George's Random Astronomical Object
@randomastroobject.bsky.social
Episode 167 about the cluster of galaxies Abell 4038 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0167.h.... Here's an image of the cluster from PanSTARRS.
January 19, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Episode 167 about the cluster of galaxies Abell 4038 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0167.h.... Here's an image of the cluster from PanSTARRS.
Podcast episode 162 about the lenticular galaxy NGC 1172 is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0162.h.... Here is a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope (posted on Wikipedia). It's not the most exciting galaxy to look at, but the science is interesting.
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Podcast episode 162 about the lenticular galaxy NGC 1172 is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0162.h.... Here is a picture from the Hubble Space Telescope (posted on Wikipedia). It's not the most exciting galaxy to look at, but the science is interesting.
Podcast episode 160 about the "spiral" galaxy NGC 3718 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0160.h... . Here is an image of it and the nearby galaxy NGC 3729 from Wikipedia (credit: Safiy14).
October 13, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Podcast episode 160 about the "spiral" galaxy NGC 3718 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0160.h... . Here is an image of it and the nearby galaxy NGC 3729 from Wikipedia (credit: Safiy14).
Podcast episode 159 about the double star Albireo is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0159.h... . Here's a photo from astrophotographer Jared Smith (see www.flickr.com/photos/jared...).
September 30, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Podcast episode 159 about the double star Albireo is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0159.h... . Here's a photo from astrophotographer Jared Smith (see www.flickr.com/photos/jared...).
Podcast episode 156 about the variable star Z Ursae Minoris is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0156.h... . Here is an artistic depiction of the star surrounded by a haze of dust (credit: ESO).
August 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Podcast episode 156 about the variable star Z Ursae Minoris is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0156.h... . Here is an artistic depiction of the star surrounded by a haze of dust (credit: ESO).
Podcast episode 155 about the spiral galaxy M101 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0155.h... . Here is an ultraviolet / infrared image of the galaxy that I made a few years ago based on data that I've used in my research.
August 4, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Podcast episode 155 about the spiral galaxy M101 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0155.h... . Here is an ultraviolet / infrared image of the galaxy that I made a few years ago based on data that I've used in my research.
Podcast episode 154 featuring the complex binary star system A 0535+26 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0154.h... . I don't have a good schematical picture of what this system looks like in detail, so here's an image of the star system from the 2MASS survey.
July 22, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Podcast episode 154 featuring the complex binary star system A 0535+26 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0154.h... . I don't have a good schematical picture of what this system looks like in detail, so here's an image of the star system from the 2MASS survey.
Podcast episode 153 about the planetary nebula Hen 2-113 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0153.h... . The object is located in the constellation Lupus; this is how the constellation is depicted in Johann Bode's Uranographia (credit: Jacopo Montano).
July 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Podcast episode 153 about the planetary nebula Hen 2-113 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0153.h... . The object is located in the constellation Lupus; this is how the constellation is depicted in Johann Bode's Uranographia (credit: Jacopo Montano).
Podcast episode 152 about the quasar PKS 2126-158 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0152.h... . Here is an image from the PanSTARRS survey. (It's more interesting than this image makes it look.)
June 25, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Podcast episode 152 about the quasar PKS 2126-158 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0152.h... . Here is an image from the PanSTARRS survey. (It's more interesting than this image makes it look.)
Podcast episode 151 about the evolved star Beta Ceti is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0151.h... . Here is an image from the Digitized Sky Survey. (It's hard to find a better creative commons image.)
June 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Podcast episode 151 about the evolved star Beta Ceti is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0151.h... . Here is an image from the Digitized Sky Survey. (It's hard to find a better creative commons image.)
I nearly completely forgot to post that the latest podcast episode of the globular cluster Messier 54 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0149.h... . Here is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the cluster (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA).
May 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I nearly completely forgot to post that the latest podcast episode of the globular cluster Messier 54 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0149.h... . Here is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the cluster (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA).
Podcast episode 148 from George's Random Astronomical Object about the Algol-type star system DI Pegasi is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0148.h... . Here is an animated gif of what the stars at the center of this system look like (credit: Merikanto).
April 14, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Podcast episode 148 from George's Random Astronomical Object about the Algol-type star system DI Pegasi is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0148.h... . Here is an animated gif of what the stars at the center of this system look like (credit: Merikanto).
George's Random Astronomical Object podcast episode 147 about the cluster of galaxies Abell 1142 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0147.h... . Here is an image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
March 31, 2025 at 11:41 AM
George's Random Astronomical Object podcast episode 147 about the cluster of galaxies Abell 1142 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0147.h... . Here is an image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
Episode 146 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the peculiar supernova SN 2002cx is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0146.h... . Here is an image of what the system may have looked like before the explosion (credit: Christine Pulliam (CfA)).
March 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Episode 146 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the peculiar supernova SN 2002cx is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0146.h... . Here is an image of what the system may have looked like before the explosion (credit: Christine Pulliam (CfA)).
Podcast episode 144 of George's Random Astronomical Object, which features the open cluster NGC 6253, is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0144.h... . Here is an image from Wikimedia (credit: Legacy Surveys / D.Lang (Perimeter Institute) & Meli thev).
February 17, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Podcast episode 144 of George's Random Astronomical Object, which features the open cluster NGC 6253, is online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0144.h... . Here is an image from Wikimedia (credit: Legacy Surveys / D.Lang (Perimeter Institute) & Meli thev).
Episode 143 of the podcast George's Random Astronomical Object featuring the red dwarf GJ 887 and its exoplanets is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0143.h... . Here is an illustration of the star system from NASA (credit: NASA, ESA and D. Player (STScI)).
February 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Episode 143 of the podcast George's Random Astronomical Object featuring the red dwarf GJ 887 and its exoplanets is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0143.h... . Here is an illustration of the star system from NASA (credit: NASA, ESA and D. Player (STScI)).
Podcast episode 142 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the dwarf galaxy Segue 2 (the littlest galaxy ever found) is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0142.h... . Here is an image from the SDSS of where the galaxy is located, although I don't think I see it.
January 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Podcast episode 142 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the dwarf galaxy Segue 2 (the littlest galaxy ever found) is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0142.h... . Here is an image from the SDSS of where the galaxy is located, although I don't think I see it.
Podcast episode 141 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the spiral galaxy M74 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0141.h... . Here is the image of the galaxy from the JWST. (Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team. Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt.)
January 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Podcast episode 141 of George's Random Astronomical Object about the spiral galaxy M74 is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0141.h... . Here is the image of the galaxy from the JWST. (Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team. Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt.)
Episode 140 of the podcast George's Random Astronomical Object is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0140.h... . This episode features the incredibly dusty supernova remnant SN 1995N. Here is a picture of the galaxy where the supernova lives (credit: ESO).
December 23, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Episode 140 of the podcast George's Random Astronomical Object is now online at www.randomastronomicalobject.com/object0140.h... . This episode features the incredibly dusty supernova remnant SN 1995N. Here is a picture of the galaxy where the supernova lives (credit: ESO).