Cosmic Questions: Time, Mass, and the Spectacle of Auroras | Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights &...
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Cosmic Curiosities: Time Dilation, Supernova Remnants, and Aurora Colors
In this engaging Q&A edition of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a series of thought-provoking questions from their curious audience. From the enigmatic nature of time in anti-gravity fields to the vibrant colors of auroras, this episode dives deep into the mysteries of the cosmos.
Episode Highlights:
- Time in Anti-Gravity Fields: Andrew and Fred explore the implications of time dilation in gravitational and anti-gravity environments, discussing how time appears to flow differently depending on the observer's frame of reference.
- Supernova Remnants: The hosts address whether we can still see the star remnants that contributed to the formation of heavy elements in our solar system, revealing the complexities of cosmic recycling.
- The Colors of Aurora: Listener Nate's question about the stunning colors of auroras leads to a fascinating discussion on the atmospheric processes that create different hues, from greens to reds and beyond.
- Relativistic Mass and Spacecraft Acceleration: Lee from Sweden poses an intriguing idea about using relativistic mass ejection to enhance spacecraft propulsion, prompting a conversation about the theoretical limits of current technology and the physics involved.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/30507865?utm_source=youtube
Kind: captions
Language: en
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Hi there. Thanks for joining us again.
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This is Space Nuts, a Q&A edition. My
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name is Andrew Dunley. Hope you're well.
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Stick around. We have got questions from
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uh our audience. Uh one about time in
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anti-gravity and the speed of time. Uh
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that's always fun to talk about. Uh
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we've got another question about
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supernova remnants. uh the colors of
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Aurora and uh a light speed boost idea.
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This is a could I would I should I type
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of with my spaceship do something that
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might give me a light speed boost. We'll
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see if it works on this edition of Space
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Nuts.
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>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
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ignition sequence start.
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>> Space nuts. 5 4 3 2
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>> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
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>> space notice
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>> astronauts reported feels good.
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>> And he's back uh once again to try and
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solve all your little riddles. Here's
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Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
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large. Hello, Fred.
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>> Uh hello there, Andrew. It's very good
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to be talking with you. It is. I'm sorry
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I've turned into an Irishman cuz I
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>> I wonder what was happening there.
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>> Yeah, in my trip to Ireland, which is
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great. There's nothing wrong with the
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Irish when we were there in would have
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been July. Yeah, July. Uh they really
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bunged it on for us at um at a place
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called Cove. It used to be called um I
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think Victoria. Was that what it was
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called? Um no no. Uh anyway, that it's
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where the uh uh Titanic made its last
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stop before getting out to the Atlantic
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and picked up its last groups of
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passengers and some very sad stories
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>> as well. Uh yeah, the the pier where
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everybody got on board the the um the
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boats to go out to the Titanic cuz it
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couldn't actually anchor at at Paul had
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to anchor outside the the harbor at u
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>> at Cove. Um it um it's still there parts
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of it.
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>> H so you can still see the remnants of
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that old um and and the White Starline
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office is still there as well which is
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now a museum where you can learn about
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the Titanic through the Titanic
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experience. I highly recommend that in
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the town of Cove which is near County
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Cork. County Cork it is. Yeah. Uh lovely
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place and they they had Australian and
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New Zealand flags everywhere and music
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playing and they know how to party those
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people. Yeah. Terrific. Uh shall we um
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do some questions, Fred?
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>> No, no, I think we should just have a
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cup of tea.
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>> Yeah, we that we'd probably have less
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trouble. Uh let's firstly get a question
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from Andy.
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>> Hi guys, it's Andy here from the UK.
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First time questioner. two questions
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both time related. Um the first question
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um as mass and gravity are so closely
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related and the higher a mass is the
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slower time will flow.
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What would happen to the flow of time in
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an anti-gravity field? So that's the
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first question. Um the second question,
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if a planet had life that was
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intelligent and was evolving and had the
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potential to become space fairing, but
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the planet was high gravity. Is the
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playoff between gravity and the speed of
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time enough that that will make a
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significant difference to the evolution
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of the planet on galactic scales? Hope
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that one makes sense. Great program. No
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doubt I'll be back again.
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>> Wow, Andy, where gee whiz, you've been
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pondering that for a while. There's some
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great questions there. We'll um we'll
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tackle the first one first, unless you
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want to do the first one second and the
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second. No, I don't know. uh time, the
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effect of um uh the effect on time
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um if it passes through an anti-gravity
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field or just the effect on time in an
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anti-gravity field.
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Yes. So um so Andy's right actually uh
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if you so what you've got is this
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phenomenon called time dilation. Appears
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that clocks slow down when you're in a
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gravitational field. um they only appear
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to be slowed down to outside observers.
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To you as the person in the gravity
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field, it makes no difference. The
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clock's just ticking at the same speed
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as it always did. But to an outside
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observer, your clocks are ticking more
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slowly. uh if there was such a thing as
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an anti-gravity field, and we have no
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knowledge of anything like that at the
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moment, although people have worked very
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hard to try and demonstrate
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anti-gravity,
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uh as you can imagine, it would be a
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very useful thing to be able to harness.
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Um uh if if you could have anti-gravity,
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in other words, something that um uh
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actually repelled rather than attracted.
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Yes. The the um or or at least No, let
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me put it another way. It's not repel
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repulsion. It's reducing the effect of
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gravity. I think anti-gravity might
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might reduce the effect of gravity.
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>> And it could if you reduce it beyond
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zero, it could produce a repulsion. But
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that is not that doesn't really matter
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for this argument because what happens
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is um yes, relativity says that time
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would actually speed up. uh time as I
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said to the person in the anti-gravity
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field would keep on ticking away as
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normal but to the outside observer uh
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the time would appear to be passing more
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quickly.
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>> Isn't it the same effect if you're
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falling into a black hole? What you're
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seeing is happening in real time because
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you're living your life like you do
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anywhere, but to the observer
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you would be,
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>> you know, completely different bucket of
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fish.
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>> That's right. Time slows down. You're
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everything appears more slowly and when
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you cross the event horizon you're sort
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of frozen on it.
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>> Yeah. Which means that
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>> weird, isn't it? Event horizons are
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always all splattered with things that
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are falling into the maybe.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Hard to imagine. It's like the front of
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a car.
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>> Well, in summer white hot. Yes.
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>> Um Yep. I think this was portrayed quite
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well in the movie Interstellar where
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they had to go down onto a planet that
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was under the effect of a a black hole
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and every hour on the planet surface
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equated to 7 years back on the
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spaceship. Um they they did portray that
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quite well,
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that effect.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Okay. So, there's no such thing really
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as an anti-gravity field, but um he he'd
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be right. The effect would be
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>> Yeah, that's right. But the second part
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of Andy's question,
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>> yes, high levels of gravity and its
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effect on the speed of time.
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>> Well, what he's saying is if you had a a
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planet
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>> or if you had if you had a civilization
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working in a very high gravitational
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field.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Uh would that mean that they would
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evolve more quickly and things would
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develop more quickly?
00:07:25.280 --> 00:07:27.510
>> Um and I suppose the answer is yes, but
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only to an outside observer. uh to to
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the people doing it, it would be just
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the same. Um so yes, maybe if our planet
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had a hugely different gravitational
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field from what it does have. Uh seen
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from the outside, we might look as
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though we're evolving more quickly and
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developing technology more quickly. But
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to the to to us, it would be just the
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same as if we had, you know, a lower
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gravitational field. It
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>> this would complicate the search for
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intelligent life, wouldn't it? Uh I mean
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you might find a a planet um and go hey
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something's going on there. Um but it's
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in it's in a you know high gravity
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.909
environment and um maybe it was
00:08:11.919 --> 00:08:13.670
happening
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some time ago but it's all over Red
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Rover. I mean I don't know. It's it's a
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headscratcher.
00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.270
Or here's one. If you do find a
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civilization living in a in a on a
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planet and you land to say hello and
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then you take off again and find out
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that everyone at home's dead because
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you've been gone 500 years but you were
00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:35.190
only gone a week.
00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.430
>> Yeah. Well, there's that too. That's
00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:38.630
right.
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>> Yeah. That's um special relativity.
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:42.230
That's the one
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>> the relativistic difference in time
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because you're traveling at speeds near
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the speed of light.
00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.829
>> Yeah. I mean it happens happens on
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Earth. They've done those tests with um
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highly sensitive clocks and and tested
00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.350
them at different altitudes and you know
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they they've come back and went well
00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:00.790
look there's a thousandth of a second
00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:03.190
difference in their performance. So you
00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.750
know that we we moved through time. I
00:09:05.760 --> 00:09:07.910
read a story the other day Fred which I
00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:11.509
wish I'd kept it. um about a cosmonort,
00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.509
I think it was, who'd spent so much time
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.030
in space that they estimated that he was
00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:20.870
um he was actually slightly ahead of
00:09:20.880 --> 00:09:23.430
time than everybody else,
00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.590
and I can't remember the details, but uh
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.750
it was really fascinating. Um I they've
00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:31.190
done a they've released a paper about
00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.269
it. I'll see if I can find it.
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:34.230
>> Interesting.
00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:36.230
>> I might do that while while you answer
00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.230
this next question. Thank you, Andy. I
00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:39.990
love that idea though. Um, keep them
00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.829
coming.
00:09:41.839 --> 00:09:43.350
>> Now, let's take a break from the show to
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>> Spacenuts.
00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.990
Uh, this question comes from Mark. Hi
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.630
Andrew and Fred and team. My name is
00:11:16.640 --> 00:11:18.630
Mark Turner and I live in the south of
00:11:18.640 --> 00:11:20.310
England. I'm sorry about that. About
00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.790
five about five minutes from Patrick
00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:25.030
Moore's house as a point of interest.
00:11:25.040 --> 00:11:28.230
Wow. Um, I've been listening now for
00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.069
just over three years and always look
00:11:30.079 --> 00:11:32.150
forward to Thursday lunchtime when I sit
00:11:32.160 --> 00:11:34.389
down and listen to you guys. Sorry, we
00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:35.910
were talking about toilet stuff earlier.
00:11:35.920 --> 00:11:38.069
I hope that didn't mess you up. Uh, my
00:11:38.079 --> 00:11:40.470
question is, it's generally accepted
00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.710
that all of the heavy elements were
00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.670
produced in an even larger star than
00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:48.230
ours that went supernova, which leads me
00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:51.030
to uh to this. Can we still see the
00:11:51.040 --> 00:11:54.470
remains of the star that made us in the
00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.670
night sky? Or do we know uh at what
00:11:57.680 --> 00:11:59.590
point in the night sky the star would
00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.069
have been by turning back the cosmic
00:12:02.079 --> 00:12:04.550
time clock? Keep up the great work,
00:12:04.560 --> 00:12:06.949
Mark.
00:12:06.959 --> 00:12:08.389
>> What do you reckon about that one?
00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:13.829
>> Um so the answer is no. Um because
00:12:13.839 --> 00:12:18.230
the so yes um uh the what we call the
00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.990
interstellar medium the gas between the
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.870
stars is enriched in its chemical
00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:27.030
um abundance. The amount of heavier
00:12:27.040 --> 00:12:29.350
elements that are in it is enriched over
00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.629
time because of supernova explosions.
00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.829
stars that have that have detonated and
00:12:35.839 --> 00:12:37.269
gone through this high temperature
00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.269
process where you get heavier elements
00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.590
created and some of the some of the
00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.430
heavy elements are we now know are
00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.710
created in neutron star collisions. Um
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.350
but that doesn't matter which which it
00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.269
is. The bottom line is that it's the
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.750
general interstellar medium that is
00:12:55.760 --> 00:12:57.829
enriched. So you've got an explosion
00:12:57.839 --> 00:13:00.949
that takes place and over millions of
00:13:00.959 --> 00:13:03.910
years the debris from that explosion
00:13:03.920 --> 00:13:06.710
just gets absorbed into the clouds of
00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.949
gas and dust that are then going to form
00:13:08.959 --> 00:13:12.310
uh later generations of stars. So
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.110
there's really no way that the remnants
00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:19.350
of the star that gave us uh the uh the
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.389
you know the heavier elements um there's
00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:26.230
no way that we can pinpoint that. It it
00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.110
may be that some of the supernova
00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.110
remnants that we see and we see many
00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:35.509
around the sky that some of those were
00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:40.470
responsible for some of the stuff
00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:42.069
they were probably responsible for
00:13:42.079 --> 00:13:45.030
enriching the interstellar medium closer
00:13:45.040 --> 00:13:47.430
to them than we are. That's kind of the
00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.150
point I I guess I want to make. the the
00:13:50.160 --> 00:13:52.629
debris that gave us our enriched
00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.509
interstellar medium is probably long
00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:59.350
dissipated and we could not identify it
00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.829
with any of the known supernova remnants
00:14:01.839 --> 00:14:04.389
because they are they're still enriching
00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.230
their local environment if I can put it
00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.550
that way because they're still intact
00:14:08.560 --> 00:14:10.389
structures. They're expanding and
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.389
dissipating but we see them as intact
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.590
structures. And so the the debris that
00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.230
made us 4.6 six billion years ago is uh
00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.870
basically is not is nowhere near you
00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:25.590
know it's not nothing to do with them.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:27.590
Um and partly because those explosions
00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:29.670
took place more recently than the 4.6
00:14:29.680 --> 00:14:31.990
billion years ago origin of our own
00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.910
solar system.
00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:37.430
So uh the
00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.629
basically uh yes the the answer is no.
00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.110
We can't we can't identify those
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.670
remains. uh and turning back the cosmic
00:14:45.680 --> 00:14:48.230
time clock. We can do that but but we
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:49.910
can't do it in the sort of detail. I
00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:51.829
mean we can do it in a physical phys
00:14:51.839 --> 00:14:53.430
physical modeling sense. We're not
00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:55.269
looking at anything unless we're looking
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.030
at things at great distances where we
00:14:57.040 --> 00:15:00.230
are looking back in time. Uh but for the
00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.710
the physics that you we use to model the
00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:06.150
universe um we we can't wind back the
00:15:06.160 --> 00:15:09.269
clock in enough detail to see where
00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:12.470
these objects exploded. uh they may be
00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.710
you know many many thousands of tens of
00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.870
thousands of light years away uh from
00:15:16.880 --> 00:15:19.110
where we are now. Uh all they did was
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:20.949
enrich the medium around them and that's
00:15:20.959 --> 00:15:23.750
where we found our own uh solar system
00:15:23.760 --> 00:15:26.069
being formed. So we can't we can't look
00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:28.389
back in time in that regard.
00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.670
>> Okay. Thank you Mark. Uh by the way I
00:15:31.680 --> 00:15:33.590
was a pretty regular visitor to Patrick
00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.829
Moore while he was still alive. So I
00:15:35.839 --> 00:15:37.750
know that house well at Celi it was
00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:40.310
called Farings. uh is a lovely house
00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.110
actually uh and um when I used to visit
00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.230
him he was always very welcoming uh and
00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.710
um always glad to show me around.
00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.189
>> Wonderful. Wow. Lucky you. Yeah.
00:15:51.199 --> 00:15:51.829
>> Yeah.
00:15:51.839 --> 00:15:55.110
>> Now um just to sort of draw on Mark's
00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.990
question um so he's right about a
00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.790
supernova creating the heavy elements.
00:16:00.800 --> 00:16:01.189
>> Yes.
00:16:01.199 --> 00:16:04.389
>> So how do they end up being a part of
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.230
our planet? Is is that because the
00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.910
supernovas created the the the spawning
00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:13.189
ground or being you know run through it?
00:16:13.199 --> 00:16:14.550
What how does that work?
00:16:14.560 --> 00:16:16.629
>> Yeah, I mean it's what I was saying
00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:18.470
basically the you know you get a
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.069
supernova explosion which um sends shock
00:16:22.079 --> 00:16:25.990
waves out. Uh it sends enriched gas out
00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.990
and that gas gradually diffuses into the
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:31.509
background
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.990
uh what we call the interstellar medium.
00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.470
the the gas between the stars. It's very
00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:39.110
very rarified, but that's where that
00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.910
stuff ends up. And as you then get
00:16:41.920 --> 00:16:44.629
concentrations of that gas into clouds
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.269
of hydrogen, mostly hydrogen, but other
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:48.629
elements as well because it's been
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.430
enriched, then that is what would form
00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.470
the next solar system. uh and so that
00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.990
you know that gradual process of uh
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:01.910
stars forming exploding enriching the uh
00:17:01.920 --> 00:17:04.150
interstellar medium then interstellar
00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.029
medium creates other star systems which
00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.350
do the same thing. It's why as the
00:17:09.360 --> 00:17:11.669
universe ages, you're going to get an
00:17:11.679 --> 00:17:14.710
enrichment of the number of of heavy of,
00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.470
you know, quantities of heavier elements
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.150
that there are within the universe. And
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.390
that's actually one way that we can
00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.549
measure the ages of stars by how much of
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.949
this stuff they've got in them. Because
00:17:24.959 --> 00:17:26.470
when they were formed, the universe
00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:27.829
would have been at a certain point of
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.350
enrichment.
00:17:29.360 --> 00:17:32.549
uh and you know that for that point is
00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:34.710
fossilized if I can put it that way in
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.110
the star itself by the chemical
00:17:37.120 --> 00:17:39.590
composition that it demonstrates.
00:17:39.600 --> 00:17:42.549
>> Okay, very good. Um it's it's a law of
00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.070
diminishing returns though, isn't it?
00:17:44.080 --> 00:17:46.070
Eventually all of this is going to stop
00:17:46.080 --> 00:17:46.710
happening.
00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.310
>> Yes, that's right. Eventually the
00:17:48.320 --> 00:17:49.990
universe will die because of that
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.070
because there won't be any more any
00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:54.150
there won't be any gas in which to
00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.390
create supernova explosions which is the
00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.470
raw material of stars. intelligen gas
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.630
that will all be used up eventually
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.470
>> and we'll have what used to be called
00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:05.029
the heat death of the universe unless it
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.029
starts collapsing on itself with you.
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:08.789
>> Well, yeah. I mean there's there's all
00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.350
these terrible perilous things that are
00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:14.070
going to happen but um
00:18:14.080 --> 00:18:15.350
you know it's not going to happen next
00:18:15.360 --> 00:18:17.830
week. The week after maybe cuz we're on
00:18:17.840 --> 00:18:18.310
holidays
00:18:18.320 --> 00:18:19.909
>> if we're lucky or the week after. Yeah,
00:18:19.919 --> 00:18:21.590
that's right.
00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:23.510
>> Yeah. Uh thank you Mark. Great question.
00:18:23.520 --> 00:18:25.110
Uh, now that thing I was trying to look
00:18:25.120 --> 00:18:28.390
up, I can't find the exact story, but um
00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:30.870
I I found something that that kind of
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:33.190
explains the concept. Um, apparently for
00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.190
a six-month mission on the International
00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:39.909
Space Station, an astronaut ages 0.005
00:18:39.919 --> 00:18:42.789
seconds less than they would on Earth.
00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:46.150
So, this this particular um cosmonort
00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.750
that I'm talking about apparently has
00:18:47.760 --> 00:18:50.470
spent so much time in space that he's
00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.870
actually I think it's 222
00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.710
um minutes younger than he
00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.669
>> would had he not gone into space.
00:19:01.679 --> 00:19:03.350
>> It's like seconds rather than minutes.
00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:03.909
Yeah.
00:19:03.919 --> 00:19:06.630
>> Oh, 222 seconds. Yes, exactly.
00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:10.150
>> Yeah. Um so I I Yeah, I read it last
00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:11.830
week. I meant to send it to you and I
00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:13.750
completely forgot. So, uh, but that's
00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:15.750
the that's the the the guts of the
00:19:15.760 --> 00:19:18.630
story. Uh, this is Space Nuts. Andrew
00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.830
Dunley with Professor Fred Watson.
00:19:21.840 --> 00:19:23.590
>> Space Nuts.
00:19:23.600 --> 00:19:26.710
>> Uh, we have a question from one of our
00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.270
regular contributors. This is Casey.
00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:31.750
>> Hi guys, this is Casey from Colorado.
00:19:31.760 --> 00:19:34.630
Um, I just saw Red Northern Lights and
00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:37.590
it was it was really incredible. Um, I
00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:39.350
was hoping that you could please explain
00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:41.909
why auroras come in different colors. I
00:19:41.919 --> 00:19:43.830
hope we're both well and thanks for the
00:19:43.840 --> 00:19:44.870
podcast.
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:46.950
>> Uh, thank you, Casey. Casey sent in a
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.590
few um questions in recent times and
00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:50.950
we're more than happy to answer. She
00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:52.630
comes up with some interesting ideas.
00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:54.390
Uh, I just thought this was a good
00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.630
question to answer. Uh, and I know we've
00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:58.710
talked about it before, but there's been
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.909
some great auroral activity of late.
00:20:01.919 --> 00:20:05.270
>> And even in parts of Australia where you
00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:07.110
just don't see them, they have been
00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:09.510
absolutely stunning. Even as recently as
00:20:09.520 --> 00:20:11.909
a week or two ago, we had some fabulous
00:20:11.919 --> 00:20:14.789
photographs coming out of uh many, many
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:18.950
parts of southeastern Australia. And um
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:20.710
you know it prompted a thought in my
00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:24.470
mind that the one the aurora we see here
00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:27.990
generally are pink but when you see
00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:29.990
photos up in the northern hemisphere and
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:31.510
when you're practically underneath them
00:20:31.520 --> 00:20:34.789
they're green. Uh and and I'm sure the
00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:40.070
colors can vary into many areas. Fred u
00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:41.669
I mean you've you've taken tours on
00:20:41.679 --> 00:20:43.590
these um to see these things. You've
00:20:43.600 --> 00:20:45.430
you've seen that like this is boring for
00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:46.310
you.
00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:47.590
Uh
00:20:47.600 --> 00:20:49.909
>> it's never boring actually. I didn't
00:20:49.919 --> 00:20:51.590
imagine it would be just always
00:20:51.600 --> 00:20:53.029
spectacular. But you're absolutely
00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:57.270
right. So when we're up in uh uh Ala,
00:20:57.280 --> 00:21:00.310
which is far northern Norway, or um
00:21:00.320 --> 00:21:02.310
Kirina, which is far northern Sweden, or
00:21:02.320 --> 00:21:03.990
Aiscoco, which is also far northern
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.230
Sweden, and looking at the aurora,
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.110
you're basically standing underneath it.
00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:11.430
And so you see the aurora as it really
00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.510
is. Uh, and it you've got lots of colors
00:21:15.520 --> 00:21:20.789
in it. Um, but the the pink and red Aori
00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:24.310
are typically seen when you're a long
00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:27.750
way from the action. Uh, and the green
00:21:27.760 --> 00:21:29.430
the bottom line is the the green is
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.190
talking shift.
00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:31.750
>> No,
00:21:31.760 --> 00:21:34.630
>> no, no, but we're talking atmospheric.
00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.270
>> We're talking uh we're talking um
00:21:37.280 --> 00:21:38.950
emission line spectroscopy.
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.789
>> Oh, okay. Well, I never would have
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:41.590
thought of that.
00:21:41.600 --> 00:21:45.029
>> Yeah. So, um, so the the pink and red
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.669
aurori, uh, you'd see them if you're in
00:21:47.679 --> 00:21:49.110
the northern hemisphere, you'd see them
00:21:49.120 --> 00:21:50.789
on the northern horizon. In the southern
00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:52.710
hemisphere here in Tasmania, you see
00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.870
them very often down in the south.
00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.950
Usually, the green part is below the
00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.270
horizon. It's, you know, it's too far
00:21:59.280 --> 00:22:01.590
over the Earth's curvature to see, and
00:22:01.600 --> 00:22:03.590
that's why you only see the red and
00:22:03.600 --> 00:22:06.070
that's a clue to what's happening here.
00:22:06.080 --> 00:22:09.029
So, um, what you've got is the
00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:12.630
atmosphere, uh, being excited by
00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:16.390
radiation from the sun. These, uh, these
00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.110
subatomic particles charge out from the
00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:20.789
sun. If you've got a solar flare or
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.630
something like that, they going at
00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.029
typically a million kilometers an hour.
00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:27.110
Uh so they take a couple of days to get
00:22:27.120 --> 00:22:29.750
here and then they're sort of funneled
00:22:29.760 --> 00:22:32.870
down the earth's magnetic field lines u
00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:34.870
and they're most concentrated near the
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:36.630
magnetic poles which is why it's around
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:38.230
the magnetic poles that you see most
00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.470
aurori. This is a sort of simplified
00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.710
version of the story, but um what
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.190
happens is they these electrons and you
00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.549
know they're accelerated. They're quite
00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:51.029
high energy. They hit atoms of oxygen
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:53.350
and nitrogen in the earth's atmosphere
00:22:53.360 --> 00:22:56.789
and they make them glow. And the car the
00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.070
important thing here is that those atoms
00:23:00.080 --> 00:23:02.230
of oxygen and nitrogen actually they're
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.750
molecules as well. uh O2 which is a pair
00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:07.909
of oxygen atoms or N2 which is a pair of
00:23:07.919 --> 00:23:10.470
nitrogen atoms. Um they behave
00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.950
differently at different pressures and
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:14.230
of course as you go up through the
00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:16.149
atmosphere the pressure gets steadily
00:23:16.159 --> 00:23:19.270
lower. So the most common one is the
00:23:19.280 --> 00:23:22.710
green light and that's uh when you've
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.390
got oxygen being excited to emit this
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:28.149
green color. It's what we call a
00:23:28.159 --> 00:23:29.590
spectrum line. It's a particular
00:23:29.600 --> 00:23:31.350
wavelength which means it's a particular
00:23:31.360 --> 00:23:35.190
color. Uh but it's green. Uh and that uh
00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.390
works for pressures that you see between
00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.750
about 100 and 200 kilometers above the
00:23:41.760 --> 00:23:43.590
earth's atmosphere.
00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:47.190
Above 200 kilometers, the pressure is
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:50.630
lower uh and the green line doesn't form
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:52.950
or the green light is not formed. uh
00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.430
it's actually quenched and there is a
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:58.390
different atomic process that gives rise
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:02.470
to red light uh 630 nanometers if I
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:03.990
remember rightly is the is the
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.230
wavelength so you get this red light
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.029
which is still oxygen but it's oxygen at
00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:11.909
a lower pressure than what comes out
00:24:11.919 --> 00:24:14.149
from the green so between 1 and 200
00:24:14.159 --> 00:24:15.430
kilometers you're going to see green
00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:17.430
aori above that you're going to see red
00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.070
aurori and that's why we only see the
00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:21.430
red ones if you're looking from
00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:23.350
Australia because the green is way below
00:24:23.360 --> 00:24:27.669
the horizon. Um if you've got a really u
00:24:27.679 --> 00:24:31.350
powerful stream of subatomic particles
00:24:31.360 --> 00:24:33.590
then they will penetrate below 100
00:24:33.600 --> 00:24:37.590
kilometers and that then excites uh not
00:24:37.600 --> 00:24:40.149
the oxygen but the nitrogen. You get um
00:24:40.159 --> 00:24:41.990
what's called molecular exitation.
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.950
Nitrogen molecules start emitting light
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:46.710
and they emit in several different
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:50.870
colors like per um deep blue. Um there
00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:54.070
is different red, there's sort of greens
00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:55.990
and all those mix together to give you
00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.549
something like a purple. Often in a
00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:00.149
bright aurora, you've got the green
00:25:00.159 --> 00:25:02.390
auroral curtains and below that there
00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:05.029
might be a purple layer as well. And
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:06.870
sometimes the colors are so mixed that
00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.029
it turns white that you actually get a
00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.430
white bottom edge to an aurora. Then you
00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.830
know you've got really high energy
00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:15.269
electrons. And then
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.870
>> so always seen one of those.
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.830
>> Yes, I have. Uh yeah, actually the very
00:25:19.840 --> 00:25:21.430
first time we went up there, I've got
00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.029
photographs taken from a place called
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:25.510
Lingan Fjord in northern Norway, a very
00:25:25.520 --> 00:25:27.269
dark site. It was a wonderful place to
00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:29.029
see the aurora from. And yeah, there
00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:31.830
were definitely white white bottoms on
00:25:31.840 --> 00:25:33.909
my auroral curves.
00:25:33.919 --> 00:25:38.149
Um, so, uh, but what I was going to say
00:25:38.159 --> 00:25:41.190
was that's the basic story, but in
00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.190
reality, you get these things all mixing
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.110
and so sometimes you do get pinks and
00:25:45.120 --> 00:25:46.710
you get you can actually get some quite
00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:49.190
odd colors, almost browns. Actually, I
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:51.269
took some photographs at the beginning
00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:53.669
of this year in uh far again far
00:25:53.679 --> 00:25:55.990
northern Norway uh and later in
00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.990
Greenland where the coloring was almost
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.149
like a brown color rather than the the
00:26:00.159 --> 00:26:02.149
reddish that you expect uh from high
00:26:02.159 --> 00:26:04.870
altitude aurora. So, it it's the way the
00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:06.710
colors mix that give you the the
00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.630
different effects. Plus, you've got to
00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:10.630
add to that the color response of your
00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.590
camera as well, which can sometimes tell
00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:16.310
you, you know, give you falsehoods
00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:19.029
because the the the camera itself is is
00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.269
basically tuned to to take photographs
00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:23.029
of everyday objects. It's not really
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.029
tuned to take photographs of things that
00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.269
are emitting only on one wavelength,
00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:28.870
which the aurora does.
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.350
>> Yes. Yes, I know. Um although while we
00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:34.950
were uh up there um northern northern
00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.430
parts of Europe Norway um Greenland,
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:41.830
Iceland um people did try to um take
00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:43.350
photos of Aurora and a couple of them
00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:46.470
were successful. I was not
00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:49.510
>> Yeah, I'll say one. But it was summer.
00:26:49.520 --> 00:26:50.950
>> Yeah, summer's the that's a problem
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:52.390
because there's still so much twilight
00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:55.909
there. Um, I used to cut around a
00:26:55.919 --> 00:26:58.390
digital proper digital camera with me in
00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.870
a tripod to do all these long exposure
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.190
photographs, but to be honest, now with
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:05.430
a smartphone, they are so sensitive you
00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.029
can handhold them. Yeah.
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.590
>> And get really fantastic auroral
00:27:09.600 --> 00:27:12.549
photographs. Um, which blew me away the
00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:14.630
first time I did it, which was the
00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:17.269
beginning of this year. Uh, I tried it a
00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:19.190
little bit on the previous trip that we
00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:21.029
had up to Northern Palace, which was in
00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:23.510
Canada, actually. Uh but this time at
00:27:23.520 --> 00:27:25.029
the beginning of this year in Norway,
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:27.669
Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland, I just
00:27:27.679 --> 00:27:30.390
held the smartphone up and well, I've
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:32.230
got more photographs than I know what to
00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:33.830
do with, and they're all dramatically
00:27:33.840 --> 00:27:36.789
good. Uh the smartphone is such amazing
00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:37.750
technology.
00:27:37.760 --> 00:27:39.110
>> It's changed the world,
00:27:39.120 --> 00:27:41.269
>> has in many ways, particularly when it
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.470
comes to photography. It was the old um
00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:46.549
the old Canon snappies and all those
00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.470
that we used to have with film in them.
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.149
You got one shot at it and you didn't
00:27:50.159 --> 00:27:51.590
find out if it was any good for a couple
00:27:51.600 --> 00:27:52.310
of weeks.
00:27:52.320 --> 00:27:53.990
>> Yeah. And the odds are that it it
00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:55.990
wouldn't be because this sensitivity of
00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.470
film is so much lower than the the you
00:27:58.480 --> 00:27:59.990
know than the sensors that we now use
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.750
for images. That's the bottom line.
00:28:01.760 --> 00:28:01.990
>> Yep.
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.310
>> Yeah. The gear is good now. Makes makes
00:28:04.320 --> 00:28:06.230
everybody a professional. Well, not
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:07.269
quite, but you know what I'm saying.
00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:08.630
>> Talk to a professional photographer and
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:09.990
they won't actually agree with that.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.789
>> No, they would they work hard.
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.350
>> Uh, thank you Casey. Great question and
00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:17.510
good to hear from you again. Okay, we
00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:19.430
checked all four systems and being with
00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:19.909
the girls.
00:28:19.919 --> 00:28:21.029
>> Space nets.
00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:24.630
>> Our final question today. Uh, hi guys.
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.029
Love the show, etc., etc. He doesn't
00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:29.269
bandandy around much. He's straight to
00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:31.590
the point. Uh, an idea just occurred to
00:28:31.600 --> 00:28:34.710
me. Uh, mass increases the faster you
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.190
go, becoming infinite at the speed of
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:39.830
light. So, if it were possible to
00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:42.389
accelerate particles up to rel
00:28:42.399 --> 00:28:44.470
relativistic, I hate that word,
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.430
relativistic speeds in some compact
00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:49.669
device and then throw them out of the
00:28:49.679 --> 00:28:51.590
back of a spacecraft, would the
00:28:51.600 --> 00:28:54.310
acceleration increase because you're
00:28:54.320 --> 00:28:57.750
throwing more mass out the back? Yeah, I
00:28:57.760 --> 00:28:59.269
did that the other day. It's not
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:03.669
pleasant. Um, kind of an ion engine on
00:29:03.679 --> 00:29:06.789
on steroids. Uh, I'm envisioning some
00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:08.710
kind of small particle accelerator
00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:10.870
powered by a nuclear power source,
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:13.510
preferably fishing. Any thoughts?
00:29:13.520 --> 00:29:15.909
Absolutely. Welcome. Uh, many thanks and
00:29:15.919 --> 00:29:18.070
keep up the great work. Lee in Sweden,
00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:23.029
not to be confused with Swed Leon.
00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:24.310
>> Oh, okay. Really?
00:29:24.320 --> 00:29:27.669
>> Yeah, that's somebody else.
00:29:27.679 --> 00:29:31.590
>> Um, no, Lee in Sweden. So, um, okay.
00:29:31.600 --> 00:29:33.110
Okay. So, he's he's got a particle
00:29:33.120 --> 00:29:35.590
accelerator on his spaceship and he's
00:29:35.600 --> 00:29:38.470
he's accelerating the particles up to
00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:42.070
relativistic speeds and then he's
00:29:42.080 --> 00:29:43.190
shooting them out the back of the
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:46.310
spacecraft, bigger mass, whatever. Can
00:29:46.320 --> 00:29:49.909
it accelerate the spacecraft?
00:29:49.919 --> 00:29:52.789
Um, yeah. All right. I'm going to read u
00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:55.110
what I've just put up brought up on the
00:29:55.120 --> 00:29:58.470
screen in front of me. Um, relativistic
00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:00.950
mass ejection in ion motors is not a
00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.789
current technology but a theoretical
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.590
concept for future propulsion where ions
00:30:05.600 --> 00:30:07.269
would be accelerated to speeds
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:08.870
approaching the speed of light. The
00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:11.190
relativistic aspect refers to the effect
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:13.590
of special relativity where an object's
00:30:13.600 --> 00:30:15.430
mass appears to increase as it
00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:17.510
approaches the speed of light making it
00:30:17.520 --> 00:30:19.750
harder to accelerate it further. This
00:30:19.760 --> 00:30:21.669
would require extremely high energy
00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:24.149
inputs and would involve complex physics
00:30:24.159 --> 00:30:26.310
unlike current ion thrusters that use
00:30:26.320 --> 00:30:29.909
less energetic but still very high ion
00:30:29.919 --> 00:30:33.110
ejection velocities that came from AI.
00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:34.310
So how's that?
00:30:34.320 --> 00:30:37.990
>> Yeah. Well, I mean AI can be very
00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.269
useful.
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:40.549
>> That's kind of what
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:42.710
>> steer you up the the wrong path. It kept
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:44.789
getting Yeah. Like I had to make some
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.510
pretty significant inquiries
00:30:47.520 --> 00:30:49.510
last uh last year, early this year,
00:30:49.520 --> 00:30:52.630
whatever, uh about a a housing situation
00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.789
and it just got it so wrong constantly.
00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:57.190
>> Yeah.
00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.389
>> Um but yeah. Um
00:31:00.399 --> 00:31:02.549
>> so what I've just read out is putting
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:05.029
nicely into words what I was going to
00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:07.830
say, but it's putting it rather more
00:31:07.840 --> 00:31:09.430
nicely than I would have put it. So
00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:10.230
there you go.
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:15.269
>> Yeah. All right. So the the concept of
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:19.510
um creating engines that can do these
00:31:19.520 --> 00:31:22.710
kinds of things is real in science but
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:24.310
only to a certain degree.
00:31:24.320 --> 00:31:27.430
>> Yeah. My only worry about it would be um
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:29.430
and I guess this is what you know the
00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:33.110
complex physics bit was. You've got um
00:31:33.120 --> 00:31:35.029
you've got different reference frames.
00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:37.190
You've got the reference frame of the of
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:38.950
the spacecraft. You've got the reference
00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:42.389
frame of the flow of of charged
00:31:42.399 --> 00:31:43.909
particles coming out the back of it and
00:31:43.919 --> 00:31:45.990
you've got a stationary reference frame
00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.149
and and the mass looks different to all
00:31:48.159 --> 00:31:49.350
of those.
00:31:49.360 --> 00:31:53.110
>> Uh so uh that will be my only worry
00:31:53.120 --> 00:31:54.549
about that and it's the thing that I
00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:56.070
would like to go a bit further into it
00:31:56.080 --> 00:31:59.750
rather than rely on AI. Uh but the but
00:31:59.760 --> 00:32:02.070
the basic principle I think is is quite
00:32:02.080 --> 00:32:06.470
right. Uh but I would be I have a caveat
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:08.470
about just watch out for your reference
00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:10.389
frame if I can put it that way.
00:32:10.399 --> 00:32:14.389
>> Yeah. Um I I've been toying with AI just
00:32:14.399 --> 00:32:16.389
to sort of get some concepts in my head
00:32:16.399 --> 00:32:19.110
about you know I mentioned I don't know
00:32:19.120 --> 00:32:20.789
if it was this podcast or the previous
00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.269
one where we uh where I'm writing a new
00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.590
book but um
00:32:25.600 --> 00:32:28.470
I there's some concepts I wanted to
00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:30.630
include but I my brain wouldn't go
00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:33.990
there. So, um, I did use AI to try and
00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:37.430
learn what I needed to learn to make the
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.509
the thing work the way it wanted to in
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.750
the story. Uh, it's very clever when you
00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:43.590
want to do things like that.
00:32:43.600 --> 00:32:44.630
>> Did it help?
00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:45.590
>> Yeah, very much.
00:32:45.600 --> 00:32:46.710
>> Oh, that's interesting.
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.669
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:32:47.679 --> 00:32:50.870
>> Um, in fact, it it sometimes gave me way
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.110
too many concepts. I only wanted one,
00:32:53.120 --> 00:32:54.710
but it gave me 10. And I'm thinking,
00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:56.870
"Oh, hang on.
00:32:56.880 --> 00:32:58.710
That's all good stuff. I can't use it
00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:02.549
all." So, I had to pick. But um
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:06.310
I I found it very useful. But um if you
00:33:06.320 --> 00:33:07.909
use it the right way, it's a it's a
00:33:07.919 --> 00:33:09.269
great tool.
00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:13.029
>> But if um yeah, for general information,
00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:16.470
sometimes it can just hit the you
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:18.389
throwing a dart and hitting that metal
00:33:18.399 --> 00:33:19.669
thing around the edge.
00:33:19.679 --> 00:33:20.870
>> All right. Okay.
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:22.789
>> Cuz it's it's throwing information back
00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:26.070
at you that's too generic, I suppose.
00:33:26.080 --> 00:33:28.789
>> Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.029
>> I think when it comes to AI, you've got
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:33.190
to know how to use it to get the best
00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:35.110
out of it. Otherwise,
00:33:35.120 --> 00:33:36.789
>> that's right. Yes.
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:38.230
>> Otherwise, it's dangerous.
00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:40.310
>> Yeah. The wrong path.
00:33:40.320 --> 00:33:42.870
>> Absolutely true. Yeah. I have found it
00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:45.990
very handy for like I've I've had a few
00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:47.590
photos over the years that I've wanted
00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:49.590
to keep, but they they've not been
00:33:49.600 --> 00:33:52.230
really good photos and it's been really
00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:54.630
good at cleaning them up, taking taking
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:56.549
out some of the um there's one
00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:58.630
particular photo that I really love, uh
00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:00.470
but it's it's grainy.
00:34:00.480 --> 00:34:00.950
>> Yeah.
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:03.509
>> So, I I you just upload the photo and
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.070
say, "Can you um I can't remember the
00:34:06.080 --> 00:34:08.310
terminology I use, but um can you do
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:11.589
this?" and it takes like a minute or two
00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:15.669
to rec calibrate the photo and then it
00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:19.349
gives you its result. And uh I had a
00:34:19.359 --> 00:34:22.149
couple of big hits with that that well,
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:24.149
but I've had a couple that didn't.
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:24.550
>> Yeah.
00:34:24.560 --> 00:34:28.389
>> Um because the um it had to try and fill
00:34:28.399 --> 00:34:31.030
in spaces because of the graininess of
00:34:31.040 --> 00:34:32.069
the photo
00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:34.069
>> and what it filled them in with actually
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:35.909
changed the subject too much and I
00:34:35.919 --> 00:34:38.310
didn't like it. that makes any sense at
00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:39.909
all.
00:34:39.919 --> 00:34:42.629
But um yeah, I I do find it useful, but
00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:45.430
um it it's not a perfect science and you
00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:47.190
got to keep that in mind.
00:34:47.200 --> 00:34:49.190
>> Uh Lee, thanks for your question. Did we
00:34:49.200 --> 00:34:51.109
finish with Lee? I'm pretty sure we did.
00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:53.030
Yeah, good on you, Lee. Hope all is well
00:34:53.040 --> 00:34:55.510
in Sweden and I'm sure you get to see
00:34:55.520 --> 00:34:58.310
lots of Aurora, too, you lucky duck.
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:01.510
>> Um that's it, Fred. We are finished.
00:35:01.520 --> 00:35:03.510
Thank you.
00:35:03.520 --> 00:35:07.109
>> Uh you're welcome.
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.550
Yeah. Uh I um I've enjoyed uh going
00:35:10.560 --> 00:35:12.310
getting my mind bent around some of
00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:15.190
those issues myself. So, thank you Space
00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:17.750
Nuts listeners. You keep me on my toes.
00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:19.750
>> Yes, they do, don't they? If you would
00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:22.069
like to send us a question, uh you can
00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:23.829
do that through our website,
00:35:23.839 --> 00:35:25.829
spacenutspodcast.com
00:35:25.839 --> 00:35:28.710
or spacenuts.io
00:35:28.720 --> 00:35:31.510
and you click on the AMA link at the top
00:35:31.520 --> 00:35:34.630
of the homepage and uh just fill in the
00:35:34.640 --> 00:35:36.230
blanks. So, you can send us your text
00:35:36.240 --> 00:35:38.710
questions that way, or you can send us
00:35:38.720 --> 00:35:41.109
an audio question if you've got a device
00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:42.950
with a microphone. And just uh remember
00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:44.470
to tell us who you are and where you're
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.790
from. Most people do these days. Uh or
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:48.950
you can send us questions via YouTube.
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:50.710
We've been getting a few of those. And
00:35:50.720 --> 00:35:52.390
sometimes they just turn up on social
00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:54.470
media. Uh it doesn't matter. We'll um
00:35:54.480 --> 00:35:56.230
we'll get to them. Although on social
00:35:56.240 --> 00:35:59.030
media, the audience tends to deal with
00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:01.589
them for us. So, um not many of them
00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:03.910
filter through. But, uh, yeah, keep, uh,
00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.790
those questions coming. Um, and, uh,
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:08.630
yeah, that'll all be good. Uh, Fred,
00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:10.310
we'll see you next week. I think it'll
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:11.910
be our last couple of programs before
00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:13.270
the Christmas break.
00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:15.430
>> May well be. That's right. We'll see.
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:16.790
>> All right. We'll catch you then. Thanks,
00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:17.670
Fred. Sounds great.
00:36:17.680 --> 00:36:19.510
>> And thanks to Hugh in the studio who
00:36:19.520 --> 00:36:21.750
went supernova on us because he's got a
00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:23.349
lot of heavy elements and he's gone to
00:36:23.359 --> 00:36:25.349
see a dietician. And from me, Andrew
00:36:25.359 --> 00:36:27.349
Dunley, thanks for your company. We'll
00:36:27.359 --> 00:36:28.950
see you on the next episode of Space
00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:30.230
Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:36:30.240 --> 00:36:32.550
>> Space Nuts. You'll be listening to the
00:36:32.560 --> 00:36:35.589
Space Nuts podcast
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:38.550
>> available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:36:38.560 --> 00:36:41.190
iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast
00:36:41.200 --> 00:36:43.589
player. You can also stream on demand at
00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:46.470
byes.com. This has been another quality
00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:51.000
podcast production from byes.com.