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 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.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
