The 365 Days of Astronomy

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. [email protected]
A listener builds their dream observatory on Episode 529 of the Actual Astronomy podcast. I'm Chris and joining me is Shane. We are amateur astronomers who love looking up at the night sky and this podcast is for everyone who enjoys going out under the stars.
 
We have a special guest joining us today, listener Kevin Duchscherer is joining us to share his Observatory Progress.
- Where are you located Kevin?
- How long have you been a listener?
- Tell us about how you became interested in astronomy
- What sort of astronomy do you enjoy? Visual? astro-Imaging? Both?
- What equipment have you owned?
- What equipment is in or will go into the observatory?
- What was your path to building an observatory
- Tell us about the design & construction but please start with the footprint size for both the observing area and warm room! Wall & pier height? How did you determine that?
- How did you isolate piers?
- I note the warm room is south?
- What sort of rolling mechanism/rollers?
- Is the roof powered?
- I note you insulated? So will you climate control / AC in summer? 
- Plans for use and; 
- There was something vaguely familiar, I note some of the features from "A Crayford Type Observatory" https://crayfordmanorastro.com/2019/02/11/a-crayford-type-roll-off-roof-observatory/
- Next steps
 
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!)
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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].

Hosted by Steve Nerlich.
Cheap Astronomy asks what's the point and then gets some sunshine.
Dear Cheap Astronomy – Did the Universe start from a single point?
This hypothetical concept is commonly stated in pop science blogs and we are guilty of doing the same here at Cheap Astronomy. However, it's not necessarily correct. As with most things relating to the Universe, all we can really talk about is the observable Universe. All evidence available does suggest that it emerged from a point source 13.8 billion years ago, but if the actual Universe is bigger than the observable Universe – and it very likely is – then it's not clear that the whole Universe emerged from that point source.
 
Dear Cheap Astronomy – Is space-based solar power the solution to all our problems?
Well, not all our problems and while SBSP is technically feasible, it may not be economically viable. The general idea of SBSP is that you have a solar collecting facility in Earth orbit, which then transmits the energy collected as microwaves down to the Earth's surface. Microwaves are preferred since they pass through the Earth's atmosphere relatively well and should not harm aircraft, ground infrastructure or people if they happen to get in the way. It might seem a bit daft to intercept light that already passes through the Earth's atmosphere, convert it into a lower energy form of light and then pass that through the atmosphere.
 
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].

Hosted by Dr. Paul M. Sutter.
What do we find when we push the James Webb Space Telescope to its limits? Are Little Red Dots newborn galaxies or old black holes? What are they teaching us about the early Universe? I discuss these questions and more in today's Ask a Spaceman!
 
Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter
All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com
Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PaulMSutter
Read a book: https://www.pmsutter.com/books
 
Keep those questions about space, science, astronomy, astrophysics, physics, and cosmology coming to #AskASpaceman for COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF TIME AND SPACE!
 
Big thanks to my top Patreon supporters this month: Justin G, Chris L, Alberto M, Duncan M, Corey D, Michael P, Naila, Sam R, Joshua, Scott M, Rob H, Scott M, Louis M, John W, Alexis, Gilbert M, Rob W, Jessica M, Jules R, Jim L, David S, Scott R, Heather, Mike S, Pete H, Steve S, Lisa R, Kevin B, Aileen G, Steven W, Deb A, Michael J, Phillip L, Steven B, Mark R, Alan B, Craig B, Richard K, Joe R, David P, Justin, Tracy F, Ella F, Thomas K, James C, Syamkumar M, Homer V, Mark D, Bruce A, Tim Z, Linda C, The Tired Jedi, Bob C, Stephen A, James R, Allen E, Michael S, Reinaldo A, Sheryl, David W, Chris, Michael S, Erlend A, James D, Karl W, Den K, Edward K, Scott K, Vivek D, Jennifer D, Barbara C, Brad, Azra K, Steve R, Koen G, Scott N, and M D Malahy!
 
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].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_Y-ST_az9c
Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)
Streamed live on Mar 9, 2026.
You think the Sun is a terrifying ball of fire and fury? Wait until you learn about today's topic: Wolf-Rayet stars! These are massive, dying stars hurling their outer layers out into space before detonating as supernovae. Big stars live brief lives, and Wolf-Rayet stars are the punctuation mark we see before things go supernova. 
 
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Learn more here: https://science.nasa.gov/asset/webb/w...
 
This show is supported through people like you on Patreon.com/AstronomyCast 
 
In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero
 
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].

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 August 2025.
Today's 2 topics:
- In a recent study Dr. Lynnane George and her co-authors investigate Space Elevator technology to remove materials from Ceres and deliver them to orbital depots around the solar system. The tiny gravity of Ceres, nano-fiber technology, and different water propulsion systems are utilized by Dr. George and her team to construct theoretically possible systems which would extract raw materials from Ceres and deliver them to low Earth orbit and other locations within the solar system. These researchers estimate such a transport system could reduce fuel costs by up to 60% compared to transport from the Earth's surface.
 
- Asteroid 2024 YR4 will not hit the Earth in 2032, has a 4% chance of hitting the Moon, and most likely will pass within 900 miles of the lunar surface. If 2024 YR4 were to impact the Moon it could send about the mass of several small cargo ships into space with lunar escape velocity and could pose a threat to our satellites. [Editor's note: Using JWST data, it's just been calculated to miss the Moon, unfortunately. Maybe next time…]
 
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].