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Podcaster: Ralph, Paul  & Jenni ; Guest: Ian Stokesbury & Dr. Billy Edwards

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Title : Awesome Astronomy – Twinkle Podcast Extra

Organization: Awesome Astronomy

Link : www.awesomeastronomy.com

Description:

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!

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!

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).

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.

Today’s sponsor:  Big thanks to our Patreon supporters this month: Rob Leeson, David Bowes, Brett Duane, Benett Bolek, Mary Ann, Frank Frankovic, Michael Freedman, Kim Hay, Steven Emert, Frank Tippin, Rani Bush, Jako Danar, Joseph J. Biernat, Nik Whitehead, Michael W, Cherry Wood, Steve Nerlich, Steven Kluth, James K Wood, Katrina Ince, Phyllis Foster, Don Swartwout, Barbara Geier, Steven Jansen

Please consider sponsoring a day or two. Just click on the “Donate” button on the lower left side of this webpage, or contact us at signup@365daysofastronomy.org.

Or please visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy

End of podcast:

365 Days of Astronomy
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The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Planetary Science Institute. Audio post-production by Richard Drumm. Bandwidth donated by libsyn.com and wizzard media. You may reproduce and distribute this audio for non-commercial purposes. 

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After 10 years, the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast is poised to enter its second decade of sharing important milestone in space exploration and astronomy discoveries. Join us and share your story. Until tomorrow! Goodbye!