Episodes
5 days ago
Episode 98: When PIGS Fly
5 days ago
5 days ago
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
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Episode 97: Cosmic Time Machines
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
Saturday Oct 12, 2024
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
Sunday Jul 21, 2024
Episode 96: kiErsten’s Exoplanetary Elemental Exit Episode
Sunday Jul 21, 2024
Sunday Jul 21, 2024
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:
Saturday Jul 13, 2024
Episode 95: IMPReSsive Research
Saturday Jul 13, 2024
Saturday Jul 13, 2024
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 Hackathon
https://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 website
https://tanofspace.github.io/
Past episodes relating to topics that came up in the mini-interviews
Episode 93: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Primordial Black Hole Machiney
https://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 Optometrist
https://astrosoundbites.com/2023/04/15/episode-72-a-trip-to-the-optometrist/
Episode 71: Galaxies Say Halo
https://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 II
https://astrosoundbites.com/2023/03/04/episode-70-astronomy-10-years-into-the-future-part-ii/
Episode 49: A Fine Dining Experience
https://astrosoundbites.com/2022/01/30/episode-49-a-fine-dining-experience/
Episode 3: 6 Unbelievable Facts about Black Holes
https://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.org
https://freesound.org/people/SergeQuadrado/sounds/455606/
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
Episode 94: The Floor Is Lava!
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
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
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Episode 93: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Primordial Black Hole Machiney
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
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/
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Episode 92.5: The Ship of 3-seus
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
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!
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
Beyond- Astronomy is a little Mental
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
Tuesday Jun 04, 2024
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
Thursday May 23, 2024
Episode 91: A Uranian FareWill
Thursday May 23, 2024
Thursday May 23, 2024
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/abstract
Will’s’ second paper: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022P%26SS..21305431S/abstract
Will’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=1
https://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/
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Episode 90: The Great H0 Debate
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
Sunday Apr 28, 2024
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/2020/05/12/magnets-and-hubble/
https://astrobites.org/2021/04/01/south-polarization/
https://astrobites.org/2023/03/29/multi-messenger-constraints-on-the-hubble-constant/
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