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.)
Podcasting since 2021 • 48 episodes
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures
Latest Episodes
The Copernicus Complex: Are We Special in the Cosmos
With Prof. Caleb Scharf (Columbia University)Is humanity on Earth special or unexceptional? Extraordinary discoveries in astronomy and biology have revealed a universe filled with endlessly diverse planetary systems, and a picture...
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Season 16
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Episode 1
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1:18:53
Black Widow Pulsars: The Vengeful Corpses of Stars
With Dr. Roger Romani (Stanford University):NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has revealed a violent high-energy universe full of stellar explosions, black hole jets, and pulsing stars. These cosmic objects are often faint when o...
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Season 15
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Episode 3
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1:01:47
Europa Clipper: Exploring Jupiter's Ocean World
Presenter is the Project Scientist, Dr. Robert Pappalardo (JPL)May 22, 2024Jupiter's moon Europa may be a habitable world, containing the “ingredients” necessary for life within its ocean. Data from NASA’s earlier Galileo mission su...
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Season 24
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Episode 6
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1:22:35
The Allure of the Multiverse (with Dr. Paul Halpern)
Apr. 17, 2024In this talk, physicist and popular author Paul Halpern (St. Joseph's College) examines the history of the concept of a multiverse in science, and discusses the ideas by Einstein and other noted physicists that have led ...
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Season 24
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Episode 5
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1:16:29
The Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen Hawking
With Dr. Leonard Susskind (Stanford University)Black holes, the collapsed remnants of the largest stars, provide a remarkable laboratory where the frontier concepts of our understanding of nature are tested at their extreme limits. For more...
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Season 10
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Episode 1
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1:34:51