Lecture 05: Distances of the Stars

Welcome to the Astronomy 162 Lecture Podcasts! This is a brief message from me explaining the podcasts, and welcoming new and old listeners. Recorded 2006 Mar 10 on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University. 

Where are Lectures 1-4? This is a good question, and one I've gotten from many listeners. Here's the answer. Recorded 2006 Nov 27 on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University. 

The "fixed stars" are really in constant motion, but these motions are too small to see with the human eye in a human lifetime. This lecture introduces proper motions (apparent angular motion of the stars in the sky), radial velocities (motion towards or away from us measured usi ... Show More

A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in modern astronomy. 

What is Astronomy? What is Science? What is the course all about? Brief introductory remarks after going over course mechanics on the first day of Astronomy 161 for Autumn Quarter 2007. Recorded 2007 Sep 19 in 1000 McPherson Lab on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University ... Show More

Are we alone in the Universe? This lecture explores the question of how we might go about finding life on planets around other stars. Rather than talking about speculative ideas, like the Drake Equation or SETI, I am instead taking the approach of posing it as a problem of what t ... Show More

Get ready to explore a 10 billion year old mystery! A closely bound duo of energetic quasars, the hallmark of a pair of merging galaxies, have been discovered when the Universe was only 3 billion years old. What secrets do these quasars hold and why have they lasted so long? Join ... Show More

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the first telescope. On this week’s show, we reflect on how telescopes have shifted our perspective on how small we are in size, space, and time. We also discuss how they help astronomers discover new and interesting aspec ... Show More

In this episode as we (attempt) to answer your burning questions, you will be able to: · Explore the mind-bending mysteries of black holes and event horizons. · Discover fascinating specializations within the fields of physics and astronomy. · Uncover the constant evolution and b ... Show More