AWESOME ASTRONOMY

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 sky Venus in the evening sky The Lyrid meteor shower Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year. Ralph – The Beehive and King Cobra open clusters in Cancer Jen - M82, The Cigar Galaxy, and M81, a starburst galaxy in Ursa Major Paul – A tour of the Virgo cluster of galaxies and Markarian's Chain And we finish this sky guide with April's moon phases.

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 why do humans believe in conspiracy theories at all? Do we shoot ourselves in the foot through our educational policies and methods of teaching? Are we just hardwired to believe in falsehoods, whether more elaborate or more simple than the truth?

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 and astronomy news this month we have: A new and pointless star 'graces' our night sky We wave goodbye to the concept of the Late Heavy Bombardment Astronomers publish results on the oldest supernova detection Astronomy Concept: We delve into the wide array of visual observation and astrophography filters in response to John Lonergan's request. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the nature of black holes: 1) I heard in the reporting that the black hole had a physical spin. Does that support the idea that a black hole cannot be a singularity/point since it has a physical spin? 2) The merging black holes lost multiple solar masses in the merging process. If the mass loss wasn't from outside the event horizons, then what was that huge mass loss mechanism when supposedly "nothing can escape from a black hole"? 3) Can gravitational waves eventually be used by astronomers to probe the interior of a black hole?" Lt Col Dave from Florida USA

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 brightness Jupiter at 21 degrees in the pre-dawn sky Bright Venus, Mercury and the moon in conjunction on 18th March Comet 2016 R2 PANSTARRS in Perseus A lunar conjunction with the Hyades Cluster and occultation of Aldebaran. Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Messier 81 & 82, Bode's Galaxy & The Cigar Galaxy in Ursa Major Jen - Messier 3, globular cluster in Canes Venatici Paul – The Leo 1 group of Galaxies in the constellation Leo And we finish this sky guide with March's moon phases.

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 Gavin Price (@pilliarscreatio) to discuss: The inaugural Falcon Heavy launch and what it achieved Was the launch awesome or all hype? How good is the Falcon Heavy really? Will Falcon Heavy or Elon's next ambitious rocket make NASA's rocket redundant? How about other organisations? (ULA/Arianne/Blue origin etc) Where do the commercial companies leave the likes of Soyuz? (TsSKB-Progress) Where do we see access to space in ten, fifteen, twenty years time? Will Elon make good on his plan to colonize Mars?

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 tells us about Ada's Adventures in Science, which you can give your support to at http://kck.st/2DI43hg. Paul suffers the adverse effects of being travelling science salesman and Ralph reads out some listeners' emails - including one interesting email that suggests 'Kim Jen Un' may be getting into peoples' heads. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: An update from Cassini on the strange orbits of Saturn's moon Janus and Epimetheus and a look at a research paper shedding light on the ring they create around the gas giant. We mourn the loss of yet another Apollo astronaut as we say goodbye to John Young with a look back at his NASA career. Recent analysis of Martian meteorites and current Martian atmospheric constituents tempers our optimism that Mars had a long history of habitability. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the end of our galaxy as we know it: In 2 million years or so, when we merge with Andromeda, would you notice anything much different from Earth? Or just another Milky Way type structure in the night sky, assuming we merge at an angle? Sean Mulcahy from Yorkshire, UK via Twitter (@sfgmulcahy)

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 Jupiter in Libra gives us a shadow transit and a look at its Great Red spot Dwarf Planet Ceres at opposition on 1st February & Comet Heinze in Pegasus Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Open clusters Messier 67 and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer Jen - Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, in Ursa Major Paul – NCG 40, the Bow Tie nebula, in Cepheus And we finish this sky guide with February's moon phases.

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 Blade Runner 2049 This episode is dedicated to Matt & Ali's arrival of their daughter Evangeline Rosa Kingsnorth.

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 we have: Voyager 1 shows it still has the skills and prolongs its own life An update on the extrasolar asteroid that just buzzed our solar system Physicists observe a reversal of the arrow of time in laboratory experiments The European Southern Observatory image convective cells on another star NASA reveals its next two major planetary exploration missions Science Concept: This month we return to astronomy-related concepts as we delve back into the quantum world for a primer on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and why you cannot know both the position and velocity of a particle. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at the upcoming astronomical highlights: What is the one thing in the world of astronomy that each of you is looking forward to in 2018? Steve Brown from Yorkshire via Twitter (@sjb_astro)

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 Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the night of 3rd/4th January Dwarf planet Ceres is at opposition on 31st January in Cancer Mercury is at greatest wester elongation on 2nd January And comet C/2017 T1 Heinze reaches mag 7-9 on 6th January Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Messier 42, the Great Nebula in Orion Jen – NGC 2244 and the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros. Paul – NCG 2903, Barred Spiral Galaxy in Leo And we finish this sky guide with January's moon phases.

There's trouble in paradise as Christmas evening in the Cydonia bunker turns ugly. Alcohol may be the culprit. But equally, the blame may lie with suffering a whole day of pretending to like one another and f***ing Christmas songs! So, while tensions rise and arguments flare, Ralph, Paul and Jen run through the memorable space and astronomy events of 2017 and look forward to the treats in store for 2018. Then there's the small matter of John's annual outtake reel specifically designed to embarrass the hosts and push the bounds of decency as far as politeness will allow! Main music courtesy of Star Salzman Additional free music archive tracks: Silent Night by Hyson Christmas on Mars (Dance Mix) by Spinningmerkaba

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 astronomy tool kit: Eyepieces. This discussion takes in: Why eyepieces are important The differences between 'good' and 'bad' eyepieces Choosing the right price point Our suggestions for good quality cheap and expensive eyepieces Don't forget our end of year review and Newtonmass panotmime will be available to download on Christmas Day.

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 message from Michelle of 'ze resistonce'. The News: It's a very rocky month as we round up the following space and astronomy news stories: Earth's moon had an atmosphere thicker than Mars' for more than 70 million years Observations suggest Proxima Centauri has a Kuiper Belt and maybe a Oort Cloud A sci-fi like asteroid from another star system is now passing through the inner solar system Hat of Woo/Astronomy Concept mash-up: This month Paul's festering Hat of Woo is a little less fetid as we discuss a plausible but untested concept that has just a faint whiff of woo about it. This month we look at The Nemesis 'Theory' which suggests the sun has a brown dwarf companion which causes periodic extinction events – and, of course, we're long overdue an extinction and NASA are covering it all up!!! Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about meteor showers and how we calculate their orbits: I was wondering if all known meteor showers are definitely associated with a comet? Also, how do astronomers determine the orbit of a comet using just a few locations on the sky? Ben Cacase, Manhattan, New York via email

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 Uranus sitting in the constellation Pisces Mars & Jupiter lunar conjunctions Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – A binary star, a planetary nebula and 4 open clusters in Gemini Jen - The Pleiades open cluster in Taurus Paul – The Crab Nebula supernova remnant also in Taurus And we finish this sky guide with December's moon phases.

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 the Las Cumbres Observatory and Cardiff University's Gravitational Physics Research Group Leader, Professor Patrick Sutton about the historic observations, what we can learn from these events, the future of gravitational wave astronomy and how this new window into the universe can help us improve some of the fundamentals of our knowledge of space and time. We also put listeners' questions on these subjects from Raoul Van Eindhoven, @FuzzySemi and @calcomega to Patrick.

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 astronomy news this month we have: Astronomers make the 1st observation of a neutron star collision Astronomers discover a missing chunk of the universe 3D videos of aurora that you can see at http://www.iap.fr/aurora3d/ The Interview: This month Cardiff University's Professor Mark Hannam tells us more about the recent observation of colliding neutron stars and this window into a new realm of astronomy. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about the Drake Equation: "It strikes me that the Drake equation sets the probability of life at either (1) pretty close to zero - in which case surely we'd be worth a visit. OR (2) very numerous - in which case there's every chance alien life might be driving past on their annual holiday. Or somewhere in between! I think I'm saying that, yes overall I agree with the saying "seeing is believing", but at the same time I don't taking not seeing as proof of non existence. I've never seen a Polar Bear (you don't in Leeds) but I'm pretty sure they are out there." John Levett in Leeds, UK

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 very impressive Jupiter/Venus conjunction on the 13th of November The Taurid meteor showers peaking on the 5th and 21st November and the Leonids on the 18th November Comet 2017 O1 ASASSN1 for binocular and telescope observers Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Messier 42, the Orion Nebula in the constellation Orion Jen - Messier 13, The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Paul – NCG 404, Mirach's Ghost in the constellation Andromeda And we finish this sky guide with November's moon phases.

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 Hubble's dreadful scatter plot Further attempts to narrow down the universe's expansion rate Why research papers are awesome and accessible to everyone

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 sky star party in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, we discuss the event, Jeni's talk on exoplanet research and we take a look at listeners' emails. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: A fresh look at the age and high metallicity of an observable star cluster Australia takes the plunge and announces the creation of its own space agency Research giving hints of water on planets in the TRAPPIST 1 system Hat of Woo: Paul's festering Hat of Woo gets another airing as we take a look at the end of the world on 23rd September as planet Nibiru collides with Earth (or the beginning of The Rapture, if the world doesn't end). Assuming you're reading this or listening to the podcast, the world clearly didn't end! Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about the consequences of discovering life on another planet to planetary exploration: "Let's say the next Mars rover that is tweaked to find life on Mars finds some microbial life what impact would that have on the whole Mars exploration plans? I cannot imagine that one can send a crew of astronauts to Mars' surface and avoid contamination. If Mars is declared some sort of reserve shouldn't we then shelve all these plans? Clemens Unger, Melbourne Australia

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 brings us the debris from Comet Halley Saturn, recently liberated from the perpetual gaze of Cassini A not-to-be-missed conjunction of Venus and Mars on 5th October. Finally, a couple of comets that may be visible Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Paul – Spiral Galaxy NGC772 in Aries. Jeni – Brocchi's Cluster or The Coathanger Cluster in Vulpecula Ralph – The Triangulum Galaxy in Triangulum And we finish this sky guide with October's moon phases.

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 knowledge What to expect at the Autumn 2017 AstroCamp A round up of Ralph, Damien & Paul's seasonal astronomy targets

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 explorer and missions of opportunity being considered by NASA Jellyfish galaxies feeding supermassive black holes Goodbye to the Cassini Saturn explorer 'The Other Section': This month we keep Paul's festering Hat of Woo out of sight and take a long look at the Voyager spacecraft on the 40th anniversary of this programme, which revealed the solar system unlike any other space mission.

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 ring system in the evening Mercury at greatest western elongation in 12th September Neptune at opposition on 5th September in Aquarius. Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – The Saturn Nebula in Aquarius Jeni – The Andromeda Galaxy and its satellites Paul – NCG 7479 barred spiral Seyfert galaxy And we finish this sky guide with September's moon phases.

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 weren't you expecting to see on the moon? How did having a rover change the way you could explore the moon? How much fun was the lunar rover? Which was most exciting, being capcom on the 1st moon landing or walking on the moon on Apollo 16? Is the proposed 2032 launch window for a human Mars mission achievable? Did you see any colour other than grey on the moon? Are there any features on Earth you can see from the moon? Were you able to see any star fields during the Apollo 16 mission? Then we turned the interview over to listeners' questions: @BrewsterNorth asked, what do you think of the commercial plans for lunar exploration? Gavin Price (@pillarscreatio) asked, how important is the moon as a staging post for Mars? David Blanchflower (@Davidbflower) asked, would you return to the moon now? @Openmind asked, did your attitude towards humanity and our planet change for having gone to the moon? And the now regular Cornwell Question (from @samcornwell): What's the most expensive thing you've ever broken?

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 science festivals and a happy resolution to the light pollution issue in the Brecon Beacons dark sky reserve. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: The new Doctor is upsetting some people (get over it!) The hunt Planet 9 takes another turn Have astronomers discovered the smallest possible star? A deep dive on the Great American Eclipse on August 21st And an update on the gravitational wave data debate Astronomy You've Probably Never Heard Of: This month we give Paul's festering Hat of Woo and airing as we kick start another occasional feature looking into the science progress in areas (or astronomers) you've probably never heard of. This month we look at cosmology and the expanding universe from the perspective of the much-overshadowed astronomy giant, Vesto Slipher. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about the effects of using a centrifuge to simulate gravity in space: "Let's say we build a spaceship which contains a massive wheel which rotates to generate 1G. If you are standing on the inside of the outer wall of the wheel, you will be rotating at the same speed as the wheel and therefore feel the 1G. (Like you see in 2001 – A space Odyssey). So the artificial gravity is only created by the rotation and centrifugal force and not by the distortion of space time due to a massive body. Now what will happen when I jump? When I jump up, I am no longer connected to floor of the wheel. What happens to me? As I understand it, I should start to float inside the wheel, like they do in the ISS. The reason is that the centrifugal force generated by rotating wheel no longer applies to me as I am longer connected. If this is the case, then you better never run inside the wheel (running means you will have both feet of the ground between steps) and most likely need to wear Velcro shoes to ensure you stay connect to the floor of the wheel. Am I missing something as a lot of proposed interplanetary spaceships include some sort of wheel to generate artificial gravity? Your humble listener and collector of your podcast posters. Raoul (@QuidneIT on Twitter) in Oxfordshire

Download Episode! 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 Gemini Saturn in the evening, Venus at dawn and Uranus high up in Pisces The long anticipated total solar eclipse for observers in the United States The Perseid meteor shower peaking on the night of 12/13th August. Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Globular Cluster Messier 56 between Lyra & Cygnus Paul – Peculiar Galaxy NGC7727 in Aquarius. And we finish this sky guide with August's moon phases.

Download Episode! 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 this episode we cover: The IRSF observatory The life of a research astronomer The heartbeat of professional astronomy equipment Future research for Jen

Download Episode! 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' views on politics in podcasts. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Another gravitational wave detection and what we're learning from it The European Space Agency's latest mission approvals NASA's last exoplanet data dump from the Kepler mission China's experiment observing long distance quantum entanglement Britain's ambitious space ambitions and Europe freezing out the UK Has the origin of the Wow Signal finally been solved? How common are the ingredients for life in the universe? The Hat of Woo: This month we look at EM drives and NASA's cover up hiding the warp drive they've developed at their super-secret Eagleworks and aren't using but they definitely, definitely have it. Honestly.

Download Episode! 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 planets on offer to observers and imagers: Ralph – Saturn shows off its moons and favourably tilted rings Jeni – Mercury is low in the sky but nicely placed to observe this July Paul – Comets C/2015 er61 Panstarrs and C/2015 V2 Johnson Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – The Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens Jeni - Colourful binary star Albireo in Cygnus Paul – Messier 8, The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius And we finish this sky guide with July's moon phases.

Download Episode! 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 Physics Group and member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration who develops new strategies to detect gravitational wave bursts and creates techniques for locating these sources on the sky for modelling and simulations. In this interview Jeni asks Patrick about: The latest gravitational wave detection What we can know about these events and the objects that created them The strength and weakness of these signals The Announcement: For a physics deep dive into the analysis, the data and the modelling of the new black hole merger detected by LIGO this month, LIGO Governing Council member Professor Sathyaprakash (Sathya to his friends) delivers the first lecture on this discovery. Return to the Interview: In this segment we return to Professor Patrick Sutton who tells Jen about: The possibilities for future gravitational wave detections The most expensive thing he's ever broken And… personal grooming tips??

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 and Australian space funding. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Is there any evidence for other universes in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation? An update on Tabby's Star (It's NOT an alien megastructure). Are we already creating our own defence against Coronal Mass Ejections by chance? A run through NASA's 2018 budget proposal The Interview: This month we speak to former test pilot and astronaut - and one of only 6 remaining people to have walked on the moon - General Charlie Duke. Practical Astronomy: The Hat of Woo takes a rest this month as we introduce an occasional look into areas of interest to the practical amateur astronomer with topics requested by you. This month we take a look at an essential piece of kit suggested by Sean Smith from Dublin: eyepieces.

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 – Saturn reaches opposition this month and coincides with a nearby meteor shower Jeni – Jupiter in prime viewing conditions with some lovely Galilean transits Paul – We still have comet C/2015 V2 Johnson in the skies for a nice alternative distraction Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – The Double Double binary Alpha Lyrae Jeni - The Whirlpool Galaxy Messier 51 Paul – Globular Clusters Messiers 10 & 12 in Ophiuchus And we finish this sky guide with June's moon phases.

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 with the discoveries and refinements we crave from the European Space Agency's latest space-based astrometry mission. So while Paul and Jeni were there as the Sirius Space Agency explaining the science behind a mission into space on the Star Stage, they spoke to a post-doctoral researcher at Cambridge University's Data Processing Centre for the Gaia Mission. In this interview we bring you: the timelines to data capture, recovery, capture and analysis the rapid pulication of results from Gaia data a surprising discovery about the Milky Way's satellite galaxies - the Magellanic Clouds a new star cluster found hiding behind a star

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 AstroCamp starparty in the Welsh Brecon Beacons, discussing light pollution, the wonder of starparties and take a look at the countries which only have a solitary Awesome Astronomy downloader. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Astronomers use gravitational lensing to calculate intergalactic distances The Event Horizon Telescope gathers its data for an image of our supermassive black hole Space X demonstrates the first relaunch of previously used rocket Cassini begins its swan song in glorious style The Interview: This month we speak to Dr Dave Abergel at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics to discuss the merit (or otherwise) of the recent creation of a substance with negative mass. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at radio telescopes: I'd like to know how a radio telescope comes up with an image Samuel Wertz, Pennsylvania, USA.

Download Episode! 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: The planets Jupiter in the evening and Saturn in the morning Three meteor showers peaking this month A pair of comets to observe with amateur telescopes or binoculars Next up, we take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Paul – The Globular Cluster Messier 5 in the constellation Serpens And we finish this sky guide with May's moon phases.

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 eyepiece of those who are already experts – and, of course, whet your appetite for this friendliest of starparties! Whether you're joining us in the Welsh village of Cwmdu on the weekend of 22-25th April or not, we've included a seasonal sky guide of our favourite night sky objects to dazzle and amaze you visually or astrophotographically: Ralph The Leo Triplet of galaxies The Needle Galaxy in Come Berenices The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules Paul Spiral Galaxy, Messier 94 in Canes Venatici Double star Cor Caroli in Canes Venatici Globular Cluster M3 in Canes Venatici The Coma Star Cluster in Coma Berenices Messier 53 Globular Cluster in Coma Berenices Damien The King of Planets, Jupiter 2 rare AstroCamp comets in Hercules, Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak and C/2015 V2 Johnson As if comets weren't enough we also have the naked-eye Lyrid meteor shower John The Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici Markarian's Chain of galaxies between Leo and Virgo The Veil Nebula supernova remnants in Cygnus The Blackeye Galaxy in Coma Berenices

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. Jen updates us on her astronomy research trip to South Africa next month and Ralph reviews the latest space-based sci-fi thriller, Life. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: A schoolboy who spotted an error in NASA data Are the Van Allen radiation belts weaker than always thought? Was Earth's atmosphere like Titan's 2.4 billion years ago? Using the sun as a gravitational lens NASA's heading for Mars & evidence of an ancient Mars tsunami The Interview: This month we have a couple of interviews with the children taking part in science challenges at the Big Bang Fair and clips of Paul & Jen creating fire hazards and projectiles around an undefended audience… Hat of Woo: Following your comments by email and online, we're bringing back the vile and rancid Hat of Woo this month. And we're back with a festering sore of a conspiracy theory in the form of Immanuel Velikovsky's laws of physics defying Worlds in Collision 'theory'.

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 The Lyrid meteor shower Next up, we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major Paul – The Black Eye Galaxy in Coma Berenices Jen – The Ring Nebula in Lyra And we finish this sky guide with April's moon phases.

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. Three of these planets are in that star system's habitable zone. Luckily our own resident exoplanet researcher, Jeni, is on hand to take us through the hunt and explain the science! In this podcast extra we discuss: The NASA announcement The international collaboration that made this discovery How exoplanets are discovered The significance of the find What this star system looks like Could life exist on any of these worlds? What the environmental conditions could be like so close to their parent star (image credit: NASA)

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 Prime Meridian before it found its home in Greenwich. While Paul and Jen have a date this month at the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Hubble spies a comet breaking up around a distant white dwarf star A very special exoplanet discovery The Event Horizon Telescope takes aim Isolated extremophiles on Earth help with our search for alien life Is NASA accelerating its manned spaceflight programme? The Interview: This month we welcome back the European Space Agency's project scientist on the Rosetta mission to Comet Churyumov Gerasimenko, Matt Taylor, to discuss the end of the mission, the data gathered, the discovery of Philae and what's next for ESA. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about the Allais Effect which claims to have observed strange happenings during eclipses: I need help understanding something called the Allais Effect. This is a phenomenon that supposedly causes pendulums to get funky during solar eclipses Matt Minter, Chicago, Illinois.

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 with amateur telescopes or the naked eye Next up, we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Jen – The Owl Nebula in Ursa Major Paul – The Virgo Supercluster and Markarian's Chain of galaxies Ralph – Messier 67 and the Beehive Cluster in Cancer

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 spacewalking techniques on Gemini 9A The final test run for a moon landing on Apollo 10 Commanding the last ever moon landing mission on Apollo 17 The last footprints on the moon

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 regarding her PhD research. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Another asteroid hits the news as NASA look elsewhere for future missions ESO's ALMA array turns its attention to the Sun Making refinements on the age of the Moon A new star to look out for in the sky in 2022 Hat of Woo: With the hat now empty and the world still full of loons, we reach out to you to tell us what you'd like to see replace this segment of the show. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at a listener's submitted graph and explain the Roche Sphere: Can you please explain why the Hill Sphere of Neptune is greater than that of Jupiter? Gavin Price, @Pillarscreatio, Wales.

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 early morning sky Next up is the return of a couple of comets to our observing tick list: Comet 45P at its best on the 11th February in Hercules Comet 2P Encke returns to our skies in the constellation Pisces Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Ralph – the Rosette Nebula and open cluster NGC2244 in the constellation Monoceros Paul – open cluster M93 in Pupis Jeni – supernova remnant, Messier 1 – the Crab Nebula - in Taurus And we finish this sky guide with February's moon phases, a conjunction with the Hyades Cluster on the 5th and a penumbral eclipse on 10th/11th February.

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 exploration can be done from orbit Human vs robotic exploration The likelihood of contaminating other worlds with Earth organisms

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 astronomy news this month we have: The death of John Glenn – a true pioneer and legend ESO's Very Large Telescopes glimpses something from nothing And we take a look at NASA latest release list of its spin-out technologies Hat of Woo: In our latest and final Hat of Woo we put Astrology under the magnifying glass. Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we're tackling a question about a recent news story covered in a previous episode: The number of bodies in the Solar System featuring subsurface oceans seems to increase with every planetary mission sent out there. Many of these are bodies of water of great depth, with Europa and Ganymede possibly having oceans 100km deep. Given that the deepest part of our own ocean is a 'mere' 11km deep and barely studied, what kind of conditions could future explores expect at such depths? Would the enormous pressure at a depth of 100km cause the water to act differently and what implications would this have for life in these oceans? Steve Brown, Yorkshire, England.

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 morning sky Next up is the other solar system wonders of note in January: The Quadrantids meteor shower peaking on 3-4th January with a ZHR of around 40 The largest asteroid, Vesta, at opposition passing through Cancer into Gemini Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Jen – M33, spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum Paul – NGC 2903, barred spiral galaxy in Leo Ralph – Messier 35, open cluster in Gemini And we finish this sky guide with January's moon phases.

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 dinner. In London: A rousing and inspiring speech to the defeated peoples of Earth. The Earth Under the Martians: Jeni's excited about her new taser and we all have a jolly Christmas wager. The Days of Imprisonment: Another speech to the assembled and compliant Earthling slaves. Dead London: John begins the human resistance with the release across all frequencies of the 2016 outtakes. The Wreckage: Jeni sees out Christmas Day with a few science and astronomy themed factoids. We don't do Awesome Astronomy for money or to advertise, we just do it for fun and education. As long as we still enjoy creating it and you enjoy listening to it, we'll keep on going. So if you want any changes, have any comments or suggestions, email us at [email protected] Merry Christmas everyone and our very best wishes for 2017.

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 Peake. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: An update on Blue Origin's spaceflight ambitions More on Shiaparelli and Exomars part 1 A NASA Director's worries about science in a Trump administration An Ocean like the Dead Sea under Pluto's ice sheets The roundest object in space Could dark energy actually be an emergent property of entropy? The dinosaur-killing asteroid may have turned planet Earth inside out The Hat of Woo: Delving into the rank and putrid world of conspiracy theories to debunk the nonsense that lies within. This month Paul pulls Project Pegasus out of his fetid hat where a young President Obama was part of a team of juveniles used in the 1980s to teleport to Mars and into the past. No, really! Q&A: Listeners' questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we go back to Tycho Brahe: What is a plain regular (non-super) nova? Doug, @DesRon94, Detroit Michigan

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 our late night skies Next up is the meteor showers and December brings us the greatest of them all: The Geminids peaking on the night of 13/14th December Then we each take a deep sky pick from our list of favourites for this time of year: Jeni – IC 1396 - The Elephant Trunk Nebula in Cepheus Paul – M78 – a reflection nebula in Orion Ralph – NGC 246 the Skull Nebula in Cetus And we finish this sky guide with December's moon phases.