Spacepod

Osad

• 235: Why is the sun hot? 01.06.2026 9min

  A question from Ida, age 4. Miho Janvier answers. Find out more about the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Solar Orbiter,  and Proba-3. For more on Dr. Janiver's work, see episode 121.  
• 234: How many stars are there in space? 01.05.2026 9min

  A question from Kellan, age 6. Professor Kim McLeod answers. To learn more about Wellesley College's Whitin Observatory, including public visit nights, go here. For more on what you can do to reduce light pollution, see these resources from Dark Sky International.
• 232: Are there rainbows on other planets? 01.04.2026 10min

  A question from Maeve, who is almost 3 years old. Dr. Alejandro Soto answers. For more on Dr. Soto's work, see episodes 44 and 136.
• 232: How many potholes are on an asteroid? 02.03.2026 5min

  A question from Issac, age 5. Dr. Nancy Chabot answers. For more on Dr. Chabot's work, see episodes 7 and 152. For more on the Planetary Defense, see this NASA website. For more on the DART mission, see the mission website.
• 231: How big is space? 01.02.2026 9min

  A question from Issac, age 4. Dr. Jeff Rich answers. For more on Dr. Rich's work, see episodes 14, 81, 118, or 159, or visit the Carnegie Observatories website. Find the pocket solar system instructions here.
• 230: What is the fastest planet? 01.01.2026 5min

  A question from Renny, age 4. Dr. Jessie Christensen answers. For more on Dr. Christensen's work, see episodes 42 and 102.
• 229: What do asteroids smell like? 01.12.2025 6min

  A question from Sabine, age 5. Dr. Christopher Snead answers. For more on Dr. Snead's work, see Episode 184 of Spacepod. Do you know a kid with a space question? Upload it at listentospacepod.com and I'll do my best to get an answer!
• 228: Do other planets really have diamond rain? 20.11.2025 7min

  Dr. Sabine Stanley answers. For more about planetary insides, check out her book, "What's Hidden Inside Planets".  Do you know a kid with a space question? Upload it at listentospacepod.com and I'll do my best to get an answer!
• 227: What is the fastest asteroid? 15.10.2025 5min

  Dr. Michael Busch answers. Do you know a kid with a space question? Upload it at listentospacepod.com and I'll do my best to get an answer!
• 226: The intersection of computer science and astronomy with Dr. Kubica 02.03.2025 21min

  Dr. Jeremy Kubica talks about his work on the LINCC Frameworks project, and how he brings together astronomers and computer scientists to create software tools. He shares advice for students and talks about his books, which explain computing concepts in fun and accessible ways.
• 225: A newly discovered Martian volcano with Dr. Lee 22.12.2024 41min

  Dr. Pascal Lee tells the story of how he and his collaborators found a new volcano on Mars. He tells us about the "convergence of lines of evidence" that led to this discovery. He also explains why this site may be a good place to look for life.
• 224: Aurora borealis with Tina Ibsen 30.10.2024 54min

  Astrophysicist Tina Ibsen tells us about the northern lights. She talks about her research and gives tips on how to observe the lights. She tells us how Denmark is a space nation and shares her thoughts about the future of space exploration. We also talk about RumSnak, the space podcast she co-hosts with Anders Høeg Nissen.
• 223: Preparing for something we haven't seen yet with Dr. Holt 13.10.2024 23min

  Dr. Carrie Holt talks about how she's getting ready for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. She explains how astronomers are using simulated and real data to prepare in advance of this new data.
• 222: Measuring the emptiness of space with Dr. Becker 04.08.2024 21min

  Dr Tracy Becker tells us about solar system science using ultraviolet light. She explains how the color of a planet's northern lights depends on the planet's atmosphere. She also describes how scientists repurposed the New Horizons spacecraft to measure how empty space is.
• 221: The queens of heaven with Prof. Tauris 23.06.2024 30min

  Professor Thomas Tauris explains what gravitational waves can tell us about colliding neutron stars. He corrects Carrie's misconception about how gravitational waves affect people. He also explains how the last 400 years of astronomy have been like watching a silent movie, but now with gravitational waves, we have a soundtrack. 
• 220: Walking on the roof of hell with Prof. Stanley 19.05.2024 23min

  Prof. Sabine Stanley, author of "What's Hidden Inside Planets," tells us how the interior of Earth helps make this planet a nice place to live. She tells us that the Earth's mantle is actually solid rock, not liquid rock. She also explains what the Earth's interior and birthday balloons have in common. Spacepod listeners can get a 30% discount on "What's Hidden Inside Planets" with the code HPLAN if you order through Hopkins Press at press.jhu.edu. (This code is shared as a courtesy, Spacepod does not receive compensation if you order a book.)
• 219: Breaking the models with Dr. Merrison 22.04.2024 32min

  Dr. Jon Merrison talks about the Mars Simulation Laboratory. Here, scientists study what happens in low temperature, low pressure, windy environments.  He says visiting scientists often "come to our lab with some idea based on the conventional model and go away with data which makes no sense to them."
• 218: Anything we try is new with Dr. Cable 24.03.2024 26min

  Dr. Morgan Cable returns to the show after nine years!  She tells us how she creates new minerals in her laboratory. She explains how this work helps shape NASA's Dragonfly mission. She encourages listeners to have confidence in their results.
• 217: A beautiful experience with Dr. Villanueva 19.02.2024 27min

  Dr. Geronimo Villanueva tells us about solar system discoveries with JWST. He talks about several projects, including observing water plumes from Saturn's moon Europa and looking for rings around Mars. He shares what it feels like to use this incredible space telescope. 
• Bonus: Carrie's research update 21.01.2024 9min

  I was sick for a few weeks this month and had to delay the scheduled interview. In the meantime, I've got a bonus episode for you. In this episode I talk about FindPOTATOs, which is software written by Nicole Tan and me, Carrie Nugent, to find asteroids and comets. I share some challenges we faced and how we overcame them. We hope that findPOTATOs can help astronomers find more asteroids, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects in their images of the sky!