Podcasts about ursids

GB2RS News Sunday, the 21st of December 2025 The news headlines: A British Science Week opportunity not to be missed Could you be the new RSGB Honorary Skills and Career Development Officer? Challenge yourself with the RSGB Construction Competition The RSGB is giving away 400 FM radio receiver kits and Morse code tutor kits as part of its British Science Week 2026 activities. The kits are available for school, university, Scout, Girlguiding, and Cadet groups, as well as other youth-related Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics groups. The project is being delivered thanks to a partnership between the RSGB Outreach Team, the Radio Communications Foundation and the RSGB Legacy Fund. To get involved, simply complete a form available at rsgb.org/bsw. If you need support, the RSGB can put you in touch with local radio amateurs who can assist. In exchange for the free kits, you'll need to send a brief report and photos that the Society can share afterwards to celebrate the activity and inspire other groups to try amateur radio. Don't miss out on this opportunity to share amateur radio with the next generation. The RSGB is looking for a volunteer Honorary Skills and Career Development Officer. One of the main responsibilities will be to build a team to engage with early-career engineers, as well as those making a career transition, in order to encourage them to use amateur radio to develop their skills and knowledge. As part of this engagement, the Society would like the new team to design and deliver learning material and courses at a level both just beyond and significantly beyond the Full Licence. Go to rsgb.org/volunteers  for the full role description. Keep yourself busy over the Christmas holidays by getting involved with the RSGB Construction Competition. There are seven categories to enter, including ‘Beginners' and ‘Software', which is for designs that recognise the importance of software technology to all aspects of amateur radio. A £150 cash prize will be awarded to the winner of each category, with a £50 cash prize for the runner-up. Find out more about the other categories and details of how to enter at rsgb.org/construction-competition The RSGB is releasing more presentations from its recent Convention. The lectures range in topics from Polar modulation to engaging young people with amateur radio. Four further presentations will be released over the festive season. To make sure you are the first to receive notifications when they're available, click the subscribe button on the Society's YouTube channel at youtube.com/thersgb  Young operators continue to host the special callsign GB25YOTA for Youngsters on the Air Month. Cambridge University Wireless Society is active today, Sunday the 21st of December and then tomorrow, Monday the 22nd of December, Jack, M7OFM, will be operating under the supervision of Pete, M0OFM. Jack will also be on the air on Christmas Day between 10 am and 12 pm, so ensure you listen out and make a seasonal QSO with him. View the operating times, bands and modes at rsgb.org/yota-month The RSGB would like to thank Dr Harry Squance, GI4JTF, who has retired after volunteering for 25 years as a QSL Bureau sub-manager. Most recently, Harry was the GI/MI/2I QSL sub-manager, and those callsigns will now be covered by Lindsay Pennell, GI3KME. All stamped addressed envelopes and any outstanding QSL cards will be transferred to Lindsay, but RSGB members in Northern Ireland who collect cards should, in future, send stamped addressed envelopes directly to Lindsay. The list of QSL Sub-managers at rsgb.org/qsl  has been updated to reflect the changes. On the 1st of December 1924, the 200kW Alexanderson alternator, with the callsign SAQ, was put into commercial operation with telegram traffic from Sweden to the United States. 101 years later, it is the only remaining electro-mechanical transmitter from this era and is still in running condition. At 0800UTC on Christmas Eve, the transmitter is scheduled to broadcast its traditional Christmas message using CW on 17.2kHz. Find out more by visiting tinyurl.com/SAQ25 Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions for the GB2RS News on Sunday, the 28th of December, is 10 am on Tuesday, the 23rd of December. Please note there will be no GB2RS broadcast on Sunday, the 4th of January 2026, but many newsreaders will be holding informal nets in their usual broadcasting slots. And now for details of rallies and events Sparkford Radio Rally is due to take place on Sunday, the 28th of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, near Yeovil, BA22 7QX. The doors will be open from 9.30 am, and admission will cost £2. Refreshments and free parking will be available on site. For more details, contact Luke on 07870 168 197 or email luke@mymixradio.co.uk On the 25th of January 2026, Lincoln Short Wave Club Winter Radio Rally will be held at Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. This is an indoor event with ample free parking. The doors will be open from 10 am, and admission is £3. Tables cost £10. To book tables, or for more information, contact Steve, M5ZZZ on 0777 7699 069 or email m5zzz@outlook.com Now the Special Event news The Rugby Amateur Transmitting Society will be using special callsign GB100GBR from the 1st to the 4th of January to celebrate the centenary of the first CW transmissions from the GBR transmitter at Rugby Radio Station. Operators will begin transmitting from the historic site at 1200UTC on the 1st of January, the same time as the original station 100 years earlier in 1926. Listen for activity on the HF bands using CW, FT8 and SSB. More information about the station is available at QRZ.com Simeon, M0VOB in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is running special event callsign GB54NTA until Monday, the 5th of January. The station is active on the HF, 2m and 70cm bands. Recently, the station was worked on the 40m band using FT8. All QSOs will be logged and confirmed via QRZ.com Now the DX news Roland, F8EN, is active as TR8CR from Gabon until the 25th of December. He operates CW only. QSL via F6AJA. For more information, visit QRZ.com George, VU2DGR, is using the AT44I callsign from Bharati Research Station until the 31st of December. He is a member of the 44th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica. The station is often worked using FT8 on the 20m band. QSL via George's home call. Now the contest news On Friday, the 26th of December, the DARC Christmas Contest runs from 0830 to 1100 UTC. Using CW and SSB on the 80 and 40m bands, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The Worked All Britain Christmas Party starts on Friday, the 26th of December and ends on Tuesday, the 6th of January 2026. Using all modes on all bands, the exchange is your Worked All Britain book number. On Saturday, the 27th of December, the RSGB 50MHz Christmas Contest runs from 1500 to 1700 UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The Stew Perry Topband Challenge starts at 1500UTC on Saturday, the 27th of December and ends at 1500 UTC on Sunday, the 28th of December. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is your four-character locator. On Sunday, the 28th of December, the RSGB 70MHz Christmas Contest runs from 1500 to 1700 UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 18th of December 2025 Last week, we suffered from the double whammy of a reduced solar flux index and an increased Kp index. The solar flux index went down to 119 by Thursday, the 18th, with the sunspots looking pretty spartan when compared with just a week or so ago. Unfortunately, a coronal hole contributed to a fast solar wind with a south-pointing interplanetary magnetic field or Bz. The net result was a Kp index of 5 and a minor G1 geomagnetic storm. Nevertheless, the maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, over a 3,000km path mostly remained above 28MHz, at least during daylight hours, and there was DX to be worked. As it's Christmas, let's focus on special calls for the season. YR0XMAS in Romania has been worked on the 20m band using CW and will be active until the end of the month. A little further afield is the 12 Days of Christmas event in the US. It runs until Christmas Day with 12 three-letter callsigns in the W2 and K2 series. You only have to work one to get a certificate, so it should be possible for most amateurs. If you are lucky enough to work all 12, plus a bonus station in Puerto Rico, you can get a special ‘Clean Sweep Plus' endorsement. W2S has already been spotted in the UK, and more details are available by Googling ‘12 days of Christmas ham radio'. Next week, we have another large coronal hole to contend with, which NOAA predicts may push the Kp index to 5 between the 22nd and 26th of December. The good news is that the solar flux index may increase over the same period, perhaps up to 180 by the 28th of December. Make the most of the low bands as we hit the winter solstice, with its long periods of darkness. And certainly check 14 to 28MHz during daylight hours. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The tail end of the previous week ended on a dramatically mild, wet and windy note, with heavy rain and gales in places. It might be good for the earth, but little else springs to mind other than some chance rain scatter for the GHz folk. The main feature of this Christmas propagation report is that we have a major change becoming established after this weekend. This change takes the form of swapping out the mild Atlantic pattern for a blocked, cold easterly flow with high pressure parked to the north of the British Isles near the Faroe Islands. If this takes place as suggested by some of the models, then a much colder easterly wind will remain with us for much of the Christmas week. The strength of the high means that the flow is only likely to produce shallow cloud, barely enough for an isolated wintry flurry on the east coast of England.  Lighter winds over northern Britain, closer to the high, will possibly allow some tropo, but it is not convincing in view of the shallow dry layer below the inversion. It will mean some sharp frosts are possible where skies clear. Long dark winter nights are potentially good for seeing meteors, and it is worth mentioning two showers this time. The first is the Ursids, which peak around the 22nd and 23rd of December. The second shower to be aware of is the Quadrantids, which peaks on the 3rd and 4th of January. This is a much larger shower than the Ursids, so maybe the one to focus on for radio activity. Aurora remains on the list, especially in view of the large coronal hole recently. As ever, keep an eye on the Kp index for high values, but it is even better to note conditions on the LF bands for signs of ‘watery' sounding signals. The Sporadic-E folklore often speaks of isolated mid-winter events, and, in view of the two meteor showers adding fuel and there being some useful jet streams, it is certainly worth mentioning. Using the jet stream over the Pyrenees for paths to Spain early this week is a good place to start. For EME operators, Moon declination is rising again, and path losses are decreasing. We are past apogee for the month, the point where the Moon is farthest from the Earth. 144MHz sky noise is also reducing again after reaching a peak yesterday, the 20th of December. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Send us a textIn this episode of The AstroGuy Podcast, Wayne walks you through everything unfolding in the December 2025 night sky, one of the best observing months of the year thanks to long, dark winter nights and crisp, steady air. We start with a full planetary roundup, including Jupiter's stunning December performance, Saturn's nearly edge-on rings, and a look at Mercury's early-morning apparition. We also cover the ongoing activity from Comet Lemmon, the fragmented C/2025 K1 ATLAS, and the rare interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS, along with clear explanations of what it is, and what it isn't.December brings two meteor showers, with the Geminids once again offering the year's most reliable performance, and the Ursids providing a second chance for shooting stars under dark skies. In space news, we discuss NASA's ESCAPADE mission and Blue Origin's major landing milestone, along with the final chapter for Japan's Akatsuki Venus orbiter.This month's Lunar Feature spotlights the Bay of Rainbows a favorite target for lunar observers. Then we wrap up with a deep-sky tour through Taurus, highlighting Aldebaran, the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the spectacular lunar occultation of M45 on December 3rd and MORE.Whether you're observing with binoculars, a telescope, or just your winter coat and a clear sky, December has something worth getting outside for.Don't forget to like and subscribe, your support helps bring astronomy to more people every month.Contact: AstroGuyPodcast@gmail.com Text/Voicemail: (973) 404-0380If you enjoy the episode, please subscribe, comment, and share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Carpe Noctem!Links:Feel free to buy us a cup of coffee or two! We really appreciate it! https://tinyurl.com/AstroGuyCoffeeOur Facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/astroguypodCranford TV-35: https://www.cranfordnj.org/tv-35Clark TV-36: https://www.ourclark.com/194/Clark-News---Our-Clark-MediaThe December 2025 Episode Guide: https://tinyurl.com/AGGuideDec25The Full Episode Guide of DSO's sorted by Catalog Name: http://tinyurl.com/AGFullGuideOur “Astronomy Basics” episode: https://youtu.be/MtUkLVneNYsThe “Great Astronomers” Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt4C8zx3Um7L05cMfYQC5z_UaQACdduTFAffiliate LinksHigh Point Scientific: https://www.highpointscientific.com/?rfsn=7714880.bb6129Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gFQmOGCreditsAudio Credits:Hymn to the DawnBy Scott BuckleyPhase Shift By Scott BuckleyVoice of Earth By Alex ProductionsUnder the SunBy Keys of MoonThe Long DarkBy Scott Buckleywww.scottbuckley.com.auMusic promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Creative Commons CC BY 4.0Creative Commons CC BY 3.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

The Geminids Meteor Shower is coming up soon, as is the Ursids Meteor Shower. Although we are coming up on a full moon on December 15, which will interfere with visibility of some of the weaker meteors, these meteor showers are still worth checking out.

Does a bear…CLOT in the woods?

Bears are part of our everyday lives. Whether we spot a black bear while camping or cuddle up to a teddy bear at night, ursids are baked into cultures around the globe. But as much as they're well-loved, bears are also in danger. We learn about the status of bears and the people pushing to save them.

A Christmas Comet/C 2022 E3 ZTF and the meeting of Mercury and Venus are highlights in this festive edition of our weekly stargazing guide.TranscriptRead up on Christmas night astronomy if you're looking to do some stargazing with the family.Learn to how to see the Ursids meteor shower.Stay up to date with how to find Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

GB2RS News Sunday the 18th of December 2022   The news headlines: Train the Trainers courses RSGB Convention videos Planning Advisory Committee recruitment   After a forced break during Covid, the RSGB will be restarting Train the Trainers courses in the spring of 2023. It is hoped that three courses will be run across the country. The team would like to run the courses where demand is greatest, rather than arrange three courses where there is no demand. If you are an existing trainer, or would like to become one, and would like to attend a course during the year, please contact  g7lfc@rsgb.org.uk  The team would also like to hear from clubs that are willing to host a course so that it can match demand with availability. For further details about the course, what it covers and what is required from hosts, please visit rsgb.org/train-the-trainers The RSGB has released four individual presentations from its 2022 Convention which cover a wide and interesting range of topics. Philip Lawson, G4FCL gives an introduction to test equipment whilst Phil Catterall, G4OBK talks about adventure radio in Europe. Taking a look back into history, Dr David Abrutat provides a fascinating insight into Bletchley Park and the Y Services between 1939 and 1945. Finally, as a link with December's YOTA month, young radio amateurs Dan McGraw, M0WUT and Hamzah Shah, 2E0HXS share their experiences and learning from the YOTA summer camp in Croatia this year. Find these and other RSGB Convention presentations on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB The RSGB Planning Advisory Committee assists RSGB Members with planning advice. It is looking to recruit additional committee members to help with this valuable service. You should be involved with, or retired from, a discipline associated with the planning process or have a good working knowledge of the planning process. The committee would particularly like to add a planning enforcement officer or a lawyer to the panel. The duties include assisting Members with planning enquiries, enforcement notices and appeals but will not include the actual preparation of planning applications on behalf of Members. If you think you can assist, please contact the RSGB Planning Advisory Committee Chair John Mattocks, G4TEQ by email at pac.chairman@rsgb.org.uk The RSGB HQ email system encountered a technical fault between the afternoon of Tuesday the 13th of December and the morning of Wednesday the 14th of December. If you emailed the RSGB during this period, it is likely that your message was not received and will need to be resent. To help, the RadCom team has extended the deadline for submissions to the magazine to Monday the 19th of December. So, there is still time to send in reports and items for the Club Calendar and Around Your Region sections of RadCom. The RSGB apologies for any inconvenience the fault may have caused. The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park will be closed for two days on the 10th and 11th of January 2023 to allow electrical maintenance work to be undertaken. When booking a visit on any other day, remember that RSGB members can download a free entry voucher to Bletchley Park from the RSGB website at rsgb.org/bpvoucher The RSGB has made two announcements about exams this week. The first gives details of how to book for the Direct to Full exam from January, and the second outlines necessary changes to the exam fees. Further details of both can be found on the RSGB website. Go to rsgb.org/exams and choose the Exam Announcements option in the righthand menu. RSGB HQ will be closed for Christmas and New Year from 12.30pm on Friday the 23rd of December until 8.30am on Tuesday the 3rd of January 2023. Next Sunday, the 25th of December, the GB2RS News script will be prepared as usual and read at the discretion of individual news readers. There will be no GB2RS broadcast on Sunday the 1st of January 2023. During the holidays, if you need information about amateur radio, exams or RadCom you'll find lots of pages on the RSGB website, www.rsgb.org  And now for details of rallies and events The Yeovil Amateur Radio Club Rally will be held on Thursday the 29th of December at Davis Hall, Howell Hill, West Camel, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7QX. Doors will be open from 9.30am to 1pm and admission is £3. Free parking is available. The event will include bring and buy as well as 20 tables for traders. For more information contact Bob on 01963 440 167. The Lincoln Shortwave Club Winter Radio Rally will be held on Sunday the 29th of January at The Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen, LN8 3HT. Doors open at 9.30am and entry is £2. Refreshments are available on site and talk-in is available on 145.375MHz. For more information email Graham via contact@m1dhv.co.uk The Canvey Rally will be held on the 5th of February at Cornelius Vermuyden School, Dinant Avenue, Canvey, Essex, SS8 9QS. The Rally is expected to be the usual hive of activity with plenty of traders and an indoor boot sale. Hot food and drinks will be available. Contact sears.enquiries@gmail.com for further information.   Now the Special Event News Special event station CN22JIM ends its two-week run today, the 18th, from the High Atlas Mountain range in Morocco. The ‘India Mike' suffix to the callsign was chosen in celebration of International Mountain Day which is held on the 11th of December each year. QSL via RW6HS. Today, the 18th , is the last chance to work the nine special event callsigns hosted by The Qatar Amateur Radio Society to celebrate the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Look out for the HQ station callsign A722FWC, as well as eight callsigns that contain sequential numbers, from A71FIFA to A78FIFA. The stations are active on the HF bands and via the QO-100 Satellite. QSL via the bureau, Logbook of the World or directly. Today is also the last opportunity to log special callsign PV22CUP. The Brazilian Amateur Radio League is using the callsign in celebration of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. QSL via Logbook of the World and eQSL. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of Summits On The Air France, special callsign TM15SOTA will be active until the 30th of December. QSL via eQSL. Special event stations GB1900HA and GB1900HW have been operating since the 24th of January to mark the 1900th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of Hadrian's Wall. The defensive fortification is the largest Roman archaeological feature in the British Isles. The stations will be active until Friday the 23rd of December.  Now the DX news Tony will be active as 3D2AG/P from Rotuma Island, Fiji, OC-060, until the 20th of December. He hopes to operate using CW, SSB, RTTY and some FT8 on the 160 to 6m bands. QSL via Club Log. Lester, W8YCM will be active as W8YCM/6Y from Jamaica, NA-097, until January 2023. QSL directly via his home callsign. Vincent, F4BKV will be active as XW4KV from Laos until the 23rd of December. His main activity will be on QO-100 from as many as 12 grids. He will also do some operating on the 40, 20, 15 and 10m bands. QSL via F4BKV and Logbook of the World.  Now the contest news The UK Six Metre Group Winter Marathon began on Thursday the 1st of December. The contest will run until the 31st of January 2023. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report and locator. Today, the 18th of December, the Stew Perry Top Band Challenge will end its 24-hour run at 1500UTC. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is your four-character locator. On Tuesday the 20th of December, the 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes on the 1.3GHz band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.  Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA, and G4BAO on Friday the 16th of December 2022 Things hotted up last week with a healthy increase in sunspot activity. The number of sunspots ramped up, giving us a solar flux index of 165 by Thursday. The other upside was the fact that geomagnetic conditions were quite settled with the Kp index remaining between one and three all week. There were some downsides. We have had an increase in the number of solar flares, with a total of 14. Of these, 11 were M-class. This is all happening around active region 3165, which is now a prime candidate for an X-class solar flare, the most powerful. There were reports of poor HF propagation on the morning of the 15th, which can possibly be attributed to the solar flares on the Sun. The graph of the maximum useable frequency, measured at Dourbes, looks rather like a roller coaster ride, with the extrapolated MUF over 3,000km being more than 38MHz at 9.15am and below 19MHz 20 minutes later. The moral of this story is that if HF propagation seems to fail just give it 20 minutes and see if it recovers. According to NOAA, the high solar flux index won't continue for much longer. It predicts that the SFI will reduce to between 115 and 120. The Kp is also predicted to stay low, at least until the 22nd when it is forecast to rise to five, possibly because of a returning coronal hole from 27 days ago. And finally, both the Chilton and Fairford Digisondes are offline at the moment, so please select Dourbes if using Propquest.co.uk And now the VHF and up propagation news The cold weather will be displaced as a temporary mild spell brings higher temperatures, plus wet and windy weather, during this weekend.  Eventually, colder westerly air with showery troughs will return from the west, but still with further bands of rain. There will probably be some good rain and snow scatter opportunities for the GHz bands. Tropo looks a bit thin, although there may be a brief enhancement on Sunday morning to France and the Low Countries but this will be gone by the afternoon. The other modes like meteor scatter and aurora are still a consideration, but much less predictable. With the Geminids meteor shower past its peak, there are two minor showers to look out for this week. The Leonis Minorids are active from the 5th of December to the 4th of February, reaching a maximum on the 20th of December with a low Zenithal Hourly Rate, or ZHR, of around five. The Ursids are active from the 17th of December to the 26th of December reaching a maximum on the 22nd of December, also with a low ZHR of around 10. Moon declination went negative on the 17th, so Moon windows will continue to shorten and zenith angles decrease. EME path losses are falling as we head towards perigee on Christmas Eve. 144MHz sky noise is increasing all week and on Friday we get close to an eclipse, so it will be very high during the whole Moon pass. Lastly, to repeat the ‘heads up' from last week about midwinter Sporadic-E, it is still worth mentioning since it usually becomes a reference after the event, and it would be nice to be there before it happens! So, employ the usual check of HF and VHF clusters from 10 to 4m and use www.propquest.co.uk and its EPI or Es probability index plots to see where the most likely areas for Es are located. Like summer events, rarer mid-winter Es are often associated with powerful jet streams and this unsettled weather is a good source for these. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Kalidas returns to discuss major planetary and cosmic events which come into alignment in the coming days. - How does astrology parallel with what happens on earth, on both the macro and micro (collective and individual) level? - Jupiter and Saturn are going to have a rare conjunction on Dec 21 in Capricorn. The last time they were this close was March 4, 1226. What is the significance of this conjunction? - Historical monumental shifts have occurred while Jupiter and Saturn have been exactly conjunct. - How can we prepare ourselves for the individual changes which will be triggered by these cosmic events. - Many mystics are talking about this plasmic wave which is approaching the earth, really becoming impactful from 12-12 to about 1-14. This has been prophecized through the ages and is also being observed by scientists. - What happens planetarily beyond the new year? - How can we use eclipses as a gateway? Notable upcoming dates: Dec 8 - 10 Mars and moon exactly opposed, Mars is in Pisces, moon in Virgo. Can cause heightened emotions. Dec 12-13 Plasmic wave gateway opens. Dec 13-14 Germinids “King” meteor shower. Dec 14 new moon, total solar eclipse. Dec 16, 17, 18 moon will go through the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction. Dec 13 Jupiter and Saturn come to within 1 degree and conjunction begins. Dec 21 Jupiter and Saturn come into exact conjunction. Dec 21 peak of Ursids meteor shower. Awake documentary, ananda.org, ashajoy.org

https://youtu.be/kl_Ki22YHcE Streamed live December 18, 2019. Host: Fraser Cain ( @fcain )Special Guest: Tonight we welcome Anita Gale, retired Boeing Associate Technical Fellow with over 40 years of experience in Payload and Cargo Integration on crewed spacecraft, including Space Shuttle and Commercial Crew. She is currently an elected member of the National Space Society (NSS) Executive Committee. Anita co-founded Space Settlement Design Competitions which give high school students on six continents the experience of working on an aerospace industry proposal team to design and sell a space settlement in the context of "future history." http://www.spaceset.org Regular Guests: Dr. Pamela Gay ( https://cosmoquest.org/x/ & @starstryder ) Dr. Brian Koberlein ( https://briankoberlein.com/ & @BrianKoberlein ) Pam Hoffman ( http://everydayspacer.com/ & @EverydaySpacer ) This week's stories: - OSIRIS-REx sample sites have been selected. - Annular solar eclipse in Indonesia. - Ursids meteor shower, Dec 17 - 26. Peak on Dec 22. - UV Auroras on Mars. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

December and Christmas stargazing, and a bit about a certain star. (Note: I realised I said the wrong meteor shower name during recording - it should be "Quadrantids" and not the "Ursids", but the peak is still around the 4th January.)

As the Geminids end, the Ursids begin, and the December solstice arrives bringing long nights to northern stargazers.

Learn how to see the Ursids, the last meteor shower of the year; how researchers figured out whether dogs can understand what you tell them; and how long it takes before you believe your own lies. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: How to See the Ursids, the Last Meteor Shower of the Year — https://curiosity.im/2EgU95S Can Dogs Really Understand What You Tell Them? — https://curiosity.im/2Sonb6A It Doesn't Take Long to Believe Your Own Lies — https://curiosity.im/2EjrLjB If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Learn about these topics and more on Curiosity.com, and download our 5-star app for Android and iOS. Then, join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Plus: Amazon smart speaker users, enable our Alexa Flash Briefing to learn something new in just a few minutes every day!

Geminids, Ursids, winter constellations

Geminids, Ursids, winter constellations