exocast

The exoplanet podcast

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100 episodes
Updated April 29

Episodes100

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Mar 21, 2023 · 29 min
Exocast-66c: Exoplanet News
In this episode the team cover some of the latest exoplanet news stories. This month Hugh covers the first JWST’s transmission spectrum of a small planet, validating and characterising the exoplanet LHS 475b. Hannah discusses some preliminary work from JWST, including phase curves from WASP-121b and WASP-43b, that reveal the capabilities and quirks of the instruments onboard. Andrew breaks the rules by discussing three papers, 2 of which are closely connected, on the general topic of the potential for serpentinization as a possible source of energy for microbial metabolisms around hydrothermal vent systems. Hugh’s paper: A JWST transmission spectrum of a nearby Earth-sized exoplanet (arxiv pre-print, submitted to Nature Astro) Hannah’s papers: A JWST NIRSpec Phase Curve for WASP-121b: Dayside Emission Strongest Eastward of the Substellar Point and Nightside Conditions Conducive to Cloud Formation A First Look at the JWST MIRI/LRS Phase Curve of WASP-43b (arxiv pre-print) Andrew’s papers: Diverse geochemical conditions for prebiotic chemistry in shallow-sea alkaline hydrothermal vents Deep-branching acetogens in serpentinized subsurface fluids of Oman Microbial biosignature preservation in carbonated serpentine from the Samail Ophiolite, Oman Exocast is edited by Fergus Hall, you can find more of his work www.fergushallmusic.com. If you would like to support the show consider donating on our buymeacoffee.com/exocast page, all donations matter and help keep Exocast going. You can also get your hands on Exocast merchandise at exocast.threadless.com
Mar 3, 2023 · 42 min
Exocast-66b: Interview with Georgina Dransfield
Back on the airwaves after a short hiatus, the Exocast team are delighted to be joined by Georgina (George) Dransfield, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham in the UK, who works on finding new exoplanets using the transit method. George uses data from ground-based surveys like SPECULOOS and space-based surveys like TESS and is also is somewhat unique in observing from Antarctica, specifically using and helping to run the ASTEP pipeline. Of course, George also adds a new planet to our adopted exoplanet family. You’ll have to listen to the show to find out which one she chooses, but it is definitely worth it for the personal and cultural connection to a distant world… George also mentions a great exoplanet resource pack for teachers, made by the IOP for children aged 11-14, which can be found here: https://spark.iop.org/collections/teaching-exoplanets Do you have a question we didn’t ask? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. You can also get your hands on Exocast merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by musician/composer Fergus Hall (https://www.fergushallmusic.com) and is supported by listener donations at buymeacoffee.com/exocast. Each coffee costs $4 and donations over $15 get a shout out on the show. We cannot make the show without your support and it is very much appreciated. A big thank you to Rick Schwarz, Brian Krelle, and @moylecroft for donations of coffee over the past couple of months
Oct 31, 2022 · 38 min
Exocast-65 b: Launching #ExoCup2022
It's everyone's favourite time of year. No, not because of halloween, leaf-peeping or mulled wine - because it's #ExoCup season! Yes, for the sixth time, Hannah, Hugh & Andrew will use the power to twitter polls to let the public decide which single exoplanet deserves to wear the crown as the people's champion for 2022. In this special episode, we reveal the planets chosen for the 2022 edition - including 24 from the exoplanet literature, and 8 "wild cards" chosen by our hosts. We then draw the groups and make our predictions for who will go the distance, and who will make a quiet first-round exit. The first polls will open on November 6th, with the grand final happening on December 5th. Head over to twitter to join in with the polls by following @ExocastExoCup
Oct 19, 2022 · 32 min
Exocast-64c: Exoplanet News
In this episode the team cover some of the latest exoplanet news stories. This month Hannah summarises the most recent exoplanetary science coming out of JWST’s early release science programs; Andrew tells us a bit about the habitability of Enceladus’s subsurface ocean, and Hugh talks about a new observation of compositional differences for planets around M-dwarfs.
Oct 11, 2022 · 43 min
Exocast-64b: Interview with Dr Naomi Rowe-Gurney
This month Hannah, Andrew, and Hugh are joined in the virtual Exocast studio by planetary scientist Dr Naomi Rowe-Gurney. Naomi is a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Howard University in the USA where she works on all things Ice Giants (Uranus and Neptune) in particular looking at them with JWST. The perfectly timed episode follows on from newly released images of Neptune taken with JWST that Naomi had been working on and we discuss the future of Ice Giant science with JWST and a mission to Uranus. After a health giggle session over an excessive use of the word “Uranus” we dive into the science of what a mission to the planet could help us reveal and what makes the Ice Giants so unique. In true Planetary Scientist fashion Naomi adopts a Solar System interloper into our Exocast Adopted Exoplanets, but we welcome the adopted drunk uncle, Uranus, into the fold as it barrel rolls around the Sun. Do you have a question we didn’t ask? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. You can also get your hands on Exocast merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by musician/composer Fergus Hall (https://www.fergushallmusic.com) and is supported by listener donations at buymeacoffee.com/exocast each coffee costs $4 and donations over $15 get a shout out on the show. We cannot make the show without your support and it is very much appreciated.
Sep 23, 2022 · 49 min
Exocast-63 c: Exoplanet news
We cover this month’s most exciting exoplanetary (and solar system) news: Andrew tells us about details of the proposed “Venus Life Finder” mission which would go beyond ESA & NASA’s selected Venus missions to directly sample for organic molecules in the temperate regions of Venus’ atmosphere using an interplanetary balloon! Hugh talks about how analysis of the multi-planet systems found by Kepler is still revealing new insights, in this case how chains of planets appear to have a defined outer edge. Hannah talks about the open-source atmospheric modelling software PICASO 3.0, and argues for the benefits of astronomers making their code open-source.
Sep 8, 2022 · 50 min
Exocast-63b: How do planets form?
Hugh, Hannah & Andrew turn their attention to a simple question with a very complicated answer: our favourite! This month we are pondering how planets form. What do we know about planet formation from the Earth, observations from our Solar System, and of distant exoplanetary systems? Where are the gaps in our understanding of the processes involved? Do the theories and models of planet formation hold up to observational scrutiny? We might not be able to answer all (or any) of these questions definitively, and arguably we ended the discussion with more questions than when we started, but we had fun along the way! What did you think of the discussion? Join in the conversation in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com. All merch sales and donations directly support the show by covering our web-hosting and editing costs, and are absolutely invaluable for keeping us on the air. A huge thank you to Carl N. for a very generous donation of $100, and to Jack in Oregon for his 7 coffees! Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
Aug 26, 2022 · 38 min
Exocast-62c: Exoplanet News
The latest news hot off the Exocast news desk for July/August 2022, another exciting month for exoplanet science: Andrew takes some time to discuss the life and influence of Dr James Lovelock, the co-originator the Gaia Hypothesis, who died recently. His news this month takes the form of two independent but neatly connected papers on the topic of ‘chirality’: ‘The Chiral Puzzle of Life’ by Globus and Blandford, and ‘Directional Aspects of Vegetation Linear and Circular Polarization Biosignatures‘ by Patty et al. Hannah summarises ‘Chemical Abundances for 25 JWST Exoplanet Host Stars with KeckSpec’ by Polanski et al. in anticipation of the publication of a larger elemental abundance catolog derived from Keck/HIRES optical spectra. Hugh covers Zhang et al‘s ‘Detection of Atmospheric Escape from Four Young Mini Neptunes’ that details the smallest and youngest planets for which escaping atmospheres have been detected, with implications for the exoplanet ‘radius valley’. What did you think of the papers/news discussion? Join in the conversation in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com. A big thank you to Tobias Andropolis for recently buying 7 coffees! Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
Aug 11, 2022 · 48 min
Exocast-62 b: Interview with Dr. Knicole Colón
This month Hannah, Andrew & Hugh are joined by NASA Goddard's space telescope expert, Dr. Knicole Colón. Fresh from her NASA TV appearance unveiling JWST's first exoplanet spectrum to the world, the JWST deputy project scientist for exoplanet science gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the big day, as well as how the team got JWST ready for science. She also discusses the ongoing TESS mission searching for new planets, as well as the Pandora small-sat designed to look at exoplanet atmospheres on a budget, both of which Knicole is also managing. And we hear about her origins as a space scientist, from the movie Contact, to a project at Arecibo, through the KELT planet-hunting survey, and to her first taste of NASA project management at the Kepler GO office. And, as always, we also hear which planet Knicole will adopt into our growing exoplanetary hall-of-fame.
Jul 20, 2022 · 53 min
Exocast-61c: Exoplanet News
The latest news hot off the Exocast news desk for June/July 2022, a very exciting month for exoplanet science: Hannah gives us a run-down of some of the long-awaited first images from JWST, including a spectrum from the atmosphere of WASP-96b from the NIRISS instrument showing clear water features. The team try (and fail) to contain their giddiness at the prospect of entering a new era of exoplanet astrophysics. Andrew takes to the theory literature to hightlight a paper by Mol Lous et al. in this months’ Nature Astronomy that explores ‘Potential long-term habitable conditions on planets with primordial H–He atmospheres‘. Hugh casts a critical eye over a white paper by Jian Ge et al. that outlines China’s ambitious ET (“Earth 2.0”) transiting exoplanet mission concept. What did you think of the papers/news discussion? Join in the conversation in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
Jul 13, 2022 · 48 min
Exocast-61 b: Observation vs Theory, which is more important?
Hugh, Hannah & Andrew pick sides to debate astronomy’s deepest divide. Are you with Hugh on the side of the observers, who insist that it is only with new telescopes, instruments and data that we can reveal physical properties of exoplanets and develop our understanding of the universe. Or are you, like Andrew, on the side of the theorists, who ensure that we can deeply understand the physical properties of exoplanets by doing experiments and simulations, and observations are simply a tool to test theories? Or do you prefer to take Hannah’s path, and jump chaotically between the two sides?
Jun 21, 2022 · 41 min
Exocast-60c: Exoplanet News
The latest exoplanet news hot off the Exocast news desk: Hannah gives us a run-down of the Exoplanets IV conference held recently in Las Vegas, at which both her and Hugh were in attendence, including summaries of interesting sessions and presentations. Hugh presents a great new paper from Panahi et al. 2022 entitled “The Detection of Transiting Exoplanets by Gaia” that demonstates the Gaia spacecraft’s ability to contribute to exoplanet detection. Andrew keeps things in the up in the air when discussing “Can Carbon Fractionation Provide Evidence for Aerial Biospheres in the Atmospheres of Temperate Sub-Neptunes?“ by Glidden et al. 2022. What did you think of the papers/news discussion? Join in the conversation in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
Jun 7, 2022 · 47 min
Exocast-60b: Interview with Dr Jennifer Burt
In this episode of Exocast the team are fortunate to be joined in the virtual studio by Dr Jennifer Burt, NASA/JPL’s Extreme Precision Radial Velocity Investigation Scientist, for an extreme discussion of the radial velocity technique for finding and characterising exoplanets. Jenn gives us a comprehensive and enthusiastic rundown of the method, US and European RV surveys, supporting current and future photometric missions with RV follow-up, and an update on new technology and instruments that are pushing the limits of radial velocities for exoplanet detection to extremely high precision, including automated planet-finding telescopes. Of course, Jenn was also tasked with adding a new planet to our Adopted Planets list… listen to the show to find out which one she chose and why. (Spoiler: she discovered it!) Want to know more about Dr Burt’s work? Check out her website and tweets @astrojennb. Do you have a question we didn’t ask? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
May 24, 2022 · 37 min
Exocast-59c: Exoplanet News
Join us for this months news episode where the Exocast team delve into new discoveries, characterisation, and astrobiology investigations to learn all about the latest research being published in exoplanets. Andrew takes us through some new astrobiology work “Metabolically diverse primordial microbial communities in Earth’s oldest seafloor-hydrothermal jasper“ from Papineau et al. 2022 Hannah covers the latest in characterisation with “A New Analysis of 8 Spitzer Phase Curves and Hot Jupiter Population Trends: Qatar-1b, Qatar-2b, WASP-52b, WASP-34b, and WASP-140b” from May et al. 2022 Hugh looks into some new discoveries from “TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME) VI: an 11 Myr Giant Planet Transiting a Very Low Mass Star in Lower Centaurus Crux“ by Mann et al. 2022 What did you think of the papers discussion? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.
May 6, 2022 · 51 min
Exocast-59b: What are planetary atmospheres made of?
This month Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew go back to basics to discuss the diversity and complexity inherent in the study of planetary atmospheres. Exocast-59b touches on how we define an atmosphere and takes a sojourn through the varied and beautiful atmospheres of the Solar System, as well as a journey back through time to consider the long evolution of the atmosphere of our planet. How does an atmosphere form and change over time, cling to objects ranging in size from the Moon to Jupiter and beyond, and can it be lost forever to space? Extending beyond the Solar System we consider how astronomers search for and study exoplanet atmospheres and the role of the star in terms of their formation, physics, and chemistry, as well as the importance of the atmosphere for habitability. Is the atmosphere of the Earth optimal for habitability? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast you can get merch at exocast.threadless.com, or you can Buy us a Coffee; a huge thank you to Steve Hungsberg and Anton who donated last month! Your contributions are warmly and gratefully received. Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com)
Apr 22, 2022 · 41 min
Exocast-58c: Exoplanet News
In this months News episode Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew each discuss a paper from the past month of the latest exoplanet research including, JWST test data analysis, Oxidative Earth, and multi-star systems.
Apr 12, 2022 · 50 min
Exocast-58b: Interview with Dr Megan Schwamb
In this episode the Exocast team talk with Dr Megan (Meg) Schwamb about her work from the solar system to distant exoplanets and citizen science. The show is jam packed with exciting science and enough ice cream analogies to build an Exocast Parlour. We discuss in detail the process of going from a strange looking light curve posted in PlanetHunters Kepler to publication and bonafide planet, how you can track ice formation at Mars' poles, and take a look to the farthest reaches of our solar system to ask what is out there and what does that mean for our planets formation history. Meg also inducts PH-1b into the Exocast Adopted Planets family.
Mar 15, 2022 · 48 min
Exocast-57c: Exoplanet News
In this episode the Exocast team take us through three of the latests studies in exoplanet research touching on biosignatures, planet formation and disruption, and the effects of space weather on close-in exoplanets. Join them to learn the latest in exoplanet science!
Mar 3, 2022 · 45 min
Exocast-57b: How big can an exoplanet be?
This month Hugh, Hannah and Andrew discuss a deceptively simple question about the limits of planetary size... Exocast-57b takes you from measurements of exoplanet radius and mass, the difficulty with the IAU definition of planets, to the formation of brown dwarfs and stars. They even dive into the importance of size on habitability, the size limits of a rocky world compared to a gaseous world, some of the stand out candidates for the "biggest" exoplanet, and whether a planet can ever be bigger than a star (spoiler: yes, but never in mass).
Feb 3, 2022 · 1 hr 10 min
Exocast-56b: Interview with Mark McCaughrean about JWST
In this episode the Exocast gang chat with Dr Mark McCaughrean, who is a Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Science Working Group Interdisciplinary Scientist, about the recent launch, deployment and commissioning of JWST. Mark shares scientific and personal highlights of his long involvement with the telescope, his experience of JWST’s launch from French Guiana on Christmas Day 2021, and insights regarding the revolutionary exoplanet science that the platform will enable. We also take some time to discuss ESA’s other exoplanet-centric missions (GAIA, ARIEL, PLATO, CHEOPS) as well as the differences and similarities between NASA and ESA operations, their ongoing partnerships, and synergies. In lieu of an adopted planet, Mark shares his thoughts on what may be the most exciting JWST-enabled astrophysical discoveries of the next decade(s). Mark is also the co-founder of Space Rocks, a fantastic initiative to bring science, music, and culture together in a celebration of space and exploration. Hannah stopped by to continue the conversation about JWST with Mark and others on a recent episode of Space Rocks’ webcast series ‘Uplink‘. Follow Mark on Twitter: @markmccaughrean