exocast
Episodes
Exocast-81b: A chat with Dr Matt Kenworthy about weird dips in light curves and the future of instrumentation
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode the Exocast team are joined by Dr Matthew Kenworthy from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Matt’s work focuses on strange...
Exocast-80 b: Are giant planets friends or foes? With Dr Jonti Horner
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We sat around our virtual studio to chat with Queensland-based astronomer Jonti Horner, who works on planetary dynamics – both within our own solar...
Exocast-79b: Observing odd exoplanet orbits with Dr. Malena Rice
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join the Exocast team as they chat with Dr Malena Rice an expert on planetary and exoplanetary dynamics through both theory and observation. Malena t...
Exocast-78 b: Finding the most distant exoplanets with Dr Eamonn Kerins
02 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month the gang sit in with Dr Eamonn Kerins, expert in gravitational microlensing from the University of Manchester. He tells us how astronomers...
Exocast-77b: Exoplanet Instrumentation with Dr Ben Pope
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode the Exocast team are joined by Dr Benjamin (Ben) Pope from the University of Queensland, Brisbane. Ben has worked on everything from...
Exocast-76b: Exoplanet Interiors with Professor Caroline Dorn
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team are joined on this episode by exoplanetary interior investigator Professor Caroline Dorn. Caroline started her career in Earth scien...
Exocast-75b: Radial Velocity Surveys of Young Planets with Dr. Louise Nielsen
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team are joined on this episode by Dr. Louise Nielsen, a Danish astronomer who, after a batchelor’s degree at Niels Bohr Institute in C...
Exocast-74b: Exoplanet Characterisation and HST/JWST Mission Support with Dr. Néstor Espinoza
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team are joined on this show by Dr. Néstor Espinoza from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, USA. Néstor is an ...
Exocast-73b: Using Adaptive Optics to Find Exoplanets with Jules Fowler
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team are joined on this show by Jules Fowler, a NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where they work...
Exocast-72b: Directly Imaging Exoplanetary Motion with Dr Jason Wang
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team return from a short hiatus to be joined on this show by Dr Jason Wang from Northwestern University in Illinois. Jason is a direct im...
Exocast-71c: Exoplanet News & the 100th episode
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this most excellent 100th episode of Exocast from the team we bring you the latest in exoplanet research and news. Hannah and Andrew cover new...
Exocast-71b: Do All Planets Orbit Stars?
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew ask the question: Do all planets orbit stars? Even though the vast majority of planets found so far ar...
Exocast-70c: Exoplanet news
15 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months. We chat about the news coverage of K2-1...
Exocast-70b: Dr. Max Günther talks transits, CHEOPS & chemistry in zero-g
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This month the exocast team chat to exoplanetary astronomer Dr Maximillian Guenther. We talk about finding transiting exoplanets with TESS & NGTS...
Exocast-69b: Surviving Scientific Conferences
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh discuss the art and science of organising, and attending, scientific conferences, with a particular focus on...
Exocast-68c: Latest Exoplanet News
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months. We chat all things Exoclimes VI held in...
Exocast-68b: Interview with Nikole Lewis
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Exocast team are back and this time joined by the esteemed Nikole Lewis, Professor and Deputy director of the Carl Sagan institute at Cornell Uni...
Exocast-67 c: Latest exoplanetary news
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh, Hannah, & Andrew discuss a handful of interesting recent exoplanet papers from the past few months. Andrew delves into technosignatures ...
Exocast-67b: Catching up with the Exocast team
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh reflect on where their careers and research in exoplanet science have led over the past few years as a chanc...
Exocast-66c: Exoplanet News
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the team cover some of the latest exoplanet news stories. This month Hugh covers the first JWST’s transmission spectrum of a small ...
Exocast-66b: Interview with Georgina Dransfield
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back on the airwaves after a short hiatus, the Exocast team are delighted to be joined by Georgina (George) Dransfield, a PhD student at the Universi...
Exocast-65 b: Launching #ExoCup2022
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s everyone’s favourite time of year. No, not because of halloween, leaf-peeping or mulled wine – because it’s #ExoCup season! Yes, for the...
Exocast-64c: Exoplanet News
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the team cover some of the latest exoplanet news stories. This month Hannah summarises the most recent exoplanetary science comi...
Exocast-64b: Interview with Dr Naomi Rowe-Gurney
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hannah, Andrew, and Hugh are joined in the virtual Exocast studio by planetary scientist Dr Naomi Rowe-Gurney. Naomi is a postdoctoral fel...
Exocast-63 c: Exoplanet news
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We cover this month’s most exciting exoplanetary (and solar system) news: Andrew tells us about details of the proposed “Venus Life Finder” ...
Exocast-63b: How do planets form?
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh, Hannah & Andrew turn their attention to a simple question with a very complicated answer: our favourite! This month we are pondering ho...
Exocast-62c: Exoplanet News
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The latest news hot off the Exocast news desk for July/August 2022, another exciting month for exoplanet science: Andrew takes some time to discus...
Exocast-62 b: Interview with Dr. Knicole Colón
11 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hannah, Andrew & Hugh are joined by NASA Goddard’s space telescope expert, Dr. Knicole Colón. Fresh from her NASA TV appearance unv...
Exocast-61c: Exoplanet News
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The latest news hot off the Exocast news desk for June/July 2022, a very exciting month for exoplanet science: Hannah gives us a run-down of some ...
Exocast-61 b: Observation vs Theory, which is more important?
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh, Hannah & Andrew pick sides to debate astronomy’s deepest divide. Are you with Hugh on the side of the observers, who insist that it is on...
Exocast-60c: Exoplanet News
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The latest exoplanet news hot off the Exocast news desk: Hannah gives us a run-down of the Exoplanets IV conference held recently in Las Vegas, at...
Exocast-60b: Interview with Dr Jennifer Burt
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Exocast the team are fortunate to be joined in the virtual studio by Dr Jennifer Burt, NASA/JPL’s Extreme Precision Radial Veloc...
Exocast-59c: Exoplanet News
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for this months news episode where the Exocast team delve into new discoveries, characterisation, and astrobiology investigations to learn al...
Exocast-59b: What are planetary atmospheres made of?
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew go back to basics to discuss the diversity and complexity inherent in the study of planetary atmospheres. Exocast...
Exocast-58c: Exoplanet News
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this month’s news episode Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew each discuss a paper(s) from the past month of exoplanet research including: JWST test data a...
Exocast-58b: Interview with Dr Megan Schwamb
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast team talk with Dr Megan (Meg) Schwamb about her work from the solar system to distant exoplanets and citizen science. The...
Exocast-57c: Exoplanet News
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast team take a look at three new studies presented in the exoplanet literature: Andrew introduces us to a new Nature Ast...
Exocast-57b: How big can an exoplanet be?
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hugh, Hannah and Andrew discuss a deceptively simple question about the limits of planetary size… Exocast-57b takes you from measurement...
Exocast-56b: Interview with Mark McCaughrean about JWST
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast gang chat with Dr Mark McCaughrean, who is a Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency (E...
Exocast-55b: ExoCup2021
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
That’s right it is that time of year again where the Exocast team pit planet against planet in the Twitter poll show-down: ExoCup! In this episo...
Exocast-54c – Exoplanet News
08 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As always, the exocast team covers a few extraordinary recent exoplanetary papers in Exocast-54 c And excitingly we have hit 10,000! exoplanet can...
Exocast-54b: Observing Exoplanets from the Ground
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the exocast team discuss how we observe exoplanets from the ground, how different it is from space, where we put the telescopes and w...
Exocast-53 c – Exoplanet News
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As always, the exocast team covers a few extraordinary recent exoplanetary results in Exocast-53 c: First off, Hannah briefly describes the proble...
Exocast-53b: Interview with Elizabeth Tasker
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast crew are excited to talk with expert science communicator, JAXA space scientist, and master of computer simulations, Prof...
Exocast-52c: Exoplanet Paper News & Reviews
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Exocast-52c Hugh, Andrew, and Hannah take us through three reviews of papers that have been recently published in the planetary/exoplanet literatu...
Exocast-52b: Why is Venus important for exoplanets?
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast team discuss Earth’s twin planet, Venus, and its link to exoplanetary science. We start with an overview of the pas...
Exocast-51b: Interview with Mark Marley
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode the Exocast gang are privileged to be joined by veteran exoplaneteer Dr Mark Marley from NASA Ames. During a nearly hour-long discuss...
Exocast-50c: Monthly Exoplanet News
18 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this month’s news rundown Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew provide a summary of three interesting papers that appeared on their radar during February/Ma...
Exocast-50b: Why do we study exoplanets?
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this months discussion Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew discuss the question: Why do we study exoplanets? The team take a look at their own personal m...
Exocast-49c: Monthly Exoplanet News
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the second news segment of 2021 Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew take on three papers that came out in Jan/Feb 2021 Hannah covers The Physics of Falli...
Exocast-49b: Interview with Diana Powell
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On this months Exocast the team talks with cloud expert Diana Powell about her work studying the dust in protoplanetary disks through theoretical mod...
Exocast-48c: Monthly Exoplanet News
29 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the first news segment of 2021 Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew talk through three papers from exoplanet science: Hugh covers the Direct confirmation ...
Exocast-48b: What is the point of the Habitable Zone!?
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this months episode Exocasters Hugh Osborn, Hannah Wakeford, and Andrew Rushby attempt to answer the question they posed last year: What is the po...
Exocast-47c: #ExoCup2020 the Summary
13 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The #ExoCup2020 was full of wonderful and baffling surprises. The Exocast team take a look at what went on, which planets triumphed or failed, and wh...
Exocast-47 b: The #Exocup2020 live draw!
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode after a long summer break, the Exocast team performs the draw for the upcoming Exocup – the foremost exoplanetary competiti...
Exocast-46b: Interview with Moiya McTier
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hugh, Andrew, and Hannah talk to astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator Moiya McTier. Moiya is an NSF graduate researcher at...
Exocast-46 d: Exoplanet News from May & June 2020
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew go through the slew of exoplanet papers from discoveries, characterisation, and astrobiology including the follow...
Exocast-45c: how many exoplanets are there?
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, the team sits down to ponder the question how many exoplanets are there? At first, this might seem like a relatively straightforw...
Exocast-45b: Special Guest Dr Baptiste Journaux
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This month Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh chat with Dr Batiste Journaux (Research Associate in the Department of Earth and Space Science at the University ...
Exocast-45d – Exoplanet News: new discoveries, characterisations, and formation research
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Exocast-45d we bring you the news from across exoplanet research this month with new discoveries, characterisations, habitability and formation pa...
Exocast-44c: Can we ever image the surface of an exoplanet?
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode we ask the question: Can we ever image the surface of an exoplanet? Once we get all the definitions out of the way, like ‘what d...
Exocast-44 d – April 2020’s exoplanet news
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this round-up of the month’s notable exoplanetary exploits, we cover all the headlines including: Proxima c (not) being directly imaged with Sph...
Exocast-44b: Special Guest Dr Sarah Casewell
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew chat with Dr Sarah Casewell about her work on irradiated brown dwarfs. Sarah is an Earnest Rutherford Fellow at t...
Exocast-43 d: Exoplanet news
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the final of three mini-exocasts we will release this month, we cover some of the notable happenings in exoplanet science over the past month. ...
Exocast-43c: Can we ever travel to an exoplanet?
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode we ask the question: Can we EVER travel to an exoplanet? This has two interpretations. First who is we, and second what does ever...
Exocast-43b: Special Guest Natalia Guerrero
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This month Hugh, Hannah, and Andrew chat with Natalia Guerrero, who works in the office of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which is...
Exocast-42b: Special Guest Dr Stephen Kane
21 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our final bite-size episode for this month features Andrew, Hannah, and Hugh chatting with Dr Stephen Kane, Associate Professor of Planetary Astrophy...
Exocast-42c – Water in the Universe
12 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of three mini-casts this month, Hannah, Hugh, and Andrew gather around the virtual table to discuss that weird and wonderful molecule: ...
Exocast-42 d – Exoplanet news
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of three mini-casts this month, we discuss all the recent exoplanet news from December 2019 & January 2020. That includes a tempe...
Exocast-41b: Erin May from observing to theoretical GCMs, Strange stars, #ExoCup2019 and the News
14 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
0:03:12 – Hannah chats with Dr Erin May a postdoctoral researcher at JHU’s Applied Physics Lab about her transition from extragalactic research i...
Exocast-40b: Brett Morris talks starspots & astrobiology, the #ExoCup2019 is underway, plus exoplanet news
19 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hugh chats with his colleague at the University of Bern Dr. Brett Morris about starspots and their effect on exoplanet detection and characterisation...
Exocast-39b: Paul Robertson talks RVs, the #ExoCup2019 live draw, plus the 2019 Nobel Prize
18 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 39th episode of exocast: Andrew chats with UC Irvine’s radial velocity expert (and occasional planet-killer) Dr Paul Robertson in the Exo...
Exocast-38b: Exoclimes V voxbox, NASA’s Flagship mission concepts, and exoplanet news
13 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this podcast: Hannah takes us to the Exoclimes V conference in Oxford to ask people what they most want to learn about outside of their area of...
Exocast-37b: Live at TESScon, an intro to planetary protection, & the month in exoplanet news
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Quizmaster Hugh takes to the conference hall at the 1st TESS Science Conference (TESSCon) to test the attendees’ exoplanet knowledge! Andrew compil...
Exocast-36b: Live at AbSciCon, plus Spectroscopy 101, and the Exoplanet News
08 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 36th episode of exocast: Andrew roves the conference hall at the Astrobiology Science Conference.Hannah goes through the ABCs of spectrosc...
Exocast-35b: Special guest Tom Haworth, plus Exoplanet Direct Imaging
28 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 35th episode of exocast we welcome special guest Dr Thomas Haworth into the virtual Exocast Studio. Hannah talks with special guest Dr Tho...
Exocast-34b: with special guest Raphaëlle Haywood, plus Isotope Geochronometers
07 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 34th episode of Exocast: Hugh is joined by Dr.Raphaëlle Haywood, Sagan Fellow at Harvard College Observatory, and expert in disentangling ...
Exocast-33b: with special guest Jessie Dotson, plus Ice Giants
02 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 33rd episode of Exocast: Andrew is joined by NASA Ames’ Dr. Jessie Dotson – K2 project scientist, former head of Kepler’s Guest Obser...
Exocast-32b: featuring special guest Dr Jo Barstow, plus detecting the solar system from TRAPPIST-1
26 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 32nd episode of Exocast: Hannah is joined by Dr Joanna Barstow, UCL’s exoplanetary atmosphere expert, recent astro-mum, and huge fan of “...
Exocast-31b: with special guest Lee Billings, plus Waterworlds and exoplanet news
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the 31th episode of Exocast: Hugh is joined in the virtual exocast studio by Science Journalist Lee Billings a writer for Scientific American a...
Exocast-30b: with special guest Jessie Christiansen, plus ExoCup2018 analysis
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On the 30th episode of Exocast: Andrew is joined in the virtual exocast studio by Dr Jessie Christiansen from Caltech/NExSci to talk a little abou...
Exocast-29b: with special guest Sarah Hörst, Exomoons, News, and Exocup2018
28 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On the 29th episode of Exocast: Hannah is joined by Professor Sarah Hörst from Johns Hopkins University to talk about her lab and working on haze p...
Exocast-28b: Special guest Daniel Angerhausen, SOFIA, technosignatures, news, HD 209458b
05 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
On the 28th episode of Exocast, returning from a month’s break: Hugh is joined by Daniel Angerhausen from the University of Bern/Blue Marble Space ...
Exocast-27b: special guest Michael Gully-Santiago, K2, Exoplanet meetings, news, HAT-P-11b
02 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 27th episode of Exocast: Michael Gully-Santiago joins Andrew for a chat about his work on instrumentation, and with the K2 guest observer off...
Exocast-26b with Natasha Batalha, PandExo, RVs, and HAT-P-26b
02 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 26th episode of Exocast: Natasha Batalha joins Hannah for a chat about PandExo (the Exoplanet ETC for HST and JWST) and her work on Martian c...
Exocast-25b: Exoplanetary Helium (with guest Jess Spake), plus the “Shadow Biosphere”
28 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 25th episode of Exocast: Jessica Spake joins us to chat about the first detection of exoplanetary Helium – around the planet Wasp-107b Andre...
Exocast-24b: Special guest Rus Belikov, direct imaging, Alpha Can, Titan, news, Ross-128b
30 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 24th episode of Exocast: Andrew chats with special guest Rus Belikov about direct imaging and Alpha Cen ; Hannah dives into the lakes of Titan...
Exocast-23b: special guest Jayne Birkby, UKExoM, Gaia, news, WTS-2b
01 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 23rd episode of Exocast: Hannah and Hugh join us from the UK Exoplanet Meeting; Hannah chats with special guest Dr Jayne Birkby about her wor...
Exocast-22b: panspermia, exoplanet phases, news, Kepler-167e
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 22nd episode of Exocast: Andrew talks about the concept of panspermia; Hugh discusses how astronomers can observe the changing phases of exopl...
Exocast-21b: planet formation, habitability of eccentric planets, news, Kepler-21b
30 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In the 21st episode of Exocast: Hannah talks about planet formation; Andrew discusses the potential habitability of planets on eccentric orbits; Hugh...
Exocast-20b: The ExoCup
09 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 20th episode of Exocast we discuss all things #ExoCup What is the ExoCup? How was it conceived? What was the result? Why was it so stressful f...
Exocast-19b: origins of life part 2, software and machine learning, news, Proxima b
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 19th episode of Exocast: Andrew continues his 2-parter on research into the origins of life; Hugh details all the numerous way that computers...
Exocast-18b – Direct Imaging Special with special guest Sasha Hinkley
07 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 18th episode of Exocast, we chat to Sasha Hinkley, a direct imaging expert at the University of Exeter: “Spotlights & fireflies” – w...
Exocast-17b: origins of life part 1, global circulation models, news, GJ 667Cc
16 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 17th episode of Exocast: Andrew introduces us to the origins of life studies in the first of a two-part segment. Hannah talks about Global C...
Exocast-16b: ELTs, JWST, news, 51 Eri b, newly minted Dr Osborn
08 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 16th episode of Exocast: Hugh discusses exoplanet science in the era of extremely large telescopes. Hannah brings us up to speed with the ou...
Exocast-15b: biosignatures, TESS, news, Kepler-37b
06 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 15th episode of Exocast: Andrew revisits the signals life may or may not leave in a planet’s atmosphere, taking in recent results from the ...
Exocast-14b
12 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 14th episode of Exocast Hannah takes us back to basics and introduce the composition and chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. Andrew covers so...
Exocast-13b
28 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the 13th episode of Exocast Hugh talks about planets in binary systems – are two stars better than one? Hannah discussed the importance of brown...
Exocast-12b
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the twelfth episode, Exocast-12b: Andrew details highlights of the recent UK exoplanet meeting. Hugh and Andrew play “Just an Arcminute” wi...
Exocast-11b
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In the eleventh episode, Exocast-11b: Hannah covers all the incredible news about the Trappist-1 system, talking us through the discovery of seven ...