Awesome Astronomy - Twinkle Podcast Extra

Paul Hill, Ralph Wilkins and Dr. Jenifer Millard host. Damien Phillips, John Wildridge and Dustin Ruoff produce. This podcast extra (with Dr. Jen hosting!) is all about our favourite topic of them all, exoplanets. Thanks to our good friends Ian and Billy, we'll be taking a look at the very exciting upcoming low-Earth orbit space mission Twinkle. This small satellite will help us better understand the chemical composition of known exoplanets, which in turn will help us understand their history - and even their weather!   Guests: Ian Stokesbury - Master of astrophysics and lead systems engineer at Blue Skies Space. Ian has a background in low Earth orbit Earth monitoring missions and constellations, but is now making the leap to other planets.   Dr. Billy Edwards - Gained his PhD in Astrophysics from UCL, specialising in observing exoplanet atmospheres with space based telescopes. He's stayed on at UCL and is now a project scientist for the Twinkle Space Mission.   In this podcast extra, we discuss: The origin of the Twinkle Space Mission and Blue Skies Space, the company behind the satellite, including an enlightening discussion on why some space missions are chosen, and why some seem to just always miss out. Twinkle's unique science instruments (including an astonishingly wide wavelength range), exoplanet science goals, and surprising but very carefully considered size. Twinkle's construction  and launch window Ian and Billy's wildest hopes and dreams for Twinkle observations (including Uranus and Neptune!!) and future follow-up missions An invitation for YOU to join in with the ExoClock mission. Help professional astronomers monitor transiting exoplanets!   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).   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].