Star Trails: A Weekly Astronomy Podcast

It’s been a short break due to technical issues, travel, and life in general, but the show is far from gone. Thanks to everyone who wrote in asking about it — your messages mean the world.Here’s what’s happening in the night sky from September 28 – October 4:September 28: A waxing crescent Moon appears, climbing higher each evening.September 30: The Moon reaches first quarter, brightening the evening skies.Saturn is well placed for evening viewing, glowing steadily in the south.Jupiter rises late at night into the pre-dawn hours, a bright beacon in the east.It’s the quiet buildup before a busy October — meteor showers, conjunctions, and cosmic curiosities await.The next episode (October 5) will feature a special segment on the unsolved mysteries of the cosmos—from strange planetary tilts to unexplained cosmic signals. Think of it as an astronomy-flavored Unsolved Mysteries.Until then, clear skies!

This week we explore both the night sky and the cosmic tick-tock of time itself. The Moon waxes from half-lit to nearly full, while Saturn shines golden in Pisces with its razor-thin rings. Jupiter and Venus rule the morning skies, and the faint Aurigid meteors and Comet Lemmon make cameo appearances for early risers. In the second half of the show, we dive into the strange and fascinating world of “time in space.” From NASA engineers living on Martian sols with their custom-built Mars watches, to the Omega Speedmasters strapped to Apollo astronauts’ suits, to the atomic clocks aboard GPS satellites that literally rely on Einstein’s relativity to keep us from getting lost—this is a journey through the cosmic heartbeat that guides explorers and Earthlings alike.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we head outward to the seventh planet, where the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a brand-new moonlet orbiting Uranus. Barely six miles across, this tiny world is so small you could, in theory, walk around it in a single day. But is “walking” even possible when the surface gravity is only a whisper? We run the numbers and explore what it would feel like to live in such a micro-gravity landscape, where a careless jump could fling you into orbit.Back under Earth’s skies, the nights begin in darkness. The week opens with a fresh New Moon, offering deep-sky windows before the crescent brightens. Saturn dominates the evening hours, Venus and Jupiter rule the dawn, and the Aurigids meteor shower brings a chance of surprise streaks before sunrise. We’ll also shine a light on three quieter constellations — Lacerta the Lizard, Aquarius the Water-Bearer, and Capricornus the Sea Goat — exploring the lore behind their faint patterns and the clusters, doubles, and globulars tucked among their stars.From new moons both near and far, to the myths written across our own skies, this is a week for patient eyes, and a reminder of how scale and story intertwine in the universe.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

Under a rare seasonal Black Moon, this week’s sky rewards early risers and deep-sky wanderers alike. We start with a whisper-thin crescent slipping closer to the Sun each morning, then pivot to a dawn showcase where Mercury reaches greatest elongation while Venus and Jupiter stack higher above the horizon. On Tuesday and Wednesday a paper-thin crescent Moon joins the lineup—a perfect wide-field photo op—while evenings bring Saturn rising into prime viewing on its road to September opposition. With moonlight out of the way, scan the Milky Way for under-sung binocular treats: Delphinus the Dolphin, M11 (Wild Duck Cluster) in Scutum, and the Coathanger asterism in Vulpecula. You may even catch a few Perseid stragglers in the pre-dawn dark.In the second half, we widen the frame to reveal the Milky Way’s “hidden companions”—dozens, maybe hundreds, of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies quietly orbiting our own. We unpack why they’re so hard to see (surface brightness, not just brightness), how modern surveys like SDSS and DES ferret them out, and why they matter for big questions about dark matter, galaxy growth, and the “missing satellites” problem.Links in this episode:Sloan Digital Sky SurveyThe Dark Energy SurveyGaia SkyFor more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we’re chasing Perseids and planetary pairings while the Moon slowly makes room for darker skies. We’ll explore which constellations are hiding in plain sight, from the narrow spear of Sagitta to the twisting coils of Draco, and we’ll take a tour of some underappreciated deep sky objects along the way.You’ll learn when and where to spot the Venus-Jupiter conjunction, how Mercury is making its return, and why August’s meteor showers come with both brilliance and baggage this year. We’ll even travel back to 1972 to revisit one of the most spectacular meteor events ever witnessed in daylight: the Great Daylight Fireball.Then we ask a strange but very real question: what does space smell like? Astronauts have reported scents of welding fumes, gunpowder, even barbecued steak. We’ll explore the chemistry, the molecules responsible, and the surprising connection between nebulae and that curious post-EVA aroma.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we bask in the glow of the bright Sturgeon Moon, trace the shifting positions of planets from twilight to dawn, and watch as a few late-season meteors streak across the sky.Later in the show, we journey beyond Neptune to meet a newly discovered distant object named Ammonite—a cosmic fossil whose strange orbit may upend one of the most compelling mysteries in astronomy: the existence of Planet Nine.We'll explore how this icy world fits into a tiny family of ultra-distant objects known as sednoids, and why its misaligned path challenges the idea of a hidden giant planet at the edge of our solar system.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we're watching the skies—and catching up on a stellar mystery. Dual meteor showers light up the pre-dawn hours, Mars gets cozy with the Moon, and a recently discovered nova continues to shimmer faintly in the south.Later in the show, we check out a brand new discovery that may have finally cracked a thousand-year-old puzzle. Betelgeuse, the red supergiant in Orion, has long puzzled astronomers with its strange long-term brightness variations. Now, thanks to cutting-edge observations from the Gemini North telescope, we may finally know why. Spoiler: Betelgeuse isn’t alone.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better withRSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast,use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

With the Moon going dark midweek, we take a look at some targets in deep-sky territory, plus some dazzling planetary pairings. Also, learn why now might be a good time to rise to the bold (and slightly bonkers) challenge of trying to spot Pluto! It’s not for the faint of aperture, but it’s a fun stretch goal for the ambitious skywatcher.Then, in the second half of the episode, the night gets stranger. We’ll revisit the legendary Wow! Signal from 1977—a mysterious 72-second radio burst that never repeated. It’s the perfect launchpad into the latest real-life cosmic mysteries, including bizarre radio pulses, celestial Morse code, and signals that challenge everything we thought we knew about stars and space.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we take a look at the night sky from July 13th to the 19th, highlighting a waning Moon, brilliant morning planets, and the first whispers of the Perseid meteor shower.We’ll check in on Venus dancing near the Pleiades, Saturn’s steady climb toward opposition, and Jupiter’s quiet return to the predawn sky. You’ll also hear what deep-sky targets are best viewed under the darkening moonlight—like the Dumbbell Nebula, Ring Nebula, and the Milky Way’s glowing heart through Sagittarius.Later, we flip the telescope around and ask: What does Earth look like from other worlds? From Venus’s twilight view of our blue planet, to Mars’s telescopic gaze, to Saturn’s distant snapshot in “The Day the Earth Smiled”, and the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image, we reflect on how our planet appears in someone else’s sky—and what that perspective tells us about ourselves.Mentioned in this episode:2025 Titan Shadow TransitsEarth from Mars and Other Postcards of HomeFor more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we kick things off with a deceptively simple listener question: What exactly is mass? From beach balls to black holes, we explore how mass shapes the universe, and our understanding of gravity.Then we turn our eyes to the night sky, where the Full Buck Moon rises low on the horizon, showing off the inspiring Moon Illusion. We’ll cover what planets are visible, what to look for in the coming nights, and keep in mind, meteor shower season is right around the corner.Finally, we journey to the outermost reaches of the solar system, to the Kuiper Belt and the distant, mysterious Oort Cloud. These frozen zones may hold the keys to our cosmic past and are home to icy relics like Comet Bernardinelli–Bernstein, one of the largest comets ever discovered.Connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.socialIf you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

own. Highlights include a close encounter between the Moon and Mars, a subtle meteor shower, and a dazzling pre-dawn lineup of planets.In the second half of the show, we check out some of the most fascinating space news of the season, including:An asteroid that could impact the Moon in 2028The largest comet ever discovered, already active far beyond SaturnA distant spiral galaxy challenging our ideas about how galaxies formAnd a breakthrough in the decades-long search for the universe’s missing matterThen, we zoom in on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which just released its first images from the largest astronomical camera ever built. From new asteroids to deep galaxy clusters, Rubin is poised to change everything we know about the dynamic sky.Connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.socialIf you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we explore one of the darkest, and most dynamic, weeks of the season for stargazing. With a New Moon on June 25th, we get a prime window to explore the deep sky, from the glowing heart of the Milky Way to the subtle shimmer of noctilucent clouds and the unpredictable June Bootids meteor shower.There’s also a stunning series of planetary pairings, including Venus and the Moon at dawn, and a twilight dance featuring Mercury, Mars, and Regulus. Plus, we preview a lunar occultation of Mars and offer tips for timing the event in your local sky.Later we venture far beyond the Solar System to investigate blazars: relativistic jets from feeding black holes in distant galaxies. We break down how these dynamic cosmic particle accelerators are helping scientists unlock secrets of the universe, one ghost particle at a time.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

The week of June 15th to the 21st includes a waning Moon approaching perigee, a lineup of bright planets at both dusk and dawn, and the breathtaking rise of the Milky Way’s galactic core in the southeastern night sky.But we’re also turning back the celestial clock. To honor the summer solstice on June 21st, the longest day of the year. We’ll explore how ancient cultures around the world used the sky to tell time, navigate, worship, and survive. From Stonehenge’s solar alignment to the jaw-dropping mechanics of the Antikythera device, we’ll journey through the earliest forms of astronomy and the tools that shaped humanity’s understanding of the cosmos.Along the way, we’ll marvel at Polynesian star compasses, Babylonian eclipse charts, Chinese supernova records, and the mythological constellations that connected skywatchers across continents.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week there’s a sky full of surprises. From the lowest full moon in nearly two decades—the golden-hued Strawberry Moon—to the elusive Arietid meteor shower peaking in broad daylight, there’s a lot to see… or at least know is happening above.We’ll also track the current planetary lineup, including Mercury’s brief appearance next to Jupiter and some early morning views of Venus and Saturn. Then, in the second half, we shift our focus to the Sun, which is ramping up toward solar maximum.We’ll explore the Sun’s 11-year magnetic cycle, why we’ve been seeing auroras farther south than usual, and what all of this means for ham radio operators and other technology.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

As June begins, the night sky greets stargazers with a blend of familiar favorites. This week we highlight a picturesque conjunction between Mars and the crescent moon, and Venus shines brightly as the Morning Star. Saturn lingers low in the early morning hours, and the Summer Triangle begins to dominate the eastern sky, signaling the slow approach of summer nights.We take a look at some of the action around the Galactic Core, home to deep sky gems like the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae, and the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*, before taking a detour into New York City, where the phenomenon of Manhattanhenge dazzles viewers. Plus, learn what other cities experience similar solar alignments, and how to find out if your own town has its own “henge” using the Photographer's Ephemeris!Finally, we explore the gravitational architecture of space by introducing the Lagrange Points—those curious and incredibly useful spots in the Earth–Sun system where spacecraft can "park" with minimal effort.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week the New Moon arrives—perfect conditions for spotting deep-sky wonders. Discover five must-see celestial objects to track down while the skies are dark, from ancient globular clusters to swirling galaxies.Then, we dig into a colorful cosmic mystery: why do we see red, blue, and yellow stars—but never green ones? We explain how star temperatures and light spectra play a role in the colors we perceive in the night sky.It’s a shorter episode this week (Drew’s voice is a bit under the weather), but there’s still plenty to marvel at above. So let your eyes adjust, and come along for the view.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

As the Moon wanes and the morning planets take center stage, we turn our gaze to a part of the sky rarely discussed on Star Trails: the Southern Hemisphere. In this episode, we take a journey through time and space to uncover the story of Argo Navis, the largest constellation that no longer exists.We explore the celestial ship’s breakup into Carina, Vela, and Puppis, and dive into the nebulae, star clusters, and pulsars that remain in its wake. Along the way, we also meet a few other retired constellations, including a long-lost housecat named Felis.We’ll offer up some tips for viewing Mars, Venus, Saturn, and Mercury, and mention deep sky gems to chase under moonless skies.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

In this week’s episode we’re chasing mysteries in all directions — from the icy edges of our solar system to the fiery hearts of dying stars.First, we explore the renewed buzz around Planet Nine, the theoretical ninth planet that may be lurking far beyond Pluto. New infrared data from decades-old space telescopes has astronomers wondering if we’ve finally glimpsed this long-suspected giant — or perhaps something even stranger.Then, it’s time to bask in the glow of May’s Flower Moon and spot a planetary conjunction in the early morning sky. We’ll also check in on the last few stragglers from the Eta Aquariid meteor shower and take a guided tour of Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown — a small but mythically rich constellation that just might be harboring a nova-in-waiting.Finally, we explore one of the wildest stellar phenomena ever proposed: the Thorne–Żytkow object — a red supergiant with a neutron star trapped inside its core. It’s cosmic horror meets astrophysics, and it just might be real.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social, or YouTube @TheStarTrailsPodcast.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we start with the waxing Moon as it heads toward May’s micromoon, the Flower Moon. Jupiter and Mars light up the western sky, while Venus, Saturn, and elusive Mercury put on a show before sunrise. Don’t miss your chance to spot Vesta — one of the brightest and biggest asteroids visible from Earth — as it reaches peak visibility this week. Later in the show, we venture far beyond our solar system to explore the wild world of exoplanets: planets orbiting other stars. From glass rainstorms to twin-star systems, we take a look at the science behind discovering distant worlds.For more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, or on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.

This week we say goodbye to Comet SWAN as it disintegrates on its first — and last — visit to the inner solar system. With a New Moon offering ideal stargazing conditions, we turn our attention to the Summer Triangle, Venus and Saturn’s pre-dawn pairing, and Mars dances near the Beehive Cluster.In the second half, we spotlight the galaxy’s rebellious loners: runaway stars. From the aftermath of supernovas to gravitational billiards near black holes, discover how some stars break free and speed through space at hundreds of kilometers per second. We’ll explore how they’re formed, how we find them, and why stars like HV 2112 and Zeta Ophiuchi continue to baffle and amaze astronomers.Link mentioned: Sky & Telescope's Jupiter's Moons utilityFor more episodes and resources for backyard astronomers, visit www.startrails.show. Share the wonder of the stars with friends and continue your cosmic journey with us. Also, connect with us on Mastodon @star_trails, or on Bluesky @startrails.bsky.social.If you're enjoying the show, consider sharing it with a friend! Want to help? Buy us a coffee!Podcasting is better with RSS.com! If you're planning to start your own podcast, use our RSS.com affiliate link for a discount, and to help support Star Trails.