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.
- April 2006 MP3: Download the whole show
The news
Interview with Dr Paul O'Brien
Dr Paul O'Brien told us all about some of the largest explosions in the universe.
- Interview with Dr Paul O'Brien MP3: Download this segment individually
- Gamma Ray Bursts
Mt. John Observatory tour
Alan Gilmore gave Stuart a tour of the Mt John Observatory in New Zealand.
- Mt. John Observatory tour MP3: Download this segment individually
- Mt John Observatory
A view of the Mt. John Observatory taken from a paraglider. Image © Fraser Gunn.
View from the top of Mount John
A view down to Lake Tekapo.
The main observatory building and Lake Tekapo village.
Telescope used by the MOA collaboration
Board mounted inside dome used to calibrate the CCD camera
Report from JIVE
Lisa Harvey-Smith tells us what the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe does.
- Report from JIVE MP3: Download this segment individually
- JIVE
Stardust mission update
An update on NASA's Stardust spacecraft.
- Stardust mission update MP3: Download this segment individually
- NASA Stardust Mission
- Stardust@Home
Ask an astronomer
Tim O'Brien explains why stars shine, why they have different colours and tells us if the Sun will ever stop shining.
- Ask an astronomer MP3: Download this segment individually
Night sky for April 2006
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky during April 2006.
- Night sky for April 2006 MP3: Download this segment individually
- Ian Morison's Night Sky pages
Show Credits
| News: | Megan Argo |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury interviewed Dr. Paul O'Brien (Leicester University) |
| Sound Tour: | Stuart Lowe was taken on a sound tour by Alan Gilmore (University of Canterbury, NZ) |
| Report from JIVE: | Lisa Harvey-Smith |
| Stardust update: | Megan Argo and Danielle Fenech |
| Ask an astronomer: | Nick Rattenbury asked Tim O'Brien |
| Night sky this month: | Ian Morison |
| Presenter: | Dave Ault |
| Editor: | Dave Ault |
| Intro/Outro Cast: | HAL - Mark Bruzee, Dr Holloway - Colin Snow, Dave - Seth Adam Sher |
* If you live in the southern hemisphere you may need to convert south to north and left to right for Ian's descriptions to make sense.
