Space Babble

In this episode, we interview Dr. Seth Cohen, a beloved teacher at St. Paul's School. Dr. Cohen discusses his research on galaxy clusters and his discoveries about how galaxies are oriented and where they are located in the universe (it is not random, as he shares!). Dr. Cohen also shares his professional journey and his love for teaching astronomy and physics. We hope you enjoy this episode! Dr. Cohen is one of our favorite teachers and a beacon of light in the St. Paul's community.

This summer, Emerson Bentley ‘25, delved into the fascinating world of astrophysics through an externship at the University of North Georgia’s Physics and Astronomy Department as part of the Advanced Science and Engineering Program (ASEP). Under the mentorship of Dr. Gregory Feiden, Bentley engaged deeply with stellar rotational evolution models, focusing on a specific phenomenon known as the late-stage stalling epoch. She was tasked with her own project, researching and experimenting with stellar rotational evolution models to show how a star's rotation evolves throughout its lifetime. During her four-and-a-half-week internship, Emerson engaged in a myriad of unique experiences, from researching to collaborating with professors across all disciplines of STEM. 

In today's episode, we discussed the cosmic distance ladder. From planets in our solar system to objects millions of lightyears away, the elements of the cosmic distance ladder are vital to discovering their distances. Watch this episode to discover how scientists determine some of the secrets of the universe. Remember we are not experts, however, we endeavor to collect all our research and facts from reliable sources or resident experts.  Our Sources: Introduction to Cosmology Book by Barbara Ryden

Do you ever look up to the night sky and see what appears to be an infinite amount of bright dots staring back at you? Do you ever curiously question how these bright stars came to be in the first place, and what will eventually become of them? Well lucky for you in today's episode we discuss in-depth the life cycle of a star and break down the different phases of a star's evolution process. From nebula to protostar, through the main sequence phase to red giant phase before ending as a white dwarf, neutron star, or a black hole, join us today on our journey through the cosmos to learn more about our stellar neighbors. We apologize for the quality of the audio as we are on Zoom, and promise it will improve soon! Remember we are not experts, however we endeavor to collect all our research and facts from reliable sources or resident experts. All our information in this episode is taken from: https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/

We are back again to share the news of an exciting discovery in Omega Centauri, a possible intermediate-mass black hole. This discovery is of significant importance in the field of astronomy. In this episode, we quickly overview what a black hole is (however, we will go more in-depth in many topics discussed in the episode in future episodes) and then analyze the article in the Nature journal written by Maximilian Häberle and collaborators titled, “Fast-moving stars around an intermediate-mass black hole in ω Centauri.” We highlight the significance of this discovery, how they used Hubble images and proper motion measurements to calculate high-velocity stars, other possible explanations, and more! We apologize for the quality of the audio as we are on Zoom, and promise it will improve soon! Remember we are not experts, however we endeavor to collect all our research and facts from reliable sources or resident experts. All our information in this episode is taken from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07511-z