Astro Live Streaming

Astro Live Streaming

In today's catch up blog post, the latest in the backlog which I want to get sorted, I look at how the current social distancing measures are affecting astronomy hobbyists outside of their own back garden.  Numerous events around the world are being postponed or cancelled because of the ban on gatherings of groups of people.  This means families, friends and organisations across the lands are turning to live streaming in an effort to avoid missing out completely.  In the last week or so, I've taken part in two live stream discussions with more in the pipeline.  The great thing is that if you don't get chance to take part, you can at least catch up with these events at a later date because inevitably, they get uploaded to YouTube.  Happy days!

Awesome Astronomy does Live Streaming

I'm a subscriber to the Awesome Astronomy podcast.  A fortnightly (ish) podcast on space and astronomy put together by the same team of people who organise Astrocamp, a twice yearly star party in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons national park.  This year, the organisers had to cancel the event, which as it happened, should be starting today, 25th April.  Rather than just kicking back, and just knocking out the podcasts, the Martian overlords have stepped up to the plate, and put together their first live streamed version of their podcast.  In this episode they had some special guest appearances and contributors who were all on hand to answer any questions put to them.
Though we are all missing Astrocamp this Spring, seeing these friends and having the chance to interact with all the regular attendees has been brilliant and uplifting.  Take a look at the recording, and subscribe to the channel.  There are more in the pipeline with the next episode due to be streamed on Monday 27th April at 8PM UK time (BST).

The Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork does Live Streaming

I come across this event via someone I follow on Instagram.  She works at the observatory, but obviously is also subjected to current restrictions.  However, that didn't stop her from putting together a live Q and A with one of the astronomers based at the observatory and streaming it on their YouTube channel.  The topic of this Q and A session covered something which has received a huge amount of press and social media coverage in the current weeks, and that is Starlink, the satellite mega consolation currently being produce by SpaceX with the aim of providing global superfast broadband coverage.  I have my own views on this, but during the Q and A, plenty of questions were being asked covering all sorts of aspects of Starlink including what will happen to the satellites if they fail, if they collide, if they come to the end of their useful life.  Also covered were such things as the ethics of launching these satellites into space and who has the final say as to who has the legal right to allow companies to carry out these launches.
This channel is really worth subscribing too.  Since doing this Q and A sessions, another live stream was put together to celebrate the 30th birthday of the Hubble Space Telescope.

These are just two notable outlets of astro related content that in my opinion, is worth spending some time watching.  That's it for this blog post.  I just wanted to bring these brilliant channels to peoples attention.  Coming soon from me, I will be returning to my own astronomy experiences and looking at some imaging sessions which I recently carried out, and also take a look at a video I have put together giving a tour of my home observatory.
Until next time, thanks for reading and stay safe!