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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is Out Of This World
Episode 400
The astroquarks celebrate 400 episodes with a special sponsor, a special stumper, and a special interstellar comet making its way through our solar system from an origin near the galactic center perh…
Published on 4 months ago
Vera Rubin Observatory Sets Sights on the Universe
Episode 399
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has started making observations with the world's largest optical detector boasting over 3 billion pixels at the back of an enormous telescope in the high Andes. We take …
Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Supernova Hazards and Cloudy With a Chance of Sand
Episode 398
We're all about the weather on this episode, with a new study showing that even relatively distant supernova may have affected the Earth's climate in the recent past. And the James Webb Space Telesco…
Published on 5 months ago
Cool Planetary Cores and Lava Fountains Galore
Episode 397
Original top quark Tracy Becker is back to bring us up to speed Europa Clipper's flyby of Mars, and we learn about a new way for planetary cores to form without so much heat. Join us for all this, pl…
Published on 5 months, 2 weeks ago
The End of the Universe As We Know It and We Feel Fine
Episode 396
A major update to the predicted end of the universe has it coming much earlier than previously anticipated. However, we still have plenty of time to get our affairs in order, and the update has to do…
Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago
A Slurping Black Hole and a Win for the Streaming Instability
Episode 395
We get lucky and catch a rogue supermassive black hole in the act of slurping up a star as it meanders through a distant galaxy. Closer to home, the detection of a second trinary, or triple, system i…
Published on 6 months ago
Vesta Chip Off the Old Block and a Nearby Dark Molecular Cloud
Episode 394
The asteroid Vesta may be a fragment of a much larger protoplanet, and astronomers examine old data to discover a large molecular cloud lurking right in the solar system's backyard. Get all the detai…
Published on 6 months, 1 week ago
Ultralight Dark Matter and Peanut Asteroid Hot Take
Episode 393
NASA's Lucy mission had a picture perfect encounter with the asteroid Donaldjohanson on its way to the first ever flybys of Trojan asteroids. Discoveries of ancient supermassive black holes challenge…
Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Hot Takes on Water on Earth and Black Hole Singularities
Episode 392
The astroquarks discover hot takes and explore the nature of ice, the origin of Earth's water, and the trouble with the singularities at the hearts of black holes. Plus, we have a stumper, astronomic…
Published on 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Weird Convection on Venus and a Wrinkle in the Lambda Cold Dark Matter Model
Episode 391
Venus's extra-thick crust may be extra chewy, allowing convection to occur and helping power volcanoes into the current era. New observations of the distant universe, meanwhile, show that dark energy…
Published on 7 months, 1 week ago