The Astronomy Show 19.12.18

The Astronomy Show 19.12.18

It is the Christmas Astronomy Show, but although it is the closest show to the big day the world of astronomy does not stop, things keep happening. Therefore I will be looking at news that astronomers have discovered the most distant solar system object to have been observed. The object named 2018 VG18 is more than 100 times further than the Earth is from the Sun.

I will look at the Night Sky over the Festive period with Mars being seen in the south west just after Sunset and Venus easily seen before sunrise and as an extra bonus right at the end of the month Jupiter and Mercury can also been seen before sunrise. The autumn constellations are now dropping away in the west with the winter constellations much more apparent in the east. There will be much more on the winter constellations next month.

The other regular feature include the A-Z of constellations which today has reached Tucana  the Toucan, while the Messier marathon is at M85 in Coma Berenices. The latest astronomy news includes how the Insight lander will monitor the weather on Mars, NASA has selected the place where the Mars 2020 will land and Voyager 2 left the solar system the same day that a solar probe touched the Sun. The astronomical scrapbook which looks at anniversaries this week includes Apollo 8  at the Moon in 1968, Halleys comet was recovered in 1758 and astronomer Scriven Bolton died in 1929. All this plus the round up of news from the astronomical societies in the North of England.

At this time of year one very famous star is often mentioned the Star of Bethlehem, I will have a quick look at just what that might have been.

I hope everyone has a very peaceful and blessed Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year.
I will be back with the Astronomy Show on Wednesday 2nd January 2019.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the Astronomy Show later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 12.12.18

The Astronomy Show 12.12.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at Voyager 2 which has finally reached interstellar space. This venerable space craft which was launched in 1977 is now saying goodbye to the solar system. I will be looking at what Voyager 2 achieved and what will happen to it next,

There will be the regular review of the night sky, including the Geminid meteor shower which peaks on the night of December 13/14. The Geminid meteor shower is the best of the year, plus the latest news on comet Wirtanen. I will also look at one of the main early winter constellations Perseus which is now high in the sky, plus a round up of the other constellations visible at the moment.

The A-Z of constellations has reached Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle, the Messier Marathon is a double helping with the galaxies M84 and M86 in Virgo. This is the first time that the Messier Marathon has gone out of sequence with M85 to follow next time. There will be the latest astronomy news including China launches the first mission to land on the far side of the Moon, the Osiris-REX mission arrives at the asteroid Bennu and news that a Near Earth asteroid has been removed from the list of objects that could hit the Earth. This plus the latest news from the astronomy societies in the North of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. The show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the programme later via the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 05.12.18

The Astronomy Show 05.12.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at cave paintings that are 40,000 years old and show that people living all those years ago had a good knowledge of astronomy. This information must have been preserved in various forms and ultimately ended up in  Greece over 2,500 years ago leading to the so called beginning of science.

Astronomers are watching comet Wirtanen as it gets higher in the sky and hopefully brighter, I will be looking at the latest details. I will also be taking a look at what stars can be seen during the next few nights and the very close encounter between the planets Mars and Neptune.

The other regular features include the A-Z of constellations which is now at Triangulum the Triangle, one of the few constellations that look like the object it is supposed to represent. The Messier Marathon has reached M83 in Hydra the Water Snake. The astronomy news this week includes an asteroid that exploded 3,700 years ago and wiped out part of the Middle East and astronomers determine the distance to the Cygnus Loop often known as the Veil,Nebula.

The Astronomical Scrapbook which looks at anniversaries this week includes the discovery of the Supernova in 185 AD and the birth of Annie Jump Cannon in 1863. There will also be the usual roundup of meetings of the astronomical societies in the North of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5. 00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. The show can be heard on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the show later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 28.11.18

The Astronomy Show 28.11.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the latest mission to Mars the InSIGHT probe which safely landed on Mars on Monday evening. The probe will be hoping to explore the interior of the Red Planet and investigate beneath the surface of Mars something that no other robot has been able to do so far.

I will take my regular weekly look at the night sky including checking up on comet Wirtanen which  should be visible in the sky during December, as well as checking on where to find the planets Mars and Venus. The A-Z of constellations has reached  the faint obscure constellation of Telescopium the Telescope, while the Messier marathon is a double act today with M 81 and M 82 the famous pair of galaxies in Ursa Major.

The astronomical scrapbook which looks at anniversaries this week includes the launch of Mariner 4 which when it reached Mars in 1965 destroyed many peoples view of the red planet, and the discovery in 1967 of the first Pulsar. The Astronomy news includes how would we save Earth from a killer asteroid and the news that the Martian moon Phobos may have been formed from an impact with its home planet. This plus a round up of news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com, or hear the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 21.11.18

The Astronomy Show 21.11.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the discovery of a crater under the ice on Greenland. The crater is nearly 20 miles wide and its impact would have had a massive effect on the Earth's climate. It is believed to have been formed between 3 million and 12,000 years ago.

The regular features on the show include a look at what is in the night sky during the next week including identifying that really bright white object in the sky in the East before sunrise. The astronomy news includes details that show that the Earth has been near missed 66 times so far this year by asteroids, Voyager 2 creeps closer to the edge of the solar system and NASA plan to land the 2020 mission to Mars in an ancient lakebed to search for signs of life.

Other regulars include the A-Z of constellations which  is now at Taurus the Bull while the Messier Marathon will look at M 80 in Scorpius. The astronomical scrapbook looks at anniversaries  this week which include a comet discovered in York in 1783, and the first transit of Venus observed in 1639. All this plus the usual round up of what is going on in the astronomical societies in the North of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. You can hear the show on line at www.drystoneradio.com or catch the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 14.11.18

The Astronomy Show 14.11.18

The Astronomy Show is back, I have survived two weeks cruising off the coast of Norway some of the time we were in the Arctic Circle hunting the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, we were not to be disappointed because there was an incredible Northern Lights display on November 3rd. It was stonking, the best I have seen since 2004, I will explain all in the show tomorrow.

On the show today I will be looking at the end of two important space missions the Kepler Space Telescope which has been hunting for planets orbiting other stars and the Dawn mission which had orbited the dwarf planet Ceres. Both missions were massive successes and achieved incredible results and their ending which was expected by astronomers will still be keenly felt by all who used the information they sent back to Earth.

I will also be looking at what can be seen in the night sky including a recap of the highlights on the autumn sky. There is also news of the discovery of a comet, this is not unusual  comets are always being discovered by astronomers, but what makes this comet special is that it was discovered not by the professionals but by amateur astronomers.. Early indications are that it could become bright in the early morning skies, however the brightness of comets  are notoriously difficult to predict.

There will be the usual regular features including the latest astronomy news including  a strange cloud seen on Mars, Saturn's moon Dione is covered with weird stripes and the Space X 'Starman' and its Tesla Roadster are now beyond Mars. The astronomical Scrapbook looks at anniversaries this week including Tycho's discovery of a comet in 1577, Mariner 9 entered orbit around Mars and John Goodricke starts his astronomical diary. The Messier Marathon has reached M79 a globular cluster in Lepus while the A-Z of constellations is at the barren constellation of Sextans the Sextant. All this plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the North.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. You can listen live to the Astronomy Show on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Astronomy Scrapbook and WW 2

Astronomy Scrapbook and WW 2

October 27th

On the 27^th October 1449, probably the last of the great Arab astronomers Ulugh Beg sometimes called the Sultan of the Stars died. He was the grandson of Tamerlane the Mongol leader who founded the Timurid empire in Persia and Central Asia.

Ulugh Beg was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer and mathematician. He built a great observatory in Samarkand in 1428 in Central Asia which today is part of Uzbekistan. The observatory which although it contained no telescopes was considered to be one of the finest in the Islamic world and was the largest in Central Asia. It was only surpassed in importance when Tycho Brahe the Danish astronomer who studied the Supernova in 1572 built his observatory called Uraniborg in 1576.

Ulugh Beg observed the night sky from his observatory and in 1437 produced a catalogue of 994 stars and realised that the observations he was making showed that the catalogues made by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2^nd century AD , which were then also used by Arab astronomers were not accurate. His catalogue is regarded as the most accurate produced between those made by Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe.

Sadly his scientific expertise was not matched by his skills in running an empire. There was a lot of in fighting within his family and after several rebellions he was killed on the instructions of his son.

Please visit my website to view my astronomy talks at www.astrognome.co.uk 

Ulugh Beg The Sultan of the Stars

                                                                     xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After over 4 months of fighting the during the Sino Japanese war, Japanese forces captured the city of Wuhan on October 27th 1938. The battle which covered a large geographical area was one of the most important in the early part of the war. There were heavy casualties on both sides, it is estimated that 400,000 casualties were suffered by the Chinese with the Japanese losing around 140,000 men. There are some estimates that suggest that these figures are an under estimate and that the true number iwas over a million people were killed on both sides

The second Sino-Japanese war began on July 7^th 1937 with a full scale Japanese invasion of China following an incident on the Marc Polo Bridge. In 1938 Wuhan was the second largest city in China and was situated on the Yangtse and was therefore an obvious target for the Japanese.

After the battle a large part of the Chinese Air Force and Navy was destroyed, however major elements of the Chinese army remained intact. The battle had also severely weakened the Japanese army to the effect that although there were some advances into central China between 1939-42 no major operations by the Japanese forces would be launched until 1944 with the operation called Ichi-Go.

I present The Astronomy Show on the community station Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, every Wednesday afternoon between  3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. The show can be heard on line at www.drystoneradio.com 

I will be lecturing on a cruise ship in the arctic looking for the Northern Lights during the next 2 weeks, the next Astronomy Show will be on Wednesday 14th November.

The Astronomy Show 24.10.18

The Astronomy Show 24.10.18

On the Astronomy Show this week I will be looking at the question when will we find Planet Nine? Last week I reported on the Astronomy Show about the small asteroid called the Goblin which has been discovered at the edge of the solar system and astronomers are watching it to see if anything might be pulling it slightly out of its predicted orbit.

I will take my regular look at the night sky this week. I will look at what constellations we can see at the moment, however with regards to the planets we are restricted to just seeing Mars at the moment. The other regular features include the latest astronomy news with the launch of the Bepi Columbo mission to Mercury. The astronomical scrapbook which looks at anniversaries this week in astronomy. In 1784 John Goodricke discovered the variable star Delta Cepheus, the first photo from the surface of Venus in 1975 and in 1675 the small moon of Saturn, Iapetus was discovered. 

The A-Z of constellation has reached Serpens a constellation in two parts, while the Messier marathon is at M78 in Orion. This plus the look at what the astronomy societies in the north of England are up to.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. The show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com the show can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

I will be away for the next two Astronomy Shows I will be lecturing overseas, the next Astronomy Show will be live on Wednesday 14th November.

The Astronomy Show 17.10.18

The Astronomy Show 17.10.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at  results from the European space robot MASCOT as it hops around the crazy rocky surface of the Ryugu asteroid. The MASCOT lander was deployed from the Japanese Hayabusa2 mother ship. The problems of working on this small asteroid include  the gravity being only one-66,500th of Earth's, this means that even a tiny push off the surface is enough to send the lander floating away from the asteroid.

I will take a look at the night sky with details of how we just missed a meteor storm from the Draconid meteor shower on the 8th-9th October and hopefully coming soon the brightest comet of the year, comet Wirtanen is expected to become a naked eye object during December and over Christmas.

Other regular features include  the latest astronomy news with 4 huge planets being  discovered around a very young star and astronomers observe a surprisingly faint and fading supernova. The Messier marathon has reached M77 a Seyfert galaxy in Cetus and the A-Z of constellations is at the small constellation of Scutum the Shield. The astronomical  Scrapbook looking at anniversaries this week include the death of the York based telescope maker Thomas Cooke in 1868 and the launch of the first astronaut or Taikonaut from China in 2003. This plus the round up of what is going on in the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. The show can be heard on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the show later via the Drystone Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 10.10.18

The Astronomy Show 10.10.18

The Astronomy Show returns after my break during which I took my Stardome Planetarium around some of the schools of northern England showing them the stars in the night sky.

On the show today I will be looking at a new object discovered in the far outer regions of our solar system, the asteroid nicknamed 'The Goblin' could increase the chances of discovering the so called planet nine, an undiscovered world that could be lurking far away from the Sun.

As we are now well into the autumn season I will be taking a look at the stars and constellations that we can see in the coming months, plus identifying which of the planets can be seen during the next few nights.

I will take a look at the latest news from the world of astronomy, including Voyager 2 which is at the edge of interstellar space and is measuring an increase in cosmic rays, the Hubble Space Telescope has been put into a safe mode due to a gyroscope failure and Jupiter has an extra magnetic pole. The Messier marathon reaches  M76 in Perseus, while the A-Z of constellations looks at the obscure constellation of Sculptor.

The Astronomical Scrapbook which looks back at anniversaries this week includes the first image of the far side of the Moon in 1959 and the discovery of the largest moon of Neptune, Triton discovered in 1846. There will also be the usual round up of what is happening  in some of the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. The show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the show later via the Drystone Radio podcast.

Astronomy Scrapbook and World war 2

September 30th

If you have ever followed my blog you will know that I was Curator of Astronomy at the Yorkshire Museum in York until I retired in 2011 and I present a weekly radio show on Drystone Radio which is called not surprisingly the Astronomy Show. What people might not know is that apart from astronomy, another great interest of mine is military history so I thought that with the coming of 2019 and the 80^th anniversary of the start of the second world war that I would see if any there were any major dates that occurred during that conflict that also coincided with astronomical anniversaries.

Here is the first, and it starts before the war started, but it was an event that had major implications for people in Europe.

This blog will begin on September 30^th 1938 with the British prime minster Neville Chamberlain returning back to Britain after a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Germany Chamberlain had a piece of paper which he waved to the crowds and proclaimed that there would be peace in our time. The paper referred to the Munich agreement which allowed Nazi Germany to occupy certain parts of the country then known as Czechoslovakia. This area of Czechoslovakia was known as the Sudetenland.

September 30^th 1550 the German astronomer Michael Mastlin was born, a professor of mathematics and astronomy, one of his pupils was Johannes Kepler who is best known for his laws of planetary motion and for his observations of the supernova of 1604 which is usually referred to as Kepler’s 

Star.

September 30^th 1975 Charles Kowal and Elizabeth Roemer discovered Themisto a small moon of Jupiter. There were not enough observations of the orbit of the moon at the time of discovery and it was subsequently lost only to be rediscovered again in 2000. Themisto is only about 5 miles in diameter and is named after the daughter of the river god Inachus and lover of Zeus.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM The show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or can be heard later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

Next Astronomy Show Wednesday 10^th October.

The Astronomy Show 12.09.18

The Astronomy Show 12.09.18

Is Pluto a planet? A new paper recently published has opened the decade long debate. I know that some people want Pluto to be re established as a planet while many want it left as a dwarf planet. On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at this argument that has been rumbling on for the last 12 years.

There will be the usual look at the night sky including Mars which is still visible low in the south west sky and on the 16th September will be at Perihelion or closest point to the Sun in its annual orbit. There are also some close encounters between the planets Jupiter and Saturn with the Moon just after sunset.

Other regular features include the astronomical scrapbook looking at anniversaries that happened this week in history including on the 17th September 1764 the birth of John Goodricke the deaf astronomer based in York who was one of the 'Fathers of Variable Star Astronomy'. This plus the A-Z of constellations in which we look at Scorpius the Scorpion with the Messier Marathon has reached M75 in Sagittarius. This plus  a round up of all the latest astronomy news from the past few days. There will also be a round up of what is happening in the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, every Wednesday afternoon  between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. You can hear the show live via the internet at www.drystoneradio.com or listen later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

There will be no Astronomy shows on the following Wednesdays, September 19th, September 26th and October 3rd. The next Astronomy Show will be on Wednesday  October 10th. This is due to me working in schools with my Stardome Planetarium when I will be teaching children all about the wonderful world of astronomy.

The Astronomy Show 05.09.18

The Astronomy Show 05.09.18

The Astronomy Show is back today, I have returned from my visit to Norway presenting a series of astronomy talks on one of the many cruise ships that visit that wonderful part of the world.

On the show today I will be looking at NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope which is 15 years old and still going strong. Launched back in 2003 Spitzer had a projected life time of 2.5 years, I will be looking at the many of the fantastic discoveries Spitzer has made including a new ring around Saturn and the detection of the 7 Earth like planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST 1.

In the night sky this week we have to start getting used to a lack of bright planets that can be seen  only Mars is still easily visible early in the evening sky although even the red planet  is now to be found low in the south west. As a compensation over the next few days for people up before sunrise it is possible to see Mercury about 45 minutes before the Sun rises in the east, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. There is also the possibility of one of the minor meteor showers of the year the September Perseids producing a major outburst on September 9th I will investigate what is happening.

The other regular features include the latest astronomy news from the past few days including the New Horizon space craft which flew past Pluto in 2015 has now spotted its next target which has been nicknamed Ultima Thule. Did a micrometeorite poke a hole in the International Space Station? Everyone on board is safe and the hole has been repaired, and there could more water on Jupiter than that is found on Earth.

The A-Z of constellations is at Sagittarius the Archer while the Messier Marathon has reached M 74 in Pisces. The astronomical scrapbook looks at anniversaries this week including the 100th birthday of Katherine Johnson one of the women 'computers' who worked at NASA in the 1960s and helped put Americans into space, and she was black and led a team of black women 'computers'. Their incredible story is told in the film 'Hidden Figures'.  On September 2nd 1859 the Earth was hit by the Carrington solar flare the largest recorded flare to hit the Earth, it wiped out the world's communication system which at the time was the telegraph system. All this plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or listen to the show later via the Drystone Radio  podcast.

 

The Astronomy Show 29.08.18

The Astronomy Show 29.08.18

There will be no Astronomy Show on Wednesday 29th August, I will be presenting a series of astronomy talks on a cruise ship off Norway. I know it sounds tough but someone has to do it! The Astronomy Show will however be back on Wednesday 5th September with all the regular features.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM  live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear previous shows on the Drystone Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 22.08.18

The Astronomy Show 22.08.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at some of the oldest galaxies which have been discovered by astronomers and incredibly they are orbiting our galaxy. These tiny galaxies were only revealed by astronomers using the latest equipment.

I will take a look at the night sky for the next few days with the night sky rapidly emptying of planets that have been with us all summer, soon only Mars will be visible. The end of August and the beginning of September is a transition period when the summer constellations are still high in the sky and with the autumn constellations just beginning to appear in the East.

The other regular features include the A-Z of constellations which is now at Sagitta the Arrow, which although a small group is one of the original Greek patterns. The Messier marathon has reached M73 which is not a cluster or galaxy but just a group of stars, I will explain on the show. The astronomical scrapbook which looks at anniversaries for this week includes The launch and safe return of the first animals in space, the Russian dogs Belka and Strelka in 1960, the discovery of the rings around Neptune in 1989 and the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet in 2006. All this plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. You can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or listen to  the programme later on the Drystone Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 15.08.18

The Astronomy Show 15.08.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the Parker Solar Probe which is now on its way to the Sun and will hopefully be able to supply answers to questions that astronomers have regarding our local star. However don't be surprised if the Parker mission throws up more questions than answers. That's the fun part of astronomy, there is always another question to answer.

I will be taking my weekly look at the night sky and yes you guessed it I missed the Perseid's because of the cloudy weather, but other people have seen wonderful displays of the Perseid meteors. Mars is still very bright but we are beginning to loose the other planets. There will be the round up of astronomy news from the past few days including news that the variable star R CrB has awakened and Pluto will be occulting or passing in front of a distant star and NASA scientists are trying to wake up the Opportunity Rover on Mars.

The other regular features include the Messier Marathon which today has reached M 72 the faintest globular cluster on the Messier list . The A-Z of constellations has now reached another small and faint southern hemisphere constellation Reticulum the Net. I will take a look into the astronomical scrapbook to see what anniversaries occurred this week including the discovery of the variable star Mira by David Fabricius in 1596 and the launch of Venera 7 in 1970 the first probe to land on Venus. This plus the regular round up of news from astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. You can hear the show live at drystoneradio.com or catch the programme later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 08.08.18

The Astronomy Show 08.08.18

With a fireball exploding over an United States air base in Greenland on July 25 and the event only just being reported, the Astronomy Show will be looking at how astronomers discover and then try to track asteroids that approach the Earth.

It's August and this means that the Earth will have its annual meeting with a stream of comet dust  on the night of August 12/13 when people can see probably the most famous of all the annual meteor showers the Perseids. Today I will be looking at just what  meteors or shooting stars actually are and why we see meteor showers and the fascinating history behind the Perseids. This plus the round up of what can be seen in the night sky including the summer triangle stars, the bright planets, and the green comet which has been dubbed the incredible hulk comet.

The other regular features include the A-Z of constellations which is now at Pyxis the Compass while the Messier Marathon has reached M71 in Sagita the arrow. The latest astronomy news includes how astronomers watched 2 meteorites hit the Moon and a bizarre rogue planet with incredible auroras. The astronomical scrapbook looks at anniversaries that have occurred this week including the launch of Explorer 6 which sent back the first photo of the Earth and the launch of the Echo 1 communications balloon. This plus the round up of the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and you can catch the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

 

The Astronomy Show 01.08.18

The Astronomy Show 01.08.18


On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the red planet which is now at its closest to the Earth since 2003 and is visible as a very bright red 'star' low in the sky at around midnight, but Mars  is also in the news because of the discovery of a lake of water just below the surface at the south pole of Mars. What could this mean for future exploration of the red planet?

The night sky this summer has been fantastic for looking at the bright planets but things are now changing, Venus is very low in the sky in the west just visible after sunset with Jupiter also dropping very quickly in the south west as well. While Mars and Saturn can be seen in the south, unfortunately they are  both are very low in the sky and can be seen around midnight. The summer triangle stars Altair, Deneb and Vega are all at their highest and with the Milky Way overhead there are lots to see in the night sky this week.

Other regular features include looking at some of the astronomy news stories this week including trying to discover which is the largest star and how  the edge of space just got closer according to astronomers. The A-Z of constellations is now at Puppis the Stern while the Messier marathon is at M70, we are still in globular cluster alley in Sagittarius. The astronomical scrapbook looking back at anniversaries this week includes Ranger 7 hitting the Moon, Caroline Herschel discovered her first comet and the definition of time bill passed in the house of Lords. There will be the usual round up of activity in the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon  between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. You can also hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or catch the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 25.07.18

The Astronomy Show 25.07.18


We may be in the middle of a wonderfully hot summer, and the nights are only now beginning to get darker earlier in the evenings, but there is still lots going on in the night sky.  On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the Blood Moon Rising, this is an eclipse of the Moon, but this is no ordinary lunar eclipse, this one is the longest one of the century. If that's not enough the Red Planet, Mars rises just after the Moon it is very bright and looks very red at the moment, this is because Mars is now  at its closest point to the Earth in 15 years.

I will be having a look at the night sky over the next week plus starting to look more closely at the constellations of the summer sky. I will begin not with any members of the summer triangle because they are going to be around for quite a while but starting with the constellation of the Scorpion, its very low in the sky and Antares its brightest star which is known at the Rival of Mars will be the first of the bright stars to leave the summer sky. There is also a warning of possible Northern Light activity tonight.

The regular features include the A-Z of constellation which has now reached Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish, while the Messier Marathon is now at M69 in Sagittarius.  The latest astronomy news includes our Milky Way  galaxy had a big sibling but the Andromeda galaxy ate it!!, scientists are chasing dust storms on Mars and their could be another Volcano on the Io one of Jupiter's moons. The astronomical scrapbook includes the discovery of comet Hale Bopp in 1995. All this plus the round up of news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM. You can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or catch the show later on the Drystone Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 18.07.18 Update

The Astronomy Show 18.07.18 Update

BREAKING NEWS

Astronomers at the Carnegie Institution for Science looking for planet 9 appear to have discovered 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter.

All the latest news tomorrow on the Astronomy Show Wednesday 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 18.07.18

The Astronomy Show 18.07.18

On this weeks' astronomy show I will be looking at a new report asking if Lunar Dust can damage our health. Lunar Dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans?

The night sky will be dominated by the summer triangle stars Altair, Deneb and Vega, with Vega located in the overhead position. The summer triangle will be on view for the rest of the summer months. The four bright planets from west to east Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars easily visible with Mars now brighter than Jupiter and by next week it will be at its brightest this year. 

The A-Z of constellations has now reached Pisces the Fishes a faint group in the zodiac which is important because it contains the Vernal Equinox the point at which the Sun moves across the celestial equator into the northern hemisphere each year. The Messier marathon is now at M68 a globular cluster in Hydra. Our weekly look into the astronomical scrapbook includes the anniversaries of Mariner 4 reaching Mars in 1965 and comet Shoemaker- Levy 9 starting to crash into Jupiter in 1994.

The latest astronomy news includes details of 2 small asteroids that flew past the Earth at the weekend, scientists spot a neutrino at an observatory in Antarctica and the end is nigh for the planet hunting Kepler space telescope. All this plus the news from astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on  Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can listen to the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com, or catch the programme later on the Drystone  Radio podcast.

The Astronomy Show 11.07.18

The Astronomy Show 11.07.18

After a week of cruising and lecturing on astronomy off Norway in very hot weather, this summer is apparently the hottest in Norway since 1947, the Astronomy Show returns and looks at one of the coldest of the planets in the solar system, the strange world of Uranus the sky god.  There is a new theory amongst astronomers that something very large smashed into Uranus billions of years ago, the Astronomy Show will be looking at exactly this new theory is.

The night sky in July means that as far as astronomers are concerned we are now into observing the summer constellations. I will have a look and see which stars and constellations can be seen during the next couple of months. We still have a wonderful display of planets on show, sadly they are all quite low in the sky but with Mars getting closer to us it is becoming even brighter in the sky. There will be details of comet PANSTARRS that has suddenly increased in brightness going from a telescope object to be able to be seen in binoculars. The Sun still has very few sunspots.

The other regular features includes the latest astronomy news with details of how the massive dust storm on Mars is making the red planet look creepy, the latest news from the Dawn mission looking at the white spots on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. The A-Z of constellations continues with  the southern hemisphere constellation of Pictor the Painters Easel, while  the Messier marathon is now at M67 the open cluster in Cancer. The astronomical scrapbook looks at what happened this week in history including the launch of the first communications satellite Telstar and  the American space station Skylab crashing back to Earth .All of this plus the round up of news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm, you can listen live on line at www,drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone radio podcast.

No Astronomy Show on 04.07.18

No Astronomy Show on 04.07.18

There will be no Astronomy Show on Wednesday 4th July, this is because I will be presenting astronomy lectures next week on a cruise ship sailing off Norway. 

As I won't be on air next week I would like to wish everyone in advance a Happy Aphelion Day for Friday  July 6th when the Earth will be at aphelion or furthest point from the Sun this year on its annual orbit around the Sun.


The Astronomy Show normally every Wednesday between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, previous shows can still be heard on the Drystone podcast on www.drystoneradio.com



I will back as usual with the next Astronomy Show on Wednesday 11th July.

The Astronomy Show 27.06.18

The Astronomy Show 27.06.18

On the Astronomy Show today, the first since the summer solstice I will be looking at the new telescope at Greenwich which means that the Royal Observatory is to start studying the sky again.

In the night sky at the moment there are four bright planets in the sky, with Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars all being easily seen as bright dots against a fairly bright sky after 11.00 pm. The Noctilucent Cloud season is in full swing at the moment with reports from all over the UK and the rest of Europe. There is a good chance of seeing some Aurora tonight but, to see it you will have to be in the southern hemisphere where of course the skies are dark as at the moment they are in winter.

The A-Z of constellations reaches the faint southern hemisphere constellation of Phoenix named after the mythical bird, the Messier marathon is a double bill today with the galaxies M65 and M66 which are very close together in Leo. The astronomical news includes details of the Japanese Hayabusa2 probe reaching the asteroid Ryugu and NASA's new plan to destroy asteroids which might threaten the Earth. The astronomical scrapbook includes anniversaries of the Yorkshire eclipse of the Sun in 1927 and the Tunguska comet strike in 1908. This plus the news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the show later on the Drystone podcast.

The Astronomy Show 20.06.18

The Astronomy Show 20.06.18

On today's Astronomy Show I will be looking news that astronomers are closer to solving  a 200 year old mystery regarding the eclipsing variable star Epsilon Aurigae, astronomers have until now been unsure just what types are stars form this binary system. I remember monitoring this star way back in the 1980s when at that time no one had any idea of what was actually happening to the star. 

Tomorrow on June 21st we have the summer solstice when we have the shortest night of the year astronomers have been battling with the lack of long periods of darkness for the past few weeks and after tomorrow the length of the nights will slowly begin to increase although this will be a long process and it will be many weeks before this becomes noticeable. However even allowing for the short nights four of the planets are putting on a great display in the late evening sky for us and will continue to do so for the next few weeks. Although we are now in the Noctilucent Cloud season I have yet to see any this year.

The  regular features include the latest astronomy news looking at how the Apollo astronauts caused a slight Lunar warming, why Venus spins so weirdly and  the half mile wide asteroid whizzing past us, but don't worry it will miss us by around 3.7 million miles. The A-Z of constellations reaches the mythical hero Perseus, the Messier marathon reaches M64 the Black Eye galaxy in Coma Berenices. The astronomical scrapbook looks at events this week in history and includes the discovery of Charon the large moon of Pluto. This plus the round up of news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, the show can be listened to live on line at www.drystoneradio.com, or you hear the show later on the drystone podcast. 

The Astronomy Show 13.06.18

The Astronomy Show 13.06.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the announcement by scientists that they may have found evidence for life on Mars. The Curiosity rover has discovered not only methane in the Martian atmosphere but that this amount of methane varies during the course of the of the Red Planets' year. Could this be due to some biological process or is it a geological event?  I will be looking at the evidence plus a look at the history of the search for life on Mars.

June is not a good month for looking at the night sky from Britain with very short periods of night time, but to compensate for this June marks the beginning of the Noctilucent  Cloud season, I will be explaining just what these electric blue looking clouds are and where you can see them. I will also take a look at just what can be seen in the sky during the following few nights.

The other regular features include the latest astronomy news including news that another of the NASA rovers Opportunity is trying to survive a massive Martian dust storm, why the Galilean moons are so big and that days on the Earth are getting longer thanks to the fact that the  Moon is moving away from us. The A-Z of constellations is now at Pegasus the Flying Horse while the Messier marathon reaches M63 in Canes Venatici.

The astronomical scrapbook  looking at events this week in history includes Venera 7 the first successful probe to land on Venus, the first woman in space and the German school boy hit by a meteorite! There will also be the usual round up of what is going on in the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can listen live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the later on the Drystone podcast.

No Astronomy Show on 06.06.18

No Astronomy Show on 06.06.18

Unfortunately there will be no astronomy show on Wednesday June 6th this is due to work commitments. The Astronomy Show will return next week on Wednesday 13th June.

I will leave one little thought with everyone, on June 8th 1918 one hundred years ago a bright nova appeared in the night sky above the western front, it was one of the brightest novae of the twentieth century and was visible without a telescope for around 10 days.

The Astronomy Show 30.05.18

The Astronomy Show 30.05.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at  Cosmic Rays. I will be looking at how astronomers discovered them, where they come from and why they are getting worse, a situation which will cause problems for everyone on Earth.

We lost another of the small band of Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon when the sad news broke that Alan Bean who was part of the crew on Apollo 12 died this week.

All the regular features on the Astronomy Show include what can be seen in the night sky over the next 7 nights. The latest astronomy news includes that over 800 minor planets have been discovered beyond Neptune and what they can tell us, there is yet more evidence for a planet 9 in the solar system and what happens if you leave your camera too close to the launch of a rocket.

The A-Z of constellations this week looks at Pavo the Peacock in the southern hemisphere and the Messier marathon reaches M62 in Ophiuchus, the astronomical scrapbook includes the launch of Mariner 9  in 1971 and the discovery of Donati's comet in 1858. This plus the round up of news from astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM. The Astronomy Show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com  or you can hear the program later via the drystone podcast. 

No Astronomy Show on 23.05.18

No astronomy Show on 23.05.18

I will be taking my planetarium into a school on Wednesday 23rd May which means that there will be no Astronomy Show on  this day.  I will be back on Wednesday 30th May.

The Astronomy Show 16.05.18

The Astronomy Show 16.05.18


On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the latest evidence that suggests there might be water plumes on Jupiter's moon Europa. And again its the Hubble Space Telescope that has spotted them. However this evidence has been complemented by information from a probe that visited Jupiter 20 years ago, the Galileo mission. I will be exploring what's going on.

There will be the regular tour of what can be seen in the night sky during the next 7 nights, together with a look at a constellation in the spring sky, today Coma Berenices (Berenice's Hair). The A-Z of constellations reaches probably the most spectacular of all constellations, Orion the Hunter. The Messier marathon is at M61 another of the Virgo galaxies.

The latest astronomy news includes NASA's helicopter for Mars, the 'lost' asteroid that near missed us yesterday May 15th, and the exiled asteroid from our solar system. The astronomical scrapbook looks at astronomical history this week including in 1882 the first comet to be discovered during an eclipse of the Sun using photography. This plus the regulr round up of what is going on in the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00pm and 5.00pm. The  show can be heard on live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen later on the drystone podcast.

  

The Astronomy Show 09.05.18

The Astronomy Show 09.05.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at how our solar sysytem formed. Until recently it was assumed that the solar system formed in a fairly orderly way from a cloud of dust and gas. Now however evidence suggests that the early early period of the solar system's formation was chaos and mayhem. If you want to find out more tune in to the show today.

There will be the regular look at what can be seen in the night sky during  the next seven nights. The A-Z of constellations has now reached the large but faint summer constellation of Ophiuchus the Serpent Holder. The Messier Marathon today is a double bill looking at the galalxies M59 and M60 which are so close together in Virgo that it made sense to do them together.

The latest astronomy news includes the launch of the InSight mission to Mars and that the pop singer Ariana Grande likes the planet Neptune a little bit more than Jupiter! The Astronomical Scrapbook looks  at what happened this week in history including in 1861 the birth of the Austarlian astronomer John Tebbut and  in 1866 the discovery of the star T Corona Borealis the 'Blaze Star'. This plus the usual round up of what is going on in the astronomical societies in the north during the next week.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00pm and 5.00pm, only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone Podcast.

The Astronomy Show 02.05.18

The Astronomy Show 02.05.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at how the DAWN mission which has been exploring the dwarf planet Ceres which is located in the Asteroid Belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter  has been shedding light on our knowledge of asteroids. Ceres was referred to as an asteroid until 2006 when it was  re-classified as a dwarf planet.

There will be the regular tour around the night sky during the next few days. The latest astronomy news will include the sunspots that are vanishing much faster than expected, and the new star map with 1.7 billion stars.

The A-Z of constellations reaches Octans the Octant an obsure constellation in the southern sky which is noteable only because it contains the faint South Pole Star, while the Messier Marathon has reached M58 in Virgo. Our look into the astronomical scrapabook this week includes the brightest supernova star ever seen in this galaxy and the closest comet to pass the Earth in 200 years. All this plus the round up of news from astronomy societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3.00pm - 5.00pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or listen later using the Drystone Radio Podcast.

 

The Astronomy Show 25.04.18

The Astronomy Show 25.04.18

On today's programme I will be looking at the new list of names giving by the International Astronomical Union for features on one of the largest objects in the Kuiper Belt,Charon the largest moon of Pluto. The Pluto- Charon system was visited by the New Horizons mission in the summer of 2016 and is now on its way deeper into the Kuiper Belt to visit asteroid Mu69 on January 1st 2019.

I will be taking a look at what can be seen in the night sky over the next week including a focus on the constellation of Virgo, other regular features include the latest astronomy news including the idea that a giant impact created the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, some rare Blue Aurora have been seen , and did you know that Uranus smells like rotten eggs.

The A-Z of constellations is at the obscure Norma the Level in the southern hemisphere but to compensatefor this  the Messier Marathon has now reached M57 the Ring Nebula. The astroniomical scrapbook will be looking at highlights from history this week including the launch of the first all British satellite, Ariel 1. This plus a round up of the latest news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00pm -5.00pm.  You can listen live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone podcast.

The Astronomy Show 18.04.18

The Astronomy Show 18.04.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at NASA's new TESS satellite, TESS stands for
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite which has been rescheduled for launch today to look for planets around other stars and in particular at red dwarf stars, however in a paper published at the European Astronomical Society in Liverpool recently there are doubts about life surviving on such palnest due to the nature of flares seen on red dwarf stars. So is the satellite looking at the wrongs stars?

All the regular features will be on the show today including looking at what can be seen in the night sky during the next seven nights, including the first of the spring meteor showers the Lyrids, this plus  the astronomy news including another asteroid near miss and it was a whopper!! The A-Z of constellations looks at the southern sky to Musca the Fly which started life as a Bee! The Messier Marathon has now reached M56 in Lyra. The astronomical scrapbook takes a look at what happened in astronomical history this week. This plus the news from the astronomical societies of the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00pm - 5.00p only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone podcast .   

The Astronomy Show 11.04.18

The Astronomy Show 11.04.18

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at cosmic rays, they are bad and they are getting worse, what could this mean for us today and in the future, I will try to find out what is going on.

I will be looking at the night sky this week including a closer look at  Leo, one of the most imporatnt of the spring constellations. There will of course be the regular A-Z of constellations, today we are at Monoceros the Unicorn. The Messier Marathon is at M55 in Sagittarius one of the most southerly of the messier objects.

There other regular features include  the astronomy news this week plus what happened in astronomy history this week in the past, this plus a round up of what is happening with the astroonmical sociteies in the north.

The Astronmomy Show every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00pm-5.00pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can hear the the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or listen later on the Drystone podcast.

The Astronomy Show 04.04.18

The Astronomy Show 04.04.18

Apologies for my absence over the last few weeks this was due to me presenting lectures on a cruise ship in January and being very busy with my Stardome Planeatrium in schools during the rest of the winter.

On the Astronomy Show this week I will be looking at death astronomers, following the award winning short film The Silent Child about a deaf child born to a hearing family. I will be looking at the work of the deaf astronomers John Goodricke one of the Fathers of Variable Star Astronomy who lived in York and discovered the variablily of the star Delta Cepheus in 1784 and of Henrietta Leavitt who in 1912 discovered some cepheid variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud and was able to work out how far away this galaxy was, plus Annie Jump Canon who would put together the letter sequence  on the HR diagram showing the temperatures of the stars.

I will also resume with all the regular features, now in Spring I will have a review of what we can see in the night sky during  the spring months. The latest astronomy news incluing the end of the Tiangong 1 space station plus the Earth was near missed about 70,000 years ago by a dwarf star an event that would have been seen by early humans.  The astronomical scrapbook looks at events this week in history including the launch of the first weather satellite Tiros 1. The Messier Marathon continues with M54 a globular cluster in Sagiattrius plus the A-Z of constellations which is now at the impressively named Microscopium the Microscpe which sadly is a very faint group. A round up of the news from the astronomical societies in the north and if there is time I will also play a little music.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon from 3.00pm to 5.00pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, you can also listen to the live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the Astrononmy Show later on the Drystone podcast.

The Astronomy Show 14.02.18

The Astronomy Show 14.02.18

It seems like a very long time since the last Astronomy Show which was back in January the absence being due to me being asked to present astronomy lectures on cruise ships, I have recently been sailing around the Caribbean and South America and this coupled with taking my Stardome Planetarium into schools means that sometimes I am not around for the Astronomy Show so apologies for that. In fact after today I will be away again until March after which things should settle down a bit.

On the programme today I will be looking at the Hypatia Stone a rock that has been found in Egypt, its a meteorite but not as we know it. At the moment the experts cannot work out where it came from. One thing is certain it was not formed on Earth.

The regular feature will be on the show today, with the lastest astronomy news, the Messier Marathon has now reached M53 in Coma Berenices and the A-Z of constellations is at the obsure southern group of Mensa the Table. The astronomical scrapbook will be looking at events that happened this week in history including when the last and next solar eclipses on Valentines Day will occur, the solar eclipse that stopped a test match in India,  and the discovery of Pluto. This plus the latest news from the astronomy societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show Wednesday afternoons between 3.00pm and 5.00pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5FM, online at www.drystoneradio.com or you can hear the show later on the Drystone radio podcast. 

The Astronomy Show 03.01.18

The Astronomy Show 03.01.18

Welcome to 2018 and to the first astronomy show of the new year. Today I will be trying to discover exactly what a Blue Moon is, why? because there will be a blue moon in January. There will also be not one but two super moons this month!

Our home planet is in the news today because at the moment the Earth is at its closest to the Sun for the year, yet we are in the middle of winter in Britain at the moment, I will try to explain what is going on. There will be a tour of the night sky now we are really into the winter observing season. 

The regular features include the A-Z of constellations, today looking at Lyra and the Messier marathon is now at M 52 in Cassiopeia. The astronomical scrapbook looks at what happened in history this week while there will be a quick look at  some of the astronomical and space flight highlights for 2018. This plus the round up of what is happening in the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday between 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm, you can hear the programme on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can hear the show on the drystone podcast.