Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months. We chat about the news coverage of K2-18b and the claims of biomarkers in that atmosphere, new discoveries, exciting atmospheres, and haze formation.

Hannah dives into the controversy of K2-18b and the announcement of DMS (a biomarker on Earth) detection amongst a methane dominated spectrum “Carbon-bearing Molecules in a Possible Hycean Atmosphere” by Madhusudhan et al.. The team discuss the responsibility we have as scientists to portray the statistics (in this case the lack of evidence to support the claim) to the press and how extraordinary claims require extraordinary care.

Hugh highlights a new discovery of “A close-in giant planet escapes engulfment by its star” by Hon et al.

And finally, Andrew explores “Planetary Scale Information Transmission in the Biosphere and Technosphere: Limits and Evolution” by Lingham et al.

Exocast is edited by Fergus Hall. Image credit: Artistic ilustration of planet K2-18b, its star K2-18 and the second planet K2-18. Credit: Alex Boersma

You can help support Exocast and the team at BuyMeACoffee.com/exocast, and get yourself some Exocast merch at exocast.threadless.com

This month the exocast team chat to exoplanetary astronomer Dr Maximillian Guenther. We talk about finding transiting exoplanets with TESS & NGTS, open-source transit modelling, flares from M-dwarf stars, the role of UV in prebiotic chemistry, chemical mixing experiments in zero-g aboard the vomit comet, connections between science and art, and his role as project scientist of the ESA CHEOPS mission. And, of course, hear which important and personally connected planetary system Max has adopted into our hall-of-fame.

Do you have a question we didn’t ask? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter, bluesky, and mastodon. 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.

In this episode Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh discuss the art and science of organising, and attending, scientific conferences, with a particular focus on the recent Exoclimes VI meeting held in Exeter, UK, organised by Hannah and others in the exoplanet community. These meetings are crucial for the dissemination and communication of new results among the community and further afield, but they can be daunting to attend, and very stressful to organise. The team share their personal experiences with conference attendence and organising and consider the changing role and format of the science conference in modern academia.

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.

Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months. We chat all things Exoclimes VI held in Exeter in June 2023, new discoveries, exciting atmospheres, and haze formation.

Hugh highlights a new discovery of “A temperate Earth-sized planet [LP 791-18 d] with tidal heating transiting an M6 star” by Peterson et al.

Hannah dives into an escaping atmosphere covering “Giant Tidal Tails of Helium Escaping the Hot Jupiter HAT-P-32 b” by Zhang et al.

And finally, Andrew explores “Exoplanet Volatile Carbon Content as a Natural Pathway for Haze Formation” by Bergen et al.

The Exocast team are back and this time joined by the esteemed Nikole Lewis, Professor and Deputy director of the Carl Sagan institute at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA. We chat all things career, JWST, the future of exoplanet characterisation with the Roman Space Telescope and Nikole add her favourite Neptune mass exoplanet GJ 436b to the Exocast Adopted Planets archive.

Before Nikole moved to Cornell in 2018 she was at the Space Telescope Science Institute for 4 years where she served as a member of the JWST NIRISS Instrument team, was the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Group Lead, and then went on to become the JWST Project Scientist in charge of all things JWST at STScI. Her career has spanned observations and theoretical modelling of planetary atmospheres using 3D Global Circulation Models (GCMs) to the terrors of working with Spitzer Space Telescope data before applying herself to getting JWST ready for science operations. Perfectly suited to this role, Nikole actually started her career as a physics and mechanical engineering major with an MA in astronomy and worked in industry for several years before coming back to do a PhD in Planetary Science at the University of Arizona working on 3D GCMs.

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.

Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months.

Andrew delves into technosignatures and a study which looked at whether nearby extraterrestrial civilisations could detect our current levels of radio leakage, and exactly what they might be able to learn.

Hannah condenses the most recent JWST exoplanet paper, on the nearby transiting super-Earth GJ486b. The beautiful spectra from JWST appear to show hints of water vapour, but is it in the planetary atmosphere or the activity on the surface of the star?

And finally, Hugh covers a trio of papers which all used a combination of Hipparcos & Gaia astrometry as well as high-contrast imaging from some of the world’s largest telescopes to confirm a new giant planet orbiting the young star AF Lep.

In this episode Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh reflect on where their careers and research in exoplanet science have led over the past few years as a chance to (re)introduce ourselves to new and regular listeners alike! We hope you’ll appreciate a slightly different format for this show.

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.

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.

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

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

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 one month later on December 5th. Head over to twitter to join in with the polls by following @ExocastExoCup.