Universe Today Podcast

In this week's episode of Open Space, I talk with Dr. Jamie Molaro, a planetary scientist who helped discover that the surface of asteroid Bennu has rocks that crack because of the constant day/night cycle.

Another week, another Open Space. This week I answer questions about what we might see in the next 5 decades. When dark matter will get debunked, and who will carry the Mars torch after Elon Musk passes away.

I’d say half the astronomy-related videos on YouTube are all about black holes. Clearly, they’re a fascinating topic, but they’re also a mystery. How do you observe something that can absorb all the radiation and matter falling onto them, and nothing can ever escape? How do we know they’re really there, and what are the best observations we can make?

Today I’m joined by Dr. Paul Sutter, a cosmologist, and astrophysicist to talk about how we know black holes are really there and not just a figment of an astrophysicist’s imagination?

In this week's questions show, I answer questions about how the International Space Station stays above the Earth's atmosphere, does dark matter need a better name? And how do astronomers know they're looking at exoplanets and not sunspots?

On Sunday, May 31st, 2020, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley docked with the International Space Station. This was a tremendous accomplishment for SpaceX and NASA, giving the United States the capability of launching its own astronauts, and no longer relying on its Russian partners.

This was the 5th time that US astronauts went into orbit on a new kind of space vehicle, following in the footsteps of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle.

Another week, another Open Space. This week, I answered questions about whether space-time could freeze, are standard candles like Type 1a supernovae still useful? And is the Great Attractor just a black hole?

In this week's live Open Space, people wanted to know if solar sails really work, will we ever get close to the speed of light, what's the best way to get out of Venus' gravity well, and more?

In this week's questions show, I answer whether or not dark matter could become a black hole, how do we know the Universe is flat, and what would happen to the world's market for precious metals once we start mining asteroids?

When you’re out in space, water is the most precious resource you can get your hands on. It can be used for air, water, to grow food, radiation shielding, and most importantly, as the propellant for your spacecraft.

Exploration of the Moon has revealed that there’s a tremendous amount of water ice locked into the regolith, but it’s probably very difficult to access. But there are also permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s poles that could have more than enough water to support a permanently inhabitable station on the Moon.

But it’s going to be tricky to get at, considering the fact that temperatures in the shadows plunge to -240 degrees Celsius, just 30 degrees above absolute zero.

In this week's live QA, I explain why a black hole can have infinite density but not infinite gravity. Does your perception of time change due to your mass, and am I ever intimidated by the people I get to interview?