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
429 Episodes
40 – 60

Looking Up - 15 May 24 - 55 Cancri e is an odd one

We are finding out more about planets outside of our solar system. 55 Cancri e is an odd one: it orbits its sun once every 17 Earth hours, and is only 2.3 kms away - can you imagine that? I wonder what it sounds like there. You would definitely not…
15 May 2024 5 min

Looking Up - 08 May 24 - New Boeing Starliner capsule

Two items: the recently postponed launch of the new Boeing Starliner capsule and what will those astronauts wear? Plus, a new find: a very massive stellar black hole in our galaxy, 33 times the mass of our Sun.
8 May 2024 6 min

Looking Up - 01 May 24 - K2-18 b

K2-18 b may be the location for our first detection of alien life. We will have to wait a few months for results of recent observations to become available. Spoiler alert: probably not life you could enjoy a cup of tea and a cosy fireside chat with.
1 May 2024 4 min

Looking Up - 17 April 24 - Fast Radio Bursts

Fast Radio Bursts: can we ever see them? What are they? Masters student Kira Hanmer is among the first in the world ever to go looking for these unexplained phenomena in the optical realm.
17 Apr 2024 5 min

Looking Up - 13 Mar 24 - Leeuwenboschfontein Observatory

Kechil spent a blissful weekend recently at a star-gazing event at Leeuwenboschfontein Observatory, and you can too! Here are some links which will take you there: https://www.leeuwenboschfontein.co.za/pages/lbf-astronomical-observatory/ https://www.facebook.com/LeeuwenboschfonteinObservatory/ The children of Bellville North Primary School joined for a few hours of observing, and you can hear their reactions. Eddy Nijeboer…
13 Mar 2024 4 min

Looking Up - 24 Jan 24 - Evolution of galaxies in clusters

Kellie Devos is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, UK, studying the evolution of galaxies in clusters. It sounds rather like living in cities, in that you have a different way of being in different suburbs. She wishes she could visit them in a spaceship, but unfortunately even…
24 Jan 2024 5 min

Looking Up - 17 Jan 24 - Missions to the Moon launching this year

There are many missions to the Moon launching this year, including the Peregrine mission, which was launched recently and has unfortunately already malfunctioned. This show outlines a few of these, some of which are commercial enterprises or collaborations between industry and government space agencies. The Chinese, Japanese, US and private…
17 Jan 2024 5 min
40 – 60