Radio’s Guide to the Universe

StarDate host Billy Henry

StarDate debuted in 1978, making it the longest-running national radio science feature in the country. It airs on more than 300 radio stations. It has been hosted by Billy Henry since July 2019.

StarDate tells listeners what to look for in the night sky, and explains the science, history, and skylore behind these objects. It also keeps listeners up to date on the latest research findings and space missions. And it offers tidbits on astronomy in the arts and popular culture, providing ways for people with diverse interests to keep up with the universe.

StarDate is a production of The University of Texas McDonald Observatory, which also produces the bi-monthly StarDate magazine.

The Voice of StarDate

Billy Henry, a voice talent, musician, composer, and college lecturer in Austin is the third narrator of the StarDate radio program. Read more »

The Music of StarDate

The StarDate background music was written by Bill Harwell and Patterson Barrett specifically for StarDate.

More Than 40 Years and Counting!

StarDate is radio’s longest-running nationally aired science program. It began in 1977 as a daily telephone message service by McDonald Observatory. It was picked up by Austin radio station KLBJ-FM, and aired as “Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?” beginning in June 1977. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, the program became “Star Date,” and began airing nationally, seven days per week, on October 1, 1978. It quickly reached more than 1,000 stations across the country. Read more »

Today’s Episode

Lyrid Meteors

The Lyrid meteor shower is building toward its peak, on Sunday night. The Moon will be almost full then, so its glare will wash out all but the brightest of the “shooting stars.”The shower is the offspring of Comet Thatcher 1861. The comet orbits the Sun once every 415 years or so.As Thatcher approaches the Sun, some of the ice at its surface vaporizes. That releases small bits of dirt and rock into space. This debris spreads out along the comet’s path. Earth flies through this path every April. Some of the comet dust slams into our atmosphere and burns up — forming meteors.At least, most of it does. It’s likely that some of the grains fall to the surface. In fact, a recent study might have found some of those grains at the bottom of New York’s Hudson River.Researchers sifted through layers of sand and mud deposited thousands of years ago. The layers included fossils of microscopic organisms that were coated with tin — an element that likely came from outside Earth. The scientists also found other elements that probably originated outside our planet as well. The layers were laid down at roughly 400-year intervals — suggesting a possible connection with Comet Thatcher and the Lyrid meteors.The findings are preliminary. So we don’t know for sure whether there’s a link between the sediments at the bottom of the Hudson River and the streaks of light in April’s night skies.Script by Damond Benningfield
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Upcoming Topics

  • April 22-28: Taking a Trip

    A trip around the world would take a while, even in a passenger jet. But it’s the blink of an eye compared to the time it would take to go around a supergiant star.

  • April 15-21: A Cosmic “Dusting”

    Earth is headed through a ribbon of “comet dust” — debris that causes the Lyrid meteor shower. And some of that dust may have been found at the bottom of a river, and we’ll have details.

  • April 8-14: Disrupting Planets

    Many planets in other star systems are being torn apart — some by the radiation and winds from their stars, and others by giant collisions.

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