Lauren Smyth worked with her mom to launch a podcast called Astro Minute. Courtesy | Radio Free Hillsdale

Junior Lauren Smyth, released a new Radio Free Hillsdale podcast called “Astro Minute” that teaches listeners to recognize constellations, nebulae, and galaxies in the night sky with the naked eye in only 60 seconds.

The podcast is a collaboration between Smyth and her mother, Kelli Smyth, a former Air Force physicist and college professor. Kelli Smyth writes the scripts, while Lauren Smyth records and edits.

Lauren Smyth said she seeks to help her listeners grasp the intricacies of the night sky.

“I hope that people who listen to the podcast can get a sense for the pattern that’s in the sky so they can start pointing to specific things and going ‘that smudge is actually a nebula, that star is reddish color because of its temperature,” she said.

Kelli Smyth said in an email that she loves teaching astronomy through the podcast because understanding the stars helps humans understand the purpose of life.

“Just looking up at the night sky and contemplating the sheer size of the universe alerts something deep in the human soul that we are a part of a very big story,” she said. “The night sky, in all its splendor, draws us into the incredible adventure of exploring this story, of finding our purpose in it, and ultimately of finding the storyteller.”

Lauren Smyth credited her mother with infusing in her a love of the stars at a young age.

“She was always taking me and my friends to meteor showers,” she said. “She brought star-themed snacks sometimes. My mom does a really good job of writing things in a way that’s very captivating and yet very simple.”

Lauren Smyth is actively involved in WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, producing other minute-long podcasts such as “Grammar Minute.” She was looking for other podcast ideas when her mom suggested that she expand into astronomy.

“She volunteered to write scripts for Astro Minute,” Lauren Smyth said, “just as kind of a way to get people to go outside to look at the stars and to kind of watch God’s creation with a more knowledgeable I kind of know what they’re looking at.”

Short enough to listen to between classes, “Astro Minute” is a bite-sized guide to the night sky for budding astronomers. In the episode “How Far Can You See? – Try Andromeda,” Lauren Smyth explained how to find the Andromeda Galaxy.

“To find this faint oval smudge,” she said, “look for the five brightest stars in the constellation Cassiopeia, which forms an asterism shaped like a W. The narrower side of the W forms an arrow, which points a little way across the sky to the Andromeda Galaxy. You’ve now looked outside our galaxy to the farthest object you can see with the unaided eye.”

Scott Bertram, general manager of WRFH and lecturer in journalism, said “Astro Minute” is an example of how students in the radio department produce work based on their own interests.

“I always tell students who are looking to work here,” Bertram said. “Whatever the students are interested in, whatever they’re knowledgeable about, passionate about, that’s what we want you to do.”

Kelli Smyth said she hopes the podcast will inspire listeners to step outside and observe the night sky with only their eyes.

“I hope listeners learn their way around our larger home a bit,” she said. “I also hope Astro Minute inspires listeners to explore this marvelous universe we’re a part of, and maybe catch a glimpse of how much design and purpose there is in everything in it, including ourselves.”