How to Begin (or Begin Again) With the Night Sky

The first episode of a new year is a good time to slow down, zoom out, and reset. In this episode, we welcome new and returning listeners alike for a thoughtful reintroduction to stargazing, one that sets aside checklists, gear anxiety, and the pressure to “do it right,” and instead focuses on patience, curiosity, and learning the sky where you are.

Along the way, the episode explores the idea of the sky as a clock, the power of naked-eye and binocular observing, and the winter night sky anchored by Orion, Jupiter, and the Great Nebula.

It also branches into a backyard stargazer’s reading recommendation (Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson) and a fascinating moment from astronomy’s past, the long search for the nonexistent planet Vulcan, and how Einstein’s theory of general relativity finally explained Mercury’s strange orbit. Th ...