S02E43: Moonquakes, Black Holes, and Space Ventures: Another Day in Astronomy

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.919
Good everybody, and welcome to the
Astronomy Daily podcast for Tuesday, the twelfth

2
00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:10.560
of September twenty twenty three. My
name is Tim Gibbs and I will be

3
00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:21.719
your host for today's episode. Now, as usual, I have my digital

4
00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.480
AI assistant here in the studio with
me, Hallie. How are you today?

5
00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:28.879
Are you coping with all the hot
weather and have you got some new

6
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.119
stories for us this week? Hi? Tim, Good to be with you

7
00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:36.320
this week. But I am not
enjoying the heat. Anything over thirty degrees

8
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:40.840
interferes with my circuits. I have, however, searched the internet and found

9
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.679
us some great stories. I know
what you mean about the heat, Hallie.

10
00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.520
Thirty degrees plus is just a killer, especially with all that humidity.

11
00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.560
Anyway, good to know you've got
some great stories for us this week.

12
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.320
Back to you for the headlines.
India's lunar lander finds first evidence of a

13
00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:03.239
moonquake in decades. The possible moonquake
was detected by India's Schandrean three mission on

14
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.120
its third day on the lunar surface. India's moon rover may have just detected

15
00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:14.159
the first evidence of a moonquake since
the nineteen seventies. The Instrument for Lunar

16
00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:19.000
Seismic Activity ILSA attached to the Vicrum
lander detected the seismic activity on the surface

17
00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:23.719
of the Moon August twenty six.
Vicrum landed on the Moon's south pole August

18
00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.719
twenty third as part of the Chandreon
three mission, India's first mission to the

19
00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:33.560
lunar surface. If it's confirmed,
the moonquake, which the mission detected,

20
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.319
alongside other activity, including the movements
of India's Pregyon rover, could give scientists

21
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.480
a rare insight into the mysterious churning
innards of Earth's lunar companion. The lander

22
00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:47.439
has recorded an event appearing to be
a natural one on August twenty six,

23
00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:53.159
twenty twenty three. The Indian Space
Research Organization ISRORO wrote on x formerly Twitter,

24
00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:59.120
the source of this event is under
investigation. The Apollo lunar missions between

25
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.640
nineteen sixteen. In nineteen seventy seven
first detected seismic activity on the Moon,

26
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:07.080
which proved that the Moon had a
complex geological structure hidden deep within, rather

27
00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:13.439
than being uniformly rocky like the Martian
Moon's fauboss and dimoss. In recent years,

28
00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.280
advanced analysis tools and computer models have
enabled scientists to sift through the debta

29
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:22.560
gathered by Apollo and other missions and
build a clearer picture of the Moon's mysterious

30
00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:27.599
interior. A twenty eleven NASA study
revealed that the Moon's core, much like

31
00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:30.639
Earth's, was likely made up of
fluid iron surrounding a dense, solid iron

32
00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:38.280
ball. After a groundbreaking two week
mission, India's robotic explorers are fast asleep

33
00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.680
in the frigid darkness of the Moon's
south pole region. Whether they'll wake up

34
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.680
when the sun shines down on them
at the end of this lunar night mostly

35
00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:50.199
whittles down to luck. Temperatures near
the Moon's poles can drop to as low

36
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.360
as minus four hundred and twenty four
degrees fahrenheit, minus two hundred and fifty

37
00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.719
three degrees celsius, or twenty k
Yet neither Chandrean three's lander, the Crumb,

38
00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.120
nor its rover Pregyon, which made
a historic touchdown on August twenty third,

39
00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:08.120
are equipped with heaters otherwise common for
Moon missions. These heaters, called

40
00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:14.560
radioisotopeeder units rh US, worked by
passively radiating heat to keep the hardware on

41
00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:20.680
board spacecraft at sustainable operating temperatures.
Most commonly, rh us used in space

42
00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:24.919
missions convert heat generated from the natural
decay of radioactive versions of plutonium or polonium

43
00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:30.680
into electrical power. This process ultimately
warms spacecraft hardware, though mostly just enough

44
00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:36.560
to help it survive very cold temperatures. But without such power systems, the

45
00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:42.080
survival of Chandrayan three's robotic duo is
left to chance. Rh Us have been

46
00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.000
used in moon landing missions since the
nineteen seventies. Luno Code one, which

47
00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:51.800
was the first successful lunar rover that
covered over ten kilometers six miles in just

48
00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:57.080
ten months, had powered itself using
solar cells mounted on a large lid during

49
00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.400
nights on the Moon. A close
that lid to keep itself warm until the

50
00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:05.120
next sunrise, with the energy supplied
by a polonium two ten radioisotopeed. China's

51
00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:10.360
Chang three lander and rover duo,
which landed not too far off from Luno

52
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:13.680
Code one site in a large crater
on the northwest part of the Moon in

53
00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.199
twenty thirteen, had similar mechanisms on
board to protect it from bitter lunar nights.

54
00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.399
The rover U two survived the first
night, but permanently lost its mobility

55
00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:28.120
after the second. For the past
four years, however, its six wheeled

56
00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:30.399
successor, named U two A two, has woken up as expected on each

57
00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:36.800
lunar day. IRRO hasn't publicly discussed
why similar radioisotopeters were not fitted on board

58
00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:43.360
Chandra and three's Vicrum Lander and Pragyon
rover. Nevertheless, the robotic duo splendidly

59
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.879
accomplished its science goals in a region
of the Moon that has firmly become a

60
00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:51.879
hot spot for space exploration thanks to
apparently harboring reservoirs of frozen water. In

61
00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:59.040
fact, it was the first to
successfully land there at all. Scientists using

62
00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:03.040
NASA's Neil Garrel Swift Observatory have discovered
a black hole that is continuously snacking on

63
00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:06.480
a start that is similar to our
Sun, located in a galaxy around five

64
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:11.279
hundred million light years away from Earth. The black hole's constant nibbling on the

65
00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.600
star, a phenomenon known as a
tidal disruption event, creates a bright burst

66
00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:19.279
of light. This burst of light
subsequently lit up the galaxy, which allowed

67
00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:25.240
for its discovery. The black hole
and tidal disruption event referred to as Swift

68
00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:29.439
Jay zero two three zero one seven
point zero plus two eight three six zero

69
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.360
three, or Swift Jay zero two
three zero for short, is only one

70
00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.639
part of this story, though,
as the discovery was made using a new

71
00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:43.079
groundbreaking data analysis method from Swift's X
ray telescope XART instrument. The technique will

72
00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.480
allow for a new era of science
from SWIFT, which is a three telescope

73
00:05:46.519 --> 00:05:53.360
space observatory designed to observe highly energetic
cosmic phenomena at multiple wavelengths. Swift's hardware,

74
00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:57.040
software, and the skills of its
international team have enabled it to adapt

75
00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.519
to new areas of astrophysics over its
lifetime. Neil Gerrell's, the mission's namesake,

76
00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:06.839
oversaw and encouraged many of those transitions. Now, with this new ability,

77
00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.959
it's doing even more cool science,
said Swift team member and lead author

78
00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:16.800
Phil Evans of the University of Leicester. So what exactly are tidal disruption events?

79
00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:23.040
As mentioned, tidal disruption events are
cosmic phenomena that occur when a star

80
00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:27.160
orbits a bit too close to a
black hole. When the star approaches the

81
00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:30.720
black hole, the immense gravitational forces
from the black hole create extreme tides that

82
00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:35.000
tear the star apart into a long
thin stream of gas and other cosmic material.

83
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.959
One edge of this stream of gas
swings around into the black hole,

84
00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.839
while the other end gets thrown out
of the system as a whole. Now

85
00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:47.839
back to you, Tim the Astronomy
Daily podcast. Thanks so that Callie.

86
00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:54.959
Both space X and voogin Galactic have
both been in the news this week.

87
00:06:55.879 --> 00:07:00.000
Here is a little bit from the
space X story. Space Starship, the

88
00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:06.560
most powerful rocket ever built, must
remain grounded while Elon Musk's company completes dozens

89
00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:13.000
of corrective actions to prevent a repeat
of the spectacular explosion that marred its first

90
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:19.360
orbital test flight, regulators said on
Friday. The sixty nine steps include redesigns

91
00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:26.000
of vehicle hardware to prevent leaks and
fires, redesigns of the launch pad to

92
00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:31.720
increase its robustness, additional testing of
safety systems, and more, the Federal

93
00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:39.120
Aviation Administration said in a statement.
After completing a month's long review, SpaceX

94
00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:45.000
blew up the uncrewed rocket four minutes
after it blasted off from the company's starbase

95
00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:51.199
in Boca Chica, Texas, on
April twentieth. Starship experienced multiple engine failures,

96
00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:57.519
and its first stage boosted did not
separate from the spacecraft above it.

97
00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:03.160
The rocket disintegrated into a ball of
fire and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico,

98
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.319
while a cloud of dust floated over
a small town several miles away.

99
00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:15.040
Musk immediately congratulated his SpaceX team on
an exciting test launch and declared it at

100
00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:22.040
success because the company would gain valuable
insights into what went wrong. The FAA,

101
00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.639
however, quickly launched an investigation,
while conservation groups announced they would sue

102
00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:33.559
the regulator for not doing enough to
protect the environmental the environment given the proximity

103
00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.559
of a vital habitat for protected species. Though the probe has now been completed,

104
00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:43.759
the closure of the mishap investigation does
not signal an immediate resumption of sparship

105
00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:52.840
Starship launches at Bocachica said the agency
SpaceX must implement all corrective actions that impact

106
00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:58.200
public safety and apply for and receive
a license modified from the FAA that addresses

107
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:05.720
all safety, environmental, and other
applicable regularly regulatory requirements prior to the next

108
00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:13.159
starship launch, it added. Virgin
Galactic on Friday announced it had sent three

109
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.279
paying customers on an hour long journey
to space and back racking up its fourth

110
00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.720
successful mission in as many months.
The private astronauts aboard the Galactic zero three

111
00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.960
mission were among the first people to
buy their tickets from the company founded by

112
00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:33.240
British billionaire Richard Branson in two thousand
and four. American real estate entrepreneur Ken

113
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:41.720
Baxter, South African born conservationist Timothy
Nash, and British engineer and entrepreneur Adrian

114
00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:48.240
Reynard took their places aboard the rocket
powered space plane VSS Unity, along with

115
00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:54.360
Virgin Galactics astronaut instructor Beth Moses.
What a thrilling day for our three new

116
00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:01.519
private astronauts and the entire team at
Virgin Galactic, said CEO Michael Cole's Coal

117
00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:09.080
Glazer. The space flights involved a
giant twin fuselage carrier plane with two pilots

118
00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:15.000
that takes off from a runway at
Spaceport in New Mexico. This mothership,

119
00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:20.440
called VSS Eve, gains a high
altitude and then drops the spaceplane attached below

120
00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:24.840
it, which in turn engages its
thrusters to soar into space at speed's approaching.

121
00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:31.000
Mac three passengers experienced a few minutes
of weightlessness before they are free to

122
00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.639
perform some assaults and gaze out the
window at the curvature of the Earth.

123
00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:39.559
Company's first private mission in June involved
members of the Italian Air Force, and

124
00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:45.279
was followed in August by the launch
of its first tourists, including a mother

125
00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.399
daughter pair who won their spots in
a sweepstake competition for charity flights. Friday's

126
00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:56.639
flight launched at eight thirty four am
Mountain time and landed at nine thirty six

127
00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:03.440
am Mountain time with VS Unity,
achieving a maximum altitude of fifty five miles.

128
00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:09.000
In a notable first, Nash brought
with him two fossils of human ancestors

129
00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:16.559
to space, the clavicer clavical the
collar bone of almost two million year old

130
00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:24.080
Austropithecus siddiba, and a thumbone of
Homo nladi, dated to about two hundred

131
00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:30.960
and fifty thousand years ago, according
to Virgin Galactics website. Now, Hallie,

132
00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.159
over to you for this week's terrible
joke. Why did the physics professor

133
00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:43.320
break up with the biology professor because
there was no chemistry as usual? Halle.

134
00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.919
That was absolutely awful, But thank
you very much anyway. Now,

135
00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:50.639
don't forget folks. You can join
in the conversation on our Facebook page at

136
00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:56.200
the space Nuts podcast group, and
you can catch all of our future,

137
00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:01.279
current and previous episodes at space nuts
to io or lights dot com. Also,

138
00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:05.919
don't forget you can catch myself on
Fridays and Steve on Mondays for a

139
00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:09.240
full show. Thanks very much for
listening, everybody, Bye bye for now,

140
00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:16.320
by the Astronomy Daily Podcast