Episode 41: Weighing the Universe

How do we figure out the masses of astronomical objects far too large to fit on any human-made scale? In this episode, Alex tracks the paths of planets to figure out which ones are winning a gravitational game of tug-of-war, while Will describes a mysterious little galaxy that seems to be missing a key component. And, you won’t want to miss our spectacular sonification contest runner-up from Tharindu Jayasinghe, who brought to sound the most extreme heartbeat star known to date!   Astrobites: https://astrobites.org/2021/08/17 https://astrobites.org/2021/07/07    HR 8799 gif: https://jasonwang.space/orbits.html  ASAS-SN variable star sonifications: https://asas-sn.osu.edu/atlas