365 Days of Astronomy seeks podcasters and supporters

365 Days of Astronomy is a daily podcast that is almost entirely user-driven. Each podcast, which can cover astronomical, cosmological, planetological, or educational topics, is written, recorded, and submitted by people like you who are excited about space. I helped get it started in 2009 and have been contributing podcasts to it ever since, and the Planetary Society continues to provide a small amount of financial support to keep it going. (My next scheduled podcast is on October 7.)

But the podcast has hit a rough patch; there are lots of open dates in the rest of 2011 that are as yet unclaimed by podcasters and unsupported by sponsors. Have you ever wanted to try doing your own podcast? Here's your chance to commit to doing just one, and to get it out to an established audience of many thousands of listeners. The topic can be on anything connected with space, from historical perspectives on missions, to explanations of deep-space phenomena, to your own space poetry or music, a how-to on observing sunspots or supernovae or planets or comets, an interview of somebody, or a monologue on how you answer the question "why should we be spending money exploring space when there are problems here on Earth?" Or whatever you come up with! Be creative and be enthusiastic. Sign up to produce an episode by sending an email with your name and your podcast idea to [email protected]. Check out the calendar to see which dates are open.

If you aren't up to recording a podcast, then please help out the project by donating or sponsoring. Every little bit helps! And while you're thinking nice thoughts about 365 Days of Astronomy, it wouldn't hurt to post a positive review on iTunes. (Post a favorable review of Planetary Radio while you're there!)