Travelers in the Night - Eps. 251 & 252: Fresh Lunar Craters & The King

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. Today's 2 topics: - Some lunar craters are new. Bright flashes of light occur when one is created. If it happens in the dark part of the Moon it's easily detectible from Earth. Dr. Mark Robinson of Arizona State Univ. used the LRO to find the new 62' crater tied to the March 2013 flash of light. - Jupiter has a huge effect on the solar system. It ejects comets out of the system and also occasionally sends them our way. In 1770 a comet came close to Jupiter and was hurled in our direction. It missed Earth but later went back near Jupiter and was ejected from the solar system altogether that time. It's very possible that Earth wouldn't even be here if not for Jupiter's gravitational influence. Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ 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 Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. While you're at it, do support our Learning Space educator training program by going to this site: https://www.patreon.com/LearningSpace Please help us keep training the trainers! Learning Space is a weekly G+ Hangout on Air about topics in astronomy education, outreach and other ways to share science both in the school setting and outside it. We bring you interviews, hands-on demonstrations, lists of our favorite educational resources and more!