As the title said, I’m looking for good videos to learn astronomy, cosmology and astrophysics (really, anything related to space is fine, such as rocket science).
PBS SpaceTime is good. Earlier stuff is more approachable and as you go further it gets deeper and deeper into the heavier stuff.
I love that channel, but yeah. I’d like to see them revisit some of the earlier topics. The most recent videos are sometimes a bit overwhelming.
No way, Space Time isn’t good. It’s fantastic! Probably my favorite non-comedy channel. I genuinely understand concepts like the Uncertainty principle much better because of the show than I did from university QM.
Two of my favorites are already up. Here’s some more.
Professor Carolin Crawford’s Gresham stint is my all-time favorite astronomy lecture series. It’s somewhat outdated, especially on the topic of Pluto, but fundamentally, it’s outstanding.
From Brady Haran, Sixty Symbols covers physics and astrophysics, and Deep Sky Videos covers astronomy.
Dr Becky does current events in astrophysics and astronomy.
The Royal Institution, and The Perimeter Institute offer a lot of good lectures, but aren’t exclusively astro.
Likewise, for a more explainer-style, and not exclusively astro, there’s Fermilab and The Science Asylum .
Anton Petrov’s channel, “What Da Math?” He breaks down science discoveries and papers, usually related to space. He does a new video every day and they’re really good.
Anton Petrov is an absolute gem, knowledgeable and likable and insanely productive.
Yep. I’ll always support him.
Dr Angela Collier, acollierastro, does really fun casual conversational videos on the topic that explain topics in a good approachable way. They’re not going to be an efficient way to learn, but they’ve got a pleasant vibe
My favorites (Space Time and Anton and Dr. Becky) were already highlighted so here are more.
-
I wish they would bring back SciShow Space, but the occasional space or physics content on regular SciShow is still good for a general audience.
-
Scott Manley got known for teaching folks to play Kerbal Space Program but he’s turned to great coverage of aerospace engineering and who is launching what major rocket missions this month.
-
Astrum is pleasant and relaxing with nice images.
-
Sabine Hossenfelder always has opinions on GR and QM that are somehow both spicy and super practical.
-
Fermilab has an official channel with good educational videos.
-
MinuteEarth / Minute Physics is great when you’re in a hurry.
Especially the early QM videos by Sabine Hossenfelder are great. Lately she’s just researching popular science news which may or may not be correct. But I like that she is at least stating her bias when she has one.
But I cringe every time she has a NordVPN ad.
Yeah I don’t always watch her non-physics coverage since I tend to get that elsewhere. But she’s obviously well versed in reviewing the published literature and has a team of folks helping with that, which is more than can be said for many science journalists sadly. So even when I’m skeptical of her conclusions I’m at least confident she’s not just a talking head but actually checked the core papers on the topic.
FYI there’s SponsorBlock if you want to skip the NordVPN stuff. I don’t begrudge any channel for needing to make a buck though.
-
Dr Becky and PBS Space Time are my favourites. No bullshit, everything scientifically accurate.
Scott Manley. More about spaceflight and related technology, but sometimes talks about astrophysics too
SEA
I love how he happily embraced the “best space content to fall asleep to” and just totally leaned into it.
His video on The Cosmic Scale is one I still rewatch periodically.
http://www.bradyharan.com/ - Brady Haran has two(i think) channels devoted to space, sixty symbols and deepskyvideos. his educational channels are probably one of the most amazing things in the world.
Anton Petrov - this channel is more looking at recent news articles and studies and explaining them in an accessible manner, but due to the daily nature of videos is limited in scope.
if youre instead looking for more of a formal study content, cant help you
2nd Anton Petrov!
Repeating what some have already said here:
- PBS SpaceTime is outstanding, and manages to ride the line between informative and accessible very well. Some episodes especially around heavy math/quantum mechanics are impenetrable for me but all the space stuff is great, the scripts are very well written, production value is top notch.
- Dr Becky provides amazing content mostly geared around recent research and theories - especially with the James Webb Space Telescope being a year old now there’s some amazing insights coming out that she does a great job explaining. A bit less “pseudo lecture” than SpaceTime but still highly informative
- StarTalk (Neil Degrasse Tyson) is great, but in a different way. It’s less formal and very much more like a podcast than a lecture or report as the prior two are.
- Sabine Hossenfelder delivers a periodic “science without the gobbledegook” show that covers all areas but generally has a focus on physics and astrophysics. She’s semi-famous for not tolerating nonsense while also considering a sizeable portion of contemporary physics research to be nonsense. I think she’s hilarious in a parchment-dry German kind of way, and her content goes arguably deeper than the other channels listed here in terms of subject matter - I usually leave her videos thinking about things in a different way.
- SmarterEveryDay is a general science/learning channel but really piqued my interest with a recent video about talking to NASA:
https://youtu.be/OoJsPvmFixU?si=NrURYGlLii4Dbi1_
The host has a background in aerospace engineering and missile test flights - so its about as close to rocket science as you can get! He knows his stuff and has a lot more practical, engineering related videos - kind of makes you think about how to operationalise the more cerebral ideas of the other channels.
Hope you enjoy some or all of the suggestions here and from other commenters
My favourites:
- PBS Space Time
- Anton Petrov
- V101 Space
The best part of the channel Anton Petrov is that there’s a new video every day. Also, the quality is also good.
Astrum is pretty cool
Its not exactly what you want, but theres an app called starwalk two that uses your phone camera.
Aim it into the sky and see all the constellations above you with words etc.
Aim it at the ground and see whats under you etc.
Or juat scro around and see the constellations too.
I wanted to send a picture but photo uploades appear to be down.
I am using Stellarium that has similar functions. But thank for the recommendation
Forgot to mention Arvin Ash. Sometimes a little bit too clickbaity but overall pretty good. And he will correct himself if he got something wrong which is always a plus.
Spacerip has some entertaining space related documentaries, although probably more popular science than in depth teachings a la Richard Feynman or Michio Kaku.
