AWESOME ASTRONOMY

*** 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...

The Discussion : Techniquest in Cardiff Bay Our Good friend Dylan O'Donnell at Star Stuff A listener's email on the naming of spacecraft, prompting a debate on history, cultures and tearing down statues.   The News : Britain's ambitious spaceports hit regulatory purgatory China's plans for this year include space station completion, comet and asteroid missions Unknown heroines of space & astronomy...

The Discussion : AstroCamp returns for listeners to observe with us 2-5th April. Book tickets here . Listeners' emails on: A Venus sample return mission Why our website is so poor L     The News : A very big far away star with a very big planet Unpicking the riddle of where the matter is that makes up all the stars Another of Saturn moons may be hiding an ocean Why there are no newly formed stars...

The Discussion : Astronomy in Lego Jeni on the BBC Listeners emails on space traffic control and the Chinese space programme     The News : SpaceX's troubled start to 2022 New York Times reports sexual harassment at SpaceX International Space Station operations extended to 2030 A look at Arianespace The news discussion: JWST     Nebulas : A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see...

The Discussion : Astronomy Christmas presents Listener's email about the value of early human space endeavours Listener's email about the marvelousness of Musk   The News : Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have: The largest valley in the solar system (on Mars) is packed with water More evidence to suggest there may be living organisms in Venus' atmosphere The sharpest images yet of th...

We defer our usual Xmas frivolity to go to NASA's coverage of Elon Musk's Penetrating Explorer Neo Insertion System rocket delivering NASA's Advanced Solar System probe to Uranus and look back at the astronomy and space exploration highlights of 2021: The first detection of an exoplanet in another galaxy, the first exomoon and the most abundant stars perhaps being habitable hosts A great alignment...

The Discussion : Jen becomes the Managing Editor of the Sky Guide app and talks hazardous asteroids on BBC1's Breakfast show Observing Comet Leonard Listeners emails on colonising the galaxy and killing Mars potatoes   The News : Recreating Mars in Antarctica Future space tourists are unlikely to be getting official astronaut wings News ways to capture space debris Elon Musk announces concerns ove...