Episode 116: Love’s Gonna Get you killed, but Tide’s gonna be the death of you

About this episode

In a valentines’ day special, the hosts explore the dating lives of stars through binary systems and discuss their relationships and breakups.

In our valentines’ day special, Shashank, Cole, and Cormac explore the dating lives of stars and other compact objects by looking at the romantic couples of astrophysics: binary systems. Immediately ruining this theme, Shashank covers some particularly messy breakups (though these lovers are able to rebound and move on) while Cormac shows us how even stars’ healthy relationships involve some give and take. Astrobites: What are Partial Tidal Disruption Events, and How Do We Find Them? https://astrobites.org/2025/08/04/partial-tdes-galactic-center/ Sharing is caring: how do binary stars actually transfer mass? https://astrobites.org/2025/07/14/binary-mass-transfer/ Space Sound: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasa-telescopes-tune-into-a-black-hole-prelude-fugue/

People in this episode

Hosts: Shashank, Cole, Cormac

Topics covered

• binary systems
• astrophysics
• dating lives of stars
• tidal disruption events
• mass transfer in binary stars
• romantic couples in space

Keywords

• binary stars
• astrophysics
• tidal disruption
• mass transfer
• stellar relationships
• valentines' day

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA

Books & works: Partial Tidal Disruption Events, Sharing is caring: how do binary stars actually transfer mass?

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