343E-366-3 Explorers

343E-366-3 Explorers

Author: Albert D. Grauer July 1, 2025 Duration: 2:01
Recently, my Grandsons, Dane and Hank joined our asteroid hunting team at the Catalina Sky Survey 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon. The most interesting of our discoveries, 2017 KJ32 is only 16 feet in diameter, orbits the Sun once every 315 days, and can come closer to us than the communications satellites. 4 days and 16 hours before Dane, Hank, and I spotted it, 2017 KJ32 passed about 41,000 miles from the surface of Earth traveling at a relatively slow speed for an Earth approaching asteroid of 1.6 mi/sec. By the time 2017 KJ32 came into one of our images it was already 768,000 miles from Earth and was traveling away from us at 1.5 miles per second. A few weeks later it was too faint to be detected by our most powerful telescopes.

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
122E-134-Recycling Spacecraft [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
In the early days of space exploration when a flight component failed the mission was over. In recent history, there have been a few times when astronauts have repaired satellites and a number of instances of Earth bound…
633-Dress Rehearsal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The situation that asteroid hunters both train for and dread is the discovery of a large space rock on a collision course with planet Earth. Recently we got a chance to practice on a small harmless space rock named 2020…
121E-133-2 Close Approaches [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Slightly more than a day apart, my NASA funded Catalina Sky Survey teammates Richard Kowalski and Carson Fuls found two small asteroids. Both of them can travel to much closer than the distance to our Moon from planet Ea…
632-Couch Potato [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Richard Kowalski is the first person in our group and perhaps the first person in the world to discover a potentially hazardous asteroid while sitting on his living room couch.
120E-132-Kowalski's Forever Comet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate Richard Kowalski has an instinct for discovering interesting objects. Recently he spotted a fuzzy looking moving faint light in the night sky. It was then observed by telescopes in Italy,…
631-Greg's Comet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Survey Teammate Greg Leonard was asteroid hunting with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona when he spotted a fuzzy object with a short tail moving through the constellation Canes Venatici. That Greg…
119E-131-Deafening Silence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
More than 50 years of searching for signals from other civilizations in the Universe has produced a deafening silence. There is no evidence that aliens have visited the Earth or exist anywhere. There are many hints that…
630-Largest Asteroid [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate David Rankin was asteroid hunting in the constellation of Hercules when he spotted a fast moving point of light streaking through the night sky 159 million miles from Earth. David's discov…
118E-130-Things That Dim In The Night [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Objects in the Universe that brighten rapidly grab our attention. One of the most spectacular examples is Kepler's supernova. In 1604 this star was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye in the daytime for over thre…
629-Loneliest Asteroid [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate David Rankin was asteroid hunting in the constellation of Canes Venatici with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, AZ when he found our teams loneliest asteroid of 2020. The possibility of…