Universe Today Podcast

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 18:18
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tejYwoRqG38
New info about 3I/ATLAS, NASA tests a new high-power ion engine, did dark matter power early black hole formation, why is half the Milky Way hotter than the other? And in Space Bites+, different sources for two of Uranus moons.
00:00 Intro

00:15 More info on 3I/ATLAS https://www.universetoday.com/articles/interstellar-comet-3iatlas-left-a-trail-of-methane-in-its-wake https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-research-reveals-that-interstellar-comet-3iatlas-formed-in-a-system-far-colder-than-our-own

04:04 NASA tests new ion engine https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-fires-up-powerful-lithium-fed-thruster-for-trips-to-mars/

06:45 NO to NASA budget cuts https://spacenews.com/house-appropriators-keep-nasa-funding-flat/

07:50 Earliest SMBH Mystery https://www.universetoday.com/articles/is-the-earliest-supermassive-black-hole-mystery-solved

09:46 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

10:15 Milky Way’s Hot Side https://www.universetoday.com/articles/our-galaxy-has-a-hot-side-and-now-we-know-why

11:56 Where's the edge of the Milky Way https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-the-edge-of-the-milky-ways-star-forming-disc

13:52 Disappearing exoplanets https://www.universetoday.com/articles/toi-201-planets-are-wobbling-out-of-our-line-of-sight

16:02 That's no moon https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-hunts-for-an-earth-moon-twin-in-a-habitable-zone-but-the-star-has-other-plans

18:18 BONUS STORY

20:45 More space news

21:16 Working with Vera Rubin data

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 15:48
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/90S24jYGtd4
Latest Patreon Q&A show: https://www.patreon.com/posts/156265102/
What did we really find on Mars? Could we find actual fossils there? How was the most detailed 3D-map of the Universe made? And in Q&A+, what's the deal with Iapetus and its huge ridge?
Q&A 00:00 Intro

00:22 [@HanSolo__] Did we find marks of past primitive life on Mars?

05:15 [@geohondo] Could we find an actual skeletal fossil on mars?

07:18 [@louisnelsonsmith] How DESI works

15:48 [@TheGoldishFish] Why does Saturn moon Iapetus have that huge equatorial ridge?

18:03 The Q&A format

BONUS PART STARTS AT 24:29
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GfEzOHGoAuU
🟣 Guest: Amy Haft
📜 Spacecraft electrostatic tractor using a power-constrained pulsed high-energy high-current electron beam https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027311772600075X?via%3Dihub
The number of satellites constantly grows. As the result, space debris is becoming more and more of a concern. A new study suggests using practically real-life Star Trek tech to use an electron tractor beam to tug broken satellites around the orbit.
00:00 Intro

01:11 The state of space debris

04:25 Satellite tractor beam

14:07 Alternative applications

24:29 Tracking objects via plasma trails

39:23 Current obsessions

44:29 Final thoughts

BONUS QUESTION STARTS AT 17:23
Watch the video here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4uPUdm7WP9o
Can we deploy a huge fleet of amateur telescopes to image a single planet? If the Voyager crashes into something, will we know that? What's the point of studying gravitational waves? And in Q&A+, does the starless galaxy have any planets?
00:00 Intro

00:27 [@liamdobbyn6167] Fleet of amateur telescopes on TRAPPIST-1

06:28 [@SpaceGeekSheri] Would we know about it if Voyager crashed into something? 08:12 [@deant6361] Will New Horizons end up leaving the solar system?

09:07 [@davidevans6487] Can we use radiation of space to power spacecraft?

11:16 [@JuanMendez-zh2ez] Why study gravitational waves?

17:23 [@christiandesalliers] Are there planets in Cloud-9?

19:18 Astronomy Cast

Here’s what might delay Artemis, New Glenn flies again, but there’s a problem, Voyager 1 has to shut down another instrument, Vera Rubin is finding so many asteroids. And in Space Bites+, an incredible image to celebrate Hubble’s 35th birthday.
00:00 Intro

00:18 Potential bottleneck for Artemis https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-spacesuits-for-the-moon-will-they-be-ready-in-time/

03:20 China Shows Off a 5-Meter Rocket Module https://www.universetoday.com/articles/china-unveils-a-massive-5-meter-composite-module-for-its-next-generation-reusable-rocket

06:20 Success and Failure of New Glenn NG-3 https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/errant-upper-stage-spoils-blue-origins-success-in-reusing-new-glenn-booster/

08:25 Voyager Shuts Down More Instruments https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/04/17/nasa-shuts-off-instrument-on-voyager-1-to-keep-spacecraft-operating/

11:08 Vera Rubin Discovers A Lot of Asteroids https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-vera-c-rubin-observatory-has-discovered-11000-new-asteroids-and-its-barely-even-started

12:36 Vote results

13:06 Organics on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/msl-curiosity-found-new-organic-chemicals-on-mars-proof-that-the-planet-can-preserve-ancient-biosign

15:09 Roman’s Ready to Launch

16:51 SPHEREx Mapping the Sky https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-spherex-telescope-just-mapped-the-cosmic-ices-that-will-someday-build-planets

18:05 The Universe in X-Rays https://www.universetoday.com/articles/behold-the-solar-system-in-all-its-x-ray-glory

19:18 More space news

20:20 Complexity of the interviews