Ep. 8 Planets

07/17/17 • 47 min

Eight planets in the solar system or nine? I go into depth with nine because I grew up with Pluto. The first five planets are visible to the naked eye but how did we find Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto? What are we doing to still learn about our closest celestial neighbors? Learn what makes each planet in our solar system special.

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Ep. 7 Measuring Mechanisms

Learn about four ancient (and contemporary, if you work on a ship) devices that utilize very specific areas of astronomy to help you figure out where you are and what time it is, and also predict where celestial bodies will be on other dates and at other times. I talk about the armillary sphere, the astrolabe, the sextant, and the Antikythera Mechanism.

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Ep. 9 Eclipses and Other Dis-astra

There are a several amazing, prophetic, portentous astronomical events you can see with the naked eye, and two are coming up! Hear about auroras, meteor showers, and the total eclipse that will be sweeping the United States in August 2017.