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 44 – asteroid impacts, chemical evolution and quasi-stars
In this week’s episode, Michelle and NEWLY MINTED PhD, Dr Nicole, discuss papers including predictions for 10-metre plus asteroid impact rates on Earth and other planets, the abundance of life-critical Phosphorus in Galactic stars, age dating giants with the carbon-to-Nitrogen ratio and whether quasi-stars can explain the properties of little red dots! Tune in below,…
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Episode 43 – early dark energy, the fate of Venusian moons, and the power of forbidden lines
In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss whether early dark energy impacts large-scale structures and explore the possibility of Venus having a moon. They review papers on forbidden line emissions and galaxy evolution, including studies on extremely metal-poor galaxies. Listen on various platforms.
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Episode 24: Strong lenses, Solar Flares and young, high alpha stars
In this episode, Michelle and Payel explore various astrophysical topics, including the Solar birth cluster, young stars, the formation of intermediate mass black holes, and the universe’s decelerated expansion. They also discuss strong lens detection by Euclid and solar flare predictions.

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Episode 23 – Failed galaxies, faint galaxies, and the proto-Galaxy
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole explore the chemistry of faint galaxies and RR-Lyrae stars, tracing the proto-Galaxy, discussing the failure of some galaxies, examining quasi-stars in relation to Little Red Dots, and discussing whether UNIONS 1 is a galaxy or a star cluster. Listen on major podcast platforms.
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Episode 22 – ORCs, rings, and Galactic histories
In this episode, Payel and Nicole discuss what happens to the metallicity gradient of a satellite galaxy after it merges with its host, the existence of intermediate-age RR lyrae and radio rings, the possibility of determining the history of the inner Milky Way from radially migrated stars, and the possibility of finding more Einstein rings…
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Episode 21 – Mercury, chemistry and quasi periodic eruptions
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole explore various astronomical topics, including merger debris around a galaxy, metal-mixing in early stars, quasi-periodic eruptions in Ansky, relic galaxies, Mercury’s magnetosphere, and second-generation stars in globular clusters. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other platforms for more insights.

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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