PODCAST · science
SkyCaramba
by SkyCaramba
Podcast about astronomy and the joys of watching the skies at night--and sometimes during the day
Episodes
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What we learned when Venus crossed the sun
Venus is leaving the evening sky. Mercury's at greatest elongation. Saturn stays up all night. Mars crosses the crab. What we learn from transits of Venus.
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Staying up all night with the fishes
Venus and Mercury pair up in the evening. The moon passes by Mars and Jupiter. The Draconid meteor shower peaks. Several objects are at opposition or close to it. And they're in Cetus and Pisces.
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Jupiter's jaunt behind the moon
Mars at equinox. The moon hides the Pleiades. Mercury farthest from the sun. Venus goes retrograde. And there's an upcoming occultation of Jupiter. The moon will pass in front of the big planet. But you can also see Jupiter's four brightest moons get hidden too.
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Try to tune in to another meteor shower
Neptune at opposition. Mercury passes Spica. Another daytime meteor shower. You may see some meteors early in the morning. But these meteors are mostly entering the atmosphere by day. Maybe you can listen for them on the radio.
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Equinox. Equal? NOT!
The moon passes by Venus. Mercury makes headway into the evening. Mars is closest to Pollux. Southern lunistice and lunar apogee. Not everywhere gets 12 hours of sunlight on the equinox. Some places don't get exactly 12 hours at all--ever.
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What's in a name? History!
The moon at apogee and heading south. Uranus goes retrograde. Mercury moves toward Venus. What's in a name? Maybe a few thousand years of human oral history. It doesn't seem so now, but Milky Way and galaxy go back to the same origin when people described what they saw in the sky.
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Star spangled with Spica
The moon passes by Saturn. Venus is at aphelion. The moon reaches its farthest north. Venus passes by Spica, whose light left the star around the time of the American Revolution.
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A deep partial lunar eclipse
We get a deep partial lunar eclipse this week. Just a little deeper and it would be total. Mars continues making its way through Gemini. Jupiter rises just before the sun. Venus approaches Spica.
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Mira on the downside
The constellation Cetus rises about midnight. The variable star Mira remains beyond naked eye visibility. Mars reaches the feet of Gemini. Mercury zooms into the sunrise away from Jupiter.
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Total solar eclipse and Perseid meteor shower
There's a total solar eclipse this week. Venus reaches greatest elongation. Mercury, Mars, and the moon delight in the morning. And watch for Perseid meteors.
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Eye to eye with Mars and both inner planets at dichotomy
Earth is eye-to-eye with Mars in a manner of speaking. The moon passes by Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus. Venus approaches Porrima. Venus and Mercury could both appear at semi-circle phase on the same day, even though math says they shouldn't.
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Venus by the lion's tail
Venus is the only naked eye planet in our evening sky. It's near the lion's tail. Or it's by what some ancient observers likened to a dog pen. Saturn and Mars shine in the morning. Mercury's joining them.
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Two more faint objects at opposition together
Venus is below the lion's belly. Saturn's rings are tipped to us. Mercury makes it to the morning. Two faint solar system objects were at opposition together earlier this month. Now, two more are.
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About Earth's aphelion
Jupiter is exiting the evening sky. The moon passes Regulus and Venus. Saturn's rings at their best for a while. Orion's hunting trip begins in the morning. Earth is getting closer to the sun now, but that's not why it's so hot in the northern hemisphere lately.
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Two asteroids at opposition
Two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are up all night this week. One got its name because of two sad events that happened on the same date 13 years apart. Venus passes by Regulus. Jupiter approaches the crab. The moon passes Saturn.
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Mercury retreats and what the American colonists saw when they didn't
Mercury is leaving the evening sky. Jupiter's still there but won't be for long. Venus shines bright at dusk. Mars and Uranus have a close call. And find out what the people who didn't want to be British subjects anymore 250 years ago saw in the sky on July 4, 1776.
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The moon in the room
The moon passes through a part of the sky ancient Chinese observers described as a room. Mercury turns around. Mars is near the seven sisters.
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The moon by our evening planets
Venus enters the beehive. Mercury's at greatest elongation. The moon passes three planets in the evening sky. The sun at solstice.
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Three planets in one constellation
Three planets are in one constellation. Mercury by Mebsuta. The moon will be at its closest since December. Two asteroids appear near Saturn.
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Three planets in the west and a meteor shower on the radio
Three planets are in the west at dusk. Two planets are up in the morning. And there's a meteor shower whose radiant is up mostly in the daytime. But you may be able to detect the meteors with a radio.
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Comparing the moon's sides
Two constellations are each accompanied by two planets. The moon passes by the lion and the maiden. Why the far side of the moon looks different.
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Memories of the moon and something mysterious
Mercury moves to the evening while Uranus leaves. Venus at the feet of the twins. The moon meets M44 and then hides Regulus. Pisces accompanied by planets. And what happened to the moon in 1951?
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Mission accomplished and hungry for galaxy hunting
The moon passes by the morning planets. Mercury goes behind the sun. Venus goes over Orion's head. Something to see--or not--in the control room. A galaxy named for a popular food.
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Picking out Pluto--and easier things to see
The moon hides Antares. Pluto goes retrograde. Venus is by the V. What's that?--Wasat by Jupiter. Uranus gets hard to see but Neptune gets easier.
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Constellations and asterisms
Venus passes by the Pleiades. Three planets remain close in the morning sky. Jupiter passes by Wasat. And learn the difference between a constellation and an asterism.
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Planetary proximity and plagues
The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week. The moon occults the Pleiades and Regulus. Southern solstice happens on Mars. Three planets appear very close in the morning. A fourth is nearby for observers with telescopes and binoculars. Nearly seven centuries ago, French physicians thought such...
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International Dark Sky Week
Venus climbs the evening sky. Jupiter approaches Wasat. Mercury follows Mars in the morning. The Lyrid meteors are coming. And learn about International Dark Sky Week. Preserving nighttime darkness isn't just about protecting the night sky.
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The Beehive and the Air Pump
Jupiter's at quadrature. The moon hides Antares. The moon's at apogee. Saturn pokes into southern hemisphere skies. A smudge of light that looks like a beehive in a telescope is high in the sky at dusk. And there's a constellation named for an air pump. Yes, really.
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A south pole sways toward us
Mars appears to wobble if we watch long enough. Its south pole is tipping toward Earth this week. Jupiter is almost at quadrature. Maybe you can see it just before the sun goes down. Mercury reaches greatest elongation.
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Saturn moves to the morning; Mercury approaches its best
Saturn passes by the sun. Venus goes by the Pisces linkage. Mercury's up in the morning. Mars is at perihelion and also hard to find.
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Sirius before sunset
You can see the night's brightest star in the daytime--just before the sun sets--if you know where to look. You can figure that out this week and be ready for the view next week.
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When darkness is called a defect
Saturn and Venus appear close. Jupiter is stationary. The moon's at apogee. Southern sky watchers can spot Mercury and Mars. And just what is meant by "defect of illumination"?
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Total lunar eclipse and tracking two variable stars
We get a total lunar eclipse this week. Jupiter is about to turn around in Gemini. Mercury passes by the sun. Mira is about as bright as it gets. And remember T. Corona Borealis? Why hasn't it brightened up yet?
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Total lunar eclipse preview
There's another so-called planetary alignment this week. The moon has its northernmost occultation of the Pleiades. Mars is out of sight while most of the planets are not. And find out about next week's total lunar eclipse.
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Annular eclipse; synodic periods
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean get an annular eclipse. Mercury's at perihelion and greatest elongation. In a manner of speaking, it's closest to and farthest from the sun at the same time. Planets have their orbits. But the way we see them going around, they also have synodic periods.
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The animals around Orion
Three naked eye planets can be seen setting in the evening this week, at least in some places. Mire continues to brighten. There's an annular solar eclipse next week. And several animals are following Orion around the sky. Among them is a unicorn.
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George's Star
Jupiter remains in Gemini. Mercury and Venus slowly make their way into the evening. The moon hides Regulus. And there once was a planet named George. Despite it being a planet, it was called George's Star.
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The moon in the middle of monthly meetings with the Pleiades
Another of the monthly meetings of the moon and the Pleiades is about to happen. These have been happening every 27 nights or so. Saturn and Jupiter remain out at night. But the other naked eye planets are still clustered with the sun.
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What's that by Jupiter? Wasat!
What's that by Jupiter? Wasat! It's named for being in the middle of the sky. Sometimes, planets pass right in front of it. Mercury goes through superior conjunction. Mars and Venus remain out of sight, too.
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A wonderful star-spotting opportunity
Three naked eye planets are out of sight. You can see them clustered in a planetarium program view. Saturn and Jupiter are still out at night. Try to find Uranus, Neptune, Hebe, and Ceres too. And now's a good time to start looking for the variable star Mira, which has been invisible to the naked...
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The Local Group
Mercury, Venus, and Mars are about to pass around the other side of the sun. Earth is getting farther from the sun. Jupiter and Saturn remain out at night. And find out about the Local Group of galaxies, some of which you can see fairly easily.
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2026 astronomy preview
Eclipses, oppositions, a famous variable star brightens up, Venus rules the evening, and the closest full moon of the year are among the dozen events of 2026 previewed in this edition.
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Vera C. Rubin
They don't name extremely advanced optics after just anyone. Some of the best deep sky pictures ever taken came from an observatory named for Vera C. Rubin. If that's all you know about her, you know she must have been important. I'll tell you why.
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Solstice summary
Earth is about to have its December solstice. That means long, although cold, nights for northern sky watchers. Saturn's rings are coming more into view. Geminid meteors are still visible. And more.
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A not-so-great greatest elongation; three bright objects in a group; Geminids
Mercury's at greatest elongation. This greatest elongation doesn't seem so great though. The moon, Jupiter, and Pollux are close as the week starts. And after the moon leaves the planet and star, look for Geminid meteors. They seem to originate from about that part of the sky.
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Getting the light just right
The full moon occults the Pleiades. Since the moon's so much brighter than the stars, this may be hard to see. It's an even harder challenge to photograph. Here's how some astrophotographers will do it. This is the best time to look at Saturn for a nearly edge-on view of the rings. Mercury...
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Many movements to follow
Mercury enters the morning sky as Venus prepares to leave it. Ceres resumes direct motion but doesn't really slow down. Saturn and Neptune are moving toward each other, but not quickly Saturn's rings are almost edge-on.
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What we learned from the Leonids
The Leonid meteor shower peaks this week. A spectacular meteor storm in 1833 taught astronomers something about where meteors come from. Mars is near Antares. Uranus is at opposition. Mercury's at inferior conjunction.
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Aiming at the Andromeda Galaxy
Mercury turns around and passes Mars. Jupiter also goes retrograde. Venus scoots along Virgo's legs. Uranus approaches opposition. The Andromeda Galaxy is a popular target for beginner deep sky astrophotographers.
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Close but no conjunction; Pleiades legends
Mercury and Mars are about to appear close, but they're not having a conjunction in either right ascension or celestial longitude. The moon passes in front of the Pleiades this week. As the Pleiades return to all night views, let's revisit why so many legends around the world say this star…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does SkyCaramba have?
SkyCaramba currently has 315 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is SkyCaramba about?
Podcast about astronomy and the joys of watching the skies at night--and sometimes during the day
How often does SkyCaramba release new episodes?
SkyCaramba publishes regularly with 315 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to SkyCaramba?
You can listen to SkyCaramba 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 SkyCaramba?
SkyCaramba is created and hosted by SkyCaramba.
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