StarDate is a science radio program of the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

 McDonald Observatory

McDonald Observatory

The McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near the unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Fowlkes and Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas...

.

The show began in 1976 as a astronomy telephone message service established by science journalist Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd is an American science journalist. She is executive producer and cohost of the internationally syndicated Earth & Sky radio series....

. This evolved at Austin radio station KLBJ-FM

KLBJ-FM

KLBJ-FM is a classic rock music radio station serving the Austin, Texas area, broadcasting at 93.7 MHz from its broadcast tower on Austin's Mount Larson.The station was owned by the Lyndon B...

 into the daily radio program Have You Seen the Stars Tonight?. With a grant from the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

, it began national distribution in 1978 as StarDate. Byrd produced and Joel Bloch hosted the show until 1991, when they left to start another syndicated radio series, Earth & Sky

Earth & Sky

Earth & Sky is a daily radio series presenting information about science and nature. It began broadcasting in 1991. Earth & Sky is the creation of producers Deborah Byrd and Joel Block, also the hosts, whose program "Star Date" began broadcasting in the U.S...

. Since 1991, the show has been produced by Damond Benningfield, and hosted by Sandy Wood, a San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

 radio personality who was also one of the first female disc jockey

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

s in the southwestern United States.

Stations that broadcast StarDate include affiliates and owned stations of CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

 and National Public Radio.

Universo, the Spanish language

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

version of StarDate first aired on April 1, 1995.

StarDate Magazine was first known as McDonald Observatory News in 1972. It became a bimonthly magazine in 1988.