Latest Videos

Intro Astronomy 2013. Class 3: Telescopes, the Moon

Lecture 3 of Dr. Bruce Betts' online Introductory Planetary Science and Astronomy course covers optical, radio, and space telescopes, the history, exploration, and importance of the Moon to our Solar System understanding, as well as impact cratering, lunar tides, phases, and solar eclipses. Recorded at California State University Dominguez Hills.

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Planetcast Webcast: Asteroid 2012 DA 14 AND the Meteor Airburst

Guests

Bruce Betts, Director of Projects, The Planetary Society
Bill Nye, Chief Executive Officer
Jaime Nomen, astronomer, Observatorio Astronómico de La Sagra (La Sagra Observatory)

Watch the recording of our popular webcast about these two historic events, featuring Bill Nye and Bruce Betts.

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Planetary Society Hangout with Emily Lakdawalla and Courtney Dressing: nearby exoplanets

Guests

Courtney Dressing, Student Astronaut, The Planetary Society's Red Rover Goes to Mars project
Emily Lakdawalla, Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist, The Planetary Society

Emily Lakdawalla and Courtney Dressing to talk about just how common Earth-sized exoplanets may be in our neighborhood.

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Intro Astronomy 2013. Class 2: How We Explore Space

Guests

Mat Kaplan

Lecture 2 of Dr. Bruce Betts' online Introductory Planetary Science and Astronomy course covers easy things to see in the night sky without a telescope, and the electromagnetic spectrum (from gamma rays to visible to radio waves) -- what it is, and how and why we use different wavelength regions to explore planets and even learn their compositions. The class starts with guest Mat Kaplan, Media Producer for The Planetary Society and Bruce and Mat record a What's Up segment for Planetary Radio. Filmed at California State University Dominguez Hills.

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Planetary Society Hangout: Feb 7th, 2013 - Snow on Mars and the future of Planetary Science with Paul Hayne

Guests

Paul Hayne, Research Scientist, JPL
Bruce Betts, Director of Projects, The Planetary Society
Casey Dreier, Advocacy and Outreach Strategist, The Planetary Society

This week our guest is Dr. Paul Hayne from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Hayne studies snow and ice on Mars, extreme temperatures of the Moon, is a science collaborator on the Cassini mission. He also founded the group Young Scientists for Planetary Exploration to help organize early-career scientists to be aware of the politics of space.

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Intro Astronomy 2013. Class 1: Tour of the Solar System

Take a tour of the Solar System in class 1 of Dr. Bruce Betts' online Introductory Planetary Science and Astronomy course at California State University Dominguez Hills.

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Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 31, 2013: Sarah Noble on Working on the Moon from Washington

Guests

Sarah Noble
Emily Lakdawalla, Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist, The Planetary Society

We welcomed guest Sarah Noble to our weekly Google+ Hangout. Sarah is a lunar geologist and a civil servant working in the Research & Analysis program at NASA Headquarters. We'll talk about squiggly lines on the Moon, about working at NASA HQ, and the lunar mission launching later this year, LADEE, for which Sarah has recently been named Program Scientist.

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Planetary Society Hangout: Jan 24th, 2013 - Hunting Asteroids with Gary Hug

Guests

Gary Hug, Astronomer, Sandlot Observatory
Bruce Betts, Director of Projects, The Planetary Society
Casey Dreier, Advocacy and Outreach Strategist, The Planetary Society

Gary Hug is an asteroid hunter. He scans the skies every night looking for new near-Earth objects and refining orbital measurements for existing ones. He is also one of the Planetary Society's Gene Shoemaker Grant recipients, which is our program to provide highly-skilled amateur astronomers with the equipment and support needed to continue the search for potentially hazardous asteroids.

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