Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Exoplanet discovery and characterization • Detection methods: transits, radial velocity, microlensing, direct imaging, adaptive optics • JWST/HST mission science • Atmospheres, interiors, dynamics, formation • Habitability, biosignatures, technosignatures • Research news and community practice
This podcast focuses on exoplanet science, mixing interviews with researchers and panel-style discussions that track active questions in the field. Across the episodes, a recurring emphasis is how astronomers detect and characterize planets around other stars, with detailed attention to the practical tools of the trade: transit surveys, extreme-precision radial velocities, gravitational microlensing, direct imaging, adaptive optics, astrometry, and the continual role of instrumentation upgrades in expanding what can be measured.
A substantial portion of the content follows major observatories and missions and what they enable, especially space telescopes used for atmospheric studies and time-series measurements. Listeners will hear about the workflow behind extracting spectra and phase curves, the limits imposed by instrument systematics and stellar activity, and how mission support and open-source analysis software fit into modern exoplanet research. Ground-based observing is treated as its own topic, including site choice, telescope design, and the tradeoffs between space- and ground-based capabilities.
The show also explores what physical and chemical properties can be inferred once a planet is found. Topics include atmospheric composition and loss, haze and cloud formation, the influence of host stars and space weather, and what mass–radius measurements can and cannot reveal about interior structure, formation, and long-term evolution. Habitability and astrobiology themes appear regularly, ranging from debates over biosignature claims and statistical caution in public communication to broader discussions of potential energy sources for life, geochemical cycles, and how to frame “life detection” questions for nearby planetary systems.
Alongside research updates, there is some meta-science content about academic careers, outreach, collaboration, and conference culture, often anchored in guests’ career paths and the ways large projects and communities shape exoplanet discovery.
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Episodes:
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Exocast-79b: Observing odd exoplanet orbits with Dr. Malena Rice
2025-Mar-02
38 minutes
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Exocast-78 b: Finding the most distant exoplanets with Dr Eamonn Kerins
2025-Feb-02
44 minutes
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Exocast-77b: Exoplanet Instrumentation with Dr Ben Pope
2025-Jan-16
40 minutes
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Exocast-76b: Exoplanet Interiors with Professor Caroline Dorn
2024-Nov-08
41 minutes
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Exocast-75b: Radial Velocity Surveys of Young Planets with Dr. Louise Nielsen
2024-Oct-21
40 minutes
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Exocast-74b: Exoplanet Characterisation and HST/JWST Mission Support with Dr. Néstor Espinoza
2024-Sep-05
46 minutes
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Exocast-73b: Using Adaptive Optics to Find Exoplanets with Jules Fowler
2024-Aug-05
41 minutes
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Exocast-72b: Directly Imaging Exoplanetary Motion with Dr Jason Wang
2024-Jul-08
40 minutes
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Exocast-71c: Exoplanet News & the 100th episode
2023-Dec-06
32 minutes
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Exocast-71b: Do All Planets Orbit Stars?
2023-Nov-13
36 minutes
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Exocast-70c: Exoplanet news
2023-Oct-15
41 minutes
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Exocast-70b: Dr. Max Günther talks transits, CHEOPS & chemistry in zero-g
2023-Oct-02
48 minutes
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Exocast-69b: Surviving Scientific Conferences
2023-Aug-16
46 minutes
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Exocast-68c: Latest Exoplanet News
2023-Jul-26
35 minutes
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Exocast-68b: Interview with Nikole Lewis
2023-Jun-27
38 minutes
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Exocast-67 c: Latest exoplanetary news
2023-Jun-02
29 minutes
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Exocast-67b: Catching up with the Exocast team
2023-May-16
54 minutes
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Exocast-66c: Exoplanet News
2023-Mar-21
29 minutes
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Exocast-66b: Interview with Georgina Dransfield
2023-Mar-03
42 minutes
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Exocast-65 b: Launching #ExoCup2022
2022-Oct-31
38 minutes
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Exocast-64c: Exoplanet News
2022-Oct-19
32 minutes
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Exocast-64b: Interview with Dr Naomi Rowe-Gurney
2022-Oct-11
43 minutes
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Exocast-63 c: Exoplanet news
2022-Sep-23
49 minutes
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Exocast-63b: How do planets form?
2022-Sep-08
50 minutes
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Exocast-62c: Exoplanet News
2022-Aug-26
38 minutes
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Exocast-62 b: Interview with Dr. Knicole Colón
2022-Aug-11
48 minutes
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Exocast-61c: Exoplanet News
2022-Jul-20
53 minutes
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Exocast-61 b: Observation vs Theory, which is more important?
2022-Jul-13
48 minutes
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Exocast-60c: Exoplanet News
2022-Jun-21
41 minutes
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Exocast-60b: Interview with Dr Jennifer Burt
2022-Jun-07
47 minutes
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Exocast-59c: Exoplanet News
2022-May-24
37 minutes
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Exocast-59b: What are planetary atmospheres made of?
2022-May-06
51 minutes
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Exocast-58c: Exoplanet News
2022-Apr-22
41 minutes
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Exocast-58b: Interview with Dr Megan Schwamb
2022-Apr-12
50 minutes
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Exocast-57c: Exoplanet News
2022-Mar-15
48 minutes
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Exocast-57b: How big can an exoplanet be?
2022-Mar-03
45 minutes
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Exocast-56b: Interview with Mark McCaughrean about JWST
2022-Feb-03
70 minutes
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Exocast-55b: ExoCup2021
2021-Oct-27
53 minutes
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Exocast-54c – Exoplanet News
2021-Oct-08
48 minutes
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Exocast-54b: Observing Exoplanets from the Ground
2021-Sep-29
56 minutes
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Exocast-53 c – Exoplanet News
2021-Aug-05
40 minutes
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Exocast-53b: Interview with Elizabeth Tasker
2021-Jul-29
53 minutes
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Exocast-52c: Exoplanet Paper News & Reviews
2021-Jun-28
38 minutes
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Exocast-52b: Why is Venus important for exoplanets?
2021-Jun-21
50 minutes
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Exocast-51b: Interview with Mark Marley
2021-May-04
52 minutes
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Exocast-50c: Monthly Exoplanet News
2021-Apr-18
43 minutes
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Exocast-50b: Why do we study exoplanets?
2021-Apr-05
48 minutes
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Exocast-49c: Monthly Exoplanet News
2021-Mar-08
44 minutes
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Exocast-49b: Interview with Diana Powell
2021-Mar-05
42 minutes
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Exocast-48c: Monthly Exoplanet News
2021-Jan-29
41 minutes
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Exocast-48b: What is the point of the Habitable Zone!?
2021-Jan-25
40 minutes
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Exocast-47c: #ExoCup2020 the Summary
2020-Dec-13
41 minutes
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Exocast-47 b: The #Exocup2020 live draw!
2020-Oct-26
24 minutes
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Exocast-46b: Interview with Moiya McTier
2020-Jul-20
44 minutes
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Exocast-46 d: Exoplanet News from May & June 2020
2020-Jul-09
36 minutes
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Exocast-45c: how many exoplanets are there?
2020-Jun-12
47 minutes
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Exocast-45b: Special Guest Dr Baptiste Journaux
2020-Jun-02
45 minutes
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Exocast-45d – Exoplanet News: new discoveries, characterisations, and formation research
2020-May-26
35 minutes
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Exocast-44c: Can we ever image the surface of an exoplanet?
2020-May-07
47 minutes
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Exocast-44 d – April 2020’s exoplanet news
2020-May-01
33 minutes
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Exocast-44b: Special Guest Dr Sarah Casewell
2020-Apr-22
55 minutes
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Exocast-43 d: Exoplanet news
2020-Mar-30
38 minutes
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Exocast-43c: Can we ever travel to an exoplanet?
2020-Mar-23
38 minutes
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Exocast-43b: Special Guest Natalia Guerrero
2020-Mar-16
40 minutes
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Exocast-42b: Special Guest Dr Stephen Kane
2020-Feb-21
45 minutes
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Exocast-42c – Water in the Universe
2020-Feb-12
31 minutes
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Exocast-42 d – Exoplanet news
2020-Feb-05
37 minutes
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Exocast-41b: Erin May from observing to theoretical GCMs, Strange stars, #ExoCup2019 and the News
2019-Dec-14
81 minutes
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Exocast-40b: Brett Morris talks starspots & astrobiology, the #ExoCup2019 is underway, plus exoplanet news
2019-Nov-19
77 minutes
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Exocast-39b: Paul Robertson talks RVs, the #ExoCup2019 live draw, plus the 2019 Nobel Prize
2019-Oct-18
66 minutes
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Exocast-38b: Exoclimes V voxbox, NASA’s Flagship mission concepts, and exoplanet news
2019-Sep-13
60 minutes
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Exocast-37b: Live at TESScon, an intro to planetary protection, & the month in exoplanet news
2019-Aug-12
63 minutes
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Exocast-36b: Live at AbSciCon, plus Spectroscopy 101, and the Exoplanet News
2019-Jul-08
64 minutes
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Exocast-35b: Special guest Tom Haworth, plus Exoplanet Direct Imaging
2019-May-28
71 minutes
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Exocast-34b: with special guest Raphaëlle Haywood, plus Isotope Geochronometers
2019-May-07
67 minutes
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Exocast-33b: with special guest Jessie Dotson, plus Ice Giants
2019-Apr-02
67 minutes
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Exocast-32b: featuring special guest Dr Jo Barstow, plus detecting the solar system from TRAPPIST-1
2019-Feb-26
57 minutes
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Exocast-31b: with special guest Lee Billings, plus Waterworlds and exoplanet news
2019-Jan-25
60 minutes
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Exocast-30b: with special guest Jessie Christiansen, plus ExoCup2018 analysis
2018-Dec-13
56 minutes
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Exocast-29b: with special guest Sarah Hörst, Exomoons, News, and Exocup2018
2018-Oct-28
67 minutes
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Exocast-28b: Special guest Daniel Angerhausen, SOFIA, technosignatures, news, HD 209458b
2018-Oct-05
69 minutes
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Exocast-27b: special guest Michael Gully-Santiago, K2, Exoplanet meetings, news, HAT-P-11b
2018-Aug-02
62 minutes
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Exocast-26b with Natasha Batalha, PandExo, RVs, and HAT-P-26b
2018-Jul-02
66 minutes
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Exocast-25b: Exoplanetary Helium (with guest Jess Spake), plus the “Shadow Biosphere”
2018-May-28
57 minutes
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Exocast-24b: Special guest Rus Belikov, direct imaging, Alpha Can, Titan, news, Ross-128b
2018-Apr-30
68 minutes
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Exocast-23b: special guest Jayne Birkby, UKExoM, Gaia, news, WTS-2b
2018-Apr-01
51 minutes
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Exocast-22b: panspermia, exoplanet phases, news, Kepler-167e
2018-Feb-28
47 minutes
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Exocast-21b: planet formation, habitability of eccentric planets, news, Kepler-21b
2018-Jan-30
59 minutes
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Exocast-20b: The ExoCup
2017-Dec-09
60 minutes
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Exocast-19b: origins of life part 2, software and machine learning, news, Proxima b
2017-Oct-30
56 minutes
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Exocast-18b – Direct Imaging Special with special guest Sasha Hinkley
2017-Oct-07
30 minutes
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Exocast-17b: origins of life part 1, global circulation models, news, GJ 667Cc
2017-Sep-16
57 minutes
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Exocast-16b: ELTs, JWST, news, 51 Eri b, newly minted Dr Osborn
2017-Aug-08
54 minutes
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Exocast-15b: biosignatures, TESS, news, Kepler-37b
2017-Jul-06
41 minutes
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Exocast-14b
2017-Jun-12
43 minutes
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Exocast-13b
2017-Apr-28
55 minutes
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Exocast-12b
2017-Apr-07
48 minutes
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Exocast-11b
2017-Mar-03
49 minutes
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Exocast-10b
2017-Jan-28
41 minutes
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Exocast-9b SETI special
2016-Dec-30
61 minutes
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