Podcast: Kepler Slackerchat

D’oh!

We posted this podcast to the feed many moons ago but forgot to post it here! We also have another one half in the can that will be hitting the feed soon. If you enjoy the podcast, definitely subscribe to the feed.

This podcast is a chit-chat show with yours truly (Michael Koppelman), Doug Welch, Mike Simonsen with a short cameo by Chris Watson, who is an amateur astronomer, friend and AAVSO activist who helps us with the editing from time to time.

As usual, we span a range of topics but end up talking a lot about Kepler and exoplanets.

Subscribe to the feed (the logical thing to do) or download and/or listen now with this handy link:

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This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Podcast: Monstrous Supernovae

Doug talks with Dr. Rachid Ouyed about monstrous supernovae and the extremely interesting prospect that they may result from the transition from a neutron star to a strange star. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any denser…

You can listen to this podcast using some device to physically move the air. Your ears can detect the pressure waves moving through the air that these devices create and, almost like magic, you can hear the podcast! To do that you could subscribe to the feed (the logical thing to do) or download and/or listen now with this handy link:

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Here are the links to some of the topics discussed in this podcast:

Rachid Ouyed’s webpage

Quark Nova Project’s webpage – check out the animation under “Multimedia”

“SGR 0418+5729 as an evolved Quark-Nova compact remnant”
Rachid Ouyed, Denis Leahy, Brian Niebergal

“Quark nova imprint in the extreme supernova explosion SN 2006gy: the advent of the Quark Star”
Rachid Ouyed, Mathew Kostka, Nico Koning, Denis Leahy, Wolfgang Steffen

“Predictions for signatures of the quark-nova in superluminous supernovae”
Rachid Ouyed, Denis Leahy, Prashanth Jaikumar

“Quark-Novae, cosmic reionization, and early r-process element production”
Rachid Ouyed, Ralph Pudritz, Prashanth Jaikumar

Quarks

The Strange Quark

This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Visualizing Epsilon Aurigae with Ryan Wyatt

We got skipped last month but we are back on The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast this month with another exciting installment! This time we are interviewing the über cool Ryan Wyatt, who is a science visualizer and director of the planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. We have had Ryan on the show before. Perhaps some studious young person can add a link to that show in the comments.

As a side note, I did and do actually know Ryan’s last name! On the podcast I had a moment of forgetfulness or self-doubt and he confusedly fills in his last name for me in the introduction.

BTW, here is the video we are discussing with Ryan.

Also, we have a very long and very entertaining extended version of this podcast that I am working frantically to edit and upload. Please subscribe to the feed or stop back again soon. You can also follows us on Twitter at @slackastro and/or search for our Facebook page. We are slackers at updating all of the above but at least we are upfront about it.

That is all for now. Get thee to 365 and check out today’s podcast or listen now below.

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Podcast: Fun from the Sun

This month Michael (that’s me), Doug and Mike get together on Skype to discuss the Sun.

If I may have a moment, the Sun is unquestionably the most important thing in our universe. Every scrap of energy we have on this planet comes from the Sun. It’s big, bright and hugely important to the evolution of Man and our fate in the future. It’s also a cauldron of convecting plasma that behaves, in ways, like a big, boiling pot of water.

In the podcast we talk specifically about aurora and their source — sun spots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. And we go off-topic and make jokes and stuff, too. An abbreviated version of this podcast is available at The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast.

Enjoy now by subscribing to the podcast, downloading or listening now!

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This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Podcast: Lucas Macri on the Extragalactic Distance Scale

We have a new podcast on the feed and once again it is the extended version of our most recent contribution to The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Michael Koppelman interviews Dr. Luca Macri of Texas A&M University about his work on the extragalactic distance scale.

You can subscribe with RSS and/or iTunes with the handy links on the right side of this page or download and/or Listen Now!
 

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This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Podcast: AAVSONet with Arne Henden

We have a new podcast on the feed. Mike Simonsen interviews Dr. Arne Henden about AAVSONet, a network of remote, robotically controlled, and automatically queued telescopes for the use of AAVSO members.

(UPDATE: Fixed link, it was pointing to the wrong show!

Subscribe or listen now!

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Podcast: Citizen Sky with Rebekah Turner

We have a new (belated) podcast on the feed! Michael, Doug and Mike regale us with their wit and humor and then Mike interviews Rebekah Turner about the Citizen Sky project.

You can subscribe with RSS and/or iTunes with the handy links on the right side of this page or download and/or Listen Now!
 

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This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Podcast: Interview with Bob Naeye of Sky & Telescope

Our latest contributions to The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast featured a two-part interview with Robert Naeye, Editor-in-Chief of Sky & Telescope magazine. Mike Simonsen talks to Bob about amateur astronomy in Part 1 and science journalism in Part 2. In the extended versions, we hear more from Mike and Bob as well as insightful and entertaining commentary by Michael, Doug and Mike. Enjoy!

Part 1, short version
Part 1, extended version

Part 2, short version
Part 2, extended version

Listen now:
Part 1
 

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Podcast Interview with Kevin Krisciunas

There is a new show on the feed! It’s the extended version of our February contribution to The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast. Our very own slacker Mike Simonsen interviews Kevin Krisciunas about his recent paper that describes how to measure the eccentricity of the moon’s orbit with a yardstick and some cardboard. But that’s not all! Kevin is a funny and experienced guy and the interview is packed with stories and science from his journeys.

You can subscribe by using the links on your right or listen to this episode right now below.

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This podcast is brought to you by Swinburne Astronomy Online, offering fully online degree programs in astronomy.

Slacker Mike Simonsen on Astronomy.FM Friday night

Hey, Slacker friends, Mike will be on Astronomy.FM Friday night at 9PM EST, talking with Marty Kunz on the Event Horizon program about AAVSO, variable stars, AAVSO, cataclysmic variables, AAVSO, Mike’s research interests, AAVSO, epsilon Aurigae, AAVSO, telescopes and whatever else comes to mind…which could be just about anything!