The Cosmic Savannah

Latest Episodes:

Episode 31: Cosmic Beasts and Where to Find Them Jan 18, 2021

Show notes

This year we get off with a bang as our very own Jacinta has a new paper out and takes her turn in the hot seat to tell us all about it! Along with her colleagues, she has been part of the discovery of two giant radio galaxies using South Africa's powerful MeerKAT telescope. These galaxies are amongst the largest single objects in the Universe and are thought to be quite rare. The fact that MeerKAT detected two of these monsters in a relatively small patch of the sky suggests that giant radio galaxies may actually be much more common than previously thought.

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Bonus: Rerun – Event Horizon Telescope Dec 23, 2020

Show notes

This holiday bonus episode is a re-run of Episode 5 from Season 1. We chat about about supermassive black holes, the Event Horizon Telescope and the African Millimetre Telescope. This bonus episode is in celebration of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics which was awarded to three astrophysicists for their black hole-related research.

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Episode 30: Pretty Planetary Nebulae Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Kelebogile Bonokwane talks with us about her MSc project investigating potential binary stars hiding in the centres of magnificent planetary nebulae. Her work utilises the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) as well as NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

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Episode 29: Zombies of the Cosmos Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

This week we learn all about neutron stars and pulsars, which can be thought of as the "corpses" of dead giant stars. We are firstly joined by Prof Matthew Bailes who tells us all about using the MeerKAT telescope to study pulsars. We then hear from award-winning science journalist Katia Moskvitch about her new book "Neutron stars: The Quest to Understand the Zombies of the Cosmos."

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Episode 28: Under a Shared Sky Nov 12, 2020

Show notes

Join us this week as we explore the 'Intimate Cosmology' of the indigenous people of South Africa, and the importance of preserving these stories for future generations. Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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Episode 27: A Bamboo Planetarium Oct 29, 2020

Show notes

This week's episode sees us celebrate SAAO's 200th anniversary, Dan premiering a full-length planetarium show, and the inspiring work being done by The Travelling Telescope in Kenya.
Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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Episode 26: Beyond 200 years of astronomy in South Africa Oct 15, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Season 3 of The Cosmic Savannah! This week we get up to speed with all the activities over the break, hear from Assoc Prof Vanessa McBride joins about the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) and her role as Head of Research at the SAAO, and her own research in the field of compact binary stars. We also discuss the objectives of the OAD, acknowledging South Africa's difficult past, in striving for an equal and inclusive future for all, in astronomy and beyond.
Check out the show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, links, and the transcript of this episode.

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Mini Episode 8: Capturing the whispers of hydrogen Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

In this mini episode, we chat to Andrew “Andy” Firth, a Masters students at the South African Astronomical Observatory and the University of Cape Town. Andrew tries to detect the faint signals of hydrogen gas in distant galaxies. He is creating an algorithm for stacking data cubes of these galaxies. This clever new technique will be used alongside high-quality MeerKAT radio telescope data. Check out the show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, links and the transcript of this episode.

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Mini Episode 7: Beyond the zone of avoidance Sep 24, 2020

Show notes

Today we chat with Sambatriniaina Rajohnson about her work on the Galactic Plane Survey and the Zone of Avoidance.
Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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Mini Episode: The Universe evolves too Sep 17, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s mini-episode, we chat with Liantsoa Finaritra Randrianjanahary who is a PhD candidate at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). Liantsoa works in the field of cosmology which means he is researching the whole universe as one entity rather than focusing on the individual contents of the universe such as stars and galaxies. Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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