334E-353-Backwards

334E-353-Backwards

Author: Albert D. Grauer April 29, 2025 Duration: 2:01
Using the University of Arizona's Large Binocular Telescope atop Mt. Graham in southern Arizona, Dr. Paul Wiegert of Western University in Canada, led a team of astronomers who have determined that a 2 mile diameter object bucks the solar system traffic by traveling in a direction backwards to all of the planets. In their March 30, 2017 article in the journal Nature, these astronomers confirm that 2015 BZ509, travels about Jupiter on a path in a direction opposite to nearly every other member of our solar system. Amazingly it has avoided a collision with Jupiter by using the giant planet's gravity to maintain a path that has been stable for a million years or so. This astounding trick is performed as 2015 BZ509 passes once inside and once outside of Jupiter's orbit as they both travel about the Sun. The resulting effect of Jupiter's timely gravitational pulls on this small asteroid are exactly right to keep it from having a collision or from being ejected from the solar system.

Each episode of Travelers In The Night feels like a quiet, personal conversation under a dark sky. Hosted by astronomer Dr. Albert D. Grauer, this podcast brings the distant cosmos into sharp, intimate focus. Dr. Grauer isn't just an observer; he's an active participant in the hunt, working with the Catalina Sky Survey team that has consistently discovered near-Earth asteroids for years. In these brief and engaging segments, you'll hear firsthand accounts of what it's like to track these ancient celestial travelers-the asteroids and comets that silently pass by our world. The discussions move beyond simple facts to explore the real-world implications of these discoveries, from planetary defense to the sheer wonder of our dynamic solar system. Accompanied by the contemplative music of John Lyell's "Eternity," each installment offers a moment of calm reflection on humanity's place in the universe. It’s a perfect blend of grounded science and cosmic curiosity, making complex astronomical concepts accessible and deeply fascinating. For anyone who has ever looked up and wondered what's out there moving in the dark, this podcast provides a direct line to the front lines of discovery.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 1000

Travelers In The Night
Podcast Episodes
424-Long Winter Nights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Long Winter nights with good seeing, from start to finish, are those on which the asteroid hunter makes new discoveries while being treated to views of millions of stars, gas clouds, and galaxies which inspire a child li…
423-Silent ET [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The hypothesis that Oumuamua, the interstellar space rock, is an alien probe is pretty farfetched, however, how it came to have it's current shape is almost equally hard to imagine.
422-Almost Dangerous [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
A large asteroid barely missies being classified by NASA as potentially hazardous. It may be a good candidate for asteroid miners.
421-New Aten [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Aten asteroids can make close approaches to Earth. They are difficult to discover because they spend most of their time inside our orbit with their illuminated side facing away from us.
420-Dry Sands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Intriguing features which change with the Martian seasons mimic flows of liquid water on the Earth's surface.
419-ET's Cigar [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The first alien object to observed visiting our solar system arrives from truly deep space and leaves us with the mystery of what it is and how it got that way.
418-Fireball II [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
A thousand meteors brighter than the planet Venus enter the Earth's atmosphere every day. The record of one of them on your dash cam can reveal where it came from and where to find pieces of it on the ground.
417-Red Dwarf Planets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Earth like planets are being discovered circling the most common type of star in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy.
416-Odd Ball [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
A small asteroid soars into the lonely space high above and below the plane of our solar system.
415-Well Done [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
A three football field sized asteroid survives on a harrowing path around our Sun.