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
418 Episodes
1 – 20

Looking Up - 01 Jan 25 - What is time?

What is time? We only know how to measure it. Kechil canters through the technologies used to do this, including the most accurate clocks associated with local radio telescopes MeerKAT and the SKA.
1 Jan 5 min

Looking Up - 25 Dec 24

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…
25 Dec 2024 3 min

Looking Up - 13 Nov 24 - The 2025 Sky Guide Southern Africa is out now

The 2025 Sky Guide Southern Africa is out now. Gayle Andrews, the librarian of the Cape Centre tells us about it. If you're interested in joining us: https://assa.saao.ac.za/centres/cape-centre/ and the Sky Guide can be obtained from: https://struiknature.co.za/product/sky-guide-2025/
13 Nov 2024 4 min

Looking Up - 09 Oct 24 - Kechil caught up with Jordan Collier in Perth, Australia

These days, for every astronomer, there are a bunch of computer scientists, software developers and engineers behind them, creating the telescopes and software that allow them to process their data. Jordan Collier is such a person who facilitates astronomers producing science. He works in Perth, Australia which is where Kechil…
9 Oct 2024 5 min
1 – 20