Episode Details

BONUS STORY STARTS AT 17:16

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9XGHRoVJgYA

🔵 Vote for the best story here: https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

How can there be auroras on Mars? More bad news for the exploration of Europa. Watching Pluto's atmosphere. And on Space Bites Plus, could planets form right after the Big Bang?

• 00:00 Intro

• 00:17 Auroras on Mars https://www.universetoday.com/articles/nasas-maven-illuminates-new-understanding-of-auroras-at-mars

• 03:07 More Bad News for Europa Exploration https://www.universetoday.com/articles/europas-interior-ocean-may-harbor-life-but-could-be-hard-to-reach-says-new-research

• 05:46 Watching Pluto’s Atmosphere https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-watch-as-a-distant-worlds-atmosphere-shrinks-and-thins

• 08:14 Identifying Quasars with Machine Learning https://www.universetoday.com/articles/seven-needles-800000-haystacks

• 10:05 First “AI-Driven” Telescope https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-telescope-that-points-itself

• 11:55 Vote results https://www.youtube.com/@frasercain/posts

• 12:41 China’s Rocket Exploded in Flight https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/one-of-chinas-workhorse-rockets-just-exploded-in-flight/

• 13:41 Moonquakes to Locate Lunar Ice https://www.universetoday.com/articles/how-to-find-lunar-ice-moonquakes-to-the-rescue

• 15:40 More Good News for Swift https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/2026/08/11/nasa-swift-boost-spacecraft-prepares-to-continue-mission/

• 17:16 Bonus story https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-ingredients-for-planets-turned-up-astonishingly-early

• 19:58 Solar eclipse 2026 and the Perseids