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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Before we bid our tearful farewells to Alex, Sabrina and Kiersten present and discuss two of his three publications. We learn how Alex developed and deployed a machine learning model to classify supernovae using only photometry from their host galaxies! Now that Alex is a *doctor*, he’s taking his machine learning and supernova expertise to MIT and Harvard. During the episode, Will peppers Alex with some important and some…less than important interview questions. Together the gang explores...

Episode 73: Astrophysical Prison Break   We’re planning a prison break! But first, we’re consulting the experts on this topic. Sabrina takes us to a distant galaxy cluster to figure out how so much light is escaping. Once we know how it’s breaking free, Will brings us back a little closer to home where he consults with the Trojans (and we don’t mean the ones from Homer’s Odyssey) about how a fraction of their fellow soldiers made a successful getaway. As Kiersten comes along for the ride, she...

In case your graduate student insurance doesn’t cover you over the summer, join us now as we take a quick trip to the optometrist! Kiersten checks the prescription of a neural network in finding strong lenses, and compares the results to those found by the original signers of the Declaration of Independence (there were 56, not 55, but Will gets his facts from National Treasure). Will takes us to the bleeding edge of the early Universe to a tiny protocluster lensed by JWST. Alex can’t decide...

Today we say halo from a bird’s eye view of the Universe by exploring some of the largest simulations that exist. Kiersten tells us how cosmological simulations help us study the black hole populations that the next generation of gravitational wave detectors will discover. We also say our first goodbye to Alex as he presents his last astrobite (but don’t worry,  he’ll still be around for a few more episodes!). He teaches us that most astrophysicists do not have an aversion to genetically...

Who knew a decade would fly by so quickly? In the dramatic conclusion of our two-part series, we explore cosmology, supernovae, and galaxy evolution in the year 2033 (or 2034, if you ask Kiersten about Dragonfly). Alex tells us how massive stars might live out their final days (after a few too many disclaimers), and Sabrina portmanteaus her way through the early universe with a baby quasar in tow. We get eight futuristic forecasts from colleagues near and far (and none of them are...