Podcast: Life and Death

• By Sara Mitchell
• May 24, 2007
• Comments Off on Podcast: Life and Death

Click to listen! (18MB MP3, right-click to save)
Transcript (Text, PDF)

Welcome to the May 2007 episode of Blueshift, from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We’ll discuss our search for Earth-like planets outside of our own Solar System. We’ll also look into gamma ray bursts, and how the Swift satellite team is working to solve their mysteries. This episode includes a brain teaser and mailbag question.

• Introduction (0:00 – 1:20)
• Brain Teaser (1:21 – 2:12)
• Interview: Jennifer Wiseman and the Search for Other Worlds (2:13 – 8:11)
  We’re finding new planets almost every day – find out what’s out there and how we’re finding them.
• Featured Story: Solving the Puzzles of Gamma-Ray Bursts (8:12 – 14:26)
  These mysterious events have had scientists asking questions for years, but now we have some answers.
• Mailbag: What kind of rays are cosmic rays? (14:27 – 17:40)
  Get the facts on these fast-moving particles… and old movies.
• James Webb Space Telescope story update (17:41 – 18:17)
  New information about the story featured in Episode 1.
• Brain Teaser – Answer (18:18 – 19:06)
• Closing (19:07 – 20:00)

The Search for Other Worlds

In our interview with Jennifer Wiseman, we heard about the technology and methods behind the discovery of other planets outside of our solar system. For more information about these discoveries, visit:

• PlanetQuest: the Search for Another Earth
• California & Carnegie Planet Search Project
• Press Release: Astronomers Find First Earth-like Planet in Habitable Zone (April 25, 2007)

Solving the Puzzles of Gamma-Ray Bursts

The Swift satellite is regularly detecting gamma-ray bursts all over the Universe, powerful events of great interest to astronomers. To find out more about Swift and gamma-ray bursts, take a look at these sites:

• NASA’s Swift Mission
• Press Release: Gamma-Ray Burst Challenges Theory (March 10, 2007)
• Press Release: Gamma-Ray Bursts Active Longer Than Thought (May 22, 2007)

Credits: