#64 - October 2017

The Discussion: You’d be forgiven for thinking we recorded this
episode drunk – but we assure you, we weren’t. And you’ll have to
forgive us for our crappy audio and shameless national
stereotyping!


But in this show, recorded from our dark sky star party in the
Welsh Brecon Beacons, we discuss the event, Jeni’s talk on
exoplanet research and we take a look at listeners’ emails.


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


A fresh look at the age and high metallicity of an observable
star cluster

Australia takes the plunge and announces the creation of its
own space agency

Research giving hints of water on planets in the TRAPPIST 1
system



Hat of Woo: Paul’s festering Hat of Woo gets another airing as we
take a look at the end of the world on 23rd September as planet
Nibiru collides with Earth (or the beginning of The Rapture, if
the world doesn’t end). Assuming you’re reading this or listening
to the podcast, the world clearly didn’t end!


Q&A: Listeners’ questions via email, Facebook & Twitter
take us on a journey into the astronomy issues that have always
plagued our understanding or stretched our credulity. This month
we’re tackling a question about the consequences of discovering
life on another planet to planetary exploration:


“Let’s say the next Mars rover that is tweaked to find life on
Mars finds some microbial life what impact would that have on the
whole Mars exploration plans? I cannot imagine that one can send
a crew of astronauts to Mars' surface and avoid contamination. If
Mars is declared some sort of reserve shouldn't we then shelve
all these plans? Clemens Unger, Melbourne Australia