George's Random Astronomical Object

Follow George's Random Astronomical Object
Share on
Copy link to clipboard

Science discussions about astronomical objects at randomly selected locations in the sky.

George Bendo


    • May 26, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 10m AVG DURATION
    • 150 EPISODES


    Search for episodes from George's Random Astronomical Object with a specific topic:

    Latest episodes from George's Random Astronomical Object

    Object 150: And Now for Something Completely the Same

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 9:50


    Wolf 1069 is another nearby red dwarf with an exoplanet, but this time, the exoplanet is more likely to harbor life than other nearby red dwarfs with exoplanets that I may have discussed in previous episodes.

    Object 149: Spaghetti Leftovers

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 9:42


    The globular cluster Messier 54 is not part of our galaxy but actually the nuclear stellar core of a dwarf galaxy that has nealy been completely gravitationally torn apart by the Milky Way.

    Object 148: Problem Solving

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2025 8:01


    Algol-type variable affected by light travel time effect caused by two smaller red dwarfs on wide orbits; this makes the variability period of the central two stars appear to vary.

    Object 147: Nothing But Gas

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2025 8:21


    Abell 1142 is a peculiar cluster of galaxies that has formed from the merger of two smaller clusters, and its center contains nothing but gas.

    Object 146: The Prototype of Peculiar

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 8:05


    SN 2002cx was the first supernova ever identified in a subclass of objects now called Type Iax supernovae.

    Object 145: Neutron Numbers Time

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2025 10:56


    PSR J1518+4904 is one of the very few identified double neutron stars, and it has provided opportunities to perform unique measurements on the objects.

    Object 144: Heavy Metals

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2025 8:05


    The stars in the open cluster NGC 6253 contain abnormally large amounts of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, and no one is quite certain why.

    Object 143: Almost Absolutely Awesome

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 10:52


    GJ 887 is a very close red dwarf with two exoplanets (and a potential third) that almost look like they could harbor life except for one potential problem.

    Object 142: The Littlest Galaxy Ever Found

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2025 10:31


    The awkwardly-named Segue 2 is (as of the time of the publication of this episode) the smallest galaxy anyone has ever found.

    Object 141: Just a Very Nice Spiral

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2025 12:32


    Messier 74 is just a very nice looking face-on spiral galaxy, which has made it quite useful for many different types of astrophysical analyses.

    Object 140: Imagine All the Dust

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2024 9:44


    Infrared observations of SN 1995N indicate that the material ejected by the explosion may have produced a huge amount of dust.

    Object 139: Recoil

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2024 8:16


    The galaxy 3C 186 features a supermassive black hole with a mass several billions of times the mass of the Sun that has been ejected 36000 light years out of the galaxy's nucleus.

    Object 138: A Weird Example of a Weird Subclass of a Weird Class of Objects

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024 8:40


    4U 1850-087 is an ultracompact binary star system consisting of a whtie dwarf and a neutron star orbiting each other so closely that the neutron star can strip the outer layers off of the white dwarf.

    Object 137: The Bedtime Story of the Black Hole that was Too Large for its Galaxy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 8:17


    The elliptical galaxy NGC 4291 contains a supermassive black hole that is unusually massive in comparison to the rest of the galaxy.

    Object 136: Barium

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2024 10:43


    HD 11397 is one of very few Sun-like stars that might seem ordinary but actually contain abnormally large amounts of heavy elements, most notably barium, that they could not have formed themselves.

    Object 135: Feedback Time

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2024 9:01


    NGC 3801 is one of the very few nearby galaxies where astronomers can see jets from an active galactic nucleus disrupting star formation in the galaxy in a process known as feedback.

    Object 134: Not Dead Yet

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 7:24


    The star at the center of the planetary nebula NGC 7094 is almost but not quite a white dwarf, making it a rather unusual object for astronomers to look at.

    Object 133: Strong Arm Tactics

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2024 9:45


    One of the spiral arms in the galaxy NGC 3110 is producing unusually huge amounts of new stars as well as unusually huge amounts of infrared emission.

    Object 132: I Need a 2002 Pop Culture Reference

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2024 11:21


    The radio source PMN J0134-0931 created a lot of excitement in 2002 when people discovered that it was a quasar gravitationally lensed by another galaxy in front of it, they were really excited.

    Object 131: Get To Know Your Ultrafaint Neighbors

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2024 9:45


    Hydrus I is a very small, ultrafaint dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way that was accidentally (or, to use the technical term, serendipitously) found by the Dark Energy Survey.

    Object 130: Putting It All Together

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2024 7:46


    NGC 4261 was made famous when Hubble Space Telescope observations in the 1990s showed that this elliptical galaxy contains a supermassive black hole.

    Object 129: Rinky-Dink

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2024 9:15


    The very small Pyxis Cluster orbits the Milky Way in such an extremely extended orbit that it travels further away than many of the dwarf galaxies orbiting our galaxy.

    Object 128: The Dwarf Living Inside the Bridge

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2024 6:58


    The NGC 6221/NGC 6215 Group of galaxies contains a bridge-like structure of hydrogen gas connecting the two spiral galaxies within the group as well as a dwarf galaxy that looks like it formed within the bridge.

    Object 127: The Nebraska Blue Straggler Special

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2024 12:59


    The open cluster NGC 188 is peculiar not only because it is very old for an open cluster but also because it contains an unusual number of blue stars for a cluster of its age.

    Object 126: Do Not Mention Exoplanet b Again

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2024 10:10


    HD 181433 has three exoplanets, two of which are gas giants with very unusually elongated orbits that have been very challenging to properly measure.

    Object 125: The Business Form Variable Star System

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2024 7:39


    HR 1099 (also known as V711 Tauri) was instrumental in showing that magnetic fields play a major role in causing the variability of stars within the RS CVn class of variable star systems.

    Object 124: 6 > 2

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2024 11:16


    Most people would associate Castor with Pollux, which are the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini, but Castor by itself is very interesting because it is actually a very complex system containing six stars.

    Object 123: More Dampness

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2024 11:09


    The quasar QSO 1331+170 is best known for having a darker galaxy in front of it that is absorbing its light.

    Object 122: Wait For It...

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2024 12:57


    The cluster of galaxies MACS J1149.5+2223 is so massive that it has gravitationally bent (or lensed) the light from multiple things behind it, including one of the most distant galaxies in the universe and a supernova.

    Object 121: Can You Find the Supermassive Black Hole?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2024 8:53


    NGC 34 (also known as NGC 17) is a chaotic-looking galaxy that formed from two smaller galaxies merging together, and it is a place where astronomers have easily found lots of stars forming in a starburst but where they have had difficulty concluding whether the galaxy also contains a supermassive black hole.

    Object 120: A Possible Source of the Cosmic Rays that Gave the Fantastic Four Their Superpowers

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2024 11:14


    The Monogem Ring, which is one of the largest sources of X-rays in the Earth's sky, was created by a supernova explosion about 86000 years ago, and the core of the star that exploded has been identified as the pulsar PSR B0656+14 at the center of the ring.

    Object 119: Alpha Table

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2024 8:49


    Even though Alpha Mensae is in one of the faintest and dumbest constellations in the sky, it's an intriguing star system because it is very close to the Earth, because one of the stars is very Sun-like, and because it may contain an exoplanet or a disk of dust in orbit around that Sun-like star.

    Object 118: The Golden Standard

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2024 10:50


    The Type Ia supernova SN 2005cf was observed at multiple wavelengths for three months after its appearance, allowing astronomers to create templates of its spectrum that could be used to measure distances to other Type Ia supernovae.

    Object 117: No Shockingly Dumb Jokes in This Episode

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2024 6:38


    Kappa Cassiopeiae is a large blue variaable star that is most potentially interesting because of the bow shock between its stellar winds and the interstellar medium.

    Object 116: The Really Really High Expectations Exoplanetary System

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2024 8:40


    47 Ursa Majoris is a nearby Sun-like star that astronomers have intensely studied in an effort to find an Earth-like exoplanet, and while three exoplanets have been found orbiting the star, none of them are remotely similar to the Earth.

    Object 115: Oyster?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2024 9:35


    While the planetary nebula NGC 1501 is a popular amateur astronomy target, the newly formed, hot, pulsating white dwarf at its center is much more interesting to professional astronomers.

    Object 114: George's 2020 Data Processing Project from Hell

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2023 15:51


    As the second closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, Messier 33 has been a very popular observing target for both amateur and professional astronomers, and even I have made images of the galaxy.

    Object 113: The Mystery Spot

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2023 8:10


    The white dwarf GD 394 seems to have an abnormal amount of heavy elements in its outer atmosphere and also varies in brightness with a period of 1.146 days, and no one understands why.

    Object 112: Imagine Marilyn Monroe in a Movie Named the Great Attractor

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2023 9:37


    The Norma Cluster lies near the center of a giant supercluster of galaxies that is pulling in everything else in the local universe, including our galaxy.

    Object 111: The 1925 Classic

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2023 7:23


    The classical nova RR Pictoris was one of the brightest and closest to ever appear in the sky.

    Object 110: We Came, We Saw, We Measured

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2023 10:01


    The spiral galaxy Markarian 766 contains an active galactic nucleus with a supermassive black hole, which means that everyone needs to apply their favorite technique to measure the black hole's mass.

    Object 109: A Water World without Kevin Costner

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2023 12:14


    The Kepler-138 star system contains at least four exoplanets, one of which may be a "water world" covered in a very deep ocean.

    Object 108: Objects in the Mirror May Be More Complicated Than They Appear

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2023 10:43


    The protostellar object PDS 70 has a very complicated protoplanetary system that includes a disk of gas and dust and two protoexoplanets.

    Object 107: The Red Rectangle

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2023 10:57


    The Red Rectangle (yes, the Red Rectangle) is a uniquely weird protoplanetary nebula formed by a uniquely weird binary star system.

    Object 106: A Tale of Two Binary Star Systems

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2023 12:09


    While some astronomers are interested the globular cluster NGC 6712 because it appears to have been severely tidally disrupted by orbiting too close to the center of the Milky Way, other astronomers are interested in the cluster because it contains a couple of weird yet similar binary star systems.

    Object 105: Super-Slow Star Formation

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2023 11:21


    Located at the edge of the Local Group, the Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy has some of the stars with the fewest elements other than hydrogen or helium in the known universe.

    Object 104: Going Cross-Country for a Supermassive Black Hole

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2023 9:15


    Observations with a telescope as large as the Untied States were needed to prove that J16021+3326 is a blazar, a type of galaxy containing a supermassive black hole.

    Object 103: The Pulsar within the Cosmic Hand

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2023 8:35


    PSR B1509-58 is a relatively young pulsar that sits within a supernova remnant that looks like a giant hand.

    Object 102: Another Ring Thing

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2023 7:14


    The spiral galaxy NGC 7552 is best known for its relatively small but bright starburst ring.

    Object 101: Warm and Cold

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2023 11:48


    The star Eta Corvi is surrounded by a disk of dust with a rather complex structure and rather complex origin.

    Object 100: The Self-Descriptive Nebula

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2023 13:52


    The Taurus Molecular Cloud is exactly what it sounds like it is, a cloud made of mulecular gas (mostly molecular hydrogen) in the constellation Taurus, but it is also much more than that.

    Claim George's Random Astronomical Object

    In order to claim this podcast we'll send an email to with a verification link. Simply click the link and you will be able to edit tags, request a refresh, and other features to take control of your podcast page!

    Claim Cancel