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:
The Discussion: As we welcome in the New Year Paul’s been mixing science with art, Jeni’s professional astronomy looks to be taking her to South Africa or Mexico and we read out some of our listeners’ emails
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Hat of Woo: In our latest and final Hat of Woo we put Astrology under the magnifying glass.
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’re tackling a question about a recent news story covered in a previous episode:
The number of bodies in the Solar System featuring subsurface oceans seems to increase with every planetary mission sent out there. Many of these are bodies of water of great depth, with Europa and Ganymede possibly having oceans 100km deep. Given that the deepest part of our own ocean is a ‘mere’ 11km deep and barely studied, what kind of conditions could future explores expect at such depths? Would the enormous pressure at a depth of 100km cause the water to act differently and what implications would this have for life in these oceans? Steve Brown, Yorkshire, England.
What to look out, and up, for in January.
Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers:
Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with January’s moon phases.
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.
The Discussion: This month we take a look at the recent supermoon and what it takes to make the moon ‘super’; Jeni goes teaching kids about space and hones her exoplanet hunting skills; while Paul’s been hosting events with British astronaut Tim Peake.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
The Hat of Woo: Delving into the rank and putrid world of conspiracy theories to debunk the nonsense that lies within. This month Paul pulls Project Pegasus out of his fetid hat where a young President Obama was part of a team of juveniles used in the 1980s to teleport to Mars and into the past. No, really!
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 go back to Tycho Brahe:
What is a plain regular (non-super) nova? Doug, @DesRon94, Detroit Michigan
What to look out, and up, for in December.
Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up is the meteor showers and December brings us the greatest of them all:
Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with December’s moon phases.
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.
The Discussion: In a month when the European Space Agency succeeded and failed in the first part of their Exomars saga, we go through the glory and the debris of Mars exploration, hanging out with astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra, conducting exoplanet research, provide some advice about studying astrophysics and explain why the effects of dark matter aren’t witnessed in our own solar system.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
The Hat of Woo: Paul’s Hat of Woo is the repository for all festering and rancid conspiracy theories that have no basis in truth and yet persist in any dark and stinking corner of the internet.
This month we pull one of the biggies out of the putrid hat: Evil aliens and a reptilian rival for the title of overlord.
The Interview: This month we return to writer, broadcaster and researcher Dr Chris North from Cardiff University to answer a listener’s question on Chris’ interview in last month’s episode.
Dr North mentioned that we can see Gravitational Waves to discover all sorts of information from these waves, such as size, distance & velocity, which I can understand (through Amplitude and frequency and rate of change of the signal), but how is it also possible to infer things like the spin and spin rate from the wave signal? (ignoring the question of how does a black hole spin if it has mass but no matter as Dr North mentions, and how do events happen inside a black hole since as you get closer to the event horizon doesn’t time appear to us to slow down to us as an outside observer?) Mark de Vrij in Poland.
What to look out, and up, for in November.
Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offers to observers and imagers:
And we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with November’s moon phases.
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:
