This is the first of our series of 6 ‘Astrotour’ episodes of Astrophiz, where we’ll be publishing recordings of interviews I did on a two and a half thousand kilometre tour of five of Australia’s finest Eastern state radio and optical observatories. Astrophiz 68: Dr Jane Kaczmarek -Ultra wide band receiver commissioning scientist PLUS: 'What's up Doc' with Dr @ianfmusgrave Today’s feature interview is with Dr Jane Kaczmarek, @jfKaczmarek, who gives us the state of play on the new receivers on the 64m Parkes dish and what it’s like to work climbing way up above the dish to do her work in the focus cabin. Back in June in Episode 60, Jane told us about growing up in Wisconsin and how her love of astronomy developed, and how her penchant for asking questions and her serendipitous move out to Australia and how her PhD on immense magnetic fields spanning the Magellanic Clouds has lead her to work with the CSIRO as the commissioning scientist for the UWL receiver on the 64m Parkes dish that bought us vision of the Apollo moon landing. In our regular segment for astrophotographers and observers, Dr Ian 'Astroblog’ Musgrave presents ‘What’s Up Doc?’ we congratulate hime on his latest Award for promoting Reason in the media and then he tells us what's up in the evening, night and morning skies for the next two weeks. In this episode he tells us about the planets and comets currently visible to the naked eye, and his meeting with famed indigenous astronomer Dr Kirsten Banks. (see Ep 53) In the News: 1. Australian ICRAR researchers using the CSIRO ASKAP radio telescope in remote Western Australia have nearly doubled the known number of ‘fast radio bursts’— powerful flashes of radio waves from deep space. 2. Some ingenious sciencing from a remote desert region in Western Australia. Imaging the Moon with MWA spider antennas may be the key to unlocking how the first stars and galaxies shaped the early Universe. See video at https://tinyurl-DOT-com/radiomoonshine

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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