Walkabout the Galaxy

Dr. Zoe Landsman rejoins the Astroquarks to explain how creating simulated regolith or dirt helps scientists and engineers prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and Phobos. We also take a look back in time on planet Earth to a continental growth spurt 3 billion years ago. 

Three missions, including two rovers, are arriving at Mars this month. We preview some of the unique aspects of the Mars Perseverance rover, and we explore the curious case of a giant galaxy with, apparently, no central black hole. Hear how merging black holes might use gravitational waves to shoot across the cosmos, plus a poetic sponsor, and the word Scutum is said way too many times.

We go deep on this episode of Walkabout, with new analysis of the lakes on Titan showing the largest may be more than 300 meters deep. In deep space, the long, low rumble of spacetime from interactions of supermassive black holes may have revealed itself in subtle changes in the timing of pulsars. Check it all out, plus find out just how long two shakes of lamb's tail really is. We've got the whol...

The galaxy has been making rocky planets for longer than we thought, and a new study shows us how black holes can tell us just how symmetric the universe is using a bumblebee field. You'll have to listen to find out! Plus, we have nerd news, space news, and trivia. Don't miss it.

We welcome special guest Heather Archuletta, a NASA pillownaut, who tells us what it's like to spend weeks simulating space travel in a slightly inverted bed. While time may have seemed to slow down last year, the Earth has actually been speeding up a bit. We'll explain it all, along with news from our neighboring star, sleep trivia, and nerd news as we kick off the third annual Year of the Astroq...

A planetary explorer in deep space turns its eyes outward and faints a brighter glow from distant galaxies than expected, while an alternative theory to dark matter suffers a blow. (Natural) radio emissions from an exoplanet may have been detected for the first time. The astroquarks explain it all and have a year-end space news trivia round up to close out our 2020 season.

Astrometry, what is it good for? Among other things it tells us where the heck we are, and that turns out to be only 25,000 light years away from the monster black hole at the center of the galaxy. Closer to home, the astroquarks discuss the exciting return of samples from an asteroid and the Moon by two robotic explorers, plus astronomy trivia and more space news from the venerable Voyager probes...

We are not only star stuff, we are also Big Bang stuff! We learn about how the formation of deuterium in the first few minutes after the Big Bang has left a lingering mark on the universe and each of us. A mysterious blue nebula has been explained as the Yo-Yo like aftermath of the merger of two small stars, Jim and Addie choose between the Moon and Mars for their vacation destinations, and our tr...

Learn about a catastrophic merger of neutron stars that resulted in a weird beast known as a magnetar. Also, your Astroquarks take a look at a new model for geysers on Jupiter's moon Europa, and challenge you with some Einstein trivia. The odds are improving for axions being dark matter, plus, Jim does a 180 on Baby Yoda!

A Fast Radio Burst (we like to call them Furbies) has been seen coming from a highly magnetic neutron star right here in our own galactic backyard. A new analysis of Kepler data tells us how many of Star Trek's "Class M" (Earthlike) planets are nearby, and Top quark Jim Cooney provides the stumpers. Plus, we have a special astronomy election trivia question, for the most famous case of voting on a...

Charm quark Addie Dove is over the Moon about the announcement that water molecules have been found in minerals all over the lunar surface. We also take a look back at our friend the Philae lander which bounced several times on a comet before coming to rest in a nook or a cranny. The surface of the comet is softer than fresh snow. Join us for a tour of the solar system, with spacecraft trivia and...

Join us for a behind-the-scenes blow-by-blow discussion of the activities of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission as it made contact with the asteroid Bennu and captured a sample of material from the ancient solar system. We are joined by Dr. Humberto Campins, a Co-Investigator on the mission, for an in-depth examination of this literally ground-breaking event. And we also have a Halloween-theme for our triv...

We celebrate the Nobel Prize in Physics for Roger Penrose and Andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genzel for discoveries about black holes, but Strange quark has some grievances to air about the Netflix show Away and Penrose's penchant for exclamation marks. We also see how the Sun is helping us better understand observations of distant stars and learn about the Astroquarks' very own satellite getting ready...

A nifty story about complexity from the simplicity of gravity helps reveal the origins of the comets in the Oort Cloud and explain their current distribution. If that's not far out enough, we also take a look at the mysteries of quantum entanglement and explore the story of the long-forgotten fourth Rice Krispies elf, Jerk!

New research shows that Enceladus's ocean may have produced geysers at different locations on the small moon in the past, and the odd shapes of stellar remnants known as planetary nebulae finally get an explanation. We also get a special Charm Quark trivia from Addie to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night. 

With all the excitement about the potential discovery of a biomarker, Phosphine, on Venus, we take a close look at the observations with Venus expert Dr. Brad Sandor who explains the challenges and problems with the observations. And we take a look at a system where the planet is larger than its own star! Join us for two fascinating science topics and a planetary volcanology trivia question.

Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Mary Robinette Kowal joins us for a wide ranging discussion from her Lady Astronauts novels to her work as a puppeteer and writing mentor. We also have math professor Dr. Pat Hooper join us to explain the answer to our math trivia.

The astroquarks go to DragonCon in this special edition of Walkabout the Galaxy. We review the latest gravitational wave discovery of the biggest small black hole seen to date and the surprising abundance of liquid water on small bodies in the solar system. Then test your six degrees of Josh Colwell knowledge in a special egotistical trivia challenge.

The astroquarks delve into the interiors of White Dwarfs, the relics of sunlike stars, with the help of Einstein's theory of general relativity. And the Mars Insight lander collected some intriguing data that may help pin down the details of the death spiral of its moon Phobos. Don't worry, we've got a hundred million years, give or take. Also catch up on new nerd news and biological trivia as wel...

Ceres, whatever you want to call it, seems to have a bunch of salty water near its surface. Top quark gets worked up about planet nomenclature, while Strange and Charm get worked up about how Top pronounces "Ceres"! And, somehow, a nearby microquasar is tickling a gas cloud to emit gamma rays. Join us for a tour of these new discoveries, trivia, and more.

Low mass stars and high mass planets are the talk of the astroquarks in this episode, featuring a close-up look at the weather on Jupiter and a revisit to just what kind of stars provide the star stuff we're all made of. You can also find out what tractor beams have to do with Jedi mind tricks, and how crowded our local stellar neighborhood is. There's more to it than meets the eye!

Deep in the interior of the Sun all the energy that supports life on Earth is created by fusing hydrogen into helium. For the first time, neutrinos produced by the relatively rare CNO fusion process in the Sun have been detected. Elsewhere, we explore a hypothesis that planets like the Earth might get their water via an interplanetary bucket brigade. In addition to all that we'll explore continent...

The asteroid really did kill the dinosaurs, but the universe seems to be hiding something deeper and more mysterious from us about how it evolves. Closer to home, the European Solar Orbiter reveals adorable campfires on the Sun. Sure they would engulf a continent or two, but from a safe distance they are charming. The Astroquarks walk you through it all, as well as the summer of Mars, with several...

Far, far away, beyond the Zone of Avoidance, lurking in darkest, deepest space, lies the great southern wall of galaxies! New mapping of the local universe has revealed this sheet of galaxies that is roughly one-thirtieth the size of the entire observable universe! Learn about our place in the cosmos and news from colliding stellar cores, space news, comet trivia and more with your walkabout frien...

Is it the tiniest black hole ever or the largest neutron star ever? We may never know, but one of them has been discovered thanks to gravitational wave observations. And an interesting black hole merger took place near the center of a distant galaxy, and we may see it get gobbled up in just a few years. Closer to home, we explore how to look for moons around exoplanets, as well as space news, LEGO...