How Far Apart Are Asteroids?

[@StarTalk]

Did Neil just ruin your favorite Sci-Fi?

[@andrewm8429]

Never!

[@avgj0378]

Nope. "Suspension of disbelief"

[@universalking22]

Nothing will ruin the unruinable!

[@GizzyDillespee]

He was only following Disney's example

[@toxicoverlord388]

No

[@WheelgunsOnWheels]

As an astronomy teacher I like to tell my students the paradox of space. Space is considered mostly empty but at the same time literally everything in the universe is in space. So simultaneously it is empty while also being full of absolutely everything that has ever existed. And congratulations on the 13123 Tyson rock!!!

[@joekenorer]

Interesting point.

[@WheelgunsOnWheels]

@@joekenorer thank you. It’s true though ya know?

[@aivelu2737]

I like that ! Thanks for this information 💙💙

[@sorinsuba]

How can we make this happen?

[@oaguilera81]

This was so funny. Chuck was on fire on this one. I love these two guys. Intelligence and humor at their best.

[@JohnDoe-vy5hh]

Yeah. Good humor!

[@Peakfreud]

I find Chuck annoying and trying way,way too hard

[@gemgreg]

I can't express how great Chuck is to this show :)

[@RowdyGromwwwww]

Annoying*

[@cybergintoki]

​@@RowdyGromwwwwwnot more than you tho

[@worknprogress80]

RIGHT! 😂 LOVE SOME LORD N I C E !!!! SO FUUUUUNE

[@dvdcamp7187]

@@RowdyGromwwwwwI just finished leaving a comment saying the same! I understand why they brought him on, and on paper I see why they would do that. But he’s not making these podcasts and videos enjoyable. He’s very, very annoying

[@illogik]

@@dvdcamp7187Hater

[@DikkeBetha]

Chuck needs his own asteroid. So that people can say "hey that's a nice asteroid!".

[@sekaramochi1944]

Please continue Chuck

[@bullettube9863]

Yes, a NICE asteroid!

[@idontagree9658]

Asteroids need common nomeclature distinction between big solid rock tumbling through space and all its other piles of gravel and expensive mineral distinctions. Where are all the space Geologists? Chuck is what Earthlings should name the rock that deflects another rock falling into earth orbit, sending it hurtling like a plasma tv with 3 kryptonians in it, into the sun. Just great timing? I dont think so. (:

[@gergsmail01]

13169 Nice! 😂

[@drguyor]

Asteroid 13123 Tyson has an unnamed satellite. Maybe we can get that satellite named Nice in honour of Lord Nice.

[@thedogfather1204]

Neil’s approach at explaining his thoughts is always very graceful! 👍

[@brandonfraterphoenixbowers]

EXACTLY! Their comic approaches allow us all to be a part of these scientific wonders no matter what we know or don't know. Every video is extremely entertaining and knowledgeable.

[@PartridgeAves]

"I am gonna take a nap captain" got me😂😂😂😂😂😂. Chuck 😂

[@mosquitobight]

I'm sure the Titanic crew felt the same way at first...

[@hangryn3rd]

Neil absolutely deserves the honor of having an asteroid named after him. He is probably the second best science communicator of all time, after Carl Sagan, and the most watchable astrophysicist on social media.

[@STSWB5SG1FAN]

What would be interesting is if Neil (or his descendants) get to claim the mineral rights.

[@jony0_0]

😂❤❤❤

[@TheSilverShadow17]

Imagine future astronomers doing a study about the asteroid named Tyson haha

[@Ep1cure]

When you said '600....', I thought 'Wow! 600 mile gap', then you said '...thousand miles'. Mind blown right there!

[@TheSilverShadow17]

Imagine being an asteroid floating in space with your fellow asteroid companions, with your closest neighbors being 600 thousand miles away from you as you coexist alongside the other 100+ million tiny rocks lol

[@Muhahahahaz]

Literally 2.5x further than the moon!

[@MultiAwesomeness21]

"in about a month, we might hit that asteroid" i laughed so hard lol

[@espenstoro]

Take evasive action... in 3 weeks.

[@TheSilverShadow17]

​​@@espenstoroBy that point the asteroid would of already migrated to another spot in it's otherwise absurdly long orbit, doing not only the spacecraft a favor but rendering the preparations for a crash course fruitless.

[@Chris_Rybowski]

Just to put it into perspective, 600,000 miles is 2.5x the distance between Earth and the Moon.

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

Wow, I simultaneously thought the moon was further, and that asteroids were closer 🤯

[@EarnestCreations]

"I'm actually gonna take a nap, captain" got me, brilliant!

[@tickets23]

This was a fun video to watch! Thank you for your time explaining Neal, and chucks hilarious commentary.

[@thelastobasknight3966]

The comedy these guys create is worth watching even if you don't learn anything. But I often lean things too, so double win!

[@diegofernandez4789]

This was one of the best explainers. No doubt.

[@FransJSuper]

This is by far one of the funniest star talks ever. Had to hold my belly to prevent it from going into orbit… 😂

[@jimmyphelps6037]

I just finished reading Astrophysics for people in a hurry and it was incredible such an easy book to get into especially as someone who wasn’t big on reading anything outside of Comics, In fact it was so good I’ve already bought one of your other books Death by Black Hole because I knew I wouldn’t be able to get enough of your witty comments and expressions throughout each chapter while teaching me the wonderful wonders of the universe.

[@imartinist]

I love chuck especially when he has his super fire moments 🤣

[@kevinflick61]

Another great video by my favorite astrophysicist and one of my favorite comedians. I love the way you guys inspire us to keep looking up.

[@naxel37]

This is the Neil that I love. I love Astronomy and to have someone like Neil explain so much so clearly, its awesome.

[@TheLOLWHATTTTTTT]

Doctor Tyson, I'm not sure if you are reading the comments from time to time, but your show is absolutely awesome! I simply can't wait for you to make an appearance in Montreal! What blows my mind with this explainer is the fact that these don't, over time, gravitationaly attract themselves to form just a bigass asteroids (or a new planet)... or do they? Btw, Chuck's energy is contagious. Keep up the good work, you guys are the perfect Lawn Mowing partners! Excuse the grammar, english isn't my first language.

[@shadowfan982]

the asteroids would form a planet eventually if Jupiter didn't exist just to ruin their orbits

[@wayando]

Likely they used to be a planet and broke apart

[@j.a.weishaupt1748]

Don’t worry. Your English is better than that of many native speakers.

[@AlZ-oy4si]

One of my favorite analogies to get a sense of the scale of space is if you think of the distance between Sun and Alpha Centauri as the length of a football field then the size of Neptune's orbit is about the size of a quarter. Another is to think of distances not in abstract units like miles/kilometers, but in terms of the size of objects themselves. How many suns can you fit between the Sun and Alpha Centauri? About 30 million. The AU already does this in a way. ~270,000 AU to Alpha Centauri.

[@JasonB808]

Your mistaken. AU is not the size of the sun itself. It’s the average distance the Earth is from the sun. So the AU units are far bigger than you yourself thought 😂 It’s easier for people to understand in miles or kilometers.

[@-_Nuke_-]

The best one for me is called "How Far Are The Nearest Stars?" here on KZbin. The guy takes the actual trip with a car to show you infact how far it actually is! :D

[@WheelgunsOnWheels]

@@-_Nuke_-yes! If the sun were scaled down to the size of the period at then end of this sentence, the Alpha Proximi would be 4 miles away ⭐️

[@nichiniker]

We got to start a petition to demote Neil’s asteroid to a dwarf asteroid. We weren’t able to save Pluto, but we can avenge it!

[@luism8550]

😂😂😂

[@TheDennys21]

Asteroids don't really have a size limit, everthything down to a meter is an asteroid.

[@facespaz]

Another great explainer. & Chuck's asteroid belt movie dialogue had me dying!

[@AtmanBrahman]

This is the funniest episode I’ve seen in a long time 😂 And enlightening 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@theskintexpat-themightygreegor]

Chuck was in fine form on this one. I laughed out loud several times. I love Startalk in general, but this one was hilarious. Thanks for this one, guys!

[@Xenomorphenia]

The asteroid named "Fluffy" is probably a planet killer LOL

[@TheSilverShadow17]

The nickname of Gabriel Iglesias that one is

[@Sherwoody]

@@TheSilverShadow17I saw Gabriel. He killed the audience. My sides are still sore.

[@Linerunner99]

I have money on an asteroid named "Aunt Flo" putting us out of our misery. ;)

[@nanettil]

Chuck at his absolute best! Without him, the whole episode could have been Neil saying, deadpan, "the average distance between asteroids id 600k miles". Interesting, no doubt, but with Lord Nice? Another level. Well done, guys!

[@zanebliss3764]

Love the show guys. Thank you. This episode brings in an interesting question. How dense are typical astroid belts in other systems? What is the average? Our solar system seems to have a few oddities that are not typical. Maybe a thin astroid belt is one of them.

[@peterkirby1753]

I think the rule should be if you ever mention the size of space that you have to begin with, "Space, is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space." 😁 (Douglas Adams)

[@davidevans3227]

🙂

[@johnyepthomi892]

Great episode as always.

[@anuragu965]

This video made my day. Thanks Chuck!

[@ramonbmovies]

This was a good one. BTW, how about discuss how to go through Saturn's disk? It's been sort of done already. There's actually an audio recording of when the satellite went through one of the layers. Turns out it was literally dust; but at that speed, the dust hitting the satellite sounds like static.

[@rutujagurav3473]

This is one of my favorite Startalk videos. Mainly because of Chuck's hilarious dramatization of a realistic passage through the asteroid belt 😂 I keep coming back to it whenever I need a good laugh.

[@davionpharaoh]

Love chuck and the star talk channel learn so much about science especially astronomy

[@TaimazHavadar]

You are smarter than what i think about you.👍👏.. i was waiting for this kind of films and you can find so many real facts than you think..

[@Astronomator]

Thanks for the great video. This brings to mind another aspect of space that SF almost always gets wrong: Nebulae. On the screen and in print, we see ships using nebulae to hide in during conflict so they can avoid--or even ambush--an enemy. In the opening credits of "Voyager", we see Voyager dip its figurative toe into a glowing nebula, leaving behind a glowing wake as it sails by. That's not how any of that works. A typical emission nebula (one that gives off light, like the one in the "Voyager" opening credits) is as bright as a 40-watt incandescent bulb spread out over fifty cubic miles. Though when seen from light years away over a long exposure time, that can be impressive and quite beautiful, the truth is that if you were right in the middle of an emission nebula, you would have a difficult time figuring that out. (Indeed, it took astronomers quite a while to determine that Earth is not inside an emission nebula.) A typical nebula is also a better vacuum than even the best vacuums we can achieve on Earth. They are almost not even there at all. They usually span several light years in size, and only from a very great distance and long exposure times do they look like the flowing rivulets of glowing gas as depicted in science fiction.

[@jimmyd486]

As an avid scifi fan for the last 50 years I share your frustration over scenes like the one in S.T. Voyager's opening scene. The wake aggravates me knowing that they did that just for the cinematic effect, or they are just that ignorant, either ways its ridiculous. My kids say I am a Trekkie but I deny it. Everything their shows do in space is just wrong but I can't help watching it. ☺ If you want to read a really good, and accurate scifi series check out "The Lost Fleet" by Jack Campbell. The first book is "Dauntless". The author sticks by physics pretty closely and the space battles are just amazing.

[@Astronomator]

@@jimmyd486 Thanks for the recommendation. I'll be sure to check it out.

[@kevinbowker2385]

I can listen to you two brilliant men talk for an hour.

[@tristanbrooks4755]

The scene from Attack of the Clones takes place in a ring (around Geonosis) not in an asteroid field...so I think the distance depicted is more realistic there. But no excuse for Empire! Lol Great video!!

[@levoweal]

Not really. If you can see one asteroid while standing on another, that means their orbits are close enough that they'll hit each other eventually. Now, imagine it's not two, but dozens of them. They all will hit each other. Given enough time, they either break into smaller pieces (I believe that's what dust rings are) or combine into one bigger object (it's theorized our Moon is exactly that). Rule of thumb is that in space to see or hit anything, anything at all, you have to know precisely where it is and try very-very hard to reach it. It is impossible to hit, find or even see anything by accident, including asteroids in asteroid field/ring/belt.

[@toxicoverlord388]

Good video keep up the good work

[@MolefhiJunior]

love star talk, they just make it difficult not to enjoy

[@oldgymrat71]

I am one of your many fans Neil, hoping you help open many minds!

[@chhsel]

lifehack: you don't need an astronomer friend, just name your kids AFTER Asteroids

[@TheCyberadam26]

I enjoy how you both explain the vastness of space, but in a super funny way. 😃

[@amaurystengel]

I love watching these videos while having breakfast, but today it took me longer to finish my meal because I kept laughing so hard at Chuck's jokes, especially about the space ship navigating through the Asteroid field. You guys are awesome!

[@j.michaelmiller4689]

I always thought it was because of the “hyperspeed” and folding of space that they got so close

[@Webberjo]

If I ever discover a new asteroid, though the chances are low, I will name it Nice after you, Chuck. "Damn, that is a Nice asteroid!"

[@Benholio1]

You guys are cracking me up on this one… much needed 😂

[@Wis_Dom]

You guys make learning, fun! 🌠

[@ElliotNesterman]

Let us assume that the average distance of 600K miles between asteroids is the general case in any solar system. If a spaceship can achieve significant sub-light speed, say 75% C, that's about 140,000 miles/second. So the asteroids might come by pretty quick if you couldn't navigate a path that gave them all a wide berth.

[@AtariBorn]

Could you imagine the calculations it would take to navigate an asteroid field at that speed? Especially if those asteroids are moving at different speeds. You'd have to calculate where you would be, where the asteroids would be, where the asteroids would be in relation to each other... all while going too fast to visually see them. Just the calculations it would take to know where and when to look out the window would be insane.

[@SuperAloeFresh]

@@AtariBornthe odds of hitting one are virtually zero However. A study was done about going a random direction at light speed across the entire universe and the odds of never hitting anything were 99.9%. Space is massive and mostly empty. Biggest threat in space travel is tiny grains of sand

[@AtariBorn]

@@SuperAloeFresh I'm sure the odds would change if you were deliberately traveling into an asteroid field, at the speed of light.

[@dhruvverma7087]

Question-Is their any inertia in space ? I googled it got the answer yes But mass is the measure of inertia So if the mass is more ,more force is required to move it But I saw a video of you saying that in space any propulsion will work So it means If I apply small force on any body in space it will move I get that it is requiring some bare minimum force to overcome inertia But let's try the least amount of force on body in space be it x It will still move Now if the object is million times more that. x(minimum force )will still work and make the body overcome it,s inertia (Another way to put the question) But if we go according to the definition mass is the measure of inertia then more mass = more inertia If I take 1 ton body in space and apply the least force possible it will move But If apply the same least possible force it will move the 100 ton body also How,a that possible ?????

[@yourguard4]

Inertia has no "minimum", that would be needed overcome. It just means, that something with more mass, moves less when affected by the same force. Example: We apply a force of 1N on a 100 kg mass for 1 second, and it accelerates to a speed of force / mass = 1N / 100kg * 1 sec = 0.01 m/s Now we apply the same force of 1N to a 100 000 kg mass for 1 second, and it reaches a speed of 1N / 100 000kg * 1sec = 0.000 01 m/s Both masses move due to a tiny force, but the more massive object moves slower.

[@inlandbott]

In Star Wars defense, that was in a galaxy far, far away where asteroids may be closer together. Maybe even six feet on average:)

[@simonagree4070]

If they were that close together, they would smash into each other and make a planet, amiright?!

[@kuhndj67]

yea the biggest issue I have with nearly all Sci-Fi (even very good sci-fi like the Expanse series) is how they compress space to keep things interesting. Dodging asteroids... accidentally running across enemy ships... getting into "dogfights" and exchanging fire in realtime. None of this stuff would happen in space. Even using photonic weapons (light speed), you'd be engaging at such vast distances that defeating the weapon would only need effective random motion. Space is REALLY big... and even when there are a lot of things in a confined area (asteroid belt), those things are going to be spread out so far apart that your risk of "crashing into one" will be miniscule.

[@NineAtoms1]

Gosh, I do love watching you two! Laughed a lot with this one!

[@kevingipson9293]

C3-PO: “Sir, the probability of successfully navigating an Asteroid Field is approximately 99.9997!” 😅

[@edd.98]

Chuck thanks for making my day a little bit better.you made me laugh so hard.i wounder how boring a movie like star wars would be if they made with help of Neil and his colleauges and it was made exactly what they told the director.

[@junefreeman3788]

Asteriod Fluffy is what got me! i still can't get over it🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😆😆

[@The_Tangler]

I would think your speed has a lot to do with encountering an asteroid. If you go very slowly, chances of hitting anything will be low. Move very fast and the distance between asteroids diminishes greatly. So, chance collision will be higher. Also, other solar systems will be different from our solar system. Another solar system may be more densely packed. It just happens the asteroid field the Millenium Falcon is navigating through is one of these dense fields.

[@bluemalamute]

right, we didn't cover the "galaxy far, far away" - but, I'm not sure going faster makes the probability higher - but it definitely could make the potential damage in case of a collision catastrophic. With warping, however, wouldn't it technically be more like teleporting, so you don't even have to consider any objects "in between"?

[@The_Tangler]

Looking at it with another perspective, taking a leisurely stroll down a street, the wind you are facing is not strong. If you travel a hundred miles per hour, you'll definitely feel the air resistance.

[@morningmadera]

You can't have an asteroid field like in the movies, only if a planet would be destroyed into a million pieces. And even then, they would look red hot and form another planet in a short time.

[@maineiacial]

10:52 chuck that happened at my work. She was elderly and she said the lot was so empty that she looked at her phone because she felt so secure. There's a reason most accidents happen within shouting distance of home, you're most relaxed....

[@IamAyo.]

Chuck is something else really!!!😂😂😂

[@wavemaker54]

Chuck, when there’s an alert however improbable, I get hooked on a feeling.

[@Democlis]

In the defense of the original trilogy that asteroid field Han Solo is navigating is a recently exploded planet. If anything what is wrong in that scene is that many of thise chunks should be piles of gooey lava that didnt have ebough time to cool down yet, but their proximity is expected and given how they were formed there is even a big possibility for them to coalesce again given a few million years and reforme Alderan.

[@cp_pdn]

These 2 are just awesome!!!

[@albuquerquegardening]

I've always heard they don't "Dodge" asteroids, they "Chevy" asteroids

[@michaelccopelandsr7120]

So, what happens when you, "Ford," asteroids?

[@albuquerquegardening]

@@michaelccopelandsr7120 if you can Ford em, buy em

[@negativeindustrial]

@@michaelccopelandsr7120 That’s when the asteroid breaks down.

[@TiNRiB]

Neil is getting so much hate, but he makes science so much fun. Which is what i love about him. Thank you

[@denisenj7648]

People think space is jam packed. I try to emphasize that all the stuff out there is super far away from each other. Even if there was intelligent life somewhere it is so so so far away as to be irrelevant. They always show planets in proportion to each other but they can't ever show the relative distance since they are no where near each other.

[@yapdog]

9:04 Chuck described the plot for Speed 3 😅

[@shakesrear7850]

A book with a big chunk on empty space that will be a best seller, Chuck's masterful personification of empty space with a therapist: Masterful.

[@1a1u0g9t4s2u]

It is nice to learn about the spacial distance between asteroids. For perspective please enlighten us what the spacial distance is for the particles in the rings of Saturn and for the dead and abandoned satellites, misplaced tools (from space walks), and other space debris orbiting the earth.

[@geraldstiling3735]

Neil👨🏽‍🏫 and chuck👨🏽 is literally the definition of "The whole being greater than the sum of it's parts"😊

[@TomMeyer-u5p]

I just started thinking that the dust an chunks of space junk in low earth orbit is probably a lot denser than the dust and chunks in the asteroid belt. After all satellites sometimes are ordered to alter their orbits to avoid collisions with debris.

[@zvonimir1992]

I love these guys star talking,love their knowledge and they are funny.Big Hi from southeastern europe.❤

[@rainelind2127]

I learned something new, today. Thank you.

[@rogertulk8607]

I was so glad to see this explainer. I'm always amused when I see things like How the Universe Works showing the solkar system crowded with rocks and protoplanets and such things when they are really huge distances apart.

[@trapjohnson]

Droppin' 3 Score and 10, we see you Chuck ;)

[@georgegrimes7313]

This is greatest duo in history

[@zhubajie6940]

So lucky to watch the launches of Pioneer 1 and 2, and Voyager 1 and 2 from Titusville, Florida.

[@TheC.O.-VISIT]

Between this and Pluto, childhood totally jaded. Thanks Neil 😂

[@BrendonGS]

Chuck’s lining is on point

[@TheRuben_music]

So much energy in the universe! But why do i feel so tired?

[@charlesrich6227]

Love what you guys do thanks!

[@javanochieng5720]

I was kinda relieved to hear that distance between the rocks

[@JJs_playground]

8:37 that fact is mindboggling, average distance is 600,000 miles (960,000 km).

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Starfield showed how *EMPTY* Space truly is!

[@dresmat72]

Whats really important when crossing an asteroid field is not the average distance but the minimun distance between asteroids

[@toma2233]

I remember the worry about going through the asteroid belt before Pioneer 10. And the theory that the asteroid belt was either a failed planet or a planet that broke apart. Thanks for reminding us of the two spacecraft who set out for the end of the solar system before the Voyagers. Nobody seems to remember them any more.

[@dougwalker4944]

thank you Neil and Chuck for the laughs.

[@DaBlondDude]

Voyager space probe was a lead actor in the first Star Trek movie

[@jerminfestedmedia]

Chuck was on fire today! Loved the little Star Trek sketch he just made HAHAHAHAHAhahaha

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

Perhaps this is why now most "asteroid dodging space dogfight" scenes in Star Wars movies and shows take place in planetary rings, where objects really ARE constantly smashing into each other.

[@Wumbo_the_Mumbo]

Great video, guys. I have a question though. Hypothetically we launch two rockets, one from the north pole and one from the south pole. What would we be able to find out by going straight up and/or straight down?

[@Zhixalom]

Uhm... assuming that we are referring to Star Wars, can I just point out some nitpickingly obvious observations? The Empire Strikes Back - at ~ 38 minutes in (depending on the version): .Han> That wasn't a laser blast, something hit us. .Lea> Han, get up here. .Han> Come on, Chewie! .Lea> Asteroids. .Han> Chewie, set 271. .Lea> What are you doing? .Lea> You're not actually going into an asteroid field? .Han> They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they? Attack of the Clones - at ~ 66 minutes in (again, depending on the version): .Boba> Dad! .Boba> I think we're being tracked! .Jango> He must have put a homing device on our hull. .Jango> Hang on, son. We'll move into the asteroid field... and we'll have a couple of surprises for him. .Obi-Wan> Seismic charges! So, Neil is talking about the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, right? In both cases Lea and Jango are calling it an "asteroid field", and in Jango's, Boba's, and Obi-Wan's case, we even get to see this "field" is actually the ring-system around the planet Geonosis, as in; not like our asteroid belt at all. Now, in Empire Strikes Back we don't get any clues, to what kind of "asteroid field" this is, or where it's located in terms of proximity to any possible nearby gravity wells. So, I guess we just assume that it is an asteroid belt similar to the one in our solar system, as if there are no other scenarios where it would be possible for asteroid looking debris to be this close together. - BTW. Letting newly gained knowledge "ruin" past experiences, is entirely a mental decision.

[@vcoolpool]

Chuck makes this so funny.

[@Tommork-bq6ms]

I enjoy the info you present I'm just not a chit chat guy..

[@anthonyobryan3485]

I used to work the night shift at a gas station, about 30 years go, positioned along a long stretch of a wide road. Visibility was about a mile in both directions until the road turned. The road was empty one late night except for one car going East and one car going West along the long stretch of straight road. The headlights on both cars were on, and they were both moving at no more than the posted 40 MPH speed limit. I turned my back for a handful of seconds, then I heard the crash. I turned back around to face the street, and that's when I noticed they had managed to hit each other and cause quite a bit of damage to both cars. I believe they could easily hit an asteroid that is 600,000 miles away.

[@sekaramochi1944]

Pure love look up and please please please never stop ❤

[@NunchucksHabit]

In defence of Hollywood, those stories aren't necessarily topical of the Oort cloud. Other asteroid clouds or belts in other galaxies might be far more dense. In the film "The Midnight Sky", it does happen in our galaxy, but it's debris from asteroids colliding that causes damage to their ship - at speeds of X, a fragment the size of a football can be like a bullet, and that bullet could actually consist of diamond. So, shields are still a viable requirement in even "local" space travel.

[@Faithfulfamily]

That’s a hypothetical asteroid belt in a hypothetical galaxy so it isn’t necessarily an incorrect representation of an asteroid belt. It just isn’t the one in our solar system. Although if they were that close together they’d likely be collecting each other and making larger and larger asteroids.

[@Benjammin82]

StarTalk is the best. I love how educated and articulate Neil is the greatest astrophysicist in our generation.

Not everybody that sees StartTalk is from the US. Being so, it would be nice that distances, and other units mentioned on the videos, could have a conversion (subtext in post production) for the rest of the viewers. Just saying.