Category: Special

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This podcast extra episode comes from this year’s Big Bang Fair and Jeni & Paul grabbed an interview with a Gaia mission data scientist to talk data and the efforts taken in the less-glamorous, but absolutely critical, background to provide us with the discoveries and refinements we crave from the European Space Agency’s latest space-based astrometry mission.

So while Paul and Jeni were there as the Sirius Space Agency explaining the science behind a mission into space on the Star Stage, they spoke to a post-doctoral researcher at Cambridge University’s Data Processing Centre for the Gaia Mission.

In this interview we bring you:

• the timelines to data capture, recovery, capture and analysis
• the rapid pulication of results from Gaia data
• a surprising discovery about the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies – the Magellanic Clouds
• a new star cluster found hiding behind a star

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A teaser for the weekend stargazing under the über dark skies of the Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve at this spring’s AstroCamp.

We’ll take you through the events and activities which turn beginners into experts and fill up the eyepiece of those who are already experts – and, of course, whet your appetite for this friendliest of starparties!

Whether you’re joining us in the Welsh village of Cwmdu on the weekend of 22-25th April or not, we’ve included a seasonal sky guide of our favourite night sky objects to dazzle and amaze you visually or astrophotographically:

Ralph

• The Leo Triplet of galaxies
• The Needle Galaxy in Come Berenices
• The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

Paul

• Spiral Galaxy, Messier 94 in Canes Venatici
• Double star Cor Caroli in Canes Venatici
• Globular Cluster M3 in Canes Venatici
• The Coma Star Cluster in Coma Berenices
• Messier 53 Globular Cluster in Coma Berenices

Damien

• The King of Planets, Jupiter
• 2 rare AstroCamp comets in Hercules, Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak and C/2015 V2 Johnson
• As if comets weren’t enough we also have the naked-eye Lyrid meteor shower

John

• The Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici
• Markarian’s Chain of galaxies between Leo and Virgo
• The Veil Nebula supernova remnants in Cygnus
• The Blackeye Galaxy in Coma Berenices

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Following a recent NASA press conference – a regular event that fills us with dread as we anticipate an anticlimax – this time NASA really get us excited with the announcement of seven rocky Earth sized planets around a star 40 light years away. Three of these planets are in that star system’s habitable zone.

Luckily our own resident exoplanet researcher, Jeni, is on hand to take us through the hunt and explain the science! In this podcast extra we discuss:

• The NASA announcement
• The international collaboration that made this discovery
• How exoplanets are discovered
• The significance of the find
• What this star system looks like
• Could life exist on any of these worlds?
• What the environmental conditions could be like so close to their parent star

(image credit: NASA)

This podcast extra takes a look back at the extraordinary life of navy aviator, test pilot and astronaut Gene Cernan who tragically died last month at the age of 82.

In this memoriam we discuss:

• Gene’s stellar career
• Pioneering rendezvous and spacewalking techniques on Gemini 9A
• The final test run for a moon landing on Apollo 10
• Commanding the last ever moon landing mission on Apollo 17

The last footprints on the moon

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This podcast extra takes a look at the proposals from Boeing and Lockheed Martin to develop a lunar space station for NASA.

In this discussion we cover:

• NASA’s current plans for deep space exploration
• Lunar and Martian exploration
• What exploration can be done from orbit
• Human vs robotic exploration
• The likelihood of contaminating other worlds with Earth organisms

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Awesome Astronomy’s 2016 Christmas Panto. Think: HG Wells’ War of the Worlds meets Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator.

The Eve of the War: Plans for our latest invasion of Earth are discussed over a nice, friendly and relaxed Christmas dinner.

In London: A rousing and inspiring speech to the defeated peoples of Earth.

The Earth Under the Martians: Jeni’s excited about her new taser and we all have a jolly Christmas wager.

The Days of Imprisonment: Another speech to the assembled and compliant Earthling slaves.

Dead London: John begins the human resistance with the release across all frequencies of the 2016 outtakes.

The Wreckage: Jeni sees out Christmas Day with a few science and astronomy themed factoids.

We don’t do Awesome Astronomy for money or to advertise, we just do it for fun and education. As long as we still enjoy creating it and you enjoy listening to it, we’ll keep on going. So if you want any changes, have any comments or suggestions, email us at theshow@awesomeastronomy.com

Merry Christmas everyone and our very best wishes for 2017.

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Perhaps the most frequently asked question to the show (and apologies to Terry Dunlin who asked this question about 2 years ago!) is what you need to consider when buying a telescope or what makes the right telescope for you.

So, in this podcast extra, we pool our collective brainpower to bring you a 20 minute discussion of telescope types, apertures, portability and capabilities to help you get the perfect telescope for you.

If you’re thinking of buying your first telescope – or thinking of getting one as a gift for someone this Christmas – then this will give you all the considerations for that purchase.

We recommend The Tring Astronomy Centre (www.tringastro.co.uk), but the most important thing is to buy from a dedicated astronomy retailer rather than the internet or ordinary high street stores. A dedicated astronomy retailer will be able to advise you from a position of knowledge and provide the aftercare you need.

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This podcast extra features the talk given by Nick Howes at Spring 2015’s AstroCamp about life and death in space.

Nick takes us on a fascinating tour of our universe and explains:

• Dangerous phenomena in the galaxy
• Martian meteorites
• The places in the solar system where life may exist
• Exploring comets
• The marvel of the Rosetta spacecraft
• How comets are discovered and named
• The Oort Cloud – home to a trillion comets
• The potential for asteroid impacts
• Comet Shoemaker Levy striking Jupiter
• How can we prevent asteroid strikes?
• Look for new objects in your sky images and online Why we should be concerned about Earth impactors and what we, the public, can do to mitigate this inevitable disaster scenario.

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In this month’s AstroCamp podcast extra 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 Damien choose 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’s top choices take in the Owl Cluster, The Double Cluster and the vast North America Nebula.

Damien takes a look at the solar system objects available a little closer to home this month as he runs through the asteroids, dwarf planets and meteor showers on offer to AstroCampers

And Paul finishes out autumnal round up with Herschel’s Garnet Star, the original Cepheid Variable and the magnificent galaxy cluster Stephan’s Quintet.

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This podcast extra is our full length interview with Dr Helen Sharman, Britain’s First astronaut and the first woman to visit the Russian Mir Space Station in 1991.

In this interview we discuss:

• Tim Peake
• Access to space during a time of no UK funding
• The skills needed to be an astronaut
• Training for spaceflight at Star City in Russia
• The collapse of the Soviet Union just before launch
• Speaking with Mikhail Gorbachev from the Mir Space Station
• Comparing Mir to a camping trip!
• Acclimatising to spaceflight in the Soyuz capsule
• Science conducted by Helen on Mir
• The UK’s reticence to fund human spaceflight
• NASA’s plans for missions beyond Low Earth Orbit
• Post-Brexit uncertainty over science and collaboration
• Promoting space