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.

The Astronomy Show 21.06.17

The Astronomy Show 21.06.17

Today is the summer solstice the day of the year when we have the most amount of daylight hours, in the Astronomy Show this week I will be finding out why.

I will also be looking at what has happened to the Noctilucent Clouds this year, they were missing at the beginning of summer, I will be investigating to find out what has gone wrong.

Following on from the Andromeda galaxies over the past two weeks the Messier Marathon reaches M33 the Pinwheel Galaxy in Triangulum, while the A-Z of constellations looks at the the tiny constellation of Equuleus the Little Horse, its the second smallest constellation.

The astronomical scrapbook this week looks at events including the discovery of Charon the largest of the moons that orbit Pluto, and the birth of the Yorkshire astronomer Fred Hoyle, this plus the latest astronomy news, what events are happening in the astronomy societies in the North, and of course what we can see in the night sky this week.

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

The Astronomy Show 14.06.17

The Astronomy Show 14.06.17

On the programme today I will be looking at the Milky Way its very important to us because it is our Galaxy, true it is like many millions of other galaxies but to us  it is home sweet home.

Other news this week includes that astronomers have now worked out how old Jupiter is and we will stay with the largest planet in the solar system as it now has two new moons.

Astronomers watch the sky for  asteroids that could crash into the Earth but  now the situation has become potentially more dangerous because it has been discovered that at least one meteor stream which astronomers believe to be composed of just grains of dust now contain a number of large chunks of rock, I will be looking at this story more closely.

The A-Z of constellations continue with Draco the Dragon which contains Thuban the old North star, the Messier marathon reaches M32 a dwarf galaxy to M31 the Andromeda Galaxy.

This plus  more news stories, the astronomical scrapbook will be looking at what happened in astronomy this week in history together with what can be seen in the night sky, together with what is happening in  astronomical societies in the north.

The Astronomy Show every Wednesday from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM you can also hear the programme on line at www.drystoneradio.com or if you cannot listen live then the  show can be heard on the Drystone Radio podcast.  

The Astronomy Show 07.06.17

The Astronomy Show 07.06.17

For astronomers June is the poorest month to observe the night sky, in the north of England we have only about one and half hours of real darkness. So I thought I would begin the first show in June with a look at the proposed NASA mission to the Sun plus a look what we know about the Sun, our local star.

There will of course be a look at the night sky this week despite the lack of darkness, the Noctilucent Cloud season which has already begun, there will be the latest news.

The Messier Marathon continues with one of the most famous of all the Messier objects M 31 the Andromeda Galaxy. There will be a look at the astronomy news this week together with a look into the astronomy scrapbook and see what has happened this week in astronomical history.

The A-Z of constellations continues  with Dorado the Goldfish a southern hemisphere constellation which contains the Large Magellanic Cloud.  This plus a  round up of activities in northern astronomical societies, plus a little selection of the kind of music I like.

The Astrronomy Show every Wednesday afternoon between 3 pm and 5 pm only on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can listen on line at www.drystoneradio.com or hear the programme on the Drystone radio podcast which is available for the next 4 weeks.

The Astronomy Show 31.05.17

The Astronomy Show 31.05.17

Today on the Astronomy Show I will be looking at the latest information from the Juno probe which is at Jupiter and sending back information that has amazed scientists and is changing our views on the giant planet. This plus the findings of the Schiaparelli probe which crashed onto Mars last year, the findings point to a catalogue of failings in planning.  

We are about to enter the Noctillucent Cloud observing season, so this is a good time to explain what these strange night clouds are. In addition there will be a round up of what can be seen in the night sky this week.

The A-Z of constellations will look at the small summer constellation of Delphinus  the Dolphin, while the Messier Marathon today takes us to M 30 in Capricorn. I will dip into the astronomical scrapbook and find out what happened in astronomy this week in the past,plus the latest astronomy news, together with  a round up of what is happening in the  northern astronomical societies.

The Astronomy Show, every Wednesday afternoon form 3 pm to 5 pm on Drystone Radio 103.5 FM, you can also hear the show on line at www.drystoneradio.com or you can hear the show on the podcast.