astro[sound]bites

Episode 85: Indigenous Astronomy Part I - Living Descendants of the First Astronomers

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/

Episode 84.5: Come Podcast With Us!

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.

Episode 84: Abominable Ice

It’s all about ice, ice, baby! In this episode, Sabrina takes us on a trek to Antarctica. While we hide from Cthulhu, she tells us how the frigid observatory IceCube is using elusive neutrinos to tell us about the Milky Way. Meanwhile, our meteorologist Will does some investigation of the flavors of ice we can expect to find on some potentially habitable planets. 

 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2023/06/29/

https://astrobites.org/2022/01/07/

 

Space sound:

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/videos/2022/040/01GA960MD71VJ5ZE3EDFRT72NE

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