Cosmic Bubbles, Pancake Volcanoes & Celebrating 50 Years of ESA | Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights...

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Kind: captions
Language: en

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Well, welcome back to another fantastic,


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wonderful, out of thisworld episode of


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Space Nuts. 15 seconds. Guidance is


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internal. 10 9 Ignition sequence start.


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


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Space Nuts. Astronauts Report. It feels


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good. I'm your host for this summer,


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Heidi Compo. And joining me is our


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stupendous, spectacular, Professor Fred


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Watson, astronomer at large. Hello,


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Fred. How are you doing on this


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wonderful morning of yours, afternoon of


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mine? Yeah. Um, pretty good, thank you,


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Heidi. It the sun is shining. Uh, it was


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very foggy first thing. Uh, and of


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course, we're not uh in summer, we're in


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winter. Uh, so uh you're with us for the


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whole winter. Today uh sorry yesterday


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uh is the first day of winter in


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Australia. They start the seasons on the


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first of the month. Uh so the 1st of


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June is the first day of winter. And it


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was a nice day yesterday as well.


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Typically weather here is is cold and


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sunny. And by cold I mean oh 12 13 14


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Celsius something like that up to about


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uh yeah 60° 60° Fahrenheit will be will


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be cool for us. That's good weather. I


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think that the 60s the 70s are perfect.


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When you start getting into the Houston


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heat and humidity and you're working in


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the blistering 90s with you know 80%


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humidity I think people tend to start


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not enjoying that as much. No, I


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understand. So, we have some really fun


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topics today. Today, we are looking at


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all sorts of things from space bubbles


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to pancake volcanoes. This sounds like


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we're making a recipe and we're


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finishing off with celebrating 50 years


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of the European Space Agency with uh


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some special collector's items. So


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without further ado, let's jump right


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into today's topics.


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Yeah, thanks Heidi. And uh I love this


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first story partly because uh it is


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visually completely inspiring and I'll


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point our listeners to the uh the


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website in a minute, but also because it


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uh the it's research. It's got a cast of


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thousands like many research topics do


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these days but it's led by a good friend


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of mine Miruslaf Mirislav Philop


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Mirislav Philopovich sorry Miruslav if


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you're listening uh he's the professor


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of astronomy and astrophysics at Western


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Sydney University uh and in fact I have


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a an honorary appointment with the


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university so I know Miruslav well he's


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a very able radio astronomer uh with uh


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many um really important pieces of work


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under his belt. But I think this one is


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um not just spectacular from a


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scientific point of view, but it is


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incredibly beautiful because what he and


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in fact I think he made the initi in


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initial discovery himself. What they've


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discovered is it's well it's been called


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a cosmic bubble but it is perfectly


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circular uh to our eyes which means it's


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probably perfectly spherical. If you


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want to have a look at it, um the um the


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um news item I was looking at is


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actually on space.com. Uh but I think


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it's being covered by many of the


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science news outlets. Uh and it the you


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know the uh title of that uh space.com


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page is a quote from Miruslav, one of


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the most geometrically perfect. Uh and


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they ask what is this mysterious sphere


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deep in the Milky Way galaxy? So what


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we've got is uh it comes from a radio


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image of the sky uh taken with uh one of


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the great uh new radio telescopes here


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in Australia, an instrument called


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ASCAP. Uh ASCAP is situated in Western


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Australia at a site which has a long


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name. It's the Merchesen radioastronomy


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observatory in Yarimana Ilgari Bundura.


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And the last three words of that name


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are uh uh Wajgery language. They're the


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traditional owners of that site. And


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it's a wajgery expression meaning


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sharing sky and stars. So uh it's a very


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well-n named observatory site. Now that


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is where the uh what's called SKA low


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the uh Australian half of the square


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kilometer array observatory's big new


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telescope that's currently being built


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there. And uh I think we've talked about


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it before, Heidi, the fact that it's not


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a steerable dish. This is a telescope


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that looks like a forest full of


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Christmas trees, metal Christmas trees


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which stand there um and are steered


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electronically. It's extraordinary


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technology. But as well as that, there


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is a set of I think it's 36 if I


00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.909
remember rightly steerable dishes uh


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which form what is called ASCAP, the


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Australian square kilometer array


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pathfinder. And that was the instrument


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uh that Miruslav Miruslav and his


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colleagues uh used to find this curious


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object. They uh in fact it was one of


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the surveys publicly available surveys


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of the sky, the radio sky that have come


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from ASCAP and he spotted because of his


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eagle eyes uh in the readouts he spotted


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this ring of material. Uh it's got a few


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oddities about it. First of all, uh as I


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said already, it's perfectly spherical.


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Uh we see it as a circle, but it's


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almost certainly a sphere. Uh because we


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don't look from any preferred direction.


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But the other thing is that it only uh


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emits its radiation at radio


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wavelengths. Um, and there's just a hint


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of uh of visible light coming from


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hydrogen, but most of it is radio


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wavelengths. And that flies in the face


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of what we know about objects of this


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kind because it is probably what's


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called a supernova remnant. A bubble in


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space which uh comes from an exploding


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star uh probably centuries ago maybe uh


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because they haven't quite figured out


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how big this thing is yet. Uh but an


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exploding star that's kind of carved a


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cavity in the gas uh in which it's


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immersed. And that gas is very rarified.


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It's what we call the interstellar


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medium. Wow. But when you get an


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explosion, it will carve out uh that uh


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that sort of spherical chamber. So


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that's uh what they are assuming it is.


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Uh the the kind of important bit I


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haven't mentioned. Uh which is that


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they've given it a lovely name which is


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Telos. Uh it is spelled with T E L E I O


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S and it's a Greek word meaning


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perfection. And that's because it is.


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It's a perfect looking sphere. Quite


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extraordinary. It really is beautiful.


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It looks like just this cosmic marble


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floating. But the other interesting


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thing to me that maybe you can explain a


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little bit more, um, I'm sure half of


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your listeners probably already know


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this, but some of us don't. But the


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sphere has this greenish, blackish tint


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to it, but so does all the other matter


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around it. So, what is making up this


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sphere versus the matter around it


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that's distinct but looks the same


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color-wise?


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So, the color that you're seeing uh


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is remember we're looking at radio


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wavelengths. We're not looking at uh you


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know a visible light image. And so the


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color comes from uh the processing that


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has been done to this image. Um, and


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it's probably uh that there's a color


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bar. I I actually looked at the original


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paper that gives you a uh essentially a


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scale of intensities that


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that refer to the color. So what you're


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saying is is um a measure of brightness.


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And uh you you're absolutely right that


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the the the thing is the same color as


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its background, but what delineates it


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is this abrupt um kind of step from the


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intensity of the marble itself, if I can


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call it. That's a really good word


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because it looks exactly like that. Uh


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the the step in intensity from that to


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the background which is which is a lower


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intensity. Uh and so it's uh the you


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know what we're what we're seeing there


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is the radio data interpreted as color.


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Uh and the greenish uh is is I think


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that's just one that they've chosen for


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that level of intensity. That space.com


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page that I mentioned earlier has uh


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another of it's got the original map the


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original radio map I think that um that


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uh is the one that Mir used to to find


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Telios. And you can see there that the


00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:09.190
color is orange. Once again, it's an


00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.190
artificial color. So, we're not looking


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at any anything actually astrophysical


00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.350
with that color. Yeah. So, it's not


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measuring any kind of a like a density


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like a like a ultrasound or anything


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like that because I do see different


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colors around it that I I believe would


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be indicating differences in radio


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frequencies bouncing off. So for example


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that kind of that bright spot in the


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left corner is not a bright spot of sun


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reflection in the traditional sense of


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an image that we would see. What would


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that bright spot represent in radio


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imaging? Um I it's that is where if I


00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:49.750
remember rightly because the article


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that I'm looking at doesn't have this


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but I did look at the original paper. I


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think that's where the visible there is


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a little bit of visible uh emission uh


00:09:57.360 --> 00:09:59.670
visible light emission uh it's it's the


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color that we associate with hydrogen uh


00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.230
because um we know that you know


00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:07.990
different elements emit light in


00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.990
different colors when they're excited uh


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either by ultraviolet light or


00:10:11.880 --> 00:10:14.670
electrical particle you know electrified


00:10:14.680 --> 00:10:17.590
particles and I think that's where the


00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:19.269
uh the visible light color comes in.


00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:21.509
You're right. There's a there's a it's


00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.150
almost like a whitish patch there. So, I


00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:26.389
think the greenish stuff is the radio


00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.150
emission. Um I think you're right, too,


00:10:28.160 --> 00:10:29.190
that there are probably different


00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.190
frequencies depicted here and they too


00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.269
might change the change the color


00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.710
because what you can do the same with


00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:36.949
radio waves as we do with visible light.


00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:38.230
The reason why we see different colors


00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:39.190
is that we're seeing different


00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.509
wavelengths of light. So what you can do


00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.430
with radio radiation, you've got these


00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:45.590
receivers which are basically giving you


00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.389
different frequencies of radio uh radio


00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.030
waves and you can assign colors to them


00:10:51.040 --> 00:10:52.949
and make an image like this. I think


00:10:52.959 --> 00:10:55.190
that's probably what's happened. Okay,


00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:57.590
that makes that makes a lot of sense. Um


00:10:57.600 --> 00:10:59.350
I I also kind of asked that this is a


00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:00.949
little bit funny, but I found a comment


00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:02.870
on that article from a conspiracy


00:11:02.880 --> 00:11:06.310
theorist who is claiming that this is


00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:10.470
undoubtedly um an altered that. So he


00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.470
thinks it's a telescope image and he


00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.630
thinks that they have altered the lens


00:11:14.640 --> 00:11:17.269
to hide intelligent life that's hiding


00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.389
behind that spot. And so I think that's


00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.310
why sometimes it is just so important


00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.470
for people who don't understand the


00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.590
science to take a step back and just go,


00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:28.949
okay, you know, first of all, this is


00:11:28.959 --> 00:11:30.870
not a telescope image we're looking at.


00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:34.630
This is a sound radio frequency


00:11:34.640 --> 00:11:37.350
translated to a visual medium for us to


00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:39.509
be able to understand what those waves


00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.870
meant. And then for somebody who doesn't


00:11:42.880 --> 00:11:45.470
understand what that


00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:47.990
means, they can maybe I don't know jump


00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.670
to some crazy conclusions. So at the end


00:11:49.680 --> 00:11:51.269
of the day, it's always so important to


00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.150
understand how we're getting what we're


00:11:54.160 --> 00:11:55.590
looking at and then what we're looking


00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.269
at even means. So thank you for


00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.269
clarifying that.


00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.670
It it does um you know, it's interesting


00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:03.430
that you mentioned conspiracy theorist


00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.790
because it does have such a perfect


00:12:05.800 --> 00:12:07.750
circular feature that it looks


00:12:07.760 --> 00:12:09.910
artificial and it's not. It's definitely


00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:11.590
a supernova remnant, one of these


00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.150
bubbles. Uh, but yes, it does look like


00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:15.670
something that's been made by


00:12:15.680 --> 00:12:18.710
intelligent life. But, uh, we don't


00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.430
believe it has. Well, you know, those


00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.670
pancakes also look pretty circular.


00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:26.629
Maybe this is a theme in space. I Does


00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.030
space like circles?


00:12:29.040 --> 00:12:31.350
Uh, it does, actually. And, uh, you've


00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.190
hit the nail on the head, Heidi, because


00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.350
we've got three stories today that all


00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.949
involve circles. And this one is no uh


00:12:38.959 --> 00:12:40.949
no less spectacular actually than the


00:12:40.959 --> 00:12:44.870
previous one. Uh so we we were talking


00:12:44.880 --> 00:12:47.990
about very very regular circular


00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.190
features on the planet Venus. Uh and


00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.030
Venus as I guess most of our listeners


00:12:53.040 --> 00:12:56.230
know Heidi is surrounded by a thick


00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.829
opaque atmosphere. Uh that means that we


00:12:59.839 --> 00:13:01.829
cannot penetrate it very easily.


00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:04.389
Although I should say that um one of the


00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.389
uh one of the outstanding features of


00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.150
the Anglo Australian telescope, the


00:13:08.160 --> 00:13:09.590
telescope that I used to be the


00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.829
astronomer in charge of very early in


00:13:11.839 --> 00:13:13.590
its history, it actually saw the surface


00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.670
of Venus through those clouds using


00:13:15.680 --> 00:13:18.310
infrared radiation. Uh only a glimpse,


00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:20.550
but it did see enough of the surface.


00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:22.150
But the best way to see the surface of


00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:24.310
Venus, unless you land a spacecraft on


00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.470
it, which the former Soviet Union did a


00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.990
number of times in the 1980s, um, and


00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.430
sent us back some pictures of the


00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.150
surface, but the best way to see it, uh,


00:13:34.160 --> 00:13:37.430
from above is by radar. And NASA's


00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.350
Mellan spacecraft, uh, back in the 1990s


00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.470
mapped the whole of Venus's surface uh,


00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:46.790
with radar. And so we've effectively got


00:13:46.800 --> 00:13:49.350
very clear images, quite high resolution


00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.750
images of the surface of Venus, uh,


00:13:51.760 --> 00:13:54.790
which show mountains and valleys and and


00:13:54.800 --> 00:13:58.470
yes, volcanoes, but they also show these


00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:01.110
really weird features, the ones that are


00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.870
very very circular. They're called


00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:06.470
pancake domes. Uh, and they they


00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:10.069
actually look more like impact craters.


00:14:10.079 --> 00:14:11.670
Those craters that we're so familiar


00:14:11.680 --> 00:14:15.269
with on the moon where um meteorites and


00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:17.910
small asteroids the same thing. Yeah.


00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:20.629
Yeah. Landed. Uh, but they're not. They


00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.509
apparently are tectonic features. They


00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:27.430
come from volcanism in the planet. Um,


00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.829
they do look just like pancakes. I have


00:14:29.839 --> 00:14:32.389
to say they really do. They almost like


00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.629
with the crust and everything like they


00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.629
just like the pancake that was just


00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.389
cooked. Maybe you were supposed to take


00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.110
it off the stove just a minute before.


00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:42.870
That's That's probably right. Yes. Just


00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:44.550
before the edge started turning up,


00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:48.949
which has happened there. Um that so so


00:14:48.959 --> 00:14:52.310
they're not volcanoes in the way that we


00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.910
normally think of one that the common


00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:55.509
volcanoes that we think of here on Earth


00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.430
are strata volcanoes, the ones that look


00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:59.829
like Mount Vuvius, very conical. Or


00:14:59.839 --> 00:15:01.670
we've got the shield volcanoes like


00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:04.550
Manuka on Hawaii which are they're


00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:05.829
called shield volcanoes because they


00:15:05.839 --> 00:15:08.790
look like a shield. They're flat uh and


00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:11.350
and with only gentle slopes rather than


00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.910
having you know very very steep sides.


00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:16.790
But these are quite different uh pancake


00:15:16.800 --> 00:15:20.189
domes. And um the


00:15:20.199 --> 00:15:23.350
the reason why they're in the news is


00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.150
that we've never really understood how


00:15:26.160 --> 00:15:28.150
they're formed. It's thought that it is


00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:31.509
something to do with pressure underneath


00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:35.750
the crust of uh Venus. And we we see


00:15:35.760 --> 00:15:38.550
these domes, volcanic domes on other


00:15:38.560 --> 00:15:40.389
worlds in the solar system. And I'm


00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.629
thinking particularly of series, which


00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.389
is the largest of the asteroid. It's


00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.710
asteroid. It's actually a dwarf planet


00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.790
uh 900 kilometers across. Series has um


00:15:50.800 --> 00:15:52.150
regions that look as though they should


00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:54.069
be a volcano, but there's no crater at


00:15:54.079 --> 00:15:56.629
the top. And what we're seeing is the


00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.949
something underneath underneath the


00:15:58.959 --> 00:16:01.829
crust of series has welled up uh and the


00:16:01.839 --> 00:16:04.230
pressure has caused this elevation of


00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.110
the landscape. So it pushes up this this


00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:10.790
weird looking dome. Uh and um that


00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:13.269
however is quite different from what


00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.389
we're seeing on Venus as which our


00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:17.749
listeners are probably fed up of hearing


00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.470
now. They look like pancakes. And so the


00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.710
problem has been how are these things


00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.590
formed? And one of them has been studied


00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.350
in detail. It's one of the largest of


00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.949
them. It's 90 mi or 145 kilometers in


00:16:30.959 --> 00:16:33.670
diameter. And again, it uses um that


00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:36.870
those radar data that we spoke about. So


00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:39.110
a group of scientists


00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.189
um I think they're led from the Georgia


00:16:41.199 --> 00:16:44.230
Institute of Technology in the USA. uh


00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:48.230
are they've looked at theoretical models


00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:50.629
as to what you would need to produce


00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.590
such a curious feature on the surface of


00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:56.069
a planet like Venus and they actually


00:16:56.079 --> 00:17:00.389
have an answer. Um they say okay it's a


00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.150
particular kind of lava that you need


00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:08.789
coupled with a a a surface a um a a a


00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.230
crust of Venus which is particularly


00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.710
pliable. In other words, it's flexible.


00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.949
And in fact, we've seen other reports


00:17:16.959 --> 00:17:19.350
recently that suggest that the crust of


00:17:19.360 --> 00:17:21.350
Venus is not as rigid as the Earth's


00:17:21.360 --> 00:17:23.909
crust. That it is a bit more flexible.


00:17:23.919 --> 00:17:25.750
And now it's still pretty stiff compared


00:17:25.760 --> 00:17:26.949
with the kind of things, you know,


00:17:26.959 --> 00:17:28.390
bending a piece of paper or something


00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.029
like that, but it's nevertheless um uh


00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.669
more flexible than our crust is. So the


00:17:33.679 --> 00:17:35.510
numbers that they come up with are


00:17:35.520 --> 00:17:38.470
pretty spectacular. uh they need a very


00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:43.430
very viscous lava and um the u report


00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.070
that uh that I've read um which is an


00:17:46.080 --> 00:17:48.630
article by Ashley Morgan on Daily Galaxy


00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.710
uh describes it as being a trillion


00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.669
times thicker than ketchup and twice as


00:17:53.679 --> 00:17:56.470
dense as water. What is up with all the


00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.950
food references?


00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:00.470
We're doing pretty well with the bubbles


00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:01.990
and the pancakes and all the rest of it.


00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.549
Anyway, that what that means is you've


00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:07.590
got a lava that is very very slow


00:18:07.600 --> 00:18:11.029
flowing. Um not you know as we see


00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.630
volcanoes on earth where the lava's


00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.270
pouring down the down the mountain side.


00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:19.190
Uh we these um actually move very slowly


00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.830
hundreds of thousands of years to form a


00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:24.710
phenomenon like this. Uh and if you mix


00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:28.470
that with the uh with the fact that the


00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.990
crust is flexible, then you get a model


00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.430
that actually is capable of simulating


00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.029
these pancake features. Uh and that's


00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.870
quite extraordinary that you can just do


00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.549
that, you know, with with computer


00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.190
modeling. Uh but you can actually uh


00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.430
make something in the computer that


00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:50.630
matches what we see exactly. And so that


00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:53.110
is why uh we think that's the you know


00:18:53.120 --> 00:18:54.870
it's the new idea for the way these


00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.190
things formed. Very very different from


00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.630
the way features on our own planet form.


00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.190
Well and almost like you know I'm I'm


00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.590
sorry I'm beating the dead horse but if


00:19:05.600 --> 00:19:10.630
this was dough we we see how if the


00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:14.710
dough had risen and it was almost


00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.270
liquidy and that bubble kind of popped


00:19:17.280 --> 00:19:19.510
and then it softened back down. you see


00:19:19.520 --> 00:19:22.150
the same kind of lines and dimples that


00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.150
you would see on a cupcake that went


00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.789
flat or something like that. So, it


00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:29.430
really I mean their line of logic makes


00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:32.630
perfect sense for even me who has no um


00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:34.870
geological background. So, that's really


00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:36.710
quite interesting.


00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.510
Uh yes, I agree. Um and you know, I


00:19:39.520 --> 00:19:42.870
think um what you what you've described


00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.710
uh actually is probably a good model for


00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.950
the way these things formed. I suspect


00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.590
that what we're seeing uh as the surface


00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:51.190
of these things is actually the crust of


00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.190
Venus which has been deformed into this


00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.909
shape by the pressure underneath of this


00:19:55.919 --> 00:19:58.789
very very slow flowing magma. So if you


00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:02.150
do take the analog of the the cookery um


00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:03.669
something's gone really terribly wrong


00:20:03.679 --> 00:20:06.950
with your cupcakes.


00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.150
And that's just uh the the recipe for a


00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:11.990
perfect planet. You can't leave it in


00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.070
the oven too long. You can't let it cool


00:20:14.080 --> 00:20:16.070
too much. If it's if it's too hot, it'll


00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:17.669
be Venus. If it's too cold, it'll be


00:20:17.679 --> 00:20:21.470
Mars. Our planet is cooked to


00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.870
perfection. Our planet is the sule of


00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:27.909
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to the show.


00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:57.270
Space nuts. Well, pivoting away from


00:23:57.280 --> 00:23:59.590
food references, now that everyone is


00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:02.710
hungry, I am so sorry, but we are going


00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:05.750
to talk about the European Space Ay's


00:24:05.760 --> 00:24:07.070
50-year


00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:09.990
anniversary special coins. And if any of


00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:11.950
you have ever been


00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:15.909
around coin collectors, military people


00:24:15.919 --> 00:24:18.830
who have worked in government type


00:24:18.840 --> 00:24:23.190
roles, coin collecting can be quite the


00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.510
hobby that people get really, really


00:24:25.520 --> 00:24:28.070
into. And going to different places,


00:24:28.080 --> 00:24:29.669
different organizations, collecting


00:24:29.679 --> 00:24:32.630
these rare coins is something that I


00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:34.310
think for some it becomes quite an


00:24:34.320 --> 00:24:36.470
obsession. So, this is actually a pretty


00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:38.630
exciting story, Fred, and I'm glad that


00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:41.669
we're talking about it. Um, because it's


00:24:41.679 --> 00:24:43.909
not what's going on in space, but it's


00:24:43.919 --> 00:24:48.149
how we humans are relating to space. You


00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:49.430
sound almost as though you're speaking


00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:51.350
from personal experience there, Heidi,


00:24:51.360 --> 00:24:54.950
about um obsessive coin collectors. I'm


00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:56.950
not the obsessive coin collector, but I


00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:59.110
might know a few. Yes, that's where I


00:24:59.120 --> 00:25:02.710
was wondering. Um, it's true. It's


00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.549
actually uh I think it's a pretty good


00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:07.190
hobby as well if you're you know it's


00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:09.269
some very nice things to display and


00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.269
people do indeed take it very seriously


00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.990
indeed. So what this story is about is


00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.669
well more circles uh not so much the


00:25:17.679 --> 00:25:20.070
coins although they are spectacularly


00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:23.909
beautiful and um it's not too hard to


00:25:23.919 --> 00:25:26.390
find online what these coins look like


00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:27.990
but the anniversary that they're


00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.830
celebrating. So let's cut to the chase.


00:25:29.840 --> 00:25:32.230
It's the Royal Mint of Belgium and the


00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.789
Royal Dutch Mint uh that have struck


00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.750
these new coins. They're in euros, of


00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:40.710
course, the currency of Europe. Uh one


00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:45.430
is a 2 and a half uh two 250 coin. Uh


00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.430
and the other one is a 50 cent coin. Uh


00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:53.630
and they are both emlazed with the logo


00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:57.430
of the European Space Agency. uh which


00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:00.470
is celebrating this year uh 50 years


00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:04.029
since its inauguration on May the 30th,


00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.430
1975. Uh I remember it well actually


00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.430
Heidi because uh there were two


00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:13.990
precursor organizations which we used to


00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.870
hear a lot about in the 1960s and 70s.


00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.909
Of course, the headline headlines were


00:26:19.919 --> 00:26:21.990
always being made by NASA with the


00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:25.269
Apollo program uh and its predecessors


00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:28.310
uh Mercury and Geminy. Uh those programs


00:26:28.320 --> 00:26:31.269
were what we lived and breathed actually


00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:33.789
at the time, those of us who were space


00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:36.470
fanatics. But the Europeans had two


00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:39.350
organizations which were called Eldo and


00:26:39.360 --> 00:26:42.230
Ezro. Aldo was the European Launcher


00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.950
Development Organization and Ezra was


00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.750
the European Space Research Organization


00:26:47.760 --> 00:26:49.590
and if I remember rightly the United


00:26:49.600 --> 00:26:51.590
Kingdom where I grew up was in one of


00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:53.750
them and I can't remember which one it


00:26:53.760 --> 00:26:55.430
was and I don't think it was in the


00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:57.710
other. I think it might have been Ezra.


00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:01.269
Um uh it's uh I was at um not very long


00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:03.350
ago last year I was at a place called


00:27:03.360 --> 00:27:06.630
Woomer in South Australia which was


00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.549
another name that was very familiar to


00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:11.590
all of us space geeks in the 50s60s and


00:27:11.600 --> 00:27:14.870
70s because that was where uh British


00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.950
rocket experiments took place. It's a


00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.669
very barren part of Australia although


00:27:19.679 --> 00:27:21.190
there are traditional owners who live


00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:24.710
there. Uh and many rockets uh tests were


00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:27.909
carried out there. Um most of them


00:27:27.919 --> 00:27:32.070
ceased in the in the 1990s early 2000s


00:27:32.080 --> 00:27:34.470
although there's now new work going on.


00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.710
Uh but um uh I was had a chance to visit


00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:40.149
it last year and there's a fabulous


00:27:40.159 --> 00:27:42.510
museum there with all these


00:27:42.520 --> 00:27:45.430
nu all these 20th century rocket


00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.549
examples. But there is an Eldo hotel.


00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.950
It's called the Eldo Hotel and it comes


00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:52.950
from the European Launcher Development


00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.909
Organization. So, uh, that was it's a


00:27:55.919 --> 00:27:57.830
name that probably most people these


00:27:57.840 --> 00:28:00.310
days wouldn't recognize, but Eldo was


00:28:00.320 --> 00:28:03.269
that, um, very important organization


00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:05.430
which eventually, uh, melded with the


00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.269
European Space Research Organization to


00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:09.430
become ESO. I beg you pardon. It became


00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:11.190
ISO. ISO is the European Southern


00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.269
Observatory. ISO is the European Space


00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:15.269
Agency, which is what these two


00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:17.430
organizations turned into. 50th


00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:19.190
anniversary.Sa ISA has done an


00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:21.669
extraordinary job over the past 50 years


00:28:21.679 --> 00:28:23.990
working a lot with other agencies most


00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.950
especially with NASA of course issa is a


00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.350
partner in the international space


00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:33.830
station uh and uh it's um very very


00:28:33.840 --> 00:28:36.710
capable indeed in terms of the um not


00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:38.870
just the human spaceflight missions that


00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:40.950
it has been involved with but also the


00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:44.549
robotic missions um uh dier just to


00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.230
bring one to mind which is a very


00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.310
important astrology military satellite,


00:28:48.320 --> 00:28:50.389
a satellite measuring the positions of


00:28:50.399 --> 00:28:53.029
stars very accurately. That was an issa


00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:55.669
project. Uh in fact, there was an issa


00:28:55.679 --> 00:28:59.269
uh lander that went to Titan with uh


00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:02.789
NASA's Cassini spacecraft and uh that


00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.870
lander which was called Huygens that


00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:06.789
landed on the surface of of Titan that


00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:09.269
was an issa spacecraft and many many


00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:12.710
more. Uh I could go on but I won't


00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.110
because uh the bottom line is that ISA


00:29:15.120 --> 00:29:17.110
is a very productive organization and


00:29:17.120 --> 00:29:18.630
we're now celebrating with these two


00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.950
lovely coins.


00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.470
So Fred, I wanted to ask you if you knew


00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:27.029
I have the coins pulled up on a big


00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:28.789
screen right now and I'm looking at the


00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:32.149
design and the design looks significant.


00:29:32.159 --> 00:29:34.389
Um, I don't know if you can see it, but


00:29:34.399 --> 00:29:36.310
there's the side where it has the


00:29:36.320 --> 00:29:38.230
50-year anniversary and then it looks


00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:39.549
like a


00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:42.549
star spinning around on some kind of an


00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.710
orbit. And then the other the other side


00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.029
of the coin, the where it has the two


00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:48.870
and a half year, obviously Europe, I


00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.950
recognize that. But the lines on the


00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:54.710
left, correct me if I'm wrong, was that


00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:56.029
from


00:29:56.039 --> 00:29:58.470
Voyager? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?


00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:00.389
Yes, I am seeing it. I can see what you


00:30:00.399 --> 00:30:02.990
mean. Uh they may be


00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:06.269
um uh it may


00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:09.669
be they they look like the ones that I'm


00:30:09.679 --> 00:30:11.190
thinking of are on on the Pioneer


00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:14.389
spacecraft where they drew lines on it


00:30:14.399 --> 00:30:16.389
to show where it had come from in


00:30:16.399 --> 00:30:19.190
relation to quaazars in the sky and it


00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:21.669
may be something like that. I can't


00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:24.230
quite make out enough detail just to


00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:25.990
know what they're depicting there. But


00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.750
it does look something like it, doesn't


00:30:28.760 --> 00:30:32.389
it? Very like the pioneer plaque.


00:30:32.399 --> 00:30:34.870
Very much so. Yeah. Well, here's a


00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.470
serious scavenger hunt then for our


00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.590
listeners. You guys can see if you can


00:30:39.600 --> 00:30:43.029
figure out what the puzzle is on these


00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:46.070
coins and then write back to us or


00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:48.230
comment on our social media and let us


00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:52.549
know what you think the lines mean. I'm


00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:54.789
going with Voyager.


00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:57.909
Okay, go for it. There's a there's a


00:30:57.919 --> 00:31:00.950
symbol there as well which is underneath


00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.549
the date. I don't know what we're seeing


00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:04.950
there. It almost looks like spacecraft.


00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:06.630
It looks like I don't know. I'm trying


00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:07.909
to figure that out, too. It looks like a


00:31:07.919 --> 00:31:10.470
sea shell on the left and then like the


00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:13.269
medical medical symbol on the right.


00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:15.269
Yeah, maybe. Maybe. Well, there must be


00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.430
an answer to that, which hopefully we'll


00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:21.029
discover uh on a later edition of Space


00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.310
Notes. Absolutely. Well, thank you. What


00:31:24.320 --> 00:31:26.389
a cliffhanger to leave this episode off


00:31:26.399 --> 00:31:28.230
on. You guys uh have to go put on your


00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:30.310
detective hats. And while Fred is


00:31:30.320 --> 00:31:32.549
exploring the mysteries of the universe,


00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:34.549
we can all be exploring the mysteries on


00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:35.990
this coin.


00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:38.549
But thank you so much for everybody who


00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.389
has joined us for another episode of


00:31:40.399 --> 00:31:43.190
Space Nuts and we will be seeing you


00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:47.029
guys next week. See you later, Fred.


00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.509
Thanks again, Heidi. Take care. Space


00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:51.830
nuts. You'll be listening to the Space


00:31:51.840 --> 00:31:54.549
Nuts podcast


00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.509
available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,


00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:00.149
iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast


00:32:00.159 --> 00:32:02.470
player. You can also stream on demand at


00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:05.430
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00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:09.960
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