Dr Chris North is the Ogden Science Lecturer in Cardiff University's School of Physics and Astronomy. He also holds an STFC Public Engagement Fellowship entitled "The Dawn of Gravitational Wave Astronomy". Chris is also an astronomy researcher by training, focusing most recently on the Herschel Space Observatory.
It was announced this month that Jupiter has got even more moons than previously thought, with its total haul now coming in at 79! We discuss why the new moons are odd. The Very Large Telescope in Chile also made a new discovery – a very young planet forming in the dusty disk of material Read more
There were new results about organic compounds from two places in the Solar System this month: the planet Mars and the dwarf planet Ceres. We discuss what organic compounds are, and why their discovery doesn’t mean we’ve found life, but is still an interesting find. Further afield, the ALMA telescope has been finding planets orbiting Read more
This is a bonus edition of Pythagorean Astronomy – the regular June 2018 episode will be published on Thursday 28th June. In May 2018 we welcomed to Cardiff a Nobel Prize winner: Professor Barry Barish, who was one of the scientists who founded the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, As regular listeners will remember, LIGO made the Read more
This month has seen missions large and small launch towards Mars, and new results from the Gaia satellite. What gets astronomers so excited about such datasets? Meanwhile, astronomers have been using machine learning to address a number of problems – we discuss a couple of examples which have been published recently, one about exoplanets and Read more
April saw Liverpool host the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, from which there were a many new developments and discoveries, a few of which we discuss this month. The conference came just days after the NASA and ESA made the announcement that the largest astronomy project in recent times, the James Webb Space Read more
Earlier this month the world was saddened to hear of the death of Professor Stephen Hawking, arguably one of the most famous physicists of recent times. He died peacefully at the age of 76, having lived with the debilitating condition of motor neurone disease which he was diagnosed with in his early 20s. Despite that Read more
To accompany the March episode of Pythagorean Astronomy remembering Professor Stephen Hawking, we’re also releasing the uncut(!) version of the interview with Professor Peter Coles, in which he discusses the theories for which Stephen Hawking is famous – in particular Hawking radiation. Don’t forget to listen to the full March 2018 episode. An added bonus Read more
The School of Physics and Astronomy invites applications from motivated undergraduates for Summer Internship positions. Successful applicants will spend 6-8 weeks in Cardiff working with researchers, staff and students within the school. We are currently offering the following projects: Gravitational Waves Outreach Internship (any undergraduate) Gravitational Waves Research Internship (any undergraduate) *deadline1st April 2018* Ogden Trust Internship (Cardiff Undergraduates only) Read more
Ever taken a selfie on your birthday? Well, that’s just what the Mars Rover Opportunity did to celebrate its 5000th “sol” (martian day) on Mars. This doesn’t sound like much, but 5000 sols is about 14 years – not bad for a rover that was only expected to last about 3 months! The selfie – Read more
Space is getting crowded, so the recent launch of a space glitterball (called the “Humanity Star”) by RocketLabs has irked astronomers. Our suggestion: why not go and look at the space station instead? And if you’re interested in things to not get too hyped up about, the so-called “Super Blue Blood Moon” was another example Read more
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