The Cosmic Companion - Astronomy, Space, Technology Advancing Humanity

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome Dr. Stephanie Ryan to the show. She is the author of Let's Learn About Chemistry, and we will be talking about teaching science to children.   But first, we look at a new study suggesting clay, not water, may be hidden under the icy  South Pole of Mars. We also examine the radio galaxy Centaurus A in a new light, and look up at Satu...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome planetary astrophysicist Dr. Stephen Kane to the show. We discuss the role private spaceflight plays in society and developing science.    We will also learn about the first discovery of a moon in another solar system. Next, we head to Mars, where the InSight rover has mapped the inner structure of the planet in detail for the first...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion , we welcome New York Times best-selling author Earl Swift to the show. He recently released a new book, Across the Airless Wilds , the first major history of NASA's lunar buggy.   We're also going to hear about NASA's latest success story, as the Hubble Space Telescope is successfully repaired, readying to continue exploring the Cosmos. We wil...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome Dr. Stella Kafka back to the show. She is CEO of The American Association of Variable Star Observers, and she's going to teach us all about Betelgeuse.   We are also going to look at the night sky, as Venus, Mars, and the Moon huddle close together. Then, we venture out Enceladus, one of the mighty moons of Saturn, examining its gey...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we learn how gravitational waves show evidence for a pair of ancient stellar murder mysteries, we meet a white dwarf the size of our Moon, and we pay a visit to our ailing friend, the Hubble Space Telescope.   This week's scheduled interview with Earl Swift, author of Across the Airless Wilds, has been postponed until July 20, due to technical...

This week, we visit with Alyssa Mills. She is a graduate student at the University of Alabama, and we will talk about her work studying the largest moon in the Solar System – Ganymede. We also talk with Pedro Bernardinelli, the astronomer who recently found the largest comet ever seen – and it is coming our way. We also look in on the Hubble Space Telescope, which is still out of operation, follow...

This week, we welcome Brittany Zimmerman to the show. She is CEO of Yummet, an organization developing technology for living in space, as well as preserving our environment right here on Earth. We also check in on new findings about Betelgeuse, explained by Dr. Stella Kafka of the American Association of Variable Star Observers! But first, we look in on the Hubble Space Telescope, as that famed in...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome Dr. Noah Petro, Project Scientist for the NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to the show. We talk about exploring the lunar surface, the Artemis missions, and the return of humans to the Moon!    But first, we visit the CHIME radio Telescope in Canada, which recorded 535 fast radio bursts coming from around the Cosmos. Then,...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we welcome Dr. Bruce Betts to the show. He is Chief Scientist and LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society. We will be talking about near-Earth objects, and how we might protect our world from potentially-hazardous asteroids and comets. But first, we journey back almost 75,000  years, to a time when the Toba volcano erupted, wiping...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we are joined by Dr. Sabine Stanley of Johns Hopkins University. Listen in as we talk about her work using computer modeling to study the atmosphere of Saturn. But first, we go about as far back in time as we can get, examining conditions in the first millionth of a second after the Big Bang. Next, we learn how oxygen affected ancient forms of...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we take a look at a project that could become the first mission far into the void between the stars – the Interstellar Probe. We'll talk with Dr. Elena Provornikova from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory about this futuristic mission.   But first, we journey far back in time, to an era when the Milky Way may have merged with...

The Lunar eclipse of May 26th should be a delight for skygazers across the United States - especially those west of the Mississippi!   Here's what's happening, where you can see it, and more!    This is the first episode of a new idea - The Astronomy Minute! One story, told in 60 seconds or less - what do you think? What do you think - should we make more?    For more information, visit: The Cosmi...

This week, we take an up-close look at what will be the most-advanced telescope ever to launch into space, the James Webb Space Telescope. We welcome Scott Lambros, Instrument Systems Manager for this remarkable instrument, back to the show! But first, we look at new evidence for volcanic eruptions on Mars in the surprisingly-recent past. We also head out to the distant void of space as Voyager 1...

This week, we talk with Dr. Jack Hughes, astrophysicist at Rutgers University, telling us of new findings about supernovae, the powerful eruptions that can mark the end of life for massive stars.   But first, we will use computer simulations to peer inside the atmosphere of Saturn. We will look in on an unusual yellow supernova, and find what made this eruption so strange. And, we will look to the...

This week, we talk with Dr. Stella Kafka, CEO and Executive Director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. We discuss the human quest for knowledge, amateur astronomy, and, of course, variable stars.   But, first, we're going to take a look at the future of space exploration, as China successfully launches Tianhe, the first module in their upcoming space station. We will also loo...

This week on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we look at the future of data storage in space, as we talk with Ohad Harlev, CEO of Lyteloop.   But, first, we examine the case of the missing supernova, an exploding star that should have been seen on Earth three centuries ago - and wasn't. Next, we take a look at the Chinese Space Station Telescope, a new set of eyes readying to explore the...

Hello, and welcome back to Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion. This week, we have a pair of amazing guests. First, we talk to Joshua Ravich, NASA’s lead mechanical engineer for the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. We will discuss the design, testing, operation of this remarkable little robotic explorer. Next, we will be joined by Andrew Fazekas, National Geographic's Night Sky Guy, discussing a...

The Moon and Mars conjunction of April 16-17 will give skygazers a chance to see these two objects huddled together in the sky.    Andrew Fazekas, National Geographic's Night Sky Guy, gives us a look at what's happening, and how to see this beautiful display in the night sky.    Watch the full interview with him on April 20th, when we will talk about amateur astronomy, the human quest for knowledg...

This week, we welcome Affelia Wibisono from University College London to the show, discussing the first discovery of X-rays seen radiating from the ice giant planet Uranus.   But, next up, we take a look at the oldest, closest pairs of quasars yet seen in the early Universe. We will also look at the pulsar at the core of the Crab Nebula, revealing secrets of these enigmatic bodies. Then, we travel...

This week, we look forward to Yuri's Night. Monday, April 12th marks the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight, as well as the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Space Shuttle. We will visit with three-time Shuttle astronaut Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space. She also just became the first woman to ever visit the deepest spot in the Earth's ocean!...

This week, we have a double interview, talking with astronomer Alan Jackson and astrophysicist Steven Desch. We will talk about their new study of 'Oumuamua, an interstellar body which visited our solar system in 2017.   But first, we look at some odd geology on the Red Planet, as researchers learn how spiders on Mars form. We also see new images of the supermassive black hole at the core of the g...

This week, we welcome renowned physicist Dr. Lawrence Krauss, the author of The Physics of Star Trek, to the show, talking about his new book, The Physics of Climate Change. But first, we're going to take a look at a new study that may have found the final resting place of the ancient water of Mars. In other watery news, we look at how life may be hiding on ocean worlds within our own solar system...

This week, we are delighted to welcome Neil deGrasse Tyson to the show. We talk about his new book, Cosmic Queries, as well as the nature of intelligence, Carl Sagan, and a whole lot more. But first, we learn about one of the biggest problems in astrophysics, as a new study lends further evidence to questions about the expansion rate of the Universe. We also examine the oldest quasar jet ever seen...

This week, we learn about the first space hurricane ever spotted. We will also visit two different exoplanets that may strangely look familiar to Star Wars fans. One of these is thought to be a lava world, while the other may be largely covered in volcanoes.   Plus, a sneak preview of next week's episode, when we will be joined by Neil deGrasse Tyson, talking about his new book, Cosmic Queries, as...

This week, we are joined by Dr. Elisabeth Newton, astronomer at Dartmouth College, who recently discovered three new worlds around the dwarf star TOI 451.   But first, we're going to take a look at a new study showing that water worlds like Earth may be common around the galaxy. Next, we take a look at a new image of Venus, taken by the Parker Solar Probe, that could have implications for planetar...