Astrophiz Podcasts

May Moon Phases: May 4 ~1st Quarter May 11 ~ Moon at Apogee May 13 ~ Full Moon May 20 ~ Last Quarter Great for star gazing May 26 ~ Moon at Perigee May 27 ~ New Moon Great for star gazing What’s Up in May? Planets: Evening Skies Jupiter is difficult to see this month Mars is visible, and nice to see just an hour after sunset Uranus will return in a couple of months Most of the planetary action is in the morning sky, Mercury Saturn and Venus are the standouts, but Mercury is lost in the twilight by mid month, returning to evening skies in June. May 2  ~ Asteroid Vesta (almost a dwarf planet) is at opposition (closest to earth) May 8 ~ Eta Aquariids Meteor Shower should be pretty good this year (debris from Halley’s Comet) Great meteor spotting tips in the audio Will TCrB go Nova this month? Keep watching Ian recommends VESTA watching with naked eye under dark skies, in Binocs & ’scopes in the ‘Burbs. See his Astroblog, the Astrophiz FB page or Southern Skywatch for photos and easy finder charts Ian’s

In Astrophiz 212, 'Space Governance’ we are speaking with Space Lawyer, Ciara Guy, who has worked in the Justice system and Magistrates Courts. After completing her first law degree, she is now an assistant astronomer at Battlesteads Observatory and is majoring in Space Law for her Master's Law degree at Northumbria University. Her specialties are Dark Skies and Mega-constellations of proliferating low earth-orbit satellites.

Dr Ian Musgrave’s April SkyGuide April Summary Jupiter & Mars are dominating the NW skies Venus, Saturn & Mercury dominate the morning skies. TCr Borealis is ‘lurking’ … ready to go Nova The ‘Lunar X’ is coming up April Moon Phases: First Quarter: April 5 Lunar X is visible on the 5th Daylight saving ends on Sunday 6 April Moon at Apogee April 13 Full Moon: April 13 Last Quarter April 21 Moon at Perigee April 28 New Moon: April 28 Evening Skies: Jupiter is high in the north-western evening sky when the sky is fully dark. Jupiter forms a line with the stars Aldebaran and Elnath. The Moon joins the line-up Jupiter on the 3rd, and on the 8th, Jupiter is 8 degrees from the crescent moon. Mars is high in the evening sky, setting just after midnight. Mars was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as seen from Earth, earlier in the year on January the 16th. Mercury is lost in the evening twilight, but is moving to morning skies. … AND HAVE A HUNT FOR VESTA! Morning Skies: Saturn returns to the

You'll be astounded when you listen to A/Prof Elizabeth Tasker as she takes us on an astonishingly brilliant 600million kilometre rollercoaster ride on the JAXA Hayabusa missions to collect the very first Asteroid samples and bring them back to earth for analysis, to reveal the primordial origins of our solar system. Elizabeth also gives us an update on JAXA's 2026 Mars Moons mission ~ MMX You'll marvel at this triumph of ingeniously designed and executed science and engineering! Great science stories of discovery are essentially ... great human stories.

March Moon Phases: Moon at Perigee March 2 First Quarter: March 7 Full Moon: March 14 Moon at Apogee March18 Last Quarter March 22 New Moon: March 29 Moon at Perigee again on March 30 Evening Skies: Mercury is very low in the evening twilight in the West. (binocs recommended but only after sunset) and Mercury will return to morning skies in April and will be quite nice then. Venus in the early evening twilight is very low in the West (and as a fine crescent in telescopes) … and will disappear from us by the end of the first week of March, and then will re-appear in the East as the ‘Morning Star’ in April. Jupiter is in the north west all night and best viewed around midnight. Nice new storms can be picked out in telescopes in the equatorial belt. Mars can still be seen in the West Uranus at mag 5.8 is still visible Saturn returns to evening skies in late March Highlights: 1 March: Saturn and Mercury near to thin crescent Moon (2° apart for Mercury) very low in evening twilight, will require bino

Meet Dr Alex Cameron from Oxford University who is making fantastic discoveries about the earliest and most distant galaxies in our universe using the James Webb Space Telescope …

Dr Ian Musgrave brings us his February SkyGuide … telling us when, where and what to look for in the evening and morning skies this month, with some great astrophotography tips. Listen: Summary: February is again a wonderful month for celestial observers with a great lineup of planets in your evening skies/ February Moon Phases: Feb 2 Moon at perigee Feb 5 First quarter moon.
 Feb 13 Full Moon
 Feb 18 Moon at apogee
 Feb 21 Last quarter moon Feb 28 New moon
 February’s Observing Highlights: All the action in Morning Skies has now moved to the Evening Skies where we have a fabulous line-up of planetary action all month. Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars are putting on a marvellous visual display for us and blue Uranus is also relatively easy to find. Venus, even though it is in crescent phase, is at its brightest this month, As usual Ian gives us ‘Ian’s Tangent’ … and this month it’s all about present and future ‘Planet Parades’ and in two weeks we're zooming over to Oxford University to spea

Today we’re zooming over 16 time zones from rural Australia to Toronto Canada where we are a guest on The York Universe Podcast with Dr Elaina Hyde and Julie Tomé where we are talking about What’s Up in the Skies Down Under.

Dr Ian Musgrave gives us his fabulous Holiday SkyGuide where he tell us all the fabulous sights that are in store for us over December and January. Most of the planetary action is at family-friendly times in the evening skies. We have Venus Jupiter and Saturn all at their best these holidays, a meteor shower still worth a look despite the full moon mid-December, an occultation of Saturn by the moon, and a re-appearance of the 'Lunar X' phenomenon. In Ian's Tangent he reveals the latest advances in the science of tracing the origins of meteors. It's beautiful Science! For those celebrating festive occasions with friends and family in December and January, have a happy and safe festive season.

In this our two hundred and fourth episode of Astrophiz, we’re going to listen in to another fabulous Astro podcast that you should subscribe to. Regular listeners will remember back to Episode 57 in 2018 where we interviewed a wonderful data scientist and astrophysicist, Dr Elaina Hyde. Elaina speaks four languages, has four undergraduate degrees in astronomy, physics, optical engineering and planetary sciences; two masters degrees in engineering and astronomy and astrophysics; and a Ph.D. in astronomy and physics. Now back then, Doctor Hyde was an post-doc research fellow at Western Sydney University and data science consultant …. and right now she is at York University in Toronto Canada where she is the director pf the Allan I Carswell Observatory and is an associate professor who has also developed wonderful outreach programs One aspect of Elaina’s outreach repertoire is where Doc Hyde and her York University colleagues regularly produce a fabulous podcast! In this episode we are re-broadcasting

Astronomy- The Astrophiz podcast with Dr Ian ‘Astroblog’ Musgrave Moon Phases for November: 1 November - New Moon - ideal for stargazing 9 November - 1st Quarter Moon 14 November - Moon at perigee (closest) 16 November - Full Moon 23 November - Last Quarter Moon, also ideal for stargazing 26 November - Moon at apogee (furthest) Most of the planetary action is in the evening skies and late evening skies. Evening Skies: Venus is very high in early evening skies in the west Mercury is at its best in the evening twilight this month, near thin crescent moon on 3 November. Saturn is still quite good in the west this month. Jupiter is visible rising in the east in the late evening skies Mars enters evening skies later in the month, but still at its best in the mornings. In mid-month, Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be seen close to each other an hour after sunset. Uranus is in opposition at Mag5.7 so is actually an unaided eye object under dark sky conditions. Easy to find about 2 degrees above the Pleiades

Astronomy ~ Astrophiz 202: Dr Genevieve Schroeder ~ Radio Eyes on Gamma-ray Burst Skies Meet Dr Genevieve Schroeder a fabulous astrophysicist who does exciting research into GRBs … Gamma Ray Bursts. A Gamma Ray Burst is the undisputed brightest-ever radiation coming from the most extreme events in the universe … Specifically, Genevieve hunts down and understands how Gamma-ray Bursts are generated by the most cataclysmic events in our universe

Astrophiz 201: Dr Ian Musgrave’s October SkyGuide Highlights: Comet C/2023 A3 has been observed and photographed embedded in the eastern morning twilight over the past week, but is now (1 October) below the horizon and skimming behind the sun. The Comet emerges and becomes visible in the western evening twilight around 11 October, so we can look forward to catching it, and it could be quite bright before rapidly fading, but no one really knows how it will emerge after it’s closest approach to the sun. Could be spectacular or a fizzer … So Ian’s best advice is to go out just after sunset after 11 October and check out your western horizon. Watch this space! Planetary Action: Mainly moving to the evening skies. Mercury is returning and will be quite high in the sky later in the month. Saturn is easy to observe now in the mid-evening sky. Jupiter can be seen in evening skies by mid month, but still best and prominent in morning skies. Mars is getting brighter The Orionids meteor shower will be significant

Today, to celebrate our 200th episode, we're bringing you a sensational interview with Larissa Palethorpe, a young PhD from Edinburgh University who has discovered the most Earth-like planet yet. You'll love Larissa and her Earth-shattering research.

Dr Ian Musgrave brings us his September SkyGuide … telling us when, where and what to look for in the evening and morning skies this month. As usual Ian also gives us his ‘Tangent’ ... this time al about Full Moons, Apogee moons and Perigee moons, and how an astrologer made a typo leading to how our understanding of 'Blue Moons' has been somewhat flawed Also Ian is continuing his ‘Astrophotography Challenge’ where he presents us with not one, but a trio of achievable and challenging tasks to undertake with our cameras in September. This month our challenge is to capture a Comet, a Nova and capturing a perigee and apogee moon with the same zoom settings, and an occultation. Moon Phases for September New Moon - 3 September - best for seeing the faint fuzzies and clusters Apogee Moon furthest from Earth - 6 September 1st Quarter Moon - 11 September Full Moon - 18 September Perigee Full Moon is also closest to Earth -18 September Last Quarter Moon - 25 September Evening Sky Venus in the evening twilight, clo

Meet the amazing Dr Tessa Vernstrom! Tessa is the Project Scientist for the Evolutionary Map of the Universe aka EMU survey using the ASKAP telescope. She is also the co-chair of the SKA Magnetism Science Working Group as well as lead in the POSSUM survey of the polarized radio sky. In this fabulous episode, Tessa introduces us to a fun and engaging Citizen Science Project ~ The Radio Galaxy Zoo: EMU In summary, you will hear how Tessa is using the world’s most powerful and sensitive instruments to unlock the secrets of the faintest and furthest objects and most mysterious phenomena in our known universe, and she has chosen to work on the most difficult research areas possible. You'll love her stories ...

Astrophiz 197: Dt Ian Musgrave’s August SkyGuide Moon Phases for August New Moon - 4 August - best for seeing the faint fuzzies and clusters Apogee Moon furthest from Earth - 9 August 1st Quarter Moon - 13 August Full Moon - 20 August Perigee Moon closest to Earth - 21 August Last Quarter Moon - 26 August Evening Sky Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan is binocular-visible in Leo. Mercury is a fine sighting early in the evenings in August near the Western horizon. Mercury, Regulus and Venus are visible till an hour after sunset On the 6th, Mercury, Regulus and Venus form a triangle with the thin crescent moon. Venus is climbing higher and becoming more prominent as the ‘Evening Star' Saturn is rising about 8:30 in the evening and is best telescopically a few hours later when it is higher. Saturns Rings are almost edge on at the moment. Morning Sky Mars has been heading towards Jupiter and the horizon, and in the first week of August lands in the constellation Taurus, forming a second red ‘eye’ with Aldaba

Today we have a brilliant interview for you as we speak with a fabulous Early Career Researcher, Dr Lauren Rhodes from the University of Oxford. Lauren has just published a paper on the BOAT … the Brightest Object of All Time … a “Once in 10,000 year event” The blast, called GRB 221009A, was over 100 billion times brighter than the sun. Lauren works in powerful collaborations which use a variety of radio interferometers, such as MeerKAT and e-MERLIN to study the radio emissions from explosive celestial events including jets from X-ray binaries and gamma ray bursts. She is using multi wavelength observations of these sources to understand each event's jet physics and its surrounding environment. This stunning episode is available free from Audible Podcasts, Soundcloud, Apple podcasts and Youtube MP3 links and a full transcript for those who may prefer to read our interview, is published on Astrophiz.com

Astrophiz 195: Dr Ian Musgrave’s July SkyGuide Dr Ian Musgrave brings us your July SkyGuide … telling us when, where and what to look for in the evening and morning skies this month. And July is again also a wonderful month for celestial observers, especially the early risers amongst us :) As usual Ian gives us 'Ian's Tangent' … and this month it’s all about the ‘Comet Ferret’, Charles Messier, and his famous catalog of 13 comets and 110 iconic ‘Messier Objects’ now known to be galaxies, nebulae and globular clusters. See if you can spot the ‘False Comet’ in the tail of Scorpius. Then Ian gives us his ‘Astrophotography Challenge’ where he presents us with an achievable and challenging task to undertake with our cameras. This month our challenge is to capture the occultation of the Mulayndynang/Pleiades cluster by the moon on Tuesday July 30 PLUS: July's Observing Highlights:

Today we have a brilliant show for you as we speak with Associate Professor Duncan Galloway from Monash University in Australia. His research involves the rarest, most powerful and cataclysmic events that occur in our universe ... Neutron stars colliding!