Audio Podcasts

During the infancy of our solar system, when our planets had not yet settled down into their orbits, this was a dangerous place to live. The planets wobbled and jostled around left over asteroids, comets and other debris floating in between their orbits, causing frequent collisions throughout our solar system.

Something appears to be pushing around a large clump of material that is in orbit of this star, and it's moving fast enough to make a difference in observations along a five month period.

From recent discoveries made by two of NASA's Great Observatories comes new insight into how stars are created. Large nebula's scattered all around our galaxy, act as incubators for newborn stars to ignite and grow.

At the center of our Milky Way galaxy is an area previously unseen by astronomers. Shrouded by clouds of swirling dusts and gases, before now our astronomers could only guess at what might lie behind this thick veil.

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it! Well, at least the building blocks of life. A new study from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hints that planets around stars cooler than our sun might possess a different mix of potentially life-forming chemicals.

Talk about hot flashes! A planet that heats up to extreme temperatures in a matter of hours before quickly cooling back down.

The new record-holder for dimmest known star-like object in the universe goes to twin brown dwarfs, each of which shines feebly with only one millionth the light of our sun.

The star Epsilon Eridani is even stranger than fiction. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has shown it has two asteroid belts.

Water is being blasted to pieces by a young star's laser-like jets, according to new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The discovery provides a better understanding of how water -- an essential ingredient for life as we know it -- is processed in emerging solar systems.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope continues to surprise astronomers. On its fifth anniversary, we recap some of this Great Observatory's biggest discoveries.

A contender for the title of brightest star in our Milky Way galaxy has been unearthed in the dusty metropolis of the galaxy's center.

As a result of a new Spitzer Space Telescope study, two of our own Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms have gone away.

Spitzer isn't the only infrared mission. Infrared images from another of NASA's robotic missions help us understand mysterious features on the surface of Mars.

Diamonds may be rare on Earth, but surprisingly common in space -- and new research shows that the infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are perfect for finding them.

Terrestrial planets might form around many, if not most, of the nearby sun-like stars in our galaxy. These new results suggest that worlds with potential for life might be more common than we thought.

Young city dwellers on Earth aren't the only ones rushing to suburbia to start families. New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that galaxies also prefer to breed stars in the cosmic suburbs.

New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that moons like Earth's -- that formed out of tremendous collisions -- are uncommon in the universe, arising at most in only 5 to 10 percent of planetary systems.

A big galaxy, spotted stealing gas from a passing galaxy about half its size, was caught red-handed by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The dust that makes everything around us -- and even ourselves -- may have come from black holes.

An infant Earth may be forming in a star system over 400 light-years away, according to new results from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

A recent detection of neon gas in planet-forming disks may help us better understand how planets form and whether or not life may exist elsewhere in the cosmos.

Spitzer learns why one class of galaxy seems to have trouble forming new stars.

New results from the Spitzer Space Telescope hint that other solar systems may be even more exotic than we've ever imagined.

Astronomers have studied two very intriguing planets beyond our solar system -- one super hot, one super windy. This podcast comes from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Once thought to be the stuff of science fiction, double sunsets may be much more common in the universe than previously believed. Dr. David Trilling discusses the Spitzer Space Telescope's recent results.

A first from the Spitzer Space Telescope. A new finding is a stepping stone to eventually studying signs of life on worlds where life could exist. (JPL Podcast)

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have for the first time discovered what the atmosphere is like on planets outside our solar system! Drs. Sara Seager and David Charbonneau discuss this groundbreaking technique with Robert Hurt.

Hubble's "Pillars of Creation" within the Eagle Nebula is one of the most famous astronomical images of all time. But new Spitzer observations by Nicolas Flagey have led to a surprising discovery: they may soon become "Pillars of Destruction."

In the beginning there was darkness...but now, Spitzer Scientists say they are seeing the universe's first light.

Could Comet Tempel 1 provide the key to understanding solar systems beyond our own? Dr. Carey Lisse talks with Linda Vu about the results of the Deep Impact mission.

Our story begins in the deep, dark universe, where galaxies, like people, lead fascinating lives, filled with drama. (JPL Podcast)

Can planet-forming disks put the brakes on spinning stars? Dr. Luisa Rebull discusses Spitzer results that may solve this astronomical mystery.

Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of the famous hunter constellation. Yet, Orion is still full of secrets.

Years before Spitzer was launched into space, the entire mission was cancelled! Dr. George Rieke discusses the incredible story of what brought it back from the dead, and how that information is influencing new infrared telescopes being developed today.

Spitzer has found a supernova remnant that no other telescope has seen. Dr. Patrick Morris discusses his team's discovery of this shy object which can't be detected in visible or even most bands of infrared light.

Are solar systems like our own common in the universe, or is ours an oddball? Dr. Lynne Hillenbrand discusses her work on a project designed to answer this question, and what they have discovered so far.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has uncovered new evidence that planets might rise up out of a dead star's ashes. (JPL Podcast)

A supernova may be the ultimate end of a star's life, but this may not be the story's end. Recent Spitzer results hint at new planetary systems arising from the ashes of the old. Dr. Deepto Chakrabarty and Zhongxiang Wang discuss their startling discovery.

Michelle Thaller speaks with Dr. George Helou about a striking new image of Galaxy M82, the discovery of mysterious organic dust clouds around the galaxy, and what they may reveal about the origin of organic material in our own galaxy.

Robert Hurt talks to Yanling Wu about her studies of blue compact dwarf galaxies, and what they tell us about the origins of organic molecules in infant galaxies.