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
Brightest Black Hole
Black holes are the darkest objects in the universe — they produce no light at all. Yet they power some of the brightest objects. Known as quasars, these beacons can outshine entire galaxies of hundreds of billions of stars. In fact, the brightest one seen so far emits more light every minute than the Sun will produce in its entire 10-billion-year lifetime.
A black hole’s gravity is so powerful that nothing can escape from it — not even light. But before anything disappears into the black hole, it enters a disk that spirals around the black hole at a good fraction of the speed of light. That creates friction, which heats the material to millions of degrees. The disk emits enormous amounts of radiation, so it shines brightly at many wavelengths.
Quasars are disks around supermassive black holes in the hearts of galaxies. And the brightest one yet seen is truly a monster. It encircles a black hole that appears to be about 17 billion times the mass of the Sun. The black hole is gulping the equivalent of a star as massive as the Sun every day. That creates a disk that’s hundreds of millions of miles across. It shines thousands of times brighter than our entire Milky Way Galaxy.
We see the quasar as it looked more than 12 billion years ago — not long after the birth of the universe. So by now, it’s probably shut down — turning off one of the most brilliant lights we’ve ever seen.
Script by Damond Benningfield
Upcoming Topics
May 27-June 2: Snakes and Cannibals
The constellation Serpens is wiggling into view, and we’ll talk about one of its features, and about its handler. We’ll also talk about some cannibal stars.
May 20-26: Sun and Moon
We’ll talk about our moon and star this week, from the face of the “man” in the Moon, to the possibility that a tiny black hole could be lurking in the heart of the Sun.
May 13-19: Giants
We’ll talk about all kinds of giants this week, including giant planets in another star system, the giant of our own solar system, and giant eruptions from a stellar “impostor.”