AWESOME ASTRONOMY

What to look out, and up, for in December. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The Geminid meteor showers peaking on 13/14th December Uranus sitting in the constellation Pisces Mars & Jupiter lunar conjunctions Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ral...

In this podcast extra episode Jeni discusses the recent detection of two colliding neutron stars and their observation in both gravitational waves and all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. Jeni chats with Dr Edward Gomez, Education Director at the Las Cumbres Observatory and Cardiff University's Gravitational Physics Research Group Leader, Professor Patrick Sutton about the historic observati...

The Discussion: Britain shows that it won't just roll over and let America take the lead in intimidating academic freedom and Jen recounts her gravitational waves research conference in Brighton in October. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Astronomers make the 1st observation of a neutron star collision Astronomers discover a missing chunk of the universe 3D v...

What to look out, and up, for in November. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: A last look at Saturn for 2017 in the early evening sky A very impressive Jupiter/Venus conjunction on the 13th of November The Taurid meteor showers peaking on the 5th and 21st November and the Leonids on the 18th Nove...

In this podcast extra, we discuss the changing value of the Hubble Constant since 2000 – or put more simply, our narrowing down of how quickly the universe is expanding. This discussion takes in: The history of the Hubble Constant Edwin Hubble's dreadful scatter plot Further attempts to narrow down the universe's expansion rate Why research papers are awesome and accessible to everyone

The Discussion: You'd be forgiven for thinking we recorded this episode drunk – but we assure you, we weren't. And you'll have to forgive us for our crappy audio and shameless national stereotyping! But in this show, recorded from our dark sky star party in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, we discuss the event, Jeni's talk on exoplanet research and we take a look at listeners' emails. The News: Rounding...

What to look out, and up, for in October. Jeni, Paul & Ralph pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Blue/green ice giant Uranus The Orionids meteor shower brings us the debris from Comet Halley Saturn, recently liberated from the perpetual gaze of Cassini A not-to-be-missed conjunction of Venus and Mars on 5th October...

In this podcast extra episode for the dark sky star party held by the Podcast Crew, we discuss: Fighting light pollution by getting local authorities to dim & turn off street lights The value of star parties to boosting your practical astronomy knowledge What to expect at the Autumn 2017 AstroCamp A round up of Ralph, Damien & Paul's seasonal astronomy targets

The Discussion: Jeni's back and the band is back together to discuss watching this year's Perseid meteor shower and coverage of the Great American Eclipse The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The shortlisted explorer and missions of opportunity being considered by NASA Jellyfish galaxies feeding supermassive black holes Goodbye to the Cassini Saturn explorer 'The...

What to look out, and up, for in September. What to look out, and up, for in September. Ralph, Paul & Jeni pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Saturn and its ring system in the evening Mercury at greatest western elongation in 12th September Neptune at opposition on 5th September in Aquarius. Next up, we take a dee...

In this podcast extra episode we present our full length interview with test pilot, astronaut and lunar module pilot on Apollo 16, General Charlie Duke. Drawing on this unique set of experiences, we asked Charlie: What surprised you or what weren't you expecting to see on the moon? How did having a rover change the way you could explore the moon? How much fun was the lunar rover? Which was most ex...

The Discussion: Jeni's bizarrely decided that a holiday is preferable to being locked in a bunker with two megalomaniacal Martians, so you're left with an exhausted Paul and a jetlagged Ralph this month. What could go wrong? We discuss outreach at science festivals and a happy resolution to the light pollution issue in the Brecon Beacons dark sky reserve. The News: Rounding up the space and astron...

Download Episode! What to look out, and up, for in August. Ralph & Paul pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Dwarf Planet Ceres for small telescopes in the constellation Gemini Saturn in the evening, Venus at dawn and Uranus high up in Pisces The long anticipated total solar eclipse for observers in the United State...

Download Episode! In this podcast extra, Jeni recalls her most recent research trip at the Japanese Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) situated outside Sutherland in South Africa. This research trip continues Jeni's endeavours to collect exoplanet transit data. In this episode we cover: The IRSF observatory The life of a research astronomer The heartbeat of professional astronomy equipment Future res...

Download Episode! The Discussion: Combating light pollution for the AstroCamp in the Welsh Brecon Beacons and fighting to help the National Park retain its International Dark Sky Reserve status. Then we turn our attention to politics in space science and listeners' views on politics in podcasts. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Another gravitational wave detec...

Download Episode! What to look out, and up, for in July. July is here and the summer solstice is just behind us, meaning we're on the glide slope to every lengthening nights. So the team's here to pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: Ralph – Saturn shows off its moons and favourably tilted rings Jeni – Mercury is low in the sky...

Download Episode! The Interview: On the discovery of only humanity's third black hole merger by the incredible Laser Interferometry Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), Jeni's speaks with Professor Patrick Sutton, Head of Cardiff University's Gravitational Physics Group and member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration who develops new strategies to detect gravitational wave bursts and creates tec...

The Discussion: Jeni's returns from her South African research using the Infrared Survey Facility telescope, Paul calls time on the Principia Mission and we go through a couple of readers emails to discuss Caroline Herschel, the Woomera Test Range and Australian space funding. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Is there any evidence for other universes in the Co...

What to look out, and up, for in June. Jeni returns from astronomy research in South Africa so the gang's back together to pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: Ralph – Saturn reaches opposition this month and coincides with a nearby meteor shower Jeni – Jupiter in prime viewing conditions with some lovely Galilean transits Paul...

This podcast extra episode comes from this year's Big Bang Fair and Jeni & Paul grabbed an interview with a Gaia mission data scientist to talk data and the efforts taken in the less-glamorous, but absolutely critical, background to provide us with the discoveries and refinements we crave from the European Space Agency's latest space-based astrometry mission. So while Paul and Jeni were there as t...

The Discussion: Jeni's missing this month as she collects transiting exoplanet data in South Africa using the SIRIUS camera on the Japanese 1.4 metre Infrared Survey Facility telescope. So Paul & Ralph take the helm and record from the AstroCamp starparty in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, discussing light pollution, the wonder of starparties and take a look at the countries which only have a solitary A...

Download Episode! What to look out, and up, for in May. Jeni's abandoned us this month in favour of research-grade instrumentation so only Paul and Ralph pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: The planets Jupiter in the evening and Saturn in the morning Three meteor showers peaking this month A pair of comets to observe with amate...

A teaser for the weekend stargazing under the über dark skies of the Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve at this spring's AstroCamp. We'll take you through the events and activities which turn beginners into experts and fill up the eyepiece of those who are already experts – and, of course, whet your appetite for this friendliest of starparties! Whether you're joining us in the Welsh vil...

The Discussion: Paul and Jen packed out the Star Stage at this year's Big Bang Fair in Birmingham as Sirius Astronomy ran experiments to explain how rockets and space suits work and how space capsules protect astronauts from the heat of re-entry. Jen updates us on her astronomy research trip to South Africa next month and Ralph reviews the latest space-based sci-fi thriller, Life. The News: Roundi...

What to look out, and up, for in April. Our highlights of this month's skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: A pair of comets to observe with amateur telescopes or binoculars The planets Mercury and Jupiter in the evening The Lyrid meteor shower Next up, we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major Paul –...