Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcast Artwork Image

Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures

Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures

Listen to exciting, non-technical talks on some of the most interesting developments in astronomy and space science. Founded in 1999, the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are presented on six Wednesday evenings during each school year at Foothill College, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Speakers include a wide range of noted scientists, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language. The series is organized and moderated by Foothill's astronomy instructor emeritus Andrew Fraknoi and jointly sponsored by the Foothill College Physical Science, Math, and Engineering Division, the SETI Institute, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the University of California Observatories (including the Lick Observatory.)
Episodes
The Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen HawkingApril 15, 2024
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Black Holes and the Technology to Find ThemApril 10, 2024
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Exploring the Gravitational Wave UniverseFebruary 20, 2024
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Water Above, Water Below: The Many Roles of Water in Making Planets HabitableDecember 04, 2023
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The Peril and Profit of Near-Earth ObjectsOctober 29, 2023
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SPECIAL: An Interview with Frank Drake (conducted by Andrew Fraknoi)July 17, 2023
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Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust: The Birth and Death of WorldsJuly 13, 2023
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An Eclipse Double-Header: Two North American Eclipses of the Sun in 2023 & 2024 (with Andrew Fraknoi)May 17, 2023
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The First Results from the James Webb Space Telescope (with Dr. Alex Filippenko)March 12, 2023
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Our Boldest Effort to Answer our Oldest Question: Breakthrough-Listen Search for Intelligent LifeFebruary 19, 2023
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Spacetime Symphony: Gravitational Waves from Merging Black HolesJanuary 25, 2023
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100 Years of Einstein's Relativity (And How it Underlies Our Modern Understanding of the Universe)December 28, 2022
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Space Weather and the Question of Human Survivability (with Dr. Tom Berger)December 12, 2022
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Is Anyone out There: The Hundred-Million Dollar "Breakthrough: Listen" ProjectDecember 05, 2022
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A Planet for Goldilocks: Kepler and the Search for Living WorldsOctober 30, 2022
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The Fast Radio Sky: A New Window on the Violent UniverseOctober 24, 2022
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Colliding Neutron Stars, Gravity Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy ElementsAugust 22, 2022
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When Mars Was Like Earth: Five Years of Exploration with the Curiosity RoverAugust 01, 2022
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Rubble Piles in the Sky: The Science, Exploration, and Danger of Near-Earth AsteroidsJuly 15, 2022
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Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto (with Alan Stern & David Grinspoon)June 24, 2022
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Do Humans Have What it Takes to Thrive in this Universe?June 01, 2022
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A Sharper Image: Seeing Colliding Galaxies with Adaptive Optics (with Dr. Claire Max)May 12, 2022
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Cosmobiology: Recent Progress in Cosmology, Exoplanets, and the Prerequisites for Life in the UniverseMay 02, 2022
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Cosmology and Ambition: Losing the Nobel Prize (with Dr. Brian Keating)April 07, 2022
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Planets Under Our Feet: The Caves on Earth, Mars, and Beyond (with Dr. Penelope Boston)March 25, 2022
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