Walkabout the Galaxy

On the eve of its long-anticipated launch, we explore one of the many areas of exploration of the JWST, the early universe after the birth of the first stars and the reionization of the interstellar medium. We also take a look at a large comet showing activity beyond the orbit of Uranus, historical trivia, space news updates, and more. Join us for a walkabout the galaxy.

Scientists are creating large, quantum-fuzzy atomic nuclei with large numbers of neutrons to get clues about nucleosynthesis in the very early universe. Closer to home, the Juno spacecraft has peered hundreds of km below the Jovian cloud tops to better understand its colorful stripy system of bands and zones. And we get to say "fugacity" a lot in understanding exoplanet geological activity. Join us for all this, space news, and top quark trivia.

We explore an exoplanet system where the orbits of the planets are at right angles to each other. A chunk of rock trailing the Earth around the Sun may be a chunk of the Moon, and we take a look at some of the more interesting ways of getting into space and traveling long distances once we're there.

It's the first Strange Up Top episode of Walkabout with Hannah Sargeant where we explore the odd core of the Andromeda galaxy, the formation of galactic clusters, and the thermodynamics of information. Find out how the odd orbits of stars in Andromeda may the relics of an ancient black hole merger, how clusters of galaxies got their starts, and the strange consequences of the second law of thermodynamics.

Meet Up Quark Hannah Sargeant as we explore the role of neutrinos in understanding the universe and the coupled evolution of Pluto's climate and spin state. A hypothesized sterile neutrino seems to be missing, extending the puzzle of dark matter. Catch up on all this and some truly odd balloon historical trivia, space news, and more.

Almost all exoplanets have been discovered in our local neighborhood of the Milky Way, with a few exceptions due to gravitational microlensing, still within our galaxy. Astronomers have likely identified the first exoplanet in a distant galaxy by it eclipsing an X-ray source. We also check in on models of cosmological inflation, and the Moon still has surprises in store. All this, trivia, sci-fi rants, and more with the Astroquarks on Walkabout the Galaxy.

So much going on: Shatner goes to space, the astroquarks ponder time travel, Tunguska may have been a near miss, free neutron decay holds the key to the universe, Fast Radio Bursts become more puzzling, and Strange Quark absolutely does not want any tortoises or any creatures at all, for that matter, to be harmed! Join us and special guest Dr. Hannah Sargeant for all this, Captain Kirk trivia, and more.

The intrepid New Horizons spacecraft has discovered close binary comets in the Kuiper belt, and the Lucy mission is getting ready to explore binary trojan asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit. It's all about small bodies, including just how late we can nuke an inbound asteroid and live to tell the tale.

Comet 29P is on an odd, distant orbit, between Jupiter and Saturn, and like a fidgety child sent to the corner, it keeps having unpredictable outbursts. In other planetary systems, the numerous hot jupiter class of planets seem to have a uniform nighttime temperature due to the presence of clouds of rock droplets. Maybe a good name for a song: Rock Droplet? And we'll check in on the latest in Dark Energy news.

We discuss not one but two galactic civilizations (Dune and Foundation) coming to screens big and small this Fall. Life being a central part of most civilizations, we discuss some interesting new observations of biomolecules in space and review the bizarre menagerie of hypothesized exotic stars. Join us for all that and an Asimovian trivia.