All speeds are relative—especially in astrophysics. In today’s episode, we learn about the timescales of different transients and explore what the fastest and slowest events can teach us. Alex describes the fastest koala in the universe, Will shares the slowest rotating lighthouse known to date, and Malena tosses in a magnetic curveball to bring us home.

Astrobites: 

https://astrobites.org/2019/05/20/radio-pulsars-how-slow-do-they-go/

https://astrobites.org/2020/04/20/a-fast-blue-koala-shines-bright-in-a-distant-galaxy/ 

Space sound: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Sounds_from_space

Randall Munroe’s mole of moles calculation: https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/