Universe Today podcasts with Fraser Cain

Space and astronomy news from Fraser Cain, Publisher of Universe Today

About the show

The Guide to Space is a series of space and astronomy poddcasts by Fraser Cain, publisher of Universe Today

Universe Today podcasts with Fraser Cain on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 651: Open Space 76: What Do I Think About Those UFO Videos? And More...

    May 11th, 2020  |  58 mins 36 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    In this week's live QA, I explain what's happening with Universe Today during the megavirus, what I think about the recently released UFO videos, how aliens could hide their existence, and if Starship will cause a Kessler Syndrome.

  • Episode 650: Dancing, Flaring Supermassive Black Holes Prove Stephen Hawking's Theory

    May 11th, 2020  |  9 mins 43 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    The Moon orbits around the Earth. The Earth orbits around the Sun. And out in the distant Universe, astronomers have found a system that takes this logical progression to its most extreme. There’s a system where a supermassive black hole with millions of times the mass of the Sun orbits another black hole with billions of times the mass of the Sun.

    How astronomers discovered this incredible interaction took careful observations, imagination, and the hard work of the Spitzer Space Telescope, taken during its final years of operation.

  • Episode 649: Open Space 75: DasValdez from Kerbal Space Academy

    May 7th, 2020  |  1 hr 21 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    This week's guest is DasValdez, a popular Twitch stream who covers all things Kerbal Space Space. Das has carried this love of space exploration and astronomy into the real world, with absolutely fascinating coverage of rocket launches and virtual tours of museums.

  • Episode 648: Open Space 74: Alien Oceans With NASA's Dr. Kevin Peter Hand

    April 22nd, 2020  |  59 mins 12 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    This week I'm joined by Dr. Kevin Peter Hand, the Pre-Project Scientist for the Europa Lander mission concept and Director of JPL's Ocean Worlds Lab to talk about the alien oceans located across the Solar System.

  • Episode 646: Open Space 72: Electric Sails with Dr. Pekka Janhunen

    April 22nd, 2020  |  1 hr 1 min
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Dr. Pekka Janhunen is a researcher with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the inventor of the Electric Solar Wind Sail concept, using the solar wind as a propulsion system for spacecraft.

    These could allow spacecraft to explore many regions of the Solar System without any onboard propellant at all.

  • Episode 647: Open Space 73: Dr. Ryan Watkins, Planetary Science Institute

    April 22nd, 2020  |  1 hr 8 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    This week I'll be joined by Dr. Ryan Watkins, a planetary scientist who focuses on exploration of the Moon. She's a member of the Science Advisory Board for the Blue Origin Blue Moon landing program.

  • Episode 644: Open Space 70: Professor Brian Keating

    April 7th, 2020  |  1 hr 1 min
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Professor Brian Keating returns to Open Space to talk about the big concepts in cosmology, from inflation to the largest scale structures. Dr. Keating was the Principal Investigator of the BICEP2 experiment, and now he's the Director of the Simons Observatory in Chile.

  • Episode 645: Open Space 71: Scott Manley

    April 7th, 2020  |  1 hr 3 mins
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    In this episode, I was joined by Scott Manley, a developer, player of video games and total space nerd. Scott and I discussed the state of Starship and other events in space exploration.

  • Episode 642: Open Space 68: Dangers and Rewards of Moon Mining with Dr. Phil Metzger

    March 31st, 2020  |  1 hr 1 min
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Today I'm joined by Dr. Phil Metzger, a planetary physicist with the Planetary Science faculty at the University of Central Florida. Phil specializes in economic planetary science, helping humanity learn to prosper in space.

  • Episode 641: Open Space 67: Science Communication with Susanna Kohler

    March 31st, 2020  |  59 mins 17 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Today I'll be joined by Susanna Kohler, an astrophysics Ph.D. and science writer for the American Astronomical Society.

  • Episode 643: Open Space 69: Matt O'Dowd from PBS Space Time

    March 31st, 2020  |  1 hr 2 mins
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Today I'm joined by Dr. Matt O'Dowd from the successful PBS Space Time YouTube Channel. Matt is an astrophysicist and associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the Lehman College of the City University of New York.

  • Episode 638: Open Space 65: Rob Hoyt, Tethers Unlimited

    March 12th, 2020  |  59 mins 3 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    My guest today is Rob Hoyt, the CEO and Chief Scientist of Tethers Unlimited. Founded in 1994, Tethers Unlimited is working on space-based assembly and manufacturing technologies.

  • Episode 639: Waterworlds. Can There Be Life Without Land?

    March 12th, 2020  |  10 mins 16 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    One of the longstanding questions astronomers have had is, are we normal? Is our Solar System a template for what we might expect to see as we look out into the Milky Way at other star systems?

    As the data continues to come in, the answer to that question really seems to be no, we’re not normal. Star systems seem to have a huge variety of planets orbiting them. Familiar planets like our own terrestrial, gas and ice worlds. But then there are also super earths, mini-neptunes, hot jupiters.

    And it looks like there are planets, located in their star’s habitable zone, which are completely covered with liquid water. Like, oceans which are dozens and maybe even hundreds of kilometers deep.

    What would it be like on one of these worlds, and of course, we always want to know, could they be habitable?

  • Episode 640: Open Space 66: Special Guest Jim Al-Khalili, The World According to Physics

    March 12th, 2020  |  28 mins 27 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    Today I'll be joined by Jim Al-Khalili, a professor of physics at the University of Surrey. He's a well-known science presenter in the UK and has written many books on science and physics. His newest book is "The World According to Physics".

  • Episode 637: Q&A 119: Why Should Artemis Bother When We've Got Starship? And More... Featuring Dr. Pamela Gay

    March 5th, 2020  |  28 mins 41 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    In this week's questions show, I explain why we should be excited for both Starship and Artemis. Do we have a cognitive bias when thinking about advanced civilizations? Should humans or robots explore space? And more...

  • Episode 636: Open Space 64: Why Send Humans to Space when Robots are Better? And More..

    March 3rd, 2020  |  59 mins 40 secs
    astronomy, space, space exploration

    No guest this week, just a live QA with me. I counsel people on how to be patient when living on Elon Musk time, what is NASA interested in with the Moon, what's the purpose of human space exploration, and more.