Universe Today Podcasts With Fraser Cain

In this week's questions show, I talk about the stars we can see with our own eyes. Are they special? How long does it take solar flares to reach Earth? How will crimes on Mars be prosecuted? 00:00 Start 00:39 What types of stars can we see? 02:07 How long does it take for a solar flare to reach us? 04:19 Will I watch Foundation? 05:39 Crimes on Mars? 08:31 How will future spaceships slow down? 11:06 End of the Earth conspiracy theories 14:22 Will today's children live long enough to see interstellar flight? 16:41 Is an Earth-Mars cycler feasible? 19:13 Should we build a giant telescope on the Moon? 22:27 What does space look like, from space? 25:13 Could we see 4th dimensional beings? 28:04 What elements are in the solar winds? 28:48 Will Starship have to launch from the ocean? 31:05 Are there stars forming right now? 33:43 Should we land on Mercury? 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. Our Book is out! htt

In this week's questions show, I answer questions about supernovae, how we could terraform the Moon, and why is Starlink so expensive? 00:00 Start 00:55 When is the next Star Party? 06:21 When will we have better images of exoplanets? 09:25 Am I afraid of another Carrington Event? 13:03 How do astronomers book telescopes? 16:33 Can giant stars have smaller stars orbiting them? 19:31 Have I seen Space Sweepers? 20:17 Could we give the Moon an atmosphere? 21:48 Why not go to Ganymede? 23:53 How many times will SpaceX use boosters? 26:19 Is there still volcanism on Mars? 30:29 How will we measure age in the Universe? 33:46 Do I watch K-Dramas? 37:05 Why do supernovae leave different remnants? 40:30 Babylon 5 vs DS9 42:13 Why is Starlink so expensive? 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. Our Book is out! https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Today-Ultimate-Viewing-Cosmos/dp/1624145442/

This week I talk to Dr. Jack Burns, the Principle Investigator for the Lunar FARSIDE telescope. This would be a radio telescope installed on the far side of the Moon that would be capable of observing the first stars and black holes during the Dark Ages and Epoch of Reionization. https://www.colorado.edu/project/lunar-farside/dr-jack-burns

Today I'm interviewing Dr. Benjamin Zuckerman, emeritus professor from UCLA. Zuckerman is the author of over 200 papers, and was involved with the first direct imaging of a multi-planetary system. http://astro.ucla.edu/personnel/benjamin-zuckerman

In this week's questions show, I talk about how dark matter seems to clump differently from regular matter. When will Starships stop exploding? And what do I think about the Stellina telescope? Image credit: Everyday Astronaut https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uKrU_WqJ1R2HMTY3LIx5Q 00:00 Start 00:36 Does dark matter clump? 05:35 When will Starships stop exploding? 10:33 What do I think about the Stellina telescope? 14:44 Do I think there's a bias against searching for life? 19:27 What will the far future of the Universe look like? 22:48 Where is the edge of space? 23:55 Do I recommend Babylon 5? 25:20 What about Battlestar Galactica? 26:17 Would I take a trip around the Moon? 29:19 What if a black hole met a white hole? 29:55 What's the state of James Webb? 31:18 What if Venus had a moon? 34:20 Is there a solution for Starship's legs? 37:55 Will Artemis prove we went to the Moon? 40:20 Could we build the Enterprise today? 44:07 Could we crowdfund space missions? 47:20 Will ping times doom interplanetary game

This week I talk to Christopher Morrison from USNC about their recently awarded NIAC Grant. Their grant will investigate the feasibility of a radioisotope-electric propelled spacecraft that could intercept and retrieve a sample from a future interstellar asteroid or comet. You can learn more about it here: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2021_Phase_I/Extrasolar_Object_Interceptor_and_Sample_Return/

In this week's live questions show, we spend a lot of time talking about the Perseverance landing on Mars. What's happening with my content right now, and is anyone watching the Moon for meteorite impacts? 00:00 Start 00:15 What was the best part of the Perseverance landing? 03:28 Why is the data transfer to Mars so good? 05:43 How do you test AI to work remotely on Mars? 07:56 How did they decelerate the rover? 09:20 Is there a microphone on the rover? 11:10 When will ESA's rover going? 14:37 Have Mars rovers photographed Earth? 15:15 Could Breakthrough Starshot send spacecraft to Mars? 17:44 Does the spacecraft move faster after a cargo delivery? 19:26 Do we watch for asteroids hitting the Moon? 21:14 What do I think of Babylon 5? 23:03 Is more content planned? 28:42 Will we visit nebulae in the future? 32:36 When will I shoot outside again? 34:57 Do I think the government is hiding evidence of aliens? 36:49 What are the limits of our technology? 40:35 Why sterilize spacecraft going to other worlds? Want to

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In this week's questions show, I talk about why some missions go into orbit, and other missions make a direct landing on Mars. Is it a good idea for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch components for the Lunar Gateway? And how can we know if the Universe is finite or infinite? 00:00 Start 00:30 Why go into orbit when NASA goes straight for landing? 04:19 What about SpaceX launching the Lunar Gateway? 08:45 Is the Universe finite or infinite? 11:52 Would a big black hole event horizon look flat? 12:38 If I had $50 billion to spend on space 16:14 Do I own any space stocks? 18:04 Will there be a time when we can't see other galaxies? 21:24 Is it easier or harder to fly to the Moon now? 25:09 When will the first steps be on Mars? 30:58 Would a Moon city protect humanity? 35:46 Could we crash Mars into Pluto? 36:54 Will travel to the Moon/Mars ever be cheap? 39:24 Should we be improving Earth or Mars? 41:06 Which book series do I recommend people read first? 42:13 Will Perseverance hear the helicopter? 44:07 What te

00:00 Start 00:22 Easier to find life in the Solar System or Milky Way? 05:13 Could an exosuit simulate gravity? 06:36 Could you use water as a propulsion system? 08:28 Could you have space-based interferometry? 13:02 Are the moons of Jupiter in severe radiation? 14:19 Is anyone working on spinning habitats? 18:05 What about Amazon's satellite constellations? 22:19 Can you have rogue planets without a star? 25:52 How do you stop a lightsail? 27:22 How far will James Webb see? 31:35 Could gravitational lensing mess up the CMB? 34:27 Will the Titan Dragonfly visit the seas? 37:29 What's my astrophotography setup? 38:55 What type of radiation is around Jupiter? 39:53 Is Blue Origin a serious competitor to SpaceX? 44:22 What telescopes do I have? 44:47 If Earth was locked to the Sun, what would happen to the gravity? 45:23 Will there be a telescope on the Moon? 46:17 Would we know where a WoW signal is coming from?

This week I interview Chris Prophet, the author of "SpaceX from the Ground Up". His book, now in its 6th edition covers the story of SpaceX, from its initial concept to the latest Starship tests. https://www.amazon.com/SpaceX-Ground-Up-Chris-Prophet-ebook/dp/B01CUUUZZ2

In this week's Q&A show, I answer questions about Starship might be able to provide artificial gravity, whether I'd prefer to have LUVOIR or the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope, and if nuclear-powered rockets will work in space. You can join me live every Monday on my YouTube channel at 5pm Pacific Time to ask your questions live. 00:00 Start 00:18 Could Starships provide artificial gravity? 03:51 LUVOIR or the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope? 05:30 Are nuclear-powered rockets feasible? 09:08 What do I think about Avi Loeb's theory about Oumuamua aliens? 14:49 What happened with Starship's SN9 test? 16:19 Let's learn more about the Universe Today writing team 19:15 Learning the constellations 23:00 Can spacecraft survive interstellar space? 25:13 What if the Earth had no Moon? 27:52 Why are all craters circular? 30:09 Will humans be able to survive in the Solar System? 33:01 Will there be a limit to orbital refueling? 36:58 Did the Sun have a binary partner? 39:08 Is life more likely on K-type stars? Want

In this week's interview, I talk to David Brown about his new book: The Mission. It's all about the campaign to design and build the Europa Clipper mission and everything that happened behind-the-scenes. David is a science journalist and writer with with work in the Atlantic, New York Times, Scientific American and more. https://www.dwb.io/ https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-mission-david-w-brown?variant=32126580064290

In this week's QA, I talk about what's driving the expansion of the Universe, how big the observable Universe is to the actual Universe, and what will happen to dogs in gravity. 00:00 Start 00:26 What's driving the expansion of the Universe? 04:01 How big is the observable Universe compared to the actual Universe? 07:25 Do people watch videos or listen to my podcasts? 10:37 Will dogs enjoy lunar gravity? 12:59 Why aren't we looking deeper in the Kuiper Belt? 15:54 What would be some good ways to explore lava tubes? 19:36 What happened to the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope? 22:48 Would space LIGO be more sensitive? 27:56 What's the most like Great Filter? 31:07 Why do we talk about distance in form of time? 35:14 Any future collaborations with Isaac Arthur? 35:58 How long will the Mars helicopter survive? 40:07 When will NASA incorporate Starship into its plans? 42:15 How dangerous is the Kessler Syndrome?

10 billion years ago, galaxies of the Universe were ablaze with the light of newly forming stars. This epic phase of history is known as “Cosmic Noon” - the height of all star creation. Galaxies like our Milky Way aren’t creating stars at nearly the rates they were in the ancient past. However, there is a time when galaxies in the present can explode with star formation – when they collide with each other. This recently published collage of merging galaxies by the Hubble HiPEEC survey (Hubble imaging Probe of Extreme Environments and Clusters) highlights six of these collisions which help us understand star formation in the early Universe. Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week's interview, I talk with Devin Carroll, a robotics Ph.D. student at the modular robotics lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Devin is working on robots that can build their own structure out of ice. https://www.modlabupenn.org/people/devin-carroll/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjfDRQWv0x0

In this week's live Q&A, I talk about the new Space Launch System hot-fire test, how Breakthrough Starshot spacecraft might be able to communicate with home, and what messages would we send to aliens that we might never be able to reach physically. 00:00 Start 02:11 How would Starship chipsats communicate with Earth? 05:00 How far can we ever explore into the Universe? 06:31 Why was the SLS test so short? 08:59 This is why we test. 09:52 What message would we send to aliens we could never visit? 13:52 Is anyone working on a practical artificial gravity? 18:32 Do we know which stars can see Earth transiting? 21:11 How do spacecraft change their trajectories? 23:50 When will LUVOIR launch? 26:24 Why is there a solar cycle? 29:51 Will AI start answering science questions? 32:53 Is a generation ship or seed ship better? 35:25 Are gravitational lenses like telescope lenses? 36:46 Will we hit light speed or wormholes first? 37:49 How prepared are we for a Carrington Event? 40:48 Can we predict gamma ray bursts?

Welcome to the new style Q&As, which we're now recording every Monday live on my YouTube channel at 5pm Pacific Time. This week we got a lot of great questions about the Proxima Centauri signal, the Fermi Paradox, and Breakthrough Starshot. 00:00:00 Start 00:00:14 Is Starlink portable? 00:01:07 Any thoughts on the Wow signal? 00:03:58 What are magnetars? 00:06:20 Any followup planned on Proxima signal? 00:07:34 My answer to the Fermi Paradox 00:11:50 Why don't neutron stars turn into black holes? 00:13:03 Could Breakthrough Starshot confirm the Oort Cloud? 00:15:07 Can Breaththrough Starshot slow down? 00:20:03 Do other planets have pole stars? 00:20:45 Should we put a telescope out by Neptune or Uranus? 00:23:15 Next rare celestial event 00:26:12 Does Skylon have a future in space exploration? 00:30:35 How will humanity end? 00:33:47 Is Elon Musk a supervillain? 00:35:16 When can regular people do space tourism? 00:38:12 Am I up to date on the Expanse? 00:39:51 SG1 or the Expanse? 00:41:37 Does everythin

In this week's interview, I talk with Chris Carr, one of the co-hosts in the Weekly Space Hangout. Chris is a grad student at Columbia University, specializing in the cosmos inside and outside the Milky Way. http://www.astro.columbia.edu/profile?uid=chris

In this week's last QA of 2020, I go long answering questions about space and astronomy. I talk about the news of a radio signal received from Proxima Centauri, an update on my attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese, and a long diatribe about megaconstellations and their impact on astronomy. 00:00:00 Start 00:02:51 How do we know the rotation rate of gas planets? 00:05:21 Green blobs 00:05:42 Radio signal from Proxima Centauri 00:11:25 Learning Chinese 00:17:05 Why don't we live in a black hole? 00:18:37 Is nuclear propulsion legal? 00:21:50 Are there planets that have no knowledge of space? 00:24:57 Will the speed of light change our view of the conjunction? 00:26:25 Should we build a super-Kepler? 00:29:00 What motivation is there for space colonization? 00:31:23 Better name for dark matter? 00:32:15 Why learn Chinese? 00:35:12 Where will humans go instead of Mars? 00:37:00 Will we detect heavier elements after the island of stability? 00:38:40 Will there be a future mission to Neptune? 00:39:51 Should we send