The Backyard Astronomer Podcast

🌌 How many can you find? October 10 brings us a New Moon and one of the darkest evenings of the month. That makes it the perfect night to step outside and explore the sky. This month's Backyard Astronomer is a challenge: start with the Summer Triangle, Great Square of Pegasus and the Teapot, then follow the Milky Way, find the Big Dipper and Andromeda Galaxy, and work your way to Saturn, Titan, Neptune and the Pleiades. No expensive equipment required. Just your eyes, a dark sky, and a little curiosity. Binoculars, a telescope and SkySafari can take you even farther. So grab a chair, turn off the lights and see how many you can check off. Clear skies and happy viewing! 🔭✨   #BackyardAstronomer #Astronomy #Stargazing #NightSky #DarkSky #YavapaiCounty #PrescottArizona #Astronomy #Space #STEM #Science #STEMEducation #NASA   Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro   Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com    

Before Hubble ever launched, Nancy Grace Roman was already fighting to make a space telescope a reality. As NASA's first Chief of Astronomy and its first female executive, Roman helped turn the ambitious idea of a telescope above Earth's atmosphere into what would become the Hubble Space Telescope. This September, we look back at the remarkable woman behind the "Mother of Hubble" nickname, and ahead to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to begin its own journey into deep space. A new telescope is about to carry her name into the future, and it may change the way we explore the universe all over again.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #Science #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

Summer monsoon clouds may keep Arizona astronomers indoors, but when the skies finally clear, one of the greatest sights in the night sky returns. This month's Backyard Astronomer explores the Milky Way, our home galaxy, and why the hazy band stretching overhead is actually the combined light of hundreds of billions of distant stars. Grab a lawn chair, find a dark sky, and take a journey across the galaxy without ever leaving your backyard.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

On the 250th anniversary of American independence, it is worth looking up and considering how small our place is in the scale of time. The Big Dipper offers an easy path outward to Arcturus and then Spica, where distance quietly overlaps with the long arc of our own history.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

July brings monsoon storms on Earth... and storms in Space!  When you have to cover your telescope and protect it from the elements, its a great opportunity to learn about space weather.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com  

On Tuesday, June 30, an Arizona-based company will attempt a mission that could change the future of spaceflight. Katalyst Space Technologies, headquartered in Flagstaff, plans to launch a first-of-its-kind orbital servicing mission designed to rendezvous with NASA's aging Swift space telescope and potentially extend its operational life. In this episode, we'll explore why satellites slowly lose altitude, how space debris affects the orbital environment, and why many experts believe satellite servicing may become one of the most important industries of the coming Space Age. Could the future of spaceflight involve repairing and refueling spacecraft instead of replacing them? Join us as we take a closer look at Arizona's role in a historic mission that may give an aging scientific observatory a second chance. #BackyardAstronomer #SpaceExploration #SwiftTelescope #KatalystSpace #ArizonaSpace #Astronomy #SpaceScience #OrbitalServicing #SpaceDebris #FlagstaffAZ     Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

Jupiter takes center stage this June 🌌 From ancient Roman mythology to NASA’s Juno spacecraft, humanity has been keeping an eye on the king of planets for centuries. This month, Jupiter meets Venus in a spectacular conjunction on June 8–9, joins the crescent Moon on June 16, and welcomes Mercury later in the month. Grab a pair of binoculars or a small telescope and watch the Galilean moons dance beside the Solar System’s giant.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com  

Long before spacecraft visited the asteroid belt, astronomers searched the skies for the remnants of a lost planet. In May’s Backyard Astronomer, we explore the discovery of 4 Vesta—a massive protoplanet, survivor of the early Solar System, and one of the brightest asteroids visible from Earth. This month, Vesta rises alongside Saturn and Neptune in the pre-dawn sky, offering backyard astronomers a chance to track a world in motion.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci posited that the Earth could illuminate the Moon.  Learn more about the Da Vinci Glow in this month's Backyard Astronomer.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com

Hydrogen is the smallest atom in existence, yet it shapes the entire universe. It fuels the Sun, forms the glowing clouds where new stars are born, and even powers the rockets carrying humans back to the Moon. In this episode of The Backyard Astronomer, we start with a stubborn hydrogen leak on the Artemis launchpad and trace element number one all the way back to the beginning of the cosmos.   #Astronomy #Space #STEM #STEMEducation #NASA Follow us at facebook.com/BackyardAstronomerAZ Check out the NAZ Astro mission of STEM education at facebook.com/NAZAstro Support STEM education patreon.com/NAZAstro Our awesome sponsors: facebook.com/manzanitains www.Manzanita-Insurance.com www.ManzanitaAccounting.com www.ManzanitaInsuranceAndAccounting.com www.BackyardAstroAZ.com