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

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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.