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
430 Episodes
240 – 260

Looking up - 15 May 2020

There's plenty going on in the space industry. China is testing its new rocket which will be used to construct its third crewed space station. The UAE is building a Mars orbiter, and Space-X is testing rockets and components to service and take astronauts the International Space Station. If you…
16 May 2020 5 min

Looking up - 08 May 2020

Many people of science through the ages have tried to come up with a general theory of everything. In ancient times it was thought that a creator would have made everything according to common laws and patters. The Harmony of the Spheres is a term you may have heard of,…
8 May 2020 3 min

Looking up - 01 May 2020

Not all satellites get in the way of astronomy. Some are in fact telescopes themselves, pointing outwards towards the heavens, taking images right up until the dawn of light. The Hubble Space Telescope turned 30 this last week, and earlier this year the Spitzer Space Telescope was decommissioned. What happens…
1 May 2020 4 min

Looking up - 24 April 2020

Last Wednesday a further 60 satellites were launched as part of SpaceX's Starlink project. Eventually many thousands of these small satellites will ring the Earth, providing Internet access to almost the entire globe. This is however problematic, as they interfere with astronomy given their light pollution. Willie Koorts shows us…
24 Apr 2020 4 min

Looking up - 17 April 2020

How is the current pandemic affecting astronomers and space missions? Are astronomers still able to work? How are the astronomical establishments responding to the crisis? Are rockets being launched into space? Fear not, this is not about the C-word and mentions no graphs or statistics, but describes how the scientists…
17 Apr 2020 4 min

Looking up - 03 April 2020

NASA has discovered gas emanating from Uranus. Trawling through 30-year old data from Voyager-2, scientists have found a large bubble of gas was flung out of Uranus's atmosphere and believe this could occur daily: a Uranian day being a mere 17 hours. Find out more about this gassy planet, and…
3 Apr 2020 4 min

Looking up - 27 March 2020

How do astronomers know how far away things are? We need to know this to achieve a sense of proper perspective, something we all need right now.
27 Mar 2020 4 min

Looking up - 13 March 2020

Where is everybody? Kechil runs through Fermi's Paradox, a list of a dozen or so reasons why we haven't heard from the aliens yet. Since it's Friday 13th let's add another one: they haven't visited Earth yet because they just can't be bothered.
13 Mar 2020 5 min

Looking up - 06 March 2020

How do we know anything for sure? Some folk need proof, personal tangible proof, before believing in anything. Astronomy some would say isn't a true science, since astronomical observations are so remote and there is nothing tangible about it. Robbie Lees, a Masters student at the University of Cape Town,…
6 Mar 2020 5 min

Looking up - 28 February 2020

Most of the stars we see are in fact more than one star, and typically they are binary systems where one star orbits another. In some cases one star begins to gobble up its companion and it can turn into what is known as a cataclysmic variable where the star…
28 Feb 2020 4 min

Looking up - 21 February 2020

What to do if a star goes supernova? This may well happen to Betelgeuse in Orion, as this red giant has been dimming more than expected, and could be in a 'pre-supernova' phase. Thankfully it's a long way away, as you wouldn't want to be anywhere near the formation of…
27 Feb 2020 4 min

Looking up - 14 February 2020

It's 30 years since Voyager-1 turned its camera back to Earth and took the iconic photograph called 'Pale Blue Dot. You may think we've photographed everything in our solar system but we have never explored the poles of the Sun. This is due to change as last Monday a probe…
14 Feb 2020 4 min

Looking up - 07 February 2020

The President of the International Astronomical Union, Professor Ewine van Dishoeck, has been visiting South Africa for two weeks, which is a long time out of her schedule. Here she describes how it is that some of the water on Earth originated before Earth was made. So next time you…
7 Feb 2020 5 min

Looking up - 31 January 2020

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…
31 Jan 2020 5 min

Looking up - 24 January 2020

How old is the dust in your house? Possibly not as old as the oldest material found on planet Earth to date: grains of dust analysed from the Murchison meteorite which fell in Australia in 1969. It was recently found that this dust is 7 billion years old! This is…
24 Jan 2020 5 min

Looking up - 17 January 2020

Dr Kerry Patterson began as a keen undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, coming along to star gazing events with her telescope. That telescope is now with her in Chicago as she is now a fully-fledged astronomer doing a post-doctorate, following up gravitational wave detections with optical observations. This…
17 Jan 2020 5 min

Looking up - 10 January 2020

Kechil gives a round up of what to expect this year and in January, celestially speaking. Also a description of tonight's partial penumbral lunar eclipse. Look out for details of Leeuwenboschfontein's new observatory. If you're lucky enough to visit at a weekend you could get a tour of the night…
10 Jan 2020 4 min

Looking up - 03 January 2020

Dr Ian Glass, a retired astronomer and author, is giving summer school lectures at the University of Cape Town on the history and development of astronomy. Find out more here: http://www.summerschool.uct.ac.za/The_development_of_astronomy_in_southern_africa The dates are 6, 7, and 8 January in the Kramer Building at 5pm All are welcome.
3 Jan 2020 5 min

Looking up - 27 December 2019

The International Astronomical Union is the body which creates official names for celestial bodies. Recently it ran a campaign to name 122 stars and their planets from many different countries. The results are astonishing!
27 Dec 2019 4 min

Looking up - 20 December 2019

The new MeerKAT radio astronomy observatory is already kicking out science. A recent image showing galaxies in the 'cosmic noon' - a time when most of the stars in the universe were formed - reveals that more stars were formed than previously thought in this epoch.
20 Dec 2019 4 min
240 – 260