StarXiv: a podcast discussing the latest astronomy papers
Published by Michelle and Payel
Science
Astronomy
Hello! Welcome to the StarXiv, hosted by Dr Michelle Collins and Dr Payel Das. This is a biweekly podcast that delves into the latest astronomy papers & results from the arXiv. Michelle and Payel are astronomers at the University of Surrey. They love research, but struggle to find time to read a lot of papers. They’re hoping this podcast fixes that. The beautiful logo is designed by Izzy Gray, a PhD student currently studying at the University of Surrey.
Payel and Michelle delve into another group of wonderful papers on the astronomy arxiv! They discuss dating the Universe, comparing 2025 large language models in their ability to assist with literature views, telling apart exocomets and giant companions, early signatures of secular evolution in disk galaxies, and the abundance of data to come from Vera Rubin. You can read more about the papers below: Cosmic CORALS: Timing the Universe with high-z star clusters - Elena Tomasetti et al. AI's Capability in Assisting Scientific Research in Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology I: Literature Review - Anamaria Hell et al. Evidence for a giant companion orbiting Tabby's star - Cristina Madurga-Favieres et al. Bar-driven secular evolution largely complete in a disk galaxy 7.6 billion years ago - Takafumi Tsukui et al. A Deep Look at the Ultra-Faint Milky Way Satellite Virgo III with Rubin Observatory Data Preview 2 - Aashay Pai et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss results from the searches for extra-terrestrial life, a natural mechanism for producing light element variations in globular clusters, a typical galaxy at z>10 and the origin of Andromeda's extended stellar disk. And take a look at the papers below Globular cluster abundance patterns inherited from giant molecular clouds - William McClymont et al. Project Hephaistos -- IV. James Webb Space Telescope Observations of Two Dyson Sphere Candidates - Erik Zackrisson et al. Deep Spectroscopic Follow-Up of Maisie's Galaxy -- A Typical Galaxy in the Early Universe - Rebecca Larson et al The Merger-Driven Origin of the Vast Extended Stellar Disc Around the Andromeda Galaxy - Tsakonas et al
In this episode, Payel and Nicole discuss machine learning methods to to transform composite galaxy spectra and determine key features of galaxy evolution. They also examine new observations of the Centarus cluster with JWST, closing the loop on AGN feedback across multiple radial scales. Finally, they discuss new solar observations that shed new light on the formation of solar flare ribbons. A novel data-driven approach to extract stellar population properties from galaxy spectra using absorption indices – Zahra Sharbaf et al. JWST reveals how black holes are fed: kiloparsec-scale multiphase filaments feed sub-kiloparsec circumnuclear disks - Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo et al. pop-cosmos: Disentangling galaxy properties from observables using data-driven approaches - Benedict Van den Bussche et al. Solar flare ribbons structured by uncombed chromospheric loops - Lakshmi Chitta et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole discuss machine learning methods to classify merging galaxies and different classes of supernova. They also look into whether planetary engulfment can explain unsual chemical signatures in some binary systems, and dive deep into some beautiful MUSE data for a spiral galaxy at redshift 0.09. Check it out below, on Spotify , Apple podcasts , or wherever you get your podcasts! Check out the papers we featured below A Deep Study of the Spiral Galaxy W2246f - Evelyn J. Johnston et al. Chemical paradox in a binary system: Exploring metal enrichment in HD 81809B - Nuno Moedas et al. Vision-Language Model Ensembles Achieve Human-Expert Accuracy for Galaxy Merger Classification - Marco Chiaberge et al. Photometry is all you need: supernova classification as a mixing problem - Ana Sofía M. Uzsoy & V. Ashley Villar
In this episode, Michelle and Payel talk about the asymmetry in the number of craters across the moon, using microlensing to find primordial black holes, tracing the growth of disk galaxies since z~1, and using machine learning to detect group galaxies merging with massive clusters. Check out the papers we discussed below: Lunar ejecta as the missing piece to resolving lunar cratering asymmetry - Hailiang Li et al. AMPM II. — A Lunar-Mass Primordial Black Hole Microlensing Candidate in the Milky Way Halo - Renee Key et al. Witnessing the rapid growth of disk galaxies over cosmic time using JWST and HST - Samane Raji et al. Identifying group galaxies merging with massive clusters using machine learning - Rhys Jordan et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole discuss primordial magnetic fields, Galactic merger memory, the origin of Venus's carbon dioxide rich atmosphere and using Galactic stars to predict extragalactic abundances. Listen below, on Apple podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, Nicole and Payel discuss an accurate dating of the Gaia-Enceladus Sausage merger with the Milky Way, a new probe of matter clustering on small scales using Fast Radio Bursts, a new analysis of the retrograde stars in the Milky Way, and a simulation perspective on the very cold disks found at high redshift by ALMA. And check out the papers below: The Last Galactic Firework: Timing the last significant merger with stars, globular clusters and 𝜔 Centauri Chervin Laporte and Matthew Orkney Signatures of Suppressed Matter Clustering revealed by Fast Radio Bursts Kritti Sharma et al. Substructures of the Milky Way's Retrograde Halo: Evidence for Multiple Accretion Events Young Kwang Kin et al. Dynamically cold discs in high-redshift galaxies: comparison between ALMA observations and TNG50 Yi He et al.
In this episode, Nicole and Payel discuss a stellar system located towards the Galactic bulge, the structure of filaments in the cosmic web, the homogeneity of the chemical compositions of exoplanets born in the same disc, and the possibility of water-rich hot super Earths. Check out the papers below: The multi-age stellar populations of Terzan 5 as revealed by JWST Giorga Zullo et al. Universal Dark-matter Density Profiles of Cosmic Filaments Peng Xu et al. A Chemical Mismatch Between Young Stars and Their Inner Disks Diogo Souto et al. Super-Earth masses and stellar abundances from NIRPS reveal tentative evidence for water-rich formation around M dwarfs Drew Weisserman et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Payel delve into the story of UV bright galaxies at high redshifts, hints of population III stars, black hole binaries, planet eating stars, pulsars in Omega Centauri and whether or not the Milky Way and Andromeda will merge. Find all the links to the papers at Starxiv.com .
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole were on-theme with their paper choices. They discuss whether and how stars from ancient globular clusters populate the stellar halo of the Milky Way, and look into research on growing massive black hole seeds in the smallest dwarf galaxies. Tune in here, on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts
In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss the latest theories of little red dot formation, bursty star formation at high redshift, triple-double radio galaxies, where asteroids like Apophis come from, and how likely life might be around massive stars. Check out the episode below, on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
In this episode, Payel and Nicole delve into more JWST discoveries and the frontier of machine learning in astronomy - an ultra-deep view of the cosmic web, machine-learning deep images to look for mergers, a direct collapse black hole explanation to Little Red Dots, machine-learning the Milky Way to reveal complex star formation histories of accreted systems, and the earliest nuclear stellar disc observed to date. Check out the papers below. An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter - Diana Scognamiglio et al. Convolutional Neural Networks for classifying galaxy mergers: Can faint tidal features aid in classifying mergers? - Yeonkyung Lee et al. The Little Red Dots Are Direct Collapse Black Holes - Fabio Pacucci et al. Two faces of Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus: Mining the chemical abundance space with graph attention networks - Milan Quandt-Rodriguez et al. A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution - Zoe A. Le Conte et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole hit the arXiv and dig into the latest on Thamnos - an ancient Milky Way merger, carbon stars in the Large Magellanic Stars, Supernova Type Ia as cosmic probes, and a little red dot that isn't a little red dot. Tune in here, on Spotify , Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. And check out the papers below
In this episode, Michelle and Payel both dissect interesting results from varying stars, including follow up on Betelgeuse's elusive companion. They also talk about the imprints of digested and transiting stars on their hosts spectra, and an unusual lensing signal that could pose difficult questions for warm and cold dark matter. Listen below, on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode, Payel and Nicole discuss how to generate alpha-bimodalities in Milky-Way-like galaxies without major mergers or radial migration, a new search for radio emission from the elusive intermediate-mass black hole of Omega Centauri , detailed chemical DNA measurements of the oldest stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and searching for dwarfs using HI measurements. Check out the papers we discussed below: Portrait of a Galaxy on FIRE: Is the $α$-bimodality a natural consequence of inside-out disc growth in a hierarchical formation scenario? - Maria Benito No evidence for accretion around the intermediate-mass black hole in Omega Centauri - Angiraben D. Mahida The chemical DNA of the Magellanic Clouds V. R-process dominates neutron capture elements production in the oldest SMC stars - Lorenzo Santarelli TiNy Titans HI: Discovering Satellites via HI Gas in an Isolated, Compact Group of Dwarf Galaxies - Sabrina Stierwalt
This episode, Payel and Nicole discuss streamer-like structures around protostellar sources, a multiply imaged Little Red Dot with an apparent blue companion, age and metallicity of low-mass galaxies, starspots and flares, and exploring the ultra-faint dwarf Bootes I using JWST and HST. Check out the papers we discussed below: A tale of three tails: A misaligned streamer and mysterious structures around [BHB2007]1 - Aashish Gupta VENUS: When Red meets Blue -- A multiply imaged Little Red Dot with an apparent blue companion behind the galaxy cluster Abell 383 - Miriam Golubchik Age and metallicity of low-mass galaxies: from their centres to their stellar halos - Elisa A. Tau Starspots and Flares are Generally Not Correlated - Andy B. Zhang Exploring the ultra-faint dwarf Bootes I using JWST and HST: Metallicity distribution and binaries - Fabrizio Muratore
This episode, Michelle, Payel, and Nicole discuss simulating individual stars, exoplanets born outside of the Milky Way, the intracluster medium as a window to past merging activity, the chemical versus kinematic thin and thick discs of the Milky Way, early formation of supermassive black holes, and galaxy mergers as cosmic ray sources. Check out the papers we discussed below EDGE-INFERNO: How chemical enrichment assumptions impact the individual stars of a simulated ultra-faint dwarf galaxy - Eric Anderson Searching for Exoplanets Born Outside the Milky Way: VOYAGERS Survey Design - Robert Aloisi The Quiescent Merging Nature of the Coma Cluster Revealed by ICM Velocity Structure - Efrain Gatuzz Impact of selection criteria on the structural parameters of the Galactic thin and thick discs - Simon Alinder Early Formation of Supermassive Black Holes via Dark Star Gravitational Instability - Katherine Freese Galaxy Mergers Collectively Illuminate the γ-Ray Sky - Jaya Doliya
This episode, Michelle and Payel discuss the Solar birth cluster, young stars with high alpha abundances, the formation of intermediate mass black holes, decelerated expansion of the Universe, strong lens detection in Euclid and predicting solar flares. Check out the papers we discussed below: Spectroscopic Follow-up of Young High-α Dwarf Star Candidates: Still Likely Genuinely Young - Yuxi Lu Limits on Stellar Flybys in the Solar Birth Cluster - Amir Siraj, Christopher F. Chyba, Scott Tremaine Strong Progenitor Age-bias in Supernova Cosmology. II. Alignment with DESI BAO and Signs of a Non-Accelerating Universe - Junhyuk Son Seeds to success: growing heavy black holes in dense star clusters - Lavinia Paiella Solar flare forecasting with foundational transformer models across image, video, and time-series modalitie s - S. Riggi et al. Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1). Searching for giant gravitational arcs in galaxy clusters with mask region-based convolutional neural networks - Euclid Collaboration, L. Bazzanini, et al.
In this episode, Michelle and Nicole discuss what sets the chemistry of the faintest galaxies and RR-Lyrae stars, how to trace the proto-Galaxy, why some galaxies fail to thrive, can quasi-stars can explain Little Red Dots, and whether UNIONS 1 is a galaxy or a star cluster. Tune in below, on Spotify , Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
Producer's note
Steal the structure. Not the show.
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
