The Exocast team return from a short hiatus to be joined on this show by Dr Jason Wang from Northwestern University in Illinois. Jason is a direct imager, and gives us a quick overview of how we are able to find and characterise planets through direct imaging, as well as discussing the Gemini Planet Imager, 51 Eridani b, KPIC, VLT’s Gravity, and the making of the well-known, jaw-dropping animation of the planetary system around HR
In this episode, Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew ask the question: Do all planets orbit stars? Even though the vast majority of planets found so far are bound to a star, there have been detections of planetary-mass objects floating alone through space. Are these planets? How do these objects form, and how can we detect them? Is it possible that these free-floating objects could be considered ‘habitable’? The exocast gang tackle these tricky topics and other
In this episode Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh discuss the art and science of organising, and attending, scientific conferences, with a particular focus on the recent Exoclimes VI meeting held in Exeter, UK, organised by Hannah and others in the exoplanet community. These meetings are crucial for the dissemination and communication of new results among the community and further afield, but they can be daunting to attend, and very stressful to organise. The team share their
In this episode the team cover some of the latest exoplanet news stories. This month Hugh covers the first JWST’s transmission spectrum of a small planet, validating and characterising the exoplanet LHS 475b. Hannah discusses some preliminary work from JWST, including phase curves from WASP-121b and WASP-43b, that reveal the capabilities and quirks of the instruments onboard. Andrew breaks the rules by discussing three papers, 2 of which are closely connected, on the general topic
Back on the airwaves after a short hiatus, the Exocast team are delighted to be joined by Georgina (George) Dransfield, a PhD student at the University of Birmingham in the UK, who works on finding new exoplanets using the transit method. George uses data from ground-based surveys like SPECULOOS and space-based surveys like TESS and is also is somewhat unique in observing from Antarctica, specifically using and helping to run the ASTEP pipeline. Of course, George
We cover this month’s most exciting exoplanetary (and solar system) news: Andrew tells us about details of the proposed “Venus Life Finder” mission which would go beyond ESA & NASA’s selected Venus missions to directly sample for organic molecules in the temperate regions of Venus’ atmosphere using an interplanetary balloon! Hugh talks about how analysis of the multi-planet systems found by Kepler is still revealing new insights, in this case how chains of planets appear
This month Hannah, Andrew & Hugh are joined by NASA Goddard’s space telescope expert, Dr. Knicole Colón. Fresh from her NASA TV appearance unveiling JWST’s first exoplanet spectrum to the world, the JWST Deputy Project Scientist for Exoplanet Science gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the big day, as well as how the team got JWST ready for science. She also discusses the ongoing TESS mission searching for new planets, as well as the Pandora
The latest news hot off the Exocast news desk for June/July 2022, a very exciting month for exoplanet science: Hannah gives us a run-down of some of the long-awaited first images from JWST, including a spectrum from the atmosphere of WASP-96b from the NIRISS instrument showing clear water features. The team try (and fail) to contain their giddiness at the prospect of entering a new era of exoplanet astrophysics. Andrew takes to the theory literature
In this episode of Exocast the team are fortunate to be joined in the virtual studio by Dr Jennifer Burt, NASA/JPL’s Extreme Precision Radial Velocity Investigation Scientist, for an extreme discussion of the radial velocity technique for finding and characterising exoplanets. Jenn gives us a comprehensive and enthusiastic rundown of the method, US and European RV surveys, supporting current and future photometric missions with RV follow-up, and an update on new technology and instruments that
This month Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew go back to basics to discuss the diversity and complexity inherent in the study of planetary atmospheres. Exocast-59b touches on how we define an atmosphere and takes a sojourn through the varied and beautiful atmospheres of the Solar System, as well as a journey back through time to consider the long evolution of the atmosphere of our planet. How does an atmosphere form and change over time, cling to
In this episode the Exocast crew are excited to talk with expert science communicator, JAXA space scientist, and master of computer simulations, Professor Elizabeth Tasker. During the hour long discussion we talk about how Elizabeth transitioned into planetary research from a degree and PhD in galactic simulations, the journey from the UK to the US, Canada and now in Japan. Where the idea for her popular science book The Planet Factory came from and why
On the 30th episode of Exocast: Andrew is joined in the virtual exocast studio by Dr Jessie Christiansen from Caltech/NExSci to talk a little about her work on exoplanet demographics, catalogs, public outreach, and citizen science. Hannah provides an overview of last month’s #exocup, giving us a run down on the stats, the winners, losers, surprises and lessons learned. Hugh takes a look at what other exoplanet news had been released over the past month.
Exocast-28b: Special guest Daniel Angerhausen, SOFIA, technosignatures, news, HD 209458b
Exocast-27b: special guest Michael Gully-Santiago, K2, Exoplanet meetings, news, HAT-P-11b
In the 26th episode of Exocast: Natasha Batalha joins Hannah for a chat about PandExo (the Exoplanet ETC for HST and JWST) and her work on Martian climate modelling. Hugh discusses all things radial velocity: history, current, and future prospects. Andrew covers all of June’s exoplanet news; And Natasha adds “Hannah’s special planet” HAT-P-26b to our gang of Adopted Planets http://media.blubrry.com/exocast/www.exocast.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Exocast-26b_v2.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS
Exocast-21b: planet formation, habitability of eccentric planets, news, Kepler-21b
Exocast-17b: origins of life part 1, global circulation models, news, GJ 667Cc
Exocast-16b: ELTs, JWST, news, 51 Eri b, newly minted Dr Osborn
Exocast-15b: biosignatures, TESS, news, Kepler-37b
In the eleventh episode, Exocast-11b: Hannah covers all the incredible news about the Trappist-1 system, talking us through the discovery of seven new earth-sized worlds around this nearby ultra-cool dwarf. Andrew talks about the philosophy of exoplanets, from the ancients, through the dark ages, and into the modern era. And Hugh sits in at the exocast newsdesk to cover the release of 60,000 HIRES RVs, new transit-hunting surveys MASCARA and BRing, the star HAT-P-2 beating to the rhythm of