Exocast-21b: planet formation, habitability of eccentric planets, news, Kepler-21b
Jan 30, 2018
Show notesIn the 21st episode of Exocast:
Hannah talks about planet formation;
Andrew discusses the potential habitability of planets on eccentric orbits;
Hugh disseminates a backlog of exciting exoplanet news from the past two months including discoveries, planet characterization, and community debate;
Andrew adds the eponymous Kepler-21b as the newest member of the Exocast adopted planets gang;
Exocast-20b: The ExoCup
Dec 09, 2017
Show notesIn the 20th episode of Exocast we discuss all things #ExoCup
What is the ExoCup? How was it conceived? What was the result? Why was it so stressful for the Exocast crew?
We take a voxbox from some members of the exoplanet community on their opinions of the ExoCup (inc. Dr. Jessie Christiansen, Dr. Nikole Lewis, Dr. Natalie Batalha, Dr. Abhi Rajan);
Andrew reports on the months interesting exoplanetary news that was still churning out planets during the cup;
Hannah adopts runner up GJ 1214b into the Exocast family to join winner Kepler-10b.
Big thank you to all who joined us on twitter for the ExoCup and explored 32 alien worlds with us.
Exocast-19b: origins of life part 2, software and machine learning, news, Proxima b
Oct 30, 2017
Show notesIn the 19th episode of Exocast:
Andrew continues his 2-parter on research into the origins of life;
Hugh details all the numerous way that computers & software is used in astronomy, from Microsoft to MCMC to Machine Learning;
Hannah reports on two whole months worth of interesting exoplanetary news;
Hugh adopts Proxima Centauri b, the solar system’s closest cousin, into the Exocast family;
And we announce the start of the first Exocast #ExoCup!
Exocast-18b – Direct Imaging Special with special guest Sasha Hinkley
Oct 07, 2017
Show notesIn the 18th episode of Exocast, we chat to Sasha Hinkley, a direct imaging expert at the University of Exeter:
“Spotlights & fireflies” – what it means to be able to directly image planets and how we do it.
Why direct imaging may not have the numbers compared to other detection techniques, but can give us so much more information on each planet
The future of direct imaging instruments, including JWST, WFIRST and the E-ELT.
Exocast-16b: ELTs, JWST, news, 51 Eri b, newly minted Dr Osborn
Aug 08, 2017
Show notes
In the 16th episode of Exocast:
Hugh discusses exoplanet science in the era of extremely large telescopes.
Hannah brings us up to speed with the outcomes of the recent James Webb Space Telescope workshop held at the Space Telescope Institute at the beginning of July.
Andrew reports on the latest exciting exoplanetary news, including a potential exomoon candidate, some worrying disclosures from the TESS mission, and a possible atmosphere detection around a large terrestrial planet.
Hannah adopts the directly-imaged world 51 Eridani b into our exoplanet orphanage, a young, hot, Jupiter-like planet detected by the Gemini Planet Imager.
Hugh became an Official Doctor of Space by passing his PhD viva – well done Hugh!
Exocast-15b: biosignatures, TESS, news, Kepler-37b
Jul 06, 2017
Show notes
In the 15th episode of Exocast:
Andrew revisits the signals life may or may not leave in a planet’s atmosphere, taking in recent results from the NExSS biosignature workshop.
Hugh details the pros & cons of NASA’s upcoming planet-hunting machine, the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey, or TESS, mission.
Hannah covers the breaking news, including a host of new results from the Kepler mission.
and
Hugh adopts the mini-Mercury Kepler-37b into our collection, the smallest planet yet found around a main sequence star.
Exocast-14b
Jun 12, 2017
Show notes
In the 14th episode of Exocast
Hannah takes us back to basics and introduce the composition and chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres.
Andrew covers some recent updates from astrobiology, the field of study that aims to figure out if there’s life on any the exoplanets we’ve discovered, or on some of the worlds closer to home.
Hugh takes us through the latest in exoplanetary news, including the newest discoveries, investigations, and notable events in exoplanets this month.
and
Andrew adopts the well characterized exoplanet HD 189733b – a hellish world with high speed winds filled with molten glass, but very popular with observers.
Hugh talks about planets in binary systems – are two stars better than one?
Hannah discussed the importance of brown dwarfs as the intermediary between planets and stars.
Andrew takes us through the latest in exoplanetary news, including the newest discoveries, investigations, and notable events in exoplanets this month.
and
Hannah adopts WASP-12b with it’s ruby clouds into our extreme family of exoplanets.
Exocast-12b
Apr 07, 2017
Show notes
In the twelfth episode, Exocast-12b:
Andrew details highlights of the recent UK exoplanet meeting.
Hugh and Andrew play “Just an Arcminute” with UK exoplanet scientists.
Hannah sits in at the exocast newsdesk to cover news including new data on the Trappist-1 system, unusual clouds closer to home, and new brown dwarfs at the boundary of planets & stars.
And Hugh chooses Kepler-47ABc, a rare circum-binary planet, as our adopted planet of the month.
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