andromeda
Below are the episodes of the Jodcast (or segments) which match the keyword andromeda. You can continue searching by going back to the tag cloud.
- Interview with Dr Alan Chapman (University of Oxford) - January 2008 Extra (MP3)
At the Red Lion Inn in Goostrey we interrupted the pre-lecture dinner of the Macclesfield Astronomical Society to talk with Dr Alan Chapman. Alan tells us about the life of Victorian astronomer Richard Proctor who toured the world giving public talks about astronomical topics. We also hear how Proctor put origin dates to of some of the constellations we use today. - The night sky for October 2007 - October 2007 (MP3)
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2007. To the south in early evening is the beautiful region of the Milky Way containing both Cygnus and Lyra. Below is Aquila. The three bright stars Deneb (in Cygnus), Vega (in Lyra) and Altair (in Aquila) make up the "Summer Triangle". East of Cygnus is the great square of Pegasus - adjacent to Andromeda in which lies M31, the Andromeda Nebula. To the north lies "w" shaped Cassiopeia with Perseus below. Jupiter may just be seen in the south-west as the Sun sets as the month begins. At the beginning of the month it is just 20 degrees above the horizon an hour after sunset so is seen in the twilight - by month's end this will have dropped to 12 degrees. At the very beginning of October, Mercury might just be visible in evening sky about 20 to 30 minutes after sunset. Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun on October 23rd at what is called "inferior conjunction" before it becomes visible in the pre-dawn sky. Mars, is in Gemini during October and is now rising around 10 pm. Its disk is just 9.7 arc seconds across and it shines at magnitude -0.1 at the beginning of October. During the month its brightness increases to magnitude -0.6 and it angular size increases to 12 arc seconds. Venus is now shining brightly dominating the eastern pre-dawn sky! It was at its very brightest in late September but still shines at magnitude -4.7 - the brightest object in the sky apart from the Moon! Viewing it with a telescope will reveal a 38% illuminated crescent. As October begins, Saturn, 3.6 degrees down to the lower left of the star Regulus in Leo, is seen in the pre-dawn sky. They gradually move apart and by the end of the month Saturn is around 6 degrees to the lower left of Regulus. Around October 21st is the Orionid Meteor Shower. While the Orionids are not one of the most spectacular showers, with peak rates around 20 per hour, they are interesting as it is believed that the meteors originate from Comet Halley. It is worth looking out for them for a week around the 21st as the shower is long lived. They will best be seen in the hours before dawn when Orion is high in the southern sky. On October 7th before dawn you can see Venus, Saturn and the waning crescent Moon; perhaps the best sky-scape this month. Depending on your location, you may see an occultation of Regulus from ~ 05:19 until ~ 06:00. In the early hours of October 3rd, the Moon, just after third quarter, will lie close to the planet Mars and the cluster M35 - all in the constellation Gemini. October is another good month to observe the planet Uranus with binoculars, a small telescope or even your unaided eye! On October 11th, the night of new moon, Uranus, with a magnitude of 5.8, lies just over 3 degrees up and to the left of the 4th magnitude star Lambda Aquarii. To the left of the tiny constellation Triangulum is the star Algol in Perseus. It is an eclipsing binary and every 2.87 days its brightness drops by more than a magnitude and then rises again. In October you can watch this happen over a period of hours around 22:50 UT on the 21st and 19:38 UT on the 24th. - An Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell (Part 2 of 3) - September 2007 Extra (MP3)
In August 2007 Jodrell Bank hosted "An Audience with Sir Bernard Lovell". In this second part of the series, Sir Bernard talks to Tim O'Brien about the beginnings of Jodrell Bank and the construction of the Mark I telescope. - Ask an astronomer - Cosmology - February 2007 (MP3)
Stuart asks Tim some cosmology questions sent in by one of our listeners. Are we lucky to be seeing the photons of light from the cosmic microwave background? Would someone in the Andromeda Galaxy see the same thing? Tim tries to make the cosmic fog clear for us. - The night sky for November - November 2006 (MP3)
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during November 2006. It isn't a month for planets but with the evenings drawing in you should be able to go out and observe without staying up too late. The summer triangle, composed of the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair, is now in the western sky in the evening. Below Cygnus is the rather lovely constellation of Delphinus (the Dolphin). Towards the south are four stars which make up the winged horse Pegasus which can be used to find the Andromeda Galaxy. In the north-east during the evening you will see Taurus rising with the Pleiades cluster also known as the seven sisters. Later on in the night the Hyades cluster will appear. Nearly all the planets, except Saturn, are passing by the Sun this month so will not be easily visible. Saturn's rings are currently at an angle of about 15 degrees to our line-of-sight and over the next few years they will be closing so have a look at them now. On November 8/9th is the last transit of Mercury that will be seen until around 2016. It can be seen (taking proper precautions not to look directly at the Sun) from New Zealand, Australia, Japan and parts of the United States. In November we pass through the Leonid meteor shower and it is predicted that at 4:45 am UT on the morning of the 19th November we may see as many as 50 meteors per hour. - The night sky for October - October 2006 (MP3)
Ian Morison tells us what we can see in the night sky from northern latitudes during October 2006. It is getting darker earlier and the Milky Way can look beautiful from a dark sky location. In the west, high up in the early evening are the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra with Aquila below forming the summer triangle. Using binoculars you can see Brocchi's Cluster in the summer triangle. In the south is Pegasus from which you can star-hop to the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Ian discusses Algol - the demon star - an eclipsing binary star system and when you can look for the dips in its brightness during October. This month isn't good for planet hunting but you can try to spot Uranus, Jupiter and even Mercury. Later in the month Saturn will be rising earlier in the night. - Ask an astronomer - March 2006 (MP3)
Tim O'Brien tells us how many stars there are in the universe (roughly), discusses the possibility of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the Andromeda Galaxy colliding with the Milky Way.
