In our second episode of the month we chat about the weird mess that is now the Artemis Programme, whether there is even a new space race and what strange shenanigans rogue planets are up to!

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

Time for a Comet 3I ATLAS deep dive, a chat about Paul's recent visit to the Cerne Abbas Starparty and our new extended skyguide.

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

We try to keep it upbeat this month with tales of blackholes, definitions of moons, and solar system science but unfortunately the fate of NASA and American science currently hangs in the balance...

Produced by Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

The Discussion:

• Binocular observing
• Do you want Ralph's 115 triplet refractor & goto mount?
• The Wiltshire Audio Anomaly
• Listeners emails on historical images and refractor rivalry

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

• An update on that life on Venus story
• Life around Proxima Centauri is in for a blast
• More data to add to the universe's expansion rate conundrum
• Was Oumuamua really an interstellar comet?

Main News story: The US' Fermi National Accelerator follows CERN with a muon discovery that also hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Q&A: I'm getting into my 50s, and hearing Ralph say what good times we're in as regards gaining knowledge of the Universe leads me to wonder.... what will I be around for? From our good friend Peter Jeal from London, UK.

This week we saw the first ever powered flight on another planet. So this is a podcast extra episode to mark this remarkable achievement, explain what happened and why this is such a paradigm shift for future space exploration.

The Discussion:

• The 'Wiltshire Audio Anomaly'
• 20% off the book Vera Rubin – A Life for US listeners using url: hup.harvard.edu/exhibits/HX7578
• @StargazerRob's alternative astrophotographer of the year award
• Listeners' emails

The News:

• April Fools research papers
• Commemorating 60 years since Yuri Gagarin's 1st Spaceflight
• An update on @NASA's Mars Ingenuity copter
• Rounding up @SpaceX's metal toilet roll tube developments & explosions
• NASA's Artemis program update and presidential priorities for NASA
• Cluttered & congested orbits leading to satellite collisions

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system's moons. And we move onto Jupiter's 75 less fashionable moons.

Q&A: 'How are satellite licences awarded and by who? And can/should they make requirements of companies to make them responsible for their space junk and their impact on ground based astronomy?' From our good friend Matt Rayment in London, UK.

The Discussion:

• Jen finally becomes Dr Jen – bow down pitiful Earthlings!
• Binocular astronomy
• Get the book Vera Rubin - A Life by Jacqueline and Simon Mitton with 25% off by emailing cs-books@wiley.com, and quoting the discount code H0350 (mentioning Awesome Astronomy probably wouldn't go amiss too)
• Emails from listeners correcting a possible error and posing a teasing question about US refractors.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

• UCL researchers unravel the mystery of the Antikythera mechanism
• The Event Horizon Telescope improves the image of a supermassive black hole by revealing its magnetic fields
• Confirming the existence of the furthest major solar system object
• An exoplanet that lost its atmosphere and then gained another one!

Main News story: CERN's LHC spots a quirky quark that hints at a big anomaly in the Standard Model of Physics

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Coma Bereneces with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in April.

Q&A: You mentioned recently that a comet was a long period comet? What does this mean? How do we know if a comet is a long period comet? From our good friend Arliss Evans in Texas, USA.

The Discussion:

• Vaccination cometh to Awesome Astronomy
• The UK's unorthodox meteor sample return mission
• A listener's email follow up to last month's Q&A

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• SpaceX launch and land a 13 storey Starship
• Japan joins NASA's moon programme
• NASA releases its science goals for Project Artemis
• Northrop Grumman begins work on NASA's Mars sample return
• The OSIRIS-REx mission prepares for May asteroid departure

Moons of the Solar System: Our show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system's moons. And we move onto Jupiter and the four Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto. Jupiter's other moons next month.

Q&A: 'Do you think the first crewed Mars mission will be to land or would it make any sense to do an Apollo 8 (or indeed 10) stylee close approach?' From our good friend Alex Bell in Bath, UK.

The Discussion:

• Paul becomes the new Vice President of Wycombe Astronomical Society
• Jen gets a date for her PhD viva
• Jen promoting NASA's Perseverance rover on the BBC
• Get ready for Teentech Live on 5th March
• Emails from listeners highlighting the good and bad in Awesome Astronomy

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

• The Cygnus X-1 black hole must be much bigger than we thought
• A single neutrino detection reveals a super-supermassive blackhole
• Was the impact that killed the dinosaurs an asteroid or comet?
• Earth's regular magnetic pole reversals may be catastrophic to life

Main News story: A return to the mythical Planet 9 and a new paper casting further doubt on the evidence in favour of an undiscovered massive object in the outer solar system.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Gemini with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in March.

Q&A: Wouldn't it be awesome if there was some sort of collective effort to digitise and share the historic astronomical records held in observatories' glass plates? From our good friend Tony Horton in the UK.

As the European Space Agency gears up to opening its next recruitment campaign from 31 March to 28 May 2021, we take you through:

• The entry requirements
• The selection process
• The missions successful candidates are expected to fly
• The first astronaut recruitment trawl for candidates with physical disabilities

If you want to take a look and see if being an astronaut suits you, go to www.esa.int/YourWayToSpace. 

If you want to apply, applications should be submitted to the ESA Careers website, from 31 March, at https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Careers_at_ESA

The Discussion:

• Correcting the orbits of Jupiter's moons
• Welcoming Galaxy Rise's Dustin Ruoff onto the Podcast Crew
• Causing terrorism scares with telescopes

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• NASA provides more details for its lunar space station plans
• China's space station plans
• Turkey look to become a spacefaring nation
• The European Space Agency looks for more astronauts
• The UAE's Hope Mission & China's Tianwen-1 make it into Mars orbit

Moons of the Solar System: Our new show segment exploring the discovery, exploration and our knowledge of the solar system's moons. And we begin with Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Q&A: 'Will commercial ventures, render SLS useless at some stage?' From our good friend Steven Sean Spyvee in Leeds, UK.

The Discussion:

• Jeni on the Highbrow Drivel podcast
• More astronomy goodness at Sky Guide
• The amateur astronomy/dogging connection
• A review of George Clooney's The Midnight Sky
• Listener emails about the birth of amateur astroimaging & 'Arecedos'

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in February, we have:

• A hot Jupiter world with a totally transparent atmosphere
• New research suggest the most abundant stars can fuel photosynthesis
• Elliptical galaxies forming new stars hundreds of times faster than our Milky Way
• Citizen scientists creates a 3D map of largely invisible brown dwarf stars

Main News story: @ESA's #CHEOPS satellite looks at a star with exoplanets and finds even more planets in a system that should be able to exist.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Perseus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in February.

Q&A: Are there any other planets in the solar system that could support geostationary communications satellites? From Steve Carter in Welwyn Garden City, UK.

The Discussion: If you like your introductions rambling, you're in for a real treat! We discuss the Jeni's PhD thesis submission, The Real Right Stuff documentary on Disney+, Jeni's foray into book writing and read some listeners questions, which devolves into discussions of whether Queen Elizabeth is Elizabeth I in Canada, the colonisation of the New World, the entertainer Nosmo King and insurance fraud.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• Puerto Rico stumps up funds to decommission and scope out a replacement for Arecibo
• China opens up FAST Telescope access to other nations
• Hyabusa 2 asteroid and Chang'e 5's lunar samples
• Progress update on the 3 Mars-bound missions & where to follow them
• SpaceX accelerate Starship rocket production in Texas

Q&A: 'How and where did the Awesome Astronomy team first meet?' From our good friend Paul Weiler in Pennsylvania USA.

It looks as though the European Southern Observatory is caught in an American light pollution pincer...starlink above and now the threat of an American industrial complex as a neighbour. Is this the end?

We have eclipse news, launch round up and the usual inane chatter from Jeni & Paul.

The Discussion: As we welcome in the New Year, we discuss the holiday season and your suggestions to replace the Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum section of the show.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news at the beginning of 2021, we have:

• Finding exoplanets that have a good chance of being able to see us
• The 'Missing Lithium Problem'
• Chasing down the Hubble Constant
• A new method for detecting exoplanets
• Was there another dwarf planet in the inner solar system?

Main News story: That intriguing radio signal found coming from the vicinity of Proxima Centauri.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the great winter constellation of Auriga with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in January.

Q&A: We know there is a lower temperature limit (absolute zero), but is there an upper temperature limit? From Matt in California.

A jolly romp around viruses and tasers!

We look back at the astronomy and space exploration highlights of 2020:

• Phosphine in Venus atmosphere
• The saga of SpaceX
• Chang'e 5 at the Moon
• Comets Atlas & Neowise
• 3 missions to Mars

The lows of 2020 in astronomy and space exploration:

• Cancellation of SPICA
• The loss of the Arecibo radio telescope

We look forward to the anticipated events of 2021:

• Luna 25, Chandrayaan-3 & Artemis 1 to the Moon
• 3 Mars arrivals
• Vera C Rubin telescope & Maybe JWST

And we run through our own predictions for next year before signing off with our customary end-of-year outtakes.

The Discussion: We discuss National Geographic's The Right Stuff series on Disney+, get a little bit ranty about the use of jokey titles in research papers and read out a few of your emails.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• An update to the Geysers on Jupiter's moon Europa
• Another asteroid flies scarily close to Earth
• The latest developments in Muskworld
• China's ambitious chang'e-5 mission en-route to the moon

Main News story: The Hayabusa 2 mission and the imminent return of samples from asteroid Ryugu

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the great winter constellation of Orion with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in December.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In November we concluded our look at the electromagnetic spectrum. But as we now have a new method of detecting events beyond the electromagnetic spectrum, this month we explain gravitational wave astronomy.

The Discussion: The ongoing saga of Jeni's PhD thesis and a couple of listener emails.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• More destruction to the giant Arecibo radio telescope
• Keeping in touch with our intergalactic emissaries
• More information from the Rosettta mission.
• A new exoplanet characterising spacecraft gets the go ahead form ESA
• NASA's Mars sample return mission plans
• China picks its Mars landing zone for February's arrival
• Lockheed propose a new space launch facility in Scotland

Main news story: Congratulations to OSIRIS-REx at asteroid Bennu.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The gamma ray end of the spectrum. How these telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Christmas gift ideas: We replace the Q&A section this episode as the holidays are getting closer and we thought you might appreciate some suggestions for the young, new or amateur astronomer in your life.

The Discussion: Beginning the show droning on about us for bit, we cover Jen presenting her latest paper at the dust conference (yes, there is such a thing) in Marseilles, and filming in the wilds of Wales at night for the BBC's Weatherman Walking TV programme.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• A return to the phosphine on Venus story for an update
• Earth gets a litterbug mini-moon
• Water abundance on The Moon
• The nearest black hole to Earth might not be a black hole after all
• Citizen science project finds the coolest stars of all in our galactic backyard

Main News story: Did humanity narrowly escape extinction in 1908?

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Cassiopeia with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in November.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In November we conclude our look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the gamma-ray part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: How do you tell the difference between a star that is nearer to the end of its lifecycle, and a younger star that is actually travelling away from us at a faster speed? From Tony Horton in Herefordshire, England.

As the exciting news of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus turns into a point of contention in the astronomy world, we caught up with the study's lead scientist Professor Jane Greaves for the inside track. In this interview we discuss:

• Getting time on a range of professional telescopes time for a risky hypothesis
• How life could survive in the extreme environment of Venus' highly acidic atmosphere
• Floating graphite balloons in Venus' atmosphere
• Scientific challenges to this discovery being helpful rather than unwanted
• Blinding NASA pilots in the name of science

The Discussion: The publication of Jeni's new research paper, a review of Netflix shows Challenger and Away (sublime and ridiculous).

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• ESA and JAXA's future infrared space telescope cancelled
• Mercury-bound Bepi-Colombo is passing Venus – with sensors…
• Get ready for next month's launch of China's epic Chang'e 5 moon mission.
• A change in crew for Boeing's creed Starliner test flight to the ISS
• NASA's shiny new plan for Artemis and human exploration of the moon
• A gallop through SpaceX's achievements

Main news story: Astrophysicists scoop up Nobel Prizes again this year.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The ultraviolet and X-ray parts of the spectrum. How these telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Q&A: If you had to choose just one mission or big science experiment to proceed in your remaining lifetimes, what would you choose and why? Victor Carroon, London, UK via email.

The Discussion: Helping us celebrate our 100th(ish) episode, we have a live(ish) audience to join in with us. Anna Lanteri from Gröningen University discusses a new Zooniverse citizen science project, called Space Fluff where you can soon classify dwarf galaxies. And Tom Bridgman from the Goddard Space Flight Centre tells us about NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• Astronomers find an exoplanet in another galaxy using x-rays
• A group of underground liquid water reservoirs found on Mars
• The first exoplanet observed around a white dwarf star
• Asteroid Vesta litters other asteroids

Main News story: We are finally out of solar minimum and the sun will get more active again.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Cetus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in October.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the x-ray part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

The Discussion: No time for discussions, we've important news to discuss!

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• Rocket Lab lowering the cost of small launches
• SpaceX accelerating development of super heavy lift
• Vera Rubin Telescope takes a step closer

Main news story: A new detection raises the distinct possibility of life in Venus' upper atmosphere.

The Interview: Jeni talks to Dr Emily Drabek Maunder, a co-author on the paper that demonstrates phosphine in concentrations that we can only currently attribute to microbial life in the atmosphere of Venus.

At your suggestion we did something we should have done years ago and reached out to @universetoday and @AstronomyCast's Fraser Cain (@fcain) to wax and yarn about all things space and astronomy. We think you'll enjoy!

The world veers towards madness, asteroids threaten destruction and Gaia is no more. But the planets are putting on a show and Pluto is 95, so that's alright...

Produced by Ralph, Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

The Discussion: This month Jeni's latest paper has a journal reviewer prior to publishing, we take a look at the critical science of cow-cats and a listener brightens our day

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• Damage to the Arecibo observatory and the prognosis
• Hubble Helps Uncover the Mystery of the Dimming of Betelgeuse
• Mars' water deluge during its habitable phase
• The search for the missing matter in the Milky Way

Main News story: The US National Science Foundation report on the impact of satellite constellations on astronomical science.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Cygnus with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the ultraviolet part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

The Interview: A 5 minute preview of the hour chat with Fraser Cain of Universe Today and Astronomy Cast. This will be released in full as a podcast extra later this month.

The Discussion:

• Jen on the radio discussing the Perseids
• Starlink satellites flaring over our heads
• TV shows From the Earth to the Moon and For All Mankind
• Sputnik V
• Jeni's latest paper is submitted for journal review
• Submit your experiences of how diversity is perceived in the amateur astronomy community at tinyurl.com/y28ebdu2

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have:

• Protecting other worlds from our germs and bugs
• Space Force's Star Trek-esque logo
• The Curiosity rover celebrates its 8th year on Mars
• New Zealand's Rocketlab pursue reusability
• Skyrora begin rocket testing in Iceland
• SpaceX's Starship prototyping and testing continues

Main news story: America gets back to launching people into space

Q&A: Will the James Webb Space Telescope actually launch and will it still be worth launching? Lana Visser from Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

The Discussion: This month astrologers are getting upset about their tattoos; why the Babylonians are at fault for ruining the majesty of astrology; Jeni spreads the astronomy word on the BBC; her latest research paper nears peer review; Paul continues promoting space education in schools and we have a chat about sparking science interest in kids.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:
- ESO image two gas giants orbiting their star
- Have we solved the mystery of why the sun's atmosphere is hotter than the surface?
- Using old methods as new measures of the age of the universe
- Another way to measure the Hubble constant suggests there may be something a bit strange with our part of the universe or we need new physics to explain it
- Unravelling how supermassive black holes form.

Main News story: The latest on Comet NEOWISE and how to see it for yourself

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Aquarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in August.

Q&A: What's the dumbest misreported science you've ever seen in a newstory? From our good friend Brochyn James.

The Discussion:

• What Einstein would have made of an iPhone
• The goods and ills of social media
• Free teaching for teachers to teach space and astronomy
• Jeni talking Pluto on the BBC
• A trip down technology Memory Lane
• And get out and look at Comet Neowise!

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news we have a Mars launch window and NASA storming ahead with Artemis plans so this month is all about the moon and Mars:

• The Kennedy Space Centre takes delivery of rocket engines for their SLS rocket
• Funding for more SLS moon rockets
• A new lunar rover to help plan human missions
• New modules for the lunar orbiter
• NASA innovation funding for new long duration mission capabilities
• United Arab Emirates' Mars orbiter launching this month
• China's Tianwen-1 Mars mission with an orbiter, lander and rover

Main news story: Getting ready to launch the biggest ever rover to Mars

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The visible light part of the spectrum. How telescopes were developed and became ever more powerful.

Q&A: Do you think we will see humans space exploration beyond Mars in our lifetimes? Pieter Johnson @Nascothornet on Twitter.

The Discussion: This month Jeni's getting frustrated with the politics of peer review, Paul's seen an uptick in noctilucent cloud hunting and public interest in astronomy in general during lockdown. We ask 'Is Starlink actually a good thing for astronomy outreach and public engagement?', while Paul wonders if Elon Musk is aware of the fate of the Duke of Buckingham. And we delve into listeners' emails about the future of AstroCamp in a pandemic and collaborations with other podcasts.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• Have gravitational waves revealed the first 'Black Neutron Star'?
• Jen sees the error of her ways about Betelgeuse's recent dimming
• Odd white spots on Saturn's moon Titan could be dried up methane lake beds
• Hunting for the first ever stars in the universe
• CERN's next generation supercollider

Main News story: Has NASA discovered parallel universes?

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Sagittarius with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in July.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the visible part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: What are arc seconds? How do we know how far away things are like planets and galaxies? What's the measuring system? From our good friend Jeremy Hanson.

The Discussion:

• Struggling to get the media excited about astronomy
• How history will record the clusterf**k that is 2020
• Skyrora looking to join the smallsat launch market
• SpaceX' Teletubby costumes

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• Starship prototype goes Kablooey
• Britain returns to rocketry
• Goodbye to Japan's ISS resupply spacecraft
• The European Space Agency look to 'natural resources' for moonbases
• Virgin Orbit attempt to slash the cost of launching to Low Earth Orbit
• NASA chooses 3 commercial consortia to develop lunar landers

Main news story: American commercial crewed launches have finally arrived

Q&A: Will the Lunar Gateway be visible from Earth? From Alex Bell @BLT_Astro on Twitter.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The near and mid-infrared part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

The Discussion:

• The wonderful generosity of amateur astronomers
• trying to get the name Pair Instability Supernova changed to your suggestions
• Jen's talk for Café Scientific, which you can watch here
• Jeni talking about SpaceX' historic crewed flight with the BBC
• History 101 and looking forward to Space Force on Netflix
• What beginners should and shouldn't do to get started in stargazing

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• The first galaxies seemed to form in about half the time we originally thought
• Finding the nearest stellar mass black hole to Earth
• How normal or unusual is our sun?
• A star orbiting a black hole like Mercury does to the sun
• More gravitational waves from a black hole merger

Main News story: Capturing a huge exoplanet – or a low mass star - forming in Auriga.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Serpens with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in June.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the near infrared part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: Is there life on Mars? From our good friend Dave in Australia.

The Discussion: Ralph channels his inner Churchill, while Jen goes on about Tiger King and her upcoming Cafe Scientifique talk. And we hear from listener Mark Grundy about the Welsh Room in the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburg.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• China's mission to Mars and the patch that suggests further ambitions
• Musings on Starlink visibility and what is being done to help astronomers.
• Commercial Crew Launch 27th May
• News about disaster and success at SpaceX with Starship

Main news story: NASAs proposals for how Artemis Moon missions will work and go much further than Apollo

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The Far IR and Sub millimeter part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

Q&A: A brief return for the Hat of woo dispelling the 5G coronavirus conspiracy From @LynchSeanP  on Twitter.

The Discussion: The live recording of our monthly astronomy show to provide a bit of extra entertainment and interactivity while people are cooped up at home sitting out the coronavirus.

We discuss a burgeoning love-hate relationship with Starlink, Jeni being the BBC's go to person for Starlink and meteor showers, and Apollo 13 filling up Twitter timelines and giving us a bit of a respite from coronavirus

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• A round up of astronomy-based April fools gags found in research papers
• Hubble marks its 30th birthday
• Fomalhaut b might not be a planet after all
• Centaurs might well be asteroids from other star systems
• And Pluto looks to have had a 'hot start'

Main News story: Earth 2.0 found in old ignored data.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Ursa Major with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in May.

Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the sub-millimetre and far infrared part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: How do scientists work out the trajectories for putting satellites in orbit around other bodies, or on trajectories that take them past numerous objects? From our good friend Kevin Morgan in the UK.

You can watch the video of this recording (and our live Episode 95 recording on 27th April) at https://www.youtube.com/user/AwesomeAstroPod/videos

(midday PST, 3pm EST, 8pm UK, 9pm Central Europe)

This show is a response to the many requests we get to do an episode dedicated to answering listeners' space & astronomy questions. Producer John thought lockdown would be the perfect time to do it, when we can try and help ease the stress, boredom and isolation.

The Guests: We invited some of our friends from the astronomy world to answer your questions too:

• University of Oxford Professor of Astronomy, Creator of the Zooniverse and BBC's The Sky at Night Presenter, Chris Lintott. We asked him:
• • Are there ways for an amateur astrophotographer to get involved in contributing to actual science? From David Schlaudt
  • Square Kilometre Array or JWST. Which is going to generate the most exciting science? And if each one could answer just 1 question about the Universe, what would you like it to be?  From Mark De Vrij

• Director of Public Engagement for Cardiff University's Gravity Exploration Institute, Dr Chris North. We asked him:
• • Why are astronomers so sure that Oumuamua and Borisov are from outside the Solar System? From Derry North (Chris' Dad!)
  • Square Kilometre Array or JWST. Which is going to generate the most exciting science? And if each one could answer just 1 question about the Universe, what would you like it to be?  From Mark De Vrij

• Senior Astronomer and Institute Fellow at the SETI Institute, Seth Shostak. We asked him:
• • What's currently big in the world of extraterrestrial hunting?
  • What happens when we discover possibly habitable planets? From @WrathfulTumbles
  • Square Kilometre Array or JWST. Which is going to generate the most exciting science? And if each one could answer just 1 question about the Universe, what would you like it to be?  From Mark De Vri

• US Spaceflight researcher and chronicler, Gavin Price. We asked for:
• • An overview of the Apollo 13 mission that was limping back to Earth 50 years ago today
  • The key Apollo 13 decisions and preparations that were underway at this point - a day before splashdown
  • A discussion about, and nod to the BBC World Service podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon. From Peter Ellinger
    
    

 Other listener inspired topics discussed by the podcast crew:

• What astronomy equipment do we use?
• Are the current clear skies a product of fewer airplanes and lower pollution?
• What would happen if a small stellar-mass black hole collided with a much more massive star? Could the star ever 'win'? From Glenn Diekmann in California
• You talk about the ELT in April part 1. But how on God's green Earth do you keep a mirror like that clean? From @SeamasterGMT
• A discussion on the 'Ashen light of Venus' inspired by @Blixbuller

Happy New Year! This month we talk about an new climate history for Venus, a new origin story for Mars' moons and we chat about the new potential head of NASA...

Produced by Ralph, Paul, Jen, John, Damien & Dustin

Don't forget to join us for our live shows on 16th and 27th April at https://www.youtube.com/user/AwesomeAstroPod/videos

(midday PST, 3pm EST, 8pm UK, 9pm Central Europe)

The Discussion: Jen fangirling on The British Interplanetary Society and acing the Soyuz ISS docking simulator at the Student Space Conference; a ramble about Wales; the TV show For All Mankind, our live Q&A show, our poor etiquette and listener shout-outs.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• The impact of coronavirus on current and future NASA missions

• Some research showing the impact of satellite constellations on astronomy
• The UK's space spiders to explore the moon's lava craters
• Lockheed Martin developing helicopters to catch spent rocket boosters

Main news story: Is Europe's ExoMars Rover on borrowed time?

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The microwave part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

Q&A: Where's the Tesla Roadster? From @TJRobinson on Twitter.

We're hosting a live Q&A on Thurs 16th April. Go to awesomeastronomy.com to see how to watch & get involved!

The Discussion:

• Jeni's sent the final proofs off for her research paper which is now on archive at https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.01727 and will soon be in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
• Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden.
• The Cradle of Aviation Museum cancel their Apollo 13 anniversary event, but you can relive Apollo 13 (recreating the launch from 11th April) as if you were in mission control with https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/.
• A shout out to Galaxy Zoo at a time when there are fewer thing more productive you could be doing with your time than adding to science and human knowledge: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects.
• A round up of listeners' reviews and comments.
• A couple of Awesome Astronomy live-stream shows at 8pm on Thursday 16th and Monday 27th Because, let's face it, you're not going to be busy!

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• The European Southern Observatory's new behemoth telescope takes a step closer
• An exoplanet found to be raining iron
• 139 new minor planets found in our own outer solar system
• Observing material at the event horizon around our supermassive black hole
• Could life actually be viable on planets around red dwarf stars after all?
• An update on the recent dimming of Betelgeuse

Main News story: A full discussion on the impact of social distancing and economic depression on professional astronomy.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Leo with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in April.

A guide to the electromagnetic spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the microwave part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

Q&A: Do you think C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is going to be bright enough to be spotted with the naked eye? From our good friend Raffael de Palma in Italy

(Warning: please skip this episode if you're offended by occasional Tesla-based puerile humour)

The Discussion: Balancing the argument between love and hate of SpaceX and drawing a line under the argument over when the current decade starts and what constitutes a decade.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• SpaceX is cleared for a crewed launch in April
• Further problems for Boeing
• Christina Koch takes the female spaceflight record.
• The dullest space news story ever (involving biscuits/cookies)
• A Japanese mission to return samples from Phobos!
• ESA's launch & deployment of the Solar Orbiter.

Main news story: The import of NASA's 2021 FY Budget.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: The radio part of the spectrum. How it became so important for astronomy and by whom.

Q&A: What do you think was the greatest astronomical/scientific advancement that came about due to a dubious past, and do you think it was worth it? By email from Alan Beech in the UK.

The Discussion: Paul's favourite bit of the coronavirus, the Cradle of Aviation Museum's upcoming Apollo 13 anniversary event, a @CunningCosmos space art exhibition and a talk from Jen in Bromsgrove for British Space Week, from the sublime to the ridiculous with the passing of Katherine Johnson and Mad Mike Hughes, and listeners' emails.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• Finding the remnants of the progenitor star after a Type 2b supernova
• Solving the puzzle of giant planets orbiting low mass stars
• More clues to Mercury's oversized iron core
• A galaxy that has stopped producing stars after a period of prolific star birth
• Mars seems to be more active than we thought
• Debate over Mars' very long formation history

Main News story: ESO images of Betelgeuse and the more recent evidence for why the star's dimmed so impressively.

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Cancer with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system views on offer in March.

A guide to the electromagnetic spectrum: In this series we take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we explain the radio part of the spectrum and its relevance to astronomy.

The Discussion: The reason we have leap years; a look at Ad Astra, Lucy in the Sky and Picard; and the history of the Stonewall Riots (don't think it's just astronomy here – you get a fully rounded education, dear listener); and a look at your reviews and emails.  

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• Direct TV's ticking timebomb in space
• DARPA's XS-1 reusable spaceplane gets cancelled
• ESA's Solar Obiter heads off to the sun
• NASA ask you to vote for the official name of their Mars 2020 rover (www.mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/name-the-rover/)
• NASA's costs for the 2024 moon landing are imminent

Main news story: SpaceX gears up for crewed spaceflight following successful abort tests

The Electromagnetic Spectrum: How parts of the EMS outside visible light were discovered, who discovered them and what that means for us today.

Q&A: Have the crew of the ISS (or any other spaceflight with room to try it) propelled themselves through their craft using flatulence? From Brychan James from Wales on Twitter (@BrychanJames)

The Discussion: Ralph visits and records from The Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York, we enjoyed some great skies with good weather in the UK, Betelgeuse still hasn't gone pop – though we're still watching, and NASA have an open day that you can attend.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• An evidence based look at Starlink
• Tracking molecules from birth to arrival in our solar system
• An enigmatic Type 1a supernova
• An interesting 14 millisecond gravitational wave detection
• Goodbye Spitzer Space telescope

The Sky Guide: This month we're taking a look at the constellation of Lynx with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system objects on offer in February.

A Guide to the Electromagnetic Spectrum: In this series we'll take a look at the electromagnetic spectrum, what, it is, what is shows us and why it's so important to astronomers. This month we start with a quick and simple explanation.

This is the history of flight told from the perspective of the amateurs and hobbyists who allowed humankind to slip the surly bonds of Earth and set out towards the stars.

To tell this story Ralph journeyed to the Cradle of Aviation museum in Garden City, New York, to get a tour of the early flight and exhibits from the museum's curator and speak with an engineer who worked on the lunar modules before they flew.

Our thanks in making this episode goes to the wonderful people at https://www.cradleofaviation.org/.

The Discussion: New Year resolutions, veganism, a little spoiler-free chat about the latest/last Skywalker movie and the new series of Dr Who, before some listeners' emails.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• Christina Koch racks up a flight time record on the ISS
• China's moon rover breaks a lunar endurance record
• Ethiopia becomes the 10th African nation to send a satellite into orbit
• ESA launches their CHEOPS Exoplanet characterising spacecraft
• Space Force is go – and the world joins in
• NASA's new (22nd!) intake and what skills are needed to become an astronaut
• OSIRIS-REx now has a target for return samples on asteroid Bennu

Main news story: Boeing's test of its Starliner space capsule

Q&A: Why does NASA search for signs of life rather than directly looking for life? From Gavin Price in the UK on Twitter (@pilliarscreatio)

The Discussion: As we begin the new decade we struggle to find a consensus on whether it actually is a new decade. We discuss the busy Xmas period and thank any listeners who helped Dartmoor Skies reach their funding target for a new telescope. Then we take a look at a few listeners' emails and tweets.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• An old galaxy containing as much dust as one third the amount of its stars
• Mapping the magnetic fields around the Whale Galaxy
• An interstellar comet makes its way back out of the solar system
• A burst of supernovae in the Milky Way's not-to-distant past
• Is Betelgeuse about to go supernova?

The Sky Guide: Shaking up the format of the sky guide, we're taking a look at the constellation of Monoceros with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round up of the solar system objects on offer in January.

Q&A: If there are no plate tectonics on the moon, how did the lunar mountain regions form? from @gkt_wales on Twitter

A pantomime look back at the biggest and most exciting news and events from 2019; a look forward to the best astronomy and space exploration events of 2020; the science of Santa's deliveries and the traditional outtakes.

It's that time of year again where the team get silly...this year Butch and Suni hijack the ISS...

The News: Sharing our news picks from the space exploration and astronomy world this month we have:

• A late risk of Exomars being cancelled
• Boeing's Starliner spacecraft abort test and cost controversies
• Sierra Nevada's Dreamchaser shuttle gets a trailer

Main news story: Far from being unlikely, Tatooine worlds turn out to be very common

The Interview: This month Jeni has a sit down chat about the discovery of the collapsed neutron star from supernova 1987a with Dr Phil Cigan of Cardiff University.

The Discussion: A look at the BBC's new Martian invasion documentary, The War of the Worlds; the recent transit of Mercury; Celestron's new phone adapter; Jen's upcoming talks in Wales, an update on Jen's research paper, a new research project and a debate over the start and end of a decade. Then we take a look at a couple of listeners' emails.

The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:

• Water vapour geysers on Europa
• Ultima Thule loses its Nazi moniker
• Locating the stellar remnant from the closest supernova to Earth
• Are Axions dark matter particles? (no)
• And a round up of spaceflight news from NASA, ESA, India, New Zealand & UK

The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on offer to amateur astronomers in December:

• Jen: A round up of the planets available to northern hemisphere observers in December, and a look at the Pleiades in Taurus.
• Paul: The best meteor shower of the year and naked eye visible open cluster Messier 35.

The Debate: A look back at the debates and votes over the past year with your result for The Best Space Mission of All Time.

The Discussion: Ralph's been in Washington – which, of course, means a visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, we say goodbye to Russian cosmonaut, Alexi Leonov, and take a look at listeners' emails.

The News: Rounding up the space exploration news this month we have:

• James Webb Space Telescope inches ever closer
• The USAF's autonomous space plane sets a new record
• SpaceX are back on the right path with its crew capsule
• NASA are sending a viper to the moon and an orbiter to Pluto
• Plans are revealed about Scotland's new spaceport.
• Project Artemis technologies being funded by NASA
• The findings and recommendations of NASA's Planetary Protection Review

Main news story: NASA's new moonsuit is revealed.

The Debate: Now that we've whittled down the contenders for the greatest space mission of all time (the last fifty years anyway), it's your time to crown the winner!.