What is astro[sound]bites?

Four graduate students bring you cutting-edge research findings in astronomy and connect the dots between diverse sub-fields. Occasionally, we take you beyond new research to highlight stories in the field. Episodes are released every other weekend. Check out a few of our most recent episodes below!

Episode 115: Star Wrapped Holiday Special

astro[sound]bites · Episode 115: Star Wrapped Holiday Special

In today’s extra-special seasonal episode, Cormac, Lucia and Shashank share some of their highly curated metrics inspired by Spotify wrapped to end our a[s]b year. Much like ourselves, this episode is a mixed bag – we hope you enjoy it! This also marks the start of our long-awaited Winter (or Summer, depending on your hemisphere) break – see you in a few weeks!

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Episode 114: A World of Disc-overy

astro[sound]bites · Episode 114: A World of Disc-overy

This week, Shashank, Cole, and Cormac dive into the many disks of the universe, from planet-forming disks to AGN and galactic structures. Cole explores a misbehaving protoplanetary disk that hints at chaotic early planet formation. Cormac follows by showing how external radiation can erode disks and hinder the birth of giant planets. We then zoom out to compare these turbulent young systems to the massive disks around galaxies and supermassive black holes, tying together why…

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Episode 113: Black Holes? Here? It’s more likely than you think.

astro[sound]bites · Episode 113: Black Holes? Here? It’s more likely than you think.

In today’s episode, Cole, Cormac, and Shashank celebrate our glorious return from hiatus by tackling an astronomical favorite: black holes. These guys are important to astronomers for a wide range of reasons, but what happens when you find a black hole somewhere weird? Like in another black hole’s accretion disk? Or in your model of dark energy? Or in a Hot dog? Shashank covers a…

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Episode 112.5: Extremely Looming Trouble?

astro[sound]bites · Episode 112.5: Extremely Looming Trouble?

In today’s mini-episode, Cormac highlights how a proposed industrial megaproject threatens the pristine observing conditions at Paranal Observatory – home of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, as well as the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope and Cherenkov Telescope Array South facilities. We will also be taking our summer break a little later than usual – see you in a few weeks!

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Episode 112: It’s not fun to be in a YMC, eh?

astro[sound]bites · Episode 112: It’s not fun to be in a YMC, eh?

In today’s episode, Cormac, Shashank and Lucia come together to crack open the craziness inside Young Massive (Stellar) Clusters – some of the most exciting neighbourhoods in our Universe. They’re a very hot topic at the moment, and not just because of their intense radiation – they host the majority of massive stars, and ancient YMCs might be the ancestors of the globular clusters that…

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Black Lives Matter #BlackInAstro

We support efforts made by Astrobites and the astronomy community toward inclusion, anti-racism, and awareness of social justice issues. The Astrobites collaboration is producing a series of posts to capture the latest research on diversity and inclusion, share stories of Black astronomers, and discuss ways to be better allies. Check out the whole #BlackInAstro series. Here in astro[sound]bites we are sharing research of Black astronomers as part of our regular podcast format, as well as working on episodes featuring the voices of marginalized scientists.