AWESOME ASTRONOMY

Paul takes time out from outreach at the Festival of Tomorrow at the Swindon STEAM museum to chat with Professor Robert Walsh of the University of Central Lancashire, who with artist Alex Rinsler has created a giant representation of the Sun as an outreach and art project that uses the data of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. They talk about solar science, the coronal heating problem, sounding rock...

In this episode Jeni tells us about her TEDx talk, dressing up for Mama Mia and eating insane burgers, while Paul appears to have started a modelling career. In astronomy news the team explore the latest JWST findings that may have broken cosmology and changed everything we thought we knew about the history of the universe, as well as a potential new explanation for dark energy and black holes. Th...

Interview with astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell Jeni talks to the legendary discoverer of pulsars, champion of women in science and Oxford University astronomer about her astronomy career, inspirations, motivations and key discoveries.  

The Discussion : Our dark sky practical astronomy event, AstroCamp Farewell Apollo 7's Walt Cunningham Comet C2022 E3 ZTF reaches naked eye brightness     The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: Incredible finding: stars have not always been made the same way throughout the history of the Universe The debacle of the first space launch from UK soil 3 rocky water worlds found...

Bringing back the much-missed Awesome Astronomy interviews with a bang, we're joined by friend of the show Chris Lee.   Chris began his career in the 80s in the UK space industry at British Aerospace, Matra Marconi and SCISYS where he worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the Giotto mission to Halley's Comet, Beagle 2, Exomars and LISA Pathfinder.   He then became the UK Space Agency's first Head...

The Discussion : A refreshed format coming to Awesome Astronomy in 2023 A look back at the festive season     The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: Something in the solar system is producing light that's not unaccounted for A leak on the International Space Station's lifeboat NASA's Mars lander comes to an end A new way to look for aliens   The big news story: As the UK g...

*** Beware, stiff profanity (phnar phnar) in the outtakes at the end ***   Our Christmas Pantomime sees the Awesome Astronomy crew exploring strange new worlds on the Astronomy Star Ship (ASS) Penetrator.   Between the puerile skits you've come to expect from our end of year shows, we bring you a roundup of the best astronomy and space exploration news from 2022. And, of course, a look forward to...

The Discussion : Meteor shower disappointment Lecturing course started Dr Jen's 30th birthday party karaoke – with audio! more resources for astronomy and astrophotography over at nightskypix.com   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: JWST picks up chemical reactions in an exoplanet atmosphere ESA's latest astronaut recruitment Virgin Galactic gets go ahead to launch fro...

The Discussion : Enjoying the recent eclipse (weather permitting) Jeni is officially recognised as being great Visiting the Herschel Museum And listeners' emails on: Having astronomy on the brain Cartoon characters in space A reflection of Venus off swamp gas!   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: Why spiral galaxies seem to line up from our perspective The origin story...

Christmas 1980. Suffolk, England. Two US airmen witness what they believe is an aircraft coming down in the forest next to their base. So begins the story of the UKs most notorious UFO sighting, the Rendlesham Forest incident. Paul dives head first into a 'Hat of Woo' special as he explores the mysterious forest of Rendlesham on the Suffolk coast and considers what this famous conspiracy story say...

Jeni and Paul talk to Professor Mike Edmunds, President of the Royal Astronomical Society  and Emeritus Professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University, who is also Dr Jeni's academic grandfather....   Paul gives a quick look at the sky highlights for October and then Jeni, John and Paul host an open panel discussion at AstroCamp where the audience talk about where space begins, JWST, the worth of...

The Discussion : Farewell Frank Drake It's uncrewed, not unmanned! Filming with the BBC again Listeners' emails on city astronomy and the missing AweAst show this month     The News : JWST unearths a huge cosmic riddle Artemis 1 moon launch delays Solar astronomers solve one of the great mysteries about the Sun A round up of all the incredible things that have happened in space this month (thanks...

Hear ye! Hear ye! Al Worden (went to the moon on Apollo 15): https://tinyurl.com/56w9rkr4 Al Bean (walked on the moon on Apollo 12): https://tinyurl.com/2ewb5vj3 Charlie Duke (walked on the moon on Apollo 16): https://tinyurl.com/5fhacvmk

The Discussion : The Perseids meteor shower Another heatwave in the UK The Orville on Disney+     The News : NASA is going back to the moon – this month! SpaceX join the companies dropping space debris on Australia Northrop Grumman & Firefly's new rocket The news discussion: Loads of news around the International Space Station     Q&A : What would we like to see happen to the ISS instead of being...

The Discussion : The release of JWST's first images, the press conferences and media coverage. Emails on astrophotography, Dr Jen's TV appearances and a more politically correct alternative name for JWST.   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in August, we have: We now know why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn A huge triple star system with a violent past A fossil galaxy – one of the f...

The Discussion : Another heatwave in the UK Dr Jen on TV covering the latest JWST news The Orville on Disney+ Night Sky on Amazon Prime     The News : Preparations for the launch of Starship and an unexpected explosion! Artemis 1 readied for launch to the moon The topsy turvy world of international cooperation in space Virgin Galactic's next plans The news discussion: NASA's CAPSTONE mission to lu...

The Discussion : More filming for the BBC Longer days and shorter nights L Showcasing amateur photography on noctilucent clouds Listeners' emails on Less well known cultural names for Ursa Major The current planetary alignment in the sky     The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: The Milky Way once went through a massive rate of star formation Solving the riddle of how Mars'...

The Discussion : Discrimination in science and academia Returning to the Welsh valleys to attempt astronomy Free NASA merch from Official NASA Gear Listener's comments on Boeing and the state of spaceflight innovation.     The Ne ws : Assembly of China's Tiangong space station Artemis 1 wet rehearsal attempt #2 France join the Artemis Accord NASA outsources moon suit developments SpaceX's critical...

The Discussion : You can now watch Jen presenting on BBC TV's Weatherman Walking (from 06:40) Walking, astronomy and animal abuse in the New Forest NASA find the Awesome Astronomy bunker on Mars ! Listeners' emails on Obscure names for constellations Podcast editorial suggestions Sending us your astrophotography     The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: A companion star that...

The Discussion : Getting back in the studio Watch us recording in our behind the scenes 10th Anniversary show Inspiring children to think about careers in science Listener's emails about swearing in the podcast and catching objects from space.     The News : Our favourite Welsh satellite space company, Space Forge Rocket Lab's attempt to catch a falling rocket booster with a helicopter More JWST u...

The Discussion : Jeni's magazine article on 'everything JWST' UK government's social mobility commissioner gets us wound up Listeners' emails on: Professional vs amateur astronomy Artificial Intelligence in consumer telescopes JWST's Early Release Observations     The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: New type of nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer Detecting life-givi...

Also check out our YouTube channel here for much more astronomy and spacey goodness: https://www.youtube.com/awesomeastronomy?sub_confirmation=1 The Discussion : Watching a SpaceX Starlink launch Tales from this month's AstroCamp star party Jeni on the radio and TV again A listener's email on JWST's first image.   The News : NASA's moon rocket finally undergoes testing for the Artemis 1 moon missi...

The Discussion : Observing trip with Cardiff Uni students Really bright ISS passes Jen's first TV presenting gig about to be released Watching a SpaceX launch Listeners' email about previous episodes   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: NASA think JWST will perform better than expected! (see also https://youtu.be/YJMBvcG7nRM ) A milestone 5,000 confirmed exoplanets (see a...

The Discussion : A little bit of singing to brighten your day and abuse your ears It's Messier Marathon season A Messier challenge A great listeners' email on naming space missions   The News : Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Space Forge's reusable satellites demonstrator ESA's demonstrator for extracting oxygen from the lunar surface The countdown to the death of NASA's...

The Discussion : Stargazing & post-covid travel A lovely email from our good friend @SsonnyY The joys of being an astronomy beginner Pioneer 10's 50th anniversary   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in March, we have: A new planet discovered in our neighbouring Alpha Centauri system A massive new dataset of 4.4m brand new radio objects to get excited about Quasars, blazars, - turns out the...