Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
Wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life, so it makes sense to search for water across the Universe, and hopefully we can find evidence of life. But what about worlds which are completely covered in water, oceans hundreds of kilometers deep. Can there be too much water?
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has completed dozens of flybys of Jupiter, seeing the planet from many angles and delivering some of the most beautiful images we’ve ever seen of the Jovian world. Now it’s focusing in on Io, sending home images of the tiny volcanic world from just 1,500 km away. And the best is yet to come.
Solar cycle 25 is shaping up to be a doozy, with plenty of flares and coronal mass ejections blasting off the Sun. As the solar activity continues to rise, how are things shaping up?
With Artemis 1 completing its robotic flight around the Moon, we know that the SLS works. Next comes Artemis 2, with a crew of astronauts flying past the Moon. If that’s successful, we could see humans set foot on the Moon in December 2025. But there is a long list of challenges to consider that could delay things considerably. Go or no go for launch?
Recent Episodes
https://youtu.be/0rtBR5WUx6E Are we alone in the Universe? It's one of the biggest scientific questions we can possibly ask. And yet, with rovers on Mars, missions planned to visit Europa and Ganymede. Powerful telescopes able to detect the atmospheres of exoplanets,...
https://youtu.be/q9ycfi0lbGo Volcanoes can be some of the worst natural disasters we can experience here on Earth, but life wouldn't even exist without them. What are volcanoes good for anyway? Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes See the First Images NASA’s Juno Took...
https://youtu.be/A3cfWlxF4YI As you all know, Pamela refuses to talk about any missions which aren't actually doing science. Well, Perseverance has crossed the line, from fantasy to an actual working rover, scooping regolith and yeeting helicopters. What has the rover...
https://youtu.be/9Hd_7NacOgU Mars is cold and dead today, but the massive volcanoes tell us what the planet used to be like, millions and even billions of years ago. But how volcanically active is the planet today? That's what NASA's Mars InSight lander is there to...
https://youtu.be/Tu5ybfeDTW4 Have you ever wanted to be a time traveler? Good news! You're time traveling right now. Into the future at one second per second. Too long? Don't want to wait? Good news, Einstein's got you covered. Today, let's talk about the weird world...
https://youtu.be/JMyfpoQbQaI Last week we talked about balloon-based astronomy. This week we're going to talk about putting balloons on rockets and making observations mid-flight. Welcome to the world of sounding rockets. Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes SpaceX...
https://youtu.be/GRftqiXvwWg When you think about the world's observatories, I'm sure you're imagining huge telescopes perched atop mountain peaks, or space telescopes like Hubble. But you might be surprised to learn that some telescopes are carried high into the...
https://youtu.be/DaQxukCVqRU Last week we talked about how new telescopes and techniques are allowing astronomers to explore the shortest wavelengths of light. This week, we go to the other end of the electromagnetic spectrum, and explore the longer radio waves which...
https://youtu.be/YxpWpaccVHQ The Earth's atmosphere protects us from a Universe that's trying to kill us, but it also blocks our view of the extreme cosmos, like seeing x-rays and gamma radiation. Space telescopes are changing our view of the most extreme events in...
https://youtu.be/qkbgkUy5ljU Day by day, we're losing our connection with the night sky. Already 1/3rd of humanity lives in so much light pollution that they can't see the Milky Way without a drive. And now satellite constellations are adding additional light...
https://youtu.be/ROKDJZFDyLc Today, we gaze into the future of space and astronomy. What upcoming missions and events are we excited about? Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes The Extremely Large Telescope (ESO) Vera C. Rubin Observatory (LSST) Hypothetical Planet X...
https://youtu.be/p_R5l-zWH3c Pamela has told us in the most flowery terms about the diffuse dust across inner solar system. Leftover from the formation the inner planets. Well, it turns out, she was wrong. Super wrong. Time to update. Download MP3 | Show Notes |...
https://youtu.be/iNqffMHq-x8 You've probably heard of dark matter and dark energy, but maybe you don't fully understand what they are. Or maybe the idea itself just rubs you the wrong way and you'd like to know why scientists think they can just make stuff up like...
https://youtu.be/LR794Yqm-aI It's been a while since we checked to make sure the Universe was still expanding. Yeah, apparently, that's still a thing. But in the last few years powerful new telescopes and expansive surveys have given us much more knowledge about...
https://youtu.be/72ZiKBeCI0U You might be familiar with the cosmic microwave background, but that's just one of the background radiations astronomers look at. Some are well known and cataloged, while others are just starting to be possible to see. All of them tell us...
https://youtu.be/hwEArYx7bgk This is going to be another one of those evergreen topics, where we come back to again and again. Finding planets. Every time we talk about this now, it seems like we've gained thousands of new planets. Well, buckle up, new techniques will...
https://youtu.be/jD2yXzWoK9Y Pamela's always loathed to talk about spacecraft until the mission's in space and the science is rolling. NASA's Juno mission just received a mission extension, adding Jupiter's moons to the menu. Now, finally, we can talk about Juno. Next...
https://youtu.be/qyKGBykkcuA Stars often come in groups of two or more. And if they're orbiting close enough to each other, one star can feast on the other. And when that happens, well, mayhem ensues. Download MP3 | Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes Red Dwarf...
https://youtu.be/Yi5qW1sWDx8 Some of the most powerful explosions in the Universe are gamma ray bursts, capable of blasting a beam of death halfway across the galaxy. In just the last few years, astronomers have discovered a tremendous amount about these blasts, and...
https://youtu.be/DJ1-vulMiUM Remember the good old days, where there were only a few thousand living and dead satellites? Those days are long over. We're now entering an era where there will be tens of thousands of satellites, not to mention the spent rocket boosters...