exocast

Hugh, Hannah & Andrew pick sides to debate astronomy’s deepest divide. Are you with Hugh on the side of the observers, who insist that it is only with new telescopes, instruments and data that we can reveal physical properties of exoplanets and develop our understanding of the universe. Or are you, like Andrew, on the side of the theorists, who ensure that we can deeply understand the physical properties of exoplanets by doing experiments and simulations, and observations are simply a tool to test theories? Or do you prefer to take Hannah’s path, and jump chaotically between the two sides?

The latest exoplanet news hot off the Exocast news desk:

• Hannah gives us a run-down of the Exoplanets IV conference held recently in Las Vegas, at which both her and Hugh were in attendence, including summaries of interesting sessions and presentations.
• Hugh presents a great new paper from Panahi et al. 2022 entitled “The Detection of Transiting Exoplanets by Gaia” that demonstates the Gaia spacecraft’s ability to contribute to exoplanet detection.
• Andrew keeps things in the up in the air when discussing “Can Carbon Fractionation Provide Evidence for Aerial Biospheres in the Atmospheres of Temperate Sub-Neptunes?“ by Glidden et al. 2022.

What did you think of the papers/news discussion? Join in the conversation in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com

Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.

In this episode of Exocast the team are fortunate to be joined in the virtual studio by Dr Jennifer Burt, NASA/JPL’s Extreme Precision Radial Velocity Investigation Scientist, for an extreme discussion of the radial velocity technique for finding and characterising exoplanets. Jenn gives us a comprehensive and enthusiastic rundown of the method, US and European RV surveys, supporting current and future photometric missions with RV follow-up, and an update on new technology and instruments that are pushing the limits of radial velocities for exoplanet detection to extremely high precision, including automated planet-finding telescopes.

Of course, Jenn was also tasked with adding a new planet to our Adopted Planets list… listen to the show to find out which one she chose and why. (Spoiler: she discovered it!)

Want to know more about Dr Burt’s work? Check out her website and tweets @astrojennb.

Do you have a question we didn’t ask? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com

Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.

Join us for this months news episode where the Exocast team delve into new discoveries, characterisation, and astrobiology investigations to learn all about the latest research being published in exoplanets.

• Andrew takes us through some new astrobiology work “Metabolically diverse primordial microbial communities in Earth’s oldest seafloor-hydrothermal jasper“ from Papineau et al. 2022

• Hannah covers the latest in characterisation with “A New Analysis of 8 Spitzer Phase Curves and Hot Jupiter Population Trends: Qatar-1b, Qatar-2b, WASP-52b, WASP-34b, and WASP-140b” from May et al. 2022

• Hugh looks into some new discoveries from “TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME) VI: an 11 Myr Giant Planet Transiting a Very Low Mass Star in Lower Centaurus Crux“ by Mann et al. 2022

What did you think of the papers discussion? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast then you can Buy us a Coffee, or get your own merchandise at exocast.threadless.com

Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com) and supported in part by funding from the University of Bristol via H.Wakeford starter funds.

This month Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew go back to basics to discuss the diversity and complexity inherent in the study of planetary atmospheres. Exocast-59b touches on how we define an atmosphere and takes a sojourn through the varied and beautiful atmospheres of the Solar System, as well as a journey back through time to consider the long evolution of the atmosphere of our planet. How does an atmosphere form and change over time, cling to objects ranging in size from the Moon to Jupiter and beyond, and can it be lost forever to space? Extending beyond the Solar System we consider how astronomers search for and study exoplanet atmospheres and the role of the star in terms of their formation, physics, and chemistry, as well as the importance of the atmosphere for habitability.

Is the atmosphere of the Earth optimal for habitability? Join in the discussion in the comments below, and find us on Twitter. If you want to support the Exocast Podcast you can get merch at exocast.threadless.com, or you can Buy us a Coffee; a huge thank you to Steve Hungsberg and Anton who donated last month! Your contributions are warmly and gratefully received.

Exocast is edited by composer/muscian Fergus Hall (https://fergushallcomposer.com)

In this episode the Exocast gang chat with Dr Mark McCaughrean, who is a Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Science Working Group Interdisciplinary Scientist, about the recent launch, deployment and commissioning of JWST. Mark shares scientific and personal highlights of his long involvement with the telescope, his experience of JWST’s launch from French Guiana on Christmas Day 2021, and insights regarding the revolutionary exoplanet science that the platform will enable. We also take some time to discuss ESA’s other exoplanet-centric missions (GAIA, ARIEL, PLATO, CHEOPS) as well as the differences and similarities between NASA and ESA operations, their ongoing partnerships, and synergies. In lieu of an adopted planet, Mark shares his thoughts on what may be the most exciting JWST-enabled astrophysical discoveries of the next decade(s).

Mark is also the co-founder of Space Rocks, a fantastic initiative to bring science, music, and culture together in a celebration of space and exploration. Hannah stopped by to continue the conversation about JWST with Mark and others on a recent episode of Space Rocks’ webcast series ‘Uplink‘.

Follow Mark on Twitter: @markmccaughrean