In our last episode, we talked about the Parker Solar Probe. Today, we talk about the person who inspired the mission
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Fraser Cain
Universe Today
Dr. Pamela Gay
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#727: The Parker Solar Probe
The Sun. It’s that ongoing thermonuclear explosion that’s happening right over there. Although the Sun is necessary for life on Earth, we still have questions. So NASA has sent the Parker Solar Probe to visit the Sun, up close to get some questions answered. Show...
#726: What happened during our Summer Hiatus
We’re back from our summer hiatus. Before we left, we gave you a bunch of stories we thought might be important. Now let’s look back and see how our predictions went. And what surprises did happen? Show Notes Evidence of vulcanism on the Moon China's Chang'e 6 mission...
BONUS: June 10 Pre-Show Rant on Starliner, Starship, & more
Starliner S2.1 docking on May 20, 2022 (NASA) Prior to recording their exoplanets episode, Fraser and Pamela discussed their wild week of space flight news and discussed their concerns about the Starliner and StarShip programs. This is particularly timely as we...
Recent Episodes
Ep. 635: Jets: When Magnetic Fields Fling Things
https://youtu.be/TwNN3BQbjVA As astronomers look out across the Universe, they see various objects spewing jets of material light years into space. What causes these jets, and what impact do they have on the Universe. Download MP3 | Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes...
Ep. 634: Milky Way’s Mergers & Acquisitions
https://youtu.be/FPCf6eGaBQ4 The Milky Way is a vast grand spiral today, but how did it get this way? Astronomers are starting to unravel the history of our galaxy, revealing the ancient collisions with dwarf galaxies, and how they came together to build the Milky...
Ep. 633: Weirdly Habitable Places
https://youtu.be/bfYxeEh0TFk We've always assumed that habitable planets would need to be like Earth; a terrestrial planet orbiting a sunlike star. But now astronomers have been discovering planets in the habitable zone around very much non-sunlike stars. What strange...
Ep. 632: Building Images: Optical vs. Radio
https://youtu.be/V5ZqqA17IxU A recent image from the South African Meerkat telescope blew our minds. It was a high resolution image of the center of the Milky Way, showing delicate filaments and other structures. What was so mind blowing is that this was an image from...
Ep. 631: All the Uses of Pulsars (Including Murder)
https://youtu.be/bgklGICUNeQ Pulsars are the rapidly spinning degenerate husks of dead stars, turning hundreds of times a second. But they're also handy clocks, spinning with such certainty and accuracy that astronomers can use them for all kinds of stuff. We might...
Ep. 630: Things We Can Look Forward To
https://youtu.be/zYPJFJndDUM In a rare moment of weakness, Pamela has decided she's open to the possibility that a future exists. That missions, telescopes and spacecraft are going to be built and they're going to do some science. Today we'll talk about what we're...
Ep. 629: The Cost of Delays
https://youtu.be/3gZtbMugXR8 With all the success of James Webb so far, it's looking like science's huge gamble is going to pay off, but there were years of delays and budget overruns. What impacts did these delays have on science, careers, and the future of space...
Ep. 628: The Sun Revisited
https://youtu.be/IiPvLdPadXg Once again, it's time to take a look at the Sun. You know, ongoing thermonuclear explosion of fusing hydrogen that's right over there. Fortunately, there's a fleet of spacecraft and ground observatories ready to give our best ever view of...
Ep. 627: Mercury Revisited
https://youtu.be/VVjsEPOO1mY It's been about a thousand years since we last looked at Mercury, so we figured it's time for an update. What new things have we learned about Mercury, or even new questions? Fortunately, there's a mission on the way to help get us some...
Ep. 626: Terrestrial Planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
https://youtu.be/ZZdbQXOwT40 We continue our refreshed tour of the Solar System, checking in on the inner terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. What have we learned about their formation, evolution and what they might tell us about other planets in the...
Ep. 625: End of the Year Review
https://youtu.be/rHfXnJj4LIU We've reached the end of 2021, and this is the last episode of the year. Let's look back at the big space events of the last year and talk about what we're looking forward to in 2022. Download MP3 | Show Notes | Transcript Show Notes...
Ep. 624: Small Rocky Bodies (Including Phobos and Deimos)
https://youtu.be/GRGnvSi7noE We've talked about the icy objects of the Solar System, today let's talk about space rocks. There's a surprising variety of rocky material in the Solar System, and each object has a story to tell about the history and formation of the...
Ep. 623: NEOS: Concern or Nah?
https://youtu.be/AWvd_LN1VL8 Are asteroids dangerous? Just ask the dinosaurs, and they'll tell you a sad story of fiery death. It turns out we're in a shooting gallery of space rock and metal, and somewhere out there there's one with our name on it. Should we be...
Ep. 622: Rocky Moons and Giant Asteroids
https://youtu.be/H8JiaXcGvVI A rock is a rock is a rock, right? Across the Solar System there are giant rocky asteroids and even rockier moons. What's the difference between these two families of objects, and where did they come from? Show Notes | Transcript Show...
Ep. 621: Gas Giants
https://youtu.be/YvV9X_weY1w For the longest time, the only gas giant planets we knew about were Jupiter and Saturn. But now in the age of extrasolar planets, astronomers have discovered thousands of gas giants across almost as many star systems. What new discoveries...
Ep. 620: Why Getting to the Outer Worlds is So Difficult
https://youtu.be/9OVAbDgTgSM Good news! Over the next few years, we're going to see a flotilla of new missions headed to Jupiter and Saturn. Why aren't we seeing more missions to the outer planets, like Uranus and Neptune? It turns out, those places are far away....
Ep. 619: Icy Moons and Dwarf Planets
https://youtu.be/3hJVYAH5wsQ The outer Solar System is far enough from the Sun that water doesn't get blasted away into deep space. In this icy realm, there are many worlds with vast quantities of water ice. Today let's look at the icy outer moons and dwarf planets....
Ep. 618: Ice Giants
https://youtu.be/1L2FdcC_vsA We're learning more and more about the outer planets of the Solar System. Uranus and Neptune are ice giants, filled with water and other volatiles that we'd consider ice if it was here on Earth. What's inside these worlds, and what could...
Ep. 617: Hangout-a-thon Episode 2 – Crowdfunding Science
https://youtu.be/La5ZNRro6zM Funding for basic science has always been tricky business, coming mainly from universities, government, companies, or wealthy individuals, but who knows how many fascinating discoveries were never made because of a lack of funding? We now...
Ep. 616: Hangout-a-thon Episode 1 – The Great Observatories
https://youtu.be/ZGJesDhTVpw You're familiar with the Hubble Space Telescope, of course, but it's just one of NASA's Great Observatories. After Hubble came three more incredible observatories, each greater than the last. Together, they would fill in almost the entire...