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.
- NAM 2008 MP3: Download the whole show (low and high bandwidth versions)
- UK 2008 National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast
- NAM Blog
- The Galaxy Zoo
- Chris Lintott's Universe
- David Boyce's website
Interview with Emily Baldwin (SPA)
Stuart talked to Emily Baldwin who is the Society for Popular Astronomy's Chief Stargazer.
- Interview with Emily Baldwin (SPA) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- The Society for Popular Astronomy
Interview with Prof Michael Rowan-Robinson (RAS)
Nick caught up with the current President of the Royal Astronomical Society - Professor Michael Rowan-Robinson - to find out about NAM, the RAS and how Michael first got interested in astronomy.
- Interview with Prof Michael Rowan-Robinson (RAS) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- The Royal Astronomical Society
Interview with Jacquie Milligan and pupils from Glenlola Collegiate School
Stuart talked to biology teacher Jacquie Milligan and pupils from Glenlola Collegiate School about the astronomy they do and their use of the Faulkes Telescope.
- Interview with Jacquie Milligan and pupils from Glenlola Collegiate School MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Glenlola Collegiate School, Bangor, Northern Ireland
- The Faulkes Telescope Project
Interview with Dr Tom Mason (Director of Armagh Planetarium)
Tom Mason gives us an overview of Ireland's largest planetarium based in Armagh. He tells us about the planetarium, some of the exhibits and the large meteorite they have.
- Interview with Dr Tom Mason (Director of Armagh Planetarium) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Armagh Planetarium
- Armagh Observatory
- The Ulster Museum
- Contact Tom Mason
Interview with Prof Richard Ellis (University of Oxford)
Nick talks to Professor Richard Ellis about "cosmic downsizing", how we can learn about the formation history of stars, and how stars cease forming in galaxies.
- Interview with Prof Richard Ellis (University of Oxford) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- 2 degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS)
- Galex
- Spitzer
Interview with Prof Brian Schmidt (Australian National University)
Nick chats with Professor Brian Schmidt (Australian National University) about using supernovae to measure the accelerating expansion of the Universe and the mysterious Dark Energy.
- Interview with Prof Brian Schmidt (Australian National University) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Brian Schmidt
- The Expanding Universe (ANU)
- Dark Energy (Hubblesite)
- What is a Cosmological Constant? (WMAP)
- Skymapper at Mount Stromlo
- Cosmic acceleration talk by Dr Brian P Schmidt - NAM Blog
Interview with Dr Douglas Pierce-Price (ESO)
Douglas Pierce-Price of the European Southern Observatory talks to us about the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and about ESO's Residencia which will appear in the upcoming James Bond movie.
- Interview with Dr Douglas Pierce-Price (ESO) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- European Southern Observatory
- The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
- Bond At Paranal
- A Giant of Astronomy and a Quantum of Solace
Interview with Dr Jane Greaves (University of St Andrews)
Jane Greaves announces the discovery of a proto-planet - a large ball of gas and rocks orbiting a star HL Tau.
- Interview with Dr Jane Greaves (University of St Andrews) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Dr Jane Greaves
- Astronomers find embryonic planet (RAS)
- Planetary Embryo is Youngest Yet - NAM Blog
- VLA
- MERLIN
Interview with Dr Jonathan Tedds (University of Leicester)
Jonathan Tedds tells us about recent developments in the UK for the International Virtual Observatory. The Virtual Observatory is bringing together archive data from telescopes and satellite missions and allowing us to work with it from our desktop. One set of tools for doing this goes by the name AstroGrid. During the National Astronomy Meeting the latest version of the AstroGrid software was released.
- Interview with Dr Jonathan Tedds (University of Leicester) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Dr Jonathan Tedds
- AstroGrid
- Revealing the multi-wavelength Universe (RAS)
Interview with Prof Nick Kaiser (University of Hawai'i)
Nick Kaiser talks about the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) that he is helping to build.
- Interview with Prof Nick Kaiser (University of Hawai'i) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Pan-STARRS
- Nick Kaiser
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics (Amazon.com)
Interview with Prof Monica Grady (Open University)
Monica Grady tells us about her research in astro-biology including her study of meteorites and what they can tell us about ancient conditions on Mars. She also tells us about the search for life in extreme locations on Earth as well as Mars and Europa.
- Interview with Prof Monica Grady (Open University) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
Interview with Prof Don Pollacco (Queen's University, Belfast)
- Interview with Prof Don Pollacco (Queen's University, Belfast) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- SuperWasp
- The 10 recently discovered planets
- Ten New Planets - NAM Blog
Interview with Dr Nial Tanvir (University of Leicester)
In the last few years, the advent of Swift has revolutionized the field of gamma-ray bursts, and Chris caught up with Nial Tanvir in a rather echoing corridor to find out the latest news.
- Interview with Dr Nial Tanvir (University of Leicester) MP3: Download this segment individually (low and high bandwidth versions)
- Swift
- GRBlog - blog for gamma ray bursts
- Nial Tanvir
- Interview with Nial Tanvir - NAM Blog
Show Credits
| Interview: | Emily Baldwin and Stuart Lowe |
| Interview: | Prof Michael Rowan-Robinson and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Jackquie Milligan, her pupils and Stuart Lowe |
| Interview: | Dr Tom Mason and Stuart Lowe |
| Interview: | Prof Richard Ellis and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Prof Brian Schmidt and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Dr Douglas Pierce-Price, Nick Rattenbury and Stuart Lowe |
| Interview: | Dr Jane Greaves and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Dr Jonathan Tedds and Stuart Lowe |
| Interview: | Prof Nick Kaiser and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Prof Monica Grady and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Prof Don Pollacco and Nick Rattenbury |
| Interview: | Dr Nial Tanvir and Chris Lintott. Audio (c) Chris Lintott |
| Presenters: | David Boyce, Chris Lintott, Stuart Lowe and Nick Rattenbury |
| Editor: | Roy Smits, Stuart Lowe and Nick Rattenbury |
| Special Thanks: | Robert Massey, Anita Heward and the Royal Astronomical Society |
| Cover Art: | Queen's University Belfast |
| Website: | Stuart Lowe |







