In this episode, the (domestic) American sector of Astro[sound]bites covers the recent proposed budget cuts to NASA, the largest in NASA’s entire history. We cover the downsides that these cuts would have for science and the economy, and what you can do to speak out.

How to reach out:

Find your representative:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

AAS Letter Writing Guidelines for Astronomers: 

https://aas.org/advocacy/get-involved/action-alerts/action-alert-2025-support-science

Planetary Society Letter Writing Guidelines for the General Public

https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/53

Astrobite with Guidelines for Letter Writing

https://astrobites.org/2025/04/15/help_nasa/

Sources: 

The Budget Request (NASA Stuff begins on page 39 of the pdf)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf

Original ArsTechnica Report:

https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/

NASA’s economic output:

https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2023-economic-impact-report/#:~:text=NASA%20Boosts%20the%20U.S.%20Economy,D.C.%2C%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023.

NASA’s economic output reaches all 50 states:

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-economic-benefit-reaches-all-50-states/

NASA’s research on climate change

https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/

NASA’s research on asteroid defense

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense/

NASA Education and Outreach

https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/education-outreach/

Cuts disproportionately affect marginalized groups:

https://www.fastcompany.com/91328007/trumps-federal-layoffs-are-disproportionately-impacting-women-and-people-of-color

In today’s episode, Cormac, Cole and Lucia catch you up with all things Citizen Science. In the epoch of ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini (no, not the telescope), it’s easy to forget about the 20 Watt computer you’re using to read this sentence. Yes, even YOU can contribute to cutting-edge astronomical research, as we present two examples of cosmic crowdfunding in action. Cole convinces us that nearby galaxies need some Clump Scouts, and Lucia shows us how volunteers have been the (tur)key to finding a new star-studded dwarf galaxy. We also discuss the non-research benefits of democratising science, and in a fourth-wall-shattering pivot, we ask you, yes YOU, what you’d like to hear more of on a[s]b.

[email protected]

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/07/29/galaxy-zoo-clump-scout/

https://astrobites.org/2023/11/18/a-lonely-little-galaxy-at-the-edge-of-our-neighborhood/

Space Sound:

Adapted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6vbST9iMOU

XKCD Comic:

https://xkcd.com/1425/

Article about the (not so?) amateur astronomer:

https://astro.arizona.edu/news/tucson-doctor-wins-national-award-his-second-act-amateur-astronomer

That stars die will be old news for most listeners. But sometimes, stars don’t just die, they get ripped apart by supermassive black holes. Cormac, Cole and Lucia discuss these so-called tidal disruption events. Specifically, how these events are connected to X-ray absorption features called extreme coronal lines. The hosts also take a look at one of the true superstars of supernova remnants: the Crab Nebula. As it turns out, studying the ejecta can give clues about the pulsar at the heart of the nebula. The discussion revolves around the every-day of doing science. Spoiler: it’s not all like solving exercise sheets.

A New Look at Our Old Friend, the Crab Nebula

Exploring the remains of a destroyed (death) star

Space Sound: https://youtu.be/aG300vtQ1es

Shoot, someone made the mistake of letting Cole pick the episode topic. In this episode, Cole, Cormac, and Shashank talk about the big boy on cosmology campus: Lambda CDM. This model has gotten a bit too big for its britches we think: what are the things about the universe that this model can’t explain? Shashank gives us a tour through the dark matter hearts of galaxies which don’t match up with cosmological predictions and Cormac shows us how 1500 (ish? We’re not clear on this one.) supernovae could hint at a fundamental flaw in Lambda CDM.

Astrobites:

Testing cosmology with the DES 5-year supernovae dataset:

https://astrobites.org/2024/03/22/template-post-21/

Digging into the Core: Dark Matter and Dwarf Galaxies

https://astrobites.org/2015/07/14/digging-into-the-core-dark-matter-and-dwarf-galaxies/

Space Sound:

Listen to the hum of NANOGrav's gravitational wave background

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGO0wQK9ns4

In this episode, Cormac, Lucia and Cole lift the lid on the lifecycle of space missions by peering into a preponderance of proposals. If you’ve ever wondered how your favourite telescope, rover or probe made it into space, then wonder no more. Lucia brings us a novel way to track potentially hazardous space junk using 5G, while Cole teases us with some magnetic results from the LISA Pathfinder mission. We also discuss our favourite proposed space missions, and debate the right balance between risk and reward.

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/08/13/5g-signals-to-track-space-trash/

https://astrobites.org/2024/12/21/template-post-15-2/

Space Sound:

https://www.nasa.gov/audio-and-ringtones/

Episode 101: Weather Woes

In this episode, we take a dive into weather phenomena in space. Shashank, Cormac and Lucia discuss what the terms hot and cold mean in space and the temperature ranges we tend to see outside the Solar System and the galaxy. Then, Cormac tells us about the climate on Venus, and Lucia delves into cold fronts between galaxies. Finally, we round off with some hot takes about the most underrated parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in astrophysics!

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/12/24/its-getting-hot-in-here-so-take-off-all-your-h2o/

https://astrobites.org/2024/11/11/cold-front-outside/

Space sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYXAdXf5gWU

Astrobites turns 100! For our ten squared-th episode we take a tour of all of the extremes of astrophysics: the heaviest and the lightest, the fastest and the slowest, the brightest and dimmest. In doing so, Shashank covers an astrobite on itty bitty particles that pack a big punch, Lucia talks about medium-ish galaxies and their black hole hearts, and Cormac panics about the danger of violent kilonovae. To help us celebrate, we meet up with some old friends to discuss dark matter, exoplanets, and how ridiculously long a Ph.D. takes. 

Astrobites:

https://astrobites.org/2024/06/06/agns-quenching-dwarf-galaxies/

https://astrobites.org/2013/06/04/cosmic-rays-from-the-telescope-array/

https://astrobites.org/2023/11/20/kilonova-safety/

https://astrobites.org/2018/08/16/do_the_milky_ways_stellar_streams_have_that_fuzzy_dark_matter_feeling/

https://astrobites.org/2022/11/28/evaporating-exoplanet/

Space sound:

http://soundcloud.com/alexhp-1/supernova-sonata

MIT study on children thinking logarithmically:

https://news.mit.edu/2012/thinking-logarithmically-1005#:~:text=Cognitive%20scientists%20theorize%20that%20that's,is%2031%2C%20or%203.

Danger - explosive! This week’s episode is all about supernovae. These star-ripping, neutrino spewing explosions are important to various fields of astrophysics. Cormac, Cole, and Lucia discuss just when stars actually go supernova. And also, whether we can use gravitational waves to tell which compact object is left behind. Everybody gets to share their favourite supernova science and (as we all love to do) to complain about how much astronomers love old, inconsistent nomenclature. Enjoy!  

Space Sound: https://youtu.be/S-saaAyaW0c

In this episode, Cormac, Shashank and Cole dig deep into Galactic Archaeology as we look into the past of our Milky Way. Cole brings us a catastrophic computational collision, while Shashank gives us the low-down on low-metallicity, and we see just how the (Gaia) sausage gets made. We also discuss the rights, wrongs and funnies of Astronomers trying to name things, and the diverse design philosophies behind some of our favourite observational facilities.

Astrobites: 

https://astrobites.org/2023/07/27/colossal_collisions_and_the_milky_way/

https://astrobites.org/2024/08/03/pigs-sagittarius/

Space sound:

https://www.aip.de/en/news/exploring-the-history-of-the-early-milky-way-with-sound/

DOOFAS Acronyms website:

https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~gpetitpas/Links/Astroacro.html

In this episode, Shashank, Cole and Lucia bend time in their debut podcast together as we talk about the various ways astronomy is like time travel. Lucia gives us a peek into the past with the storied supernova Cas A, while Cole brings us on a nostalgic quest into gravitational wave memory. We hope you enjoy time traveling with us!

Astrobites: 

https://astrobites.org/2024/08/26/cas_a_jwst/

https://astrobites.org/2024/08/28/gwmem/

Space sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9vGpkQurfc

JWST Cas A images:

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/149/01HGGZ4TPD8XFNPCBTZ2QYM0ZM

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/121/01GWQBBY77MHGFV3M3N63KDCEJ