Universe Today Podcast

How does Oort cloud stay attached to the Solar System as it moves through space? How can you generate power using a black hole? What should you do if a meteorite falls into your yard? And in Q&A+, which upcoming NASA missions are worth advocating for?Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ODUiWh9TCi0Here's a link to the full, unedited 2-hour livestream: https://youtube.com/live/f7HUnpoXkZ0

Gaia finds a huge wave sweeping through the Milky Way, We've got a launch date for Artemis II, lava tubes might have been found on Venus. And in Space Bites+, Venus's clouds are mostly made of water.Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0ww7gIu3kDk

Can fish or other marine life realistically exist under the ice of Europa or Enceladus? Can we be visited by an alien spaceship but with no pilot? What is the most common misconception about Hawking radiation? And in Q&A+, which sci-fi book best describes our world in a few hundred years?Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/aT40-ZHDZKA

What would be the next interstellar project after the quite end of Breakthrough Starshot? Can planets exist around black holes? Why don't all stars combine into one megastar? And in Q&A+, are ion engines the future of space travel?Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TEcSkFQ14hQHere's a link to the full, unedited livestream: https://youtube.com/live/gtvRDBOqVK4

James Webb can't resolve Earth-size planets around Sun-like stars. Not just because of the contrast but also because of the diffraction limit. To do that you need a mirror of 20+ meters. But what if you increase the size in just one direction? You get the required resolution but keep the mirror relatively small and easy to transport. This is the idea behind the Rectangular Mirror Telescope.Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/w3QXTW6DaIg

Should we destroy asteroid 2024 YR4 instead of letting it hit the moon? Why Hycean worlds probably don't exist. Liquid water once flowed on asteroid Ryugu. Space bytes+ a supermassive black hole that is breaking the Eddington limit.Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BdGH9jgSjkU

Can neutron stars create an equivalent of Type 1a supernovae? Can you land on Venus without a parachute? How do we know the shape of the Oort cloud? And in Q&A+, what's going on with 3I/ATLAS' weird tail situation?

Can neutron stars create an equivalent of Type 1a supernovae? Can you land on Venus without a parachute? How do we know the shape of the Oort cloud? And in Q&A+, what's going on with 3I/ATLAS' weird tail situation?

Could we turn Earth into Jupiter by just adding more atmosphere? Can we train to communicate with aliens by talking to animals? How's YouTube destroying itself and it's getting really dangerous? And in Q&A+ will Vera Rubin find an asteroid on a collision course with Earth?

Dust is a big problem for Moon and Mars. It sticks to everything, breaks things, covers solar panels. So, how do you solve this problem? One possible solution is an electric shield that uses charged surfaces to repel the dust.

Building infrastructure on the Moon, Earth gets a new quasi-satellite, a black hole has wandered away from the center of its galaxy, and a tour through star forming nebulae thanks to Gaia. And on Space Bites+, China's new neutrino detector comes online.

How can we realistically tell if 3I/ATLAS is an alien spaceship or not? Can we turn an interstellar comet into a transmitter? Would the government suppress information about a dangerous asteroid? And in Q&A+, why aren't there more asteroids outside the solar system?

Who will name Planet X if/when it is discovered? How will cats deal with the toilet situation if they go to space? Can a star block an entire galaxy? And in Q&A+ what happens if we find proof that there's no life elsewhere?

Can we make Earth invisible for possible alien invaders? What's the deal with the pyramids and their alignment to stars? Can an interstellar ship casually crash into a black hole? And what's the difference between cosmology and astronomy after all?

Has Perseverance found signs of life on Mars? Webb scans TRAPPIST-1e for signs of an atmosphere. 3I/ATLAS grows a tail, and could get a mission. And on Space Bites+, Webb sees a cloud of methane around the dwarf planet Makemake.

What's the highest energy a photon can have? Is Titan just a huge fire hazard floating in space? How do they measure the masses of planets with just satellites? And in Q&A plus, what realistic scifi is worth watching?

3I/ATLAS is very different from any comet we've ever seen before, Mars is filled with fragments from ancient impacts, ESA loses contact with JUICE right before an important flyby, and the highest resolution image of a solar flare ever seen. And on Space Bites+, why asteroid made of the same material can have different colors.

Which is a bigger showstopper for a human Mars mission: food or radiation exposure? Does Vera Rubin leave any chance for aliens to still sneak upon us? Can something like space whales actually exist? And in Q&A+, when can we find out what dark matter and dark energy actually are?

Why are galaxies and star systems flat? What does the future of the space race look like? Are we going to Mars to mine it? And in Q&A+, what sparked my personal interest for space as a kid?

The boys are back! Discussing all the things that happened during Starship IFT-10. Why didn't they catch the Super Heavy booster? What did explode near the engines? Why was Starship orange? What's next for SpaceX? Looking for all the answers with Scott Manley and Marcus House.

The Wow signal was even more Wow. Starship Flight 10 makes it space and returns to Earth, more red dwarf planets get crossed off the list as lacking an atmosphere, a supernova spilled its guts into space. And on Space Bites+, finding supernovae as quickly as possible.

Can the difficulty of interstellar travel the answer to the Fermi paradox? Or maybe it's the fact that we can only apply it to our galaxy and not further? Or maybe we can even find life in our solar system?

We definitely won't see a space elevator built in any foreseeable future. But there is a similar but much more practical approach – a skyhook. How close are we to creating one? Why is it useful? What challenges does it bring and when can we expect first practical demonstrations? Finding out in this interview.

When is a supernova too close for comfort? Will USA's Moon race against China accelerate a race towards a Mars base? How can we see the Oort cloud? And in Q&A+, what do I tell to space deniers?

Ryugu and Bennu are related, a star tried to eat a black hole and it didn't go well, using moons to save fuel, and China tests its new human lunar lander. In Space Bites+, how climate change will impact satellite orbits.

Why do people believe Starships will go to Mars? Can we use molten salt batteries on the Moon? What's the difference between the Universe and the Observable Universe? And in Q&A+, what's the chance of hitting an stone during an interstellar voyage?

Satellites are causing light pollution. Every year there a more of them. So, why don't they just paint them all vantablack, the ultra-black coating that doesn't reflect almost any light? Finding out in this interview.

Is living in the clouds of Venus better than living in sub-surface habitats on Mars? Can we really lock ourselves from orbit with space junk? Should we build another version of Biosphere before going to Mars? And in Q&A+, is abiogenesis really unlikely?

Finally, Webb's analysis of TRAPPIST-1d, new Hubble images comet 3I/ATLAS, the most massive black hole ever discovered, why Mars sand is so dangerous. And in Space Bites+, staring right down the jet of an actively feeding supermassive black hole.

What would happen if we moved a jovian moon to Mars? What are black holes spitting out as those jets? What's the best case scenario for Europa Clipper's search for life? And in Q&A+, how are we searching for Sun-like stars?

How did supermassive black holes get so big so early? There are two main models for that, and JWST just got a huge boost for the one that suggests they can form via a direct collapse of gas clouds. How did the researchers pull the first observations of a potential birth of a SMBH? Finding out in this interview.

Is there an upper size limit for black holes? Why don't we build multiple identical missions to increase the chance of success? Is the Universe considered finite or infinite? And in Q&A+, is the Universe expanding or is everything else just shrinking?

A Planet Found at Alpha Centauri. Webb Revisits the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Little Red Dots don't break the laws of physics. In Space Bites Plus, showing that the Earth's magnetosphere was here for a long time.

Could we aim asteroid YR4 at the Moon on purpose? What would happen to babies born and raised on Mars? Should we use water as an insulation layer for our spacecraft? And in Q&A+, could we mine an asteroid that's stuck in a Lagrange point?

If nothing escapes a black hole, how does gravity escape? Could we detect a faster-than-light spaceship cruising through the Solar System? What does JWST really orbit at L2? And in Q&A+, could the Universe have started as a black hole?

More evidence that dark energy is weakening, cosmic rays could keep life alive under the ice, NASA is building fuel depots in space, and a radio telescope is going to the far side of the Moon. On Space Bites+, how brines could form on the surface of Mars, providing a habitat for life.

Do gravitational waves deflect like waves on the water? Which type of comet would cause the most destruction for Earth? Will we see humans on Mars in our lifetime? And in Q&A+ could AI become religious?

Do we predictions when will the Universe stop its expansion? Did we find hypervelocity stars in M31? What does it mean when planets go retrograde? And in Q&A+ could the Big Bang be a white hole?

FRBs are a great example of a modern day space mystery. We've seen a lot of them. We know a fair amount about them. But we still don't really know for sure how do they work and what's their true source. Some of them can be super weird. How exactly? Finding out in this interview.

Betelgeuse has a companion star, Vera Rubin discovered the third interstellar object accidentally, the first evidence of direct collapse supermassive black holes, and in Space Bites+ developing plans to help humanity deal with finding an extraterrestrial intelligence.

Should we be concerned about China's progress in space? Is their progress held back by a lack of cultural freedom? Which space-set book story desperately needs a movie adaptation? and in Q&A+, the best space-set movie that's factually accurate

How can we realistically get under the ice of Europa? Why Venus is such an under appreciated destination for spacecraft? What is the shape of the Universe? And in Q&A+ what would happen to Jupiter if it became a rogue planet?

This is an interview with me on The Last Easy Mile podcast with Josh Farahi. Video version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFRZvPc3U&ab_channel=TheLastEasyMilePodcast THE LAST EASY MILE: https://linktr.ee/TheLastEasyMilePodcast In this episode, Fraser Cain—founder of Universe Today and co-host of Astronomy Cast—shares why space still matters. From watching meteor showers with your kids to seeing Saturn's rings through binoculars in a city, Fraser offers practical ways to reconnect with awe. He reflects on raising science-minded kids, his love of tabletop RPGs, and how parents can create deeper imaginative experiences than screens can provide. We also talk about the James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars rovers, and the Vera Rubin Observatory, which will capture time-lapse images of the sky. Fraser warns against the growing distrust of experts, advocating for humility, critical thinking, and Carl Sagan's “baloney detection toolkit.”

Is the Earth at the center of a giant void? Did a star fly through the Solar System billions of years ago messing up the orbits of some objects? Comet 3i/ATLAS is the oldest comet ever seen. Look at the picture to celebrate the third anniversary of Webb. And in Space Bites Plus, covering a crater on the moon with a concrete dome to build a pressurised habitat.

What would be the best possible space mission if budget restrictions didn't exist? Why don't we launch all rockets from ships in the sea? Where are the stars that formed with our Sun? And in Q&A+ where is the center of the Universe?

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.