Astrophiz Podcasts

Astrophiz 22 is out now on Soundcloud or subscribe in iTunes Part II: The Parkes ‘Dish’ interrogates pulsars to expose gravity waves. We interview Operations Scientist John Sarkissian at the CSIRO Parkes Radio Observatory. He explains how the ‘Spider Dipoles’ that make up the Murchison Widefield Array in remote Western Australia contribute to SKA, how Parkes chase down gravity waves and has detected most of the world’s FRBs (fast radio bursts of unknown origin), after being distracted by ‘perytons’ and microwave ovens. And yes, ‘The Dish’ is searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the international SETI ‘Breakthrough Listen’ project. We’re not saying they’re searching for Aliens ….. but Aliens! Dr Nadezhda in Part I of Stellar Evolution explains how the mass of a star determines its evolutionary path, and next week we will look at the Hetsprung-Russell Diagram “What”s Up in the Sky this Week” for Northern Hemisphere observers and astrophotographers, and for Southern Hemisphere Listeners, December is

Black Hole Investigator and Norwegian-born PhD candidate Natalia Sommer explains her novel technique of interrogating the echoes from active galactic nuclei to develop a standardisable candle to measure the distances to galaxies far far away. Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov Skypes in from Tver in Russia to tell us about Red Shift, Blue Shift and the Doppler Effect. In the News: Fast Radio Bursts and the oldest woman in space and most travelled NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. What to look for in the night sky this week, the ecliptic explained and the Astrophotography Challenge.

It is with profound sadness that we announce that Jack, the eldest son of Dr Ian Musgrave, has died as a result of an accident. We will not be presenting our regular podcast this week, and we do not expect Ian will be on the podcast for the foreseeable future. This week’s program is a simple tribute to Jack, in the form of my daughter Lara’s arrangement of the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on piano. She is accompanied by her friend Emma Amery on violin, and her brother Tom on Cello. We extend our deepest condolences to Ian and Peta, Mikey and their youngest son, from Astrophiz listeners and the O’Brien family. The message from Ian is a simple one: Parents, hug your kids.

Astrophiz 18 out now on iTunes and Soundcloud. ‘The Acceleration of the Expanding Universe’ is beautifully explained by Dr Brad Tucker. Brad is an Astrophysicist/Cosmologist, and currently a Research Fellow and PhD supervisor at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mt. Stromlo Observatory at the Australian National University. Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov Skypes in from Tver in Russia to tell us more about the Cosmic Microwave background Radiation. Dr Ian Musgrave in ‘What’s up Doc?’ tell us what to look for in the night sky this week using naked eye, binoculars or telescopes. Oh yes, and he takes down ’Suuupermoons’ In the news: An update on the SKA, the Square Kilometre Array, our planet’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope

Astrophiz Podcast 17 is out now for Space lovers, Sciencers, Aurora Hunters, and Astrophotographers on iTunes and Soundcloud. We talk with John Sarkissian, who is the Operations Scientist at the CSIRO Parkes Radio Observatory. It’s a sensational interview celebrating 55 years of amazing observations from the iconic dish that bought the Apollo moon landings to 600 million viewers in 1969 Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov tells us about Cosmic Background Radiation. Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave in 'What's Up Doc?' tells us what to look for up in the sky this week and how to temper your discovery of new rogue planets Next Week: We talk about the accelerating universe controversy with the Mt Stromlo Research Fellow, Cosmologist and Type Ia Supernovae researcher Dr Brad Tucker.

Astrophiz Podcast 16 is out now for Space lovers on iTunes and Soundcloud. At the Australian Space Science Conference we talk with Ian Whitechurch, CEO of Neumann Space, which has just secured a contract to test their solid state ion space drive on the International Space Station. Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov is back from her dacha and talks from Russia to tell us about Synchrotron Radiation. Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave in 'What's Up Doc?' tells us what to look for up in the sky this week, the ‘blue’ new moon, earthshine, trans-neptunian object Sedna, Planet 9, how to use Heavens-above and Calsky to get email alerts for overhead satellites, Iridium flares, the ISS, comets and novas as they become visible over your own house. In the news: 1. Schiaparelli Lander wrap up 2. Eta Carinae imaged in incredible detail 3. Proxima Centauri’s 7 year ’starspot’ cycle discovered Next Week: We talk with John Sarkissian, who is the Operations Scientist at the CSIRO Parkes Radio Observatory. It’s a sensational interview.

In

Glen Nagle describes how the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex listens to and sends commands to 40 spacecraft actively on missions throughout our solar system and beyond. Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave in 'What's Up Doc?' tells us what to look for up in the sky this week, auroras and astrophotography of the moon. In the news this week; 1.Successful ESA Mars Exo mission orbit insertion, TGO spacecraft sciencing successfully but possible LOS for Schiaparelli lander 2. Congratulations to Chinese Taikonauts for successful docking with their new space station 3. There are at least 10 times more galaxies than we thought The number of galaxies in the observable universe is 2 x 10^12 galaxies. This is roughly a factor of ten more than previous estimates and This also implies that we have yet to detect a large population of faint distant galaxies. 4. ESO’s VISTA finds a dozen ancient RR Lyrae stars at the heart of the Milky Way that were previously unknown, and indicates that remnants of ancient globular clust

Our feature interview is from the Australian Space Research Conference where we spoke with Dr Alina Donea from Monash University who is using maths and solar satellite data to detect sun quakes and using phase shifting can accurately predict the appearance of active regions appearing around the eastern limb of our sun as it rotates, In ‘What’s Up Doc?’ this week, Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave tells us about viewing Venus, Mars and Saturn, a brief report on the Orionid Meteor Shower and in ‘Ian’s Tangent’ he tells us about using photometry to do meaningful research on variable stars. In the news this week: 1. The Max Planck Institute releases a paper and stunning images of a protoplanetary disk captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), which has profound implications for our understanding of planet formation around young stars 2. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) uses ALMA to explore the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and also releases amazing images and uncovers insights i

In this week’s fabulous show Dr Caroline Foster tells us about the SAMI galaxy survey using spectrographs, voids in space and how science corrects mistakes and misconceptions Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov tells us about the discovery of Rosetta’s Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 1969 by Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko Dr Ian (Astroblog) Musgrave features in 'What's Up Doc?' where he tells us what to look for in the sky this week, and in 'Ian's Tangent' he tells us about tells more about Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and for astrophotographers, how to use a CCD webcam for astrophotography In the news: We summarise the scientific achievements of the Rosetta/Philae Mission by the European Space Agency. Astrophiz Podcast is a free, not-for-profit podcast that aims to build public understanding of science.

This week’s feature is from Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov, where she tells us about Blackbody Radiation. Dr Ian Musgrave in’What’s Up Doc?’ tells us what to look for in the sky this week, and the gunpowder smell of moondust and its inherent dangers. In the news this week: 1. A team at the Large Hadron Collider reports a new particle dubbed the Madala boson. 2. The Gaia mission is mapping the nature and movements of a billion stars in the Milky Way. 3. For our aurora watchers the European Space Agency has solved a problem that was preventing us from closely observing the sun’s corona. 4. Watch the Milky Way's birth in a lovely Caltech simulation at tinyurl.com(ForwardSlash)astrophizgalaxy 5. Australian OzGRav teams to embrace the new era of gravitational wave astronomy in $31.3M project
 6. 16th Australian Space Research Conference in Melbourne 26-30 September, 7. The venerated Dish at Parkes serves up the answer to one of life’s greatest mysteries with the discovery of the most complex chiral molecules found in

This week’s feature is from Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov, where she tells us about Vera Rubin’s historic discovery of Dark Matter and how she is still being denied a well-deserved Nobel Prize. Dr Ian Musgrave in’What’s Up Doc?’ tells us what to look for in the sky this week and for astrophotographers, how to use a simple point-and-shoot camera on a telescope. Ian's Tangent: #TweetYourResearchAsAHarryPotterNovel This Week’s News:
 1. The Philae spacecraft, lost since 2014, has finally been found in a crevice on comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko 2. OSIRIS-REx NASA's first asteroid sampling mission successfully launched into space last Thursday 3. Evidence for Planet 9 may already exist. The search for Planet X heats up. 4. New view of the Milky Way’s evolution. Using colors to identify the approximate ages of more than 130,000 stars in the Milky Way's halo, Notre Dame astronomers have produced the clearest picture yet of how the galaxy formed more than 13.5 billion years ago. Their Animation tinyurl.com/astrophizmilky cle

Dr Elizabeth Tasker debunks 'habitability' claim for Proxima Centauri b, and explains what we know about this nearby exoplanet. Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov explains the ‘Radio Window’ Part 11 and for Aurora Hunters she plays the sounds of Jupiter's Auroras from NASA's Juno mission. Dr Ian (Astroblog) Musgrave features in 'What's Up Doc?' where he tells us what to look for in the sky this week, and in 'Ian's Tangent' he tells us about the famous SETI 'WOW! Signal' In the news: NASA's JUNO pics of Jupiter's North Pole, Worst Science 'journalism' Ever, Brightest Magnetar detected, NASA designs sub to send to Titan, Another 'Dyson Sphere' star detected.

Dr Julie Banfield introduces the Radio Galaxy Zoo Citizen Science Project, Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov on the 'Radio Widow' and 'Sorry, no aliens there!' Dr Ian Musgrave tells us about 'Starshot' and what to look for in the sky this week, and in 'Ian's Tangent' he tells us about the stars in the Centaur - Alpha, Beta and Proxima. In the news: Proxima Centauri b, Astrophotography tips, New SKA HQ, Dark Matter Galaxy, Black holes, SETI 'signal' unconfirmed.

Dr Cherbakov tells us about the discoveries, achievements and passing of (Owen) Bruce Slee, and explains how neutron stars form, and how some become pulsars. Dr Ian Musgrave continues ‘the dance of the planets’, and introduces ‘Ian’s Tangent’ a new segment, and this week it is about observing the moons of Jupiter using binoculars and 'What's up in the sky this week'. In the news this week: the LOFAR Array, @Astrokatie nails some misconceptions, a 5th force of nature? … and exploding white dwarf stars.

Dr Lisa Harvey-Smith on building the world's biggest radio telescope, sciencing with indigenous communities and national science Week. Dr Ian Musgrave wraps up the Perseids, explains magnitudes and 'What's up in the sky this week'. Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov introduces Pulsars, and their discoverer, Dame Jocelyn Bell. In the news this week: Science week, Primordial Black Holes, a trip to Proxima Centauri and building a home radio telescope to study the sun.

Dr Karen Lee-Waddell tells us about her research with CSIRO on tidal dwarf galaxies. Ian tells us more about the Perseid Meteor Shower, the 'Dance of the Planets' and what's up in the sky this week. Dr Nadezhda tells us about the discovery or radio waves from Jupiter. In the news: Help find black holes by joining a citizen science project at radio.galaxyzoo.org and we explain how the colours of auroras happen.

Dr Nadezhda tells us about pioneering Australian astrophysicist and ardent women's rights advocate Ruby Payne-Scott, and I explain EM waves and the many colours of light. Ian tells us about the 'dance of the planets' and what's up in the sky this week. In the news: Jupiter's Red Hot Spot, New type of Binary Star. MWA eavesdrops on old supernova. Juno drops a donut. Brightest object in our universe (so far). How to listen to the Perseids on your FM Radio. And yes, last week said the word 'universe' instead of 'galaxy' ... her bad

Interview: Professor Sarah Maddison - Dust and Protoplanetary Disks History & Theory of radio astronomy: Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov from Tver tells us about Grote Reber. "What's up in the sky this week": Ian Musgrave tells us what, when & where The News Roundup: Magdalena Ridge Optical Interferometry, WIMPS and Kepler Reborn.

Interview: Dave 'the grave ' Hunter - Magnetometers and interpreting heliophysical satellite data. History & Theory of radio astronomy: Dr Nadezhda Cherbakov from Tver tells us about Karl Jansky. Dr Ian Musgrave tells us "What's up in the sky this week" - The News Roundup: MeerKat and Dark Matter, and astronomy news snippets.

Each week, the news, guest astrophysicist interviews, history and theory of radio astronomy and 'what's in the sky this week'. This week's episode features Professor Nadezhda Cherbakov from Tver talking about the RATAN-600 radio telescope Tom Browder, particle physicist and spokesperson for the Belle II Project. We talk about how particle physics enhances our knowledge and understanding of matter and anti-matter in the early universe.