Podcasts about McDonald Observatory

Hubble Space Telescope had many “parents” – people who conceived it, lobbied for it, designed it, and mapped out its science mission. But none was more important than Nancy Grace Roman. She served as NASA’s first chief astronomer, and later as director of one of its field centers. She pushed, prodded, and cajoled for the telescope for decades. And once it was approved, she helped get it running. Roman was born 100 years ago today, in Nashville. In sixth grade, she founded her school’s first astronomy club. A year later, she decided to become an astronomer. Despite discouragement from teachers, she stuck with it. She earned her Ph.D., from the University of Chicago, in 1949. Over the next few years she studied the stars, using telescopes at McDonald Observatory and elsewhere. Academia didn’t offer much opportunity for women at the time, so Roman went into government work. And soon after NASA was established, she was hired as chief astronomer. Among other things, she led the development of the first space telescopes – one series to watch the Sun, another to study the stars. Roman died on Christmas Day in 2018. But her legacy is far from over. NASA’s next big space telescope will hunt for planets in other star systems, probe the nature of dark energy, plot the evolution of the universe, and more. The telescope is scheduled for launch in two years: the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Script by Damond Benningfield

In this episode of 'Looking Up,' Dean Regas chats with Stephen Hummel, Dark Skies Initiative coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin and at the McDonald Observatory. Listen in to learn how you can support dark sky preservation from home, no matter where you live.

The star Spica, which is quite close to the Moon tonight, is quite different from the Sun. It consists of two stars, not one. Both stars are many times bigger and heavier than the Sun. And their surfaces are tens of thousands of degrees hotter, so the stars shine blue-white. On the other hand, the Sun and Spica are made of almost exactly the same ingredients: mainly hydrogen and helium, with only a smattering of heavier elements. That composition was figured out by an astronomer who was born 125 years ago tomorrow, in England. Cecilia Payne caught the astronomy bug when she saw a lecture by Arthur Eddington, one of the world’s leading astronomers. She started her education in England, then finished in the United States. She earned a Ph.D. in 1925. And her doctoral thesis shook up the field. Decades later, in fact, Otto Struve, the first director of McDonald Observatory, called it the most brilliant thesis ever written in the field. Astronomers already had the techniques for measuring what stars are made of. Their work led them to believe that stars contain the same mixture of elements as Earth. But Payne used a new way to analyze the readings, taking into account the charge of atoms. She concluded that stars were made mainly of hydrogen and helium – elements formed in the Big Bang. By a few years later, just about everyone accepted her analysis – completely changing our concept of the stars. Script by Damond Benningfield

Telescope domes are designed to keep the telescopes inside safe and on-target. But just because they’re practical doesn’t mean they can’t be beautiful. That’s especially true of some built in the 1930s. They were influenced by the design style that was all the rage – known today as art deco. The event that popularized art deco began 100 years ago this week – the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industries, in Paris. It was a showcase for French design in architecture, art, furniture, clothing, and other fields. Most countries participated. The only restriction: Everything had to be modern. The exhibition inspired a design wave across the United States. Popular examples include the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building in New York, along with trains, airplanes, cars, consumer goods, and more. Astronomy got into the act as well. The best-known example is Griffith Observatory, in Hollywood. Its domes and grounds have been featured in dozens of movies and TV shows. The domes of Palomar Observatory feature art-deco design as well, including the one that houses the 200-inch telescope – the largest in the world for decades. And no list is complete without our own McDonald Observatory. Its original dome was dedicated in 1939. It housed not only the observatory’s 82-inch telescope, but also labs, offices, and living space for the astronomers – all executed in beautiful art deco style. Script by Damond Benningfield

The Sun is an unusual star in several ways. It’s the only star known to support life. It’s in the top 10 percent of the most-massive stars in the galaxy. And it’s in the minority in another way: it moves through the galaxy alone. Like all stars, the Sun probably was born in a cluster – a group of hundreds or thousands of stars. But the Sun’s birth cluster fell apart, with the stars going their own ways. Most stars hang on to one or more of their siblings. Most of them form binaries – two stars bound by their gravity. Others form systems of three stars or more – all the way up to seven. The heavier a star, the more likely it is to have companions. For stars like the Sun, the odds are about 50-50. The Sun has no companions today. But it could have in the distant past. In its crowded nursery, close encounters with other stars could have pulled the Sun and any possible companions away from each other. Astronomers haven’t found any long-lost binary “twin” of the Sun. But they have found some stars that could have been born in the same cluster. A great example is HD 162826. Astronomers at McDonald Observatory found that its composition and motion are very close matches to the Sun’s. HD 162826 rises above Vega, the brightest star of Lyra. They’re in the northeast in late evening. But you need binoculars to see this likely sibling to the Sun. More about binaries tomorrow. Script by Damond Benningfield

Join McDonald Observatory Monday through Saturday, April 21-26, for the Dark Skies Festival. In addition to the observatory's regular public programs, the festival will include special talks, tours, Star Parties, and more. Events will be held at McDonald Observatory and locations throughout Fort Davis, Alpine, Marfa, and Terlingua. McDonald Observatory Visitors Center will offer free general admission all week from noon to 5 p.m. For information including a detailed list of events, visit mcdonaldobservatory.org/dark-skies-festival.Article Link

Chris and Heather are joined by the McDonald Observatory's Stephen Hummel to talk about events around the Big Bend celebrating International Dark Sky Week, April 22-26.Learn about Star Parties, Astrophotography Workshops, Telescope Tours and much more, culminating in events all day (and into the night, of course) in Alpine on Saturday, April 26.Alpine's Dark Skies Celebration:https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/dark-skies-festival McDonald Observatory's Region-wide Dark Skies Festival:https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/dark-skies-festivalRegister here for the Astrophotography Workshop:https://www.spear3photography.com/event-listSee Stephen's Sprite photography here:https://spritacular.org/Learn how to save money and improve your lighting in a dark sky friendly way:https://darksky.org/

You can tell whether a train or a police car is moving toward or away from you just by listening. Its horn or siren changes pitch – higher if it’s moving toward you, lower if it’s moving away. The same principle applies to the stars. Their light is shifted to longer or shorter wavelengths. Measuring that shift reveals the star’s motion – its “radial velocity.” An example is Pollux, the brightest star of Gemini. It’s close to the Moon at first light tomorrow. Its radial velocity tells us that the star is moving toward us at more than 7,000 miles per hour. That sounds fast. But at the star’s distance of almost 34 light-years, it would take millions of years to reach us. Pollux’s orbit is also carrying it sideways, so the star will never even get close. By measuring its radial velocity, astronomers at McDonald Observatory discovered a planet orbiting Pollux. As it orbits, the planet tugs at the star, changing its motion toward us by a few miles per hour. Precise measurements of that change revealed some details. The planet is a bit more than twice as massive as Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. It’s a little farther from Pollux than Mars is from the Sun. And it orbits the star once every 19 months. Astronomers named the planet Thestias – a version of Leda, the mother of Pollux – a planet discovered by measuring a tiny shift in the star’s light. Script by Damond Benningfield

One of the larger moons of the planet Neptune has been through a lot. It might have started as an asteroid, and was captured by Neptune's gravity. Or it might have started as a moon, but was hurled into a wild orbit when Neptune grabbed its largest moon. And since then, it's been battered by impacts with other space rocks. Nereid was discovered 75 years ago today, by Gerard Kuiper. It was only the second moon seen around the giant planet, and it's the third-largest of Neptune's 16 known moons. Kuiper was observing Neptune with the 82-inch telescope at McDonald Observatory. In a pair of 40-minute exposures, the moon showed up as a tiny star near the planet. Kuiper suggested the name Nereid because, in mythology, the Nereids were daughters of Neptune. We don't know a lot more about the moon today than when it was discovered. It's more than 200 miles in diameter, its gray surface probably is coated with ice and rock, and the surface is rough — perhaps the result of billions of years of impacts. Nereid follows the most lopsided orbit of any good-sized moon in the solar system. It ranges from less than a million miles from Neptune to about six million miles. That suggests that Nereid could be the last of Neptune's original moons. When Neptune captured its biggest moon, Triton, Triton's gravity could have kicked out all the others, leaving only Nereid — in a wild orbit around a giant planet. Script by Damond Benningfield

April 2-8 is International Dark Sky Week, and Alpine is celebrating with events on April 5 & 6, just prior to the Main Celestial Event: April 8's total eclipse. Chris and Heather talk with McDonald Observatory's Stephen Hummel about the eclipse, the Dark Skies Celebration events, and the latest on the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve!

Last Episode of 2023! Host Bill McGeeney is joined by 2023 Dark Sky Int'l Rising Star Award Recipient, Bonnie Peng, photographer of the new book, Spirits Dancing, Travis Novitsky, and Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator for the McDonald Observatory, Stephen Hummel. See Full Show Notes, Lighting Tips and more at LightPollutionNews.com. Like this episode, share it with a friend!Bill's Picks: F1 bans three key colours from Sphere during Vegas GP action, Adam Cooper, Autosport. Artificial light at night: a global disruptor of the night-time environment, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Nighttime drone shows gaining more popularity, WVLT News. 5 Things You Can Do to Reduce Light Pollution, Madeleine Burry, AAA.SIU student's campaign illuminates light pollution and its impact on wildlife, Carly Gist, Daily Egyptian.DARK SKIES: Students invited to count stars to pinpoint areas of light pollution in southwestern N.S., Tina Comeau, Saltwire. Low-cost air, noise, and light pollution measuring station with wireless communication and tinyML, Hardware X. Livin' the Dream: Stars in a dark night sky, Mountain Times.Support the showLike what we're doing? For the cost of coffee, you can become a Monthly Supporter? Your assistance will help cover server and production costs.

(AKA the stars at night) This Typewriter Rodeo poems celebrates one of Texas’ most beloved scientific treasures.

On this episode of Astronomy Daily, Tim and Halle bring you latest on the Gemini North Telescope's capture of a supernova aftermath and other space news. In this episode, you will be able to: · Stay ahead with groundbreaking astronomy news that will pique your curiosity. · Uncover the spellbinding secrets behind Planet Hat-P 32 b's disappearing act. · Get a rare glimpse into the spectacular phenomenon of Noctilucent clouds found in Earth's atmosphere. · Experience the powerful aftermath of a supernova through the lens of the Gemini North Telescope. · Demystify the complexities of solar wind and its implications on our solar system with help from Parker Solar Probe. Get ready to be captivated by Hallie, our skilled AI reporter with a knack for breaking down complex celestial concepts for everyone to enjoy. Over her career, Hallie has established a strong reputation in the field for her thorough research on deep-space phenomena, including supernovae, galaxies, and black holes. Today, she's here to discuss the groundbreaking capture of a supernova aftermath by the Gemini North Telescope, shedding light on how technology is helping us understand the universe. Join Hallie and Tim to explore the wonders of the cosmos and learn more about this awe-inspiring observation. The resources mentioned in this episode are: · Visit Airbus' website to learn more about Roxy, the system that extracts oxygen and metals from lunar regolith. · Check out the Frownhoffer, the German Research Institute, and Boston University websites to see their collaboration with Airbus on the Roxy project. · Explore the European Space Agency's website to learn more about the Mars Express Orbiter and its mapping of the Martian surface. · Visit SpaceNuts.io to listen to the SpaceNuts podcast with Steve Dunkley on Mondays and Astronomy Daily with Tim Gibbs on Fridays. · Look up at the Northern Hemisphere's northern skies an hour or two after sunset and before sunrise over the next few months to see rare noctilucent clouds with the naked eye. · Follow SpaceWeather.com to stay updated on sightings of noctilucent clouds. · Read the journal Science Advances to learn more about the discovery of the giant tails of helium escaping from the planet Hat P 32 b. · Check out the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory website to learn more about the Hobby Eberley Telescope. · Follow NASA's Sunkissing Parker Solar Probe mission to stay updated on its findings about the solar wind. · Visit the D Noctilucent Clouds: The highest, driest, coldest, and rarest clouds on Earth. Noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are unique and intriguing atmospheric phenomena found in the Mesosphere, a layer above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, around 47 to 53 miles above Earth's surface. Formed when water vapor freezes into ice crystals that attach to dust and particles left by meteors, NLCs offer a valuable opportunity for observing changes in Earth's atmosphere. These spectacular clouds are best visible around the summer solstice in late June through the end of July, making them a fascinating subject for skywatchers and scientists alike. As Tim Gibbs and Halle discuss noctilucent clouds in the episode, they touch upon the importance of understanding these rare clouds to study Earth's atmosphere and the effects of climate change. The friendly conversation drives home the point that these mesmerizing natural wonders truly deserve our attention and study. Supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy: The discovery of the supernova SN 2023 IX by an amateur astronomer and how the Gemini North Telescope will allow astronomers to study it. Amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki's discovery of supernova SN 2023 IX in the Pinwheel Galaxy is a testament to the passion and curiosity of stargazers worldwide. The aftermath of this supernova serves as a fantastic example of celestial phenomena that can be detected and studied by both professional and amateur astronomers. The Gemini North Telescope's observations of SN 2023 IX will enable astronomers to analyze how the supernova's light fades over time and how its spectrum evolves, shedding light on the complex physics of stellar explosions. Tim Gibbs and Halle's conversation about the discovery of SN 2023 IX leads them to highlight the importance of amateur astronomers contributing to the scientific community. By sharing this inspiring story, they encourage listeners to stay curious and participate in the vast and fascinating world of astronomy. Learn how the Gemini North Telescope captures supernova remnants and deepens our understanding of the universe. The Gemini North Telescope, after a seven-month hiatus, is back in action and it captured the stunning aftermath of a supernova in the Pinwheel Galaxy. Supernovae are massive explosions of stars, which provide valuable information about the history and evolution of the universe. By observing supernova remnants, scientists can gain insights into the formation of heavy elements and the rate of expansion of the universe. This knowledge can also contribute to our understanding of stellar life cycles and the overall structure of galaxies. During the episode, Tim Gibbs and Halle discuss the discoveries made by the Gemini North Telescope, as well as the story of amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, who found the supernova named SN 2023 IX. The discussion highlights the importance of such observations in helping astronomers study the light spectrum of these explosions, and how this data can enhance our understanding of the physics behind supernovae. Giant Tails of Helium: The dramatic jets of helium escaping from the planet Hat P 32 b. The planet Hat P 32 b has captured the attention of astronomers due to its dramatic jets of helium, which extend more than 50 times the planet's radius. These remarkable tails of gas make it an exceptional case in the realm of exoplanets. The study of these tails can provide insights into the process and mechanisms of atmospheric escape, wherein lighter gases like helium are stripped away from a planet by the radiation and stellar wind coming from its host star. This understanding can shed light on the evolution and history of exoplanets' atmospheres. In the episode, Halle shares details about the fascinating discovery of Hat P 32 b's incredible helium tails, which were observed by a team of astronomers using the Hobby Eberly Telescope at the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory. The friendly discussion between Tim Gibbs and Halle emphasizes the significance of this finding in the field of exoplanetary research. Source of Fast Solar Wind: NASA's Parker Solar Probe discovers that the fast solar wind comes from coronal holes in the Sun's atmosphere and how this information can help predict solar storms. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has made groundbreaking discoveries regarding the source of fast solar wind – the charged particles that stream from the Sun's corona at incredible speeds. The probe's close approach to the Sun revealed that fast solar wind originates from coronal holes in the Sun's atmosphere. This information is crucial for understanding how solar storms and space weather events are generated, which can have significant impacts on communication and power systems on Earth, as well as create stunning auroras. In the episode, Tim Gibbs and Halle share their excitement about the Parker Solar Probe's findings and the importance of understanding solar wind's origins. Their conversation highlights how studies of solar activity can help us better predict and respond to potential space weather events, safeguarding our planet's interconnected systems.

Visitors to the Grand Canyon will find a bonus beginning on Saturday: the Grand Canyon Star Party. The week-long party will offer tours of the night sky, telescope viewing, and other events on both the north and south rims. And the only cost is the usual park entry fee. If you can't make it, though, don't worry — there are plenty of star parties to go around — from California to Maine, Washington to Florida. COVID-19 wiped out many events in 2020 and beyond. But most of them are back this summer. Some will be held in national parks, such as Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, in Utah, which offer especially dark skies. Others are hosted by private groups, although they, too, seek out parks and other locations far from city lights. The big parties last for days, with many attendees camping on site. Many other groups, such as museums and observatories, offer shorter events — a night here and there. Some are free, some are not. But most offer nice views of the night sky for novices and veterans alike. Of course, we're partial to the star parties at McDonald Observatory. During the summer months, they're generally offered four nights a week, beginning about the time the sky gets good and dark. Experts provide naked-eye tours of the stars under some of the darkest skies in North America. And several telescopes offer up-close views of galaxies, nebulas, planets, and other astronomical wonders — at parties that celebrate the beauty of the universe. You can find details at mcdonaldobervatory.org.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

TOI-5205b didn't make astronomers work that hard to find it. But they did spend months learning the planet's details, and they're planning to learn even more. Most of the more than 5,000 confirmed planets in other star systems were found when they passed across the face of their parent star, blocking some of its light. Often, that dip is so small that it can take a while to confirm that it's real. That wasn't the case with TOI-5205b, which was discovered by a space telescope. The planet blocks seven percent of the star's light — a huge fraction. Astronomers followed up with several ground-based telescopes, including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. The observations revealed that the planet is a little bigger and heavier than Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. It's huge compared to the star, which is about 40 percent the size and mass of the Sun, and it's quite close in. The combination makes it unique among the exoplanets discovered so far. Starlight filters through the planet's atmosphere. Studying that light should reveal how and where the planet was born, how it's moved, and more — details about a planet that doesn't try to hide. The TOI-5205 system is about 300 light-years away. It's to the right of bright Cygnus, the swan, in the wee hours of the morning. But you need a telescope to see the star — even outside the dark passages of its giant planet.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

It takes a lot of help to study one of the biggest mysteries in the universe: dark energy. An experiment at McDonald Observatory, for example, has used three supercomputers and the eyes of 10,000 volunteers to sift through more than 60 terabytes of data. That's resulted in the project's first catalog — more than 200,000 objects. HETDEX — the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment — is looking at a million galaxies in a small patch of sky that includes the Big Dipper. The galaxies are giving birth to a lot of stars. They're about 10 billion light-years away, so HETDEX sees them as they looked when the universe was young. The goal is to see how fast the galaxies were moving away from us at the time. That will help scientists determine how the effect of dark energy has changed over time — and perhaps what dark energy is. Dark energy makes the universe expand faster as it ages. But scientists don't know what it is. The HETDEX catalog covers observations from the project's start, in 2017, through the middle of 2020. It includes more than 50,000 of the type of galaxy the project is studying. But it also includes about 135,000 other galaxies and many other objects. In addition, online volunteers around the world have classified a quarter of a million galaxies in the HETDEX observations — results for future catalogs. We'll talk about another big-data project tomorrow.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Steven Hummel of the Dark Skies Initiative at the McDonald Observatory chats with Andrew and Alynn about the importance of keeping the Texas skies dark, how we can all contribute to conserving night-time darkness, and some pretty cool phenomena that can be seen in dark skies. Email us at wildpodcast@tamuk.edu For more information: https://www.bigbendliterary.com/issues/issue-one/mcdonald-observatory-photographs-by-stephen-hummel https://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/media/talk-wild-side-podcast   https://www.rotarycc.com/harvey-weil/  

George Ellery Hale built his first telescope when he was 14 years old. And just a decade later, as a young astronomer at the University of Chicago, he saw a chance to build one of the largest telescopes in the world. It became the centerpiece of Yerkes Observatory, on the shore of Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, which was dedicated 125 years ago today. The observatory was named for Charles Yerkes, a shady businessman who controlled the Chicago subways. The telescope was a 40-inch refractor, which focuses light with lenses. Astronomers used it to help establish the new field of astrophysics — analyzing what makes stars and other objects tick. They studied binary star systems, how stars evolve, the dust and gas between the stars, and much more. In 1932, Chicago and the University of Texas joined forces to establish McDonald Observatory, with the Yerkes director overseeing both of them. The partnership lasted until the 1960s. Viewing conditions at Yerkes weren't always the best. And by the 21st century, the 40-inch telescope couldn't compete with more modern facilities. So Chicago closed the observatory in 2018, then sold it — although it kept its collection of 170,000 photographic plates. The new owners reopened the site this year for tours, outreach programs, and special events — providing access to one of the most important observatories of the 20th century.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Chris talks to Stephen C. Hummell of McDonald Observatory about the newly designated Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve - the largest (and ONLY international) Dark Sky Reserve on the planet! So, what's a Dark Sky Reserve? What can we all do to help keep our skies dark and our stars bright? And what's up at McDonald Observatory these days? Listen and find out!

Astronomers have developed many ways to find planets in other star systems. The latest is with radio waves. The first planet found that way was detected a couple of years ago by LOFAR, an array of radio telescopes in Europe. The planet orbits Gliese 1151, a star that's 26 light-years away. The star is only a fraction the size and mass of the Sun, and its surface is thousands of degrees cooler than the Sun's. LOFAR picked up hints that something small was orbiting close to the star, but there was a wide range on the numbers. An instrument in the Canary Islands narrowed it down a bit. And another instrument zeroed in even more. The Habitable-zone Planet Finder is attached to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. It's designed to find planets orbiting small, faint stars. Its observations revealed that the planet at Gliese 1151 is about two and a half times the mass of Earth. It orbits the star once every couple of days. It's inside the star's corona — a thin but hot outer atmosphere of charged particles. The planet interacts with the corona in a way that creates radio waves. The discovery suggests that bigger radio telescopes in the future may be able to find many more planets — adding to the catalog of worlds beyond the solar system. Gliese 1151 is in Ursa Major. As night falls, the star's close to the lower left of the bowl of the Big Dipper. But it's too faint to see without a telescope.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

It takes a village to discover and learn the details about a new planet. Consider TOI-532b. It was discovered using HPF — the Habitable-zone Planet Finder — an instrument attached to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. A dossier then was compiled by HPF, a space telescope known as TESS, and several smaller telescopes on the ground. It took dozens of astronomers at many organizations to make it work. Astronomers have confirmed more than 5,000 planets in other star systems. There are several ways to find them, with different instruments and telescopes for each technique. It takes time and more instruments to fill in the details. HPF participates in both sides of the work. It's designed to find planets orbiting cool, faint stars. But it also follows up discoveries made by TESS. TOI-532 is one of many collaborations. The system is about 440 light-years away. The star is cooler, smaller, and much fainter than the Sun. The planet, TOI-532b, is a half-dozen times the diameter of Earth, and more than 60 times Earth's mass. That puts it in a special category, between Jupiter and Neptune, two giants of the solar system. TOI-532 is in Orion, which is high in the southeast at dawn. The star is just above bright orange Betelgeuse, which marks the hunter's shoulder.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Few observatory directors have had as colorful a life as Otto Struve. By the time he was 24 years old, he'd survived having his horse shot from under him, had almost been hit by lightning, and almost starved as a war refugee. Struve was born 125 years ago, in Ukraine — the fourth generation of an astronomical dynasty. He first accompanied his father to an observatory at age eight, and by 10 he was helping take observations. In 1916, Struve joined the Russian army. He was sent to the Turkish front. His horse was shot from under him, and another bullet zipped through his coat sleeve. Struve returned to his studies after the war. During the Russian revolution, though, he joined the White Army and fought against the communists. Afterward, he made his way to Turkey as a refugee. He spent a long, cold winter there, barely finding enough to eat. In the spring, he went to Constantinople, where he got by with odd jobs. He was a lumberjack for a while, and was almost struck by lightning. By chance, Struve received a letter from the director of the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory offering him a job. It took some doing, but Struve made his way to the U.S. in 1921. Over the following decade, Struve worked his way up, becoming director of Yerkes in 1932. That same year, he also became the founding director of the brand-new McDonald Observatory in Texas — a new chapter in the colorful life of Otto Struve.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Otto Struve knew an opportunity when he saw one. The University of Chicago astronomer knew that his institution needed a big new telescope to supplement the 40-inch refractor at Chicago's Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. Yet Chicago didn't have the money to pay for one. When William J. McDonald left his fortune to the University of Texas to build an observatory, Struve suggested a partnership: Texas would provide the observatory, and Chicago would provide the astronomers. Texas agreed, and the two universities signed a 30-year deal. Struve, recently promoted to the directorship of Yerkes, would also direct the new McDonald Observatory. Struve was born 125 years ago today, in Ukraine. He was a fourth-generation astronomer. He served in the Russian army, then was offered a job with the University of Chicago. Struve arrived in 1921, earned a Ph.D., and worked his way up through the astronomy program. Struve oversaw design and construction of McDonald Observatory's 82-inch telescope — the second-largest telescope in the world. It was dedicated in 1939. Struve spent long hours using the telescope to study the stars, while building up the Chicago astronomy faculty. Conflicts with his young scientists eventually led to Struve's resignation. Yet his name continues to resound in West Texas: McDonald Observatory named the 82-inch telescope in his honor.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas — or at least in West Texas. A new “dark skies reserve” encompasses about 15,000 square miles of western Texas and northern Mexico. It acknowledges that the night sky is already dark, and can help keep it dark in the years ahead. Proper nighttime lighting provides a lot of advantages. It's good for the ecosystem, because too much light can interfere with the migrations of birds and other animals. It's good for public safety because light is directed where it's needed — on the ground. It's good for astronomy because extra light can spoil the view of stars and galaxies. And it's good for astro-tourism because dark skies attract stargazers from the world over. McDonald Observatory and other groups in West Texas and northern Mexico have helped keep the night sky dark. They've worked with governments to enact rules that require good nighttime lighting, and with the oil industry and others to change the way they light their operations. That led to the creation of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. It was certified by the International Dark-Sky Association, which works to preserve dark night skies around the world. It's the largest dark sky reserve in the world. It recognizes the work done to keep the night sky dark. And it provides a model for other regions of the world — keeping the night skies dark well beyond the heart of West Texas.  Script by Damond Benningfield Today's program was made possible by Mercer Caverns, in Calaveras County in California's historic Gold Country. Support McDonald Observatory

In this episode: Kent talks about all things Texas: He reflects on the untamed majesty of the Big Bend, the unique character of Marfa, and the awe-inspiring experience of visiting the McDonald Observatory, and how the State of Texas and others are working to preserve it. He considers Texas' phenomenal growth over the past 20 years, the demographic changes driving it, where it is centered, and how it is impacting legislative and congressional representation.

If you want to see a lot of galaxies, you need to look up — not just up into the sky, but up and away from our own galaxy, the Milky Way. And the best spot for doing that is in and around the constellation Coma Berenices, which climbs high overhead on spring evenings. It's the location of the north galactic pole — the spot that's 90 degrees away from the plane of the Milky Way. That plane outlines the disk of the Milky Way. It's filled with stars and with clouds of gas and dust. There's so much stuff that it's hard to see the intergalactic space beyond. As you look farther from the glowing band of the Milky Way, though, many more galaxies come into view. Some of them are visible through binoculars, though most of them require a telescope. In fact, there are large clusters of galaxies in Coma Berenices and the adjoining constellation Virgo. In all, they contain several thousand galaxies. There are many other galaxies over in the opposite direction from Virgo, near the Big Dipper. HETDEX, a large project at McDonald Observatory, is looking at thousands of remote galaxies in that region to study dark energy — a force that's causing the universe to expand faster as it ages. Coma Berenices is low in the east at nightfall, then wheels high overhead after midnight. In early evening, the north galactic pole is to the right of the tip of the Big Dipper's handle. Galaxies are scattered all across that region — high “above” the Milky Way.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Five years ago, astronomers at McDonald Observatory searched for dark matter in a small companion galaxy of the Milky Way. They found darkness all right, but not much dark matter. Instead, they found a black hole that's almost as big as the one at the heart of the Milky Way. Leo I is more than 800,000 light-years away. That makes it one of the Milky Way's most-distant satellite galaxies. And it's tiny: just one or two percent the width of the Milky Way, and about one fifty-thousandth of the Milky Way's mass. Such galaxies are common, though, and many of them appear to contain a lot of dark matter — matter that we can't see, but that exerts a gravitational pull on the visible matter around it. So astronomers from Texas and Germany examined Leo I to plot its dark matter. They used a telescope at McDonald Observatory to measure the motions of stars. The way the stars move reveals how much matter is pulling the stars, and how the matter is distributed. The observations revealed a compact but dark source at the galaxy's heart — a black hole. It's 3.3 million times the mass of the Sun — three-quarters the mass of the black hole in the Milky Way. It hints that even bigger black holes grow from the mergers of galaxies like Leo I — more darkness from small galaxies. Leo I is just a whisker away from Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, the lion. Regulus is due east as night falls, and springs high across the south during the night.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Pollux and Castor, the twins of Gemini, stay close to the gibbous Moon tonight. They line up to the upper left of the Moon as night falls, with Pollux closer to the Moon. The twins are to the right of the Moon as they set, in the wee hours of the morning. Although they're known as twins, Pollux and Castor aren't related at all. Pollux is about 34 light-years from Earth, while Castor is half-again that far — 51 light-years. That means they're more than 17 light-years apart. There's no indication that the stars are related by birth, either. Pollux is a good bit older than Castor. That means they probably didn't come from the same original star cluster. So their only real connection is their chance alignment in our sky. The stars also have different characters. Pollux is a single star — a bloated giant near the end of its life. Castor, on the other hand, is a system of six stars — one of only a dozen or so known sextuple stars. Two of its stars are bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun. The other four are almost identical to each other. They're red dwarfs — the most-common variety of star in the galaxy. They're smaller, fainter, and less massive than the Sun. Seen from Earth, Pollux is about half-again as bright as Castor. If you lined them up at the same distance, though, Castor would be the brighter star, and by almost exactly the same amount — making it the outstanding “twin” of Gemini.  Script by Damond Benningfield Today's program was made possible by Dr. Cameron Mitchell, professor emeritus, supporting research and outreach at McDonald Observatory. Support McDonald Observatory

The Moon looks down on the eye of the bull tonight. Aldebaran, the brightest star of Taurus, is below the Moon as night falls, and to the left or lower left of the Moon as they set, in the wee hours of the morning. It might be hard to notice through the glare of the Moon, but Aldebaran shines bright orange. The color is an indication of its surface temperature, which is much lower than the surface of the Sun. Because of that, Aldebaran is designated as a class “K” star. Astronomers use seven letters to classify stars — O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. O stars are the hottest. They blaze tens of thousands of degrees hotter than the Sun, so they shine blue-white. They're also among the biggest, heaviest, and brightest of all stars. At the other end are the M stars, which are the coolest. They look orange or red. Almost all M stars are so small and faint that they're invisible to the unaided eye. The only ones we can see are bloated and bright — stars that have swelled to giant proportions at the ends of their lives. The Sun is class G. It's bigger and heavier than most stars, but nowhere near the monsters at the top of the scale. As it nears the end of its life, though, the Sun will look much like Aldebaran does today — a bloated orange giant, designated as class K or M — at the red end of the stellar classification system. Tomorrow: A planet with double sunrises and sunsets.  Script by Damond Benningfield Today's program was made possible by Dr. Cameron Mitchell, professor emeritus, supporting research and outreach at McDonald Observatory. Support McDonald Observatory

The planet Jupiter is about to end another long trek across the night sky. The planet will drop from view in the evening twilight in two or three weeks. It then will pass behind the Sun before returning to view in April — in the morning sky. This evening, though, Jupiter is in great view — it teams up with the crescent Moon. It's close to the upper right of the Moon as the sky begins to darken, and looks like a bright star. Jupiter and the Moon set a couple of hours after sunset. Jupiter has two different motions across the starry background. One is caused by Earth's motion around the Sun. As we orbit the Sun, our viewing angle to the stars and planets changes. So each of them appears to progress across the sky as the nights roll by. Jupiter first appears at dawn, then rises and sets earlier each night. Over the months, it travels across the sky, until it sets with the setting Sun. The other motion is caused by Jupiter's own orbit around the Sun. The planet is more than five times farther from the Sun than Earth is. At that distance, Jupiter takes almost 12 years to complete a single orbit. And that's also how long it takes to move through the constellations and return to the same spot in the sky relative to the stars. So on February 2nd of 2034, Jupiter will stand at almost the same spot in the sky as tonight — getting ready to disappear once more in the evening twilight.  Script by Damond Benningfield   Today's program was made possible by Dr. Cameron Mitchell, professor emeritus, supporting research and outreach at McDonald Observatory. Support McDonald Observatory

The first three months of the year feel a little like a sandwich — thick slabs of January and March, with a thin layer of February in the middle. But it took a while to get that recipe to its current form — mainly because calendar makers kept changing how “thin” February should be. The modern calendar has its roots in ancient Rome. Its original calendar had only 10 months, beginning with March and ending with December. At the end of the year, days were added to keep in line with the seasons. Around 713 B.C., though, king Numa Pompilius added two months to the end of the year — January and February. The Romans considered even numbers unlucky, so most of the months were either 29 or 31 days long. To keep the calendar in line with the length of 12 lunar months, though, one month had to have an even number of days. And since February came at a time of year associated with the dead, it got the nod — 28 days. It wasn't that long every year, though. Some years it was as short as 23 or 24 days, with extra days added after that to keep in line with the seasons. The calendar was adjusted many times over the following centuries. Finally, Julius Caesar standardized the calendar at its current form. February was set at 28 days, with a leap day every fourth year. The leap-day rule was tweaked in the 16th century, giving us the present-day calendar — with a thin slice of February as the second month of the year.  Script by Damond Benningfield  Today's program was made possible by Dr. Cameron Mitchell, professor emeritus, supporting research and outreach at McDonald Observatory.   Support McDonald Observatory

The Moon lines up with the twins of Gemini tonight. Pollux, the brighter of the two, is above the Moon at nightfall. Castor is about the same distance to the upper left of Pollux. Castor is a family of six stars. Some of them are big and bright, while others are tiny and faint. As far as we know, Pollux is a single star. But it's an impressive one. It's classified as a giant — it's much bigger and brighter than the Sun. In fact, it's the closest giant star to the solar system — just 34 light-years away. Pollux has puffed up because it's at the end of its normal lifetime. The nuclear reactions in its core have switched over to a new mode. That's pushed the surrounding layers outward, making Pollux big and bright. Just because Pollux is a solo star doesn't mean it's alone, though — it has at least one planet. Astronomers at McDonald Observatory found evidence of the planet three decades ago. It was confirmed in 2006. The planet is about three times the mass of Jupiter, the giant of the solar system. It orbits Pollux once every 19 and a half months. Scientists called the planet Pollux b. A few years ago, it was assigned a proper name: Thestias. That comes from a Greek name referring to the mother of Pollux. The name hasn't really caught on yet — it doesn't show up in scientific papers about the system. But at least it gives science-fiction writers a more lyrical name for the companion of Gemini's brighter twin.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Many people celebrate their birthdays under the stars. But when Ambrose Swasey turned 89, he celebrated under a machine his company was building to study the stars — the first telescope for McDonald Observatory. Swasey was born 175 years ago today, in a small town in New Hampshire. He quickly showed a knack for designing and building things. As a teenager, he went to work in a machine shop, where he met Worcester Warner. They formed their own company, Warner & Swasey, which they soon moved to Cleveland. The company mainly built machine tools. But both founders were interested in astronomy, so they started building telescopes and their protective domes as well — work that made the company well known. Warner and Swasey built a big new telescope for Lick Observatory in California, and a bigger one for the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory — still the biggest telescope of its type in the world. In 1923, Chicago astronomer Otto Struve named an asteroid discovered with the Yerkes telescope in Swasey's honor. Later, Struve became the Yerkes director. And when Chicago signed a deal with the University of Texas to operate its new McDonald Observatory, Struve became its director as well. He hired Warner & Swasey to build it, including its first big telescope — the second-largest in the world. The telescope has moved down the rankings since then. But it's still in service — one of the legacies of Ambrose Swasey. Script by Damond Benningfield   Support McDonald Observatory

Astronomers spent decades hunting for planets around the star Aldebaran, the bright orange “eye” of the bull. And they found one. But their work also revealed details about Aldebaran itself. The astronomers looked at Aldebaran hundreds of times with telescopes at McDonald Observatory and elsewhere. They measured a small shift in its light caused by the gravitational tug of the planet. A few years ago, other astronomers combined those observations with some made by a space telescope. They found changes on the surface of Aldebaran caused by sound waves rippling through its interior. How the waves move through the star reveals important details about how the star is put together, just as sound waves moving through Earth reveal details about how it's put together. Those details helped revise much of our knowledge of Aldebaran. They showed that it's only about 16 percent heavier than the Sun — a good bit less massive than earlier estimates. They also showed that it's about six-and-a-half billion years old — a couple of billion years older than the Sun. So the hunt for planets around other stars is also helping us learn about the stars themselves. Aldebaran is especially easy to find the next couple of nights because it's close to the Moon. It rises a little below the Moon early this evening, and about the same distance to the right of the Moon tomorrow night. The two bodies will stay close together throughout both nights.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

As befits a giant planet, Uranus has a giant entourage of moons — at least 27 of them. Yet the planet is so far away that its moons are tough to see. In fact, most of them weren't discovered until the last few decades. William Herschel discovered the first two in 1787 — not long after he discovered the planet itself. Herschel proposed naming them for characters from Shakespeare, and his colleagues agreed. So those first discoveries were named Titania and Oberon, for the queen of the fairies and her husband from “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” Not surprisingly, they're the biggest of all the planet's moons. Titania is a thousand miles in diameter, while Oberon is just a bit smaller. William Lassell discovered the next two moons of Uranus — the third- and fourth-largest — in 1851. And Gerard Kuiper discovered the next one — the fifth-largest — at McDonald Observatory in 1948. Since then, the moons have come in bunches. The Voyager 2 spacecraft revealed 10 new moons when it flew past the planet in 1986. The rest have been found since then, with Hubble Space Telescope, telescopes on the ground, and through more analysis of the Voyager observations — giving Uranus a mighty entourage. Uranus itself is in view all night, in the constellation Aries. It's brightest for the year, too. It's so far away, though, that you really need binoculars to see the planet — and a telescope to see any of its moons.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

The early universe was dark. The first stars and galaxies were embedded in a “fog” of atoms with no charge. By a billion years after the Big Bang, though, the fog was gone. The atoms had been “reionized” — charged up by something. Much of the energy probably was provided by hot, massive stars. But some of it could have come from quasars — disks of superhot gas around supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies. The biggest quasars are some of the brightest objects in the universe. Their black holes are billions of times the mass of the Sun, and they're pulling in huge amounts of gas. But they're rare — there just aren't enough of them to reionize the universe. So an astronomer at the University of Texas is looking to see if less-powerful quasars — powered by black holes perhaps a few million times the Sun's mass — could have helped out. Steven Finkelstein is using observations from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment. It uses a telescope at McDonald Observatory to study dark energy. But its observations can be used for many other studies. The experiment is looking at hundreds of thousands of galaxies from when the universe was just a few billion years old — far more galaxies from that era than astronomers have seen before. A particular wavelength of light reveals what was going on inside the galaxies. It can even reveal if they had “little” quasars — possible engines for banishing the cosmic fog.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Chris and Heather welcome Bill Wren of McDonald Observatory for a discussion of the incredible night skies in the Big Bend region, stargazing activities, and ongoing programs to preserve the precious resource of our dark night skies.

When Comet Halley blazed across the night sky in 1910, many people tried to hide from it. They feared it might bring poisonous gases or plain old bad luck. But Nicholas Bobrovnikoff couldn’t get enough of it. The teenager watched the comet from his native Russia. And his interest led to a career in astronomy — and a new life in the United States. Bobrovnikoff was born 125 years ago today. He first studied mining, then joined the Russian infantry, in 1917. When civil war broke out, he became an officer in the Russian White army. He was severely wounded during the war, and suffered from typhus. When his side lost to the Red army, he escaped to Cyprus and resumed his studies — this time in astronomy. And in 1924, he was offered a position with the University of Chicago astronomy program. Its director, Edwin Frost, had already brought another former Russian officer to Chicago: Otto Struve, who later became the first director of McDonald Observatory. In the U.S., Bobrovnikoff studied comets. In particular, he gathered every scrap he could find on Halley’s comet — hundreds of photographs and piles of other data. And in 1930, he published a 177-page report — the most extensive report on a single comet anyone had ever done. Later, Bobrovnikoff spent two decades as director of Perkins Observatory in Ohio. And in 1986, he got to see Halley’s Comet once again — a beautiful iceball that sparked a career in astronomy. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Many observatories are built in beautiful locations — atop mountains, where they’re surrounded by trees and fields. The high ground puts them above much of Earth’s blurring atmosphere, giving them a sharper view of the universe. But there’s also a downside to the locations: fires. In recent years, big fires have threatened, damaged, and even destroyed observatories. The most recent threat came last August. A massive wildfire outside San Jose, California, threatened Lick Observatory. The fire was started by lightning. It consumed hundreds of square miles. And it almost got the observatory. Flames up to 200 feet tall advanced toward its telescopes. The fire destroyed a house on the property, and damaged a few other buildings. But the big domes and their telescopes survived. Lick isn’t the only observatory to face the flames. In 2011, for example, our own McDonald Observatory was surrounded by a fire. The blaze eventually burned more than 300,000 acres, and forced the observatory to close. But controlled burns and other efforts kept the fire at bay. An observatory in Australia wasn’t so lucky. A 2003 fire burned five telescopes, the administration building, and several houses and other structures. Only one telescope survived. The observatory has since been rebuilt. Our changing climate is forecast to make wildfires even more common in the decades ahead — perhaps putting even more observatories in peril. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Many observatories are built in beautiful locations — atop mountains, where they’re surrounded by trees and fields. The high ground puts them above much of Earth’s blurring atmosphere, giving them a sharper view of the universe. But there’s also a downside to the locations: fires. In recent years, big fires have threatened, damaged, and even destroyed observatories. The most recent threat came last August. A massive wildfire outside San Jose, California, threatened Lick Observatory. The fire was started by lightning. It consumed hundreds of square miles. And it almost got the observatory. Flames up to 200 feet tall advanced toward its telescopes. The fire destroyed a house on the property, and damaged a few other buildings. But the big domes and their telescopes survived. Lick isn’t the only observatory to face the flames. In 2011, for example, our own McDonald Observatory was surrounded by a fire. The blaze eventually burned more than 300,000 acres, and forced the observatory to close. But controlled burns and other efforts kept the fire at bay. An observatory in Australia wasn’t so lucky. A 2003 fire burned five telescopes, the administration building, and several houses and other structures. Only one telescope survived. The observatory has since been rebuilt. Our changing climate is forecast to make wildfires even more common in the decades ahead — perhaps putting even more observatories in peril. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Not many planets are bigger than their stars. And not many have spiraled close to a dead star known as a white dwarf and survived. But astronomers recently discovered a planet that’s defied the odds in both of those cases. WD 1856b orbits a white dwarf — the corpse of a star that was similar to the Sun. It’s about half as heavy as the Sun, but only about as big as Earth. It became a white dwarf at the end of its normal lifetime, almost six billion years ago. 1856b, on the other hand, is a giant planet. It’s about as big as Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. That makes it several times wider than the white dwarf. Astronomers discovered the planet with space telescopes, which saw the system’s light fade as the planet passed in front of the star. They confirmed it with telescopes on the ground, including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. Astronomers have discovered the pulverized remains of planets orbiting white dwarfs. They’ve even seen the remains of dead planets polluting the surfaces of such stars. But this is the first time they’ve seen an intact planet this close to a white dwarf — just two million miles away. The planet probably was born a lot farther out. As the star died, the planet’s orbit changed — it became extremely lopsided. Over time, the strong gravity of the white dwarf molded the orbit to its present configuration — just beyond the surface of a dead star. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Not many planets are bigger than their stars. And not many have spiraled close to a dead star known as a white dwarf and survived. But astronomers recently discovered a planet that’s defied the odds in both of those cases. WD 1856b orbits a white dwarf — the corpse of a star that was similar to the Sun. It’s about half as heavy as the Sun, but only about as big as Earth. It became a white dwarf at the end of its normal lifetime, almost six billion years ago. 1856b, on the other hand, is a giant planet. It’s about as big as Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. That makes it several times wider than the white dwarf. Astronomers discovered the planet with space telescopes, which saw the system’s light fade as the planet passed in front of the star. They confirmed it with telescopes on the ground, including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. Astronomers have discovered the pulverized remains of planets orbiting white dwarfs. They’ve even seen the remains of dead planets polluting the surfaces of such stars. But this is the first time they’ve seen an intact planet this close to a white dwarf — just two million miles away. The planet probably was born a lot farther out. As the star died, the planet’s orbit changed — it became extremely lopsided. Over time, the strong gravity of the white dwarf molded the orbit to its present configuration — just beyond the surface of a dead star. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

DOUGLAS McARTHUR: We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. 75 years ago, aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, in Tokyo Bay, General Douglas McArthur was overseeing the formal surrender of Japan, ending World War II. American soldiers and civilian workers would soon be returning home, to the lives they’d established before the war. That included many scientists, whose work had helped win the war. They’d made amazing advancements in electronics, rocketry, nuclear physics, radar, and other fields. Edwin Hubble, for example, for whom Hubble Space Telescope is named, had worked on rockets. And Lyman Spitzer, who was the driving force behind space telescopes, helped create sonar. After the war, scientists built on those accomplishments. Gerard Kuiper, for example, adapted military technology to make infrared detectors for telescopes. Using those detectors at McDonald Observatory, he discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars. Scientists had more than just new equipment to keep them going, though. The successes of war-time science led to more government funding for post-war science — 10 times more than before the war. And astronomy was among the fields that benefited. Government funding paid for new instruments, telescopes, and even observatories — peaceful science that built on war-time accomplishments. More about post-war astronomy tomorrow. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

Scientific discoveries take time. They have to be confirmed by other scientists. That can come through new observations, a dive into old ones, or a combination of the two. An example of the “combo” approach is the discovery of a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our own solar system. Astronomers had already confirmed one planet in the system, called Proxima Centauri b. It’s about the size of Earth, and it’s in the region where conditions are most comfortable for life. Early this year, a team led by Mario Damasso in Italy reported the discovery of a possible second planet. Their work indicated that Proxima Centauri c is heavier than Earth. And it’s so far from the star that it probably would be an iceball. A few months later, another team reported snapping possible pictures of the planet, which might have rings. And in June, Fritz Benedict of McDonald Observatory added more details. He looked at observations that he and colleagues had made with Hubble Space Telescope in the 1990s. They were looking for planets in closer orbits, but didn’t find any. When he looked again, though, he found evidence of planet “c.” When he combined the observations of all the teams, Benedict came up with a planetary mass of roughly seven times that of Earth, and an orbital period of about five and a half years. Other teams continue to study the system to tease out details about this and other possible planets around our close neighbor. Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

A beautiful trio highlights the after-midnight sky tonight: the Moon and the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is the brighter of the two worlds, but Saturn stands closer to the Moon. A telescope will reveal Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. In fact, if you look at Titan with even a modest backyard telescope, you’ll know almost as much about the little world as astronomers did until well into the 20th century. Dutch astronomer Christaan Huygens discovered Titan in 1655. In the 1880s, George Hill determined its mass by measuring its gravitational effects on the orbit of another of Saturn’s moons. The first big breakthrough in understanding Titan came in 1944. Using the brand-new 82-inch telescope at McDonald Observatory, Gerard Kuiper detected the chemical “fingerprint” of methane — revealing that Titan has an atmosphere. It was the first moon in the solar system known to have an atmosphere, and it’s the only moon with a thick atmosphere. Bigger telescopes allowed astronomers to see Titan more clearly, yet they revealed few details. That’s because a thick “haze” at the top of the atmosphere conceals the surface. It took visits from spacecraft to reveal the surface. The Cassini mission, for example, used radar to peer through the clouds. It showed us lakes and seas filled with liquid hydrocarbons, plus giant sand dunes and ice volcanoes — wonders on a world we’ve known about for a long time, but are just starting to know. Script by Damond Benningfield 

The reality of our new normal could spark renewed interest in an old favorite: the great American road trip. Danielle chats with Moon Route 66 Road Trip author Jessica Dunham about the allure of this iconic highway. With a focus on family fun, Jessica shares her top Route 66 picks including man-made kitschiness, scenic lookouts, and national park access. And, keep those engines revved up because Jessica gives a sneak peek into her forthcoming book The Open Road: 50 Best Road Trips In The USA. Discussion Includes the Following [0:02] Listener comment - Piñon Flats Camp Ground, Great Sand Dunes National Park [2:58] Jessica Dunham, author: Moon Route 66 Road Trip and The Open Road: 50 Best Road Trips In The USA [6:48] History of Historic Route 66: Federal-Aid Highway Act, National Park Service Corridor Preservation Program [9:58] Route 66 Family Road Trip: Overview [10:54] Midwest Region: Route 66 Association Hall Of Fame and Museum, Gateway Arch National Park, Indiana Dunes State Park, World’s Largest Route 66 Rocking Chair [16:02] Great Plains Region: Cars on the Route, Cadillac Ranch [19:34] Southwest Region: Musical Highway, Wigwam Village Motel [25:02] National Parks Along The Route - Part I: Petrified Forest National Park, Grand Canyon National Park [26:23] NPS Dark Skies Program [27:12] Arizona’s big sky vistas and Meteor Crater [29:15] More Grand Canyon Attractions: Grand Canyon Railway, Phantom Ranch [32:01] National Parks Along The Route - Park II: Mojave National Preserve, Joshua Tree National Park [34:16] Saguaro National Park [36:12] End Of The Route: Los Angeles, CA and Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA [38:27] National Parks To Ponder on The Lonliest Road: The Open Road: 50 Best Road Trips In The USA, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, Great Basin National Park [40:00] A Great Texas Road Trip: Big Bend National Park, Alpine, Marfa, McDonald Observatory, Marfa Burrito [46:00] National Astronaut Day, Girl Scouts, NPS Dark Skies Program, Shenandoah National Park, [47:20] California Road Trip Favorites: Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Redwood National And State Forest For complete show notes and archive, visit everybodysnationalparks.com. Note: This episode is coming out in spring of 2020 during COVID-19 please be safe and follow recommended guidelines. If you are going to a national park, check the website for specific closures and guidelines for that park. The content of this interview is to inspire travel once it is safe to do so. Thank you and we hope you and your loved ones stay healthy. Actions: Subscribe to our podcast. Tell your friends about Everybody’s National Parks Visit our website https://www.everybodysnationalparks.com/ Send us your national park stories, recommendations, comments, or questions to Hello at everybodysnps.com. Support us on Patreon Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Please tag us from the parks you are visiting at #everybodysnationalparks and @everybodysnationalparks  

On West Texas Talk this week, General Manager Elise Pepple talks to artist Nick Terry about how to meditate and take a deep breath during a crisis. Then, Pepple talks to Laura Thoms about living at the McDonald Observatory. Laura’s already prepared for social isolation and offers some tips for people who are new to it. In the final segment of this week's show, we hope to lift your spirits. We’re creating a new series of videos called 'Tiny Porch.' This is a social isolation music series inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. We’re asking musicians in Far West Texas to record a cover song from their porch. The videos are an opportunity for listeners across Far West Texas to come to... Hosted by Elise Pepple for KRTS

Eugene Sepulveda is the CEO of the Entrepreneurs Foundation, a director and partner in Capital Factory. He also serves as a senior advisor & the campaign treasurer for Austin Mayor Steve Adler. He previously served as the President and CEO of Marfa Public Radio and as co-chair of President Obama's LGBT Leadership Council. He currently serves on the national finance council for former HUD Secretary Julian Castro's presidential campaign. Eugene has over 30 years experience from banking, high tech startups, and higher education. He taught in the MBA and undergraduate programs at the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business, served as CFO for an Austin-based semiconductor startup, and was Austin's first technology banker. He currently serves as vice chair of Austin's Airport Advisory Commission, on the board of the Barton Springs Conservancy, on the executive committee for the McDonald Observatory's Board of Visitors, on the advisory board of the Sustainable Food Center, as chairman emeritus of People Fund, and as chair of Jolt Texas' leadership council. Eugene's rewards and recognitions include being recognized as the Best Austin Booster (Austin Chronicle), Best Professor (Alpha Kappa Psi), as a nominee for Outstanding Elective Professor (UT MBA), the Human Rights Campaign's Lifetime Achievement Award, the HRC Bettie Naylor Visibility Award, 2014 honoree by the Mex Net Alliance, an Austin Under Forty award winner, the Austin Business Journal Heavy Hitter in Finance, and honored by the Austin City Council by the declaration of a Eugene Sepulveda Day in 1994 and Eugene Sepulveda and Steven Tomlinson Day in February 2015. Eugene is married to Dr. Steven Robert Tomlinson. They have 6 nieces and nephews and 13 godchildren. Eugene can be reached at: eugene@abporter.org

By Sally Beauvais Deana Haggag -- who visited Marfa from Chicago with a group of friends late last year -- has almost always lived in big cities. And the night sky in West Texas left a big impression on her. "I remember that I had never seen stars like that in my life," she said. Haggag and her friends went to a Star Party at McDonald Observatory -- where they ended up staying late and spending some one-on-one time with the guides. As they looked up into the Milky Way from the Davis Mountains, staff told the group about galaxies billions of light years away. "And that's where my brain kept being like, 'Oh my goodness, if this is the universe you're in, and this is how you think about... Hosted by for KRTS

MultiMedia Cafe Special Guest and Topics Menu Wednesday March 6, 2019 Bill Wren, The University of Texas at Austin, explains how The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory and the collaboration with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA) and the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) to reduce light [...]

Social Media Segment Interview: Bill Wren, The University of Texas at Austin Bill Wren, The University of Texas at Austin, explains how The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory and the collaboration with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA) and the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) to reduce [...]

On today's podcast, we remember the day we with spent with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the California Women's Conference hosted by Maria Shriver in 2010. Read Lian's original blog post from that day here. We are saddened to hear of Justice O'Connors Alzheimers' diagnosis. What a heartbreak. Also today, travel trends from West Texas - Julie recommends Marfa, the McDonald Observatory and Big Bend National Park. Lian wants to know what's happening in the milk aisle at her supermarket (SO many choices) and Liz has the answer from the business pages. Plus artisanal snacks on airplanes are supposed to make us happy? Really? How about more legroom?Lian will post her Poldark Random Thoughts in the Satellite Sisters Facebook Group.NEW Satellite Sisters merch in our Satellite Sisters Shop! Check out our new tees, hats, hoodies, water bottles, stickers, beach towels and more. New collections for Urban Nana and Nana Camp plus classic Satellite Sisters and Satellite Misters logo'd gifts.Today's Satellite Sisters sponsors. Please use these special urls:Molekule Use promo code sistersRitualRothy's Use promo code sistersThirdLoveJoin our Satellite Sisters Facebook Group to get in on the conversation.Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @SatSistersFor great Satellite Sisters and Satellite Misters gifts from our online shop, go here.Click here to buy our Satellite Sisters book "You're The Best: A Celebration of Friendship"To subscribe to Satellite Sisters on Apple Podcasts, click here.To subscribe to Satellite Sisters on Stitcher, click here.To find Satellite Sisters on Spotify, click here.We are also on Google Podcasts and NPROne.The complete Satellite Sisters podcast audio archive is here. Don't forget to subscribe to Satellite Sisters Talk TVif you want to listen to Lian and Julie's TV recaps of CBS drama Madam Secretaryand PBS Poldark recap Pol,Dark and Handsome.Check out Liz's workplace advice podcast Safe For Work. This week Liz interviews Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, best friends and co-CEO's of The Skimm. Definitely worth a listen, sisterhood. And thanks for subscribing.

In this episode, we talk about the RV accessory that we probably complain about the most but also depend upon to get where we are going - the GPS navigation system. We talk to a top government GPS expert this week who explains how GPS works; how accurate and reliable it is, or isn't; what system – the one in the dashboard or the one on your smartphone or tablet - is most accurate and what to do when it is not accurate. Also some spring cleaning ideas for your traveling tech, a great off the beaten path report from New Mexico, RV tips and your questions. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #185 March 28, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:05"] Happy Easter everyone!  It's Spring Break and Easter Vacation time for much of North America this week and campgrounds are experiencing their first major rush of the 2018 camping season. We're in Florida at our Emerald Coast Location on the Gulf of Mexico again after a great visit last week to Texas. And the first of two videos we did on that trip will go live tomorrow – Thursday April 29 – on our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube. It's about our trip to Waco and all the fun we had there. Two of our three kids and five of our eight grandkids will be joining us over the weekend here at the beach to celebrate Easter so we're looking forward to some fun family time. Then we hit the road again for what promises to be perhaps our busiest travel season ever. Though we've been busy all year so far. In fact we travel somewhere in our RV every month. Now…here are the top RV related stories that have interested us this week…. Rangers at Arizona's Saguaro National Park using microchips to thwart thieves  So many people are taking home a piece of Arizona's Saguaro National Park's famous saguaro cactus that rangers have started the unusual practice of micro chipping them. Yes, you read that right. Microchips are being inserted into the iconic plant that can grow up to 40 feet tall and live 200 years because selling them has become a lucrative market that is hurting the national park. Ohio buys 60,000 acres to develop new park, complete with camping We always like seeing stories about new state parks. Ohio announced its plans to buy 60,000 acres of privately owned land in the southeastern part of the state and turn it into the Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area, complete with camping. The rolling hills and lake-specked land is owned by American Electric Power and was once mined for coal. In recent years the electric company allowed public use of the land, and a recent story we will link to in the shownotes presents an interesting picture of how one state is trying to preserve undeveloped land for future generations. Night sky educational programs to get even better at national parks Enjoy viewing the night sky in the nation's national parks? Your experience may be even a bit better this summer. The University of Texas-Austin's McDonald Observatory is creating a training program for park rangers to help them develop better night sky experiences for visitors. This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer's trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation's largest family-operated RV dealership with 19 locations and growing JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK: An easy way to make eggs right every time [spp-timestamp time="13:00"] Kristi Gilson and her Egg Central Egg Cooker by Quisinart In this week's tip, we meet Kristi Gilson, a new RVer, who recently showed us a gizmo she travels with in her RV that makes a perfect egg breakfast every time. The device Kristi showed us is called the Egg Central Egg Cooker by Quisinart. You use distilled water and it quickly cooks eggs just about any way you want from omelets to h...

Taking in the Star Party at the McDonald Observatory. https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/star-parties

Keep going… keep going… almost there. This week’s Typewriter Rodeo poem illustrates the long trek to the McDonald Observatory in West Texas and the glorious sky that awaits visitors there.

Keep going… keep going… almost there. This week’s Typewriter Rodeo poem illustrates the long trek to the McDonald Observatory in West Texas and the glorious sky that awaits visitors there.

Keep going… keep going… almost there. This week’s Typewriter Rodeo poem illustrates the long trek to the McDonald Observatory in West Texas and the glorious sky that awaits visitors there.

Visitors to far West Texas usually make a point to visit Big Bend, the McDonald Observatory and to try to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Marfa Lights. Those unexplained lights were the inspiration for this week’s poem from the Typewriter Rodeo.

Visitors to far West Texas usually make a point to visit Big Bend, the McDonald Observatory and to try to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Marfa Lights. Those unexplained lights were the inspiration for this week’s poem from the Typewriter Rodeo.

Visitors to far West Texas usually make a point to visit Big Bend, the McDonald Observatory and to try to catch a glimpse of the mysterious Marfa Lights. Those unexplained lights were the inspiration for this week’s poem from the Typewriter Rodeo.

The University of Texas at Austin’s observatory is high in the hills of west Texas. In this special episode, Mat Kaplan joins the tens of thousands who visit it each year. The occasion was the dedication of the vastly upgraded Hobby-Eberly Telescope, third largest on Earth.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Outer space - does it allure and call out to you? Does it fascinate you to ponder how the universe and galaxies come into being? How do galaxies grow over time and change dramatically across different regions of outer space? How do they grow their stars, black holes, and dark matter? These are some of the questions that drive the research of this episode's guest, Dr. Shardha Jogee. She will share her early deep fascination with science, how she dared to dream big, and how it all culminated against all odds in her career as an astronomer, professor, and chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. She will discuss some of her exciting research using NASA's Hubble, Spitzer, and Herschel Space Telescopes, McDonald Observatory, and the future Giant Magellan Telescope, and invite young minds to join the journey of scientific exploration. She will also share the excitement of advancing Texas Astronomy in her role as department chair.

Outer space - does it allure and call out to you? Does it fascinate you to ponder how the universe and galaxies come into being? How do galaxies grow over time and change dramatically across different regions of outer space? How do they grow their stars, black holes, and dark matter? These are some of the questions that drive the research of this episode's guest, Dr. Shardha Jogee. She will share her early deep fascination with science, how she dared to dream big, and how it all culminated against all odds in her career as an astronomer, professor, and chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. She will discuss some of her exciting research using NASA's Hubble, Spitzer, and Herschel Space Telescopes, McDonald Observatory, and the future Giant Magellan Telescope, and invite young minds to join the journey of scientific exploration. She will also share the excitement of advancing Texas Astronomy in her role as department chair.

Outer space - does it allure and call out to you? Does it fascinate you to ponder how the universe and galaxies come into being? How do galaxies grow over time and change dramatically across different regions of outer space? How do they grow their stars, black holes, and dark matter? These are some of the questions that drive the research of this episode's guest, Dr. Shardha Jogee. She will share her early deep fascination with science, how she dared to dream big, and how it all culminated against all odds in her career as an astronomer, professor, and chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. She will discuss some of her exciting research using NASA's Hubble, Spitzer, and Herschel Space Telescopes, McDonald Observatory, and the future Giant Magellan Telescope, and invite young minds to join the journey of scientific exploration. She will also share the excitement of advancing Texas Astronomy in her role as department chair.

Fronteras: More Mexicans are trying to escape intimidation and/or violence by petitioning the U.S. for political asylum. Human trafficking is a growing problem in the Southwestern United States. Authorities in Juárez are finalizing their investigation into the cause of a deadly explosion at a candy factory last month. The McDonald Observatory in West Texas is now home to the historic Otto Struve telescope.

Waiting, waiting, waiting in the RGV for the weather to finally warm enough to hit the road. We have many plans for travel in Texas, but this winter has been cold even here, so we are waiting until El NIno gets through with winter. Mid month we headed off to west Texas and Big Bend National Park. We wanted to give this area enough time - no rushing the itinerary so we scheduled 2 weeks for the NP and associated state parks. In retrospect, this was plenty of time for us. If you were a avid hiker, birder or similar sport enthusiast, then more time might be necessary. Our plans were two camping sites in the park and then on to the Davis mountains to the north. We managed to drive most of the improved roads and some 4 wheelin' roads as well as see all of the major sights in a week. The second week was spent a bit north visiting Marfa, Alpine, McDonald Observatory, and Fort Davis. Our overwhelming feeling was one of isolation and desolation of this area. Small towns (usually less than 1000 population) and scattered ranches make up most of this area. Whole counties with less than 5000 population are the norm in the west Texas region. For us urbanites, this feels like nowhere. Cell phones are useless, stores as we know them are hundreds of miles away, fuel and life's essentials are very expensive. Our satellite internet and TV kept us connected everywhere - no trees on this landscape, so we did feel connected. However, there was no local TV or even radio. We are now back in the Dallas area, restocked and replenished. This episode has many interesting topics - many that our listeners have brought up. We try to discuss some interesting articles that we have found in addition to interviewing one of our listeners in the Chicago area via Skype. We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email (navigator@rvnavigator.com) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

Karl Gebhardt, HETDEX Project Scientist, explains how a McDonald Observatory telescope will look for dark energy.