Robert Nemiroff from APOD and Light Phenomena

There are things we can see, supported by mathematics, that appear superluminal. In a new book by Robert Nemiroff, we explore some of these superluminal things, and since the author also happens to be the co-founder of the Astronomy Picture of the Day website, well, we talk about that too!

For many, it has been a long-time mystery who decides on the recipient of the next APOD until now. We are so excited to have Robert Nemiroff, co-founder of APOD and one of the judges to learn more about the journey of APOD to what it is today. Join Tony from DeepAstronomy and Dustin from OPT Telescopes on this insightful episode on Space Junk Podcast. Get tips from what they are looking for when deciding on the next APOD. Also, learn about Nemiroff’s upcoming book on light phenomena and more.

Timestamps for Faster Than Light Phenomena and the Story of APOD Episode

2:15 – Welcoming Robert Nemiroff

3:25 – How Nemiroff’s upcoming book came to be and his interest in special relativity

9:45 – Faster than the speed of light phenomena

18:14 – Why people need to be cautious when talking about general relativity

19:40 – Pop quiz with an astrophysicist about light

23:40 – Quantum mechanics topics that Nemiroff covers in his upcoming book

24:20 – Entanglement

27:55 – Writing in science and the pushback on some ideas published

32:30 – The progression of science and skepticism

34:08 – The journey of what APOD is today

40:30 –What makes an image get picked out from the rest

43:00 – Where else does the abundance of submitted images get shared

44:25 – Tips for having the best chance of getting an APOD from the judge himself!

57:30 – How many people see APODs?

59:03 – The goal of APOD

1:00:00 – How the APOD founders met

1:01:42 – NASA's involvement with APOD and the future of APOD

We hope you found this episode useful and apply these tips to your next APOD submission! Look out for Nemiroff’s book on faster than light phenomena and more.