The Discussion:

• Astronomy in Lego
• Jeni on the BBC
• Listeners emails on space traffic control and the Chinese space programme

The News:

• SpaceX’s troubled start to 2022
• New York Times reports sexual harassment at SpaceX
• International Space Station operations extended to 2030
• A look at Arianespace

The news discussion: JWST

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 supernova remnants.

The Discussion:

• Astronomy Christmas presents
• Listener’s email about the value of early human space endeavours
• Listener’s email about the marvelousness of Musk

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

• The largest valley in the solar system (on Mars) is packed with water
• More evidence to suggest there may be living organisms in Venus’ atmosphere
• The sharpest images yet of the region around our galaxy’s supermassive black hole
• Astronomers find 70 new rogue planets free-floating in space
• The James Webb Space Telescope finally launches!

The Interview: this month we interview… the constellation Orion!

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Orion 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 January.

We defer our usual Xmas frivolity to go to NASA’s coverage of Elon Musk’s Penetrating Explorer Neo Insertion System rocket delivering NASA’s Advanced Solar System probe to Uranus and look back at the astronomy and space exploration highlights of 2021:

• The first detection of an exoplanet in another galaxy, the first exomoon and the most abundant stars perhaps being habitable hosts
• A great alignment of planets in the sky for backyard astronomers
• NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars
• The advances in China’s space programme
• The seismic shift in American commercial spaceflight

We then look forward to the anticipated highlights of 2022:

• For astronomers, the moon will be passing in front of planets and bright star Porrima
• Artemis 1 should kickstart NASA’s return to the moon
• SpaceX tests at Boca Chca should put of a show whatever the results

But remember y’all, Christmas is all about the children. And space. But mostly the children. Who are our future. In space. With children.

The Discussion:

• Jen becomes the Managing Editor of the Sky Guide app and talks hazardous asteroids on BBC1’s Breakfast show
• Observing Comet Leonard
• Listeners emails on colonising the galaxy and killing Mars potatoes

The News:

• Recreating Mars in Antarctica
• Future space tourists are unlikely to be getting official astronaut wings
• News ways to capture space debris
• Elon Musk announces concerns over the viability of his Starship rocket

The news discussion: With the recent Russian anti-satellite test, are we headed for Kessler Syndrome?

Nebulas : Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we’re turning our attention to 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 Planetary Nebulae.

Q&A: How small would an asteroid need to be to enable a 14.5st human to jump up and that would be enough to reach escape velocity? From our good friend Lee King (@tinyleaks on Twitter).

The Discussion:

• Sex with aliens (sorry)
• Jen’s reveals the secrets of TV trickery
• AweAst now has videos! Head over to YouTube
• Emails about our new YouTube channel & aliens watching us

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

• Water on exoplanets probably didn’t come from comets
• Another 301 exoplanets drop out of old Kepler data
• An(other) weird signal from outer space
• Violent galaxy growth in the early universe
• Are exoplanets made of strange materials not conducive to life?
• A deep dive into the James Webb Space Telescope 3 weeks before launch

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Taurus 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 December.

The Discussion:

• Jen as a space expert on BBC1’s Breakfast show
• AweAst on YouTube is coming! Head over and help us out by subscribing here.
• An email on the less than stellar working conditions at Blue Origin

The News:

• The results of Astro2020 - the next decadal survey from the US National Academies of Sciences
• NASA’s moon programme officially slips back a year
• SpaceX’s 3rd crewed launch to the International Space Station
• Heinz go all ‘Mark Watney’ with tomatoes.

The news discussion: Commercial plans to build TWO space stations before 2030.

Nebulas: Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we’re turning our attention to the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. In the coming months we’ll delve into each type of nebula.

Q&A: How many journeys would it take for all space tourists' ejected faeces to coalesce into a single stool of such mass that its gravity would turn it to a rock of a size that posed enough of a threat to existence that an asteroid redirect-type intervention would be required? From our good friend Andrew Osborne in the UK.

The Discussion:

• A bonanza of radio interviews
• Jeni’s guide to the darkest and best places to stargaze in the UK
• A trip to the satellite company Space Forge.
• Emails about radio interviews and the first AweAst episodes

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

• Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is speeding up
• Crazy exoplanets orbits
• Red and dead galaxies
• Solving the mystery of alien radio signals
• The 1st exoplanet discovery in another galaxy

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Perseus 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 November.

Q&A: Have you any advice to offer a 14 year old budding astronaut, mission controller or space telescope designer? From our good friend Peter Coates (not that one) by email.

The Discussion:

• Tales from a dark sky weekend
• Jen appearing on the Cosmic Companion and at the Open University Space Society
• Emails on space tourism and from a US state penitentiary

The News:

• NASA gets ready to test an asteroid redirect mission
• Shatner in space
• Mixed fortunes in the news for Bezos & Musk
• The James Webb Space Telescope is still on track for a December launch

The news discussion: NASA’s Lucy mission to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. This month we complete this segment with a look at moons around asteroids and the tantalising glimpses of moons around planets outside our solar system.

The Discussion:

• Murder on a submarine
• Jeni’s exoplanet talk for the Open University Space Society - available here on YouTube
• An email from Eastern Europe prompting a discussion on future energy harvesting

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have:

• Understanding asteroids using ground based telescopes
• Solving The Mysterious Case of the Missing Supernova
• Discovering a new asteroid close to the Sun
• Evidence of recent volcanoes on Venus
• A look at the joys of star parties (not just ours!)

The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Lacerta 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 October.

Q&A: Is there more matter in the Universe now than when the Big Bang happened? From our good friend Nick Massey on Facebook.

The Discussion:

• Our practical astronomy gathering is back – join us in Wales on 2-5th October
• Jen is contributing to Andy Oppenheimer’s book Stars of Orion
• Submit your support for Lego to create a clockwork solar system
• Watch Jen’s free online exoplanet talk for the Open University Space Society
• Emails from our good friends:
  • Casey Ash in Thailand, about the perennial issue of satellite constellations
  • Conor Brian from Texas about the first Martian settlers

The News:

• Ongoing problems with the James Webb Space Telescope as it nears launch.
• The first NASA Artemis moon mission suffers a setback
• The International Space Station’s new module is now functional
• Inspiration4 - the first civilian mission to space
• Commercial rocket companies Astra & Firefly put on the firework show
• NASA’s Perseverance rover collects its first Mars samples for a return to Earth

The news discussion: Is commercial spaceflight just a billionaires’ plaything?

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system’s moons. This month we reach the last major solar system body to have moons: Pluto.