astro[sound]bites

Episode 107: Things That Go Blip in the Night

The more things change, the more they, uh, change. This episode Cole, Shashank, and Cormac cover the exciting events that change what we see on the night sky. Ancient astronomers tracked the motions of the planets and the arrival of “guest stars” (supernovae), and nowadays we’re lucky enough to see some really wild and energetic events. Cormac gives us a view into what happens when a star punches through a black hole’s accretion disc, Shashank shows us a particularly persnickety pulsar, and Cole gets his twenty minute monologue on modern classical music cut for time. 

 

Astrobites:

This Pulsar Has Mood Swings

https://astrobites.org/2025/05/21/this-pulsar-has-mood-swings/

 

X-treme X-rays in an X-tra young system

https://astrobites.org/2025/04/16/x-treme-x-rays-in-an-x-tra-young-system/

 

Space Sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2_3RgX-RIY&list=PPSV

 

Gif of Sagittarius A* we mentioned:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0QRpid5_QU

Episode 106: Sabrina’s Super Sad Sendoff

In this episode, we say goodbye to one of our beloved hosts, Sabrina Berger. We take a voyage through the depths and breadths of Sabrina’s research experience. Cole tells us how Sabrina investigates JWST’s ability to estimate the masses of galaxies through the glare of their quasars, and Lucia tells us how Sabrina used navigation satellites to calibrate radio telescopes. In between, we quiz Sabrina on her own ASB episodes and finish with Sabrina’s experience in 3 different countries and Sabrina’s advice for future grad students!

 

Arxiv links:

- https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06144

- https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12130

Episode 105.5: NASA Needs Your Help!

In this episode, the (domestic) American sector of Astro[sound]bites covers the recent proposed budget cuts to NASA, the largest in NASA’s entire history. We cover the downsides that these cuts would have for science and the economy, and what you can do to speak out.

 

How to reach out:

Find your representative:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

 

AAS Letter Writing Guidelines for Astronomers: 

https://aas.org/advocacy/get-involved/action-alerts/action-alert-2025-support-science

 

Planetary Society Letter Writing Guidelines for the General Public

https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/53

 

Astrobite with Guidelines for Letter Writing

https://astrobites.org/2025/04/15/help_nasa/

 

Sources: 

The Budget Request (NASA Stuff begins on page 39 of the pdf)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf

 

Original ArsTechnica Report:

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/

 

NASA’s economic output:

https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2023-economic-impact-report/#:~:text=NASA%20Boosts%20the%20U.S.%20Economy,D.C.%2C%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023.

 

NASA’s economic output reaches all 50 states:

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-economic-benefit-reaches-all-50-states/

 

NASA’s research on climate change

https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/

 

NASA’s research on asteroid defense

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense/

 

NASA Education and Outreach

https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/education-outreach/

 

Cuts disproportionately affect marginalized groups:

https://www.fastcompany.com/91328007/trumps-federal-layoffs-are-disproportionately-impacting-women-and-people-of-color

 

Episode 105: Citizen Brain

In today’s episode, Cormac, Cole and Lucia catch you up with all things Citizen Science. In the epoch of ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini (no, not the telescope), it’s easy to forget about the 20 Watt computer you’re using to read this sentence. Yes, even YOU can contribute to cutting-edge astronomical research, as we present two examples of cosmic crowdfunding in action. Cole convinces us that nearby galaxies need some Clump Scouts, and Lucia shows us how volunteers have been the (tur)key to finding a new star-studded dwarf galaxy. We also discuss the non-research benefits of democratising science, and in a fourth-wall-shattering pivot, we ask you, yes YOU, what you’d like to hear more of on a[s]b.

astrosoundbites@gmail.com

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/07/29/galaxy-zoo-clump-scout/

https://astrobites.org/2023/11/18/a-lonely-little-galaxy-at-the-edge-of-our-neighborhood/

Space Sound:

Adapted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6vbST9iMOU

XKCD Comic:

https://xkcd.com/1425/

Article about the (not so?) amateur astronomer:

https://astro.arizona.edu/news/tucson-doctor-wins-national-award-his-second-act-amateur-astronomer

Episode 104: Star Destroyers

That stars die will be old news for most listeners. But sometimes, stars don’t just die, they get ripped apart by supermassive black holes. Cormac, Cole and Lucia discuss these so-called tidal disruption events. Specifically, how these events are connected to X-ray absorption features called extreme coronal lines. The hosts also take a look at one of the true superstars of supernova remnants: the Crab Nebula. As it turns out, studying the ejecta can give clues about the pulsar at the heart of the nebula. The discussion revolves around the every-day of doing science. Spoiler: it’s not all like solving exercise sheets.

A New Look at Our Old Friend, the Crab Nebula
https://astrobites.org/2025/03/16/new-look-at-crab/

Exploring the remains of a destroyed (death) star
https://astrobites.org/2025/03/08/exploring-the-remains-of-a-destroyed-death-star/ 

Space Sound: https://youtu.be/aG300vtQ1es

Episode 103: Lambasting Lambda CDM

Shoot, someone made the mistake of letting Cole pick the episode topic. In this episode, Cole, Cormac, and Shashank talk about the big boy on cosmology campus: Lambda CDM. This model has gotten a bit too big for its britches we think: what are the things about the universe that this model can’t explain? Shashank gives us a tour through the dark matter hearts of galaxies which don’t match up with cosmological predictions and Cormac shows us how 1500 (ish? We’re not clear on this one.) supernovae could hint at a fundamental flaw in Lambda CDM.

 

Astrobites:

Testing cosmology with the DES 5-year supernovae dataset:

https://astrobites.org/2024/03/22/template-post-21/

 

Digging into the Core: Dark Matter and Dwarf Galaxies

https://astrobites.org/2015/07/14/digging-into-the-core-dark-matter-and-dwarf-galaxies/

 

Space Sound:

Listen to the hum of NANOGrav's gravitational wave background

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGO0wQK9ns4

Episode 102: Per-severance Ad Astra

In this episode, Cormac, Lucia and Cole lift the lid on the lifecycle of space missions by peering into a preponderance of proposals. If you’ve ever wondered how your favourite telescope, rover or probe made it into space, then wonder no more. Lucia brings us a novel way to track potentially hazardous space junk using 5G, while Cole teases us with some magnetic results from the LISA Pathfinder mission. We also discuss our favourite proposed space missions, and debate the right balance between risk and reward.

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/08/13/5g-signals-to-track-space-trash/

https://astrobites.org/2024/12/21/template-post-15-2/

Space Sound:

https://www.nasa.gov/audio-and-ringtones/
(First Acoustic Recording of Laser Shots on Mars)

Episode 101: Weather Woes

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

Episode 100: Be There or Be Ten Squared

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.

Episode 99: The Grand Finale

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