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 Kechil Kirkham

385 Episodes

60 – 80

Looking Up - 18 Jan 23 A satellite launch recently failed from the UK on 9th January

A satellite launch recently failed from the UK on 9th January. Satellites were to be released from a rocket fired from a jumbo jet which took off from Cornwall, a southern county in England. This was the first ever satellite launch from the UK, but they will try again. Learn…

18 Jan 2023 4 min

LOOKING UP - 11 JAN 23 There is a comet arriving in our neighbourhood

There is a comet arriving in our neighbourhood, listen out for announcements in early February. There are new lunar landers created by private industry, on their way to the Moon. These pave the way for more ambitious undertakings.

11 Jan 2023 4 min

Looking Up - 28 Dec 22 How is it that the Earth is not the center of the solar system?

How is it that the Earth is not the center of the solar system? It does look like the Sun, Moon and planets move around us. Retrograde motion, epicycles, these are explained in 5-minutes, with some history thrown in.

28 Dec 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 14 Dec 22 The Orion capsule splashed down last Sunday

The Orion capsule splashed down last Sunday, as part of NASA's Artemis programme, which will send humans back to the Moon. Find out how it's going.

14 Dec 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 07 Dec 22 Sumari Barocci-Faul, a Masters student at the University of Cape Town

Sumari Barocci-Faul, a Masters student at the University of Cape Town, tells Kechil about her research in cataclysmic variable stars: exploding stars - more great balls of fire.

7 Dec 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 30 Nov 22 Great balls of fire!

Great balls of fire! A fireball, or bolide, was seen by many above Kirstenbosch Gardens at the concert last weekend. And other fiery topics: the eruption of Mauna Loa in Hawaii and volcanism on other planets in, and out of, our solar system.

30 Nov 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 23 Nov 22 Chris Forder has spent a lifetime building telescopes

Chris Forder has spent a lifetime building telescopes, a very worthy hobby. He tells Kechil about the changes that have occurred in telescope design and materials over the last 60 years.

23 Nov 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 16 Nov 22 South Africa is to host a ground station for NASA

South Africa is to host a ground station for NASA to communicate with the Artemis lunar exploration programme at Matjiesfontein. This is great news for SANSA. Also a plug for the 2023 Sky Guide Southern Africa published by Penguin Random House / Struik Nature.

16 Nov 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 09 Nov 22

9 Nov 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 02 Nov 22 Kechil mentions a couple of new space engineering endeavours

Kechil mentions a couple of new space engineering endeavours: how to get heavy objects through tricky atmospheres on other planets, and launching hypersonic planes from other massive planes. Also something scary for Halloween: a large asteroid missed us. Phew!

2 Nov 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 26 Oct 22 An ancient text has been found and accurately dated

An ancient text has been found and accurately dated, to the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in 129 BCE. This is a major historical breakthrough as it shows that people were accurately measuring the stars at that time, and using charts to predict their positions and movements.

26 Oct 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 12 Oct 22 Out in the Karoo in the middle of the Northern Cape

Out in the Karoo in the middle of the Northern Cape is the site of the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory, consisting of 64 MeerKAT radio dishes and other strange instruments, designed to capture radio waves from the universe. Turning them into something astronomers can work with requires the biggest…

12 Oct 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 05 Oct 22 The effect of hurricane Ian on space launches

A round up of recent astronomical news: the effect of hurricane Ian on space launches, Citizen Science and the search for exoplanets has a new SETI project, and no eclipse for us down in South Africa.

5 Oct 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 30 Sept 22 NASA's DART project could save the entire planet!

NASA's DART project could save the entire planet! Last Monday NASA successfully hit a small lump of rock in space, knocking it very slightly off orbit. This is a demonstration of a method that could be used to deal with a real threat to Earth from space.

30 Sep 2022 4 min

Looking Up - 23 Sept 22 Professor Paul Groote talks to Kechil about multiwavelength astronomy

Professor Paul Groote talks to Kechil about multiwavelength astronomy and how it is that we know so much about the stars.

23 Sep 2022 5 min

Looking Up - 16 Sept 22 - Want to see the biggest single-mirror telescope in the hemisphere ?

Want to see the biggest single-mirror telescope in the hemisphere? Want to look at the stars through powerful instruments? Claudine Jasmine is a tour guide in Sutherland at the South African Astronomical Observatory and here tells Kechil what you need to do. Go to www.saao.ac.za to book for a day…

16 Sep 2022 5 min