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PODCAST · science

Looking Up with Don

by Don Machholz

Explore the universe with Don Machholz, the world’s leading visual discoverer of comets. Featuring astronomy education and detailed, first-hand accounts of his comet discoveries, Looking Up with Don was recorded weekly until his death on August 9, 2022, and remains available worldwide, with listeners of all experience levels continuing to journey through the solar system and beyond.

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Episodes

  1. LUWD #136 Saturn at Opposition

    "Look for the Seeliger effect, when the rings brighten for a few days." Don Machholz

  2. LUWD #135 A 1988 Comet Discovery

    "We had quite a few people there to see it." Don Machholz

  3. LUWD #134 Two Summer Meteor Showers

    "So these next couple of weeks may be your best chance to see them." Don Machholz

  4. LUWD #133 Your July Observing List

    "Start with the bright stars." Don Machholz

  5. LUWD #132 Summertime Views

    "The Summer Milky Way is now visible and with the warmer nights it is easy to stay out past midnight." Don Machholz

  6. LUWD #131 The Story About a 1994 Comet Discovery

    "At 2:47 AM I picked up a fuzzy object, about magnitude 10." Don Machholz

  7. LUWD #130 Image the Moon This Week

    "This would be a good week to image the moon each night through a small telescope." Don Machholz

  8. LUWD #129 M4 and M80

    "Two globular clusters in Scorpius" Don Machholz

  9. LUWD #128 So Many Planets, So Little Time

    "Quite often, when I'm the smartest person in the room, I'm by myself." Don Machholz

  10. LUWD #127 Not Even An Inkling of Twinkling

    "The stars twinkle, the planets do not." Don Machholz

  11. LUWD #126 The Arietids Meteor Shower

    "We have a meteor shower coming up this week that almost no one knows about, but it is one of the most active of the year.” Don Machholz

  12. LUWD #125 Possibly a Great Meteor Shower?

    "It is a matter of watching and waiting." Don Machholz

  13. LUWD #124 The Virgo Galaxies

    "These were cataloged by Charles Messier in 1781." Don Machholz

  14. LUWD #123 A Total Lunar Eclipse

    When the moon is in the umbra, it is hidden from the sundra." Don Machholz

  15. LUWD #122 How to See Fainter Objects

    "Eyes, skies, and telescope." Don Machholz

  16. LUWD #121 The Moon, Mercury, M45, and Maybe a Comet

    "This week the hotspot is the evening sky." Don Machholz

  17. LUWD #120 A Line-up of Planets

    "Set the alarm and bring the camera." Don Machholz

  18. LUWD #119 Amateur and Professional Astronomers

    "I have been an amateur astronomer since I was about 8 years old and took an interest in astronomy." Don Machholz

  19. LUWD #118 The Straight Wall

    "It is one of the most interesting features on the moon." -Don Machholz

  20. LUWD #117 Mars and Saturn in the Morning Sky

    "And the colors should differ, especially when seen through binoculars or a telescope." -Don Machholz

  21. LUWD #116 A Party of Planets

    "The crescent moon makes a nice pattern with Venus, Mars, and Saturn on Monday morning, March 28" -Don Machholz

  22. LUWD #115 A Moonlit Messier Marathon

    "You won't find any of this stuff published anywhere." -Don Machholz

  23. LUWD #114 A Close Look at the Moon

    "Yes, they have seen the moon before, but now they can see the craters." -Don Machholz

  24. LUWD #113 The Winter Milky Way

    "It is rich, very rich, with stars and star clusters." -Don Machholz

  25. LUWD #112 Galaxy NGC 891

    "May our galaxy wrap its arms around you. I bet no one had ever said that to you before. In fact, it is already doing that." -Don Machholz

  26. LUWD #111 Accidental Visual Comet Discoveries

    “This was a sweet spot for such discoveries: after many visual comet hunters left the field, and before the government-funded sky surveys took over.” -Don Machholz

  27. LUWD #110 M1, M57, and Comets

    "In Messier's case it was known comets leading to new Messier Objects. Centuries later it was known Messier Objects leading to new comets." -Don Machholz

  28. LUWD #109 Massive Marathon

    "This is how the Massive Marathon was invented." -Don Machholz

  29. LUWD #108 The Pleiades

    "I believe that moonlight is the real reason why Charles Messier missed M65 and M66." -Don Machholz

  30. LUWD #107 Starting Your Day at 2 AM

    "I would rather be sweeping than sleeping". -Don Machholz

  31. LUWD #106 Comets in 2022

    "Is it a bird, is it a plane? No kitty, that is the moon!" -Don Machholz

  32. LUWD #105 Mercury in the Evening

    "This is a good week to look at the moon." Don Machholz

  33. LUWD #104 The Year’s First Meteor Shower

    "In 1922 the IAU named 88 constellations; this must have been number 89." -Don Machholz

  34. LUWD #103 A Family of Comets

    "The winter constellations are here, ready for another season of viewing." Don Machholz

  35. LUWD #102 Comet Leonard in the Evening Sky

    "This could produce a meteor shower on Venus." Don Machholz

  36. LUWD #101 A Comet in the Twilight Zone

    “When Albert Einstein was a boy, if he ever did anything stupidly, did people say to him: ‘hey, way to go, Einstein!’?” -Don Machholz

  37. LUWD #100 Comet Leonard Meets a Star Cluster

    "Probably more penguins than people will see this eclipse. Those solar eclipse glasses will keep slipping off their ears." Don Machholz

  38. LUWD #0099 Ceres: Hiding in the Hyades

    "The Antarcitia solar eclipse is on December 4. If you intend to see it, you should be heading out the door about now." Don Machholz

  39. LUWD #0098 Open Star Cluster M52

    "Well, I'm an astronomer, and to me a beautiful sunset sky has no clouds at all." Don Machholz

  40. LUWD #0097 Lunar Eclipse

    "The moon could fit inside the earth's shadow if it wanted to." Don Machholz

  41. LUWD #0096 Gegenschein

    "So now is a suitable time to see the gegenschein." Don Machholz

  42. LUWD #0095 See Some Comets This Week

    "Comets are scattered around the sky." Don Machholz

  43. LUWD #0094 A Rhyming Messier Marathon Talk

    "Charles Messier lived some two hundred years ago in France, from where he searched for comets, whenever he got the chance" Don Machholz

  44. LUWD #0093 Observe the Moon Night

    “Why stop with our moon? Show them Jupiter and Saturn and their moons too. A multi-moon evening.” Don Machholz

  45. LUWD #0092 Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann

    “We’ll know in two weeks, when communication with Mars resumes, if Martians have visited our rovers.” Don Machholz

  46. LUWD #0091 Distant Moons

    “If you have a group of observers with you, take bets. The winner gets to choose which will be the next object to observe.” Don Machholz

  47. LUWD #0090 Astro Imaging

    I'm a bit behind in reading my astronomy magazines. I just read that there will be a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Did I miss it? Don Machholz

  48. LUWD #0089 Tales of Mercury

    "Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Wow, who comes up with these names?" -Don Machholz

  49. LUWD #0088 Neptune

    "Nearly 90,000 days in one year, I wonder how many holidays they have?" Don Machholz

  50. LUWD #0087 That Bright Spotlight is Jupiter!

    "It is there, but can you see it?" Don Machholz

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TOPICS IN THIS SHOW

Amateur Astronomy Astro Education Comet Discoveries Night Sky Solar System Stargazing Weekly Podcast

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Explore the universe with Don Machholz, the world’s leading visual discoverer of comets. Featuring astronomy education and detailed, first-hand accounts of his comet discoveries, Looking Up with Don was recorded weekly until his death on August 9, 2022, and remains available worldwide, with listeners of all experience levels continuing to journey through the solar system and beyond.

HOSTED BY

Don Machholz

Produced by The Donald Machholz Estate

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Looking Up with Don have?

Looking Up with Don currently has 136 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Looking Up with Don about?

Explore the universe with Don Machholz, the world’s leading visual discoverer of comets. Featuring astronomy education and detailed, first-hand accounts of his comet discoveries, Looking Up with Don was recorded weekly until his death on August 9, 2022, and remains available worldwide, with...

How often does Looking Up with Don release new episodes?

Looking Up with Don publishes regularly with 136 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to Looking Up with Don?

You can listen to Looking Up with Don on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Looking Up with Don?

Looking Up with Don is created and hosted by Don Machholz.
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