Stay ConnectedAwesome Astronomy explores the frontiers of science, space and our evolving understanding of the universe.
Join Ralph, Paul & Jeni for informative and fun astronomy programmes dedicated to space and astronomy news and monthly podcast extras covering hot topics and special interviews in the world of science and astronomy.
Copyright: © Ralph, Paul, Jen
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.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
