The final parsec problem is a mystery that is yet to be answered by cosmology. On paper, supermassive black holes shouldn't merge. But yet they do. Why is it happening? What helps them slow down? Could it be dark matter? Looking for answers in this interview. 🟣 Guest: Dr. Gonzalo Alonso Álvarez 📜 Self-Interacting Dark Matter Solves the Final Parsec Problem of Supermassive Black Hole Mergers https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.021401 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 02:33 Final parsec problem 10:46 Proposed solution 21:55 Dark matter 26:46 What if it's wrong 37:10 Current obsessions 39:09 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/zAyoAtUUtug 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

What's the most challenging part of Astronomy? What happened to Uranus? Which telescope to get for $200? Could we detect Voyager-like spacecraft flying through the solar system? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Q&A. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Start 00:47 What's challenging about astronomy? 01:48 What do I think about Planet 9? 04:02 Thoughts on Project Lyra? 07:02 What priorities would I give NASA? 10:13 Any recommendation on a $200 telescope? 11:43 What's most important in binoculars? 14:52 Why is Uranus on its side? 15:34 Do I want to see missions to Uranus and Neptune? 17:18 Are there any resources for learning astronomy math online? 18:24 Why is it harder to explore the inner Solar System? 19:51 Where do supermassive black holes come from? 22:04 Would we detect the Voyagers passing through the Solar System? 23:09 Does civilizations need the metals from kilonovae? 23:45 Could the Solar System make a new planet? 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/72VaI5kkf38 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

Interstellar travel might not be as impossible as most people think. Especially if we adopt the multi-stage approach that we already use in everyday rockets. How can we do it and what results we can expect? Finding out in this interview. 👉 Interstellar Travel Without Breaking Physics with Andrew Higgins: https://youtu.be/SkGRVvA23qI 🟣 Guest: Jeff Greason https://www.el-sky.com 📜 Sunbeam: Near-sun statites as beam platforms for beam-driven rockets https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576524003837?via%3Dihub 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:54 Sail close to the Sun 00:12:34 Interstellar velocities 00:28:03 Transferring power to spacecraft 00:33:09 Data transfer 00:43:31 Multi-stage interstellar ship 00:47:06 How will a realistic mission look like 01:09:51 Current obsessions 01:12:49 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/E74Kg8NpCyE 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

It’s time for the Perseids meteor shower, Gaia has found hundreds of asteroid moons, Starliner is still in question, and where does the Moon’s atmosphere come from? 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 00:14 It's time for the Perseids 03:03 GAIA finds asteroids with moons 05:30 Graphene on the Moon 07:26 Starliner still at the ISS 09:52 Polaris Dawn Launch Date 10:32 Planets forming around binary stars 13:02 Vote results 13:42 China created a lot of space junk 15:54 Moon atmosphere 17:38 More space news 18:25 TRAPPIST-1 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/DmgqT9CQSf8 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

Future telescopes like Vera Rubin and Nancy Grace Roman will generate a lot of data. This will be a big challenge. To get ready for it astronomers use simulated observation data. Why is it important and how is it done? Finding out in this interview. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 01:46 Simulations of the cosmos 13:51 Measuring dark matter 19:11 What to look for in the data 25:52 Simulations VS real data 38:54 Current obsessions 45:50 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/nn7BbFeVQ4o 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

What happens to the stuff that falls into black holes? Do supergiants have sunspots? How can you do a gravitational slingshot from the Sun? Answering all these questions and more in this week's Overtime Q&A. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Start 00:50 Could we do a gravitational slingshot around the Sun? 03:10 Does everything that goes into a black hole get converted into dark matter? 03:33 How has my perception of the Universe changed as I learn more about it? 07:44 What is beyond science? 11:04 What do I think about Starship? 12:07 Is dark energy decreasing? 13:48 Does our gravity well distort our measurement of the Universe? 15:52 Is the movements of interstellar medium a risk to space travel? 16:43 Could dark matter be explained by black holes? 17:26 Is there enough mass in the Solar System to make a black hole? 18:22 Could you restart Venus's dynamo? 21:32 Do supergiants have sunspots? 22:18 What do I think about UAPs? 24:11 Why didn't the Moon have water? 25:59 If we can't see black holes, what would they look like? 27:22 How do they land on an asteroid? 28:32 What questions do I hate? 30:29 Should we stop teaching that gravity is a force 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/mvDCKJdvRWc 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

TRAPPIST-1 is one of the most interesting systems out there. JWST did observe them but we still don't have the results from all of them. Why is that and when can we expect to know something about their atmospheres? Finding out in this interview. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 02:00 Looking at TRAPPIST-1 with JWST 05:21 Planets around TRAPPIST-1 14:10 TRAPPIST-1d 23:28 Premature announcements 32:21 Alternatives to TRAPPIST-1 37:16 Other detection methods 43:19 The next gen instruments 51:44 Current obsessions 58:01 Final thoughts 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/SSjERIwnTl4 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

We’ve learned much more from the DART mission, dark oxygen is being generated at the bottom of the ocean, Starliner is almost ready to come home, and we might not need to dig deep to find life on Europa. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Intro 00:15 DART findings 04:06 Dark Oxygen 06:53 Kepler and the Solar Cycles 08:36 Starliner suspense 09:37 SpaceX returns 10:56 Vote results 11:45 Europa and Enceladus 13:49 Starship hot fire test 14:14 Astroscale's ADRAS-J 15:13 More space news 16:01 Future of Universe Today 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/HYC4HJjTkbI 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

John Michael Godier and Universe Today's Fraser Cain discuss the exciting developments in space exploration, focusing on Spacex and the upcoming fifth test launch of Starship. Join us as we discuss the details, analyzing the performance, challenges, and future implications of SpaceX's ambitious project. ⚫️ JMG's Event Horizon: https://www.youtube.com/@EventHorizonShow 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemEcdEOlxw&ab_channel=EventHorizon 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast

What happened at the earliest stages of the Universe and what is it expanding into? Can they just put a telescope inside a Starship? Why do I like the NIAC program so much? Answering all these questions and much more in this week's episode of Overtime Q&A. 🦄 Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/universetoday 📚 Suggest books in the book club: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1198440-universe-today-book-club 00:00 Start 00:35 What happened in the earliest stages of the Universe? 02:56 What is the Universe expanding into? 03:57 Did it happen now or in the past? 07:48 Could we put big telescopes in Starship? 08:52 What was the source of energy of the Big Bang? 09:44 Is a quasi-star a good explanation for black holes? 12:35 Will the ELT do infrared? 13:57 What would a starquake do to Earth? 15:49 Does Io have tectonic plates? 16:29 Why do I like NIAC so much? 18:13 How do we get JUMBOs? 19:59 Why can't we see beyond the CMB? 21:07 Could you ride a black hole's polar jets? 📺 VIDEO VERSION https://youtu.be/NRjn9KYzPGE 📰 EMAIL NEWSLETTER Read by 60,000 people every Friday. Written by Fraser. No ads. Subscribe. It's FREE: https://universetoday.com/newsletter 🎧 PODCASTS Universe Today: https://universetoday.fireside.fm/ Astronomy Cast: http://www.astronomycast.com/ 🤳 OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/fcain Twitter: https://twitter.com/universetoday Facebook: https://facebook.com/universetoday Instagram: https://instagram.com/universetoday 📩 CONTACT FRASER frasercain@gmail.com ⚖️ LICENSE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)Support Universe Today Podcast