Walkabout the Galaxy

Latest Episodes:

Interstellar Star Scars and Poop on Mars Dec 10, 2025

Show notes

We explore the dining and drinking choices for astronauts, complex chemicals discovered in asteroid samples, and untangling the web of scars in the local interstellar cloud to reveal past encounters of the Sun with some hot stellar neighbors. If you wish you had more hot stellar neighbors, you should definitely check out this episode of Walkabout the Galaxy.

Gravothermalizing and Baby Black Holes Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

There's a new funky proposal for small black holes in the early universe, and another potential dark matter candidate. Learn about cannibal stars and much more, together with double trivia and space news with your friendly neighborhood astroquarks.

An Ancient Moon of Mars? Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

The story behind this investigation is almost more cool than the discovery itself. Microlayers of sediments in Mars' Gale Crater, observed by NASA's Curiosity rover, are indicative of tidal sloshing of water in the lake that once filled the crater. Problem is, the age of the rocks and the magnitude of the tides would require a different moon than the ones currently there. Cool! Join us to hear about that, interstellar comet 3I/Atlas, and much more.

Why Is There A Universe At All? Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

Things would be a lot simpler and a lot less interesting if charge parity existed in the universe, but there would be no one to appreciate that simplicity because we would not exist! New results from the Large Hadron Collider provide a hint at explaining why there is matter in the universe and it was not all eliminated in a dramatic annihilation of matter-antimatter collisions. So, that's a relief! And we have space news, meta-trivia, solar system news and more. Join us, won't you?

The Amazing and Crazy Story of Gemini and Jumbo Black Holes Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

The astroquarks are joined by Jeffrey Kluger, editor at large at Time Magazine and author of 13 books including Apollo 13 and the new book on the Gemini program. Tune in to hear about some of the outlandish ideas that were explored on the way to the Moon. Plus, top quark gives us a look at a new class of black holes that we've decided are "Jumbo Black Holes". All that plus twin trivia, a hot take, and more.

Rings Around a Comet, Betelbuddy, and Odd Jupiter Moons Oct 29, 2025

Show notes

These rings aren't around Uranus, they're somewhere even more odd. We discuss the mysterious and changing ring system around the Centaur object Chiron, new clues about the origin of the solar system from the irregular moons of Jupiter, and the puzzling stellar companion to Betelgeuse. Plus, top quark Jim Cooney stumps us with trivia.

Adaptive LIGO and a New Look at an Old Crater Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

Adaptive optics techniques get applied to the mirrors in the LIGO gravitational wave observatory, promising a five-fold or greater improvement in sensitivity to gravitational waves from colliding black holes across the universe. And right here in our backyard, a suspicious sub-surface crater-like feature gets a new look that appears to confirm its extraterrestrial origin. Join us for space news, trivia, and more.

Einstein Cross Reveals Dark Matter and a Life-y Mars Rock Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

We take a look the Cheyava Falls rock on Mars, or rather the Perseverance rover took a look at it, and we discuss what it saw which were some intriguing mineral formations that could have a biological origin. And gravitational lensing has enabled astronomers to map the distribution of dark matter in a small cluster of galaxies, providing a new tool to understand the distribution of this mysterious stuff. Join us for these stories, space news, space trivia, and a fake sponsor!

Exo-Pluto Debris in Our Solar System and Axions Galore Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

An interstellar interloper may have been a chip off the old block, where the old block was a Pluto-like planet around another star, and the chip is solid air (nitrogen that is)! And we revisit the potential role of axions in the great dark matter chase and a new way that JWST may help us answer it. Join us for all that, exoplanets, science fiction trivia and more.

Europa Clipper Report from Mars and ATLAS 3I Update from DragonCon 2025 Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

That's no error, this is episode 404, recorded in front of a live audience at DragonCon 2025 with special guest Trina Ray, Deputy Science Manager for the Europa Clipper mission. We get an update from the cool RADAR test the spacecraft conducted at Mars, new information on the history and composition of Interstellar Comet ATLAS 3/I and a super-duper-massive black hole. Join us for all this, 404 trivia, and more.

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