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
There's trouble in paradise as Christmas evening in the Cydonia bunker turns ugly. Alcohol may be the culprit. But equally, the blame may lie with suffering a whole day of pretending to like one another and f***ing Christmas songs!
So, while tensions rise and arguments flare, Ralph, Paul and Jen run through the memorable space and astronomy events of 2017 and look forward to the treats in store for 2018.
Then there's the small matter of John's annual outtake reel specifically designed to embarrass the hosts and push the bounds of decency as far as politeness will allow!
Main music courtesy of Star Salzman
Additional free music archive tracks:
In this podcast extra we begin a series, suggested by listener Sean Smith, of explaining the considerations involved in choosing practical astronomy equipment. This first in the series discusses one of the most important items in your amateur astronomy tool kit: Eyepieces.
This discussion takes in:
Don't forget our end of year review and Newtonmass panotmime will be available to download on Christmas Day.
The Discussion: Jeni gets her name in lights – well, bold print, as she contributes (what else but graphs) to a published research paper and Ralph takes a look at Ben Cacase's very own new asterism in the heart of Auriga and reads a defiant message from Michelle of 'ze resistonce'.
The News: It's a very rocky month as we round up the following space and astronomy news stories:
Hat of Woo/Astronomy Concept mash-up: This month Paul's festering Hat of Woo is a little less fetid as we discuss a plausible but untested concept that has just a faint whiff of woo about it. This month we look at The Nemesis 'Theory' which suggests the sun has a brown dwarf companion which causes periodic extinction events – and, of course, we're long overdue an extinction and NASA are covering it all up!!!
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're tackling a question about meteor showers and how we calculate their orbits:
I was wondering if all known meteor showers are definitely associated with a comet? Also, how do astronomers determine the orbit of a comet using just a few locations on the sky? Ben Cacase, Manhattan, New York via email
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 December's moon phases.
In this podcast extra episode Jeni discusses the recent detection of two colliding neutron stars and their observation in both gravitational waves and all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Jeni chats with Dr Edward Gomez, Education Director at the Las Cumbres Observatory and Cardiff University's Gravitational Physics Research Group Leader, Professor Patrick Sutton about the historic observations, what we can learn from these events, the future of gravitational wave astronomy and how this new window into the universe can help us improve some of the fundamentals of our knowledge of space and time.
We also put listeners' questions on these subjects from Raoul Van Eindhoven, @FuzzySemi and @calcomega to Patrick.
The Discussion: Britain shows that it won't just roll over and let America take the lead in intimidating academic freedom and Jen recounts her gravitational waves research conference in Brighton in October.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
The Interview: This month Cardiff University's Professor Mark Hannam tells us more about the recent observation of colliding neutron stars and this window into a new realm of astronomy.
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're tackling a question about the Drake Equation:
"It strikes me that the Drake equation sets the probability of life at either (1) pretty close to zero - in which case surely we'd be worth a visit. OR (2) very numerous - in which case there's every chance alien life might be driving past on their annual holiday. Or somewhere in between!
I think I'm saying that, yes overall I agree with the saying "seeing is believing", but at the same time I don't taking not seeing as proof of non existence. I've never seen a Polar Bear (you don't in Leeds) but I'm pretty sure they are out there."
John Levett in Leeds, UK
What to look out, and up, for in November.
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 November's moon phases.
In this podcast extra, we discuss the changing value of the Hubble Constant since 2000 – or put more simply, our narrowing down of how quickly the universe is expanding. This discussion takes in:
The Discussion: You'd be forgiven for thinking we recorded this episode drunk – but we assure you, we weren't. And you'll have to forgive us for our crappy audio and shameless national stereotyping!
But in this show, recorded from our dark sky star party in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, we discuss the event, Jeni's talk on exoplanet research and we take a look at listeners' emails.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Hat of Woo: Paul's festering Hat of Woo gets another airing as we take a look at the end of the world on 23rd September as planet Nibiru collides with Earth (or the beginning of The Rapture, if the world doesn't end). Assuming you're reading this or listening to the podcast, the world clearly didn't end!
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're tackling a question about the consequences of discovering life on another planet to planetary exploration:
"Let's say the next Mars rover that is tweaked to find life on Mars finds some microbial life what impact would that have on the whole Mars exploration plans? I cannot imagine that one can send a crew of astronauts to Mars' surface and avoid contamination. If Mars is declared some sort of reserve shouldn't we then shelve all these plans? Clemens Unger, Melbourne Australia
What to look out, and up, for in October.
Jeni, Paul & Ralph 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 October's moon phases.
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