EPISODE · Apr 5, 2018 · 33 MIN
Episode 01: Planets, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
from syzygy · host Chris Stewart
Find us on Twitter: @syzygypodOr just visit us at home: syzygy.fmEmily is an astronomer at the University of York: www.york.ac.uk/physics/people/brunsden/Chris can be found online: kipstewart.comSome of the things we talk about in this episode:Geocentric models of the universe: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_modelRetrograde motion of planets & heliocentric models: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/OrbitsHistory/Poor Pluto: www.universetoday.com/13573/why-pluto-is-no-longer-a-planet/First exoplanet confirmed 1995: exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/2084/The transit method: www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/exoplanets/transit-photometry.htmlKepler mission: kepler.nasa.govExoplanets we know of: exoplanets.nasa.govOur location in the Milky Way: www.universetoday.com/65601/where-is-earth-in-the-milky-way/Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers opening line: www.goodreads.com/quotes/54481-far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-endExtragalactic planets paper: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aaa5fbExtragalactic planets news story: www.sciencealert.com/planets-found-in-another-galaxy-quasar-gravitational-microlensingQuasars: www.spacetelescope.org/science/black_holes/Gravitational Lensing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lensEinstein and the solar eclipse: www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/07/04/how-a-solar-eclipse-first-proved-einstein-right/#6bda2738766aFunhouse quasar image: phys.org/news/2018-02-astrophysicists-planets-extragalactic-galaxies-microlensing.htmlRogue planets: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_planetPlanet HIP13044b: www.space.com/9556-alien-planet-galaxy-discovered.htmlGalactic Cannibalism: www.universetoday.com/89086/galactic-cannibalism/Exoplanet in Andromeda: www.newscientist.com/article/dn17287-first-extragalactic-exoplanet-may-have-been-found/Exoplanet microlensing a quasar: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extragalactic_planet#Twin_Quasar-related_planet
What this episode covers
In this, the first proper episode of Syzygy, we’re talking planets: near, far, and very, very far. While the number of planets in our own solar system went from nine to eight (poor Pluto …), over the last few decades astronomers have found hundreds — no, *thousands* — of exoplanets: planets around other stars in our galaxy. But we’re just getting started. In February 2018, researchers announced that they’d found a whole bunch of planets in a galaxy far, far away. How they did that, is a pretty amazing story.
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Episode 01: Planets, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
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