In this episode of AAASky, we dive into the latest cosmic discoveries with Dr. Shanil Virani of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and host of 'Our Island Universe.' What are "Little Red Dots," and why are they reshaping our understanding of the early universe? We explore how the James Webb Space Telescope is uncovering young galaxies, their supermassive black holes, and what these findings mean for the story of cosmic evolution. Join us for a fascinating journey through time, space, and the mysteries hidden in the universe’s earliest light.

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In this episode, we speak with Nicolas Altobelli, the science operations and development manager for the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission. Launched in April 2023 by the European Space Agency, this interplanetary spacecraft is currently on its way to orbit and study three icy moons of Jupiter: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, and what would make them potentially habitable for extraterrestrial life.

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In this episode MJ interviews Alfredo Viegas, the new President of the AAA. Alfredo details his vision for the future of the club, and highlights various new programs the club has for its members and New Yorkers in general. MJ and Stanley discuss the AAA’s collaboration with other groups and tell us about the various upcoming club events. And they develop a new title for all astronomers, with a bit of help from Mark Twain.

• Hayden Planetarium
• Astronomy on Tap
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
• American Museum of Natural History
• 2024 Total Eclipse
• How to photograph a solar eclipse
• Solar Eclipse Photography with Stan Honda
• Stan Honda Photography
• Stan Honda on AAA Eyepiece
• AAA Eyepiece: Astrophotography

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In this episode Stanley interviews Alan and Aaron Sliski, a father-son team of professional observatory builders. In a discussion full of anecdotes, Alan and Aaron give useful tips, advice, and discuss the various types of observatories and the reasons for building one, as well as the numerous pitfalls to avoid. We welcome our new AAA President, Alfredo Viegas. And MJ and Stanley give us a heads-up about the various upcoming Club observing events.

• Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston
• CKD 17
• ASCOM Alpaca
• Astro Haven
• Ash-Dome
• Backyard Observatories
• Center for Backyard Astrophysics
• NexDome
• SkyShed POD
• Home-Dome
• Pier-Tech
• Gemma Observatory

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In this episode Stanley interviews Paige Godfrey, Senior Software Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin about life at Lockheed, her inspiring career path, the dichotomy between scientists and engineers and oh yes, the Orion Space Capsule and Artemis missions. Brian says farewell, and MJ and Stanley speculate about life in a capsule and give us a heads-up about various astronomy events around NYC.

• Orion Spacecraft
• Slooh Online Telescope For Educators, Students, Astronomers & Space Enthusiasts
• Artemis-I

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Welcome back to AAA SKY! In this episode we introduce MJ, the newest member of the AAA SKY team. Kat interviews Brian Levine, science educator, who shows us a novel way of modeling the distances between planets in the solar system. And Brian and Kat discuss Astronomy on Tap.

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In this final episode of the season Yui Hasegawa, AAA member and high school student extraordinaire, tells Maggie how she came up with an idea for how to make stargazing vastly more accessible to the New York public, and how she made it a reality. By combining the respective resources of the AAA and the Brooklyn Public Library, Yui developed a library loaner program for telescopes which she hopes will serve as a model for cities and clubs worldwide. Hear our first all-women episode with Kat joining Maggie for the discussion.

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In this episode Kat interviews Tony Hoffman, AAA Member and Citizen Scientist. Tony recounts his adventures photographing eclipses from airplanes in Africa, in northern Norway and wherever else the path of the sun and moon has taken him. He also gives tips on finding comets and even exoplanets. Kat and Stan discuss citizen science more generally and we have a new Listeners Challenge.

• PlanetHunters.org - Planet Hunters TESS
• TravelQuest International
• Tony Hoffman on Flickr
• aavso
• anecdata

Every 10 years, NASA engages a committee of scientists who develop a list of programs called the decadal survey, which they collectively recommend NASA should focus on. The new decadal survey has just come out. What is the number one priority they recommend NASA should do over the next 10 years?

Email us your answer at listenerchallenge@aaa.org by May 10th at 11:59pm. We'll select a random person with the correct answer and send them a AAASky hoodie!

Reach out to us at aaasky@aaa.org, even if just to say hi!