The AstroPod (astronomy podcast)

Welcome to the November edition of the AstroPod! This month we talk to Prof Mike Irwin at the IoA about our nearest neighbouring galaxy, Andromeda, and how astronomers are piecing together is surprisingly violent history! Anna delves into the mythological in this month's history feature, looking at how certain objects in the sky got their names. And of course we have Alex with the Sky at Night, Laura with the news and Michelle with your monthly installment of astro-comedy gold! Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astropod

Welcome to the October edition of the AstroPod! This month the Director of the IoA and recent recipient of the Gruber prize, Prof. Rob Kennicutt, tells us all about the exciting key project from the Hubble Space Telescope that accurately measured the expansion rate of our universe and its age. Anna's feature this month delves into the history of the Plumian Professorship held here at Cambridge and the outstanding astronomers that have filled the role over the centuries. And of course we have Alex with the Sky at Night and Michelle with your monthly installment of astro-comedy gold! Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astropod

Welcome to the September edition of the AstroPod! We're a little later than usual this month as we've been on our summer holidays but we're back a ready to deliver the astronomy goodness that you've been craving! This month, we interview Dr Jay Farihi Leceister from University, who explains to us how recent findings of debris disks around the dying remnants of stars like our Sun may hold the key to the fate of the solar system. Anna delves into the past exchanges between astronomers researching white dwarfs stars and how disagreements may have held back the field for many years. Laura keeps us up-to-date with the AstroNews, Alex gives some tops tips for observing this month and Michelle brings us more astro comedy gold! Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astropod

Welcome to the July edition of the AstroPod! This month we're talking with Dr Nic Ross from Penn State University about the elusive dark energy and how astronomers have designed a new survey that hopes to determine its nature. With Anna away, Michelle tells us about the turbulent history of the cosmological constant, and Alex gives out some tips on observing the night sky this month. Be sure to catch Quinton as the unwilling victim for the Joke of the Month! Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astropod

Welcome to the June edition of the AstroPod! We were lucky enough to catch Dr. Jonathan Williams from IfA, Hawaii during his whirlwind visit to the UK this month and got to find out how astronomers use signals from some of the coldest material in the universe to look at the birth of planets. Check it out in this month's interview! In honour of the recent Hubble servicing mission, Anna tells us all about Edwin Hubble in the history feature. Alex has some great tips for astrophotography this month and Michelle brings out the comedy gold with a Trekie theme... Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astropod

Welcome to the May edition of the AstroPod! This month we have an exciting interview with Jonathan Fay about the World Wide Telescope which allows anyone in the world to view the Universe in spectacular detail on their computer. Anna tells us all about the history of the astronomical survey and how they have a huge impact in astronomy. And finally Quinton investigates the smell and taste of space...! Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website, just click the link in iTunes!

Welcome to our special Open Day edition! At the end of March the IoA held a public open day with activities for all and the AstroPod was there to catch your questions, jokes and comments. Listen out for clips! Our interview this month is with Prof. Andrea Ghez who recently gave a fantastic lecture at the IoA for the Eddington Lecture Series. She talks to us about adaptive optics, the newest advancement in telescopes, and how she uses it to observe the black hole at the centre of our very own galaxy. Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website, just click the link in iTunes!

Coming up in this month's episode: Better late than never folks, sorry for the delay! Our interview this month is with Dr Kris Beckwith and is all about the power relativistic jets that exist in a huge varity of astronomical objects, from black holes to young stars. For those of you in Cambridge we have inportant info about the upcoming Open Day on 21st March so listen out for details! Plus, the AstroPod will be doing some live recording at the Open Day so come along and say hi, we'd love to meet you! And as always we have the news round-up with Laura, a quick delve into astronomy past with Anna and a light sprinkling of comedy gold from Michelle. Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website, just click the link in iTunes!

Coming up in this month's episode: We are very pleased to announce a special AstroPod interview with Dr Don Pollacco from Queen's University Belfast about the Super Wide Angle Search for Planets. He explains how their dedicated telescopes scour the skies for extrasolar planets and talks about the future plans for the survey. It's the International Year of Astronomy! Anna tells us all about the astronomer who made 2009 a very special year for astronomy. Listen to the history section to find out more! Dark Matter: The Poetry of Space - a special outreach event at the IoA on Thursday 5th February 2009 - listen in for more details! We also welcome a new crew member, Alex Calverley, who will be giving us the latest info on what's up in the sky at night. Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website, just click the link in iTunes!

Coming up in this month's Christmas episode: The Christmas elves have visited the AstroPod and insisted on a festive theme so we bring you news of Santa tracking, along with a discussion of the possible astrophysical explanations of the Star of Bethlehem. Our interview this month is with Dr Mark Wyatt about debris disks - the remains of planet formation such as the asteroid belt in the Solar System, and how they help us learn about other planet systems. We also have our usual news round up, the latest from events in Cambridge and of course the astronomy joke of the month. Sit back, enjoy and don't forget you can find more info on our website, just click the link in iTunes!