Universe Today Podcasts With Fraser Cain

My guest today is Dr. Jillian Scudder, a PhD astrophysicist and assistant professor at Oberlin College. In addition to her teaching and research work, Dr. Scudder also answers space and astronomy questions on her blog and in her newly updated book: Astroquizzical. https://www.jillianscudder.com/

In this week's QA, I talk about how we can see individual stars in a galaxy like Andromeda, how we know the Universe is bigger than we can observe, and whether black holes are solid objects or infinitely dense singularities. 00:00 Start 01:07 Can we see the stars in Andromeda? 03:21 How do we know the Universe is bigger than we can see? 09:24 Are black holes solid? 12:03 How did the Moon form out of debris? 13:49 Are there pieces of Earth on other worlds? 15:49 When will we see the first pictures from Webb? 17:12 Is tech in Webb obsolete? 19:10 Is dark matter black holes? 20:55 Why does Webb orbit around in empty space? 22:11 Would the Universe look different billions of years ago? 23:06 What launch would I like to see in person? 25:10 What other space missions should we get excited about? 26:38 Can Vera Rubin see JWST? 27:41 Do we live in a black hole or simulation? 28:51 Could a micro-meteorite impact JWST? 29:57 What are some cool ideas for space telescopes? 33:50 Will we have a permanent lunar base by 205

In this week's episode, I talk about the possibility of a copy of the Hubble Space Telescope, if satellites could relay information like a mesh network, and if it's even possible for plants to survive on the surface of Mars. 00:00 Start 01:22 Could we launch a copy of Hubble? 03:34 Could satellites relay information like a mesh network? 06:17 Could plants survive on Mars? 08:52 Could Planet 9 be dark matter? 11:12 Do globular clusters ever collapse into disks? 12:36 Are there any new questions about Lagrange Points? 14:07 Would the Solar System change if you build a Dyson Sphere? 17:08 Could we see the Oort Cloud? 19:39 Could we genetically modify humans to survive on Mars? 22:32 Are we the center of the Big Bang? 24:32 Could a warp drive escape a black hole? 25:58 Could we fix Mars by crashing Phobos into it? 27:11 Will there be a servicing mission for James Webb? 28:41 Will humans visit anywhere other than Mars? 31:13 Could life have formed shortly after the Big Bang? 32:50 Could a moon be bigger than its p

My guest today is Andreas Hein, Executive Director, Chairman Technical Research Committee of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. Andreas is part of a team working to develop practical missions for interstellar exploration. https://i4is.org/

My guest today is Dr. Joanna Barstow, a Royal Astronomical Society Research Fellow at University College London. Dr. Barstow specializes in planetary science, studying the atmospheres of planets both inside and beyond the Solar System. She's also a member of the ARIEL science team, an upcoming mission that will categorize the atmospheres of exoplanets. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrophysics/people/joanna-barstow

In this week's Questions Show I explain why James Webb doesn't have any cameras on board, what the Universe is expanding into, and what is the point of building big telescopes when we're trapped in the Solar System? 00:00 Start 06:35 Why build big telescopes? 00:35 Are there cameras on board James Webb? 04:17 What is the Universe expanding into? 09:01 When will we see the first image from James Webb? 10:05 Have I ever done a Messier Marathon? 12:33 Capabilities-driven exploration of the Moon? 16:02 Which version of LUVOIR will be built? 18:35 Can you see the same thing on opposite sides of the Universe? 19:39 Can James Webb take pictures of stars? 21:23 How did life arise? 23:07 Can Hubble see Webb? 23:43 Can James Webb see beyond the observable universe? 25:18 Is there no way to repair James Webb? 26:56 Building your own telescope 28:52 What will be the most surprising discovery from Webb? 30:55 What level of tech to cross 119 light-years? 32:10 Can we access astronomy data? Want to be part of the questions

In this week's final 2021 QA, I explain why landing on the Moon could make it difficult for other spacecraft to land, if binary planets could exist, and if there are plans to do a JWST version of the Hubble Deep Field. 00:00 Start 00:29 Can spacecraft land on the Moon or Mars without a landing pad? 03:29 Could binary planets exist? 06:25 Will we ever have certainty? 09:15 Can black holes absorb dark matter? 10:48 Will James Webb redo the Hubble Deep Field? 12:54 Water in Valles Marineris? 15:12 Is Starship just a modern day Space Shuttle? 18:09 Will the Universe end in a Big Crunch? 21:27 Could a thicker atmosphere on Mars protect us from radiation? 22:49 What if dark matter doesn't exist? 25:22 How is Moon/Mars regolith different from Earth soil? 27:41 Could there be habitable moons? 28:12 What missions should we be looking forward to? 30:17 Could a solar system survive inside a black hole? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week a

My guest today is Dr. Michael Zemcov, an associate professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Zemcov has proposed putting a telescope out beyond the orbit of Saturn to capture the clearest possible view of the Universe, away from the light-polluted inner Solar System. https://theconversation.com/a-small-telescope-past-saturn-could-solve-some-mysteries-of-the-universe-better-than-giant-telescopes-near-earth-169805

In this week's Questions and Answers show, I explain how an infinite Universe could be the ultimate answer to the Fermi Paradox, where the energy for tidal heating comes from, and why are there always so many asteroid scare stories in media? 00:00 Start 00:43 Can a satellite remain in one spot? 03:56 Does an infinite Universe solve the Fermi Paradox? 06:41 Where does tidal heating energy come from? 08:43 Is an asteroid going to hit us soon? 11:35 Are galaxies traveling faster than light? 13:13 Is there an anti-matter photon? 14:24 Could there be Pluto Planets? 15:51 Can we move the Earth away from the Sun? 19:20 Can we protect spacecraft with magnetic fields? 22:49 If humans vanished, would there be any evidence? 24:52 Would I like to travel into the future? 25:58 Why are rockets launched in stages? 27:53 Biggest Starship telescope? 29:36 What energy pushes the planets around the Sun? 31:52 Will Starship ruin planetary protection? 34:28 Why can't we find Planet 9? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a

My guest today is Andrea Lin, a graduate student at the Eberly College of Science at Penn State University. Andrea is working with the NEID Spectrograph, a brand new instrument that will eventually be capable of detecting Earth-sized worlds orbiting sunlike stars. https://science.psu.edu/astro/people/apl5194

In this week's live questions and answers show, I explain why NASA doesn't build standardized rovers, how we know the Universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, and which are the best (and worst) entry-level telescopes to get. Mars Magnetosphere story https://www.universetoday.com/153368/an-absolutely-bonkers-plan-to-give-mars-an-artificial-magnetosphere/ 00:00 Start 00:28 When will NASA make standard models of rovers? 04:28 Is the Universe older than 13.8 billion years? 07:06 What are the best and worst entry level telescopes? 10:29 Why isn't there more of a push to explore Europa? 13:40 could dark matter be a heavier element? 16:29 How could we drill down through Europa's ice sheet? 19:23 Will supervoids grow as the Universe expands? 21:11 What's the best technology for interstellar travel? 23:15 Could we protect Mars with a giant solenoid? 25:37 Could we build a second James Webb? 27:08 Could a longer ramp let Spinlaunch send humans to space? 29:39 What is the economic cost of contaminating Mars? 33

In this week's live questions and answers show, I speculate what kind of civilization could be permanently stuck on the surface of their planet, if rival nations could shoot down each other's spacecraft, and how do I really feel about the Space Launch System? 00:00 Start 01:01 How much gravity makes spaceflight impossible? 04:40 Could a rival shoot down a rocket during launch? 07:07 Should I apologize for advocating for SLS? 11:50 Do photons experience time? 13:42 Can you see Earth's lights from the Moon? 15:28 Can we detect exoplanets with their magnetic fields? 17:27 What missions do I wish were never cut? 20:21 Does finding life mean we're doomed? 22:45 Are galaxies orbiting something bigger? 23:42 Can a star collapse directly into a black hole? 25:36 Should we move away from complex telescopes? 29:03 What does it cost to use Hubble? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

My guest today is Dr. Alex Teachey, a Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (ASIAA) in Taipei, Taiwan. Alex specializes in searching for moons orbiting extrasolar planets: exomoons. Learn why these could be some of the most interesting places to search for life in the Universe. https://alexteachey.wordpress.com/

In this week's episode, I answer questions about the speed of supernovae, if a black hole can pull itself apart, is there really no way to repair James Webb, and more... 00:00 Start 00:41 What are the timescales for a supernova? 02:59 Could a black hole spin itself apart? 05:37 Will James Webb launch on time? 07:10 What do I think about Apophis? 09:24 Can a magnetar collapse into a black hole? 12:43 When will we reach the Kessler Syndrome/ 16:26 Would we try to fix James Webb? 19:27 Will there be a permanent Moon base in our lifetime? 21:28 What do I think about Spin Launch? 24:06 What's the temperature on the night side of Venus? 26:01 What's the point of sending humans to Mars? 29:56 Does a supermassive black hole's gravity pull on its galaxy? 31:35 Will the Moon get a magnetic field? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

In this week's live Q&A, I explain what would happen if we build a particle accelerator around the entire Moon (and what would happen if it generated a black hole), if you can ice skate on Pluto, and is it better to do sample return missions or explore with rovers and landers. Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

My guest today is Dr. Mary Voytek, the director of NASA's Astrobiology Program since 2008. Dr. Voytek and others from NASA are proposing a new 7-step framework on how they could report on the discovery of life beyond Earth. We'll discuss this new framework as well as the latest challenges in the search for life across the Universe. https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/directory/voytek-mary/

My guest today is Dr. Boris Goncharov, a researcher at the Gran Sasso Science Institute. Boris is part of the team using the precise signals from pulsars as a way to detect gravitational waves. This technique could be sensitive enough to even detect merging supermassive black holes. http://bgoncharov.com/

In this week's questions show, I answer if you could have a planet made entirely of water, is it our duty to spread life in the Universe? Could Planet 9 be a brown dwarf? And more... 00:00 Start 01:35 Could you have a planet made only of water? 04:23 Is it our duty to spread life into the Universe? 07:43 Could a civilization harvest energy from tidal flexing? 10:01 Where could you survive without a spacesuit? 12:18 How do space stations get decommissioned? 14:41 Could Planet 9 be a brown dwarf? 15:42 Will climate change impact space exploration? 18:47 Would mold outside the space station be alien? 20:22 Do other star systems have kuiper belts and oort clouds? 22:06 Does the Milky Way have an escape velocity? 24:14 Should Earth be kept as a nature preserve? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.

My guest today is Dr. Justin Simon, a planetary scientist within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the Johnson Space Center. He specializes in measuring meteorites and samples collected by spacecraft. We'll be talking about what it takes to sample the surface of Mars and other worlds: https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/people/bios/justin-i-simon/

In this week's questions show, I answer questions about ice on rockets, the maximum gravitational slingshot, could black holes pull you out of black holes, and more... 00:00 Start 00:30 Why is iron the heaviest element produced in stars? 04:31 Why does ice fall off the outside of rockets? 06:02 What is the maximum gravitational slingshot? 09:36 Could a black hole pull you out of another black hole? 10:21 What is the deadliest distant object? 11:59 Could NASA rent space from Orbital Reef? 13:49 Could we communicate with another civilization? 17:31 Are you squished or torn apart by a black hole? 19:16 Could Starship return ISS to the Earth? 21:45 Could we transmit DNA to another civilization? 24:41 Could a solar flare kill life on Earth? 26:12 Could space telescopes work as interferometers? Want to be part of the questions show? Ask a short question on any video on my channel. I gather a bunch up each week and answer them here.