The Supermassive Podcast

The bonus Q and A that tackles some of the biggest questions in cosmology including: How many space vampires would you need to explain dark matter? and can you make a decent cup of tea on a space station? Dr Becky, Izzie and producer Richard also tackle questions on neutrinos, Lagrange points and black hole stars.

Becky’s cake recipe in strange science units is here.

For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club on Supporting Cast. Every paying member helps keep the show running, so thank you! 

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club. 

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yes, it’s a welcome return for the giant doughnut at the edge of the solar system filled with lumpy space potatoes. Dr Becky and Izzie are joined by Meg Schwamb from Queen’s University to discuss all things Kuiper Belt, the New Horizons mission, Rubin telescope and mysterious planet 9. 

For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club on Supporting Cast. Every paying member helps keep the show running, so thank you! 

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club. 

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How many colanders can you fit in a field? In, yet another, bonus episode Izzie Clarke, @DrBecky and producer Richard Hollingham share their experiences of the eclipse. Plus is space a stew? Pocket universes, and how fit do you have to be to be an astronaut?

For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club on Supporting Cast. Every paying member helps keep the show running, so thank you! 

Here is the visualisation of space that Becky mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrwgIjBUYVc

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club. The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's an eclipse on Wednesday 12th August 2026. So where can you see it? And how do you do that safely? Izzie Clarke, Dr Becky Smethurst and Dr Robert Massey from have it covered. Plus, The Supermassive Book Club makes a return for your summer reading.

We're (finally) on Youtube, watch us here. For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club on Supporting Cast. Every paying member helps to keep the show running, so thank you!

Send us your eclipse photos, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham. Hayley Wilson is the video editor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Q&A time! Izzie Clarke, Dr Becky Smethurst and the Royal Astronomical Society's Dr Robert Massey dive into The Supermassive Mailbox to answer your brilliant and ridiculous questions.

🌑 Do meteors hit the Moon during showers?

⏳ Could black holes create different 'eras' of time?

☄️ Where did the Kuiper belt come from?

🧛‍♂️ If space telescopes use mirrors and vampires don't have a reflection, could dark matter actually be space vampires?

Want more of The Supermassive Podcast? Here are the previous episodes we mentioned and you can now watch us on Youtube!

Do We Live in a Multiverse? (December 2023)

How to Time Travel (December 2025)

What the heck are Neutrinos? (June 2026)

For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club on Supporting Cast. Every member helps keep the show running, so thank you!

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the Bootes Void? Why do we only see one side of the Moon? Can time travel be sped up? And what's the smallest amount of visible space debris? The Supermassive Podcast team answer your questions... And work on their Australian accents!?

For the first time ever, you can now watch this episode on YouTube.

For ad-free listening, join The Supermassive Club. Every member helps keep the show running, so thank you!

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media Production, the producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham. Hayley Wilson is the video editor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is this the toughest subject we’ve ever tackled? Izzie certainly thinks so and it’s even making Dr Becky and Dr Robert's brains hurt. Helping them to make sense of these ‘weird and interesting’ particles are Dr Kirsty Duffy at the University of Oxford and Director of the Paris Astrophysics Institute, Professor Kumiko Kotera. 

For ad-free listening and to view Izzie's trajectory to becoming a better astronomer, join The Supermassive Club. Every member helps keep the show running, so thank you!

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens if two diamond core stars collide? Will the Moon drift away from Earth? Why is there motion in the universe? And why we need a space AND time machine. Izzie, Dr Becky and Robert dive into The Supermassive Mailbox to answer your questions.

For ad-free listening and to view Izzie's trajectory to becoming a better astronomer, join The Supermassive Club. Every member helps keep the show running, so thank you!

Send us your astronomy attempts, questions (and nonsense!) to [email protected], on Instagram at @supermassivepod or post in The Supermassive Club.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy Grace Roman. Ariel. The next generation of space telescopes are here. Astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst and science journalist Izzie Clarke explore how they work, what they can tell us and why they might unravel our current understanding of the universe. Plus Dr Robert has your stargazing tips for June.

Thank you to Dr Tom Barclay from NASA's Roman telescope and Dr Chris Pearson from RAL Space.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we calculate a black hole's event horizon? Does Mercury's tail impact Earth? Can we name a planet Rupert? And did gravity wipe out the dinosaurs? Izzie Clarke & Dr Becky Smethurst dive into the rather whimsical Supermassive Mailbox to answer your questions.

Want to name an Exoworld? Here's the IAU website to start a campaign: https://nameexoworlds.iau.org/

Send your questions, whimsical messages and your night sky photos to [email protected] or find us on Instagram @SupermassivePod. Or why not support the show by joining The Supermassive Club? You'll get ad-free listening and access to The Supermassive forum.

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.