AWESOMEASTRO

#111 – September 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Our practical astronomy gathering is back – join us in Wales on 2-5th October Jen is contributing to Andy Oppenheimer’s book Stars of Orion Submit your support for Lego to create a clockwork solar system Watch Jen’s free online exoplanet talk for the Open University Space Society Emails from our good friends: Casey Ash in Thailand, about the perennial issue of satellite constellations Conor Brian from Texas about the first Martian settlers     The News: Ongoing problems with the James Webb Space Telescope as it nears launch. The first NASA Artemis moon mission suffers a setbackRead More →

#111 – September 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Jeni Nearly joined a cult Farewell to Carolyn Shoemaker The Room of Doom at Redditch Astronomical Society The new updated Sky Guide app (that Jen works on) Listeners’ emails on how annoying we are and nebulae   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in September, we have: A new classification of habitable exoplanets Astronomers find thousands of new galaxies Red Dwarf stars might not be as hostile to life as previously thought Have we found a new spiral arm to the Milky Way? Why last year’s Comet ATLAS wasn’t the comet of a generation   TheRead More →

Podcast Extra – The Twinkle Space Mission 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 Stokesbury – 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 theRead More →

#110 – August 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Presenting on the BBC The importance of dust to astronomy   The News: A round up of current Mars exploration from Perseverance, Ingenuity, Hope & Zhurong. The mystery of the disappearing Mars rock The Boeing gremlins continue Bezos joins the billionaire space tourism club   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. Awesome Astronomy GoRead More →

#110 – August 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Star Wars marathon Observing the ISS & the Nauka Module NAM 2021 Amateur recreation of the Antikythera Mechanism Spectrum analysing the new audio anomaly   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in August, we have: Detecting light from behind a black hole New Insights shows Mars’ interior is very different to Earth’s Evidence of an ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede The Oort Cloud could be filled with extrasolar debris Earth rock may contain extraterrestrial Plutonium First clear detection of a moon-forming disc around an exoplanet   The Sky Guide: This month we’re takingRead More →

#109 – July 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Hubble’s still in trouble Jeni’s presenting on the BBC’s Weatherman Walking Ideas for a new segment to replace the moons of the solar system   The News: Ingenuity helicopter is exceeding all expectations Russia looks to expand its real estate on the ISS NASA’s Artemis 1 is being stacked for a November launch China’s sending Taikonauts to the moon & Mars Bezos & Branson   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 summersRead More →

#109 – July 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Can you help out the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory? Combining sports & astronomy The hive mind responds to the new audio anomaly   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in July, we have: Hubble in trouble Incredible new images of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede A glimpse of the first ever stars Cosmic twisters The biggest comet ever seen comes barreling into the solar system   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 aRead More →

Podcast Extra: The Dimming of Betelgeuse! 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 theRead More →

#108 – June 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: A new audio anomaly to get your investigative teeth into Jeni moving from TV interviewee to presenter on the BBC A look back at this month’s solar eclipse Listeners’ emails about our sound quality and night time radio propagation   The News: Blue Origin’s space tourism auction New experiments launched to the ISS NASA looking for extra cash for another lunar lander 3 new missions to explore Venus US DoD look at reusable rockets for military logistics ESA’s large mission planning for the next decade   Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery,Read More →

#108 – June 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Buying and selling astronomy kit A possible resolution to the Wiltshire Audio Anomaly   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: Heavy metal vapours detected around comets A weird supernova Seafloor volcanoes on Europa   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 StevenRead More →

#107 – May 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Farewell to Michael Collins Jeni back on the radio, other podcasts and TV – cc/crhxtz Listeners’ emails   The News: Blue Origin prepares to take space tourists The launch of China’s new Space Station & falling space debris Can you help the Royal Astronomical Society find the UK’s moon trees? cc/rrhxtz SpaceX reaches a production/economic milestone with a 10th reuse of a Falcon 9 booster 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 ourRead More →

#107 – May 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Binocular observing Do you want Ralph’s 115 triplet refractor & goto mount? The Wiltshire Audio Anomaly Listeners emails on historical images and refractor rivalry The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: An update on that life on Venus story Life around Proxima Centauri is in for a blast More data to add to the universe’s expansion rate conundrum Was Oumuamua really an interstellar comet? 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 SkyRead More →

Podcast Extra: Mars Ingenuity 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. Awesome Astronomy Go to SourceRead More →

#106 – April 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: The ‘Wiltshire Audio Anomaly’ 20% off the book Vera Rubin – A Life for US listeners using url: hup.harvard.edu/exhibits/HX7578 @StargazerRob’s alternative astrophotographer of the year award Listeners’ emails The News: April Fools research papers Commemorating 60 years since Yuri Gagarin’s 1st Spaceflight An update on @NASA’s Mars Ingenuity copter Rounding up @SpaceX’s metal toilet roll tube developments & explosions NASA’s Artemis program update and presidential priorities for NASA Cluttered & congested orbits leading to satellite collisions Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. AndRead More →

#106 – April 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Jen finally becomes Dr Jen – bow down pitiful Earthlings! Binocular astronomy Get the book Vera Rubin – A Life by Jacqueline and Simon Mitton with 25% off by emailing cs-books@wiley.com, and quoting the discount code H0350 (mentioning Awesome Astronomy probably wouldn’t go amiss too) Emails from listeners correcting a possible error and posing a teasing question about US refractors. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: UCL researchers unravel the mystery of the Antikythera mechanism The Event Horizon Telescope improves the image of a supermassive black hole by revealing its magnetic fieldsRead More →

#105 – March 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Vaccination cometh to Awesome Astronomy The UK’s unorthodox meteor sample return mission A listener’s email follow up to last month’s Q&A The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have: SpaceX launch and land a 13 storey Starship Japan joins NASA’s moon programme NASA releases its science goals for Project Artemis Northrop Grumman begins work on NASA’s Mars sample return The OSIRIS-REx mission prepares for May asteroid departure 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 fourRead More →

#105 – March 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Paul becomes the new Vice President of Wycombe Astronomical Society Jen gets a date for her PhD viva Jen promoting NASA’s Perseverance rover on the BBC Get ready for Teentech Live on 5th March Emails from listeners highlighting the good and bad in Awesome Astronomy   The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: The Cygnus X-1 black hole must be much bigger than we thought A single neutrino detection reveals a super-supermassive blackhole Was the impact that killed the dinosaurs an asteroid or comet? Earth’s regular magnetic pole reversals may be catastrophic toRead More →

Podcast Extra: How to Become an Astronaut As the European Space Agency gears up to opening its next recruitment campaign from 31 March to 28 May 2021, we take you through: The entry requirements The selection process The missions successful candidates are expected to fly The first astronaut recruitment trawl for candidates with physical disabilities 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 Awesome Astronomy Go to SourceRead More →

#104 – February 2021 Part 2 The Discussion: Correcting the orbits of Jupiter’s moons Welcoming Galaxy Rise’s Dustin Ruoff onto the Podcast Crew Causing terrorism scares with telescopes The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have: NASA provides more details for its lunar space station plans China’s space station plans Turkey look to become a spacefaring nation The European Space Agency looks for more astronauts The UAE’s Hope Mission & China’s Tianwen-1 make it into Mars orbit 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’Read More →

#104 – February 2021 Part 1 The Discussion: Jeni on the Highbrow Drivel podcast More astronomy goodness at Sky Guide The amateur astronomy/dogging connection A review of George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky Listener emails about the birth of amateur astroimaging & ‘Arecedos’ The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: A hot Jupiter world with a totally transparent atmosphere New research suggest the most abundant stars can fuel photosynthesis Elliptical galaxies forming new stars hundreds of times faster than our Milky Way Citizen scientists creates a 3D map of largely invisible brown dwarf stars Main News story: @ESA’s #CHEOPS satellite looks atRead More →