Cosmically Curious

In this episode of Cosmically Curious, host Patrick McNamee sits down with Saint Anselm College astronomer Nicole Gallucci to clear up common black hole myths, explain the bizarre physics of spaghettification, and reveal what would actually happen if our Sun suddenly turned into a black hole.

A distant exoplanet 700 trillion miles away is captivating astronomers, and the latest findings from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have reignited a major question: Are we alone in the universe?

NASA’s Voyager probes are 16 billion miles away in interstellar space. Learn what two instruments are still measuring and why it matters for deep space exploration.

Launched in the summer of 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft were originally authorized for a brief journey to visit Jupiter and Saturn. Nearly five decades later, both probes are still operating in deep space, pushing the boundaries of human exploration.

In this segment of NHPR's Cosmically Curious, host Patrick McNameeKing sits down with UNH astronomer John Gianforte to discuss an exciting upcoming celestial event: a near-total lunar eclipse.

How did a kitchen microwave fool astronomers? On Cosmically Curious, Dr. Nicole Gugliucci reveals the true source behind mysterious fast radio bursts.

Learn the best viewing times, why a new moon makes this year special, and why you only need a lawn chair to watch.

In late 1572, long before the invention of the telescope, sky-watchers looking up at the night sky saw something impossible: a blazing new star where nothing had existed before.

Dark matter makes up 85% of all matter in the universe, but is only detected by the effect it has on visible matter.

In a recent conversation, Patrick McNamee King sat down with Nicole Gallucci from Saint Anselm College to explore why these collapsed stellar remnants are far more than just deep-space anomalies—they are actually some of the most powerful scientific instruments available to us.

A pulsar is the collapsed, zombie-like core of a massive star that died in a supernova explosion.

Today, we're answering a question from listener Tim Smith, who asks a deceptively simple question: Why does anything exist?

How do you capture a full-color image when your recording medium can only see in black and white?

How many satellites can we actually fit around the Earth before it becomes a problem?

We talk a lot about stars, but how they are formed is a process that is not completely understood.

A look at how modern physicists tackle the ultimate origin story.

Construction is currently underway for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a massive radio telescope poised to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos.

Physics professor Nicole Gugliucci explains the science of Star Trek’s warp drive, the Alcubierre concept, and why we're still far off from zipping through space.

We need water to live, but what else does water on Mars mean for space exploration?

A listener question reveals a surprisingly accurate system.