Fraser Cain
@fcain.universetoday.com
Space journalist and skywatcher. I'm the publisher of Universe Today (universetoday.com) and co-host of Astronomy Cast (astronomycast.com). YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain
Just a quick meeting with my editor to see why I've been neglecting to refill my bird-feeder.
September 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Just a quick meeting with my editor to see why I've been neglecting to refill my bird-feeder.
I just came back to work after being away from my desk for almost a week. I'm catching up to all my newsfeeds in my RSS reader and it's overwhelming, of course. Except for NASA feeds. They are... sparse. So little research news coming out of NASA.
August 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I just came back to work after being away from my desk for almost a week. I'm catching up to all my newsfeeds in my RSS reader and it's overwhelming, of course. Except for NASA feeds. They are... sparse. So little research news coming out of NASA.
I wonder if I should answer the doorbell? Pretty skinny bear, hopefully he'll fatten up now that berry season is here.
June 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
I wonder if I should answer the doorbell? Pretty skinny bear, hopefully he'll fatten up now that berry season is here.
You were awesome, video is coming next week...
Whew guys, I had a big, fancy, grown-up interview with THE @fcain.universetoday.com today! 🤯😮🤩 You'll be able to check out the interview (mostly me gushing about our fabulous Galactic Center maybe?) on his youtube channel (www.youtube.com/@frasercain) soon.
A few take-aways:
A few take-aways:
Fraser Cain
Your ultimate guide to all things space with Fraser Cain, Publisher of Universe Today and co-host of Astronomy Cast.
Here you can find:
🚀 Space Bites – all the most important space news stories rele...
www.youtube.com
June 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
You were awesome, video is coming next week...
Another clear night of using the Seestar S50. I set this up in Plan mode, picked 4 targets and went to bed. The pictures were waiting for me on the telescope when I got up. Neat.
April 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Another clear night of using the Seestar S50. I set this up in Plan mode, picked 4 targets and went to bed. The pictures were waiting for me on the telescope when I got up. Neat.
The enshittification of podcasting is in full effect. I recently changed my podcast hosting provider and it "broke" the feed on both Apple and Spotify. The new feed works fine, and new episodes download on all podcatching apps. But not those two, because... walled gardens.
April 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The enshittification of podcasting is in full effect. I recently changed my podcast hosting provider and it "broke" the feed on both Apple and Spotify. The new feed works fine, and new episodes download on all podcatching apps. But not those two, because... walled gardens.
Finally figuring out how to operate my new Seestar S50. I did a 20 minute exposure of M51 before the clouds rolled in. Nice, it's time for a whole new hobby rabbithole.
April 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Finally figuring out how to operate my new Seestar S50. I did a 20 minute exposure of M51 before the clouds rolled in. Nice, it's time for a whole new hobby rabbithole.
Now that Universe Today is totally ad-free, we can do whatever we want.
And what we want is a 5-part overview of the new science coming from JWST's Cycle 4.
www.universetoday.com/articles/jws...
And what we want is a 5-part overview of the new science coming from JWST's Cycle 4.
www.universetoday.com/articles/jws...
JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 2: The Distant Universe
Earlier this week, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) announced the science objectives for the fourth cycle of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) General Observations program - aka. Cy...
www.universetoday.com
March 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Now that Universe Today is totally ad-free, we can do whatever we want.
And what we want is a 5-part overview of the new science coming from JWST's Cycle 4.
www.universetoday.com/articles/jws...
And what we want is a 5-part overview of the new science coming from JWST's Cycle 4.
www.universetoday.com/articles/jws...
We're doing a 4 part deep dive into all the science approved with JWST Cycle 4. Here's Part 1
www.universetoday.com/articles/sci...
www.universetoday.com/articles/sci...
JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 1: Exoplanets and Habitability - Universe Today
www.universetoday.com
March 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
We're doing a 4 part deep dive into all the science approved with JWST Cycle 4. Here's Part 1
www.universetoday.com/articles/sci...
www.universetoday.com/articles/sci...
Firefly released their image of the lunar eclipse from last night, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. They say that you can see the Sun peeking out from the edge of the Earth reflected in the Solar panel, but the scale looks way off. Need a red glow version.
www.flickr.com/photos/firef...
www.flickr.com/photos/firef...
Blue Ghost Mission 1 - First Solar Eclipse Image
Credit/copyright: Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost caught her first look at the solar eclipse from the Moon around 12:30 am CDT on March 14 from our landing site in Mare Crisium. Notice the glowing ring ...
www.flickr.com
March 14, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Firefly released their image of the lunar eclipse from last night, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. They say that you can see the Sun peeking out from the edge of the Earth reflected in the Solar panel, but the scale looks way off. Need a red glow version.
www.flickr.com/photos/firef...
www.flickr.com/photos/firef...
I don't think I'll be livestreaming the eclipse tonight.
March 14, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I don't think I'll be livestreaming the eclipse tonight.
A little more behind the scenes of my bad week, and what comes next.
The Core of My Business Model Suddenly COLLAPSED. Here's What's Next
YouTube video by Fraser Cain
www.youtube.com
March 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
A little more behind the scenes of my bad week, and what comes next.
Universe Today is now ad-free. After years of declining ad revenue, caused by AI slop and search engines diverting traffic, we finally cut off all advertising. No ads on the website, email newsletter or podcasts. And our space journalism is better than ever. How? Patrons.
www.universetoday.com
www.universetoday.com
Home - Universe Today
universetoday.com
March 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Universe Today is now ad-free. After years of declining ad revenue, caused by AI slop and search engines diverting traffic, we finally cut off all advertising. No ads on the website, email newsletter or podcasts. And our space journalism is better than ever. How? Patrons.
www.universetoday.com
www.universetoday.com
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter completed its 72nd and final flight on Mars on Jan. 18, 2024. It crashed, broke its rotors and would never fly again. Engineers at NASA have been studying the flights and terrain and think they know the series of events that led to the crash.
NASA Performs First Aircraft Accident Investigation on Another World
The review takes a close look the final flight of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was the first aircraft to fly on another world.
www.jpl.nasa.gov
December 11, 2024 at 7:47 PM
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter completed its 72nd and final flight on Mars on Jan. 18, 2024. It crashed, broke its rotors and would never fly again. Engineers at NASA have been studying the flights and terrain and think they know the series of events that led to the crash.
The Pizzable Zone is the region around a star where the temperature is ideal for cooking a pizza (450-500°C). Inner boundary: too hot, pizza burns instantly. Outer boundary: too cool, pizza won't cook properly.
December 5, 2024 at 10:43 PM
The Pizzable Zone is the region around a star where the temperature is ideal for cooking a pizza (450-500°C). Inner boundary: too hot, pizza burns instantly. Outer boundary: too cool, pizza won't cook properly.
Exoplanets have been found orbiting two stars. While giant exo-jupiters won't be habitable, their moons could be.
A new paper looked into the evolution of circumbinary planet moons and found 30-40% of surviving moons migrate into habitable zones.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.02847
A new paper looked into the evolution of circumbinary planet moons and found 30-40% of surviving moons migrate into habitable zones.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.02847
December 5, 2024 at 6:16 PM
Exoplanets have been found orbiting two stars. While giant exo-jupiters won't be habitable, their moons could be.
A new paper looked into the evolution of circumbinary planet moons and found 30-40% of surviving moons migrate into habitable zones.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.02847
A new paper looked into the evolution of circumbinary planet moons and found 30-40% of surviving moons migrate into habitable zones.
arxiv.org/abs/2412.02847
An explanation for the Fermi Paradox is the "Sustainability Solution." We don't see advanced civilizations because exponential growth and expansion are unsustainable. Any advanced civilization would be indistinguishable from nature. Which makes them hard to find.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.08057
arxiv.org/abs/2411.08057
December 3, 2024 at 9:44 PM
An explanation for the Fermi Paradox is the "Sustainability Solution." We don't see advanced civilizations because exponential growth and expansion are unsustainable. Any advanced civilization would be indistinguishable from nature. Which makes them hard to find.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.08057
arxiv.org/abs/2411.08057
A new paper suggests that Venus has been a hellscape for its entire history. No oceans, ever. This result comes from the estimated ratio of water vapor in volcanic outgassing. On Earth, eruptions are mostly steam from interior water, but on Venus, they're 6% at most.
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
December 3, 2024 at 7:21 PM
A new paper suggests that Venus has been a hellscape for its entire history. No oceans, ever. This result comes from the estimated ratio of water vapor in volcanic outgassing. On Earth, eruptions are mostly steam from interior water, but on Venus, they're 6% at most.
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa has confirmed the existence of the gravitational wave background of the Universe, monitoring dozens of millisecond pulsars for just 4.5 years. These are caused by merging supermassive black holes distorting spacetime, sending ripples across the Universe.
South Africa’s MeerKAT tracks cosmic ripples in spacetime - South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO
Diligent observing with the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Northern Karoo, of a network of rapidly spinning neutron stars over the last five years, has unveiled additional evidence for the presence of...
www.sarao.ac.za
December 3, 2024 at 4:32 PM
The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa has confirmed the existence of the gravitational wave background of the Universe, monitoring dozens of millisecond pulsars for just 4.5 years. These are caused by merging supermassive black holes distorting spacetime, sending ripples across the Universe.
Although white dwarfs aren't actively fusing any more, they're still hot and could support life. A new paper calculates white dwarfs could provide a habitable zone for 7 billion years. They're small and dim; easier to study planets for biosignatures. 1 hour of JWST time.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.18934
arxiv.org/abs/2411.18934
December 2, 2024 at 3:28 PM
Although white dwarfs aren't actively fusing any more, they're still hot and could support life. A new paper calculates white dwarfs could provide a habitable zone for 7 billion years. They're small and dim; easier to study planets for biosignatures. 1 hour of JWST time.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.18934
arxiv.org/abs/2411.18934
Satellites tracking vegetation in Antarctica have watched as hardy mosses and lichens increase their foothold on the icy continent. Using observations from Landsat 5 through 8, researchers calculated that the area of vegetated land in 1985 was 0.86 km². By 2021, this had grown to 11.95 km².
Satellites Reveal a Greener Antarctic Peninsula
Scientists are beginning to unravel what comes next, after the ice moves out and vegetation moves in.
www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov
December 2, 2024 at 3:15 PM
Satellites tracking vegetation in Antarctica have watched as hardy mosses and lichens increase their foothold on the icy continent. Using observations from Landsat 5 through 8, researchers calculated that the area of vegetated land in 1985 was 0.86 km². By 2021, this had grown to 11.95 km².
Okay, I got @universetoday.com automatically posting our new stories. And I was even able to set a custom domain so it's officially verified. There won't be anything but space stories here, but if that's your thing, we've got you covered.
November 30, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Okay, I got @universetoday.com automatically posting our new stories. And I was even able to set a custom domain so it's officially verified. There won't be anything but space stories here, but if that's your thing, we've got you covered.
I'm watching people try to speedrun their way to the Clearsky top 5 blocked in 24 hours using AI trollbots.
How is this fun for them? I'm suitably impressed with the user response, though, the blocking and blocklisting is very comprehensive. There's a virology paper here somewhere.
clearsky.app
How is this fun for them? I'm suitably impressed with the user response, though, the blocking and blocklisting is very comprehensive. There's a virology paper here somewhere.
clearsky.app
ClearSky
ClearSky
clearsky.app
November 30, 2024 at 4:21 PM
I'm watching people try to speedrun their way to the Clearsky top 5 blocked in 24 hours using AI trollbots.
How is this fun for them? I'm suitably impressed with the user response, though, the blocking and blocklisting is very comprehensive. There's a virology paper here somewhere.
clearsky.app
How is this fun for them? I'm suitably impressed with the user response, though, the blocking and blocklisting is very comprehensive. There's a virology paper here somewhere.
clearsky.app
It's Friday, that means Space Bites:
- what's inside Uranus and Neptune?
- Titan Dragonfly gets its ride to Titan
- China's new spaceplane
- My favorite JWST image of 2024
- Explore the ice under Europa
And more...
Watch our videos ad-free on Patreon (they're public, it's free)
- what's inside Uranus and Neptune?
- Titan Dragonfly gets its ride to Titan
- China's new spaceplane
- My favorite JWST image of 2024
- Explore the ice under Europa
And more...
Watch our videos ad-free on Patreon (they're public, it's free)
What's Inside Uranus // Dragonfly Launch Secured // Best JWST Image of 2024 | Fraser Cain
Get more from Fraser Cain on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 29, 2024 at 4:56 PM
It's Friday, that means Space Bites:
- what's inside Uranus and Neptune?
- Titan Dragonfly gets its ride to Titan
- China's new spaceplane
- My favorite JWST image of 2024
- Explore the ice under Europa
And more...
Watch our videos ad-free on Patreon (they're public, it's free)
- what's inside Uranus and Neptune?
- Titan Dragonfly gets its ride to Titan
- China's new spaceplane
- My favorite JWST image of 2024
- Explore the ice under Europa
And more...
Watch our videos ad-free on Patreon (they're public, it's free)
New paper examines 11 ways to make concrete/cement on Mars, from lime concrete to more exotic materials that might only be possible on a cold, nearly airless, low gravity world. They found sulfur concrete the most promising: strength, quick hardening, no water.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
November 28, 2024 at 9:46 PM
New paper examines 11 ways to make concrete/cement on Mars, from lime concrete to more exotic materials that might only be possible on a cold, nearly airless, low gravity world. They found sulfur concrete the most promising: strength, quick hardening, no water.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...