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.