Excellent comments Fraser! I was an amateur astronomer, science-geek 13 year old watching Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, absolutely certain that I would someday go there as a scientist. Big disapointment! Later as a NOAA researcher I wintered-over at the Admundson-Scott base at the South Pole in 1982-83. That was my consolation prize, being isolated on an Ice Planet for 9 months with a crew of 20, and enduring the 6-month night. From my perspective your comments on the prospects of the near-term colinization of Mars are right on Target. No one will want to live there permanently. It is now logistically possible to live at the South Pole indefinately but no one choses to do so. My experience of returning to the Green Planet after a year on the Ice Planet was the most profound day of my life!!

Aeturen , agree, And attempting to build any kind of self-sufficient structure off planet would be such a challenge it can only give more appreciation and valuable lessons to taking care of our own planet.

For teaching your kids about space: Start with memorizing the planets. Then teach them attributes of each planets. then move on to dwarf planets then teach about the kuiper and oort cloud. After that pick another topic. My next step was teaching them the periodic table. Tonight we are learning about Terbium :)

11:29 “…a place that’s trying to kill you at all times…” Pretty much describes everywhere except for a thin layer around Earth. And not even the entire surface of Earth either, bits of it can be really unpleasant. Any space travel, in LEO, MEO, Moon, Mars, Venus, etc, we will have to carve out little pockets of habitability. If ever we do luck into a habitable world, like Star Trek does every episode, we will very likely have ferocious competition from indigenous life.

Hale bopp was amazing to see. I was a teenager then and i would love to see another comet ☄️ sometime in the near future hopefully

So cool you name dropped Crash Course w Phil Plait! What an incredible series.

Thanks for giving more credit to kids that can understand advanced concepts. They are not limited by the preconceptions that adults project onto them! At age 3 I knew the names and properties all of the planets. I read books on astronomy, fusion and lifecycle of stars etc at the age of 8 and spent hours and hours and hours in the school/college libraries reading everything I could find. This was in the 60s and 70s before the internet happened. Don't ever stifle curiosity - a motivated kid that's driven to understand the world around it can achieve true greatness with just a little guidance.

Aeturen. I loved your philosophical response to the question, and how you really delved into the viability of terraforming vs preserving and improving our natural home... and the music was perfect to set one's mind into a relaxed and receptive state of mind.

I think instead: Focus on digging into Europa, getting samples from the geysers of Enceladus, and exploring Uranus as future reference to exoplanet study

We need a new definition for rogue planets. They don't orbit stars, and as a result, they also don't meet the condition of clearing other orbiting items in their own orbit. They fail on two out of three conditions.

I saw Hale-Bopp faintly even in the late day and at night it was even better to look at. When we see a tail on an object we normally expect that its something that is being propelled by it like when you see a contrail of a jet. But a comet is kind of eerie because it just hangs there in the sky while giving the appearance of visible motion because of the tail. I'm sure when a close, bright one comes by again it will be big news. Seeing some fainter ones with binoculars or a telescope is really cool too.

Aeturen was beautifully articulated

Mr. Cain, Thank you so much for your videos. They're informative and you explain them in such a way someone like me can understand. Keep em coming please and thank you.

Woo hoo! A great video just popped up.... Enjoying it now.... 😊

Love watching your videos. You have the perfect mix of excitement and joy that makes (generally quite technical concepts) so much fun. Both kids and adults. Great work my friend!

It is my opinion that the exploration of space and other planets is in fact the key to Earth's environmental health and future.

Andoria. Something about the idea of dozens+ of binary Jupiter systems forming close together and just lumbering around out there in chaotic close proximity, in a nebula, really grabs my imagination. Tons of sci-fi potential.

Crash Course Astronomy is absolutely amazing! (and the best series they've created imo) Adding to what you've mentioned, there's also Deep Sky Videos by Brady Haran. I especially like Mike Merrifield's videos there.

Now I'm excited about the Fermi paradox iceberg video.

OMG, finally a Q&A! There hasnt been one in about a decade.

Thank you for presenting a clear-eyed view of the difficulties of permanently living on Mars vs having a small research station. I fear too many people are seeing Mars as a get out of ruining your first planet free card. I’m no expert, but I’d venture to say that earth would still be better than Mars after a nuclear war. Either way you’re living in the submarine example, but on earth you could still use the air that’s there and breathe it and you would have access to a lot more water. People don’t think about how paranoid everyone would be about the air system on a mars city. A two hour outage of the oxygen supply, the way we often have power outages due to many variables, would be unacceptable. You would need redundant systems, but that’s lot of your efforts put toward something that’s free on earth.

Hi Fraser I love your answer about kids. As a dad of two and a former educator I completely agree. Sometimes my kids completely surprised me with the complexity of the questions they come up with showing that they were in fact able to pay attention and absorb a lot of info.

thanks for the video :)

Belos , also! Thanks to the person asking the question about if a proper mission to Neptune will happen.

I love your shows!!! And so does my son (who is 10 now). And he is just now getting to the point where he is asking questions that I can't answer, off the top of my head, But we both love jumping into looking for the answers! Kids are amazing!

Remus. This is how the future of space exploration is determined!

Wonderful video

Thanks!

Q: How do we know the wind speeds of storms on other planets, like Jupiter and Neptune?

Regarding the Remus question, I'm 52 now but I know myself as an 8 year old would love this channel just as much if not more back then.

Mars Guy is a good channel. Easily digestible 5 min vids of weekly news from Mars.

We need a Cassini / Juno level mission to Neptune and Uranus. It is crazy that we have already planned this!!!

Nimbus - Please do an episode to talk about the various Fermi Paradox hypothesis and debunk them

Bulcan. I've bene wondering this question myslef. Thanks for your answer.

Looking at the binary JuMBO images, they are insane. We are looking at two planets floating around the orion nebula at a scale that is similar to viewing jupiter and saturn in the sky with our own eyes at the right time of the year while standing on the surface of the earth. It is pretty mind blowing to be looking at other planets, not a simulation. Whoever came up with the name JuMBO absolutely nailed it. This discovery with this technology is huge.

REMUS Great episode!!

Aeturen 🙂👍 Thank you Fraser for another, as always, great video! 🙂 And thanks to the person asking the question about if Mars is not worth it.

Remus, Best PSA

Remus definetly my favourite question in this one! How far north do you have to go this year to see an aurora in europe?

No matter how much we take care of Earth there will always be the looming threat of world ending events, such as asteroid impacts, super-volcanic eruptions, out of control super-viruses. I don't think we need mars either (or gravity wells for that matter), but at the very least we need to create a self sustaining back up of humanity off Earth which will survive and thrive even if the people of Earth are struck by a true cataclysm. Since we don't know when cataclysm will strike we really should be pushing for self sustaining space infrastructure sooner rather than later. In the short term, the moon might be a good stepping stone if we can mine it and build spacecraft on it, learn how to make it self sustaining before moving onto bigger projects like asteroid mining, orbital cylinders etc.

The term "DARK STAR" was used before a black hole became a thing. Even in the 60s to early 70s, sci-fi, dark or black star were used to describe black holes.

Super fun good info, I have 8 yo grandson that can explain black holes, am I biased? Sure. But his enthusiasm and the choices he makes are impressive. Great show and I have ammo to challenge him with, thank you.

I saw Hale-Bopp thru a pair of Night Vision Goggles when I was high in the Chugach mountains of Alaska while practicing mountain warfare with the Marines. It was a crystal clear night and with all the stars in the sky, and the comet magnified by the NVGs, it was incredible. Unforgettable.

Oh cool Fraser I didn't know you're Canadian. Me too. Your description of how awful Mars is, convinced me I want to experience the hardships! I'm one of the few Winnipegers that absolutely love winter! Obv I want the tech to defeat harsh environments but yeah I'm bald too and I absolutely love the cold here! Keep rocking Fraser!

YES! Mars has all we need not to deplete out resources.

I agree with Fraser about living on mars , keep looking for habitable planet with JWST type telescopes from earth ,

Aeturen 2nd comment: Perhaps someone should open up a tourist like facility on Devon or Cornwallis Island, in the Canadian far north, where folks could book long stays (say 2 to 4 weeks) in total isolation as if on a Mars base. The Mars Society has its Mars Arctic Research Station on northern Devon Island. I'd set it up similarly but for a commercial purpose, with revenues shared with the people of Nunavut and the nearest Canadian Forces station. Let people get their Mars fix, have to endure the isolation, and provide a potential additional source of revenue to the territory. No frills, just fewer risks.

Black holes are just a spherical hole, pretty much. Also, comet neowise was a great bright comet that happened recently, just a few years ago.

Hi @Fraser here's a question for the next Q&A. Have you heard of the U.K astronomy/space TV show The Sky At Night? It's one of the longest running shows in the world & on a mainstream network the BBC & its hosts would make a great guest interview how space news is covered. Thanks.

One of my all-star favorite astrol😮gers

Mars is intriguing. My suggestion is to keep space exploration manless. The speed of light C isn’t constant since the measures of time and distance aren’t constant. Changing from 60 kilometers an hour to 60 miles an hour increases your speed. Then if you go from 60 miles an hour to 60 miles a minute it increases your speed again. This what is happening in general relativity when less gravity increases the measure of distance and speeds up the rate of time over large distances. It also means that the earth is younger than what they claim.

Massive Dark Star is a sufficiently cool and descriptive name.

Would it make much sense to use jwst to look more closely at planets in our solar system? Like getting a good close look at uranus and neptune when theyre at the ideal orientation in relation to the sun and jwst. Is there much to be gained over our current observations?

Remus . I work with high school students building robots, they design it, prototype, 3d print parts, cnc parts, use computer vision and even the some level of AI...Yeah kids will surprize you if you just give them the chance. So awesome advice Fraser. The child will help you find the right level....

8:11 Fraser's answer is totally correct, but I have to add the GR perspective to clear the confusion, as the question mentioned the Schwarzschild's radius. There are more reasons why the Universe haven't collapsed on itself: thermodynamics and spacetime geometry, or, to be precise, _space_ geometry. Schwarzschild radius makes sense only in the context of Schwarzschild's solution to the Einstein's field equation (EFE). The EFE is looking deceptively simple: G+Λ=kT, but in fact G, Λ and T are very non-simple quantities, only the k is a constant. First, they live not in space, but in 4D spacetime. Second, they're geometric quantities, but they're not even vectors-they're 2-tensors, one step up from vectors. If you choose a coordinate system, you can describe every vector by 4 numbers. The 2-tensors in EFE become 4×4 matrices when expressed in coordinates. Luckily, they are symmetric about the diagonal, so the EFE turns into “only” 10 simultaneous equations, not 16. Third, there's a little (really little) problem: while these tensors are geometric objects, the geometry they live in is kinda weird: one of the 4 directions in 4D spacetime is not like the others, time is different from space. As a result, the spacetime doesn't have a positive-definite metric of a true Riemannian manifold: the squared “distance in spacetime“ between two points-we call them events-can be positive, zero or negative. The maths is still solid, but things in this geometry are somewhat stranger than in pos-def Riemannian case. I'm not trying to say that 4D geometry can be intuitive, so this is not really a bigger hurdle than it could have been. Fourth, these 10-number matrices are not fixed, they change from event to event. Einstein's tensor G defines spacetime curvature _at every point,_ Λ is proportional to the spacetime metric at every point, and the stress-energy tensor T defines energy densities and fluxes, also at every point. And, since we see not energy, but energy density, the 10 equations generate simultaneous mixed second-order partial differential equations. This is a mathematician's nightmare. Only two dozen or so of exact solutions are known, for the lucky cases when variables can be separated. There is a second equation, capturing the equivalence principle, but let's not hang on it. What we're solving the equations for? We want to know the geometry of spacetime, so we have to solve them for the metric. But wait, before we try to solve a problem, _we'd better know what the problem is!_ In fact, it can be arbitrary physical setting, and every problem will yield its own solution. This is as well true in Newton's mechanics and gravity. You can solve for the falling of an apple to the ground. Or you can solve for the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Or you can set up a "dust," a superfluid with a mass density, and, if each dust particle is a star, solve for galactic rotation. The Schwarzschild's problem is set up in a very simple way, in fact the simplest one possible. In otherwise empty spacetime, there sits a never moving point mass M. It cannot even really move: a single point has no reference for motion; spacetime itself arises only as a relation between events. And then, “never moving” implies not only that it doesn't move in space, but also that it's _eternal:_ it has always been there, and will forever be. The Schwarzschild's solution has two well-known singularities in it. One is removable, it's a purely coordinate one, and your choice of coordinates is arbitrary; an infalling observer doesn't see this coordinate singularity. It defines the even horizon, but only as seen by a very far removed observer. But the second one, in the point coinciding with the mass, is non-removable, _essential_ singularity. It will be there regardless of coordinate choice. And now, think of this: does the early super-hot universe filled with matter and the radiative energy look like the Schwarzschild's setup at all, with its single point mass in the whole spacetime? Absolutely not! Schwarzschild's solution doesn't apply to the whole Universe, it's a solution to a different problem! If we let Λ=0, the EFE simplifies to G=kT. But there is no mass-energy outside of that single point mass in the Schwarzschild's setup, so T=0 almost everywhere, and the equation simplifies further to G=0. But the Universe is filled with matter-energy, so T≠0 everywhere. It's simply wrong to apply Schwarzschild's solution in this physical setting. The correct solution was developed independently by Friedman in the USSR between 1922 and 1924, and Lemaître in Belgium between 1925 and 1927. The physical assumptions that lead to this solution are Universe's isotropy and homogeneity: there is no preferred direction in space, and the matter-energy density is same everywhere. It is notable that Friedman found out that the Universe cannot be static in 1922, and wrote to Einstein about it, but Einstein stubbornly refused to accept non-static Universe, and rather harshly criticised the 1924 Friedman's paper, where he derived the metric. The solution is based in thermodynamic equation of state, which dictates the relationship between radiation pressure and matter density; GR comes into play only for the derivation of the metric. Lemaître came up with essentially same idea, and also derived the Hubble's law and calculated the estimation of Hubble expansion constant in 1927, in the same paper where he exposed the idea of the Big Bang (“the primeval atom” from which the Universe expanded; the term “Big Bang” was coined much later as derogatory by Hoyle, who never accepted the Big Bang till his death in 2001-science advances one funeral at a time). When Lemaître met with Einstein at the 5th Solvay Conference in the same year, Einstein still refused to accept the expanding Universe argument (literally, "your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious"). This was also when Lemaître first learned of Friedman paper from Einstein. Both papers were published in physics journals with little circulation, entirely neglected by astronomers. The metric was rigorously proved as the only possible geometry for an isotropic and homogeneous Universe (regardless of the specific scale factor a(t)) by the mathematicians Robertson in the US and Walker in the UK, after Eddington translated the Lemaître's paper into English. In the end, the FLRW metric, as it became known, is the only admissible one for the whole Universe solution. Whether the Universe is exactly homogeneous and isotropic, we don't know. There may possibly be marginal anisotropy in the CMB signal, very close to the limit of its measurement accuracy. The large-scale homogeneity assumption for the today's mature Universe is also being questioned. Interestingly, the FLRW solution admits positive (elliptic), negative (hyperbolic) or zero (flat) curvature of _space._ We now know that space is flat, or at least very nearly so. The flatness of space may also be interpreted as the reason why the Universe didn't collapse on itself. After all, we live in flat space, which obviously doesn't show any tendency to collapse on itself into a black hole! The _spacetime_ curvature of the very early Universe was extreme indeed, but its space has always been as flat as it is today: the spatial curvature doesn't evolve with scale/coordinate time in the FLRW solution.

Black holes are black. Black is not a colour. Black is the absence of colour. Colour is a property of light. Light does not escape from a black hole so we "see" the "hole" (a.k.a. region of space that light does not traverse) - and that "hole" is black. Black holes are black, and we "saw" that in both of the "pictures" of the two "black holes" that have been taken to date. The word "hole" is not the best I suppose but "black" is perfectly fine as a descriptive word.

I really don't think we will put a man on Mars this century. We may be able to get someone there, but it's the whole physical and mental thing we've yet to overcome.

Q: Where are we at with the development of an artificial magnetic field capable of deflecting Solar radiation and GCR enough to protect a human spacecraft or habitat? Is this outside of our current capabilities with modern superconductors? Could they be possibly cooled in space using JWST style sun shields?

RE Aeturen: the Problem of Mars being a waste of money has an other aspect. think about all the interesting space missions you could finance from the money it costs to put a person on mars (or on the moon for that matter). It is probably not worth it. If your wish list for space missions is not long enough for that conclusion, I can help out.

I'm not a royalist, but i have to agree with Prince William, when he said `why are we intending to spend billions on populating Mars, when there's so much we have to do to fix our own planet' He's so right!!!! I love astronomy, space exploration and everything to do with the great unknown. But, it's so obvious that, as things stand, we haven't discovered a planet as remotely hospitable as the one we call home. EARTH!!!!!!!!!

For me, a Neptune mission, an orbiter/lander combo like Cassini/Huygens, or even something like Galileo and it's atmospheric probe that plunged into Jupiter's clouds in the 1990's, is a must for me. Even beyond the increasing interest in the ice giants as missions like TESS and Kepler have found so many of them around other stars, just the captured Kuiper Belt "moon" that is Triton would reason enough to send a dedicated orbital mission back to that region of space again. The other moons in Neptune's gravitational grasp are also worthy of further exploration, with all of those seen (and indeed discovered) by Voyager II during it's 1989 flyby, other than Triton, being nothing more than poorly resolved and blurry shapes hanging in the black of space. Surely we'd want to learn more about how these moons were created, how they relate to Neptune's weird rings and ring arcs, and ultimately their relationship with Triton itself, as many planetary scientists believe that those moons orbiting inside of Triton came about from the rubble of older moons smashed apart in the chaos of Triton's gravitational capture into Neptune's sphere of influence.

Janus Question: Had Artemis I been crewed would the issues raised be detrimental to the occupants or were they minor and the delay precautionary?

I think there's a BIG difference between the zoo hypothesis and the prime directive. In one scenario, we're on display for alien life to see and in the other, we're too primitive to be a part of the "federation".

Now you've stirred a memory. In Star Trek - The Motion Picture, Spock said, "Voyager 6 disappeared into what used to be called a Black Hole" but never said what it is by the time of the movie. I've always found this to be a bit(!) curious! Memory may be a bit hazy as to the details, it's been a long time since I last saw the movie and even longer since I read the book but it's something along these lines.

Do we suspect or know of any planetary masses within our solar system that didn't originate within it but were captured? What are some methods that scientists use to determine that?

Andoria gets my vote. Even though dark matter and energy are not accounted for the possibility of an enriched model of mass distribution is certainly interesting. Shorter steps to the other stars?

I agree with you and 'Savetheplanet', Mars just doesn't seem worth going to or colonizing for any purpose...... at least at this moment in time. 🤔

Question: What is the latest on artificial gravity? Are there any efforts to replicate earth gravity on space travel?

dose alpha centauri oribit the center of the galaxie at the same speed as eart if not what keep it at the same distance from earth .

About the comets. I had a small telescope in my backyard, and we saw halley's comet. It was a small, soft round puff of light. I was so disappointed. I'd grown up hearing stories of Halley's comet in the early 20th century. They said it was so bright it was like daylight in the middle of the night. However, there was a comet i saw in the mid-1960s. I was woken up in the middle of the night, and the comet was hanging in the sky. It filled at least a third of the sky. It was massive and bright. Id love to see another one like that.

I remember hale-bop flying by when I was a kid. I was sble to clearly see the tail with my unaided eye. At the time I really had no idea just how rare that was.

Aeturen for me.

Andoria!

It is better to have an orbiter, but New Horizons showed us how awesome a simple flyby can be with our current technology. I would definitely be in favor of a flyby of Neptune, and as you said, Triton in particular. After that they can send it past a Kuiper Belt object like they did with New Horizons.

As much as I dislike to, I agree with your take on how little reason there is to live on Mars. Nonetheless, the age old answer to “why” is “because it’s there.” It is in our nature to explore and someone will do it just because. At a bigger scale, Andy Wier got the right answer in Artemis, there will only be a large population in space when there is a real economic driver. It’s easy to forget how many people live nearly permanently on the ocean because they work on an oil rig or cruise ship. Same goes for arctic oil operations.

Hi, and thanks so much for what you do. I think - based on your 'Zoo Hypothesis" answer that maybe a more descriptive name could be the "Planetary Reserve Hypothesis". You watch, but you don't interfere. "Zoo" brings up the notion of 'zoo keepers' adding and removing life forms from the 'zoo.'

Nimbus because I really want that Fermi paradox iceberg video

[Nimbus] When talking about the fermi paradox, for me its distance. and distance is time really. And math talks the truth in this. In a universe that is infinate, the chance of there being another earth is bigger than 0. its just too far away, or happening at a moment in time when we weren't online yet or when we become extinct.

Does the Great Tractor orbit the Great Trailer or is it the other way around?

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Mars would be a great place to mine.

Entangled travel is the way to go However, who will show us how?

Aeturen wins the day.

i love this bloke's videos so much i made another account so I could subscribe twice.

14:23 it's good for humanity's sake that not everyone is a giant vaj like Frady Cat Cain.

you should cover ingenuity in the next one I heard it was retired on Jan. 18th

We Can't Be Alone. Out of all the Stars and Galaxies how could you think we're Alone?

Space Engine Universal Sandbox and a simple telescope to name a few. Space Engine is really amazing imo. Issac Arthur is a good channel as well

8:00 We'll likely find a way to reconstruct a mirror-like image of Milky Way from extremely high resolution observations of black holes outside of the Milky Way in less than a million years.

I read people who have no interest in science or exploration that claim its a waste of time and money. Those of us that see its value love exploration.

Hi Fraser, I’ve a question. How were the Voyagers able to focus their cameras automatically at different distances from the objects they were capturing? Nowadays even my iPhone sometimes has issues with focus, even though the processor is thousands times more powerful than the CPU on these spacecraft. Thanks!

A term I prefer over the Big Bang is the Everywhere Stretch

I watched about those for awhile but only realized we should focus on ourselves cuz a lot wasn't much - willy 0

We often speak of "dust", as in IR's ability to see through it. But what is "dust"? When does it qualify as "dust" vs. a "rock" or other object?

This all got started because of the Robert Zubrin text , *! , holy cow

Your why waste money on Mars comments were well put. I have been dreaming about artificial gravity space colonies for much of my life. It still looks possible and you're right, it would be better than Mars or the moon as a new place to live for a long time. Best topic.

If you have a very good quality led flashlight running a small plutonium battery turned on and left to drift in space, is it eventually over the span of few years start moving like a photon spaceship? If yes what velocity should we expect?

I have a question. Why does Orion have problems and delays when NASA has had it designed and even paired with Ares, and in itself it's just a slightly bigger Apollo command module?

It's a great point about terraforming Earth before Mars. I agree. We (collectively) can start doing that today!

Remus!