Advertise on podcast: Western Slope Skies

On clear, dark nights, we can see dozens of satellites with our eyes alone. Most satellites travel within a zone called Low Earth Orbit that ranges in altitude from 150 to 1200 miles.

Today, we explore a curious solar phenomenon that occurred from 1645 to 1715.

What if I told you that you could travel through time with a telescope? No, a telescope cannot take you back to 1955 to fix your parent’s relationship. However, through a telescope, the possibilities to discover events that happened eons ago are opened by gazing at the colossal night sky.

In the vast expanse of the cosmos, there exists a mysterious force that challenges the very fabric of our understanding — dark matter. Let's embark on a journey into the cosmic unknown, exploring the enigma that comprises 85% of the universe's mass.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and the surrounding Hill Country will be offering many events over eclipse weekend.

You may fondly remember the classic Eighties science program Cosmos, narrated by the late great astrophysicist Carl Sagan. In the episode “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean”, he famously uttered “we’re made of star stuff”. We are the products of nucleosynthesis, a set of processes that created the chemical elements, the building blocks of all we see and are.

2024 is almost here, and in astronomy, a lot will be happening.

Dark matter. You’ve probably heard of it, maybe in a Sci-Fi novel or movie, and you’ve probably wondered what it is exactly. Well, welcome to the club. Scientists have been asking themselves this question since its discovery in 1933. Dark matter is an invisible, mysterious substance that makes up 22% of the universe, but we know very little about it.

Ring nebulae and the rings of Saturn are among some familiar rings that exist in space. But consider ring galaxies!

In a total eclipse, the moon covers the sun completely and the sky darkens as if it were dawn or dusk.

On the night of October 5, 1923, using the 100-inch Hooker telescope on Mt. Wilson, Edwin Hubble captured a photographic plate image of M31, the Andromeda “Nebula”.

This year’s festival will run from September 14 through 16th, to coincide with the September new moon.