• Episode 22 - ORCs, rings, and Galactic histories
    Oct 13 2025

    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 using a new approach that utilises both spectra and images.

    From order to chaos: the blurred out metallicity gradient of the Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage progenitor - Andreia Carillo et al.

    First direct detection of an RR Lyrae star conclusively associated with an intermediate-age cluster - Cecilia Mateu et al.

    RAD@home discovery of extragalactic radio rings and odd radio circles: clues to their origins - Ananda Hota et al.

    A New Way to Discover Strong Gravitational Lenses: Pair-wise Spectroscopic Search from DESI DR1 - Yuan-Ming Hsu et al.

    Chronology of our Galaxy from Gaia colour-magnitude diagram fitting (ChronoGal): IV. On the inner Milky Way stellar age distribution - Tomás Ruiz-Lara et al.

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    37 mins
  • Episode 21 - Mercury, chemistry and quasi periodic eruptions
    Sep 29 2025

    In this episode, Michelle and Nicole discuss merger debris around a distant spiral galaxy, metal-mixing around pop III stars, quasi-periodic eruptions in Ansky, relic galaxies, Mercury's magnetosphere and second generation stars in globular clusters. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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    38 mins
  • Episode 20 - Dark galaxies, black holes, star formation and life in the faintest galaxies?
    Sep 15 2025

    In this episode of the StarXiv Michelle and Payel talk about very massive and less massive black holes, the possibility of feedback free star formation, dark galaxies, runaway dwarf galaxies and the chance of life in the faintest galaxies.

    Check out the papers below!

    AGN-heated dust revealed in "Little Red Dots - I Delvecchio et al.

    Is feedback-free star formation possible? - A. Ferrara et al.

    The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud - Gangadeep Anand et al.

    An isolated early-type dwarf galaxy that ran away from the group environment - Sanjaya Paudel et al.

    Are Local Group Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies the First Safe Planet-hosting Environments? - Stefano Ciabattini, Stefania Salvadori, Leonardo Testi

    New gravitational-wave data support a bimodal black-hole mass

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    33 mins
  • Episode 19 - Peering into the Local Universe, distant black holes, forming planets and alien signatures
    Sep 1 2025

    This episode, Michelle and Payel reunite to discuss the chemistry of nearby M-dwarf stars, where the majority of stars form in the Milky Way, whether giant planets naturally form at large distances from their hosts, extending the search for supermassive black holes and the search for alien technosignatures. Check out the papers we discussed below!

    The origin of extreme N-emitters in star-forming galaxies at z<0.5 with DESI DR1 - Souradeep Bhattacharya & Chiaki Kobayashi

    How many stars form in compact clusters in the local Milky Way? Alexis L. Quintana, Emily L. Hunt & Hanna Parul

    Chemical evolution imprints in the rare isotopes of nearby M dwarfs - Dario Gonzalez-Picos et al.

    WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT): A Gap-clearing Planet in a Multi-ringed Disk around the Young Solar-type Star WISPIT 2 - Richelle van Capelleveen et al.

    Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn. III. On the Photometrically Determined Black Hole Mass to Stellar Mass Relation Across Cosmic Time - Alice Young et al.

    Technosignature Searches of Interstellar Objects - James Davenport et al.

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    36 mins
  • Episode 18 - disks, disks and more disks!
    Aug 18 2025

    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 have been accreted or formed in-situ, just for a little bit of balance. Check out the episode below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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    39 mins
  • Episode 17 - detecting dark matter, unusual black holes and speedy stars
    Aug 4 2025

    In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss the claimed detection of a starless dark matter subhalo, speedy, puffy white dwarfs, super massive black holes and how to form and grow them, smaller black holes and how to merge them, and star clusters in the Sparkler galaxy. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

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    38 mins
  • Episode 16 - interstellar visitors, molten planets and faint, dark galaxies
    Jul 21 2025

    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 how to find 'dak' galaxies!

    Find the papers we discuss in this episode below!

    What Sets the Metallicity of Ultra-Faint Dwarfs? - Vance Wheeler et al

    CLASSY XIV: Nitrogen Enrichment Shaped by Gas Density and Feedback - Karla C. Arellano-Cordova et al.

    Where are all the dark galaxies? Predicting galaxy/halo locations from their bright neighbors - Alice Chen & Niayesh Afshordi

    An Earth-Sized Planet in a 5.4h Orbit Around a Nearby K dwarf - Kaya Han Tas et al.

    From a Different Star: 3I/ATLAS in the context of the Åtautahi-Oxford interstellar object population model - Matthew J. Hopkins et al.

    Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS: discovery and physical description - Bryce T. Bolin et al.

    Initial VLT/MUSE spectroscopy of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS - Cyielle Opitom et al.

    Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of

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    36 mins
  • Episode 15 – Flare-inducing planets, avoiding catastrophe, and accreted star clusters
    Jul 7 2025

    This episode, Michelle is back and she and Payel discuss long period pulsars, population III galaxies, latent variables in Galactic archaeology, accreted globular clusters, planets that cause their star to flare and avoiding photo0z catastrophes.

    Check out the papers we discussed this episode below!

    Metal-polluted PopIII galaxies and How to Find Them – Elka Rusta et al.

    Close-in planet induces flares on its host star – Ekaterina Ilin et al.

    Accreted Globular Clusters and Horizontal Branch Morphology in the Outer Halo of M31 – Gracie McGill et al.

    A binary origin of ultra-long period radio pulsars – Ying-Han Mao et al.

    Avoiding (photo-z) Catastrophe – A. J. Battisti et al.

    Causal Discovery of Latent Variables in Galactic Archaeology – Zehao Jin et al.

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    39 mins