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Strange Universe
Sundays, 9:35 a.m.

Astronomer Bob Berman sheds light on the mysteries of space and time. Always fascinating and fun, Strange Universe will take you places you never knew existed. Learn why Betelgeuse sometimes goes weirdly dim and how after the totality in 2017 in places like Wyoming and the Carolinas, millions finally got to see a total solar eclipse.

  • We’ll get a lunar eclipse this Tuesday morning, and it’s generating a lot of buzz, especially since such eclipses have been dramatically called Blood Moons in recent years. That’s because the Moon turns reddish when the eclipse is total. In truth it’s actually a coppery hue, which isn’t really the color of blood unless there’s something very wrong with your hemoglobin.
  • We’ll get a lunar eclipse the morning of March 3rd, and it’s generating a lot of buzz, especially since such eclipses have been dramatically called Blood Moons in recent years. That’s because the Moon turns reddish when the eclipse is total. In truth it’s actually a coppery hue, which isn’t really the color of blood unless there’s something very wrong with your hemoglobin.
  • For the next few evenings, Mercury is at its easiest to find of the entire year. And that’s really the idea – merely to have seen it at least once in your life.
  • This week marks the anniversary of the biggest exploding meteor of our lives – and the only one to cause multiple injuries. That daylight explosion was the largest extraterrestrial body impacting the Earth since the Tunguska event in 1908.
  • Bob Berman discusses the first planet from the Sun and the smallest in the Solar System.
  • Bob Berman speaks on the science of Groundhog Day.Bob Berman speaks on the science of Groundhog Day.
  • Bob talks of the trials and tribulations of space exploration and missions.
  • Late sunrises, dark mornings, and the sun's polarity.
  • Bob Berman takes a look at what we can look forward to in 2026.
  • Strange Universe With Bob Berman
    The winter solstice occurs on Sunday, December 21, around nightfall, when Earth’s south pole tilts most directly toward the Sun, giving the Northern Hemisphere its shortest day of the year; starting Monday, daylight increases slightly and the Sun climbs higher, bringing a hint of added warmth. The Sun rises and sets at its most extreme points along the horizon, and although often labeled the start of winter, that date is a human convention rather than a physical change. Astronomically, the solstice features the Sun’s most curved, rainbow-like path across the sky, reaching its lowest noon height of the year and producing the longest shadows.