Join us this week for our first News Roundup of the New Year, which is also the final episode of the Weekly Space Hangout! Thank you to everyone who made this show possible over the years and who helped bring science to the community! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support Co…

Historically, scientists using spectrographic analysis to study exoplanet atmospheres have considered oxygen and methane as two key biosignatures when identifying "life-friendly" planets. But could nitrous oxide (N2O) — aka "Laughing Gas" — also be a reliable biosignature? A recent paper published in the October, 2022, Astrophysical Journal explain…

Viewers who watched/listened to our November 16, 2022, episode may remember that Dr. Leah Jenks told us about high-energy neutrino emissions from NGC 1068 (Messier 77) that were detected by IceCube. This week we are pleased to welcome Dr. Francis Halzen, Principal Investigator for IceCube, who will discuss the significance of these detections in un…

During our November 16th show, Carolyn Collins Petersen introduced us to the hourglass/butterfly of L1527, an image captured by JWST using its onboard NIRCam. (You can read the original story here. This week we are joined by Dr. Karl Stapelfeldt, Chief Scientist for NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program at JPL who will help us understand the science…

It's time for another News Roundup ! Buckle up for another hour of news!! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest Subscribe to our podcasts Astro…

Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived in the second century BCE, is considered to be the greatest astronomical observer of his time. Among his achievements are the development of trigonometry, the ability to predict solar eclipses, discovering and measuring the precession of the equinoxes, and, in approximately 135 BCE, the compilation of the firs…

Despite the romance associated with Venus for millennia thanks to its having been named after the Roman god of love, Venus has proven to anything BUT romantic - LITERALLY! Combining the toxic and corrosive composition of its atmosphere with the crushing pressure exerted on anything that attempts to venture too far into it, Venus is the last place m…

Since its final commissioning and being placed in service, JWST has been delivering on its promise to provide unprecedented insight into the most distant — and oldest — regions of our Universe. Whether it's providing a new view of our nearby neighbor Jupiter, or sussing out never-before-seen details of the iconic Eagle Nebula and its Pillars of Cre…

This week we are airing our prerecorded interview with Andy Saunders, the author and creative force behind the new book "Apollo Remastered." Andy used his talent and expertise to digitally remaster and restore the original flight film from America's first missions to the Moon. Universe Today's own Nancy Atkinson (who is also a WSH alumna,) intervie…

As we discover new exoplanets on an almost daily basis - particularly now that JWST is online - scientists are ramping up their research into identifying those planets that may exhibit traces of life (as we know it.) Scientists use spectrographs to examine the composition of these exoplanet atmospheres looking markers called technosignatures - trac…

Pulsars have baffled scientists for decades, including how they work and what form matter takes within a pulsar. Using data collected by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) Mission between July 2017 and December 2018, scientists have not only been able to make the most precise size measurements of Pulsar J0030+0451 (located 1,100…

It's our first News Roundup of the season! News, news, and more news! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest Subscribe to our podcasts Astronomy…

Nothing transcends human differences here on our tiny planet than sharing the wonders of the night sky. For 50 years, Mike Simmons has been sharing and spreading astronomy with the world, both locally and internationally. Tonight, Mike joins us to share his newest venture, Astronomy for Equity, as he continues his calling to share astronomy with lo…

On August 5, 2022, a plucky little rover named Curiosity celebrated its 10th Anniversary on the surface of Mars. Since being lowered on Mars that summer day it has continued to exceed all mission expectations. For ten years, Curiosity has called Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp "home," all while wandering around the name of science and …

This week we are super excited to welcome Dr. Moiya McTier to the Weekly Space Hangout - this time as our special guest! In 2019, Moiya joined the Weekly Space Hangout as one of our first Early Career Journalists, and in April, 2021, she extended our WSH tradition of producing PhDs. On August 16th, Moiya's "autobiographical" book, The Milky Way, wa…

The first suspected exoplanet was identified back in 1988, and was then confirmed in 1992. Since then, the rate at which detection/confirmations have been made has been increasing. And JWST has already directly imaged its first exoplanet! What data are we able to gather from here on Earth? What are we able to learn about these planets from the data…

Welcome back to another season of the Weekly Space Hangout! In our season's premiere, we are excited to welcome back to the show our good friend Dean Regas from the Cincinnati Observatory! Dean has just released his new book "How to Teach Grown-Ups about Pluto" which is a light-hearted guide to Pluto's discovery and demotion that puts KIDS in charg…

NOTE: Due to an unexpected production issue, our audio cuts out at 11:44 for just over one minute, and again at 13:51 for just over 15 seconds. We apologize for this. Since JWST launched in December, 2022, we have been holding our collective breath as it made its way to its final home at the L2 Lagrange point. Throughout its approximate month-long …

This week we are honored to welcome former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver to the Weekly Space Hangout. Her new memoir, Escaping Gravity (Diversion Books, June 21, 2022), offers a "first-hand account of how a handful of revolutionaries managed to outmaneuver the system of political patronage and bureaucracy that threatened the space agency an…

As humanity dreams of exploring destinations both within our own solar system as well as those far beyond, the greatest challenge to be overcome is how to provide effective protection against the inevitable, prolonged exposure to lethal levels of radiation. We all know that Earth's strong magnetic field continually protects us. But can a sufficient…

It's another week of news, news, and even MORE news! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest Subscribe to our podcasts Astronomy Cast and Daily S…

Developing reliable, renewable, and safe power/energy storage systems is a key requirement for future space missions, both within our solar system and those venturing beyond it, as well as for establishing a permanent human presence on the moon and/or Mars. Are fuel cells one solution to this need? And what exactly constitutes a fuel cell? Find out…

On May 12th, 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released the first-ever direct image of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Tonight we are very pleased to welcome Dr. Lia Medeiros, a member of the EHT Collaboration, to the WSH. If you watched the NSF's streaming Q&A session following their press conference, you …

NOTE: We apologize for the audio issues in this week's podcast. We are working to diagnose and resolve the issues, and we appreciate your patience as we do so. Gravitational lensing has been used to discover far-distant galaxies that are obstructed from view thanks to the inconvenient positioning of astronomical interlopers. Recently, researchers h…

Astronomers recently announced that, with the help of the ESO VLT, they had observed a new type of small — yet powerful — stellar explosion: a Micronova. The study, which was published in "Nature" on April 20, was led by Dr. Simone Scaringi, astronomer at Durham University in the UK. We are pleased to welcome Simone to tonight's WSH to tell us more…

There always seems to be so many news stories that we never get to cover - but tonight we will get to discuss a few more than usual! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://w…

If you are a long-time viewer of the Weekly Space Hangout, then Dr. Paul Sutter is no stranger to you at all. For several years, he was one of our on-air journalists (along with Dr. Kimberly Cartier and Dr. Morgan Rehnberg.) Since leaving the WSH fold, Paul has continued to be one of the busiest people around. Tonight we are excited to welcome Paul…

Let's face it - there isn't a single one of us who hasn't gazed at myriad stunning astronomy images that are readily available on the web. Whether it's Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Saturn's gorgeous rings, desolate Martian landscapes, or a spectacular deep sky object, the "raw material" behind each of these beauties is often publicly available data co…

Tonight we are very excited to welcome Amber Dubill from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to the WSH. Amber has worked on both IMAP and DART, and also has a keen interest in advanced solar sail design concepts. Solar sails have long been theorized as being a viable means of spacecraft propulsion — eventually — and we do seem to be movin…

This week we welcome Dr. Justin Walsh to the show to tell us about the archaeology of space. Wait… WHAT???? You read that correctly… the archaeology of space. Justin is a PI of the International Space Station Archaeological Project (ISSAP) [https://issarchaeology.org/], the first large-scale space archaeology project. Initiated in 2015, the archaeo…

This week we are airing Fraser's pre-recorded interview with award-winning author, and documentary director Dwight Steven-Boniecki. Dwight is the director of a film called Searching For Skylab - a largely forgotten story that tells the story of the space station that preceded the ISS. The documentary features never-before-seen footage revealing inc…

Another week with no guest - but that means we get to talk about MORE NEWS!!! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest Subscribe to our podcasts A…

On March 8, the ESO announced in their Press Release (https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2205/?lang) that a team of researchers from Leiden University, The Netherlands, had detected the largest molecule to date within a planetary disc. At 9-atoms, dimethyl ether is considered a precursor of larger organic molecules that can lead to the emergence of…

On March 2, 2022, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reported (refer to Press Release: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2204/?lang) that the HR 6819 system, believed to be the home of the closest black hole to earth, is, in fact, "a 'vampire' two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution." HR 6819, just 1000 light-years fr…

This week is another news roundup! And what could be better than having a guest join us straight from the "Breaking News" headlines! Joining us tonight is Seth Lockman, Communications Director for bluShift Aerospace, fresh off their successful static fire test of their MAREVL 2.0 rocket last evening (March 1, 2022)! CONGRATULATIONS to Sascha Deri a…

This week is another news roundup! Be prepared for an entire hour of science news! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest Subscribe to our podca…

This week is another news roundup! Be prepared for an entire hour of science news! Oh yeah - a certain DESK may be making a return! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://ww…

This week we are airing Fraser's prerecorded interview with Michael Foley, co-author of a recently published paper that talks about how the local bubble around the Sun drives nearby star formation. You can watch Carolyn Collins Petersen talk about this research during the January 19, 2022, WSH News Roundup (https://youtu.be/A_QcGmGBYDk?t=1737) Mich…

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Sian Proctor, Inspiration4 Mission Pilot, to the Weekly Space Hangout. On September 16, 2021, the Inspiration4 all-civilian orbital mission to space launched from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A atop a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Dr. Sian Proctor is a geoscientist, explorer, space artist, and astronaut…

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Ralph McNutt to the WSH. Two weeks ago, Dave Dickinson introduced us to a proposed new mission by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the Interstellar Probe (https://interstellarprobe.jhuapl.edu/). Ralph is the Principal Investigator for this exciting new mission and he is here tonight to…

This week we have no guest scheduled, so it will be an hour of news! **************************************** The Weekly Space Hangout is a production of CosmoQuest. Want to support CosmoQuest? Here are some specific ways you can help: ► Subscribe FREE to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/cosmoquest ► Subscribe to our podcasts Astron…

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Scott Bellamy to the WSH. Scott is the Mission Manager for NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission which successfully launched in the early morning hours from Vandenberg atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on November 24, 2021. Scott Bellamy is one of the Mission Managers in the Planetary Missions Pr…

To ring in 2022 on Weekly Space Hangout we are pleased and excited to welcome Nicole Stott to the show. Nicole is an astronaut, aquanaut, artist, mom, and now author of her first book Back to Earth: What Life In Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet – And Our Mission To Protect It. She creatively combines the awe and wonder of her spaceflight exper…

This week marks the final episode of 2021, and we are excited to welcome Dr. Kevin Croker from University of Hawai’i at Mānoa! Kevin led a team that compared data from simulated black hole mergers with that from gravitational waves detected by the LIGO–Virgo collaboration. This comparison led to a surprising conclusion: ignoring the expansion of th…

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Jake Abbott, director of the Telerobotics Laboratory at the University of Utah to the WSH. The proliferation of Space Debris has become an increasingly alarming reality. In fact, as recently as December 3, 2021, "The International Space Station (ISS) had to swerve away from a fragment of a U.S. launch vehicle…

This week we welcome Dr. Paul Halpern, professor of physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. His new book, "Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate," brings to life one of the greatest clashes of ideas in the history of science. Dr. Paul Halpern is a professor of physics at the University of th…

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Saverio Cambioni to the Weekly Space Hangout. In October 2020, OSIRIS-REx successfully collected (and stowed) a sample from the asteroid Bennu in a Touch-And-Go (TAG) maneuver that could not have been attempted — much less completed — without the assistance of the CosmoQuest community who participated in the …

This week we are excited to welcome Dr. Stephon Alexander to the WSH to chat about his new book, Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider’s Guide to the Future of Physics, which was published on August 31. What lurks beyond the black hole singularity in our galaxy? How did cosmic structure emerge from a chaotic and featureless early universe? Is there…

This week we are thrilled to be joined by astrophotographer Ian Lauer. Ian is an astronomer and astrophotographer with a passion for public speaking and sharing the wonders of the night sky with the public. He has worked with telescope manufacturers and retailers around the world to building telescope systems for private and professional observator…

This week we are excited to welcome CalTech graduate student Dillon Dong to the WSH. Dillon was the lead investigator in a study that determined that a bright radio flare discovered in data collected by the Very Large Array (VLA) Sky Survey in 2017 was the result of a black hole or neutron star crashing into its companion star in a never-before-see…