Universe Today Podcasts With Fraser Cain

In this week’s question show, Fraser explains how astronomers measure the spin rate of black holes, other uses of gravitational slingshots, and why everyone is talking about Patreon.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser explains his thoughts on SpaceX, what he does for his regular job, and wonders if you could use a black hole to perform gravitational slingshots, whether planets could hide in Lagrange points, and growing trees on Mars. Support Universe Today Podcast

In order to get the large scale structure of the Universe we see today, cosmologists have proposed the idea of inflation, that the Universe expanded an enormous amount in the earliest moments. But if inflation really happened, then it has even stranger implications for the nature of the Universe and the search for multiverses.Support Universe Today Podcast

On October 5th, 2017, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that NASA is going back to the Moon. He didn’t provide any other details, just some kind of moonward directed space exploration. And it turns out they won’t be the only ones. The Moon is going to be a busy busy place.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders if we’ll be able to grow crops in lunar soil, if the Moon has been changing over time, and what title does Elon Musk get when he colonizes Mars.Support Universe Today Podcast

We’re all familiar with the idea of solar sails to explore the Solar System, using the light pressure from the Sun. But there’s another propulsion system that could harness the power of the Sun, electric sails, and it’s a pretty exciting idea.Support Universe Today Podcast

Astronomers have made the groundbreaking detection of two neutron stars colliding in a galaxy 130 million light years away. They detected the gravitational waves AND the blast of radiation released from the collision, observing a kilonova for the first time.Support Universe Today Podcast

Some comets orbit the Sun on a regular basis, but others come in from deep space, a region known as the Oort Cloud. What causes them to make this journey, and will we ever be able to explore the Oort Cloud?Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders where would be the best place to put a really powerful telescope, why a kilonova is important, and what happens when brown dwarfs die.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser wonders if the Earth will get new moons, if dark energy is getting more diluted over time, and if the ice on Jupiter’s moons will protect us from its deadly radiation.Support Universe Today Podcast

Elon Musk gave us an update on SpaceX’s plans to send humans to Mars, going all in on their new launch vehicle: the BFR.Support Universe Today Podcast

NASA is working on developing a space station in a cis-lunar orbit that will serve as the jumping off point to exploring the Solar System; it’s known as the Deep Space Gateway.Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser searches for the most energetic collisions in the Universe, whether we should vacuum up dust on the Moon, and are there supernovae that don’t create black holes.Support Universe Today Podcast

One of the most beautiful and scientifically interesting objects in space are the globular clusters, containing hundreds of thousands of stars. What are they and where did they come from?Support Universe Today Podcast

In this week’s question show, Fraser explains why James Webb can’t be repaired if anything goes wrong, why we even need space telescopes in the first place, and his favorite methods of zipping around the Solar System.Support Universe Today Podcast

Astronomers have been searching for mid-weight black holes, and now they’ve found one, right here in the Milky Way.Support Universe Today Podcast

Over the past decades, many missions have been canceled. What alternative history could we have had if these projects had gone through?Support Universe Today Podcast

We’re nearly at the 40th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft. And they’re still going! Let’s remember these amazing missions.Support Universe Today Podcast

The Van Allen Belts surround the Earth with deadly radiation. What can we do to get past them and escape into deep space?Support Universe Today Podcast

In part 2 of this series, we look at the supertelescopes heading to space in the next few decades.Support Universe Today Podcast