TRAPPIST-1 vs Alpha Cen, Catching The Voyagers, Lunar Space Elevator | Q&A 243 

I said that TRAPPIST-1 has 6 planets. I should have said 7.

Is your channel growing as fast as I think it is? I don't know which I like more, your awesome interviews with some of the greatest minds in their fields or your Q&A videos. Thanks for all your hard work and congratulations on your success. The sky is *not* the limit 😉

I was fortunate enough to have been in the path of totality in 2017 and I'm hoping to be in the path, this year. It is one of the most beautiful things you will ever see in your life. We spent hours driving to the path, a night in a hotel and three times as long driving home.... that couple of minutes were worth every penny and every second of time spent to see it.

You always come across as such a humble and kind soul. Love your calm and harmonious style!

The topic on Betelgeuse made me have a thought: how well are our models of neutrino/vs light propagation from supernovas? Maybe constrained to a specific supernova type. I was thinking of a new distance measurement method of measuring the time difference between neutrino and light detection from a supernova, then calculating the distance from that time delta. I imagine if our models are good enough to know pretty precisely the time difference between the two escaping the bulk of the mass, then the difference in speed between the two and delta in arrival time we could come up with a distance.

Anyway, this one video especially in second part is pure genius. Big thanks for inspiring thoughts! 👌

Great content as always!

Great topics as always, very thought provoking, thank you 🤗❤️👍

Always wondered why we were looking at Red Dwarf type systems instead of the sun like star systems similar to our own. Need more of Andoria! thanks x

New subscriber here, just found your channel and wanted to say what an awesome job you have done explaining what's going on out there in space. 💯❤

[Risa] no doubt. And im glad to see you are managing expectations regarding trappist 1 accordingly.

Budget no limit? 1) super-Hubble or Hubble 2; 8 metre space telescope with coronagraph AND/OR 2) 16 metre telescope on far side of the moon.

I’m excited about the chronograph!❤

Great show! Thanks

Hi Fraser, question for a future Q&A hopefully: How much should we be concerned about the current build-up of space debris in our orbit? Are there any missions in any stage of planning to attempt to reduce the amount of trash in orbit?

I remember a part of a story that had a connecting structure between Pluto and Charon, they claimed the two are circling each in a perfect enough circle. That structure could hold huge amounts of stuff and would have reasonable gravity at either end.

Hello Fraser First Thanks a lot for your wonderful channel. Regarding the first question: Isn't the Trapist1 system preferable because it stroke the luck that its planets revolve in the same plane that coincide to our line of sight, so they make eclipses with their star?

Is it actually possible to focus a gravitational wave observatory? Other than making sure it’s turned on and hoping its orientation lines up? Or were you talking about Lisa where they could potentially reorient to the optimal layout?

12:49 that was the first thing I also thought about:).

Hey Frasier! I really loved this episode. I’ve watched on & off for a few years. I’ve been subscribed, but I don’t always get your notifications due to the fact I’m subscribed to quite a few channels. While that sounds like I’m a subscriber to anyone, I assure you it’s anything but. I’ve had a Social Media Company and needed to promote a boat load of channels. Thousands, BUT…. Yours is one of my few cherished. Anyway, you make a great point about Alpha Centauri …and I agree that it’s been a less interesting target. Still… hmmm? Why hasn’t it been. Now I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it is intriguing. I would love a follow up episode on this subject specifically although I know that’s not your MO currently. Hopefully you get this and understand that I support you fully! Keep up the good work!

GO 1618 look it up on the JWST approved science programs! That program will indeed observe Alpha Centauri with JWST, and one of its chronographs

If I could do a space project with no financial restrictions, I'd build Star Fleet! OK, don't know how I'd get the warp drives and things but ... well, can't think of anything cooler!

@fraser So we found 3 planets around Prox Centauri, can we directly image Prox B from JWST? Why was this not very high priority?

Regarding the interferometer topic: With the advent of cube satellites, it seems like we should be able to launch enough of those to make a space-based interferometer any size we want.

i LOVE the idea of a solar gravitational lens, which is why i have to ask... can we use the moon, and especially a new moon, to do the same thing? it has no real atmosphere and its kinda stable so our telescopes wont just fly out of range. question is, can it work?

We need to start Spinning Up Mirrors in Space!!! I love that Book Series… 😎

Fascinating video. I relate to the gentleman that stated he didn't really delve into mystic contemplation until he moved out into the wilderness. Same here. I never questioned life or history until I retired. I appreciate the open minded reflection of the archeologists too. I believe it's going to take a younger mind questioning the narrative in order to really change academia.

Just a clarification on Apollo 8's trajectory: while it was initially on a free return flyby trajectory as a fail safe back up in case the service module propulsion were to fail on the way to the moon, it actually went into orbit around the moon and spent 10 orbits at the moon before the service module was fired to return Apollo 8 to the Earth. Artemis 2, on the other hand, is planned to stay on a free return trajectory and not go into orbit around the moon.

A couple of these videos have talked about the idea of a custom filter to look at a specific star and block it out to see planets around it. What if you had something like TV or computer monitor with an extremely dense and small set of pixels that it could block out as an overlay, have it project an obstruction over the telescope. If you had something along those lines, you wouldn't need new filters for each star you wanted to look at, you could simply load a filter file on the computer controlling a telescope. You could cheat the small sizes by having multiple screens that you reflect the previous image over to be filtered at each screen.

Moving towards a non Extinction space movement.

The solar gravitational lens sounds great but how do you point it at the exoplanet you want to observe?

I personally participated in a NASA Proposal with the Inventor On Record of the Slave Elevator, the late Mr Jerome Pearson, for a South Pole of the moon Lunar Elevator: we currently already have all the materials and technologies needed to build it. The base attach point would be built with a robotic 3D laser printer using Lunar regolith, as pioneered by the University of Washington State. All we need is the political will to fund it....

18:04 Three cheers for Fraser properly using "data" as a plural and conjugating "to have" appropriately... 18:15 albeit, not entirely consistently! 🥰😂😋

Question: The interview with Tory Bruno was really interesting. He mentioned that starship was really only optimised for mass to LEO. I was wondering if you could fit an entire existing upper stage e.g the falcon or centaur upper stages in to the starship faring? What capabilities for mass to the moon or outer solar system would that give you? Thank you!

40 planets without atmospheres isnt enough tp give up on red dwarfs, I dont think. Because of the possible combination of very old, less active red dwarfs, with planets featuring exceptionally strong magnetic fields.

Thank you! It’s counter intuitive to think that the easiest Star system to examine would be the closest stars!

Hey Frazier, Love your work! Thank you. Question: Has the moon always been tidally locked to the Earth? If not, then what made it stop, and what if any effects on the earth have changed in the difference of it being tidally locked or not?

0:50 The planets orbiting Trappist is that the tidal forces of the planets in the 'habitable' zone would make them unlivable for our type of life. Due to their orbital proximity, as well as the other inner planets, they would pull cometary debris into each other. Their stable lagrangian points would be far too small to capture and hold slower moving orbital debris. It's also a red dwarf system, so their orbital velocities within the very constrained habitable zones would create even more gravitational havoc. The problem with alpha/proxima centari is that they're a close binary system (paired stars are within a light year of each other) . The energy that their individual planets receive would be far too unstable to create and sustain atmospheres tenable for life forms we are familiar with. The highs and lows would be far too extreme. And planets orbiting *both* would be, most likely, entirely frozen or jovian giants with their own internal heat, either form being entirely inhospitable for recognizable life. Just think... why does the northern hemisphere have 'dog days of summer'? Because of Sirius which is over 8.5 light years from our solar system, yet it can elevate temperatures sufficiently to be noted long before civilization even understood that other solar systems existed. Two sun like stars within 1 light year would cook the planets orbiting where they would be exposed to the energy of both stars, and that would be planets limited to each star individually. Planets orbiting beyond the pair would be frozen and any somehow caught in a lagrange point between the two stars would be cooked. 7:20 A space elevator by current envisioning would not work because of one very necessary component: The tether (i.e. the elevator). As mass is moved up and down the elevator the tether will stretch, contract, and transfer gravitational forces along its entire length which, at the point of the orbital station node in the lagrange point (L1), would be considerable. Energy would need to be continually exerted to keep the station in a stable location, in the L1 or otherwise. One anchored on Earth would be in an even worse position and could *never* be maintained in a lagrange point.

I’ll say this about the space elevator and that is if they build like a normal elevator with a counter weight then the lifting cost is dramatically lower

Good Morning. Love your channel! I have a question for you. What are your thoughts on manufacturing in space? what will be the first things created in orbit and Moon for export to earth and used for off world project?

My favorite question/answer was CAIT

Unlimited funding!!! Off the the Cassini moons we gooo 🚀✨🌔✨

I second traveling to see the total eclipse. I went to South Carolina for the 2017 eclipse and it was well worth it. I’d seen partial eclipse’s before and there was just no comparison being in totality. Not just what it looked like but how it felt. To say it was awe inspiring was an understatement. It was as if someone had poked a hole in the sky. Videos don’t do the experience justice.

CAIT Thank you for an excellent show Fraser, I always enjoy catching up with these, but as i'm in the UK, the 5pm Pacific timeslot for the live show isn't very practical. My question is about space elevators: How exactly do they add angular momentum to the payload as it rises? It would have to be extremely rigid, or very strongly braced to prevent it buckling as any payload rose up, surely? You get the energy into the payload by taking it from the rotation of the Earth. And if you have a counterweight, you would have to keep adding energy to it to prevent it from losing orbital speed over time, which might end up just being less efficient than using rockets anyway.

Vendikar, wouldn’t the earth and moons gravity interfere with the measurements or would there be a way of subtracting out that interference?

Why such effort to basically just duplicate the Apollo 8 mission from a half century ago? Why are we reinventing the wheel with Artemis?

Question, Fraser!!?? You think that a advanced star-faring civilization might build some mega-structure to contain a red dwarf star to make it safe to mine the planets like the TRAPPIST-1 system? Then build prefect cities in that space about this tamed flare star i.e. O'Neill Cynlinders?

I did the math. Or rather, Chat-GPeter did the heavy lifting. :P The very slow rotation of the moon means that a Lunosynchronous orbital altitude is ~117,000 kilometres above the surface. And so we can easily dismiss this as so completely inefficient as to be a total nonsense. In fact, I had a tremendously engaging conversation with Chat-GPT, where it got quite a few things wrong; trying to tell me the L1 point was 1500 klicks above Earth, for example. When I pointed out the errors, it dutifully corrected itself, and then we had a great chat about how stupid the idea of a Dyson Sphere is. Chat-GPT and I definitely see eye to eye on that subject. :)

Hey Fraser, fantastic video! If we colonize the Moon, how would solar eclipses affect our settlements? Would they only occur on the dark side, or would the Earth's shadow touch inhabited areas? Also, would an eclipse significantly increase harmful radiation? Would we need artificial protection, like a man-made ozone layer? Sorry a few extra questions in there 😅

I am all ears 😊❤️

Instead of a space elevator, build a low orbit, rotating space station. Rotation is in the same plane as the earth. It rotates such that the outer edge is going 1000MPH, the same as the earth. That speed also provides 1G. A rocket flies to the station, and the payload latches to the station. Being in a 200 mile high orbit, gravity in the rocket is always over 1G, when the payload attaches to the station, it experiences 1G as it swings with the station. To be in orbit at 200 miles, the station must be orbiting over 17,000MPH, so the outer edge is travelling at 38,000MPH. To continue into space, the payload releases at some place other than directly above earth. To return to earth, you drop off the space station, going zero relative to earth. Minimal need for heat shields, just a parachute suitable for high speed (dual stage maybe).

Does the neutrino "early warning" work for type Ia supernovae as well? If so, wouldn't that make for a great additional distance measurement, independent of the rest of the cosmic distance ladder?

36:17 If gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, would the gravitational wave "event" not arrive before the neutrino pulse (and then the light event)? Or is the gravitational wave event something that happens after the actual supernova event itself so maybe the neutrino pulse would be observable before the gravitational wave event arrives?

Proxima Centauri has two confirmed planets and a disputed candidate for a third planet. These were discovered by doppler spectroscopy measuring the radial velocity from us as it varied due to the gravitational pull of the planets. They could not be detected by the way most exoplanets are found, which is by detecting the change in the light from the star as a planet transits in front of and behind the star. This is because the orbital plane of the planets is tilted from our viewpoint so the planets do not transit the star.

"Remus" My wote for this weeks Q&A .

Hi Fraser, I have a few questions for you about space elevators and the ionosphere. Given that they would have to pass through the Earth's ionosphere and its plasmasphere, is that even possible? What would be the dangers of passing a tower or cable connected to the ground, with its own electronics, all the way through this highly charged environment into space? How well do we even understand this region of the atmosphere? Moreover, do you think we could ever draw energy directly from the ionosphere? If so, how would that be possible? Is there a way of connecting a current to and from the ambient plasma and draw power from it? I am thinking of a NASA space tether experiment on the shuttle in 2001 that failed. What exactly happened to it and why? What other space tether experiments to study the ionosphere and magnetic field have there been and what is planned for the horizon?

I like your style.

I really enjoy you questions and answer shows! My gripe with the interview shows is that often times, the interviewees do not have the proper sound equipment/connection to have an enjoyable viewing experience. Like do not use iPods or earphones for interviews. Not sure if it's feasible to send them better sound equipment ahead of time.

How much progress - if any - has been made on developing a force field to protect ships whilst in flight?

Great episode. Now, if someone decides to actually bring back one of the Voyager probes, they're gonna have to deal with Carl Sagan's ghost. That shade is going to be throttling the HELL outta them! That is the polar opposite of what he wanted!

Here is a question for you. Why does e = mcsquared. Say we expressed e in BTUs, m in pounds and c in miles per hour. The formula would become e = kmcsquared where k is a constant to make the units come out right. The only way e = mcsquared could be true is if one of the terms in the SI units was defined in terms of the other two. As far as I kinow, each term was independently determined so it would be a great coincidence of the formula came out exactly with no constant needed.

Vulcan. but I want to see a mass driver on the lunar surface too

Space elevator is a grand idea but I think that it would provide a nucleation point for Magnetic, Gravitational, Electrical, induced Plasma.

With light taking so long to leave the core of a star, what does the initial start of a star look like? Do we expect that a stars core would ignite under its pressure a significant time before we’d be able to tell on the outside?

Cleveland Ohio is in Totality!! April 8 Come for the eclipse; stay for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 😊

Telescopes assembled in space (unlimited budget): Voyager Station / Orbital Assembly introduced in space construction of rotating ring space stations some 200+ meters in diameter; build 2 rings and put mirrors & lens inside them to have a 200+ meters wide, or however larger, telescope in space, ion/plasma driven, can be placed at any orbit, Lagrange point, or anywhere in our solar system! Such a space station would be a university, space academy, small city, akin to JPL & Berkeley, but not too industrious to disturb its main mission as a space telescope. Give it half a century, maybe just a quarter (in my post retirement lifetime), the way things are moving. If not WW3 before it.

“If all of Humanity” lol That’s crazy talk but we’re thinking it.

Is there any benefit to using Phobos as a way station for Mars missions?

Webb was scheduled to observe Wise-0855 in December of 2022, but no data to indicate they have, or why they haven't has been published yet that I can find to date. Why?

I understand that we haven't necessarily observed every star and thus don't know if there always are planets orbiting a star, but have any of the stars we've been able to observe been confirmed to NOT have planets? Barring a star's death, shouldn't we expect that stars would always have planets orbiting them, given how they form?

You could also make an orbital ring around earth and hook the lunar elevator onto some kind of rail on the outer edge of that. It’d need a lot of repairs though.

Has anyone noticed any intense flairs on Trappist-1? I’m praying it’s a more calm red dwarf and these 3 planets are ripe for life.

Would a space elevator theoretically be easier to build on a rail with sails that allows it to move with wind differences cause by Earth rotation and thermal differences?

Dont know how i lucked out, but i live in the line of totality for the upcoming eclipse. I will literally be able to stand outside my front door to experience it. Im in Rochester, NY... im really looking forward to it!🎉

@12:40 Any 'telescope' that distance from the sun would have to be orbiting around it, since it couldn't carry enough fuel to keep it stationary long enough to be useful. At that speed, objects in the gravitational lens far enough away to be exoplanets would go by SO FAST, you'd be lucky to see them at all.

For the total solar eclipse, I'm heading to ontario/niagara falls. wish me luck on weathers

Fraser, didn't one of your shows feature someone talking about a Fresnel lens based L2 interferometer?

Will it be able to measure the eco planets atmosphere also?

Fraser, what’s the deal with K-type stars? I feel like the community only talks about G-class Sun-like stars and M-class red dwarfs. What’s the consensus on their ability to host habitable planets? Are they flare-y and angry like red dwarfs? Are they favorable targets for near-future exo-planet observations with the newer coronagraphs?

Is it possible we could revive or terraform planets to stabilize life there if not for our species but for all.

To Fraser You have done a video or two on Fermi Paradox. What is your own personal conjecture about aliens existing? In the event aliens do not exist, what would you think about that?

What if they took JWST and up scaled it to fit the Starship fairing? How big would it be and how much more effective would it be?

How does Voyager send back singles when it so far away ?? There isn’t a relay sat to bounce the signal back ??

Instead of trying to build up with a space elevator, wouldn’t it make more sense to put some kind of manufacturing system in geosynchronous orbit, and then build down?

that's why the most likely place for et;s and uap's are in our oceans and are USO's that went under the surface after ancient solar storms etc

I've always thought a space elevator was one of the dumbest ideas, imagine the destruction when it inevitably fails.

Space elevator might be theoretically possible, but 🤔 the smallest lateral disturbance would start it wobbling eventually flailing about until it destroyed itself

I have a question for you.. taking into consideration how many launch vehicles are currently in use, being manufactured, and the near future capacity, if we found out tomorrow that a massive, planet killer asteroid whas going to hit the earth say a week from now, how many humans could we theoretically launch into space to save the species? (I realize that we have nowhere to go, nowhere to stay, and no reason to believe it would even remotely "save the species"), but, the exercise is to get people thinking about this, and to point out our weaknesses. Thanks!

Speaking of space elevators, how fixed are the LaGrange points; i.e. do they drift based on the elliptical nature of all orbits? Just thinking how this might affect a tensioned cable from the moon to its end: would it wiggle like a noodle?

The real question should be what are we going to do with all of the space debris there in 10 years could literally preclude us from sending anything into orbit without causing damage or having a collision

hi frazer.my vote is for vulcan

Is it possible to have two planets or bodies on the same orbital path around another body like the Sun? I know they'd have to be moving at the same orbital speed as each other. Stupid question maybe, but hey :)

A space elevator would always be more effective than rockets once it was built. The problem is that we’re still a few centuries away from needing to put enough stuff in space to justify one.

Risa, I want to see more space based telescopes and being able to see more than just a single pixel for a planet

Invasion of interstellar private sphere... niiice! 😁

Do they plan on any "Time Lapse Photography" of the movement of clouds or anything

The Voyager missions were never supposed to return to Earth. Big reason the gold records where put on them. Let them go, that was there destiny, to keep going forever.

Now that he mentions it, I had no idea such a thing as an aurora alert app existed. What is a trustworthy app I can get for this?

I vote for Betazed, which beats Cait due to supernovas being observable esp. With warning shots of neutrinos. Possible life in water worlds encased by ice is interesting, but it will take a quantum leap in observational power/cleverness to get enough data from under miles or tens of miles thick ice.

About seeing a earth size Planet of a sun size star i am curious if the European extremely large telescoop will be able to detect it and even have a corona device to be used.