Black Holes, Cosmic Questions & TRAPPIST Tales | Space Nuts: Exploring the Cosmos

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Language: en

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hi there thanks for joining us for yet


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another episode of Space Nuts this is a


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Q&A edition uh where we answer audience


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questions my name is Andrew Dunley your


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host and the questions today will


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revolve around black holes in fact not


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revolve around a black hole go into one


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again people seem to like to be


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spaghetti uh we're also going to talk


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about planets around the Trappus system


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uh star collisions and the early


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universe so hope you can stick around


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for this episode of Space Nuts 15


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seconds guidance is internal 10 9


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Ignition sequence start space Nuts 5 4 3


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2 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 Space Nuts


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astronauts report it feels good joining


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us as always is Professor Fred Watson


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astronomer at large hello Fred hello


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Andrew welcome to Space Notes Q&A oh no


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you're supposed to say that no that's


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Well no that's good welcome to Space


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Nuts Q&A friend thank you um before


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before we uh answer questions uh we we


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had a message sent in from Doug and uh I


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thought I'd just play it in full because


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um he he brings up a a point that um I


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think probably went through to the


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keeper which is an Australian term for


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we didn't talk about it so um yeah this


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here's Doug hi guys this is Doug Stone


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back from Boise Idaho in the Bruno Dune


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State Park Observatory and Planetarium


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um I may be wrong but I I was listening


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to


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your podcast back in 2019


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uh number


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162 which was the 50th


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anniversary episode of the Apollo 11 uh


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moonwalk and you were mentioning the


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astronaut Bill Anders who actually took


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the photograph uh now called


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Earthrise and I wasn't sure I don't


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recall hearing it on your


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podcast but are you aware of the fact


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that Bill Anders uh is no longer with us


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uh back in June of this year he was


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killed in a plane crash that he was


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piloting off of the coast of Washington


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State um again I may be wrong maybe I


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missed it but I listened to everyone i


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don't recall you mentioning that and I


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wanted you to to to know that so you can


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get that out to the rest of the space


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nutters


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um we show a really fabulous 30 minute


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video based on a the Apollo 8 mission


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uh when that photograph was taken it's


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called Earthrise and if you haven't seen


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it I strongly recommend it it we we show


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it to our folks uh prior to our normal


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indoor presentation which is 30 minutes


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prior to viewing there at the park and


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uh if you haven't seen this it's a real


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good backstory on that whole photograph


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called Earthrise but uh yeah that's all


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I got uh more of a comment than a


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question uh I do have some other


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questions but I will have to get back to


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you thank you thank you Doug doug um


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that one was sent in late last year and


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I'd um overlooked it somehow and uh I I


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was digging around for questions the


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other day and found it and thought "Oh


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gosh I meant to play that ages ago so I


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thought I'd uh do a bit of catch up."


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But appreciate that Doug um yeah William


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Anders I didn't I didn't know actually


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um I did because I talked about it on


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the radio show but we didn't cover it we


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didn't cover it in uh in Space Nuts um


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probably just because there's so much


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you know space news that we needed to


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cover it but yes it was um it was sad


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the fact that you know Bill lost his


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life in a in a plane accident um uh I


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can't remember his age but he would have


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been a good age uh and of course that


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earthrise image one of the iconic images


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of the space age uh one that I I guess


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everybody knows about i'm intrigued by


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the video that Doug mentioned though and


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I will try and hunt that down uh video


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called Earthrise which I think is sounds


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well worth watching absolutely true yeah


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um of course that was an Apollo 8


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mission um and when you go to NASA in


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Florida uh you can look at the original


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layout of mission control for Apollo 8


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yes that's right it's fabulous we did


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that last year absolutely yeah isn't it


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Isn't it terrific it it is a real sense


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of you know being there even the


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ashtrays on the uh on the desks are


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quite amazing it is incredible yeah


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appreciate you sending that in Doug uh


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now to uh a question and this one comes


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from somebody who didn't tell us their


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name hello again guys thanks for an


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awesome podcast uh I've been listening


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for over a year now I think uh lo and


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behold I have another question about


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black holes seems to be a topic that's


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recurring


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um so uh black holes as we know of


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course um nothing can escape them


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because you have to exceed the speed of


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light uh which brings me to the question


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if something enters the black hole like


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an electron or a proton or a grain of


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sand or whatever does that object get


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uh accelerated to speeds above the speed


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of light before they hit the singularity


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uh so if they enter out near the speed


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of light will they still will they get


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accelerated to speeds faster than the


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speed of light that's my question and


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also I want to end with a joke why did


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the uh theory about dark energy not


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catch on at first because people thought


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it was repulsive here we go thanks wow


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that was just so bad


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it's better yeah it's better than our


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dad joke yeah it is rather yeah


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absolutely um I know you pro you you


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said you've sent in questions before but


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I sorry I can't remember your name it's


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picking the Yes picking the voice it's a


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familiar voice and it's lovely to hear


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from you again yes indeed thanks for


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sending the question in so uh anything


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entering a black hole electron um photon


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anything like that could it be


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accelerated beyond the speed of light is


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the basis of the question and it's a


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great question but the bottom line is


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that even inside the event horizon of a


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black hole the laws of physics hold and


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uh speed of light cannot be exceeded so


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what happened what will happen is the


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gravitational pull of the of the


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singularity itself on the electron or


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whatever it is will basically


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um you


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know it will mess with its mass if I can


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put it that way because that's what


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happens when you try and accelerate


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things very close to the speed of light


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the mass gets greater now the mass of


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the electron is one of the fundamental


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quantities of uh of nature but uh it's


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it's yeah inside a black hole um all


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bets are off in that regard but the


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speed of light is still sacracent uhhuh


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yeah nothing can go faster so it doesn't


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mess with its mass which makes it a


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massive mess


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a mass mess i like that yes yeah


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i know it sounds too close to maths test


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sorry there's a bit yes i like that no I


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don't like that either i found them very


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traumatic at school um yeah we I I still


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I I still can't believe we get so many


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questions about black holes and uh more


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recently um dark energy and and dark


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matter and uh anything that's got


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blackness around it seems to be flavor


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of the month when it comes to audience


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information they um I suppose because


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these things are so mysterious that's


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right and and they're all great


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questions as well Andrew the um none of


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the questions we get about these matters


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are ridiculous they're all always good


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questions um and yes they're mysterious


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they're at the cutting edge of research


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we are baffled by Yeah what they are i


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like what you did there matters that


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they bring to our attention it's very


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good um let's go thanks uh thanks uh for


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that question uh our next one comes from


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Dave hi Andrew and Fred thank you for


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directing me to the article regarding


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Jupiter's rapid growth spurt uh I


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noticed the article suggests that the


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same growth delay might have occurred


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with Uranus and Neptune but they do not


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mention Saturn which is interesting i'm


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wondering why solar system uh some solar


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systems such as the Trappist system do


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not contain gas or ice giants uh were


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the gases not there in the first place


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or has something occurred early in the


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expelled gas or planets from the system


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um or have we simply not discovered them


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yet finally is there a maximum limit to


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the amount of planets a solar system can


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produce and sustain that comes from Dave


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in in Burell New South Wales Australia


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um I love this question it Yeah it's a


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great question uh


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the sort of uh musing about Saturn


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that's a really good point i'm not sure


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about the answer to that one i would


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need to have a look we should um we


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should just give it a ring and find out


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that's horrible he's on fire this guy


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um but yeah the trapez system so so gas


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giants and ice giants too for that


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matter form outside they form beyond the


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frost line of a solar system uh and


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so that's because uh there is you know


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material basically condensed water it's


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ice uh that is out there uh and that


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when it's secreted by protolanets and


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planetismals


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uh that stuff makes for a very big


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object uh it allows it to grow and then


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the fact that it's growing and grows


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early in the early enough in the um


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history of that particular solar system


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that you still got residual gas that can


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actually form around it um I think the


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Trappist system uh if I remember rightly


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has planets that yes they're not gas


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giants uh and I think it may be because


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uh all those planets exist within well


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within the frost line of the Trappist


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parent


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so the uh the basically the any water


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vapor any water molecules are going to


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be gas gas molecules uh rather than um


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rather than ice certainly won't be water


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because that can't exist in space it


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just boils off okay um sorry go ahead no


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I'm just saying does this make the


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Trappist system unique or um No um I


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don't think so and uh it and you know um


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uh do sorry it's Dave isn't it Dave's


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other other comment about are we just


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not finding the gas giants i think


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that's unlikely because they're the


00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:11.430
easiest ones to detect i was going to


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say that yeah


00:12:13.040 --> 00:12:14.790
i was going to say that yeah well you


00:12:14.800 --> 00:12:17.670
know that cuz you're a bright lad would


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have been a lucky guess


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uh so um I think there yes there are


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solar systems that consist of just


00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.910
subears and in fact we talked about one


00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:30.949
in the last episode star which has got


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small planets so uh it it could be it it


00:12:36.959 --> 00:12:38.710
may well be just a quirk of the


00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.230
formation of that particular solar


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system and in regard to Dave's last


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question


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um is there any limit to how many


00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.990
planets a solar system can form well


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when you look at our solar system yes


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it's got eight things that we define as


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planets uh but then there's gazillions


00:12:57.680 --> 00:12:59.910
of other stuff there's the debris


00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:01.509
there's the the asteroids there's the


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dwarf planets there's the asteroids


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there's uh the extra


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sol uh trans neptunian objects all of


00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:12.550
that stuff uh so much material there's


00:13:12.560 --> 00:13:16.150
the or cloud uh all this material that's


00:13:16.160 --> 00:13:17.990
associated with the formation of the


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solar system so there's probably no


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limit but the limit is how many of those


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bits of stuff actually form into planets


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um and maybe the limiting factor on that


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is whether once a planet's grown big


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enough whether it can remain


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gravitationally stable with its with its


00:13:36.959 --> 00:13:38.790
peers if I can put it that way with its


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other with the other planets in the


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solar system or or get kicked out and


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that may have happened in the case of


00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:48.710
our solar system yeah okay uh we do um


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see solar systems that have gas giants


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orbiting very close to their parent star


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yes that's right when we first


00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:57.269
discovered them we thought "Hang on this


00:13:57.279 --> 00:13:59.750
is all weird." Yeah but turns out we're


00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:02.550
more weird than they are probably yes


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they're the hot Jupiters


00:14:04.959 --> 00:14:07.470
that's right uh which may well have


00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:10.550
migrated from a position further out in


00:14:10.560 --> 00:14:14.389
their solar system uh and come in to the


00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.389
innocent system i suppose the more we


00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:18.069
look and the more we find the more we


00:14:18.079 --> 00:14:20.790
realize how each of these systems is


00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:23.030
probably unique


00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:25.750
in its own way i think that's right um I


00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:27.590
what one thing I should should try and


00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:32.870
check is um what is the record known of


00:14:32.880 --> 00:14:35.110
number of planets known around an extra


00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.389
solar uh around another star you might


00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:40.470
be able to check that i uh I'm going to


00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.430
look now um and I I think Trappist the


00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.750
Trappist system which has four uh


00:14:45.760 --> 00:14:48.629
Barnard star has four now confirmed i


00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:51.430
think these are you know the maximum


00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.030
almost the maximum numbers that we've


00:14:53.040 --> 00:14:54.310
discovered i think there's at least one


00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:57.269
with five planets known uh I don't think


00:14:57.279 --> 00:14:59.910
it extends to six but I might be wrong


00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:02.550
um yeah let's see if we can find out be


00:15:02.560 --> 00:15:04.069
a very good thing to do depends depends


00:15:04.079 --> 00:15:09.189
if I could spell um Kepler 90 has eight


00:15:09.199 --> 00:15:11.990
planets all right there you go okay and


00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.870
so funnily enough that matches our solar


00:15:14.880 --> 00:15:19.110
system yes so we're not unique anymore


00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.350
we're just one of a pair there's


00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.069
probably squillions though out there


00:15:24.079 --> 00:15:26.629
when you think about it yeah certainly


00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:30.069
we think all stars have planets so yeah


00:15:30.079 --> 00:15:33.590
yeah or the the vast majority majority


00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.509
that's right yes all right thank you


00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.750
Dave lovely to hear from you this is


00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:40.389
Space Nuts Q&A edition with Andrew


00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:44.829
Dunley and Professor Fred


00:15:44.839 --> 00:15:48.629
Watson and I feel fine space Nuts our


00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:52.230
next question comes from Lloyd he is in


00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.389
Canes in Far North Queensland very


00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.629
interesting the episode about the


00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.110
neutron star collisions you've spoken


00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:00.870
many times about black hole collisions


00:16:00.880 --> 00:16:03.189
and neutron star neutron star collisions


00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:06.710
but do just everyday stars like our sun


00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.310
ever collide and what do they create uh


00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:13.430
thanks for the show uh Lloyd from Cans


00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.509
uh yeah it's a good question and of


00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:19.430
course we've got the upcoming um merger


00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.430
uh and acquisition uh between the


00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.749
Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies


00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.829
Milkometer yeah um and we've I've asked


00:16:27.839 --> 00:16:29.670
you the question as to you know what


00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:31.670
sort of mayhem will occur will there be


00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:33.910
stars colliding uh and you said


00:16:33.920 --> 00:16:37.310
basically not many but yep possibly a


00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:43.829
few yeah um so the normal thing would be


00:16:43.839 --> 00:16:47.990
um two stars if they were you know


00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:51.110
approaching each other they might


00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.990
basically end up orbiting around one


00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.069
another to become a binary system


00:16:56.079 --> 00:16:57.749
although we think the normal process is


00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.910
the other way around uh but if you've


00:16:59.920 --> 00:17:02.550
got galaxies colliding then that sort of


00:17:02.560 --> 00:17:05.510
interaction might become quite common um


00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:07.630
I think it is fairly rare for normal


00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:13.750
stars to collide um because their masses


00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:16.870
are quite low that means they've got a


00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.789
fairly um small if I can put it this way


00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.789
gravitational sphere of influence i mean


00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.510
gravitational pull goes out to infinity


00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:28.150
but it gets negligible beyond a certain


00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:32.870
distance uh and so um I think uh the


00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:34.630
bottom line with normal stars is they're


00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:38.390
not big enough to to make you know those


00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:42.789
attractive uh attractive forces uh


00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.270
spread over a great enough distance


00:17:45.280 --> 00:17:48.630
whereas black holes neutron stars are uh


00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.430
and it depends to some extent on the


00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.510
density of the environment as well the


00:17:53.520 --> 00:17:56.870
the environments within our galaxy that


00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.870
have the highest density of stars are


00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.350
the globular clusters in the middle


00:18:01.360 --> 00:18:03.830
stars you know the star density is very


00:18:03.840 --> 00:18:09.909
high uh but collisions are very rare


00:18:09.919 --> 00:18:12.549
now that it's a that that makes it a


00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.590
very good question because I I um I


00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:17.110
would have assumed it would happen more


00:18:17.120 --> 00:18:22.230
often Yeah than the black holes yeah yes


00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.990
yes that's right so many more of them


00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:26.870
out there but um it it's uh it's not the


00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.430
case by the sound of it um you mentioned


00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.470
binaries our son uh as you and I have


00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:37.029
discussed previously um was a binary um


00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:38.710
they haven't yet found the other one


00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.150
have they no uh the That's right i mean


00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:43.909
the it's a statistical thing the


00:18:43.919 --> 00:18:45.350
likelihood is that it was part of a


00:18:45.360 --> 00:18:48.710
binary because um more than 50% of all


00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.750
the stars in the in the galaxy are in


00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:54.789
are part of binary pairs stars orbiting


00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:57.909
around each other uh so we've lost our


00:18:57.919 --> 00:19:00.070
uh twin and it might not have been a


00:19:00.080 --> 00:19:02.630
twin but it wouldn't have been far off


00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.950
uh it's one of the perhaps one of the


00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.669
holy grails of what's called galactic


00:19:09.679 --> 00:19:12.150
archaeology the the study of stars in


00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.270
our neighborhood uh and to understand


00:19:15.280 --> 00:19:17.990
the archaeology of the galaxy as a whole


00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.990
u one of the holy grails of that is to


00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.150
try and find a star whose chemistry


00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.390
exactly matches the sun and there are


00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.630
one or two but for various reasons I


00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.230
think they've been ruled out as being


00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:31.110
our twins um maybe they're too far away


00:19:31.120 --> 00:19:32.549
or something like that i can't remember


00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.870
the details but yes one day we might


00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:38.310
find the twin of our sun yeah ours is a


00:19:38.320 --> 00:19:41.909
G type it is um star um which is not the


00:19:41.919 --> 00:19:44.070
most which is not the most common is it


00:19:44.080 --> 00:19:46.789
no the the M stars are which are the the


00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:49.909
red dwarfs yeah um and you don't want to


00:19:49.919 --> 00:19:53.270
live there no no no we we just got lucky


00:19:53.280 --> 00:19:57.350
enough to turn up next to a a decent one


00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:59.270
that's right long lived and and


00:19:59.280 --> 00:20:05.190
generally you know calm benign yes


00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:06.870
might be the other way around because of


00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.789
that that's why we're here yeah I think


00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.750
you're probably right yes all right uh


00:20:11.760 --> 00:20:14.310
Lloyd uh thank you so much for your


00:20:14.320 --> 00:20:16.950
question uh I hope we adequately covered


00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:21.350
uh all your points


00:20:21.360 --> 00:20:24.710
and I feel space nuts uh our final


00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.669
question today um takes the form of a


00:20:27.679 --> 00:20:30.390
theory I think uh we'll we'll let Mark


00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.590
explain hello guys I'm Mark Rabble from


00:20:33.600 --> 00:20:36.630
Baton Rouge Louisiana and I have a


00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.750
question dealing with the early universe


00:20:39.760 --> 00:20:42.230
by the way I love your show puts me to


00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.070
sleep every night in a good


00:20:45.080 --> 00:20:48.630
way uh but I have a question about the


00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:51.430
early universe i've been pondering this


00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.590
for a long time and uh here's my chance


00:20:53.600 --> 00:20:54.830
to ask


00:20:54.840 --> 00:21:00.070
someone uh I've seen the W map image of


00:21:00.080 --> 00:21:02.950
the early universe if I remember right


00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:06.270
that was uh of a time period


00:21:06.280 --> 00:21:09.590
approximately 300,000 years maybe after


00:21:09.600 --> 00:21:13.390
the big bang and uh of course that image


00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:16.470
shows variations in the energy density


00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.430
of the of the early universe


00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:25.029
and my question has to do with the image


00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:28.669
I have in my mind of uh the big bang


00:21:28.679 --> 00:21:32.710
occurring and since the big bang was all


00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:34.669
that existed at the


00:21:34.679 --> 00:21:37.510
time there there could have been no


00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:41.350
outside influences so the universe all


00:21:41.360 --> 00:21:45.029
things being equal at that time should


00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.310
have been


00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:50.149
perfectly evenly distributed the mass


00:21:50.159 --> 00:21:52.230
should have been totally evenly


00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.549
distributed am I right and uh which begs


00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:00.710
the question as to what caused the


00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.830
energy density fluctuations that the W


00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:06.750
map image shows


00:22:06.760 --> 00:22:11.750
and my gut tells me and this is probably


00:22:11.760 --> 00:22:13.549
well known and I


00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:15.710
just in my


00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:19.350
limited view am not that aware of it but


00:22:19.360 --> 00:22:22.110
is that due to quantum


00:22:22.120 --> 00:22:26.750
fluctuations is that the reigning theory


00:22:26.760 --> 00:22:30.350
anyhow that's my question what caused


00:22:30.360 --> 00:22:33.110
the fluctuations in the energy density


00:22:33.120 --> 00:22:35.510
in the early universe


00:22:35.520 --> 00:22:38.190
i know it should be an easy question


00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:41.590
right okay guys thank you have a good


00:22:41.600 --> 00:22:45.110
evening thank you Mark uh you too um


00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:47.750
yeah I I just looked up that um that


00:22:47.760 --> 00:22:50.549
image the W map and I I know what he's


00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:52.070
talking about now i've seen it before


00:22:52.080 --> 00:22:56.390
it's um it looks like a um an an opal


00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.549
actually it takes It's got the shape and


00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.990
color and look of a a beautiful opal


00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.750
which they mine just up the road from


00:23:03.760 --> 00:23:06.149
here the uh the lightning ridge black


00:23:06.159 --> 00:23:09.110
opals but um yeah quite uh quite a


00:23:09.120 --> 00:23:11.310
striking image uh the Wilkinson


00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:14.870
microwave anos anos I can't say the word


00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.950
anosotropy that's the word uh probe yeah


00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:21.430
yeah um


00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.870
yeah go ahead yeah so so yeah let's do


00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.789
do the context you're absolutely right


00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:30.549
the W map image is a map of the whole


00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.909
sky uh showing the tiny temperature


00:23:34.919 --> 00:23:37.750
fluctuations uh that we record in


00:23:37.760 --> 00:23:41.830
microwaves in the microwave spectrum uh


00:23:41.840 --> 00:23:45.990
it was superseded about 15 years ago by


00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.549
the plank image so there have been three


00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:51.110
versions of this image one uh produced


00:23:51.120 --> 00:23:53.750
in the 1990s by a spacecraft called Kobe


00:23:53.760 --> 00:23:56.230
cosmic background explorer the W map


00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.870
image the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy


00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:00.870
probe and then plank which was the


00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.830
European Space Ay's version of the same


00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:07.110
thing each of them showed more detail


00:24:07.120 --> 00:24:09.990
finer detail in this background with


00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.310
these extraordinary fluctuations um uh


00:24:14.320 --> 00:24:21.029
and um uh Mark uh is right in that what


00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:24.149
those fluctuations represent


00:24:24.159 --> 00:24:27.830
uh or or sorry what what we're seeing is


00:24:27.840 --> 00:24:30.390
basically the glow of the universe when


00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:35.830
it was about 380,000 years old so uh I


00:24:35.840 --> 00:24:38.470
call that map the cosmic wallpaper


00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.310
andrew I'm sure I've said this before


00:24:40.320 --> 00:24:42.310
yes I recall mainly because it's


00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:44.870
patterned like some wallpapers are but


00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.950
mostly because it's behind everything we


00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:48.870
can see everything else in the universe


00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:50.470
is in front of that so the cosmic


00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:52.549
wallpaper is right at the back just as


00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.110
it is in a room uh everything's in front


00:24:55.120 --> 00:24:57.190
of it if you're in the room so in if


00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:58.950
you're in the universe which most of us


00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.950
are it's uh it's the cosmic wallpaper uh


00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:05.789
so yes uh those tiny temperature


00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:10.390
fluctuations come about because of


00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:14.789
uh essentially density changes uh in the


00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:19.669
in the the the plasma of the big bang uh


00:25:19.679 --> 00:25:22.789
and in fact we we we


00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.669
uh interpret them as the effect of sound


00:25:25.679 --> 00:25:30.149
waves uh passing through the early


00:25:30.159 --> 00:25:33.110
universe uh if you like it's the bang of


00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:37.990
the big bang uh we call them uh baos uh


00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.789
barionic acoustic oscillations and


00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:43.190
barionic means normal material something


00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:44.710
different from dark matter or dark


00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:48.789
energy uh so so they are um you know


00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:50.950
what we see is the is the is the


00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:54.789
reverberation of the big bang but um u


00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:57.549
basically Mark is is right in


00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:00.630
questioning what the origin of those


00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.190
fluctuations were in the immediate


00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.590
aftermath of the big bang much earlier


00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:08.310
than 10 uh much earlier than 380,000


00:26:08.320 --> 00:26:10.149
years we're talking about 10 to the


00:26:10.159 --> 00:26:13.350
minus 32 of a second um which is a


00:26:13.360 --> 00:26:17.830
period we call uh uh inflation it's when


00:26:17.840 --> 00:26:19.830
whatever mechanism did it and we don't


00:26:19.840 --> 00:26:23.029
really understand what uh it caused the


00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.070
universe to grow exponentially over a


00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:28.149
very short period of time of the order


00:26:28.159 --> 00:26:33.029
of 10us 32 of a second and indeed uh


00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:36.430
Mark is correct it is quantum


00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:39.750
fluctuations in that expansion that are


00:26:39.760 --> 00:26:41.830
thought to have led to the growth of


00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:44.149
structure the structure that we see in


00:26:44.159 --> 00:26:47.830
the W map image uh and also now which we


00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:51.750
see uh as galaxies uh around us and what


00:26:51.760 --> 00:26:53.350
we call the cosmic web that those


00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:55.750
strings of galaxies uh filaments of


00:26:55.760 --> 00:26:58.590
galaxies and a kind of honeycomb of


00:26:58.600 --> 00:27:01.510
material that we see so yeah all kicked


00:27:01.520 --> 00:27:04.470
off by quantum fluctuations in the


00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:07.110
inflation field


00:27:07.120 --> 00:27:10.390
well done Mark um I I I remember us


00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.710
talking recently about how they've


00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:14.830
discovered all these


00:27:14.840 --> 00:27:17.269
uh connections between the the


00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:18.950
supercluster


00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.470
um groupings of galaxies and the the


00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:24.630
wider we view and the more we look that


00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:27.510
the more things are connected it's Yeah


00:27:27.520 --> 00:27:29.669
it's quite extraordinary there's there's


00:27:29.679 --> 00:27:32.549
some new work that's just been published


00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.549
from the James Webb telescope that we


00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.590
might cover in a future episode that


00:27:37.600 --> 00:27:40.230
suggests that galaxies in the universe


00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.070
in the very distant universe have a


00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:44.230
preferred direction of rotation is that


00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.669
right that is weird because we expect it


00:27:47.679 --> 00:27:52.710
to be random over the whole universe


00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.510
wow that's one that we we might cover


00:27:55.520 --> 00:27:57.269
yeah that that that'd be a really good


00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.549
story um but uh fabulous uh question


00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:02.789
from Mark and we appreciate uh him


00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.029
sending that in it also reminds me Fred


00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:07.909
the um the other day I I I saw that


00:28:07.919 --> 00:28:10.950
story resurface in the media about um


00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:13.389
our universe existing within a black


00:28:13.399 --> 00:28:15.830
hole so that one's doing the rounds


00:28:15.840 --> 00:28:18.950
again that's right and and that those


00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.029
two stories are inter interconnected


00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:22.230
because one of the possible


00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:24.389
interpretations of having galaxies that


00:28:24.399 --> 00:28:27.350
rotate in a particular way is that the


00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:30.950
universe is inside a black hole yeah


00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:33.750
yeah that's that's just way too much for


00:28:33.760 --> 00:28:36.149
me to think about that's when I have


00:28:36.159 --> 00:28:37.830
enough trouble backing the car out of a


00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:39.990
garage


00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.549
is your garage a black hole yep can be


00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.909
where can be might be yeah a lot of them


00:28:45.919 --> 00:28:48.630
are these days yes all right thank you


00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:51.269
Mark thank you to everybody who uh sent


00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.950
in questions um we need some more uh so


00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:57.029
if you'd like to uh send a question into


00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:59.950
us go to our website


00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:02.510
spacenutspodcast.com or


00:29:02.520 --> 00:29:05.110
spacenuts.io and just uh click on the


00:29:05.120 --> 00:29:07.510
AMA link at the top which we still


00:29:07.520 --> 00:29:09.909
haven't been able to rename so uh that's


00:29:09.919 --> 00:29:13.029
where you can send uh audio questions or


00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:15.990
text questions uh and uh please tell us


00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:17.269
who you are and where you're from


00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.669
because we just like to know so we can


00:29:19.679 --> 00:29:22.470
spam you no we don't do that we don't do


00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:26.029
that hugh does that thanks to you in the


00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:28.549
studio i wondered how I'd get him today


00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:31.269
that That one worked uh and um we'll see


00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:33.430
you later Fred thank you so much great


00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:35.669
pleasure Andrew always good to chat and


00:29:35.679 --> 00:29:38.070
we'll see you next time we will indeed


00:29:38.080 --> 00:29:40.470
fred Watson astronomer at large and yes


00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:42.789
thanks to Hugh in the studio and from me


00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:44.230
Andrew Dunley thanks for your company


00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:45.590
we'll see you on the very next episode


00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:48.389
of Space Nuts until then bye-bye space


00:29:48.399 --> 00:29:50.789
Nuts you've been listening to the Space


00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.430
Nuts podcast


00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:56.389
available at Apple Podcasts Spotify


00:29:56.399 --> 00:29:59.029
iHeart Radio or your favorite podcast


00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:01.870
player you can also stream on demand at


00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:04.310
byes.com this has been another quality


00:30:04.320 --> 00:30:08.840
podcast production from byes.com