A strange metal monolith has been found in the Utah desert. What is it? What is its purpose? Who put it there? And why can you not hide anything on the surface of planet Earth for long?

Space news! The world of space chugs on: we recently had the first commercial crewed mission to the International Space Station, the rover Perseverance is well on its way to Mars, the radio antenna in Australia used to communicate with the Voyager 2 craft has been repaired and it seems all is well, the Aricebo radio telescope is not well at all and could collapse at any moment, and finally, there has been a mockup of a potential lunar habitation

Today Kechil tells us about the latest research on moons in our solar system: a glowing Jovian moon and an unexpected organic chemical in one of Saturn's moon's upper atmosphere. It's all happening out there.

The Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town has been busy with the South African Astronomical Observatory, together creating a planetarium show to tell the world, and the South African public, about the wonders of local astronomy. If you ever wanted to visit Sutherland and all the telescopes, or see what the MeerKAT radio telescope dishes look like - go watch Rising Star. Dr Sally MacFarlane was one of the people behind this show and here talks to Kechil about it.

https://www.iziko.org.za/shows/

This month is a Blue Moon - two Full Moons in one calendar month. Each Full Moon has a particular name but these names were created in the northern hemisphere and don't relate to us down here very well. The Centre for Astronomical Heritage has created new Full Moon names and here to talk about it is Auke Slotegraaf. If you would like to find out more, visit https://cfah.org.za/fullmoon/ and there's even a calendar there you can download for free.

If you fancy a trip out into the Karoo where you can look through telescopes, visit the Leeuwenboschfontein Observatory. To find out when it's open to the public see https://www.facebook.com/LeeuwenboschfonteinObservatory/. The festival of astronomy to mark the 200 year anniversary of the founding of the Observatory in Cape Town continues. See https://www.saao.ac.za/saao200/ for details. Also see https://www.scifest.org.za/astrophotography-and-astro-art-competition/ for details of the competition mentioned in the podcast. Lastly asteroids! Kechil mentions a Near Earth Object which came close to Earth last week plus the success of NASA's sample return mission to the asteroid Bennu.

Now is the 200 year anniversary of the establishment of the Observatory in Cape Town, which is the first modern scientific establishment in Africa! Dr Daniel Cunama talks to Kechil about what the South African Astronomical Observatory is doing to mark this special occasion, and you can join in. See www.saao.ac.za for details.

The Cape Town planetarium is open to the public! Ofentse Letebele explains their covid-safety procedures and how you can find out what's going on. It's World Space Week this week, and throughout the continent we are celebrating mobile planetaria, which are taken to rural areas to entertain and educate children on astronomy. Here in Cape Town we have a digital dome at the Iziko Museum which gives a very exciting immersive experience.

There may or may not be life on Venus but what about the geyser-spewing moon Enceladus? It's pretty active and new ice sheets have been detected, Also the International Space Station avoided a piece of space junk last week.

Life on Venus! Could it be possible? A chemical normally only associated in any quantity as a by-product of living processes has been detected in the clouds of Venus. But does this mean there is life on the fiery and inhospitable Goddess of Love?