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/2016/04/20/conflicts-between-expansion-history-of-the-local-and-distant-universe/ https://astrobites.org/2020/05/12/magnets-and-hubble/ https://astrobites.org/2021/04/01/south-polarization/ https://astrobites.org/2021/04/27/bursting-the-hubble-trouble-bubble-measuring-h0-with-fast-radio-bursts/ https://astrobites.org/2023/03/29/multi-messenger-constraints-on-the-hubble-constant/ https://astrobites.org/2023/10/04/holy-cow-is-our-journey-through-the-universe-the-reason-for-the-hubble-tension/ 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
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 cosmic comic relief. In the spirit of luck, we talk about the role of luck in our own journeys to space and in the field of astronomy as a whole. This week’s “space sound” - https://www.tiktok.com/@ladbibleireland/video/7278649311334780192?lang=en
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 chicken’s lip” - Bodega https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz4IxFy27dw
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 theory. Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2023/06/20/using-planetary-magnetospheres-to-detect-gravitational-waves/ https://astrobites.org/2023/11/11/using-gravitational-waves-to-peer-inside-of-the-sun/ Additional thematic material: https://astrobites.org/2023/02/08/detecting-gravitational-waves-with-the-moon/ https://astrobites.org/2022/12/22/gravitational-wave-parallax/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117723009171?via%3Dihub Space sound: https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/sounds-of-the-sun/ Ultra-high-frequency gravitational wave conference: https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/activities/UHF-GW.php
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/
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.
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
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.
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
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
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/
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 what happens when you try to replace your friend with an AI. Paper Kiersten presented: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.09963.pdf Paper Sabrina presented: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2305.08894.pdf Another of Alex’s papers (for the supernova lovers): https://arxiv.org/pdf/2008.09630.pdf Alex’s inspiration for Will’s space sound: https://twitter.com/alexgagliano/status/1648034047942066176?cxt=HHwWgICw1YSP_94tAAAA
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 makes the terrible mistake of mentioning the dreaded space sound by name. Will we successfully escape? Or will we be caught and forced to listen to space sounds forever? Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2023/03/11/ https://astrobites.org/2020/05/13/ Space sound: https://youtu.be/BAWkuv1HXy4
What will astronomy be like in the year 2033? In the first of this two-part series, we predict the (short-term) fate of the solar system, exoplanets, and the culture of astronomy a decade down the line. Kiersten and Will both focus on planets, one close to home and the other (hopefully) not too far away. We then get futuristic forecasts from six guest astronomers working around the world, who paint us an exciting (and slightly troubling) picture of new-wave astrophysics, covering everything from the role of machine learning to a crisis in publishing, with discoveries of Earth-like exoplanets in between! Stay tuned for Part II, in which Alex and Sabrina will talk about the more distant universe and eight more guest astronomers describe the future of their fields. Astrobites: astrobites.org/2023/02/13/earth-as-an-exoplanet/ astrobites.org/2021/05/08/where-to-find-biosignatures-on-mars-a-case-for-clays/ Space sound: https://eos.org/articles/nasas-perseverance-rover-records-the-first-sounds-of-a-dust-devil-on-mars Imaginable book: janemcgonigal.com/2021/12/17/imaginable-how-to-see-the-future-coming-and-feel-ready-for-anything-even-things-that-seem-impossible-today/ Superforcasting book: wsp.wharton.upenn.edu/book/superforecasting/
Did you know that half of our astro[sound]bites co-hosts went to community college? We’re here to talk about our experiences and work towards breaking the stigma! This is our first episode in this two part series which features Kiersten’s trajectory from community college into a brilliant exoplanet scientist. Next, Alex interviews Dra. Natalie Nicole Sanchez, an NSF MPS-Ascend postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Observatories and Caltech, whose interest in astrophysics was sparked while studying art at community college. Join us on a whirlwind tour of engineering, love affairs, and artistic endeavors - and stay tuned for an associated astrobites post! Link to Dra. Sanchez’s twitter: https://twitter.com/the_n_nicole
In this episode, the gang catches multiplicity mania and learn about sextuple systems of stars, galaxies, and planets. Sabrina brings us an astrobite that resonates with us all (or maybe none of us), Will the Fourth carries the torch in studying the hierarchical Castor system, and Alex speeds through a requiem for high-redshift galaxies taken from us too soon. Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2021/09/30 https://astrobites.org/2022/11/07 https://astrobites.org/2022/02/26 Compact Object Merging with its Companion Star Triggering a Supernova: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/astronomy-star-swallow-black-hole-supernova-cosmology Space sound: https://vimeo.com/621744665 A transient radio source consistent with a merger-triggered core collapse supernova: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg6037 In-Vitro Is Not The Only Reason Older Women Have More Twins: https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20060222/older-women-more-likely-to-have-twins
We’re back with more of the most important papers in our subfields. Sabrina tells us how Karl, an engineer at Bell Labs, became the father of radio astronomy and stole her heart through time and space. Kiersten couldn’t pick just one paper so she choses a review article and gives it a favorable review on our own little a[s]b revue program. The gang really struggles on the space sound and then decides it just might be okay to peak in grad school. Papers: https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1933PA.....41..548J https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/428383/pdf Space sound: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/19/5065
Episode 63: Our Take on Landmark Papers Part I In this week’s episode, we take a deeper look into Alex and Will’s research through two landmark papers in their field. Will pulls out a strip chart to teach us about how Neptune’s atmosphere looked in the 1960s (and why it’s still important today). Alex gives us a deeper look into explosive transients and presents a paper on supernovae from the early 1970s that reveals the power of fermi estimation and a little intuition. Meanwhile, Sabrina kicks off a conversation about the ethics of research and faces the reality of not being able to check every line of source code from the simulations she uses. See you next episode for Kiersten and Sabrina’s turn! Link to sonification competititon: https://astrosoundbites.com/astrosoundbites-sonification-challenge-2022/ Papers: https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1969A%26A.....2..398K https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/1973A%26A....29..393D Space Sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3x0sBCQ_c8 Acoustic dispersion (and its connection to laser beams and FRBs): https://www.npr.org/2016/12/21/506305383/why-does-a-frozen-lake-sound-like-a-star-wars-blaster Link to Will’s research graphic: https://williamrsaunders.com/#occ-movie
The gang is back! In this episode, we take a trip to the largest and the smallest astronomical scales to learn about all the exciting new ways that JWST is transforming the field in its first 100 days. Sabrina zooms out to find some sparkly galaxies and catch a glimpse into the dazzling high-redshift Universe. Then Kiersten zooms into JWST’s first directly imaged exoplanet to figure out why it’s making us all so hungry. We round out the episode with an interview from York University Professor Sarah Rugheimer, who tells us all about the science to get excited about in the years to come. Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2022/09/06/sparkling-stars/ https://astrobites.org/2022/09/01/jwsts-first-directly-imaged-exoplanet/ Space Sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=49&v=La9DB-bcy5Y&feature=emb_title
It’s time for our jam-packed sonification sequel, which includes two interviews, 5 (!) space sounds, and a critical fourth “i” for how sonification is used in astronomy! We’re first joined by Paul Green and Afra Ashraf, the creators of the new sonification project Sensing the Dynamic Universe. Then Sarah Kane, a senior undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania, joins us to talk about her journey in astronomy and sonification while being legally blind. We round things out by listening to kilonovae, radio interferometers, and the atmosphere of Uranus! Is there anything we didn’t discuss? 0:00 First 3 “i”s 5:05 Sensing the Dynamic Universe interview (4th “i”) 29:17 Reflections on SDU 32:14 Sarah Kane interview 55:31 Our educational sonifications Sensing the Dynamic Universe: https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/sdu/index.html Our sonification astrobite from last year: astrobites.org/2021/06/17/getting-started-in-sonification/ An article about Sarah Kane (isn’t she so fashionable?): omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/disability-advocacy-and-sciences SonoUno:sion.frm.utn.edu.ar/sonoUno/ Astronify:astronify.readthedocs.io/ Twotone: twotone-midiout-beta.netlify.app Miditime (for advanced users): github.com/cirlabs/miditime