Astronomy Astrophiz Podcast

In Astrophiz Episode 237, Dr. Ian Musgrave joins host Brendan O'Brien to deliver your comprehensive July 2026 SkyGuide, detailing a spectacular month of naked-eye astronomy and astrophotography targets. Today we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Ian's Skyguides.

Celebrate a decade of stargazing with Astrophiz! 🌟 In this milestone episode, host Brendan O'Brien is joined by acclaimed scientist, educator, and amateur astronomer Dr. Ian Musgrave to celebrate 10 years of the Astrophiz SkyGuide and the 19th anniversary of his renowned 'Astroblog'. Ian delivers your comprehensive Southern Hemisphere July Sky Guide, detailing when and where to spot the planet da...

Welcome to Astrophiz! In this episode, host Brendan O'Brien sits down with the brilliant Dr. Gabriela Ligeza, an Internal Research Fellow at the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Netherlands. Dr. Ligeza works at the absolute cutting edge of planetary exploration, bridging the gap between orbital maps and physical alien terrain. As a key scientist for ESA’s ExoMars mission, she is developing the s...

In Astrophiz Episode 235, Dr. Ian Musgrave joins host Brendan O'Brien to deliver your comprehensive June 2026 SkyGuide, detailing a spectacular month of naked-eye astronomy and astrophotography targets. [00:00] Introduction & Indigenous Country acknowledgment [01:05] The June Moon Phases: Apogee, Perigee, and High Tides [02:18] How to observe the Lunar X and Lunar V (June 22) [03:45] The Evening S...

In May 2024, the "Mother’s Day Superstorm" slammed into Mars with a force Earth didn't experience. But how do we see a storm on a planet without a magnetic field? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Jacob Parrott from the European Space Agency (ESA) to discuss his groundbreaking research recently published in Nature Communications. Jacob explains how he and his team "hacked" veteran satellites—t...

Welcome to Astrophiz Episode 233 This month, we are joined by Dr. Ian Musgrave for the May Sky Guide. We explore the planetary alignments, the upcoming Eta Aquariid meteor showers, and how you can track Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS). Plus, we dive into the fascinating world of sun-grazing comets and how you can get involved in citizen science. In this episode: Planetary Watch: Venus and Jupiter domi...

Discover the hidden science of the Northern Lights! In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Maria-Theresia Walach to uncover the physics behind the aurora and the fascinating complexities of space weather. In This Episode, You’ll Learn: The Science of the Aurora: What actually causes the different colors and shapes in the night sky? Space Weather Impacts: How solar activity affects our satellites, p...

Will we see a "Headless Comet" this month? ☄️ Join Brendan O’Brien and Dr. Ian Musgrave for the April 2026 SkyGuide as we track the rare C/2026 A1 (MAPS) Comet and a spectacular Morning Planet Parade. In this episode, you’ll discover: The "Planet Dance": How to spot Mercury, Mars, and Saturn clustering in the morning twilight. Double Comet Watch: Updates on C/2026 A1 and C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS)—will...

Welcome to the Astrophiz March SkyGuide, where Ian tells us about the Total Lunar Eclipse and all the observation and astrophotography tips that go with it. Also you get highl;ights of the morning and evening skies and how to find the Variable star, Mira.

A fantastic interview with an amazing pulsar astrophysicist who is unravelling the secrets of misbehaving pulsars using his phenomenal coding skills. Subscribe and/or Listen here... or read the transcript on Astrophiz.com

Dr. Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave give us 'February' in his monthly SkyGuide series. This month you get moon phases, the Beehive Cluster, nice planetary action, Lunar X, the Pleiades and the Southern Pleiades. Our audio files and transcripts are available on our website at Astrophiz.com, and our MP3 files can be freely streamed or downloaded to your favourite device from our SoundCloud channel, our fre...

Dr. Laura Hayes (ESA) joins us to reveal the explosive physics of "Solar Fireworks." Discover how the Solar Orbiter is capturing the closest-ever images of our Sun. The Solar Cycle: Why we are heading toward a Solar Maximum. ESA Solar Orbiter: Insights from the front lines of heliophysics. Space Weather: How CMEs impact Earth’s technology. Dr Laura Hayes’ research focuses on solar flares, coronal...

Are "leaky" satellites drowning out the early universe? 🛰️ Dr. Dylan Grigg (Curtin University/ICRAR) joins Astrophiz to reveal groundbreaking research into Unintended Electromagnetic Radiation (UEMR). As satellite constellations like Starlink proliferate, their electronic "noise" is leaking into protected radio astronomy bands. In this episode, we explore: 76 Million Images: How Dr. Grigg isolated...

Our MP3 files can be freely streamed or downloaded free to your favorite device from our SoundCloud channel, from Pocketcasts, Spotify, our free Amazon Audible stream, YouTube podcasts and Apple Podcasts. Listen: Viewing Highlights Both morning & Evening skies are good for planets Evening Skies: Mars is very low in NW skies setting about an hour after sunset. Mercury is above Mars also down in the...

Welcome to episode 223 of the Astrophiz podcasts. October is a fabulous month with lots of highlights for telescopers, astrophotographers, binocular and naked eye observers. We have 'The International Observe the Moon' night, the Orionid Meteor Shower and some fine planetary action. There is also a new comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) Comet C/2025 R2 (Swan) is a very recently discovered comet that is around...

We are honored to meet Jenni Häkkinen, a fabulous PhD candidate from Finland who has been working with an amazing small team who have done a very big thing. They have turned science on its head with their new paper in Nature Astronomy that changes our understanding of the fate of the Andromeda Galaxy and our very own Milky Way Galaxy. Enjoy!

September Moon Phases: September 8 - Full Moon and Total eclipse of the moon around 2am for those who will be getting up very early to see it (Best viewed in WA) September 8 - Saturn close to the Full Moon (4° apart) in evening sky (also close during the Lunar eclipse in the early hours of the morning.2am central max 4am. wa has best view 2am max 3am September 10 – Moon at perigee (closest to eart...

Today we're bringing you a fabulous interview with an amazing astrophysicist, Dr. Emil Lenc, who works on commissioning new capabilities on telescope arrays like the ATCA, the MWA, ASKAP, and the beautiful new SKA-Low Array over in the harsh scrublands in outback Western Australia, which is part of the multi-billion dollar Square Kilometer Array He has some great stories and insights into this gol...

Astrophiz Astronomy 219 ~ Dr Ian Musgrave’s August SkyGuide & Astrophotography Challenge August Moon Phases: August 1 - 1st Quarter Moon August 2 - Moon at apogee (furthest from earth) August 9 - Full Moon August 15 - Moon at perigee (closest to earth) August 16 - Last Quarter Moon - Ideal for Stargazing August 23 - New Moon - also ideal for Stargazing August 30 - Moon at apogee again! (furthest f...

VALE: Nancy Grace Roman ~ 16 May 1925 ~ 25 December 2018 I'm your host, Brendan O’Brien, and today we're taking a journey through the life and achievements of a truly remarkable astronomer who quite literally changed how we see the universe. Today we're enjoying examining the legacy of Dr Nancy Grace Roman, who spent over 30 years fighting, and winning, to give humanity the greatest space telescop...

July SkyGuide: Moon Phases: July 3 - 1st Quarter Moon Note: July 4 - Earth is at aphelion (furthest) with respect to our sun July 5 - Moon at apogee (furthest from earth)) July 10 - Full Moon July 18 - Last Quarter Moon - Ideal Stargazing July 20 - Moon at perigee (closest to eart) July 25 - New Moon - also ideal Stargazing Evening Skies: Mercury is high in the early evening twilight July 3 - Merc...

9th Anniversary Special ~ The history of satellites from Sputnik 1 to mega-constellations of Satellites and Dark Sky Parks

Astrophiz 215: Dr Ian Musgrave’s June SkyGuide Summary: Mars close to thin crescent moon. Occultation of Antares behind the moon in the early evening sky. The moon comes close to some of the bright planets. … and Mars is close to the moon again at the end of the month. Moon Phases: June 3 ~ 1st Quarter Moon, and another time to catch the ‘Lunar X’ late in the night, about 11pm for Australian Easte...

Please meet Dr Anya Nugent … she is amazing … and she has some beautiful stories for us … let’s hear all about unbelievably powerful Gamma Ray bursts and their host galaxies from an amazing Harvard and Smithsonian astrophysicist who uses incredible observatories like CHANDRA, XMM-Newton, ALMA, CHIME, MEERKAT, the VLA and even our old friend Hubble … to reveal new understandings of how our universe...

May Moon Phases: May 4 ~1st Quarter May 11 ~ Moon at Apogee May 13 ~ Full Moon May 20 ~ Last Quarter Great for star gazing May 26 ~ Moon at Perigee May 27 ~ New Moon Great for star gazing What’s Up in May? Planets: Evening Skies Jupiter is difficult to see this month Mars is visible, and nice to see just an hour after sunset Uranus will return in a couple of months Most of the planetary action is...