Dr. Jessie Christiansen from the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at IPAC/Caltech interviews the brilliant minds behind the discoveries of planets orbiting other stars.
ExploreExoplanets: TheDiscoverers; Ep. 18 Ben Montet (part 2)
Dr. Ben Montet shares the intriguing history of Vulcan, exploring whether this famous exoplanet from Star Trek lore actually orbits the real star 40 Eridani A.
5 Dec 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 17 Ben Montet (part 1)
Dr. Ben Montet shares his journey from studying black holes to discovering exoplanets and reveals the signal that confirms a star is orbited by a planet.
12 Sept 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 16 Ashley Chontos (part 2)
💙 An Avatar of Pandora? 💙
Did the movie Avatar predict the discovery of the holy grail of exoplanets: a nearby Earth-like rocky planet orbiting a Sun-like star? Drs. Jessie Christiansen and Ashley Chontos continue their conversation about Ashley's favorite fictional planet—and Jessie reveals whether she's found Pandora's closest real-world analog in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
22 Aug 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 15 Ashley Chontos (part 1)
Worth the Wait 🛰️⏳📅🪐
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Telescope found its first planet candidate in 2009. Ten years later, KOI-4.01 was finally confirmed as an exoplanet by a team led by Dr. Ashley Chontos. The confirmation provided some bittersweet closure for the Kepler mission and also brought Ashley fame and fortune 😎 (well, for astronomers, anyway 🤓). In this episode, Jessie chats with Ashley about the series of fortunate events that led to the discovery—and also her favorite fictional planet!
1 Aug 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 14 Bruce Macintosh (part 2)
Hollywood 🎥 vs. Kepler-22 b 🪐
Jessie returns to her chat with Dr. Bruce Macintosh, Director of the University of California Observatories, and he explains why Kepler-22 b is his LEAST favorite exoplanet—even though its 2011 discovery made international news and was featured in the HBO Max series "Raised by Wolves."
18 Jul 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep 13, Bruce Macintosh (Part 1)
Exoplanet Trifecta: Seeing and Believing 🤩👀🔭🪐🪐🪐
What is it like to spend eight years chasing down hundreds of possible planets that turn out to be false positives, and then discover three planets at once? It takes a special kind of believer—and skeptic—to find planets using the direct imaging method. Dr. Bruce Macintosh, Director of the University of California Observatories, describes how he became a believer in the HR 8799 system. Also in this episode: Bruce's LEAST favorite exoplanet!
23 May 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 12 David Kipping (part 2)
A Planet Around a Dead, Spinning Star 🌀😵💫
How realistic is the science in Interstellar, and have we found anything close to an actual Miller's Planet? In part 2 of Jessie's interview with Dr. David Kipping, they chat about time dilation, water worlds, and sneaking science lessons in Hollywood movies. David also answers a question from our viewers!
9 May 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 11 David Kipping (part 1)
"I'll Eat My Hat!"
Dr. David Kipping of @columbia, host of the popular @CoolWorldsPodcast, is looking beyond exoplanets: he's set his sights on finding exomoons! Watch and find out which exoplanet David thinks might have its own moon. Also, can you guess David's favorite fictional exoplanet? (Hint: It doesn't have a moon.)
4 Apr 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 10 Dr. Emily Gilbert
Is Middle Earth an Exoplanet? 🧝🧙🧭📜🏰⛰️🌋🪐
In part 2 of her interview, Dr. Emily Gilbert makes a convincing case that Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings series is actually its own planet! Watch and tell us if you agree (or not).
16 Mar 2024
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 9 Dr. Emily Gilbert
What's better than discovering an exoplanet? How about discovering THREE exoplanets...all at once! Early-career researcher Dr. Emily Gilbert talks about the exoplanet bonanza of the TOI-700 system that made headline news around the world in 2020. Emily also reveals her favorite fictional planet (heads-up, Tolkien fans! 🧝).
21 Dec 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 8 Dr. Peter Plavchan
Is there a planet near the center of our galaxy like Trantor? Jessie shares what she's found in the NASA Exoplanet Archive, and Peter answers a viewer question: "How old do stars have to be to have planets?"
🌟🪐🪐🪐
14 Dec 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 7 Dr. Peter Plavchan
All Roads Lead to AU Mic ⛔🔭🪐
Despite denial, discouragement and telemarketing jobs, Dr. Peter Plavchan found a path to a career in astronomy...and a famous exoplanet! Join Jessie as she chats with Peter about how he discovered AU Mic b in plain sight.
30 Nov 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers; Ep. 6 Dr. Etienne Bachelet
A Real-life Tatooine?🪐☀️☀️
Did Jessie go to a galaxy far, far away to find a real-life counterpart to Tatooine, Etienne's favorite fictional planet?
9 Nov 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers Ep 5 - Dr. Etienne Bachelet
Jessie chats with Dr. Etienne Bachelet about how stars can bend light, and how we can use that phenomenon to find exoplanets.
26 Oct 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers Ep 4 - Dr. Jennifer Burt
Jessie continues her chat with Dr. Jennifer Burt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and reveals whether she's found a real-life Roshar in the NASA Exoplanet Archive or if that multi-planet system is still a fantasy. They also answer a viewer's question:"What do astronomers mean when they say "Earth-like planet"?
12 Oct 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers Ep 3 - Dr. Jennifer Burt
IPAC's Dr. Jessie Christiansen chats with Dr. Jennifer Burt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on how she splits starlight into rainbows (a.k.a. Extreme Precision Radial Velocity) to study exoplanets, which of the six planets she's discovered (so far) is her favorite, and why she prefers fictional planets in fantasy novels over those in science fiction.⚔️
28 Sept 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers Ep 2 - Dr. Charles Beichman
Forbidding and Forbidden Planets: In this second half of Dr. Jessie Christiansen's interview with Dr. Chas Beichman, we find out why Altair 4 is Chas's favorite fictional planet and if there are any real planets like it in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
14 Sept 2023
Explore Exoplanets: The Discoverers Ep 1 - Dr. Charles Beichman
Blowtorch On A Planet! In this inaugural episode, Jessie finds out why her boss, Executive Director of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute Dr. Charles Beichman, is considered a pioneer in exoplanet research. Dr. Beichman uses NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to spy on a planet that goes from room temperature to over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit in one Earth day.
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2 ratings
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