Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation e Antonio Tarquinio, The Conversation
The Dish in Parkes is scanning the southern Milky Way, searching for alien signals
The Conversation50,7 MB(download)
Today we hear about the Parkes radio telescope's role in the search for alien life. Our guide is the irrepressible John Sarkissian, the scientist who's had his eye on The Dish since childhood.
An artist’s impression of an exoplanet in the habitable zone around a star.
ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser
NASA scientists have discovered a new planet orbiting around a nearby star that is in a habitable zone. But does this planet have liquid oceans that can support life?
A composite image of one night watching the Orionids meteor shower.
Flickr/Jeff Sullivan
Sometimes it is difficult to take a photograph of an exoplanet because the star illuminating it is too bright. Now there is a new ‘deluminator’ telescope that can block out the extra light.
Today we hear about some of the fascinating space research underway at Siding Spring Observatory – and how, despite gruelling hours and endless paperwork, astronomers retain their sense of wonder for the night sky.
Shutterstock
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation e Cameron Furlong, The Conversation
‘The size, the grandeur, the peacefulness of being in the dark’: what it’s like to study space at Siding Spring Observatory
The Conversation, CC BY54,3 MB(download)
Three hours north-east of Parkes lies a remote astronomical research facility, unpolluted by city lights, where researchers are trying to unlock some of the biggest questions about our Universe.
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains extending to Pluto’s horizon.
NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
Many people are still upset that Pluto was demoted from being a planet. But definitions of various celestial objects are fairly fluid. So whether it is an asteroid or moon or planet is up for debate.
An artist’s conception of two black holes entwined in a gravitational tango.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Christopher Go
Smadar Naoz, University of California, Los Angeles
There is a massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Measurements of star orbits near this black hole suggest that there may be a second companion black hole nearby.
To make the most of telescopes like the Square Kilometre Array, we will need the talents of people from across the full spectrum of society.
AAP / Rebecca Lemay
A determined approach to improving diversity will also lead to better science.
A recently discovered black hole – found by the way it makes a nearby star wobble – is hard to square with our understanding of how these dark cosmic objects form.
NAOC, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Apollo 11 tends to steal the spotlight when it comes to lunar landings. But Apollo 12 was the first mission to make a precise pinpoint landing on the Moon - and without the aid of computers or GPS.