The Astronomy Show 23.08.17

The Astronomy Show 23.08.17

On the Astronomy Show today I will be looking at the news that NASA scientists have discovered that Mars may experience snowstorms at night. We have snowstorms here on Earth but they can occur both in the day and night, I will be looking further into this latest news.

I will be taking the regular look at the night sky this week now all the excitement of the solar eclipse has passed,  I watched it on NASA TV and it was just incredible.

The other normal features include the latest astronomy news including  the NASA mission to study the Sun, and a white dwarf that may have survived a supernova explosion. The A-Z of constellations has now reached Hydra which although the largest constellation is not the brightest and has only one brightish star, the Messier Marathon continues with M 40 which is not even a nebula or cluster!

The astronomy scrapbook looks at events this week in history including  lots of voyager anniversaries, plus the great Moon hoax. This and the latest events at the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM with Martin Lunn every Wednesday afternoon between 3 pm and 5 pm, listen on line at www.drystoneradio.com  or hear the programme on the podcast.

The Astronomy Show 16.08.17

The Astronomy Show 16.08.17

Everyone has been talking about it the Great American Eclipse of the Sun which will occur on August 21st and will be seen from the West Coast to the East Coast, sadly we can't see it in Britain but on the  Astronomy Show I will be looking at exactly what an eclipse of the Sun is how it happens and what astronomers can learn, plus the mythology attached to what is probably the most spectacular event that can be seen in the sky.

There will be the weekly look at the night sky and a report on the Perseid meteor shower, despite the brightness of the Moon I was able to see some meteors.

The regular features include the A-Z of constellations which this week looks at Horologium the Pendulum Clock a southern constellation which is faint and obscure. The Messier Marathon is now at M 39 an open cluster in Cygnus.

The latest astronomy news will be featured plus the astronomical scrapbook which looks at astronomical anniversaries this week, and all the news from the astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday from 3 p to 5 pm with Martin Lunn only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can listen on line at www.drystoneradio.com or catch the show later on the podcast.

The Astronomy Show 09.08.17

The Astronomy Show 09.08.17

Its meteor season here on the Astronomy Show today, the Perseid's are coming in now and reach their peak on the night of August 12/13, I will be looking all things meteor wise including what we might expect to see and the history of this shower.

I will be looking at the night sky for the next 7 days with the darker nights it is possible to begin to re familiarise ourselves with the night sky,  unfortunately on the only planet side of things only Saturn is really easily seen.

All the regular features will be here with the A- Z of constellations looking at Hercules which might be thought of as being a very bright group, however it is a rather large but faint and formless constellation. The Messier Marathon continues with M 38 the third of the messier objects in Auriga,

The Astronomical Scrapbook looks at events that happened this week in history including the launch of the Echo 1 a predecessor of the famous Telstar, the latest astronomy news plus what is happening in astronomical  societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday afternoon between 3. 00 pm- 5. 00 pm, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the show later on the Drystone podcast.

The Astronomy Show 02.08.17

The Astronomy Show 02.08.17

On the Astronomy Show today we welcome the fact that truly dark skies return during August .

Today we will be looking at comets or more precisely how many comets are there and where do they come from? We know that in the past comets were regarded as ill omens while today we know they are more like dirty snowballs travelling around the Sun, and right on cue a comet has been picked up that it should be at its brightest in October. How bright? No one is sure yet but comets have been likened to cats, they both have tails and do exactly what they like!

The regular features include the astronomy news with news of yet another miss with an asteroid, the only problem with this one was that it was not found until it had past by the Earth and it was bigger than the Tunguska meteor!

There will be a look at what is in the night sky at the moment, The A-Z of constellations continues with the southern constellation Grus the Crane and the Messier marathon has reached M 37 the second of the trio of Messier objects in Auriga. The astronomy scrapbook looks at events this week in history  including the discovery of the Great White Spot on Saturn by the comedy actor Will Hay in 1933. This plus what is going on in the astronomy societies in the North.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, the show can be heard on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can hear the show later via the podcast.

The Astronomy Show 26.07.17

The Astronomy Show 26.07.17

It's back! after two weeks of R/R the Astronomy Show returns today from Starbase 82 on Drystone radio.

Today I will be checking on a massive CME or flare from the Sun which occurred on July 23rd,  luckily for us the flare was on the far side of the Sun so it posed no threat to the Earth, the target for this flare appears to be the planet Mars. It appears that there will be another near miss for the Earth, astronomers are watching an asteroid that could come very close to us in October.

I will take a look at what can be seen in the sky during the summer months and in particular take a closer look at the next few days .

All the regular features will be on the show with lots of news including quite a few stories regarding meteorites, the A-Z of constellations continues with Gemini the Twins, the Messier Marathon is now at M 36 which heralds a trio of messier objects in the constellation of Auriga, the astronomical scrapbook looks at events in history this week including the first space walk by a woman astronaut. There will be the regular look at what is happening with the northern astronomical societies.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can hear the show live on line at www.drystoneradio.com or listen to the show later on the podcast.

The Astronomy Show 05.07.17

The Astronomy Show 05.07.17

On the Astronomy Show today I will be marking 20 years of NASA continually exploring Mars the red planet. The first successful mission Mariner 4 flew past Mars in 1965 and shattered peoples ideas of how the planet looked. Mars wasn't covered in Tundra it looked more like the Moon. In 1997 NASA landed the Mars Pathfinder on Mars and since then Mars has been constantly monitored by scientists.

As this  is the first show in July I will be looking at what the night sky has in store for us this coming summer. The regular features include the A-Z of constellations which today looks at the rather obscure constellation of Fornax the Furnace to counter this the Messier Marathon I visit M35 a wonderful open cluster in Gemini.

I will also be looking at some detective work by astronomers who have discovered what 'Star' was aligned with the Moon in the poem 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' which was written by Lord Byron in Italy in 1817. I will be looking at just what this star was.

There will be the latest astronomy news, the astronomical scrapbook will take its regular look at what happened this week in history including the discovery of the supernova in 1054 that would  form the Crab Nebula. This plus the usual round up of what is happening in the astronomy societies in the north this week.

I will be taking a break for some well earned R/R for the next two weeks. There will be no Astronomy Show on July 12th or July 19th but be advised that I will be back on July 26th.

The Astronomy Show only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM every Wednesday between 3.00 pm and 5.00 pm. The programme is also available on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can listen to the programme later on the podcast.

The Astronomy Show 28.06.17

The Astronomy Show 28.06.17

June the 30th is Tunguska day, this is where scientists are trying to bring to people's attention the danger of an asteroid strike. Tunguska day marks the anniversary in 1908 of the last large meteor strike which occurred in the sky above the Tunguska river in northern Siberia. The Astronomy show will be looking at what is being done to search for these potential space killers. We don't know when the next one will arrive, but it will at some time in the future, the trouble is we don't know when, we don't know where! there has also been an interesting development in the monitoring of the asteroid Apopthis which caused a real scare in 2004 when it was announced that it might hit us in the future, Apopthis is named after the Egyptian goddess of Terror if you want more details listen in today to find out more.

The astronomical scrapbook looks at what happened this week in astronomical history including the great Yorkshire eclipse of the Sun in 1927. The Messier Marathon continues with M 34 in Perseus and the A-Z of Constellations has reached Eridanus the River.

I will be looking at what is happening in the night sky this week, the latest astronomy news, plu the weekly round up of what is happening in the astronomical societies in the north, including details of what is now the largest astronomical event in the north of England, the North West Astronomy Festival.

All this plus a little selection of my kind of music on the Astronomy Show with Martin Lunn only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can hear the programme on the podcast.