The Discussion:

• Discrimination in science and academia
• Returning to the Welsh valleys to attempt astronomy
• Free NASA merch from Official NASA Gear
• Listener’s comments on Boeing and the state of spaceflight innovation.

The News:

• Assembly of China’s Tiangong space station
• Artemis 1 wet rehearsal attempt #2
• France join the Artemis Accord
• NASA outsources moon suit developments
• SpaceX’s critical approval for starship flight tests

The news discussion: NASA to formally investigate UFOs – is this wise?

Q&A: How many people can you get on the International Space Station? From our good friend O G Duddy (@Derry_Man1) in Derry, Northern Ireland.

The Discussion:

• You can now watch Jen presenting on BBC TV’s Weatherman Walking (from 06:40)
• Walking, astronomy and animal abuse in the New Forest
• NASA find the Awesome Astronomy bunker on Mars!
• Listeners’ emails on
• • Obscure names for constellations
  • Podcast editorial suggestions
  • Sending us your astrophotography

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

• A companion star that survived a supernova!
• Galaxies that had their dark matter stripped away
• Everything we thought we knew about galaxy evolution is wrong L
• We were just buzzed by an asteroid a mile wide.

The big news story: Only an image of the black hole region at the centre of our galaxy!

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Draco with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in June.

Q&A:

What sites and activities could you recommend for disabled amateur astronomers? From our good friend Ash in Wales.

The Discussion:

• Getting back in the studio
• Watch us recording in our behind the scenes 10th Anniversary show
• Inspiring children to think about careers in science
• Listener’s emails about swearing in the podcast and catching objects from space.

The News:

• Our favourite Welsh satellite space company, Space Forge
• Rocket Lab’s attempt to catch a falling rocket booster with a helicopter
• More JWST updates
• Jeff Bezos buys every western rocket (that’s not owned by Musk) for the next 5 years
• UK Space Energy initiative’s concept for a Bond villain style space-based solar power plant

The news discussion: The ongoing saga of Boeing’s Starliner spaceship

Q&A: Blue Origin have New Glenn and New Shepard rockets, named after American pioneers of spaceflight. Assuming that this isn’t going to just be the men, does this mean that in the future we can expect a rocket called “New Ride”? From our good friend Andy Burns in the UK.

The Discussion:

• Jeni’s magazine article on ‘everything JWST’
• UK government's social mobility commissioner gets us wound up
• Listeners’ emails on:
• • Professional vs amateur astronomy
  • Artificial Intelligence in consumer telescopes
  • JWST’s Early Release Observations

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

• New type of nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer
• Detecting life-giving hydrothermal vents on Saturn’s moon Europa
• An exoplanet around a dead star in a potential habitable zone
• ’Impossible’ galaxies with no dark matter

The big news story: the Planetary Science Decadal Survey is out!

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Q&A:

Will JWST be able to confirm the existence of the Ort Cloud? From our good friend Oren Wyche in Maryland USA.

Also check out our YouTube channel here for much more astronomy and spacey goodness: https://www.youtube.com/awesomeastronomy?sub_confirmation=1

The Discussion:

• Watching a SpaceX Starlink launch
• Tales from this month’s AstroCamp star party
• Jeni on the radio and TV again
• A listener’s email on JWST’s first image.

The News:

• NASA’s moon rocket finally undergoes testing for the Artemis 1 moon mission next month!
• Rocket Lab attempt to catch a falling rocket booster with a helicopter
• Further affects of the war in Ukraine to the spaceflight industry
• Jeff Bezos buys every western rocket (that’s not owned by Musk) for the next 5 years

The news discussion: The Axiom-1 mission to the International Space Station

Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we close this segment of the show with a focus on Dark Nebulas.

The Discussion:

• Observing trip with Cardiff Uni students
• Really bright ISS passes
• Jen’s first TV presenting gig about to be released
• Watching a SpaceX launch
• Listeners' email about previous episodes

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have:

• NASA think JWST will perform better than expected! (see also https://youtu.be/YJMBvcG7nRM)
• A milestone 5,000 confirmed exoplanets (see also https://youtu.be/ByfigQW-6Mk)
• The carbon impact of running large observatories
• ’Impossible’ supermassive-blackhole orbits discovered

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Leo with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in April.

Q&A:

How soon, at current space travel speeds, would we as a species have to leave the galactic neighbourhood in order to avoid the inevitable Milky Way/Andromeda galaxy collision catastrophe?

The Discussion:

• A little bit of singing to brighten your day and abuse your ears
• It's Messier Marathon season
• A Messier challenge
• A great listeners' email on naming space missions

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• Space Forge's reusable satellites demonstrator
• ESA's demonstrator for extracting oxygen from the lunar surface
• The countdown to the death of NASA's Mars Insight lander
• SpaceX's Starship developments
• The future for ExoMars and the ISS

Main news story: The knock on effects to cooperation in space caused by the situation in Ukraine.

Nebulae Our section of the show explaining every type of nebulae in the galaxy that you can oberse or image for yourself. This month we cover Reflection Nebulae.

The Discussion:

• Stargazing & post-covid travel
• A lovely email from our good friend @SsonnyY
• The joys of being an astronomy beginner
• Pioneer 10’s 50th anniversary

The News:

Rounding up the astronomy news in March, we have:

• A new planet discovered in our neighbouring Alpha Centauri system
• A massive new dataset of 4.4m brand new radio objects to get excited about
• Quasars, blazars, - turns out they’re all the same thing
• The first observation of a free floating black hole
• Mini-Neptunes may evolve into super Earths

Big News Story: First light of the IXPE X-ray telescope

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Camelopardalis with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in March.

The Discussion:

• Techniquest in Cardiff Bay
• Our Good friend Dylan O’Donnell at Star Stuff
• A listener’s email on the naming of spacecraft, prompting a debate on history, cultures and tearing down statues.

The News:

• Britain’s ambitious spaceports hit regulatory purgatory
• China’s plans for this year include space station completion, comet and asteroid missions
• Unknown heroines of space & astronomy for International Women in Science Day

The news discussion: NASA contract a Mars Sample return rocket.

Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on Emission Nebulae.

Q&A:

Why do astronauts travelling from the earth to the moon appear to experience complete weightlessness? From our good friend Paul Waterhouse in the Forest of Dean, UK

The Discussion:

• AstroCamp returns for listeners to observe with us 2-5th April. Book tickets here.
• Listeners’ emails on:
• • A Venus sample return mission
  • Why our website is so poor L

The News:

• A very big far away star with a very big planet
• Unpicking the riddle of where the matter is that makes up all the stars
• Another of Saturn moons may be hiding an ocean
• Why there are no newly formed stars within 500 light years of the Sun

Big News Story: a mysterious radio signal points to a new type of magnetar

The Sky Guide:

This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Auriga with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February.

If you want to help chart the advancing light pollution: cpre.org.uk/what-we-care-about/nature-and-landscapes/dark-skies/star-count-2022/

Q&A:

How are black holes able to evaporate? From our good friend Mitch in the United States.