Jim Lattis, director of the UW Space Place, has been a frequent guest on the Perpetual Notion Machine. How many times has it been? 20, 30 times? Maybe not that many, but he’s back on this special pledge drive edition of PNM. Jim talks with PNM’er Will Cushman about the things that will be happening […]
Hydrogen cloud found in Whirlpool Galaxy
Radio Astronomy hosts Zach Pace and Brianna Smart share why UW-Madison researchers were in southern Arizona to do some research. Aaron Watkins from Case Western Reserve University was looking at the Whirlpool Galaxy and checking the stars with a special camera filter when he came across something uncommon, a wisp of glowing gas. The most common […]
UW-Madison’s very own observatory and the history behind it
In this episode, Brianna Smart and Zach Pace keep their discussion terrestrial and tell us about UW-Madison’s history in studying astronomy. The Washburn observatory was created in 1877. Just a year prior to the creation of the observatory the Wisconsin state legislators passed a resolution saying that they would provide salary for a new professor […]
Radio Telescope on the moon
Radio Astronomy co-hosts Brianna Smart and Diego Casanova explain why astronomers want a radio telescope on the moon. The hope for the radio telescope is that it will be placed on the L2 point on the moon. The radio telescope will be able to communicate with the lunar rover. Radio waves end up on the […]
Planetarium Show: “Indigenous Voices-Sharing the Wisconsin Sky&#...
When we look into the night sky, we all know about Cassiopea, Orion the Hunter, Draco the Dragon, or Leo the Lion, all named after Greek myths. But, not everyone looks at the stars through the same lens. The Manfred Olson Planetarium in Milwaukee is hosting Indigenous Voices-Sharing the Night Sky March 23 through May […]
Total Solar Eclipse Mania
In this week’s episode of the Perpetual Notion Machine, producer Will Cushman talks to Jim Lattis, of the UW Space Place, about all things eclipse! Jim is an expert on the history of astronomy and an astronomy education advocate. They discuss why the Aug. 21, 2017 total solar eclipse is generating such buzz, the science […]