Universe Today Podcast

How do we plan a mission that can go to Enceladus and grab a sample of its plumes? How fast does it need to go? Will it bring samples to Earth or analyse them on the spacecraft? Figuring out the answers with Professor Mark Burchell from the University of Kent. 📜 Hypervelocity impact induced light flash experiments on single and dual layer Kapton targets to develop a time of flight space dust and...

Understanding the surface of Betelgeuse, James Webb’s third observing cycle has been announced, Starship’s upcoming third test, and the most massive pair of black holes ever seen. 👉 Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmnK1xmCRad_8bn0uOcmLiIE 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Why won't NASA send a copy of Perseverance to the Moon? Can life exist on a planet around a blue giant star? How do satellites stay safe in orbit and don't collide with each other? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. 👉 Ad Astra Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@adastraspace 👉 Oxygen Bottleneck paper https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.01160 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https:...

Self-replicating space robots seems as an obvious way to explore the Universe. How close are we to such a scenario and what do we need to fill outer space with Von Neumann probes? Figuring out with Professor Alex Ellery. 👉 Realistic Scenario of Interstellar Travel https://youtu.be/SkGRVvA23qI 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://ww...

What is cosmic dust? What is it made of and what can it tell us about the Universe? Could cosmic dust be responsible for life starting on Earth? Figuring it all out with Dr Craig Walton from Cambridge University. 👉 Dr Craig Walton: https://craigwaltongeosci.wordpress.com/ 👉 How Did Early Earth Get The Ingredients for Life? https://youtu.be/SkWNmkoCelY 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.co...

We’ve learned what happened to the Odysseus Lander. SLIM survived the lunar night. Experience a fiery trip from orbit to the Utah desert. James Webb completes one of its major science goals. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 00:15 What really happened with...

How serious is the threat from space weapons? How should we handle the situation with international treaties? Is there a way to ensure the enforcement of them and what are the risks if somebody breaks them? Figuring out the answers with Dr Matthew Powell from the University of Portsmouth. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goo...

Where do auroras come from on rogue planets? Can we refuel the Sun to make it last longer? What's going on with space nuke tests? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Start 00:25 [Andoria] Where do...

Odysseus lands successfully on the Moon, China is planning to build bricks on the lunar surface, James Webb finds the neutron star at the heart of supernova 1987 A, and Blue Origins finally rolls out New Glenn. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 00:17 USA's...

Why doesn't JWST look at Apollo landing sites? What happened to TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres? What's the biggest thing we can measure our velocity relative to? Will the Universe ever start bouncing back? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/11...

Huge Kuiper Belt discovery! With James Webb astronomers were able to see that Eric and Makemake show signs of geothermal activity. How exactly did that happen? Figuring out with Dr Christopher Glein, Lead Scientist at Southwest Research Institute. 👉 Dr Christopher Glein https://www.christopherglein.com/ 📜 Measurement of D/H and 13C/12C Ratios in Methane Ice on Eris and Makemake: Evidence for Int...

Solar sails aren't just a tool to send tiny spacecraft to Alpha Centauri. They can also be used to optimise exploration of the Solar System. How can we do that? Figuring it out with Alexander Alvara. 📜 BLISS: Interplanetary Exploration with Swarms of Low-Cost Spacecraft https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.11226 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club:...

More oceans across the Solar System. The Event Horizon Telescope zooms into an active galactic nucleus. Another lunar lander sets off to the Moon. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 00:13 Mimas has an ocean https://www.universetoday.com/165722/saturns-death-...

What are the main problems of modern-day science? Why there's a growing trust gap between the scientists and the public? How can we fix those problems and restore the trust? Figuring out with Dr. Paul M. Sutter. 📖 Rescuing Science: Restoring Trust in an Age of Doubt https://www.pmsutter.com/store/yourplace-zrd55 👉 Paul M. Sutter's website: https://www.pmsutter.com/ 👉 Paul M. Sutter's YouTube: @...

How sure can astronomers be when estimating asteroid strikes? Why is Jupiter so radioactive? What happened to the methane on Mars story? Are black holes 2D or 3D? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:0...

Big layoffs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. Testing spacesuits for the Moon. Another flyby of Io. And our final look at Ingenuity. 🎙️ INTERVIEWS: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmnK1xmCRad_8bn0uOcmLiIE 👉 NASA Layoffs: https://youtu.be/yFuHdZNZ6-Y 👉 Io Exploration: https://youtu.be/3YpbDZQHkCk 👉 Measuring Space Distances: https://youtu.be/hmJOz9qCk0M 🦄 Support us on Patreon: http...

BREAKING NEWS. JPL is laying off about 530 people. Why did that happen and what it means for major NASA missions like Artemis and Mars Sample Return? Figuring it out with Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society. 🎙️ Planetary Radio Podcast: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/space-policy-edition 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books...

We all know the Hubble Deep Field as one of the most important astronomy images of all time. But when will we get a similar attempt from Webb? What will we be able to get from it and what are the limits of JWST? Finding out with Dr Viraj Pandya from NASA. 👉 Nobel Prize Winner Explains JWST vs The Crisis in Cosmology https://youtu.be/hmJOz9qCk0M 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/univer...

Could we detect life on Earth from Neptune's orbit? Is the Moon shrinking over time? Why don't we send an orbiter the the Kuiper belt? What should we call Planet 9 if we find it? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A show. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-toda...

If exoplanets exist, so should exomoons. However, to this day we still did not find any. Even more than that, there's a pretty big controversy regarding the potential discovery of exomoons. What's going on and what can we do about it? Finding the answers with Dr David Kipping. 👉 Dr David Kipping's channel https://www.youtube.com/@CoolWorldsLab 👉 Previous interview with Dr Kipping https://www.you...

Whenever we search for life, we're searching for 'life as we know it". But are there alternative options? Non-carbon based life? Or life that doesn't use water as a solvent? It turns out, things like that can be as close as on Venus. Figuring it out with Dr William Bains. 📜 Venus' Atmospheric Chemistry and Cloud Characteristics Are Compatible with Venusian Life https://www.researchgate.net/public...

Science fiction taught us that Mars cities are inevitable. That we will sooner or later have those cool looking glass domes with spaceports and stuff. But the world is a cruel place and reality is unforgivable. So, how will a realistic Mars habitat of the future will look like? Discussing it with Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest boo...

Understanding dark matter is one of the most interesting challenges in modern cosmology. Upcoming new telescopes, such as Nancy Grace Roman, can help us solve this mystery. How exactly will it happen? Finding out with Dr Christian Aganze from Stanford University. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198...

SLIM woke up but briefly., Turning a forest into a giant particle detector. Another explanation for that hycean world. And some stunning new pictures from Webb. 🏅 Nobel Prize Winner Explains JWST VS Hubble Tension: https://youtu.be/hmJOz9qCk0M 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-...

Recently astronomers made an unexpected discovery. They found a planet called WASP-69b with a giant comet-like gas tail that was bigger than ever. What's causing such behaviour and what can we learn about hot Jupiters? Finding out with Dakota Tyler from the University of LA. 📜 WASP-69b's Escaping Envelope Is Confined to a Tail Extending at Least 7 Rp https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/153...