Podcast

SkyCaramba

Astronomy, Science

Podcast about astronomy and the joys of watching the skies at night--and sometimes during the day

Astronomy chart
#153
Episodes
319
Releases
Weekly
Typical length
5 min
On air since
2020
Latest episode
2 days ago

Episodes

319 episodes, newest first

  1. Davis's Dog

    Season 7, Episode 44

    Show notes

    The moon passes by Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus.

    The moon also passes Venus and Spica.

    Uranus is by an asterism called Davis's Dog. Does it look like a dog to you?

    5 min
  2. Venus as a morning object

    Season 7, Episode 43

    Show notes

    The moon passes in front of the Pleiades.

    Mercury's harder to see in the evening.

    Venus, known as the evening star, spends a lot of time in the morning sky too.

    5 min
  3. Finding the false dawn

    Season 7, Episode 42

    Show notes

    Mercury is about to go retrograde.

    Venus heads for conjunction with the sun.

    Mars pursues Jupiter on the way to the lion.

    In the right conditions, reflections off of cosmic dust could fool you into thinking dawn has begun.

    4 min
  4. What we learned when Venus crossed the sun

    Season 7, Episode 41

    Show notes

    Venus is leaving the evening sky.

    Mercury's at greatest elongation.

    Saturn stays up all night.

    Mars crosses the crab.

    What we learn from transits of Venus.

    6 min
  5. Staying up all night with the fishes

    Season 7, Episode 40

    Show notes

    Venus and Mercury pair up in the evening.

    The moon passes by Mars and Jupiter.

    The Draconid meteor shower peaks.

    Several objects are at opposition or close to it. And they're in Cetus and Pisces.

    6 min
  6. Jupiter's jaunt behind the moon

    Season 7, Episode 39

    Show notes

    Mars at equinox.

    The moon hides the Pleiades.

    Mercury farthest from the sun.

    Venus goes retrograde.

    And there's an upcoming occultation of Jupiter. The moon will pass in front of the big planet. But you can also see Jupiter's four brightest moons get hidden too.

    5 min
  7. Try to tune in to another meteor shower

    Season 7, Episode 38

    Show notes

    Neptune at opposition.

    Mercury passes Spica.

    Another daytime meteor shower. You may see some meteors early in the morning. But these meteors are mostly entering the atmosphere by day. Maybe you can listen for them on the radio.

    6 min
  8. Equinox. Equal? NOT!

    Season 7, Episode 37

    Show notes

    The moon passes by Venus.

    Mercury makes headway into the evening.

    Mars is closest to Pollux.

    Southern lunistice and lunar apogee.

    Not everywhere gets 12 hours of sunlight on the equinox. Some places don't get exactly 12 hours at all--ever.

    5 min
  9. What's in a name? History!

    Season 7, Episode 36

    Show notes

    The moon at apogee and heading south.

    Uranus goes retrograde.

    Mercury moves toward Venus.

    What's in a name? Maybe a few thousand years of human oral history. It doesn't seem so now, but Milky Way and galaxy go back to the same origin when people described what they saw in the sky.

    5 min
  10. Star spangled with Spica

    Season 7, Episode 35

    Show notes

    The moon passes by Saturn.

    Venus is at aphelion.

    The moon reaches its farthest north.

    Venus passes by Spica, whose light left the star around the time of the American Revolution.

    5 min
  11. A deep partial lunar eclipse

    Season 7, Episode 34

    Show notes

    We get a deep partial lunar eclipse this week. Just a little deeper and it would be total.

    Mars continues making its way through Gemini.

    Jupiter rises just before the sun.

    Venus approaches Spica.

    5 min
  12. Mira on the downside

    Season 7, Episode 33

    Show notes

    The constellation Cetus rises about midnight. The variable star Mira remains beyond naked eye visibility.

    Mars reaches the feet of Gemini.

    Mercury zooms into the sunrise away from Jupiter.

    6 min
  13. Total solar eclipse and Perseid meteor shower

    Season 7, Episode 32

    Show notes

    There's a total solar eclipse this week.

    Venus reaches greatest elongation.

    Mercury, Mars, and the moon delight in the morning.

    And watch for Perseid meteors.

    6 min
  14. Eye to eye with Mars and both inner planets at dichotomy

    Season 7, Episode 31

    Show notes

    Earth is eye-to-eye with Mars in a manner of speaking.

    The moon passes by Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus.

    Venus approaches Porrima.

    Venus and Mercury could both appear at semi-circle phase on the same day, even though math says they shouldn't.

    5 min
  15. Venus by the lion's tail

    Season 7, Episode 30

    Show notes

    Venus is the only naked eye planet in our evening sky. It's near the lion's tail. Or it's by what some ancient observers likened to a dog pen.

    Saturn and Mars shine in the morning. Mercury's joining them.

    5 min
  16. Two more faint objects at opposition together

    Season 7, Episode 29

    Show notes

    Venus is below the lion's belly.

    Saturn's rings are tipped to us.

    Mercury makes it to the morning.

    Two faint solar system objects were at opposition together earlier this month. Now, two more are.

    6 min
  17. About Earth's aphelion

    Show notes

    Jupiter is exiting the evening sky.

    The moon passes Regulus and Venus.

    Saturn's rings at their best for a while.

    Orion's hunting trip begins in the morning.

    Earth is getting closer to the sun now, but that's not why it's so hot in the northern hemisphere lately.

    5 min
  18. Two asteroids at opposition

    Season 7, Episode 27

    Show notes

    Two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are up all night this week. One got its name because of two sad events that happened on the same date 13 years apart.

    Venus passes by Regulus.

    Jupiter approaches the crab.

    The moon passes Saturn.

    6 min
  19. Mercury retreats and what the American colonists saw when they didn't

    Season 7, Episode 26

    Show notes

    Mercury is leaving the evening sky.

    Jupiter's still there but won't be for long.

    Venus shines bright at dusk.

    Mars and Uranus have a close call.

    And find out what the people who didn't want to be British subjects anymore 250 years ago saw in the sky on July 4, 1776.

    6 min
  20. The moon in the room

    Season 7, Episode 25

    Show notes

    The moon passes through a part of the sky ancient Chinese observers described as a room.

    Mercury turns around.

    Mars is near the seven sisters.

    5 min