Archive

This section contains our previous shows so you can listen to them again. You can search for content with the search box at the top of this page, by using the tag cloud or cover art wall.

• February 2010
  ING direct. We have a couple of interview with scientists at the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes. We find out about the observatory and compact binaries from Dr Pablo Rodríguez-Gil [09:39-32:45] and planetary nebulae from Dr Miguel Santander-García [32:45-48:40]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:00-09:24] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the February night sky [52:19-64:39]. Our cover art shows the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes from the air.
• January 2010 Extra
  While you wait. We talk to Stewart Eyres about Sakauri's Object [01:07-18:08], we put your astronomical questions to Tim [22:22-46:18], and round-up your feedback. Apologies for the audio quality this time; one of our microphones has been playing up.
• January 2010
  Looking back, looking forward. It's the end of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. We bring you some of our highlights of the year which celebrated 400 years of the astronomical telescope. We get updates on the 365 Days of Astronomy podcast [16:48-23:37], Universe Awareness for Young Children [46:19-51:42] and Jen - our roving reporter - visits the AstroBunker [23:37-46:19] in Newbury. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:21-10:21] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the January night sky [52:06-67:37]. Our cover art shows the logo of the International Year of Astronomy.
• December 2009 Extra
  Live Part 2. In this show we talk to Sir Francis Graham-Smith about his life, being Astronomer Royal and his work on pulsars [01:00-23:44]. We put your astronomical questions to the Jodcast panel [24:19-46:03], and round-up the feedback we've received during the Live shows.
• December 2009
  Live! After months of talking about it we finally recorded an episode (1 of 2) with a live studio audience. In this bumper show we have an interview with Dr Chris Lintott where we find out about the latest results from Galaxy Zoo [18:36-50:08]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [08:12-17:56], we discuss recent events in space [67:54-83:00] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the December night sky [50:29-67:32]. Our cover art shows some of the presenters and audience who braved the rain at Jodrell Bank during Jodcast Live.
• November 2009 Extra
  Very large. In this show we find out about the ongoing upgrades to the Very Large Array in New Mexico from Dr Rick Perley [00:51-31:20]. We put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [36:22-52:37], get a summary of recent news and events [31:21-36:22] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• November 2009
  Moon Calling. In this show we have an interview with John Sarkissian about the history of the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia [12:50-45:54]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:50-10:35] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the November night sky [43:53-57:24]. Our cover art shows Fox Mason at the control desk of the Parkes Telescope in 1970.
• October 2009 Extra
  Moon Watching. In this show we find out about Autumn Moonwatch from Steve Owens [01:59-07:31] and we hear all about the rings and moons of Saturn from Prof. Carl Murray [10:05-39:44]. We put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [42:50-62:30], get a summary of recent news and events [39:44-42:50] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• October 2009
  Interfering. In this show we have an interview with Robert Laing about interferometers and ALMA [14:16-29:49], and we talk to Willem Baan about interference in radio astronomy [29:57-40:33]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:42-13:56] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the October night sky [43:48-57:23].
• September 2009 Extra
  The Dish. In this show Megan talks to Robert Hollow (ATNF) about Pulse@Parkes [01:04-17:18], we put your astronomical questions to Dr Roy Smits [25:40-40:12], get a summary of recent spacecraft news [17:18-25:40], hear about the Station Fire at Mt Wilson and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• September 2009
  Anomalous. We're back from our summer break with an interview about 'anomalous emission' [13:43-27:39]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:10-10:45] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the September night sky [28:07-45:18].
• August 2009
  Impact. This episode features an interview we recorded with Prof Miller Goss about pioneering Australian radio astronomer Ruby Payne Scott [13:17-38:21]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:04-11:37] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the August night sky [38:46-1:01:56].
• July 2009 Extra
  We choose the Moon. With it being the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Earth's Moon, we dedicate most of this episode to things lunar. We mention the latest amazing images from NASA's LRO showing the Apollo landing sites from orbit, Sir Bernard Lovell describes Jodrell Bank's involvement with the space race including tracking the Soviet's Luna probes and involvement with Apollo [04:35-32:00]. As always we put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [32:05-42:46] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• July 2009
  Italian Job. It's summer and the Jodcasters are dispersed but Jen and Dave managed to meet up in Milan's central station to record this episode. This episode features an interview we recorded with Vik Dhillon in May about high speed astronomy [10:45-38:10]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:37-10:23] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the July night sky [25:18-38:34].
• June 2009 Extra
  Pre-solar. Meteorites can tell us a surprising amount about our solar system and its environment. In this episode we talk to Ernst Zinner about his studies of pre-solar grains from meteorites [00:53-26:17]. As always we put your questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [27:37-41:56] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show. We also chat about Jodcast Live!
• June 2009
  Solar Powered. This episode we bring the last of the interviews that were recorded at the JENAM. We have an interview with Mike Lockwood about the variability of the Sun [10:45-38:10] and talk to Jim Hinton about high energy astronomy [43:36-50:47]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:37-10:23] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the June night sky [50:58-].
• May 2009 Extra
  A big week in space. This jam-packed show comes at the end of a jam-packed week of major events in astronomy. We have more interviews recorded at JENAM including what's next for the International Year of Astronomy [02:11-10:43], future instruments at the European Southern Observatory [10:43-15:13], gamma ray bursts [15:14-24:06] and cosmic rays [24:07-35:36]. We get the low-down on ESA's Planck and Herschel spacecraft [36:02-57:32]. As always we put your questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [60:14-72:13] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• May 2009
  May the 4th be with you. It's Roy's last episode before he returns to the Netherlands and we welcome some of the new Jodcast Juniors. The Jodcast Juniors were our roving reporters at the Joint European and National Astronomy Meeting (JENAM) and they bring us a series of interviews about the latest research into pulsars, galaxies, dust, exoplanets and more. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [05:36 - 14:00] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the May night sky [51:47 - 01:06:04].
• Jodrell Bank 2009
  This video covers much of what was in our first Jodrell Bank video but with new footage we filmed for the Jodrell Bank Observatory segment of the 100 Hours of Astronomy webcast. Now you'll see historical footage, inside the control room, and some shots of our engineers and technicians at work
• April 2009 Extra
  Amateur astronomy. In this episode Roy talks to amateur astronomer Brian Woosnam about his love of astronomy and his local astronomical society [00:59-17:09]. We talk about what happened during the 100 Hours of Astronomy and give our suggestions for astronomical sights to see and things to achieve. We also put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [21:57-34:44] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• Maths of the Mind
  We use our brains to understand maths, but we can also use maths to help understand our brains. In The Maths of the Mind we meet some of the current mathematical ideas being used, explore how optical illusions can help us explain how we see, and look at how the maths developed can be used to build novel computer devices. This talk was presented by Professor Peter McOwan at The University of Manchester as part of the MoreMathsGrads project in collaboration with CS4FN.
• April 2009
  Goodbye. It's Nick's last episode of the Jodcast and Dave makes a return after his Indian trip. In this episode we hear about finding planets with the upcoming LOFAR radio telescope from Dr Ian Stevens [09:55 - 21:29]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:40 - 14:02] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the April night sky [21:43 - 37:06].
• March 2009 Extra
  Go for launch. With the 100 Hours of Astronomy quickly approaching, we find out what will be happening over the course of the four days [01:08-07:06] and get details about a 24 hour observatory webcast [07:38-13:21]. We chat about the launch of NASA's Kepler spacecraft to search for Earth-like planets and ESA's GOCE probe to map the Earth's gravity field. On a recent trip to the Netherlands Roy caught up with Gijs Nelemans to find out about the future LISA spacecraft to hunt for gravitational waves [30:50-53:45]. We also put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien [13:32-26:34] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• March 2009
  Quasars. In this episode we find out about supermassive blackholes in the early universe [15:24 - 39:40] from Professor Marco Spaans and we encourage you to hold star parties and other events during the 100 Hours of Astronomy. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:40 - 14:02] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the March night sky [39:50 - 54:23].
• February 2009 Extra
  Dust. Nick and Stuart talk about the latest Jodcast video about Newton's Principia, Nick talks to Professor Albert Zijlstra about primitive dust [02:34-13:19], Tim was here to answer listener questions [13:49 - 23:05] and we round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• Newton's Principia
  The Jodcast visited the Royal Society in London to learn about one of the most influential scientists in history and his famous publication. Sir Isaac Newton's Principia was first published on 5th July 1687 and contains many ground breaking discoveries. Within the pages you can find Newton's famous laws of motion, his theories on gravity and his work on the motion of the planets. Professor Martin Rees (President of the Royal Society) tells us about Newton's work and we peer into the pages of the Principia.
• February 2009
  It's full of stars. In this episode we find out about observations of regions of massive star formation [10:15 - 20:02] from Dr Steve Longmore and we hear about a chance to vote on what you would like the Hubble Space Telescope to observe [20:33 - 22:40]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [02:35 - 10:07] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the February night sky [22:52 - 37:27].
• January 2009 Extra
  The 7th Planet. In this episode Colin Stuart visits the Herschel Museum in Bath to find out about the astronomical work of William and Caroline Herschel [01:51 - 28:57], we bring you the first Ask an Astronomer of 2009 [29:05 - 47:34] and we round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• Planetarium
  The Jodcast visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich to find out about the Peter Harrison Planetarium.
• January 2009
  Happy New Year. With it being the end of the year we round-up our favourite astronomical images of 2008 [17:16 - 25.05]. We also discuss the International Year of Astronomy and hear about a new astronomy podcast from Dr Pamela Gay (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville) [12:11 - 16:45]. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [01:50 - 09:49] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the January night sky [25:11 - 37:40].
• Longitude
  The Jodcast visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich - home of the Greenwich meridian - to find out about the longitude problem and how a clockmaker from Lincolnshire helped to solve it.
• December 2008 Extra
  Twas the night before Jodcast. It's the last show before Christmas so the show is a little shorter than usual. First up we bring news of two special video episode that will be out in the next few days. In our interview [04:27-27:17] we talk to Philip Best about galaxies and a new low-frequency telescope named LOFAR. We also bring you some stocking filler ideas [28:27-32:37] and round-up the feedback we've received since the last show.
• December 2008
  VIDEO killed the radio star. Oh no it didn't, but it will produce infrared surveys of galaxies. In our main interview [12:32 - 30:05] we talk to Dr Matt Jarvis (University of Hertfordshire) about the ongoing attempts to detect gravitational waves using observations of pulsars spread over the sky. As always, Megan brings us the latest news [04:32 - 12:14] and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the December night sky [35:05 - 52:36].
• Gravitational Waves
  The Jodcast was at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2008 finding out about gravitational waves.
• November 2008 Extra
  Planets and Pulsars. We bring you breaking news of two separate discoveries of extra solar planets. In our main interview [05:14 - 21:47] we talk to Dr George Hobbs (Australia Telescope National Facility) about the ongoing attempts to detect gravitational waves using observations of pulsars spread over the sky. In Ask an Astronomer [24:03 - 37:31] Tim answers your questions.
• Exoplanets
  The Jodcast was at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition 2008 exploring three techniques used by astronomers to find planets around stars other than our Sun.
• November 2008
  Caught in the cosmic dark matter web. Catherine Heymans tells us [09:19 - 25:03] about observations of dark matter in the supercluster Abell 901/902. As usual we get the latest news from Megan [00:57 - 07:43] and find out what you can see in the northern night sky from Ian [25:17 - 36:17].
• October 2008 Extra
  We find out about the Jodrell Bank Meteor Detector from Eddie Blackhurst [02:25-11:47]. We talk to Roberta Paladini about her studies of astronomical objects - such as our own galaxy - that obscure observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation [31:37-01:01:24]. Tim answers listener questions about astronomy [11:59-29:55].
• October 2008
  You don't see the same universe twice. This month Jim Cordes tells us [20:12 - 34:25] about the recently discovered class of pulsars which emit their pulses in a very intermittent way. Jim also tells us about future searches for transient astrophysical objects and his use of the Arecibo radio telescope. As usual we get the latest news from Megan [01:14 - 08:37] and find out what you can see in the northern night sky from Ian [38:10 - 52:55].
• September 2008 Extra
  In this show Tim returns to answer your questions about astronomy [09:04-37:16] and we talk to Andreas Faltenbacher about dark matter halos in the Millennium Simulation [37:38-76:56].
• The History of Jodrell Bank
  A 5 minute round-up of the history of Jodrell Bank Observatory. Many thanks to Susan Lockwood who kindly provided us with the music.
• September 2008
  This month we bring you a final interview that we conducted at the National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast. Dill Faulkes, the man behind the Faulkes Telescope project, tells us why he set it up and what the future holds [20:12 - 34:25]. We also talk to Debbie Mitchell about how her training in astrophysics led her to a career working for the National Air Traffic Control Service [15:02 - 18:55]. As usual we get the latest news from Megan [01:03 - 08:08] and find out what you can see in the northern night sky from Ian [36:10 - 47:24].
• August 2008 Extra
  In space nobody can hear you scream but that doesn't mean that it is totally quiet. In this show, Tim O'Brien helps our ears to explore the sounds of the cosmos [08:12-46:53] and Elaine Barrett tells us about her very special tour of NASA's Space Centre in Houston [48:03-1:10:13].
• Trailer
  For over two and a half years the Jodcast team have been producing astronomy podcasts in audio format. Now new Jodcasters - Emily Fair and Colin Stuart - will be taking us into the world of video. Many thanks to Susan Lockwood who kindly provided us with the music.
• August 2008
  On 1st August 2008 parts of the world experienced a total solar eclipse. In the UK we saw a partial solar eclipse and the Jodcast was at Jodrell Bank Observatory with our eclipse special. We talk to Dr Phillipa Browning about eclipses and the state of our knowledge about the solar atmosphere [15:15 - 21:09] and to Professor Mark Edmonds about the evidence that prehistoric people had an interest in the Sun, Moon and stars. As usual we also get the latest news from Megan [02:35 - 10:59] and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian [31:50 - 43:10].
• July 2008
  The darkness is coming. With 95% of the content of the universe being dark, we ask Jochen Weller about dark energy and models that describe the expansion of the universe [16:28 - 31:17]. As usual we also get the latest news from Megan [02:09 - 10:28] and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian [33:24 - 43:36].
• June 2008 Extra
  In the show this time we find out how astronomers and particle physicists are detecting cosmic rays hitting our atmosphere with the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina [13:43 - 40:41]. Nick also gives us an update on some recent extrasolar planet discoveries which have found a planet only 3.3 times the mass of the Earth orbiting a star thought to be a brown dwarf [2:13 - 8:40].
• June 2008
  In this show we talk about Mars Phoenix Lander touching down on Mars and sending back its first results. In our interview Ben Maughan tells us how he has been weighing clusters of galaxies. Tim O'Brien tells us about events at Jodrell Bank Observatory over the next month including the Longest Day Garden Party. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian.
• May 2008 Extra
  This issue we talk to Dr Anthony Challinor from the University of Cambridge about the Cosmic Microwave Background. We also get your astronomical questions answered by Dr Tim O'Brien.
• May 2008
  In this show we find out about a mysterious blue blob found in the Galaxy Zoo and we find out what the Genesis mission can tell us about oxygen in the solar wind. We also get the latest news from Megan and find out what you can see in the night sky from Ian.
• NAM 2008
  Good morning Belfast! 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.
• April 2008
  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.
• March 2008 Extra
  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.
• March 2008
  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.
• February 2008 Extra
  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.
• February 2008
  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.
• January 2008 Extra
  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.
• January 2008
  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.
• December 2007 Extra
  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.
• December 2007
  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.
• November 2007 Extra
  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.
• November 2007
  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.
• October 2007 Extra
  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.
• October 2007
  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.
• September 2007 Extra
  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.
• September 2007
  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.
• August 2007
  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.
• July 2007 Extra
  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.
• July 2007
  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.
• June 2007 Extra
  Nick, Dave and Stuart are all in the same room to record this mid-month Jodcast. We talk to Benoît 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.
• June 2007
  Tick, tick, tick. Forty years on from the first observations of pulsating neutron stars we talk to the discoverer of pulsars, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. She tells us about her PhD and how an "annoying bit of scruff" turned into a fascinating area of research. We also hear about the Jodrell Bank First Move Literary Festival happening in June. As always, we have the latest news with Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky from the northern hemisphere.
• May 2007 Extra
  This is the first of our new mid-month shows. First we get some breaking news from the Hubble Space Telescope, we listen to the second half of our interview with Carole Mundell about active galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes, and we put your questions to Tim in the Ask an Astronomer segment. For the extra shows we won't be having the normal format intros and outros but we still won't take them too seriously. As a start we work out how many rice crispies you could fit in the 76m diameter Lovell Telescope. Can you work it out?
• May 2007
  May 2007 is when everything changes. Well, not quite everything. The Jodcast may have gone twice-monthly, but we remain in roughly the same cheesy format as before. This month we've gone international with Nick joining us from New Zealand and Tim from Chile. In our main interview, Nick chats with Carole Mundell about the Liverpool Telescope and how it is being used to observe hugely energetic gamma-ray bursts. Later we find out what Tim is doing with the New Technologies Telescope at La Silla in Chile. As usual we get the latest astronomy news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the northern skies during May. Now, we must go and sort out our containment fields as they seem to be on the blink. It's probably something to do with phase variances in the deflector grid.
• NAM 2007
  We're on the road in Preston at the UK's National Astronomy Meeting. Our first special show describes what NAM is and what happened on the first day. In our second show we catch up with Chris Wareing who announced results about the wakes left by dying sun-like stars as they pass through the interstellar medium. On the third day David Boyce (University of Leicester) and Paul Steele (University of Leicester) join us to chat about the various sessions that took place. We find out about the organisation of the conference from Dr Stewart Eyres, chat to Dr Monica Grady and find out about the International Heliophysical Year from Dr Lucie Green. On day four Neil Phillips (University of Edinburgh) joins us in our attempt to coherently link interviews about the dangers of solar ejections to astronauts, the possibility of making force-fields to protect them, the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission, the Herschel Mission, the fiftieth anniversary of the Sky At Night and exoplanets. The last day of the NAM sees us talking to Dr Chris Davis about the STEREO mission, Dr Helen Walker about Mars Express and Prof Mike Bode about RS Ophiuchi.
• April 2007
  Aliens have landed at Stonehenge! Actually they haven't, and we aren't serious about horoscopes either, but we nearly had you fooled there. Luckily, the rest of our April show has real astronomy in it. We find out some more about gravitational wave detectors and we talk about quasars and black holes. As always we have the news with Megan, get Tim to answer your questions, get a roundup of other podcasts from Stuart and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky.
• March 2007
  This month we took our brand new recording kit to Astronomy Now's Astrofest 2007 to talk to some of the exhibitors and visitors. Back at base, Nick catches up with Ciska Markwick-Kemper to talk about dust in space. As always we ask Tim your questions, get the latest astronomy news from Megan, Stuart gives us a round up of other astronomy podcasts and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky during March. We also get an alert about a total lunar eclipse taking place on 3rd March 2007 (check out the links in the show notes for more details).
• February 2007
  This month we look back to the past, at the present and into the future; you'd almost think we stole the plot from A Christmas Carol. Ian Morison talks to Sir Bernard Lovell about the origins of Jodrell Bank Observatory. We catch up with Chris Davis of the spacePod podcast to get the latest news on NASA's STEREO mission. Stuart talks to David Boyce about the possibility of ultraviolet astronomy from the Moon and of course we ask Tim your questions, get the news from Megan and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky during February.
• January 2007
  Happy New Year and welcome to the first Jodcast of 2007. We start, as always, with a round up of the past month in astronomy. We talk to Martin Hardcastle about active galactic nuclei and radio galaxies (see the fantastic cover art by Aurore Simonnet for an idea of what they look like). We also gate-crashed a recent meeting about the proposed Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to find out what it is as well as finding out about the two proposed sites. We have no ask an astronomer this month but Ian is here to tell us what we can see in January's night sky. We also get a round up of interesting astronomy podcasts and set our first ever competition. You'll have to listen to find out what the question is!
• December 2006
  The last Jodcast of 2006 has arrived with Dave, Nick and Stuart all presenting via the wonders of the Internet. We start, as always, with a round up of the past month in astronomy which can now be downloaded in six languages if you feel like practicing your Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Hindi or Portugeuse! We talk to Cormac Purcell about the microwave equivalent of lasers (masers) that are found in space and discover what they can tell us about the evolution of stars. In Ask an Astronomer, Tim explains why the Moon often appears to be larger when near the horizon and Ian tells us what we can see in December's night sky. As we were feeling festive this month, we suggest some great, free, astronomy software (Stellarium, Google Earth and Celestia) that nobody should be without. We've also replaced our usual sci-fi style intro/outro with a Jodcast pantomime. It's certainly a long way from Kansas...
• November 2006
  We have another packed show for you this month. Megan tells us the latest news in astronomy including exciting news about the STEREO mission, the Nobel Prize for physics 2006, ice on the Moon, extrasolar planets, damage to the Faulkes Telescopes, the re-opening of Mt Stromlo and the future of the Hubble Space Telescope. Nick and Stuart talk to Robert Nemiroff about the great internet resource that is astronomy picture of the day. We find out about an exciting ESA/NASA mission that will attempt to detect waves in space-time (gravitational waves) using three spacecraft named LISA. We also get a spooky edition of Ask an Astronomer where Tim O'Brien tells Nick about the variable star Algol and Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the November night sky.
• October 2006
  At the start of the month ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft plunged into the Moon. We caught up with one of the mission scientists to find out just what the SMART-1 mission's aims were and why it crashed. We also find out about the beginnings of the Universe and how the NASA spacecraft WMAP has helped shed some light on the first 300,000 years. The latest astronomy news includes the naming of 2003UB313, the launch of Solar-B (Hinode) to study the Sun and the latest news from the Mars Rovers and Mars Express. We also find out what you can see in the night sky and Nick gets Tim O'Brien to answer questions about coordinates and viewing the sky.
• September 2006
  This month, after all the excitement of the IAU General Assembly planet definition, we stay a bit closer to home and have a tour of the Jodrell Bank Control Room. We find out about the Lovell Telescope winning the BBC unsung landmarks vote and plans for our new Visitor Centre. We get the latest astronomy news which includes geysers on Mars, the impact of ESA's SMART-1 on the Moon and the outcome of the IAU's planet definition. As always we find out what we can see in the night sky this month and Nick and Tim discuss the Moon receding from the Earth and they work out how many stars are larger and smaller than the Sun.
• IAU General Assembly Special 2006
  This is the voice of the plutons... we know that you can hear us Earthlings. The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union took place in Prague in the Czech Republic between the 14th and 25th August 2006. We have interviewed astronomers at the General Assembly to find out what they are up to and what has been attracting their interest. And, with such a range of sizes for objects in the Solar System, we find out a little about how difficult it is to come up with a scientific definition for a planet (check out our cut-out-and-keep Venn diagram in the show notes).
• August 2006
  This month's show is all about stars. We talk to Dr Tim O'Brien about a recurrent nova in the constellation of Ophiuchus and Johanna Ashwell - an amateur astronomer and PhD student - tells us about a star that has too much lithium. As ever we get the latest round-up of the news and find out what we can see in the night sky this month. There is news of a star party being held at Jodrell Bank on 12th August from 9pm until midnight and we also mention our exciting plans to podcast from the International Astronomical Union's General Assembly this month.
• July 2006
  We get our very own Ian Morison to tell us about the history of SETI and how it will develop in the future plus we talk to the Chairman of Macclesfield Astronomical Society about his interest in astronomy. Tim and Ian answer questions that you've sent in and Ian tells us what we can see in the night sky during July.
• June 2006
  In this month's show we talk to Brother Guy Consolmagno (the Vatican Astronomer) and we find out about searches for planets around other stars using telescopes built with parts from eBay. We also try to get answers to questions you've sent in, find out what you can see in the night sky during June and get a round-up of all the latest news.
• May 2006
  In this month's show we talk to Ralph Spencer and Matt Strong about eVLBI, find out about the Southern Skywatch website and get a review of a Celestron NexStar 130SLT telescope (sub GBP300/$550) by Ian Morison. We try to get answers to questions you've sent in, find out what you can see in the night sky during May* and get a round-up of all the latest news.
• April 2006
  In this month's show we find out about gamma ray bursts with Paul O'Brien, take a tour of the Mt. John Observatory in New Zealand, catch up on NASA's Stardust mission and discover what goes on at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE). We pose all your difficult questions to Tim O'Brien and find out what you can see in the night sky during April. As a special treat we also get Ian and Tim's commentary from the 29th March total solar eclipse.
• March 2006
  In this month's show we have three interviews where we talk to Helen Mason about the SOHO spacecraft, Nick Rattenbury about a newly discovered exoplanet and Mario di Maggio about the Thinktank planetarium. We pose all your difficult questions to Tim O'Brien and find out what you can see in the night sky during March*. We also get a round up of all the latest news in the Universe!
• February 2006
  In this month's show we talk to Gerry Gilmore about the Gaia spacecraft and find out why he says the solar system will be oscillating like a jelly. We find out about the recently launched New Horizons mission to Pluto, pose all your difficult questions to Tim O'Brien and find out what you can see in the night sky during February*. We also get a round up of all the latest news from the planets to the closing of the London planetarium.
• January 2006
  In this month's show we go on a sound seeing tour of the Lovell Telescope during the winter solstice. On the way we discover why two pulsars orbiting each other is a good thing and what we can see in the night sky this month. Also the latest news on the Stardust mission.