Awesome Astronomy

Download Episode! The Discussion: The privations of a PhD student, listeners’ comments sparking a couple of corrections from the last episode, another bout of potaytoes/potartoes and we hear that new revelations about space mirrors cult sci-fi. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Damage to cartilage from microgravity The big debate in space exploration appears to be ‘is Daniella Westbrook the ideal astronaut experiment’? ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter kills the excitement over methane on Mars. NASA asks for an additional $1.6Bn for getting astronauts to Mars by 2024 NASA will be sending a woman to the moon in the Project Artemis crew A look at the return to the moon blueprint Main news story: The Lunar Gateway, an orbiting platform around the moon. The Debate: Court is in session for the first round of advocacy for to find the winner in your top ten historic space missions. Which will make it through and which will consigned to the dustbin of history – Cassini Huygens or

The Discussion: Pint of Science in Cardiff targets canines, Ralph makes a schoolboy error while in Florida and we all eagerly await the publication of a research paper by Jen. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: More disturbing news about the climate on Earth-analogue, Venus TESS discovers a planetary system around a visual binary star in Fornax. The Andromeda & Triangulum galaxies are hiding quasars New research shows the mechanism by how Pluto could harbour oceans A better understanding of past ice ages on Mars More ridiculous ways to not find dark matter The race to analyse meteorites at Arizona State University. Main news story: Mr Musk’s Splendiferous Starlink. The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in June: Jen: Mars and Mercury as the stand-out objects in the lighter summer skies of June and a good opportunity to look out for noctilucent clouds at dawn and dusk. Ralph: A round up of the other bright plane

The Discussion: Your last chance to get tickets to join Jen’s at Pint of Science on 20-22nd May in Cardiff, a couple of corrections for the last episode, listeners’ comments about our Moon 2024 musings and a listener’s email takes us into classic 50s sci-fi territory. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: NASA’s new robot assistants and ‘Astrobees’ on the International Space Station Portugal launches its national space agency in the Azores and plans an environmentally friendly rocket Arianespace are to launch 42 satellites on a single rocket NASA Administrator misses his April deadline to provide financial figures for a retirn to the moon in 2024 :-( Space Force will likely cost $1.5Bn more each year than originally thought India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission will launch to the moon in September this year Main news stories: Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has been developing a giant lunar landing in secret, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX have a setback to their human spaceflight plans Th

U: Recording from the Mars/Earth-analogue biome cottage at the AstroCamp starparty in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, we start off by discussing stargazing during a hurricane(!) and get ready for Jeni’s Pint of Science events this month. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: The rate of the universe’s expansion is 9% greater than we thought? Greater understanding about the lakes of methane on Saturn’s moon Titan. LIGO gets its jiggy on; giving us gravitational wave detections EVERY week! The value of occultations to modern astronomy A possible discovery of an exocomet! And a round up of some of the best astronomy April Fool’s gags from last month, including how winter would come on a Game of Thrones type world. Main news story: 1) The first ever image of a black hole The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in May: An unwelcome dearth of solar system objects with Jupiter, Mars and Saturn low on the horizon, but dwarf planet C

The Discussion: Hear Jen’s talk at Pint of Science on 20-22nd May in Cardiff, less than salubrious travel arrangements for science talks, a listener’s email from the Australian Tourist Board and keep sending us your suggestion for the best historic space mission. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: India creates a new constellation in the sky A new NASA asteroid mission in the planning Plumes of material ejecting from asteroid Bennu ESA’s next exoplanet space telescope is ‘go’. Awaiting Beresheet’s impact on the moon A permanent monument to humanity long after we’ve gone as a species Main news story: NASA accelerate their human moon landing plans. The Debate: Will commercial providers be the future of space flight endeavours or will the real leaps still continue to be made by huge government institutions like NASA, ESA, JAXA etc. Ralph & Paul do battle. Jen will be the judge!

The Discussion: A bumper episode beginning with the April stargazing extravaganza run by the Awesome Astronomy team on 27th - 30th April, a reminder to email us with your best space missions of the last 62 years, a stroll down Rocketry Lane, come along to hear Jeni talk at A Pint of Science on 20-22nd May at Beelzebub's in Cardiff, and listeners’ emails (including how you amateurs can participate in occultation observation science). The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Did Jupiter’s orbit move 2½ billion miles closer to Earth in the early solar system? An Ice Age and extinction event 12,800 years ago was likely caused by a meteor impact. A vast meteor over the Bering Sea LIGO gets an upgrade for better gravitational wave discoveries Looking for carbon monoxide in the atmospheres of exoplanets Using globular clusters to measure the size & mass of the Milky Way Main news story: 1) The 1st direct observation of exoplanets using optical interferometry The Sky Guide: Covering

The Discussion: Professor Michelle Dougherty talking Enceladus at the annual Schrodinger lecture, the proficiency (or otherwise) of making science accessible to the layman and emails about inspiring anyone to do the job they want. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Have SpaceX paved the way for the US to return to human spaceflight? The Japanese Hyabusa spacecraft begins exploring asteroid Ryugu The first Israeli lunar lander makes its way to the moon Virgin Galactic take a long awaited return to commercial spaceflight tests NASA’s science experiments for the moon on their commercial landers Ultima Thule actually resembles a bag of Revels. Main news story: New Horizons at Ultima Thule The Debate: We want you to influence the next few debates. We want you to email us with what you think is the greatest space mission of all time (crewed or robotic). We’ll compile a Top Ten and advocate for your choices, court-style, on the coming shows. Q&A: Listeners’ question

The Discussion: A worthless victory for the Welsh, Earthling slave John on the BBC’s Sky at Night, Jen’s preparations for A Pint of Science, imaging the sun with a beer can and emails about timestamping & sibilance. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Modelling of the meteor strikes on the moon during the eclipse Does the moon get bombarded by a meteor shower every 19 years? The brightest gravitationally lensed object ever seen Conditions closer to habitable seen around a white dwarf star Did the Apollo astronauts even leave the Earth’s atmosphere Main news story: 1) Due to modern data processing techniques Hubble discovers a new moon around Neptune. The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in March. Ralph: The Galilean Moons, magnitude 8 asteroid Pallas and Messier 67 in Cancer Jeni: a quadruple planetary Conjunction, Mars and the vernal equinox. Paul: Mercury visible at the beginning of the month at sunset and

The Discussion: The film Moon, boring lectures & seminars, the age before mobile telephony, AweAst live shows & drinks with listeners, and listeners’ suggestions for NASA spacecraft branding. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Growing plants on another world SpaceX launch satellites on reusable rockets How to paint a Mars rover A less than rose-tinted look at SpaceX’ current predicament Scotland’s spaceport’s fight with nature The beginning of the next space arms race Main news story: New Horizons at Ultima Thule The Debate: Ralph poses his own question for Jen & Paul to do battle: what spacecraft would you like to see commissioned if money were no object? Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at SpaceX’ next big push: What’s going on at SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas?? Gavin

The Discussion: Jeni’s off to La Palma to gather data on dust & gas in the Crab Nebula, did a meteor or two strike the moon during the January eclipse? And what do Europeans think (or know) about the European Space Agency? The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: More research suggesting there are no seasonal water flows on Mars Modelling the stellar wind at Barnard’s Star Can interstellar objects survive the journey? The unusual planetary system EPIC24924646 Lunar craters show Earth had a brief impact lull 650-300 million years ago The youthful nature of Saturn’s rings More research suggesting there may be no Planet 9 The Russian company planning to put billboards in space Main news story: CERN’s plans for the monster successor to the Large Hadron Collider and what the hell that has to do with astronomy The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in February. Paul: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation, a conjun

The Discussion: As 2019 marches forth we discuss a wasted year of practical astronomy due to bad weather, a comet in our skies to enjoy and Jeni begins her first paper on gas masses in redshift galaxies. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: An update on the mysterious hole in the space station SpaceX edges closer to ferrying humans to space Virgin Galactic test pilot gains his astronaut wings Voyager 2 joins Voyager 1 outside the solar system New Horizons exploring the outer solar system An update on NASA’s plans for human space exploration. Main news story: Chinese exploration of the far side of the moon. Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at how to get a 450 ton space ship out of orbit: How will the International Space Station be decommissioned? Andy Burns, UK. The Debate: Lt Col Dave from F

The Discussion: Festive cheer, academic hiatuses, magnificent cheeses, a surfeit of meat, space themed presents and listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The Milky Way gives birth to around 7 stars per year Watching a star being born from a nearby massive star A new way to map the dark matter in our universe Where’s the methane on Mars? Saturn’s rings are more short lived than we thought The discovery of another outer solar system object Main news story: 1) The ALMA telescope helps to understand how solar systems form and why newly forming planets don’t spiral into their host star. 2) The International Astronomical Union has its 100th anniversary in 2019 and there will be a series of events (probably near you) to celebrate a century of astronomy. The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in the first month of the New Year. Ralph: The Quadrantids peak on 3rd/4th January, a total lunar eclipse on

The Discussion: Arthur Eddington, the Caldwell catalogue and a round-up of emails to the show. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Waiting for a Gamma Ray Burst Watching the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole feeding Finding a massive meteorite under 1km of ice in Greenland The discovery that the Milky Way has another satellite galaxy The Hyades is bigger than we thought – much bigger! Silica dust from supernovae discovered Main news story: The discovery of an exoplanet around Barnard’s Star just 6 light year away. The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in December: Ralph: Mars & Neptune conjunction, The Geminds meteor shower & Comet 46P Wirtanen at perihelion Paul: Venus, Uranus, Mercury & Jupiter Jeni: The Hyades in Taurus Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched

The Discussion: Jeni talking exoplanets and aliens at Cardiff Museum and we take a no spoiler look at the Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Commercial spaceflight update New Zealand’s Rocket Lab build a new launch site in the US The winners & losers in USAF’s launcher funding competition China’s Long March 5 rocket failure induces delays The death of the Kepler space telescope Russian Soyuz failures risk human access to space Hubble dead? Don’t believe the hype OSIRIS-Rex begins its final manoeuvres to land on an asteroid Main news story: Europe and Japan’s Bepicolumbo mission to Mercury. The Interview: Jeni interviews Bethan James, astronomer & astrophysicist currently working as an ESA/AURA Astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) on the Hubble instrument team. Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our

In this podcast extra episode we're talking to Libby Jackson, physicist and engineer, who's the Manager of Human Spaceflight and Microgravity at the UK Space Agency and was a European ISS flight controller and the spokesperson for Tim Peake’s spaceflight. Being weightless The value of space research to everyday life Following your dreams Her new book: A Galaxy of Her Own Forgotten heroines of the world’s space programmes

The Discussion: Jeni’s tells us about her gig at the Cardiff Book Talk and an upcoming talk at Usk Astronomical Society, Paul had a hairy moment giving a talk on the Herschels only to find their descendants in the room and we run through listeners’ emails The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Low metallicity stars seem to harbour the rocky exoplanets A possible satellite galaxy to Mirach’s Ghost may have been discovered by amateur kit Aliens may not be green but purple A plume-like cloud of water ice over Mars A review of the Galileo data shows no signs of cryovolcanic plumes on Europa The slowest rotating pulsar found Magnetism around Cygnus A supermassive black hole gives us some clues Has the first exomoon been discovered? Sky Guide: Taking a look at the astronomical objects above our heads this month that you can enjoy with a small telescope or binoculars. Paul: Saturn, Mars, Uranus, Neptune & a risky greatest elongation of Mercury on 6th November. And Comet

The Discussion: It’s almost Halloween and Jeni’s getting the knives out. Paul’s been recording astronomy voiceovers for the Discovery Channel, Jeni’s got the Cardiff BookTalk coming up and Ralph’s excited by the return of Doctor Who. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: ESA tell us that radiation is too dangerous for a Mars voyage The new Nobel Prizes are announced It might be all over for both Kepler and Hubble The Case of the ISS Leak detective story Israel’s SpaceIL has an upcoming moonshot NASA are about to announce their plans for human space exploration Japan’s Hayabusa 2 impresses us all Black History Month: To honour Black History Month, the crew take a look at the non white, middle-aged males that have pioneered and excelled in making our world what it is today in the fields of astronomy and space science. Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding

Download Episode! The Discussion: Paul has snubbed the show to do astronomy on TV so we’re keeping our spirits up with tales of AstroCamp and the inspirational Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency. Jeni updates us with the progress of her PhD and invites you all along to her Q&A session at Cardiff Book Talk on 22nd October, before Ralph runs through listeners’ emails The News: With 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed, we overshoot the time constraints by about 70%: Jeni: JAXA and NASA are exploring asteroids Jupiter’s magnetic field gives us yet more surprises Saturn’s hexagonal Jetstream appears to be hovering More ‘research’ trying to get Pluto reclassified… again. Ralph: Hubble & BUFFALO image of gravitationally lensing galaxy cluster An unusual ring of black holes (or neutron stars) in a distant galaxy The galactic wind in the early universe The 3rd Magellanic Cloud. The big news story: TESS finds its first exoplanet, amidst a little astro-controv

Download Episode! The Discussion: Lt Col Dave from Florida gives us his more informed take on Space Force. The News: In the new revamped show format we have 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed: Jeni: An incredible Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Aristarchus Crater New life in the Kepler spacecraft Ralph: ESA’s Aeolus weather data spacecraft launches NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft enters its science phase China’s Chang’e 4 lander headed for the far side of the moon The big news story: The Parker Solar Probe on its way to ‘touch the sun’ The Debate: In this section the team debate a pressing question or issue in astronomy or space flight and in this inaugural debate, Ralph takes on Jeni to make arguments for what should be the next big human spaceflight destination: Moon or Mars? Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our

In this podcast extra episode, we go a step further than just talking about astronomy and look forward to a long weekend of practical astronomy. This episode discusses the value of star parties and whets your apetite for Awesome Astronomy’s AstroCamp event in the Welsh Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve. Come share the eyepiece with us, enjoy a talk from the UK Space Agency's Libby Jackson and win some astronomy prizes!