Uploaded February 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Thanks to all my subscribers!
Starting with a 3D printed PLA play button, I'll be making a play button out of a new material every time my subscriber count doubles. Leave a comment to suggest materials for 2048!
Music in this video:
I dunno by grapes, is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Acid Jazz by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Jazz_Sampler/AcidJazz_1430
Artist: incompetech.com
Thanks to all my subscribers!
Starting with a 3D printed PLA play button, I'll be making a play button out of a new material every time my subscriber count doubles. Leave a comment to suggest materials for 2048!
Music in this video:
I dunno by grapes, is licensed under a Creative Commons: Attribution License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Acid Jazz by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Jazz_Sampler/AcidJazz_1430
Artist: incompetech.com

![SpaceXs Starlink, satellite flares, and spectacular twilight rocket plumes: EXPLAINED!
If you follow as much space news as I do, youve probably heard of Starlink, the low-earth-orbit satellite-internet megaconstellation of 12,000-40,000 satellites that theoretically will be able to provide global high speed, low-latency internet. At the cost… possibly… of filling the night sky with fake stars - little moving spots of light tracing out grids overhead ALL THE TIME. Elon Musk and SpaceX have gotten significant pushback from astronomers regarding this problem, but at this point, its unrealistic to think the launches will stop, and we need to be thinking of ways to mitigate the effects the reflections will have.
In this video, I use a big scale model to explain how these satellites can be seen from Earth - how they reflect sunlight back towards Earth at night, and how this compares to the previous king of satellite flares, the first-gen Iridium constellation. I also replicate a scale model of the visorsat sunshade that will hopefully be effective in blocking the bright reflections from Starlink satellites that have yet to be launched. I also discuss the twilight effect that makes rocket launch exhaust plumes so incredible at dusk.
CORRECTIONS:
- the bottom of space arrow points to the highest livable altitude. The atmosphere still exists here, but it would imply that Everest climbers have been to space... maybe not accurate... the edge of space is often defined as the Kármán line, but humans would be dead long before getting there.
USEFUL DISCUSSIONS:
[reddit link soon probably]
Check out the other social media for updates and ramblings:
https://www.facebook.com/AlphaPhoenixChannel/
https://twitter.com/Alpha Phoenix
#Astronomy #SpaceX #Starlink
Music in this video:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
http://ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Till With Bell.wav from Benboncan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
Other references:
Falcon 9 Nebula - Brian Haidet
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181012.html
https://www.redbubble.com/i/art-print/Artificial-Nebula-by-BrianHaidet/34407841.1G4ZT
Starlink inspired satellite - 3d model by Michal_King
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4309237
Apollo 11 Saturn V launch - NASA, Public Domain
Parker Solar Probe rendering - NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben, Public Domain
About 2 L of RP-1 - Maxhaot, Creative Commons, Attribution
A wad of United States dollars - Psychonaught, Public Domain
ISS, Crew 27 - NASA, Public Domain
Boeing 747 - Aero Icarus, Creative Commons, Attribution
Mount Everest as seen from Drukair - Bhutan Card 02 085, Creative Commons, Attribution
Starlink Launch Footage - SpaceX, Fair Use
Iridium first-gen replica - Cliff, Creative Commons, Attribution
Iridium coverage animation - GrandDixence@Wikipedia, Public Domain
Iridium NEXT Satellite - Iridium Communications, Fair Use
Starlink Satellite Renderings - SpaceX, Fair Use
Company Logos of: SpaceX, OneWeb, Amazon, Iridium, Fair Use
Cirero Tololo Observatory - Hernán Stockebrand, Creative Commons, Attribution
#FieldOfSatTrails Image - Twitter, Cliff Johnson, @lcjohnso, Fair Use
Stalking Darksat headline, UniverseToday.com, David Dickinson, Fair Use
VISORSAT headline, Twitter, SpaceNews, @SpaceNews_Inc, Fair Use SpaceXs Starlink, satellite flares, and spectacular twilight rocket plumes: EXPLAINED!](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aWpeN3cU17Q/mqdefault.jpg)


![How to evaporate a metal
CORRECTIONS:
[none yet]
Welcome to Episode Two of my series about molecular beam epitaxy! In this video, Im talking about the best way to shoot a beam of atoms at something… As much as that sounds like a crazy scifi weapon, its actually a great technique for delivering material to a growing crystalline thin film. All materials, even solids, have a vapor pressure and are slowly evaporating. When you put a chunk of material in a vacuum chamber and get it hot, it can evaporate so fast the vapor can be directed towards a target! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the MBE I could address in future videos!
Check out the other social media for updates and ramblings:
https://www.facebook.com/AlphaPhoenixChannel/
https://twitter.com/Alpha Phoenix
#Crystals #Materials #Engineering
The MBE Lab is part of the Materials Department at UCSB. Filmed with permission.
Music in this video:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
http://ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Till With Bell.wav from Benboncan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
Phase diagram of water.svg from Wikimedia Commons by Cmglee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license
Hermes Conrad - Character from Futurama, Matt Groening How to evaporate a metal](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bnqQyeqGIBE/mqdefault.jpg)





