You might have heard of pulsars. They're objects that emit regular pulses of radiation. But what are they, how do they form, and what makes them pulse? Let's take a look. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love to hear from you. Email us! [email protected]

Galileo Galilei Made some incredible observations of the moon and was a real pioneer in calculating the height of some of the moon's geological features. In 1610 he turned the world of planetary astronomy on its head. He described the phases of Venus, came agonisingly close to discovering the true nature of Saturn's rings, and studied what became to be his namesake system, the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. Let's take a look. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on...

As many as 80% of the stars we see in the night sky could be part of a binary system, two or more stars orbiting each other. So what it a binary system and how can we observe them? We know single stars like our own sun can have a system of planets, but what does that look like for stars in a binary system. Let's take a look. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love to hear...

Until the Apollo moon landings, our only samples of material from space were in the form of meteorites. These meteorites gave us an insight into the origins of our solar system, and might even have provided the complex organic molecules that allowed life to develop on our planet.  In this episode we have an awesome chat with noted meteoriticist Greg Brennecka. We explore some of the history of meteorite research, the origins of life on Earth and the free samples of Mars rock that arrived on...

From Mars rovers that were the size of a microwave oven back in the 90s, we now have the Perseverance rover that's the size of a car. And a helicopter. We take a look at the amazing Mars 2020 project that is taking Mars exploration to the next level.  It's collecting samples for future return to Earth and the Ingenuity helicopter is flying through the Martian atmosphere - carrying a small piece of cloth from the Wright brothers' plane. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special...

There's a strange gap between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, a gap where Bode's law says we would expect the fifth planet to be. There's no planet there, but there's something else that's just as amazing, it's the asteroid belt. Let's take a look at the four main asteroids and see what makes up the other million identified objects. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love...

Voyager 1 took the famous photograph the Pale Blue Dot. It's the furthest travelled machine ever made by people. At 23 billion km, it takes nearly a full day for its radio signals to reach us. Voyager 2 toured all of the gas planets in our solar system and remains the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. But it gets even better. Both of these 1970s tech spacecraft are still operating in interstellar space and sending data back to earth. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter...

Neptune. Something was perturbing Uranus' orbit, turns out it was the eighth planet, Neptune. Neptune was the first planet to have its existence and position calculated before it was discovered. Let's take a look at Neptune and its major moon Triton. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content  twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love to hear from you. Email it to  [email protected]

Uranus. Stop giggling, is the first planet to be discovered by telescope. The inner planets have always been known about, but Uranus need to wait until the telescope was invented. Let's take a closer look. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content  twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love to hear from you. Email it to  [email protected]

Jupiter is the first of the gas giant planets. Let's take a look at what makes these planets different from the inner planets. It has a fascinating set of moons that help make up the Jovian system, and we find out how it subtle set of planetary rings were discovered. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content  twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi! We'd love to hear from you. Email it to  [email protected]

How do you keep a chemistry class's attention in the age of smart phones? Explosions, loud noises and passion! That's how Kate the Chemist does it. Dr. Kate Biberdorf is a professor of chemistry at the University of Texas and she's a science entertainer. She amazed Stephen Colbert with the elephant's toothpaste experiment on Late Night, and blasted a thousand ping pong balls into the air on the Kelly Clarkson Show. She took a break from exploding hydrogen balloons and breathing fire to have...

We have a great chat with Earl Swift about NASA's lunar rovers and his new book Across the Airless Wilds. It's a fascinating dive into the last three moon landings and what could be regarded as the pinnacle of human exploration. Earl recounts his time with astronauts Charlie Duke and Dave Scott, and Laszlo Kestay from the United States Geological Survey, and gives us some incredible insights into the the design process of the lunar rovers and their place in the history of exploration. Earl's...

There's a lot about Mars that is very Earth-like, from the length of a day to the kinds of seasons it has. Being a neighbouring planet, it's no surprise that we talk about sending astronauts to Mars.  While we're waiting, let's take a look at some of the super cool spacecraft that have already been to Mars. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content  twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Email it to  [email protected]

Earth. It's home to every living thing we've ever known, but what if we really take a step back and study our planet the same way we study the others. What everyday events have an astronomical cause. And what about all that water, and all that life! Grab a coffee and join us for a view of our own planet, from outside. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content twitter.com/CosmicCoffTime You can request a topic for the show! Email it to [email protected]

Planet Venus is sometimes called Earth's twin. It's the same size and in planetary terms it's close by, but why isn't it our first choice for exploration? Some of the differences make Venus super difficult to study so in a way it remains mysterious.  Why is it difficult to study? And what makes the environment on Venus so harsh? Grab a coffee and join us as we unravel the mystery and take a closer look. Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on Twitter for some special content...

Taking a closer look at planet Mercury, one of the least studied planets.

So back in the 1930's, astronomers noticed that there didn't seem to be enough mass in galactic clusters to hold them together, but they were held together. There mas be some additional mass and gravity to hold everything together, but where is it? It...

A discussion with David W. Brown about Europa and his new book The Mission.

What went wrong with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope?

What are meteors, and why do they burn up?

How does the Sun produce so much energy and what does its future hold?

The future of human lunar exploration - Project Artemis.

Let's lake a closer look at the moon. Part 4.

Let's lake a closer look at the moon. Part 3.

Let's lake a closer look at the moon. Part 2.