We always say that we’re living in golden age of space and astronomy, but it feels like things are just accelerating. What does the long-term future hold for our place in the Universe?
Our Hosts
Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest
Production by
- Richard Drumm, Audio Engineer
- Ally Pelphrey, Video Engineer
18 Seasons
700+ Episodes
2018 Winner Parsec Award
Ep. 645: The Future of the ISS
The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited for over 20 years now, serving as a peaceful collaboration between space-faring nations. But it’s a machine, and it’s getting old. In addition, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made things complicated. What’s the future for the ISS?
Ep. 644: Is Earth… Normal?
Now that we’ve discovered thousands of exoplanets, we’re learning more and more about what kinds of planetary systems there are out there across the Universe. Are planets like Earth unique or totally rare?
Ep. 643: Sagittarius A*
All the waiting is over, we’ve finally seen the image of the event horizon from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way. Today we’re going to explain the picture, and what’s next for the Event Horizon Telescope.
Recent Episodes
Ep. 234: Lunar Phases
The Moon is a stark reminder that we actually live in a Universe filled with stars and planets and moons. The changing phases of the Moon show us the relative positions of the Earth, the Sun and the Moon as they interact with one another. Let's learn about the...
Ep. 233: Radar
Radar is one of the those technologies that changed everything: it allows boats and aircraft to "see" at night and through thick fog. But it also changed astronomy and ground imaging, tracking asteroids with great accuracy, allowing spacecraft to peer through Venus'...
Ep. 232: Galileo Spacecraft
In last season's thrilling cliff hanger, we talked about astronomer superhero Galileo Galilei. Will a mission be named after him? The answer is yes! NASA's Galileo spacecraft visited Jupiter in 1995, and spent almost 8 years orbiting, changing our understanding of the...
Ep. 231: Galileo Galilei
It's hard to imagine a more famous astronomer than Galileo Galilei. He's widely recognized as the very first person to point a telescope at the skies and then study what he saw. Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, and much more. But it was...
Ep. 230: Christiaan Huygens
And now we finish our trilogy of Saturnian astronomers and missions with a look at the Dutch astronomer and mathematician, Christiaan Huygens. It was Huygens who discovered Titan, and figured out what Saturn's rings really are, so it makes sense that a probe landing...
Ep. 229: Cassini Mission
Last week we talked about the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. This week we'll talk about the mission that shares his name: NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. This amazing mission is orbiting Saturn right now, sending back thousands of high resolution images of the ringed...
Ep. 228: Giovanni Cassini
Another two parter, coming at you. This week we talk about the Italian astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, best known for discovering Saturn's moons and the biggest division in Saturn's rings. Cassini made many other important discoveries in the Solar System, and...
Ep. 227: The Big Dipper
We wanted to spend a few shows talking about some of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky. We've chatted about Orion the Hunter, but now we're going to talk about the Big Dipper, also known as Ursa Major, or the Great Bear - apologies to our southern...
Ep. 226: Weather
How's the weather? Maybe a better question is... why's the weather? What is it about planets and their atmospheres that create weather systems. What have planetary scientists learned about our Earth's weather, and how does this relate to other planets in the Solar...
Ep. 225: Ice in Space
A huge part of the Solar System is just made of ice. There are comets, rings, moons and even dwarf planets. Where did all this ice come from, and what impact (pardon the pun) has it had for life on Earth? Ep. 225: Ice in Space Jump to Shownotes Jump to Transcript Show...
Ep. 224: Orion
Most people know how to find two constellations: the Big Dipper, and Orion the Hunter. You can teach a small child to find Orion, and at the right time of year, they'll find it in seconds. There's so much going on in this spectacular constellation, from the star...
Ep. 223: The Transit of Venus
Since the planet Venus is closer in to the Sun than Earth, there are rare opportunities to see it pass directly in front of our parent star. This is known as a planetary transit, and thanks to the geometry of the Earth and Venus, they only happen a couple of times a...
Ep. 222: The Decadal Survey
In episode 198 we explained how space missions are chosen, and introduced the Decadal Survey. Since the time we recorded that episode, the full Decadal Survey for planetary science has been released, explaining the science goals for planetary geologists over the next...
Ep. 221: Geomorphology
When we look around our planet, we see a huge variety in landforms: mountains, valleys, plateaus, and more. Continents rise and fall over the eons, providing geologists with a history of the planet's evolution. The study of these changes is known as geomorphology, and...
Ep. 220: Mass Extinction Events
The Earth seems like a safe place, most of the time. But we have evidence of terrible catastrophes in the ancient past. Times when almost all life on Earth was wiped out in a geologic instant. What could have caused so much devastation? And will something like this...
Ep. 219: Planck Mission
Another mission named after a famous physicist. This time we're looking at the Planck mission, designed to study the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation over the entire sky. Like the previous WMAP mission, this will help astronomers understand the first moments...
Ep. 218: Max Planck
It's time for another action-packed double episode, where we meet a man and his mission. This time around its German physicist Max Planck, considered to be the father of quantum theory - he was later granted a Nobel Prize for just that discovery. Let's take a trip...
Ep. 217: Stellar Classification
Have you ever heard an astronomer utter these words? Oh be a fine girl and kiss me. They're not being romantic, they're trying to remember the different ways to organize stars, as detailed nicely on a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Let's learn what all those letters...
Ep. 216: Archaeoastronomy
The Sun, Moon, stars and planets are visible to the unaided eye, and so they have been visible to astronomers since before recorded history. Some of the earliest records we do have tell us what the ancient astronomers thought about the heavens, and how they used the...
Ep. 215: Light Echoes
Just as sound can echo off distant objects, light can echo too. And the echoes of light bouncing off stellar remnants, black hole accretion disks, and clouds of gas and dust provide astronomers with another method of probing the distant cosmos. Download Ep. 215: Light...