Universe Today Podcast

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 14:37

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Qpthhx9svK8

Do hypernovae actually exist? The science is in from the Artemis 2 mission. A second generation planet found around a white dwarf. Starship 40 finally makes it home. And Space Bites Plus, a red dwarf feasting on a brown dwarf.

🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:17 Hypernovae May Be All Hype, No Nova https://www.universetoday.com/articles/hypernovae-may-be-all-hype-no-nova

• 02:19 Artemis 2 Lunar Science Report https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-preliminary-lunar-science-report-for-artemis-ii-is-out

• 04:00 Potential Second Generation Planet https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-detect-potential-second-generation-planet-around-dying-stellar-white-dwarf

• 06:45 Supernova Remnant https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-uncover-more-intriguing-detail-in-an-ancient-supernova-remnant

• 08:28 Vote results

• 08:53 Primordial Helium https://www.universetoday.com/articles/primordial-helium-further-confirms-our-understanding-of-the-big-bang

• 11:02 Ship 40 Made it Home

• 11:53 Jupiter from Juno https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-data-from-the-juno-spacecraft-reveals-that-jupiters-has-a-rippling-wavy-magnetodisk

• 12:54 Limb Darkening on Other Stars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-observe-the-limb-darkening-effect-on-nearby-stars

• 14:37 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-red-dwarf-is-taking-its-time-eating-a-brown-dwarf

• 17:32 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:25

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/99euKNYNKIE

Are interferometers the future of telescopes? Can we aim at stars by knowing only where they were billions of years ago? Is the Apophis asteroid still dangerous? And in Q&A+, can we just sent the SG-1 to it?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:37 [@PerryM-vy4fe] Are Interferometers the future of space telescopes?

• 03:36 [@Frosty.Winnipeg] If we can see stars a billion light years away can we guesstimate where they are now?

• 05:29 [@PeterYannick] Where do we have to aim a laser if we want to sent a message to Alpha Centauri?

• 07:19 [@andrewczski1969] Apophis in 2029 can shut the WHOLE show down, no?

• 12:43 [@kairon156] Are there any plans on getting rock samples from Mar's moons?

• 14:25 [@Frosty.Winnipeg] Can’t we just send SG-1 to face Apophis?

• 18:20 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:14

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bmthiCOpbMQ

If SpaceX no longer want Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon, why won't NASA just buy them for themselves? What would a perfect space station look like? What is being done to improve the deep space network? And in Q&A+, finally, a Lagrange Point question.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:27 [@kairon156] What would a perfect space station look like?

• 08:13 [@endigo2007] Can NASA buy the remaining Falcon 9's and operate them to send Dragon to ISS?

• 10:57 [@musicover5] Is there work being done to increase the bandwidth of the deep space network?

• 14:14 [@jamessobek196] Does the Moon jiggle L2 Lagrange points?

• 18:04 Final thoughts

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 17:14

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S7Vbh0p5Vfc

Team Human https://www.teamhuman.org/

A Moon lava tube mission. Remnants of the Moon’s magnetosphere. Where are the wondering supermassive black holes. And on Space Bites+, why Mars’ ice caps are mostly dust free.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:14 Finally, A Moon Lava Tube Mission https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasa-selects-gimli-to-search-the-marius-lunar-pit-for-a-potential-lunar-base-site

• 03:06 Possible lunar dynamo https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-buried-volcano-on-the-moon-hints-at-an-ancient-lunar-dynamo

• 06:11 Pulsar Feeding from a Companion's Stellar "Wind" https://www.universetoday.com/articles/xrism-makes-first-ever-detection-of-a-pulsar-feeding-from-a-companions-stellar-wind

• 07:45 Origin of Mars and Earth https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-study-shows-that-earth-and-mars-had-different-origins

• 10:10 Vote results 10:36 Wandering Black Holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/wandering-black-holes-may-hold-clues-to-the-evolution-of-the-universe

• 12:30 Searching for black holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/thousands-of-black-holes-could-be-lurking-in-our-backyardand-you-can-help-find-them

• 14:57 Hubble's 200,000th orbit https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-hubble-marks-its-200000th-orbit-by-watching-lensed-supernova

• 16:09 Supernova near Sag A* https://www.universetoday.com/articles/chandra-x-ray-observatory-drops-new-view-of-our-galaxys-unruly-centre

• 17:14 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/mars-north-pole-ice-is-far-cleaner-than-expected

• 18:14 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:42

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/B_h8kKdiHe8

Why do star shades look like flowers? Is Mars colonization just a Ponzi Scheme? Why would it be worth doing? And on Q&A+, should you scream into the void?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:23 [@silasmiller4417] Why are renders of orbital star shades shaped like flower pedals?

• 05:37 [@illyakuryakin5024] Anyone notice no one is talking about the Ponzi scheme called "Mars Colonization" anymore?

• 12:13 [@illyakuryakin5024] why would it be so "amazing"?

• 17:42 [@Alienalloy] If I scream in the vacuum of space have I gone beyond compony health and safety procedures so already a lost cause?

• 20:20 Final thoughts

BONUS PART STARTS AT 25:44

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🟣 Guest: Dr. Artur Davoyan https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/artur-davoyan/

Solar sails are great. It's a propulsion method that doesn't require carrying fuel. But the need to be really big to be efficient. How do you fold them on Earth and unfold in space? What's a reliable way to do that? NASA recently awarded a NIAC grant specifically for that.

📜 Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/coilable-stacked-solar-sails-for-very-high-delta-v-missions/

👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:31 Solar sail as a propulsion method

• 25:44 Alternative propulsion methods

• 38:38 Current obsessions

• 44:54 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 14:37

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eLHeqk2Yh1Q

How bright is space? What's the best way to go under the ice on Europa? Are there new gravitational wave detectors in the works? And on Q&A+, have we actually seen black holes grow?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:23 [@Noxelius] What's the best way to get under the ice of Europe or Enceladus?

• 01:46 [@jvan120] how bright is it in space?

• 05:16 [@luiscarneiro4123] How can we make governments invest more money in space?

• 09:11 [@rJaune] Are there any plans to make new Gravitational Wave detectors?

• 12:27 [@AproposOfWetSnow] What if Pluto got into Mercury's orbit?

• 14:37 [@GeraldBlakefield] Have we actually seen black holes grow?

• 17:39 Final thoughts

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 15:56

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NASA is working on a new far-infrared space telescope, Starship finally makes it to orbit, a nuclear reactor for the Moon, and an exoplanet orbiting backwards. On Space Bites plus, a galaxy with a disconnected center.

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:18 New far-infrared NASA telescope coming https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-first-selection-for-a-new-class-of-mission-the-prima-far-infrared-telescope

• 02:11 Starship goes orbital https://www.universetoday.com/articles/spacexs-starship-rocket-does-its-job-during-first-orbital-flight

• 04:09 Power for the Moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-1000c-lunar-microreactor-could-power-the-next-era-of-moon-bases

• 07:28 Sub-Neptune orbiting the wrong way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-a-sub-neptune-orbiting-completely-backward-around-a-red-dwarf

• 09:37 Vote results

• 10:03 Dynamic structural evolution in Chariklo’s rings https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-finds-dynamic-structural-evolution-in-chariklos-rings

• 11:14 Finding life on Enceladus could be easier than we thought https://www.universetoday.com/articles/finding-life-on-enceladus-could-be-easier-than-we-thought-says-new-research

• 13:08 Getting even more from the CMB https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-test-looks-for-a-subtle-twist-in-ancient-light

• 15:56 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/diving-into-an-out-of-sync-galaxy

• 16:46 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:23

Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BWKrIT28Uk0

We orbit the Sun, Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, but what does the Milky Way orbit? Can we still catch up with Oumuamua? Is the Big Crunch a ruled-out theory? And in Q&A+, have we seen a phenomenon we can't yet explain?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:26 [@jonathanchamberlain6260] What does the Milky Way orbit?

• 04:21 [@paulwilson1529] Could we still catch up with Oumuamua?

• 08:28 [@bakkos_bakkos] Is The Big Crunch a ruled out theory?

• 13:35 [@kamleshpatel6817] Why can't gravitational waves travel faster than light?

• 15:23 [@paigepotter4682] Is there an astronomical phenomenon where you think we’ve probably seen the evidence already, but haven’t realized what we’re looking at yet?

• 18:51 Final thoughts

BONUS PART STARTS AT 43:25

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PBS Spacetime video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OM0zTfdsPo
Professor David Kipping's channel:  @CoolWorldsLab 

We've done a lot of searching for extraterrestrial life over the years. But how good was it? Did we look hard enough or deep enough? Is it too early for conclusions? Could do a better job? If so, how? Figuring out in this interview.

🟣 Guest: Dr. Ben Zuckerman

📜 Broadband Searches for Extraterrestrial Technological Intelligence: a New Strategy To Find Nearby Alien Civilizations https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07333

• 00:00 Intro

• 01:36 SETI

• 05:07 How deep did we look

• 24:12 What could we have done differently

• 36:57 Most satisfying answer to the Fermi Paradox

• 43:25 BONUS PART: pollution of white dwarfs

• 53:01 Current obsessions

• 57:14 Final thoughts