Should We Go to the Moon or Mars Next? By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Apr 16, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay There is an ongoing debate on where NASA should go next with humans: to the Moon or Mars. (Or maybe an asteroid or one of Mars’ moons). We are on the verge of sending humans back to the Moon. At the same time others would prefer we focus our exploration on Mars. It’s a tough choice because there are costs and benefits to both

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33:33

Ep. 751: Vacuum Energy

Astronomy Cast ·

2025/04/14

Astronomy Cast Ep. 751: Vacuum Energy By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Apr 7, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay. Even empty space isn’t empty. It’s filled with the quantum fluctuations of spacetime itself. Which can be measured with famous experiments like the Casimir Effect. There is a surprising amount of energy in space itself, which has led to some interesting theories about how the future of the Universe might evolve. You can't get something from nothing but

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