Have you ever wondered how astronomers do their research? How do they go from idea or question, to gathering their data, to publishing the research. What are all the hoops they have to jump through, the paperwork to fill out, and the cool toys they get to use along the way?
Last week we talked about the various ways that astronomers could detect the presence of intelligent civilizations by observing technosignatures. This week we’ll give you an update on the state of the search for extraterrestrials. This field has gone from a collection of pariahs to a completely legitimate field of research. What’s changed?
This week, @AstronomyCast discuss what it’s going to take to detect intelligent life out there in space.
Are we alone in the Universe? It’s one of the biggest scientific questions we can possibly ask. And yet, with rovers on Mars, missions planned to visit Europa and Ganymede. Powerful telescopes able to detect the atmospheres of exoplanets, we’re closer than ever to finding out the answer.
Volcanos can be some of the worst natural disasters that we can experience here on Earth. But life wouldn’t even exist without them. So, what are volcanos good for anyway?
As you all know, Pamela refuses to talk about any missions which aren’t actually doing science. Well, Perseverance has crossed the line, from fantasy to an actual working rover, scooping regolith and yeeting helicopters. What has the rover accomplished in its first 100 days?
Mars is cold and dead today, but the massive volcanoes tell us what the planet used to be like, millions and even billions of years ago. But how volcanically active is the planet today? That’s what NASA’s Mars InSight lander is there to figure out.
Have you ever wanted to be a time traveler? Well, good news! You’re time traveling right now. Into the future at one second per second. Today, let’s talk about the weird world of time dilation.
Last week we talked about balloon-based astronomy. This week we’re gonna talk about putting telescopes on rockets and making observations mid flight. Welcome to the wild world of sounding rockets.
Some telescopes are carried high into the atmosphere on board balloons. What can they accomplish?