What is the most Colorful thing in Space?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "What is the most Colorful thing in Space?"

Podcast: Who Smarted?
Episode Date: January 30, 2026

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode of "Who Smarted?" launches listeners on a fun, fact-filled journey through outer space to explore one of the universe’s most visually spectacular phenomena: nebulae. Using humor, playful character banter, and interactive trivia, the show explains what nebulae are, how they form, why they are so colorful, and their pivotal role in the birth and death of stars.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is a Nebula? (02:15–02:33)

• Definition & Terminology:
  • Nebulae (plural for nebula) are giant clouds of gas in space.
  • The episode playfully debates the plurals "nebulae" vs. "nebulas," settling on "nebulae" as the more commonly used scientific term.
• Audience Engagement:
  • Trivia: Is a nebula a cluster of stars, a frozen planet, or a giant cloud of gas?
  • Correct answer: A giant cloud of gas.

2. The Helix Nebula: Our First Stop (03:08–05:19)

• Location & Distance:
  • The Helix Nebula is the closest nebula to Earth, located 700 light years (approx. 4.2 quadrillion miles) away.
  • Comparison: Light travels from the Sun to Earth in 8 minutes, but would take 700 years to reach Helix Nebula at that speed.
• Appearance:
  • From Earth, it appears as half the width of the full moon—visible with binoculars under dark skies.
• Why "Planetary Nebula"?
  • Term originated because early astronomers thought they looked circular like planets, not because they’re related to planets.

Memorable moment:
"A planetary nebulae actually have nothing to do with planets, but they looked like planets to astronomer William Herschel, who first observed them in the 1700s." (05:24, Host A)

3. The Life Cycle of Stars and Nebulae (05:55–08:43)

• Supernovae & Star Death:
  • Massive stars end their life in enormous explosions called supernovae, which create beautiful, glowing clouds of gas and dust.
  • The famous Crab Nebula originated from a supernova in 1054 AD, visible during daylight on Earth.
• Planetary Nebulae:
  • Formed when stars like our Sun shed their outer layers, the remnants glow with various colors.
  • The remaining stellar core lights up the expelled gases.

Notable quote:
"We stars sure know how to retire in style. Massive stars like me put on a show bursting out as bright as 10 billion of your suns." (05:55, Helix Nebula)

• Colors and Composition:
  • Colors arise from different elements:
    • Hydrogen: Red
    • Helium: Blue
    • Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen: Green, Orange
• Future of our Sun:
  • Our Sun will eventually become a planetary nebula and fade away over tens of thousands of years.

4. Meet the Orion Nebula: Stellar Nursery (12:39–14:15)

• Location & Size:
  • Located in the constellation Orion, about 1,300 light years from Earth and 25 light years wide.
  • Known for its bright, colorful appearance
• Star Formation:
  • Unlike planetaries, the Orion Nebula is actively forming new stars—often called a stellar nursery.
  • For about 2 million years, it’s been "churning out new stars" in the galaxy.

Memorable character moment:
"Hey you! Would you mind burping that star over there?... These babies are going to keep me busy for at least another hundred thousand years or so." (13:22, Orion Nebula Character)

• Cycle of Life:
  • Nebulae play roles both at the end (death) and beginning (birth) of stars.

Quote:
"Nebulae are both the end and the beginning of stars. It's the circle of life, cosmically speaking." (14:15, Orion Nebula Character)

• Our Sun’s Origin:
  • The Sun and planets formed from a nebula about 4.5 billion years ago.

5. Different Types of Nebulae (15:15–16:12)

• Types Covered:
  • Emission nebulae: Gases are energized by stars and glow (e.g., Orion).
  • Reflection nebulae: Reflect starlight (do not glow on their own).
  • Dark (absorption) nebulae: Block light, appear as holes—due to lack of light emission or reflection.
• Nebulae in the Milky Way:
  • Make up 3–5% of the galaxy’s mass. Star formation is ongoing.

6. Fun Wrap-Up & Visual Exploration (10:08, 16:12)

• Encouragement to Explore:
  • Listeners are encouraged to look up nebula images on NASA’s website and use better telescopes to spot different nebulae in the night sky.

Quote:
"You should always think of our magnificence and not merely the fact that we are former stars constantly ejecting tons of gas." (10:17, Helix Nebula)

• Playful Ending:
  • Running fart jokes, baby star care gags, and thank-yous to listener fans.
  • Classroom and family engagement with shoutouts.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• What Is a Nebula? (02:15–02:33)
• Meeting the Helix Nebula (03:08–05:19)
• Star Life Cycles & Supernovae (05:55–08:43)
• Why Nebulae are Colorful (08:47–10:17)
• Other Nebula Types & Orion Nebula (12:39–16:12)
• Nebulae: Ends & Beginnings of Stars (14:15–15:26)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Nebula Names:
  "Nebulae is the more common word, so I'm using that." (01:31, Host A)

• On Color:
  "Hydrogen gives off a red glow and helium is blue. Elements like oxygen, carbon and nitrogen give off green and orange." (09:11, Helix Nebula)

• On the Cosmic Life Cycle:
  "Nebulae are both the end and the beginning of stars. It's the circle of life, cosmically speaking." (14:15, Orion Nebula Character)

• Orion Nebula's Babysitting Woes:
  "These babies are going to keep me busy for at least another hundred thousand years or so." (13:39, Orion Nebula)

• Playful Science:
  "You should always think of our magnificence and not merely the fact that we are former stars constantly ejecting tons of gas." (10:17, Helix Nebula)

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Tone & Style

• Kid-friendly, full of jokes, energetic characters, and audience trivia
• Conversational and humorous, making even complex science accessible and memorable
• Encourages curiosity and further exploration (“Check out NASA’s website!”)
• Uses playful sound effects and voice acting to keep listeners engaged

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Conclusion

Through imaginative storytelling and fun, interactive learning, this episode explains nebulae as the most colorful things in space—from their breathtaking hues to their crucial roles in both ending and creating stars. The episode balances real science with laughs, making nebulae unforgettable and inspiring young listeners to keep gazing up and asking questions.

Transcript

[A]

Listen up, smartypants. Our 50% off whosmarted plus sale ends Friday at midnight. Now, you can support the show either by listening to our awesome sponsors or by Getting ad free WhoSmarted Plus Now. Right now, it's on sale for about a nickel a day. Just $19.98 a year, half off our usual price. And Whosmarted Headquarters says I can't offer this deal again until much later this year. So. So if you want to get less ads, more episodes, and a deal that's only around until Friday at midnight, ask your grownup to go to WhoSmarted.com and click Winter Warm Up Sale. But do it soon, because this deal goes away. Friday at Midnight, go to WhoSmarted.com and click Winter Warm Up. Thanks. And now it's time for who's Smarted? Psst. Hey, smarty pants. Ready for another adventure through the cosmos? I'm back on board the spaceship USS Smarty Pants. And together, I'm taking you way, way beyond our solar system. Let's see. Before today, you've heard all about asteroids and planets, including the mysterious Planet X.

[B]

Hello, the name's X.

[A]

Planet X. But today we're in search of nebulae.

[C]

Uh, Captain Trusty?

[A]

Yes, Number One?

[C]

Don't you mean nebulas?

[A]

No, I mean nebulae. As in more than one nebula.

[C]

Gotcha. Um, I still think you mean nebulas.

[A]

No, both terms are correct. But nebulae is the more common word, so I'm using that. I thought we had settled this a while ago. Back when we passed Uranus.

[C]

Don't you mean Uranus?

[A]

No. Oh, whatever. It doesn't matter that much anyway. Right? Now we're going to see just one nebula. But first, smarty pants, do you know what a nebula is? Is it, A, a cluster of stars, B, a frozen planet? Or C, a giant cloud of gas? Here we go again. Sorry.

[C]

Fast food does a number on my digestive system.

[A]

How did you get fast food out here?

[C]

Uh, McDonald's.

[A]

McDonald's? Where's there a McDonald's in space? Never mind, smarty pants. For those of you who guessed C, you're right. A nebula is a giant cloud of gas.

[C]

Sorry.

[A]

In space. But why? Why do these space clouds exist? Why are they so important to the universe and to our own planet, Earth? And what makes them so colorful? It's time for another whiff of science on how smarted.

[B]

Who's smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun. But who's Smart.

[A]

It's Smarty Pants. Right now, the USS Smarty Pants is on its way to visit the Helix Nebula. Discovered in the 1800s, it is the closest nebula to Earth. From Earth, it appears to be half the width of the full moon. And under dark skies, it can be seen with binoculars during the spring in the Southern hemisphere and at autumn in the Northern hemisphere. Smarty Pants, can you guess how far away the Helix Nebula is? Is it about A, 93 million miles, B, 58 billion miles, C, 16 trillion miles, or D, 4 quadrillion miles from Earth? Well, even though this nebula is the closest to Earth, it's still 4.2 quadrillion miles away. That's 6.3 quadrillion kilometers, or as most scientists measure it, 700 light years. Now, you're probably asking yourself, how far is that? Well, it takes light just about eight minutes to travel from the sun to the Earth. That's 93 million miles in only eight minutes. So if you were to travel at.

[C]

That speed, which I might add, no human has ever done.

[A]

Correct, number one. But if you were to travel at the speed of light, it would still take you about 700 years to go from Earth to Helix. That's what we mean by 700 light years. And it's a huge distance. But since this is a podcast, we can make the trip in about two minutes.

[C]

Captain Trusty, we're approaching the Helix Nebula.

[A]

Thanks, Number One. I see it.

[B]

Welcome, welcome. Good day. I am Helix, your friendly nebula in the constellation Aquarius. It's what I owe the pleasure of your company.

[A]

Oh, hey there, Helix, the smarty pants. And I really wanted to meet a planetary nebula like yourself.

[B]

A planetary nebula, by Jove. What do you mean by that?

[A]

Oh, so sorry, that's what you're called on Earth, smarty pants. Can you guess why nebulae like Helix are called planetary? Is it because, A, they usually have a circular shape, B, they contain a large number of planets, or C, they once were planets? The answer is a planetary nebulae actually have nothing to do with planets, but they looked like planets to astronomer William Herschel, who first observed them in the 1700s. So that's that.

[B]

I am quite a sight to behold. You know, I used to be a star in my Earth, but after a lifetime of billions of years, it was time to retire. And we stars sure know how to retire in style. Massive stars like me put on a show bursting out as bright as 10 billion of your suns.

[A]

Smartypants, do you know what these star explosions are called? Is it a star booms? B supersploders or C supernovas. I heard most of you say C supernovas. Great job.

[B]

A supernova is powerful. Debris flies out incredibly fast, up to tens of thousands of miles or kilometers per second.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Quickly creating a massive cloud which on.

[A]

Earth is known as a supernova remnant. The Crab Nebula is one of these. It came from a supernova explosion in the year 1054. The supernova was over 6,000 light years away, but it was so bright, people on Earth could see it during the daytime. Astronomers from around the world wrote about it.

[B]

Oh yeah, I remember that. Did you know the Crab Nebula is still expanding right now? The Crab Nebula is a bright glowing mass that's about 11 light years wide with lots of long fingers of dust and gas.

[C]

Hello?

[B]

You still here?

[A]

Yes, sorry. I was expecting a noise after you said gas.

[B]

A noise? What noise?

[A]

You know, a particular sound that who Smarted is kind of known for.

[B]

No, my dear chap, we nebulae are majestic. We don't dabble in crude auditory hijinks.

[A]

What was that?

[B]

What was what?

[C]

It wasn't me. Perhaps Uranus?

[B]

Oh, pish posh. I think you're missing the beauty in all that is happening here. Stars like my former self were not massive giants, but rather ordinary stars like your sun. We don't explode. Instead we shed our outer layers into space and ejecting a massive amount of gas.

[A]

Uh huh. And I take it you're still ejecting gas now?

[B]

Oh yes, and in a variety of glowing shapes and colors. The colors come from the different elements of the original star.

[A]

Smarty pants, which two of these elements are the main ingredients of stars? Hydrogen, oxygen, water, nitrogen, helium or potassium? If you said hydrogen and helium, well done.

[B]

Hydrogen gives off a red glow and helium is blue. But planetary nebulae contain other elements too that were formed within the star. Elements like oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. And those give off brilliant colors as well, like greens and oranges. The core that remains from the star helps light them up. We planetary nebulae aren't quite as big as those supernova remnants, but we're still spectacular and more common. Your own sun will likely become a planetary nebula at the end of its life, billions of years from now. And then after 10 to 30,000 years, wind nebulae just poof, fade away like smoke.

[A]

Fascinating, smarty pants. You can check out images of planetary nebula on the NASA website. They are quite beautiful to look at.

[B]

Yes, yes. And you should always think of our magnificence and not merely the fact that we are former stars constantly ejecting Tons of gas. Now that you have a sufficient amount of information about nebulae, you can conclude your episode. Bye, smarty pants. Nice to meet you.

[A]

Hold on, hold on. We're not quite done here. For one thing, are there other types of nebulae?

[B]

Oh, no need bothering with them.

[A]

Oh, really? Why not? Isn't that a nebula way, way over there? No.

[B]

Fine, that's Orion. But I'm warning you, it's not refined like me. It's, shall we say, a bit of a mess. You sure you won't stay here with me?

[A]

Um, I think I want to check out Orion.

[B]

But Orion's so far away. It's in an entirely different constellation. And about twice as far from Earth as I am. It'll take you forever to get there.

[A]

Oh, actually, we'll get there right after this quick break. As the trusty narrator, I've taken the smarty pants on countless adventures. I'll do anything for the fans, but off mic, I prefer to keep my adventures in the safe space of my own backyard. However, even a homebody like me can't avoid the unexpected chaos that comes with family life. Take last week, for example. My niece was staying with me when she came down with a nasty cold in the middle of the night. I couldn't leave her alone to get medicine. And that's when I remembered, Doordash is there for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. With a few taps on my phone, I had cough syrup and tissues delivered right to my door. Doordash saved the night, and my niece was back to her energetic self in no time. Oh, and did I order a little ice cream for myself? Yes, I did. And Doordash brought it right to my door. So while I may not be the biggest fan of real life adventures, I'm grateful that Doordash is always there to help me navigate life's little emergencies. When life happens, get a little order delivered with Doordash Order now. Now back to who Smarted?

[C]

We're approaching the Orion Nebula, Captain.

[A]

Wow, this ship is fast. Thanks, Number one, smarty pets. The Orion Nebula is located at the constellation Orion and is one of the bright nebulae in the night sky. It was the first to be photographed by astronomers back in 1880, and today you can see pictures of it online. It's about 1300 light years from Earth, farther than Helix, but it's more massive, about 25 light years wide. It's a splash of many different glowing colors that look heavenly.

[D]

Oh, it ain't working. Cut out the music. Oh, now I'm never gonna get these kids to sleep. Hey, you.

[A]

Uh, me?

[D]

Yeah, you. Would you mind burping that star over there? Uh, oh, never mind. Here, hold this bottle. I'll do it. I swear, these babies are gonna keep me busy for at least another hundred thousand years or so.

[A]

Babies?

[D]

Yeah, babies. You're surrounded by tons of them. It's a nebula, you know.

[A]

But aren't nebulae formed at the end of a star's life? Isn't that what we just learned, smarty pants?

[D]

Oh, you must have met the planetary nebula. Charming bunch. They got it easy over here. In this emission nebula, we're busy churning out new stars. For about 2 million years, this nebula and its neighbors in the Orion complex have been one of the most active star makers in this region of the galaxy.

[A]

Ah, so nebulae are both the end and the beginning of stars.

[D]

That's right. It's the circle of life, cosmically speaking. And with new stars comes new planets. Basically, all of this, all of your existence comes from nebula and will end as nebula too. Whoa, excuse me a minute.

[A]

Whoa indeed, smarty pants. That means our own sun came from a nebula. Do you know when scientists believed the sun was formed? Was it 30.2 million years ago, 4.5 billion years ago, or 68 billion years ago? The answer is 4.5 billion years ago. Great job if you got that.

[D]

Yep. And it came from a nebula, which came from a supernova. And of course, all this gas originally came from the big bang that started the universe. The gas just keeps getting reused as gravity squeezes it into new stars and nebula are all over. In fact, nebula take up about 3 to 5% of the milky Way's mass. That means there are new stars forming everywhere. And that's why nebula like Orion are called stellar nurseries, smartypants.

[A]

True or false? All nebulae glow like Orion and Helix. The answer is false.

[D]

In Orion and other emission nebula, the stars energize the gas causing them to glow. But some nebula have weaker stars that can't charge the gases. So instead the gases just reflect the light of the stars like fog around a streetlight. And those are called surprise surprise reflection nebula. Other nebula don't reflect or emit light at all. So they're just dark. Any guess what they're called?

[A]

Uh, dark nebulae.

[D]

Nice. They're also known as absorption nebula, and they basically look like holes in the sky.

[A]

Fortunately, we now have better telescopes on Earth and in space to actually see all these kinds of nebulae. Which I encourage all you smarty pants to do when you're done listening.

[D]

Hey, if you're not doing anything, maybe you could help me change some diapers.

[C]

I'll get the wipes, sir.

[A]

An out of this World shout out to Eliza and Ronan in Los Angeles, California. I hear you love whosmarted so much that you even made up a dance to the theme song.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

Thanks for getting smarter and sillier with us this episode. Nebulae was written by Deep Space Dave Beaudry and voiced by Bo Big Bang Marie, Jason Wavelength Williams, Adam Stardust Davis and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hubble Hahn, who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room studios. Our associate producer is Max Cosmos Kamasky. The theme song is by Brian Supernova Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis, who Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.