Ask a Spaceman!

By Paul M. Sutter

Natural Sciences Education

What's Ask a Spaceman! about?

What would happen if you fell into a black hole? How big is the universe? Just what the heck is a quasar, anyway?

You've got questions, and astrophysicist Paul Sutter has the answers! Submit questions via Twitter using #AskASpaceman or post to facebook.com/PaulMattSutter. Every week you will come closer to COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF TIME AND SPACE!

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LAST EPISODE

AaS! 149: Is the Universe a...

04.06.2021

Is our universe a fractal? How do we test this? Are there any places in the universe that look like fractals? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

Ask a Spaceman! episodes:

04.06.2021 AaS! 149: Is the Universe a Fractal? Is our universe a fractal? How do we test this? Are there any places in the universe that look like fractals? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
03.16.2021 AaS! 148: What’s Outside the Universe? What is the meaning of the horizon of the universe? Is the Earth in a special place? What’s the “dark flow”? Can this explain dark energy? Why don’t we believe it anymore? I discuss these questions and more in today’s ...
03.02.2021 AaS! 147: What’s the Deal with the Uncertainty Principle? What are the origins of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? Is there any way to cheat it? What does this all have to do with waves? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
02.16.2021 AaS! 146: Astro101 Part 8 - What is the Future of Astronomy? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: What does it take to have a career in astronomy? What does a professional astronomer actually do? What ...
02.02.2021 AaS! 145: Astro101 Part 7 - What is the Universe? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: How did the universe begin? How will it end? What’s going on in here and how did we ...
01.19.2021 AaS! 144: Astro101 Part 6 - What are Galaxies? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: What is a galaxy? What does our own galaxy look like? What are the different kinds of galaxies, ...
01.05.2021 AaS! 143: Astro101 Part 5 - What are Neutron Stars, White Dwarfs, and Black Holes? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: What is a white dwarf? What is a neutron star? What is a black hole? I discuss these ...
12.15.2020 AaS! 142: Astro101 Part 4 - What Happens When Stars Die? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we have: What’s the difference between a “dwarf” and “giant” star? How are stars born? What happens when stars die? ...
12.01.2020 AaS! 141: Astro101 Part 3 - What is a Star? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: What are the different kinds of stars? Why does classification in astronomy make no sense? How the heck ...
11.24.2020 Update on Advertising Yup, it's come to this. Starting December 2020, I will begin running sponsored segments on Ask a Spaceman. I know this is a big deal for some of you, so I'd like to explain to you what's going on and ...
11.17.2020 AaS! 140: Astro101 Part 2 - Who lives in the solar system? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: How did the solar system form? What is a “planet” and who decided that? Just how much space ...
11.03.2020 AaS! 139: Astro101 Part 1 - Why bother with astronomy? It’s time for school! The Astro101 series will cover some of the most important questions in astronomy. In today’s lesson, we’ll have: Why did people used to study astronomy? Why do they continue to study astronomy? What’s the deal with ...
10.20.2020 AaS! 138: Could the "emdrive" really work? What does the “emdrive” claim to do? How does it violate almost all of known physics? What were the problems with the experiments? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
10.06.2020 AaS! 137: What's really at the center of a black hole? What can possibly replace the singularity? What are Planck stars and Gravastars? What’s it like to fall into a rotating black hole? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
09.15.2020 AaS! 136: Can planets survive the death of their star? When stars die, do their planets die too? What can possibly survive after a supernova explosion? How will the death of the sun affect our solar system? Can zombie planets rise from the dead? I discuss these questions and more ...
09.01.2020 AaS! 135: Why Aren't There More Black Physicists? What are the accomplishments of black astronomers and physicists? Why does diversity remain so low in higher education, especially physics? What can we do to prevent bias and discrimination? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
08.18.2020 AaS! 134: Is there a fifth force of nature? Are there more than four forces of nature? Is dark matter connected to dark energy? What the heck are dark photons? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
08.04.2020 AaS! 133: How do we know the Earth is curved? Why do people believe the Earth is flat? How do we know it’s curved? Is a debate even worth it? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
07.21.2020 AaS! 132: What did Einstein get wrong? Was Einstein ever wrong? How did he miss out on a major prediction for the universe? What was his major beef with quantum mechanics? How did he go from quantum believer to quantum hater? I discuss these questions and more ...
07.07.2020 AaS! 131: What's so cool about the TRAPPIST-1 system? Why is the TRAPPIST-1 system so fascinating? Is it really habitable? How are we figuring all this out? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
06.16.2020 AaS! 130: What's the most amazing thing about the universe? What blows me away about the universe? How is it all connected? How does universality give physics the power to explain everything? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
06.02.2020 AaS! 129: Did the big bang make black holes? What kind of crazy physics made primordial black holes? What does that have to do with the LIGO observations of merging black holes? How can we possibly detect them? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
05.19.2020 AaS! 128: Why are we missing all the baryons? What is the “missing baryon problem”? How do we know how many baryons there ought to be? What does the cosmic web have to do with it? What the heck is a baryon, anyway? I discuss these questions and more ...
05.05.2020 AaS! 127: What was Newton's big deal? What was Newton’s genius? Why was his work so controversial? Why are his laws of motion so radical? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
04.21.2020 AaS! 126: What's the wildest weather in the solar system? What makes the Earth’s atmosphere so special? What makes the atmospheres of other planets so special? Why are atmospheres so special anyway? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
04.07.2020 AaS! 125: Does Planet Nine exist? Why do we think the solar system might have another planet? Why do we think it doesn’t? How do test for something that’s too far away to see? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
03.17.2020 AaS! 124: Why is the speed of light the way it is? Why is the speed of light so important in physics? Why does the value not matter at all? And why does it have the speed that it does? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
03.10.2020 How to Die in Space: Sneak Preview My next book, How to Die in Space, is coming out June 2020! Here's a special sneak preview reading from the book, and info about how you can get a free autographed copy! Book info: www.pmsutter.com/book Autographed copy: www.patreon.com/pmsutter
03.03.2020 AaS! 123: What powers a hypernova? How can a supernova become even more powerful? Why do we have such a hard time studying them, let alone defining them? What happens when you let a giant star unleash its full potential? I discuss these questions and more ...
02.18.2020 AaS! 122: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 8: An Armageddon of Strings) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
02.04.2020 AaS! 121: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 7: A Correspondence from a Dear Friend) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
01.21.2020 AaS! 120: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 6: We Should Probably Test This) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
01.07.2020 AaS! 119: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 5: Duality of the Fates) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
12.17.2019 AaS! 118: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 4: What We Need is a Superhero) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
12.03.2019 AaS! 117: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 3: Dimension is Destiny) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
11.19.2019 AaS! 116: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 2: Tuning the Strings) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
11.05.2019 AaS! 115: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 1: Unify This!) How did String Theory get started? What has made the idea so popular over the decades? Can we ever truly have a theory of quantum gravity? What is supersymmetry, the landscape, and the AdS/CFT Correspondence? What do holograms have to ...
10.15.2019 AaS! 114: How did spectroscopy revolutionize astronomy? How did chemists save astronomy? What’s so important about the spectrum, and how are they made? How can we tell what things in space are made out of? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
10.01.2019 AaS! 113: Is the James Webb Space Telescope worth the wait? Why is infrared astronomy so hard? How do we fit giant telescopes into tiny rockets? What will the James Webb uncover? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
09.17.2019 AaS! 112: Why can't I quantum tunnel myself? Where does the quantum world begin? Why do we have a hard time fundamentally understanding quantum systems? What connects quantum and classical physics? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
09.03.2019 AaS! 111: What's it like to fall into a black hole? (redux) What’s it like to fall into a black hole (again)? What does the outside universe look like? Is there any way to avoid your grisly fate at the singularity? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
08.20.2019 AaS! 110: Is the universe really predictable? What is chaos theory? How can something be both deterministic and unpredictable? Is there are hope at all for physics? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
08.06.2019 AaS! 109: What are the mysterious cosmic strings? How do cracks appear in spacetime? What does it have to do with symmetry? Could we ever hope to find a cosmic string? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: ...
07.16.2019 AaS! 108: What do we learn from eclipses? Why is it so hard to predict solar eclipses? How did Newton and Halley team up to solve it? What have we learned from solar eclipses since then? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
07.02.2019 AaS! 107: Is interstellar travel possible? How hard is interstellar travel? What are the possible ways to achieve the required energy? Is there anything at all feasible in the works? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
06.18.2019 AaS! 106: How do we measure the expansion of the universe? What’s the deal with redshift? How can we actually interpret velocities when it comes to cosmic expansion? And what’s with the recent tension over measuring the expansion rate? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
06.04.2019 AaS! 105: Is everything a wave or a particle, and why does my head hurt? Is light made of waves or particles? Is matter made of waves or particles? What does it mean for matter to “wave”, anyway? Why is this so hard to understand? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a ...
05.21.2019 AaS! 104: What turned Venus into hell? What’s so bad about Venus, besides everything? How did it get so bad? And are we next? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman! Support the show: http://www.patreon.com/pmsutter All episodes: http://www.AskASpaceman.com
05.07.2019 AaS! 103: What's wrong with the cosmic calendar? What is the “cosmic calendar”? What are some important scales in the universe? Why is it so hard to judge “importance” of events? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!
04.16.2019 AaS! 102: What are the mighty clusters of galaxies? What are galaxy clusters made of, besides galaxies? How can we use them to understand dark matter? And how can we make pretend ones on a computer? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

Older episodes

Ask a Spaceman!

What's Ask a Spaceman! about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Ask a Spaceman! episodes:

AaS! 149: Is the Universe a Fractal?

AaS! 148: What’s Outside the Universe?

AaS! 147: What’s the Deal with the Uncertainty Principle?

AaS! 146: Astro101 Part 8 - What is the Future of Astronomy?

AaS! 145: Astro101 Part 7 - What is the Universe?

AaS! 144: Astro101 Part 6 - What are Galaxies?

AaS! 143: Astro101 Part 5 - What are Neutron Stars, White Dwarfs, and Black Holes?

AaS! 142: Astro101 Part 4 - What Happens When Stars Die?

AaS! 141: Astro101 Part 3 - What is a Star?

Update on Advertising

AaS! 140: Astro101 Part 2 - Who lives in the solar system?

AaS! 139: Astro101 Part 1 - Why bother with astronomy?

AaS! 138: Could the "emdrive" really work?

AaS! 137: What's really at the center of a black hole?

AaS! 136: Can planets survive the death of their star?

AaS! 135: Why Aren't There More Black Physicists?

AaS! 134: Is there a fifth force of nature?

AaS! 133: How do we know the Earth is curved?

AaS! 132: What did Einstein get wrong?

AaS! 131: What's so cool about the TRAPPIST-1 system?

AaS! 130: What's the most amazing thing about the universe?

AaS! 129: Did the big bang make black holes?

AaS! 128: Why are we missing all the baryons?

AaS! 127: What was Newton's big deal?

AaS! 126: What's the wildest weather in the solar system?

AaS! 125: Does Planet Nine exist?

AaS! 124: Why is the speed of light the way it is?

How to Die in Space: Sneak Preview

AaS! 123: What powers a hypernova?

AaS! 122: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 8: An Armageddon of Strings)

AaS! 121: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 7: A Correspondence from a Dear Friend)

AaS! 120: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 6: We Should Probably Test This)

AaS! 119: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 5: Duality of the Fates)

AaS! 118: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 4: What We Need is a Superhero)

AaS! 117: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 3: Dimension is Destiny)

AaS! 116: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 2: Tuning the Strings)

AaS! 115: Is String Theory Worth It? (Part 1: Unify This!)

AaS! 114: How did spectroscopy revolutionize astronomy?

AaS! 113: Is the James Webb Space Telescope worth the wait?

AaS! 112: Why can't I quantum tunnel myself?

AaS! 111: What's it like to fall into a black hole? (redux)

AaS! 110: Is the universe really predictable?

AaS! 109: What are the mysterious cosmic strings?

AaS! 108: What do we learn from eclipses?

AaS! 107: Is interstellar travel possible?

AaS! 106: How do we measure the expansion of the universe?

AaS! 105: Is everything a wave or a particle, and why does my head hurt?

AaS! 104: What turned Venus into hell?

AaS! 103: What's wrong with the cosmic calendar?

AaS! 102: What are the mighty clusters of galaxies?

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