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
In this podcast extra episode for the dark sky star party held by the Podcast Crew, we discuss:
The Discussion: Jeni's back and the band is back together to discuss watching this year's Perseid meteor shower and coverage of the Great American Eclipse
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
'The Other Section': This month we keep Paul's festering Hat of Woo out of sight and take a long look at the Voyager spacecraft on the 40th anniversary of this programme, which revealed the solar system unlike any other space mission.
What to look out, and up, for in September.What to look out, and up, for in September.
Ralph, Paul & Jeni 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 September's moon phases.
In this podcast extra episode we present our full length interview with test pilot, astronaut and lunar module pilot on Apollo 16, General Charlie Duke.
Drawing on this unique set of experiences, we asked Charlie:
The Discussion: Jeni's bizarrely decided that a holiday is preferable to being locked in a bunker with two megalomaniacal Martians, so you're left with an exhausted Paul and a jetlagged Ralph this month. What could go wrong? We discuss outreach at science festivals and a happy resolution to the light pollution issue in the Brecon Beacons dark sky reserve.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
Astronomy You've Probably Never Heard Of: This month we give Paul's festering Hat of Woo and airing as we kick start another occasional feature looking into the science progress in areas (or astronomers) you've probably never heard of. This month we look at cosmology and the expanding universe from the perspective of the much-overshadowed astronomy giant, Vesto Slipher.
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 effects of using a centrifuge to simulate gravity in space:
"Let's say we build a spaceship which contains a massive wheel which rotates to generate 1G. If you are standing on the inside of the outer wall of the wheel, you will be rotating at the same speed as the wheel and therefore feel the 1G. (Like you see in 2001 – A space Odyssey). So the artificial gravity is only created by the rotation and centrifugal force and not by the distortion of space time due to a massive body.
Now what will happen when I jump? When I jump up, I am no longer connected to floor of the wheel. What happens to me? As I understand it, I should start to float inside the wheel, like they do in the ISS. The reason is that the centrifugal force generated by rotating wheel no longer applies to me as I am longer connected.
If this is the case, then you better never run inside the wheel (running means you will have both feet of the ground between steps) and most likely need to wear Velcro shoes to ensure you stay connect to the floor of the wheel.
Am I missing something as a lot of proposed interplanetary spaceships include some sort of wheel to generate artificial gravity? Your humble listener and collector of your podcast posters.
Raoul (@QuidneIT on Twitter) in Oxfordshire
What to look out, and up, for in August.
Ralph & Paul 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 August's moon phases.
In this podcast extra, Jeni recalls her most recent research trip at the Japanese Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) situated outside Sutherland in South Africa. This research trip continues Jeni's endeavours to collect exoplanet transit data.
In this episode we cover:
The Discussion: Combating light pollution for the AstroCamp in the Welsh Brecon Beacons and fighting to help the National Park retain its International Dark Sky Reserve status. Then we turn our attention to politics in space science and listeners' views on politics in podcasts.
The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have:
The Hat of Woo: This month we look at EM drives and NASA's cover up hiding the warp drive they've developed at their super-secret Eagleworks and aren't using but they definitely, definitely have it. Honestly.
What to look out, and up, for in July.
July is here and the summer solstice is just behind us, meaning we're on the glide slope to every lengthening nights. So the team's here to pick their highlights for this month's skies; starting with the planets 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 July's moon phases.
The Interview: On the discovery of only humanity's third black hole merger by the incredible Laser Interferometry Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), Jeni's speaks with Professor Patrick Sutton, Head of Cardiff University's Gravitational Physics Group and member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration who develops new strategies to detect gravitational wave bursts and creates techniques for locating these sources on the sky for modelling and simulations.
In this interview Jeni asks Patrick about:
The Announcement: For a physics deep dive into the analysis, the data and the modelling of the new black hole merger detected by LIGO this month, LIGO Governing Council member Professor Sathyaprakash (Sathya to his friends) delivers the first lecture on this discovery.
Return to the Interview: In this segment we return to Professor Patrick Sutton who tells Jen about:
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