Syzygy

According to one survey, around one-third of Australians think aliens not only exist, but have actually visited Earth. That's ... a bit fraction. In this final episode of season 2, we ask how we'd even find out if life exists around other stars. Emily introduces the Habitable Worlds Observatory, an incredible new space telescope that's just in the early design phase and not due for years yet, with lots of technical and scientific holes to plug. Whether we can find life on other planets, who knows ... but maybe we've just found season three of Syzygy!On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• Habitable Worlds Observatory• Square Kilometre Array• SETI and Jill Tarter• Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the first pulsar• Roman Space Telescope• Designs for the HWO• Exoplanet biosignatures

Exo-planets, sure. Exo-moons and -comets? Fine. But exo ... telescopes?! Emily is going out on a limb in this episode, expanding the definition of telescope to include things that measure stuff in space, and we're here for it! Which means we really do have a few telescopes out there beyond the Solar System, in the shape of Voyagers 1 and 2, with a few more waiting in the wings.On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• The Voyager Missions: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2• Where are the Voyager spacecraft now?• The Heliosphere, where the Solar System ends • The Voyager Golden Record• NASA relieved to get a call from Voyager 1• Syzygy Episode 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything• Syzygy Episode 79: Voyager Hears a Hum• Voyager 2 turns of last scientific instrument• Uranus mystery finally solved!• The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud• The Pioneer Program, esp. Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11• The Pioneer Plaque• The New Horizons mission and the Pluto Heart image• New Horizons visits Ultima Thule (Arrokoth)

We know, we know — we did exoplanets last time. But that was the current state-of-play and a 2024 exoplanets wrapped update. In this episode, Emily looks to the future! She does a deep dive into the promise of the just wonderful JWST, as it prods exoplanets in ways they've never been prodded before.On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• The JWST mission• The Transit method• Exoplanet Phase Curves• Exoplanet GJ1214b and the phase curve paper• Transmission spectroscopy• Exoplanet WASP 39b• Direct imaging of exoplanets• Exoplanet HIP65426b• The JWST first release images• The WASP 96-b “dodgy graph” (see Brundsen, 2025)• Exoplanet WASP 43b's day and night (and the Nature paper)• The Trappist 1 system

It couldn't be a season of exo-stuff without taking a good hard look at the current state of exoplanets, the OG exo-thing. Emily sums up the state of exoplanet research in 2024 — her Exoplanets 2024 Wrapped, if you like — then lines up her top three exoplanets of the year, and considers what's coming up next in this exo-ploding field.On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• Exoplanets found in 2024• The Roche Limit• Paper about Gliese 4256b and a nice article• Comet Shoemaker Levy smashes into Jupiter!• Brand-new IRAS 04125+2902: paper and article• Retrograde hot Jupiter TIC 241249530 b: paper and article

Exoplanets, sure. Exo-moons too, apparently. But exo ... comets?! Yes indeed, they're a real thing, and we've known about them for ages! How do you spot something so tiny around another star, so far away? Emily has the insider knowledge, because it's something she's genuinely investigating in her job as an actual, real-life astronomer.On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• Comets: dirty snowballs• Exocomets• Famous comets• Shoemaker-Levy's Jovian rendezvous• Beta Pictoris, HyperMegaMall of astrophysics• Exocomets around Beta Pic• TESS, everyone's favourite exo-hunter

Way, way back in the early epochs of Syzygy (ep 19 in Oct 2018 if you must know) we talked about the exciting prospect of spotting the first exomoon — a moon orbiting a planet orbiting a star that is not our own. It seemed reasonable to expect that six years later exomoons would be a thing we've discovered, and maybe even started a catalogue. But turns out, observing a minute signal on top of an already minute signal is hard. Emily outlines our best prospects for exomoon discovery.On the web: syzygy.fmHelp us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Some of the things we talk about in this episode:• Syzygy ep 19: Moons, Exomoons & Moonmoons• Does Kepler 1625b have an exomoon?• Seems Unlikely …• What about Kepler 167e?• Volcanic exomoon around Wasp 49b?!

A short announcement: Syzygy is now seasonal! From now on we're going to release the podcast in seasons, and we're excited to announce the imminent release of the first episode of Syzygy Season Two. Yep. Two. Season One is everything we've done so far. Trust us, it's easier this way. Season Two is all about Exo-Stuff — exo-planets, exo-moons, exo-comets ... are they a thing? Apparently, yes. So keep an eye out in the days ahead for the new season of Syzygy.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced byChris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web:syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypod

Live from York's Festival of Ideas*, in front of an audience of ... what, had to be a few hundred thousand people, right? ... Emily and Chris discuss some awesome astronomy that you can go outside and see with your own eyes. In particular, they go deep on the incredible May 2024 aurora, and show what the 2024 total eclipse across the USA looked like, with a preview of amazing eclipses to look forward to in the coming years. Chris finishes with a song, as he does. Watch on YouTube!(* Apologies for the audio quality, it was a big echo-ey space and it didn't record as well as I'd hoped)Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced byChris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web:syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodSome of the things we talk about in this episode:• Watch this live show on YouTube• York Festival of Ideas• The May 2024 Aurora• Solar Cycle 25• The Solar Dynamics Observatory• timeanddate.com• The 2024 total solar eclipse• Upcoming eclipses

A huge team of astronomers — and their even-huger team of tiny, fibre-obtic-wielding robots — are zeroing in on one of the great questions of cosmology: just what the heck is going on with Dark Energy? We know the Universe is expanding. Apparently, it's expanding faster. But maybe it is expanding faster, slower? Tiny robots measuring breathtakingly-huge cosmic bubbles may give us an answer.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced byChris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web:syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodSome of the things we talk about in this episode:• Announcement of the DESI results• A good video about the results• The DESI home page• Dark Energy• Heat Death or Big Rip• The 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics• BAO bubbles

This week, a new Black Hole Record (kinda), and with it a nice conundrum. the GAIA mission has found the biggest black hole ... of the stellar-mass variety ... in our galaxy. A lot of caveats there, but the fun thing is, it's just next door, which makes us wonder if that's coincidence or a harbinger of more big black holes to come in GAIA's data dumps! Plus, a riddle: why do we keep spotting black holes that are too big to make? Did we break physics? Emily has a few explanations.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodSome of the things we talk about in this episode:• The Biggest (small) Black Hole (in our galaxy)• The rapid-release paper• The GAIA mission• GAIA's data release schedule• Types of Black Hole• LIGO gravitational wave telescope• Quasi-stars• Syzygy Episode 116: Black Hole Sun

We're live from the 10th birthday celebrations for the University of York's Astrocampus, Emily's home turf and all-round fabulous teaching and outreach space. Emily fields some amazing questions from kids and adults attending the event, and gives some of Astrocampus's highlights and achievements over the past decade, as well as some plans for the future!Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypod

After some lengthy follow-up (the Bennu sample is open at last! And SLIM is alive!), Emily investigates possibly the most podcasty story we've had on the show: six planets around distant star HD110067, all locked into resonances that play beautiful music. Turns out if you leave a planetary system alone for long enough, gravity tends to pull everything into simple harmonies. Maybe our own solar system has a song to sing in the far future?Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The Bennu asteroid sample is open! • JAXA SLIM updates • First SLIM images • Sextuplet symphony: The Nature paper • A good article about the discovery • Blog post by Dr Hugh Osborn with exoplanet music video • Trappist-1 system • Orbital resonances • Multiple star systems • JWST finds methane in exoplanet atmosphere • A breathless headline

Emily and Chris tune in to JAXA's livestream of SLIM — the Smart Lander for Investigating and Moon — as it attempted to slick the landing on the lunar surface on Friday 19 January 2023. We were prepared for success and champagne, or failure and lessons-learned. What we didn't expect was … ambiguity, uncertainty and WE ARE STILL CHECKING THE STATUS SO PLEASE WAIT. Did SLIM and its fabulous little transformer rovers make it to the Moon OK or not?! Join us for all the anticipation, the wonder, and the confusion in this special syzygy episode.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• JAXA's SLIM mission• YouTube livestream recording and press conference• Update article from 3 days later• Mission success!• The SLIM Rovers LEM 1 and LEM 2• Buy your own LEM-2 rover! (Or buy us one, we'd love you forever!)• Upcoming missions to the Moon• India's Chandrayaan-3 landing• Israel's failed moon landing• Moss Piglets on the Moon?

Long-time Syzygy listener Jack asks: "Hey Emily — what's the deal with quasi-stars?" (We're paraphrasing). Quasi-stars are hypothetical, enormous stellar-object-thingies that might have formed shortly after the Big Bang. They're so huge they might have formed with black holes at their cores. If they existed at all, it would explain why astronomers keep finding intermediate-mass black holes in gravitational wave experiments. And as a bonus for you, Jack, Emily presents Hawking stars: otherwise ordinary stars that could be hiding a tiny black hole deep in their core. Could the Sun be a Hawking star? The mind boggles.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Quasi-stars• (… as opposed to Quasars)• Types of black hole• Intermediate-mass black holes and LIGO• Hawking stars• The research paper that seeded this episode• Asteroseismology, the music of the stars

Astronomers routinely detect cosmic rays, the high-energy particles from space that collide with molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a shower of secondary particles that rain down on the earth below. But every so often — like, less than once a decade — they spot a cosmic ray smashing into the planet with just stupid amounts of energy. The sort of energy you associate with hitting a golf ball or maybe dropping a brick on your foot, but definitely NOT a single subatomic particle. Not only do astronomers have no idea what could produce these Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays, one was spotted recently that seems to have originated in one of the emptiest regions of the universe. Emily explains the Strange Mystery of the Cosmic Zevatron.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The recent UHERC paper• A good article about the discovery• The Utah Telescope Array• The Oh My God Particle• Cosmic Rays• The Local Group• The Virgo Supercluster• The Local Void

We've talked BOATs before — cosmic events that are the Brightest Of All Time — and it's always a favourite topic on the show. Recently astronomers analysed the runner-up BOAT in the Burster category, an astoundingly violent, weirdly long-lasting, and oddly-located neutron star merger, and measured the amount of afterglow Tellurium to learn more about fast neutron processes. What?! As Emily patiently explains, with a brief cameo from Tom Lehrer, it's all about a deeper understanding of where all the chemical elements in the universe come from.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Instagram & Threads: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Research paper• Overview of the research• Syzygy episodes with BOATS:— Episode 30: Stardust or Cosmic Poo— Episode 61: Biggest Bag Ever!— Episode 107: Biggest Bang Ever! (Again)• Nucleosynthesis• The rapid neutron capture process• … as opposed to the slow neutron capture process• Tom Lehrer's Elements song• Binding Blocks• The actual BOAT

We love it any time a listener gets in touch — but the *best* is when a listener suggests a topic for an episode of the podcast. So when Zofia Szczesna got in touch (through the Syzygy website, natch) and asked about white dwarf stars, Emily put her research hat on and dug into the amazing astrophysics of these amazing little entities. In this episode she lists her three favourite things about white dwarfs: a cheeky supernova loophole, wibbly-wobbliness, and our white dwarf (or more accurately, black dwarf) future.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Osiris Rex's recent little problem• White dwarf stars• Degenerate electrons and neutrons• The Chandrasekhar limit• Types of supernovae• Variable stars• Proton decay• Black Dwarfs

JWST is flinging out Just Wonderful observations at great speed, many already leading to new astronomical insights. Here's one that was really unexpected: the Orion Nebula is full of JuMBOs! Jupiter-Mass Binary Objects, that is — pairs of giant planets (or planetty-things, the definition isn't terribly clear ...) floating free in space, in quantities that aren't possible based on what we *thought* we understood about planet formation. New observations that seem to break astrophysics? We're always up for that discussion!Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The Fibonacci Sequence• The JuMBOs papers: overview, and JuMBO-specific• The Orion Nebula• JWST gets a good look at the Orion Nebula• Where is the Orion Nebula, exactly?• The definition of “planet"

Earth got a special delivery recently: a little pod plonked down in the Utah desert, containing a few hundred grams sampled from the surface of an asteroid. This isn't the first sample return mission, but it's definitely the biggest. The little parcel of asteroid dirt inside is now being very carefully handed out to researchers across the globe, and we're going to learn loads of important stuff, like what asteroids are made of, how we might stop one from hitting us ... and even, maybe, just maybe, whether they contain the building blocks of life.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The OSIRIS-REx mission• Landing in the desert (NASA video stream)• Grabbing the sample in 2020• Sample return missions• Asteroid Bennu• OSIRIS-APEX• Asteroid Apophis• The Asteroid Belt

It's always nerve-wracking waiting for a very expensive new space telescope to launch — the whole mission can literally end in a highly explosive blink of an eye. Fortunately for the Euclid mission team, their gleaming new spacecraft left the Earth in one piece, and made its way to L2 to begin it's new job. It's mission? Oh, just to solve five huge mysteries of the universe, from the nature of dark matter and dark energy, to unravelling the threads of the cosmic web.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Telescopes up a mountain in Hawaii• The Euclid Mission website• The Launch!• Euclid's Big Five• Streaming data from L2• Euclid's first test images• Dark Matter & Dark Energy• The Cosmic Web• Fly-through of the Cosmic Web

Every so often, a Syzygy listener writes in with a cracking question that sends Emily and Chris off spelunking down the deep, deep sinkholes of astronomy and cosmology. This time, listener Eve asked an absolute cracker, to wit: Just how much energy is there in the universe right now? A simple question at first glance. At second glance (and every glance thereafter) it's not simple at all. We need to first consider, what is energy? What is the universe? And even, what is "now"? It's very confusing.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Feynman's discussion of energy• Dark matter• Dark energy• The observable universe• Critical energy density• Is the energy in the universe zero?• The Big Bang Singularity• The fates of the universe

Everyone's favourite bonkers red giant is back in the news again, and it has the supernova spotters in a froth. Last time we talked about Betelgeuse, it had gone unusually dim. Never fear, it's back with a vengeance — not just brighter, but pulsing twice as fast! Is the end nigh? Can we expect it to go boom soon? Well ... define 'soon'. Emily has all the answers.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The Betelgeuse paper• A good article on what's going on with Betelgeuse• The Great Dimming• The brightest stars in the sky• Indigenous peoples have known about variable stars for a very long time• Could we spot a supernova coming?

Astronomers have spotted what seems to be a supermassive black hole devouring a huge gas cloud — and in the media it's being claimed as the Biggest Explosion in the History of Explosions. Except, is it though? And didn't we already talk about this, way back in Episode 61? And anyway, what does "biggest" even mean? Or "explosion", for that matter? Or "time"? It's all very confusing. Emily's here to make sense of it all.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The research paper• A good article about the story• The OG Episode 61: Biggest Bang Eva!• Energy units, including ergs and joules• Gamma Ray Bursts• The Gamma Ray Burst of 2022• BOATS (and GOATS)• Vale D Alexander Kann

Like many of us, as some stars get older, they get bigger. Like, really big. Big enough to swallow up any planets orbiting near by. Astronomers have known this for a while now, but they'd never actually seen it happen ... until now. Emily explains what's going on, what's been observed, why a planet-gobbling star seems the only real explanation, and what it all means for the Earth's distant future.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The original paper by De et al• A good article about the research https://time.com/6276702/star-eating-a-planet/• The Zwicky Transient Facility https://www.ztf.caltech.edu• NASA's NEOWISE telescope https://neowise.ipac.caltech.edu• Really big stars• Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9

In 2023, the Moon is where it's at — so many rockets taking so many little orbiters and landers and rovers and boxes full of weird trinkets ... just in the coming few months! And that's before you even count the missions aimed at pushing human footprints into the lunar dust for the first time since the early 70s. Everyone and their dog is sending stuff to the moon, and Emily is here with all the details of six missions set to launch in the coming Northern Spring-Summer launch season.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• Missions to the Moon — past, present and future• JUICE• Astrobiotic's Mission One• The Lunar X Prize• Intuitive Machine's IM-1 mission• Chandrayaan 3• Luna 25• JAXA's SLIM• The Artemis program

The biggest black hole ever has been found — not supermassive, but *ultra*massive. Emily takes Chris on a tour of all the types of black hole, from the speculative minis, through the solar and intermediate mass kinds, to the stonking supermassive and frankly ludicrous ultramassive. And we ask, how exactly do you see a black hole when it's ... you know ... black?Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The ultramassive black hole paper• Article about the research• Mini black holes• Will the LHC destroy the Earth?• Stellar mass black holes• Intermediate mass black holes• LIGO and Black hole mergers• Supermassive black holes• That black hole photo• Squeezars• The biggest black holes• Hubble Space Telescope• Gravitational lensing• Euclid, LSST and the SKA

In the hunt for life in the universe, astronomers are looking hard at the catalogue of potentially habitable exoplanets. The ones orbiting Red Dwarf stars seem promising — Red Dwarfs are really common, and we've just launched a shiny new space telescope that's perfect for observing them, their planets, and even their planets *atmospheres*. Trouble is, Red Dwarf stars are ... nasty. Like, really mean. Emily gives all the details on why we might not be discovering signs of life near a Red Dwarf any time soon.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• What tThe Red Dwarf paper• Article about the research• Red Dwarf stars• Flares, sunspots and coronal mass ejections• CMEs are terrifying• Everyone's fave spectrograph, HARPS• JWST & exoplanets

"These six galaxies break cosmology!" scream the headlines. Yeah, nah — yeah, astronomers have found some galaxies in the JWST data that are crazy old, and yet seem to be just way too big. But nah: this doesn't mean cosmology is broken. As usual, the scientists ignore the click-baity headlines, roll their eyes and get on with figuring it all out. Plus, what time is it on the Moon? Not a simple question.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· What time is it on the Moon?· Universe-breaking galaxies (Nature paper)· Guardian article about the research· JWST, our second favourite space telescope· Redshift, distance and time· Lyman Break Galaxies· The Hubble OG, Ultra and eXtreme Deep Fields· JWST: Hold-My-Beer Deep Field

The Earth's core has been acting weird for at least 70 years now. We're not sure why, but sometimes it's spinning faster than the surface, sometimes slower. Emily explains how we know what's happening down in the core, which is impressive enough ... but then she shows how astronomers do the same for very distant stars, and Chris's head explodes. Plus, it's been a big week for aurora fans, and there's even some bonus Einteinian weirdness at the end.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· The Earth's core rotation speed paper· A good article about it· Big week for aurora fans· Changes in the Earth's magnetic field over time· Different definitions of a day· Asteroseismology (SciShow Space video)· The Doppler Effect for sound and light· Relativity and GPS (MinutePhysics video)

Emily's back from New Zealand, Chris is ... still just around, really. And Syzygy returns from hiatus with Episode 100, looking back on a huuuuuge year for the Just Wonderful Space Telescope. Emily takes us through the five "first-light" images released from JWST several months ago — plus one little bonus image that they found behind the couch. (Oh, and sorry for the audio quality on this one — for boring technical reasons we had to share one microphone ... Back to our usual high-quality production values for 101!)Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• JWST on the web: NASA and ESA• JWST launch video• Lagrange points • JWST's orbit at L2• JWST first images• Image 1: Webb's First Deep Field• Image 2: Carina Nebula• Image 3: Stephan's Quintet• Image 4: Southern Ruing Nebula• Image 5: WASP-96 b• Surprise extra image: Jupiter!• Conference info: First Science Results from JWST, Dec 2022

Not wanting to overshadow this week's exciting supermassive black hole image release or anything, but Emily has news of her own. A short episode, in which Chris delves into the new Sag A* image a bit, before dropping the news bomb you've all *really* been waiting for ...Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· Article about the SagA* image — and that'll do, you can find the rest from there

You've heard of supernovae, the just stupidly big explosions that mark the end of some stars' lives. Maybe you know there are different kinds of supernovae — type 1a, type II ... Did you know that, smaller than a super nova, there's just a plain, vanilla nova? Or that, even bigger than super, there's hyper-novae? Well, hold onto your hats, because there's a new nova in town, and it's ... really quite small. On the nova scale, anyway. Emily gives all the goss on cute little micronovae. Plus, we school astronomers on the tricky subject of communicating large quantities of energy.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· The micronova paper· A good article (with a bad analogy) about the research· Novae types: classical, recurrent, and dwarf· Supernovae and their types· The Cosmic Distance Ladder and Standard candles, and Dark Energy· Hypernovae!· TESS, everyone's favourite space telescope· Phobos, potato moon

Astronomers have spotted the biggest comet ever! And it's heading for Earth! Except (a) it's not heading towards Earth — it's closest approach to us will be beyond Saturn's orbit — and (b) it's not technically the biggest. But it's still cool! Emily's here with loads of info about comets, big comets, things that are sort of comets, how many tails they have (hint: it's more than one), and heaps more besides.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· The original paper, and the latest results· Article about Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein· Syzygy episode 50: Imposter Comet!· Syzygy episode 64: Almost a Good Comet· The Dark Energy Survey· Dirty snowballs· How many tails does a comet have?· The Oort Cloud· Famous comets: Halley, Hale-Bopp, Shoemaker-Levy 9· Centaurs

A very different story this week: using high-energy particles, originating from violent supernovae and supermassive black holes, to scan the insides of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Physicists are teaming up with Egyptologists to check some tantalising results from 2017 thaty suggest there just might be a previously unknown cavity — an open space — inside the Great Pyramid. Could it be a new, hidden room? A vault filled with ancient treasure? Or just somewhere they kept all the heating ducts and old pain cans? Plus, Syzygy is officially setting the agenda for astronomy research, and Emily unwraps some baby presents!Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· The oldest galaxy ever found· Get your Syzygy merch here· ScanPyramids misson in 2017· Explore Great Pyramid mission· The Pyramids of Giza· The Great Pyramid· Cosmic rays· The solar wind· Active Galactic Nuclei· Cosmic rays causing havoc in computers· Muons and relativity· Air showers of particles· The IceCube neutrino detector· Brian Cox makes a cloud chamber

For the latest — and last? — baby-themed episode, we talk baby planets and how they're made. And sure, we've talked about this before in previous episodes, but this time Emily comes with brand new research that shows an actual protoplanet forming from the stellar disk. And even better, the possibility that we can even spot a proto*moon* forming around a protoplanet. Plus, for any astronomers looking for ideas, she's got her Top 5 list of unsolved planet questions.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· Oldest star ever seen!· Gravitational lensing· Syzygy 26: How to build a solar system· Syzygy 68: Birth of a Planet· And just for fun, Syzygy 19: Moons, exomoons & moonmoons· Far-our Super Jupiter AB Aurigae b· Nice article about AB Aurigae b· AB Aurigae in the movies· Protomoon around protoplanet?· Gravitational Microlensing

We've done the baby universe, and baby galaxies, and the very first baby stars ... and *those* were a bit nasty, a bit grumpy. So this week, we're talking baby stars again, but in the modern era — stars being born now, as we speak. Mind you, just because they've got more than H and He to buiold with, doesn't mean they're any less temperamental. Emily takes use from the interstellar medium, through interstellar clouds and collapsing proto-stars, to the birth of a cute little pre-main-sequence star.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:· The Interstellar medium and Interstellar clouds· Proto-stars and their windiness· Brown dwarfs· Main sequence stars· T Tauri stars· Herbig Ae/Be stars

This week, it's baby galaxies — the very, very ancient, and the surprisingly brand new. Emily looks back at the earliest things-we-might-consider-galaxies, and the competing models for how they formed. Then we take a peek into the beautiful M81 galaxy, which is, as we speak, sloughing off some of its stars and galaxy stuff, thanks to an ongoing fight with M82 next door. The fun part is, the extra stuff seems to be forming into a new galaxy — albeit one with a difficult future ahead ...Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:• The first galaxies• Globular clusters• Dwarf galaxies• Galactic tides• The tidal galaxy paper• M81 and M82• The Dragonfly Telescope• WASP telescope• Where's JWST at now?

Continuing our theme of baby-related astronomy, Emily picks up the story from last episode — we'd just finished making the universe and watching its insane growth spurt, and then ... the first stars turned on! And wow, were those first stars weird. Even weirder, there might still be some of them about, 13 billon years later!Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:Where is the JWST?Laporte et al's paper on the earliest starsA good article about the paperThe cosmic webStellar populations (I, II and III)Redshift

We're back! Emily has some exciting news, and in regonition of this, we're starting a series of episodes on a theme — starting with the birth and infancy of the Universe! From the earliest physically-sensible moments, through the explosive growth spurt of Inflation, to the creation of forces, particles, nuclei and — eventuallly — atoms, we track the adorable and exciting early development of the cosmos.Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:The Big BangPhysics and SingularitiesHubble's lawThe Cosmic Microwave BackgroundUnification in physicsPlanck timeCosmic InflationEpochs in the early UniverseBig Bang nucleosynthesisMatter-antimatter asymmetryThe Dark Ages

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:JWST still set for launchThe Parker Solar ProbeThe PhotosphereThe ChromosphereThe CoronaCoronal Mass EjectionsThe Carrington Event of 1859The Solar Storm of 1989Parker touches the Sun!First images from inside the corona (feat. Milky Way!)Spaceguard!

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The DART missionDimorphos & DidimosLICIAcubeNASA's Asteroid WatchBig asteroid impacts in historySentinel space telescopeSpaceguard!

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The research paperA good article on the researchGalactic cannibalism simulation from NASAThe Magellanic CloudsThe Local Group of galaxiesGlobular clustersStellar populationsMilkdromeda

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:Hubble's had some troubleThe Supernova 2020fqv paperA good article about SN 2020fqvType I and Type II supernovae (video)Supernova naming conventionsSpace telescopes: TESS and HubbleThe original Rosetta StoneThe Open Supernova Catalog

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The paper in Nature AstronomyA good article about the researchThe Whirlpool GalaxyNASA's exoplanets pageExoplanets in other galaxiesX-Ray binariesExoplanet transits

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The Lucy MissionJupiter's TrojansEarth's own Trojan asteroidLucy's gold plaqueLucy the fossil

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The Jupiter spot paper by Wong et al.ESA site on the discoveryNASA's Jupiter websiteThe Juno mission and imagesThe Cassini-Huygens missionVoyager I visits JupiterHistorical observations by Cassini & Hooke

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:NASA's JWST pageESA's JWST pageCanadian Space Agency JWST pageThe Great ObservatoriesLagrange pointsJWST's 4 Science ThemesHubble Space TelescopeHubble Heritage ImagesVisible vs IR astronomy

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:Virgin GalacticBranson goes to spaceBlue OriginBezos is going to spaceThe Kármán LineDefinitions of the edge of space

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:The Dark Energy SurveyDark Matter & Dark EnergyLinks to DES papersThe Planck missionGalaxy on Glass

Syzygy Merch! Get it at the store.Help us make Syzygy even better! Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.On the web: syzygy.fm | Twitter: @syzygypodSince you're here, you might be interested in a new, sciencey podcast: Science, possibly — science-adjacent stories by Chris Stewart and James Lees.Things we talk about in this episode:China's Mars missionVoyager 1 hears a humThe NASA Voyager mission siteThe interstellar medium