Weekly Space Hangout - HR 6819: Black Hole? Vampire 2-Star System? Dr. Abigail Frost Explains

https://youtu.be/s2RVJtl_H3E Host: Fraser Cain ( @fcain )Special Guest: On March 2, 2022, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reported (refer to Press Release: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso22...) that the HR 6819 system, believed to be the home of the closest black hole to earth, is, in fact, "a 'vampire' two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution." HR 6819, just 1000 light-years from earth, does not include a black hole. The study was led by Dr. Abigail Frost from KY Leuven, and we are extremely please to welcome Dr. Frost to the Weekly Space Hangout tonight.   Dr. Abigail Frost is a postdoctoral research associate at KU Leuven, a research university in Belgium. Born and raised in the UK, her journey into astrophysics started with her master's studies at the University of Exeter (UK). She then did her PhD at the University of Leeds before moving to Belgium to start her academic career. Her research focuses on studying the most influential stars in our Universe - massive stars. Using multiple observing techniques and modelling, she investigates how these stars form and how stars that exist in pairs (or even greater groups) evolve and how their companion stars can affect that evolution.   You can learn more about Abigail by visiting her website: https://sites.google.com/view/abigail.... You can also follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-f...) as well as on Twitter (@AstroDrFrost) https://twitter.com/AstroDrFrost Regular Guests: Dr. Moiya McTier ( https://www.moiyamctier.com/ & @GoAstroMo ) Dave Dickinson ( http://astroguyz.com/ & @Astroguyz ) This week's stories: - The impact of the Russian/Ukrainian war on spaceflight. :^( - An Earth-like planet may be orbiting in a dead star’s habitable zone! - Mars Hope (UAE) sees discrete aurora on the Red Planet!   The artist’s impression shows the orbits of the objects in the HR 6819 triple system: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2007a/ This chart shows the location of HR 6819 in the constellation Telescopium: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2007b/   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].