Cover image of Orbital Path

Orbital Path

Astronomer Michelle Thaller takes a look at the big questions of the cosmos and what the answers can reveal about life here on Earth. From podcast powerhouse PRX, with support from the Sloan Foundatio... Read more

Ranked #1

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Episode 18: Cassini Countdown

Episode 18: Cassini Countdown

When the Cassini spacecraft blasted into space on October 15, 1997, even the most optimistic scientists would have had a... Read more

23 May 2017

22mins

Ranked #2

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The Most Dramatic Sky

The Most Dramatic Sky

The most rare objects in the night sky are only visible in some extreme places. Dr. Michelle Thaller introduces us to Dr... Read more

18 Feb 2016

15mins

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Ranked #3

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Episode 21: First Light

Episode 21: First Light

There was a time before planets and suns. A time before oxygen. You could say there was time, even, before what we think... Read more

18 Aug 2017

22mins

Ranked #4

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Making (Gravitational) Waves

Making (Gravitational) Waves

Nearly 100 years after Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves — huge undulations in the fabric of space... Read more

21 Apr 2017

26mins

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Ranked #5

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Our Darkening Universe

Our Darkening Universe

Secrets of the universe? A glimpse of the whiteboard in the office of Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Adam Riess. Ada... Read more

9 Mar 2018

21mins

Ranked #6

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The 11 Dimensions of Brian Greene

The 11 Dimensions of Brian Greene

We live our lives in three dimensions. But we also walk those three dimensions along a fourth dimension: time.

 Our wor... Read more

20 Oct 2017

29mins

Ranked #7

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In Praise of Volcanoes

In Praise of Volcanoes

Astronomer Michelle Thaller talks with Ashley Davies, a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, about the i... Read more

7 Apr 2016

16mins

Ranked #8

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Star Death Tango

Star Death Tango

On August 17, 2017, an alert went out. Gravitational wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington state had detected a dis... Read more

9 Feb 2018

24mins

Ranked #9

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A World Without Boundaries

A World Without Boundaries

From space, the view of earth has no boundaries for countries, no barriers to achievement. Michelle Thaller speaks with ... Read more

15 Jun 2016

18mins

Ranked #10

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Earth, Desert Planet?

Earth, Desert Planet?

Zoe is in 8th grade. She’s a student in Mr. Andersen’s Earth science class at a public school in Brooklyn. Lately, she’s... Read more

23 Mar 2018

6mins

Ranked #11

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Michelle & Her Mom

Michelle & Her Mom

Michelle (L), her mom and sister. In this special Mother’s Day episode, Michelle talks with her mom about what it was l... Read more

29 Apr 2016

15mins

Ranked #12

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Black Hole Breakthroughs

Black Hole Breakthroughs

Scientific discovery can happen in two ways: “Eureka!” moments of sudden understanding, where researchers glean unexpect... Read more

22 Oct 2016

13mins

Ranked #13

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From Another Star

From Another Star

NASA’S office of planetary defense isn’t worried about Klingons or Amoeboid Zingatularians.  They worry about asteroids ... Read more

15 Dec 2017

16mins

Ranked #14

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Chasing An Eclipse

Chasing An Eclipse

Michael Kentrianakis loves eclipses and has seen them from all over the world. Host Michelle Thaller and Mike talk about... Read more

15 Jul 2016

17mins

Ranked #15

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Introducing…Telescope!

Introducing…Telescope!

Instead of grappling with the big, cosmic questions that preoccupy adults, this week on Orbital Path we’re doing somethi... Read more

23 Feb 2018

8mins

Ranked #16

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Fireside Physics: A Solstice on Saturn?

Fireside Physics: A Solstice on Saturn?

In this darkest season of the year, Dr. Michelle Thaller and NASA astronomer Andrew Booth curl up by the fire. Gazing in... Read more

29 Dec 2017

17mins

Ranked #17

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The Universe of Leonard Susskind

The Universe of Leonard Susskind

To hear Leonard Susskind tell it, we are living in a golden age of quantum physics. And he should know. Susskind is a gr... Read more

27 Jul 2018

27mins

Ranked #18

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Aliens Again!

Aliens Again!

We’ve got some awkward news to share, folks: The producer of Orbital Path is claiming he’s been abducted by space aliens... Read more

17 Nov 2017

16mins

Ranked #19

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A Tale of Two Asteroids

A Tale of Two Asteroids

The asteroid belt is portrayed in movies as a crowded place with massive rocks bouncing each other like pool balls, capa... Read more

22 Aug 2016

15mins

Ranked #20

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Ozone Disaster Redux

Ozone Disaster Redux

Scientists in 1985 discovered something that threatened the world we live in: The ozone layer had a hole in it. A big on... Read more

26 Jan 2018

20mins

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