Reaching the Stars. In this month’s episode, we’ve got lots of exciting interviews. This year, the UK Space Conference was held in Manchester so we had the opportunity to interview the CEO of the UK Space Agency, Paul Bate, and ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan. In our Jodbite, we hear more about the Simons Observatory from Berni Reid Guachalla.

The News

Neptune and Uranus Might not be Ice Giants after all

Previous models of the interior of Uranus and Neptune have suggested that their cores are made of mixtures of water, ammonia and other compounds that freeze easily in space. However a recent paper by Luca Morf and Ravit Helled have removed some of the pre-formed ideas we had on the planets and modelled them in an agnostic way. Their results challenge the idea that the planets are ‘ice giants’ and highlight the need for more observations of the planets. Despite being in our solar system, we have limited data on Neptune and Uranus as unlike other planets closer to us, they have not had dedicated missions, and were last investigated over thirty years ago by Voyager 2. The information we do have is indirect, like their magnetic fields, observations of surface atmosphere features, and subtle changes in the orbits of their moons, and these observations mean that there is considerable variation in the planets’ physical parameters, such as ice to rock ratio, and by considering a wider range of starting possibilities, the model for the planets’ cores could suggest that their cores are even rockier than that of Saturn and Jupiter. In order to get a definitive answer though, we need a mission to visit the outer most planets in our solar system.

Citizen scientists just discovered the most powerful 'odd radio circle' twins

This month, citizen scientists helped make one of the most exciting radio astronomy discoveries of the year. ORCs are gigantic ring-shaped structures seen in radio wavelengths, often stretching over a million light-years across. ORCs were first identified only six years ago, in 2019, by Anna Kapinska of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory while perusing observations made by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP). ORCs are huge, up to 50 times larger than our Milky Way galaxy, which itself is about 100,000 light-years across. They are invisible at optical, infrared and X-ray wavelengths, their ghostly structures detectable only by radio telescopes. The radio rings were then confirmed by LOFAR, the Low Frequency Array of radio antennas across Western Europe and centered in The Netherlands. Discoveries like this show how new technologies and open data can blur the lines between professional and amateur astronomy. And as ORCs continue to puzzle scientists, this one might offer crucial clues about the violent life cycles of galaxies and black holes billions of years ago.

Interview with Dr Paul Bate

Next up, Phoebe and Louisa chat to Dr Paul Bate, CEO of The UK Space Agency, on what the UK Space Agency can look forward to and the challenges of sustainable space. From Manchester for his PhD, we ask him what inspired his career and the need for UK space industry.

Interview with Dr Rosemary Coogan

We were lucky enough to catch ESA Astronaut Dr Rosemary Coogan at The UK Space Conference in Manchester in July, and chatted to her about what it takes to fly to space, what's next for UK Space exploration and what it’s like going from astrophysicist to astronaut!

Jodbite with Berni Reid Guachalla

In our Jodbite this month, Jessy and Lily talk to early career researcher Berni Reid Guachalla about her work on the SZ effect and how the Simons observatory will be helpful in her research. They also discuss her work in outreach and her part in the ongoing work to keep our skies dark.

Feedback

From Facebook, James Walters writes,
​​’Great episode! Loved hearing about the Simons Observatory.’

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Until next time, Jod on!

First Interview : Paul Bate, Phoebe Ryder and Louisa Mason
Second Interview : Rosemary Coogan, Phoebe Ryder and Louisa Mason
Presenters : Phoebe Ryder, Sohini Dutta and Thea Hauxwell
Editors : Tobias Russell, Thea Hauxwell, Josh Bishop and Alex Walls
Website : Lilia Correa Magnus & Jessy Marin
Show Lead : Louisa Mason
Cover Art : Image of Earth from the Cupola of the International Space Station CREDIT: ESA/NASA-S.Cristoforetti