Walkabout the Galaxy

Walkabout the Galaxy

Author: Joshua Colwell, Adrienne Dove, and James Cooney Language: English Episodes: 100
Ever wondered what it would be like to grab a coffee with a few planetary scientists who can’t help but find the humor in the cosmos? That’s the feeling you get with Walkabout the Galaxy. Hosted by Joshua Colwell, Adrienne Dove, and James Cooney, this isn’t a dry lecture from a distant lecture hall. Instead, it’s a lively, often funny conversation that feels like you’re right there with them, unpacking the universe’s latest headlines. Each episode digs into the newest and most fascinating discoveries in astronomy and space science, but the approach is grounded and genuinely curious. You’ll hear the hosts’ real excitement and occasional friendly debates as they translate complex ideas from recent papers or major missions into stories anyone can connect with. The tone is naturally irreverent, which makes the science stick, and their camaraderie turns each discussion into an engaging journey. Tuning into this podcast means getting a front-row seat to a casual yet deeply informative chat about everything from quirky asteroids to the profound mysteries of distant galaxies, all delivered with a warmth that reminds you why looking up at the stars is so compelling in the first place. It’s a perfect blend of solid science and natural comedy, making the vastness of space feel a little more like home.
Episodes
Short Take: Asteroid Sample and Dark Matter Hopes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:22
Strange and Top discuss the return of the sample from the asteroid Bennu and an intriguing measurement from a dark matter detector in Italy in this, our first Short Take episode. Sadly, the measurement has not been repro…
Trouble in the Universe: El Gordo and Dinky [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:56
There's more tension in the standard model of the history of the universe. Giant superclusters of galaxies formed early than we thought they could. These collosal structures trace their origins to quantum fluctuations in…
Ho'oleilana and Weird Spots on Mercury [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:41
This episode is about hollows in space on very different scales and for very different reasons. Ho'oleilana is the largest observed structure in the universe, a bubble of sorts defined by great sheets of galactic supercl…
Water in the Solar System - Dragoncon 2023 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:15
The astroquarks report from Dragoncon 2023 on the surprisingly diverse distribution of water in the solar system, where it came from, and the prospects for life on other worlds. We are joined by planetary geologist R. Sc…
Diamonds, Granite, and Hubble Tension [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:44
When we think of all the wonderfully unique things about the Earth as a planet (liquid water on the surface, life, plate tectonics), the existence of lovely granite kitchen countertops doesn't usually make the list. But…
The Sun Bounces Gamma Rays and a Muon Surprise [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:21
The Sun is showering us with far more gamma rays than anticipated according to new measurements from a Cerenkov radiation detector in Mexico. The way those gamma rays are produced is very cool. Also cool: data continue t…
Rogue Planets Galore and the Age of the Universe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:03
We take a look at two extraordinary astronomical news items in this episode. A deep dive into an astronomical survey has discovered an Earth-sized rogue planet and a Neptune-sized rogue planet. Extrapolating from those d…
Dark Stars and Water in Hot Places [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:55
The JWST has spotted water vapor in the hot inner region of a protoplanetary disk, the same region where rocky planets like are own are expected to form. This suggests water can be incorporated into terrestrial planets d…
X-Rays from Mercury and a Different Kind of Gravitational Hole [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:29
We think of aurora as an atmospheric phenomenon, but what happens when high energy particles from the Sun directly impact a planetary surface? Mercury reveals another cool planetary twist with auroral-like emission from…
The Rumble in the Universe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:43
Nature has provided us with exquisitely accurate clocks in the form of pulsars, those rapidly rotating neutron stars whose beams of radiation act like high-powered lighthouses across the galaxy. We discuss the amazing di…

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