The StarXiv

The StarXiv

A podcast that delves into the newest astronomy papers from astro-ph on the arXiv

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  • 1st Sep 2025

    Episode 19 – Peering into the Local Universe, distant black holes, forming planets and alien signatures

    In this episode, Michelle and Payel explore the chemistry of nearby M-dwarf stars and the formation of giant planets at significant distances from their hosts. They discuss supermassive black holes and the search for alien technosignatures. Relevant research papers discussed are also highlighted for further reading.

  • 18th Aug 2025

    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…

  • 4th Aug 2025

    Episode 17 – detecting dark matter, unusual black holes and speedy stars

    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.

  • 21st Jul 2025

    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…

  • 7th Jul 2025

    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.

  • 22nd Jun 2025

    Episode 14 – A cosmic owl, misaligned planetary systems, and the Milky Way as an outlier

    In this episode, we had Payel and Nicole filling in for Michelle who’s away on holiday. Nicole is a PhD student, also at the University of Surrey Astrophysics research group. They discuss the direct detection of HI beyond the local universe, how the Milky Way seems unusually cold, a planetary system with two misaligned planets,…

  • 9th Jun 2025

    Episode 13 – Missing Europium, Pluto’s craters, 43,000 Goblins and some Pop III stars

    In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss why dark matter halos have a Universal density profile, how to age-date Pluto’s surface with craters, delayed Pop III star formation, dwarf candidates in the UNIONS survey, a problem with Europium and whether Little Red Dots are really AGN. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you…

  • 26th May 2025

    Episode 12 – Signs of life, little red dots and the links between star clusters and high redshift galaxies

    This episode, Michelle and Payel are very on-theme as they discuss whether Little Red Dots can be explained by super Eddington accretion; the high abundances of nitrogen to oxygen in the most distant galaxies and whether this is tied to globular cluster formation; the stellar graveyard in galaxies, and claims of signs of life in…

  • 12th May 2025

    Episode 11: Whirling planes, wandering black holes and alien supernovae

    In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss whether wandering intermediate black holes are mythical or not, how planes of satellites may form from cosmic accretion, how to form double hot Jupiters, whether Kelper’s supernova remnant is an ‘alien’, whether Unions I is the faintest star cluster or the faintest galaxy, and just how old our…

  • 28th Apr 2025

    Episode 10 – Mixing dark matter, surviving black holes and hunting for planets

    This episode, Michelle and Payel delve into the latest constraints on mixed dark matter from the Lyman alpha forest, what happens to stars that get a little too close to a black hole, how machine learning can help identify stars likely to host an Earth-like planet, studying the dark ages from the Moon and witnessing…

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