Title : Awesome Astronomy – October Edition (episode 16)
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 time at September’s AstroCamp – a dark skies star party in Wales. Observing with the BBC TV cameras for the October edition of The Sky at Night and reminiscing about recent increases in meteor activity.
The Sky Guide: Paul starts with the oft-ignored ice giant worlds on offer throughout October, before moving onto the inferior planets visible at sunset with the naked eye. Jupiter deserves a special welcome as the King of Planets enriches our pre-midnight skies once again.
After rounding up October’s meteor showers, Paul finishes the sky guide with a tour of his favourite deep sky objects in Perseus, Camelopardalis and Auriga.
The News: In the news section, Ralph begins with an update to last month’s article on research suggesting that Voyager 1 may have already left the solar system, with a new NASA announcement that Voyager 1 did leave the solar system in August 2012. We look at NASA’s LADEE spacecraft en-route to the moon for a 100 day mission to examine the thin lunar atmosphere and the properties of lunar dust. And we finish off the news with some published research on comets that may boost our optimism for a good performance from the upcoming Comet ISON.
The 5 Minute Concept: The Death of Stars forms the basis of Paul’s 5 Minute Concept as he explores the cycle of turning hydrogen into ever heavier elements throughout their lives and the catastrophic, yet universe enriching, consequences of a star’s last day.
The Interview: This month, Paul speaks with astrophysicist, writer and BBC TV presenter Dr Chris North about the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, astronomy research funding cuts, the Planck and Herschel space telescopes’ discoveries and www.chromoscope.net
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:
Could you walk on the surface of a brown dwarf?
Dave Woodford in Scotland via Facebook
Why don’t/will Saturn’s rings form into moons?
@twinklespinalot, @Alexlspeed & John Masters via Twitter & Facebook
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