Slacker Astronomy » Video Podcasts

The Anthe Arc is pretty cool

michael — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:18:03 +0000

Cassini images reveal the existence of a faint arc of material orbiting with Saturn’s small moon Anthe.

The moon is moving downward and to the right in this perspective. In this image, most of the visible material in the arc lies ahead of Anthe (2 kilometers, 1 mile across) in its orbit. However, over time the moon drifts slowly back and forth with respect to the arc.

The arc extends over about 20 degrees in longitude (about 5.5 percent of Anthe’s orbit) and appears to be associated with a gravitational resonance caused by the moon Mimas. Micrometeoroid impacts on Anthe are the likely source of the arc material.

Video: SOFIA and Hubble

michael — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:20:04 +0000

Brief discussions about Sophia and the upcoming Hubble servicing mission from the AAS meeting in Saint Louis. Cameos by Phil Plait (Bad Astronomy) and Mike Simonson (AAVSO).

Also available in MP4 format.

Slacker wins award

michael — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:08:59 +0000

Slacker Astronomy founder and Tufts grad student Aaron Price has won a Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award for his poster on BZ UMa.

I stopped by Aaron’s poster at AAS in St. Louis and he explained the work he presented while I grabbed it on video.

Here you go — enjoy!

Aaron Price on BZ UMa [FF] (MP4 video, 30.3MB, 04:10)

Interview: Susana Deustua of the IYA

michael — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:14:08 +0000

Here is a short interview with Susana Deustua of the Space Telescope Science Institute about the International Year of Astronomy, with a brief cameo by Mike Simonson of the AAVSO. I caught them at the opening reception of the American Astronomical Society meeting in St. Louis.

Interview: Susana Deustua of the IYA (MP4, 15.8MB, 2:11)

Interview: Rick Fienberg of Sky and Telescope

michael — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:25:47 +0000

Here is a short interview with Rick Fienberg of Sky and Telescope magazine. I edited this and added some nice Slacker graphics but the new iMovie sucks and I couldn’t get it to export properly. So this is the raw footage, taken at the American Astronomical Society meeting in St. Louis.

Interview: Rick Fienberg of Sky and Telescope (MP4, 42.8MB, 5:50)

Astro BBQ at Pamela’s

michael — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:39:34 +0000

This is a walk through Pamela Gay’s very lovely house during a party she threw for astronomers in town for the AAS meeting. Who can you spot?

The Moon Is A Trip

Aaron — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 04:41:13 +0000

Fun with the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal… (link, YouTube, Discuss)

Thanks to Lunarover for bringing it to our attention in the Apollo entry for Slackerpedia Galactica.

Hot Astronomers [OF]

Aaron — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:42:09 +0000

In search of hot astronomers at the AAS meeting…(direct link or via YouTube)

Hosts: Michael and Tanya
Camera and editing: Travis

Special shout out to special correspondent Tanya for helping us with this serious and important mission.

This was recorded at the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, WA. Michael, Tanya and Travis wandered the main poster hall looking for hot astronomers asking the question of the day: do looks hurt or hinder a career in a geek field?

Meanwhile, Aaron and Doug were stuck wondering: how did we miss out on this sweet gig?!?

Discuss in the forums here.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

michael — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:06:46 +0000

As posted over on our AAS blog, we did a quick interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson at the meeting (click here). He is a very smart and very funny guy and he was very kind to give us a few minutes of his time. I wouldn’t say he was mobbed at the meeting, per se, but I didn’t see him alone the whole time.

Neil deGrasse Tyson interview (MP4, 25.3M, 4:18)

YouTube version.

Optical SETI @ Oak Ridge Observatory

Aaron — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:48:47 +0000

We have a brief tour of the Optical SETI telescope at Oak Ridge Observatory. Get it on the feed or via this YouTube link .

Discuss via this thread in the forums.

3 Questions. Question 2: Are there extra-terrestrials?

michael — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:10:14 +0000

Here is the 2nd part of a 3-part series where we ask people questions. The first question was: should Pluto be a planet? This question is: are there extra-terrestrials? The answer seems to be an overwhelming “yes”.

Watch it now! (6meg MP4 video file)

Most of the people interviewed were attending a meeting of the AAVSO.

Next episode: Nature or nurture?

The Story of V838 Mon

Aaron — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:28:40 +0000

In this video, Rebekah and Travis tell the story of one of the strangest and newest stars in the sky: V838 Mon. Download the video via the podcast feed or view it view the Show Notes.
Thanks to Stuart Lowe at the Astronomy Blog for the V838 Mon animation.

Show notes and more on this episode are available here.

Discuss in our forums here.

3 Questions. Question 1: Should Pluto be a planet?

michael — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:15:40 +0000

Here is the 1st part of a 3-part series where we ask people questions. The first question is: should Pluto be a planet? The answer, according to these 11 people, is yes. 6 out of 11 said yes (with one abstention). It shows how contentious
this issue is.

Watch it now! (17meg MP4 video file)

Most of the people on this were attending a meeting of the AAVSO.

Next episode: Are there extraterrestrials?