In this podcast, we share three reports of recent discoveries.  The first is of an optical transient source, ASASSN-18ix. The discovery report suggests the transient is a classical nova- but it can also be a cataclysmic variable; they’re not sure which.  The second report is the first reported discovery of a millisecond pulsar, by a new radio facility in China called “FAST”. FAST is now the largest astronomical radio dish in the world, and it is only  just beginning to operate. The first discovery is of a millisecond pulsar which, the report suggests, is so faint, it could not have possibly been detected by the existing, less sensitive telescopes. And finally, we share a report of new behavior from the black hole candidate, MAXI J1820+070.     

After the show, we invite you to examine the results even further at our website; and join the discussion online at Twitter using #OutThereNow.

In this podcast:

• ATEL 11561  ASAS-SN Discovery of a Possible Galactic Nova ASASSN-18ix


• ATEL 11574  Optical/X-ray Flux Decoupling in MAXI J1820+070


• ATEL 11584  FAST’s Discovery of a New Millisecond Pulsar (MSP) toward the Fermi-LAT unassociated source 3FGL J0318.1+0252

From neutron stars, to black holes, to tidal disruption events, to gravitational wave sources, to neutrinos, to cosmic rays: Out There Now shares the latest, most eye-catching astronomy and astrophysics research results with you.

Special thanks to K. Z Stanek, Pei Wang, Amanda Townsend, and Mona Eltahawy.