Dr Kirsten Banks

Dr Kirsten Banks AstroKirsten | Astrophysicist | Science Communicator Welcome to the official page of Kirsten Banks, also known as AstroKirsten!

Kirsten is an astrophysicist and science communicator who is passionate about making science accessible and engaging for everyone. Through her fun and informative videos, Kirsten shares her love for space and science with the world. She covers a wide range of topics, from the latest space news to the basics of astronomy, and everything in between. Her approachable and relatable style makes learnin

g about science a fun and enjoyable experience for people of all ages. Kirsten's dedication to science communication has earned her a large following on social media, where she has become a well-known personality in the science community. Her positive and uplifting content inspires and educates people around the world, while her infectious enthusiasm encourages everyone to pursue their interests in science and space. This page is the go-to place for all things AstroKirsten. Follow along for updates on her latest videos, appearances, and projects, as well as behind-the-scenes looks at the life of a science communicator. Join the community and connect with others who share a love for space and science. Let's explore the wonders of the universe together with AstroKirsten!

11/09/2025

Have we found evidence for life on Mars? 🔴

The Perseverance rover is on Mars collecting rock samples for an eventual sample return mission. On its 25th sample collection exploring Jezero Crater, it found odd little textures nicknamed “leopard spots” and “poppy seeds.” The sample collected contained iron phosphate, iron sulphide, and organic carbon.

Here's why that's exciting:
✨ On Earth, those are often left behind by microorganisms munching away at organic matter. Which means… these could be potential BIOSIGNATURES.
✨ These minerals were found in mudstones rich in clay and silt, which on Earth is fantastic at preserving traces of past life!

BUT we can't quite confirm that these are DEFINITELY signs of ancient life, and scientists are cautious. There are non-biological, or “abiotic,” ways to make these features too. HOWEVER, most of those other explanations require super high heat or acidic conditions, and the Bright Angel formation shows no sign of either. So biology as an explanation remains a very real possibility.

Unfortunately, the samples are still sitting on Mars. And to know if this is actually a biosignature, we need to bring them back to Earth for detailed analysis. That means we might be waiting a while for answers.

For now, this is the STRONGEST EVIDENCE YET that Mars may once have been alive.

07/09/2025

🌕➡️🔴 Look, the Moon has gone red!

That’s a total lunar eclipse. This is when the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. What’s extra special is that around 85% of the world’s population could see this very eclipse because it was visible from Australia, Asia, Africa, and Europe. (Sorry Americas, you’ll have to sit this one out 🌎🙃).

This eclipse is the longest since 2022, with totality lasting 1 hour and 22 minutes. But lunar eclipses aren’t always this long... In May 2021, totality was only 15 minutes!

So what makes the difference? It depends on the Moon’s path through Earth’s shadow. The closer it passes to the centre of the umbra (the darkest part), the longer it stays red.

Fun fact: the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century happened on 27 July 2018, lasting 1 hour and 43 minutes. The shortest? Just 5 minutes back in April 2015!

Did you catch the eclipse today? Drop your photos in the comments! I’d love to see them! 🌑✨

28/08/2025

💥 When a star explodes… how long does it actually take?

The answer depends on what part of the explosion you’re talking about!

✨ The core collapse of a massive star? Less than a second! The core compresses into a neutron star or black hole almost instantly.
✨ The explosion phase? That takes seconds to minutes. A shockwave, re-energised by a flood of neutrinos, blasts the star’s outer layers into space.
✨ The bright phase we see from Earth? That unfolds over days to weeks, staying visible for months depending on the type of supernova.
✨ The leftover debris cloud, called a supernova remnant? That sticks around for thousands of years!

So if you’re wondering whether a star explodes in seconds or in years, the answer is… yes. 🤯

25/08/2025

Will Betelgeuse explode... and when? 🌟💥

Betelgeuse (the shoulder of Orion) is one of the few stars we can see with the naked eye that’s definitely going to explode in a supernova “soon.” But how soon is soon?

🔴 Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, about 14–19 times the mass of the Sun. That’s heavy enough to end in a spectacular supernova, leaving behind a neutron star (not a black hole!).

📉 The star changes brightness over about a 400-day cycle. The Kokatha people of the Great Victoria Desert in Australia noticed this long before Western science did, and included it in their traditions!

But in 2019–2020, Betelgeuse really dimmed in an event called the Great Dimming. Some astronomers thought it might mean the supernova was near… but the most likely explanation is that it ejected a cloud of dust.

🌌 One research team compared Betelgeuse’s brightness patterns to stellar models and found it may be finishing the last stage of carbon fusion in its core. For stars this massive, carbon fusion lasts only about 600 years total.

That means Betelgeuse could reach its end within the next ~300 years. And once carbon fusion stops, the collapse to a supernova could happen in mere decades.

So, it’s possible Betelgeuse has already exploded! We just won’t see it for another 300+ years, since it’s around 600 light-years away.

Would you want to be alive to see it go supernova? 🤯 I do!

21/08/2025

The Solar System didn’t always look like this… 🌌

Scientists believe Uranus and Neptune may have swapped places early in the Solar System's history! According to the Nice model, the gas and ice giants formed much closer together. But as they grew, their gravity caused chaos, and in about half of the simulations, Uranus and Neptune actually switched places! 🔄

This swap could explain why Neptune, despite being farther from the Sun, is more massive than Uranus. It all ties back to the solar nebula, which is the cloud of gas and dust that birthed the planets. A denser nebula might have allowed the planets to form faster, leading to the differences in their mass.

While there’s still more to learn, this theory gives us a fascinating glimpse into the dynamic process that shaped our Solar System. The universe is full of surprises!

Share this fun fact with your mates and follow for more mind-blowing space facts! 🚀

19/08/2025

Ever heard of a zombie star? 🧟‍♂️✨

It's the name given to a star that survives a supernova explosion!

Imagine two stars forming together. The more massive one becomes a white dwarf first and starts slurping hydrogen and helium from its sibling. This continues until it triggers a supernova explosion. However, the explosion isn't strong enough to completely destroy the white dwarf, leaving behind a "zombie star".

Astronomers have identified over 30 of these mini-supernovae, meaning there could be many more zombie stars out there!

What other weird space things do you want to learn about? Let me know in the comments! 🚀🔭

14/08/2025

How can we possibly tell what a star is made of from light-years away? 🤯

It’s all thanks to spectroscopy! Basically, reading a cosmic barcode in light!

Here’s how it works: atoms are picky eaters. They only absorb or release very specific colours of light. Hydrogen, for example, loves a certain red, a certain greenish, and a couple of specific blues.

Every element has its own colour ‘fingerprint’. On Earth, we’ve mapped them all in labs, so when we look at light from a star or planet, we can spot those fingerprints instantly.

By seeing which colours are missing or glowing, we know exactly what elements are there, no matter how far away they are.

Astronomy is wild. We can read the chemistry of the universe… without ever touching it. 🌌

04/08/2025

Peacocks have LASERS?! 🦚

Scientists in the US have found that there are structures in the eyespots of a peacock's feathers that naturally turn light into laser light.

But what makes light laser light? Basically, laser light is light that is one colour, and one colour only, and the light is strengthened by bouncing the light back and forth (aka amplified) and aligned perfectly (aka it's coherent).

Leave a comment if you know what the LASER acronym stands for...

So, what did researchers find with peacocks?

Well, they found evidence of optical cavities, an area where light can get bounced back and forth to become amplified and coherent, turning it into laser light. And some of those structures emit specific green laser light, and other spots emit specific yellow/orange laser light!

The mechanism behind how peacocks make these lasers work is still a mystery... As is the reason why evolution decided to give peacocks lasers in the first place, but damn, this is cool!

30/07/2025

Why do stars twinkle, but planets don’t? ✨

Here's what's going on:
Even though stars are usually much bigger than planets, they're really far away, making them look like tiny points of light in the sky.

Planets, however, are much closer, so they take up more of the sky, looking like little disks or orbs.

Since stars appear as just a point of light in the sky, they're more affected by our atmosphere.

Our atmosphere is kind of chaotic... there’s wind, different temperatures, wobbly turbulence…

And as light travels through it, that turbulence knocks the light around, making stars appear to twinkle.

Since planets are closer, their light is more like spread-out beams, even if the light gets jiggled around, it kinda evens out and appears more stable compared to stars.

Unless the weather’s bad, or the planet’s low in the sky, then you might catch a twinkle or two!

28/07/2025

The Sun is a star, but we only figured that out about 100 years ago 👀🌞✨

If we compare the stars to the Sun, they seem completely different:
☀️ The Sun shows up during the day, stars come out at night
☀️ The Sun is a big glowing circle, stars are tiny dots
☀️ The Sun is hot, stars don’t warm us at all

So what changed? Spectroscopy.

That’s when you split light into a rainbow and read the “barcode” hidden in those colours. Scientists saw that sunlight and starlight shared very similar barcodes… meaning they’re made of the same stuff!

And that’s how we finally realised that the Sun is just a star up close.

23/07/2025

Do we have actual pictures of colliding galaxies?

YES! And they are chef’s kiss 🔥

So let’s talk galaxy mergers while you check them out:

💥 Binary vs multiple mergers (2 vs 3+ galaxies)
⚖️ Major vs minor (similar size or one tiny)
💧 Wet vs dry vs damp (how much gas they’ve got)

Milky Way + Andromeda? That’s a wet one. 🌌

💫 In a major merger, galaxies can lose up to 50% of their stellar mass

🚀 And there's a 50% chance the Solar System will get YEETED out of the Milky Way when Andromeda arrives

🕰 And the whole process takes billions of years

Honestly, the universe is dramatic.

✨ What’s your favourite galaxy merger fact? Tell me below 👇

22/07/2025

I saw the aurora borealis for the first time last year and took this photo…

And look, I was excited. But compared to what professional astrophotographers can do? Yeah… mine’s giving ✨meh✨.

But here’s the cool part... if you’re in Australia, you don’t have to fly to Iceland to see an aurora! Tasmania is one of the BEST places to catch the aurora australis, and this year at Beaker Street Festival, you’ll get to learn from Australia’s top aurora chasers.

🌌 Learn how to spot it.
📷 Get pro tips on photographing it.
🌠 And soak up a sky full of science, sidewalk astronomy, and even secret-location photo workshops.

I’ll be there too, and I can’t wait! 🎉

🗓 12–24 August
📍 Nipaluna / Hobart
🎟 Tickets are going fast: beakerstreet.com.au

Image supplied by: Rian Lowe

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