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.
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:
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 Comets 46P Wirtanen and 38P Stephan-Oterma may well provide some distractions too.
Ralph: Northern Taurids meteor shower peaks on 12th November and the Leonids peak on the 17th.
Jen: Mirach’s Ghost in Andromeda and two galactic members of the Local Group NGC147 & NGC185.
And we finish off with a spotlight on Venus which will be its brightest all year at the end of the month.
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 accepted wisdom vs the evidence:
Did a collision with the Earth create the moon? Is it fact or still a hypothesis? Andrew Osborn in London.
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:
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 or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the fate of our sun:
When the sun explodes into a supernovae how far will the ejected material go as a planetary nebulae? Also will any of the planets make it or will they all be shattered into oblivion? Tyler W in the US via email.
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:
Ralph:
The Sky Guide: Jeni and Ralph take you through their picks of the night sky in October:
Ralph covers our solar system:
Jeni takes a look into the deep sky:
The main event:
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 look at distance metrics:
Which point in other galaxies do astronomers measure galactic distances to, the galactic core or the edge? From Steve Brown in Yorkshire
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:
Ralph:
The big news story:
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 credulity. This month we take a look at powering rovers on Mars:
Will ExoMars be able to survive dust storms? From Mike in Florida
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!
The Discussion: Jeni returns after getting the flu, Paul’s science shows were a wash out at Camp Bestival and Ralph gets a great email about a telescope library service.
The News: In the new revamped show format we have 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed:
Jeni:
Ralph:
The big news story:
The Skyguide:
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 astronomical time travel:
I’m still trying to get my head around if bigger telescopes looking at the same thing as my 6 inch reflector are seeing it at a different time or in just more detail. Take the Whirlpool Galaxy for example, can it be seen at different stages in its existence? From Peter Coates in the UK.
Episode 75 Part 2 on space exploration comes out in the middle of the month.
In this podcast extra episode, Jeni teams up with our good friend Dr Chris North from the Pythagoras Trousers podcast to speak to Caltech’s Linde Professor of Physics and Nobel Laureate Barry Barish. In this interview we discuss:
What to look out, and up, for in August.
With no Jeni this month, Ralph & Paul pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with August’s moon phases.
In this podcast extra episode, there was only one thing playing on all our minds – Space Force. What is it? Why is it? What will it look like? Just like us, I’m sure you’ll be none the wiser after this in-depth look into:
