The Cosmic Savannah

In this episode, Tshiamiso and Dan have a discussion with Alexander Andersson from Oxford University about Zooniverse, citizen science projects and how citizens can contribute to the work that Astronomers do. The post Episode 64: Bursts from Space appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In this episode, Jacinta sits down with Dr. Sthabile Kolwa to discuss the ways in which galaxies change over cosmic time, how astronomers are able to study these changes and what these studies can tell us about the cosmos as a whole. The post Episode 63: How Galaxies Evolve – The Quest for Cold Gas appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In the third and final part of the SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony series, Jacinta sits down with Professor Phil Diamond, the Director-General of the SKAO to discuss his thoughts and feelings around the construction commencement ceremony in Australia and on the future of the project as a whole. The post Episode 62: Behind the Scenes of the SKAO with Phil Diamond appeared first on The Cosmi...

In the second part of Episode 61, Jacinta takes us on a journey to the SKA-low site in Western Australia and shares her experience of the Construction Commencement Ceremony for the Square Kilometre Array that took place in December. The post Episode 61: Part 2 – SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony – Australia appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

Join Episode 61 as Dan reminisces about visiting the SKAO site in South Africa. He shares highlights from the Construction Commencement Ceremony for the Square Kilometre Array. Exciting memories unfold! The post Episode 61: Part 1 – SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony – South Africa appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In the world of astrophysics, few names shine as brightly as Professor Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. In today's episode, we are very privileged to welcome Jocelyn as a guest on The Cosmic Savannah. Jocelyn shares with us the full story behind her groundbreaking discovery of pulsars in the 1960s, how she overcame numerous obstacles as a woman in a male-dominated field, and her initiatives for improving div...

The Cosmic Savannah Podcast returns for its 5th season, taking listeners on another captivating cosmic journey. Explore distant galaxies, enigmatic black holes, and groundbreaking research in Africa. Engaging interviews, discussions, and unravelling the universe's complexities await. Stay tuned for updates on our website and social media platforms. In this pre-season special, Jacinta and Dan sit d...

The 5th of December 2022 sees the commencement of construction of the long-awaited Square Kilometre Array (SKA)! We are honoured to be joined by the SKA Observatory Council Chairperson, Dr Catherine Cesarsky to talk about this momentous occasion. The post Episode 59: Construction of the SKA commences! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In this week's episode, Jacinta and Dan take a step back to review the past year of the Cosmic Savannah podcast. We chat about some of the highlights of the past year in astronomy and also some of our favourite episodes of the season. The post Episode 58: Season 4 in Review appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In this episode we are joined by Dr Omima Osman who studies the lifecycles of cosmic dust. Omima explains how she is using computer simulations to understand how dust is created, grows and is destroyed in interstellar space. The post Episode 57: From dust to dust appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy! We are joined by Dr Iniyan Natarajan who is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Witwatersrand and who was part of the team of over 300 astronomers who made this possible. The post Episode 56: Our supermassive black hole appeared first on The...

An oldie but a goodie - re-run of Episode 11. Jacinta takes us on a tour of her homeland, into the Australian bush, and chats about pathfinders, precursor telescopes and exciting collaborations between South Africa and Australia in the lead up to the Square Kilometre Array! The post Episode 55: A Trip Down Under (Re-run) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In this week's episode we are joined by fours members of the board of the recently established African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA). AfNWA is an initiative that aims to connect women working in astronomy and related fields in Africa. AfNWA aims to guarantee the future participation of girls and women at all levels in astronomy and science developments in Africa. The post Episode 54: The A...

A powerful, naturally occurring “space laser”, called a megamaser, has been discovered with South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope in a galaxy nearly five billion light-years away. We speak with the lead researcher Dr. Marcin Glowacki and team-lead Associate Professor Sarah Blyth. The post Episode 53: Space lasers! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In this week’s episode, we take a step back from astronomy and focus on mental health in academia and beyond. We are joined by Dr Jack Radcliffe, an astronomer from the University of Pretoria who speaks to us about his work on galaxy evolution, as well his recent efforts to speak out about mental health challenges facing academics in particular. The post Episode 52: Head Space appeared first on Th...

We are joined by Prof Travis Rector, co-founder of Astronomers for Planet Earth, who chats about why and how astronomers can teach climate change! The post Episode 51: No Planet B appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

In celebration of our 50th Episode, we are joined by a Titan of Astronomy, Dr Bernie Fanaroff, who speaks with us about his illustrious career and his vision for the future of astronomy in Africa The post Episode 50: Titans of Astronomy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

This episode is in celebration of the IAU Women and Girls in Astronomy Month in February. We speak with Dr Elizabeth Naluminsa who is one of the first Ugandan women to obtain her PhD in astronomy is now working with instrumentation on the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The post Episode 49: SALT Spectroscopy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

We're joined by SAAO Astronomer Dr Nic Erasmus who has been responsible for the newest telescope on the SAAO site (And he's just had a comet named after him!) Sutherland has become the latest observatory to host an asteroid tracking system funded by NASA! The post Episode 48: ATLAS – Holding up the Heavens! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

This is a re-run of the very first episode of The Cosmic Savannah! We're re-running it in preparation for our next episode where we'll be speaking again with Nic for some exciting updates. In Episode 1, we introduce ourselves and our vision for the podcast. SALT Astronomer Dr Moses Mogotsi then describes what it's like to use the biggest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere (from 00:12m)....

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Kenda Knowles. Kenda has just released a beautiful new dataset called the MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey (MGCLS). The survey contains images of the radio emission from 115 clusters of galaxies! The post Episode 46: A crash of clusters appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope will finally launch into space on December 18 2021! In this episode we are joined by Prof Christy Tremonti who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is an observational astronomer who works on galaxy evolution and stellar feedback processes. Christy speaks with us about her work, the JWST and the exciting future that awaits! The pos...

We are joined by two experts in stellar astronomy, Priscilla Muheki from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda and Distinguished Professor Hakeem Oluseyi from the Florida Institute of Technology. Priscilla talks about her PhD research in Uganda studying violent outbursts, known as coronal mass ejections, from certain types of stars. Hakeem then goes on the explain these coronal mass...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Tariq Blecher and Shilpa Ranchod who talk to us about the clever ways they are trying to capture the elusive signals of hydrogen gas in the distant Universe. The post Episode 43: The search for hidden hydrogen appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .

We are joined by Dr Eugene Grosch who is a geologist and petrologist at Rhodes University in South Africa to discuss how planets create the building blocks for life! The post Episode 42: Rockin’ all over the World appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah .