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
438 Episodes
220 – 240

Looking up - 05 Dec 20

The Zone of Avoidance: is this the distance we are supposed to be keeping from each other in these times of Covid? Or is it something to do with that great foreground light polluter, our galaxy? Professor Renée Kraan-Kortweg from UCT tells us what it is.
4 Dec 2020 4 min

Looking up - 27 Nov 20

A strange metal monolith has been found in the Utah desert. What is it? What is its purpose? Who put it there? And why can you not hide anything on the surface of planet Earth for long?
27 Nov 2020 5 min

Looking up - 20 Nov 20

Space news! The world of space chugs on: we recently had the first commercial crewed mission to the International Space Station, the rover Perseverance is well on its way to Mars, the radio antenna in Australia used to communicate with the Voyager 2 craft has been repaired and it seems…
20 Nov 2020 5 min

Looking up - 14 Nov 20

Today Kechil tells us about the latest research on moons in our solar system: a glowing Jovian moon and an unexpected organic chemical in one of Saturn's moon's upper atmosphere. It's all happening out there.
13 Nov 2020 5 min

Looking up - 06 Nov 20

The Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town has been busy with the South African Astronomical Observatory, together creating a planetarium show to tell the world, and the South African public, about the wonders of local astronomy. If you ever wanted to visit Sutherland and all the telescopes, or see what the…
6 Nov 2020 4 min

Looking up - 30 Oct 20

This month is a Blue Moon - two Full Moons in one calendar month. Each Full Moon has a particular name but these names were created in the northern hemisphere and don't relate to us down here very well. The Centre for Astronomical Heritage has created new Full Moon names…
30 Oct 2020 4 min

Looking up - 23 Oct 20

If you fancy a trip out into the Karoo where you can look through telescopes, visit the Leeuwenboschfontein Observatory. To find out when it's open to the public see https://www.facebook.com/LeeuwenboschfonteinObservatory/. The festival of astronomy to mark the 200 year anniversary of the founding of the Observatory in Cape Town continues…
23 Oct 2020 4 min

Looking up - 16 Oct 20

Now is the 200 year anniversary of the establishment of the Observatory in Cape Town, which is the first modern scientific establishment in Africa! Dr Daniel Cunama talks to Kechil about what the South African Astronomical Observatory is doing to mark this special occasion, and you can join in. See…
16 Oct 2020 4 min

Looking up - 09 Oct 20

The Cape Town planetarium is open to the public! Ofentse Letebele explains their covid-safety procedures and how you can find out what's going on. It's World Space Week this week, and throughout the continent we are celebrating mobile planetaria, which are taken to rural areas to entertain and educate children…
9 Oct 2020 4 min

Looking up - 25 Sept 2020

There may or may not be life on Venus but what about the geyser-spewing moon Enceladus? It's pretty active and new ice sheets have been detected, Also the International Space Station avoided a piece of space junk last week.
25 Sep 2020 3 min

Looking up - 19 Sept 2020

Life on Venus! Could it be possible? A chemical normally only associated in any quantity as a by-product of living processes has been detected in the clouds of Venus. But does this mean there is life on the fiery and inhospitable Goddess of Love?
18 Sep 2020 5 min

Looking up - 11 Sept 2020

Space is big. It's a long way to the nearest planet (over 4 light years) which means an 8.5 year round-trip just to send a message and get a response. How do we get round the speed of light? People are working on this. There is a thing called a…
11 Sep 2020 5 min

Looking up - 04 Sept 2020

Prof Tom Jarrett talks about Virtual Reality and how we deal with the problem of astronomical amounts of astronomical data
4 Sep 2020 5 min

Looking up - 28 Aug 2020

On the day before the US election due to be held on 3 November, an asteroid could hit the Earth. This asteroid has a name, and a known trajectory. What are the odds? And what do these odds mean? Onto lighter topics: your local astronomy society is holding great talks…
28 Aug 2020 5 min

Looking up - 21 Aug 2020

It was believed that the early universe was chaotic, but, using a nifty technique called gravitational lensing, researchers have detected a very young galaxy - only 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, that appears to have structure, including a central bulge with closely packed stars in it.
21 Aug 2020 5 min

Looking up - 14 Aug 2020

How are satellites helping us during lockdown? What are they detecting and how is this useful to people on the ground?
14 Aug 2020 4 min

Looking up - 07 Aug 2020

Kechil is, as is often the case, worrying about being in space: how to carry out surgery and what to eat? Well it's more fun than worrying about what's going on here.
7 Aug 2020 4 min

Looking up - 31 July 2020

A medley of space and astronomy news including the three Martian missions launched in July, Juno has had a stay of execution and continues on its mission around Jupiter, plus salt and hot water - who'd have thought! That's what may be needed to make a big star. Lastly comet…
31 Jul 2020 4 min

Looking up - 25 July 2020

Two news items here: July is the Month of Mars! There are 3 missions going to Mars this month as Earth and Mars are close to each other. The NASA mission will deliver a new rover which will gather samples to be returned at a later date - the first…
24 Jul 2020 4 min

Looking up - 18 July 2020

How far do you want to go to socially isolate? Find out about space tourists to the International Space Station and the future of space travel.
17 Jul 2020 4 min
220 – 240