Looking Up

Matter does escape from black holes, in million-light-year-long Jedi lightsaber type structures called relativistic jets, which stretch up to 10 times longer than our Milky Way galaxy. These things continue to amaze scientists.

Professor John Compton talks to Kechil about his latest book: Interpreting Earth, A History of Geology through Encounters with Table Mountain. It is full of the history of astronomy and geological exploration in The Cape, and contains many lovely illustrations. It is obtainable by visiting the website https://www.johnscompton.com/ and from independent bookshops.

The worthy and wonderful Sky Guide Southern Africa 2024 is now available in bookshops. You can see a review here: https://assa.saao.ac.za/ and if you scroll down a bit, on the facebook site here: https://www.facebook.com/Astrosocsa. How to buy it, you can find here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za/book/sky-guide-2024/9781775848677 Also, something about SpaceX's Starship test flight this last...

Nano-particle accelerators, women in space, and Chinese space endeavour. It's all happening!

Two unrelated stories: historical records of the Sun's cycles, and luxurious space toilets.

There is a new documentary film doing its rounds on the festival circuit called !Aitsa about the people and the place where the big radio telescopes are being operated and built in the northern cape. Kechil interviews the director, Dane Dodds, who is from that area himself, about the film. The scope of the film is enormous and cosmic, and you can find out more at: https://www.aitsafilm.com/

Migratory bird vagrancy is not a phrase you may ponder often, but it happens, and especially during solar storms which disrupt the Earth's magnetosphere. What else does space weather get up to?

Sounds in space! The Perseverance Mars rover is the only one to record human audible sounds and return it back to Earth. It looks like in future we may send microphones on other space missions. Odd to think of other planets and moons sounding very different to Earth.

Have we detected a sign of life on an exoplanet? The chemical signature of DMS has been possibly found by the James Webb Space Telescope. In a year's time we'll have more robust data on this, but it suggests that phytoplankton may exist - that is, life! - on a planet which is not Earth.

What is a Silent Barker? Good pub quiz question. It's a special space mission designed to keep an eye on the behaviour of satellites not belonging to the United States, in geosynchronous orbit. Silent Barker was launched last Sunday, Kechil gives us the lowdown.

Kechil talks to astronomer Itumeleng Monageng about his interests in astronomy, and covers some basic astronomy.

Kechil talks to astronomer Itumeleng Monageng about his interests in astronomy, and covers some basic astronomy.

Kechil talks to astronomer Itumeleng Monageng about his interests in astronomy, and covers some basic astronomy.

Kechil talks to astronomer Itumeleng Monageng about his interests in astronomy, and covers some basic astronomy.

Kechil talks to astronomer Itumeleng Monageng about his interests in astronomy, and covers some basic astronomy.

You too can be a scientist and help discover new exploding stars! Follow this link: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/alex-andersson/bursts-from-space-meerkat It's not difficult, there are just some things computers don't do well at, and one of them is recognising patterns in pictures. Alex Andersson explains all in today's show.

Will South Africa send astronauts to the International Space Station in the next couple of years? The CEO of the South Africa National Space Agency has indicated they would like to do this. Ani Vermeulen, a space scientist and space engineer walks us through what it would take to achieve this ambitious target.

cfah.org.za is the website about Heritage Moons, detailing moons which are appropriate for the southern hemisphere. The Ariane-5 rocket is launching for the last time tonight, hopefully. This is a true workhorse and has launched into space 116 times since 1996. Do you know what Mars Dune Alpha is? Kechil describes a new lockdown-style activity.

Why is space engineering boring and what has this got to do with the Titan submersible disaster?

China has plans to send people to the Moon before the end of the decade. NASA will send astronauts back to the Moon possibly as early as next year. What are the laws surrounding appropriation of materials gleaned from celestial bodies?

Saturns rings are disappearing! Why? How?

The British are about to knit a satellite. It's true!

The Voyager missions are hurtling into interstellar space, but are running out of energy. Like us, they are having to ration what little they have left. One by one, their instruments will be shut down, but the engineers have some tricks to try to eek out the precious remaining electricity for a few more years.

Space-X's Starlink programme, which is sending thousands of satellites into low earth orbit, is coming in for some criticism. Another hazard has been detected and researched by SETI intern Ramiro Saide: aliens! Kechil unpacks the problem.

You too can be a scientist, and participate in a sonification experiment. Human ears are very good at detecting patterns, and NASA needs volunteers to help find patterns in data, representing the magnetic dance between the Sun and the Earth. Go to this site: https://listen.spacescience.org/