Dog Stars – Details, episodes & analysis

Mr Max and Chris are back out for an evening walk in the Sun, rejoicing in the nearly once-in-a-lifetime view of the aurorae that much of the world enjoyed last week. We find out what causes the Northern and Southern lights, why last week was quite so good, and what the chances are of a similar show in the near future. We respect the lights, while being very good and Not Barking at things. There are loads of great aurora pictures in the Sky at Night Flickr group: https://www.flickr.com/groups/bbcskyatnight/?rb=1 Aurorawatch is here: https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/ and for those in the US there's the NOAA site here: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental A reminder that you can buy Chris' book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Accidental-Universe-Discovery-Asteroids/dp/1911709186 (It's out in the US in June, so you'll have to be patient if you're there!)

Mr Max and Chris are back out under surprisingly wintery skies. We check in on our old friend Betelgeuse, follow a new friend for a while with #nobarking, and talk about why you need goats in your chariot, why one star is really four, and what to spot with binoculars. You can read more about Capella here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/star-capella And buy Chris' book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Accidental-Universe-Discovery-Asteroids/dp/1911709186 (It's out in the US in June, so you'll have to be patient if you're there!)

Chris is in Chicago, but still finds time for a walk with the adorable (and well behaved) Bowie. As the trip is to the Zooniverse team meeting, Bowie, Chris and his colleague Sam thought you'd like to know that by going to zooniverse.org you can contribute to science, by finding planets, identifying animals, sorting through old texts and more. Even if there aren't any dog projects yet.

Chris and Mr Max are up in the fields, ignoring clouds and looking forward to the Perseid meteor shower which peaks on the 11th, 12th and 13th August. The pesky Moon is out of the way, so it's a good time to sit back, relax and enjoy a celestial spectacle - as long as no remote controlled cars are around. There's also a surprising link to John Denver. You can see spectacular images of the Perseids here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/perseid-meteor-shower-how-to-see-it/ and read more about them here: https://www.popastro.com/main_spa1/meteor/perseids/

Chris and Mr Max are back under a starry sky. The search for the shin bone continues, a crunchy substitute is found, and we consider the summer constellation of Hercules - the hero with the flailing limbs, which contains the beautiful cluster M13. M13 was the target for the Arecibo message, which you can see here: https://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/arecibo-message. There's a glorious Hubble image of the cluster here : https://esahubble.org/images/opo0840a/ (You can see the blue stragglers) and some nice images through amateur telescopes here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/what-see-through-telescope/

Chris and Mr Max are back pounding the sweltering streets of Oxford, enjoying a lovely view of the Moon in the twilight sky. Find out what links Mare Serenitatis - the sea of serenity - with Daft Punk, and hear about the intrepid exploration of the region by the Apollo 17 astronauts while Mr Max equally intrepidly explores a bush. It's hot, but the sky is still beautiful. You can find a map of the Mare here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cgb3g/p01cg9rh and find detailed photos here: https://skyandtelescope.org/online-gallery/mare-serenitatis/

An unusual episode of Dog Stars sees Chris and Mr Max out before sunset. The most exciting thing is the possibility of treats, but we also talk about eerie Noctilucent - night-shining - clouds, visible after sunset in the summer sky. These beautiful, mysterious apparitions are worth keeping an eye out for if the skies are clear - and we talk about the possible link to a nineteenth century volcano and the space shuttle. You can find out more about noctilucent clouds with the Sky at Night's Pete Lawrence here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/astrophoto-tips/photograph-motion-noctilucent-clouds/ and there's a beautiful image of them from the space station by Chris Hadfield https://www.universetoday.com/99606/noctilucent-clouds-imaged-by-astronaut-chris-hadfield/ [Since we got back, Chris learnt that 'the year with no summer' was due to another 19th century volcano, not Krakatoa. He apologies to Mr Max, and to you, for the error].

Chris and Mr Max are out on a lovely May evening, learning how to find the constellation of Virgo and its brilliant star, Spica. Find out what's special about this star, where the Milky Way is heading, and what the connection between a black hole and one of Mr Max's favourite foods is. There are some great images of Virgo galaxies here: https://esahubble.org/images/heic0815i/ and here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/galaxies/markarians-chain/ And you can see the doughnut around the giant black hole in the galaxy M87 here: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/2041-8205/page/Focus_on_EHT

The nearly full Moon has Chris thinking about Mare Crisium, our neighbour's Sea of Crises. We cover why it was nearly named after Britain, how high resolution images solved a mystery created by a Soviet probe, and nearly find a link to Star Trek. A guide to Mare Crisium is here: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/moon/mare-crisium/ Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images of Luna 24 (which landed in the 70s, not the 60s or 80s as Chris says in the podcast) here: https://www.planetary.org/space-images/lroc-view-of-luna-24-on-the-moon And of the Apollo landing sites here: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html High resolution images of wrinkle ridges are here: https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/485/wrinkle-ridge-in-mare-crisium/

Another cloudy night in Oxford finds Chris and Mr Max in reflective mood. Join the pair on an evening ramble, and learn about the brilliant star Arcturus, why wine is dangerous and how the Chicago World's Fair started with a lie. Also marvel at us not barking at things. Thanks and happy 40th birthday to our sponsors the Oxford Cheese company! You can read about Arcturus in Sky and Telescope here: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/meet-arcturus-guardian/