The Astroholic Explains

In this episode, we turn back time to the moment known as cosmic dawn ready to understand the first stars and how they changed the Universe. A guiding light in this journey is Dr Emma Chapman, author of the book First Light.

On Earth, quakes are caused by the motion of the tectonic plates. Quakes also happen on the Moon and Mars without them, and Chris is curious to find out how they occur as well as to listen to one of these outer-world quakes. 

In this episode, Chris is curious about a particular technique that allows building virtual radio telescopes the size of our planet, like the Event Horizon Telescope. So we invited an expert to tell us about radio interferometry and the Square Kilometer Array, the project that will push radio astronomy to new heights. 

There is something wrong with our model of the Universe. New data suggests that our assumptions about the cosmos are not all correct. Join us as we unravel the tension in the expansion rate of the Universe.

Pulsars are the focus of this episode and we speak to radio astronomer Rami Mandow over in Australia to discuss how precise measurements of these fascinating objects have been used as a galaxy-spanning gravitational wave observatory.

Chris' gym workout on a machine he erroneously called "the booty blaster" inspired this episode where we discuss if it's possible to create something that will last as long as the universe. And that led us to a question for you, dear listener. 

Our Christmas Special this year is a peculiar tale of the intimate corners we might create as we leave Earth behind to live in space. It was written by Dr Russel Moul, as his first time penning a radio tale, with the excellent voice of The Astroholic Explains' team and the ever wonderful Katy Evans. 

We are at the final factual episode of season 3, so we went back to our very popular quickfire round format from season 2 and have once again crowdsourced many questions about the universe. Tune in to discover what happens if you try to hold a black hole, what's the biggest object in the universe, how many planets are out there, and how to make cocktails in microgravity.

Looking for life outside of our planet is far from easy, but researchers have many different tools they are using. We sat with Dr Mario Toubes-Rodrigo to discuss biosignatures and how we might eventually discover aliens.