The Jodcast - astronomy podcast

In this month's show we talk to Gerry Gilmore about the Gaia spacecraft and find out why he says the solar system will be oscillating like a jelly. We find out about the recently launched New Horizons mission to Pluto, pose all your difficult questions to Tim O'Brien and find out what you can see in the night sky during February*. We also get a round up of all the latest news from the planets to the closing of the London planetarium.

In this month's show we find out about gamma ray bursts with Paul O'Brien, take a tour of the Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand, catch up on NASA's Stardust mission and discover what goes on at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE). We pose all your difficult questions to Tim O'Brien and find out what you can see in the night sky during April. As a special treat we also get Ian and Tim's commentary from the 29th March total solar eclipse.

This month's show is all about stars. We talk to Dr Tim O'Brien about a recurrent nova in the constellation of Ophiuchus and Johanna Ashwell - an amateur astronomer and PhD student - tells us about a star that has too much lithium. As ever we get the latest round-up of the news and find out what we can see in the night sky this month. There is news of a star party being held at Jodrell Bank on 12th August from 9pm until midnight and we also mention our exciting plans to podcast from the International Astronomical Union's General Assembly this month.

This month, after all the excitement of the IAU General Assembly planet definition, we stay a bit closer to home and have a tour of the Jodrell Bank Control Room. We find out about the Lovell Telescope winning the BBC unsung landmarks vote and plans for our new Visitor Centre. We get the latest astronomy news which includes geysers on Mars, the impact of ESA's SMART-1 on the Moon and the outcome of the IAU's planet definition. As always we find out what we can see in the night sky this month and Nick and Tim discuss the Moon receding from the Earth and they work out how many stars are larger and smaller than the Sun.

At the start of the month ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft plunged into the Moon. We caught up with one of the mission scientists to find out just what the SMART-1 mission's aims were and why it crashed. We also find out about the beginnings of the Universe and how the NASA spacecraft WMAP has helped shed some light on the first 300,000 years. The latest astronomy news includes the naming of 2003UB313, the launch of Solar-B (Hinode) to study the Sun and the latest news from the Mars Rovers and Mars Express. We also find out what you can see in the night sky and Nick gets Tim O'Brien to answer questions about coordinates and viewing the sky.

We have another packed show for you this month. Megan tells us the latest news in astronomy including exciting news about the STEREO mission, the Nobel Prize for physics 2006, ice on the Moon, extrasolar planets, damage to the Faulkes Telescopes, the re-opening of Mt Stromlo and the future of the Hubble Space Telescope. Nick and Stuart talk to Robert Nemiroff about the great internet resource that is astronomy picture of the day. We find out about an exciting ESA/NASA mission that will attempt to detect waves in space-time (gravitational waves) using three spacecraft named LISA. We also get a spooky edition of Ask an Astronomer where Tim O'Brien tells Nick about the variable star Algol and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the November night sky.

The last Jodcast of 2006 has arrived with Dave, Nick and Stuart all presenting via the wonders of the Internet. We start, as always, with a round up of the past month in astronomy which can now be downloaded in six languages if you feel like practicing your Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi or Portugeuse! We talk to Cormac Purcell about the microwave equivalent of lasers (masers) that are found in space and discover what they can tell us about the evolution of stars. In Ask an Astronomer, Tim explains why the Moon often appears to be larger when near the horizon and Ian tells us what we can see in December's night sky. As we were feeling festive this month, we suggest some great, free, astronomy software (Stellarium, Google Earth and Celestia) that nobody should be without. We've also replaced our usual sci-fi style intro/outro with a Jodcast pantomime. It's certainly a long way from Kansas...

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Jodcast of 2007. We start, as always, with a round up of the past month in astronomy. We talk to Martin Hardcastle about active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies (see the fantastic cover art by Aurore Simonnet for an idea of what they look like). We also gate-crashed a recent meeting about the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to find out what it is as well as finding out about the two proposed sites. We have no ask an astronomer this month but Ian is here to tell us what we can see in January's night sky. We also get a round up of interesting astronomy podcasts and set our first ever competition. You'll have to listen to find out what the question is!

This month we look back to the past, at the present and into the future; you'd almost think we stole the plot from A Christmas Carol. Ian Morison talks to Sir Bernard Lovell about the origins of Jodrell Bank Observatory. We catch up with Chris Davis of the spacePod podcast to get the latest news on NASA's STEREO mission. Stuart talks to David Boyce about the possibility of ultraviolet astronomy from the Moon and of course we ask Tim your questions, get the news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky during February.

This month we took our brand new recording kit to Astronomy Now's Astrofest 2007 to talk to some of the exhibitors and visitors. Back at base, Nick catches up with Ciska Markwick-Kemper to talk about dust in space. As always we ask Tim your questions, get the latest astronomy news from Megan, Stuart gives us a round up of other astronomy podcasts and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky during March. We also get an alert about a total lunar eclipse taking place on 3rd March 2007 (check out the links in the show notes for more details).

Aliens have landed at Stonehenge! Actually they haven't, and we aren't serious about horoscopes either, but we nearly had you fooled there. Luckily, the rest of our April show has real astronomy in it. We find out some more about gravitational wave detectors and we talk about quasars and black holes. As always we have the news with Megan, get Tim to answer your questions, get a roundup of other podcasts from Stuart and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky.

We're on the road in Preston at the UK's National Astronomy Meeting. Our first special show describes what NAM is and what happened on the first day. In our second show we catch up with Chris Wareing who announced results about the wakes left by dying sun-like stars as they pass through the interstellar medium. On the third day David Boyce (University of Leicester) and Paul Steele (University of Leicester) join us to chat about the various sessions that took place. We find out about the organisation of the conference from Dr Stewart Eyres, chat to Dr Monica Grady and find out about the International Heliophysical Year from Dr Lucie Green. On day four Neil Phillips (University of Edinburgh) joins us in our attempt to coherently link interviews about the dangers of solar ejections to astronauts, the possibility of making force-fields to protect them, the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, the Herschel Mission, the fiftieth anniversary of the Sky At Night and exoplanets. The last day of the NAM sees us talking to Dr Chris Davis about the STEREO mission, Dr Helen Walker about Mars Express and Prof Mike Bode about RS Ophiuchi.

May 2007 is when everything changes. Well, not quite everything. The Jodcast may have gone twice-monthly, but we remain in roughly the same cheesy format as before. This month we've gone international with Nick joining us from New Zealand and Tim from Chile. In our main interview, Nick chats with Carole Mundell about the Liverpool Telescope and how it is being used to observe hugely energetic gamma-ray bursts. Later we find out what Tim is doing with the New Technologies Telescope at La Silla in Chile. As usual we get the latest astronomy news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the northern skies during May. Now, we must go and sort out our containment fields as they seem to be on the blink. It's probably something to do with phase variances in the deflector grid.

This is the first of our new mid-month shows. First we get some breaking news from the Hubble Space Telescope, we listen to the second half of our interview with Carole Mundell about active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes, and we put your questions to Tim in the Ask an Astronomer segment. For the extra shows we won't be having the normal format intros and outros but we still won't take them too seriously. As a start we work out how many rice crispies you could fit in the 76m diameter Lovell Telescope. Can you work it out?

Tick, tick, tick. Forty years on from the first observations of pulsating neutron stars we talk to the discoverer of pulsars, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. She tells us about her PhD and how an 'annoying bit of scruff' turned into a fascinating area of research. We also hear about the Jodrell Bank First Move Literary Festival happening in June. As always, we have the latest news with Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky from the northern hemisphere.

Despite rumours that Baron Deathmortes is at large, we put on our rather damp Jodcast invisibility cloak and sneaked out to the astronomy tower to record this month's Jodcast. We find out about one of the world's great observatories - the Gemini Observatory - and we play extracts from the fantastic Moon-bounce poetry event. As always Megan brings us the latest news and Professor Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky this month. With so much to do, we might just have time to get it all done before quidditch practice.

Dave and Nick are here for the mid-July show. We present part two of our Harry Potter-style intros (The Chamber of Anti-Science) with a special cameo appearance from The Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait. Nick finds out all about white dwarf stars and planets from Matt Burleigh and then stands in for Tim in Ask an Astronomer. We also have reviews from listeners and a preview of the next show featuring galaxy evolution and the Galaxy Zoo.

We've got another bumper show for you starting with some interviews we recorded at the Modern Radio Universe conference. We talk to the Astronomer Royal, find out about adapting spacecraft technology to track TB on Earth, the successor to SMART1, and how astronomers and particle physicists are using the Moon as a huge neutrino detector. We listen to audience comments on the fantastic Space 50 event where the Lovell Telescope was turned into a giant projector screen and then we have our main interview about the Dark Energy Survey. We also have an announcement about an event being held in Macclesfield on 27th October. Finally, we answer your questions in Ask an Astronomer.

Happy New Year and welcome to the first show of 2008. This time we find out all about highly magnetised neutron stars - magnetars. We find out how observations with X-ray telescopes are allowing us to measure star quakes and probe the insides of magnetars. As it is the start of a new year we describe a selection of our favourite astronomical images from 2007 and tell you what to expect in the coming months. As always we also get the latest news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky

This is our lensing special. We ask Dr Neal Jackson to describe gravitational lensing of distant quasars by galaxies and have a series of interviews from the recent Manchester Microlensing Conference about developments in microlensing. We also hear about galactic companions to the Milky Way, astronomy in Iran, and we get we an update about the Square Kilometre Array. As always we have the latest astronomical news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the sky during February. We'll also be at Astrofest 2008 on February 8th - 9th so come by and say hello if you are there.

Welcome to the Jodcast National Astronomy Meeting special edition. On the final day of the meeting we were lucky to be joined by old friends of the Jodcast - Chris Lintott and David Boyce - to share our favourite parts of the conference with you. In this bumper show we bring you interviews covering cosmic downsizing, newly discovered planets, dark energy, proto-planets, the virtual observatory, new telescopes, James Bond and even the football results.

In this show we talk about Mars Phoenix Lander touching down on Mars and sending back its first results. In our interview Ben Maughan tells us how he has been weighing clusters of galaxies. Tim O'Brien tells us about events at Jodrell Bank Observatory over the next month including the Longest Day Garden Party. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian.

On 1st August 2008 parts of the world experienced a total solar eclipse. In the UK we saw a partial solar eclipse and the Jodcast was at Jodrell Bank Observatory with our eclipse special. We talk to Dr Phillipa Browning about eclipses and the state of our knowledge about the solar atmosphere [15:15 - 21:09] and to Professor Mark Edmonds about the evidence that prehistoric people had an interest in the Sun, Moon and stars. As usual we also get the latest news from Megan [02:35 - 10:59] and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian [31:50 - 43:10].

This month we bring you a final interview that we conducted at the National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast. Dill Faulkes, the man behind the Faulkes Telescope project, tells us why he set it up and what the future holds [20:12 - 34:25]. We also talk to Debbie Mitchell about how her training in astrophysics led her to a career working for the National Air Traffic Control Service [15:02 - 18:55]. As usual we get the latest news from Megan [01:03 - 08:08] and find out what you can see in the northern night sky from Ian [36:10 - 47:24].

You don't see the same universe twice. This month Jim Cordes tells us [20:12 - 34:25] about the recently discovered class of pulsars which emit their pulses in a very intermittent way. Jim also tells us about future searches for transient astrophysical objects and his use of the Arecibo radio telescope. As usual we get the latest news from Megan [01:14 - 08:37] and find out what you can see in the northern night sky from Ian [38:10 - 52:55].

Oh no it didn't, but it will produce infrared surveys of galaxies. In our main interview [12:32 - 30:05] we talk to Dr Matt Jarvis (University of Hertfordshire) about the ongoing attempts to detect gravitational waves using observations of pulsars spread over the sky. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [04:32 - 12:14] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the December night sky [35:05 - 52:36].

It's the last show before Christmas so the show is a little shorter than usual. First up we bring news of two special video episode that will be out in the next few days. In our interview [04:27-27:17] we talk to Philip Best about galaxies and a new low-frequency telescope named LOFAR. We also bring you some stocking filler ideas [28:27-32:37] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.

With it being the end of the year we round-up our favourite astronomical images of 2008 [17:16 - 25:05]. We also discuss the International Year of Astronomy and hear about a new astronomy podcast from Dr Pamela Gay (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville) [12:11 - 16:45]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:50 - 09:49] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the January night sky [25:11 - 37:40].

With the 100 Hours of Astronomy quickly approaching, we find out what will be happening over the course of the four days [01:08-07:06] and get details about a 24 hour observatory webcast [07:38-13:21]. We chat about the launch of NASA's Kepler spacecraft to search for Earth-like planets and ESA's GOCE probe to map the Earth's gravity field. On a recent trip to the Netherlands Roy caught up with Gijs Nelemans to find out about the future LISA spacecraft to hunt for gravitational waves [30:50-53:45]. We also put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [13:32-26:34] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.

In this episode Roy talks to amateur astronomer Brian Woosnam about his love of astronomy and his local astronomical society [00:59-17:09]. We talk about what happened during the 100 Hours of Astronomy and give our suggestions for astronomical sights to see and things to achieve. We also put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [21:57-34:44] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.

It's Roy's last episode before he returns to the Netherlands and we welcome some of the new Jodcast Juniors. The Jodcast Juniors were our roving reporters at the Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM) and they bring us a series of interviews about the latest research into pulsars, galaxies, dust, exoplanets and more. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [05:36 - 14:00] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the May night sky [51:47 - 01:06:04].

This jam-packed show comes at the end of a jam-packed week of major events in astronomy. We have more interviews recorded at JENAM including what's next for the International Year of Astronomy [02:11-10:43], future instruments at the European Southern Observatory [10:43-15:13], gamma ray bursts [15:14-24:06] and cosmic rays [24:07-35:36]. We get the low-down on ESA's Planck and Herschel spacecraft [36:02-57:32]. As always we put your questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [60:14-72:13] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.

With it being the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Earth's Moon, we dedicate most of this episode to things lunar. We mention the latest amazing images from NASA's LRO showing the Apollo landing sites from orbit, Sir Bernard Lovell describes Jodrell Bank's involvement with the space race including tracking the Soviet's Luna probes and involvement with Apollo [04:35-32:00]. As always we put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [32:05-42:46] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.

After months of talking about it we finally recorded an episode (1 of 2) with a live studio audience. In this bumper show we have an interview with Dr Chris Lintott where we find out about the latest results from Galaxy Zoo [18:36-50:08]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [08:12-17:56], we discuss recent events in space [67:54-83:00] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the December night sky [50:29-67:32]. Our cover art shows some of the presenters and audience who braved the rain at Jodrell Bank during Jodcast Live.

It's the end of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. We bring you some of our highlights of the year which celebrated 400 years of the astronomical telescope. We get updates on the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast [16:48-23:37], Universe Awareness for Young Children [46:19-51:42] and Jen - our roving reporter - visits the AstroBunker [23:37-46:19] in Newbury. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:21-10:21] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the January night sky [52:06-67:37]. Our cover art shows the logo of the International Year of Astronomy.

We have a couple of interview with scientists at the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes. We find out about the observatory and compact binaries from Dr Pablo Rodríguez-Gil [09:39-32:45] and planetary nebulae from Dr Miguel Santander-García [32:45-48:40]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:00-09:24] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the February night sky [52:19-64:39]. Our cover art shows the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes from the air.

In this cassette we find out about the upcoming launch of the Hubble Space Telescope [06:32-12:55], find out about the newly extended MERLIN [19:18-23:31] and we talk about the first results from the COsmic Background Explorer [26:34-34:25]. We also have the regular news [01:44-06:14], tell you what to look out for in the night sky during spring and summer [35:21-43:21], and answer your questions [46:01-56:26]. Our sleeve notes show an artist's impression of the Hubble Space Telescope.

CAP and NAM. In the show this time we get an update on two recent conferences that Jodcast presenters were lucky enough to attend. Megan brings us a series of interviews from the Communicating Astronomy with the Public conference [11:02-39:49]. Jen and Stuart find out about the National Astronomy Meeting 2010 [42:19-45:29], hear about planets orbiting backwards [45:29-55:29] and the possibilities of life elsewhere in the Universe [55:29-62:50]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [03:01-10:47] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the May night sky [67:05-83:28].

In the show this time we find out about searches for extraterrestrial intelligence using LOFAR [12:39-20:40] and hear about SOFIA [21:06-31:52] - a telescope which is mounted on a plane. With the Māori new year approaching, we get a New Zealand view on some familiar celestial objects [32:05-41:13]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:34-12:26] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the June night sky [43:43-58:05].

Stateside. In this show we have the first of the interviews that Dave has recorded on his travels across North America. In May, Dave visited the University of Western Ontario and while he was there, he talked to John Lanstreet about magnetism in stars [13:07 - 21:38], Melissa Battler about life in the Universe [21:38 - 38:46] and Sarah Gallagher about quasars [36:48 - 43:54]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [06:16 - 12:43] and we hear what can be seen in the July night sky in the northern hemisphere from Ian Morison [46:24 - 61:43] and in the southern hemisphere from the Carter Observatory [61:52 - 67:18].

School's out for summer. This bumper edition has been created with the help of 6 work experience students. Paul Woods tells us about dust in space [16:18-20:40], Jon Pearson is interviewed about general relativity [34:10-40:46], Mark Purver talks about pulsars [20:52-33:38], Jen Gupta answers questions on galaxies [41:04-50:57] and Adam Avison explains massive star formation [51:37-57:58]. We also get an update on the Planck mission [01:16-15:52] and Dave Jones answers astronomical questions [58:23-77:16]

O Canada. In the show this time we have two more interviews from Dave's visit to the University of Western Ontario. We hear about lunar geology from Dr Irene Antonenko [10:45 - 38:10] and Alex de Souza tells us about star formation [38:10 - 44:56]. As always, Megan brings us the latest astronomical news [01:41 - 10:16] and we hear what can be seen in the August night sky in the northern hemisphere from Ian Morison [50:16 - 62:05] and in the southern hemisphere from John Field at the Carter Observatory [62:13 - 66:40].

Have a nice day! In this show we talk to Dr Ronnie Jansson about magnetic fields in space [01:01 - 14:20], Professor Dennis Zaritsky tells us about the evolution of galaxies [14:20 - 26:24] and Professor Andrew MacFadyen talks about the deaths of stars [26:24 - 34:13]. As always, Dr Tim O'Brien answers your astronomical questions [36:11 - 61:54], we report on some odds and ends from the world of (astro)physics and we round up your feedback since the last show.

Royal. In this show, Professor Martin Rees tells us about gamma-ray bursts and the future of humanity [01:46 - 19:58] and two new work experience students ask Doctor-in-waiting Adam Avison about the ALMA telescope [20:53 - 31:59]. Dr Iain McDonald answers your astronomical questions [38:20 - 48:04], we report on some odds and ends from the universe of astronomy and there is a round up your feedback since the last show.

Glorious. In this show, Professor Derek Ward-Thompson tells us about the early stages of star formation [00:49 - 14:06] and Libby talks to Dr Jay Farihi about locating the remains of planets around white dwarfs [14:15 - 27:18]. Dr Iain McDonald answers your far-out questions [37:18 - 43:59], we bring you the latest astronomical odds and ends and there is a round up your feedback since the last show.

Arriba! Arriba! In this episode we talk to 4 members of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics: Dr Bob Watson [09:30 - 13:49] tells us about the cosmic microwave background radiation, Dr Cristobal Espinoza [13:49 - 21:03] tells us about pulsar glitches, Dr Jaime Pineda [21:03 - 27:28] tells us about star formation and Matias Vidal [27:28 - 33:42] tells us about cosmology. As usual, Megan has the latest astronomical news [02:15 - 08:34] and Ian Morison and John Field tell us what's in the night sky [40:07 - 60:01]

Einstein. In this show we talk to Dr Karen Masters about LOFAR and Galaxy Zoo [00:44 - 11:07], Dr Haley Gomez talks about dust in galaxies [11:14 - 17:48] and Dr Stephen Serjeant tells us about star-forming galaxies and strong gravitational lensing [18:06 - 45:59]. Dr Tim O'Brien answers your astronomical questions [51:52 - 76:37], and we report on some odds and ends from the world of astrophysics.

Rave. In this show we talk to Dr Leigh Fletcher [01:37 - 22:54] about storms on Saturn, Robert Franke [22:58 - 37:00] about neutrinos and Professor Iwan Williams [37:04 - 51:12] about comets and asteroids in the last of our interviews from this year's National Astronomy Meeting. Dr Iain McDonald answers your astronomical questions [56:52 - 66:17], and we report on some odds and ends from the world of astronomy.