astro[sound]bites

Episode 83: Stellar Shrinkflation

In this week’s episode, Cormac has somehow made it to hosting a second time (applause). This time, we discuss the smallest, reddest and exoplanetiest(?) stars - M dwarfs! Find out why we call them that, and why these temperamental ‘tars are interesting for exoplanets. Sabrina tells us about not-so-boring M stars showing complex and periodic behaviour, and Will shares some *gasp* lab work-based results showing that M dwarfs may be more habitable than we think…
This week’s episode rounds off with a discussion about what the “Search for Life” really means, and how it’s (sometimes mis)used in astronomy.

Astrobites:
astrobites.org/2023/11/02/ripples-in-time-the-transient-nature-of-mysterious-m-stars/
astrobites.org/2023/03/22/could-some-earthlings-survive-in-exoplanets-around-m-dwarfs/

Space Sound:
“The Sound of Two Black Holes Colliding” by LIGO Lab Caltech : MIT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyDcTbR-kEA

Episode 82: So the universe thinks it can dance?

This week, our astro[sound]bites co-host crew starts a dance crew with the help of Kiersten, a former professional ballerina. We get a sample of Kiersten’s ballet skills through her astrobite, which tells us all about the secret spinning life of black holes. Our space sound sounds like something only those black holes could dance to! Cormac takes us through our first ever physics education astrobite on viewing solar eclipses with a disco ball. Do not fret if our dancing analogy still did not get you to put on your tap shoes as we also discuss the importance and diversity of analogies within astronomy and the podcast.

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/09/01/bhballet/

https://astrobites.org/2023/10/13/doing-astronomy-with-disco-balls/

 

Space Sound:

https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/pfrancis/Music/library/QSOcomp.mp3

 

Paper on space sound: 

https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/pfrancis/Music/

 

Episode 81: Hubble’s Hydra

In this week’s episode, Cormac makes his hosting debut as we talk about the most pressing threat to modern Astronomy (other than a worldwide coffee shortage) – megaconstellations! Despite sharing a majority of syllables with the collective noun of asterisms we all know and pretend to remember, these formations of hundreds of satellites are becoming more and more of an issue for astronomers. Will tells us about how satellites are sprinkling spectra with a side of the Sun and Kiersten reveals how even the Hubble Space Telescope is not safe from the multi-headed monsters of Musk et al. Join us as we find out that things might not be as bad as they seem, and discuss the pros and cons of these developments.

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/09/07/satellites-in-weave/

https://astrobites.org/2023/08/10/telescopes_in_orbit/

Space Sound: 

Handcrafted by Cormac using twotone.io, based on a MESA stellar evolution model by Harim Jin.

Episode 80: The Pulsar Boomerang

In this week’s episode, we meet some of the animals in the neutron star zoo through astrobites with two surprising observations. Will tells us about a mysterious signal from a magnetar that appeared two years ago for 20 minutes and has yet to come back. Meanwhile, Cormac provides Will’s magnetar with some hope by telling us the story of a pulsar signal that appeared 20 years ago and just reappeared recently. Come along for a boomerang of a journey as we discuss observing pulsars from Earth, what it’s like at the pulsars themselves, and all the way back to Earth for a discussion of bad naming and bad programming languages.

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/07/31/disappearing-pulsar/

https://astrobites.org/2023/08/21/long-period-magnetar/

Space Sound: 

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/the-black-of-the-star--for-percussion-and-pulsar/5011294

Performance: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okeBqktyyS4

Episode 79: The Vanishing Act

Spooky season is here! In this episode, we’re investigating the ghostly disappearances of astrophysical objects. Sabrina does some detective work to solve the mystery of a missing black hole, and Kiersten tries to convince her that Halloween is the best holiday. Meanwhile, Cormac convenes with ghosts of stars to figure out where they have vanished off to. It turns out that gravitational waves are the perfect medium for an astrophysical seance! 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2022/05/10/missing-black-hole/

https://astrobites.org/2023/08/12/vanishing-stars-massive-island/

 

Space sound:

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Xo3HajfkrKQ

Episode 78: There’s More Air out There

We went on summer break (or winter break for our astronomer down under) but JWST did not! In our first episode back, we report on two new JWST Astrobites about exoplanet atmosphere. Kiersten tells us about the search for an atmosphere in a famous planetary system, Sabrina explains how poisonous gasses can signal “pre-life,” and Will appreciates null results that aren’t his own. 

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/08/08/vibe-checking-trappist-1c/

https://astrobites.org/2023/08/19/signs-of-pre-life-jwst/

 

Space sound: 

https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2022/sonify5/animations.html

Episode 77.5: Astro[sound]bites on three continents

In this episode, astro[sound]bites gets even more international as we welcome our new co-host, Cormac Larkin, based in Europe! We sit down in three different time zones and continents to learn more about Cormac and discuss what we’re each excited about for the next year of astro[sound]bites. 

Introduction to research with astro[sound]bites:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ztsQ92NeV0Nzhg0ZaohNB?si=a5a06325cb444076

Introduction to exoplanets with astro[sound]bites:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YQaowzQUGlSiyQdtdglUy?si=9e1201dbabf34ba8

 

Episode 77: The Air out There

We take a deep breath of exoplanet atmospheres, discussing what JWST is capable of and what it already has accomplished using transmission spectroscopy. In this episode, we learn that Sabrina misses SOFIA, brown dwarfs have sandy clouds, and Will knows a thing or two about Picaso (yes, that’s with one “s”). AND as a tribute to Black Space Week, following up from Episode 76, the papers we presented in this episode were both written by Black astronomers. 

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2021/12/22/atmospheres-small-planets-big-telescope/

https://astrobites.org/2022/09/02/jwsts-first-direct-spectrum/

 

Space sound: HARP. You can sign up to be a part of this amazing citizen science research! 

https://listen.spacescience.org/

Episode 76: Black In Astro 2023

Only 1% of Physics PhDs awarded to US citizens were to Black students in 2019 (according to the American Institute of Physics). In celebration of Juneteenth, we’ve invited the Black In Astro team to chat about their mission to support and highlight Black people in space science-related fields. We hear about their trajectories in space sciences and astronomy and their perspectives on the future. This episode’s release also marks the beginning of Black Space Week hosted by Black in Astro! They tell us how the celebration will be bigger and better in 2023 to continue celebrating Black scientists worldwide. 

 

Black In Astro: https://www.blackinastro.com/

 

Black Space Week 2023: https://www.blackinastro.com/posters-and-advertisements-for-bsw2023

 

Juneteenth: https://www.nytimes.com/article/juneteenth-day-celebration.html

 

Black Representation in Physics & Astronomy: https://astrobites.org/2020/06/12/blackinastro-black-representation-in-astro-physics-and-the-impact-of-discrimination/

 

American Institute of Physics Report: https://www.aip.org/statistics/reports/trends-physics-phds-171819

 

Articles: 

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-021-00361-5

https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching

https://onezero.medium.com/a-break-up-letter-with-astronomy-from-a-young-black-woman-a30de24fe209

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2022/02/11/does-academia-actually-want-black-professors/?sh=6af2a1b1f4ca

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/

 

Episode 75: Stellar Snacks

Did you know that talking about astronomy can actually make you hungry? In this episode, Kiersten and Will take us on a culinary adventure through food themed astrobites. Instead of starting with the main course, Will takes us to Mars for dessert where we dine on a meteorite that initially got confused for a huge piece of chocolate. Then, Kiersten takes us to a stellar cooking class where we learn about the ingredients needed to make small exoplanets and its striking similarities to baking a cake. 

 

Sonification & Visualization:

Sounds of Exoplanet Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idlB8JgKGU4

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/04/29/cacao-meteorite-and-other-fe-ni-meteorites-on-mars/

https://astrobites.org/2022/10/21/the-great-planet-bake-off/