Fine Music Radio Looking Up

Looking Up

Five minutes at the end of each week explores the big and the small questions in astronomy, cosmology, and space science. Hosted by Kechil Kirkham, no subject is too big or too small, and experts are regularly brought on board to illuminate and excite. Cape Town is the place to be for astronomy, with some of the largest telescopes in the world housed or being built not too far away. Looking Up takes advantage of the shoals of scientists and engineers working on the planet’s most advanced astronomy projects, who live and work right here in the Mother City. Kechil has recently acquired an MPhil in Space Studies at the University of Cape Town, and works in South Africa’s space industry on the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope.
Weekly English South Africa Places & Travel
410 Episodes
1 – 20

Looking Up - 13 Nov 24 - The 2025 Sky Guide Southern Africa is out now

The 2025 Sky Guide Southern Africa is out now. Gayle Andrews, the librarian of the Cape Centre tells us about it. If you're interested in joining us: https://assa.saao.ac.za/centres/cape-centre/ and the Sky Guide can be obtained from: https://struiknature.co.za/product/sky-guide-2025/
13 Nov 4 min

Looking Up - 09 Oct 24 - Kechil caught up with Jordan Collier in Perth, Australia

These days, for every astronomer, there are a bunch of computer scientists, software developers and engineers behind them, creating the telescopes and software that allow them to process their data. Jordan Collier is such a person who facilitates astronomers producing science. He works in Perth, Australia which is where Kechil…
9 Oct 5 min

Looking Up - 21 Aug 24 - Professor Phil Charles

Professor Phil Charles was the director of the Southern African Astronomical Observatory here in Cape Town and retired many years ago. What has he been up to since? Kechil catches up with him at the IAU's General Assembly on August 13th.
20 Aug 5 min

Looking Up - 14 Aug 24 - What is dark matter and what is dark energy?

What is dark matter and what is dark energy? Do they exist? Well, we've sent up a spacecraft which has left a space telescope, Euclid, to map billions of galaxies and detect their movement. To tell us more about this mysterious and fascinating endeavor is Sandor Kruk of the European…
14 Aug 5 min

Looking Up - 07 Aug 24 - The International Astronomical Union's General Assembly

It's the International Astronomical Union's General Assembly happening now in Cape Town from 6-15th August. This is great news for Africa, as it's the first time the annual General Assembly has taken place in this continent. More information about public events and booking can be found here: https://astronomy2024.org/public/ The number…
7 Aug 5 min

Looking Up - 10 July 24 - More about asteroids

More about asteroids, other threats in space and how the Chinese are dealing with them, plus advance notice of the International Astronomical Union's General Assembly taking place in Cape Town 6-15 August.
10 Jul 4 min

Looking Up - Last Sunday was International Asteroid Day

Last Sunday was International Asteroid Day. This was celebrated mainly on Monday when people were back at work, when Kechil attended a talk given by Marco Micheli of the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness Planetary Defence Office. Here he is talking to Kechil about why it is important to…
3 Jul 5 min
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