AWESOME ASTRONOMY

#38 - August 2015


Listen Later

A longer episode this month as we have so much to discuss and cram into the show!

The Discussion: Upcoming full-length interviews with 4-time Shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton & Don Thomas, Skylab 3 & STS-3 astronaut Jack Lousma and Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden. Dragging Sokol spacesuits around the UK for educational endeavours, promoting astronomy with the UK Space Agency at the Harwell campus and enjoying Nelly Ben Hayoun's asteroid movie, Disaster Playground, at the British Film Institute.

The News: This month we take a look at NASA's historic close up of the outer most classical planet as the New Horizon's spacecraft flies by the Pluto system. CERN's discovery of a new particle using the Large Hadron Collider – the Pentaquark. The possibility that those mysterious white spots on dwarf planet Ceres are creating a localised atmosphere. A Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting so close to its parent star that its atmosphere is being blown away like a comet's tail and Europe's Rosetta spacecraft continues to attempt re-contact with the functioning Philae comet lander.

The 5 Minute Concept: We kick off a series of back-to-basics 5 Minute Concepts for practical astronomers with a look at what those numbers on your telescope mean. This is a tour of aperture, focal length and focal ratio.

The Interview: This month we welcome back Dr Joe Liske for the final time to tell us about the future of the European Southern Observatory and their exoplanet hunting, dark energy characterising European Extremely Large Telescope.

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 Ralph & Paul answer:

· What's excited you more: Rosetta or New Horizons? For me, the latter.Eric Emms, London UK, via Twitter

Sci-fi Wars: Matt Kingsnorth & Phil St Pier join us again to go through the listeners' results in our Sci-Fi Wars series. You voted for your Top Ten Sci-fi TV Series, books and movies. We present the results!

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

AWESOME ASTRONOMYBy Paul & Dr Jeni

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

115 ratings


More shows like AWESOME ASTRONOMY

View all
StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson

StarTalk Radio

14,302 Listeners

The 365 Days of Astronomy by 365DaysOfAstronomy.org

The 365 Days of Astronomy

352 Listeners

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

1,350 Listeners

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary by Stuart Gary

SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

326 Listeners

Ask a Spaceman! by Paul M. Sutter

Ask a Spaceman!

831 Listeners

Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Astronomy Cast

2,863 Listeners

Universe Today Podcast by Fraser Cain

Universe Today Podcast

560 Listeners

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries by Professor Fred Watson and Andrew Dunkley

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries

231 Listeners

Houston We Have a Podcast by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Houston We Have a Podcast

1,250 Listeners

Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe by iHeartPodcasts

Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

2,350 Listeners

The Supermassive Podcast by The Royal Astronomical Society

The Supermassive Podcast

331 Listeners

NASA's Curious Universe by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA's Curious Universe

880 Listeners

Why This Universe? by Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

Why This Universe?

394 Listeners

This Week in Space (Audio) by TWiT

This Week in Space (Audio)

155 Listeners

Astrum Space by Astrum

Astrum Space

136 Listeners