Universe Today Podcast

If you were dropped in a random place in space, how would you find your way home? New Horizons tackled this problem with a first interstellar navigation demonstration. Using parallax in real time to determine its position in space. How did they pull it off and what other interesting things can spacecraft do? Finding out in this interview.

Can somebody really enforce any space treaties and do they make any sense? What's a better future, colonies on Mars or on giant rotating spaceships? What's India's space program been up to lately? And in Q&A+, would I take a one-way ticket to Mars?

A star detonated as a supernova, twice. Trump chooses his new NASA Administrator. Why deflecting asteroids is much more complex than we thought.And on Space Bites Plus, how your flight home could signal an alien civilization.

Will dust make interstellar travel impossible? Is Oumuamua unique in its weird cigar-like shape? How many nuclear reactors will we need on the Moon? And in Q&A+, does studying the Universe have no endgame? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Will there be a northern hemisphere version of Vera Rubin? Or maybe we can put one straight in space? Can Vera Rubin detect alien spacecraft if they ever visit? And if it finds planet 9, how fast will we be sending a mission there? And in Q&A+, how many planets will be out there if we reinstate Pluto as one? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

What are the cosmic dark ages and what do we know about them? Why are the so hard to study? How can the Dark Age Explorer help with it and why does it need to go on the far side of the Moon? Finding out in this interview.

Astronomers have discovered a third interstellar object. NASA missions are getting prepared to be shut down. The most massive white dwarf has been found. And in Space Bites Plus, a capsule containing human remains and cannabis seeds crashes into the ocean.

Which type of planet that's not in the Solar System is the most interesting? Can we detect an interstellar black hole? Should science journalists report about non-conventional science theories? And in our extended Q&A+ version, will the success of Vera Rubin stimulate building a northern hemisphere version of it?

Did the recent streak of Starship failures change my confidence is SpaceX's future success? How can we measure the rotation of gas giant planets? Is there a chance Voyagers can make another Pale Blue Dot image? And in our Q&A+ extended version, do we have a moral obligation to spread life in the Universe?

The first pictures from Rubin are finally here, construction begins on the LISA mission, Webb directly images a Saturn-sized exoplanet, and do pulsar have mountains? And in Space Bites+, a fast radio burst is coming from inside the Solar System.

Does terraforming a tidally-locked planet make any sense? Are the images we got of our galaxy's supermassive black hole fake? Can we observe gravitational waves that came before the CMB? And in Q&A+ who is currently working on space elevators? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Why doesn't NASA remove the artefacts from JWST images? How would TRAPPIST-1 planets look from their surface? Why don't they just form space telescope lenses from liquid glass in space? And in Q&A+ what shape does the solar gravitational lens look like? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Solar power has its limits. Some space missions will need an alternative source of power like RTGs. How can we make them better? Which fuel is optimal for them and why? How to convert heat into electricity? Finding out in this interview.

A new mission can make solar eclipses on demand, what do supernovae and stellar flybys do to Earth's climate, how asteroid 2024 YR4 will make the mother of all meteor showers, and Starship 36 explodes during testing. And on Space Bites+, how we could use a space elevator to extract water from Ceres.

Can a giant asteroid knock the Moon from its orbit? How good does a telescope need to be to see the Oort cloud? What are the odds of a rogue planet hiding nearby in our Solar system? And in our extended Q&A+ version, can we be sure that we're alone in the Universe? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

This is an interview with me for the Worldviews Podcast.

We never came back to Uranus after the Voyager 2 flyby in 1986. It's time to come back. But what will it take to organise a mission to Uranus? What priorities will it have and when can it launch? Finding out in this interview.

This is an interview with me done by Salman Hameed @ Kainaat Astronomy in English. Salman Hameed has a PhD in astronomy and is Charles Taylor Chair and Professor of Integrated Science & Humanities at Hampshire College, and a member of the Five College Astronomy Department (FCAD) in Massachusetts, USA. He is also the CEO of the non-profit Kainaat Studios. You can find more information about Kainaat Studios here: https://www.kainaatstudios.com/

Have we finally found the source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays? Our first look at the Sun's south pole, New Glenn slips again, what kind of damage would rockets do to the ozone layer? And in Space Bites+, a pair of quasars that dominated Cosmic Noon.

At what point we should just admit defeat and give up on our search for dark matter? Should we be sending a lot of cheap space probes instead of a single expensive one? If the Universe is rotating, where is the axis? And in our Q&A+ version, how to make a friend fall in love with Astronomy? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A.

For a long time the central part of our galaxy was mostly hidden from us because of all the dust. It was even called the Zone of Avoidance. But with better telescopes and modern techniques we can peer inside and reveal what's hiding. Even build 3D-maps of the region.

The White House pulls Jared Isaacman's nomination, the 2026 NASA budget is released, the Hubble Tension might not be a problem after all, the Milky Way and Andromeda might not merge after all. And on SpaceBites+, which ozone isn't a good biosignature.

How big does a planet has to be to make it impossible to fly a rocket from it? Why are aliens always portrayed expansionistic? Can a supernova make us all go extinct? And in our extended Q&A+ edition, is terraforming Mars necessary for finding life there? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

What's the difference between a nova and a supernova? What's the mechanism behind their explosions? What instruments are used to observe them at the moment? Finding out in this interview.

How much of our atmosphere is lost to space and should we be actively replenishing it? Is there an exact copy of Earth out there hiding in the Universe? Can we use the Sun to send messages? And in our extended Q&A+ version, how the advancements in AI will change astronomy? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A.

Launching Breakthrough Starshot light sail probes to Alpha Centauri requires a lot of new tech, including the actual light sails. How do you make the optimal material to maximize the size with minimising mass? Finding out in this interview.

China's asteroid sample return mission launches, searching for a companion star for Betelgeuse, the 9th flight test wraps up for Starship and Superheavy, and Webb takes its longest exposure yet. And in SpaceBites+, is Venus hiding deadly asteroids.

Can we make the Van Allen belts safe to fly through? Why not get a super gravity assist from the Sun? Can we predict the next supernova in the Milky Way? And in our extended Q&A+ version, what's going on with the ocean rocks producing electricity at the bottom? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Heat shields are one of the trickiest problems left to solve before we can have truly reusable spacecraft. So far we've seen different solutions, like ablative materials or ceramic tiles. But can a sweating heat shield be a solution? Finding out in this interview.

Can we refuel James Webb at L2 when it runs out of propellant? What will the Dragonfly octocopter see on the surface of Titan? Will discovering life on Mars stop us from going there? And in our extended Q&A+ on Patreon, what are space things I'm hoping to see in my lifetime? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Terraforming Mars is usually considered in the realm of science fiction. But actually we have technology to start doing it in our lifetime and achieve some meaningful results it a timescale of tens of years, not thousands. What are they? Finding out in this interview.

Jupiter could have been twice as big in the past, the challenges of landing on the Moon, the record for the farthest galaxy has been broken. And in our Patreon edition, how the location of gas plays a role in star formation.

When did humans first think of aliens? Why is Oort cloud a sphere when the Solar System is a disk? Which space image is my favourite? And in our Q&A+ on patreon, is search for life only limited to looking for water? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Which space mission would I save from cancellation if I could? Is fighting space junk with lasers a good idea or not? What if we find asteroids that have already been mined? And in our Q&A+ on patreon, how do we measure masses of black holes ? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

So far we couldn't find liquid water on Mars. But there are still places where it can hide from us. One of them is pockets under the ice. How can it exist there and which possible ways do we have to detect it? Finding out in this interview.

ESA's PLATO mission gets its eyes installed, Webb finds water ice in another star system, could it be dark matter and not dark energy that's evolving over time? And in our longer [Space Bites+] on Patreon, researchers have found that hardy bacteria are evolving to thrive in spacecraft clean rooms.

Our current tech doesn't allow us to block light from Sun-like stars to see Earth-like planets. The brightness difference is just too high. One of the ways we can achieve it is with quantum coronagraphs. What are they and how do they work? Finding out in this interview.

Why risk sending big space missions instead of swarms of cubesats? Can NASA protect future Mars astronauts from radiation with EM-rockets? How close are we to discovering our first exomoon? And in our Q&A+ version, which sci-fi tech is the closest to becoming a reality? Answering all that and more in this Q&A show.

Is keeping the Voyagers active a waste of money and time on the Deep Space Network? Could you play catch with a baseball-mass black hole? How confident are we in the distance ladder? And in our Q&A+ version, does it make sense to film a movie in space? Answering all that and more in this Q&A show.

The Kerbal Space Program is a fun game, but also an incredible tool for simulating a realistic space exploration program. According to a new paper, people playing the game can help develop innovative ideas that can turn into real missions, especially with the development and integration of reusable rockets like Starship and New Glenn.

The official NASA cuts are here. Several missions reach big milestones. The Solar Gravitational Lens will be challenging to use, and in our special bonus version on Patreon, [Space Bites+] an additional story about New Horizons scanning the clouds of hydrogen around the Solar System.

Which evidence will be a definite smoking gun when it comes to finding extraterrestrial life? Why is a Dyson sphere more realistic than warp drives? Will America ever adopt the metric system? And in our Q&A+ version, will China be collaborating with other nations in space? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Vera Rubin Telescope (aka LSST) is finally ready. We're expecting first light in the coming months. It will find Planet 9 (if it exists), discover thousands of new asteroids, millions of new supernovae and will change the way we do astronomy with its surveys of the night sky. Here's how it will do all that.

Is gravity infinite? Did the dinosaurs feel the effects of the asteroid before it crashed? How long would the ISS survive without support? Would potential life on K2-18b be trapped in their gravity well? And in our Q&A+ edition, is Vera Rubin telescope DOGE-proof? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Finding extraterrestrial life is a goal for a lot of space missions. Telescopes are analysing distant planets in search of biosignatures. We've spent a lot of time thinking about what it will be like to find life on other planets. But what if we don't? What happens then? Finding out in this interview.

Lucy's close up images of another asteroid, why Mars has a lopsided magnetic field, Chinese engineers rescue a pair of satellites with gravitational slingshots, and new hints about where Mars's carbon dioxide atmosphere went. In our longer Space Bites+ on Patreon, a proposed human mission to both Mars and the asteroid Ceres.

Why am I so pessimistic about the progress of humanity? Which kilonova did all our heavy elements come from? What's the deal with the dark stars? And in our free Q&A+ on patreon, can a single nation realistically have a Moon outpost? Answering all these questions and more in this question show.

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