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
What to look out, and up, for in December.
Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year.
And we finish this sky guide with April's moon phases.
An extended Hat of Woo if you like, but for this podcast extra episode we dip our hands back into the festering corners of Paul's hat to take a look at the root causes and the psychology of belief in conspiracy theories.
Not why are they wrong but why do humans believe in conspiracy theories at all?
Do we shoot ourselves in the foot through our educational policies and methods of teaching?
Are we just hardwired to believe in falsehoods, whether more elaborate or more simple than the truth?
The Discussion: Jeni and her Welsh brethren suffered an Earthquake and Ralph takes a look through listeners emails which prompts a discussion about the range of educational outreach that AweAst listeners undertake.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the nature of black holes:
1) I heard in the reporting that the black hole had a physical spin. Does that support the idea that a black hole cannot be a singularity/point since it has a physical spin?
2) The merging black holes lost multiple solar masses in the merging process. If the mass loss wasn't from outside the event horizons, then what was that huge mass loss mechanism when supposedly "nothing can escape from a black hole"?
3) Can gravitational waves eventually be used by astronomers to probe the interior of a black hole?" Lt Col Dave from Florida USA
What to look out, and up, for in March.
Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with March's moon phases.
This Awesome Astronomy episode is inspired by last week's incredible SpaceX launch and listeners' requests to talk a bit more about SpaceX and the advances in commercial spaceflight. In this Podcast Extra, we're joined by spaceflight aficionado Gavin Price (@pilliarscreatio) to discuss:
The Discussion: Friend of the show and lecturer at Jeni's Cardiff University, Dr Ed Gomez is launching a Kickstarter project to create and distribute a children's comic book to encourage children to take an interest and career in science. Jeni tells us about Ada's Adventures in Science, which you can give your support to at http://kck.st/2DI43hg. Paul suffers the adverse effects of being travelling science salesman and Ralph reads out some listeners' emails - including one interesting email that suggests 'Kim Jen Un' may be getting into peoples' heads.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the end of our galaxy as we know it:
In 2 million years or so, when we merge with Andromeda, would you notice anything much different from Earth? Or just another Milky Way type structure in the night sky, assuming we merge at an angle? Sean Mulcahy from Yorkshire, UK via Twitter (@sfgmulcahy)
What to look out, and up, for in February.
Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with February's moon phases.
In this podcast extra episode, we're joined again by The Essex Space Agency's Phil St Pier as we take another sideways diversion into science fiction movies as we cast a critical eye over the recent big sci-fi blockbusters:
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Blade Runner 2049
This episode is dedicated to Matt & Ali's arrival of their daughter Evangeline Rosa Kingsnorth.
The Discussion: Paul avoids the big freeze with astronomy cheats, Ralph reads out the latest good and bad reviews, while Jeni becomes a 'Who's Who' question at Cardiff University!
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Science Concept: This month we return to astronomy-related concepts as we delve back into the quantum world for a primer on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and why you cannot know both the position and velocity of a particle.
Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the upcoming astronomical highlights:
What is the one thing in the world of astronomy that each of you is looking forward to in 2018? Steve Brown from Yorkshire via Twitter (@sjb_astro)
What to look out, and up, for in January!
Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers:
Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year:
And we finish this sky guide with January's moon phases.
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