In the show this time, we talk to Helen Fraser about Laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry, Dr Adam Avison tells us about Massive star formation and ALMA in this month's JodBite, and your astronomy questions are answered by George Bendo in Ask an Astronomer.
JodBite with Dr Adam Avison
A familiar voice returns to the Jodcast as Dr Adam Avison from the University of Manchester talks about massive star formation and brings us some highlights from the ALMA telescope. You can find his earlier interviews from July 2010 and February 2011 on our website.
Interview with Helen Fraser
Dr Helen Fraser talks to us about her work in laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry, trying to recreate the conditions of space to study the chemistry in various region in the universe.
Ask an Astronomer
George Bendo answers your astronomical questions:
- Phillip Rushton asks: "If neutron stars spin because of the conservation of angular momentum, do black holes spin too, and how fast?"
- James Walters asks: "What would we see/experience on earth if the black hole at the centre of our galaxy was active?"
- Owen Gwynne asks: "I've been interested in KELT as it is (with typical astronomers humour) named the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope. What I'm interested in though is knowing why it's described as the kilodegree telescope. My understanding is that its field of view is a lot less than 1000 'square' degrees. Can you investigate why it has that name?"
Odds and Ends
A 'floating brain' will begin working on board the ISS CIMON (the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion), it is a small metal and plastic device with a screen that can move and behave autonomously, helping the astronauts onboard with tasks, whilst also being a massive milestone in AI technology. Amazingly, CIMON is able to 'engage with astronauts as a colleague','learning about those onboard and behaving differently depending on who it is interacting with!
Could the first stars shed light on Dark Matter? We have a chat about the recent Cosmic Dawn papers which present an observation of the light from the first stars. Discussing also the implications this observation could have on the possible interaction between baryons and dark matter! Click here for more details.
The Tiangong-1 space station which is currently hurtling towards the earth. Where will the pieces land? Will they land on you? Is the sky falling?.
Show Credits
| JodBite: | Dr Adam Avison and Monique Henson |
| Interview: | Helen Fraser and Fiona Healy |
| Ask An Astronomer: | George Bendo and Eunseong Lee |
| Presenters: | Josh Hayes, Nialh McCallum, Christopher Joel Williams |
| Editors: | Adam Avison, Emma Alexander, Jake Morgan |
| Segment Voice: | Mike Peel |
| Website: | Naomi Asabre Frimpong and Stuart Lowe |
| Producer: | Naomi Asabre Frimpong |
| Cover art: | The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has snapped the best ever image of the Antennae Galaxies CREDIT: ESA/Hubble and NASA |