Show Notes
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 May 2026. Today's 2 topics: - Winter nights can be exhausting, productive, as well as sometimes frustrating for asteroid hunters. At the Sixty Inch Telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona, near winter solstice, the night's observing starts at 6:30 PM and continues till after 6 AM which combined with start up and end tasks makes the asteroid hunter's work "day" more than 13 hours long. On such a recent long winter work night, my Catalina Sky Survey Teammate, Carson Fuls discovered an impressing total of 18 new Earth approaching objects. On the other hand on the next 3 night shift, I was treated to one night which was clear followed by two nights which were dominated by the first big snow storm of the season. The best nights are clear, cold, and calm with asteroid images which are small intense points of light. Such a night is said to have good seeing.
- My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Greg Leonard was searching for Earth approaching objects with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona when he discovered an interesting new comet moving through the constellation of Leo. After Greg posted his discovery observations on the Minor Planet Center's Near Earth Confirmation Page it was observed over the next 3 weeks by 10 different observatories around the world. These data were used to calculate the details of the new object's 51 year path around the Sun and give it the name Comet C/2017 W2 (Leonard).
We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ 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].
More from The 365 Days of Astronomy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvSNWnHZpjc Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) From Oct 4, 2016. Black holes are the most impressive objects in the Universe, but when happens when they crash into each other is absolutely mind-bending. They distort space and time itself, sending ripples out into the Universe.
From October 21, 2026. Hosted by Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest) This week we look at the weird results in space science. From looking at how wildly different images from different IR telescopes can be colorized, to worlds colliding, to white dwarfs of unusual size, and even to Earth's crust on the move, the news was surprising and sometimes a tad bit horrifying. And we present all of it here.
Hosted by Steve Nerlich. A podcast of sorts… Cheap Astronomy gets organized! Dear Cheap Astronomy – How are asteroids organized? The large majority of asteroids in the solar system are in the asteroid belt between mars and Jupiter. There are maybe 1-2 million that are more than a kilometer in diameter and millions more that are smaller than that. Nonetheless there's a huge amount of space between mars and Jupiter so it's nothing like that bit in the Empire strikes back. If you stood one asteroid is unlikely you'd be able to see another one and the odds of successfully navigating it are about one to one.
October Part 2. Paul Hill and Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. Jeni gives us the low down on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in the first talk of Fall AstroCamp 2026.
Light Up Empty Space! Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter. How does the vacuum interact with light? Is it possible to use light to create something from nothing? And is "birefringence" a real word? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!