Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion Podcast March 17, 2020

In this week's podcast episode of Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion, we look at new findings concerning the physics of stars, and we look in on a newly-discovered exoplanet where it rains iron. Next, we will examine a new method of learning about massive ribbons of galaxies by examining humble slime molds. Finally, a group of researchers believe they may have found a method by which the intense heat of Mercury could help form ice on the innermost planet in the Solar System.<br/><br/>We also interview Dr. Emily Levesque of the University of Washington. She is one of the lead researchers on the study examining the possibility that a <a href="https://medium.com/the-cosmic-companion/is-betelgeuse-about-to-explode-or-just-dusty-5ced8394ab8d?source=friends_link&#38;sk=a82bb0787948ab45f4670b88287d3670">massive cloud of dust surrounding Betelgeuse</a> may be responsible for dimming seen around that star at the end of 2019. <br/><br/>Phenomenon seen on the surface of stars may be explained by new findings about the behavior of plasma beneath their luminous shells. Image credit: NASA/GSFC<br/><br/>The behavior of plasma in stars, including the Sun, is still largely a mystery, despite hundreds of years of study. One question perplexing astronomers is how much the movement of plasma in stars is affected by currents rising up from beneath, compared to the effects of rotation of the star. A new study of a diverse group of more than 200 stars shows convection, like the bubbles of boiling water, plays a far greater role than rotation in shaping <a href="https://medium.com/the-cosmic-companion/stellar-turbulence-shapes-activity-of-stars-6b6a11a7826?source=friends_link&#38;sk=92e53f545f198d27e3caa873f6d02cd4">stellar activity</a>.<br/><br/>Astronomers recently discovered a distant exoplanet called WASP-76B, continually scorched by its local star on one hemisphere, while the other half of the world is pelted with <a href="https://medium.com/the-cosmic-companion/iron-rain-bombards-a-distant-exoplanet-1eab1d1b0a97?source=frien