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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.
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EXOQUEST: The Scientific Search for Interstellar Artifacts Long-form conversations with leading scientists about interstellar objects and the search for extraterrestrial technosignatures. First contact might not arrive as a radio signal—it might be an object passing through our solar system right now. EXOQUEST interviews astrophysicists and researchers from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, NASA, and ESA who study interstellar visitors like ʻOumuamua, Borisov, and ATLAS to determine whether they're na ...
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 775: The Hydrogen 21-cm Line By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Dec 15, 2025. Atomic hydrogen is the raw material for stars, but there's a problem. It's cold & dark, but it can do a very rare trick, releasing a photon in a very specific wavelength, known as the 21 centimeter line. And thanks to this wavelength astro…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 774: How Does Bad Science Happen? By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 8, 2025. Scientific expertise is under attack on all fronts with concerns coming from politicians and the public. While most of this is unwarranted and politically motivated, there can be germ of truth. Bad science does happen, but how? How is …
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Ep. 773: What Would You Do With $1 Billion For Astronomy?
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 773: What Would You Do With $1 Billion For Astronomy? By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 9, 2025. We are powerless fans of space exploration. But what if some fool gave us the authority and funding to make our space dreams a reality? Someone asked us what we'd do with a billion dollars. What missions? Which tele…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 772: 2025 Gift Guide By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 9, 2025. It's time once again for our annual gift-giving guide. We've got recommendations for books, movies, TV shows, games, and of course astronomy gear to satisfy the space nerds in your family. The Christmas season is almost upon us, and with it comes e…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 771: Comet Tails By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 8, 2025. With the arrival of the comet 3I/Atlas (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System), the world is getting a crash course in comets, their behavior, and of course their tails. Today we're going to talk about comets and their tails, why they exist, ho…
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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 solv…
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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 …
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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 …
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Ep. 767: Black Holes in Extreme Circumstances
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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…
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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 …
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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 curren…
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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…
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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 di…
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Ep. 762: Science in Crisis - NASA's New Budget
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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% …
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Ep. 761: It's Here! The Vera Rubin Observatory
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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…
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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 w…
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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 t…
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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, slith…
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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 …
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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…
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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 …
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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.…
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Ep. 753: Why is the Moon's South Pole So Interesting?
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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 w…
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Ep. 752: Should We Go to the Moon or Mars Next?
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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 …
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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 i…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 750: Supernova Early Warning System By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Mar 31, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay When enormous stars detonate as supernovae they release a burst of neutrinos that can be the first sign of a coming explosion. Now, astronomers have built a network to watch for that flas…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 749: Dark Energy Changing Over Time By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Mar 24, 2025. The Hubble Tension is a vexing problem, with astronomers measuring the expansion of the Universe at different points in its history and getting different results. Errors have mostly been ruled out, which leaves the potential for new…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 748: Fast Radio Bursts By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Mar 17, 2025. For the briefest of moments, some dead stars can flash brighter than their entire galaxy (in Radio light) and then live to do it again and again. It's time for an update on fast radio bursts, a phenomenon we've only known about for a few decades…
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Streamed live on Mar 10, 2025. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay Most planets orbit stars. That's the rule, right? Well, maybe not. In fact the vast majority of planets could be floating freely through the Milky Way. Today we're gonna talk about rogue planets. Sometimes planets just go rogue. Let's learn about planets living free from st…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 746: Dust Storms By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live Feb 24, 2025. We have dust storms on Earth and of course the famous dust storms on Mars. There are even dust storms on Titan. What causes these storms and how do they work differently on the worlds in the solar system. But what about the exoplanets? The bane of solar …
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Ep. 745: How We Know If Asteroids Will Attack
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 745: How We Know If Asteroids Will Attack By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live Feb 20, 2025. I'm sure you've heard the news, asteroid 2024 YR4 has a tiny chance of hitting Earth in 2032. How do astronomers discover these dangerous asteroids, measure their future impact risk and track the changes over time? When should we…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 744: Lunar Time By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Feb 10, 2025. What time is it? OK, fine, what time is it on the Moon? The Moon orbits the Earth, so it doesn't fall into a specific time zone. Also, there's lower gravity on the surface of the Moon, which changes the rate that clocks tick. Well… It's time to introdu…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 741: Technosignatures By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Jan 20, 2025. As humanity developed more advanced technology, we're having a larger effect on our environment. The more we do, the more we could be detectable. And this gives us ideas on how we could detect other civilizations, even if they don't realize we're…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 740: Sneaky Stars! By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Jan 13, 2025. Why stars can't be trusted! If you're an astronomer you depend on accurate observations of stars, but there's a problem. Stars are sneaky! Changing in size, brightness, color, they hide their chemistry, their age and even their companions from all b…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 740: Drones! By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live January 9, 2025. From little Ingenuity to the future Firefly and all our Earth Science fliers, let's look at the buzzy scientists. NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter showed us how wonderful a flying science platform can be on another world. Soon there'll be a helicopter fly…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 736: Gift Guide 2024 By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Dec 2, 2024 It's time for our Holiday Gift Guide, where we suggest ideas for presents for the space fans in your life! What books are we reading? What games are we playing and what telescopes are we admiring? SUPPORTED BY YOU !!! This Episode is made possible t…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 735: Albert Einstein By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 25, 2024. Last week we talked about the Einstein probe. So this week it is only natural that we talk about the man himself, Albert Einstein. He revolutionized the field of physics, played a vital role in the early 20th century and struggled to unite the for…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 734: The Einstein Mission By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 11, 2024. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay. Another day, another space telescope! Today we're looking at the newly launched Einstein Probe. A collaboration between the Chinese Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The mission has been…
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Astronomy Cast - Ep. 733: Euclid Of Alexandria By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Nov 5, 2024. Last week we talked about the mission. This week we'll talk about Euclid of Alexandria, the ancient Greek mathematician who inspired the mission. Let's learn about his life and the ground breaking work that made so much of our modern mathema…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 732: The Euclid Telescope By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Oct 28, 2024. Let's look at the Euclid Space Telescope. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay The Euclid 208-Gigapixel image! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ZCsUfgLRQ SUPPORTED BY YOU! This Episode is made possible thanks to our Patrons on Patreo…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 731: Neil Gehrels By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Oct 21, 2024. Last week we talked about the Neil Gerhels Swift Telescope, this week we'll be talking about the man behind the mission. Gerhels was the principle investigator behind many missions, including Swift. Hosted by: Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela L. Gay. SUPPO…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 729: The James Webb Space Telescope By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Sep 30, 2024. Let's talk about that giant telescope that's changing everything. We have been waiting our entire careers to make this episode on the James Webb Space Telescope, AKA the JWST. This historic Observatory was launched just a couple of …
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 728: Solar Scientist Eugene Parker By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Sep 23, 2024. Last week, we talked about the Parker Solar Probe. As always, we like to talk about the person who inspired the mission. What makes this amazing and different is that Eugene Parker was there to watch the launch of the mission that sh…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 727: Parker Solar Probe By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live on Sep 16, 2024. Let's look over the long life of the Parker Solar Probe as it explores the Sun and nearby worlds. The Sun! It's that ongoing thermonuclear explosion that's happening right over there! And although the Sun is necessary for life on Earth, we stil…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 726: Looking Back Over The Summer By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay Streamed live Sep 9, 2024. We made all sorts of predictions, and some of the stuff we didn't know about last July, somehow, we still don't know about as we set up this episode on September 3! Join us for the first episode of Season 18 as we review all the crazy spa…
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Ep. 173: Herschel Space Observatory - REMASTER
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 173: Herschel Space Observatory - REMASTER By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay From January 18, 2009. Last week we talked about Herschel the people – William Herschel, his sister Caroline, and his son John. This week we look at the Herschel Space Observatory, a mission launched in 2009 to reveal the coldest and dustiest regions in th…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 172: William Herschel - REMASTER By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay From January 11, 2010. Ancient astronomers knew of 5 planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – 6 if you count Earth. And then in 1781, William Herschel discovered an entirely new planet, Uranus, boosting the number of planets to 7. Let's learn about Hersch…
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Ep. 88 - The Hubble Space Telescope - REMASTER
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 88 - The Hubble Space Telescope - REMASTER By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay From May 12, 2008. Our understanding of the cosmos has been revolutionized by the Hubble Space Telescope. The breathtaking familiar photos, like the Pillars of Creation, pale in comparison to the astounding amount of science data returned to Earth. Hubble'…
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Astronomy Cast Ep. 162: Edwin Hubble - REMASTER By Fraser Cain & Dr. Pamela Gay From November 2, 2009. You might know the name "Hubble" because of the Hubble Space Telescope. But this phenomenal observatory was named after one of the most influential astronomers in modern history. Hubble discovered that galaxies are speeding away from us in all dir…
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