The Cosmic Savannah

In this special episode of The Cosmic Savannah, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of IDIA(Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy) with three very special guests: the new director Professor Roger Deane, astronomy support specialist Walter Silima, and head of outreach and development Associate Professor Sally McFarlane.

Jacinta and Francois wrap up Season 6 of The Cosmic Savannah with this exciting and reflective episode, discussing the history, science and legacy of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) which celebrated it's 20th anniversary in November of 2025. 

In this episode of the Cosmic Savannah, Dan and Francois sit down with Dr Nick Erasmus to discuss the ATLAS digital assistant and the use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Astronomy and how this technology is shaping the new astronomy landscape, and what the role of the astronomer will be in this new age.

In this episode, Jacinta chats with Dr Simon de Wet about the discoveries he made during his Master's and PhD theses regarding mysterious gamma ray bursts (GRBs). Meanwhile, the team takes a trip back to the Pendulum Room for a final farewell to the old studio.

In this episode, Jacinta chats with Dr Simon de Wet about the discoveries he made during his Master's and PhD theses regarding mysterious gamma ray bursts (GRBs). Meanwhile, the team takes a trip back to the Pendulum Room for a final farewell to the old studio.

with Prof Matt Jarvis, Dr Imogen Whittam and Dr Anastasia PonomarevaIn this episode, Jacinta takes us back to Oxford to catch up with researchers leading one of the biggest astronomy projects with South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope — the MIGHTEE Survey!We hear from Prof. Matt Jarvis, Dr. Imogen Whittam, and Dr. Anastasia Ponomareva at the University of Oxford, who explain how astronomers use MeerKAT to study how galaxies have changed over the history of the Universe – a process called galaxy evolution. MIGHTEE looks at both the raw gas that fuels new stars (neutral hydrogen, or HI) and the powerful black holes at galaxy centres that can regulate star formation with their giant radio jets. The survey also brings together more than a hundred scientists worldwide and provides unique opportunities for South African students to lead exciting discoveries.The team talk us through how they map hydrogen gas in 3D using the famous 21-cm signal, why puzzling results suggest galaxies have kept the same supply of gas even as their star formation has slowed, and how new data challenges the textbook picture of how black holes are fuelled. They also describe the practical challenges of handling thousands of radio sources and how international collaborations of around 100 astronomers make it all possible.This episode follows on from our last, where Jacinta’s RADHIANCE students shared their Oxford adventures — now we dive into the cutting-edge science itself!

In this episode, we hear from three postgraduate astronomy students from the University of Cape Town about their worldly adventures during a research trip to the University of Oxford in the UK!

We are back with the second half of season 6!In this episode, we are joined by Kevin Govender, Chair of the National Organising Committee and Director of the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD). With a background in Nuclear Physics, Kevin first became involved in astronomy in 2006 when he managed the Collateral Benefits Programme at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). This work ultimately led to his appointment as the inaugural Director of the OAD in 2011.

In this "mid-season special" episode, we introduce you to an extraordinary giant radio galaxy nicknamed "Inkathazo", meaning ‘trouble’ in isiXhosa and isiZulu. We speak with Kathleen Charlton, a Master’s student from the University of Cape Town, about the discovery of Inkathazo and her newly published work on the topic. The post Episode 77: Troublesome ‘Inkathazo’ and the Age of Giants appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This is a rerun of a previous episode (60) titled Pulsars and possibilities with Prof. Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. Firstly, The Cosmic Savannah is very excited to welcome a new host! We […] The post A Heritage Day Special: Pulsars and possibilities – a conversation with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell (rerun) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This week, join us for a special live episode from the IAU General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa. Featuring black hole simulations expert Dr. Nicole Thomas and winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics Prof. Brian Schmidt. The post Episode 76: First ever Live Show debut at Astronomy Olympics appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

Remember to get your tickets for the first ever Cosmic Savannah Live Show at the CTICC on Wednesday 14 August at 19:00. Tickets are free to the public but must be booked via Quicket. You can also join us live online! See show notes for links. The post Announcement: The Cosmic Savannah Live Show appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this double feature episode, Jacinta interviews two amazing astronomers at the SARAO (South African Radio Astronomical Observatory) conference. The post Episode 75: Exploring the Universe at the SARAO Conference appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

With Dr Nicole Thomas and Prof Brian Schmidt It is with great excitement that we announce the first ever Cosmic Savannah Live Show on the 14th Of August (19:00) at […] The post Special Announcement: The Cosmic Savannah Live Show appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This episode of Cosmic Savannah features Professor James Chibueze, a distinguished professor at the University of South Africa, discussing his research on star formation using radio astronomy. The post Episode 74: Simulating Cosmic Nurseries appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode of The Cosmic Savannah, hosts Dr. Tshiamiso Makwela, Dr. Jacinta Delhaize, and Dr. Daniel Cunnama speak with Dr. Eli Kasai from the University of Namibia. Dr. Kasai shares his inspiring journey of establishing the astronomy department at the University of Namibia, and his work on blazars using SALT and the Cherenkov Telescope Array. He also discusses the exciting African Millimetre Telescope project and Namibia's active role in the global astrophysics community, along with efforts to engage the public through the mobile planetarium. The post Episode 73: Burping Black Holes appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode of The Cosmic Savannah, our hosts chat with Dr. Rojovola Zara-Nomena Randriamanakoto from the South African Astronomical Observatory about her transformative journey from Madagascar to becoming an instrumental figure in astronomy, advocating for women in STEM, and her research on star clusters and colliding galaxies. The post Episode 72: Exploring New Horizons in Astronomy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this milestone episode of The Cosmic Savannah, hosts Tshiamiso, Jacinta and Dan celebrate the start of Season Six and the podcast's fifth anniversary. The post Episode 71: Dark Side of the Universe appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

The band is back together! In this episode Jacinta, Tshia and Dan sit together in the cupboard once again to catch up and to reflect on Season 5. The post Episode 70: Season 5 in Review appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this mini episode Jacinta has a quick interview with Professor Russ Taylor, one of the founders of IDIA ( The Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy). The post Mini Episode: Big data, big IDIA appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In the second part of the Polar ring galaxy series, Jacinta and Tshia drop in on Dr Lucia Marchetti and Alex Sivitilli in the IDIA (The Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy) Visualisation Laboratory at UCT (The University of Cape Town) where they learn how Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to model astronomical data in three dimensions. The post Episode 69: Into the Matrix – Visualising Polar Ring Galaxies appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This week Dr Nathan Deg returns to The Cosmic Savannah to discuss Polar-ring galaxies and how he models these incredible structures. The post Episode 68: Untangling the Origins of Polar Ring Galaxies appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this “unplugged” episode, we hear from our own! New host Tshiamiso Makwela tells us about her research and we introduce you to our new podcast manager, Francois Campher. Tshiamiso (Tshia) discusses her work in the field of Astronomy Education Research. She asks us "how big is big" and "how far is far"? Tshia explains why these concepts so difficult, yet so important, to comprehend. The post Episode 67: A Stroll to the Edge of The Universe appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this new exciting episode Professor Matthew Bailes returns to discuss his recent work on Pulsars as well as his thoughts and feelings on winning the 2023 Shaw Prize for the discovery of Fast Radio Bursts. The post Episode 66: Meertime Mysteries – Pulsars and Prizes appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This is a re-run of episode 29 of The Cosmic Savannah in anticipation of an upcoming interview with Prof Matthew Bailes so all our listeners can get up to speed about everything to do with Neutron Stars! The post Episode 65: Zombies of the Cosmos (Re-run) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode, Tshiamiso and Dan have a discussion with Alexander Andersson from Oxford University about Zooniverse, citizen science projects and how citizens can contribute to the work that Astronomers do. The post Episode 64: Bursts from Space appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode, Jacinta sits down with Dr. Sthabile Kolwa to discuss the ways in which galaxies change over cosmic time, how astronomers are able to study these changes and what these studies can tell us about the cosmos as a whole. The post Episode 63: How Galaxies Evolve – The Quest for Cold Gas appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In the third and final part of the SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony series, Jacinta sits down with Professor Phil Diamond, the Director-General of the SKAO to discuss his thoughts and feelings around the construction commencement ceremony in Australia and on the future of the project as a whole. The post Episode 62: Behind the Scenes of the SKAO with Phil Diamond appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In the second part of Episode 61, Jacinta takes us on a journey to the SKA-low site in Western Australia and shares her experience of the Construction Commencement Ceremony for the Square Kilometre Array that took place in December. The post Episode 61: Part 2 – SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony – Australia appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

Join Episode 61 as Dan reminisces about visiting the SKAO site in South Africa. He shares highlights from the Construction Commencement Ceremony for the Square Kilometre Array. Exciting memories unfold! The post Episode 61: Part 1 – SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremony – South Africa appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In the world of astrophysics, few names shine as brightly as Professor Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. In today's episode, we are very privileged to welcome Jocelyn as a guest on The Cosmic Savannah. Jocelyn shares with us the full story behind her groundbreaking discovery of pulsars in the 1960s, how she overcame numerous obstacles as a woman in a male-dominated field, and her initiatives for improving diversity in physics and astronomy. The post Episode 60: Pulsars and possibilities – a conversation with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

The Cosmic Savannah Podcast returns for its 5th season, taking listeners on another captivating cosmic journey. Explore distant galaxies, enigmatic black holes, and groundbreaking research in Africa. Engaging interviews, discussions, and unravelling the universe's complexities await. Stay tuned for updates on our website and social media platforms. In this pre-season special, Jacinta and Dan sit down to chat about what we've both been up to over the past few months and what we're looking forward to in the new season, including the SKA Commencement of Construction Ceremonies, the James Webb Space Telescope and Jacinta's rockstar performance at TEDxMandurah! The post Pre-season special: What’s been happening? appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

The 5th of December 2022 sees the commencement of construction of the long-awaited Square Kilometre Array (SKA)! We are honoured to be joined by the SKA Observatory Council Chairperson, Dr Catherine Cesarsky to talk about this momentous occasion. The post Episode 59: Construction of the SKA commences! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this week's episode, Jacinta and Dan take a step back to review the past year of the Cosmic Savannah podcast. We chat about some of the highlights of the past year in astronomy and also some of our favourite episodes of the season. The post Episode 58: Season 4 in Review appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode we are joined by Dr Omima Osman who studies the lifecycles of cosmic dust. Omima explains how she is using computer simulations to understand how dust is created, grows and is destroyed in interstellar space. The post Episode 57: From dust to dust appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration has unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy! We are joined by Dr Iniyan Natarajan who is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Witwatersrand and who was part of the team of over 300 astronomers who made this possible. The post Episode 56: Our supermassive black hole appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

An oldie but a goodie - re-run of Episode 11. Jacinta takes us on a tour of her homeland, into the Australian bush, and chats about pathfinders, precursor telescopes and exciting collaborations between South Africa and Australia in the lead up to the Square Kilometre Array! The post Episode 55: A Trip Down Under (Re-run) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this week's episode we are joined by fours members of the board of the recently established African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA). AfNWA is an initiative that aims to connect women working in astronomy and related fields in Africa. AfNWA aims to guarantee the future participation of girls and women at all levels in astronomy and science developments in Africa. The post Episode 54: The African Network of Women in Astronomy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

A powerful, naturally occurring “space laser”, called a megamaser, has been discovered with South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope in a galaxy nearly five billion light-years away. We speak with the lead researcher Dr. Marcin Glowacki and team-lead Associate Professor Sarah Blyth. The post Episode 53: Space lasers! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this week’s episode, we take a step back from astronomy and focus on mental health in academia and beyond. We are joined by Dr Jack Radcliffe, an astronomer from the University of Pretoria who speaks to us about his work on galaxy evolution, as well his recent efforts to speak out about mental health challenges facing academics in particular. The post Episode 52: Head Space appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

We are joined by Prof Travis Rector, co-founder of Astronomers for Planet Earth, who chats about why and how astronomers can teach climate change! The post Episode 51: No Planet B appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In celebration of our 50th Episode, we are joined by a Titan of Astronomy, Dr Bernie Fanaroff, who speaks with us about his illustrious career and his vision for the future of astronomy in Africa The post Episode 50: Titans of Astronomy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This episode is in celebration of the IAU Women and Girls in Astronomy Month in February. We speak with Dr Elizabeth Naluminsa who is one of the first Ugandan women to obtain her PhD in astronomy is now working with instrumentation on the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The post Episode 49: SALT Spectroscopy appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

We're joined by SAAO Astronomer Dr Nic Erasmus who has been responsible for the newest telescope on the SAAO site (And he's just had a comet named after him!) Sutherland has become the latest observatory to host an asteroid tracking system funded by NASA! The post Episode 48: ATLAS – Holding up the Heavens! appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

This is a re-run of the very first episode of The Cosmic Savannah! We're re-running it in preparation for our next episode where we'll be speaking again with Nic for some exciting updates. In Episode 1, we introduce ourselves and our vision for the podcast. SALT Astronomer Dr Moses Mogotsi then describes what it's like to use the biggest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere (from 00:12m). Lastly, Dr Nicolas Erasmus tells us about the hunt for near-earth asteroids (from 00:23m) using the ATLAS network. Nic explains how another ATLAS telescope is being installed in South Africa in order to achieve continuous coverage of the Southern night sky. The post Episode 47: SALT and Near-Earth Asteroids (re-run) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Kenda Knowles. Kenda has just released a beautiful new dataset called the MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey (MGCLS). The survey contains images of the radio emission from 115 clusters of galaxies! The post Episode 46: A crash of clusters appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

The long-awaited James Webb Space Telescope will finally launch into space on December 18 2021! In this episode we are joined by Prof Christy Tremonti who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is an observational astronomer who works on galaxy evolution and stellar feedback processes. Christy speaks with us about her work, the JWST and the exciting future that awaits! The post Episode 45: The James Webb Space Telescope appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

We are joined by two experts in stellar astronomy, Priscilla Muheki from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda and Distinguished Professor Hakeem Oluseyi from the Florida Institute of Technology. Priscilla talks about her PhD research in Uganda studying violent outbursts, known as coronal mass ejections, from certain types of stars. Hakeem then goes on the explain these coronal mass ejections and the violent magnetic fields associated with them, and what effect they may have on both our technology and our entire planet! The post Episode 44: Stars behaving badly! (Re-run) appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Tariq Blecher and Shilpa Ranchod who talk to us about the clever ways they are trying to capture the elusive signals of hydrogen gas in the distant Universe. The post Episode 43: The search for hidden hydrogen appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.

We are joined by Dr Eugene Grosch who is a geologist and petrologist at Rhodes University in South Africa to discuss how planets create the building blocks for life! The post Episode 42: Rockin’ all over the World appeared first on The Cosmic Savannah.