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Category Archives: Astronomy

All about astronomy: What it is, how the Solar System works, famous astronomers and more

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Giant exoplanet upsets theories on how planets form

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 15 Dec, 2021 by Allen Versfeld15 Dec, 2021
Image of exoplanet b Centauri b, captured directly with the ESO's Very Large Telescope

Astronomers have identified the biggest star known to have exoplanets yet, upsetting standard planetary formation models. To date, b Centauri is the biggest star known to host an exoplanet. Estimates of its mass put it at between two and four times the previous record holder, meaning it could be up to ten times bigger than our own Sun.

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Posted in Astronomy, Blog, News and Updates | Tagged ESO, exoplanet, VLT | 1 Reply

How do we know what things in space are made from?

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 10 Sep, 2020 by Allen Versfeld10 Sep, 2020
optical glass triangular prism

This is episode 60 of the Urban Astronomer podcast! Is that a milestone? Sure, but we’ll save the party hats for episode 75. Today we’ll just get on with the job at hand, and bring you a science explainy bit. Today’s question: How can astronomers be so certain about what things in space are made from? On Earth it’s relatively easy to send geologists out to different places with their hammers, and have them collect samples from interesting rock formations … Continue reading →

https://media.blubrry.com/urbanastronomer/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/constellationonline.net/media/Podcast/UrbanAstronomer/UA_Episode_60_S03E06.mp3

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Posted in Astronomy 101, News and Updates, Questions and Answers, The Urban Astronomer Podcast | Tagged podcast, Science, science explainy bit, spectroscopy | Leave a reply

Interview with Carol Botha

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 24 Jun, 2020 by Allen Versfeld24 Jun, 2020
Microphone. Image By Jpcuevas (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Urban Astronomer interviews noted South African amateur astronomer Carol Botha about her science outreach work. Carol has become quite well known on Slooh, the robotic telescope and astronomy service which I know quite well because I’ve provided a few video streams of eclipses and the like for them over the years.

Be warned though, this is a long episode so make some popcorn and find a comfortable seat before you start!

https://media.blubrry.com/urbanastronomer/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/constellationonline.net/media/Podcast/UrbanAstronomer/UA_Episode_57_S03E03.mp3

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Posted in South African Astronomers, The Urban Astronomer Podcast | Tagged Equipment, Interview, Outreach, podcast | Leave a reply

What’s the deal with Leap Years?

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 9 Jun, 2020 by Allen Versfeld9 Jun, 2020
Leap Day, by Sanu N / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Today’s episode is the first Science Explainy Bit of the season, and it’s another basic, classic topic: Leap Years. As a reminder, I love looking at the questions that seem simple because we think of them as the sorts of things that children ask their parents, but the thing about these questions is that they never are simple. These are things that took humanity centuries or longer to figure out, and that most of us still don’t really understand because … Continue reading →

https://media.blubrry.com/urbanastronomer/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/constellationonline.net/media/Podcast/UrbanAstronomer/UA_Episode_56_S03E02.mp3

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Posted in Astronomy 101, Questions and Answers, The Urban Astronomer Podcast | Tagged Q&A, science explainy bit | 1 Reply

Star colours and what space is like

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on 5 Dec, 2019 by Allen Versfeld5 Dec, 2019
Microphone. Image By Jpcuevas (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Urban Astronomer Podcast’s season 2 finale examines the colours of stars, and ponders what it’s actually like out in space

https://media.blubrry.com/urbanastronomer/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/constellationonline.net/media/Podcast/UrbanAstronomer/UA_Episode_54_S02E12.mp3

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Posted in Questions and Answers, The Urban Astronomer Podcast | Tagged Physics, podcast, Q&A, Stars | Leave a reply

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