Travelers in the Night Eps. 887 & 888: Apophis Bound & Investigating the Mystery of How Life Formed

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. travelersinthenight.org From February 2026. Today's 2 topics: - In April 2029 on one of the luckiest Friday the 13th in human history the 1,500 ft by 500 ft asteroid Apophis will pass within 23,600 miles of the Earth's surface traveling at some 4.6 mi/s. This is extremely fortunate since an Apophis impact would release the energy of scores of nuclear weapons and cause wide spread devastation. NASA's OSIRIS-APEX will become the companion of the potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis on 5 June 2029. - On Earth living things are everywhere from the deepest ocean depths to the highest mountain tops. On our home planet RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) is a complex essential molecule involved in the process of translating genetic information into the working components of living cells. In a recent paper in the peer reviewed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Yuta Hirakawa and his team of two coauthors report on their experiments to produce RNA under conditions similar to those which may have occurred in the early history of Earth and Mars. We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! 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 the Planetary Science Institute. Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org .

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Travelers in the Night Eps. 887 & 888: Apophis Bound & Investigating the Mystery of How Life Formed is an episode from The 365 Days of Astronomy, the daily podcast of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by 365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

This episode is 06:05 long.

This episode was published on Jun 7, 2026.

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