Are You Listening to Astronomy.FM?

By Nancy Atkinson - February 3, 2012 at 9:22 PM UTC | Site News
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Are you listening to

Astronomy.FM

? If not, you should join the audience of over 25,000 listeners in 85 countries who are enjoying this amazing free service. Astronomy.FM is billed as "The only all-Astronomy radio station in the Known Universe." You can listen to this one-of-a-kind radio station on-line anytime, as it is streaming 24 hours a day and it includes both wonderful original astronomy programming and replays of many great astronomy shows and podcasts including Astronomy Cast, 365 Days of Astronomy, Planetary Radio, 60-Second Science and Slacker Astronomy, and also they have just recently added the Weekly Space Hangouts to their lineup. They also have science and astronomy news – the kind of stuff you really want to hear! (As Astronomy.FM announcer Rob Berthiaume said, "Who cares about Snooki? Give me more supernovae!"

What is really awesome about Astronomy.FM (besides their great programming) is that it is an all-volunteer organization. Everyone who you hear on-air does it for their love of astronomy.

Right now, Astronomy.FM is having their annual funding drive. They are trying to raise $6,000 for their annual budget. Can you imagine – running a 24-hour radio station for just $6,000 USD?? All revenue is spent on hardware, software, radio programming, and broadcast bandwidth. And 100% of their operational costs are funded solely by listener donations. They receive no government or commercial support, and none of their team members are paid. But, as you can imagine, the streaming fees alone are significant. In addition, with their growing listenership, they also are in need of a back-up server and advanced digital broadcast technology.

Astronomy.FM has some wonderful talent. On-air personality and Program Director Michael Foerster has an amazing voice that I could listen to all day, as well as having a wealth of knowledge about space and astronomy. Rob Keown, Tavi Greiner, and Marleen Bryan are also just some of the other wonderful voices you'll hear on Astronomy.FM.

If you are already a listener, please consider donating to make sure this great service can remain online. If you aren't familiar with

Astronomy.FM, check it out

, and enjoy all their great programming. And then consider supporting it. If you are interested in sharing your talents, here's the

"Contact" page for Astronomy.FM

Anything you can contribute will make a big difference, as they need to make their goal of $6,000 soon. I just donated and I hope you will too.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com