Walkabout the Galaxy

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 trivia is about the big blue marble.

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 science question. Spoiler: you really shouldn't vote on things like that.

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 some random astroquarkiness thrown in for good measure.

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 trivia, space news, and a nerd news apology.

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 for launch.

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 well as launches and crashing satellites.

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 continental drift, lunar drift, and dreams for our next missions - and movies.

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 missions slated for launch to the red planet.

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 friends.

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 trivia, and your Walkabout sponsor of the week.

The 200th episode of Walkabout the Galaxy goes from odd Earthly atmospheric "elves" to mysterious new fundamental particles called axions, with a stop by Jupiter's fuzzy core on the way. To capture the essential Astroquarkiness of Walkabout, a special poetic sponsor leads things off, and an astrophysical trivia for Top quark sets us up for the next hundred episodes.

Astronomers may have found the smoking gun for fast radio bursts in the form of a magnetar in our own galaxy. These highly magnetic neutron stars now look like the best bet as the sources of these powerful bursts of energy seen from distant galaxies. The astroquarks also take a look at Mars' moons and an intriguing theory that suggests Mars has had rings, and may again.

The astroquarks discuss stunning images of a disk of gas and dust around another star giving birth to a planet, more weirdities and oddness in the Earth's magnetic field, the rain on Titan, and so much space news. It's so much exciting stuff that we had to record outside. Catch up on human spaceflight news as well as extraterrestrial lake trivia with your friendly guides to the universe.

The astroquarks are face to face to face at a safe physical (not social!) distance. We zoom out, without zoom, to explore the question of the origin of life in an immense universe. People are fixin' to go back to space from the U.S., Pluto's atmosphere may stick around longer than though, and there's plenty of space news and human spaceflight trivia.

Everyone's favorite scary astronomical object, the black hole, just got a bit closer to home with the discovery of a modest, stellar-sized black hole a mere 1000 light years from the solar system. Top quark Jim Cooney reassures us that that gives us at least 999.9 light years of safety buffer. Pieces of the asteroid Ryugu en route back to Earth as part of the Hayabusa-2 mission may have an interesting mix of "weathered" material on board. Get the details as well as android trivia and space news on this episode of Walkabout.

As the Sun starts getting more active at the beginning of a new solar cycle, new observations of sunlike stars show that the Sun itself may be unusually calm. Good news for life on Earth, but a downer for the astroquarks dreaming of meeting the Vulcans or Klingons sometime soon. Also, we review progress in understanding the large scale structure of the universe and solar trivia.

Former co-host Dr. Tracy Becker joins us to talk about exploring the geysers of Jupiter's moon Europa, the 30th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the disappearance of what we thought was a nearby exoplanet. Join us for this special Seussian episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

We love antimatter, and we love the matter-antimatter paradox. How come there was just a smidge more matter in the universe than antimatter? Neutrinos, the wispiest of particles, may provide a clue. We also check in on another Earth-like exoplanet, and Jim tackles a sexy stumper, plus space news, astronomy trivia, and more with your friendly neighborhood astroquarks.

We welcome special guest Dr. Zoe Landsman back to the show to tell us about the metal asteroid Psyche and the eponymous mission to visit it. We get an update on an observational test of one of the central pillars of cosmology, and have some spaceship/asteroid/comet trivia to stump the astroquarks.

Professor Mohamed Noor, Star Trek Advisor, Dean of Natural Sciences at Duke University, and author of "Live Long and Evolve", comes back to the show to share his thoughts on extraterrestrial organisms big and small. He also shares some behind-the-scenes activity from the Star Trek Cruise. We also learn about a crazy new validation of the constancy of the speed of light, more space news, and Star Trek trivia. We also answer the question, if underwear is the safest material, why not just wear underwear everywhere?

The astroquarks show remarkable restraint by refusing to say that Uranus emitted a big blob of gas. Instead they keep things astronomically professional with the discovery of a plasma bubble near the 7th planet in data collected in 1986 by the venerable Voyager 2. Zooming out even further, a possible explanation for conflicting data about the expansion of the universe may be that we are living in a giant bubble 100 million light years across, give or take. See if you can match wits with Charm and Top in our Greek mythology trivia questions.

The astroquarks take a social distancing break from each other, but not from you, with our first remote recording. We have all the Walkabout goodness to transport you to other worlds and stars, with news of the first discovery of particular kind of pulsating star, discovery of a certain kind of salt in a comet, and fun speculation about an exotic quark star. Join the astroquarks to escape your Earthly troubles for another entertaining walkabout the galaxy.

Professor Yan Fernandez, Principal Scientist of the Arecibo Observatory, joins Josh and Addie to talk about the unique capabilities of this enormous (300 meters!) radio telescope to study everything from the Earth's atmosphere out to distant pulsars. And speaking of magnetic stars, our dear old Sol seems to be rousing from its latest solar slumber and entering the next 11-year-ish solar cycle. Join us for all the space news and a slew of sci-fi trivia on this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

When regular run-of-the-mill black holes spiral into a deathly embrace, a gravitational chirp spreads across the universe, but when the behemoths in galactic centers merge, they cause a low rumble in space-time. Scientists are using nature's free ultra-precise astronomical clocks - pulsars - to hunt for this rumble. Closer to home the Earth has a new very-very-mini-moon, and the astroquarks face multiple energy-related trivia questions.

In this special Elizabethan episode of Walkabout, we check out the tired, battered, and bruised asteroid Pallas, one of the largest in the asteroid belt, and discuss why its neighbors beat up on it so much. We also take a peek at a new discovery about antimatter and an exotic quirk of quantum mechanics that also lives in the antimatter realm, catch up on space news, time travel shows, and much more.

We have an interesting new clue about what causes the ridiculously power phenomena known as Fast Radio Bursts (or at least about what doesn't cause them!), and we are joined by astroquark emerita Tracy Becker to tell us about the discovery of a baby moon around a near-Earth asteroid from the Arecibo Observatory. We also have Earth news and Space news and an energy round of trivia. Toss in a little matter-antimatter and it's another episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

The astroquarks discover their new favorite thing in the universe. They'll tell you all about it and why we all have to hope it's a real thing. Also learn about ridiculous mathematical functions, the latest space news, and a little gravitational blippity-bloop for good measure.

Would you rather go ice fishing on an alien moon or bungee jumping on Mars? Either way, you definitely want to hear about the mysterious way matter twists spacetime with another confirmation of Einstein's general theory of relativity involving a white dwarf and a pulsar. Join the astroquarks for all that plus the discovery of the nearest exoplanet, solar system trivia, and all the latest space and nerd news.

Volcanoes on ancient Earth and not-so-ancient Venus are the main topics for the astroquarks, with planetary trivia, and a giant gassy wave moving through the Milky Way. Catch up on all the different types of numbers, from imaginary to prime, and all the space news and climate updates on this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy. Check out YouTube for the gas-wave shimmy.

The astroquarks explore our origins with from the ancient fossil Lucy to the upcoming asteroid mission of the same name. They then head for the stars, including a nearby one with a potentially habitable planet, and re-examine the case for dark energy. You're not going to want to miss this one, for the science, the trivia, and a special sponsor message.

The title has nothing to do with the episode except what could be more fundamental than simply measuring how far away something is? The astroquarks tackle this deceptively complex question on cosmological scales as well as the origins of meteor showers and archeoastronomy of ancient aurorae.

The astroquarks are wrapped up with the passage of time and the aging of the stars, the universe, and themselves as the first annual year of the astroquark comes to a close. We discuss the red giant star Betelgeuse's mysterious year-end fainting (as in the opposite of brightening), and ss this stellar neighbor nears its explosive end, we take a look at the lives of galaxies and the universe as a whole.

Walkabout the Galaxy closes out 2019, the first annual Year of the Astroquark, with an episode touching on everything from interstellar comet I2/Borisov to the tiger stripes of Enceladus and the first map of the surface of a freakin' neutron star! As always we share abundant space news, from Starliner to the Mars InSight mole, and embarrassing nerdiness, so wrap up the year with Strange, Charm, and Top, and we'll see you in 2020 for the second annual Year of the Astroquark.

An asteroid has been observed getting smashed to smithereens by another asteroid! And a medium-sized black hole has been observed, which oddly enough is more interesting than a tiny black hole or a humongous black hole. Find out why, and catch up on nerd news, space news, and special Top quark astro-historical-paradoxical trivia on this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

Strange quark is convinced that the swirls on the Moon are actually 2001 monoliths, and all three of your hosts are eager to go check them out. On the way, will the spacetime they're traversing be smooth or chunky? Top quark explains the difference, along with updates on Europa's ocean, space news, and trivia.

An instrument on the International Space Station that can help us understand more about antimatter is getting an upgrade, and we review that old sci-fi staple: the wormhole. Somehow we manage to do this without talking about Star Trek (mostly), but we have nerd news and space updates together with trivia and a new discovery about some of the many moons in our solar system.

Yes, it's just as bad as the title suggests, because when a supermassive black hole in a galactic center really gets going it can shut down star formation in the galaxy by blasting out all the raw star materials also known as atoms. The astroquarks explore galaxies with large and small star formation rates, plus we catch up on space news with Voyager 2 and the return to the Moon, and some throwback Voyager trivia.

Some clever detective work has found one of the smallest black holes known. The astroquarks also take a look at the puzzling mess of the Hubble Constant and the disagreement over its value. Plus, the interstellar comet's supply of water seems consistent with our own solar comets, and the Lagrange Points (the musical quintet, not the set of gravitational potential equilibria in an orbiting two-body system, duh!) sponsor our show. Tune in for all that and universal trivia. It's a veritable astroquark soup!

The astroquarks are joined by Dr. Renee Weber from NASA's Mars Insight mission to bring us the skinny on that spacecraft's mole's struggles to burrow into Mars. We also check in on polluted white dwarf stellar remnants and what they are teaching us, remarkably, about the interiors of exoplanets, plus spacecraft trivia, philosopher wars, and of course yet another sponsor for Walkabout the Galaxy.

The astroquarks are joined by Dr. Adam Burgasser from the Cool Star Lab at the University of California San Diego to talk about the mysterious members of the astrophysical menagerie that lie between planets and stars. Brown dwarfs are lurking in the dark, sometimes closer than we might think. We also have spaceflight history trivia, 20 new moons, and a spot about G.