Asteroids, Comets & the Latest from the DART Mission: A Cosmic Update | Space Nuts: Astronomy...

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Language: en

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Hello again and thank you for joining us


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on Space Nuts, the astronomy and space


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science podcast and radio show on


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community radio across Australia. My


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name's Andrew Dunley. Great to have your


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company in this the 607th episode of our


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program. Can you believe it? And this


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one is 100% dedicated to comets and


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asteroids in one way or another. We've


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got an update on the potential impact of


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asteroid Y4 with the moon. And they've


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been keeping an eye on this and they've


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come up with an answer and it's uh it's


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really clever the way they've done it.


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Uh more news out of the Dart mission.


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Something else has happened there. Yes,


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it's on a collision course with nothing.


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Had you worried there for a moment and


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three Atlas is chemically unstable. In


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fact, it's falling down drunk. We'll


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tell you why on this episode of Space


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Nuts.


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>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9


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Ignition sequence start. Space Nuts.


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>> 5 4 3 2


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>> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1


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>> Space Nuts.


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>> Astronauts report. It feels good.


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>> Joining us again for another stint on


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this little podcast of ours is Professor


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Fred Watson, astronomer at large. Hello,


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Fred.


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>> Hello, Andrew. And uh it's nice to talk


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to you. What a surprise.


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>> Good to see you.


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And we have got um a um a real rocking


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program today.


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>> Oh, I love it. Love it.


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>> It's all about rocks and ice and


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asteroids and something else which we'll


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get to later that's not rock and ice. Uh


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but um first an update on the potential


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impact of asteroid Y R4 with the moon.


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were a little bit worried that its


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chances of hitting the moon were well I


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think I heard in the early stages of its


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discovery that people were quoting 20 or


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30% chance of it hitting the moon that


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kind of got wound back to a more


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reasonable number. Uh but now they've


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got some definitive


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evidence of what's going to happen


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that that's correct. Um, I mean, uh,


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it's not just the moon that worried us


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for a while with asteroid 2024 YR4.


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uh because when it was discovered back


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in 2024, as you might guess, uh Y4


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um when its trajectory was analyzed and


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you got to remember that an object is


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only 60 mters across um which is flying


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through space, you make observations of


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its position. uh and if you've only


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observed it over a short period of


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period of time, the uncertainties in its


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well both its past orbit and its future


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orbit are very large. So it's what we


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call the arc uh the arc of observation.


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The the wider the arc of observations


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that you can make, the more accurate is


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going to be your assessment of where


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it's come from and where it's going. Um


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and so those early assessments uh


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actually they were in early in 25 2025


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when these calculations were made. Um


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but it's it did suggest a small chance


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that it might hit the earth.


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>> Uh and that was very quickly I think I'm


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sure you and I talked about this on


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space.


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>> Yeah, we did.


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>> It was very quickly ruled out. Uh and


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but as it sort of wandered on its way uh


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early in 2025, uh there was still a


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possibility that it might hit the moon.


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Uh and the time that it would happen


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would be uh 2035


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uh was the uh basically the the targeted


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time for sorry no is that right? 2032


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>> 2032.


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Yeah. Yeah, that's correct. Sorry, I'm


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mixing up my numbers. You deserve when


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you get to a certain age.


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Uh 2032


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um that there was a non-zero chance that


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it would hit the moon. And the the story


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what happened then was of course this


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object is it's what we call a near-Earth


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asteroid because it approaches near the


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Earth, but it's not near the Earth all


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the time.


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>> Most of the time it's a long way away as


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it goes around in its orbit around the


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sun. and it sort of disappeared from


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view essentially certainly from the uh


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from the purview of groundbased


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telescopes. There was not going to be


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any way we thought of observing it again


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until 2028 when it would make another


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close approach, not one that had any


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risk attached to it. But we didn't


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expect uh to be able to see its position


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in any detail until 2028, which we would


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need in order to predict where it might


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be in 2032, whether it's going to hit


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the moon or not. Um but um there are


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some scientists at uh who use the James


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Web Space Telescope who tend not to let


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uh faintness stand in their way because


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that's why you couldn't observe this


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object. It was just too faint. And sure


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enough, uh early this year, last month


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in fact, they've made two sets of


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observations where they've actually


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picked up uh the image, a tiny faint


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image of uh 2024 YR4. Uh they've picked


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it up and uh allowed um them the


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calculations in uh to basically take


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those new positions, the 2026 positions


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into the orbit calculation. Uh, and what


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they've done is they've ruled out any


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possibility of it hitting the moon. So,


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that's an unexpected story for us. I


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didn't think we'll be talking about this


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again until 2028. Uh, but no, we've


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talked about it in 2026 and the web


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telescope has come to the rescue. Um,


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some people are disappointed, Andrew,


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because um,


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>> an asteroid hitting the moon uh,


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especially if you know when it's going


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to happen and you would know where it


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was going to happen as well. Uh, could


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have produced some um quite interesting


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pyrochnics. It would allow spectroscopy


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uh, which would tell you a little bit


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about the asteroid's makeup as well as


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the the makeup of the lunar regalith and


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the lunar lunar um, terrain that it


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smashed into. But that's not going to


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happen. Uh and so for anybody like


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astronauts who might happen to be


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hanging about on the moon in 2032 and


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there may well be both uh Chinese


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tyonauts and uh western astronauts on


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the moon by then. We'll um that that


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will be a great relief I'm sure.


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>> Yes. Yes. You don't really want a


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mission interrupted by a piece of an


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ice. Uh what would could you if if it


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did hit the moon? Let's just play that


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card for the moment. uh and you were


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looking at it at the time, would would


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you actually see it with the naked eye


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or with a telescope?


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>> I don't think you would with the naked


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eye, but you certainly would with


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telescopes and even maybe a relatively


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small telescope. We've known I mean


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certainly since the 1950s,


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uh that rocks do hit the moon. Um and


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often these are ones that are much


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smaller than the 60 m of Y4. Um it's for


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a long time I remember you know when I


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was first getting into astronomy in the


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1950s uh that um people talked and in


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particular Patrick Moore talked about


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these what what were called TLE's uh


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transient lunar events uh and there were


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flashes basically that amateur


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astronomers kept reporting said every so


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often there'd be something you know


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they'd be looking at the moon through a


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telescope and suddenly there'd be a


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flash. uh and for a long time it was not


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show not known really whether this was


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due to some sort of residual volcanic


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activity on the moon or whether it was


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impact of asteroids and and large meteor


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meteorites. Uh and um it was really once


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we seen the Apollo results and got to


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know the moon a lot better because of


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the Apollo missions that it it was


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deemed to be impacts that caused these


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transient lunar events. uh and so uh it


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would certainly be a 60 meter object


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hitting the moon is quite significant uh


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and that I don't think it would be naked


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eye visibility but I you probably


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wouldn't need that big a telescope to be


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able to see it.


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>> Wow.


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>> And so yes so yeah interesting


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>> and especially you know sorry especially


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if you could predict when and where it


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was going to happen you'd have all the


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amateur astronomers in the world of that


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side of the earth facing the moon. Yeah


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with eyes glued to your telescope. Yeah.


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Um, now just need you probably to


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explain how this works. But, uh, the


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scientists using the James Web took


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images 8 days apart. Is that that's


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obviously significant because then they


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get a straight line uh, observation. Is


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that how it works?


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>> No. What what happens is um, uh, in fact


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what even just one of those observations


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would have been invaluable. two is


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devastatingly invaluable. It makes it,


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you know, it increases your accuracy


00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.230
even more. Uh because what they do, they


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combine those new observations with what


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we knew from its orbit the last where


00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.350
when we observed it in 2024 25. So what


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you've suddenly got is you've you know


00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.430
the arc of observation might just have


00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:27.670
been a few months at the end of 2024


00:09:27.680 --> 00:09:30.470
early 2025. Now what you've done is


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you've extended that arc by a year


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effectively. Uh and that gives you a


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much much more accurate uh value of of


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uh what we call its orbital elements.


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The the asteroid um is its orbit is


00:09:47.839 --> 00:09:51.350
actually delineated by six numbers. Uh


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and those are the orbital elements as


00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.230
they're called. uh those numbers uh get


00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.269
more accurate the more uh the longer you


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can observe it for. So and and it's not


00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:03.269
just the how long you can observe it


00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.910
for. It's the interval between you know


00:10:05.920 --> 00:10:07.430
what's the interval of time between the


00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:08.949
observations which is what we've got


00:10:08.959 --> 00:10:11.269
here. We've suddenly got observations


00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.990
made a year later. It's it's absolutely


00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.910
narrowed down the uncertainties in the


00:10:15.920 --> 00:10:18.790
in the orbital elements. And so what we


00:10:18.800 --> 00:10:21.509
can then do is another great word from


00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.269
those orbital elements we can generate


00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.590
what's called an ephemeris and ephemeris


00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:27.190
tells you where the asteroid is going to


00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.190
be. It's a future predictions.


00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.630
>> That was what my MSE was on uh making


00:10:32.640 --> 00:10:36.230
orbital elements and uh fem


00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.030
of asteroids with a really new invention


00:10:39.040 --> 00:10:41.509
called computers.


00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.829
Yes. Yes. That I think that'll be a big


00:10:43.839 --> 00:10:45.670
hit.


00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:48.150
Well, it might be, hopefully not


00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:50.470
depending on where you're standing. It


00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:51.910
was certainly I'll tell you it was a big


00:10:51.920 --> 00:10:53.670
hit with the um with the external


00:10:53.680 --> 00:10:55.509
examiner, a gentleman in Glasgow


00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:57.590
University by the name of Archie Roy. He


00:10:57.600 --> 00:10:59.910
said, "Oh, this this work should be


00:10:59.920 --> 00:11:01.829
published. People should be able to read


00:11:01.839 --> 00:11:04.949
about this." Uh it never was, but uh the


00:11:04.959 --> 00:11:08.870
one copy is actually behind me.


00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:10.790
>> Yeah, it's one of the two thick volumes


00:11:10.800 --> 00:11:13.670
at the end. The other's my PhD thesis.


00:11:13.680 --> 00:11:15.590
I keep thinking of questions while we


00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.069
talk about this. Um, but what I what I


00:11:18.079 --> 00:11:20.230
find extraordinary is that the James Web


00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.470
Space Telescope was trying to find


00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.310
something 60 m in size from a distance


00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.190
of 48 million kilometers, 30 million


00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:29.910
miles.


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>> Yep.


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>> And it found it twice.


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>> It's pretty fantastic, isn't it?


00:11:33.920 --> 00:11:36.069
>> It would just pop above the the


00:11:36.079 --> 00:11:37.670
background noise. you know, when you


00:11:37.680 --> 00:11:39.110
when you're doing these observations,


00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.990
you've got various sources of what we


00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.350
call noise, which is basically


00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.310
uncertainty. Uh, and um, these are


00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:47.829
probably


00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:50.389
very close to that noise level, but it's


00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.550
just shown up enough that gives them


00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:53.990
what they call what we call a three


00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.069
sigma certainty. It's, you know, that's


00:11:56.079 --> 00:11:57.590
the level of certainty that you need.


00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:59.110
It's just a technical term for the


00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.910
statistical analysis that's being used.


00:12:01.920 --> 00:12:04.310
>> Um, I maybe they got help from AI as


00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:05.110
well. I don't know.


00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.230
>> Maybe. Yeah, it's possible. Um, I have a


00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.150
doomsday question though.


00:12:10.160 --> 00:12:11.190
>> Great.


00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:12.949
>> When, and we're going to talk about the


00:12:12.959 --> 00:12:14.790
dart mission next because there's new


00:12:14.800 --> 00:12:16.790
information about that uh, deflection


00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:20.150
test. But when do you intervene? Like if


00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:24.710
if we left it a couple of years because


00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.949
James Webb couldn't find it and then we


00:12:26.959 --> 00:12:28.629
realized it was going to hit Earth or


00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:31.110
something to that effect. When is it too


00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.550
late to intervene? it it's um with an


00:12:34.560 --> 00:12:37.030
asteroid like that it's almost too late


00:12:37.040 --> 00:12:40.150
already uh because you've only got so if


00:12:40.160 --> 00:12:42.710
we'd observed this in 2028 and the


00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:44.550
probability of an impact with Earth had


00:12:44.560 --> 00:12:47.190
gone up I mean it that had disappeared


00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.190
long ago so it's it's not a problem but


00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:52.230
if that happened you've only got four


00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:57.509
years uh and we're not ready quite yet


00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.150
to mount an emergency mission I think


00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:02.310
down the track we will be Having seen


00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.069
what come out of the story we're going


00:13:04.079 --> 00:13:05.910
to do next and


00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:08.949
>> um I think down the track we will have


00:13:08.959 --> 00:13:12.069
uh probably planetary defense uh rockets


00:13:12.079 --> 00:13:14.949
and spacecraft almost ready to go uh so


00:13:14.959 --> 00:13:17.190
that you could think about deflecting an


00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:18.870
object if it looked as though it was


00:13:18.880 --> 00:13:21.190
going to impact the earth but I suspect


00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.150
with four years that's not very long for


00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:26.470
a modified orbit to evolve into one that


00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.990
will miss the planet altogether. Um, uh,


00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.870
I think what would happen would be you'd


00:13:32.880 --> 00:13:36.230
you'd mobilize a civil defense, uh,


00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.629
resources because you'd probably quite


00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:40.870
quickly get an idea where the collision


00:13:40.880 --> 00:13:42.870
was going to be. You'd have a a circle


00:13:42.880 --> 00:13:44.870
of uncertainty, but you would know


00:13:44.880 --> 00:13:46.710
roughly where it was, which which side


00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.430
of the planet was going to be facing it.


00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:53.190
uh and a 60 m object. I mean, it's


00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.829
probably twice the size of what exploded


00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:59.670
over Chelabinsk uh in 2013. And we know


00:13:59.680 --> 00:14:03.030
that that caused structural damage when


00:14:03.040 --> 00:14:05.430
the shock wave hit the ground from 30


00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.310
kilometers high and it was the broken


00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.829
glass that caused all the injuries.


00:14:09.839 --> 00:14:12.629
Nobody died. Uh but but people did get


00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:14.870
injured. Um, and if you knew something


00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:17.030
like that was going to happen, uh, then


00:14:17.040 --> 00:14:19.030
you'd get the people out or get them in


00:14:19.040 --> 00:14:21.910
bunkers or whatever. Um, because it that


00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:23.430
that would be the most likely scenario,


00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:25.670
an air burst. It may be what happened at


00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:26.949
Tangaska actually.


00:14:26.959 --> 00:14:29.750
>> Yes.


00:14:29.760 --> 00:14:32.629
>> Yeah. I think the latest theory is it


00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:35.350
was actually a atmospheric graze rather


00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.910
than impact and caused


00:14:37.920 --> 00:14:40.150
>> explosion downwards. Yeah.


00:14:40.160 --> 00:14:42.949
>> Rading radiating out. Um the images from


00:14:42.959 --> 00:14:44.310
that are incredible. You can look them


00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:44.949
up on


00:14:44.959 --> 00:14:45.990
>> all the trees.


00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.310
>> Yeah. Just flattened. Unbelievable.


00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:49.030
Yeah.


00:14:49.040 --> 00:14:51.030
>> If you would like to read about the the


00:14:51.040 --> 00:14:53.430
latest observations uh regarding


00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:56.389
asteroid 2024 YR2, you can go to the


00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.790
scienceblog.com website or you can go to


00:14:58.800 --> 00:15:00.949
the issa website where they've published


00:15:00.959 --> 00:15:03.509
the findings. This is space nuts with


00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.710
Andrew Dunley and Professor Fred Watson.


00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:08.230
Let's take a break from the show to tell


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00:16:39.920 --> 00:16:41.910
I believe that this nation should commit


00:16:41.920 --> 00:16:45.509
itself to achieving the goal before this


00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.230
decade is out of landing a man on the


00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.310
moon and returning him safely to the


00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:50.710
earth.


00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.150
>> These nuts.


00:16:52.160 --> 00:16:53.829
>> Well, we said we'd talk about it and we


00:16:53.839 --> 00:16:56.230
got to talk about it. The Dart mission.


00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.870
I think we should start by kind of just


00:16:58.880 --> 00:17:00.870
revisiting what that mission was all


00:17:00.880 --> 00:17:03.509
about and why. Well, we know why. to see


00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.069
if we could move something that may hit


00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.630
Earth one day off a bit so that it


00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.270
missed us. Uh I probably just explained


00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:13.350
it, but um yeah, this was four years


00:17:13.360 --> 00:17:14.870
ago, wasn't it, Fred?


00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.750
>> Uh indeed it was. That's right. 2022. Um


00:17:17.760 --> 00:17:20.870
it was I think it was it September. Uh I


00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:21.350
can't remember.


00:17:21.360 --> 00:17:22.150
>> Good question.


00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.510
>> About I think it was about then. Um the


00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:29.909
so a really really clever experiment uh


00:17:29.919 --> 00:17:33.029
conducted by NASA and a team of project


00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.990
scientists. Uh what do you do to test


00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:39.029
whether you can move an asteroid? What


00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.150
you don't do is slap something into an


00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.390
asteroid and see whether you can change


00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.710
its orbit around the sun. And that's


00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.110
because uh the orbits of planets,


00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:52.710
asteroids um and comets actually as well


00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:54.870
are very very stable. It's quite hard to


00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:56.789
change them. Uh because you're talking


00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.789
about, you know, lots of rather large


00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:02.630
forces, gravitational forces and things


00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.470
like that. So what they did was they


00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.390
said, "Okay, we won't do that. What


00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:07.909
we'll do is we'll find an asteroid with


00:18:07.919 --> 00:18:10.470
a a moon." Uh and we now know there are


00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:12.310
a lot of those. And they chose an


00:18:12.320 --> 00:18:15.350
asteroid called Ditimos. Uh if I


00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:16.950
remember rightly about half a kilometer


00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:19.669
across uh which had a little moon called


00:18:19.679 --> 00:18:24.230
Dorphos which is about I think 170 m is


00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.070
the figure that comes to mind. This


00:18:26.080 --> 00:18:28.230
little moon that goes around Diddimos


00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.390
once in I've got a feeling remembering


00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.230
it was about 11 hours its orbital


00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:34.630
period. So you smash something into the


00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.470
little asteroid moon. Uh, and what you


00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.350
then look for is how the orbit of the


00:18:41.360 --> 00:18:43.430
moon around its parent body, in other


00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:45.909
words, the moon, the orbit of Demorphos


00:18:45.919 --> 00:18:48.549
around Ditimos, how that changes because


00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.789
something on that scale is much easier


00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:53.110
to change than the orbit of an asteroid


00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:56.950
around the sun. Uh, and as we all know,


00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.190
it was incredibly successful. the orbit


00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.029
of the orbital period of um Demorphus I


00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:04.950
think it was reduced by was it 33


00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:08.070
minutes I think was the the figure um if


00:19:08.080 --> 00:19:11.029
I remember rightly the Dart spacecraft


00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.110
I'm remembering these numbers from the


00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:15.669
last time we talked about it I think it


00:19:15.679 --> 00:19:20.390
was um uh three tons I think thereabouts


00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:24.390
hit Demorphos at 6 kilometers/s


00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.510
caused a huge plume of data sorry a huge


00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:29.909
plume of debris not data, lots of data


00:19:29.919 --> 00:19:33.270
as well, but debris too. Um, and that


00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:35.510
was all in fact visible from Earth as


00:19:35.520 --> 00:19:37.669
well as from uh things like the Hubble


00:19:37.679 --> 00:19:40.390
Space Telescope. Uh, so it was a


00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:43.990
experiment that was well uh devised,


00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.710
well set up and had excellent results.


00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.830
It did exactly it did better than what


00:19:49.840 --> 00:19:51.750
um the mission scientists hoped. And the


00:19:51.760 --> 00:19:53.669
reason why it did better was because


00:19:53.679 --> 00:19:55.669
they there was a much bigger effect.


00:19:55.679 --> 00:19:57.909
It's when you hit something at 6


00:19:57.919 --> 00:20:00.470
kilometers/s, everything's vaporized.


00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.630
The the surface that you hit, which is


00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:04.150
actually a rubble pile, but the surface


00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.230
you hit vaporized, as is the spacecraft


00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:09.190
itself, and that vapor acts like a


00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.029
rocket exhaust. So, it's not just the


00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:13.190
nudge that you get from knocking


00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.110
something weighing three tons into an


00:20:15.120 --> 00:20:17.510
asteroid. Uh, it's also the sort of


00:20:17.520 --> 00:20:20.070
exhaust effect that comes from that uh


00:20:20.080 --> 00:20:25.110
as well. Um, so it uh and that that was


00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:27.029
what was very hard to quantify. We


00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:28.549
didn't really know what that would be,


00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.549
but it was enough to make a significant


00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:32.390
difference. So that's the backstory,


00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:33.110
Andrew.


00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:34.870
>> Yes. And you were right. It was the 26th


00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.190
of September, 2022.


00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:37.669
>> Okay.


00:20:37.679 --> 00:20:38.470
>> Great. Yeah.


00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.070
>> Yeah.


00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:41.990
Do you want to just check the mass of of


00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.070
the dart impactor while you're looking


00:20:44.080 --> 00:20:45.510
there? So


00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:47.510
>> correct if I've said it wrong. I said


00:20:47.520 --> 00:20:49.029
three tons, but I might be wrong. I


00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.669
can't remember. Okay, I'll do that. Um,


00:20:51.679 --> 00:20:53.990
but I guess we could uh move on to


00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.590
what's actually happened now. They've


00:20:55.600 --> 00:20:57.990
done more analysis and and something


00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.750
spectacular has happened as a


00:20:59.760 --> 00:21:01.750
consequence of that event three and a


00:21:01.760 --> 00:21:02.870
half years ago.


00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.270
>> And the way it's happened is neat as


00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:08.950
well because uh what you're looking for


00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.029
um if you're looking at the way an


00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.190
asteroid change an asteroid orbit


00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:16.070
changes, you're looking for incredible


00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:19.510
precision in space. uh and there are


00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:22.470
limits as to how precise we can get uh


00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:25.029
those measurements using telescopes.


00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:26.950
It's all about the position in space of


00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.430
the object. Telescopes are great at that


00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:33.190
of course but there is a better way uh


00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.590
for asteroids and that is to use


00:21:35.600 --> 00:21:38.789
occultations and an occultation is when


00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.510
an object like an asteroid passes in


00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:45.029
front of a star and you can predict this


00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.710
is going to happen. So what you do is


00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.630
for an object that's only 170 m across


00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:56.310
uh which is the size of demorphos um you


00:21:56.320 --> 00:21:59.190
you you've got what you do is you space


00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:02.310
astronomers along a line uh who are


00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:05.110
observing and because you you're not


00:22:05.120 --> 00:22:07.830
quite sure where the shadow of the


00:22:07.840 --> 00:22:10.470
asteroid casting the light of the star


00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:12.630
is going to fall. But with telescopes,


00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:14.470
what you can do is you can see the dip


00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.270
in a star's light as the asteroid passes


00:22:17.280 --> 00:22:18.470
in front of it. It's what we call


00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.710
noultation. And if you've got enough


00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:23.350
observers on the ground, it gives you a


00:22:23.360 --> 00:22:25.750
much higher level of precision as to


00:22:25.760 --> 00:22:28.230
where in the sky that asteroid is. And


00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:31.430
so that process was carried out um I


00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:35.430
think last year. Um and uh so that means


00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:37.750
that you've suddenly got very very


00:22:37.760 --> 00:22:40.070
accurate measurements of the position


00:22:40.080 --> 00:22:42.710
not just of of Dimorphus itself but also


00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.190
the parent asteroid Ditimos. In fact, I


00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.230
think it might be Ditimos um that was


00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:50.870
used for the occultation. And so the


00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:56.230
bottom line is uh that uh lo and behold


00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.549
it didn't just the impact didn't just


00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.270
change the orbit of Demorphos around


00:23:01.280 --> 00:23:03.830
Dillimos. It changed the orbit of the


00:23:03.840 --> 00:23:06.310
whole system, the pair of them around


00:23:06.320 --> 00:23:10.230
the sun. And that is the first time, one


00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:11.590
of the nice quotes in one of these


00:23:11.600 --> 00:23:13.590
articles, it's the first time a


00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:15.750
humanmade object has measurably altered


00:23:15.760 --> 00:23:17.750
the path of a celestial body around the


00:23:17.760 --> 00:23:20.390
sun. That's in a NASA statement.


00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.430
>> That is incredible. And of course, the


00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.430
obvious question is now, will we be able


00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.750
to track where it will go versus where


00:23:27.760 --> 00:23:29.430
it would have gone?


00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.909
>> Yes. And and indeed that's already sort


00:23:31.919 --> 00:23:34.070
of already happening because there'll be


00:23:34.080 --> 00:23:36.149
further observations and it's the same


00:23:36.159 --> 00:23:37.830
as we were just talking about in regard


00:23:37.840 --> 00:23:40.230
to Y4. The longer the arc of


00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:41.590
observations you've got, the more


00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:44.390
accurate uh your knowledge of its orbit.


00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:47.909
Now um the change in orbit is not much.


00:23:47.919 --> 00:23:52.549
Um I can't remember how many days um


00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:54.710
I've got the paper in front of me


00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:58.310
actually the the main paper. um it


00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:00.310
doesn't actually give us the the orbital


00:24:00.320 --> 00:24:02.870
period of the pair around the sun but


00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:05.510
they've changed that orbital period by


00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:09.830
wait for it it's.15 of a second so it's


00:24:09.840 --> 00:24:11.830
very I mean it's a matter of um you know


00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:15.110
it's it's these two orbit between the


00:24:15.120 --> 00:24:17.029
between the um orbits of Mars and


00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.070
Jupiter they're part of the main


00:24:18.080 --> 00:24:21.029
asteroid belt so they're their orbital


00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.590
periods are probably measured in sort of


00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:25.669
thousands of days or at least high


00:24:25.679 --> 00:24:28.310
numbers of hundreds of days uh and to


00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:31.510
change that by 0.15 of a second is not


00:24:31.520 --> 00:24:34.070
very much. It speaks wonders for the


00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:36.310
volumes for the uh accuracy with which


00:24:36.320 --> 00:24:39.110
the orbit has been determined. But uh


00:24:39.120 --> 00:24:41.830
it's look it it's it's it happened. It


00:24:41.840 --> 00:24:43.990
has actually happened that we've changed


00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:47.110
the orbit of an asteroid by hitting it


00:24:47.120 --> 00:24:50.470
or hitting its little moon in fact by uh


00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.549
with with a with a massive object. Did


00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:53.830
you manage to find out how much it


00:24:53.840 --> 00:24:56.630
weighed? 610 kg.


00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.510
>> Okay. That's 840 pounds.


00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:01.350
>> Yeah. So, it's less than a ton. Half a


00:25:01.360 --> 00:25:04.390
ton. Yeah. I apologize for three tons.


00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.710
That was the number from something else.


00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.149
>> I reckon if they if they could have got


00:25:08.159 --> 00:25:09.350
three tons up there, they would have


00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:09.750
used it.


00:25:09.760 --> 00:25:11.430
>> They would have done. Yeah. But but that


00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.190
makes it even more spectacular. You


00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:16.470
know, something weighing less than a car


00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:19.029
clouting a the moon of an asteroid can


00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:21.029
change the orbit of that asteroid and


00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:25.510
its parent body. Um just to very quickly


00:25:25.520 --> 00:25:27.669
since we're talking to a educated and


00:25:27.679 --> 00:25:30.070
erodendite audience here the mechanism


00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:33.029
by which that changed is so you think


00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:35.110
well you've hit the you've hit the moon


00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:37.750
asteroid how does that change the orbit


00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:40.390
of the parent asteroid and what it does


00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.789
hitting the moon asteroid gives you a


00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:44.950
slight change in the position of the


00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.350
barry center that's the center of mass


00:25:47.360 --> 00:25:49.350
of the two objects their center of


00:25:49.360 --> 00:25:53.110
gravity combined and it's that that has


00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:55.510
changed its orbit. It's the Barry center


00:25:55.520 --> 00:25:57.269
which of course includes both of the


00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.950
objects. The Barry center is


00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:00.950
representative of both Ditimos and


00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:02.950
Dimorphus because it's the center of


00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.870
mass between them. So changing the


00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:06.310
position of the Barry center or the


00:26:06.320 --> 00:26:08.470
orbit of the Barry center essentially


00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.470
changes the orbit of the asteroid which


00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:13.669
means that would something like that


00:26:13.679 --> 00:26:15.830
threatening the earth and you had enough


00:26:15.840 --> 00:26:17.990
enough years down the track for its


00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:19.750
orbit to evolve so that it would miss


00:26:19.760 --> 00:26:21.990
the earth. Uh, that might be a way to do


00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:22.549
it.


00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:24.310
>> Yeah, I know a few people named Barry


00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:25.750
and they're always wanting to be the


00:26:25.760 --> 00:26:29.590
center of attentive.


00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:31.350
>> It had to cut, didn't it? Yeah, it did.


00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:34.470
It did. Uh, it's a it's a great story.


00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.070
It's a great read. Uh, you can pick it


00:26:36.080 --> 00:26:38.789
up on the NASA website or you can go to


00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:40.549
fizz.org.


00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:42.149
Phys.


00:26:42.159 --> 00:26:43.909
I got to do that from now on because


00:26:43.919 --> 00:26:47.269
somebody came to us one day and said, "I


00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:49.750
can't find this fi.org


00:26:49.760 --> 00:26:50.789
thing


00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:55.350
>> cuz it's not it's fizz phys uh yes but


00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:56.870
uh it's great news out of that


00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:59.510
experiment three and a half years post


00:26:59.520 --> 00:27:02.310
event this is space nuts dunley with


00:27:02.320 --> 00:27:08.549
professor Fred Watson


00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.789
>> base here the angle has landed


00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.070
>> space nuts


00:27:12.080 --> 00:27:16.470
>> now to another piece of rock that has


00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:18.149
been getting a lot of attention in


00:27:18.159 --> 00:27:21.750
recent times I Atlas, the exo comet or


00:27:21.760 --> 00:27:23.350
exoaststeroid. Is it a comet or an


00:27:23.360 --> 00:27:24.390
asteroid? Fred,


00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:25.350
>> comet. Comet.


00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:27.669
>> Comet. Yeah. Uh, yeah. It appears that


00:27:27.679 --> 00:27:29.590
it's um it's very different from


00:27:29.600 --> 00:27:31.590
anything we've seen before to the point


00:27:31.600 --> 00:27:33.750
where it's uh raging through our solar


00:27:33.760 --> 00:27:38.149
system, stone drunk off its face.


00:27:38.159 --> 00:27:40.630
Not quite, but uh its chemical makeup is


00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:42.950
just way out of kilter with what we


00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:45.029
would have expected.


00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:47.430
>> Uh that's right. So, you know, this is


00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.510
uh three eyeatlas is definitely the gift


00:27:49.520 --> 00:27:53.350
that keeps on giving um because um what


00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:55.510
we've got is a free sample from another


00:27:55.520 --> 00:27:57.830
solar system that is careering through


00:27:57.840 --> 00:28:00.549
our own solar system and near enough for


00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.630
our telescopes to get details of it.


00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:05.990
It's now actually receding from Earth um


00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:09.830
and from the sun, but it's still


00:28:09.840 --> 00:28:13.750
producing um gases from its icy surface.


00:28:13.760 --> 00:28:16.310
It behaves exactly like a comet would


00:28:16.320 --> 00:28:19.110
from our own solar system. Gets near the


00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:22.789
sun. Uh the ice is basically turn into


00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:26.310
gas directly. They sublimate and uh what


00:28:26.320 --> 00:28:29.430
then happens is um we can sense what


00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.990
gases are there, what what chemical


00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:33.909
compounds are there by looking at the


00:28:33.919 --> 00:28:36.630
spectrum of the what we call the coma of


00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.549
the comet. That's the fuzzy area around


00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:40.710
it that's caused by all this outging


00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.470
material. And so, um, comet 3i Atlas has


00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.269
recently been the subject of pro


00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:49.830
probably the world's most powerful,


00:28:49.840 --> 00:28:51.029
well, certainly the world's most


00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:52.470
powerful millimeter wave radio


00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.590
telescope. Uh, the array in the high


00:28:55.600 --> 00:28:58.549
country of the Atakama, uh, the Alma


00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:00.630
telescope, the Atakama large millimeter


00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.710
submill array. Um, at about 5,000 mters


00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:06.870
high, not very far from San Pedro de


00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:10.070
Atakama. Uh, and when I went to try and


00:29:10.080 --> 00:29:11.830
get in their back door one time, I


00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:14.549
nearly um died because the air was so


00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:16.630
thin and we didn't get in the back door


00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:18.470
either.


00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:21.990
So, uh, never mind. Uh, ALMA is fabulous


00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:24.870
telescope. So, what's the story? Uh,


00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:29.430
ALMA uh, which is run by various


00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.750
different organizations. uh but the


00:29:31.760 --> 00:29:33.430
scientists who have been observing a


00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:36.630
three-ey atlas with it have looked at


00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:39.190
the fingerprints the spectral


00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:42.149
fingerprints of two molecules. One is


00:29:42.159 --> 00:29:45.190
methanol which is a type of alcohol and


00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.029
the other is hydrogen cyanide uh HCN.


00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:51.510
It's a an organic molecule very common


00:29:51.520 --> 00:29:55.350
in comets. Uh so both of those are found


00:29:55.360 --> 00:29:58.389
in comets in the solar system. But what


00:29:58.399 --> 00:30:00.710
is the surprise is the amount of


00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:05.990
methanol. Uh it's as the um NRO


00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:08.070
National Radio Astronomy Observatory


00:30:08.080 --> 00:30:11.669
press release says uh ThreeI Atlas is


00:30:11.679 --> 00:30:14.470
heavily enriched in methanol compared to


00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:17.190
hydrogen cyanide. Far beyond what is


00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.350
typically seen in comets born in our own


00:30:19.360 --> 00:30:20.389
solar system.


00:30:20.399 --> 00:30:23.430
>> You know, you know what it is, Fred?


00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:25.830
>> Wait for it. You're gonna love this one.


00:30:25.840 --> 00:30:28.470
It's inroxinated.


00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:31.990
>> Oh


00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:35.669
yes, I'll go with that. I um I know I


00:30:35.679 --> 00:30:37.750
can just invented a new word. Well, he


00:30:37.760 --> 00:30:39.430
did. Yes. And you probably need to be


00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:41.350
reasonably in Roxinating in order to


00:30:41.360 --> 00:30:42.389
invent it.


00:30:42.399 --> 00:30:45.190
>> Yeah, I suppose so. And it's so early


00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:45.510
anyway.


00:30:45.520 --> 00:30:47.909
>> Yes. So early in the day. That's right.


00:30:47.919 --> 00:30:50.070
>> Anyway, um the observing team just


00:30:50.080 --> 00:30:52.549
coming back to a state of back perfect


00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:55.830
back to reality, perfect sobriety. Um


00:30:55.840 --> 00:30:59.830
it's um methanol to hydrogen cyanide


00:30:59.840 --> 00:31:05.830
ratios of between 70 and 120 uh which


00:31:05.840 --> 00:31:09.750
means it's among the most methanol rich


00:31:09.760 --> 00:31:11.830
uh comets ever discovered. There's been


00:31:11.840 --> 00:31:14.389
a few in the solar system that have got


00:31:14.399 --> 00:31:17.510
high levels of methanol, but this is,


00:31:17.520 --> 00:31:19.990
you know, it's up there on the extreme


00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:23.590
end of this distribution. Um and and if


00:31:23.600 --> 00:31:25.430
I may, I'll just read from there's a


00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:27.830
very nice uh National Radio Astronomy


00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:30.470
Observatory press release on this uh


00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:32.950
which says these measurements imply that


00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:35.909
the icy material from three Atlas was


00:31:35.919 --> 00:31:39.750
formed by or experienced very different


00:31:39.760 --> 00:31:42.549
conditions uh from those that shape most


00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:45.190
comets in our own solar system. Previous


00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:46.950
work with the James Webb Space Telescope


00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:49.669
has shown that ThreeI Atlas had a coma


00:31:49.679 --> 00:31:52.070
dominated by carbon dioxide when it was


00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:54.389
far from the sun. And these new ALMA


00:31:54.399 --> 00:31:57.430
results add methanol as another unusual


00:31:57.440 --> 00:31:59.909
detail in its chemical inventory. It's a


00:31:59.919 --> 00:32:03.110
very nice paragraph. So, it is unusual.


00:32:03.120 --> 00:32:06.149
It's an object that shows all the


00:32:06.159 --> 00:32:07.909
characteristics of a comet, but we're


00:32:07.919 --> 00:32:10.710
seeing all the extremes. And and maybe


00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:12.710
that shouldn't surprise us because it we


00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:14.950
do know it has come from somewhere else,


00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:16.070
not our own.


00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:18.070
>> Prompts the question, does that mean


00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:19.990
where it's come from might be quite


00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.070
different to our system?


00:32:22.080 --> 00:32:23.750
>> Yeah, that it's Yes, that's right. It


00:32:23.760 --> 00:32:26.149
could, you know, it it would certainly


00:32:26.159 --> 00:32:30.149
lead credibility to any idea that um


00:32:30.159 --> 00:32:32.950
chemical ratios within other solar


00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:35.590
systems are not necessarily what we find


00:32:35.600 --> 00:32:37.990
here in our own solar system. In other


00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:39.830
words, you know, there could be quite


00:32:39.840 --> 00:32:41.669
different chemistry going on


00:32:41.679 --> 00:32:43.509
particularly in the early history of


00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.190
those solar systems. We think a lot of


00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.909
these compounds like methanol and


00:32:47.919 --> 00:32:50.149
hydrogen cyanide. Uh we think a lot of


00:32:50.159 --> 00:32:52.630
these are formed very early in the


00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:55.350
history of a solar system in the cold of


00:32:55.360 --> 00:32:58.149
space. Molecules, atoms combine together


00:32:58.159 --> 00:33:00.389
to form molecules. And we know that


00:33:00.399 --> 00:33:03.029
there is a very very rich chemistry out


00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:06.310
there which was kind of unexpected


00:33:06.320 --> 00:33:07.909
really. I mean when I was a young


00:33:07.919 --> 00:33:10.389
astronomer we thought always in terms of


00:33:10.399 --> 00:33:12.630
just elements. The elements that we can


00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:14.310
see in the atmospheres of stars,


00:33:14.320 --> 00:33:17.669
hydrogen, carbon, calcium, uh iron, all


00:33:17.679 --> 00:33:20.070
of those. But now such a lot of what we


00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:24.230
do with the um you know with the arsenal


00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:26.310
of wonderful astronomical instruments


00:33:26.320 --> 00:33:28.070
that we have today. We can look at the


00:33:28.080 --> 00:33:30.149
chemistry of these things, the actual


00:33:30.159 --> 00:33:33.110
chemical reactions that uh go on in the


00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:35.029
laboratory of deep space.


00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:36.710
>> Yeah. Uh, some something you don't know


00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.710
about Fred is he's been in astronomy so


00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:40.310
long that he got in trouble at school


00:33:40.320 --> 00:33:41.990
once for throwing an apple at Isaac


00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.470
Newton. So,


00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:45.269
true story.


00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.029
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got the


00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:48.870
cane for that. But


00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:50.470
>> yeah, I got the cane a lot at school,


00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:52.149
too, but not for throwing apples. I did


00:33:52.159 --> 00:33:54.389
throw a sandwich at a teacher once, but


00:33:54.399 --> 00:33:56.230
um yeah, I was egged on to do that and I


00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:57.110
fell for it.


00:33:57.120 --> 00:33:58.950
>> Was it silly?


00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:00.630
>> No, no, I can't remember what was on.


00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:02.389
Probably something hideous that I ate


00:34:02.399 --> 00:34:04.549
when I was a kid. If you ragged on, it


00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:05.590
must have been an


00:34:05.600 --> 00:34:08.470
>> Yeah, that was was a very silly move and


00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:11.669
I'll always regret it. Um, okay. So, if


00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:14.069
you want to read about that uh what u


00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:17.270
constitutes a um a rather drunk rock in


00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:19.430
space, you can go to the NA National


00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:21.669
Radio Observatory website where they've


00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:24.470
published their findings. And Fred, that


00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:26.230
brings us to the end. Thank you so very


00:34:26.240 --> 00:34:27.190
much.


00:34:27.200 --> 00:34:28.869
>> It's a great pleasure, Andrew. Always


00:34:28.879 --> 00:34:30.629
good to chat. And we'll see you again


00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:33.990
next time. We will on a Q&A edition. Uh


00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.750
Fred Watson, Professor Fred Watson,


00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:37.669
astronomer at large, joining us every


00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:39.990
week, twice a week in fact, for Space


00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.790
Nuts. And uh if you would like to visit


00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:44.950
our website, please do. Uh one thing we


00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:47.829
could use for our Q&A episodes, uh audio


00:34:47.839 --> 00:34:49.669
questions, we are desperately short of


00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:51.990
them. There's some weird quirk that at


00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.389
the beginning of every year they dry up,


00:34:54.399 --> 00:34:55.829
and we don't know why that is an


00:34:55.839 --> 00:34:59.349
anomaly, but it is a thing. Uh but if


00:34:59.359 --> 00:35:00.390
you go to our website


00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:01.990
spacenutspodcast.com


00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:04.069
and click on the ask me anything tab at


00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:06.069
the top, it's just labeled AMA. You can


00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:08.710
send us your questions or comments. We


00:35:08.720 --> 00:35:10.470
uh welcome them. Don't forget to tell us


00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:11.990
who you are and where you're from. And


00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.230
thanks to Hugh in the studio who


00:35:14.240 --> 00:35:15.910
couldn't be with us today because he


00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:17.829
went out on a bender last night and got


00:35:17.839 --> 00:35:21.109
inroxicated. Boom boom. And from me,


00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:23.109
from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for your


00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:24.630
company. See you on the next episode of


00:35:24.640 --> 00:35:27.190
Space Nuts. Bye-bye. Space Nuts.


00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:29.349
>> You'll be listening to the Space Nuts


00:35:29.359 --> 00:35:31.589
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00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:34.550
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