Podcast Archive

Podcast #29: Stellar evolution – from gas to star

Posted on 23 May, 2018 by Allen Versfeld23 May, 2018

Microphone. Image By Jpcuevas (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to episode 29 of the Urban Astronomer podcast. As you know by now, we mainly feature interviews with people connected to South African astronomy. But since we had no guests lined up for this episode, we decided it was time to keep a promise we’d made a month ago to listener Andrew Botteril, from KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Andrew is a fan of the show and had asked that we feature a little more basic science, explaining some … Continue reading →

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Podcast #28: Stella Kafka

Posted on 23 Apr, 2018 by Allen Versfeld23 Apr, 2018

Welcome to Episode 28 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. This episode features an interview with Dr Stella Kafka, current director of the AAVSO (American Association of Variable Star Observers). I met Dr Kafka at the 2018 Symposium of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, where she delivered several excellent talks on the AAVSO and citizen science. I was so impressed by what she had to say that I just had to invite her onto the show. Amazingly, she beat me … Continue reading →

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Podcast #27: Tides and Flerfers

Posted on 20 Mar, 2018 by Allen Versfeld20 Mar, 2018

Welcome to the 27th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This is a special episode where I break from tradition and try for something completely new: Unscripted content, delivered solo, with just a few notes to guide me! In the first segment, I explain how tides work, and in the second I muse on what makes Flat Earther’s reject established scientific knowledge. I recently got back from the 2018 Symposium of the South African Astronomical Society, where I plugged this … Continue reading →

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Podcast #26: Neville Young

Posted on 14 Feb, 2018 by Allen Versfeld14 Feb, 2018

This is the 26th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, where we get back to our original focus of interviewing people involved in South African astronomy. Whether they’re professional or amateur, South African, or merely visiting to do astronomy under our clear skies through our world-class observatories, we want to talk to them. In this episode, we chat with Neville Young. Neville Young Neville has been a member of the Pretoria center of the Astronomical Society of South Africa since the … Continue reading →

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Podcast #25: Clyde Foster at ScopeX 2017

Posted on 30 Jan, 2018 by Allen Versfeld30 Jan, 2018

Welcome to the 25th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, which is also the 1st episode of 2018. Happy New Year! Over the past few episodes, I’ve been running a series of public lectures that I recorded at ScopeX 2017. ScopeX is an annual telescope and astronomy expo held every year at the Military History museum in Johannesburg. This is the last lecture in the series, on the topic of the Apollo Program. Clyde Foster was the speaker. News Next … Continue reading →

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Podcast #24: Willie Koortz at ScopeX 2017

Posted on 1 Jan, 2018 by Allen Versfeld1 Jan, 2018

Welcome to Episode 24 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, and a Happy New Year to each and every one of you. This episode features the keynote lecture from ScopeX 2017, delivered by Willie Koortz. Willie is an electronic technician working for the South African Astronomical Observatory, and is one of South African astronomy’s more interesting characters. ScopeX Lecture In his talk, he discusses South Africa’s role in the early days of the Space Age, looking at professional-amateur collaborative projects like … Continue reading →

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Podcast #23: Phila Sibandze at ScopeX 2017

Posted on 14 Dec, 2017 by Allen Versfeld14 Dec, 2017

Welcome to episode 23 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This week we feature the third in our series of public lectures given at ScopeX earlier this year, which was presented by Phila Sibandze of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). Phila Sibandze Phila works for SANSA as an earth observation scientist, and his talk was titled “A journey through the life of a satellite”. In it he walked us through the process of designing, building, launching and operating a satellite, … Continue reading →

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Podcast #22: So you want to be an astrophysicist (Guest Episode by Paul Sutter)

Posted on 5 Dec, 2017 by Allen Versfeld5 Dec, 2017

Welcome to episode 22 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. We’re in the middle of a series of public lectures given by various speakers at ScopeX, earlier this year, but this episode is a break from all that. Some time ago, I was listening to Paul Sutter’s excellent “Ask A Spaceman” podcast and he did an episode on what it takes to become an astrophysicist like him. Since one of the reasons the Urban Astronomer podcast exists is to encourage young … Continue reading →

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Podcast #21: Lee Annamalai at ScopeX 2017

Posted on 25 Nov, 2017 by Allen Versfeld28 Nov, 2017

Welcome to episode 21 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This week we feature the second in our series of ScopeX lectures, and plug an exciting new citizen science project. Next week we’ll be bringing you the third lecture in the series, although we might sneak in a special guest episode before then! Lee Annamalai Lee spoke in his capacity at the CSIR (Center for Scientific and Industrial Research), where he manages their Earth Observation ICT systems group. He spoke about … Continue reading →

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Podcast #20: Edwin le Grange at ScopeX

Posted on 7 Nov, 2017 by Allen Versfeld7 Nov, 2017

Welcome to the 20th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, featuring a public talk given by Edwin le Grange at ScopeX 2017. This episode has been a long time coming, because I’m doing something new that I’ve never done before and it’s taken me way longer to figure out that I’d really anticipated, but I finally got there, we’re here, and your patience is about to be rewarded. As you’ll know from previous episodes, the annual ScopeX telescope and astronomy … Continue reading →

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Podcast #19: Michele Dougherty

Posted on 9 Oct, 2017 by Allen Versfeld9 Oct, 2017

Welcome to the 19th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, featuring an interview with Cassini mission scientist Dr Michele Dougherty. We’ve been up to so much since episode 18, with probably the biggest job being hosting an hour segment about podcasting to a developing market, on the International Podcast Day 30 hours continuous celebrations. Thanks to the guys at IPD for inviting us, and especially thank you to Richard, Chantelle and Andrew from the NAG gaming podcast who shared that … Continue reading →

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Podcast #18: Simon Fishley

Posted on 25 Sep, 2017 by Allen Versfeld25 Sep, 2017

Welcome to the 18th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This week we interview Simon Fishley, the head of IT at the South African Astronomical Observatory, about the work he does to support the scientists and their data.

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