Here's the first installment of Countdown to JWST, a podcast that will track the mission up to launch (hopefully) later this year.  Let's light this candle!

Countdown to JWST #1: Finally Ready to Launch?

Was there a first cause?  Can there be a event that started everything?  What would such an event look like?  In this episode Tony and Charlotte discuss the scientific and philosophical understanding of the beginning of the universe and what an effect that does NOT have a cause must look like.

Was There A First Cause?

This episode kicks off what I hope will be a weekly posting for the DA Show.  My wife Charlotte is a Catholic theologian and philosopher who has taught me much outside of my scientific realm.  I have heartily enjoyed our conversations over the years and now I hope to share some of them with you.  

When An Atheist Met A Catholic Theologian

Remember all the commotion about the BICEP2 mission back in 2014?  Cosmologist had announced the observation of polarized "B-mode" waves that, if connected to the universal cosmic microwave background, would lend credence and observational support to the Inflationary Theory of Cosmology, this period just after the Big Bang when astronomers think the universe expanded exponentially and faster than light.
The story made the front page of the New York Times and we were hearing about it everywhere.  While I doubt that very many people understood what was being said, clearly something big was happening and so everyone paid attention.  Dr. Brian Keating from USCD was a member of the BICEP2 team and talks about that time with me along with other really interesting goings-on in the world of science, including whether having something like the Nobel Prize is hurting science.
Brian Keating's Book: "Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition and the Peril of Science's Highest Honor" is available on the Deep Astronomy Amazon Page here:
https://amzn.to/2JHl7W4

A Cautionary Science Tale: BICEP2 and the Perils of the Nobel Prize

It turns out that NASA and others have been thinking about the inefficiencies of using chemical rockets to go to the Moon, Mars and the Outer Planets.  One very attractive solution is Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, a technology that was begun in the 1960's and considered as a viable method of propelling Apollo astronauts to the Moon, but was abandoned in favor of chemical rockets.  Fast forward to the twenty first century and we are back thinking about using this promising propulsion to get humans and space probes to the outer solar system quickly.  This podcast is the audio version of a Future in Space Hangout sponsored by the American Astronautical Society.

Using Nuclear Power for Deep Space Exploration

Let's talk about the potentially hazardous asteroid known as Apophis.  In April, 2029 this 320 meter rock will get so close that it will pass under the orbit of geosynchronous satellites!  Astronomers held a conference in late April of 2019 to discuss the science that can be done as it passes so close to the Earth.

The Apophis Asteroid: Should You Be Worried?

In this podcast: an essay on whether the effort that went into making the black hole image in the distant galaxy M87 by the Event Horizon Telescope was worth it; an interview with star mapper Wil Tirion and more!

Was the Event Horizon Telescope Black Hole Image a Waste of Time?

This podcast features science and technology from the Large Millimeter Telescope.  Our guests Nat DeNigris and David Sanchez will be on hand to discuss this amazing facility being operated in Mexico.
The Large Millimeter Telescope is the world's largest single-aperture telescope in its frequency range, built for observing radio waves in the wave lengths from approximately 0.85 to 4 mm. It has an active surface with a diameter of 50 metres and 1,960 square metres of collecting area.

The Large Millimeter Telescope

We've known since Edwin Hubble's time that the universe has been expanding.  What we've only recently learned (like, in the past 10 years or so) is that the universe is accelerating as it expands.  Measuring this expansion rate has been problematic and while there are at least two different ways to make the measurement, they don't always agree.
This episode features Ed Macauley from the University of Portsmouth UK, and a member of the Dark Energy Survey collaboration.  He and his team have been using a calibrated version of the 'standard candle' method of determining the rate of universal expansion, also known as the Hubble Constant or H0 to get a better answer that agrees with other measurement techniques.
You can read Ed's paper on Arxiv.org here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1811.02376.pdf

Just How Fast is the Universe Expanding EXACTLY? ...and how do we know this?

I'm not convinced that life is everywhere in the cosmos.  It is entirely possible, based on what we know today, that we are the only life there is.  Anywhere.  This episode is a brief discussion of that idea.

Life in the Universe? We May Be It!

Welcome to the first in a series of monthly discussions about topics in astronomy with Carol Christian, a colleague and friend of mine that has cohosted Astro Coffee Hangouts with me for years.
This month we talk about what it's like for women in science.  Why aren't more qualified women in science?  What are the obstacles?

Women in Science w/ Carol Christian

Members of the PLANETS Foundation are working hard to secure funding for a telescope specifically designed to look for life on other worlds.  In this episode, we discuss the capabilities and design of this exiting telescope

The Exolife Finder Telescope (ELF)

The next generation of world-class ground based observatories are being built right now.  Among them, The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).  Learn about this amazing telescope that will become the world's largest by mid-2020's

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)

Astronomy’s Future Will Be Built: New Capabilities to Assemble in Space the Largest Observatories.
Scientific performance of telescopes depend strongly upon the observatory’s aperture, its capability to collect faint light. Eventually, the challenging goals of astronomers will require telescope mirrors larger than can be deployed in space without the capability to assemble them, either with astronauts or with robots, enabled by the decreasing cost of commercial launch vehicles.
Join Tony Darnell as he discusses the promise, the challenges, and the capabilities being assessed to assemble the largest future space observatories with Drs. Nicholas Siegler (NASA JPL), Bradley Peterson (OSU/STScI) and Gordon Roesler (Robots in Space LLC).
Come hear about a new NASA-chartered study that is looking into this potentially enabling capability.
Future in Space Hangouts are endorsed by the American Astronomical Society and the American Astronautical Society.

Building Huge Telescopes in Space Using Robots

For decades advocates of the exploration of the Moon have argued that this will make possible subsequent exploration of Mars. But is this really true?
Recently several dozen experts critically examined whether astronaut exploration of the Moon could be used to feed forward to a human mission to the martian surface by the end of the 2030s. Their findings may surprise you.
Join Tony Darnell and Alberto Conti as they discuss the findings of a recent Moon-to-Mars workshop with Clive Neal (Notre Dame), Steve Mackwell (USRA), and Joseph Cassady (Aeroject Rocketdyne).

From the Moon to Mars

Did you know there is an effort underway to actually see the event horizon of a black hole?  Right now, astronomers around the world are processing data taken earlier of the center of our galaxy in attempt to see the boundary between normal space and that of Sag A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

The results are due out soon and this hangout is your chance to learn about one of the most amazing astronomy endeavours ever attempted from Geoff Bower, Chief Scientist for Hawaii Operations for the Event Horizon Telescope.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

NASA has for decades been assessing options to utilize the resources available in space – often on the Moon and Mars – to sustain long-duration human operations. It will be prohibitively expensive to send from Earth to either location sufficient resources for astronauts to carry out priority mission goals, to say nothing of eventual settlement. With NASA’s human space flight program focusing on lunar operations and technologies to enable eventual human missions to Mars, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) has become a high priority in NASA’s technology investment plans.

Join Tony Darnell and Harley Thronson as they discuss the current status of ISRU with Jerry Sanders and Stephen Hoffman, both of NASA Johnson Space Center.

Future in Space Hangouts are endorsed by the American Astronomical Society and the American Astronautical Society.

Using Resources in Space to Sustain Human Exploration

The largest ground-based telescope is now being built on the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a new class of extremely large telescopes that will allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity.

The TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO), a non-profit organization, was established in May 2014 to carry out the construction and operation phases of the TMT Project. The Members of TIO are Caltech, the University of California, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada); the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is a TIO Associate. Major funding has been provided by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

Please join Tony Darnell and Christian Ready as they discuss the status of this project with Dr. Christophe Dumas, TMT Observatory Scientist & Head Operations Department.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT)

Had a great discussion yesterday with biologist PZ Myers about the origin of life on Earth. What is our current knowledge of how life began on our planet? Is life easy or hard to make?  We also extend the discussion to life on other worlds.

The Origin of Life w/ PZ Myers

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has been on the forefront of astronomy discovery for decades. They operate telescopes primarily in South America, in Chile, and their astronomers have made groundbreaking observations in exoplanet research, cosmology, black holes, galaxy formation, etc. Please join us to learn about this amazing institution and what they are doing.

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