897-Kacper's Comet

897-Kacper's Comet

Author: Albert D. Grauer May 1, 2026 Duration: 2:01
In 2007 a small icy object moving in the constellation of Ursa Minor crossed the orbit of Pluto at a speed of approximately 4.2 mi/s starting its journey towards the inner solar system. It was between the orbits of Saturn and Jupiter traveling at some 9 mi/s towards the Sun, when my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Dr. Kacper Wierzchoś discovered it on March 3, 2024, while asteroid hunting, in the constellation of Draco, with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona. Kacper studies comets passionately was thus excited to observe that it has a coma and a tail.On its way out of the solar system, in 2045, Kacper's COMET C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) will cross the orbit of Pluto heading in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major and is destined to wander between stars in the Milky Way till the end of time.

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: 100

Travelers In The Night
Podcast Episodes
371E-405-Kiwi Nights [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
New Zealand's 4.5 million people are concentrated in three major population centers which to various degrees suffer from the modern plague of light pollution. However, most of New Zealand's large rural areas and land res…
881-Dangerous Comets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
It is possible the object creating the Tunguska event in Russia 1908 which knocked down 80 million trees over an area about twice the size of New York City was a fragment of a comet or asteroid. The International Asteroi…
370E-403-Double Comet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
In November of 2006, University of Arizona's Spacewatch astronomers on Kitt Peak discovered a faint moving point of light in the night sky which appeared to be a garden variety main belt asteroid orbiting the Sun between…
882-David’s Goliath PHA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
My Catalina Sky Survey teammate David Rankin was asteroid hunting in the evening twilight with our 60 inch telescope on Mt. Lemmon Arizona when he spotted an unknown object in the constellation of Lyra. The largest teles…
369E-401-Night Vision [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Many people in our modern world rarely if ever experience night vision. To achieve this interesting state of sensory awareness you cannot look at your cell phone or any other source of bright light for 30 to 45 minutes.…
881-Dangerous Comets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
It is possible the object creating the Tunguska event in Russia 1908 which knocked down 80 million trees over an area about twice the size of New York City was a fragment of a comet or asteroid. The International Asteroi…
368E-400-Roving Venus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Venus and Earth are similar in size, composition, density, and mass. Unfortunately, our sister planet Venus is an example of a place where green house gases have created an extreme situation. Venus's thick carbon dioxide…
880-Carrington Anticipated [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Just before noon on September 1st of 1859 Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson were making sketches of clusters of sunspots when they were nearly blinded by an intense solar flare. 17.6 hours later a geomagnetic storm…
367E-399-Moons of Florence [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
Dr Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory headed up a team of scientists who used the 70 meter antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex to bounce RADAR beams off of the asteroid Florence as…
879-Lurking Asteroid [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:01
The Dark Energy Camera on the National Science Foundation’s Blanco 4-meter telescope on Cerro Tololo in Chile is taking near Sun twilight images to search for asteroids, hidden in the glare of our Sun, sneaking up on hom…