#111 - September 2021 Part 2

09/15/21 • 67 min

AWESOME ASTRONOMY

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.

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?

Previous Episode

#111 - September 2021 Part 1

The Discussion:

Jeni Nearly joined a cult
Farewell to Carolyn Shoemaker
The Room of Doom at Redditch Astronomical Society
The new updated Sky Guide app (that Jen works on)
Listeners’ emails on how annoying we are and nebulae

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

A new classification of habitable exoplanets
Astronomers find thousands of new galaxies
Red Dwarf stars might not be as hostile to life as previously thought
Have we found a new spiral arm to the Milky Way?
Why last year’s Comet ATLAS wasn’t the comet of a generation

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

Q&A: Why is the CMB microwave light still visible if it was first emitted 13billion-ish years ago? From our good friend Graeme Durden of Kent in the UK.

Next Episode

#112 - October 2021 Part 1

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.