The Supermassive Podcast

By The Royal Astronomical Society

History

What's The Supermassive Podcast about?

This is The Supermassive Podcast from the Royal Astronomical Society. Every month, science journalist Izzie Clarke and astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst take you through the universe with the latest research, history from the society’s archives and astronomy you can do from your own home.

You can send your questions to the team via [email protected] or tweet @RoyalAstroSoc using #RASSupermassive

The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media Production by Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.

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LAST EPISODE

28: How to Kill a Galaxy

04.30.2022

How does a galaxy evolve and die? Izzie and Dr Becky find out with help from Tim Davis at Cardiff University. Plus, Dr Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society answers your questions and explains how to spot galaxies in ...

The Supermassive Podcast episodes:

04.30.2022 28: How to Kill a Galaxy How does a galaxy evolve and die? Izzie and Dr Becky find out with help from Tim Davis at Cardiff University. Plus, Dr Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society answers your questions and explains how to spot galaxies in ...
03.25.2022 27: How to Build a Galaxy Izzie and Dr Becky are attempting to tackle the massive subject of building a galaxy. Professor Mike Merrifield from The University of Nottingham explains how galaxies form and our very own galaxy expert, Dr Becky, tells us why they come ...
02.25.2022 26: The Marvellous Moon Who doesn’t love looking up at the moon?! Joining Izzie and Dr Becky, Professor Katherine Joy from the University of Manchester explains what past and future lunar missions can tell us, and Dr Megan Barford from Royal Museums Greenwich gives ...
01.28.2022 25: A Supermassive Q&A! The Supermassive team is finally doing something about all the questions that have been sent in. It’s Q&A; time! From "fluffy" planets, to cake on the moon, join Izzie Clarke as she puts your questions to Dr Becky Smethurst, Dr ...
12.24.2021 24: Eclipses & Expeditions Join Dr Becky Smethurst and Dr Robert Massey as they explore eclipses; what are they and how have they been studied throughout history? Plus Izzie Clarke visits the Royal Astronomical Society Library to discover what the society has in the ...
11.26.2021 23: The End of the Universe What will the end of days actually look like? And how will it happen? This month, Izzie and Dr Becky explore the end of the Universe with cosmologist Dr Katie Mack - author of The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking). ...
10.29.2021 22: JWST - Seeing the First Stars Finally, Izzie and Dr Becky are talking about the James Webb Space Telescope but why is this telescope so impressive? NASA’s Keith Parrish, the observatory manager for Webb, covers the basics and Professor Gillian Wright, the principal investigator for the ...
10.01.2021 21: Icy Worlds Wrap up warm, because this month Izzie and Dr Becky are exploring the icy worlds in the solar system. To help, they're joined by Caroline Harper, Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency, to discuss the new mission ...
08.27.2021 20: Firey Worlds Izzie and Dr Becky are turning up the heat and exploring the fiery worlds in our solar system. From planets close to the Sun to a distant world of volcanoes and lava. Joining them are planetary scientist Professor David Rothery ...
07.30.2021 19: Radiation Belts and Billionaires This month it’s all about the trapped charged particles around our planet - the Van Allen radiation belts. Izzie and Dr Becky find out all about them with the help of Dr Maria Theresia Walach from Lancaster University, and Dr ...
06.25.2021 18: A Hunk of Space Junk Grab your dustpan and brush… This month, Izzie and Dr Becky get to grips with the leftovers from space activity, it's all about space junk. Joining them are engineer Dr Hugh Lewis from the University of Southampton, who models how ...
05.28.2021 17: Hunting for Planet 9 Is it a planet? Is it a black hole? Is it even real? This month, Izzie and Dr Becky try and get to the bottom of the mysterious planet nine - an enigmatic - and so far invisible - ninth ...
04.23.2021 16: Mysteries of the Kuiper Belt “It’s like the evidence left over after a crime.” This month Izzie and Dr Becky venture into the outer Solar System to explore a sea of weird rocks, a squashed snowman and ice volcanoes on a demoted planet. They are ...
03.26.2021 15: Neutron Stars - with Jocelyn Bell Burnell "I was tracking down every signal that it picked up, and there was one signal that I couldn't make sense of." Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell gives Izzie and Dr Becky a neutron star 101 and tells them how she ...
02.26.2021 14: A Star Is Born This month, Izzie and Dr Becky are shining a light on the first stars in the Universe. When did they form? And could any still exist today? Plus, they explore the life of Cecelia Payne Gaposchkin, the astrophysicist who discovered ...
01.22.2021 13: New Year, New Universe Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst are kicking off the new year with the beginning of everything, the Big Bang. They speak with Professor David Wands who explains how our universe began, and dive into the historical debate behind this ...
12.18.2020 12: Gamma Rays & Christmas Stars This month, Izzie & Becky are taking astronomy to the extremes with gamma ray expert, Professor Paula Chadwick, and Professor Julian Osborne from the SWIFT Observatory. Plus, Robert Massey shares his top tips for stargazing at home and how best ...
11.20.2020 11: Radio Skies & Strange Signals It’s about time we gave optical telescopes a break! This month, Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst explore radio astronomy with Professor Tim O'Brien from the UK's Jodrell Bank Telescope and Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, former project scientist for the Australian ...
10.23.2020 10: Humans In Space - with Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Why do we need astronauts? And where are we hoping to send them in the future? This month, Dr Becky Smethurst and Izzie Clarke explore the role of humans in space exploration and are joined by European Space Agency Astronaut ...
09.25.2020 9: The Power of Space Probes Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst travel through our solar system; where exactly have we sent probes and rovers? Plus, they speak with Professor Jane Greaves, the scientist behind that Venus discovery, and Robert Massey joins to chat about all ...
08.28.2020 8: Journey to the Centre of the Earth Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst explore the importance of Earth's core and magnetic field. Plus, the team finds out about the astronomer who sailed the seas in the name of science and Robert Massey joins to chat about all ...
07.23.2020 7: Down To Earth Dr Becky Smethurst and Izzie Clarke investigate the cosmic coincidences that formed the Earth and explore whether there are earthquakes and volcanoes on other planets. Plus, astronomer Robert Massey joins them to chat all things #cometNEOWISE and what else to ...
06.25.2020 6: Looking for Alien Life The search for alien life continues. Dr Becky Smethurst and Izzie Clarke explore the world of astrobiology and astronomer Robert Massey joins them to take on your extraterrestrial questions. Plus, they discuss the "broken pipeline" for black and minority ethnic ...
05.21.2020 5: Exploring Exoplanets The worlds outside our solar system; exoplanets. This month, Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst take on listener questions about exoplanets, celebrate 30 years of the Hubble Space Telescope with Robert Massey, and amateur astronomer Steve Brown shares his beginner’s ...
04.23.2020 4: Under the Space Weather Brits love talking about the weather, so Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst are taking it up a notch. This month, the Supermassive team explore the solar wind, auroras on other planets and the European Space Agency Satellite that's on ...
03.19.2020 3: Our Neighbourhood Star This month, Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst explore the star in our neighbourhood, the annoying habits you would banish there and the extreme stars further afield. Plus the Royal Astronomical Society trusts them with a very special book from ...
02.20.2020 2: It's All Relativity... This month, Izzie Clarke and Dr Becky Smethurst explore relativity, gravitational waves and the photographs that made Albert Einstein a household name. Astronomer Robert Massey joins us to talk through SpaceX's Starlink and what we can see in the night ...
01.17.2020 1: Seeing The Invisible Universe From black holes to dark matter, this first episode of the Royal Astronomical Society's new podcast explores the odd things in space we can't see. Plus, hosts astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst and science journalist Izzie Clarke are trusted with a ...