#89 - November 2019 Part 1

The Discussion: Before we start the show proper, we discuss
Jeni’s encounter with Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, her new research
paper undergoing a painfully slow peer review and we take a look
at Chris Lintott’s book, The Crowd and the Cosmos: Adventures in
the Zooniverse. Then it’s over to the listeners for a few emails
suggesting cooler names for the phenomenon of the Pair
Instability Supernova.


The News: Rounding up the astronomy news this month we have:


An enigmatic radio burst opens up a new method of probing the
universe

Hubble takes a look at interstellar comet

Hygiea becomes the latest candidate to be recategorized as a
dwarf planet

Spiral galaxies give more clues to discredit the MOND theory
of dark matter

Venus going pop and perhaps a 2 billion window of
habitability

More confusion over the age of Saturn’s rings



The big news story: perhaps heavier elements in the Universe are
not only forged in supernovae, but also from neutron star
mergers.


The Sky Guide: Covering the solar system and deep sky objects on
offer to amateur astronomers in November:


Paul: A round up of the planets available to northern
hemisphere observers in November, a tour of the comets currently
in our skies and Vest at opposition. In the deep sky, Paul
recommends a few overlooked objects in Cetus and Sculptor.

Jen: The upcoming Transit of Mercury on 11/12th November.

Ralph: 3 lunar/planetary conjunctions and a couple of meteor
showers. Then further afield, the Orion Nebula



 Main Object: The innermost planet, Mercury


Q&A: What actually is the solar wind? From our good friend
Andrew Osborne.