Julie Tomé and Mary-Helen Armour discuss overlooked events and people like the second moon, the first African American astronomer, and the astronomer whose work Edwin Hubble's built on. In news: a new measurement of the Hubble Constant and some interesting science performed on a meteorite found in a drawer at a university.

Episode image credite: Sunna Withers/AICO

This episode is a dive into science and science fiction with space launches from the past. We travel through the 70s (and a bit of the 50s) with space launches from Mariner, Voyager, Pioneer, and more. Join Elaina and Mary-Helen for this literal blast into space!

Image credit: NASA, The Voyager 1 aboard the Titan III/Centaur lifted off on September 5, 1977, joining its sister spacecraft, the Voyager 2, on a mission to the outer planets.

Join Sunna and Elaina for a spooky journey into exploded stars in the forms of supernovae and creepy comets. We discuss some of the astronomical history of Halloween, a few famous events, a few dead comets, and of course the most recent supernova from JWST.

Image Credit: A live view of Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from AICO 1m on 16 October 2024. E.A. Hyde, AICO. The mini livestream can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/live/4gyuf9Dvv60?si=MU1KvGVna6vziPbD

The sun is at solar maximum and we have a slew of hot stars to cover. Join Julie and Elaina for a stellar trip down memory lane as we talk about stars in the Milky Way, strangeness and new stars with strange properties.

Episode art: GPX 1b - exoplanet, image credit Nakul Sethuram, AICO, 2024

Robin Metcalfe takes the host chair and gathers former players of York University Faculty of Science softball teams IR Sox, the Expose and Comets in an exploration of career paths that a degree in science at York University can take you.

Episode art: Warren Fisher

This episode is a 'sandwich' of co-hosts, Robin and Ryan both talk about their Astronomer in Residence experience out at Killarney Park (with the AICO), and we discuss viewing and comets, in particular the upcoming comet A3 and the discovery by Maria Mitchell back in 1847.

Image Credit: C2023/E1 Green Comet, 1m, AICO, EHyde

Gagan Sidhu and Sunna Withers discuss important Canadian and Ontario space history, and current news including new images from JWST and the Starliner.

Image Credit: 2021 Mars 1m Malincam, AICO, June Parsons.

Julie Tomé and Dr Elaina Hyde discuss all the moons! Moon discoveries around Saturn, lunar missions, the next lunar eclipse and a temporary mini-moon around Earth.

Image credit: Sunna Withers AICO 2020 1m

This week we follow along with longtime host Julie Tomé as she chats astronomy with guests Bruce Waters and Ryan Marciniak. As past, present, and future candidates for the Allan I Carswell Observatory Astronomer in Residence program they all have thoughts to share about the importance of dark skies, the observing process and of course astronomy in general. To follow along with their blogs, and the photos from other astronomer in residence tenures this 2024 you can see our website for Astronomer in Residence: https://www.yorku.ca/science/observatory/air/

Observations past, present and future. Join Parisa Nozari and Dr. Elaina Hyde for a journey through stargazing, radio astronomy, optical astronomy and meteor showers. We discuss this week in space history as we look to the skies for interesting observational targets and we talk about upcoming astronomical events as well.

Image Credit: Messier Object M16,  Zachary Sharp, AICO, 2024

Investigate Space Debris with Dr. Elaina Hyde and Parisa Nozari as we discuss a history of things coming down, and some recent news from the Dragonfly mission, SpaceX and more! The more space junk we have, the higher the danger for astronauts… and earth based humans too.

image credit: AICO Killarney Park Astronomer in Residence 2024 Sunna Withers and Anna Skrinnik took this lovely sky image showing a shooting star.

This exciting episode features a tall glass of JWS-T, as discussed by our host Elaina Hyde with special guest Ethan Siegel. Join us for a journey through time and space to one of the most interesting telescopes of this decade! For some more great JWST discussion see our guests' new book "Infinite Cosmos: Visions From the James Webb Space Telescope" which can now be found at all major publishers. Ethan's blogsite and podcast can be found here https://www.startswithabang.com/

Image credit: JWST- at L2 - 2023: AICO, Sunna Withers, Zena Khadour

Special guest Brendan O'Brien of the Astrophiz podcast joins Dr. Elaina Hyde and Julie Tomé for a conversation about all things space and astronomy down under! Learn about Woomera and what has landed there, the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, radio astronomy and all its various antennae, and science communication. Brendan's podcast can be found at: https://astrophiz.com/

Image credit: One of the tiles making up the 32T, a prototype instrument for the Murchison Widefield Array. Natasha Hurley-Walker. (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MWA_32T_Tile.jpg#/media/File:MWA_32T_Tile.jpg)

Here we touch on Vera Rubin and Maria Mitchell, two prominent female astronmers of the late 19th and early 20th century.

We also look at some aspects of life beyond our solar system and speculation about 31/Atlas

Image of 1878 eclipse - Public domain image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_29,_1878#/media/File:Solar_eclipse_1878Jul29-Corona_Pikes_peak_Langley.png

Join us as we discuss exploring our Solar System! Hosted by Paul Mackin and Professor Mary-Helen Armour, this week we discuss one of the most significant events in space history - landing humans on the Moon - and how we aim to achieve a repeat performance.  

Paul Mackin and Julie Tomé discuss the beginnings of radio astronomy, pioneering astronauts, and wish astronomer Gibor Basri a happy birthday this week in astronomy and space history. In news, the Lucy Mission has done a flyby of Asteroid Donaldjohnson and New Horizons data were used to map the galaxy in Lyman-alpha radiation. As April winds down we get better weather and a preview of our summer skies!

Episode art: M13 Great Cluster in Hercules, image credit Conor Hayes, AICO, 2021

This week's episode features John Moores, Jesse Rogerson and Michelle Parsons, authors of "Daydreaming in the Solar System: Surfing Saturn's Rings, Golfing on the Moon, and Other Adventures in Space Exploration". Join as our host Robin Metcalfe leads an exciting discussion on how to daydream in the solar system, including ice skating on Pluto and Enceladus, falling through Jupiter's atmosphere, and spelunking on Saturn's moon Hyperion! Erratum: Robin's younger son is a 6'2" goalie (not 5'2")

Image Credit: Michelle Parsons 

Sunna Withers and Julie Tomé discuss several historic launches and the achievements of astronomer Donald Lynden-Bell. In the news, detecting exoplanets using their magnetosphere and the solution to the mystery of the JWST Little Red Dots. Spoiler - the Universe isn't broken.

Photo credit: AICO, 40 cm telescope

This Week in Space and Astronomy History is all about our solar system! Join this week's host's Professor Mary-Helen Armour and Paul Mackin as they discuss history of solar system exploration from the first images of the Moon to the exploration of Mars and beyond! 

Image Credit: The Moon imaged by the Allan I. Carswell Observatory 1m telescope

Image credit: Sunna Withers

Did you know that there will be a TOTAL Lunar Eclipse this March 13th, 2025? Join Dr. Elaina Hyde and Parisa Nozari for an episode of eclipse history, moon news, and of course some event tips for this March 13th, 2025 event. Those joining the observatory YouTube can enjoy some live moon images. The live event recording is at YouTube YorkUObservatory

Image Credits: AICO, 1m Moon imaging, Camila Guzman, Nakul Ramjee, Sunna Withers, March 10 2025

600th episode spectacular, join us for a Saturn deep dive as we explore our mysterious distant cousin and its disappearing rings. Hosts Dr. Elaina Hyde, Professor Paul Delaney, Paul Mackin, Sunna Withers and Julie Tomé explore the 6th planet, its rings, and a few of its fascinating moons.

Episode photo credit: AICO, 1m telescope

Crashes and launches abound in this set of astronomy history and news. Join Dr. Elaina Hyde and Sunna Withers for some crash landings on Venus, the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the Moon and Earth as well as a 'near miss' in the future as asteroid 2024 YR4 continues to get it's orbital parameters refined.

Image credit: Venera 14 view of the surface of Venus: lava plates March 5, 1982. This image from the lander was processed by Ted Stryk. (Russian Academy of Sciences / Ted Stryk)

Do you enjoy the winter weather? Put on your snow parka, grab some mittens and join Dr. Elaina Hyde and Paul Mackin for an icy hike through the outer reaches of our own solar system. It's colder than Canada, but well worth exploring!

Image credit: Pluto, as imaged from the AICO 1m telescope at York University, 2022, Sunna Withers/AICO

This episode sees our astronomers revisit some famous historical telescopes as well as one planned for the future. Join Dr. Elaina Hyde and Paul Mackin for fun facts about the Hale, Keck, and Hubble as well as the (for now) future Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Image Credit: Allan I Carswell Observatory 1m telescope, 2022, E.A. Hyde/AICO

In this week's episode we highlight missions with milestones on this day like Mariner 4, and New Horizons. We also look at aspects of asteroids and comets in the news, now in in this day in history.

Image  Credit: Hubble Space Telescope Comet Team and NASA

This episode covers some fun detections and discoveries from this week in history, including the Satarian Moon Epimetheus, the 'Hoth' exoplanet, the rocketeering of Robert Goddard, the 'moon' Pasiphae and more. We also discuss a few news items and the dissolution of the comet Atlas. The hosts for this episode are Dr. Elaina Hyde and Paul Mackin.

Image credit: 2025-01-22 1m telescope, object: Mintaka, taken by: Nakul Sethuram/AICO

Join our director Dr. Elaina Hyde and special Guest Prof. Jeremy Webb for a planetary extravaganza covering Uranus and Neptune (this week in history). As an extra, we will also discuss a few fun events and tips for outreach with Prof. Webb and look at the recent end to the GAIA spacecraft mission. The website for Prof. Webb can be found here: https://www.yorku.ca/science/profiles/faculty/jeremy-webb/

Image Credit: Nov 9, 2023: Neptune imaged by the AICO 1m telescope at York University (Mallincam camera).

This episode we look at amazing flybys in history, covering Mercury, Uranus, Pluto and Saturn's moon Titan. A special welcome to new host Paul Mackin. We also have special guest Majid Naji to talk about his astronomer in residence tenure at Killarney Park with the Allan I Carswell Observatory and to share some tips.

Image credit: The planet Uranus: imaged by the Malincam at the AICO 1m, 2023 11 11

Julie and Mary-Helen discuss Newton, Shklovsky, and Bethe - three scientists with many achievements to list. They explore how technology has evolved while talking about Roswell, a bolide captured by a weather satellite, and new frontiers being pushed by JWST.

Episode image credit: NOAA-CIRA

In this episode Sunna Withers and Dr. Elaina Hyde investigate some historical moons of Saturn, Pluto, and of course our own Earth's Moon as well as the latest Moon news and discoveries from JWST. 

Image credit: 2025 03 08 The moon through the AICO Unistellar eVscope by Nakul Sethuram

Join us as we discuss everything from exploring our Solar System to the outermost regions of the Universe! Hosted by Paul Mackin and Sunna Withers, this week's episode highlights asteroid sample return missions and observing distant stars and galaxies.   

Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Gozaliasl, A. Koekemoer, M. Franco, and the COSMOS-Web team 

This episode touches on transits of Venus and their historical and astronomical importance. It also looks a bit at how the observations of the solstice could also be used to gain an understanding of Earth. Your hosts Prof. Mary-Helen Armour and Dr. Elaina Hyde touch on more modern history looking at lunar investigation by the Surveyor and Hayabusa2 investigation of asteroids. In the news we look at recent JWST discoveries, like one of the most distant and youngest galaxies every imaged, amazing aurora and hot exoplanets. 

Image credit: NASA (2012 transit)  https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10996/#media_group_349107 

Paul Mackin and Mary-Helen Armour describe Apollo missions and more. Sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes personal, sometimes public… It is always great to have a project. Join in this episode to hear about some historical and very recent space projects.

Image Credit: Paul Mackin 2024 - The Apollo 10 command module - Charly Brown. A Soyuz which carried a British Cosmonaut to Mir. Courtesy of the Science Museum in London

This episode features a journey through past and present space telescopes with Sunna Withers and Dr. Elaina Hyde. Missions both large and small have contributed significantly to astronomy as we know it, and in the news now we can't help but mention some of the latest from JWST.

Image credit: NASA/Chris Gunn "Technicians successfully performed a critical test on Webb's 5-layer sunshield by fully deploying each of its uniquely sized layers to the same position that they will have while orbiting the Sun a million miles away from Earth."

Paul Mackin and Professor Elaina Hyde cover the science fiction film that changed it all as well as other items in space history and the most recent astronomy news. This episode looks at Venus, Mars, and the space program with a bit of a sci-fi tint!

Image credit: AICO, Elaina Hyde, 2023: The Allan I Carswell Observatory showing the dome during the day with the moon above

Join Paul Mackin and Sunna Withers as we discuss interstellar visitors, the most distant black hole ever observed, and what's up in the sky this week. Also tune in for special guest Robin Metcalfe to learn about the upcoming Launch Canada Challenge!

Image: Apollo 8 Command Module - Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Il. Photo Credit: Paul J. Mackin

Here we have special guests Nathan Minuk and Robin Metcalfe. Nathan is a member of York student rocketry group.  They are talking about the Canada Launch competition If any York students are interested please see arbalestrocketry.ca

We also talk about Osiris- Rex,the contributions of amateur astronomers, and other recent news.

Episode Artwork courtesy TheSkyLive.com

Image description: Uranus and its New Moon S/2025 U1

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Maryame El Moutamid (SwRI), Matthew Hedman (University of Idaho) 

Here we look at a number of phenemenon we have observed in the solar system including, eclipses, aurora, lunar quakes and rainbows on Enceladus.

Apollo 11 Seismic Experiment Image Courtesy NASA

Join hosts Paul Mackin and Sunna Withers as we discuss spacecraft and astronomers who have gone boldly! We discuss both astronomy and sci-fi, including the nature of our Universe and the impact of Star Trek. 

Image: DART Impact

Image Credit: NASA/Farnham et al. 2025

Podcast Image: Cassini image of Saturn near its equinox in 2009

Photo Credit: NASA

Tune in to go back in time to Tycho's Supernova of 1572, the history of daylight savings time, and how our view of the Universe was revolutionized, twice! This week's host's Paul Mackin and Sunna Withers also discuss astronomy news, including Comet 3I/Atlas and the chaos of galaxies in the early Universe. 

This episode features a round up of comets past and current, a bit of fun history, and some discussion of the 2025 Astronomer in Residence program. The host Dr. Elaina Hyde is joined by special guest John Wilmot, one of our 2025 astronomers who went out to Killarney Park as both an expert, and an amateur! Join us for a bit of fun, and keep in mind that the live views on YouTube for this episode include one of our comets from THIS season C2025/R2 (SWAN). The link to the observatory website mentioned in this episode is: https://www.yorku.ca/science/observatory/ .

Image credit: Comet C2025/R2 SWAN as imaged by the AICO 1m telescope on YouTube during the live broadcast for this podcast on Oct 27, 2025: AICO, Sunna Withers, Nakul Sethuram Ramjee 

Here we look at a number of interesting objects in our solar system, and missions to the less frequented places in the inner solar system like Mercury and Venus. 

Julie and Jeremy chat about the history of exoplanet discovery, notable astronomers Riccardo Giacconi and Ejnar Hertzsprung, and the discovery of Triton. In the news, a rogue planet is acting like a star, old data sets are reanalysed to get new insights into Venus and Enceladus, and the Universe might not expand forever.

Episode image credit: Sunna Withers, AICO