AWESOME ASTRONOMY

This month we give you a recording of our live panel show from AstroCamp, held in September. The team answer questions and comments from the public about a range of space and astronomy topics.

This month Paul and Dr Jen talk about the recent astrocamp where yet more Aurora was seen. Later there is a guide to seeing Aurora at lower latitudes. JWST is at it again with a possible detection of biological signals on an exoplanet, AND breaking and rewriting galaxy morphology history. There is an autumnal sky guide and the low down on the Bennu return mission OSIRIS-REx.

This months interview looks at that stunning imagery that JWST took of the Ring Nebula - that familiar Messier planterary nebula in Lyra and favourite of star parties. This new study has revealed new and unexpected details and once again demonstrated the brilliant science of our golden wonder telescope in space. Dr Jeni talks to Dr Robert Wessen, Research Associate at Cardiff University who has worked on the Ring Nebula data, about what astronomers have revealed as well as talking about his career and life astronomy. He also exclusively reveals what is going to happen next in this area of study. Enjoy!

This month we are joined by special guest Neill Sanders from Go Stargazing who is making a special announcement about astronomy cruise Holidays. We have news of a new type of star, mud on Mars and JWST breaking cosmology once again. After our skyguide we chat about the recent Indian and Russian moon missions. In our discussion topic we have a Battle of the Planets as we decide which should get in the bin, Saturn or Jupiter.

For this podcast extra, we return to NAM 2023, this year held at Cardiff University. We're delighted to bring you the conversational style of Dr Stephen Wilkins, public engagement extraordinaire. Dr Stephen is an STFC Public Engagement Fellow (so you know this talk will be just brilliant) and serves as a Director of Outreach and Public Engagement for the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex. This episode, we have the Tale of Two Telescopes, exploring NASA's new flagship James Webb Space Telescope, and ESA's pioneering Euclid, set to uncover the Dark Universe. Enjoy! Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

This month we have a packed show, with stories about the European space agency launching a new space telescope to study The Dark Universe. India going to the moon with Chandrayaan-3, astereroid boulders, a key ingredient for life just 1 billion years into the Universe's history, measuring a crater with highway seismology, hot lava piles on the moon, and a farewell to Ariane 5. We discuss observing meteor showers in our monthly skyguide and we ask the important question- where would you let superman take you in the solar system?

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 lucky enough to attend this year and this episode is the first in a series of talks recorded at NAM 2023. We're delighted to bring you the expertise of none other than Dr Becky Smethurst of Oxford University (you may know her as Dr Becky on Youtube). In this talk, Dr Becky teaches us how to grow a supermassive black hole – and it's not as easy as you think! Always picture a black hole as a gigantic hoover, sucking up everything that dares to stray too close? Think again…

It's a summer vacation special with Jeni in the mountains of South America astronomising at altitude and visiting the Vera C Rubin telescope as well as obstech. We have an interview with a Vera Rubin Observatory astronomer as well as a skyguide and an astronomy news round up.

We chat to Dr Kathy Thornton, nuclear physicist turned NASA astronaut who went on to fly on four Space Shuttle missions. Dr Thornton flew for over 40 days and completed over 21 hours of EVA, including the famous operation to fix the blurry Hubble Space Telescope. We talk about her life as an astronaut, the Hubble fix and that fateful day in mission-control on Columbia's last re-entry.

This month Jeni and Paul talk about the recent supernova in galaxy M101; volcanic exoplanets; the growing observational evidence putting the current Big Bang theory under strain and the history of water on both Earth and Mars. There is discussions on alien contact; exoplanet detection and how long it would take to accelerate to the speed of light. Paul does a summer reading book review with three space books to keep you entertained on the beach this summer. Jeni has a look at the Juice mission, Axiom 2, future space station plans and a round up of launches. This months skyguide includes discussion noctilucent clouds and deep sky in the centre of our galaxy.

To celebrate the Skylab 50th anniversary here is one our favourite astronaut chats from 2012 where we caught up with Skylab 3 and STS-3 astronaut, Jack Lousma. Jack was also capcom during Apollo 13 and he tells us about taking that ominous 'Houston, we've had a problem' call and how they solved each life-threatening issue in sequence to get the astronauts back alive. He talks about missing out on flying Apollo 20 to the moon, being a crew member on the Skylab space station and taking one of the first space shuttles out for a test drive.

This month Paul and Jeni in astronomy news talk about new data on the M87 blackhole, the architecture of planetary systems, the hottest stars, an impact crater in France and how Mars might not have been oxygen rich. In exploration news there is the latest on JUICE and they welcome an old friend back to the show to talk about Starship. There is a review of the recent AstroCamp where the team witnessed one of the biggest geomagnetic storms of recent times and saw one of the most impressive Auroral displays while standing on a Welsh mountain.

Jeni visits Space Forge for an update on their mission to build reusable satellites to manufacture materials that that are impossible on the ground. She talks to CEO Joshua Western about that fateful launch from Cornwall on Virgin's Cosmic Girl, how they are getting ready for their next test aboard a Falcon 9, their re-entry tech nicknamed 'Mary Poppins in Space' and the company's future plans to scale up the manufacturing process from grams to tons!

In this episode Jeni and Paul talk about exoplanet atmospheres, the latest thinking on solar system visitor Oumuamua, Vigin Orbit's woes, Relativity's 3D success, and the oldest orbiting satellite. There is the sky guide for April, a discussion about what new telescope Jeni should buy and listener emails, as well as Paul's miserable weather and Jeni's gala dinner talk for International Women's Day.

Paul takes time out from outreach at the Festival of Tomorrow at the Swindon STEAM museum to chat with Professor Robert Walsh of the University of Central Lancashire, who with artist Alex Rinsler has created a giant representation of the Sun as an outreach and art project that uses the data of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. They talk about solar science, the coronal heating problem, sounding rockets, space missions professor Walsh has been involved with, space weather and why he has his own Sun.

In this episode Jeni tells us about her TEDx talk, dressing up for Mama Mia and eating insane burgers, while Paul appears to have started a modelling career. In astronomy news the team explore the latest JWST findings that may have broken cosmology and changed everything we thought we knew about the history of the universe, as well as a potential new explanation for dark energy and black holes. There is the sky-guide looking at the highlights for March as well as the Messier marathon, while in spaceflight news it is all change on the ISS, Boeing may finally be getting its act together and Starship may be going to orbit. Emails and questions complete a packed show

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.

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: stars have not always been made the same way throughout the history of the Universe The debacle of the first space launch from UK soil 3 rocky water worlds found by the Kepler Space Telescope The big news story: a decade-long study finds light pollution is worse than we thought The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the large winter constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February. Q&A: Does the James Webb Space Telescope have to take calibration frames like I do from Earth - darks, flats, and bias frames to then stack? From our good friend Peter Coates in East Yorkshire.

Bringing back the much-missed Awesome Astronomy interviews with a bang, we're joined by friend of the show Chris Lee. Chris began his career in the 80s in the UK space industry at British Aerospace, Matra Marconi and SCISYS where he worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the Giotto mission to Halley's Comet, Beagle 2, Exomars and LISA Pathfinder. He then became the UK Space Agency's first Head of International Space Policy and then Head of Space Science Programmes before becoming Chief Scientist at the UK Space Agency. Now retired, he's a keen amateur astronomer with Bristol Astronomical Society, an astroimager and listener to the show that we've been wanting to record a chat with for quite a while.

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 unaccounted for A leak on the International Space Station's lifeboat NASA's Mars lander comes to an end A new way to look for aliens The big news story: As the UK gets ready to launch space vehicles for the first time, we take a look at the long history of UK space activity and the concept of launching to space from aircraft. The Sky Guide: As many people will have got new observing equipment this Christmas, we're taking a look at the beginner-friendly constellation of Taurus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in January. Q&A: The brightest GRB ever recorded occurred on 9th October 2022. Its effects on the Earth's ionosphere was strong enough to be observed by amateur radio astronomers. How did dust form the expanding halo observed around the GRB source? From our good friend Andrew Thomas.

*** Beware, stiff profanity (phnar phnar) in the outtakes at the end *** Our Christmas Pantomime sees the Awesome Astronomy crew exploring strange new worlds on the Astronomy Star Ship (ASS) Penetrator. Between the puerile skits you've come to expect from our end of year shows, we bring you a roundup of the best astronomy and space exploration news from 2022. And, of course, a look forward to the highlights to come in 2023. To all our listeners, a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and a prosperous 2023 (download or die!).

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 nightskypix.com The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: JWST picks up chemical reactions in an exoplanet atmosphere ESA's latest astronaut recruitment Virgin Galactic gets go ahead to launch from Cornwall UK spaceports pop up all over the place Rocket Lab continue chasing the reusable rocket dream The big news story: What else? Artemis 1 launches to make NASA's return to the moon a reality. The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the winter constellation of Perseus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in December. Q&A: Does the x-ray end of the electromagnetic spectrum have Fraunhofer lines like the visual part? And if not, how is x-ray spectroscopy done? From our good friend Graeme Durden, who we all wish the very best as he continues his radiotherapy treatment. For all listeners that are male and over 50 or have a dad, brother, husband, partner or friend who is male and over 50, please do take a few seconds to assess your prostate cancer risk at: prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker

The Discussion: Enjoying the recent eclipse (weather permitting) Jeni is officially recognised as being great Visiting the Herschel Museum And listeners' emails on: Having astronomy on the brain Cartoon characters in space A reflection of Venus off swamp gas! The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in November, we have: Why spiral galaxies seem to line up from our perspective The origin story for Saturn's rings Still waiting for NASA's first Artemis moon mission Farewell Apollo 9's Jim McDivitt Boeing's zombie Starliner spacecraft gets a crew The big news story: Hipparchus' star charts found buried in early Christian parchments The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the winter constellation of Andromeda with a guide to its history, how to find it, a few deep sky objects to seek out and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in November. Q&A: What are the wispy striated filaments visible in the JWST images of the Carina Cliffs? From our good friend Rachel Kronick

Christmas 1980. Suffolk, England. Two US airmen witness what they believe is an aircraft coming down in the forest next to their base. So begins the story of the UKs most notorious UFO sighting, the Rendlesham Forest incident. Paul dives head first into a 'Hat of Woo' special as he explores the mysterious forest of Rendlesham on the Suffolk coast and considers what this famous conspiracy story says about time and place and of course what really happened.

Jeni and Paul talk to Professor Mike Edmunds, President of the Royal Astronomical Society and Emeritus Professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University, who is also Dr Jeni's academic grandfather.... Paul gives a quick look at the sky highlights for October and then Jeni, John and Paul host an open panel discussion at AstroCamp where the audience talk about where space begins, JWST, the worth of Artemis and how the infamous Elephant Trunk nebulae incident happened...

The Discussion: Farewell Frank Drake It's uncrewed, not unmanned! Filming with the BBC again Listeners' emails on city astronomy and the missing AweAst show this month The News: JWST unearths a huge cosmic riddle Artemis 1 moon launch delays Solar astronomers solve one of the great mysteries about the Sun A round up of all the incredible things that have happened in space this month (thanks to @jessicaxlis for the inspiration… and much of the content!) Skyguide: As we're a little late in the month for a September skyguide, this is a quick guide to the astronomy events to observe over the next few months. Pay attention because there's some great oppositions, occultations, eclipses, meteor showers and possibly even a couple of naked eye comets! Q&A: Can red-shift, spectroscopy, mass evaluations etc still be counted on even after the images have been distorted & magnified by foreground galaxies? Can the effect of gravitational lensing be accurately accounted for? From our good friend Alan Beech in the UK.

Hear ye! Hear ye! Al Worden (went to the moon on Apollo 15): https://tinyurl.com/56w9rkr4 Al Bean (walked on the moon on Apollo 12): https://tinyurl.com/2ewb5vj3 Charlie Duke (walked on the moon on Apollo 16): https://tinyurl.com/5fhacvmk

The Discussion: The Perseids meteor shower Another heatwave in the UK The Orville on Disney+ The News: NASA is going back to the moon – this month! SpaceX join the companies dropping space debris on Australia Northrop Grumman & Firefly's new rocket The news discussion: Loads of news around the International Space Station Q&A: What would we like to see happen to the ISS instead of being deorbited? From our good friend Mindy Scott in South Africa.

The Discussion: The release of JWST's first images, the press conferences and media coverage. Emails on astrophotography, Dr Jen's TV appearances and a more politically correct alternative name for JWST. The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in August, we have: We now know why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn A huge triple star system with a violent past A fossil galaxy – one of the first galaxies from the early universe Some good news for the prospects for life on Mars The big news story: What else? It's JWST innit? The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the summer constellation of Cygnus 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 August. Q&A: No time for Q&A – we've got JWST to prattle on about!

The Discussion: Another heatwave in the UK Dr Jen on TV covering the latest JWST news The Orville on Disney+ Night Sky on Amazon Prime The News: Preparations for the launch of Starship and an unexpected explosion! Artemis 1 readied for launch to the moon The topsy turvy world of international cooperation in space Virgin Galactic's next plans The news discussion: NASA's CAPSTONE mission to lunar orbit Q&A: If you let your breath out couldn't you dash across 100m of lunar surface in a damaged spacesuit? From our good friend Ben Harding in the UK.

The Discussion: More filming for the BBC Longer days and shorter nights L Showcasing amateur photography on noctilucent clouds Listeners' emails on Less well known cultural names for Ursa Major The current planetary alignment in the sky The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: The Milky Way once went through a massive rate of star formation Solving the riddle of how Mars' storms can be so big and violent A new data release from the incredible Gaia space telescope Solving the riddle of Barnard's Loop The big news story: A big boost in the search for life in the universe The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Serpens 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 July. Q&A: Will a black hole always look like a donut whichever direction you observe it from? From our good friend Mitch Sevier, presumed to be in the United States.

The Discussion: Discrimination in science and academia Returning to the Welsh valleys to attempt astronomy Free NASA merch from Official NASA Gear Listener's comments on Boeing and the state of spaceflight innovation. The News: Assembly of China's Tiangong space station Artemis 1 wet rehearsal attempt #2 France join the Artemis Accord NASA outsources moon suit developments SpaceX's critical approval for starship flight tests The news discussion: NASA to formally investigate UFOs – is this wise? Q&A: How many people can you get on the International Space Station? From our good friend O G Duddy (@Derry_Man1) in Derry, Northern Ireland.

The Discussion: You can now watch Jen presenting on BBC TV's Weatherman Walking (from 06:40) Walking, astronomy and animal abuse in the New Forest NASA find the Awesome Astronomy bunker on Mars! Listeners' emails on Obscure names for constellations Podcast editorial suggestions Sending us your astrophotography The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: A companion star that survived a supernova! Galaxies that had their dark matter stripped away Everything we thought we knew about galaxy evolution is wrong L We were just buzzed by an asteroid a mile wide. The big news story: Only an image of the black hole region at the centre of our galaxy! The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Draco 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 June. Q&A: What sites and activities could you recommend for disabled amateur astronomers? From our good friend Ash in Wales.

The Discussion: Getting back in the studio Watch us recording in our behind the scenes 10th Anniversary show Inspiring children to think about careers in science Listener's emails about swearing in the podcast and catching objects from space. The News: Our favourite Welsh satellite space company, Space Forge Rocket Lab's attempt to catch a falling rocket booster with a helicopter More JWST updates Jeff Bezos buys every western rocket (that's not owned by Musk) for the next 5 years UK Space Energy initiative's concept for a Bond villain style space-based solar power plant The news discussion: The ongoing saga of Boeing's Starliner spaceship Q&A: Blue Origin have New Glenn and New Shepard rockets, named after American pioneers of spaceflight. Assuming that this isn't going to just be the men, does this mean that in the future we can expect a rocket called "New Ride"? From our good friend Andy Burns in the UK.

The Discussion: Jeni's magazine article on 'everything JWST' UK government's social mobility commissioner gets us wound up Listeners' emails on: Professional vs amateur astronomy Artificial Intelligence in consumer telescopes JWST's Early Release Observations The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: New type of nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer Detecting life-giving hydrothermal vents on Saturn's moon Europa An exoplanet around a dead star in a potential habitable zone 'Impossible' galaxies with no dark matter The big news story: the Planetary Science Decadal Survey is out! The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major 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 May. Q&A: Will JWST be able to confirm the existence of the Ort Cloud? From our good friend Oren Wyche in Maryland USA.

Also check out our YouTube channel here for much more astronomy and spacey goodness: https://www.youtube.com/awesomeastronomy?sub_confirmation=1 The Discussion: Watching a SpaceX Starlink launch Tales from this month's AstroCamp star party Jeni on the radio and TV again A listener's email on JWST's first image. The News: NASA's moon rocket finally undergoes testing for the Artemis 1 moon mission next month! Rocket Lab attempt to catch a falling rocket booster with a helicopter Further affects of the war in Ukraine to the spaceflight industry Jeff Bezos buys every western rocket (that's not owned by Musk) for the next 5 years The news discussion: The Axiom-1 mission to the International Space Station Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we close this segment of the show with a focus on Dark Nebulas.

The Discussion: Observing trip with Cardiff Uni students Really bright ISS passes Jen's first TV presenting gig about to be released Watching a SpaceX launch Listeners' email about previous episodes The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: NASA think JWST will perform better than expected! (see also https://youtu.be/YJMBvcG7nRM) A milestone 5,000 confirmed exoplanets (see also https://youtu.be/ByfigQW-6Mk) The carbon impact of running large observatories 'Impossible' supermassive-blackhole orbits discovered The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Leo 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 April. Q&A: How soon, at current space travel speeds, would we as a species have to leave the galactic neighbourhood in order to avoid the inevitable Milky Way/Andromeda galaxy collision catastrophe?

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 have: Space Forge's reusable satellites demonstrator ESA's demonstrator for extracting oxygen from the lunar surface The countdown to the death of NASA's Mars Insight lander SpaceX's Starship developments The future for ExoMars and the ISS Main news story: The knock on effects to cooperation in space caused by the situation in Ukraine. Nebulae Our section of the show explaining every type of nebulae in the galaxy that you can oberse or image for yourself. This month we cover Reflection Nebulae.

The Discussion: Stargazing & post-covid travel A lovely email from our good friend @SsonnyY The joys of being an astronomy beginner Pioneer 10's 50th anniversary The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in March, we have: A new planet discovered in our neighbouring Alpha Centauri system A massive new dataset of 4.4m brand new radio objects to get excited about Quasars, blazars, - turns out they're all the same thing The first observation of a free floating black hole Mini-Neptunes may evolve into super Earths Big News Story: First light of the IXPE X-ray telescope The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Camelopardalis 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 March.

The Discussion: Techniquest in Cardiff Bay Our Good friend Dylan O'Donnell at Star Stuff A listener's email on the naming of spacecraft, prompting a debate on history, cultures and tearing down statues. The News: Britain's ambitious spaceports hit regulatory purgatory China's plans for this year include space station completion, comet and asteroid missions Unknown heroines of space & astronomy for International Women in Science Day The news discussion: NASA contract a Mars Sample return rocket. Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on Emission Nebulae. Q&A: Why do astronauts travelling from the earth to the moon appear to experience complete weightlessness? From our good friend Paul Waterhouse in the Forest of Dean, UK

The Discussion: AstroCamp returns for listeners to observe with us 2-5th April. Book tickets here. Listeners' emails on: A Venus sample return mission Why our website is so poor L The News: A very big far away star with a very big planet Unpicking the riddle of where the matter is that makes up all the stars Another of Saturn moons may be hiding an ocean Why there are no newly formed stars within 500 light years of the Sun Big News Story: a mysterious radio signal points to a new type of magnetar The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Auriga 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 February. If you want to help chart the advancing light pollution: cpre.org.uk/what-we-care-about/nature-and-landscapes/dark-skies/star-count-2022/ Q&A: How are black holes able to evaporate? From our good friend Mitch in the United States.

The Discussion: Astronomy in Lego Jeni on the BBC Listeners emails on space traffic control and the Chinese space programme The News: SpaceX's troubled start to 2022 New York Times reports sexual harassment at SpaceX International Space Station operations extended to 2030 A look at Arianespace The news discussion: JWST Nebulas: A look at the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on supernova remnants.

The Discussion: Astronomy Christmas presents Listener's email about the value of early human space endeavours Listener's email about the marvelousness of Musk The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have: The largest valley in the solar system (on Mars) is packed with water More evidence to suggest there may be living organisms in Venus' atmosphere The sharpest images yet of the region around our galaxy's supermassive black hole Astronomers find 70 new rogue planets free-floating in space The James Webb Space Telescope finally launches! The Interview: this month we interview… the constellation Orion! The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Orion 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 January.

We defer our usual Xmas frivolity to go to NASA's coverage of Elon Musk's Penetrating Explorer Neo Insertion System rocket delivering NASA's Advanced Solar System probe to Uranus and look back at the astronomy and space exploration highlights of 2021: The first detection of an exoplanet in another galaxy, the first exomoon and the most abundant stars perhaps being habitable hosts A great alignment of planets in the sky for backyard astronomers NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars The advances in China's space programme The seismic shift in American commercial spaceflight We then look forward to the anticipated highlights of 2022: For astronomers, the moon will be passing in front of planets and bright star Porrima Artemis 1 should kickstart NASA's return to the moon SpaceX tests at Boca Chca should put of a show whatever the results But remember y'all, Christmas is all about the children. And space. But mostly the children. Who are our future. In space. With children.

The Discussion: Jen becomes the Managing Editor of the Sky Guide app and talks hazardous asteroids on BBC1's Breakfast show Observing Comet Leonard Listeners emails on colonising the galaxy and killing Mars potatoes The News: Recreating Mars in Antarctica Future space tourists are unlikely to be getting official astronaut wings News ways to capture space debris Elon Musk announces concerns over the viability of his Starship rocket The news discussion: With the recent Russian anti-satellite test, are we headed for Kessler Syndrome? Nebulas : Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we're turning our attention to the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. This month we focus on Planetary Nebulae. Q&A: How small would an asteroid need to be to enable a 14.5st human to jump up and that would be enough to reach escape velocity? From our good friend Lee King (@tinyleaks on Twitter).

The Discussion: Sex with aliens (sorry) Jen's reveals the secrets of TV trickery AweAst now has videos! Head over to YouTube Emails about our new YouTube channel & aliens watching us The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have: Water on exoplanets probably didn't come from comets Another 301 exoplanets drop out of old Kepler data An(other) weird signal from outer space Violent galaxy growth in the early universe Are exoplanets made of strange materials not conducive to life? A deep dive into the James Webb Space Telescope 3 weeks before launch The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Taurus 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 December.

The Discussion: Jen as a space expert on BBC1's Breakfast show AweAst on YouTube is coming! Head over and help us out by subscribing here. An email on the less than stellar working conditions at Blue Origin The News: The results of Astro2020 - the next decadal survey from the US National Academies of Sciences NASA's moon programme officially slips back a year SpaceX's 3rd crewed launch to the International Space Station Heinz go all 'Mark Watney' with tomatoes. The news discussion: Commercial plans to build TWO space stations before 2030. Nebulas: Our new show segment replacing the concluded moons of the solar system. This month we're turning our attention to the weird and wonderful nebulae that you can see through telescopes or use to understand the interstellar medium and star formation. In the coming months we'll delve into each type of nebula. Q&A: How many journeys would it take for all space tourists' ejected faeces to coalesce into a single stool of such mass that its gravity would turn it to a rock of a size that posed enough of a threat to existence that an asteroid redirect-type intervention would be required? From our good friend Andrew Osborne in the UK.

The Discussion: A bonanza of radio interviews Jeni's guide to the darkest and best places to stargaze in the UK A trip to the satellite company Space Forge. Emails about radio interviews and the first AweAst episodes The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in October, we have: Jupiter's Great Red Spot is speeding up Crazy exoplanets orbits Red and dead galaxies Solving the mystery of alien radio signals The 1st exoplanet discovery in another galaxy The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Perseus 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 November. Q&A: Have you any advice to offer a 14 year old budding astronaut, mission controller or space telescope designer? From our good friend Peter Coates (not that one) by email.

The Discussion: Tales from a dark sky weekend Jen appearing on the Cosmic Companion and at the Open University Space Society Emails on space tourism and from a US state penitentiary The News: NASA gets ready to test an asteroid redirect mission Shatner in space Mixed fortunes in the news for Bezos & Musk The James Webb Space Telescope is still on track for a December launch The news discussion: NASA's Lucy mission to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system's moons. This month we complete this segment with a look at moons around asteroids and the tantalising glimpses of moons around planets outside our solar system.

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.