Astronomy Highlights: Stellar Magnetic Fields, Zooniverse

This is the first episode of a series where we hear about recent research presented at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) January 2024 meeting.

(Credit: AIP/J. Fohlmeister)

Magnetic Braking in Old Stars (starts at 3:13)  Dr. Travis Metcalfe from the White Dwarf Research Corporation talks about studies of one particular star, 51 Peg, that has gone through magnetic braking. He discussed how studying magnetic fields around similarly middle-aged and older stars not oly can help us in our search for life on other planets, but also provide a clue of what might have impacted the evolution of life here on Earth.

Citizen Science with Zooniverse (starts at 13:21) Dr. Laura Trouille from the Adler Planetarium is the Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse project.  She explains how “citizen science” works, which crowd-sources science research in a wide range of projects not only in astronomy, but topics ranging from biology and physics to arts and literature.

Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Show Producer and Host: Joel Parker

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Other Rocky Planets are Common!

Kepler444 We talk with astronomer Travis Metcalfe about finding the oldest known planetary system in the Galaxy, and what it means about the formation of planets, the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, and how does one actually find planets around other stars? Headlines include switches in the man-made biological organisms that could possibly be used for bioterrorism, and the finding that chronic malaria infection in migrant great reed warblers  damages telomeres, shortening life in both the adult bird and its offspring.

Hosts: Joel Parker and Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer Beth Bennett with help from Kendra Kruger
Additional Contributions: Jane Palmer, Shelly Schlender
Executive Producer: Kendra Krueger

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