Walkabout the Galaxy

Latest Episodes:

Whacky Black Hole Collisions and Strange Uranian Rings May 20, 2026

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Mysterious bright blue flashes from relatively empty parts of the universe have a new possible explanation involving, what else, black holes. We explore this new idea to explain Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs) with black hole collisions, take a peek at the black hole in our own Milky Way, and discuss some puzzling observations of two of the rings of Uranus. Plus, we have a stupid stumper, exoplanet trivia, space news, and a top quark hot take!

Little Plutino Has An Atmosphere and Making Sense of Saturn May 13, 2026

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A Plutino, an object that shares Pluto's orbit but which is much smaller than Pluto, appears to have a very thin global atmosphere. We discuss the detection and how such a small body could hold onto even a thin atmosphere, as well as a new model that describes many of Saturn's peculiarities with a recent collision between its big moon Titan and a precursor to the sponge-y moon Hyperion. Join us for all this, space news, astronomy trivia, and much more.

Superkilonova and Artemis II Recap Apr 28, 2026

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Gravitational waves and light combine to reveal what is suspected to be a superkilonova which is much cooler than the name suggests. Cool in the cool way, not the temperature way. Learn about splitting neutron stars and, in our Artemis II recap, we revisit the highs (awesome mission, great astronauts) and lows (broken space toilet) of the mission that took people a record distance from the Earth, and what's next. Plus, trivia, stumper, fake sponsor, and all the nuttiness you've come to love and miss from the astroquarks. We're back!

A Whisper of a Hint of Primordial Black Holes plus Earth BLOBs Mar 18, 2026

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Gravitational Wave observatory LIGO has seen a signature that looks like the merger of primordial (pre-stellar, big bang (not big band!) era) black holes. If confirmed with future observations, this would tell us a lot about the early universe and potentially shed light on dark matter. Finally! Plus, closer to home, the BLOBs in the Earth's mantle help us untangle the complicated past of our magnetic field.

Supermassive Black Holes Supersoaking Other Galaxies Feb 25, 2026

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Supermassive black holes can be terrible neighbors. New research shows that their powerful jets of charged particles can shut down star formation in neighboring galaxies within the galaxy cluster, which is just plain rude. Closer to home, our own Down Quark Audrey Martin is part of a study shedding new light (with the James Webb Space Telescope) on the mysterious L type asteroids, that formed at very high temperatures early in our solar system's history.

Snowball Earth was Cold and Scary and the Milky Way Magnetic Field is a Mess Feb 18, 2026

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The Earth spent some crazy amounts of time (tens of millions of years) completely frozen over. And not, in the grand scheme of things, all that long ago. New research shows the ocean was salty and super-cold. How did life survive? New techniques using radio observations reveal a complicated and twisty galactic magnetic field. Join us for an icy, winter olympics themed episode to find out all this and more.

Planetary Nebulae and Active Asteroids Get a Closer Look Feb 05, 2026

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There's always been a fuzzy line between asteroids and comets, and new observations of asteroids in the vicinity of Jupiter provide a hint to the origin of the mysterious active asteroids that look like asteroids but act like comets. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the famous ring nebula gets a new spectral image that shows the presence of band of iron. Could it be the remnants of a planet like Earth or Mercury that was vaporized when the nebular formed? Tune in for our take on this, space news, trivia and much more.

A Dark Universe Unveiled Jan 29, 2026

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Scientists head to the volcanic fields of Iceland to test instruments for the VERITAS mission to Venus, Artemis II is ready for its historic flight to the Moon, and the Dark Energy Survey reveals the distribution of dark matter on an astounding scale. For mind-blowing astro-stuff, space news, and trivia, join the astroquarks on Walkabout the Galaxy.

Crazy Spinners in the Asteroid Belt and S8 Tension Jan 14, 2026

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The amazing discoveries from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have already started, and the astroquarks take a look at some close to home. Asteroids bigger than a city block spinning in fewer than 5 minutes are just the beginning, and will change our understanding of the collisional evolution of the asteroid belt. The astroquarks muse on the biggest questions in astronomy today, and one of those, the so-called "S8 Tension" has a possible solution with the help of dark matter and neutrinos. Join us for all that, space news, trivia, and more.

Cosmic Rays from Everywhere and Stringy Ancient Galaxies Dec 17, 2025

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The Parker Solar Probe flies through the Sun's corona, MAVEN has gone silent, and new data shed light on the origins of cosmic rays. JWST's observations of ancient galaxies reveal odd shapes that may be connected to dark matter. Join us for a year-end look at the latest discoveries and space news and much more.

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