Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Feb 16, 2026.

There are many types of variable stars. Today we’re gonna talk about cataclysmic variable stars, which are the result of a white dwarf stealing material from a companion star. And this whole process makes supervillain Pamela happy. Gravity is the weakest force, but on the scales of stars, it is capable of great violence. In this episode, we look at the wild physics of cataclysmic variables: binary star systems where one star is a predatory compact stellar remnant, while the other is a victimized normal star.

Image credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

 

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In this episode, we'd like to thank: Burry Gowen, Eric Lee, Jeanette Wink, Michael Purcell, Andrew Poelstra, David, David Rossetter, Ed, Gerhard Schwarzer, Jason Kwong, Joe McTee, Sergey Manouilov, Siggi Kemmler, Sergio Sancevero