Paul Hill, Ralph Wilkins and Jenifer Millard host. Damien Phillips and John Wildridge produce.

The Discussion: A bumper episode beginning with the April stargazing extravaganza run by the Awesome Astronomy team on 27th - 30th April, a reminder to email us with your best space missions of the last 62 years, a stroll down Rocketry Lane, come along to hear Jeni talk at A Pint of Science on 20-22nd May at Beelzebub's in Cardiff, and listeners’ emails (including how you amateurs can participate in occultation observation science).

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

- Did Jupiter’s orbit move 2½ billion miles closer to Earth in the early solar system?

- An Ice Age and extinction event 12,800 years ago was likely caused by a meteor impact.

- A vast meteor over the Bering Sea.

- LIGO gets an upgrade for better gravitational wave discoveries.

- Looking for carbon monoxide in the atmospheres of exoplanets.

- Using globular clusters to measure the size & mass of the Milky Way.

Main news story: 1) The 1st direct observation of exoplanets using optical interferometry

The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in April:

- A galactic conjunction on 8th/9th and the Lyrid meteor shower peaking on 22nd April.

- Must observe galaxies in Leo and the jewels of Ursa Major and Canes Venatici.

Main Deep Sky Object: Messier 13, The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules.

The Interview: Jeni talks to Dr. Sarah Ragan, a lecturer at Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy about how to become a professional astronomer, do stars care what conditions they form in and the upcoming Pint of Science talks.

http://www.awesomeastronomy.com

Bio: Awesome Astronomy is a podcast beamed direct from an underground bunker on Mars to promote science, space and astronomy (and enslave Earth if all goes well).

 

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