Category: The Solar System

July 9, 2016 / Episodes

The Sun may be showing signs of belatedly entering a mid-life crisis of sorts. A sporty new car may improve the Sun’s mood, as its spin and sunspot production may be slowing now that it’s…

January 23, 2016 / Episodes

Not content with being the self-proclaimed “Pluto Killer”, CalTech professor Mike Brown has now co-authored a paper hypothesizing the existence of, in his own words, “the most planet-y of planets” or “Planet 9”, in the…

December 17, 2015 / Episodes

Join us for a discussion with Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, and hear about the mission and its discoveries from the man who made it happen. New Horizons…

November 29, 2015 / Episodes

Why is there no air on Mars? NASA’s MAVEN mission has supplied some details on how our neighbor lost what was likely a robust atmosphere comparable to Earth’s. Spoiler alert: size does matter. Mars’ diminutive…

October 23, 2015 / Episodes

Water is discovered on Mars (for the 95th time). Meanwhile, accelerated melting of land ice from Greenland is stifling global oceanic circulation on the Earth with dreadful (or exciting, if you are a super-villain) consequences for…

August 31, 2015 / Episodes

Comet 67/P and its spacecraft companions Rosetta and Philae have rounded the Sun and are now heading back out to colder climes. Rosetta has seen dramatic jets, chunks of ice sloughed off the comet, and…