SETI Live

• Baby Moons in the Making? The Discovery of a Moon-Forming Disk

  On this episode of SETI Live, host Moiya McTier welcomes two leading researchers—Gabriele Cugno (University of Zürich) & Sierra L. Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science)—to dive into an extraordinary discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): a carbon-rich, moon-forming disk around the distant exoplanetary object CT Cha b, some 625 light-years away. What exactly is a "moon-forming disk"? Why is this discovery a game-changer for our understanding of how moons — and ultimately habitable environments around them — can form? Gabriele and Sierra walk us through spectroscopy, chemistry (including acetylene, benzene, and more), observational challenges, and the big philosophical questions: Could moons be even more common than planets? What does this tell us about our own Solar System's past — and the possibilities for life elsewhere? 📚 For more: NASA Press Release: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/nasas-webb-telescope-studies-moon-forming-disk-around-massive-planet/  Research Paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae0290 (Recorded live 4 December 2025.)

  --------  

  29:33

  --------

  29:33
• The Moon that Could Support Life: What Cassini Discovered Beneath the Ice of Enceladus

  Join host Beth Johnson for a fascinating episode of SETI Live, featuring planetary scientists Dr Georgina Miles and Dr Carly Howett from the University of Oxford. We'll be unpacking their groundbreaking study showing that Enceladus — one of Saturn's icy moons — may harbor a stable subsurface ocean capable of supporting life. 📄 For more info: The study "Endogenic heat at Enceladus' north pole" has just been published in Science Advances: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx4338  Official press release from the University of Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11-10-saturn-s-icy-moon-may-host-stable-ocean-fit-life-new-study-finds (Recorded live 20 November 2025.)

  --------  

  39:09

  --------

  39:09
• Where Water Boils the Sky: Steam Worlds and the Search for Life

  What happens when a planet is full of water—but too hot for oceans? Meet the "steam worlds," exotic exoplanets wrapped in thick water vapor and boiling at thousands of degrees. These strange worlds may be far from habitable, but they're reshaping how scientists think about planets, water, and where life might exist. In this episode of SETI Live, host Beth Johnson talks with Artem Aguichine of the University of California, Santa Cruz, about his new research modeling the interiors and atmospheres of steam worlds—a class of water-rich sub-Neptunes that could dominate our galaxy. With data from the JWST revealing steam signatures on distant planets, these models are helping scientists decode what's really going on beneath the haze. Join us as we explore: • What defines a "steam world" and how it forms • How water behaves under crushing pressure and searing heat • Why JWST's new observations are changing the game • What these discoveries mean for the future search for life beyond Earth 🔗 Learn more: UCSC Press Release – https://news.ucsc.edu/2025/08/new-model-steam-worlds  Research Paper – https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/add935 (Recorded live 13 November 2025.)

  --------  

  34:39

  --------

  34:39
• TRAPPIST‑1 e Revealed: Peering Inside an Exoplanet's Atmosphere

  Join SETI Live host Moiya McTier with Néstor Espinoza (STScI) and Ana Glidden (MIT) for a deep dive into the latest JWST observations of TRAPPIST‑1 e, one of the most tantalizing Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of a nearby star. In this episode, we explore: 🛰 How JWST is peering into TRAPPIST-1 e's atmosphere (or lack thereof). 🔵 Why the planet almost certainly doesn't have a thick hydrogen envelope, ruling out a mini-Neptune-like world. 🪨 The emerging hints of a secondary, heavier atmosphere — or the possibility that it's a bare rock. ⭐️ The challenges posed by stellar activity and their implications for habitability. Get ready for a conversation about exoplanet atmospheres, habitability, and the next steps in characterizing worlds beyond our Solar System. Press release: http://webbtelescope.org/news-2025-109  Papers: Espinoza et al., https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf42e  Glidden et al., https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf62e (Recorded live 6 November 2025.)

  --------  

  33:05

  --------

  33:05
• Welcome Moiya! A New Host Joins SETI Live

  Dr. Moiya McTier is an astrophysicist, folklorist, and science communicator in New York City who loves planets, galaxy evolution, her cat named Cosmo, and old stories about space. She is also the latest addition to our rotating cast of hosts for SETI Live! Join communications specialist Beth Johnson for an interview to introduce Moiya to the community. So please bring your questions and help us welcome her to the team! (Recorded live 3 November 2025.)

  --------  

  36:36

  --------

  36:36

More Science podcasts

Trending Science podcasts

About SETI Live