March 2009 Extra - show notes

With the main event of the International Year of Astronomy quickly approaching, we find out what's happening. We chat about the launch of NASA's Kepler spacecraft to search for Earth-like planets and ESA's GOCE probe to map the Earth's gravity field. On a recent trip to the Netherlands Roy caught up with Gijs Nelemans to find out about the future LISA spacecraft to look for gravitational waves. We also put your astronomical questions to Dr Tim O'Brien.

100 Hours of Astronomy (2-5 April)

One of the biggest events during the International Year of Astronomy 2009 is the 100 Hours of Astronomy. Mike Simmons (President of Astronomers without Borders and co-chair of 100 Hours of Astronomy) talked to Stuart about what could turn out be the world's largest star party. The opening ceremony is on 2nd April 2009 and will include Galileo's first telescope. There will be a Science Centre webcast and, between 9am UTC on the 3rd of April and 9am UTC on the 4th April, a 24 hour webcast of astronomical observatories - Around the World in 80 Telescopes. Douglas Pierce Price (ESO) explains how the webcast will start in Hawaii moving westwards around the planet through Australasia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. There will also be a visit to telescopes in Antarctica and several in space. Around the World in 80 Telescopes will be streamed via Ustream and the 100 Hours of Astronomy website. It can also be followed on Twitter. On Saturday 4th April there will be a global star party giving people around the world a chance to view the night sky. If you have a telescope you can host an event in your neighbourhood and register it on the global list. The day after the star party, April 5th, is Sun Day and will be a chance to enjoy and appreciate our local star (note that looking at the Sun is dangerous so make sure that you observe the Sun safely).

Interview

Roy interviewed Dr Gijs Nelemans (Radboud University of Nijmegen) about LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna). He explained everything about this experiment and his involvement, which includes predictions on the foreground signals that LISA will observe. He also talked about his involvement in tracking whale-sharks using astronomy software.

Ask an Astronomer

Nick puts listener questions to Tim O'Brien.

Bruce asks: "I have a small telescope only 75mm, along with 3 lenses 20mm,12.5mm and 4mm and a 3* barlow lens. My problem has been getting a good view of Venus, i can easily focus my telescope on the lunar surface, but when i try to look at Venus i can see the veins of the reflector and a very fuzzy planet.... Do i just need to be more patient?"
Kevin asks: "Is a red dwarf simply a white dwarf that has cooled down or is it created by different circumstances?"

Odds and Ends

In the forum, EarthUnit points out some plugins for Google Earth that let you find out where various satellites are (also check out Rob Simpson's satellite kml) and display the Cosmic Microwave Background.

We also mentioned an upcoming Jodcast video of a lecture about the Mathematics of the Mind.

Show Credits

Interview:	Mike Simmons and Stuart Lowe
Interview:	Dr Douglas Pierce Price and Stuart Lowe
Interview:	Dr Gijs Nelemans and Roy Smits
Ask An Astronomer:	Dr Tim O'Brien and Nick Rattenbury
Presenters:	Nick Rattenbury, Roy Smits and Stuart Lowe
Editors:	Nick Rattenbury, Roy Smits and Stuart Lowe
Segment voice:	Danny Wong-McSweeney
Website:	Stuart Lowe
Cover art:	100 Hours of Astronomy poster Credit: James White/signalnoise.com/IAU/IYA2009

Comments

Comment by Stuart Lowe on Mar 19 2009:
Comments, corrections and clarifications for the March 2009 Extra edition are welcome.
Comment by Stuart Lowe on Mar 19 2009:
An anonymous listener has pointed out that the International Space Station did not have a narrow encounter with a fragment from the Iridium 33/Cosmos 2251 collision but rather space debris "25090/1993-32D, which is probably a yo weight from the PAM-D stage that launched GPS 37 (IIA-20) in 1993 May".
We apologise for the mistake.
Comment by Jodatheoak on Mar 20 2009:
Great show Joders - got me thinking how is a star created?
and what's at the centre of a star?
cheers
Comment by EarthUnit on Mar 28 2009:
A very Brief explanation Yoda....
I am no expert, so any corrections will be welcomed.
Stars are formed from gas and dust in a galaxy which become gravitational unstable due to being disturbed, e.g. by a star passing by, shock wave from a super nova or as it passes through a spiral arm, to name but a few.
This can cause some bits to collapse inwards into a number of denser parts (these turn into individual stars). The dust & gas free fall inwards picking up speed and knocking into each other crating heat and this builds up pressure against the free fall.
The heat, pressure & density builds so much that nuclear reactions can take place in the centre,
And once the outward pressure from the nuclear reaction balances the gravitation attraction this becomes known as a main sequence star, a stable star like our sun.

As I mentioned above, the centre of stars are big nuclear fusion reactors changing mainly hydrogen into helium during the main sequence part of its life, as they get older (red giant / super giants) other heavier elements are formed. For our sun I think this will be carbon, and for larger stars other elements up to iron.
Hope this of some use
a few web adds for better/more info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars
jod feb 2009 massive star formaton
http://www.astronomycast.com/astronomy/stars/ep-108-the-life-of-the-sun/
Comment by Jodatheoak on Mar 30 2009:
Thanks Earthunit - Am I right in thinking that once the gravity gets hold of the dust and gas it clumps into denser and denser masses and then creates a gravity of its own...could a gravity wave start this of?
Comment by EarthUnit on Mar 31 2009:
yep, that's right yoda, creates its own gravity which attracts more stuff which increasses its gravity which attracts more stuff etc etc etc
gravity waves
Perhaps this is possible, but gravity waves are extremely weak so I am not sure that it is possible, could be a good question for 'ask an Astronomer'
Comment by Stuart Lowe on Mar 31 2009:
I'm not sure of the answer either. I'm tempted to agree that gravitational waves are probably far too weak to have a significant effect. It's a good question.
Comment by Jodatheoak on Apr 03 2009:
Just Listened to a IYAO9 podcast about Star Formation - This is a wicked year for astonomers all over the world...
http://traffic.libsyn.com/astro365/20090322-365DoA.mp3
http://365daysofastronomy.org/2009/03/22/march-22nd/
there are stil questions to be answered...
Great stuff :-)

Leave a comment on this episode in the forum

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Interview with Mike Simmons (Astronomers Without Borders) [Duration 06:14]:
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Interview with Dr Douglas Pierce Price (ESO) [Duration 06:00]:
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Interview with Dr Gijs Nelemans (Radboud University of Nijmegen) [Duration 23:12]:
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Ask an astronomer - red and white dwarfs [Duration 13:17]:
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March 2009 Extra: Go for launch