When most of us were children, and we went to a rural area with clear skies overhead at night, we were all greeted by the same familiar sight: a dark night sky, glittering with many hundreds or even thousands of stars. Depending on how dark your sky was, you could spot up to 6000 stars at once, as well as deep-sky objects, the plane of the Milky Way, and only the rare, occasional satellite streak. As time went on, more and more satellites were launched, bringing us up to around 2000 active satellites as of 2019.

And then we entered the era of satellite megaconstellations, beginning with the launch of the first Starlink satellites. Now, nearly 7 full years later, there are over 17,000 active and defunct satellite payloads in orbit, with approximately 100 times as many satellites proposed in the coming years. From satellite communications to direct-to-phone links to the proposition of AI data centers in space, the number of proposed use cases has exploded. However, as the environment around Earth becomes more crowded, the risks, the harms, and the potential for disaster all grow evermore severe, with woefully insufficient (or, sometimes, no) mitigation measures in place.

Is this a cause for despair? Or could this be our finest hour in terms of combatting these new forms of pollution. I've brought expert Dr. Meredith Rawls onto the podcast this episode to discuss satellites and space pollution, and the conversation ranges from thoughtful to passionate to pessimistic to hopeful many times over. Have a listen; you don't want to be underinformed about this one!

Helpful links:

IAU's center for the protection of dark and quiet skies: https://cps.iau.org/

NRAO/VLA's paper on radio telescope operations coordinating with satellite providers: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.15068v1

Vera C. Rubin's public alerts stream: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/first-alerts

An article on Rocket plumes: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-03154-8

Meredith's Nature News and Views piece regarding streaks in space telescopes: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03725-x 

The latest on the CRASH clock: https://outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashclock/

Astronomers argue for astronomy on the ground and in space: https://spacenews.com/the-future-of-astronomy-is-both-on-earth-and-in-space/ 

and Yvette Cendes's previous appearance on the SWAB podcast: https://soundcloud.com/ethan-siegel-172073460/starts-with-a-bang-77-stellar-destruction and https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xnBB0Ma4SzHk8ulziOidk

(The illustration shows all tracked objects in space as of 2025, as shown by the European Space Agency. The size of the objects, including intact satellites as well as space debris, is greatly exaggerated, but the number of objects shown is actually far less than the number of objects in space now in 2026, just one year later. Credit: European Space Agency)

Starts With A Bang #127 - Satellites and space pollution

Interplanetary travel is becoming significantly common with more unmanned probes and human exploration. The upcoming Artemis II mission, the Europa Clipper on it's way to exploring Jupiter's Moon (Europa) and also future interplanetary missions bring a significant achievement in space exploration as we begin our journey further in space.

Interplanetary Quest

    Hello everyone and thanks for returning to my channel! This is a brand new song and video, hot off the presses, as they used to say! I actually wrote this one about that comet that came close to the Earth last December called 3I/Atlas. Some people are saying that there is something very peculiar about this comet and that it may even be an alien probe from another star system? Most astronomers just say that it's a very interesting interstellar comet that's been flying around for billions of years. While some, such as astrophysicist Avi Loeb, have suggested exploring the possibility of it being a probe, the consensus among astronomers is that 3I/ATLAS is a natural visitor from another star system. It looks like it comes from Ursa Major,  the "Great Bear", a prominent northern sky constellation visible year-round, best viewed in April. Nevertheless, 3I/Atlas will be entering Jupiter's orbit on March 16th.  Back last year, when it used our Sun for a gravity-assist, it changed its trajectory and will now be flying very near Jupiter!!    There have been no radio transmissions from this object (if it's a real comet there would be none of course), since we've been tracking it but some say it's on Radio Silence and it's waiting to get close to Jupiter to transmit it's observations!  Some say it will use Jupiters enormous magnetic field as an amplifier to transmit a powerful signal home (wherever that may be?) if it is an alien probe! I really don't think so but we'll be listening for any peculiar transmissions from Jupiter in a couple of weeks just in case! Anyway, that gave me an idea to write this song about an Asteroid hitting the Earth, like the one that wiped out the Dinosaurs 65 million years ago. I'm a big space nerd and you all know I like making space videos every now and then, so here's my newest! It will drop on March 12th on YouTube.

VIDEO  -  https://youtu.be/aUd5IVGX67k

     I worked very hard on the recording and on the video, took me a couple of months but I'm finally finished with it and have bumped it up to dropping the video just when 3I/Atlas flys by Jupiter. It's a long video and I used 6 tracks for vocals alone! Lots and lots of eye and ear candy on this one. It's quite mind-blowing and NO A.I. was used, just my stupid brain!😂 I hope you all like it and never forget to Look Up! There's something very fishy going on up there!👀🥺😂 Take care everyone and thanks again for stopping by! "Live Long And Prosper!"🖖✌🏼

“THE ASTEROID"

HIGH ABOVE OUR ATMOSPHERE,
FLYING INTO THE SUN, 
TRANSCENDING THE HELIOSPHERE, 
GOD’S REVENGE HAS FINALLY COME,
KILLER RAYS, DEADLY DAYS, 
SOARING PAST VENUS AND MARS,
PAST NEUTRON STARS, FAR, FAR, AWAY,
THE ASTEROID IS ON ITS WAY,  
(LOOK UP NOW! LOOK UP!)

TRY NOT TO WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND IT,
SUPERNOVAS CAN BE FUN,
THE DINOSAURS DIDN’T FROWN DOWN ON IT,
SOMETIMES IT’S BETTER TO BE DUMB, 
FACES FREEZE, MELTING TREES,
ARMAGEDDON IF YOU PLEASE,
ON YOUR KNEES, BEGIN TO PRAY,
THE ASTEROID IS ON ITS WAY,

IT’S ON ITS WAY, IT’S ON ITS WAY
SHINING BRIGHT, IN THE NIGHT,
VANISHING ONLY BY DAY, SO THEY SAY,
THE ASTEROID IS ON ITS WAY,  
(LOOK UP NOW! LOOK UP!)

WHY IS IT COMING HERE?
WHY CAN’T THIS THING LEAVE US ALONE? 
I WON’T LOOK UP AND IT’LL DISAPPEAR,
I’LL GO BACK TEXTING ON MY PHONE,
COSMIC CRYER, WORLD ON FIRE,
COUNTING DAYS TILL WE EXPIRE,
HUMANITY WILL BURNING TODAY,
THE ASTEROID IS ON IT’S WAY,  (LOOK UP NOW! LOOK UP!)        

AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH,
THE ASTEROID IS ON IT’S WAY, 
(DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP!)
THE ASTEROID IS ON IT’S WAY, 
(DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP!)
THE ASTEROID IS ON IT’S WAY, 
(DON’T FORGET TO LOOK UP!)
                          
BY JIM VALDES © 2026

"THE ASTEROID" (Video -https://youtu.be/aUd5IVGX67k)

It’s often said that the best conditions for stargazing are under dark skies with minimal light pollution.  But in this modern age of excessive LED lighting, it can be hard to find such places.

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3/9/26 - Observing in the Dark

This year, the March equinox arrives on the 20th which marks the first day of spring for the northern hemisphere.

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https://www.deltapublicmedia.org/donate/

3/16/26 - The Vernal Equinox

An audio digest of one of the first serious considerations of wormholes as considerations for interstellar space travel. Made with NotebookLM with 17 sources of peer-reviewed papers with a focus on the original 1988 paper: Michael S. Morris, Kip S. Thorne; Wormholes in spacetime and their use for interstellar travel: A tool for teaching general relativity. Am. J. Phys. 1 May 1988; 56 (5): 395–412.
Uploaded for review and comment by Scholarly peers (references needed).

Morris-Thorne Blueprint for Wormholes

Originally broadcast on The Dream Machine channel on www.interglaactic.fm on 11th May 2014.

CASIONOVA - Hexagonal Stormfront

This is a song about a rogue planet that has lost it's parent star

The Lonely Planet

How do we "autopsy" a galaxy from billions of light-years away? Join  world-renowned astrophysicist Dr. Elisabete da Cunha as she  sits down with Astrophiz host Brendan O’Brien to explore the life, evolution, and eventual "death" of the most massive structures in the universe.

From her early inspirations under the stars of Portugal to her groundbreaking work in Extragalactic Astronomy, Elisabete shares her personal journey and the high-tech tools used to decode Starlight, Cosmic Dust, and Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs).
In this episode, we dive into:

Galaxy Evolution: How star systems grow and transform over billions of years.

Radio Astronomy: Using invisible light to peer into the deep universe.

Stellar Populations: What the chemistry of stars tells us about the history of space.

Cosmology & Dark Matter: The invisible forces shaping our galactic neighborhood.

Whether you are a student of astrophysics or a casual stargazer, this conversation offers a unique, charming, and deeply insightful window into the forensic evidence of our universe.

Read the full transcript and see the show notes at: https://astrophiz.com/2026/03/18/galaxy-forensics-with-dr-elisabete-da-cunha-astrophiz-230/

Subscribe to Astrophiz for your monthly dose of space science, telescope technology, and expert interviews.

Full Transcript

Galaxy Forensics: Decoding Galaxy Evolution with Dr. Elisabete da Cunha (Astrophiz 230)

No matter the time of year, under a clear dark sky you can expect to see four or five little streaks of light each hour. Sometimes called shooting stars or falling stars, these are meteors that burn up in our atmosphere.

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3/23/26 - Meteors & Meteorites

Want to stay on top of astronomical discovery? Join the ASP's Online Journal Club!

How Breakthrough Listen Targets Alien Signals

Banana Orbits Inside Chaotic Elliptical Galaxies

Can Triaxial Galaxies Survive Black Holes

Measurin _Star Wobble At Walking Speed

The Mystery of M92’s Vanishing Carbon

**I NEVER USE A.I. IN ANY OF MY SONGS OR VIDEOS!** Hi everybody, my name is Jim and I’m a songwriter, I've written over 300 songs, I play guitar, bass, piano, and am an okay lyricist.  I play all types of music and have my own recording studio.  I use no A.I. or DAW or any computers to make my songs or my videos, all the instruments are played by me live on a multitrack studio recorder and Charlie, my vocalist, sings most of my songs and also plays the Harmonica on several tracks. I use video clips from Motion Array or Pexals or Pixabay for my videos. I'm not a pro or a great musician but I do what I can with the tools that I have! I belong to the "Keep Humans In Music Movement" (KHMM)! We're NOT perfect but we're REAL! Thanks everyone for listening and the world needs more music now, real music made by HUMANS not MACHINES! So let's all sing a song with our own voices, please! I do not consent to any of my songs or videos being used or sampled or lifted in any way or fashion. Take care!👍😎✌🏼.

The Legendary Ten Seconds started off as the solo music project of Ian Churchward in 2004 during the time when he was the lead guitar player of The Morrisons who were featured on John Peel's Radio One show back in 1987. When Ian started recording as the Legendary Ten Seconds he was also playing guitar for a ceilidh band called Phoenix. In 2013 Lord Zarquon joined Ian's music project and since then the line up has gradually expanded and various guest musicians and vocalists have helped out in the recording studio. These have included the backing vocals of Camilla Joyce and the lead guitar of Rob Bright. The most recent musician to join the project is Jay Brown. The sounds of the Mellotron feature quite significantly in the recordings.

Most notably The Legendary Ten Seconds have recorded many critically acclaimed English folk rock albums which chronicle the Wars of the Roses and the life and times of Richard III in England during the late fifteenth century. The albums are available on Amazon and itunes and the band have donated money to a scoliosis charity from some of the income generated from the sale of their music. The CD versions of the albums are available via the Richard III Society in the UK.

Astrophiz: In-Depth Interviews with Astronomers and Astrophysicists

Discover the wonders of the universe with Astrophiz, the podcast for space enthusiasts and researchers. Join host Brendan O’Brien as he sits down with world-leading scientists to explore the frontiers of astrophysics, radio astronomy, and space science.

From the evolution of the Milky Way and the mechanics of solar flares to the cutting-edge technology of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), we break down complex academic research into engaging stories of discovery. Whether you’re interested in cosmic dust, galaxy evolution, or the latest in telescope technology, Astrophiz brings the experts directly to your ears.

Subscribe for deep dives into:

Astrophysics & Galactic Research

Radio Astronomy & Space Weather

Latest research & Dark Sky Preservation

Interviews with NASA, ESA, Australian and International Researchers

New episodes feature in-depth conversations that go beyond the headlines to reveal the real science shaping our understanding of the cosmos.

Refreshingly Independent and totally ad-free

Shanil Virani is an award-winning astronomer, educator, & co-author of #DaughteroftheStars. Creator/Host of Our Island Universe.

Dresden-based Label for electronic listening music, inspired and dedicated to ambient, krautrock, kosmische/cosmic and experimental music.

Support us at bandcamp: www.permusicaadastra.bandcamp.com

Per Musica Ad Astra mix on every Sunday at 19:00 CET on www.intergalactic.fm (The Dream Machine channel).

Mike Murray from the Delta College Planetarium takes a look at what's up in the night sky. Things are happening all the time in the backyard universe, and many of them don't require a telescope to see and enjoy.

Electronic Music artist who mainly produces electronic music of all kinds from slow calm ambient to hardcore Techno. Sometimes I post other genres here as well, like Classical, Jazz/Funk, and New Wave. All tracks here are made by a real human being no AI used in the production of these tracks. Hope you will enjoy! Check me out on my social media accounts for more stuff or DM me for anything related to business or some ideas/requests!

New tracks tagged #Astronomy