Travelers in the Night Eps. 727 & 728: Dust Moons & Space Weather

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org Today's 2 topics: - In a dance of unequal partners the Earth and Moon orbit a common center of gravity which itself travels about the Sun. Leading and trailing the moon's twisted path by 60 degrees, are the L4 and L5 Lagrange points, where gravitational forces create a bowl in space time in which an object will remain until it is disturbed.The discovery of two large ghostly neighbors approximately 65,000 by 45,000 miles in size at the L4 and L5 sites approximately 250,000 miles from both the Earth and Moon verifies theoretical predictions. - Space is not all that far away. If a powerful solar eruption in 2012 had happened a week earlier, the blast of radiation would have caused widespread power blackouts disabling everything that plugs into a wall socket as well as the water and sewer systems which rely on electric pumps.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].