Walkabout the Galaxy

That's no error, this is episode 404, recorded in front of a live audience at DragonCon 2025 with special guest Trina Ray, Deputy Science Manager for the Europa Clipper mission. We get an update from…

There is so much going on in the universe it's hard to keep track. That's why we have not one but two top astroquarks on this episode to cover the latest discoveries and news from the solar system to…

There's more abundant and accessible water ice on Mars, ready for us to scoop it up, heat it up, and eat it up. And in the distant recesses of the universe there's a supermassive black hole with an i…

We discuss the largest black hole merger observed to date, between two black holes that are in the so-called forbidden mass range. They must have been created by some ancient merger of other black ho…

The astroquarks celebrate 400 episodes with a special sponsor, a special stumper, and a special interstellar comet making its way through our solar system from an origin near the galactic center perh…

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has started making observations with the world's largest optical detector boasting over 3 billion pixels at the back of an enormous telescope in the high Andes. We take …

We're all about the weather on this episode, with a new study showing that even relatively distant supernova may have affected the Earth's climate in the recent past. And the James Webb Space Telesco…

Original top quark Tracy Becker is back to bring us up to speed Europa Clipper's flyby of Mars, and we learn about a new way for planetary cores to form without so much heat. Join us for all this, pl…

A major update to the predicted end of the universe has it coming much earlier than previously anticipated. However, we still have plenty of time to get our affairs in order, and the update has to do…

We get lucky and catch a rogue supermassive black hole in the act of slurping up a star as it meanders through a distant galaxy. Closer to home, the detection of a second trinary, or triple, system i…

The asteroid Vesta may be a fragment of a much larger protoplanet, and astronomers examine old data to discover a large molecular cloud lurking right in the solar system's backyard. Get all the detai…

NASA's Lucy mission had a picture perfect encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson on its way to the first ever flybys of Trojan asteroids. Discoveries of ancient supermassive black holes challenge…

The astroquarks discover hot takes and explore the nature of ice, the origin of Earth's water, and the trouble with the singularities at the hearts of black holes. Plus, we have a stumper, astronomic…

Venus's extra-thick crust may be extra chewy, allowing convection to occur and helping power volcanoes into the current era. New observations of the distant universe, meanwhile, show that dark energy…

A survey of nearby stars establishes the rate of supernovas in our general neighborhood. Evidence indicates we had nearby stellar explosions at the times of two mass extinctions. Those supernovas may…

If there are Hycean worlds and if they have a certain kind of microbial life and if there is enough of it, JWST might be able to see the chemical products of that in the planet's atmosphere. We take …

There are exciting new observations from recent lunar missions, a possible chunk of the Moon keeping us company, and an intriguing observation supporting the theory that the entire universe is inside…

We take a look at the formation and structure of the Oort cloud of comets which is spherical at large distances but has a spiral structure in its inner regions. And, after all this time, there's a su…

Lunar exploration continues to accelerate, and there's a new longest "structure" in the universe. Quipu is a quasi-alignment of clusters of galaxies stretching over 1 billion light years. Structure i…

The more measurements we make of the expansion of the universe, the more it seems as though Hubble Tension is not a problem with our data but a problem with our understanding of the expansion of the …