July 9, 2018 1:52 pm

Tuesday, We Revisit when David Grinspoon, Carter Emmart and Chuck Nice Took Us on a Visual Exploration of the Universe

Ever wonder how we create stunning, meticulous graphics and models of the universe? Well, on this episode of StarTalk All-Stars, we take you behind the scenes of “astrovisualization.” Join us as we re-visit our episode Visualizing Our Universe, with Dr. FunkySpoon. Dr. FunkySpoon also known under his real name, astrobiologist Dr. David Grinspoon, has been a StarTalk All-Star from the beginning. This episode originally aired very early in our first season of StarTalk All-Stars and as always, David brings out the best.

Along with comic co-host Chuck Nice and Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History, we explore the ins and outs of bringing the furthest reaches of the universe down to Earth.

You’ll hear how Carter uses 3D graphics, virtual reality, and computer generated graphics to visualize the cosmos. You’ll learn how Carter and his army of high school students plumb NASA’s Planetary Data Service to visualize the surface of Mars down to 3 cm. And you’ll find out why recreating the Big Bang is still difficult given how the event is still shrouded in mystery.

We also answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries and you’ll discover more about visualizing black holes, the future of space exploration, and Carter’s personal “holodeck.”

When this episode came out, New Horizons was still arriving are Pluto so you’ll hear about the interactive coverage David and Carter had during the mission. If you want a deeper dive into Pluto and the New Horizons mission, check out our episode New Horizons, with David Grinspoon and Alan Stern where Alan, principle investigator for the New Horizons mission, gives us the inside story.

Please join us tomorrow night for Visualizing Our Universe, with Dr. FunkySpoon – StarTalk All-Stars (Repeat) at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channel on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen