The Jodcast - Astronomy Podcast

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.

It's the April show. This time we talk to Richard Davis and Bob Watson about an instrument that has observed the Cosmic Microwave Background. We find out about Megan's new job, talk about the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast and read some of your feedback. As always we have the latest news and tell you what you can see in the night sky during April.

This issue we talk to Dr Maria-Rosa Cioni from the University of Hertfordshire about the concept of metallicity and how we can use it to learn about galaxy evolution. We also learn about the current funding crisis facing astronomy in the UK from Dr Tim O'Brien, how it may affect Jodrell Bank Observatory, and what you can do to help.

In this show we take a look the photosphere and corona of our local star - the Sun. We find out about the tremendously tangled web of plasma and magnetic fields that solar physicists are attempting to understand. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian.

On February 8th and 9th we were at Astrofest in London. We bring you news from the Campaign for Dark Skies, we find out about the Space Telescope Science Institute and Google Sky, and we find out about computer simulations of galaxies. We also ask your questions to Dr Edward Boyce and Nick brings us news of an exciting planetary system that resembles our own.

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.

This issue we talk to Dr Alan Chapman about Victorian astronomer and popular lecturer Richard Proctor. We get your astronomical questions answered by Dr Edward Boyce and we find out if it is possible to escape from asteroid Ianmorison.

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

In the last Jodcast of 2007 Ken Kellermann and Dave Jauncey tell us about the discovery of quasars, particularly the lunar occultations of 3C 273 in the early 1960s. Jodcast newcomer Roy Smits gives us a summary of the Jodrell Bank Illuminate Art event and we ask your astronomical questions to Dr Edward Boyce.

This is our Cassini-Huygens special all about the NASA/ESA mission to the planet Saturn. We find out all about Cassini from Carl Murray and find out how radio astronomers helped recover some data from the Huygens lander. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian.

This issue we talk to Professor Don Burnett about NASA's Genesis Mission to capture particles from the solar wind and bring them back to Earth for study. We also talk about a new image from the Japanese Space Agency's Kaguya spacecraft and then get your questions answered by Tim O'Brien.

Is there intelligent life out there? In this issue we find out about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence and ask listeners to complete our second survey. We find out if space has the ingredients necessary to make a beer and get the low down on ESO's Catch a Star competition. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky during November from Ian.

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.

It is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik and we're going back to 1957 with the last part of our Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell. In the rest of the show we talk to Professor Albert Zijlstra about planetary nebulae, get the latest news and find out what we can see in the night sky. We also introduce our new Facebook group and mention the Big Space Draw.

This issue we present the second part of our 'Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell' bringing the story up to the start of October 1957. We also have Ask an Astronomer and get an update on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

We're back from our August break with a bumper show for you. We talk to Professor Gregor Morfill about the ability of dust to form amazing shapes in space. We also have the first of a three part interview with Jodrell Bank founder Sir Bernard Lovell. As usual we also get the latest news from Megan and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky this month.

Galaxies galore! This month we focus on stellar cities; we have an interview with Martin Bureau about the formation of galaxies and we chat to Chris Lintott about a website which will allow everyone to help sort a million of them. We also get the latest news from Megan and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky this month.

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.

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.

Nick, Dave and Stuart are all in the same room to record this mid-month Jodcast. We talk to Benoit Famaey about possible corrections to Newton's famous laws of gravitation, we kick-off a new 60-second astro society segment with the Macclesfield Astronomical Society and we get your questions answered by Ian Morison.