Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.

What are the weaknesses of inflation theory? How did the ekpyrotic theory attempt to improve it? How did it open up its own can of worms? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!

Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter

All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com

Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter

Read a book: https://www.pmsutter.com/books

Keep those questions about space, science, astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and cosmology coming to #AskASpaceman for COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF TIME AND SPACE!

Big thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin G, Chris L, Alberto M, Duncan M, Corey D, Michael P, Naila, Sam R, Joshua, Scott M, Rob H, Scott M, Louis M, John W, Alexis, Gilbert M, Rob W, Jessica M, Jules R, Jim L, David S, Scott R, Heather, Mike S, Pete H, Steve S, Lisa R, Kevin B, Aileen G, Deb A, Michael J, Phillip L, Steven B, Mark R, Alan B, Craig B, Richard K, Joe R, David P, Justin, Tracy F, Thomas K, James C, Syamkumar M, Homer V, Mark D, Bruce A, Tim Z, Linda C, The Tired Jedi, Bob C, Stephen A, James R, Allen E, Michael S, Sheryl, David W, Chris, Michael S, Erlend A, James D, Karl W, Den K, Edward K, Scott K, Vivek D, M0PPET, Brad, Azra K, Steve R, M D Malahy, Brian O, Alonna M, Joseph B, and Anders J!

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

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Mon 06: Astronomy Cast Ep. 6: Ep. 6: More Evidence For the Big Bang

http://www.astronomycast.com/archive/

From October 16, 2006.

Last week's episode started out with a bang… a Big Bang. This week we continue our discussion into the beginning of everything. We present three additional lines of evidence that have led astronomers to the conclusion that our Universe started out as a singularity 13.7 billion years ago, and has been expanding ever since.

Fraser Cain: So Pamela, last week we started out with the big bang and discussed the cosmic microwave background radiation. Now, if people still aren't convinced that the universe began as a singularity 13.7 billion years ago, and has been expanding ever since, fine. We've got more evidence: take your pick. Okay Pamela, continue convincing us!

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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 [email protected].

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 April 2026.

Today's 2 topics:

- According to NASA an average of one catalogued piece of space junk per day has come down to Earth over the past 50 years. Research is described which can track space junk in the atmosphere and provide the starting location and altitude for tracking clouds of environmentally problematic toxic chemical and/or nuclear contaminants released by the disintegration of reentering spacecraft.

- My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard was asteroid hunting with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona when he came across an unknown moving point of light in the night sky. After Greg reported his observations to the Minor Planet Center his discovery was tracked by telescopes in California, Romania, Germany, New Mexico, Arizona, Bavaria, and Japan. Astronomers used these data to calculate that Greg's discovery orbits the sun between Venus and Earth, estimate its size to be approximately twice the length of a football field, and give it the name 2026 BX4.

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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 [email protected].

Hosted by our Director, Avivah Yamani.

Discover the highlights of the July 2026 equatorial night sky, including Venus meeting Regulus, Mars and Uranus' closest conjunction until 2053, the Buck Moon, meteor showers, and the best nights to observe the Milky Way.

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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 [email protected].

From June 24, 2026.

In this episode we look at the hidden and unexpected geology that may lurk beneath East Antarctica's ice sheet, evidence of past worlds and lost moons that may once have populated our solar system, and evidence of a past Supernova that today may be showering the Earth with material.

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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 [email protected].

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. [email protected]

Patreon thanks go out to Justin Y.

Also thanks for all the kind comments on the David Nagler Episode.

[Rich] I'm sorry, but the lads didn't give me a detailed list of sky treats to put here in the show notes. Maybe next time. I share those with my astronomy club members & they really appreciate it!

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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 [email protected].

Today's 'guest' is HAD's This Month in Astronomical History. I'll be reading more essays from the archives: Emily McMahon's November 2020 essay titled, "Sedna: In the Depths of the Solar System", and Dr. Ken Rumstay's November 2022 essay titled, "Lunokhod 1 - The First Extraterrestrial Rover". Please note that Emily was a high school student when she wrote her essay, so you don't have to be an astronomer or astrophysicist to write for TMIAH.

H'ad astra historia is the official podcast for the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society. We're here to share stories from and about the people who study the stars, planets, and the cosmos. We'll be hearing from individuals who not only study the history of astronomy, but also those who lived it, who were "in the room" during pivotal events within the last 50 years or so.

Podcast theme music: "Frost Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under creative commons: by attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Loretta Cannon (an AAS affiliate via Rose City Astronomers) is a science-and-word-nerd who really likes outer space and the people who study it. She quite enjoys working as HAD's podcaster, sharing astronomy stories to you.

This Month in Astronomical History:

https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history

Dr. Mugdha Polimera:

https://www.mugdhapolimera.com/

Sedna: In the Depths of the Solar System

TMIAH Nov 2020 "Sedna: In the Depths of the Solar System":

https://aas.org/posts/news/2020/11/month-astronomical-history-november-2020

Emily McMahon:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilykmcmahon/

https://aas242-aas.ipostersessions.com/Default.aspx?s=88-6D-5F-F3-FF-2E-D2-CD-AA-94-0C-FA-DE-FF-11-5E

Sedna (2003 VB12):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(dwarf_planet)

Sedna (Inuit legend):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedna_(mythology)

Kuiper Belt:

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/kuiper-belt/

Oort Cloud:

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/oort-cloud/

Palomar Observatory:

https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/homepage.html

https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/about/chronology.html

Mike Brown (CalTech):

https://mikebrown.caltech.edu/

Chad Trujillo (NAU, Gemini):

https://directory.nau.edu/person/cat382

https://www.sciencefriday.com/person/chad-trujillo/

David Rabinowitz (Yale):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._Rabinowitz

https://physics.yale.edu/people/david-rabinowitz

Samuel Oschin 48" Schmidt Telescope:

https://sites.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/about/telescopes/oschin.html

Quasar Equatorial Survey Team (QUEST) Camera:

https://www.astro.yale.edu/mschwamb/Quest_La_Silla_KBO_Survey/Telescope_and_Camera.html

SkyMorph program:

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998BAAS...30.1036L/abstract

Palomar Sky Survey:

https://voyages.sdss.org/expeditions/expedition-to-galaxies/sky-surveys/the-palomar-sky-survey/

Gemini Telescope:

https://www.gemini.edu/

Keck Observatory:

https://keckobservatory.org/

Hubble Space Telescope:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/

NASAs's Dwarf Planets (including Pluto, Eris):

https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/

Mike Brown's paper describing Sedna's discovery:

https://web.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/sedna/#planets

Sedna webpage (by Mike Brown):

https://web.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/sedna/#planets

animation of Sedna's orbit by Robert Hurt (Spitzer Sci Ctr):

https://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/video/ssc2004-05v1-orbit-of-sedna

2012 VP113 'Biden':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_VP113

2015 TG387 'The Goblin':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/541132_Lele%C4%81k%C5%ABhonua

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653453443/a-small-planet-with-big-implications

Lunokhod 1 – The First Extraterrestrial Rover

TMIAH Nov 2022 "Lunokhod 1 – The First Extraterrestrial Rover":

https://aas.org/posts/news/2022/11/month-astronomical-history-november-2022

Prof Kenneth Rumstay:

https://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2017/09/dr.-kenneth-rumstay-honored-with-presidential-excellence-award-for-teaching.php

https://meritpages.com/KennethRumstay

HAD News:

https://had.aas.org/news/had_news

Mars Curiosity rover:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

Soviet Union:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union

Soviet N1 rocket:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_(rocket)

NASA's Apollo program:

https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/

Lunokhod ('moonwalker') 1:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_1

Baikonur Cosmodrome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lro/

Sky and Telescope magazine:

https://skyandtelescope.org

NPR article on Lunokhod 2 rover (discusses Garriott's purchase):

https://www.npr.org/2010/03/20/124956591/lunar-rover-is-spotted-for-first-time-in-37-years

China's Yutu rovers:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutu_(rover)

https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/change-4

Sputnik I:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/

A Little Bit of Trivia – NASA mission patches

Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/

Artemis I:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-i/

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season 3:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agents_of_S.H.I.E.L.D._season_3

Mission patch:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_patch

https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/human-spaceflight-mission-patches/

Loretta Cannon's LinkedIn page (for transcripts' pdf files):

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettajcannon-neptuneedit/

We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.

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Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!

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Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness!

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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 [email protected].

Things aren't always straight-forward.

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – What's all the current fuss about dark energy?

Some preliminary data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, also known as DESI has resulted in a swath of popular science articles claiming dark energy is diminishing.

Well…

It's worth starting by saying that many of the core project team have stressed it's just the first data release – there'll be at least four more, so everyone should probably just chill a bit until more data is available.

Dear Cheap Astronomy – Why do eclipse paths run in different directions?

Yes folks, it's that rare event when we actually answer an astronomy question. So, solar eclipses. As you know, the Earth's rotation makes the Sun appear to cross the Earth's daytime sky following a line we call the ecliptic. And yep, that's no coincidence, but we'll get to that. The ecliptic is not a fixed path because of the Earth's tilted axis of rotation. So as the Earth progresses in its orbit around the Sun, from the Earth's surface at the equinoxes, the Sun appears to be overhead at the equator, but for the rest of the year it's either shifting north towards the Tropic of Cancer or south towards the Tropic of Capricorn.

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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDgA3eiUANs

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live June 22, 2026.

The Saturn 5 was a monster, capable of sending humans and a lander to the Moon and bringing them back again. But the number of heavy lift rockets since then has gotten pretty sparse. Now, with tens if not hundreds of thousands of satellites in the works, giant new space telescopes and multi-ton lunar landers in development there are heavy lift solutions to match. So let's talk about them! From yesterday's Saturn V to today's Ariane VI, rockets capable of launching large telescopes or small space stations in a single go are modern marvels. They are also wildly dangerous, and not exactly compatible. Let's look at today's fleet of rockets and just what they're accomplishing.

This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast

In this episode, we'd like to thank: Andrew Poelstra, Burry Gowen, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Eric Lee, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Jeanette Wink, Joe McTee, Michael Purcell, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler

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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 [email protected].

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 April 2026.

Today's 2 topics:

- Artificial light at night also known as light pollution is degrading human safety and health as well as damaging the natural environment on which we all depend. The loss of the connection with the natural night sky has happened over the past 100 years. Restoring the natural night sky is relatively simple and can even save money. Before restoration can effectively begin it is essential to make night sky brightness measurements in both natural night sky and urban locations.

- On a recent night my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Vivian Carvajal found 4 Earth approaching space rocks with our small but mighty Schmidt telescope on Mt. Bigelow, Arizona. These Earth approaching asteroids are all small with an average diameter about the width of tennis court. On their current paths none of them come closer than about 4 lunar distances from our home planet.

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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 [email protected].

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize & François Campher.

Jacinta and Francois wrap up Season 6 of The Cosmic Savannah with this exciting and reflective episode, discussing the history, science and legacy of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) which celebrated it's 20th anniversary in November of 2025. The team is joined by Professor David Buckley from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), who served as the project scientist for the SALT project.

In this episode, we discuss the full evolution of SALT, from idea to instrument and all the chaos along the way and also what the future holds for SALT and South African astronomy. Join us for this fascinating look at the history and continued work of SALT!

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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 [email protected].