Pythagorean Astronomy: Stephen Hawking Remembered

Posted on 28 March 2018 by Chris North

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
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Pythagorean Astronomy: BONUS – Stephen Hawking’s Theories

Posted on 28 March 2018 by Chris North

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
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Tumbling Space Cucumbers and 5000 sols on Mars

Posted on 1 March 2018 by Chris North

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 –
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Glitterballs, habitable exoplanets and supermassive stars

Posted on 31 January 2018 by Chris North

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
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Subscribe to our podcast

Posted on 11 January 2018 by Chris North

You can now subscribe to the Pythagorean Astronomy podcast, using your favourite Podcast service – just add our feed address to whatever service you use: feeds.feedburner.com/PythagoreanAstronomy Some suggestions: Subscribe on iTunes Download the Podcast Republic Android app and search for “Pythagorean Astronomy”
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Planetary Response Network and 2017 Review

Posted on 30 December 2017 by Chris North

To some, astronomy is a purely a curiosity-driven activity, trying to understand more about the Universe around us. While that is the primary reason for a great many astronomers, there are many ways in which it benefits life down hear on Earth – including the saving of lives. Most recently, this became relevant in the
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Pythagorean Astronomy: The Star That Would Not Die

Posted on 29 November 2017 by Chris North

When a star explodes in a supernova, it’s generally assumed that once the afterglow has faded the star will never be seen again. But astronomers at Las Cumbres Observatory have found a star that seems to have refused to die. This month, Edward Gomez chats to colleague Dr. Iair Arcavi, who led the study of
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Gravity and Light

Posted on 25 October 2017 by Chris North

On 16th October a huge team of astronomers announced to the world that they had detected, for the first time, gravitational waves and light from the same event. That event was the collision of two neutron stars in a galaxy around 130 million light year away. The signal was first detected by the LIGO and
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Cassini’s Grand Finale

Posted on 3 October 2017 by Chris North

The 15th of September marked the Cassini spacecraft’s final plunge into Saturn’s gaseous atmosphere. This grand finale marked then end of a 20 year journey, 13 of which were spent orbiting Saturn, studying the ringed planet and its extended family of moons. Here in Cardiff, Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder has been closely following Cassini, and working
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Pythagorean Astronomy: Totally Eclipsed

Posted on 31 August 2017 by Chris North

August marked one of the most publicised astronomical events of 2017 – a total eclipse of the Sun which was visible the US. Totality, where the Moon completely covered the Sun, was visible from a narrow strip stretching from Oregon in the northwest to South Carolina in the southeast, while the partial eclipse was visible
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