The Supermassive Podcast

Our final episode of 2024 is a SUPERMASSIVE Q&A.  Izzie Clarke, Dr Becky Smethurst and Dr Robert Massey make their way through your questions.  What’s the farthest star we can see with the naked eye? Why do black holes expand and shrink? And what would happen if we accelerated an uncompressed medium sized potato to 99% the speed of light?  And remember, do not confuse the ISS with Santa's Sleigh in the run up to Christmas. To avoid any confusion, find out when the ISS is flying over your home using https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/home.cfm If you have any questions for a future episode, email [email protected] or find us on instagram @SupermassivePod. And thank you to anyone who has listened or reviewed the podcast this year, we really appreciate it.  The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham. 

From planetary alignment through the galaxy to spacetime expansion, The Supermassive Team answer your questions. Keep sending us your questions, email us on [email protected] or find us on instagram @SupermassivePod

The Supermassive Team are investigating strange blasts of energy in space called Fast Radio Bursts. What are they and where do they come from? Dr Stuart Ryder from Macquarie University in Australia joins Izzie, Dr Becky and Robert to help explain.  Christmas Present Ideas  Astronaut Chris Hadfield’s talk - A Journey into The Cosmos Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at Royal Museums Greenwich Telescope SeeStar S50  Image stabilising binoculars Cosmos (book) from DK The Impossible Man by Patchen Barrs.  The Little Book of Cosmic Catastrophes by Sarah Webb The Night Sky Almanac for 2025 by Radmila Topalovic, Storm Dunlop and Wil Tirion Keep sending your brilliant questions and photos to [email protected] or on Instagram @SupermassivePod. The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production for the Royal Astronomical Society. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham

... Potentially the silliest bonus episode we've ever recorded.  The Supermassive Team takes on your questions; What are Brown Dwarfs? How can photons have different energies? Do frozen stars exist? And they get extremely distracted by the concept of nuclear pasta. Even Producer Richard gets involved.  Here's the paper mentioned by listener Hanna, Thermodynamics of Frozen Stars The Supermassive Podcast is a Boffin Media production. The producers are Izzie Clarke and Richard Hollingham.