The Cosmic Savannah

Latest Episodes:

Mini Episode: "From Hospitality to aspiring Astronomer" Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

In this mini-episode, we talk with Bret Yotti a student and teaching assistant from the University of Cape Town (UCT) as well as a presenter at the Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town. We look at Bret's journey in astronomy and why he chose this path. We also find out about his life as a teaching assistant whilst being a student as well at UCT and the work he is doing for the planetarium. Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, transcript and related links.

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Mini Episode: "But How Does Astronomy Benefit Humanity?!" Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

In this mini-episode we talk with PhD candidate Tshiamiso Makwela from the University of Cape Town. She shared with us some interesting results from studies answering pressing questions in the field of Astronomy Education Research. Why do students struggle with Astronomy? How can Astronomy be beneficial to society at large? Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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Mini Episode: The Most Powerful Explosion Ever Recorded Aug 27, 2020

Show notes

In this mini episode we talk with Reikantseone Diretse. Reika is a Master's student from the University of Cape Town. He talks about his involvement with the ThunderKAT project to spot mysterious "transient" objects. Reika also tells us about his work with the most powerful gamma-ray burst that has ever been recorded! Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, related links and the full transcript.

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Mini Episode: Seeing Beyond the Satellites Aug 20, 2020

Show notes

In this mini-episode we talk with PhD student Brandon Engelbrecht from the University of Western Cape (UWC). We discuss his current work in removing radio frequency interference (RFI) from MeerKAT and how he came to work with one of the largest radio telescope in the world. Check out the full show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com for more info, pictures, transcript and related links.

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Mini Episode: Watching the watchers Aug 13, 2020

Show notes

In this special mini episode of the Cosmic Savannah, we are joined by Timothy Roelf who is a Masters student at the University of Cape Town. Tim talks about his project which is going to contribute a lot to improving the performance of astronomical telescopes such as MeerLICHT and BlackGEM.

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Special Episode: Annular Solar Eclipse 21 June 2020 Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

In this special bonus episode we discuss the upcoming Annular Solar Eclipse occurring on 21 June 2020 across much of Africa and Asia!

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Episode 25: A Year in Review Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

In this the final episode of Season 2 of The Cosmic Savannah podcast, Dan and Jacinta look back on the past year and some of their favourite episodes. They discuss asteroids, aliens, black holes, giant Galactic bubbles and much more. We also look forward to the year ahead and some of the exciting events to to come in 2020/21 including the launch of the James Webb Space Telescopes and a new Mars Rover!

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Episode 24: HIRAX Apr 10, 2020

Show notes

Episode 24 features Professor Kavilan Moodley who joins us to discuss another exciting project in radio astronomy in South Africa, HIRAX! HIRAX is a radio telescope array that will detect remnant ripples in the distribution of galaxies that originate from primordial sound waves that existed in the early universe. This can be used for charting the expansion history of the universe and for shedding light on the nature of dark energy.

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Episode 23: ThunderKAT Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 23 of The Cosmic Savannah podcast, we are joined by the Head of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town, Professor Patrick Woudt. Patrick talks about the exciting ThunderKAT project which has recently observed a black hole ejecting material at close to the speed of light out to some of the largest angular distances (separations) ever seen!

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Episode 22: Milky Way blowing bubbles! Mar 12, 2020

Show notes

This week on The Cosmic Savannah Podcast week we are joined by Dr Fernando Camilo who is the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) Chief Scientist. We chat with Fernando about MeerKAT and the recent discovery of enormous balloon-like structures that tower hundreds of light-years above and below the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

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