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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.

The news - September 2007

In the news this month: discovery of a tail caused by the star Mira, giant void in the universe, rings of Uranus seen edge-on for the first time and Brian May defends his PhD thesis.

Notícias em Português - Setembro 2007

Cauda causada pela estrela Mira discoberta. Espaço vazio enorme discoberto no Universo. Anéis de Urano vista em inclinação oblíqua pela primeira vez.

Interview with Prof Gregor Morfill

Nick talked to Prof Gregor Morfill about dust and plasmas.

An Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell (Part 1 of 3)

In August 2007 Jodrell Bank hosted "An Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell". In this first part of the series, Sir Bernard talks about his life from his childhood days with a crystal set listening to 2L0 London, to an inspiring lecture at Bristol University. He then tells us about his early university career, how he finally arrived at Manchester and his interest in cosmic rays. We finish the first part of this series at the start of World War II when he started working on radar. Sir Bernard also peppers the interview with many references to his life-long passion for cricket.

The night sky for September 2007

Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during September 2007. In the south, as the Sun sets, is a very nice region of the sky containing the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair: the Summer Triangle. About a third of the way from Altair to Vega is an "upside down coathanger" - Brocchi's Cluster - a nice asterism of stars. Albireo - the head of Cygnus the Swan - is a lovely double star which can be seen in a small telescope. Between Deneb and Altair is the constellation of Delphinus the Dolphin. In the later evening, in the south, is Pegasus the Winged Horse. The top left star of the square of Pegasus is Alpha Andromeda and is used to star hop to the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. Above the Andromeda Galaxy is the 'w' shaped constellation of Cassiopeia with Perseus to the left. Jupiter is in the south-west as the Sun sets and is above and to the left of Antares in Scorpius. Saturn is visible in the pre-dawn sky near Regulus in Leo. Mercury passed behind the Sun on August 14th and is just about visible in the sky after sunset. Mars is in Taurus and rises at around 10pm and will be nearest to us in December. Venus can be seen in the north-east just before dawn at the start of the month. During the month Venus will rise earlier and reaches maximum brightness on 21st September. First quarter of the Moon will be on September 19th and is a good time to look at the Moon. In the early morning of 4th September there will be a pretty view of the Moon above Mars and to the left of the Pleiades and Hyades. Before dawn on September 9th is a thin crescent Moon up to the left of Venus and above Saturn and Regulus which are about 0.8 degrees apart.

Show Credits

News:Megan Argo
Notícias em Português - Setembro 2007:Valerio Ribeiro
Interview:Nick Rattenbury and Prof Gregor Morfill
Interview:Tim O'Brien and Sir Bernard Lovell
Night sky this month:Ian Morison
Presenters:David Ault, Nick Rattenbury and Stuart Lowe
Editors:Stuart Lowe and Nick Rattenbury
Cover Art:Helical structures observed in cryogenic plasmas. CREDIT: Tsytovitch et al NJP (2007).
Website:Stuart Lowe
Intro/Outro Mixing:Tom Backus of www.pendantaudio.com/ and David Ault