Should You Get a Degree, Straight Line Space Travel, Astronomy in 100 Years | Q&A 203

How far away do constellations start to change? What if The Big Bang was more energetic? Is a university degree worth it? Why don't we travel through the solar system in straight lines? All this and more in this week's Q&A with Fraser Cain.
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00:00 Start
01:35 [Tatooine] How far away do constellations begin to change?
04:36 [Coruscant] Can we see beyond the observable Universe?
10:37 [Hoth] What if the Big Bang was more energetic?
13:22 [Naboo] What will Vera Rubin observatory see?
16:58 [Kamino] Why not release JWST data immediately?
20:51 [Bespin] How far out can we see that is in the present-ish?
23:35 [Mustafar] Is a University degree worth it? And which books are good to start learning astronomy?
26:37 [Alderaan] Can rockets with reusable rocket fuel exist?
30:16 [Dagobah] Is straight-line travel possible in the solar system?
32:11 [Yavin] Is Astronomy as exciting as it used to be?
35:22 [Mandalore] What will Astronomy look like in 100 years?
38:30 Outro
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[@chrissscottt]

I rather like the idea that neutrinos from the big bang era are passing through me right now.

[@aranciasf]

I've been following this channel for a while, and now I can really say with 100% confidence that this is one of my favourite channels. Space is one of my favourite things, but every time I wanted to look up something, I was bombarded with cheap and fear mongering articles by some no name (or sometimes even famous) journalist or site that only talked about asteroid or stuff like that to get clicks or scare people. I feel like people are scared of space or even don't want to get into it because of these articles, and that makes me really sad. But when I found out about your channel, it seemed like an oasis in the desert! Space Bites is the thing I love the most, but even these QnA videos are very entertaining and informational. Now I can get my weekly dose of space news and learn new things about space, so thank you and keep up the good work.

[@frasercain]

Thanks a lot, it means a lot to me that you're enjoying it so much.

[@spladam3845]

I want to give a shout-out to the editor, FANTATIC b-roll edits that add so much to the aesthetic of these fascinating Q & A's, Storyblock's spaceship was especially beautiful work. Thanks for all the effort team. To me Audrey Mayer's question sounded like she was asking if we would be able to one day image galaxies outside of the cosmological horizon, see the un-observable part of the observable universe. Your answer to the Hoth question gave the impression that elements were being formed for the first 20 minutes after the big bang, until the plasma cooled, but Recombination does not occur until 380k years after the big bang, which would be the first formation of hydrogen atoms would it not?

[@RockHoward]

I liked the Hoth question too. Recombination is the era when the universe could start forming neutral hydrogen where an electron is bound to a proton. Before that lone protons floated freely without electrons which means they were ionized. Similarly fused atoms of heavier atoms were also ionized. As the universe cooled electrons started to be captured by ionized atoms and overall ionization levels dropped.

[@cjay2]

If you are really interested in Astronomy and want to study it, do it, and research it, then go to University and learn what you need, in an orderly fashion, in order to actually understand it. And ignore the political BS along the way even if it comes from your professor. 'YES' them until you graduate, and get good at your work.

[@myshow667]

Mustafar I was ranked 145th of 161 when i barely made it out of high school. Yet ive been studying astro physics and astronomy in my spare time with you since about 2009. And that led me to so much more than i could or would list here. Its so vast, liks Canada.

[@frasercain]

That's amazing!

[@myshow667]

@@frasercain you surely dont remember i figure, but i remember emailing you around 2010-11 to ask if it was okey if i pulled clips from your shows for my online radio show.

[@KarenHernandez-jm8px]

Truly loved your commentary on this brought me to tears about wanting to know everything and beyond about the universe but will never know in our lifetime ... but I will say this, it is an honor to have a chance to be a tiny part it

[@-Thauma-]

Thank you so much for yet a great vid, Mr Cain. I appreciate your work. ❤

[@frasercain]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@chadcrider2020]

Vote: Coruscant Question: Is it possible that the "planet 9 / X" gravitational.... properties(?) / Interference(?) that we see in the outer solar system could be coming from another Solar System? I remember something about the potential for overlap, and wasn't sure if it could potentially lead to some sort of interaction between the outer edge of our solar system, and another solar system.

[@DNTMEE]

The thing that gives me that "awe" feeling (besides the vastness of the universe) is the personal connection anyone can have with a star by simply looking at it. Just with the eye. No telescope, only your eye. One needs a large telescope to resolve very distant objects, but that does not mean some of those photons from those objects are not hitting your eyes every time you look up. They are. Every time a photon from a distant or nearby star hits your eye, a very personal connection is made. Even though that photon may have left a given star a billion years ago, from it's ejection from the star the photon's destiny was to strike your eye and only your eye. It traveled through a billion years of time and a billion light years of space, avoiding everything in it's way so as to be your photon. It was on it's way before the dinosaurs existed. Throughout millions of years of earth's evolution and human evolution destined for you to raise your head in time for it to strike your eye. A minute part of the star connected with you. A very personal part. Everyone else will have their own photons, but not that particular one, nor all that followed. They were all yours from the start. From the creation of the universe even. Quantum physics with it's randomness, superposition, and probabilities not withstanding. They and a vast number of photons from other objects even more distant. You can't "see" them, but they made connection with you. Also, interestingly (to me anyway) zero time passed for the photon. If it could think it would believe you jumped out in front of it right as it left the star. It would have no idea it had left the star a billion years ago. At least it didn't get lonely on such a long journey.

[@CYGNO]

Another watchable, high quality, measured, yet still exciting example of your work.

[@freedonnadd71]

Thanks Frazier for another great question episode! I think my favorite this time was Dagobah and not just because Yoda still one of my favorite characters. It's nice to get a reminder. How while straight line shots seem simple, there's a much more efficient mathematical option to save both fuel and probably time in many cases.

[@frasercain]

Someday science fiction will figure out how to show it realistically. :-)

[@tarumph]

Kamino - I agree, you need to give the original researchers time to finish what they've started.

[@frasercain]

Yeah, I'm on the fence with this. But I lean towards helping make sure the science gets done right.

[@Handles-R-Lame]

@@frasercain however the other side of the coin would be that public access to said information allows for greater amount data to be resolved and then whatever is published would be peered reviewed so that the most accurate and largely acceptable information would be available. But i understand the hesitation in allowing such data to be released publicly, i just think the more people have access to it the more knowledge we can collectively gain from it. Nothing good comes from withholding information of any kind. Great Q&A, as it really gets the mind thinking!

[@fasoking1834]

i love the classical background and the content put the music on every video it has a peace of mind and I appreciate your work.

[@frasercain]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[@michaelschmitter8725]

I liked your answer for yavin, but I liked the question for tattooin. With this new breakthrough in nuclear fusion, how do you think it will advance our space exploration? What do you expect/hope to see from it? Do you think it will lead to new forms of propulsion to further our reach into the cosmos?

[@frasercain]

It's pretty exciting, and actually has more applications in spaceflight than in electric power generation in the near term. It's a legit breakthrough.

[@parkey5]

Hoth Fusion, neutron stars, quantum effects on cosmic levels always makes me hungry to learn more

[@philby25]

Naboo was my favourite question, it actually provoked a thought for a question I had for you so here goes...The Vera Rubin Observatory will take a 'snapshot' collage of the sky and from this we can compare images in 2 days time to see what has changed, what are flight paths like over observatories? Are they restricted airspace or is it fair game and the observatory has to deal with aircraft strobes in their data thus requiring them to be filtered out? You can appreciate how an aircraft strobe blinking one night and not being there in the next exact spot might throw off false positives :P Thanks for all you do mate!

[@frasercain]

Yes, the airspaces above observatories are restricted, so planes have to avoid them. But you can't make satellites avoid the airspace, which is why they're such a big concern for astronomers.

[@evihofkens9530]

Listening to you makes me so calm and smarter! Thanks

[@frasercain]

Hah, I'm glad I'm a calming influence. ;-)

[@greggweber9967]

In a Gravity Field in order for something to stay still, something at some speed must fall or more correctly be thrown down to conserve momentum. Same when not in a Gravity Field but you want to change course and speed.

[@concinnity9676]

My favorite was Yavin; a great question about how you feel, the initial awe waning into details, a vague sense of loss at all the universe you can never know. It was the best answer. "But hang onto that sense of awe, it's pretty great." Second choice is Hoth, why we didn't get heavy elements out of the minutes after the BB. Third choice is Alderaan, I was surprised that "present-ish" is a couple billion years. It was hard to choose, it seemed better than usual. I am also happy that LaGrange was mentioned only when you guessed at advances is astronomy. Kilometer sized aperatures at L3, L4, L5, linked with interferometry! But I thought L3 is not stable? I suggest just L4 and L5: 2/3 the cost, but most of the benefit.

[@robreid6195]

Yeah, I loved this question too, and Fraser's answer was very insightful. I share that sadness about the limits of what can be known. I mean, imagine knowing (if it's possible) how the singularity came about and what triggered the Big Bang!

[@faker-scambait]

Another good video thanks Fraser. 👍👍

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

Alderaan has my vote; it was a strong answer for an intuitive question most of us have had.

[@dougirvin2413]

Wow Fraser! One of your best Q & A's. Loved the question about "presentish" (Alderaan?). Try listening to an Al Jazera interview over whatever satalite connection they us!!! LOL! Brutal delay! Keep up the good work, we're all counting on you.

[@johnholmes9435]

The way the stars would shift in the sky on a trip to Capella was the subject of my article in Sky and Telescope in March,1975: "The Sky Of Capella"

[@Violingirl79]

Can I find a copy of that anywhere?

[@johnholmes9435]

@@Violingirl79 I have a copy in pdf form that I got off Sky and Telescope’s back issues listed on their web site. I could send it to you if you can’t find it there.

[@Threedog1963]

Tatooine; We don't have to travel from the earth to watch the constellations change, just sit for a long time here on earth and they change up on there own as earth and the other stars travel on their different trajectories. I think there are simulations online that show this.

[@Raz.C]

Nb: I vote for Mandalore as the best answer - question combo.

[@frasercain]

Awesome, thanks!

[@kindlin]

Anyone who disagrees with the Jason Wright article clearly didn't actually read it. He's for the proprietary period, which is an absolute must for keeping science publishing fair for all scientists. There is also the Early Release Science data that is freely available already, and people have plenty of data to scramble over. Give the people working on long-time research an opportunity to dive into their data, and not need to scramble to complete a life's passion.

[@frasercain]

Yeah, there is an entirely separate track of data getting released to the public. I'd rather see the science done right, and one year isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things.

[@kindlin]

@@frasercain Exactly. I had it all backwards at first until I read the article itself, and realized you were agreeing with the article and informing your commenter. Great stuff as always!

[@lexpox329]

kamino, very interesting question, I was not aware of this issue. I agree with your analysis.

[@frasercain]

It's tricky. We want the info to be free, but we also want it to be correct.

[@aaronjust5862]

Kamino! Great question and an even better answer!

[@Violingirl79]

Just realised I never commented on this, but thanks for answering my question Fraser! 👍🏻 🖖🏻

[@Astras-Stargate]

Great video, thanks!

[@frasercain]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@nitestryker7]

HOTH. Great question and answer.

[@frasercain]

Thanks a lot!

[@OzzyMandias]

I like the way you say 'you wouldn't have to travel far for the constellations to change...only a few hundred light years', just a hop, skip and a jump really 🤟

[@frasercain]

Compared to the size of the Universe...

[@echofloripa]

I guess the first questions was if the constellations would change o a distant humanly possible. Like Voyagers, for example, would they see any difference at all?

[@cannes76]

The magnetic scoop idea has been shot down afaik. It would only be a good way to slow down, mind you that in and of itself might be a great idea!

[@michaelmadigan3586]

Fraser Cain thank you for the great content.

[@frasercain]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[@aureaphilos]

Hi Frazier, this week's discussion about the Vera Reuben telescope got me thinking about the Oort Cloud. Wi Vera Reuben - or one of the other telescopes in development - have the resolution to allow us to begin exploring the structure of the Cloud? If not, what do you think it will take?

[@Jenab7]

RE: straight-line travel. Near a massive body, even what looks to be close to a straight line of travel is usually either a plunge orbit or the conjoined in-bound/out-bound asymptotes of a hyperbolic orbit with a large hyperbolic excess speed. That question guy might have no idea how much studying lies ahead of him.

[@frasercain]

Yeah, orbits are always best.

[@alan2here]

That laser drive sounds great. There are electrons everywhere.

[@CLipka2373]

Here's another perspective on the "Straight Line Space Travel" question: Yes, straight lines ARE the standard trajectories when traveling through space. Or, more accurately, when traveling through spaceTIME. (Remember that you can't just travel through space; time is always involved.) The thing is that straight lines through spaceTIME - especially when traveling more through time than through space (that is, moving slow) - are inherently curved. As a matter of fact, orbits ARE straight lines throught spacetime. Yes, general relativity is weird.

[@frasercain]

Hah, good point. Following orbits is traveling in a straight line through curved spacetime.

[@EvieDoesYouTube]

On the subject of reusable rocket fuel, one form of propulsion you missed was the mass driver. There are plenty of rocks out there to attach a spacecraft to, and so long as there's a light (or radiation) source strong enough to provide even a small amount of power to the ship's batteries it could throw maybe a spoonful of rock dust out of the back of the ship once a day, or week, or month at super-high velocity. Now that I think of it, there's cosmic rays everywhere, can't we use those as a power source as we can with light? And if there are cosmic rays everywhere, isn't it possible that there are interstellar jet streams?

[@nhaze8173]

Kamino , i really like that answer, quality before quantity. I think it's very important for science. Keep up the good work 👏

[@frasercain]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@sulljoh1]

I like the Yavin question

[@frasercain]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@Kamil_O]

good questions

[@triskeliand]

Yavin. Well answered Mr Cain

[@CoreyKearney]

The Dagobah question. I'm not sure if Fraser is aware of this but, in the expanse (fictional, but its a thing.) they do go in a straightish line, (leading the target of course.) It's call a Brachistochrone trajectory.

[@andyoates8392]

“Mandalore” saved the best question and answers for the last in this episode

[@DataSmithy]

Mandalore -This sounds like in 100 years, we would have enough details about enough exoplanets, that we could actually have realistic targets for robotic exploration (using long lived interstellar robotic voyages).

[@tomv5782]

Dagobah: How about this for a mind twist - Objects traveling between celestial bodies do travel in straight lines... relative to gravitational contour lines. It's just that those contour lines aren't what we think of as straight and they move and morph as bodies change position relative to one another. Eh?

[@bmwolgas]

Your thoughts on the latest fusion energy breakthrough? Is this a big deal, or not really?

[@pasozytspoleczny]

This week i liked Kamino question and answer the most. Thank you for your work 👍

[@jasonjohnson7859]

Hey Fraser, I am also a west coast Canadian. I however live in far away lands. Maybe In a decade or so when I go back to Canada I can buy you a cold and frothy. Love your work very much.

[@OzoneTheLynx]

I'll go with Naboo.

[@brainbark]

Another great show! Mandalore

[@frasercain]

Thanks!

[@KnittedFox]

MUSTAFAR ~ Thank you for answering this question!! This is a variation of a question I wanted to ask. I have been wanting to learn more about specific things like how Fraunhofer Lines work, cosmic redshift, and quantum particles, so this answer definitely helped me know where to look for the answers. d^_^b

[@kennethhicks2113]

Good question on "getting knowledge" vs the piece of paper... may age not bring the pessimism it has brought me re: the answer.

[@theedspage]

My favorite question was at what point does the constellations change.

[@jasonblack6142]

Hi Frasier I like the way you stay cool about for instance me being dumb the other week thanks for being a real cool guy

[@ref_esoterichistory1837]

After playing so many hours of Kerbal Space Program, it's hard not to cringe or laugh now when seeing a movie where the character's ship is flying straight toward the planet. Like it's on some space highway driving straight toward a city.

[@frasercain]

I honestly can't think of any show that really handles orbits right, except for maybe the Expanse.

[@manfredmaniek]

Hi Fraser, love the show. Is there a way for a spacecraft to scoop up interstellar material as a fuel source to power an ion drive? If so, would that also work in intergalactic space or is that way too sparse? Also - best question/answer is Mandalore.

[@frasercain]

In theory, but it would still need electricity to accelerate the ions, and there's no solar power out there in deep space.

[@tompava3923]

Question, Frazier. Is there a way we can visualize what our sky would look like if we were to time-advance all of the stars and features to where we would expect them to be at present day? Would you expect a significant change visible to the naked eye?✌️😎

[@frasercain]

Oh absolutely. I don't know if an easy simulation you can play with, but the sky would look unrecognizable in a few hundred thousand years.

[@olorin4317]

Naboo Is it feasible that black holes are expansion engines that gather regular matter, spaghettification filters it down to it's quantum components, perhaps alters it into some exotic... thing, and then gently leaks it all out into a "field" that we just don't know how to see and measure yet?

[@frasercain]

What you're describing is pretty much the modern science. Black holes consume matter and then evaporate it again over vast periods of time. It's just that it'll happen on timescales far into the future.

[@greggweber9967]

At the start of the Big Bang when there was a smaller sized massive object, what speed and in what direction was it moving? Would it's relativistic speed be counted with mass? Just one little thing moving really really fast?

[@tonywells6990]

It would have been expanding in every direction, so no direction or velocity would be favoured over another.

[@jeroenk3570]

Question. Thanks Fraser for another good episode. Is the working of a solar sail bouncing photons with a mirror and using its opposite reaction, or is it transferring momentum, like the ball thingy you see on a lot office desks, or is that the same principle at work?

[@frasercain]

The ball thingy is heat, I believe, which air currents pushing it around. That's different from the effect that makes a solar sail move. Photons are striking the solar sail, reflecting off it and imparting momentum.

[@tonywells6990]

Transferring momentum is the same thing as the 'equal and opposite reaction' law.

[@foxrings]

Alderaan Cool Worlds Lab KZbin channel discussed a ship design that aims a laser beam at a black hole carefully enough to have it swing back at the ship. A rare free lunch in physics. An interstellar colony ship that never slows down is called a gardener ship. Recommend Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur to explore the topic further.

[@robertgraybeard3750]

at25:05 college? knowledge? My thesis advisor told me "The most important thing you learn in college is how to learn."

[@petevenuti7355]

I was told way back when, was the most important was to learn how to use the library ... Does that mean google is the most important thing nowadays?

[@7777drummer]

I've always wondered if the Orion capsule was still really hot from passing through the atmosphere when it touched down in the water or does it get enough air cooling once it slows down and continues through the atmosphere?

[@richardaitkenhead]

I think its criminal the so little subs this channel has should be 3 mil not 300k

[@daos3300]

come back in a few years. nobody gets millions of subs in an instant.

[@richardaitkenhead]

@@daos3300 the channel is many years old, it deserves a bigger audience.

[@guyvandenbroeck8405]

I really wonder what the implications would be if lightspeed was infinitly fast, like if every source photon would be immediately entangled to it`s impact destination. Disregarding the implied infinite energy it would give to the photon. Or just E= m without the c2. Would all events differ in result since now all events at one point are delayed bij a relative distance timer. What if events would just arrive when the actually happen? Would it matter?

[@frasercain]

That's interesting, it would absolutely change many aspects of the Universe, but I wonder what, specifically would happen? That's beyond my paygrade.

[@rickflores5275]

I was only thinking on this idea of this idea ot direct travel direct to Mars.the other week. All you got to do is aim to where Mars is going to be at the nearest point

[@mattg2106]

Hi Frazier - another fabulous show! My Question - if gravity at the centre of a collapsing star is strong enough to overcome electron or even neutron degeneracy pressure, how can the collapsing shell "bounce" and explode causing a supernova? This ability for the "bouncing" matter to overcome this enormous gravity is always skipped over in any popular explanation. Thank you!

[@frasercain]

You've got matter falling inward at a significant percentage of the speed of light, it's that force that creates the black hole.

[@tonywells6990]

When a neutron star forms, protons and electrons are forced together (electron capture) to form neutrons which releases an enormously mindboggling number of neutrinos. It is this sudden release of neutrinos that causes the 'bounce' and the outward moving neutrinos smash into the matter that was still falling inwards and causes the supernova, while the neutron star stops its collapse due to the neutron degeneracy pressure. If the gravitational force is too great then the collapse instead continues, and the star forms a black hole.

[@mattg2106]

​@@frasercain So pumped that you took time to reply! The thing that is never covered it how that falling matter over comes the gravitational pull from the core, rather then contributing to the neutron core / black hole?

[@donaldtank]

If everything is going in the same direction in the universe and do we know which direction to point a nozzle of a rocket to stop the spaceship from falling through the universe to zero velocity then we'll the spacecraft be moving through the universe at light speed since everything is moving away from everything else at light speed the rocket would not be moving at light speed it would be just stopped in the universe and everything else will be going by the rocket at light speed?

[@tonywells6990]

Only light moves at light speed. Most things like stars, planets, galaxies move at much smaller speeds, 10's to 100's of km/s. Our galaxy is moving at something like 400km/s in some direction relative to the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which can be considered to be the rest frame of the universe. The fastest galaxies probably move up to around 3000km/s, in their local space, which is 1% of the speed of light. When we measure the recession velocities of galaxies, which can be up to 3 times faster than the speed of light, that is due mostly (>99%) to the expansion of space and not actually the velocity of the individual galaxies moving through space. So if you accelerate your rocket to be moving at rest compared to the CMB (about 600km/s relative to Earth!) then it would 'technically' be moving faster than light relative to a distant galaxy that is beyond about 9 billion light years away! Although you might as well just stay on Earth since it doesn't make much difference. Hope that answered your question.

[@frasercain]

Everything is relative. There's no such thing as zero velocity. You're going zero velocity compared to the Earth, but 30 km/s in orbit around the Sun. So it's all just about calculating the velocity it'll take to get from one location to another, like from the Earth to the Moon, or from the Moon to Mars.

[@Miumiu0404]

What are your thoughts on this science youtube channel called kurzgesagt? They have a lot of videos about planet terraforming and other space related topics. How realitistic do you think their content are?

[@frasercain]

They drew my channel icon. And I wrote the script for their black holes video. So... I think they're awesome.

[@Miumiu0404]

@@frasercain you're both awesome 🙌

[@carlrogers8678]

Great information. I will go check them out after I watch your video.

[@avaschoene8957]

I like their science and space based videos but they have some weird ones with weird takes. pretty educational but sometimes they bring politics and lifestyle videos that I do not agree with at all. Mostly good but some weird vibes for sure

[@Ozvmandias]

@Ava schoene completely agree

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Tatooine: Q&A, both good. Bespin: Q, good. A, debatable (I understand the need to define the question, but you left it much too open. I would have limited it to our own galaxy, not 2 billion years away. Beyond that, we would be looking at a different kind of place than what a local observer would see. Even our neighbor, Andromeda, might have changed in ways we can't predict. At the farthest, I would not presume to have any guess beyond our local group of 50 to 60 gravitationally collected galaxies.

[@frasercain]

Awesome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Andromeda can change, but not much really changes in a galaxy in 2.5 million years. That's a blink of an eye astronomically.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

@@frasercain - So far as we know now, that's true. That's why I expanded it to include the whole local group. That small cluster is generally collected under similar conditions and shared influences... back as far as the dinosaurs. If you allow a billion years, Andromeda can crash through our Milky Way and disrupt things beyond all recognition. And that's only one order of magnitude greater than 100 million years back to the dinosaurs. Given the will, and projectable tech improvement, Humanity could colonize the whole galaxy and know if anyone else is out there, in a couple hundred million years. That would be a noticeable change.

[@Lb-rg6jg]

Hoth, I was wondering where are all the non metalic stars ? as far as I understand we have never found any stars that are primordial...

[@tanmayraj7439]

Can you please tell about the science behind.How a person is standing in South, north pole and east,west side of the globe ? In North up and in south down side how ? Please explain it in a video for visualization..

[@oker59]

I recently thought about gonig back to school to get a phd in . . . mathematics. I left school for social political reasons. I remember acing the Astronomy in my community college. I got a associates of science because of that and other science general courses for a two year degree. I remember taking the finals for one of the only two Astronomy classes. The teacher made a sheet of questions to answer for those who needed extra points so they're not failing after the finals. I went in acing the course I finished the final, and answered all the extra questions on the backside! I mean I filled up the backsides. I must have gotten an A+++++!

[@Kurukx]

Love U Fraser be well :)

[@GoCoyote]

Even if there is a one year gap after the release of JWST information, after the first initial waiting year we are going to have a steady stream of information for people to sift through.

[@frasercain]

And it won't be a year, it looks like scientists are publishing their papers within 4 months or so.

[@wesleyhoskins9974]

How do we know if there are a edge of space.How do we don’t know if it keeps going

[@vicvicious5328]

Naboo!!! Hi Fraser, is there any knowledge of the time duration of a supernova

[@frasercain]

The core collapses in less than a quarter of a second and then it takes a few hours for the energy at the core to tear the star apart.

[@raymondbruns3291]

Alderaan, You forgot gravity assist. stealing energy. Great aqnswer and subject.

[@rulesofimgur]

We can only see far enough into the universe as it is old and we are said to live in an infinite universe. Based on our current observations, or what we could gather with our current technology, is it possible to determine if the universe is infinite or finite?

[@frasercain]

Our current observations can't tell the difference. Only if we could detect really subtle curvatures to the Universe could we get a sense of its true size.

[@lukasmakarios4998]

Dagobah: Q, silly question, A: excellent.

[@frasercain]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@laurachapple6795]

Kamino. Speaking of meteors in Canada, do you think that's a reasonable explanation for the Bell Island Boom?

[@frasercain]

I hadn't heard of that, but a meteorite exploding in the sky could definitely make a boom.

[@peterjones958]

Audrey Mayer gets my vote.

[@seffundoos]

Hoth Based on the current understanding and your personal opinion, is it more likely that the universe beyond our visible horizon is specially infinite or finite? Thanks for you & your team's continued excellent work. ❤️🇦🇺

[@frasercain]

My personal opinion is irrelevant. :-) We don't know if the Universe is finite or infinite.

[@seffundoos]

@@frasercain Haha thanks for the response, and well played. Pushing my luck here with a follow-up question - is there any experiment(s) on the horizon that may bring us closer to an answer? Is there even anything we could do experimentally to give us an answer?

[@BrewManPhilly]

900th like.😃(Commenting for the algorithm)

[@millielopez940]

Alderaan favorite question

[@jonathanhughes8679]

Ion drives and laser thrusters are exciting because we can fire long enough to cut travel from earth to Mars from years to a couple months and that a big difference. It’s why we must explore every option for propulsion. I feel sad at the things I will never get to know. I hope there’s a creator or another life because I want to know all the things that I’ll never know.

[@frasercain]

Just spend your time learning about things that you can know, and that'll keep you from being sad about the things you'll never know. Well, that's my strategy anyway.

[@gelisob]

Question: do your wife and kid sometimes also ask you to put on this relaxing theme music when you talk to them? :)

[@sulljoh1]

That would be hilarious

[@MarvelX42]

Of cpourse you could straight line travel to someplace. You just lead the target. People do it all the time. Shooting skeet is the perfect example.

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

What I wonder is, how come the big bang produced similar amounts of protons, neutons and electrons? How come they all found each other to become nice atoms? Why is it we do not have enormous clouds of loose protons for example, nowhere to be or nothing to do?

[@frasercain]

Loose protons are also known as hydrogen, which account for about 75% of the Universe.

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

@@frasercain - ah! OK, thanks, so there was much more protons than anything else? When we learn about atoms I get the impression there is similar amounts of all particles, But then we one day in the universe run out of electrons? Perhaps the universe gets charged with electrical potential because atoms have too few electrons

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

@Badger life - that doesn't matter much, in my opinion the question is still valid, if there is equal amounts, how come, and if not, what is the consequences?

[@swdierks]

A question for you. The passing of time is relative to acceleration. The more acceleration, the more you clock slows, relative to some with less. If this is true, then how can anyone determine the absolute 'age' of the earth, or of anything else?

[@tonywells6990]

The accelerations are small, I'm guessing you mean the acceleration of things like stars and planets due to gravity. The extra time dilating effects of the Earth going around the Sun for 4.5 billion years is tiny in comparison, maybe a few years either way.

[@swdierks]

@@tonywells6990 My point is that (it seems) you have to have a standard time dilation setting to even begin to speak of a 'passage of time'. I take it you mean that the speed of an average galaxy is what they use.

[@tonywells6990]

@@swdierks Yes. Most speeds of objects in space are slow, what are called non-relativistic speeds and time dilation effects are tiny. There are some extreme objects that have huge accelerations due to gravity, such as galactic supermassive black holes where orbits close to them can have time dilations 1000's of times of the normal passage of time, like the one portrayed in the film 'Interstellar'.

[@peterjones958]

Question, would it be possible for a binary star system to share an exoplanet. I mean that the exoplanet orbits in a figure of 8 around both stars?

[@daveballard8673]

Yes, but not for long.

[@qkcmnt1242]

@@daveballard8673 What would happen, that it would be so short-lived? Would one star be a pig and eat the exoplanet, or would it pick a star, and orbit only it? Would the stars soon merge, then explode in a supernova like condition? So MANY are the possibilities!

[@qkcmnt1242]

Could a trinary star system share an exoplanet?

[@petevenuti7355]

3 body problem chaos ... What about lagrange points? Like could a planet orbit the barycenter between binary stars?

[@qkcmnt1242]

@@petevenuti7355 Anything is possible.

[@zoharpeleg6714]

A question: was it ever hypothesized or tested, that red-shift is actually caused by energy loss of electromagnetic waves over very long distances and not by the expansion of space?

[@frasercain]

Yes, the theory is called "tired light" and it's been well debunked. astro.ucla.edu/~wright/tiredlit.htm

[@zoharpeleg6714]

Thanks!

[@quantonica5348]

Coruscant

[@greggweber9967]

At some point star's names should IMHO change from a shoulder or something Earth centered to something else. Mira doesn't change. Maybe science fiction names? What would you name what stars?

[@warpigxxxl18]

Could The Big Bang be like the "big rip" in that something like the Higgs mechanism collapsed and/or the inflation epoch?

[@frasercain]

We have no idea. I've never heard anyone suggest that theory, specifically.

[@Raz.C]

re - Auditing, rather than attending University courses. I acknowledge that there is value in doing this, however, I would caution anyone looking to do so, that NOT being part of a University enrollment means that your work won't be graded and critiqued by someone who understands the material. That means that there's always a risk that you'll fail to understand something critical, or worse still; you'll think you've understood it, only to be critically mistaken in your understanding.

[@frasercain]

As I said, this was for the self-starter who wants to save $100,000. :-)

[@pauljthacker]

Mandalore. Speaking of the future of astronomy, what do you think AI will do for science and astronomy, both systems in the current and near future like ChatGPT, and artificial general intelligence if we can achieve that?

[@frasercain]

Machine learning already plays an enormous impact on astronomy, helping to categorize large amounts of data. I think it'll really take off when AI can start to discover new inferences, help make discoveries and connections between fields of science.