The Actual Astronomy Podcast

Chris and Shane talk about early observations of Martian ‘canals’ and other interesting Mars observations from the past. 

Chris and Shane share some of their recent observations. Chris gives his initial thoughts on his new Nikon 1.6x barlow.

Chris and Shane answer a bunch of listener astronomy questions that were emailed to the show.

On Oct 3rd, Chris and Shane had their best Mars observation of their lifetimes. Lots of details reported in this episode. 

Mars is a ‘must observe’ object this month. Chris and Shane discuss this and other objects to have a look at. 

Chris and Shane welcome observing friend Kathleen as the first guest appearance on the podcast. Kathleen shares her thoughts on sketching observations and other aspects of amateur astronomy. 

Chris and Shane have been observing the nigh sky for a long time. Hear about their most memorable observations. You may want to add some of these to your observing lists. 

Dark sky observing plans were scuttled due to wild fire smoke, however Chris was still able to view Mars on a couple of different nights. 

Every two years, Mars becomes an interesting telescopic object to observe due to it's close proximity to Earth. 2020 happens to be one of the close approaches, in fact this will be the closest Mars is to Earth until 2034!

For the first time this year, Chris and Shane meet up to observe under a relatively dark sky. Listen to hear the observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, various clusters, and an excellent double star in Andromeda.