The Discussion: Hear Jen’s talk at Pint of Science on 20-22nd May in Cardiff, less than salubrious travel arrangements for science talks, a listener’s email from the Australian Tourist Board and keep sending us your suggestion for the best historic space mission. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: India creates a new constellation in the sky A new NASA asteroid mission in the planning Plumes of material ejecting from asteroid Bennu ESA’s next exoplanet space tel...
Apr 15, 2019•1 hr 6 min
The Discussion: A bumper episode beginning with the April stargazing extravaganza run by the Awesome Astronomy team on 27th - 30th April, a reminder to email us with your best space missions of the last 62 years, a stroll down Rocketry Lane, come along to hear Jeni talk at A Pint of Science on 20-22nd May at Beelzebub's in Cardiff, and listeners’ emails (including how you amateurs can participate in occultation observation science). The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Di...
Mar 31, 2019•1 hr 23 min
The Discussion: Professor Michelle Dougherty talking Enceladus at the annual Schrodinger lecture, the proficiency (or otherwise) of making science accessible to the layman and emails about inspiring anyone to do the job they want. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Have SpaceX paved the way for the US to return to human spaceflight? The Japanese Hyabusa spacecraft begins exploring asteroid Ryugu The first Israeli lunar lander makes its way to the moon Virgin Gal...
Mar 14, 2019•1 hr 9 min
The Discussion: A worthless victory for the Welsh, Earthling slave John on the BBC’s Sky at Night, Jen’s preparations for A Pint of Science, imaging the sun with a beer can and emails about timestamping & sibilance. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: Modelling of the meteor strikes on the moon during the eclipse Does the moon get bombarded by a meteor shower every 19 years? The brightest gravitationally lensed object ever seen Conditions closer to habitable seen aro...
Mar 01, 2019•1 hr 2 min
The Discussion: The film Moon, boring lectures & seminars, the age before mobile telephony, AweAst live shows & drinks with listeners, and listeners’ suggestions for NASA spacecraft branding. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: Growing plants on another world SpaceX launch satellites on reusable rockets How to paint a Mars rover A less than rose-tinted look at SpaceX’ current predicament Scotland’s spaceport’s fight with nature The beginning of the next s...
Feb 14, 2019•1 hr 6 min
The Discussion: Jeni’s off to La Palma to gather data on dust & gas in the Crab Nebula, did a meteor or two strike the moon during the January eclipse? And what do Europeans think (or know) about the European Space Agency? The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: More research suggesting there are no seasonal water flows on Mars Modelling the stellar wind at Barnard’s Star Can interstellar objects survive the journey? The unusual planetary system EPIC24924646 Lu...
Jan 31, 2019•1 hr 1 min
The Discussion: As 2019 marches forth we discuss a wasted year of practical astronomy due to bad weather, a comet in our skies to enjoy and Jeni begins her first paper on gas masses in redshift galaxies. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: An update on the mysterious hole in the space station SpaceX edges closer to ferrying humans to space Virgin Galactic test pilot gains his astronaut wings Voyager 2 joins Voyager 1 outside the solar system New Horizons explorin...
Jan 14, 2019•1 hr 5 min
The Discussion: Festive cheer, academic hiatuses, magnificent cheeses, a surfeit of meat, space themed presents and listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The Milky Way gives birth to around 7 stars per year Watching a star being born from a nearby massive star A new way to map the dark matter in our universe Where’s the methane on Mars? Saturn’s rings are more short lived than we thought The discovery of another outer solar system object Main n...
Jan 01, 2019•1 hr 3 min
The Discussion: Arthur Eddington, the Caldwell catalogue and a round-up of emails to the show. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Waiting for a Gamma Ray Burst Watching the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole feeding Finding a massive meteorite under 1km of ice in Greenland The discovery that the Milky Way has another satellite galaxy The Hyades is bigger than we thought – much bigger! Silica dust from supernovae discovered Main news story: The discovery of an...
Dec 01, 2018•57 min
The Discussion: Jeni talking exoplanets and aliens at Cardiff Museum and we take a no spoiler look at the Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Commercial spaceflight update New Zealand’s Rocket Lab build a new launch site in the US The winners & losers in USAF’s launcher funding competition China’s Long March 5 rocket failure induces delays The death of the Kepler space telescope Russian Soyuz failures risk human access to s...
Nov 15, 2018•1 hr 3 min
In this podcast extra episode we're talking to Libby Jackson, physicist and engineer, who's the Manager of Human Spaceflight and Microgravity at the UK Space Agency and was a European ISS flight controller and the spokesperson for Tim Peake’s spaceflight. Being weightless The value of space research to everyday life Following your dreams Her new book: A Galaxy of Her Own Forgotten heroines of the world’s space programmes...
Nov 07, 2018•50 min
The Discussion: Jeni’s tells us about her gig at the Cardiff Book Talk and an upcoming talk at Usk Astronomical Society, Paul had a hairy moment giving a talk on the Herschels only to find their descendants in the room and we run through listeners’ emails The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Low metallicity stars seem to harbour the rocky exoplanets A possible satellite galaxy to Mirach’s Ghost may have been discovered by amateur kit Aliens may not be green but ...
Nov 01, 2018•59 min
The Discussion: It’s almost Halloween and Jeni’s getting the knives out. Paul’s been recording astronomy voiceovers for the Discovery Channel, Jeni’s got the Cardiff BookTalk coming up and Ralph’s excited by the return of Doctor Who. The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have: ESA tell us that radiation is too dangerous for a Mars voyage The new Nobel Prizes are announced It might be all over for both Kepler and Hubble The Case of the ISS Leak detective story Israel’s Sp...
Oct 15, 2018•54 min
Download Episode! The Discussion: Paul has snubbed the show to do astronomy on TV so we’re keeping our spirits up with tales of AstroCamp and the inspirational Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency. Jeni updates us with the progress of her PhD and invites you all along to her Q&A session at Cardiff Book Talk on 22nd October, before Ralph runs through listeners’ emails The News: With 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed, we overshoot the time constraints by ...
Sep 30, 2018•59 min
Download Episode! The Discussion: Lt Col Dave from Florida gives us his more informed take on Space Force. The News: In the new revamped show format we have 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed: Jeni: An incredible Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Aristarchus Crater New life in the Kepler spacecraft Ralph: ESA’s Aeolus weather data spacecraft launches NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft enters its science phase China’s Chang’e 4 lander headed for the far side of t...
Sep 15, 2018•1 hr 6 min
In this podcast extra episode, we go a step further than just talking about astronomy and look forward to a long weekend of practical astronomy. This episode discusses the value of star parties and whets your apetite for Awesome Astronomy’s AstroCamp event in the Welsh Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve. Come share the eyepiece with us, enjoy a talk from the UK Space Agency's Libby Jackson and win some astronomy prizes!...
Sep 03, 2018•14 min
Download Episode! The Discussion: Jeni returns after getting the flu, Paul’s science shows were a wash out at Camp Bestival and Ralph gets a great email about a telescope library service. The News: In the new revamped show format we have 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed: Jeni: New Gaia data shows us the distance and shape of familiar objects like never before India’s Chandrayaan-1 finds water ice in the moon’s north and south pole craters The Andromeda Galax...
Sep 01, 2018•59 min
In this podcast extra episode, Jeni teams up with our good friend Dr Chris North from the Pythagoras Trousers podcast to speak to Caltech’s Linde Professor of Physics and Nobel Laureate Barry Barish. In this interview we discuss: The early days of experimental particle physics Building the advances in technologies for today’s experiments and detectors The fear of failure creating resistance to building LIGO Wanting to collect direct detections of signals from the Big Bang The first detection of ...
Aug 16, 2018•1 hr 13 min
The Discussion: Jeni cares so little for our listeners that she didn’t even bother to show up this month (except for the interview section) and with no discipline Paul’s defacing valuable space artefacts and the emails to the show take a plunge south. The News: The news section gets a revamp with a quick round up of the space exploration and astronomy news, covering: The United Kingdom’s new spaceports Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission to return asteroid samples New optics on ESO's Very Large Telescope...
Jul 31, 2018•57 min
What to look out, and up, for in August. With no Jeni this month, Ralph & Paul pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Mars just past opposition as impressive as last month A round up of the other planets on view The Perseid Meteor Shower peaking on 12/13th August Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Open clusters Messier 11 & Messier 26 in Scutum Globular cluste...
Jul 27, 2018•7 min
In this podcast extra episode, there was only one thing playing on all our minds - Space Force. What is it? Why is it? What will it look like? Just like us, I’m sure you’ll be none the wiser after this in-depth look into: President Trump’s plan to create the US Space Force The lesser known Welsh Force The International Space Treaty A few diversions into the future of aircraft technology
Jul 19, 2018•20 min
The Discussion: Jeni tells us about her more recent astronomy conferences in Eastbourne and Copenhagen. Paul gives us a round up of his astronomy outreach with interesting facts from and a rooftop star party. And Awesome Astronomy gets in deeper than intended with the Alan Bennet/Thora Hird gag that far outstayed its welcome. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: AMI in the Sky with Diamonds! Farewell Apollo 12 moonwalker, Alan Bean An old mystery about our moon ...
Jul 01, 2018•1 hr 18 min
What to look out, and up, for in July. With no Jen this month (she’s off sciencing), it’s just Paul & Ralph’s highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Mars at its most favourable opposition since 2003 Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto A super-long lunar eclipse Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year. Ralph – Messier 16, The Eagle Nebula Paul - NGC 6822, Barnard’s Irregular And we fin...
Jun 27, 2018•8 min
In this podcast extra episode, released during Pride month, we return to this April’s European Week of Astronomy and Space Science where we spoke to Dr Ashley Spindler to find out more about: Galaxy evolution, the evolution of galaxy structures and star formation from the MaNGA project using Sloan Digital Sky Survey data South East Physics Network placement opportunities for post graduate students The challenges and obstacles that still exist for the LGBT community in the workplace and education...
Jun 10, 2018•16 min
The Discussion: Jeni’s talking science conferences while Paul’s doing impressions from his Who’s Who of Yorkshire legends. Ralph runs through this month’s pick of listeners tweets & emails with a focus on exoplanets and a big congrats to listener Dustin Ruoff The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The earliest stars formed earlier than we thought! NASA’s latest wow-piece is a helicopter on Mars The first interstellar immigrant settles in our solar system The I...
May 31, 2018•1 hr 20 min
What to look out, and up, for in June. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Asteroid Vesta at opposition Saturn An overview of Venus, Jupiter and Mars Comet 21P - Giacobini–Zinner in Cygnus Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year. Ralph - The Double Double, Epsilon Lyrae, in Lyra Paul - Globular Clusters available to view in Ophiuchus Jen – Colourful...
May 28, 2018•11 min
This podcast extra is a re-release of our full length interview with the 4th man to walk on the moon aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. Alan Bean was not only a fighter pilot, Navy test pilot, astronaut, moonwalker, space station commander and artist, but he was also a very considerate, genuine and self-effacing gentleman. We are hugely saddened by the loss of such a lovely man but heartened that he passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. In this interview, recorded in October 2015 w...
May 27, 2018•55 min
In this podcast extra episode, we take a look back at the extraordinary life and work of Stephen Hawking who died on 14th March 2018, leaving a legacy rich with cosmology insights, humour, altruism, science education and a changed landscape in astronomy.
May 12, 2018•21 min
The Discussion: Jeni, Paul & Ralph survived the wilds of the Brecon Beacon’s AstroCamp festival of astronomy, Jeni gathers a whole heap of astronomy interviews from the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, and we read out a couple of emails requesting advice on amateur astronomy mounts, berating us for our April Fools’ Twitter gag and asking for more content relevant to the southern hemisphere. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: A galaxy containin...
May 01, 2018•1 hr 8 min
What to look out, and up, for in May. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The ever-brightening Mars Jupiter at opposition on 9th May Venus in the evening sky The Lyrid meteor shower Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year. Ralph – The plethora of summer objects in Sagittarius Paul – Globular Cluster, Messier 5, in Serpens Jen - M57, The Ring Nebula,...
Apr 27, 2018•9 min
