Ask an Astronomer: Recent Episodes
NASA's Spitzer Science Center / IPAC / NASA / Caltech
In this 'Ask an Astronomer' episode, Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth fills us in on what the color of the sky has to do with finding life on distant planets.
In this 'Ask an Astronomer' episode, Dr. Michelle Thaller explains how there can be an interstellar medium in a vacuum.
This 'Ask an Astronomer' special looks at some of the biggest discoveries from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope over the last five years.
Our Sun won't last forever. Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth explains the ramifications for our home planet in this 'Ask an Astronomer' video.
Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth addresses a famous science fiction scenario in this 'Ask an Astronomer' video.
Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya helps us understand how astronomers find these tiny space rocks.
Dr. Michelle Thaller explains infrared light in this older video, produced by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (then known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) before it launched.
In this animated 'Ask an Astronomer' special, innocent alien M51 moves the Earth into a closer orbit around the sun, and learns an important lesson about life in the Universe.
Dr. Varoujan Gorjian takes us inside galactic collisions in this 'Ask an Astronomer' video.
If no light escapes from a black hole, how can we detect them? 'Ask an Astronomer' explains.
'Ask an Astronomer' uses an astronomer, a flying saucer, and a cow to help explain this difficult astronomical concept in simple terms.
Solar systems come in a large variety of flavors, as this 'Ask an Astronomer' video shows.
The Spitzer Space Telescope has a funny paint job. This 'Ask an Astronomer' segment explains why.
This 'Ask an Astronomer' segment attempts to explain what a solar wind is (and is not).
This 'Ask an Astronomer' episode explains eclipses of the sun and why they can't be seen everywhere.