'Casts, astronomy

Exploring the Cosmos

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On Astrocast.tv

There are a lot of really great sources for astronomy information out there, and I visit as many as I can when I have a chance. One that caught my eye (because it has an old friend of mine on as host), is Astrocast.TV. It’s a news-format presentation posted once a month, and it delves into the latest space and astronomy news.  The casts have grown over the past few months and they cover a LOT of material!

Today I’m pleased to announced that I’ve joined the “cast” of Astrocast.TV as producer for a monthly documentary segment called The Astronomer’s Universe. Each month I’ll be taking a few minutes to delve into some of the fascinating objects and exciting topics that professional astronomers are looking at and learning about. In between times, I’ll post blog entries about exciting astronomy finds.

I am one of three new segment producers to join the Astrocast.TV group. The others are Bente Lilja Bye, who is doing a monthly segment about Earth observations and the environment, and Tavi Greiner, an amateur astronomer who will be bringing the latest in the night sky to you for your observational enjoyment.  We join Greg Redfern, Harold Geller, and Lori Feaga — three long-time Astrocast.TV veterans. It’s a great crew and I am honored to be among such talented people!  Special thanks to Rich Mathews for inviting me in and guiding me along as we produced the segment called “The Big Picture.”

Head on over and check it out!

Update: here is the full Astrocast.tv video cast for May.  Below it is my segment.  Enjoy!

The Astronomer’s Universe

galaxies, griffith observatory, markarian's chain, the big picture

The Big Picture

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An Introduction to Large-Scale Structure

Markarians Chain, part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, as seen in The Big Picture. Courtesy of the Palomar-Quest Team, California Institute of Technology. (Click to embiggen.)
Markarian's Chain, part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, as seen in The Big Picture. Courtesy of the Palomar-Quest Team, California Institute of Technology. (Click to embiggen.)

One of the coolest exhibits I’ve ever seen is taking up a wall at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California. It’s called The Big Picture, and is a deep view of a very small region in the constellation Virgo. It was taken using the Samuel Oschin Telescope on Palomar Mountain in California.

What makes this picture amazing is that it is a single continuous digital sky image, portrayed in porcelain tiles. It has at least a million galaxies and thousands of quasars depicted in it, plus asteroids, and a comet.  The galaxies are part of the Virgo Cluster, the nearest big cluster to our own Local Group of Galaxies. Beyond them are the other galaxies, all part of the large-scale structure of the universe.

The Big Picture is the focus of today’s 365 Days of Astronomy podcast — which Mark and I produced. So, go over and check it out. I’ve also got a related page about it and the large-scale structure of the cosmos, here.

You can also see a video I’ve produced about The Big Picture as part of Astrocast.TV starting on May 1. I’ve joined the crew of Astrocast.tv to produce a monthly segment called The Astronomer’s Universe. Either way, be sure and check out this amazing image–it’ll take your breath away.

Exploring Science and the Cosmos

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