Awesome Astronomy

During this spring’s AstroCamp event, hosted by the Awesome Astronomy podcast team, our new presenter, Jeni Millard, gave another of her inspiring talks. We were treated to a history of the much neglected Aboriginal dark sky folklore as we got tour of some of the most interesting objects in the southern hemisphere’s sky. Then we head off into the world of professional astronomy at the Australian Astronomical Observatory as we find out how Jen helped with the science that will enable the Huntsman Eye to investigate faint structures of galaxies using arrays of off-the-shelf Canon camera lenses and sensors.

The Discussion: We welcome astrophysicist Jeni Millard from Cardiff University onto the show as our new co-presenter! We discuss the astronomy lessons, tuition and events we’ve been involved with over the past month and name drop about an Apollo moonwalker we might have interviewed… The News: This month we take a look at NASA’s completed image collection of the Pluto system from the New Horizons spacecraft; ‘Water on Mars’ get the very first Awesome Astronomy award for Needing Another Sensational Announcement (the acronym is entirely coincidental); we take a look at Brian May’s handling of the estate of dearly cherished Patrick Moore; we despair at the media’s handling of ‘that’ news story about an alien megastucture that isn’t around a star with an unusual light curve; and finish up with the European and Russian coalition to explore habitability on the moon for human colonization. The 5 Minute Concept: We continue our back-to-basics 5 Minute Concepts season with a discussion prompted by many listener qu

What to look out, and up, for in November. This month we tour a few simple objects that you can show to a child and spark their interest in the night skies. In our beginners’ guide, Ursa Major shows us now to find true north and points out a few galaxies to observe in a small telescope. Then we take a look at the moon, showing us some lovely phases in the middle of the month and finish with two dates on which the moon will help you find the outer most planets, Uranus & Neptune. Next we round up all the planets visible in October, with a stunning conjunction of Venus, Mars & Jupiter in the early hours. The Northern Taurids and the Leonids provide us with two meteor showers in November while we hold our breath for a naked-eye visible comet at month’s end. We round off the show with our deep sky challenge and encourage you to take a look at the clusters in the constellation of Auriga.

Matt Kingsnorth from the Project Helium Tears debriefs us on his balloon launch to the edge of space, capturing images of the Earth, taking Awesome Astronomy listeners’ names onboard and filming a Star Wars X-Wing fighter against the black of space in May 2015. Quite by surprise, the onboard cameras even managed to capture images of the moon and a meteor streaking through the atmosphere below! The video (which you can see at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ub0mFVDV0) went viral with more than 400,000 views. Please help Project Helium Tears achieve Objective 3 by tweeting: #HeyJJ Can @MattKingsnorth & @TurboBungle come to the Force Awakens VIP Première @Bad_Robot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ub0mFVDV0

The Discussion: Coming live from The AstroCamp in the Brecon Beacons international dark sky reserve, we talk about the benefits of getting out to truly dark skies and observing with people who have a range of astronomy skills. The News: We welcome astrophysicist Jeni Millard to discuss this month’s astronomy news. And after rebuking NASA last month for the paucity of New Horizons data releases, we’re more content this month and bring you the latest from the Pluto flyby. We take a look at the European Space Agency’s latest video from Philae as it descended to the surface of comet Churyumov Gerasimenko. And we bring you more news about the increasingly habitable conditions on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The Interview: This month we wrap the whole show around our interview with Skylab 3 and STS-3 astronaut, Jack Lousma. Jack tells us about taking that ominous call during Apollo 13 ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’; how they solved each life-threatening issue in sequence to get the astronauts back alive; missing o

What to look out, and up, for in October. This month we take a look at the constellation of Perseus the Hero for the beginners guide – we begin with the Alpha Persei Cluster around bright star Mirfak, swing by Algol, the Demon Star, and finish up with the Double Cluster – arguably the finest cluster (or clusters) in the Northern Hemisphere. Next we round up the planets that are visible in October: Uranus & Neptune are still hanging on while Mars, Jupiter and Venus combine to make some stunning planetary conjunctions most of the month. We bring you the month’s moon phases and two meteor showers – the Draconids and the Orionids. Then, for our deep sky challenge, we take a look at one of the finest globular clusters in the northern hemisphere, a galaxy that’s thought to be a mirror image of our own Milky Way, a grouping of five galaxies and the brightest galaxy of them all, Andromeda, as we tour the adjacent constellations of Andromeda & Pegasus.

Download Episode! The Discussion: An introduction to star parties and enjoying practical astronomy under pristine dark skies away from the city. As the podcast crew run the AstroCamp star party, which many listeners attend, in the Brecon Beacon’s international dark sky reserve twice a year, we take you through the events, tutorials and workshops we run to help you hone your stargazing skills and win astronomy prizes from the Tring Astronomy Centre. The Sky guides: In readiness for 3 nights of stargazing in the Welsh valleys, Ralph, Paul and John list five objects to look out for this time of year. If you’re not coming to AstroCamp, these are still great night sky treats to try and locate wherever you are in the northern hemisphere. Ralph lists his three top choices for beginner astrophotographers, armed only with a DSLR camera and a telescope, and two night sky photographic opportunities for those with just a DSLR. Paul runs through five deep sky treats for visual astronomers in September and througho

The Discussion: A dismissal of paranoid woo-pedalling, following what seems be an upsurge in space-based pseudoscience this month, and we introduce you to the first in our series of astronaut interviews recorded at Cosmiccon. The News: This month we get a little disappointed at the lack of news from the New Horizons team after the initial press releases of NASA’s Pluto flyby. We take a look at the nearest confirmed rocky exoplanet to Earth, at 21 light years away, and ask ‘could we send a probe there within the span of a human lifetime?’ New evidence from many of the world’s most productive telescopes that shows the steady heat death of the universe. And a happy story to end on as NASA are offering the public the opportunity to send their names to Mars encoded on a microchip on the Insight Mars Lander next year. The 5 Minute Concept: We follow up on last month’s first back-to-basics 5 Minute Concepts with an introduction to what you can expect to realistically achieve with amateur telescopes – and Paul g

This month we take a look at the constellation of Queen Cassiopeia for the beginners guide. We have: The beautiful Owl Cluster; NGC 7788 or Caroline’s Rose, discovered by Caroline Herschel. NGC 185, a dwarf elliptical galaxy discovered by Caroline’s brother, William Herschel. Next we round up the planets, solar system events and deep sky treats that are visible in August: Uranus, Neptune, Saturn & Mercury. We look at the month’s two lunar treats: a series of conjunctions between the moon and bright star Aldebaran. A perfect lunar eclipse for many listeners on the 28th September. Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko will be visible this month near the Beehive Cluster in Cancer (sadly we won’t see ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft orbiting it!) Our deep sky challenge delves into the constellatinos of Sagitta the Arrow and Vulpecula the Fox for a tour of clusters and a planetary nebula.

A longer episode this month as we have so much to discuss and cram into the show! The Discussion: Upcoming full-length interviews with 4-time Shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton & Don Thomas, Skylab 3 & STS-3 astronaut Jack Lousma and Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden. Dragging Sokol spacesuits around the UK for educational endeavours, promoting astronomy with the UK Space Agency at the Harwell campus and enjoying Nelly Ben Hayoun’s asteroid movie, Disaster Playground, at the British Film Institute. The News: This month we take a look at NASA’s historic close up of the outer most classical planet as the New Horizon’s spacecraft flies by the Pluto system. CERN’s discovery of a new particle using the Large Hadron Collider – the Pentaquark. The possibility that those mysterious white spots on dwarf planet Ceres are creating a localised atmosphere. A Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting so close to its parent star that its atmosphere is being blown away like a comet’s tail and Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft conti

What to look out, and up, for in August. This month we take a look at the constellation of Cepheus the King for the beginners guide – we have the first galactic tape measure: the original Cepheid Variable, a red supergiant star: Hershel’s Garnet Star and the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. Next we round up the planets that are visible in August: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune. We look at the month’s moon phases and enjoy a supermoon (or perigee-syzergy) on the 29th. August treats us to the best meteor shower of the year – the Perseids – falling on the 12th August with no moon to dampen the show. We also look forward to rare comet conjunction occurs in August with Rosetta’s Comet 67/P and comet 141/P sharing the same field of view in telescopes. For our deep sky challenge we look at the constellation of Aquarius for a tour of globular clusters and planetary nebulae.

The Discussion: This month’s Awesome Astronomy comes from the magnificent Cosmic Con event at the Manchester Airport Hilton. While looking forward to speaking with the stars of Meteorite Men and four astronauts, Paul recalls a fun June letting the public try on a genuine Russian Sokol suit at a multitude of astronomy outreach events, while Ralph’s been experimenting with ways to take deep sky images in heavily light polluted skies. The Walkaround: No news, 5 minute concept or Q&A this month but you won’t be disappointed as we tour Cosmic Con. The plethora of fascinating meteorites brought by Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold from the Meteorite Men and space rocks from the British and Irish Meteorite Society gives Paul an opportunity to explain what a treasure trove of science and history meteorites are. Ralph’s in seventh heaven perusing The Space Collective’s NASA memorabilia – a signed Buzz Aldrin action man anyone? The Interviews: A whole host of interviews this month as we talk to astronauts, space a

Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears return to the bunker for this final episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best movie. We've let catured Earthling slave Damien out of the dungeon to add his favourite too. This is the last in a four part podcast extra series to discover the best sci-fi TV series, book and film over the next three days. Your votes count at www.awesomeastronomy.com/scifiwars

Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears & captured Earthling slave Damien join us in the bunker in this 3rd episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best book. This is the third in a four part podcast extra series to discover the best sci-fi TV series, book and film over the next three days. Your votes count at www.awesomeastronomy.com/scifiwars

Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears join us in the bunker in this 2nd episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best TV series. We've let catured Earthling slave Damien out of the dungeon too to add his favourite too. This is the second in a four part podcast extra series to discover the best sci-fi TV series, book and film over the next three days. Your votes count at www.awesomeastronomy.com/scifiwars

Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears join us in the bunker to kick off this Sci-fi Wars series by discussing what makes a sci-fi. We've let catured Earthling slave Damien out of the dungeon too to add more perspective. This is the first in a four part podcast extra series to discover the best sci-fi TV series, book and film over the next four days. Your votes count at www.awesomeastronomy.com!

The Discussion: A cloudy but fun-filled AstroCamp dominates the discussions this month with glimpses of the planets and a hurried Messier Marathon in between gaps between the clouds. Nick Howes’ talk inspires reflections on the threat of asteroids and comets and how amateur astrophotographers can contribute to science. The News: This month we take a look at NASA’s new draft 2015 Technologies Roadmap and discuss the advances in robotics, space propulsion, power transfer and nanotechnology that NASA hope to seed. Next up is some research from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that suggests the discolouration on Europa’s surface might be irradiated salt from the moon’s subsurface ocean. Finally, we take a look at the discovery, using ESO’s VLT, that globular clusters in the Centaurus A galaxy are far heavier than they should be – perhaps harbouring vast amounts of dark matter. The 5 Minute Concept: Just a hundred years after Newton’s notion of Universal Gravitation, John Mitchell proposed an idea so futurist

What to look out, and up, for in June. This month we take a look at the constellation of Lyra the harp for the beginners guide – we have one of amateur astronomy’s favourite nebulas, M57 the Ring Nebula, hanging between the stars Sheliak & Sulafat like a suspended smoke ring and the Double Double stars – Epsilon Lyrae. Next we round up the planets that are visible in June: Venus, Jupiter in the evening & Saturn later on. Comet Lovejoy continues to put on a show for those with small telescopes and Comet Kopff tempt those with larger aperture telescopes. and the Lyrids in the low eastern morning sky. For our deep sky challenge we look at the constellation of Scutum the shield. We tour the Wild Duck and M26 open clusters, globular cluster NGC6712 and finish off with planetary nebula IC 1295.

Download Episode! A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have renowned comet and asteroid hunter Nick Howes joining us to talk about the nature and history of comets and we'll be giving away loads of astronomy prizes in our astronomy quizzes. And of course, 3 nights of enjoying the wonders of truly dark skies in the Welsh Breacon Beacons' International Dark Sky Reserve. If you're not coming to AstroCamp in May 2015, there's still a sky guide in this episode to give you stargazing inspiration wherever you are.

Download Episode! The Discussion: Paul savours a quiet month of teaching astronomy and enjoys sketching Markarian’s Chain of galaxies, while Ralph gets into a few debates following an article publication and gets back to imaging the planet Venus. All in a month when the Project Helium Tears balloon took listeners’ names to the edge of space! The News: This month we take a look at the discovery of complex organics in a new star system 455 light years away, a new study of the movement of dark matter during galactic collisions, a gas cloud passing the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole turns out to be a star – lucky not to get destroyed, SpaceX suffer another setback, Russia announce bold moon ambitions, Dwarf Planet Ceres gives us a few more answers but also some questions and we take a look at the new Star Wars movie trailer. The 5 Minute Concept: Returning to our sceptical roots, Paul digs out the tin foil hat and takes leave of his senses as he delves into the barking world of the moon hoaxer and dispe