Feature Guest: Jorge Zuluaga
Astronomers have yet to confirm a single detection of an exomoon, that is a moon orbiting a planet outside our solar system. Now it turns out at least part of the explanation is that we may have been looking in the wrong place all this time. Introducing ploonets. No, I did not just mispronounce the word planet. Today we’re joined here at The Star Spot by Jorge Zuluaga, whose team coined the name to describe a moon that has gone rogue, and while it may sound exotic, a speculative theory posits that ploonets could have played a key role in the evolution of our very own planet.
Current in Space
Tony is back with an exciting discovery made in fresh snow in Antarctica: an isotope that can only have been manufactured in one place – the infernal heart of a supernova. Then Joseph and Tony once again ask the cosmic question: what are fast radio bursts, or FRBs, as eight more repeating FRBs have been detected in deep space, and we just may be on the cusp of solving the mystery. Finally, Amelia and Tony talk about a glitch. A software glitch? No. A neutron star glitch!
About Our Guest
Jorge Zuluaga is Professor of Astronomy at the Institute of Physics at the University of Antioquia in Colombia. His research interests include astrophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. He also enjoys teaching and popularizing Astronomy and Physics in his hometown.
Episode 145: Can Sibling Rivalry Explain This Supernova?, with Stuart Ryder
Episode 144: A Rough Upbringing: The Discovery of Stars in the Galaxy’s Core, with Farhad Yusef-Zadeh
Episode 143: Planet Hunting Goes Extragalactic, with Xinyu Dai
Episode 142: Jupiter Transformed, with Scott Bolton
Episode 141: The Mysterious Origin of Superpowerful Radio Blasts, with Jason Hessels
Episode 140: How Humans Are Healing the Ozone Hole… and Might Just Solve Other Environmental Problems, with Susan Strahan
Episode 139: Can Alien Life Hitch a Ride on Space Dust?, with Arjun Berera
Episode 138: Making Contact, with Jill Tarter
Episode 137: An Alien Asteroid in Our Solar System, with Alan Stern
Episode 136: So You Want to Become an Astronaut?, with Cordell Grant
Episode 135: Studying Cosmic Alchemy with Gravitational Waves, with Michael Landry
Episode 134: Searching for Aliens All-Sky All-the-Time, with Bill Diamond
Episode 133: Discovering an Asteroid Family Unchanged Since the Birth of the Solar System, with Marco Delbo
Episode 132: Does Titan Harbour the Building Blocks of Life?, with Ravi Desai
Episode 131: Heavy Metal Explosion: The Rockstars of the Supernova World, with Matt Nicholl
Episode 130: There Are How Many More Comets!?, with James Bauer
Episode 129: Building on Gravitational Wave Astronomy, with Danny Steeghs
Episode 128: A Shocking Theory About the Multiverse, with Dan Falk
Episode 127: When Day Becomes Night, with Dan Falk
Episode 126: SpaceX: A New Paradigm for Space Exploration, with Chris Prophet
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