Episode 101: Weather Woes   In this episode, we take a dive into weather phenomena in space. Shashank, Cormac and Lucia discuss what the terms hot and cold mean in space and the temperature ranges we tend to see outside the Solar System and the galaxy. Then, Cormac tells us about the climate on Venus, and Lucia delves into cold fronts between galaxies. Finally, we round off with some hot takes about the most underrated parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in astrophysics!   Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2024/12/24/its-getting-hot-in-here-so-take-off-all-your-h2o/ https://astrobites.org/2024/11/11/cold-front-outside/   Space sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYXAdXf5gWU

Astrobites turns 100! For our ten squared-th episode we take a tour of all of the extremes of astrophysics: the heaviest and the lightest, the fastest and the slowest, the brightest and dimmest. In doing so, Shashank covers an astrobite on itty bitty particles that pack a big punch, Lucia talks about medium-ish galaxies and their black hole hearts, and Cormac panics about the danger of violent kilonovae. To help us celebrate, we meet up with some old friends to discuss dark matter, exoplanets, and how ridiculously long a Ph.D. takes.  Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2024/06/06/agns-quenching-dwarf-galaxies/ https://astrobites.org/2013/06/04/cosmic-rays-from-the-telescope-array/ https://astrobites.org/2023/11/20/kilonova-safety/ https://astrobites.org/2018/08/16/do_the_milky_ways_stellar_streams_have_that_fuzzy_dark_matter_feeling/ https://astrobites.org/2022/11/28/evaporating-exoplanet/ Space sound: http://soundcloud.com/alexhp-1/supernova-sonata MIT study on children thinking logarithmically: https://news.mit.edu/2012/thinking-logarithmically-1005#:~:text=Cognitive%20scientists%20theorize%20that%20that's,is%2031%2C%20or%203.

Danger - explosive! This week’s episode is all about supernovae. These star-ripping, neutrino spewing explosions are important to various fields of astrophysics. Cormac, Cole, and Lucia discuss just when stars actually go supernova. And also, whether we can use gravitational waves to tell which compact object is left behind. Everybody gets to share their favourite supernova science and (as we all love to do) to complain about how much astronomers love old, inconsistent nomenclature. Enjoy!   Intro questions: Powering a Supernova https://astrobites.org/2024/10/04/how-to-power-supernovae/ The explodability criterion: How to make a star go supernova https://astrobites.org/2024/09/13/explodability-criterion/ Can we perform a Supernova Autopsy Via Gravitational Waves? https://astrobites.org/2024/10/08/gwautopsy/ Space Sound: https://youtu.be/S-saaAyaW0c

In this episode, Cormac, Shashank and Cole dig deep into Galactic Archaeology as we look into the past of our Milky Way. Cole brings us a catastrophic computational collision, while Shashank gives us the low-down on low-metallicity, and we see just how the (Gaia) sausage gets made. We also discuss the rights, wrongs and funnies of Astronomers trying to name things, and the diverse design philosophies behind some of our favourite observational facilities. Astrobites:    https://astrobites.org/2023/07/27/colossal_collisions_and_the_milky_way/   https://astrobites.org/2024/08/03/pigs-sagittarius/   Space sound:   https://www.aip.de/en/news/exploring-the-history-of-the-early-milky-way-with-sound/   DOOFAS Acronyms website:   https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~gpetitpas/Links/Astroacro.html

In this episode, Shashank, Cole and Lucia bend time in their debut podcast together as we talk about the various ways astronomy is like time travel. Lucia gives us a peek into the past with the storied supernova Cas A, while Cole brings us on a nostalgic quest into gravitational wave memory. We hope you enjoy time traveling with us!   Astrobites:    https://astrobites.org/2024/08/26/cas_a_jwst/   https://astrobites.org/2024/08/28/gwmem/   Space sound:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9vGpkQurfc JWST Cas A images:   https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/149/01HGGZ4TPD8XFNPCBTZ2QYM0ZM   https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/121/01GWQBBY77MHGFV3M3N63KDCEJ

This episode marks Kiersten’s last astro[sound]bites episode (and also side note – we’re posting this on her birthday!). To recognize Kiersten for her incredible time as a co-host, we take a journey through her academic paper trail by discussing her papers on how magma and metallicities affect how we think about exoplanetary formation and observations. Then we take a deep dive into Kiersten’s time as a co-host and graduate student including her stance on “publish or perish” and what she’s most excited about starting her NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellowship this fall.   Kiersten’s Papers:  https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.13726 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.13821

In this week's episode, we take you on a two-part journey to Europe! First, Lucia and Cormac guide you through the differences of graduate programs in Europe and the US. Then, we jump into a series of mini-interviews with fellow PhD students about their research. We journey through a wide range of topics, including black holes big and smalls, the powerful winds of massive stars, and much more. If you would like to learn more about any of these topics, check out the links below! The mini-interviews were conducted as part of the IMPRS-Astro Hackathon, an unconference organised by Cormac and a few colleges, which brought together students from Heidelberg and Munich. IMPRS-Astro Hackathonhttps://imprs-astro-hackathon.de/ Statistics on physics students in Germany (unfortunately in German)https://www.dpg-physik.de/veroeffentlichungen/magazine-und-online-angebote/pj/studierendenstatistiken Mini-Interviews The circumgalactic medium - Joanne's personal websitehttps://tanofspace.github.io/ Past episodes relating to topics that came up in the mini-interviews Episode 93: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Primordial Black Hole Machineyhttps://astrosoundbites.com/2024/06/20/episode-93-itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-primordial-black-hole-machineyepisode-92-5-the-ship-of-3-seus/ Episode 72: A Trip to the Optometristhttps://astrosoundbites.com/2023/04/15/episode-72-a-trip-to-the-optometrist/ Episode 71: Galaxies Say Halohttps://astrosoundbites.com/2023/03/26/episode-70-astronomy-10-years-into-the-future-part-ii-2/ Episode 70: Astronomy 10 Years into the Future Part IIhttps://astrosoundbites.com/2023/03/04/episode-70-astronomy-10-years-into-the-future-part-ii/ Episode 49: A Fine Dining Experiencehttps://astrosoundbites.com/2022/01/30/episode-49-a-fine-dining-experience/ Episode 3: 6 Unbelievable Facts about Black Holeshttps://astrosoundbites.com/2019/12/07/episode-3-6-unbelievable-facts-about-black-holes/ Credit for the jingle (transition to the mini-interviews): SergeQuadrado on freesound.orghttps://freesound.org/people/SergeQuadrado/sounds/455606/

Was the floor in your childhood home ever lava? If so, you may have been training to visit these spicy magma-filled exoplanets! In this episode, we're turning up the heat and investigating what makes magma/lava so important for potential extraterrestrial life. Sabrina takes us to the poster child of strange lava worlds and finally gives exoplanteers an answer to the long debate of whether it has an atmosphere or if its star blew it away. Then, Cormac tells us all about how water can play well with magma. Kiersten is convinced that these lava worlds might just be the perfect place for a hot summer vacation.   Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2024/06/19/template-post-17/ https://astrobites.org/2023/09/21/magma-oceans-and-surface-water/   Kiersten’s paper:  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/acea85/pdf   Space sound: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3clDSXN26N9lQtCwJgMb2tR/sonification  

In this week’s episode, we take a look at the hottest trend in dark matter candidates - Primordial Black Holes. They’re like black holes, only smaller (in some cases)! Join us as we see what all the fuss is about. Kiersten shares a story of a black hole playing video games inside a star and glitching out of the mainframe, while Shashank makes his a[s]b debut with an explosive transient conundrum that *might* explain the mystery of dark matter once and for all. We round off with a discussion about our favourite pet dark matter theories and the merits of direct experimental searches. Astrobites:https://astrobites.org/2024/05/29/noclip-on-simulated-primordial-black-holes-could-dance-through-sun-like-stars/ https://astrobites.org/2024/05/31/are-pbhs-detonating-white-dwarfs/ Astrobite Paper with Pretty Orbits: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.08113 Space Sound:https://supernova.eso.org/news/releases/es2105/

We've reached a pivotal moment for astro[sound]bites: the podcast era where each of the original co-hosts has been replaced. Just like the Ship of Theseus, we ask: Is astro[sound]bites still the same show, even though all its original components have been replaced? We believe it is, and we’re excited about its continued evolution. In this episode, we’re thrilled to introduce the three new astro[sound]bites co-hosts: Shashank, Cole, and Lucia. They'll be joining us in the next few months, and we’ll discuss what each is excited about for the future of the show. Stay tuned for an exciting new chapter as the new co-hosts take over steering the ship!

Episode 92: Beyond- Astronomy is a little Mental   Astronomy is hard! And in ways that extend far beyond the science we do every day. In this Beyond episode, Kiersten and Cormac talk all about mental health in astronomy and the structural issues that may be contributing to things like burnout and anxiety. It’s not all doom and gloom though. There are a few things that studies suggest that can help. We also chat about strategies that have helped us when we were struggling in hopes that they may be useful to you too. We round off with Cormac’s Hai-cool poetic riff for our one sentence summary.  Papers discussed: https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.01768 https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4089 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048733317300422?via=ihub https://comm.wayne.edu/files/keashly_spectra2015.pdf   Cormac’s shameless plug for the Early Career Astronomers’ session at the European Astronomical Society’s meeting: https://eas.unige.ch/EAS2024/session.jsp?id=SS23 Crisis hotlines and remote support: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US): +1-800-273-8255 (live chat also available on website; hearing-impaired TTY users can also dial 800-799-4889) National Crisis Text Line: text/SMS HOME to 741741 for US; to 686868 for Canada; to 85258 for the UK Crisis Services Canada: +1-833-456-4566 (text/SMS and live chat also available on website) Samaritans (UK and Ireland): +44 116 123 (email also available on website) The Trevor Project (US): +1-866-488-7386 (text/SMS and live chat also available on website; the lifeline will talk with any individual regardless of sexuality or gender) Trans Lifeline: US: +1-877-565-8860; Canada: +1-877-330-6366 TelefonSeelSorge (Germany): 0800 / 111 0 111 or https://online.telefonseelsorge.de/index.php

91 is the atomic number of protactinium. Speaking of protracted, it’s finally time to say FareWill to Dr astroSaundbites himself, after five years of co-hosting our wonderful podcast. We begin with a deep dive into his Uranian adventures that might offer the key to our next mission there. We then reflect on his time in grad school, share some sage wisdom and explore what the future holds as he transitions to a not-postdoc at NASA.  Will’s first paper: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AJ....161..280S/abstractWill’s’ second paper: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022P%26SS..21305431S/abstractWill’s third paper: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023PSJ.....4..199S/abstract(Will’s fourth paper is in review - so stay tuned!) Will’s career resource links: Websites to help you discover lots of careers you can pursue with your PhD and how to get there:https://beyondprof.com/https://theprofessorisin.com/https://myidp.sciencecareers.org/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1https://gradfutures.princeton.edu/ A great webinar on career transitions for astronomers:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX3aUONcLP0&ab_channel=AAS Great books:https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700626885/https://theprofessorisin.com/buy-the-book/

How fast is the universe expanding? It turns out this important value, the Hubble constant (H0), is under constant debate. The two main teams have numbers that disagree by over 5 standard deviations! Today on a[s]b, we resolve the Hubble tension once and for all, as Cormac and Kiersten square off in the Great H0 Debate. Cormac comes in with feist and facts while Kiersten engages with rebuttal and reason. In the end, there can only be 1 winner, and that’s for you to decide! Vote here for the winner of the debate, what the true value of H0 should be, and what we got wrong in the episode (we tried our best!). https://forms.gle/3dybtrhysS9Lvia37   Timeline of the Hubble tension: https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*oekTYTkZQmw7DxzUaLqDVw.png   Astrobites used for this episode:  https://astrobites.org/2016/04/20/conflicts-between-expansion-history-of-the-local-and-distant-universe/ https://astrobites.org/2020/05/12/magnets-and-hubble/ https://astrobites.org/2021/04/01/south-polarization/ https://astrobites.org/2021/04/27/bursting-the-hubble-trouble-bubble-measuring-h0-with-fast-radio-bursts/ https://astrobites.org/2023/03/29/multi-messenger-constraints-on-the-hubble-constant/ https://astrobites.org/2023/10/04/holy-cow-is-our-journey-through-the-universe-the-reason-for-the-hubble-tension/ https://astrobites.org/2024/04/16/sn_h0pe/   Space sound: https://www.system-sounds.com/earth-day/. Credit: SYSTEM Sounds/Matt Russo/Andrew Santaguida   Article by Subir Sarkhar: https://inference-review.com/article/heart-of-darkness   Cool Wikipedia page Will references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeral_prefix   Chart Kiersten references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_distance_ladder#/media/File:Extragalactic_Distance_Ladder_en.svg

In this episode, we hear about Kiersten and Will’s epic adventures in both hemispheres! Both Kiersten and Will watched the eclipse that passed through North America on April 8, 2024 and are still buzzing with excitement. Kiersten tells us about a recent paper that explores why planets might act so indecisive about sitting between being a super-Earth or mini-Neptune. Will’s astrobite describes a similarly chaotic exoplanetary tale about a very slow moving planet which “came in like a wrecking ball” and “never hit habitability so hard” (everything in quotations must be sung in Miley Cyrus’ singing voice). All in all, we all share a laugh and an emotionally charged episode! Kiersten’s astrobite: https://astrobites.org/2024/03/28/template-post-22/ Will’s astrobite: https://astrobites.org/2024/03/06/exoplanet-hr-5183-b/   Eclipse XKCD: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2914:_Eclipse_Coolness Eclipse Astronomy Photo of the Day: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240409.html Sonification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8al9FRz-VKY Sonification description: https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/listen-eclipse Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8

In celebration of the a-bit-over-a-week after St. Patrick’s (definitely not Patty’s) Day, we bring you another Ireland-related episode. Due to historically unsupported stereotypes about the Irish being lucky, we bring you two astrobites busting with cosmic coincidences and a dash of luck. Kiersten tells about a plucky planet that avoided a hangry host star,  while Will brings us yet another binary black hole bonanza. Cormac shares a bit of an infamous Irish space sound that you could call cosmic comic relief.  In the spirit of luck, we talk about the role of luck in our own journeys to space and in the field of astronomy as a whole.   This week’s “space sound” - https://www.tiktok.com/@ladbibleireland/video/7278649311334780192?lang=en  

In celebration of St. Patrick’s (not Patty’s) Day, we share a super short sneak peek at next week’s episode, featuring fun Irish astronomical facts. We’re calling it the Shamrock Shake-up! In addition to the astronomical facts, Will takes us on a journey to the past with some wild Irish lore of his own! We hope you enjoy what might be our first “Beyond the beyond” episode, and Lá Fhéile Pádraig faoi mhaise daoibh go léir!   Intro music excerpt: “Granny hold the candle while I shave the chicken’s lip” - Bodega https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz4IxFy27dw

We talk about gravitational waves again, but this time, in ways you wouldn’t expect. Cormac tells us how you could use gravitational waves to study the interior of the Sun, if the alignment is just right. Sabrina explores whether gravitational waves could be detected by Earth’s magnetosphere through the Gertsenshtein effect. Simultaneously, we learn that Sabrina knows how to pronounce Russian names properly and Will isn’t the biggest fan of theory.    Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2023/06/20/using-planetary-magnetospheres-to-detect-gravitational-waves/ https://astrobites.org/2023/11/11/using-gravitational-waves-to-peer-inside-of-the-sun/   Additional thematic material: https://astrobites.org/2023/02/08/detecting-gravitational-waves-with-the-moon/ https://astrobites.org/2022/12/22/gravitational-wave-parallax/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117723009171?via%3Dihub   Space sound: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/sounds-of-the-sun/ Ultra-high-frequency gravitational wave conference: https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/activities/UHF-GW.php

In the second episode of the astro[sound]bites series focusing on Indigenous astronomy, we interview Duane Hamacher, a physics professor at the University of Melbourne and a world leading researcher in Indigenous astronomy. Duane shares his journey from Missouri to pursuing a PhD in Australia and immersing himself in the study of astronomy within the Torres Strait community, learning from Indigenous knowledge holders. He tells us how Indigenous peoples around the world have seen astronomy more as a way of life that’s embedded in their culture. Through our discussion, we challenge common misconceptions and gain insight into the profound significance that Indigenous astronomy has held for humanity, long preceding the invention of telescopes. However, our interview only scratches the surface of the field of Indigenous astronomy.   Thank you to Prof. Duane Hamacher for taking the time to be interviewed for this episode! (Also sorry for the construction noise in the background of this episode! We hope the exciting interview makes up for it.)   Duanes’ book The First Astronomers: https://www.thefirstastronomers.com/

Did you know that Indigenous communities around the world have been doing astronomy since ancient times? Indigenous peoples studied the night sky with great precision. In this episode, we talk to five indigenous astronomers from across the world to understand how their identity and communities shaped their journey to science. Their interviews tell us about their cultures from who their Elders are to how they used the constellations to harvest emu eggs.    Thank you to Kirsten Banks, Krystal de Napoli, Hilding Nielson, Bridget Kimsey, and Corey Gray for taking the time to be interviewed for this episode!   Check out these astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2018/10/26/additional-arguments-that-aboriginal-australians-observed-variable-stars/ https://astrobites.org/2022/11/11/book-review-the-first-astronomers/ https://astrobites.org/2023/07/01/betelgeuse-betelgeuse-betelgeuse-is-it-supernovatime/   The First Astronomers Book: https://www.thefirstastronomers.com/

Did we mention we’re recruiting two new co-hosts? And also our new Mars Office Manager and Chief Astrologer? Lots of exciting things are happening on a[s]b (and on Mars) in 2024 and we want you to be a part of it! Find out more and apply to be a co-host here: https://astrosoundbites.com/recruiting-2024/. We can’t wait to hear from you.