Twitter: @AwesomeAstroPod • @DrJeniMillard • @SiriusAstro
Site: awesomeastronomy.com
323 episodes
2012 to present
Average episode: 50 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Astronomy • Three+ Hosts
Podcaster's summary: Awesome Astronomy explores the frontiers of science, space and our evolving understanding of the universe. | | Join Ralph, Paul & Jeni for informative and fun astronomy programmes dedicated to space and astronomy news and monthly podcast extras covering hot topics and special interviews in the world of science and astronomy.
| Episodes |
| 2024-Apr-01 • 69 minutes Episode 142 Awesome Astronomy April 2024 Packing for a Solar Eclipse |
| 2024-Mar-22 • 39 minutes Britain's First Astronaut Interview with Dr Helen Sharman |
| 2024-Mar-01 • 63 minutes Wet Moons and Tippy landers Episode 141 Awesome Astronomy March 2024 |
| 2024-Feb-17 • 53 minutes Blasting Soil - Interview with Dr Phil Metzger This month Dr Jen talks to Dr Phil! Dr Phil Metzger, 30 years at NASA where he has worked on various missions and programmes including the ISS snd Space Shuttle, while more recently he has been investigating how rocket efflux interacts with soil and... |
| 2024-Feb-02 • 70 minutes Awesome Astronomy Episode #140 Giant European Space Lasers! |
| 2024-Jan-15 • 74 minutes #139 Awesome Astronomy January 2024 It's the Millard Show...Yeeeeeh! |
| 2023-Dec-26 • 69 minutes Awesome Astronomy Panto and Review of the Year 2023! Silence of the Lamb Chops |
| 2023-Dec-01 • 75 minutes #138 Awesome Astronomy December 2023 Pt1 Asteroid Threesomes and a Swallowed Planet |
| 2023-Nov-19 • 46 minutes Astronomy Mythology of Wales A chat with Paul Cornish |
| 2023-Nov-01 • 71 minutes #137 November 2023 Awesome Astronomy Sheep and Brits in Space! |
| 2023-Oct-19 • 61 minutes The AstroCamp Panel! Questions, Answers and Opinions on the Universe! |
| 2023-Oct-01 • 78 minutes #136 - October 2023 Awesome Astronomy More Aurora on the same Welsh Mountain |
| 2023-Sep-17 • 46 minutes JWST looks at the Ring - Interview with Dr Roger Wessen Dr Jeni talks to Dr Roger about the Ring Nebula |
| 2023-Sep-01 • 89 minutes #135 - September 2023 Awesome Astronomy Colliding With the Moon on a Summers Day |
| 2023-Aug-16 • 54 minutes #134 August 2023 Pt2 Awesome Astronomy A Tale of Two Telescopes |
| 2023-Aug-01 • 82 minutes #134 - August 2023 Awesome Astronomy Touring the Solar System in Your Underpants |
| 2023-Jul-18 • 48 minutes How to grow a supermassive black hole with Dr Becky Smethurst Once a year, astronomers descend upon an unsuspecting UK city in the greatest gathering of astronomically curious minds: the National Astronomy Meeting, otherwise known as NAM (no, not that ‘Nam, though it is quite the battle of the minds). Jen was... |
| 2023-Jul-01 • 63 minutes #133 Awesome Astronomy July 2023 Red Eyed Astronomy Goats on a Chilean Mountain |
| 2023-Jun-15 • 21 minutes Interview with Dr Kathy Thornton Holding the Hubble with Mittens |
| 2023-Jun-01 • 83 minutes #132 - June 2023 Awesome Astronomy Supernova in a Summer Sky |
| 2023-May-14 • 48 minutes Skylab 50 - Interview with Astronaut Jack Lousma Skylab to Space Shuttle |
| 2023-May-01 • 80 minutes #131 - May 2023 Awesome Astronomy Aurora on a Welsh Mountain |
| 2023-Apr-15 • 27 minutes Interview with Joshua Western CEO of Space Forge Creating the Impossible- Manufacturing in Orbit |
| 2023-Apr-01 • 73 minutes #130 - April 2023 Awesome Astronomy An Exfoliating Spa on a far off World |
| 2023-Mar-15 • 26 minutes Interview with Solar Astronomer Professor Robert Walsh The Astronomer with his own Sun |
| 2023-Mar-01 • 66 minutes #129 - March 2023 Awesome Astronomy The Universe is Broken. Again |
| 2023-Feb-15 • 40 minutes Interview with Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell Interview with astronomer Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell Jeni talks to the legendary discoverer of pulsars, champion of women in science and Oxford University astronomer about her astronomy career, inspirations, motivations and key discoveries. |
| 2023-Feb-01 • 63 minutes #128 - February 2023 The Discussion: Our dark sky practical astronomy event, AstroCamp Farewell Apollo 7’s Walt Cunningham Comet C2022 E3 ZTF reaches naked eye brightness The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have: Incredible finding:... |
| 2023-Jan-15 • 49 minutes Interview with Chris Lee Where now in Space? |
| 2023-Jan-01 • 77 minutes #127 - January 2023 The Discussion: A refreshed format coming to Awesome Astronomy in 2023 A look back at the festive season The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: Something in the solar system is producing light that’s not... |
| 2022-Dec-24 • 55 minutes End of Year Show AweAst Xmas Pantomime |
| 2022-Dec-01 • 68 minutes #126 - December 2022 The Discussion: Meteor shower disappointment Lecturing course started Dr Jen’s 30th birthday party karaoke – with audio! more resources for astronomy and astrophotography over at The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we... |
| 2022-Nov-01 • 53 minutes #125 - November 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Oct-15 • 59 minutes Rendlesham Forest Incident A Hat of Woo Special |
| 2022-Oct-01 • 70 minutes #124 - October 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Sep-13 • 72 minutes #123 - September 2022 Part 2 (The last of the 'parts'...) |
| 2022-Sep-01 • 3 minutes #123 - September 2022 Part 1 Hear ye! Hear ye! Al Worden (went to the moon on Apollo 15): Al Bean (walked on the moon on Apollo 12): Charlie Duke (walked on the moon on Apollo 16): |
| 2022-Aug-15 • 57 minutes #122 - August 2022 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2022-Aug-01 • 79 minutes #122 - August 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Jul-15 • 63 minutes #121 - July 2022 Part 2 The Space exploration Show |
| 2022-Jul-01 • 59 minutes #121 - July 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Jun-14 • 67 minutes #120 - June 2022 Part 2 Space Exploration |
| 2022-May-31 • 77 minutes #120 - June 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-May-15 • 69 minutes #119 - May 2022 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2022-May-01 • 79 minutes #119 - May 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Apr-14 • 68 minutes #118 - April 2022 Part 2 Space Exploration |
| 2022-Apr-01 • 64 minutes #118 - April 2022 Part 1 (The astronomy episode) |
| 2022-Mar-15 • 55 minutes #117 - March 2022 Part 2 The Discussion: A little bit of singing to brighten your day and abuse your ears It's Messier Marathon season A Messier challenge A great listeners' email on naming space missions The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we... |
| 2022-Mar-01 • 54 minutes #117 - March 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Feb-15 • 64 minutes #116 - February 2022 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2022-Feb-01 • 56 minutes #116 - February 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2022-Jan-15 • 59 minutes #115 - January 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2022-Jan-02 • 67 minutes #115 - January 2022 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Dec-23 • 55 minutes 2021 Xmas Special The return of the filth |
| 2021-Dec-15 • 69 minutes #114 - December 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Dec-01 • 79 minutes #114 - December 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Nov-15 • 75 minutes #113 - November 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Nov-01 • 74 minutes #113 - November 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Oct-14 • 71 minutes #112 - October 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Oct-01 • 71 minutes #112 - October 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Sep-15 • 68 minutes #111 - September 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Sep-01 • 65 minutes #111 - September 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Aug-20 • 30 minutes Podcast Extra – The Twinkle Space Mission This podcast extra 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... |
| 2021-Aug-15 • 74 minutes #110 - August 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Aug-01 • 66 minutes #110 - August 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Jul-15 • 69 minutes #109 - July 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Jul-01 • 61 minutes #109 - July 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Jun-16 • 32 minutes Podcast Extra: The Dimming of Betelgeuse! We knew all along... |
| 2021-Jun-15 • 79 minutes #108 - June 2021 Part 2 (The Space Exploration Show) |
| 2021-May-31 • 45 minutes #108 - June 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-May-15 • 69 minutes #107 - May 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-May-01 • 72 minutes #107 - May 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Apr-26 • 23 minutes Podcast Extra: Mars Ingenuity This week we saw the first ever powered flight on another planet. So this is a podcast extra episode to mark this remarkable achievement, explain what happened and why this is such a paradigm shift for future space exploration. |
| 2021-Apr-15 • 69 minutes #106 - April 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Mar-31 • 64 minutes #106 - April 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Mar-15 • 70 minutes #105 - March 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Mar-01 • 67 minutes #105 - March 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Feb-18 • 18 minutes Podcast Extra: How to Become an Astronaut As the European Space Agency gears up to opening its next recruitment campaign from 31 March to 28 May 2021, we take you through: The entry requirements The selection process The missions successful candidates are expected to fly The first astronaut... |
| 2021-Feb-14 • 74 minutes #104 - February 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Feb-01 • 61 minutes #104 - February 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2021-Jan-15 • 60 minutes #103 - January 2021 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2021-Jan-01 • 63 minutes #103 - January 2021 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Dec-18 • 86 minutes #102 - December 2020 Part 2 The Xmas Pantomime |
| 2020-Dec-01 • 62 minutes #102 - December 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Nov-14 • 64 minutes #101 - November 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Nov-01 • 53 minutes #101 - November 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Oct-26 • 30 minutes Venus Biosignatures Update Podcast Extra An Interview with Professor Jane Greaves |
| 2020-Oct-14 • 63 minutes #100 - October 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Sep-30 • 78 minutes #100 - October 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Sep-15 • 65 minutes #99 - September 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration/Venus Show |
| 2020-Sep-10 • 88 minutes Fraser Cain Podcast Extra At your suggestion we did something we should have done years ago and reached out to @universetoday and @AstronomyCast’s Fraser Cain (@fcain) to wax and yarn about all things space and astronomy. We think you'll enjoy! |
| 2020-Aug-31 • 78 minutes #99 - September 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Aug-14 • 57 minutes #98 - August 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Aug-01 • 65 minutes #98 - August 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Jul-14 • 71 minutes #97 - July 2020 Part 2 (The Space Exploration Show) |
| 2020-Jul-01 • 80 minutes #97 - July 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Jun-15 • 70 minutes #96 - June 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Jun-01 • 68 minutes #96 - June 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-May-15 • 49 minutes #95 - May 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Apr-30 • 79 minutes #95 - May 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Apr-18 • 101 minutes Live Lockdown Q&A Show Video available at youtube.com/user/awesomeastropod/videos |
| 2020-Apr-14 • 66 minutes #94 - April 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Apr-01 • 82 minutes #94 - April 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Mar-14 • 53 minutes #93 - March 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Mar-01 • 70 minutes #93 - March 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Feb-14 • 59 minutes #92 - February 2020 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2020-Feb-01 • 63 minutes #92 - February 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2020-Jan-22 • 72 minutes From the Cradle to the Stars Awesome Astronomy Podcast Extra |
| 2020-Jan-14 • 55 minutes #91 - January 2020 Part 2 (The Space Exploration Show) |
| 2020-Jan-04 • 57 minutes #91 - January 2020 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Dec-24 • 72 minutes The 2019 Xmas Special A pantomime look back at the biggest and most exciting news and events from 2019; a look forward to the best astronomy and space exploration events of 2020; the science of Santa’s deliveries and the traditional outtakes. |
| 2019-Dec-14 • 56 minutes #90 - December 2019 Part 2 The News: Sharing our news picks from the space exploration and astronomy world this month we have: A late risk of Exomars being cancelled Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft abort test and cost controversies Sierra Nevada’s Dreamchaser shuttle gets... |
| 2019-Dec-01 • 59 minutes #90 - December 2019 Part 1 (The Combined Astronomy & Space Exploration Show) |
| 2019-Nov-14 • 50 minutes #89 - November 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-Nov-01 • 66 minutes #89 - November 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Oct-15 • 54 minutes #88 - October 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-Sep-30 • 73 minutes #88 - October 2019 Part 1 The Discussion: A look back at our 50th anniversary of the moon landings-themed dark sky star party, AstroCamp, and some wonderful suggestions as an alternative name for a ‘pair instability supernova’. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news... |
| 2019-Sep-15 • 52 minutes #87 - September 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-Sep-01 • 67 minutes #87 - September 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Aug-14 • 56 minutes #86 - August 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-Aug-01 • 51 minutes #86 - August 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Jul-19 • 17 minutes The Hubble Tuning Fork and Citizen Science Interview with Prof Karen Masters |
| 2019-Jul-09 • 70 minutes #85 - July 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-Jul-01 • 63 minutes #85 - July 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Jun-14 • 50 minutes #84 - June 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-May-30 • 59 minutes #84 - June 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-May-15 • 75 minutes #83 - May 2019 Part 2 The Space Exploration Show |
| 2019-May-01 • 67 minutes #83 - May 2019 Part 1 The Astronomy Show |
| 2019-Apr-15 • 66 minutes #82 - April 2019 Part 2 The April Space Exploration Episode |
| 2019-Mar-31 • 83 minutes #82 - April 2019 Part 1 The Discussion: A bumper episode beginning with the April stargazing extravaganza run by the Awesome Astronomy team on 27th - 30th April, a reminder to email us with your best space missions of the last 62 years, a stroll down Rocketry Lane, come... |
| 2019-Mar-14 • 69 minutes #81 - March 2019 Part 2 The Discussion: Professor Michelle Dougherty talking Enceladus at the annual Schrodinger lecture, the proficiency (or otherwise) of making science accessible to the layman and emails about inspiring anyone to do the job they want. The News: Rounding... |
| 2019-Mar-01 • 62 minutes #81 - March 2019 Part 1 The Discussion: A worthless victory for the Welsh, Earthling slave John on the BBC’s Sky at Night, Jen’s preparations for A Pint of Science, imaging the sun with a beer can and emails about timestamping & sibilance. The News: Rounding up the... |
| 2019-Feb-14 • 66 minutes #80 - February 2019 Part 2 The Discussion: The film Moon, boring lectures & seminars, the age before mobile telephony, AweAst live shows & drinks with listeners, and listeners’ suggestions for NASA spacecraft branding. The News: Rounding up the space exploration... |
| 2019-Jan-31 • 61 minutes #80 - February 2019 Part 1 The Discussion: Jeni’s off to La Palma to gather data on dust & gas in the Crab Nebula, did a meteor or two strike the moon during the January eclipse? And what do Europeans think (or know) about the European Space Agency? The News: Rounding... |
| 2019-Jan-14 • 65 minutes #79 - January 2019 Part 2 The Discussion: As 2019 marches forth we discuss a wasted year of practical astronomy due to bad weather, a comet in our skies to enjoy and Jeni begins her first paper on gas masses in redshift galaxies. The News: Rounding up the space exploration... |
| 2019-Jan-01 • 63 minutes #79 - January 2019 Part 1 The Discussion: Festive cheer, academic hiatuses, magnificent cheeses, a surfeit of meat, space themed presents and listeners’ emails. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The Milky Way gives birth to around 7... |
| 2018-Dec-01 • 57 minutes #78 - December 2018 Part 1 The Discussion: Arthur Eddington, the Caldwell catalogue and a round-up of emails to the show. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Waiting for a Gamma Ray Burst Watching the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole... |
| 2018-Nov-15 • 63 minutes #77 - November 2018 Part 2 The Discussion: Jeni talking exoplanets and aliens at Cardiff Museum and we take a no spoiler look at the Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Commercial spaceflight update New... |
| 2018-Nov-07 • 50 minutes Extra: Libby Jackson - A Galaxy of Her Own In this podcast extra episode we're talking to Libby Jackson, physicist and engineer, who's the Manager of Human Spaceflight and Microgravity at the UK Space Agency and was a European ISS flight controller and the spokesperson for Tim Peake’s... |
| 2018-Nov-01 • 59 minutes #77 - November 2018 Part 1 The Discussion: Jeni’s tells us about her gig at the Cardiff Book Talk and an upcoming talk at Usk Astronomical Society, Paul had a hairy moment giving a talk on the Herschels only to find their descendants in the room and we run through... |
| 2018-Oct-15 • 54 minutes #76 - October 2018 Part 2 The Discussion: It’s almost Halloween and Jeni’s getting the knives out. Paul’s been recording astronomy voiceovers for the Discovery Channel, Jeni’s got the Cardiff BookTalk coming up and Ralph’s excited by the return of Doctor Who. The... |
| 2018-Sep-30 • 59 minutes #76 - October 2018 Part 1 The Discussion: Paul has snubbed the show to do astronomy on TV so we’re keeping our spirits up with tales of AstroCamp and the inspirational Libby Jackson from the UK Space Agency. Jeni updates us with the progress of her PhD and invites you all... |
| 2018-Sep-15 • 66 minutes #75 - September 2018 Part 2 The Discussion: Lt Col Dave from Florida gives us his more informed take on Space Force. The News: In the new revamped show format we have 3 minutes to round up the astronomy news stories you might have missed: Jeni: An incredible Lunar... |
| 2018-Sep-03 • 14 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Autumn 2018 In this podcast extra episode, we go a step further than just talking about astronomy and look forward to a long weekend of practical astronomy. This episode discusses the value of star parties and whets your apetite for Awesome Astronomy’s... |
| 2018-Sep-01 • 59 minutes #75 - September 2018 Part 1 ***New Format Show*** |
| 2018-Aug-16 • 73 minutes Extra: Chewin' the fat with a Nobel Laureate In this podcast extra episode, Jeni teams up with our good friend Dr Chris North from the Pythagoras Trousers podcast to speak to Caltech’s Linde Professor of Physics and Nobel Laureate Barry Barish. In this interview we discuss: The early days... |
| 2018-Jul-31 • 57 minutes #74 - August 2018 The Discussion: Jeni cares so little for our listeners that she didn’t even bother to show up this month (except for the interview section) and with no discipline Paul’s defacing valuable space artefacts and the emails to the show take a plunge... |
| 2018-Jul-27 • 7 minutes Sky Guide August 2018 What to look out, and up, for in August. With no Jeni this month, Ralph & Paul pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Mars just past opposition as impressive... |
| 2018-Jul-19 • 20 minutes Extra: Space Force In this podcast extra episode, there was only one thing playing on all our minds - Space Force. What is it? Why is it? What will it look like? Just like us, I’m sure you’ll be none the wiser after this in-depth look into: President Trump’s... |
| 2018-Jul-01 • 78 minutes #73 - July 2018 The Discussion: Jeni tells us about her more recent astronomy conferences in Eastbourne and Copenhagen. Paul gives us a round up of his astronomy outreach with interesting facts from and a rooftop star party. And Awesome Astronomy gets in deeper than... |
| 2018-Jun-27 • 8 minutes Sky Guide July 2018 What to look out, and up, for in July. With no Jen this month (she’s off sciencing), it’s just Paul & Ralph’s highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Mars at its... |
| 2018-Jun-10 • 16 minutes Extra: Galaxies, Work Placement Opportunities & Diversity in Science. In this podcast extra episode, released during Pride month, we return to this April’s European Week of Astronomy and Space Science where we spoke to Dr Ashley Spindler to find out more about: Galaxy evolution, the evolution of galaxy structures... |
| 2018-May-31 • 80 minutes #72 - June 2018 The Discussion: Jeni’s talking science conferences while Paul’s doing impressions from his Who’s Who of Yorkshire legends. Ralph runs through this month’s pick of listeners tweets & emails with a focus on exoplanets and a big congrats to... |
| 2018-May-28 • 11 minutes Sky Guide June 2018 What to look out, and up, for in June. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Asteroid Vesta at opposition Saturn An overview of Venus,... |
| 2018-May-27 • 55 minutes Extra: Farewell Alan Bean This podcast extra is a re-release of our full length interview with the 4th man to walk on the moon aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. Alan Bean was not only a fighter pilot, Navy test pilot, astronaut, moonwalker, space station commander and... |
| 2018-May-12 • 21 minutes Extra: The Life & Legacy of Stephen Hawking In this podcast extra episode, we take a look back at the extraordinary life and work of Stephen Hawking who died on 14th March 2018, leaving a legacy rich with cosmology insights, humour, altruism, science education and a changed landscape in astronomy. |
| 2018-May-01 • 68 minutes #71 - May 2018 The Discussion: Jeni, Paul & Ralph survived the wilds of the Brecon Beacon’s AstroCamp festival of astronomy, Jeni gathers a whole heap of astronomy interviews from the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, and we read out a couple of... |
| 2018-Apr-27 • 9 minutes Sky Guide May 2018 What to look out, and up, for in May. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The ever-brightening Mars Jupiter at opposition on 9th May Venus... |
| 2018-Apr-07 • 14 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Spring 2018 Welcome to AstroCamp! In this podcast extra episode, we welcome you to the practical astronomy arm of the Awesome Astronomy empire, as we take a run through what people can expect at our AstroCamp star party in the Brecon Beacons International Dark... |
| 2018-Apr-01 • 87 minutes #70 - April 2018 The Discussion: The Beast from the East makes practical astronomy difficult and we take a look at listeners’ emails that accuse us of imperialism, suggest we throw away some solar filters, provide an alternative look at solar system creation and... |
| 2018-Mar-27 • 16 minutes Sky Guide April 2018 What to look out, and up, for in December. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The features visible on Mars Jupiter visible in the morning... |
| 2018-Mar-10 • 33 minutes Extra: Why do we believe in conspiracy theories? An extended Hat of Woo if you like, but for this podcast extra episode we dip our hands back into the festering corners of Paul’s hat to take a look at the root causes and the psychology of belief in conspiracy theories. Not why are they wrong but... |
| 2018-Mar-01 • 98 minutes #69 - March 2018 The Discussion: Jeni and her Welsh brethren suffered an Earthquake and Ralph takes a look through listeners emails which prompts a discussion about the range of educational outreach that AweAst listeners undertake. The News: Rounding up the space... |
| 2018-Feb-25 • 12 minutes Sky Guide March 2018 What to look out, and up, for in March. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Prepare for this year’s Mars opposition as it increases in... |
| 2018-Feb-14 • 102 minutes Extra: SpaceX and the Future of Spaceflight This Awesome Astronomy episode is inspired by last week’s incredible SpaceX launch and listeners’ requests to talk a bit more about SpaceX and the advances in commercial spaceflight. In this Podcast Extra, we’re joined by spaceflight aficionado... |
| 2018-Feb-01 • 70 minutes #68 - February 2018 The Discussion: Friend of the show and lecturer at Jeni’s Cardiff University, Dr Ed Gomez is launching a Kickstarter project to create and distribute a children’s comic book to encourage children to take an interest and career in science. Jeni... |
| 2018-Jan-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide February 2018 What to look out, and up, for in February. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Track Mars’ passage through Scorpius & Ophiuchus... |
| 2018-Jan-09 • 85 minutes Extra: The Last Jedi & Blade Runner 2049 In this podcast extra episode, we're joined again by The Essex Space Agency's Phil St Pier as we take another sideways diversion into science fiction movies as we cast a critical eye over the recent big sci-fi blockbusters: Star Wars: The Last Jedi ... |
| 2018-Jan-01 • 69 minutes #67 - January 2018 The Discussion: Paul avoids the big freeze with astronomy cheats, Ralph reads out the latest good and bad reviews, while Jeni becomes a ‘Who’s Who’ question at Cardiff University! The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month... |
| 2017-Dec-30 • 10 minutes Sky Guide January 2018 What to look out, and up, for in January! Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The Red Planet Mars, makes a welcome return to our skies The... |
| 2017-Dec-25 • 40 minutes 2017 Xmas Panto End of Year Review |
| 2017-Dec-12 • 26 minutes Extra: Eyepieces In this podcast extra we begin a series, suggested by listener Sean Smith, of explaining the considerations involved in choosing practical astronomy equipment. This first in the series discusses one of the most important items in your amateur... |
| 2017-Dec-01 • 67 minutes #66 - December 2017 The Discussion: Jeni gets her name in lights – well, bold print, as she contributes (what else but graphs) to a published research paper and Ralph takes a look at Ben Cacase’s very own new asterism in the heart of Auriga and reads a defiant... |
| 2017-Nov-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide December 2017 What to look out, and up, for in December. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: The Geminid meteor showers peaking on 13/14th December... |
| 2017-Nov-17 • 48 minutes Extra: Neutron Star Merger In this podcast extra episode Jeni discusses the recent detection of two colliding neutron stars and their observation in both gravitational waves and all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. Jeni chats with Dr Edward Gomez, Education Director at... |
| 2017-Nov-01 • 103 minutes #65 - November 2017 The Discussion: Britain shows that it won’t just roll over and let America take the lead in intimidating academic freedom and Jen recounts her gravitational waves research conference in Brighton in October. The News: Rounding up the space and... |
| 2017-Oct-27 • 9 minutes Sky Guide November 2017 What to look out, and up, for in November. Ralph, Paul & Jen pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: A last look at Saturn for 2017 in the early evening sky A... |
| 2017-Oct-16 • 14 minutes Extra: Hubble Constant & Research Papers In this podcast extra, we discuss the changing value of the Hubble Constant since 2000 – or put more simply, our narrowing down of how quickly the universe is expanding. This discussion takes in: The history of the Hubble Constant Edwin... |
| 2017-Oct-01 • 75 minutes #64 - October 2017 The Discussion: You’d be forgiven for thinking we recorded this episode drunk – but we assure you, we weren’t. And you’ll have to forgive us for our crappy audio and shameless national stereotyping! But in this show, recorded from our dark... |
| 2017-Sep-30 • 9 minutes Sky Guide October 2017 What to look out, and up, for in October. Jeni, Paul & Ralph pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Blue/green ice giant Uranus The Orionids meteor shower... |
| 2017-Sep-18 • 23 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Autumn 2017 In this podcast extra episode for the dark sky star party held by the Podcast Crew, we discuss: Fighting light pollution by getting local authorities to dim & turn off street lights The value of star parties to boosting your practical astronomy... |
| 2017-Sep-01 • 84 minutes #63 - September 2017 The Discussion: Jeni’s back and the band is back together to discuss watching this year’s Perseid meteor shower and coverage of the Great American Eclipse The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The shortlisted... |
| 2017-Aug-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide September 2017 What to look out, and up, for in September.What to look out, and up, for in September. Ralph, Paul & Jeni pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Saturn and its... |
| 2017-Aug-14 • 26 minutes Extra: Full Length Interview with Apollo 16's Charlie Duke In this podcast extra episode we present our full length interview with test pilot, astronaut and lunar module pilot on Apollo 16, General Charlie Duke. Drawing on this unique set of experiences, we asked Charlie: What surprised you or what... |
| 2017-Aug-01 • 90 minutes #62 - August 2017 The Discussion: Jeni’s bizarrely decided that a holiday is preferable to being locked in a bunker with two megalomaniacal Martians, so you’re left with an exhausted Paul and a jetlagged Ralph this month. What could go wrong? We discuss outreach at... |
| 2017-Jul-28 • 7 minutes Sky Guide August 2017 What to look out, and up, for in August. Ralph & Paul pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the solar system objects on offer to observers and imagers: Dwarf Planet Ceres for small telescopes in the constellation... |
| 2017-Jul-18 • 21 minutes Extra: Jeni’s South Africa Research In this podcast extra, Jeni recalls her most recent research trip at the Japanese Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF) situated outside Sutherland in South Africa. This research trip continues Jeni’s endeavours to collect exoplanet transit data. In... |
| 2017-Jul-01 • 70 minutes #61 - July 2017 The Discussion: Combating light pollution for the AstroCamp in the Welsh Brecon Beacons and fighting to help the National Park retain its International Dark Sky Reserve status. Then we turn our attention to politics in space science and listeners’... |
| 2017-Jun-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide July 2017 What to look out, and up, for in July. July is here and the summer solstice is just behind us, meaning we’re on the glide slope to every lengthening nights. So the team’s here to pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the... |
| 2017-Jun-11 • 54 minutes Extra: Gravitational Waves Update The Interview: On the discovery of only humanity’s third black hole merger by the incredible Laser Interferometry Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO), Jeni’s speaks with Professor Patrick Sutton, Head of Cardiff University’s Gravitational... |
| 2017-Jun-01 • 71 minutes #60 - June 2017 The Discussion: Jeni’s returns from her South African research using the Infrared Survey Facility telescope, Paul calls time on the Principia Mission and we go through a couple of readers emails to discuss Caroline Herschel, the Woomera Test Range... |
| 2017-May-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide June 2017 What to look out, and up, for in June. Jeni returns from astronomy research in South Africa so the gang’s back together to pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: Ralph –... |
| 2017-May-11 • 7 minutes Extra: Data & Discoveries from ESA's Gaia Mission This podcast extra episode comes from this year's Big Bang Fair and Jeni & Paul grabbed an interview with a Gaia mission data scientist to talk data and the efforts taken in the less-glamorous, but absolutely critical, background to provide us... |
| 2017-May-01 • 52 minutes #59 - May 2017 The Discussion: Jeni’s missing this month as she collects transiting exoplanet data in South Africa using the SIRIUS camera on the Japanese 1.4 metre Infrared Survey Facility telescope. So Paul & Ralph take the helm and record from the... |
| 2017-Apr-27 • 6 minutes Sky Guide May 2017 What to look out, and up, for in May. Jeni's abandoned us this month in favour of research-grade instrumentation so only Paul and Ralph pick their highlights for this month’s skies; starting with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: ... |
| 2017-Apr-17 • 23 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Spring 2017 A teaser for the weekend stargazing under the über dark skies of the Brecon Beacons International Dark Sky Reserve at this spring’s AstroCamp. We’ll take you through the events and activities which turn beginners into experts and fill up the... |
| 2017-Apr-01 • 87 minutes #58 - April 2017 The Discussion: Paul and Jen packed out the Star Stage at this year’s Big Bang Fair in Birmingham as Sirius Astronomy ran experiments to explain how rockets and space suits work and how space capsules protect astronauts from the heat of re-entry.... |
| 2017-Mar-29 • 11 minutes Sky Guide April 2017 What to look out, and up, for in April. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: A pair of comets to observe with amateur telescopes or binoculars The planets Mercury and Jupiter in the evening... |
| 2017-Mar-12 • 38 minutes Extra: A Star System Full of Earths Following a recent NASA press conference – a regular event that fills us with dread as we anticipate an anticlimax – this time NASA really get us excited with the announcement of seven rocky Earth sized planets around a star 40 light years away.... |
| 2017-Mar-01 • 80 minutes #57 - March 2017 The Discussion: Jeni’s been teaching the teachers of Wales how to include astronomy in their classroom exercises as part of the school curriculum. Ralph takes us on a historical tour of the King’s Observatory in Richmond which was the original... |
| 2017-Feb-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide March 2017 What to look out, and up, for in March. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: The moon, Mercury and Mars close together on the 29th The King of Planets returns to our skies 4 comets to observe... |
| 2017-Feb-13 • 10 minutes Extra: Farewell Gene Cernan This podcast extra takes a look back at the extraordinary life of navy aviator, test pilot and astronaut Gene Cernan who tragically died last month at the age of 82. In this memoriam we discuss: Gene's stellar career Pioneering rendezvous and... |
| 2017-Feb-01 • 57 minutes #56 -February 2017 The Discussion: Paul continues his herculean travels around the UK promoting the European Space Agency and teaching people about the science of spaceflight. Ralph’s waxing lyrical about a waxing moon and Venus, while Jen has a big announcement... |
| 2017-Jan-28 • 11 minutes Sky Guide February 2017 What to look out, and up, for in February. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: A last chance look at Mercury in the morning sky Mars a few degrees from Venus Jupiter in Virgo Saturn in the... |
| 2017-Jan-17 • 25 minutes Extra: NASA's Lunar Space Station Plans This podcast extra takes a look at the proposals from Boeing and Lockheed Martin to develop a lunar space station for NASA. In this discussion we cover: NASA’s current plans for deep space exploration Lunar and Martian exploration What... |
| 2017-Jan-01 • 72 minutes #55 - January 2017 The Discussion: As we welcome in the New Year Paul’s been mixing science with art, Jeni’s professional astronomy looks to be taking her to South Africa or Mexico and we read out some of our listeners’ emails The News: Rounding up the space and... |
| 2016-Dec-29 • 7 minutes Sky Guide January 2017 What to look out, and up, for in January. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: Venus at greatest eastern elongation Mars a few degrees from Venus Jupiter in Virgo Saturn & Mercury in the... |
| 2016-Dec-25 • 33 minutes 2016 Xmas Panto Awesome Astronomy’s 2016 Christmas Panto. Think: HG Wells’ War of the Worlds meets Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. The Eve of the War: Plans for our latest invasion of Earth are discussed over a nice, friendly and relaxed Christmas... |
| 2016-Dec-01 • 88 minutes #54 - December 2016 The Discussion: This month we take a look at the recent supermoon and what it takes to make the moon ‘super’; Jeni goes teaching kids about space and hones her exoplanet hunting skills; while Paul’s been hosting events with British astronaut Tim... |
| 2016-Nov-27 • 8 minutes Sky Guide December 2016 What to look out, and up, for in December. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Venus shining brilliantly in the evening sky Mercury at greatest elongation on 11th December Jupiter returns to... |
| 2016-Nov-15 • 21 minutes Extra: Your Need to Know Guide to Buying a Telescope Perhaps the most frequently asked question to the show (and apologies to Terry Dunlin who asked this question about 2 years ago!) is what you need to consider when buying a telescope or what makes the right telescope for you. So, in this podcast... |
| 2016-Nov-01 • 92 minutes #53 - November 2016 The Discussion: In a month when the European Space Agency succeeded and failed in the first part of their Exomars saga, we go through the glory and the debris of Mars exploration, hanging out with astronauts Tim Peake and Tim Kopra, conducting... |
| 2016-Oct-27 • 8 minutes Sky Guide November 2016 What to look out, and up, for in November. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offers to observers and imagers: A last chance to enjoy views of Mars for 2016 The return of the King of Planets: Jupiter A Saturn and Venus... |
| 2016-Oct-15 • 74 minutes Extra: Nick Howes on Life & Death in Space This podcast extra features the talk given by Nick Howes at Spring 2015's AstroCamp about life and death in space. Nick takes us on a fascinating tour of our universe and explains: Dangerous phenomena in the galaxy Martian meteorites The places... |
| 2016-Oct-01 • 81 minutes #52 - October 2016 The Discussion: If you enjoy our attention to scripting, our professional quality audio and our stringent editing, then you’re bang out of luck! This show comes from our AstroCamp stargazing event in Wales and we’re making it up as we go along. ... |
| 2016-Sep-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide October 2016 What to look out, and up, for in October. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Venus & Saturn in the late evening with a nice conjunction of the pair. Uranus as it reaches opposition on the... |
| 2016-Sep-19 • 16 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Autumn 2016 In this month’s AstroCamp podcast extra episode: The Discussion: An introduction to star parties and enjoying practical astronomy under pristine dark skies away from the city. As the podcast crew run the AstroCamp star party, which many listeners... |
| 2016-Sep-01 • 58 minutes #51 - September 2016 The Discussion: Jeni’s astronomy research yields its first results in the hunt for exoplanet phase variation and we revisit our Star Wars podcast extras with a listener’s book review. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month... |
| 2016-Aug-26 • 12 minutes Sky Guide September 2016 What to look out, and up, for in September. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Mercury & Venus in the late evening or early morning Mars & Saturn – with a nice conjunction with the... |
| 2016-Aug-13 • 39 minutes Extra: Dr Helen Sharman the Full Interview Britain's First Astronaut |
| 2016-Aug-01 • 68 minutes #50 - August 2016 The Discussion: We’re cheering Jeni’s graduation with a first class masters in astrophysics and looking at the PhD options she has as she chases the dream of becoming Dr Millard! Paul & Ralph make preparations for September’s dark sky... |
| 2016-Jul-28 • 11 minutes Sky Guide August 2016 What to look out, and up, for in August. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Jupiter takes a bow as it departs until December Mars & Saturn – with a long conjunction at the end of August... |
| 2016-Jul-15 • 55 minutes Extra: Alan Bean, 4th Man on the Moon This podcast extra is our full length interview with the 4th man to walk on the moon aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969. In this interview we discuss: journeying to the moon on a Saturn V rocket getting your rocket struck by lightening the... |
| 2016-Jul-01 • 60 minutes #49 - July 2016 The Discussion: Earthling slave John got married! The new fashion of requesting telescopes at weddings, a good time of year for solar astronomy, the scores are in for the results of Jeni’s master’s degree, Jeni gets a sciencey summer job and we... |
| 2016-Jun-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide July 2016 What to look out, and up, for in July. Our highlights of this month’s skies with the planet on offer to observers and imagers: Mars Saturn A Venus conjunction And a few tips on how to take images of the solar system’s largest bodies with a... |
| 2016-Jun-11 • 83 minutes Extra: Marvelous Mercury! In this Awesome Astronomy podcast extra episode we bring you the key speakers from this spring’s AstroCamp in the Brecon Beacon dark sky reserve. As the transit of Mercury was the main feature of this spring’s camp, we were delighted to welcome... |
| 2016-Jun-01 • 60 minutes #48 - June 2016 The Discussion: Exam season is well underway for Jeni, Paul & Ralph ran the AstroCamp dark sky star party in Wales and the jet stream causes frustration for sky watchers in the UK. But the big event last month was the transit of the planet Mercury... |
| 2016-May-28 • 19 minutes Sky Guide June 2016 What to look out, and up, for in June. Our tour of the highlights of this month’s skies begins with the planets on offer to observers and imagers: Jupiter Mars Saturn Next up is the meteor showers and we have quite a few daytime showers that... |
| 2016-May-03 • 17 minutes Extra: AstroCamp Spring 2016 Welcome to this AstroCamp podcast extra episode to tell you what you can expect from the weekend's festivities and listen to on the way to Cwmdu: The Discussion: An introduction to star parties and enjoying practical astronomy under pristine dark... |
| 2016-May-02 • 48 minutes #47 - May 2016 In this month's show: The Discussion Revision season as Jeni finishes her masters in astrophysics and preparations for AstroCamp in the Welsh Brecon Beacons. The News SpaceX make Paul look a right fool Stephen Hawking backs an attempt to send... |
| 2016-Apr-29 • 19 minutes Sky Guide May 2016 What to look out, and up, for in March. We start a new look (listen?) sky guide this month. We begin the show with a discussion around the highlights to observe this May: The Transit of Mercury on 9th May International Astronomy Day on 14th May... |
| 2016-Apr-15 • 60 minutes Podcast Extra: CERN During a visit to Geneva in September 2016, the Awesome Astronomy team stopped looking out into the universe for a while to delve into the impossibly tiny world of subatomic particles and fundamental forces that fuels the heartbeat of the European... |
| 2016-Apr-01 • 71 minutes #46 - April 2016 The Discussion: This month Jeni has a PhD offer that’s getting us all excited, Paul’s been clocking up the miles to teach science and astronomy to schools and Ralph’s just excited because he’s got a new telescope. Mat & Phil from Project... |
| 2016-Mar-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide April 2016 What to look out, and up, for in April 2016! For the beginners this month Ralph takes a look at the Leo Lion who leaps across the sky all April. Leo hosts some nice colour contrasting binary stars (one with a gas giant planet of its own) and some... |
| 2016-Mar-01 • 72 minutes #45 - March 2016 The Discussion: We bid a sad farewell to Apollo pioneer Edgar Mitchell who spent 33 hours on the lunar surface in 1971 on the Apollo 14 mission, celebrate the detection of gravitational waves and Paul regales us with his tales of clear skies for some... |
| 2016-Feb-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide March 2016 What to look out, and up, for in March. For the beginners this month we take a look at perhaps the most recognisable constellation of them all: Ursa Major, the Great Bear. In the Great Bear we go hunting for the easiest binary star in the sky and a... |
| 2016-Feb-14 • 39 minutes Podcast Extra: Gravitational Waves For anyone who's still a little fuzzy or confused by the enormity of the recent detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO facility, we've recorded a special podcast extra to shed some light on the impossibly complex world of General Relativity,... |
| 2016-Feb-01 • 73 minutes #44 - February 2016 The Discussion: As we lament the passing of some great people we remember how lucky we are to live in an age of great discovery. We discuss British astronaut Tim Peake’s spacewalk with American Tim Kopra outside the International Space Station and... |
| 2016-Jan-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide February 2016 What to look out, and up, for in February. For the beginners this month we take a look at the constellation of Auriga the Charioteer with a trio of open clusters from the Messier catalogue and finishing off with the Flaming Star that originated in... |
| 2016-Jan-01 • 68 minutes #43 - January 2016 The Discussion: In our first invasion of 2016 we discuss Paul’s work promoting British astronaut Tim Peake’s stay on the International Space Station and his visit to Parliament; Jen’s ongoing work in General Relativity and black holes; and John... |
| 2015-Dec-30 • 9 minutes Sky Guide January 2016 What to look out, and up, for in January. For the beginners and young astronomers this month we take a look at the magnificent winter constellation of Orion with the belt and sword bordered by four magnificent stars. We take a look at a... |
| 2015-Dec-25 • 41 minutes Awesome Astronomy - 2015 End of Year Show This pantomime episode contains some mild bad language and puerile humour Join us for our yearly round up of our favourite stories & events from 2015 and discuss the most exciting space missions and astronomy events coming up in 2016. This... |
| 2015-Dec-01 • 85 minutes #42 - December 2015 The Discussion: In this Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy contrived episode we look back over the movie The Martian, meeting Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, we gloss over the Bayesian statistics in Jen’s data analysis work and hear about a... |
| 2015-Nov-28 • 8 minutes Sky Guide December 2015 For the beginners this month we take a look at the constellation of Gemini with bright star Castor providing a nice easy double star to split with a telescope. We move over to the feet of the Gemini twins to scan for some nice open clusters, including... |
| 2015-Nov-14 • 52 minutes Podcast Extra - Jeni Millard on faint galaxy structures During this spring’s AstroCamp event, hosted by the Awesome Astronomy podcast team, our new presenter, Jeni Millard, gave another of her inspiring talks. We were treated to a history of the much neglected Aboriginal dark sky folklore as we got... |
| 2015-Nov-01 • 80 minutes #41 - November 2015 The Discussion: We welcome astrophysicist Jeni Millard from Cardiff University onto the show as our new co-presenter! We discuss the astronomy lessons, tuition and events we’ve been involved with over the past month and name drop about an Apollo... |
| 2015-Oct-28 • 8 minutes Sky Guide November 2015 What to look out, and up, for in November. This month we tour a few simple objects that you can show to a child and spark their interest in the night skies. In our beginners’ guide, Ursa Major shows us now to find true north and points out a few... |
| 2015-Oct-18 • 39 minutes Podcast Extra: Project Helium Tears Debrief Matt Kingsnorth from the Project Helium Tears debriefs us on his balloon launch to the edge of space, capturing images of the Earth, taking Awesome Astronomy listeners’ names onboard and filming a Star Wars X-Wing fighter against the black of space... |
| 2015-Oct-01 • 78 minutes #40 -October 2015 The Discussion: Coming live from The AstroCamp in the Brecon Beacons international dark sky reserve, we talk about the benefits of getting out to truly dark skies and observing with people who have a range of astronomy skills. The News: We welcome... |
| 2015-Sep-27 • 8 minutes Sky Guide October 2015 What to look out, and up, for in October. This month we take a look at the constellation of Perseus the Hero for the beginners guide – we begin with the Alpha Persei Cluster around bright star Mirfak, swing by Algol, the Demon Star, and finish up... |
| 2015-Sep-10 • 24 minutes Podcast Extra: AstroCamp Autumn 2015 The Discussion: An introduction to star parties and enjoying practical astronomy under pristine dark skies away from the city. As the podcast crew run the AstroCamp star party, which many listeners attend, in the Brecon Beacon’s international dark... |
| 2015-Sep-01 • 59 minutes #39 - September 2015 The Discussion: A dismissal of paranoid woo-pedalling, following what seems be an upsurge in space-based pseudoscience this month, and we introduce you to the first in our series of astronaut interviews recorded at Cosmiccon. The News: This month we... |
| 2015-Aug-28 • 10 minutes Sky Guide September 2015 This month we take a look at the constellation of Queen Cassiopeia for the beginners guide. We have: The beautiful Owl Cluster; NGC 7788 or Caroline’s Rose, discovered by Caroline Herschel. NGC 185, a dwarf elliptical galaxy discovered by... |
| 2015-Aug-01 • 97 minutes #38 - August 2015 A longer episode this month as we have so much to discuss and cram into the show! The Discussion: Upcoming full-length interviews with 4-time Shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton & Don Thomas, Skylab 3 & STS-3 astronaut Jack Lousma and Apollo... |
| 2015-Jul-29 • 8 minutes Sky Guide August 2015 What to look out, and up, for in August. This month we take a look at the constellation of Cepheus the King for the beginners guide – we have the first galactic tape measure: the original Cepheid Variable, a red supergiant star: Hershel’s Garnet... |
| 2015-Jul-01 • 55 minutes #37 - July 2015 The Discussion: This month’s Awesome Astronomy comes from the magnificent Cosmic Con event at the Manchester Airport Hilton. While looking forward to speaking with the stars of Meteorite Men and four astronauts, Paul recalls a fun June letting the... |
| 2015-Jun-23 • 46 minutes Sci-Fi Wars episode 4 - Movies Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears return to the bunker for this final episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best movie. We've let catured Earthling slave Damien out of the dungeon to add his favourite too. This... |
| 2015-Jun-23 • 29 minutes Podcast Extra: Sci-Fi Wars #3 - Books Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears & captured Earthling slave Damien join us in the bunker in this 3rd episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best book. This is the third in a four part podcast extra series to... |
| 2015-Jun-23 • 40 minutes Sci-Fi Wars episode 2 - TV Shows Matt & Phil from Project Helium Tears join us in the bunker in this 2nd episode in the Sci-fi Wars series to appeal for your votes for the best TV series. We've let catured Earthling slave Damien out of the dungeon too to add his favourite too. ... |
| 2015-Jun-23 • 21 minutes Sci-Fi Wars episode 1 What is Sci-fi? |
| 2015-Jun-01 • 80 minutes #36 - June 2015 The Discussion: A cloudy but fun-filled AstroCamp dominates the discussions this month with glimpses of the planets and a hurried Messier Marathon in between gaps between the clouds. Nick Howes’ talk inspires reflections on the threat of asteroids... |
| 2015-May-28 • 8 minutes Sky Guide June 2015 What to look out, and up, for in June. This month we take a look at the constellation of Lyra the harp for the beginners guide – we have one of amateur astronomy’s favourite nebulas, M57 the Ring Nebula, hanging between the stars Sheliak &... |
| 2015-May-06 • 21 minutes Podcast Extra - AstroCamp Spring 2015 A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have renowned comet and asteroid hunter Nick Howes joining us to talk about the nature and history of comets and we'll be giving away loads of... |
| 2015-May-01 • 67 minutes #35 - May 2015 The Discussion: Paul savours a quiet month of teaching astronomy and enjoys sketching Markarian’s Chain of galaxies, while Ralph gets into a few debates following an article publication and gets back to imaging the planet Venus. All in a month when... |
| 2015-Apr-28 • 8 minutes Sky Guide May 2015 What to look out, and up, for in May. This month we take a look at the constellation Ursa Major for the beginners guide – we’ll point you in the direction of an unaided eye binary star and a few of the brightest galaxies in the entire northern... |
| 2015-Apr-01 • 76 minutes #34 - April 2015 The Discussion: Paul’s been busy with Sirius Astronomy, promoting space and astronomy education at The Big Bang event and schools across the UK, meeting NASA astronaut Michael Fowle and ESA astronaut Jean Francois Clervoy. Ralph’s been arranging... |
| 2015-Mar-28 • 8 minutes Sky Guide April 2015 What to look out, and up, for in April. This month we look in the direction of Leo the Lion for the beginners guide – taking a look at the bright binary stars and a very special grouping of entire galaxies to observe in our spring skies. Next we... |
| 2015-Mar-15 • 6 minutes Podcast Extra: The State of US & European Science Education In this podcast extra Paul & Ralph went off topic from astronomy to discuss the health (or otherwise) of science in the US and Europe. Via a circuitous route, they take a look at research outputs, educational outreach and perceptions of... |
| 2015-Mar-01 • 50 minutes #33 - March 2015 The Discussion: A final check-in with the Helium Tears team before they release their camera laden balloon to the edge of space and a free Awesome Astronomy competition to let you get involved in this adventure. The News: This month we take a look... |
| 2015-Feb-26 • 10 minutes Sky Guide March 2015 What to look out, and up, for in March. This month we look in the direction of Cancer the Crab for the beginners guide – taking a look at open clusters Messier 67, The Beehive Cluster and the planet Jupiter beaming down from up on high. Next we... |
| 2015-Feb-08 • 17 minutes Podcast Extra: SpaceX v Skylon what's the best way to get to space - and back again? |
| 2015-Feb-01 • 58 minutes #32 - February 2015 The Discussion: Enjoying views of Comet Lovejoy, engaging in astronomy outreach at schools, looking forward to the Spring AstroCamp in the Welsh Brecon Beacons dark sky reserve and catching up with the Project Helium Tears high altitude balloon team. ... |
| 2015-Jan-29 • 10 minutes Sky Guide February 2015 We start with the big bold northern hemisphere constellation of Orion. The swollen supergiant Betelgeuse, 5 stars in one in Sigma Orionis, and the magnificent Orion Nebula stellar nursery in our beginner's guide. Next up, we have a four body... |
| 2015-Jan-23 • 6 minutes Podcast Extra: Europe's Coming of Age In this podcast extra we go off piste and digress from a discussion about the successes of the Rosetta mission. We ask whether the fantastic comet mission of 2014/2015 marks a turning point in ESA's exploration and marks Europe's coming of age as a... |
| 2015-Jan-01 • 46 minutes #31 - January 2015 The Discussion: Christmas in Cydonia and teaching science to children through astronomy education. The News: Kicking off 2015 we round off the events that concluded 2014: the successful test flight of NASA’s Orion capsule; NASA’s Mars Science... |
| 2014-Dec-28 • 10 minutes Sky Guide January 2015 What to look out, and up, for in January. We start with three Messier open clusters in Auriga and a tougher nebula in our beginner’s guide. Next up Mercury rises high in our Northern Hemisphere skies, Jupiter dominates the night sky and Saturn,... |
| 2014-Dec-25 • 45 minutes Awesome Astronomy - 2014 End of Year Show This pantomime episode contains some mild bad language and puerile humour Join us for a round up of our favourite stories & events from 2014 and discuss the most exciting space missions and astronomy events in 2015. For this festive season we... |
| 2014-Dec-01 • 50 minutes #30 - December 2014 The Discussion: The historical landing of the Philae probe on Comet 67P, lunar imaging and astronomy outreach in the UK. The News: In the news we relive the events around the comet landing and the latest science findings from Churyumov Gerasimenko,... |
| 2014-Nov-29 • 11 minutes Sky Guide December 2014 What to look out, and up, for in December. We start with the broad constellation of Gemini and an easy binary star, a planetary nebula and a group of star clusters for astronomy beginners to find, before emabarking on a spot of exogazing! Next up... |
| 2014-Nov-11 • 35 minutes Podcast Extra: Jeni Millard, Galaxies & Dark Matter From the Autumn AstroCamp 2014, Cardiff University astrophysics student, Jeni Millard, presents our latest understanding of the structure, formation, and future of our neighbouring galaxies and the evidence for and against dark matter. |
| 2014-Nov-01 • 65 minutes #29 - November 2014 The Discussion: Enjoying light pollution-free skies in the Ionian Sea and soaking up the atmosphere at the North West Astronomy Festival. The News: In the news we have more findings about the interior and evolution of our moon from the GRAIL and... |
| 2014-Oct-28 • 10 minutes Sky Guide November 2014 What to look out, and up, for in November. We start with the welcome return of the winter constellation of Taurus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is the planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon and the Leonid... |
| 2014-Oct-01 • 69 minutes #28 - October 2014 The Discussion: Enjoying dark skies at the National Trust, Paul’s astronomy outreach endeavours with Sirius Astronomy and predictions for the upcoming AstroCamp. The Tour: In this special episode, Ralph and Paul bring record from the Surrey Space... |
| 2014-Sep-27 • 11 minutes Sky Guide October 2014 What to look out, and up, for in October. We start with the constellation of Perseus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon and the meteor showers to enjoy this month. We... |
| 2014-Sep-18 • 16 minutes Podcast Extra: Astrocamp Autumn 2014 A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have BBC's The Sky at Night's Chris North joining us again to give a talk on the Herschel Space Observatory and Cardiff Uni's Jeni Millard... |
| 2014-Sep-01 • 59 minutes #27 - September 2014 The Discussion: Sirius Astronomy and The Knowledge Observatory’s educational outreach and preparation for our dark sky observing weekend in Wales: AstroCamp. The News: In the news we have the latest on the European Space Agency’s ambitious... |
| 2014-Aug-28 • 9 minutes Sky Guide September 2014 What to look out, and up, for in September. We start with the constellation of Cassiopeia in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets, the phases and conjunctions of the moon to enjoy this month. We then round up the best... |
| 2014-Aug-01 • 46 minutes #26 - August 2014 The Discussion: Enjoying the delights of July’s skies, writing articles for Astronomy magazine, STEM education and Paul becomes a European Space Agency ambassador. The News: In the news we have the Rosetta spacecraft’s approach to the almost... |
| 2014-Jul-29 • 10 minutes Sky Guide August 2014 What to look out, and up, for in August. We start with the constellation of Cepheus in our beginners’ and young observers’ challenge. Next up is planets and the standout phases of the moon to enjoy this August. We then round up the best of the... |
| 2014-Jul-01 • 53 minutes #25 - July 2014 The Discussion: Looking back over Sirius Astronomy outreach events in June, a bit of a rant over peer-review and science by press conference and our own pathetic attempts to get awarded a Nobel Prize or two. The News: Modelling of Pluto’s moon... |
| 2014-Jun-27 • 9 minutes Sky Guide July 2014 What to look out, and up, for in July. We start with the beautiful summer constellation of Cygnus in our beginners’ and young observers’ guide. Next up is Mercury, Venus, Mars & Saturn and some lovely lunar conjunctions to enjoy this... |
| 2014-Jun-01 • 61 minutes #24 - June 2014 This month we're outside recording under red light as we bag the latest meteor shower to grace planet Earth - the Camelopardalids. We start with reminisces about our April AstroCamp star party, radio detection of meteors and the engineering &... |
| 2014-May-27 • 7 minutes Sky Guide June 2014 What to look out, and up, for in June. We start with the constellation of Lyra in our beginners' and young observers' guide, and end it with a few deep sky challenges for you to hunt down. Next up is the moon and a couple of planetary conjunctions... |
| 2014-May-01 • 63 minutes #23 - May 2014 The Discussion: Astronomy in the late 18th Century and the increased sense of hope we, as amateur astronomers, get from the work of early astronomical observations. The Field Report: This month we record from the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in... |
| 2014-Apr-28 • 10 minutes Sky Guide May 2014 What to look out, and up, for in May. We start with the constellation of Hercules in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide. Next up is the moon and our round up of the craters and interesting lunar features you can explore with a small... |
| 2014-Apr-23 • 17 minutes Podcast Extra: AstroCamp Spring 2014 A podcast extra episode to get you in the mood for the biannual dark sky weekend run by the podcast crew. We have the BBC's Sky at Night team joining us again to show off the wonders of truly dark skies. If you're not coming to AstroCamp in April... |
| 2014-Apr-01 • 78 minutes #22 - April 2014 This month we talk National Astronomy Week and have an audio report from the outreach we conducted. In the news, we have a discussion with Jeni Millard and Sebastian Khan from Cardiff University about the discovery of gravitational waves; we discuss... |
| 2014-Mar-29 • 13 minutes Sky Guide April 2014 What to look out, and up, for in April. We start with the constellation of Ursa Major in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide. Next up is the moon and our round up of the craters and interesting lunar features you can explore with a small... |
| 2014-Mar-01 • 63 minutes #21 - March 2014 This month we talk science outreach in Wiltshire and have an audio report on the aurora from Iceland In the news, we have a supernova for amateur observers in a ‘nearby’ galaxy and Europe’s Herschel Observatory finding water plumes on dwarf... |
| 2014-Feb-27 • 10 minutes Sky Guide March 2014 What to look out, and up, for in March. We start with the constellation of Leo in our beginner’s and young observer’s guide, and end it with a few deep sky challenges for the more advanced amateurs to hunt down. Next up is the moon and our... |
| 2014-Feb-01 • 63 minutes #20 - February 2014 This month, our captured Earthling Damien brings us a stargazing report from Pakistan. News includes a new planet hunting instrument in Chile, a best-yet candidate for a naked-eye visible supernova, the progress of commercial space-flight and public... |
| 2014-Jan-31 • 10 minutes Sky Guide February 2014 What to look out, and up, for in February 2014. We start with a new feature the beginner’s - or young observer’s - guide, and a tour of the constellation Orion. Next up is our round up of the planets available this month to northern hemisphere... |
| 2014-Jan-01 • 61 minutes #19 - January 2014 Happy New Year! The sky guide has Jupiter at its very best, Venus, Saturn & Mars on offer along with the deep sky objects in Orion and Canis Major. The news has a Comet ISON saga round-up, China's Chang'e-3 moon lander, Jupiter's moon Europa... |
| 2013-Dec-24 • 26 minutes 2013 End of Year Special This pantomime of an episode contains some mild bad language and puerile humour. Join us for a round up of the best astronomy news from 2013, a look forward to the highlights in 2014 and a glimpse inside the normally secretive Cydonia Base at... |
| 2013-Dec-01 • 62 minutes #18 - December 2013 We have the planets, meteors showers and moon phases to look out for in December and a look at the deep sky objects in the constellations, Taurus & Gemini. In the news we have Comet ISON at perihelion, a guide to comets, the Indian Mars Orbiter... |
| 2013-Nov-01 • 65 minutes #17 - November 2013 This month we have the planets, meteor showers and moon phases to look out for in November and a look at the deep sky objects in the Cetus, Pisces & Sculptor constellations. In the news we have the sad death of Scott Carpenter, the US government... |
| 2013-Oct-01 • 60 minutes #16 - October 2013 Highlights of September's skies at the AstroCamp star party with the BBC TV cameras. The Sky at Night team joinined us for some observing in Wales. A penumbral lunar eclipse, a round up of the planets visible in the northern hemisphere this month, a... |
| 2013-Sep-01 • 48 minutes #15 - September 2013 A daytime lunar occultation and a favourable libration of the moon, the ice giants and a round-up of all the planets on view and the deep sky treats in Cassiopeia and Andromeda in our September sky guide. A bright nova in Delphini, declassification... |
| 2013-Jul-31 • 59 minutes #14 - August 2013 The wonderful upcoming Perseid meteor shower, planetary & lunar spectacles and the deep sky objects on offer in the Summer Triangle & Ophiuchus in our August sky guide. The new names for Pluto’s 4th & 5th moons, a new moon disocered... |
| 2013-Jun-30 • 58 minutes #13 - July 2013 Your July sky guide & a competition to *win a pair of binoculars!* News on the Goldilocks Zone, 3 new interesting exoplanets, a busy time on Low Earth Orbit, Curiosity & radiation risks for Mars-bound astronauts and black holes in the... |
| 2013-Jun-06 • 59 minutes #12 - June 2013 Bringing you your sky guide for June, a salute to ISS Commander Chris Hadfield and news on Kepler. Paul tells us all about ET in his Five Minute Concept, Ralph interviews astronomy communicator Mark Thompson and Q&A includes questions on lunar... |
| 2013-May-01 • 52 minutes #11 - May 2013 Awesome Astronomy gets a new cohost - welcome Paul! |
| 2013-Feb-22 • 75 minutes #10 - February 2013 The Northern Lights, more exoplanets, a chat with the PanSTARRS team, and Tom & Ralph get angry about DA14 coverage |
| 2013-Jan-18 • 65 minutes #9 - January 2013 A (very) large quasar group, 2013 Solar System highlights, Dawn's dance with Vesta and a very astrobiological interview |
| 2012-Dec-31 • 25 minutes 2012 End of Year Special A special message from Tom & Ralph, complete with 2012's finest cock-ups! |
| 2012-Dec-13 • 55 minutes #8 - December 2012 Download Episode! |
| 2012-Nov-23 • 68 minutes #7 - November 2012 Water on Mars, an amazing new comet and the black heart of Orion |
| 2012-Oct-01 • 61 minutes #6 - October 2012 The latest from Mars, October's skies, solar-scopes, supermassive black holes and how to fly a spacecraft |
| 2012-Aug-31 • 53 minutes #5 - September 2012 The Curiosity Episode! A focus on Mars, some sad news, and quick flight to cool off with the Ice Giants |
| 2012-Jul-31 • 57 minutes #4 - August 2012 A 'Higgs-like' boson, Curious about Mars, August skies and a chat with a UK Astro-Communication Legend |
| 2012-Jun-30 • 66 minutes #3 - July 2012 The last transit of Venus, July's night sky and the hunt for ETI with Seth Shostak |
| 2012-May-23 • 56 minutes #2 - June 2012 With apologies to Uranus, the asteroid lottery, June's night sky and a very JUICEy interview. |
| 2012-Apr-23 • 59 minutes #1 - May 2012 A crash course in Solar System exploration, May's night sky and an interview with none other than the legendary Sir Patrick Moore. Awesome Astronomy is go for launch! |