Ep. 717: Understanding the Ages of Distant Cosmic Objects

How old is that star? That planet? That nebula? Figuring out the ages of astronomical objects is surprisingly challenging. Fortunately, astronomers have developed a series of techniques they can use to work out the ages of stuff.

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Fraser Cain
Universe Today

Dr. Pamela Gay
CosmoQuest

Meet the Team

  • Beth Johnson, Project and Content Manager
  • Richard Drumm, Audio Engineer
  • Ally Pelphrey, Video Engineer

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17 seasons and more than 600 episodes await.

Ep. 516: Polar Vortices

Ep. 516: Polar Vortices

It’s cold right now. Okay, fine, here on Vancouver Island, it’s actually pretty warm. But for the rest of Canada and big parts of the US, it’s terrifyingly cold. Colder than Mars or the North Pole cold. This is all thanks to the break up of the polar vortex. What are polar vertices, how do they form, and where else to we find them in the Solar System?

Ep. 515: Space Radiation

Ep. 515: Space Radiation

Space is a hostile environment in so many ways. But one of its worst features is the various kinds of radiation you can find. When astronauts go back beyond the protective environment of the Earth’s magnetosphere, what are the various kinds of radiation they’ll encounter. And is there anything we’ll be able to do about it?

Ep. 514: Planetary Protection Protocols

Ep. 514: Planetary Protection Protocols

As we send rovers and landers to other worlds, we have to think about the tiny microbial astronauts we’re sending along with us. In fact, NASA is so concerned about infecting other worlds that it has established the planetary protection protocols. Just to be safe.

Ep. 513: Stellar Fusion

Ep. 513: Stellar Fusion

The Sun. It’s a big ball of fire, right? Apparently not. In fact, what’s going on inside of the Sun took us some time and knowledge of physics to finally figure out: stellar fusion. Let’s talk about the different kinds of fusion, and how we’re trying to adapt it to generate power here on Earth.

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