Ask the Astronomers Live

You can use your own telescope or telescopes you control over the internet to help the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) study exoplanets. Through NASA's Exoplanet Watch program, your observations can help determine the exact times that an exoplanet will be crossing in front of its star giving the right window of time for JWST to observe it. Join astronomer Dr. Rob Zellem as he describes how helping study planets around other stars is at your fingertips!

What happened to make the star Eta Carinae become the second brightest star in the sky in 1843? Why did it then dim over the next century and once again brighten? How can YOU take images of this star and its surrounding clouds using NASA’s robotic telescopes or create your own images using NASA data? Join us to hear the fascinating story of Eta Carina and how NASA’s Astrophoto Challenges gives you the opportunity to make a picture of this star and its surroundings.

Thirty years ago we knew of no planets orbiting other stars. In the rest of the 90s with discoveries of the first exoplanets (planets orbiting around OTHER stars) the numbers began to grow slowly. Finally in the past 10 years the numbers of exoplanets have increased rapidly and we have just passed the 5000th confirmed known exoplanet! Join us for a chat with exoplanet scientist Dr. Jessie Christiansen about how we have managed to discover so many planets around other stars and what the future holds for this exciting area of astrophysics.

Are we helpless against the kind of asteroid impacts that wiped out the dinosaurs? Not if we DO look up! For several decades there have been multiple surveys to chart and track potentially hazardous Near-Earth Objects (NEO) which can cause significant disasters if they hit the Earth. Join our conversation with two astronomers who have already tracked many NEOs and are working on NASA's next NEO-seeking space telescope called the NEO Surveyor. 

The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA's next major space observatory, which will study everything from the earliest stars in the Universe, to planets orbiting other stars, to nearby asteroids. Learn all about it from our guests who are involved in both building and using the telescope.

A planet may have been detected in a galaxy outside of our own. There are thousands of planets detected around stars in our own Milky Way galaxy, but for the first time we may have detected a planet in another galaxy, called the Whirlpool Galaxy, which is more than 23 MILLION lightyears away.

Join us to view the standout entries from NASA's Astrophoto Challenges 2021.

In 2017 astronomers remarkably detected the first known example of an object originating from OUTSIDE of our solar system as it was briefly passing THROUGH our solar system. But was it just a rock, or something more?

Make your own images of the amazing galaxy M87— host to a supermassive black hole — using data from NASA’s space telescopes or ground based telescopes. Try these challenges and your entry could be selected as a standout for recognition from NASA scientists!

What happens when you map out the farthest stars in our Milky Way galaxy? Our guests have used that data to look into the past (and future) of our closest companion galaxies!

When the Hubble Space Telescope imaged a seemingly empty region of sky for over 11 days, it turned out to not be empty at all, but full of the faintest and farthest galaxies in the Universe.

Learn how you can help astronomers discover new worlds!

Come learn the latest about 7 Earth-sized planets around a nearby star!

How does the gravity of a cluster of galaxies magnify the far universe?

Where are black holes located and how do we find them?

What if we converted an image of the Milky Way's center to sound? What would you hear? Phil LaMarr takes us on a journey of converting the Milky Way's sights to sounds with Kim Arcand and Matt Russo.

What are planets around other stars really like, and what kinds of people devote their careers to studying them?

What does the most amazing nebula in the sky look like in 3d? And what do we know about this incredible birthplace of baby stars and planets?

Discover the mysteries of the strangely explosive starburst galaxy M82, and see the many versions of it submitted by people from all over the world who participated in NASA's Astrophoto Challenges.

What happens when the largest stars in the universe go boom? Astronomers Schuyler van Dyk (Caltech-IPAC) and Bill Blair (Johns Hopkins University) talk all about some of the biggest explosions around and how a lot of stuff in you and the world around you came from them billions of years ago.

When we look at the night sky we are dazzled by all the stars we see, but how do those stars form? Check out our live chat with NASA scientists to see how stars are born!

When we look for exoplanets, planets beyond our own solar system, we focus on the habitable zone… But … what’s that mean?! Tune into our live video chat with NASA scientists.

When we look for exoplanets, planets beyond our own solar system, we focus on the habitable zone… But … what’s that mean?! Tune into our live video chat with NASA scientists.

When we look for exoplanets, planets beyond our own solar system, we focus on the habitable zone… But … what’s that mean?! Tune into our live video chat with NASA scientists.