Welcome to the StarXiv! A monthly podcast that delves into the latest astronomy papers & results from the arXiv.
Hosted by Michelle, Payel, and Nicole.



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Episode 42 – disk clumps, triple systems and an exciting new stream!
Michelle and Nicole review recent arXiv papers, highlighting significant findings such as a globular cluster stream outside the Milky Way, disk clump migration in galaxies, a unique pulsar triple system, and a peculiar metal-poor star in the Milky Way disk. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred platform.
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Episode 41 – the age of the Universe, AI and literature reviews, and giant companions
Payel and Michelle delve into another group of wonderful papers on the astronomy arxiv! They discuss dating the Universe, comparing 2025 large language models in their ability to assist with literature views, telling apart exocomets and giant companions, early signatures of secular evolution in disk galaxies, and the abundance of data to come from Vera…
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Episode 38 – merging galaxies, exploding stars and the beauty of individual galaxies
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole explore machine learning techniques for classifying merging galaxies and supernovae. They discuss planetary engulfment’s role in unusual chemical signatures in binary systems and analyse MUSE data of a spiral galaxy.

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Episode 37 – Lunar craters, primordial black holes & growing galaxies
In this episode, Michelle and Payel talk about the asymmetry in the number of craters across the moon, using microlensing to find primordial black holes, tracing the growth of disk galaxies since z~1, and using machine learning to detect group galaxies merging with massive clusters. Listen below, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get…

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Episode 36 – Dead Earths, magnetic fields and Galactic amnesia
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole explore primordial magnetic fields, the memory of Galactic mergers, and the origins of Venus’s carbon dioxide atmosphere. They also examine how Galactic stars can help predict extragalactic abundances. Listeners can access the episode on various platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Episode 35 – More Milky Way mayhem, Fast Radio Bursts, and very cold disks
In this podcast episode, Michelle and Payel explore fascinating astronomical topics, including high redshift UV bright galaxies, Population III stars, black hole binaries, pulsars in Omega Centauri, and the potential merger of the Milky Way and Andromeda.

The Hosts
Payel Das & Michelle Collins are astronomers at the University of Surrey. They love research, but struggle to find time to read a lot of papers. They’re hoping this podcast fixes that. Nicole Buckley is a PhD student at the University of Surrey. She loves reading papers!
Keep in touch
We’re thrilled to have you here! If you want to interact with us, you can subscribe to our website, follow us on social media, or send us an email. You can also listen to us through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. We also provide a direct link to our RSS feed.
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