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PODCAST

Pythagorean Astronomy

Chris North and Edward Gomez

Astronomy news and interviews with scientists involved in the discoveries. Hosted by Dr Chris North (Cardiff University) and Dr Edward Gomez (Las Cumbres Observatory).

science & medicine natural sciences

All Episodes

00:23:21

It's (Almost) Never Aliens

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/09/14

This is a special episode - released a couple of weeks earlier than normal – that’s because we’ve got a very special story to talk about this time. A team of astronomers has detected hints that indicate the possibility that there may be life in the clouds of Venus. Despite the maybes and possibilities, this is an astonishing statement, and we’ll explore the discovery in this episode with a few of the people involved in the discovery. This month is also an anniversary of sorts. This podcast has its

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00:42:47

Black holes - too big and too small

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/09/03

If there’s anything that pricks up the ears in astronomy, it’s black holes. And this month we have not one, but two black hole stories. And, depending on how you count them, four black holes, though two of them no longer exist – if that sounds confusing, then don’t worry, it’ll become clear! Regular listeners will be no stranger to black holes, with them featuring regularly – largely thanks to the work of the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave experiments, which detect the subtle ripples in the

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00:33:12

Solar Orbiter: Not Suitable for Vegetarians

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/07/30

In astronomy, the month of July has been the month of two things: comets, and Mars. Comet Neowise, or to give it it’s full title C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, has graced the skies of the northern hemispheres, becoming the first naked eye comet for some time. Some have even argued it’s the best comet for decades. In terms of new missions, then this summer marks the best window to launch missions to Mars. These windows come around roughly every two years, or so, since that’s how long it takes for the Earth to

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00:41:16

Mass Gaps and Radio Bursts

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/07/02

Science news stories normally revolve around something new that's been learned, or some question that’s been answered. But sometimes, and these are often the most interesting times, there’s an observation or discovery that raises a whole new set of questions – and the mystery deepens. This month we discuss two such discoveries. First of all, an unusual gravitation wave event, detected back in August 2019 and dubbed GW190814. We’ve discussed gravitational waves a number of times on Pythagorean

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00:26:56

SmallSpark

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/06/04

Amid the turmoil of not only coronavirus, but also anti-racism protests across the US and now internationally, it's been a notable month for spaceflight. At the end of May, SpaceX launched their first crewed Dragon capsule, which became the first private vehicle to dock with the International Space Station. But the private space sector is much bigger than SpaceX, and is a very international field. There are many companies based here in the UK, including Small Spark Space Systems Ltd, based here in

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00:50:05

Hubble at 30

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/05/01

The Hubble Space Telescope is 30 years old - something that even its most enthusiastic supporters couldn't have dreamt of when it launched in 1990. With the help of a host of astronomers and space scientists, Chris North explores the history of the mission and the revolutionary discoveries that have been made. Prof Anu Ojha, Director of the National Space Centre, recaps the launch of the mission and subsequent visits to repair and upgrade it. Cosmologist Prof Steve Eales (Cardiff University)

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00:28:42

Isolation Space

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/04/03

In these unprecendented times, it's hard to argue that much of space science and astronomy is key infrastructure, or its staff key workers. And while that's true, like many organisations work cannot simply stop altogether. The European Space Agency runs a multitude of missions, from space observatories to interplanetary explorers, and from solar probes to space stations. Prof Mark McCaughrean, Senior Science Advisor at ESA, tells Chris North how the agency is coping with the lockdowns in force

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00:35:47

Out with the old, in with the new

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/02/27

Betelgeuse is still misbehaving, though we're starting to get more information in from observations by some of the largest telescope. Astronomers are narrowing in on the possible explanations. While the dimming of Betelgeuse isn't anything to do with aliens, the SETI programme is still going with a new project designed to focus on planets around stars that might be able to detect Earth's presence. And in the centre of our galaxy there's another hint of a mysterious object - an "intermediate mass

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00:25:49

Dimming stars, Galactic waves and misbehaving gas clouds

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2020/01/31

The astronomy world has been a-buzz with news of Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion, which appears to be dimming. Chris North, Edward Gomez and Claudia Antolini discuss how unusual this is, and what it means for the star's future. Further afield, there's a newly identified wave in our Galactic neighbourhood, changing our understanding of the nearby region. There are also new hypotheses about the nature of some oddly-behaving gas clouds near the galactic centre - what could explain their

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00:27:57

What the future holds

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/12/29

The final episode of 2019 includes a look back at a few things that have happened this year, and a look forward to the future. Chris North and Edward Gomez discuss the developments in exoplanet discoveries, and what future missions (such as CHEOPS, Plato and Ariel) may be able to tell us about the wide range of planets out there. We've also had the visitation of interstellar Borisov, which we've discussed a-plenty on Pythagorean Astronomy. Meanwhile, IOP Wales' Engagement Officer Dr Claudia

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00:35:30

Stellar Explosions and Interstellar Visitors

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/11/28

This month saw the announcement of two follow-up discoveries of two explosive events. Firstly observations of one of the highest energy ever gamma ray burst ever seen, detected back in January, have identified where it originated. Meanwhile, colleagues in Cardiff University have been searching for signs of a remnant neutron star at the heart of Supernova 1987A (which was observed to explode back in 1987) - and they may have found crucial evidence! Closer to home, there are more signs of water

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00:41:22

Interstellar Comets, black holes and gravitational waves

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/10/31

October 2019 saw the first all-female spacewalk, and the discover of 20 new moons of Saturn. There were also more observations of interstellar comet Borisov, and evidence for the Milky Way's black hole having sent out a violent flare several million years ago. Chris and Edward discuss these latest stories. October also saw a planned hiatus in operations of the LIGO and Virgo detectors, which are mid-way through the third observing run, looking for gravitational waves. We got an update from UBC's

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00:19:22

Habitable zones, Lunar landers and Interstellar...

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/09/26

The space news cycle was dominated for a while this month with the discovery of water vapour in the atmosphere of planet K2-18b. The planet is in the habitable zone of its star, but is somewhat larger than the Earth - what does that mean for its habitability? Meanwhile, radio astronomers have discovered the most massive neutron star found to date - close to the maximum theoretical limit. Closer to home, India's first attempt at landing on the Moon has ended in disaster, with the Vikram lander

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00:24:24

Lunar Gateways, Belching Black Holes and Warped Galaxies

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/09/03

The summer might be "silly season" in the press, but not so in astronomy. With peroxide on moons and belching black holes there's lots of sensible research going on for us to discuss. A number of recent rocket engine tests lead us to consider what the near future of space travel might look like, with a proposed "lunar gateway" providing a staging point for explorers. Where might they go? Perhaps as far as Jupiter's moon, Europa, where recent observations have provided more evidence of a carbon-rich

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00:38:28

Robotic Explorers

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/08/01

July 1969 was the month that the first people walked on the Moon. 12 people walked on the surface of our celestial neighbour between 1969 and 1972. Since then, humanity has been confined to low-Earth orbit. There is talk of sending people back to the Moon, on timescales that vary depending on who you talk to. There’s also talk of missions to Mars, possibly in the next few decades. But for the vast majority of the last 50 years, our exploration has been through our robotic envoys, sent to all manner

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00:37:24

The slowly spinning Sun, Starlink and Spiral Surprises

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/06/28

Mars is covered in craters, but most of them are very old. But new ones do appear from time-to-time, created when objects hit the surface of the red planet. That's just what happened at some point a couple of years ago, producing one of Mars' youngest craters. Higher up in Mars' atmosphere, scientists are also learning about the role the micrometeorites play in forming clouds. And how can the Moon reveal secrets about history of the Sun? Closer to home, there has been controversy about once of the

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00:25:45

Biomarkers, near-misses and anniversaries

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/05/30

A roundup of the month's news from around the Solar System - and beyond. You don't think of mars rovers having drawers, but that's exactly what has just been installed on the Rosalind Franklin Rover, part of ESA's ExoMars mission. This is no ordinary drawer, of course, but the "Analytical Laboratory Drawer", designed to test martian soil for the presence of biomarkers or microfossils, either of which would indicate the presence of present or past life. Closer to home, a mile-wide asteroid called

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00:52:09

Bonus: Herschel 10 years on

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/05/30

14th May 2009 marked the the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory. Herschel was a cornerstone mission for ESA, the European Space Agency, with the goal of unveiling the hidden Universe. In this special bonus edition of Pythagorean Astronomy, marking 10 years since Herschel's launch, Cardiff University's Dr Chris North finds out how it did this, and what astronomers have uncovered over the past decade. Such missions take a lot of planning, and Herschel was decades in the making. But they also

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00:20:16

Engine failures to event horizons

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/04/30

A roundup of the month's news from around the Solar System - and beyond. Starting with the Moon, where the first attempt by a privately funded organisation to land on the Moon has ended in a crash-landing. Despite the sad end, the Beresheet mission was otherwise a success, and a promising start for privately funded missions around the Solar System. Further afield, there are new results from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission, which is studying Mars' atmosphere. Beyond Mars, an analysis of the

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00:53:08

Flying space-shrapnel and a misbehaving Universe

Pythagorean Astronomy ·

2019/04/02

In December 2018 an object hit the Earth's atmosphere at over 100,000 kph over the Arctic Ocean, entirely unnoticed, until the orange streak was spotted in satellite imagery. Meanwhile, two missions are currently exploring much larger asteroids - Japan's Hyabusa-2 mission to Ryugu and NASA's Osiris-REX mission to Bennu. Chris North and Edward Gomez discuss the unexpected impact and the latest results from Hayabusa-2, showing that Ryugu is a "rubble pile" rather than a solid object. Meanwhile,

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118 results

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