Universe Today Podcast

Have we finally found the source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays? Our first look at the Sun’s south pole, New Glenn slips again, what kind of damage would rockets do to the ozone layer? And in Space Bites+, a pair of quasars that dominated Cosmic Noon.

At what point we should just admit defeat and give up on our search for dark matter? Should we be sending a lot of cheap space probes instead of a single expensive one? If the Universe is rotating, where is the axis? And in our Q&A+ version, how to make a friend fall in love with Astronomy? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A.

For a long time the central part of our galaxy was mostly hidden from us because of all the dust. It was even called the Zone of Avoidance. But with better telescopes and modern techniques we can peer inside and reveal what's hiding. Even build 3D-maps of the region.

The White House pulls Jared Isaacman’s nomination, the 2026 NASA budget is released, the Hubble Tension might not be a problem after all, the Milky Way and Andromeda might not merge after all. And on SpaceBites+, which ozone isn’t a good biosignature.

What's the difference between a nova and a supernova? What's the mechanism behind their explosions? What instruments are used to observe them at the moment? Finding out in this interview.

How much of our atmosphere is lost to space and should we be actively replenishing it? Is there an exact copy of Earth out there hiding in the Universe? Can we use the Sun to send messages? And in our extended Q&A+ version, how the advancements in AI will change astronomy? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A.

Launching Breakthrough Starshot light sail probes to Alpha Centauri requires a lot of new tech, including the actual light sails. How do you make the optimal material to maximize the size with minimising mass? Finding out in this interview.

China’s asteroid sample return mission launches, searching for a companion star for Betelgeuse, the 9th flight test wraps up for Starship and Superheavy, and Webb takes its longest exposure yet. And in SpaceBites+, is Venus hiding deadly asteroids.

Can we make the Van Allen belts safe to fly through? Why not get a super gravity assist from the Sun? Can we predict the next supernova in the Milky Way? And in our extended Q&A+ version, what's going on with the ocean rocks producing electricity at the bottom? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Heat shields are one of the trickiest problems left to solve before we can have truly reusable spacecraft. So far we've seen different solutions, like ablative materials or ceramic tiles. But can a sweating heat shield be a solution? Finding out in this interview.

Can we refuel James Webb at L2 when it runs out of propellant? What will the Dragonfly octocopter see on the surface of Titan? Will discovering life on Mars stop us from going there? And in our extended Q&A+ on Patreon, what are space things I'm hoping to see in my lifetime? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Terraforming Mars is usually considered in the realm of science fiction. But actually we have technology to start doing it in our lifetime and achieve some meaningful results it a timescale of tens of years, not thousands. What are they? Finding out in this interview.

Jupiter could have been twice as big in the past, the challenges of landing on the Moon, the record for the farthest galaxy has been broken. And in our Patreon edition, how the location of gas plays a role in star formation.

When did humans first think of aliens? Why is Oort cloud a sphere when the Solar System is a disk? Which space image is my favourite? And in our Q&A+ on patreon, is search for life only limited to looking for water? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.

Which space mission would I save from cancellation if I could? Is fighting space junk with lasers a good idea or not? What if we find asteroids that have already been mined? And in our Q&A+ on patreon, how do we measure masses of black holes ? Answering all these questions and more in this Q&A show.