StarXiv: a podcast discussing the latest astronomy papers

Michelle and Nicole sit down to discuss the latest papers from the arXiv, including the discovery of a globular cluster stream outside the Milky Way, how disk clumps migrate to the centres of galaxies, a unique and cool pulsar hierarchical triple system and a weird, metal poor star in the Milky Way disk. Tune in below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Check out this weeks papers below

Evidence for the First Globular Cluster Stellar Stream beyond the Milky Way - Julie Kiel Holm et al

Clump...

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...

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...

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 - Ju...

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...

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...

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 Bur...

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...

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...

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 h...

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...

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

...

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...

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...

In this episode, Michelle and Nicole discuss merger debris around a distant spiral galaxy, metal-mixing around pop III stars, quasi-periodic eruptions in Ansky, relic galaxies, Mercury's magnetosphere and second generation stars in globular clusters. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of the StarXiv Michelle and Payel talk about very massive and less massive black holes, the possibility of feedback free star formation, dark galaxies, runaway dwarf galaxies and the chance of life in the faintest galaxies.

Check out the papers below!

AGN-heated dust revealed in "Little Red Dots - I Delvecchio et al.

Is feedback-free star formation possible? - A. Ferrara et al.

The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud - Gangadeep Anand et al.

An isolated early-type dwarf galaxy that ran away from...

This episode, Michelle and Payel reunite to discuss the chemistry of nearby M-dwarf stars, where the majority of stars form in the Milky Way, whether giant planets naturally form at large distances from their hosts, extending the search for supermassive black holes and the search for alien technosignatures. Check out the papers we discussed below!

The origin of extreme N-emitters in star-forming galaxies at z

In this episode, Michelle and Nicole dissect 5 papers, and accidentally find a common theme: disks! Whether in low mass galaxies, giant low surface brightness galaxies, the rotation curves of spirals or the natal environment of planetary systems, disks really are all around us. They also discuss the differences in chemistries between globular clusters that have been accreted or formed in-situ, just for a little bit of balance. Check out the episode below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss the claimed detection of a starless dark matter subhalo, speedy, puffy white dwarfs, super massive black holes and how to form and grow them, smaller black holes and how to merge them, and star clusters in the Sparkler galaxy. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

In this episode, Michelle and Payel squash in more papers than ever, as Michelle delves into a flurry of papers about new newly discovered interstellar comet: 3I/ATLAS. They also discuss what sets the metallicities of the faintest galaxies, how nitrogen enrichment relates to gas density, the molten properties of a new ultra-short period planets, and how to find 'dak' galaxies!

Find the papers we discuss in this episode below!

What Sets the Metallicity of Ultra-Faint Dwarfs? - Vance Wheeler et al

CLASSY XIV: Nitrogen Enrichment Shaped by Gas Density and Feedback...

This episode, Michelle is back and she and Payel discuss long period pulsars, population III galaxies, latent variables in Galactic archaeology, accreted globular clusters, planets that cause their star to flare and avoiding photo0z catastrophes.

Check out the papers we discussed this episode below!

Metal-polluted PopIII galaxies and How to Find Them – Elka Rusta et al.

Close-in planet induces flares on its host star – Ekaterina Ilin et al.

Accreted Globular Clusters and Horizontal Branch Morphology in the Outer Halo of M31 – Gracie McGill et al.

A binary origin of ult...

In this episode, we had Payel and Nicole filling in for Michelle who’s away on holiday. Nicole is a PhD student, also at the University of Surrey Astrophysics research group. They discuss the direct detection of HI beyond the local universe, how the Milky Way seems unusually cold, a planetary system with two misaligned planets, detecting stars of common origin through the ratio of alpha elements produced through hydrostatic channels to those produced through explosive ones, twin collisional-ring galaxies, and the impact of the initial mass function on chemical evolution at high redshift.

Read this episode's pa...

In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss why dark matter halos have a Universal density profile, how to age-date Pluto's surface with craters, delayed Pop III star formation, dwarf candidates in the UNIONS survey, a problem with Europium and whether Little Red Dots are really AGN. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!

Read this episodes papers through the links below!

Collisionless relaxation to quasi-steady state attractors in cold dark matter halos: origin of the universal NFW profile - Uddipan Banik, Amitava Bhattacharjee

Pluto Geologic Map: Use of...

This episode, Michelle and Payel are very on-theme as they discuss whether Little Red Dots can be explained by super Eddington accretion; the high abundances of nitrogen to oxygen in the most distant galaxies and whether this is tied to globular cluster formation; the stellar graveyard in galaxies, and claims of signs of life in distant world. Listen below, on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts!

Check out this episode's papers on the arXiv below!

Super-Eddington accretion in high-redshift quasar hosts: black-hole driven outflows, galaxy quenching, and the nature of Little Red...

In this episode, Michelle and Payel discuss whether wandering intermediate black holes are mythical or not, how planes of satellites may form from cosmic accretion, how to form double hot Jupiters, whether Kelper's supernova remnant is an 'alien', whether Unions I is the faintest star cluster or the faintest galaxy, and just how old our globular clusters are. Listen below or check us out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can check out all the papers we discuss this episode using the links below!

Wandering intermediate-mass black holes in Milky...

This episode, Michelle and Payel delve into the latest constraints on mixed dark matter from the Lyman alpha forest, what happens to stars that get a little too close to a black hole, how machine learning can help identify stars likely to host an Earth-like planet, studying the dark ages from the Moon and witnessing the birth of nuclear star clusters! Check out the episode and papers below!

Constraining Mixed Dark Matter models with high redshift Lyman-alpha forest data - Olga Garcia-Gallego et al.

Black Hole Survival Guide: Searching for Stars in the Galactic Center...

In this episode, Payel and Michelle discuss how you can slow down a galaxy’s bar, scaling relations for black holes, whether we can use intracluster light to learn about dark matter, little red dots, AI cosmologists and pasta sauce for all your plotting needs! Check out our episode – and the papers that inspired it – below.

Tidal interaction can stop galactic bars: on the LMC non-rotating bar– Óscar Jiménez-Arranz & Santi Roca-Fabrega

Evidence for evolutionary pathway-dependent black hole scaling relations – Jonathan Cohn et al.

pastamarkers 2: pasta sauce colormaps for your flavorful results – The PASTA collaborat...

In this episode, Payel and Michelle discuss the longest period pulsar, the formation of nuclear star clusters, the recent data releases from ACT and DESI, dark spiral arms and the problem with rotation curves.

Papers in this episode:

The discovery of a 41-second radio pulsar PSR J0311+1402 with ASKAP – Yuanming Wang et al.

Seeding Cores: A Pathway for Nuclear Star Clusters from Bound Star Clusters in the First Billion Years – Fred Angelo Batan Garcia

Dark matter spiral arms in Milky Way-like halos – Marcel Benet et al.

Data Release 1 of the Da...

In this episode of The Starxiv, Michelle and Payel discuss a revised distance for the controversial ultra-diffuse galaxy, DF2; a discovery of a supermassive black hole in an ultra compact dwarf; 2 galaxies hiding in plain sight; and how statistical mechanics may help with dark matter's cusp-core problem. Michelle and Payel also have to put up with slightly inferior audio quality as the undergraduates reclaimed their recording equipment!

This episode's papers:

A new way to measure the distance to NGC1052-DF2 – Michael Beasley et al.

Revisiting the globular clusters of NGC1052-DF2 – Katja Fahrion et al...

In this episode, Payel and Michelle delve into the arXiv and discuss standard sirens, gravitational lenses, a very metal poor stellar stream and a cosmic bullseye!

Candidate intermediate-mass black hole discovered in an extremely young low-metallicity cluster in the tadpole galaxy KUG 1138+327 – Wang & Ott

Spinning spectral sirens: Robust cosmological measurement using mass-spin correlations in the binary black hole population – Hui et al

Euclid: A complete Einstein ring in NGC 6505 – C. M. O’Riordan et al.

The Pristine survey: XXVIII. The extremely metal-poor stream C-19 stretches over more than 100 degrees – Zhen Yuan et al

Un...

Arriving in your ears on February 10th, our latest installment includes transfer learning to detect low surface brightness galaxies, hot and cold gas accretion, an unusual finding in a filament, details of our proto-Galaxy, and the search for intelligent life!

Papers discussed this month:

DES to HSC: Detecting low surface brightness galaxies in the Abell 194 cluster using transfer learning – Thuruthipilly et al.

Gas accretion at high redshift: cold flows all the way – Waterval et al.

Pearls on a string: Dark and bright galaxies on a strikingly straight and narrow filament – Arabsalmani et al.

In this month’s edition, Michelle and Payel dive into the New Year with papers on machine learning, star formation in low mass galaxies and working out just how early in the Universe planets can form.

Papers discussed this month:

Habitable Worlds Formed at Cosmic Dawn Whalen et al.

The puzzle of isolated and quenched dwarf galaxies in cosmic voids Bidaran et al.

On the detection of stellar wakes in the Milky Way: a deep learning approach – Pöder et al

In this episode, Payel and Michelle discuss six papers covering topics like ultra-diffuse galaxies, the Omega Centauri cluster, and insights from JWST. The extended podcast aims to explore diverse research while transitioning to biweekly episodes in the New Year, maintaining a 30-minute format. They’ll return in 2025.

Papers discussed this month: