#56 -February 2017

The Discussion: Paul continues his herculean travels around the UK promoting the European Space Agency and teaching people about the science of spaceflight. Ralph’s waxing lyrical about a waxing moon and Venus, while Jen has a big announcement regarding her PhD research. The News: Rounding up the space and astronomy news this month we have: Another asteroid hits the news as NASA look elsewhere for future missions ESO’s ALMA array turns its attention to the Sun Making refinements on the age of the Moon A new star to look out for in the sky in 2022 Hat of Woo: With the hat now empty and the world still full of loons, we reach out to you to tell us what you’d like to see replace this segment of the show. Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month we take a look at a listener’s submitted graph and explain the Roche Sphere: Can you please explain why the Hill Sphere of Neptune is greater than that of Jupiter? Gavin Price, @Pillarscreatio, Wales.