Awesome Astronomy

The Discussion: More filming for the BBC Longer days and shorter nights L Showcasing amateur photography on noctilucent clouds Listeners’ emails on Less well known cultural names for Ursa Major The current planetary alignment in the sky     The News: Rounding up the astronomy news in April, we have: The Milky Way once went through a massive rate of star formation Solving the riddle of how Mars’ storms can be so big and violent A new data release from the incredible Gaia space telescope Solving the riddle of Barnard’s Loop The big news story: A big boost in the search for life in the universe     The Sky Guide: This month we’re taking a look at the constellation of Serpens with a guide to its history, how to find it, a couple of deep sky objects and a round-up of the solar system views on offer in July.     Q&A: Will a black hole always look like a donut whichever direction you observe it from? From our good friend Mitch Sevier, presumed to be in the United States.