Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Travelers in the Night Eps. 889 & 890: Lick Observatory & Comet 467P (Linear-Grauer)
Description
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 March 2026.
Today's 2 topics:
- In 1892 the world's largest telescope, the Lick Observatory's 36 inch refracting telescope made the news when E.E. Barnard discovered, Amalthea, the 5th moon of Jupiter. In 2025 this historic telescope made the news again when on Christmas morning winds of 114 mph blew off a 3 ton piece of the shutter on its dome. The adaptive optics research pioneered at Lick Observatory helped in the creation of the twin giant 10 meter telescopes that sit atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
- Astronomers using the 8.1 m Gemini South Telescope in Chile were excited by the fact that 467P (LINEAR-Grauer)'s Centaur like orbit had been changed as the nucleus emitted rocket like bursts of gases as it was warmed by the Sun. Inert inactive asteroids orbit the Sun following the law of gravity whereas active asteroids can emit little rocket like bursts of gas which can change their path about the Sun in interesting ways. It is important to study objects like 467P (LINEAR-Grauer) to make sure their path about the Sun doesn't change to make them a threat to our home planet.
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 info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.