Shows / Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Star Trails is a weekly astronomy podcast that begins in your backyard and expands outward to the edge of the universe. Each episode features a guide to the night sky visible across North America — constellations, planets, moon phases, and celestial events — along with deeper explorations of the science, history, and perspective that make astronomy one of humanity’s greatest adventures.From ancient skywatchers to modern spacecraft, from quiet stargazing to the violent deaths of stars, Star…
Episodes
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Little Red Dots at Cosmic Dawn
The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered hundreds of tiny red points in the early universe. They are extraordinarily compact, unexpectedly bright and…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Did the Milky Way Flip?
The Milky Way looks permanent from our place inside it, a great band of stars stretching across the night sky. But new research suggests our galaxy may once…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
When Black Holes Twist Spacetime
What happens when a black hole spins? According to general relativity, it doesn't simply rotate in space, it actually drags spacetime around with it.This…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Listening to the Heartbeat of the Milky Way
Most amateur astronomers spend their nights collecting light. But what if you could study our galaxy without looking through a telescope at all?In this…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Is there a Black Hole in Our Backyard?
What if the mysterious "Planet Nine" isn't a planet at all?In this episode, we journey to the distant frontier of our Solar System to explore one of…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
How Jupiter Almost Destroyed the Solar System
For generations, we've pictured the Solar System as a stable and orderly place: planets forming where they are today and quietly orbiting the Sun for billions…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
A Summer Sky Road Trip
Summer is almost here, and with it comes one of the richest observing seasons of the year.In this episode, we take a road trip through the summer sky…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
From the Archive: Star Party Stories
Back in November of 2024, I attended a star party hosted by the Midlands Astronomy Club and recorded what became one of my favorite episodes of Star Trails…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Birth and Death of Galaxies
This week we conclude our month-long journey through galaxies by exploring one of the biggest questions in astronomy: how galaxies are born, evolve, and…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Hidden Universe: Cosmic Structures in the Dark
This week we continue our month-long journey through the world of galaxies, but this time, we venture into one of astronomy’s darkest frontiers. Beyond the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
When Galaxies Collide
This week we continue our month-long journey through the world of galaxies, but this time, we move beyond what galaxies are and explore what galaxies actually…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Where the Milky Way Begins… and Ends
This week, we begin a new month-long journey into one of the most awe-inspiring subjects in astronomy: Galaxies.We start close to home by exploring our own…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Invisible Architecture of the Universe, with Dr. Enrique Lopez Rodriguez
In this episode we step behind the scenes of modern astronomy to explore a side of the universe you can’t see, at least not directly.We sit down with Professor…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
From Gears to Code: Computing the Cosmos
In this episode, we explore the role of computers in astronomy. From the ancient Antikythera Mechanism and the human “computers” of the Harvard College…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Radio Astronomy: Listening to the Universe
In this episode, we move beyond what the eye can see and into a universe that has been quietly speaking all along.Radio astronomy has transformed our…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Space Oddity: The Harmony of Isolation
What makes a song feel like space? In this special bonus episode of Star Trails, we take a deep dive into the song "Space Oddity," not just as a piece of…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Photon by Photon: A Journey Through Observatories
This week we step inside one of astronomy’s most iconic spaces: the observatory.Drew visits Melton Memorial Observatory and sits down with director Martin…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Edge of the Solar System
This week we leave the familiar planets behind and venture into the farthest reaches of our Solar System, into regions where the Sun’s influence begins to fade…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Moons: The Solar System’s Secret Worlds
The most intriguing places in our solar system might not be planets at all. This week we turn our attention to some of the most fascinating and unusual worlds…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Case of Pluto: Discovery, Demotion, and Redemption
In 2006, a group of astronomers gathered in Prague and made a decision that shocked the world: Pluto was no longer a planet.But the story of Pluto is far more…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Beyond the Frost Line: The Giant Planets of Our Solar System
This week we leave the rocky inner planets behind and journey into the deep cold of the outer solar system. From the storm-wracked atmosphere of Jupiter to the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Four Worlds, One Sun; Plus, a Total Lunar Eclipse
In this milestone 100th episode of Star Trails, we bring the cosmos back home.After months of exploring distant stars, nebulae, and black holes, March begins…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
How Stars Die (Including the One That Keeps Us Alive)
In this episode, we wrap up our month-long series on stars by exploring their final acts.Most stars don’t explode. They grow old. We’ll follow the Sun’s future…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Quiet Majority of Stars
This week we take a nerdy detour into the lives of stars by building a tiny simulated galaxy in Python. We form half a million stars, roll the clock forward 10…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
What Stars Do While They’re Alive
Stars are easy to take for granted. They rise, they set, and they seem unchanged from one night to the next. But in this episode of Star Trails, we shift our…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
What a Star Is (and What It Isn’t)
This week, we begin a month-long exploration of the most familiar objects in the night sky, and wonder why they’re still so often misunderstood.In this…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Myth of the Perfect Night
What if the problem isn’t the sky, but our expectations?In this episode we step back from targets, charts, and techniques to talk about something every…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Choreography of the Cosmos: Why the Sky Never Stands Still
In this episode, we continue our January series for new stargazers by exploring one of the most quietly mind-bending truths in astronomy: everything is moving…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Night of the Hunter: A Deep Dive into Orion
This week we slow down and spend the night with one of the sky’s most iconic constellations: Orion. We'll use the mighty hunter as a guide, learning how his…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
How to Begin (or Begin Again) With the Night Sky
The first episode of a new year is a good time to slow down, zoom out, and reset. In this episode, we welcome new and returning listeners alike for a…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Winter’s Beacons (And a Holiday Gift)
As the year winds down, we make one last stop beneath the night sky for the week of December 21–27, marking the arrival of the winter solstice, the longest…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
How to Build a Time Machine
For the season finale of Star Trails, we’re building a “time machine” the only way we know how: with physics, not plot holes. Drew takes a tour through the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Eras of the Universe (Taylor’s Version)
This week, we’re doing something chaotic: we’re mapping the entire history of the universe onto the musical eras of Taylor Swift. And yes, the science is…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Sad Astronomy: Reflections on Distance, Death, and Meaning
This episode begins with auroras and interstellar objects and ends somewhere much closer to the heart. After catching up on the week’s sky – dark moonless…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Playing Dice with the Universe
This week on Star Trails, we let the universe decide.We fire up a real quantum computer to generate pure randomness — the seed for a million-universe…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
A Postcard to the Cosmos: Recreating the Arecibo Signal
This week on Star Trails, we explore the messages written across the cosmos — from faint comets in our own skies to the coded signals we’ve sent into the void…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Silence Between the Stars
As Halloween approaches, we drift into one of astronomy’s most haunting questions: if life in the universe is so likely, where is everybody? This week, we…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Echoes from the Cosmic Graveyard
The veil between life and death is thin in late October, and not just on Earth. This week on Star Trails, we take a haunting journey through The Cosmic…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Mid-October Sky and The House of a Thousand Mirrors
The nights are growing longer, the air is sharpening, and the Moon is finally stepping aside. In this week’s episode, we look to the skies from October 12th…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos (and a Supermoon Too)
The Harvest Supermoon rises over crisp autumn nights as Saturn reigns in the southeast and Pegasus climbs the eastern sky. In this week’s episode of Star…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Star Trails will return on October 5
It’s been a short break due to technical issues, travel, and life in general, but the show is far from gone. Thanks to everyone who wrote in asking about it —…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Tempus Fugit: Time in Space and Sky
This week we explore both the night sky and the cosmic tick-tock of time itself. The Moon waxes from half-lit to nearly full, while Saturn shines golden in…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
A Dark Sky for Us, and a New Moon for Uranus
This week we head outward to the seventh planet, where the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a brand-new moonlet orbiting Uranus. Barely six miles…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Black Moon & the Milky Way’s Hidden Companions
Under a rare seasonal Black Moon, this week’s sky rewards early risers and deep-sky wanderers alike. We start with a whisper-thin crescent slipping closer to…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Perseids, Planets, and the Smell of Space
This week we’re chasing Perseids and planetary pairings while the Moon slowly makes room for darker skies. We’ll explore which constellations are hiding in…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Sturgeon Moon and the Fossil in the Dark
This week we bask in the glow of the bright Sturgeon Moon, trace the shifting positions of planets from twilight to dawn, and watch as a few late-season…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Meteors, Mars, and a Betelgeuse Breakthrough
This week we're watching the skies—and catching up on a stellar mystery. Dual meteor showers light up the pre-dawn hours, Mars gets cozy with the Moon, and a…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
The Quiet Planet and the Loud Sky
With the Moon going dark midweek, we take a look at some targets in deep-sky territory, plus some dazzling planetary pairings. Also, learn why now might be a…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
A Star in Someone Else’s Sky
This week we take a look at the night sky from July 13th to the 19th, highlighting a waning Moon, brilliant morning planets, and the first whispers of the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Weighty Matters and Wandering Worlds
This week we kick things off with a deceptively simple listener question: What exactly is mass? From beach balls to black holes, we explore how mass shapes the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Cosmic Fireworks and a Crazy Week of Space News
own. Highlights include a close encounter between the Moon and Mars, a subtle meteor shower, and a dazzling pre-dawn lineup of planets.In the second half of…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Blazars, Bootids and a Blackout Moon
This week we explore one of the darkest, and most dynamic, weeks of the season for stargazing. With a New Moon on June 25th, we get a prime window to explore…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Under the Same Stars: Ancient Astronomy
The week of June 15th to the 21st includes a waning Moon approaching perigee, a lineup of bright planets at both dusk and dawn, and the breathtaking rise of…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Sunspots, Moon Tricks, and Meteors at Dawn
This week there’s a sky full of surprises. From the lowest full moon in nearly two decades—the golden-hued Strawberry Moon—to the elusive Arietid meteor shower…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Urban Alignments and Cosmic Parking Spots
As June begins, the night sky greets stargazers with a blend of familiar favorites. This week we highlight a picturesque conjunction between Mars and the…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
New Moon Week and the Mystery of Missing Green Stars
This week the New Moon arrives—perfect conditions for spotting deep-sky wonders. Discover five must-see celestial objects to track down while the skies are…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Erased from the Charts, but Still Etched in the Stars
As the Moon wanes and the morning planets take center stage, we turn our gaze to a part of the sky rarely discussed on Star Trails: the Southern Hemisphere. In…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
A Crown, a Ghost Planet, and a Star That Ate Another Star
In this week’s episode we’re chasing mysteries in all directions — from the icy edges of our solar system to the fiery hearts of dying stars.First, we explore…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Tracking Vesta and Exploring Alien Worlds
This week we start with the waxing Moon as it heads toward May’s micromoon, the Flower Moon. Jupiter and Mars light up the western sky, while Venus, Saturn…
- Star Trails: From Backyard Astronomy to Cosmic Wonder
Cosmic Rebels & Celestial Farewells
This week we say goodbye to Comet SWAN as it disintegrates on its first — and last — visit to the inner solar system. With a New Moon offering ideal stargazing…