The 365 Days of Astronomy

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org
From December 2025.
Today's 2 topics:
- The Dark Energy Camera on the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope on Cerro Tololo in Chile is taking near Sun twilight images to search for asteroids, hidden in the glare of our Sun, sneaking up on home planet.
 
- Just before noon on September 1st of 1859 Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson were making sketches of clusters of sunspots when they were nearly blinded by an intense solar flare. 17.6 hours later a geomagnetic storm thought to be caused by a solar coronal mass ejection traveling at some 1,500 miles per second slammed into the magnetic field surrounding our home planet. We missed being hit with a such large coronal mass ejection by only 9 days in July of 2012. Next time we might not be that lucky.
 
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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu
Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Scientists at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, have submitted an unprecedented set of asteroid detections to the IAU Minor Planet Center, including hundreds of distant worlds beyond Neptune and 33 previously unknown near-Earth asteroids. In this podcast, Dr. Mario Juric discusses how these asteroids were discovered and what we can look forward to in the future from the Rubin Observatory. 
 
Bios: 
Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF's NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona.
Prof. Mario Juric is the P.I. of UW's contribution to the construction of the Rubin Observatory, Senior Fellow at UW's eScience Institute, and director emeritus of UW's Institute for Data-intensive Astrophysics and Cosmology (DiRAC). Once fully operational in 2026, the Rubin Observatory will deliver the largest sky survey in the history of mankind, answering questions from the nature of Dark Energy to discovering potential "killer" asteroids. Prof. Juric led the definition of Rubin data products and oversees the solar system team.
Prof. Juric received his PhD in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study and a Hubble Fellow at Harvard University. His research is in the area of data-intensive survey astronomy and AI. He developed a range of astronomical software products and techniques, including software for asteroid detection, mapping the Milky Way, novel astronomical databases, and cloud-based astronomical data analysis systems.
Prof. Juric discovered what was at the time the largest known structure in the Universe (the Sloan Great Wall; with J. Richard Gott), a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way (the Virgo Overdensity; with Z. Ivezic), and over a hundred asteroids (including 22899 Alconrad, the smallest known main-belt binary asteroid; with Korado Korlevic). A Jupiter-family comet 183P/Korlevic-Juric is named after him.
 
Links:
NOIRLab Press Release
NOIRLab social media channels can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/NOIRLabAstro
https://twitter.com/NOIRLabAstro
https://www.instagram.com/noirlabastro/
https://www.youtube.com/noirlabastro
 
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://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop 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 the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu
Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

From May 6, 2026.
In this episode, we're going to be looking back in time at how Dark Matter may have influenced the formation of Supermassive Blackholes, newly catalogued remnants of left over hydrogen, an ancient star found as part of a class observing project, and tales from the launch pad.
NBC's "Hubble telescope celebrates 36th anniversary" with Morgan Chesky:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ekWlaok3k
 
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://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop 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 the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu
Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke, two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. [email protected]
 
Observer's Calendar for May 2026 on Episode 533 of the Actual Astronomy podcast. I'm Chris and joining me is Shane. We are amateur astronomers who love looking up at the night sky and this podcast is for everyone who enjoys going out under the stars.
— David Nagler Question show reminder. 
 
2 Full Moons!
May 1 - Full Moon — Carbon Star RY Mon best in evening
May 2 - Alpha CVn Colourful Double
May 3 - Antares 0.5-degrees N of Moon
May 4 - Carbon Star X CnC best in evening
May 6 - Eta Aquaria Meteors best in predawn skies but 3/4 Moon interferes
May 7 - Markarian's Chain well placed 
Key Details of Markarian's Chain:
Location: Situated in the constellation Virgo, between the stars Denebola and Vindemiatrix, part of the larger Virgo Cluster.
Key Members: The chain is anchored by the large elliptical galaxies M84 and M86. Other notable members include NGC 4477, NGC 4473, NGC 4461, NGC 4458, and NGC 4438.
Observation: The brightest members are visible in small telescopes, but it is a popular target for astrophotography in the spring, often requiring a wide field of view to capture the entire string.
Interaction: While some galaxies are randomly aligned, at least seven members share a common physical motion. The pair NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, known as "The Eyes," are actively interacting and distorting one another.
May 8 - 2 Shadows on Jupiter Ganymede & Europa 8:44pm EDT Eastern North America
May 9 - Last Quarter Moon — NGC 4147 well placed
May 10 - Lunar Curtis X visible
May 11 - NGC 4038/4039 well placed
Key Facts About NGC 4038/4039:
Location: Constellation Corvus, the Crow.
Distance: Generally estimated between and million light-years.
Other Names: Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61, the Antennae Galaxies, NGC 4038/4039.
Discovery: Found by William Herschel in 1785.
Interaction Type: Colliding/Merging galaxies.
Appearance: The collision produces long tidal tails of stars, gas, and dust resembling insect antennae
May 12 - Mare Orientale
May 13 - NGC 5634 well placed
May 15 - Ganymede & Europa shadows visible on Jupiter 11:19 pm EDT
May 16 - New Moon but Old crescent in east before Sunrise today.
May 18 - Venus 3-degrees S of Moon
May 19 - Long period star X Oph at max 11:30pm
May 20 - Jupiter 3-degrees S of Moon - Not here
May 22 - Ganymede & Europa shadows visible on Jupiter 11:54 PM EDT WEST Fav.
May 23 - Callisto & Io discs visible on Jupiter 10:15pm
May 25 - Lunar Straight Wall visible also Longomontanus Ray
May 26 - Jewelled Handle
This is a monthly lunar phenomenon occurring around the first quarter moon (approx. 10–11 days after new moon). It appears as a bright, illuminated arc formed by sunlight hitting the peaks of the Montes Jura mountain range, which separates the dark night side from the bright day side, making it look like a handle attached to the moon
May 29 - Asteroid Amphitrite at opposition Mag. 9.5
29 Amphitrite is one of the largest S-type asteroids in the Main Belt, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Discovered on March 1, 1854, by Albert Marth, it was the only asteroid he ever found and is named after the Greek sea goddess Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon.
May 30 - Asteroid Lutetia at Opposition Mag. 9.8
21 Lutetia is a large, irregularly shaped asteroid in the main asteroid belt, measuring approximately 120 kilometers along its longest axis. It is highly significant to astronomers as a "survivor" or planetesimal from the early formation of the Solar System, roughly 4.5 billion years ago.
May 31 - 2nd Full Moon for May
 
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We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. 
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Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! 
Every bit helps! Thank you!
------------------------------------
Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop 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 the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu
Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

Paul Hill & Dr. Jenifer "Dr. Dust" Millard host. 
Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce.
May Part 1.
A show recorded with the happy campers of Cwmdu. We talk smart scopes, late nights, planetary formation, news on Comet 3I and more on the Hubble tension.
 
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://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop 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 the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu
Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].