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Blue Dot: Sky ghosts of the cosmos: Comets

Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997
E. Kolmhofer, H. Raab
/
Johannes Kepler Observatory
Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997

Host Dave Schlom is joined by two scientists from the SETI Institute in Mt. View, California, to talk about one of his

favorite celestial phenomena -- comets.

Bright comets that are visible to the naked eye are truly a

spectacle as they hang in the sky like ethereal ghosts as they make their stately way around the Sun and

back out into the depths of the solar system.

SETI Institute research scientist Ariel Graykowski and Senior Planetary Astronomer Franck Marchis join Blue Dot to give us an extensive overview of what comets are, how they behave, and why they are so interesting to planetary astronomers and casual stargazers alike!

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.