Astrophiz Podcasts

Dr Jesse Van De Sande is the  ASTRO3D research fellow at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy at the School of Physics at the University of Sydney. He is an observational astronomer who uses many of the world's most iconic and powerful telescopes, including the four 8 meter telescopes that comprise the VLT, the Very Large Telescope high up in the Andes in Chile. He is researching galaxies at low and high Redshift up to 15 billion light years away, and his research focuses on how massive galaxies form, evolve, and die. Jesse  co-leads a team which has published new and amazing discoveries about our very own Milky Way Galaxy, which some say are destined to re-write the astronomy textbooks …. And he has a long history with the famous SAMI survey. In his generous in-depth interview we hear about his journey from a small village in northern Netherlands to researching the largest structures in our universe. He brings us up to date with the SAMI and GECKO surveys, his outreach work, his latest research and collabora

Astrophiz 172: Dr Ian Musgrave’s June SkyGuide What's up in the Southern Sky in the month of June?  The dates for the Moon Phases for June, Evening Sky Highlights and all the beautiful Morning Sky Highlights. Planetary action: Mars, then Venus, meets the Beehive cluster, The moon occults Delta Scorpii, then forms attractive patterns with Jupiter, Mars and Venus. More details, times plus charts on Ian’s ’Southern Skywatch' + Ian’s Tangent - Comets & Dyson Spheres Bonus: Using binoculars effectively Next Episode: Dr Jesse Van De Sande with new Galactic discoveries

Dr Rodolfo Montez Jr is better known as Rudy. Rudy is an astrophysicist working at the Chandra X-Ray Centre at the famous Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He has wide research interests and among them he does amazing work using NASA’s flagship X-ray space telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory to research some of the hottest regions of our universe. He is also known for his mentoring and championing of undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds. In this episode you will hear how X-rays from high energy events billions of light years away are cleverly captured by Chandra’s unique design and the resulting data is distributed to astrophysicists world wide for analysis to build an unprecedented understanding of our universe. Rudy is a legend who lays bare the secrets of Chandra. You will love his explanations as you develop a clearer understanding of how X-ray astronomy works! Thank you Dr Rodolfo Montez Jr!

Moon Phases for May Full Moon - 6 May (with penumbral eclipse in the early morning) Moon at Perigee - 11 May Last Quarter - 12 May New Moon - 20 May First Quarter - 28 May (also apogee moon) Evening Sky Highlights VENUS - moving from Taurus into gemini and getting brighter and climbing higher in the West. From the 9th to 10th Venus is closed to the open cluster M35. On the 23rd Venus is just 3degrees from the crescent moon, and on the 30th Venus will be right next to the Mag 3 double star Kappa Geminorum. Venus is in it’s ‘half-moon’ phase at the moment. MARS - shrinking as it moves further away from earth in its orbit, but still easily visible, but you’ll need a serious large telescope to pull in deatils of Mars. On the 31st Mars is next to the Beehive Cluster. On the 24th Mars, Venus and the waxing moon make a neat little triangle in the West. Morning Sky Highlights On the 18th MERCURY the thin crescent moon with Jupiter above will be a nice capture for astrophotographers and naked eye observers. On

I am really excited to be speaking again with Dr Laura Driessen, who is now recognised as one of Australia’s Superstars of STEM! You first met Laura 5 years ago back in 2018 when she was doing her PhD at the University of Manchester and Jodrell Bank. Laura’s back story is all there in Astrophiz Episode 54. You heard about her obsession with space starting at age 4 and her natural yet meandering academic Astro journey up to the point where she was using commensal searches on the MeerKAT array in South Africa for pinpointing and localization of FRBs, Fast Radio Bursts. Today we’re taking up that story from where we left off, and we hear of her first post-doc with the CSIRO in Perth, her FRB and Radio Star research and her outreach work in the outback with indigenous school kids who live near the iconic Murchison Widefield Array and the ASKAP Array. Laura tells us about her current research and her work as the joint Science lead on the VAST project and you will love the clarity of her description of the pow

Shownotes In Australia Daylight Saving ends on April 2nd Moon Phases: Full moon April 6th So for those out camping over Easter, you’ll have very nice dark skies to see lots of clusters and nebulae as well as Venus and Mars without any interference from the moon. Last Quarter April 13th Perigee moon April 16th New Moon April 20th First Quarter (apogee) Moon appears in evening skies on April 28th. In the Evening Skies Mercury is a very difficult target even for those with very low western horizons. Venus is very easily observed in the West in the early evening just after sunset for an hour and a half. Over April Venus is moving closes and closer to the iconic open cluster the Pleiades and between the 10th and the 12th Venus and the Pleiades close together will make great binocular viewing. On the 23rd Venus is just 3 degrees from the crescent moon. Mars is still prominent, but is shrinking and fading and moving from the Taurus constellation into Gemini. At the start of April is close to the open cluster M

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Mia Walker, an engineer and Project Officer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy in Western Australia. Mia’s passion for astronomy is the driving force behind her career in this field, where she has contributed to the development and operation of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope, a stunning project designed to help unlock the mysteries of the Universe. But without Mia and the team she works with, the astronomers hungry for MWA data would all be staring at blank screens! During this interview, Mia shares her experiences and insights about her work with radio astronomy instrumentation, and projects on the path to the even bigger SKA-Low telescope. Mia speaks about the toughest challenge that radio telescopes face, and how the MWA is overcoming this in the field, which is an extremely remote region of Western Australian outback – where battles with the elements (both environmental and antenna-related) are commonplace. Mia also shares her tho

This month the planetary action is still largely in the western evening skies. Earth is at equinox on Tuesday, 21 March. At this time day and night are roughly equal in duration. March 2; Venus and Jupiter at their closest. March 3; Mercury and Saturn close low in the twilight. March 4; apogee Moon. March 7; Full Moon. March 15; Last Quarter Moon. March 20; the thin crescent moon near Saturn in the morning twilight. March 20; Moon at perigee. March 22; New Moon. March 24; the crescent Moon is very close to Venus in the twilight. March 29; First Quarter Moon. March 28; the Moon is close to Mars. March 30, Mars close to open cluster M35. March 31; Venus is just 1.5 degrees from Uranus. MERCURY: Mercury falls back towards the eastern horizon and is lost to view early in the month, reappearing in the evening twilight late this month. On the 3rd Mercury and Saturn are about 1 degree apart, deep in the twilight. You will need a level, unobstructed horizon and binoculars to see the pair at their bes

"Are We Alone? In an exclusive interview, Dr. Vishal Gajjar, a leading researcher on the Breakthrough Listen project, discussed his groundbreaking work using machine learning and AI to facilitate the detection of technosignatures on the project's search for Extraterrestrial life. The Breakthrough Listen project, led by the University of California Berkeley and the SETI Institute, is one of the most ambitious efforts to search for intelligent life in the universe. Using some of the world's largest radio telescopes, the project scans the cosmos for signs of intelligent civilizations, such as radio signals and other technosignatures. Dr. Gajjar, who is a principal investigator on the project, is using AI to help analyse the vast amounts of data generated by the telescopes. "The amount of data we collect is enormous, and it would be impossible for humans to go through it all," he explained. "Using machine learning algorithms, we can sift through the data much more efficiently and identify patterns that might ind

Moon Phases: Feb 6 Apogee Full moon Feb 14 Last Quarter moon Feb 20 New moon Feb 27 First Quarter moon Evening Sky Venus and Jupiter in the West half an hour after sunset, some nice planetary action in morning skies and beautiful signature stars and constellations throughout the month Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has already been a great sight in the Northern Hemisphere and now having passed by the sun, will now be best seen in Northern Australia in places like Darwin and Cairns around the 3rd of February. For those further South, you’ll have to wait for the morning of the 6th of February, however with the full moon over in the west, you’ll need binoculars to see the comet to compensate for the moonlight. On the 14th the comet is close to Aldebaran. In Ian’s Tangent we find out all about the water and alcohol content of comets and the obscure fact (according to some media outlets) that Comet C/2022 E3 is 1000 penguins wide. In two weeks we bring you an amazing interview with Dr Vishal Gajjar who is a project s

Many cultures around the world and throughout history have staged festivals events and celebrations around this time. Here in Australia our summer holidays occur now and with Christmas and New Years Eve approaching it’s a great time to spend time with family and friends. As I’ve been reminded by our resident observation guru Dr Ian Musgrave, this is a great time of year to see some great planetary action and some special stars and introduce younger family members to the splendour of the night sky. There’s a lot to see over the next week, even with naked eyes, but if you have binoculars even better, and a telescope better still. Many households will have a pair of binoculars somewhere and I’d encourage you to go and find them, and while there is an 8 dollar adapter available from online stores that will easily attach your binocs to a tripod, a great idea is to use gaffer tape or duct tape to attach your binocs to a broom handle or your tripod. Why? Doing this reduces arm fatigue remarkably and will hold you

Meet an amazing researcher and astrophysicist Dr Manisha Caleb … Manisha has used the world’s most powerful instruments to unlock the secrets of some of the most powerful and puzzling objects in our known universe. For her PhD she took a very deep dive and most productive research program into the phenomena of Fast Radio Bursts using the MOST and Parkes radio telescopes, and along the way, helped refurbish and reconfigure the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope situated not far from Canberra in Australia. Since then, her post-doc took her to Manchester and the famous Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank and further FRB discoveries using Jodrell facilities and the MeerKat SKA precursor array in South Africa. Now back in Australia, Manisha continues her FRB quest and recently discovered a new class of slowly spinning neutron stars, and soon she also begins lecturing in Physics at the University of Sydney. In this episode we hear about Manisha’s discoveries and the very latest updates on Fast Radio Bursts a

Astrophiz 161: Dr Ian Musgrave’s December SkyGuide Enjoy your regular monthly treat of viewing tips for all naked-eye celestial observers, telescopers, and astrophotographers from Dr @IanfMusgrave, amateur astronomer, molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist. Ian gives us all the viewing highlights and what planets to look out for in our morning and evening skies. This special month also brings you all 5 bright planets viewable in the dusk twilight and later in the evening, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are bright beacons for the naked eye and easily examined in detail with binoculars and telescopes. Mars is right in opposition now, being closest in its orbit to earth, nice and bright orange to the naked eye and a polar ice cap visible for those with telescopes. Get out there on 8 December for the best opposition view of Mars till 2033. In Ian’s Tangent …. Mars Quakes, meteor impacts, ejecta and subsequent glass tektites landing on earth, and how the blast from mighty rockets like the SLS and Saturn V can fus

Astrophiz 160: CSIRO-ASKAP Recap: The journey so far with Australia’s newest radio telescope Australia's ASKAP (Australian SKA Pathfinder) radio telescope array has had an amazing decade since first light, breaking records, receiving awards and finding new objects, all whilst still in its pilot phase. In this fabulous episode you will hear from the scientists using ASKAP every day to conduct groundbreaking research to further their studies, and from those working to shape ASKAP into a truly remarkable national facility and international resource. You will discover how this Earth-based telescope assists astronomers in ways we didn't know was possible a decade ago. As a precursor instrument to the SKA project - what will be continent spanning arrays comprising the largest telescope the world has ever seen - the lessons we've learnt from ASKAP are informing the next stages of radio astronomy. This program is hosted by Rachel Rayner, whose enviable job is to bring you the best stories about the telescopes th

Astrophiz 159: Dr Ian Musgrave’s November SkyGuide ~ Total Lunar Eclipse & Dung Beetle Navigation. Enjoy your regular monthly treat of viewing tips for all naked-eye celestial observers, telescopers, and astrophotographers from Dr @IanfMusgrave, amateur astronomer, molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist. Ian gives us all the viewing highlights and what planets to look out for in our morning and evening skies. This special month also brings you a total lunar eclipse, an excellent view of Uranus right next to the eclipsed moon, and a hint of a meteor shower. In Ian’s tangent we hear about the fascinating celestial navigation skills of Dung Beetles that are being impaired by light pollution. Enjoy!

Astrophiz 158: Ana Maria Delgado – Machine Learning & Galaxy Halos Today you will be hearing a wonderful story from Ana Maria Delgado and her entry into Science and the Arts and some of her highlights as an inspiring ‘career changer’, accomplished astrophysicist, cosmologist, coder and PhD researcher … Ana Maria is a CUNY (City University of New York) Alumnus and now a Harvard Astronomy graduate and PhD student who is using her novel machine learning techniques on supercomputers to clarify our understandings of dark matter halos around massive galaxies Ana Maria’s career began as a photography teacher and then as a Special Education teacher in NY Public Schools. You will hear about her student-inspired career change which involved her first Degree in physics at CUNY and followed by her innovative PhD research which is coupled with her collaborations on *CAMELS projects involving galaxy evolution simulations with over 100 billion particles and fluid elements. This is fabulously inspiring interview you ar

Astrophiz 157: Dr Ian Musgrave’s October SkyGuide & Smashing Spacecraft Enjoy your regular monthly treat of viewing tips for all naked-eye celestial observers, telescopers, and astrophotographers from Dr @IanfMusgrave, amateur astronomer, molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist. Ian gives us all the viewing highlights and what to look out for in our morning and evening skies and the dates to best observe Jupiter’s closest approach since 1963 and Jupiter’s beautiful Galilean moons. In Ian’s tangent we hear about Smashing Spacecraft, including those that have accidentally or deliberately smashed into planets, those that have smashed into asteroids like the recent DART mission, and those that have smashed projectiles into asteroids to collect and return dust particles back to earth for analysis. It’s a long and interesting smashing history that Ian reveals. Enjoy!

Astrophiz 156 - Amirnezam Amiri - Metallicity and Galaxy Evolution Amirnezam Amiri is a PhD student at the department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Florence and a PhD researcher at Italy’s famous National Institute for Astrophysics and Astronomy (INAF) in Arcetri, Florence, Italy, and the focus of his research is on metallicity measurement in both star-forming and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) galaxies. Amirnezam was awarded the Summer Internship Prize in Tenerife, at the Canary Islands Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. Also, Amirnezam is doing fabulous science outreach. He has translated more than 8 books into the Persian language and he has written over 75 public articles in different popular journals and newspapers. In this wonderful interview, Amirnizam tells us the breakthroughs by ancient Iranian and Persian astronomers and scientists and about the famous Persian Maragheh Observatory which was first established in 1259 and which became the model for later observatories in the 15th,

Astrophiz 155: Dr Ian Musgrave’s September SkyGuide. Enjoy your regular monthly treat of viewing tips for all naked-eye celestial observers, telescopers, and astrophotographers from Dr @IanfMusgrave, amateur astronomer, molecular pharmacologist and toxicologist. Ian gives us all the viewing highlights for our morning and evening skies and the dates to observe Jupiter’s beautiful Galilean moons and their shadows passing over Jupiter’s surface and for binocular observers, when to catch Jupiter’s moons strung out like a stunning string of pearls all on one side of our magnificent gas giant. In Ian’s tangent we hear about variable stars including the recent exceptional behaviour of Betelgeuse, and how historical records show both brightness and colour of stars like Betelgeuse and Antares can display dramatic changes. Enjoy!

Astrophiz 154: Dr Emily Moravec - Active Galaxies in Galaxy Clusters Emily is a postdoctoral fellow at Green Bank Observatory. She is an AGN researcher who works on active galactic nuclei, radio galaxies, galaxy clusters, and radio interferometry. She is active in a number of radio AGN and cluster collaborations and does wonderful outreach work supporting early career astronomers. For her PhD at the University of Florida, Emily researched Radio Galaxies in Massive Galaxy Clusters up to 10 billion light years away at redshift 1, then her first post-doc was in the Czech Republic where she worked at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, and was also an ALMA Support Scientist working with the Czech ARC Node. Now Emily is back in the States up in West Virginia where she works at the famous 100m Green Bank Observatory, the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. Dr Moravec's research, outreach and insights into science policy through her work with the National Academie