AWESOME ASTRONOMY

This podcast extra is our full length interview with Dr Helen Sharman, Britain's First astronaut and the first woman to visit the Russian Mir Space Station in 1991. 

This month our intrepid crew of the good ship Awesome investigate sub surface oceans on the moons of the solar system, smoking stars, distant blackholes, oversized structures and of course tippy over lunar landers. There is also the monthly skyguide and a look at the astro history of March!

This month Dr Jen talks to Dr Phil! Dr Phil Metzger, 30 years at NASA where he has worked on various missions and programmes including the ISS snd Space Shuttle, while more recently he has been investigating how rocket efflux interacts with soil and what this will mean for future landings on the Moon and Mars…

This month we explore the exciting announcements from the European Space Agency as they outline their new missions for the 2030s. LISA, a space based gravitational wave detector and EnVision, a Venus mission that will map the surface and under-surface of that planet in unprecedented detail. 

We have the usual skyguide, chat about recent lunar missions and emails from the listeners.

This episode, it’s Jen and a special guest exploring the inexplicable Big Ring, the first proof connecting supernovae to black holes and neutron stars, cyclones on a far-away world, dazzling images of Io, and the true colour of Neptune. We also take a deep dive into humanity’s efforts to explore the Moon – the failing Peregrine lander and Artemis pushbacks.  There’s also a sky guide for the second half of January, and our discussion topic this time involves a most impossible restaurant. 

Produced by Paul, Jen, Dustin, John & Damien.

Festive silliness (bit naughty!), a review of the Space and astronomy year and a look ahead to what 2024 has in store for us. Not forgetting the outakes!

This month we explore what might have happened to the Planet Theia after it hit the Earth, what Lucy saw on its first asteroid encounter, the mystery of a new double crater on the Moon and what the first images from the Elucid telescope show. 

We have our monthly skyguide, launch round up and emails and questions from listeners.

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

This month Jeni talks to Paul. No not our Paul  Paul Cornish, planetarium and science outreach extraordinaire at Bristols We the Curious. They chat about one of our favourite topics on Awesome, constellation Mythology and this time it has a very Welsh flavour...enjoy!

This month we talk about what might have been in the Arthur C Clarke Awards, the latest weird discovery from JWST, the most detailed simulation of the Universe yet, British space plans, giggle at a Space Force painting, and have a look at what you can see in the sky this month.

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

This month we give you a recording of our live panel show from AstroCamp, held in September. The team answer questions and comments from the public about a range of space and astronomy topics.

This month Paul and Dr Jen talk about the recent astrocamp where yet more Aurora was seen. Later there is a guide to seeing Aurora at lower latitudes.

JWST is at it again with a possible detection of biological signals on an exoplanet, AND breaking and rewriting galaxy morphology history.

There is an autumnal sky guide and the low down on the Bennu return mission OSIRIS-REx.

This months interview looks at that stunning imagery that JWST took of the Ring Nebula - that familiar Messier planterary nebula in Lyra and favourite of star parties. This new study has revealed new and unexpected details and once again demonstrated the brilliant science of our golden wonder telescope in space.

Dr Jeni talks to Dr Robert Wessen, Research Associate at Cardiff University who has worked on the Ring Nebula data, about what astronomers have revealed as well as talking about his career and life astronomy. He also exclusively reveals what is going to happen next in this area of study. Enjoy!

This month we are joined by special guest Neill Sanders from Go Stargazing who is making a special announcement about astronomy cruise Holidays.

We have news of a new type of star, mud on Mars and JWST breaking cosmology once again. After our skyguide we chat about the recent Indian and Russian moon missions. 

In our discussion topic we have a Battle of the Planets as we decide which should get in the bin, Saturn or Jupiter.

For this podcast extra, we return to NAM 2023, this year held at Cardiff University. We’re delighted to bring you the conversational style of Dr Stephen Wilkins, public engagement extraordinaire. Dr Stephen is an STFC Public Engagement Fellow (so you know this talk will be just brilliant) and serves as a Director of Outreach and Public Engagement for the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex. This episode, we have the Tale of Two Telescopes, exploring NASA’s new flagship James Webb Space Telescope, and ESA’s pioneering Euclid, set to uncover the Dark Universe. Enjoy!

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

This month we have a packed show, with stories about the European space agency launching a new space telescope to study The Dark Universe. India going to the moon with Chandrayaan-3, astereroid boulders, a key ingredient for life just 1 billion years into the Universe’s history, measuring a crater with highway seismology, hot lava piles on the moon, and a farewell to Ariane 5.

We discuss observing meteor showers in our monthly skyguide and we ask the important question- where would you let superman take you in the solar system?

Once a year, astronomers descend upon an unsuspecting UK city in the greatest gathering of astronomically curious minds: the National Astronomy Meeting, otherwise known as NAM (no, not that ‘Nam, though it is quite the battle of the minds). Jen was lucky enough to attend this year and this episode is the first in a series of talks recorded at NAM 2023. 

We’re delighted to bring you the expertise of none other than Dr Becky Smethurst of Oxford University (you may know her as Dr Becky on Youtube). In this talk, Dr Becky teaches us how to grow a supermassive black hole – and it’s not as easy as you think! Always picture a black hole as a gigantic hoover, sucking up everything that dares to stray too close? Think again…

It's a summer vacation special with Jeni in the mountains of South America astronomising at altitude and visiting the Vera C Rubin telescope as well as obstech.

We have an interview with a Vera Rubin Observatory astronomer as well as a skyguide and an astronomy news round up.

We chat to Dr Kathy Thornton, nuclear physicist turned NASA astronaut who went on to fly on four Space Shuttle missions. Dr Thornton flew for over 40 days and completed over 21 hours of EVA, including the famous operation to fix the blurry Hubble Space Telescope. We talk about her life as an astronaut, the Hubble fix and that fateful day in mission-control on Columbia's last re-entry.

This month Jeni and Paul talk about the recent supernova in galaxy M101; volcanic exoplanets; the growing observational evidence putting the current Big Bang theory under strain and the history of water on both Earth and Mars.

There is discussions on alien contact; exoplanet detection and how long it would take to accelerate to the speed of light.

Paul does a summer reading book review with three space books to keep you entertained on the beach this summer.

Jeni has a look at the Juice mission, Axiom 2, future space station plans and a round up of launches.

This months skyguide includes discussion noctilucent clouds and deep sky in the centre of our galaxy.

To celebrate the Skylab 50th anniversary here is one our favourite astronaut chats from 2012 where we caught up with Skylab 3 and STS-3 astronaut, Jack Lousma. Jack was also capcom during Apollo 13 and he tells us about taking that ominous ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’ call and how they solved each life-threatening issue in sequence to get the astronauts back alive. He talks about missing out on flying Apollo 20 to the moon, being a crew member on the Skylab space station and taking one of the first space shuttles out for a test drive.

This month Paul and Jeni in astronomy news talk about new data on the M87 blackhole, the architecture of planetary systems, the hottest stars, an impact crater in France and how Mars might not have been oxygen rich.

In exploration news there is the latest on  JUICE and they welcome an old friend back to the show to talk about Starship.

There is a review of the recent AstroCamp where the team witnessed one of the biggest geomagnetic storms of recent times and saw one of the most impressive Auroral displays while standing on a Welsh mountain.

Jeni visits Space Forge for an update on their mission to build reusable satellites to manufacture materials that that are impossible on the ground.

She talks to CEO Joshua Western about that fateful launch from Cornwall on Virgin's Cosmic Girl, how they are getting ready for their next test aboard a Falcon 9, their re-entry tech nicknamed 'Mary Poppins in Space' and the company's future plans to scale up the manufacturing process from grams to tons!

In this episode Jeni and Paul talk about exoplanet atmospheres, the latest thinking on solar system visitor Oumuamua, Vigin Orbit's woes, Relativity's 3D success, and the oldest orbiting satellite.

There is the sky guide for April, a discussion about what new telescope Jeni should buy and listener emails, as well as Paul's miserable weather and Jeni's gala dinner talk for International Women's Day.

Paul takes time out from outreach at the Festival of Tomorrow at the Swindon STEAM museum to chat with Professor Robert Walsh of the University of Central Lancashire, who with artist Alex Rinsler has created a giant representation of the Sun as an outreach and art project that uses the data of the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

They talk about solar science, the coronal heating problem, sounding rockets, space missions professor Walsh has been involved with, space weather and why he has his own Sun.

In this episode Jeni tells us about her TEDx talk, dressing up for Mama Mia and eating insane burgers, while Paul appears to have started a modelling career.

In astronomy news the team explore the latest JWST findings that may have broken cosmology and changed everything we thought we knew about the history of the universe, as well as a potential new explanation for dark energy and black holes.

There is the sky-guide looking at the highlights for March as well as the Messier marathon, while in spaceflight news it is all change on the ISS, Boeing may finally be getting its act together and Starship may be going to orbit.

Emails and questions complete a packed show

Interview with astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Jeni talks to the legendary discoverer of pulsars, champion of women in science and Oxford University astronomer about her astronomy career, inspirations, motivations and key discoveries.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

The big news story: a decade-long study finds light pollution is worse than we thought

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the large winter constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February.

Q&A:

Does the James Webb Space Telescope have to take calibration frames like I do from Earth - darks, flats, and bias frames to then stack? From our good friend Peter Coates in East Yorkshire.

Bringing back the much-missed Awesome Astronomy interviews with a bang, we’re joined by friend of the show Chris Lee.

Chris began his career in the 80s in the UK space industry at British Aerospace, Matra Marconi and SCISYS where he worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the Giotto mission to Halley’s Comet, Beagle 2, Exomars and LISA Pathfinder.

He then became the UK Space Agency’s first Head of International Space Policy and then Head of Space Science Programmes before becoming Chief Scientist at the UK Space Agency.

Now retired, he’s a keen amateur astronomer with Bristol Astronomical Society, an astroimager and listener to the show that we’ve been wanting to record a chat with for quite a while.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have:

The big news story: As the UK gets ready to launch space vehicles for the first time, we take a look at the long history of UK space activity and the concept of launching to space from aircraft.

The Sky Guide:

As many people will have got new observing equipment this Christmas,  we’re taking a look at the beginner-friendly constellation of Taurus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in January.

Q&A:

The brightest GRB ever recorded occurred on 9th October 2022. Its effects on the Earth’s ionosphere was strong enough to be observed by amateur radio astronomers. How did dust form the expanding halo observed around the GRB source? From our good friend Andrew Thomas.

*** 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 highlights to come in 2023.

To all our listeners, a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a prosperous 2023 (download or die!).

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have:

The big news story: What else? Artemis 1 launches to make NASA’s return to the moon a reality.

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the winter constellation of Perseus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in December.

Q&A:

Does the x-ray end of the electromagnetic spectrum have Fraunhofer lines like the visual part? And if not, how is x-ray spectroscopy done? From our good friend Graeme Durden, who we all wish the very best as he continues his radiotherapy treatment.

For all listeners that are male and over 50 or have a dad, brother, husband, partner or friend who is male and over 50, please do take a few seconds to assess your prostate cancer risk at: prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker

The Discussion:

And listeners’ emails on:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have:

The big news story: Hipparchus’ star charts found buried in early Christian parchments

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the winter constellation of Andromeda with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in November.

Q&A:

What are the wispy striated filaments visible in the JWST images of the Carina Cliffs? From our good friend Rachel Kronick

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 says about time and place and of course what really happened.

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 Artemis and how the infamous Elephant Trunk nebulae incident happened...

The Discussion:

The News:

Skyguide:

As we’re a little late in the month for a September skyguide, this is a quick guide to the astronomy events to observe over the next few months. Pay attention because there’s some great oppositions, occultations, eclipses, meteor showers and possibly even a couple of naked eye comets!

Q&A: Can red-shift, spectroscopy, mass evaluations etc still be counted on even after the images have been distorted & magnified by foreground galaxies? Can the effect of gravitational lensing be accurately accounted for? From our good friend Alan Beech in the UK.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

The Discussion:

The News:

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 deorbited? From our good friend Mindy Scott in South Africa.

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:

The big news story: What else? It’s JWST innit?

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the summer constellation of Cygnus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Q&A:

No time for Q&A – we’ve got JWST to prattle on about!

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: NASA’s CAPSTONE mission to lunar orbit

Q&A: If you let your breath out couldn't you dash across 100m of lunar surface in a damaged spacesuit? From our good friend Ben Harding in the UK.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

The big news story: A big boost in the search for life in the universe

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Serpens with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in July.

Q&A:

Will a black hole always look like a donut whichever direction you observe it from? From our good friend Mitch Sevier, presumed to be in the United States.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: NASA to formally investigate UFOs – is this wise?

Q&A: How many people can you get on the International Space Station? From our good friend O G Duddy (@Derry_Man1) in Derry, Northern Ireland.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

The big news story: Only an image of the black hole region at the centre of our galaxy!

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Draco with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in June.

Q&A:

What sites and activities could you recommend for disabled amateur astronomers? From our good friend Ash in Wales.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: The ongoing saga of Boeing’s Starliner spaceship

Q&A: Blue Origin have New Glenn and New Shepard rockets, named after American pioneers of spaceflight. Assuming that this isn’t going to just be the men, does this mean that in the future we can expect a rocket called “New Ride”? From our good friend Andy Burns in the UK.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

The big news story: the Planetary Science Decadal Survey is out!

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Q&A:

Will JWST be able to confirm the existence of the Ort Cloud? From our good friend Oren Wyche in Maryland USA.

Also check out our YouTube channel here for much more astronomy and spacey goodness: https://www.youtube.com/awesomeastronomy?sub_confirmation=1

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: The Axiom-1 mission to the International Space Station

Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we close this segment of the show with a focus on Dark Nebulas.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Leo with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in April.

Q&A:

How soon, at current space travel speeds, would we as a species have to leave the galactic neighbourhood in order to avoid the inevitable Milky Way/Andromeda galaxy collision catastrophe?

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

Main news story: The knock on effects to cooperation in space caused by the situation in Ukraine.

Nebulae Our section of the show explaining every type of nebulae in the galaxy that you can oberse or image for yourself. This month we cover Reflection Nebulae.

The Discussion:

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in March, we have:

Big News Story: First light of the IXPE X-ray telescope

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Camelopardalis with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in March.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: NASA contract a Mars Sample return rocket.

Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on Emission Nebulae.

Q&A:

Why do astronauts travelling from the earth to the moon appear to experience complete weightlessness? From our good friend Paul Waterhouse in the Forest of Dean, UK

The Discussion:

The News:

Big News Story: a mysterious radio signal points to a new type of magnetar

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Auriga with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February.

If you want to help chart the advancing light pollution: cpre.org.uk/what-we-care-about/nature-and-landscapes/dark-skies/star-count-2022/

Q&A:

How are black holes able to evaporate? From our good friend Mitch in the United States.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: JWST

Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on supernova remnants.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

The Interview: this month we interview… the constellation Orion!

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Orion with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in January.

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:

We then look forward to the anticipated highlights of 2022:

But remember y’all, Christmas is all about the children. And space. But mostly the children. Who are our future. In space. With children.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: With the recent Russian anti-satellite test, are we headed for Kessler Syndrome?

Nebulas : Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we’re turning our attention to the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on Planetary Nebulae.

Q&A: How small would an asteroid need to be to enable a 14.5st human to jump up and that would be enough to reach escape velocity? From our good friend Lee King (@tinyleaks on Twitter).

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Taurus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in December.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: Commercial plans to build TWO space stations before 2030.

Nebulas: Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we’re turning our attention to the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. In the coming months we’ll delve into each type of nebula.

Q&A: How many journeys would it take for all space tourists' ejected faeces to coalesce into a single stool of such mass that its gravity would turn it to a rock of a size that posed enough of a threat to existence that an asteroid redirect-type intervention would be required? From our good friend Andrew Osborne in the UK.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Perseus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in November.

Q&A: Have you any advice to offer a 14 year old budding astronaut, mission controller or space telescope designer? From our good friend Peter Coates (not that one) by email.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: NASA’s Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. This month we complete this segment with a look at moons around asteroids and the tantalising glimpses of moons around planets outside our solar system.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Lacerta with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in October.

Q&A: Is there more matter in the Universe now than when the Big Bang happened? From our good friend Nick Massey on Facebook.

The Discussion:

The News:

The news discussion: Is commercial spaceflight just a billionaires’ plaything?

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. This month we reach the last major solar system body to have moons: Pluto.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in September, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Aquarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in September.

Q&A: Why is the CMB microwave light still visible if it was first emitted 13billion-ish years ago? From our good friend Graeme Durden of Kent in the UK.

This podcast extra is all about our favourite topic of them all, exoplanets. Thanks to our good friends Ian and Billy, we'll be taking a look at the very exciting upcoming low-Earth orbit space mission Twinkle. This small satellite will help us better understand the chemical composition of known exoplanets, which in turn will help us understand their history - and even their weather!

Guests:

Ian Stotesbury - master of astrophysics and lead systems engineer at Blue Skies Space. Ian has a background in low Earth orbit Earth monitoring missions and constellations, but is now making the leap to other planets.

Dr Billy Edwards - gained his PhD in Astrophysics from UCL, specialising in observing exoplanet atmospheres with space based telescopes. He's stayed on at UCL and is now a project scientist for the Twinkle Space Mission.

In this podcast extra, we discuss:

The Discussion:

The News:

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto the moons of Neptune.

Q&A: Why would anyone want to venture to Mars? From our good friend Richie Melton of

Formby, Merseyside, UK, Earth.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in August, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Lyra with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Q&A: Could dark matter exist in a different dimension, and we only feel the gravitons they emit? From our good friend Dan Scholes of no declared location.

The Discussion:

The News:

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto the moons of Uranus.

Q&A: Are summers in the southern hemisphere hotter than in the northern hemisphere because they’re close to the sun at perihelion?’ From our good friend Krista Bowen from Arkansas via email.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in July, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Aquila with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in July.

Q&A: How does Europa have a salty ocean & how do we know?? From our good friend @AlistairFrith on Twitter.

To illustrate the epic saga of the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse, in this podcast extra, we revisit all our previous discussions of the red supergiant – collated just for you in one handy dandy place!

We cover all the previous major studies of the Great Dimming event from the past year and a half, to let you relive the glorious adventure that is scientific investigation!

Tune in to see how this amazing story has evolved and remind yourself of the previous theories; from coincidental pulsation cycles, to surface temperature drops, and, of course, cosmic dust (as predicted by the Dust Queen herself).

We finish with a brief summary of the newest research published in Nature, using data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT).

**Also download Episode 109 Part1 on 1st July 2021 to hear our full discussion of the seemingly final instalment of this incredible adventure.**

The Discussion:

The News:

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Saturn’s 80 lesser explored moons

Q&A: ‘Once fully reusable Starships are complete, will all ground based observatories become obsolete?’ From our good friend Evan Slater.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ophiuchus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in June.

Q&A: What’s the difference between a nova and a supernova? From our good friend Steven Age in Derby.

The Discussion:

The News:

The big news story: NASA awards and then pauses the contract to develop the next lunar lander.

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Saturn’s enigmatic satellites, Titan and Enceladus.

Q&A: ‘What is the future for Hubble once the JWST launches and could there be new servicing missions with the development of the SpaceX Starship’ From our good friend Mark de Vrij in the UK.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

Main News story: The US’ Fermi National Accelerator follows CERN with a muon discovery that also hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Q&A: I'm getting into my 50s, and hearing Ralph say what good times we're in as regards gaining knowledge of the Universe leads me to wonder.... what will I be around for? From our good friend Peter Jeal from London, UK.

This week we saw the first ever powered flight on another planet. So this is a podcast extra episode to mark this remarkable achievement, explain what happened and why this is such a paradigm shift for future space exploration.

The Discussion:

The News:

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Jupiter’s 75 less fashionable moons.

Q&A: ‘How are satellite licences awarded and by who? And can/should they make requirements of companies to make them responsible for their space junk and their impact on ground based astronomy?’ From our good friend Matt Rayment in London, UK.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

Main News story: CERN’s LHC spots a quirky quark that hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Coma Bereneces with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in April.

Q&A: You mentioned recently that a comet was a long period comet? What does this mean? How do we know if a comet is a long period comet? From our good friend Arliss Evans in Texas, USA.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we move onto Jupiter and the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto. Jupiter’s other moons next month.

Q&A: ‘Do you think the first crewed Mars mission will be to land or would it make any sense to do an Apollo 8 (or indeed 10) stylee close approach?’ From our good friend Alex Bell in Bath, UK.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

Main News story: A return to the mythical Planet 9 and a new paper casting further doubt on the evidence in favour of an undiscovered massive object in the outer solar system.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Gemini with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in March.

Q&A: Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some sort of collective effort to digitise and share the historic astronomical records held in observatories’ glass plates? From our good friend Tony Horton in the UK.

As the European Space Agency gears up to opening its next recruitment campaign from 31 March to 28 May 2021, we take you through:

If you want to take a look and see if being an astronaut suits you, go to www.esa.int/YourWayToSpace. 

If you want to apply, applications should be submitted to the ESA Careers website, from 31 March, at https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Moons of the Solar System: Our new show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. And we begin with Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Q&A: ‘Will commercial ventures, render SLS useless at some stage?’ From our good friend Steven Sean Spyvee in Leeds, UK.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

Main News story: @ESA’s #CHEOPS satellite looks at a star with exoplanets and finds even more planets in a system that should be able to exist.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Perseus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February.

Q&A: Are there any other planets in the solar system that could support geostationary communications satellites? From Steve Carter in Welwyn Garden City, UK.

The Discussion: If you like your introductions rambling, you’re in for a real treat! We discuss the Jeni’s PhD thesis submission, The Real Right Stuff documentary on Disney+, Jeni’s foray into book writing and read some listeners questions, which devolves into discussions of whether Queen Elizabeth is Elizabeth I in Canada, the colonisation of the New World, the entertainer Nosmo King and insurance fraud.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Q&A: ‘How and where did the Awesome Astronomy team first meet?’ From our good friend Paul Weiler in Pennsylvania USA.

The Discussion: As we welcome in the New Year, we discuss the holiday season and your suggestions to replace the Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum section of the show.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news at the beginning of 2021, we have:

Main News story: That intriguing radio signal found coming from the vicinity of Proxima Centauri.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the great winter constellation of Auriga with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in January.

Q&A: We know there is a lower temperature limit (absolute zero), but is there an upper temperature limit? From Matt in California.

A jolly romp around viruses and tasers!

We look back at the astronomy and space exploration highlights of 2020:

The lows of 2020 in astronomy and space exploration:

We look forward to the anticipated events of 2021:

And we run through our own predictions for next year before signing off with our customary end-of-year outtakes.

The Discussion: We discuss National Geographic’s The Right Stuff series on Disney+, get a little bit ranty about the use of jokey titles in research papers and read out a few of your emails.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: The Hayabusa 2 mission and the imminent return of samples from asteroid Ryugu

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the great winter constellation of Orion with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in December.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In November we concluded our look at the electromagnetic spectrum. But as we now have a new method of detecting events beyond the electromagnetic spectrum, this month we explain gravitational wave astronomy.

The Discussion: The ongoing saga of Jeni’s PhD thesis and a couple of listener emails.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Main news story: Congratulations to OSIRIS-REx at asteroid Bennu.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The gamma ray end of the spectrum. How these telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Christmas gift ideas: We replace the Q&A section this episode as the holidays are getting closer and we thought you might appreciate some suggestions for the young, new or amateur astronomer in your life.

The Discussion: Beginning the show droning on about us for bit, we cover Jen presenting her latest paper at the dust conference (yes, there is such a thing) in Marseilles, and filming in the wilds of Wales at night for the BBC’s Weatherman Walking TV programme.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: Did humanity narrowly escape extinction in 1908?

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Cassiopeia with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in November.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In November we conclude our look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the gamma-ray part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: How do you tell the difference between a star that is nearer to the end of its lifecycle, and a younger star that is actually travelling away from us at a faster speed? From Tony Horton in Herefordshire, England.

As the exciting news of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus turns into a point of contention in the astronomy world, we caught up with the study’s lead scientist Professor Jane Greaves for the inside track. In this interview we discuss:

The Discussion: The publication of Jeni’s new research paper, a review of Netflix shows Challenger and Away (sublime and ridiculous).

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Main news story: Astrophysicists scoop up Nobel Prizes again this year.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The ultraviolet and X-ray parts of the spectrum. How these telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Q&A: If you had to choose just one mission or big science experiment to proceed in your remaining lifetimes, what would you choose and why? Victor Carroon, London, UK via email.

The Discussion: Helping us celebrate our 100th(ish) episode, we have a live(ish) audience to join in with us. Anna Lanteri from Gröningen University discusses a new Zooniverse citizen science project, called Space Fluff where you can soon classify dwarf galaxies. And Tom Bridgman from the Goddard Space Flight Centre tells us about NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: We are finally out of solar minimum and the sun will get more active again.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Cetus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in October.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the x-ray part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

The Discussion: No time for discussions, we’ve important news to discuss!

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Main news story: A new detection raises the distinct possibility of life in Venus’ upper atmosphere.

The Interview: Jeni talks to Dr Emily Drabek Maunder, a co-author on the paper that demonstrates phosphine in concentrations that we can only currently attribute to microbial life in the atmosphere of Venus.

At your suggestion we did something we should have done years ago and reached out to @universetoday and @AstronomyCast’s Fraser Cain (@fcain) to wax and yarn about all things space and astronomy. We think you'll enjoy!

The Discussion: This month Jeni’s latest paper has a journal reviewer prior to publishing, we take a look at the critical science of cow-cats and a listener brightens our day

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: The US National Science Foundation report on the impact of satellite constellations on astronomical science.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Cygnus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the ultraviolet part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

The Interview: A 5 minute preview of the hour chat with Fraser Cain of Universe Today and Astronomy Cast. This will be released in full as a podcast extra later this month.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

Main news story: America gets back to launching people into space

Q&A: Will the James Webb Space Telescope actually launch and will it still be worth launching? Lana Visser from Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

The Discussion: This month astrologers are getting upset about their tattoos; why the Babylonians are at fault for ruining the majesty of astrology; Jeni spreads the astronomy word on the BBC; her latest research paper nears peer review; Paul continues promoting space education in schools and we have a chat about sparking science interest in kids.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have: - ESO image two gas giants orbiting their star - Have we solved the mystery of why the sun’s atmosphere is hotter than the surface? - Using old methods as new measures of the age of the universe - Another way to measure the Hubble constant suggests there may be something a bit strange with our part of the universe or we need new physics to explain it - Unravelling how supermassive black holes form.

Main News story: The latest on Comet NEOWISE and how to see it for yourself

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Aquarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Q&A: What’s the dumbest misreported science you've ever seen in a newstory? From our good friend Brochyn James.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have a Mars launch window and NASA storming ahead with Artemis plans so this month is all about the moon and Mars:

Main news story: Getting ready to launch the biggest ever rover to Mars

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The visible light part of the spectrum. How telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Q&A: Do you think we will see humans space exploration beyond Mars in our lifetimes? Pieter Johnson @Nascothornet on Twitter.

The Discussion: This month Jeni’s getting frustrated with the politics of peer review, Paul’s seen an uptick in noctilucent cloud hunting and public interest in astronomy in general during lockdown. We ask ‘Is Starlink actually a good thing for astronomy outreach and public engagement?’, while Paul wonders if Elon Musk is aware of the fate of the Duke of Buckingham. And we delve into listeners’ emails about the future of AstroCamp in a pandemic and collaborations with other podcasts.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: Has NASA discovered parallel universes?

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Sagittarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in July.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the visible part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: What are arc seconds? How do we know how far away things are like planets and galaxies? What’s the measuring system? From our good friend Jeremy Hanson.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

Main news story: American commercial crewed launches have finally arrived

Q&A: Will the Lunar Gateway be visible from Earth? From Alex Bell @BLT_Astro on Twitter.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The near and mid-infrared part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

The Discussion:

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: Capturing a huge exoplanet – or a low mass star - forming in Auriga.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Serpens with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in June.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the near infrared part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: Is there life on Mars? From our good friend Dave in Australia.

The Discussion: Ralph channels his inner Churchill, while Jen goes on about Tiger King and her upcoming Cafe Scientifique talk. And we hear from listener Mark Grundy about the Welsh Room in the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburg.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

Main news story: NASAs proposals for how Artemis Moon missions will work and go much further than Apollo

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The Far IR and Sub millimeter part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

Q&A: A brief return for the Hat of woo dispelling the 5G coronavirus conspiracy From @LynchSeanP  on Twitter.

The Discussion: The live recording of our monthly astronomy show to provide a bit of extra entertainment and interactivity while people are cooped up at home sitting out the coronavirus.

We discuss a burgeoning love-hate relationship with Starlink, Jeni being the BBC’s go to person for Starlink and meteor showers, and Apollo 13 filling up Twitter timelines and giving us a bit of a respite from coronavirus

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

Main News story: Earth 2.0 found in old ignored data.

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it’s so important to astronomers. This month we explain the sub-millimetre and far infrared part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: How do scientists work out the trajectories for putting satellites in orbit around other bodies, or on trajectories that take them past numerous objects? From our good friend Kevin Morgan in the UK.