Awesome Astronomy

At your suggestion we did something we should have done years ago and reached out to @universetoday and @AstronomyCast’s Fraser Cain (@fcain) to wax and yarn about all things space and astronomy. We think you'll enjoy!

The Discussion: This month Jeni’s latest paper has a journal reviewer prior to publishing, we take a look at the critical science of cow-cats and a listener brightens our day   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Damage to the Arecibo observatory and the prognosis Hubble Helps Uncover the Mystery of the Dimming of Betelgeuse Mars’ water deluge during its habitable phase The search for the missing matter in the Milky Way Main News story: The US National Science Foundation report on the impact of satellite constellations on astronomical science.   The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Cygnus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.   Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the ultraviolet part of the spectru

The Discussion: Jen on the radio discussing the Perseids Starlink satellites flaring over our heads TV shows From the Earth to the Moon and For All Mankind Sputnik V Jeni’s latest paper is submitted for journal review Submit your experiences of how diversity is perceived in the amateur astronomy community at tinyurl.com/y28ebdu2   The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have: Protecting other worlds from our germs and bugs Space Force’s Star Trek-esque logo The Curiosity rover celebrates its 8th year on Mars New Zealand’s Rocketlab pursue reusability Skyrora begin rocket testing in Iceland SpaceX’s Starship prototyping and testing continues Main news story: America gets back to launching people into space Q&A: Will the James Webb Space Telescope actually launch and will it still be worth launching? Lana Visser from Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

The Discussion: This month astrologers are getting upset about their tattoos; why the Babylonians are at fault for ruining the majesty of astrology; Jeni spreads the astronomy word on the BBC; her latest research paper nears peer review; Paul continues promoting space education in schools and we have a chat about sparking science interest in kids. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: - ESO image two gas giants orbiting their star - Have we solved the mystery of why the sun’s atmosphere is hotter than the surface? - Using old methods as new measures of the age of the universe - Another way to measure the Hubble constant suggests there may be something a bit strange with our part of the universe or we need new physics to explain it - Unravelling how supermassive black holes form. Main News story: The latest on Comet NEOWISE and how to see it for yourself The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Aquarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of

The Discussion: What Einstein would have made of an iPhone The goods and ills of social media Free teaching for teachers to teach space and astronomy Jeni talking Pluto on the BBC A trip down technology Memory Lane And get out and look at Comet Neowise!   The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have a Mars launch window and NASA storming ahead with Artemis plans so this month is all about the moon and Mars: The Kennedy Space Centre takes delivery of rocket engines for their SLS rocket Funding for more SLS moon rockets A new lunar rover to help plan human missions New modules for the lunar orbiter NASA innovation funding for new long duration mission capabilities United Arab Emirates’ Mars orbiter launching this month China’s Tianwen-1 Mars mission with an orbiter, lander and rover Main news story: Getting ready to launch the biggest ever rover to Mars   The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The visible light part of the spectrum. How telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.   Q&A:

The Discussion: This month Jeni’s getting frustrated with the politics of peer review, Paul’s seen an uptick in noctilucent cloud hunting and public interest in astronomy in general during lockdown. We ask ‘Is Starlink actually a good thing for astronomy outreach and public engagement?’, while Paul wonders if Elon Musk is aware of the fate of the Duke of Buckingham. And we delve into listeners’ emails about the future of AstroCamp in a pandemic and collaborations with other podcasts. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Have gravitational waves revealed the first ‘Black Neutron Star’? Jen sees the error of her ways about Betelgeuse’s recent dimming Odd white spots on Saturn’s moon Titan could be dried up methane lake beds Hunting for the first ever stars in the universe CERN’s next generation supercollider Main News story: Has NASA discovered parallel universes? The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Sagittarius with a guide to its history, how to fin

The Discussion: Struggling to get the media excited about astronomy How history will record the clusterf**k that is 2020 Skyrora looking to join the smallsat launch market SpaceX’ Teletubby costumes The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Starship prototype goes Kablooey Britain returns to rocketry Goodbye to Japan’s ISS resupply spacecraft The European Space Agency look to ‘natural resources’ for moonbases Virgin Orbit attempt to slash the cost of launching to Low Earth Orbit NASA chooses 3 commercial consortia to develop lunar landers Main news story: American commercial crewed launches have finally arrived Q&A: Will the Lunar Gateway be visible from Earth? From Alex Bell @BLT_Astro on Twitter. The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The near and mid-infrared part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

The Discussion: The wonderful generosity of amateur astronomers trying to get the name Pair Instability Supernova changed to your suggestions Jen’s talk for Café Scientific, which you can watch here Jeni talking about SpaceX’ historic crewed flight with the BBC History 101 and looking forward to Space Force on Netflix What beginners should and shouldn’t do to get started in stargazing The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: The first galaxies seemed to form in about half the time we originally thought Finding the nearest stellar mass black hole to Earth How normal or unusual is our sun? A star orbiting a black hole like Mercury does to the sun More gravitational waves from a black hole merger Main News story: Capturing a huge exoplanet – or a low mass star - forming in Auriga. The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Serpens with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in June

The Discussion: Ralph channels his inner Churchill, while Jen goes on about Tiger King and her upcoming Cafe Scientifique talk. And we hear from listener Mark Grundy about the Welsh Room in the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburg. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: China’s mission to Mars and the patch that suggests further ambitions Musings on Starlink visibility and what is being done to help astronomers. Commercial Crew Launch 27th May News about disaster and success at SpaceX with Starship Main news story: NASAs proposals for how Artemis Moon missions will work and go much further than Apollo The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The Far IR and Sub millimeter part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom. Q&A: A brief return for the Hat of woo dispelling the 5G coronavirus conspiracy From @LynchSeanP  on Twitter.

The Discussion: The live recording of our monthly astronomy show to provide a bit of extra entertainment and interactivity while people are cooped up at home sitting out the coronavirus. We discuss a burgeoning love-hate relationship with Starlink, Jeni being the BBC’s go to person for Starlink and meteor showers, and Apollo 13 filling up Twitter timelines and giving us a bit of a respite from coronavirus The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: A round up of astronomy-based April fools gags found in research papers Hubble marks its 30th birthday Fomalhaut b might not be a planet after all Centaurs might well be asteroids from other star systems And Pluto looks to have had a ‘hot start’ Main News story: Earth 2.0 found in old ignored data. The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in May. Guide to the Electromagn

You can watch the video of this recording (and our live Episode 95 recording on 27th April) at https://www.youtube.com/user/AwesomeAstroPod/videos (midday PST, 3pm EST, 8pm UK, 9pm Central Europe)   This show is a response to the many requests we get to do an episode dedicated to answering listeners’ space & astronomy questions. Producer John thought lockdown would be the perfect time to do it, when we can try and help ease the stress, boredom and isolation.   The Guests: We invited some of our friends from the astronomy world to answer your questions too: University of Oxford Professor of Astronomy, Creator of the Zooniverse and BBC’s The Sky at Night Presenter, Chris Lintott. We asked him: Are there ways for an amateur astrophotographer to get involved in contributing to actual science? From David Schlaudt Square Kilometre Array or JWST. Which is going to generate the most exciting science? And if each one could answer just 1 question about the Universe, what would you like it to be?  From Mark De Vr

Don’t forget to join us for our live shows on 16th and 27th April at https://www.youtube.com/user/AwesomeAstroPod/videos (midday PST, 3pm EST, 8pm UK, 9pm Central Europe) The Discussion: Jen fangirling on The British Interplanetary Society and acing the Soyuz ISS docking simulator at the Student Space Conference; a ramble about Wales; the TV show For All Mankind, our live Q&A show, our poor etiquette and listener shout-outs. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: The impact of coronavirus on current and future NASA missions Some research showing the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy The UK’s space spiders to explore the moon’s lava craters Lockheed Martin developing helicopters to catch spent rocket boosters Main news story: Is Europe’s ExoMars Rover on borrowed time? The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The microwave part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom. Q&A: Where’s the Tesla Roadster? From @TJRobinson

We're hosting a live Q&A on Thurs 16th April. Go to awesomeastronomy.com to see how to watch & get involved! The Discussion: Jeni’s sent the final proofs off for her research paper which is now on archive at https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01727 and will soon be in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden. The Cradle of Aviation Museum cancel their Apollo 13 anniversary event, but you can relive Apollo 13 (recreating the launch from 11th April) as if you were in mission control with https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/. A shout out to Galaxy Zoo at a time when there are fewer thing more productive you could be doing with your time than adding to science and human knowledge: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects. A round up of listeners’ reviews and comments. A couple of Awesome Astronomy live-stream shows at 8pm on Thursday 16th and Monday 27th Because, let’s face it, you’re not going to be busy! The News: Rounding

(Warning: please skip this episode if you're offended by occasional Tesla-based puerile humour) The Discussion: Balancing the argument between love and hate of SpaceX and drawing a line under the argument over when the current decade starts and what constitutes a decade. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: SpaceX is cleared for a crewed launch in April Further problems for Boeing Christina Koch takes the female spaceflight record. The dullest space news story ever (involving biscuits/cookies) A Japanese mission to return samples from Phobos! ESA’s launch & deployment of the Solar Orbiter. Main news story: The import of NASA’s 2021 FY Budget. The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The radio part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom. Q&A: What do you think was the greatest astronomical/scientific advancement that came about due to a dubious past, and do you think it was worth it? By email from Alan Beech in the UK.

The Discussion: Paul’s favourite bit of the coronavirus, the Cradle of Aviation Museum’s upcoming Apollo 13 anniversary event, a @CunningCosmos space art exhibition and a talk from Jen in Bromsgrove for British Space Week, from the sublime to the ridiculous with the passing of Katherine Johnson and Mad Mike Hughes, and listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Finding the remnants of the progenitor star after a Type 2b supernova Solving the puzzle of giant planets orbiting low mass stars More clues to Mercury’s oversized iron core A galaxy that has stopped producing stars after a period of prolific star birth Mars seems to be more active than we thought Debate over Mars’ very long formation history Main News story: ESO images of Betelgeuse and the more recent evidence for why the star’s dimmed so impressively. The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Cancer with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objec

The Discussion: The reason we have leap years; a look at Ad Astra, Lucy in the Sky and Picard; and the history of the Stonewall Riots (don’t think it’s just astronomy here – you get a fully rounded education, dear listener); and a look at your reviews and emails.   The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Direct TV’s ticking timebomb in space DARPA’s XS-1 reusable spaceplane gets cancelled ESA’s Solar Obiter heads off to the sun NASA ask you to vote for the official name of their Mars 2020 rover (www.mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/name-the-rover/) NASA’s costs for the 2024 moon landing are imminent Main news story: SpaceX gears up for crewed spaceflight following successful abort tests The Electromagnetic Spectrum: How parts of the EMS outside visible light were discovered, who discovered them and what that means for us today. Q&A: Have the crew of the ISS (or any other spaceflight with room to try it) propelled themselves through their craft using flatule

The Discussion: Ralph visits and records from The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York, we enjoyed some great skies with good weather in the UK, Betelgeuse still hasn’t gone pop – though we’re still watching, and NASA have an open day that you can attend. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: An evidence based look at Starlink Tracking molecules from birth to arrival in our solar system An enigmatic Type 1a supernova An interesting 14 millisecond gravitational wave detection Goodbye Spitzer Space telescope The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Lynx with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system objects on offer in February. A Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we’ll take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we start with a quick and simple explanation.

This is the history of flight told from the perspective of the amateurs and hobbyists who allowed humankind to slip the surly bonds of Earth and set out towards the stars. To tell this story Ralph journeyed to the Cradle of Aviation museum in Garden City, New York, to get a tour of the early flight and exhibits from the museum’s curator and speak with an engineer who worked on the lunar modules before they flew. Our thanks in making this episode goes to the wonderful people at https://www.cradleofaviation.org/.

The Discussion: New Year resolutions, veganism, a little spoiler-free chat about the latest/last Skywalker movie and the new series of Dr Who, before some listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Christina Koch racks up a flight time record on the ISS China’s moon rover breaks a lunar endurance record Ethiopia becomes the 10th African nation to send a satellite into orbit ESA launches their CHEOPS Exoplanet characterising spacecraft Space Force is go – and the world joins in NASA’s new (22nd!) intake and what skills are needed to become an astronaut OSIRIS-REx now has a target for return samples on asteroid Bennu Main news story: Boeing’s test of its Starliner space capsule Q&A: Why does NASA search for signs of life rather than directly looking for life? From Gavin Price in the UK on Twitter (@pilliarscreatio)

The Discussion: As we begin the new decade we struggle to find a consensus on whether it actually is a new decade. We discuss the busy Xmas period and thank any listeners who helped Dartmoor Skies reach their funding target for a new telescope. Then we take a look at a few listeners’ emails and tweets. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: An old galaxy containing as much dust as one third the amount of its stars Mapping the magnetic fields around the Whale Galaxy An interstellar comet makes its way back out of the solar system A burst of supernovae in the Milky Way’s not-to-distant past Is Betelgeuse about to go supernova? The Sky Guide: Shaking up the format of the sky guide, we’re taking a look at the constellation of Monoceros with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system objects on offer in January. Q&A: If there are no plate tectonics on the moon, how did the lunar mountain regions form? from @gkt_w