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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!

The news for January 2007

In the news this month: first results from Stardust released, Swift spies an unusual gamma ray burst, a large mountain range is spotted on Titan, a survey finds more than 1000 galactic planetary nebulae and the COROT spacecraft is launched to look for extrasolar planets and study the surfaces of stars.

Notícias em Português - Janeiro 2007

Primeiros resultados do Stardust revelados. Swift observa raios de gamma incomun. Cordilha de montanhas observado em Titan. Mais de 1000 novos nebulas planetários encontrados

Nouvelles en Français - Janvier 2007

The News in Chinese - January 2007

Interview with Dr Martin Hardcastle (University of Hertfordshire)

Nick talked to Martin Hardcastle about radio galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN). We find out what an AGN is, what makes the nucleus active and how different types of telescope can show us different parts of an AGN.

Interview with Prof Peter Wilkinson (Jodrell Bank Observatory)

Nick talked to Peter Wilkinson about the origins of the Square Kilometre Array and found out what sort of exciting physics and astronomy may be possible with a telescope that big.

Interview with Prof Richard Schilizzi (International SKA Director)

Nick talked to Richard Schilizzi about the purpose, design, costs and logistics of a Square Kilometre Array.

Interview with Anita Loots (KAT Project Manager)

Nick talked to Anita Loots about the South African bid to host the Square Kilometre Array. Anita told us about a one percent demonstrator telescope (the Karoo Array Telescope) under construction in South Africa.

Interview with Prof Brian Boyle (ATNF)

Nick talked to Brian Boyle about the Australian bid to host the Square Kilometre Array.

The night sky for January 2007

Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during January 2007. In the south, in the late evening, is the constellation of Orion the hunter. Orion is holding a sheild against the onslaught of Taurus. The Hyades cluster makes up the face of Taurus. To the right of the Hyades is the Pleiades or Seven Sisters. Above Taurus is Auriga containing the bright yellow star Capella and the open clusters M36, M37 and M38. Up to the left of Orion are Castor and Pollux - the heads of the twins. Rising in the east, at around 9-10pm, you should be able to see Leo and the planet Saturn. The rings of Saturn are closing, so it doesn't look as bright as it sometimes is. In a small telescope you should be able to see its largest moon, Titan. Jupiter is in the constellation of Libra and will be rising at about 6am low in the south east. Mercury passes behind the Sun on January 7th, so we won't see it until nearer the end of January. Venus passed behind the Sun on October 27th so is now much more visible. With a small telescope you should be able to see the phases of Venus. Highlights include the Quadrantid meteor shower (around January 4th) and the thin cresent Moon with Venus and Neptune nearby on January 20th.

Show Credits

News:Megan Argo
Notícias em Português - Janeiro 2007:Valerio Ribeiro
Nouvelles en Français - Janvier 2007:Neil Vaytet
News in Chinese:Dandan Xu
Interview:Nick Rattenbury talked to Dr Martin Hardcastle about active galactic nuclei
Interview:Nick Rattenbury talked to Prof Peter Wilkinson about the SKA
Interview:Nick Rattenbury talked to Prof Richard Schilizzi about the SKA
Interview:Nick Rattenbury talked to Anita Loots about the SKA
Interview:Nick Rattenbury talked to Prof Brian Boyle about the SKA
Night sky this month:Ian Morison
Presenters:David Ault and Stuart Lowe
Editors:Stuart Lowe and David Ault
Cover Art:Artists impression of an active galaxy - SSU NASA E/PO, Aurore Simonnet
Website:Stuart Lowe
Intro/Outro Cast:Steve Anderson
Intro script:Steve Anderson