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 18 – disks, disks and more disks!
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole dissect 5 papers, and accidentally find a common theme: disks! Whether in low mass galaxies, giant low surface brightness galaxies, the rotation curves of spirals or the natal environment of planetary systems, disks really are all around us. They also discuss the differences in chemistries between globular clusters that…
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Episode 17 – detecting dark matter, unusual black holes and speedy stars
In this episode, Michelle and Payel explore the detection of a starless dark matter subhalo, the characteristics of fast, puffy white dwarfs, and the formation and merging processes of black holes. They also discuss star clusters in the Sparkler galaxy, referencing relevant research papers for further insight.

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Episode 16 – interstellar visitors, molten planets and faint, dark galaxies
In this episode, Michelle and Payel squash in more papers than ever, as Michelle delves into a flurry of papers about new newly discovered interstellar comet: 3I/ATLAS. They also discuss what sets the metallicities of the faintest galaxies, how nitrogen enrichment relates to gas density, the molten properties of a new ultra-short period planets, and…
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Episode 15 – Flare-inducing planets, avoiding catastrophe, and accreted star clusters
In this episode, Michelle and Payel delve into topics including long period pulsars, population III galaxies, and Galactic archaeology. They discuss noteworthy research on metal-free galaxies, stellar flares caused by close-in planets, and more. Listen on major podcast platforms and chech out the links to discussed papers.
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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