This hour, Astronomer Dr Grant Christie joins Ryan Bradley, in for Graeme Hill, to talk the latest in astronomy news. NASAs mission to the Asteroid Belt, Pluto rediscovered as a planet, and a typo misguides a binary star merger. NASAs Dawn spacecraft turned science fiction into science fact by using ion propulsion to explore the two largest bodies in the main asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres, found between Mars and Jupiter. The mission is drawing to a close after 11 years, when the spacecraft runs out of hydrazine, which keeps it oriented and in communication with Earth. NASA's Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on August 9th, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Mars' Vera Rubin Ridge. Is Pluto a planet? Dr Christie says personally he doesnt see any justification for calling it a planet but according to new research, the reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid. Astronomy: Signs from another universe, potatoes on the moon? Astronomy: Collecting a bag of asteroid stuff A typo has thrown off the timing for an expected binary star merger, with a predicted never before seen merger announced to happen in 2022. A graduate student in the US found that predication was wrong due to an error in the data table no new date has been provided as of yet. Listen to the full interview with Dr Grant Christie above. Weekend Variety Wireless with Graeme Hill, 8pm - midnight Saturdays and Sundays, on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the Rova app on Android and iPhone. RadioLIVE.

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