Podcast Archive

Podcast #17: Patricia Skelton

Posted on 1 Sep, 2017 by Allen Versfeld1 Sep, 2017

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

This 17th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast might be a little late, but it’s extra long to make up for it! A few weeks back, I took a drive out to the Unisa observatory meet up with my old astronomy teacher, Patricia Skelton, to have a few words about South Africa’s role in astronomy, her own astronomical research, and her best advice for students and learners who’re thinking of a career in astronomy.

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Podcast #16: Photographing Space with Tanja and Cory Schmitz

Posted on 16 Aug, 2017 by Allen Versfeld16 Aug, 2017

In this 16th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, I finally get to interview two of the people whose astrophotography I’ve most admired since I first pointed my camera skywards: Cory and Tanja Schmitz. They were already accomplished photographers before they came together to create their website, Photographing Space. I strongly recommend it as a great place to find tips to improve your space images. They invited me over to their home a few months ago, back when the podcast … Continue reading →

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Podcast #15: Dylan O’Donnell and National Science Week

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

Here we are, another week, and it’s time to release episode 15 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. This week’s episode features an interview with Australian astrophotographer and science defender Dylan O’Donnell, who landed on my radar after he released a video of an interview with a man who believes that the world is flat. Since flat-earthism seems to be growing in popularity in what is probably the most baffling display of intellectual laziness I’ve ever seen, and since so many … Continue reading →

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Podcast #14: The self-interview

Posted on 30 Jul, 2017 by Allen Versfeld30 Jul, 2017

Welcome to the 14th episode of the Urban Astronomer podcast, after a long and sustained quiet spell. Now I know how this looks: New podcast pumps out a bunch of episodes, and then loses steam before eventually just going silent one day. We’ve all seen it, we all know the signs. But don’t worry, I’ve been very busy behind the scenes, lining up a whole stack of interesting people to interview, and you’ll be able to hear them all in … Continue reading →

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Podcast #13: Mars, ICON CGC and more Mars

Posted on 6 Jul, 2017 by Allen Versfeld6 Jul, 2017

Here it is! Episode #13 of the Urban Astronomer podcast! This week we turn our steely gaze upon the red planet Mars, but we haven’t forgotten our promise to share some highlights from our time at the ICON Comics and Games Convention. We even indulge in a little hoax busting, picking a fight with an old scam that just won’t die.

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Podcast #12: Interview with Jen Millard

Posted on 16 Jun, 2017 by Allen Versfeld16 Jun, 2017

What a week! What with preparing my booth for ICON 2017 and interesting new projects at the day job, it’s taken me this long to finally finish editing and releasing this interview with Jen Millard. I’m hoping you’ll find it well worth the wait, though, as Jen describes a whole new way of studying exoplanets observation that I’d never heard of before. But in case you’re worried about too much high-level technical science talk, don’t worry. She was able to … Continue reading →

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Podcast #11: Astrophotography with Martin Heigan

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

This image of the Horsehead Nebula was captured by Martin Heigan and is used with his permission

Welcome to the 11th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! Following recent trends, this is another interview episode. The guest is Martin Heigan, of Johannesburg, South Africa. Martin works in the field of 3D VisualFX and motion capture, providing these services for both local and foreign TV and film productions. But I was more interested in his astrophotography, so I called him about two weeks ago to record this interview. In this recording, we discuss Martin’s relatively new career as an … Continue reading →

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Podcast #9: Interview with Sibusiso Biyela

Posted on 12 May, 2017 by Allen Versfeld12 May, 2017

Welcome to the ninth episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, featuring South African science communicator and journalist Sibusiso Biyela. I am on holiday with my family at the moment, so in order to find a quiet spot away from chattering kiddies, this episode was recorded next to an icy mountain stream in the Central Drakensberg mountain range. Sadly, despite the time of year, it’s been consistently overcast so no astronomical observing for me! I was at least able to put together … Continue reading →

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Podcast #8: Venus, KELT-11b and Blood Moon Pregnancies

Posted on 27 Apr, 2017 by Allen Versfeld28 Apr, 2017

Artist’s impression of KELT-11b orbiting its host star. Image credit: Walter Benjamin.

Welcome to the 8th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This week, Cathrine continues her series on The Planets with the hottest world in our Solar System: Venus. Allen then reports on the discovery, by a telescope at SAAO’s facility in Sutherland, of KELT-11b, an unusually inflated exoplanet. And finally we look at what is apparently a common question in parts of the world: Is it safe to watch a Lunar Eclipse, while pregnant? This is Cathrine’s second appearance in … Continue reading →

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Podcast #7: Interview with Niel Viljoen of Telescope Shop

Posted on 16 Apr, 2017 by Allen Versfeld12 Jun, 2017

Hi and welcome to the 7th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! This episode was dropped in the middle of the Easter weekend, so in deference to the season we’ve got a brief segment based on one of Urban Astronomer’s religiously themed articles: How is astronomy used to calculate the dates of religious festivals? And our feature item is another interview! This time around, I managed to get a hold of Neil Viljoen, who owns Telescope Shop, one of the … Continue reading →

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Podcast #6: Building telescopes

Posted on 6 Apr, 2017 by Allen Versfeld12 Jun, 2017

Welcome to the 6th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. This is the second part of our interview with Chris Stewart, one of the names behind the Amateur Telescope Making class in Johannesburg, one of the organisers of the annual ScopeX telescope and astronomy expo, and director of the Astronomical Society of South Africa’s Instrumentation section. In this part, he talks about the pros and cons of different telescope designs, how to make them, how to select an eyepiece, and … Continue reading →

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Podcast #5: Mercury

Posted on 29 Mar, 2017 by Allen Versfeld27 Jun, 2017

Welcome to the 5th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast! We’re well on our way in the grand experiment of deciding how exactly to format the show, and today we’re trying yet another combination! We’ll start off by answering the question first asked in a classic Urban Astronomer article, one originally written back in 2010 and that’s been consistently popular with our readers: Will an astronaut explode if they take off their helmet? Our feature item introduces my new co-host, and … Continue reading →

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