Spacepod

Latest Episodes:

100: The gauntlet is thrown- explain the ammonia! with Dr. Ehlmann Jun 04, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Bethany Ehlmann returns to talk about Ceres. She tells us what certain types of silicates have in common with phyllo dough, and explains how traces of ammonia on Ceres hint at unusual history for this dwarf planet.

99: Photons from exoplanets with Dr. Meshkat May 28, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Tiffany Meshkat describes direct imaging of exoplanets, which astronomers have used to discover enormous, young planets. She also talks about WFIRST, a mission under development that would be able to find and characterize exoplanets.

98: A place on Earth as dry as Mars with Dr. Azua-Bustos May 21, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos talks about how he discovered the driest place on Earth— a region in the Atacama Desert not far from where he grew up. He explains how he collects and studies microbial life that live in these extremely dry regions.

97: If a glacier falls in a fjord… with Dr. Koppes May 14, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Michele Koppes stops by to talk about her glacier research on planet Earth. She describes how a melting glacier triggered a staggeringly large landslide in 2015, and how glaciers can match even humans in their ability to transform the landscape.

96: Vega, dust, and a giant inflatable bumblebee with Dr. Ciardi May 07, 2017

Show notes

Dr. David Ciardi talks about Vega, a bright star that's "been a part of human lore forever." Dr. Ciardi and his colleagues discovered that Vega has a nearby ring of dust, implying the presence of planets. He also describes an encounter with a giant inflatable bumblebee at Palomar Observatory.

95: Asteroid hunting software with John Dailey Apr 30, 2017

Show notes

John Dailey explains how he uses his software engineering skills to discover asteroids at IPAC/Caltech. He helps solve problems inherent to working with astronomical data, such as the challenge of reading in and out huge volumes of data from hard drives.

94: Seven hundred new craters on Mars with Dr. Daubar Apr 23, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Ingrid Daubar stops by to talk about HiRISE, a camera on a Mars-orbiting spacecraft that takes amazing images of the Martian surface. She explains how she uses these images to search for fresh craters, and how you (yes you!) suggest areas of the planet for this camera to image. (Correction to episode: Mars' atmosphere is 0.6% that of Earth, not 6%)

93: Companionable Jupiters with Marta Bryan Apr 16, 2017

Show notes

Marta Bryan shares her new results on exoplanets! She explains how she tested a theory of hot jupiter formation, and how she figured out that planet rotation rates are likely set early on in the planet's lifetime.

92: When there's dust there's planets with Dr. Patel Apr 09, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Rahul Patel describes his search for undiscovered disks of dust around other stars. He explains how looking for fainter and fainter debris disks may bring us closer to discovering a planetary system similar to our own.

91: Tectonic hazard on Phobos with Dr. Curren Apr 02, 2017

Show notes

Dr. Ivy Curren talks about Mars' moon Phobos, and how grooves on its surface indicate that the interior may be fractured. This small, mysterious moon is covered in faults, making it a dicey place for future missions to land.

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