Slacker Astronomy
Encyclopedia
Slacker Astronomy is a weekly audio podcast
about astronomy
news that aired weekly from February 14, 2005 to September 14, 2006. After that, it branched out as a video podcast, blog
, forum and a wiki
called Slackerpedia Galactica.
The podcast was created by Aaron Price, who wrote most of the scripts and ran the web site. The on-air talent were Dr. Pamela Gay (who also wrote some of the scripts) and Travis Searle (who engineered most episodes). At the time, Aaron and Travis worked for the American Association of Variable Star Observers
and Pamela worked for the Harvard University Science Center.
Slacker Astronomy peaked at #4 in the top 10 Science & Medicine podcasts in iTunes
Store in January, 2006 and at the time reported 13,000 unique weekly listeners. Its most popular show was downloaded by approximately 36,000 unique IPs after being featured on the frontpage of Slashdot
on May 17, 2007.
In addition to the weekly 5-10 minute show, there was another feed called Slacker Astronomy Extra where they published longer and unscripted shows, interviews and sound-seeing tours. The name 'Slacker Astronomy' was a trial name, and was meant to change early on in production but just stayed the same. The logo was designed by web cartoonist R. K. Milholland
.
In September 2006, Pamela left the show and astronomer
Dr. Doug Welch, Michael Koppelman
and Rebecca Turner joined as hosts. Aaron began graduate school at the time, so had less time for script writing. These changes involved a format shift away from the scripted shows towards the more informal shows and video podcasts. In 2009, Doug and Michael were joined by Mike Simonsen as the official producers and primary hosts with Aaron and Travis occasionally contributing. Pamela Gay is now a co-host of the Astronomy Cast
podcast but has made numerous cameo appearances.
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
about astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
news that aired weekly from February 14, 2005 to September 14, 2006. After that, it branched out as a video podcast, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, forum and a wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
called Slackerpedia Galactica.
The podcast was created by Aaron Price, who wrote most of the scripts and ran the web site. The on-air talent were Dr. Pamela Gay (who also wrote some of the scripts) and Travis Searle (who engineered most episodes). At the time, Aaron and Travis worked for the American Association of Variable Star Observers
American Association of Variable Star Observers
Since its founding in 1911, the American Association of Variable Star Observers has coordinated, collected, evaluated, analyzed, published, and archived variable star observations made largely by amateur astronomers and makes the records available to professional astronomers, researchers, and...
and Pamela worked for the Harvard University Science Center.
Slacker Astronomy peaked at #4 in the top 10 Science & Medicine podcasts in iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Store in January, 2006 and at the time reported 13,000 unique weekly listeners. Its most popular show was downloaded by approximately 36,000 unique IPs after being featured on the frontpage of Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
on May 17, 2007.
In addition to the weekly 5-10 minute show, there was another feed called Slacker Astronomy Extra where they published longer and unscripted shows, interviews and sound-seeing tours. The name 'Slacker Astronomy' was a trial name, and was meant to change early on in production but just stayed the same. The logo was designed by web cartoonist R. K. Milholland
R. K. Milholland
Randal Keith Milholland, better known as R. K. Milholland, is the author of several webcomics: Something Positive, New Gold Dreams, Midnight Macabre, Classically Positive and Super Stupor.-History:...
.
In September 2006, Pamela left the show and astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
Dr. Doug Welch, Michael Koppelman
Michael Koppelman
Michael Koppelman is an American record producer and recording engineer. He worked with the artist Prince from 1989 to 1992 on his albums Graffiti Bridge, Diamonds and Pearls and Love Symbol....
and Rebecca Turner joined as hosts. Aaron began graduate school at the time, so had less time for script writing. These changes involved a format shift away from the scripted shows towards the more informal shows and video podcasts. In 2009, Doug and Michael were joined by Mike Simonsen as the official producers and primary hosts with Aaron and Travis occasionally contributing. Pamela Gay is now a co-host of the Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Cast is an educational nonprofit podcast discussing various topics in the field of astronomy. The specific subject matter of each episode shifts from week to week, ranging from planets and stars to cosmology and mythbusting...
podcast but has made numerous cameo appearances.