Title : Awesome Astronomy – September Edition (episode 15)
Organization: Awesome Astronomy
Link : www.awesomeastronomy.com
Description: Awesome Astronomy is the show for anyone and everyone who has even the slightest interest in astronomy and science.
Bio: Awesome Astronomy is the show for anyone and everyone who has even the slightest interest in astronomy and science.
Join Ralph & Paul at the beginning of each month, for an informative and fun astronomy programme telling you what to look out (and up) for every month. You can be guaranteed a passion for astronomy, simple explanations of complex and fundamental topics, space and science news, absorbing interviews with people that make the astronomy news and listeners’ astronomy questions answered.
As both presenters have been accused of being a little skeptical in the past, you can also expect everything to be frivolous but fact-based, with an emphasis on highlighting the wonderful science that reveals ever more about our complex and exciting universe.
Transcript:
The Discussion: Ralph & Paul’s observations this month, focusing on the spectacular sights of the Perseid meteors, a nova in Delphinus that surprised us all, the ice giants on display in the northern hemisphere and the wealth of clusters (open and globular) in our summer skies
The Sky Guide: Paul starts with a nice daytime-visible occultation of the star Spica by the moon on the 8th September before rounding up his pick of this month’s lunar observing treats. We have the ice giant worlds on offer in the late evening and the closest superior planets visible in the early morning – with a special Martian occultation between the 7th and 10th September.
Finishing off the sky guide, Paul takes you on a tour of the galaxies in Andromeda and Cassiopeia’s embarrassment of deep sky riches.
The News: In the news section, Ralph begins with Nova Delphini 2013 and an explanation of what we’re looking at and what we can expect. We then move onto the declassification of information about Area 51 and try very hard to tie this into astronomy somehow. We revisit NASA’s robots to bring you Kepler, Juno and Mars Science Laboratory news, before finishing with new understanding and great images from the European Observatory’s ALMA array.
The 5 Minute Concept: Nucleosynthesis forms the basis of Paul’s 5 Minute Concept as he explores what stars are, why they shine and how they turn hydrogen and helium into all the other atoms in the universe that are needed to create metal rich stars, planets and ultimately life.
The Interview: This month, Ralph talks to the Director of Stanford University’s Wilcox Solar Observatory, Dr Todd Hoeksema, about our nearest solar furnace, the sun’s internal forces and dynamics and his prediction of the imminent solar maximum.
Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month Ralph & Paul answer:
- Is there an atmosphere on the moon?
Grace Murphy in Glasgow Scotland via Twitter
- He couldn’t do the Kessell Run, but exactly what feat could Han Solo have achieved in 18 parsecs? (Assuming his starting point was a lesser known spaceport on Earth?
Ian Thomas from Oxfordshire UK via the Facebook Group
End of podcast:
365 Days of Astronomy
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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the New Media Working Group of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Audio post-production by Preston Gibson. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. Web design by Clockwork Active Media Systems. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes. Please consider supporting the podcast with a few dollars (or Euros!). Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. In the new year the 365 Days of Astronomy project will be something different than before….Until then…goodbye