What to look out, and up, for in December. We start with the broad constellation of Gemini and an easy binary star, a planetary nebula and a group of star clusters for astronomy beginners to find, before emabarking on a spot of exogazing! Next up is the return of resplendent Jupiter and Venus to our skies. We bring you the phases and conjunctions of the moon and the Geminid meteor shower in December. Then we round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month in the winter constellations o...
Nov 29, 2014•11 min
From the Autumn AstroCamp 2014, Cardiff University astrophysics student, Jeni Millard, presents our latest understanding of the structure, formation, and future of our neighbouring galaxies and the evidence for and against dark matter.
Nov 11, 2014•35 min
Download Episode! The Discussion: Enjoying light pollution-free skies in the Ionian Sea and soaking up the atmosphere at the North West Astronomy Festival. The News: In the news we have more findings about the interior and evolution of our moon from the GRAIL and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions; Russian and Chinese lunar ambitions ratchet up a notch; the ExoMars mission narrows down its possible 2018 landing sites; sampling the atmospheres of Neptune-sized exoplanets; Comet Siding Spring b...
Nov 01, 2014•1 hr 5 min
What to look out, and up, for in November. We start with the welcome return of the winter constellation of Taurus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is the planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon and the Leonid meteor shower to enjoy this month. We then round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month with the open clusters and binary stars in the constellation Auriga....
Oct 28, 2014•10 min
The Discussion: Enjoying dark skies at the National Trust, Paul’s astronomy outreach endeavours with Sirius Astronomy and predictions for the upcoming AstroCamp. The Tour: In this special episode, Ralph and Paul bring record from the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in Guildford. We tour this world leading centre of excellence for low cost satellite design and innovation and explain the sights and work being conducted in the Ground Station and laboratories from where 30 satellites...
Oct 01, 2014•1 hr 9 min
What to look out, and up, for in October. We start with the constellation of Perseus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon and the meteor showers to enjoy this month. We then round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month with the globular clusters and galaxies in the constellations Andromeda & Pegasus.
Sep 27, 2014•11 min
Download Episode! A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have BBC's The Sky at Night's Chris North joining us again to give a talk on the Herschel Space Observatory and Cardiff Uni's Jeni Millard explaining galaxies and dark matter. And of course, 3 nights of enjoying the wonders of truly dark skies. If you're not coming to AstroCamp in April 2014, there's still a sky guide in this episode to give you stargazing inspiration wh...
Sep 18, 2014•16 min
The Discussion: Sirius Astronomy and The Knowledge Observatory’s educational outreach and preparation for our dark sky observing weekend in Wales: AstroCamp. The News: In the news we have the latest on the European Space Agency’s ambitious Rosetta spacecraft as it settles into it’s science program at Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko; details of the science payload for NASA’s ‘Curiosity 2’ Mars rover; revealing images of the Pluto system from the New Horizons spacecraft; China’s lunar orbit & spac...
Sep 01, 2014•59 min
What to look out, and up, for in September. We start with the constellation of Cassiopeia in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon to enjoy this month. We then round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month with the large clusters and a nice easy nebula in the constellation Sagitta & Vulpecula.
Aug 28, 2014•9 min
The Discussion: Enjoying the delights of July’s skies, writing articles for Astronomy magazine, STEM education and Paul becomes a European Space Agency ambassador. The News: In the news we have the Rosetta spacecraft’s approach to the almost unpronounceable comet Churyumov Gerasimenko – revealed to be a binary comet, and the Very Large Telscope in Chile takes a 2.5 year study of a supernova to crack the riddle of how dust is created and survives the extreme temperatures of its birth. The 5 Minut...
Aug 01, 2014•46 min
What to look out, and up, for in August. We start with the constellation of Cepheus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets and the standout phases of the moon to enjoy this August. We then round up the best of the deep sky offerings for the month with a galaxy, two globular clusters and a couple of planetary nebulas in the constellation Aquarius.
Jul 29, 2014•10 min
The Discussion: Looking back over Sirius Astronomy outreach events in June, a bit of a rant over peer-review and science by press conference and our own pathetic attempts to get awarded a Nobel Prize or two. The News: Modelling of Pluto’s moon Charon ahead of the flyby of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft next year, aerobraking an orbiter through Venus’ upper atmosphere and radio imaging a Near Earth Asteroid. The 5 Minute Concept: How comets are far from the traditional portents of doom and may we...
Jul 01, 2014•53 min
What to look out, and up, for in July. We start with the beautiful summer constellation of Cygnus in our beginners’ and young observers’ guide. Next up is Mercury, Venus, Mars & Saturn and some lovely lunar conjunctions to enjoy this Month. The Delta Aquariid meteor shower makes an announcement before we round up the best of July’s deep sky offerings in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Jun 27, 2014•9 min
This month we're outside recording under red light as we bag the latest meteor shower to grace planet Earth - the Camelopardalids. We start with reminisces about our April AstroCamp star party, radio detection of meteors and the engineering & imaging prowess of our captured Earthing slaves John & Damien. In the news we discusses the new discovery of Earth 2.0(ish), the sad shrinkage of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Ralph gets a little bit ranty about NASA research into the melting of ice ...
Jun 01, 2014•1 hr 1 min
What to look out, and up, for in June. We start with the constellation of Lyra in our beginners' and young observers' guide, and end it with a few deep sky challenges for you to hunt down. Next up is the moon and a couple of planetary conjunctions to enjoy, with Mars, Saturn & Jupiter feature in the planetary round up for Northern Hemisphere observers. We then take our pick of the best of the deep sky offerings for June with a tour of Hercules’ globular clusters, galaxies and a planetary neb...
May 27, 2014•7 min
The Discussion: Astronomy in the late 18th Century and the increased sense of hope we, as amateur astronomers, get from the work of early astronomical observations. The Field Report: This month we record from the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in Bath, England and take a tour of the Georgian townhouse to investigate the many objects, telescopes and handwritten observations of William and Carline Herschel. The News: In the news, we have more exciting inferences about the watery composition of Satur...
May 01, 2014•1 hr 3 min
What to look out, and up, for in May. We start with the constellation of Hercules in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide. Next up is the moon and our round up of the craters and interesting lunar features you can explore with a small telescope. Halley's Comet brings us the peak of the Eta Aquarids on the night of 5th/6th May while Comet LINEAR has the potential to deliver a meteor storm on the night of 23rd/24th May. Mars, Saturn & Jupiter feature in the planetary round up for Northern...
Apr 28, 2014•10 min
Download Episode! A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have the BBC's Sky at Night team joining us again to show off the wonders of truly dark skies. If you're not coming to AstroCamp in April 2014, there's still a sky guide in this episode to give you stargazing inspiration wherever you are.
Apr 23, 2014•17 min
This month we talk National Astronomy Week and have an audio report from the outreach we conducted. In the news, we have a discussion with Jeni Millard and Sebastian Khan from Cardiff University about the discovery of gravitational waves; we discuss the auroral display that lit up Europe and the ensuing scandals caused by the Daily Mail; we have a possible way of detecting dark matter and a theory that dark matter may have killed the dinosaurs; a new minor planet emerges beyond the orbit of Plut...
Apr 01, 2014•1 hr 18 min
What to look out, and up, for in April. We start with the constellation of Ursa Major in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide. Next up is the moon and our round up of the craters and interesting lunar features you can explore with a small telescope. Mars, Venus, Saturn & Jupiter feature in the planetary round up for Northern Hemisphere observers this month and we finish off with some suggestions around the constellation Boötes....
Mar 29, 2014•13 min
This month we talk science outreach in Wiltshire and have an audio report on the aurora from Iceland In the news, we have a supernova for amateur observers in a ‘nearby’ galaxy and Europe’s Herschel Observatory finding water plumes on dwarf planet Ceres. China’s Chang’e-3 moon mission finds itself in trouble (in more ways than one!) and the European Space Agency gives the green light to the exoplanet and star characterising PLATO mission. In the 5 Minute Concept, Paul poetically explains the his...
Mar 01, 2014•1 hr 3 min
What to look out, and up, for in March. We start with the constellation of Leo in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide, and end it with a few deep sky challenges for the more advanced amateurs to hunt down. Next up is the moon and our round up of the craters and interesting lunar features you can explore with a small telescope. While Jupiter, Mars and Saturn feature in the planetary round up for Northern Hemisphere observers this month....
Feb 27, 2014•10 min
Download Episode! This month, our captured Earthling Damien brings us a stargazing report from Pakistan. News includes a new planet hunting instrument in Chile, a best-yet candidate for a naked-eye visible supernova, the progress of commercial space-flight and public access to space, China's Chang'e-3 rover's discoveries and ESA's Rosetta and Gaia missions. In his 5 Minute Concept, Paul explains our solar systems ring of icy debris - the Kuiper Belt - and the need for a good publicist! We have l...
Feb 01, 2014•1 hr 3 min
Download Episode! What to look out, and up, for in February 2014. We start with a new feature the beginner’s - or young observer’s - guide, and a tour of the constellation Orion. Next up is our round up of the planets available this month to northern hemisphere observers, interesting lunar features and meteor showers. And we finish off with the best stars and deep sky objects on offer in the constellations Monoceros and Cancer....
Jan 31, 2014•10 min
Happy New Year! The sky guide has Jupiter at its very best, Venus, Saturn & Mars on offer along with the deep sky objects in Orion and Canis Major. The news has a Comet ISON saga round-up, China's Chang'e-3 moon lander, Jupiter's moon Europa spewing water into space & new exoplanet updates. In the 5MC, Paul explains the mystery and awe of Pulsating Stars - Pulsars. Ralph interviews astrophysicist & The Sky at Night host, Dr Chris Lintott. And the Q&A has questions on Martian mete...
Jan 01, 2014•1 hr 1 min
This pantomime of an episode contains some mild bad language and puerile humour. Join us for a round up of the best astronomy news from 2013, a look forward to the highlights in 2014 and a glimpse inside the normally secretive Cydonia Base at Christmas time. Naturally, no end of year Awesome Astronomy show would be complete without the habitual gaffes and outtakes. Happy Holidays, thank you for downloading and listening to us in 2013 and best wishes for 2014....
Dec 24, 2013•26 min
We have the planets, meteors showers and moon phases to look out for in December and a look at the deep sky objects in the constellations, Taurus & Gemini. In the news we have Comet ISON at perihelion, a guide to comets, the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission and NASA’s MAVEN both setting sail for Mars and a bizarre asteroid that thinks it’s a comet. In the 5MC, Paul explains the mysterious and awe-inspiring majesty of a familiar object in the night sky – The Orion Nebula. Perfect to listen to as y...
Dec 01, 2013•1 hr 2 min
This month we have the planets, meteor showers and moon phases to look out for in November and a look at the deep sky objects in the Cetus, Pisces & Sculptor constellations. In the news we have the sad death of Scott Carpenter, the US government shutdown, water in Martian rocks, the completion of ESO’s ALMA array & ESA's upcoming GAIA mission. In the 5MC, Paul reveals all we know about dark energy: a cosmological constant, a qualtum vacuum energy or quintessence (you decide). We intervie...
Nov 01, 2013•1 hr 5 min
Highlights of September's skies at the AstroCamp star party with the BBC TV cameras. The Sky at Night team joinined us for some observing in Wales. A penumbral lunar eclipse, a round up of the planets visible in the northern hemisphere this month, a couple of meteor showers to get you outside, and the deep sky treats in Perseus, Camelopardalis and Auriga in our October sky guide.News that Voyager 1 is in interstellar space, NASA's latest mission to explore the thin lunar atmosphere and moon's du...
Oct 01, 2013•1 hr
A daytime lunar occultation and a favourable libration of the moon, the ice giants and a round-up of all the planets on view and the deep sky treats in Cassiopeia and Andromeda in our September sky guide. A bright nova in Delphini, declassification of Area 51 plans, an update on Kepler, Juno and the Mars Science Laboratory, Voyager 1 leaving the solar system (maybe!), and new science from ESO's ALMA array. Nucleosynthesis and the life of stars explained in Paul's 5 Minute Concept.An interview on...
Sep 01, 2013•48 min
