Q&A – Urban Astronomer

Southern skies and Northern skies

Posted on 10 July, 2020 by Allen Versfeld10 July, 2020

It’s another Science Explainy Bit episode, and today we answer a question asked by another podcaster while interviewing us for their show. The host wanted to know how the view of southern skies compares to that of the northern hemisphere. I gave a quick answer before we moved on to another topic, but I would have liked to give a more detailed and complete answer. Which brings us to this episode, in which I describe how there really isn’t a … Continue reading →

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What’s the deal with Leap Years?

Posted on 9 June, 2020 by Allen Versfeld9 June, 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 →

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Star colours and what space is like

Posted on 5 December, 2019 by Allen Versfeld5 December, 2019

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

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Interview with Nicole Thomas

Posted on 19 November, 2019 by Allen Versfeld5 December, 2019

In this episode, we interview Nicole Thomas, a PhD student at the University of the Western Cape with an interest in the evolution of galaxies, and the super-massive black holes that lie within. We recorded this conversation only a week ago, and I really enjoyed speaking to her. I found her childhood interest in how the universe worked very relatable, and especially her need to understand what’s going on underneath it all. Sadly, this is the final interview with a … Continue reading →