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.
We had a bit of a bumper show this month so we've gone link crazy- May 2006 MP3: Download the whole show
- Astronomy Day 2006
The news
Megan tells us about a giant bridge of methyl alcohol, spanning approximately 288 billion miles, that was discovered with the UK's MERLIN radio telescopes. We also find out about observations of Comet 73P and the latest news on ESA's Venus Express.
- The news MP3: Download this segment individually
- Lisa's huge cloud of alcohol
- Images of Comet 73P by Hubble
- Images of Comet 73P by the VLT
- Venus Express image of south
- HST Anniversary
Dark Vortex over South Pole of Venus. CREDIT: ESA
Interview with Dr Ian Musgrave
Stuart talked to Ian Musgrave - an enthusiastic amateur astronomer and author of the Southern Skywatch website - to find out why he likes astronomy.
- Interview with Dr Ian Musgrave MP3: Download this segment individually
- The Southern Skywatch Website
Interview with Dr Ralph Spencer
Dr Ralph Spencer of Jodrell Bank talked to Nick about developments in very long baseline interferometry.
- Interview with Dr Ralph Spencer MP3: Download this segment individually
Interview with Dr Matt Strong
Dr Matt Strong of Jodrell Bank talked to Nick about developments in very long baseline interferometry.
- Interview with Dr Matt Strong MP3: Download this segment individually
- The European VLBI Network
- eVLBI website
- Jodrell Bank eVLBI press release
- internet2 article on eVLBI
- Haystack Observatory eVLBI site
- ESLEA website
The European VLBI Network (EVN). CREDIT: EVN.
A diagram showing details of the network which connects radio telescopes around Europe. CREDIT: EVN
Telescope review
Ian Morison reviews a Celestron NexStar 130SLT telescope (sub GBP300/$550).
- Telescope review MP3: Download this segment individually
Ask an astronomer
Ian Morison discusses the brightness of the Moon and tells us what a parsec is.
- Ask an astronomer MP3: Download this segment individually
The night sky for May 2006
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky during May 2006.
- The night sky for May 2006 MP3: Download this segment individually
- Ian Morison's Night Sky pages
Show Credits
| News: | Megan Argo |
| Interview: | Stuart Lowe interviewed Dr. Ian Musgrave |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury interviewed Dr. Ralph Spencer (University of Manchester) |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury interviewed Dr. Matt Strong (University of Manchester) |
| Telescope Review: | Ian Morison |
| Ask an Astronomer: | Nick Rattenbury asked Ian Morison |
| Night sky this month: | Ian Morison |
| Presenters: | Dave Ault and Stuart Lowe |
| Editors: | Dave Ault and Stuart Lowe |
| Intro/Outro Cast: | Man - Peter Odlaug, Casey - Victoria Sampson |
* 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.
