Spacepod

Carrie Nugent

Hear stories about the alien moons orbiting our Sun, of cold stars, and the future of space exploration. Every week, scientist Dr. Carrie Nugent chats about an amazing part of our universe with an expert guest. Spacepod is the podcast that gives you an inside look into space exploration. Learn more: http://listentospacepod.com

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240 episodes
Updated Yesterday

Episodes240

Newest first

Dec 2, 2018 · 21 min
139: The missing mantle problem with Dr. DeMeo
Urey Prize winner Dr. Francesca DeMeo stops by the show to talk about her asteroid research. She explains what a differentiated asteroid is, and tells us about her asteroid classification system. She also shares a new result, and explains how it may change the way we think about solar system formation.
Nov 18, 2018 · 23 min
138: Transiting Exoplanets with Dr. Payne
Dr. Matthew Payne talks about his exoplanet research, which involves looking for periodic dimming in stars. We discuss the Kepler and TESS space telescopes, and he explains why he's so interested in measuring the masses of exoplanets.
Nov 4, 2018 · 22 min
137: Documenting rapid change with Dr. Carey
Dr. Joanna Carey talks about her research on our home planet, Earth. She explains how the climate change we're experiencing is ten times faster than any in geologic history. We also discuss why small changes in carbon emissions today will make a huge difference to the future climate, and things everyday people can do to mitigate the damage.
Oct 21, 2018 · 19 min
136: Would sailboats work on Titan? With Dr. Soto
Dr. Alejandro Soto returns to the show to talk about how lakes on Titan and on Earth influence the nearby atmosphere. He talks about how lakes create breezes that allow for sailing on Earth, and how the situation changes on Titan.
Oct 7, 2018 · 23 min
135: Linking asteroid observations with Dr. Holman
Dr. Matt Holman, head of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, stops by to talk asteroids. The Minor Planet Center handles about a hundred thousand asteroid observations a night, from observatories all around the world. He talks about the difficulties in linking asteroid observations, and the discovery of the first interstellar asteroid, 'Oumuamua.
Sep 23, 2018 · 30 min
134: Spinning stars with Dr. Rebull
Dr. Luisa Rebull returns to the show to describe new research with the Kepler space telescope. Her ingenious study takes advantage of Kepler's strengths, and has produced results that stump theorists. Dr. Rebull explains why this data has given her "a whole new appreciation for post office workers."
Sep 9, 2018 · 31 min
133: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Mercury with Dr. Padovan
Dr. Sebastiano Padovan talks about the planet closest to the sun, Mercury. He compares the evolution of planets to movies, and says that understanding a planet's history from its current state is like trying to figure out the plot of an entire movie from a single snapshot. He also explains why Mercury is "a favorite" of scientists who do computational modeling.
Aug 26, 2018 · 19 min
132: Introducing people to the reach of infinity with Tim Thompson
Tim Thompson, former JPL scientist and member of the Mt. Wilson Institute Board of Trustees, talks about the Mt. Wilson Observatory. He explains why he doesn't operate the Mt. Wilson telescopes himself, and tells us why astronomers hate the twinkling of the stars. This episode was recorded on location, and Tim talks about the many public events offered at Mt. Wilson.
Aug 12, 2018 · 11 min
131: Inside the red planet with Dr. Daubar
Dr. Ingrid Daubar returns to the show to tell us about the InSight mission to Mars. InSight carries a seismometer and a self-hammering heat probe, and will explore the interior of the planet. She tells us what it was like to be at InSight's launch, and explains how the mission's landing site was selected.
Jul 29, 2018 · 17 min
130: Quantum entanglement with Dr. Ghose
Dr. Shohini Ghose talks about quantum entanglement, which she describes as an "amazing, weird handshake across space and time." She tells us about quantum information science, which finds useful applications for the weird quantum qualities of particles.
Jul 15, 2018 · 21 min
129: A new type of galaxy with Dr. Mutlu-Pakdil
Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil talks about her amazing discovery-- a galaxy with both an inner and outer ring. The existence of such a galaxy had not been predicted before she discovered it, and there's no theory yet that can explain how such an unusual object was created.
Jul 1, 2018 · 14 min
128: Sleeping on a Glacier with Dr. Koppes
Dr. Michele Koppes returns to the show to talk about her experiences studying glaciers in the field. She describes what a glacier sounds like at night, and why a good glaciologist is generally handy with a soldering iron.
Jun 17, 2018 · 23 min
127: Black hole pairs with Dr. McGurk
Dr. Rosalie McGurk talks about her quest to find pairs of black holes. She explains how she used several different telescopes to solve this problem, narrowing the list of potential candidates from hundreds of thousands to about twenty.
Jun 3, 2018 · 23 min
126: Supercities of the Universe with Dr. Connor
Dr. Tom Connor stops by the show to talk about massive galaxy clusters and the CLASH project. We talk about naturally occurring gravitational "telescopes" that allow us to see even farther into space, and Dr. Connor makes some fun analogies to cupcakes and crime bosses.
May 20, 2018 · 20 min
125: Oceans, oceans everywhere with Dr. Keane
Dr. James Tuttle Keane discusses why Pluto probably has a huge underground ocean. To make this discovery, he used images of Pluto taken by the New Horizons spacecraft, computer simulations, and good old-fashioned pen and paper.
May 6, 2018 · 39 min
124: Searching Antarctica for meteorites with Dr. Cohen
Dr. Barbara Cohen returns to the show to talk about meteorite collecting in Antarctica. These trips, which involve weeks of camping on the ice, provide invaluable scientific samples. She talks about what it's like to search for the rocks that "don't belong" in the frozen desert.
Apr 22, 2018 · 12 min
123: Our favorite planet's future with Dr. Marvel
To celebrate Earth Day, Dr. Kate Marvel talks about models of Earth's climate. She compares many models to learn more about the way our climate works, and how it might change in the future. She also offers advice for those of us who may feel overwhelmed by climate change.
Apr 8, 2018 · 32 min
122: How to make a comet with Dr. Michel
Dr. Patrick Michel talks about comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which was visited by the Rosetta spacecraft. This comet's shape was puzzling. It looked like it had survived a collision, but how could a fragile icy comet survive a high-energy impact? A new study by Dr. Michel and his team sheds light on this mystery.
Mar 25, 2018 · 23 min
121: Solar storms with Dr. Janvier
Dr. Miho Janvier talks about her work studying solar storms, and tells us about the ways these storms have impacted humans in the past. She explains why they are challenging to model and says why she's interested in "garbage" data from planetary missions.
Mar 11, 2018 · 25 min
120: Archeology for everyone with Chase Childs
Chase Childs tells us about satellite remote sensing. He explains how near-infrared images can expose underground structures, and why plant health is of surprising interest to archeologists. He also talks about GlobalXplorer, and some of the site's power users who have painstakingly mapped Peru.

Spacepod

139: The missing mantle problem with Dr. DeMeo

138: Transiting Exoplanets with Dr. Payne

137: Documenting rapid change with Dr. Carey

136: Would sailboats work on Titan? With Dr. Soto

135: Linking asteroid observations with Dr. Holman

134: Spinning stars with Dr. Rebull

133: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Mercury with Dr. Padovan

132: Introducing people to the reach of infinity with Tim Thompson

131: Inside the red planet with Dr. Daubar

130: Quantum entanglement with Dr. Ghose

129: A new type of galaxy with Dr. Mutlu-Pakdil

128: Sleeping on a Glacier with Dr. Koppes

127: Black hole pairs with Dr. McGurk

126: Supercities of the Universe with Dr. Connor

125: Oceans, oceans everywhere with Dr. Keane

124: Searching Antarctica for meteorites with Dr. Cohen

123: Our favorite planet's future with Dr. Marvel

122: How to make a comet with Dr. Michel

121: Solar storms with Dr. Janvier

120: Archeology for everyone with Chase Childs