Feb. 22, 2026

Dark Matter Mysteries, Telescope Innovations & the Quest for Gravitons | SN602 Q&A | Space Nuts:...

Dark Matter Mysteries, Telescope Innovations & the Quest for Gravitons | SN602 Q&A | Space Nuts:...
Dark Matter Mysteries, Telescope Innovations & the Quest for Gravitons | SN602 Q&A | Space Nuts:...
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Dark Matter Mysteries, Telescope Innovations & the Quest for Gravitons | SN602 Q&A | Space Nuts:...

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Exploring Dark Matter, Telescope Innovations, and Olympus Mons

In this engaging Q&A edition of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a range of fascinating listener questions that dive deep into the mysteries of our universe. From the elusive nature of dark matter to the future of space telescopes, this episode promises to enlighten and entertain.

Episode Highlights:

- The Mystery of Dark Matter: Listener Bob from Chicago asks how astronomers have determined that approximately 80% of the universe is made up of dark matter. Fred explains the historical context and the groundbreaking techniques that have led to this astonishing conclusion.

- Next-Gen Telescopes: Ben also inquires about the next large telescope to be launched. Fred shares his excitement for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in Chile, which promises to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos with its advanced capabilities.

- Understanding Telescopes: Ash from Australia seeks clarity on the different types of telescopes and the wavelengths they detect. Fred elaborates on the intricate designs of optical, infrared, and radio telescopes, explaining how their unique technologies allow them to observe various forms of light.

- The Graviton Enigma: Russ from the UK poses a thought-provoking question about the graviton and its relation to Einstein's theory of gravity. Fred discusses the complexities of gravity as a force and the ongoing quest to understand its fundamental particles.

- Olympus Mons and Space Elevators: Robert from Iceland wonders if Olympus Mons could serve as a staging point for a space elevator. The hosts explore the challenges and feasibility of this intriguing concept, revealing the importance of location in such ambitious projects.


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, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.

If you’d like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/about) .

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/31808838?utm_source=youtube

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.070
Hi there. Thanks again for joining us.


00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:04.470
This is Space Nuts, a Q&A edition. This


00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.590
is where we answer audience questions.


00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:09.270
Well, we read them out and then we


00:00:09.280 --> 00:00:11.190
pretend we know what we're talking about


00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:13.990
and most people fall for it. They might


00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:15.589
not fall for it today, though, because


00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:17.269
we've got some uh really interesting


00:00:17.279 --> 00:00:20.950
questions about uh a matter of matter


00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.830
that we cannot see. Uh does it matter?


00:00:23.840 --> 00:00:26.390
We will find out. Um questions come up


00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:29.109
about gravitons. We're also going to


00:00:29.119 --> 00:00:30.710
answer a question about space


00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:33.030
telescopes. Now, that's right up uh


00:00:33.040 --> 00:00:35.430
Fred's alley. He knows everything there


00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:37.110
is to know about space te. He's written


00:00:37.120 --> 00:00:39.350
books about these things. So, this is


00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:42.310
going to be a good question. And uh a


00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:43.830
question has come up about whether or


00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.549
not Olympus Mons might make a good


00:00:46.559 --> 00:00:48.790
staging staging point for a space


00:00:48.800 --> 00:00:51.590
elevator. We will answer all of that on


00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.750
this episode of Space Nuts.


00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:58.630
>> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9


00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.310
ignition sequence start.


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>> Space nuts.


00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.750
>> 5 4 3 2


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


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>> Space nuts.


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>> Astronauts report. It feels good.


00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.350
>> And it feels good to have his one and


00:01:13.360 --> 00:01:15.109
only self, Professor Fred Watson, an


00:01:15.119 --> 00:01:16.789
astronomer at large, back in the chair.


00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:19.749
Hello, Fred. Hello. Hello. Here. All


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ready to go. Fresh and um uh well slept.


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Yeah. So, sort of.


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>> Yeah. I had a weird night last night. I


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I I actually went to sleep fast. Didn't


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I I only woke up kind of and once once,


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which is, you know, a new world record.


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And then um I woke up again 5 5:18 a.m.


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And that was it. My body went, "No, no,


00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:45.910
we're done. You can get up. Go and watch


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something on television because I'm not,


00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.190
you know, I don't want to go any to


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sleep ever again." So, here we go. Who


00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:54.870
knows what'll happen tonight. Um, sleep


00:01:54.880 --> 00:01:57.510
is a weird thing. We need it and yet our


00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:01.190
bodies sometimes refuse to comply.


00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:01.749
>> Yeah.


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>> Yeah,


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>> it is. It's bizarre. It's a strange


00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.190
thing.


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>> Um, shall we answer some questions?


00:02:08.160 --> 00:02:09.830
>> I thought that was it.


00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:11.350
>> Well, I was just going to say, Fred, why


00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.750
can't I sleep?


00:02:13.760 --> 00:02:15.270
>> Let's answer some questions. Yes.


00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.589
>> Okay. Our first one comes from Ben. He


00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.229
says, uh, Ben here. It's good because I


00:02:20.239 --> 00:02:22.309
thought he was Ben, too. uh the Aussie


00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.309
in Chicago with a few new questions. In


00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:26.309
your last question podcast, you


00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:28.630
mentioned about how 80% of matter is


00:02:28.640 --> 00:02:31.589
missing or not visible to us. And it


00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.949
made me think, how do we know or measure


00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:37.509
that amount in the first place? I know a


00:02:37.519 --> 00:02:39.270
lot of science is about measuring what


00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.229
we didn't find in results, but I'm


00:02:42.239 --> 00:02:44.869
curious about how they came to that 80%


00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.070
dark matter number. And secondly, uh,


00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.309
for a smaller question, if you could


00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.470
pick the next large telescope to be


00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:55.190
launched, what would it be and why? I'd


00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:57.270
personally love to see a new larger


00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.509
Hubble type telescope with all the


00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:02.229
advances we've applied to it uh, that


00:03:02.239 --> 00:03:03.830
we've learned from the James Webb Space


00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:05.509
Telescope. Thanks again for the great


00:03:05.519 --> 00:03:07.430
podcast. Thank you, Ben. Great to hear


00:03:07.440 --> 00:03:09.990
from you. Hope all is well in uh, in


00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.630
Chicago, home of the Bears. Chicago


00:03:12.640 --> 00:03:14.149
Bears.


00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.270
Um right so it's a matter of matter and


00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.710
um he's saying we know there's 80% of


00:03:22.720 --> 00:03:24.790
the universe made up of dark matter or


00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:29.270
thereabouts. Uh how do we know that?


00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.589
Um we actually the the way that we get


00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.070
the you know the accurate figures is


00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.550
quite interesting because it involves


00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.229
work um of the kind that wasn't possible


00:03:42.239 --> 00:03:44.869
before astronomers started using fiber


00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.990
optics in their telescopes and uh that's


00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.030
what I did. I was one of the pioneers of


00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:54.070
fiber optics in astronomy. uh and the


00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.630
systems that we built back in the 80s,


00:03:56.640 --> 00:03:59.750
the 1980s have now evolved into


00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:02.309
marvelous machines which are fully


00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.550
automated. Um the uh organization that I


00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.949
worked for has just delivered one to


00:04:08.959 --> 00:04:12.229
Chile which will position 2,400 fibers


00:04:12.239 --> 00:04:15.670
in 57 seconds. Uh and each one of those


00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.949
fibers can be aligned with a target star


00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.430
or galaxy. uh and that's the way you


00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:23.670
collect lots of information about very


00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.469
large numbers of galaxies and about uh


00:04:26.479 --> 00:04:28.629
their velocities what we call their red


00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.629
shifts. So we'll get to that in a minute


00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:32.950
because that's that's how we are so


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certain about these numbers because of


00:04:34.479 --> 00:04:37.189
the ability to do that to measure these


00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:38.870
very large numbers of galaxies what we


00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:41.830
call large scale surveys. But the story


00:04:41.840 --> 00:04:46.950
starts uh back in 1933 with Fritz Vicki


00:04:46.960 --> 00:04:49.270
uh the man who famously called some of


00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:52.629
his colleagues uh not just bastards they


00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:54.390
were spherical bastards. Uh the reason


00:04:54.400 --> 00:04:56.950
for that was that they were bastards


00:04:56.960 --> 00:04:58.550
whichever way you looked at them. That's


00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:01.110
why call them spherical bastards.


00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:03.670
>> Astron astronomers love him. Yeah,


00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.350
>> I'm sure they do. Yeah. Um, I usually


00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.350
tone that down a bit and make it rat


00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.230
bags, but for this show I can re


00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:14.390
>> I could quote him verbatim.


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>> It is a quote. Therefore, it's it's a


00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:18.550
quote. Yeah, it's part of it's a part of


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history.


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>> It is indeed part of history. Um, but


00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:24.550
what he was doing was measuring a


00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.990
cluster of galaxies actually in the


00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.350
northern hemisphere constellation of


00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.070
Koma Bernese. Uh, the Koma cluster, a


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very rich cluster of galaxies. And he


00:05:31.919 --> 00:05:33.990
figured out that the he was measuring


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the motions of all the galaxies. And


00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.070
when he looked at it, they were all


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going too fast for the gravity of what


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he could see to hold on to them.


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>> So if all that was uh there was what all


00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:48.870
he could see, then this cluster should


00:05:48.880 --> 00:05:51.350
have evaporated gazillions of years ago


00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:54.150
and it hasn't. And he was the person who


00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:56.870
coined the term dark matter. Uh he said


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there's something there that we can't


00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.790
see. the ast world of astronomy


00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.870
basically ignored it because it was just


00:06:02.880 --> 00:06:04.550
too hard to get your head around.


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There's obviously something wrong. We


00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.510
don't know what it is. We'll go and do


00:06:07.520 --> 00:06:10.150
something else. And it wasn't until well


00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.309
actually there was an Australian who um


00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:15.189
in 1970 Ken Freeman down at the A&U


00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.909
still a good friend uh he um figured out


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that galaxies were rotating too fast for


00:06:22.960 --> 00:06:24.629
the what was in them to hold them


00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.909
together. Uh and um that again was


00:06:27.919 --> 00:06:30.870
largely ignored that 1970 result until


00:06:30.880 --> 00:06:34.390
Vera Rubin um basically did the same


00:06:34.400 --> 00:06:36.710
thing but worked out that in order for


00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.189
galaxies to stay together and not fly


00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.230
apart as they rotate, they must all be


00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.350
enveloped in a sort of sphere or halo as


00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.350
we call it of something we call dark


00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:49.830
matter. And that in 1978 was the start


00:06:49.840 --> 00:06:52.790
of the modern era of dark matter. And so


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you can actually use those uh those


00:06:55.440 --> 00:06:57.510
measurements to make a crude estimate of


00:06:57.520 --> 00:06:59.830
what's missing. You know that you can


00:06:59.840 --> 00:07:01.589
say use something called the viral


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theorem which I haven't thought about


00:07:03.039 --> 00:07:05.029
for a long time. But that's what lets


00:07:05.039 --> 00:07:07.749
you weigh things by their motion. So you


00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.070
can weigh the dark matter uh by the


00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:12.309
motion of galaxies in a cluster for


00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:16.070
example. You can then weigh what you can


00:07:16.080 --> 00:07:18.390
see because you know roughly how much


00:07:18.400 --> 00:07:19.990
stars weigh and the stars are what you


00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.990
can see and the gas too. and then you


00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.150
can divide one by the other and you do


00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.029
get this sort of 80-ish percent. Um, but


00:07:27.039 --> 00:07:30.710
the the way that it's done today, as


00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.550
I've said, it involves these very large


00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.749
scale surveys of galaxies and their


00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.309
positions and velocities in, you know,


00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.230
as much of the universe as you can see.


00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.070
Very, very large scale surveys involving


00:07:42.080 --> 00:07:44.150
millions of galaxies. And when you do


00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.150
that, you can make statistical


00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.629
deductions that tell you that uh the


00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.950
universe is made of something like 70%


00:07:50.960 --> 00:07:54.469
dark energy, uh about 20% dark matter,


00:07:54.479 --> 00:07:57.430
about 5% normal matter, uh most of which


00:07:57.440 --> 00:07:59.830
is hydrogen. So that that comes from the


00:07:59.840 --> 00:08:02.230
large scale surveys. And it's because


00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.510
the positions of galaxies are actually


00:08:05.520 --> 00:08:07.589
determined by the gravitational forces


00:08:07.599 --> 00:08:10.070
that they feel. And you know that's the


00:08:10.080 --> 00:08:11.990
key to understanding dark matter and


00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.390
dark energy to see how these forces


00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:15.270
stack up.


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>> It's so hard to comprehend because when


00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.749
you say that 5% of the universe is made


00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:24.710
up of stars, planets and gas, and you


00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.869
look out into space and see so many


00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.309
stars, so many other things, and yet


00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:32.469
you're only seeing 5% of what out what


00:08:32.479 --> 00:08:34.870
is out there. It's it's it's


00:08:34.880 --> 00:08:36.310
mind-blowing.


00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.509
>> That's right. I mean some of that that


00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:41.909
figure of 5% is the when you look at it


00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.430
as a fraction of the mass and energy


00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.910
budget and energy and matter you know


00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.590
they're interchangeable E= MC² uh and so


00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:50.949
uh it's when you do that some you


00:08:50.959 --> 00:08:55.350
realize that yes um 70% of the mass


00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.190
energy budget of the universe is dark


00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.949
energy uh 20% is dark matter 5%


00:09:00.959 --> 00:09:04.389
thereabouts uh is is normal matter but


00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.230
most of that normal matter is invisible


00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.670
to because most of it is just called


00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:08.630
hydrogen.


00:09:08.640 --> 00:09:10.870
>> Uh the the you know the materials that


00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:12.949
make up the the planets in particular


00:09:12.959 --> 00:09:16.230
the the um you know the normal elements


00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:19.190
that we see around us on earth there's a


00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.509
vanishingly small fraction of that uh


00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:23.750
that represents you know the their


00:09:23.760 --> 00:09:25.430
fraction within the universe.


00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.070
>> Yeah. All right. So that covers his 80%


00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.550
question. But uh he asks a question


00:09:30.560 --> 00:09:34.230
about what will be the next uh large


00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:35.990
telescope to be launched. What would you


00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:37.990
like it to be?


00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.750
>> Um, yeah, that's an interesting


00:09:39.760 --> 00:09:41.269
question. I mean, the thing that I'm


00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:43.509
looking forward to, and we'll see it


00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.910
online within the next probably two


00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:48.630
years, is the ELT, the extremely large


00:09:48.640 --> 00:09:50.389
telescope down in Chile. That's going to


00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.670
be a visible light telescope with uh a


00:09:53.680 --> 00:09:57.990
mirror 39 m in diameter.


00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.870
uh and it will be able to observe


00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:03.910
because it's got this very sophisticated


00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:06.230
adaptive optic system that effectively


00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.829
puts it above the atmosphere. Um it's uh


00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:14.069
it is uh it will have 20 times the


00:10:14.079 --> 00:10:16.630
resolution of the Hubble telescope. So


00:10:16.640 --> 00:10:18.310
if you thought the Hubble images that


00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.389
you see have fine detail in them, wait


00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:21.670
till you see what's going to come from


00:10:21.680 --> 00:10:23.910
the ELT because it'll be 20 times


00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:27.110
better. And the reason why that's my


00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:30.310
favorite big telescope is that its cost


00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.470
has been almost since the beginning


00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:35.509
estimated at 1.3 billion euros and it


00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.230
still is. Uh it's on on budget and


00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.630
pretty well on time. Uh and remember the


00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:43.590
James Webb telescope cost10 billion.


00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:44.069
>> Yeah.


00:10:44.079 --> 00:10:47.350
>> To build launch and and you know and


00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:50.470
keep it going. uh the


00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.550
as soon as you put things into space,


00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:55.509
the price tag goes up enormously, which


00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:57.350
is why I'm a big fan of groundbased


00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:59.269
astronomy, especially when we now have


00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.910
sites like Sarah Amazon is in northern


00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:04.550
Chile, which is where the ELT will be uh


00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:08.949
whose whose uh you know whose clarity


00:11:08.959 --> 00:11:12.630
and atmospheric stability you can hone


00:11:12.640 --> 00:11:14.949
with that adaptive optics system that


00:11:14.959 --> 00:11:17.030
the telescope's going to be fitted with.


00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:17.350
M.


00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.750
>> So, um, that's that's what I'm looking


00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:21.509
out for next. I don't think you need to


00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.190
launch anything else into space to get


00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:25.430
anywhere near what the ELT will do.


00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:26.389
>> Very exciting.


00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.230
>> Yeah. I heard they're going to have a


00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.870
visitors center at the ELT, but the only


00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:35.910
thing on the menu will be BLT, so


00:11:35.920 --> 00:11:37.990
I had to do that joke. It just, you


00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.630
know, my brain doesn't let me stop


00:11:40.640 --> 00:11:41.750
sometimes.


00:11:41.760 --> 00:11:43.990
>> No, it


00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.310
uh Thank you, Ben, for the question.


00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.710
Great to hear from you.


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00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.350
>> Roger, you're here also.


00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.269
>> Spacenuts. Uh, I'm going to do a bit of


00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.030
a switcheroo here because we we're


00:13:15.040 --> 00:13:16.790
already talking about telescopes and


00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:18.629
we've got a question about telescopes.


00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.230
So, we might just jump straight to that


00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:22.790
one. Uh, hi Fred and Andrew. Just


00:13:22.800 --> 00:13:26.069
wondering if Fred can shed some light,


00:13:26.079 --> 00:13:29.110
puny intended. Uh, on telescopes and the


00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:30.710
different types of light they can


00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:32.949
detect. I was recently thinking about


00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:35.030
how the James Webb Space Telescope uses


00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:37.430
mirrors to observe infrared light but


00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.910
not visible light while Hubble also uses


00:13:39.920 --> 00:13:41.990
mirrors for visible light yet can't


00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.949
really see infrared. Uh that got me


00:13:44.959 --> 00:13:47.269
wondering how mirrors, detectors and


00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:49.829
telescope design all come together or


00:13:49.839 --> 00:13:52.470
don't uh for different uh wavelengths.


00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.310
Could you please walk us through the


00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.310
various types of telescopes, optical,


00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.389
infrared, radio, all the way to gamma,


00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.150
and explain what kinds of light they


00:14:00.160 --> 00:14:02.629
detect, how they do it, and why each


00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:04.790
telescope can only be used in certain


00:14:04.800 --> 00:14:07.269
ways. Absolutely love the show. May your


00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.910
rain uh may you reign supreme for many


00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:12.870
years to come. Cheers, Ash. Thank you,


00:14:12.880 --> 00:14:16.150
Ash. And um yeah, he just wants to know


00:14:16.160 --> 00:14:17.509
everything you've ever written down


00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:19.509
about telescopes. Fred,


00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:20.870
>> yeah, there's a book on it. I I


00:14:20.880 --> 00:14:23.110
recommend Ash Hunted Out.


00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.350
>> It's called Star Stargazer, the life and


00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.030
times of the telescope. It's the first


00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:30.310
big thick book that I wrote. Uh and


00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.389
still one of my favorites because um


00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.230
even though it's slightly out of date,


00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:36.790
it opens by talking about what used to


00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:39.350
be called Owl, uh the overwhelmingly


00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.750
large telescope, which was actually the


00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:43.430
precursor of the ELT we were just


00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.269
talking about there, right? But when


00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:49.430
they were proposing owl um which had an


00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.910
overwhelmingly large mirror of 100 m in


00:14:51.920 --> 00:14:53.990
diameter and then they realized it also


00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.069
had an overwhelmingly large price tag


00:14:56.079 --> 00:14:58.629
which is why it came down to 39 m and


00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.790
that's fine because that's still an


00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:02.949
extremely big telescope. Anyway, um


00:15:02.959 --> 00:15:04.629
that's that's the plug over. That's the


00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:09.910
advert over. Uh so basically telescopes


00:15:09.920 --> 00:15:12.949
have sort of got the same ingredients no


00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:15.829
matter what they're observing. Uh and


00:15:15.839 --> 00:15:17.509
that is something to gather the


00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.910
radiation and whether that's very short


00:15:19.920 --> 00:15:22.949
wavelength radiation like gamma rays or


00:15:22.959 --> 00:15:25.030
long wavelength radiation like radio


00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:27.030
waves. Uh you've got something to gather


00:15:27.040 --> 00:15:30.710
the radiation uh and either focus it in


00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:32.710
some way or at least concentrate it and


00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.670
then something to detect it. And it's


00:15:35.680 --> 00:15:39.430
usually the detectors that are perhaps


00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.710
the most waveband critical because you


00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.509
need different detectors for example to


00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.150
detect visible light uh from the ones


00:15:48.160 --> 00:15:50.629
that you would use to detect infrared


00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.509
light. Um it's and and again it depends


00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:57.350
on the infrared wavelength. Uh so I I


00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.389
guess starting right at the the short


00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:03.430
wavelength end with gamma ray and x-ray


00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.030
detectors um they are almost the same


00:16:07.040 --> 00:16:09.430
sort of technology as as are used in


00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.150
medical imaging. Uh but to focus them


00:16:12.160 --> 00:16:14.230
you've got to have very special


00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.710
technologies. um my recollection of


00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.269
gammaray telescopes and things might


00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.230
have changed a little bit here but the


00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.230
they made mirrors which were called


00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.949
grazing incidence mirrors which looked


00:16:26.959 --> 00:16:29.749
more like a piece of origyami than than


00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.470
a a reflector that you'd imagine but


00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.470
they did focus the light to to provide


00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.069
that thing and then you go to


00:16:36.079 --> 00:16:39.110
ultraviolet the Hubble is sensitive to


00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.509
ultraviolet light um and that for that


00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:43.910
it needed a very precise mirror and we


00:16:43.920 --> 00:16:45.670
all know that the mirror was made very


00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:48.389
precisely but to the wrong prescription


00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.389
uh uh for reasons that we haven't time


00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.430
to go into. Uh so once again you know


00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.430
the detector is sensitive to ultraviolet


00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.590
radiation. In fact they've got wideband


00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.230
quite wideband detectors. Um Hubble can


00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:03.749
detect longwavelength ultraviolet


00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:05.909
whole of the visible and also the short


00:17:05.919 --> 00:17:07.990
wavelength infrared what we call the


00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.710
near infrared. Uh and its mirror and


00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.630
detectors are capable of doing that.


00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.470
When you go up to the James Web, you're


00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.270
right. That's tuned for infrared light.


00:17:17.280 --> 00:17:19.990
And that means your tolerances on the


00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.710
accuracy of the mirror are slightly less


00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.949
because infrared light's got a longer


00:17:24.959 --> 00:17:28.470
wavelength. And you know how how


00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.390
accurate your mirror mirror needs to be


00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.630
made is dependent on the wavelength. The


00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:34.549
longer the wavelength, the more relaxed


00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:36.310
you can be about the shape of the


00:17:36.320 --> 00:17:39.350
mirror. Uh so web telescope slightly


00:17:39.360 --> 00:17:42.070
more relaxed although still to very high


00:17:42.080 --> 00:17:44.230
tolerances but the detectors are the


00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.789
thing that really render it uh not


00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.510
suitable for visible light uh it's got


00:17:49.520 --> 00:17:51.909
definitely got infrared uh sensitive


00:17:51.919 --> 00:17:53.430
detectors.


00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.549
It's also got a gold coating uh and


00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:58.630
that's so that rather than a an


00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.310
aluminium or silver coating like a


00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:02.070
visible light telescope would have, it's


00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:04.230
got a gold coating because gold reflects


00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.310
infrared light better. And then you get


00:18:06.320 --> 00:18:07.990
up to radio waves and you're talking


00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.590
about um often dishes and you know a


00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:15.029
dish is just a big mirror but uh one


00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.510
that's as I said before it doesn't have


00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:19.510
to be as accurate as the mirror on a


00:18:19.520 --> 00:18:20.789
visible light telescope because the


00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.789
wavelength is longer and that's why we


00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.270
see these much bigger bigger telescopes


00:18:25.280 --> 00:18:29.029
for radio waves. Uh you get the same


00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.830
um sensitivity to detail uh with a


00:18:31.840 --> 00:18:33.909
bigger dish than you do with visible


00:18:33.919 --> 00:18:35.510
light. with a smaller dish. That's


00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:37.110
because that sensitive to details


00:18:37.120 --> 00:18:39.350
proportional to the wavelength. Um, but


00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:41.990
the detectors are quite different in


00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.110
radio telescopes. They use often very


00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:46.950
sophisticated technologies where they're


00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.510
actually measuring the waveform itself,


00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:51.510
which you don't do with visible light,


00:18:51.520 --> 00:18:53.350
what are called hetradine receivers and


00:18:53.360 --> 00:18:55.350
things of that sort. So, um, that's


00:18:55.360 --> 00:18:57.830
walking through the various types of


00:18:57.840 --> 00:19:00.950
telescopes as you've suggested. Ash, is


00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.870
there another bit to the question uh,


00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.390
how they do it? Well, I've explained


00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.230
that why each telescope can only be used


00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.270
in certain ways. Yeah.


00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:10.070
>> Yeah. I guess the question he asks


00:19:10.080 --> 00:19:11.750
prompts a question in my mind or a


00:19:11.760 --> 00:19:13.830
suggestion that you really could not


00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:16.470
build a single telescope that could do


00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:18.710
absolutely everything you'd want to do


00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.029
on all spectrums.


00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:24.070
>> Um that's correct. There is a there is a


00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:25.590
device


00:19:25.600 --> 00:19:28.870
which uh in fact is only used really in


00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.270
the microwave region of the spectrum. uh


00:19:31.280 --> 00:19:34.070
but it's called a bometer and a bometer


00:19:34.080 --> 00:19:36.870
is something that is basically detects


00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:38.710
stuff but it's insensitive to


00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:41.750
wavelength. So in a sense a bometer a


00:19:41.760 --> 00:19:43.909
perfect bometer will be able to detect


00:19:43.919 --> 00:19:45.909
all wavelengths. Now the reality is you


00:19:45.919 --> 00:19:47.909
can't do that but that's the notion


00:19:47.919 --> 00:19:50.870
behind a bometer and what it means is


00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.390
that for microwave astronomy um the


00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.710
bometer gives you a very wide range of


00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:00.070
wavelengths to cover. So when you are


00:20:00.080 --> 00:20:02.630
planning to build a telescope,


00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:04.870
do you have an objective in mind before


00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:07.590
you build it or do you build it and then


00:20:07.600 --> 00:20:09.590
think well what can we do this?


00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:11.430
>> No, it's definitely the other way


00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.270
around. You you start off with a science


00:20:13.280 --> 00:20:15.750
case. What are the questions that we


00:20:15.760 --> 00:20:17.909
really think are the most urgent


00:20:17.919 --> 00:20:20.230
questions to answer? And you've got


00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.310
things like um you know the nature of


00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:25.190
dark energy, the nature of dark matter.


00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.029
Uh are there any living organisms


00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:28.470
anywhere else in the univer all the all


00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:29.909
the questions that you and I talk about


00:20:29.919 --> 00:20:32.310
on the show are the ones that scientists


00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:34.070
are still intrigued by and there are


00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:35.750
many others as well. The details of the


00:20:35.760 --> 00:20:38.310
way galaxies interact with environments.


00:20:38.320 --> 00:20:41.350
What about all these um young galaxies


00:20:41.360 --> 00:20:44.789
that seem to be more mature than we


00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.470
think they should be at, you know, when


00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:47.830
the universe is only a couple hundred


00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:49.830
million years old? Questions like that.


00:20:49.840 --> 00:20:51.750
They're all the ones that would go into


00:20:51.760 --> 00:20:54.789
the science case for a project. But


00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:56.789
there is always the background that


00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.710
you're going to find things out that you


00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.110
simply did not expect to find out. So


00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:03.350
that's usually added into the science


00:21:03.360 --> 00:21:05.270
case. The stuff that we just don't


00:21:05.280 --> 00:21:07.750
expect. Serendipitous discovery. There's


00:21:07.760 --> 00:21:10.870
been so many of those um made by the


00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:12.470
world's great telescopes.


00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:14.789
>> Yeah, thank you Ash. That's a great


00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:16.390
question and I could tell Fred was


00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.070
excited about it. I I'm just going to go


00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:19.909
I'm going to go back to Ben's question


00:21:19.919 --> 00:21:21.430
about, you know, what do you want the


00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.830
next um big thing in telescopes to be?


00:21:23.840 --> 00:21:25.750
I've thought of one. I I want to see the


00:21:25.760 --> 00:21:28.390
FWST.


00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.149
>> Uh Fred Watson Space Telescope. That's


00:21:32.159 --> 00:21:32.950
that's what I


00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:34.710
>> want to sound. Yeah, I do too.


00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:36.149
>> I want the sound of that. Thank you. Oh,


00:21:36.159 --> 00:21:38.149
well, you're a pioneer in fiber optics.


00:21:38.159 --> 00:21:39.830
I mean, it makes sense to me that you


00:21:39.840 --> 00:21:42.230
should have one named after you.


00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:42.710
>> Yeah.


00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:45.350
>> I always um I always think the reason


00:21:45.360 --> 00:21:47.430
for my hairstyle is because I worked in


00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:49.190
fiber optics cuz the individual


00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.390
follicules got jealous of all these thin


00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:53.909
strands of material that I was playing


00:21:53.919 --> 00:21:55.270
with and they all just fell out.


00:21:55.280 --> 00:21:56.789
>> Yeah, they gave up. Yeah. They said,


00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.470
"No, we can't beat that. See you later,


00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:00.149
France.


00:22:00.159 --> 00:22:02.870
We're going somewhere else." Uh, thanks


00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.310
Ash for the for the question. And this


00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:06.630
is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and


00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:10.710
Professor Fred Watson, a Q&A edition.


00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.110
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>> Swift


00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:42.789
base here. The angle has landed.


00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:43.909
>> Space nets.


00:23:43.919 --> 00:23:47.110
>> Our next question comes from somebody


00:23:47.120 --> 00:23:49.830
else. Uh, hi Fred and Andrew. Gravity is


00:23:49.840 --> 00:23:52.390
described by Einstein's theories as the


00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.390
bending of spaceime in the presence of


00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:58.310
massive objects. Great. Why then does


00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:00.630
physics discuss the hypothetical


00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.590
graviton as a force carrier for gravity?


00:24:03.600 --> 00:24:06.230
Uh what would a graviton look like were


00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:08.710
we to discover it uh or discover its


00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.830
existence? And why is it needed at all


00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:14.070
in the context of Einstein's theory?


00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:15.830
Thanks. Keep up the good work. Love the


00:24:15.840 --> 00:24:19.110
show. Russ from Stalbridge


00:24:19.120 --> 00:24:21.510
in the UK. Stalbridge


00:24:21.520 --> 00:24:22.870
>> it is. That's right. It's in the


00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.029
Midlands. Stbridge, I think, if I


00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:26.789
remember rightly.


00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:28.310
I mean,


00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:32.470
>> um, yeah, it's a good question. Uh, and


00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:35.590
that's kind of hard to know how to how


00:24:35.600 --> 00:24:38.070
to start it because there's so much to


00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:41.990
say. So, um, yes, general relativity,


00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:45.029
exactly as Ross says, uh, is that


00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.149
spacetime bends, uh, or the theory says


00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:50.630
spacetime bends, uh, when you've got


00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:53.990
matter there. Uh, and all the evidence


00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.630
is that general relativity is absolutely


00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.669
on the money. It's um, you know, it


00:24:59.679 --> 00:25:03.190
meets its predictions with with such a


00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:05.909
high level of accuracy that it's almost


00:25:05.919 --> 00:25:07.669
mind-blowing. If I remember rightly, I


00:25:07.679 --> 00:25:09.909
think it's one part in 10 to the 18 or


00:25:09.919 --> 00:25:11.029
something like that that it's been


00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:15.510
proven to work uh for. So uh that's


00:25:15.520 --> 00:25:20.230
great but um the physicists who look at


00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.029
the other end of the of the size scale


00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:25.590
the ones who are interested in quantum


00:25:25.600 --> 00:25:28.310
mechanics and uh you know particle


00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:33.269
physics uh sub subatomic particles they


00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.470
say that all forces


00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.630
uh and and here we're talking about


00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.029
gravity in the Newtonian sense that it's


00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.710
a force uh have have a particle that


00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:47.590
carries them. And so, you know, we've


00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:49.590
got the photon for electromagnetic


00:25:49.600 --> 00:25:53.750
force. We've got the um the various uh


00:25:53.760 --> 00:25:56.390
force carriers for the strong and weak


00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.909
nuclear forces. Um and we've also got


00:25:59.919 --> 00:26:03.190
now the Higs field, the the the Higs


00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.390
Bzon. So what they're saying is that the


00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:08.390
because gravity works that way there


00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:12.230
should be a bzon that carries gravity


00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.789
and that's the idea of a hypothetical


00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:19.510
graviton. Um my suspicion as to how that


00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:23.830
links with relativity comes from the the


00:26:23.840 --> 00:26:25.909
the


00:26:25.919 --> 00:26:28.470
description of uh of the Higs Bzon that


00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:29.990
I think we might have talked about a few


00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.350
weeks ago. So the Higs Bzon is I think


00:26:35.360 --> 00:26:37.110
somebody asked about you know how how do


00:26:37.120 --> 00:26:39.430
you reconcile the Higs Bzon with


00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.549
something that gives all the other


00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.669
forces their their mass


00:26:43.679 --> 00:26:46.230
>> because that's what the Bzon does. And


00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:47.669
the bottom line is that what you're


00:26:47.679 --> 00:26:49.750
really talking about is the Higs field,


00:26:49.760 --> 00:26:52.310
which is something like they usually


00:26:52.320 --> 00:26:55.830
talk about syrup or molasses. Uh, and as


00:26:55.840 --> 00:26:57.669
the particles move through it, they get


00:26:57.679 --> 00:27:00.390
they get resistance because they're uh,


00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:01.830
you know, because they're in this sticky


00:27:01.840 --> 00:27:05.029
stuff. Uh, and that gives them the


00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:08.710
effect of mass. It's not an analogy that


00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:11.350
thrills me, I have to say, but it kind


00:27:11.360 --> 00:27:14.470
of gets the idea. And the only time the


00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.830
Higs Bzon itself appears is when you've


00:27:17.840 --> 00:27:20.070
got something a collision between


00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:23.110
particles. So the Higs field is is the


00:27:23.120 --> 00:27:25.909
main thing. But if you collide particles


00:27:25.919 --> 00:27:28.310
together, you get this thing that


00:27:28.320 --> 00:27:30.390
emerges from the Higs field which is


00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:32.549
called the Higs Bzon. And that can be


00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.350
measured which it was in 2012. And my


00:27:35.360 --> 00:27:37.830
guess is that gravity, the graviton


00:27:37.840 --> 00:27:39.269
would be something like it. It would be


00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:41.669
a Bzon. it would emerge from the gravity


00:27:41.679 --> 00:27:44.390
field maybe would emerge when there were


00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:47.110
collisions in particle accelerators but


00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:50.710
we have no evidence for it yet. So um I


00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:52.950
think um you know Russ I think that's


00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.510
the bottom line that uh like the search


00:27:55.520 --> 00:27:58.310
for the Higs Bzon one day the Higs the


00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:01.190
search for the graviton will basically


00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:04.230
cough up the goods uh and uh and we'll


00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:06.149
we'll understand it perhaps in a similar


00:28:06.159 --> 00:28:08.070
way to the way we understand the Higs


00:28:08.080 --> 00:28:11.430
Bzon that you need um to actively create


00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:14.630
a Bzon from the Higs field. So maybe you


00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:16.549
need to create a graviton from the


00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:18.389
gravity field which we're used to


00:28:18.399 --> 00:28:18.950
talking about


00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.110
>> and some kind of particle to account for


00:28:21.120 --> 00:28:22.950
dark matter and so


00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.950
>> well that's right. Yes. Yeah. Well dark


00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.990
matter would probably be a firm on a


00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:29.750
thing that you know is a matter particle


00:28:29.760 --> 00:28:31.750
rather than a force particle.


00:28:31.760 --> 00:28:34.870
>> Okay. Gotcha. Fair enough. All right. Uh


00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.590
so where does a light particle fit in


00:28:37.600 --> 00:28:38.389
that? A photon.


00:28:38.399 --> 00:28:39.909
>> Uh that's the photon. Yeah. It's a


00:28:39.919 --> 00:28:42.070
gravitational it's the electromagnetic


00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:43.750
particle. That's pro probably the best


00:28:43.760 --> 00:28:46.710
understood of of the subatomic particles


00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:48.789
because we use it all the time.


00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:50.470
>> We're using it as we speak.


00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:53.510
>> We are. It's very It's very handy.


00:28:53.520 --> 00:28:55.510
>> It's very handy. Yeah. I found it quite


00:28:55.520 --> 00:28:57.029
useful recently.


00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:58.549
>> Good. Very


00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:00.710
>> You probably find the strong and weak


00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.310
nuclear forces quite useful as well


00:29:02.320 --> 00:29:04.950
because they stop you falling to bits.


00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:07.669
>> That's a good one. Keep that in mind.


00:29:07.679 --> 00:29:09.269
>> Yeah, I think that's even more useful


00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.590
than photon. Really? The problem with


00:29:11.600 --> 00:29:13.750
all of this, Fred, is none of it gives


00:29:13.760 --> 00:29:15.750
me anything to work with to improve my


00:29:15.760 --> 00:29:18.310
golf game. So,


00:29:18.320 --> 00:29:21.669
>> uh, yeah. Well, you've got to start with


00:29:21.679 --> 00:29:24.230
the notion that five irons don't float.


00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:27.350
And once you've got past that step, then


00:29:27.360 --> 00:29:29.190
>> you were getting some book plugs in


00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:30.789
today.


00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:33.669
>> That's one for you. Thank you very much.


00:29:33.679 --> 00:29:35.750
Uh, thank you, Russ. I I hope we covered


00:29:35.760 --> 00:29:37.590
that. I think we did. Not sure, but


00:29:37.600 --> 00:29:39.990
anyway. Um, it it's a work in progress.


00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.310
We'll call it that. Uh our final


00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:45.269
question today uh comes from Robert. He


00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:47.110
said, "Hi, my friends down under. I live


00:29:47.120 --> 00:29:50.230
in Areri, Iceland,


00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.710
and I'm very much looking forward uh to


00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:54.549
the eclipses this year in the western


00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:58.310
part of Iceland. However, um your recent


00:29:58.320 --> 00:30:00.470
fabulous show regarding Olympus bonds on


00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:02.630
Mars, would this make a perfect


00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:06.470
candidate for a space elevator?" Uh that


00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:08.389
comes from Robert. Hello, Robert. Thanks


00:30:08.399 --> 00:30:10.070
for uh sending your question in


00:30:10.080 --> 00:30:12.230
Arerrera. You've been there.


00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.310
>> I have. Yes. I sent you some photographs


00:30:14.320 --> 00:30:16.470
so you could see what it's like. Uh we


00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:18.870
should put them up on the website if


00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:20.470
>> we could post them on in the Space Nuts


00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:21.510
podcast group.


00:30:21.520 --> 00:30:23.590
>> That would be nice. All right. One of


00:30:23.600 --> 00:30:25.830
the main street main and me in the main


00:30:25.840 --> 00:30:27.510
street in Akaria. We were there at this


00:30:27.520 --> 00:30:30.070
time last year actually. Okay. Uh


00:30:30.080 --> 00:30:32.870
Robert. So um I'm sorry I didn't know


00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:34.389
you then or else we'd have looked you


00:30:34.399 --> 00:30:36.630
up. But we had a great time there. It


00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:39.909
was part of our our ice land tour which


00:30:39.919 --> 00:30:41.669
was not the best for weather. So, we


00:30:41.679 --> 00:30:44.549
didn't see any aori, but uh certainly


00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:47.430
experienced some really fabulous


00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.110
landscapes up in the northwest of


00:30:49.120 --> 00:30:50.789
Iceland. It was the first our first


00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:52.710
visit up to the northwest. We spent a


00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:54.149
lot of time in the south on previous


00:30:54.159 --> 00:30:57.830
trips, but uh yeah, Aari such a stunning


00:30:57.840 --> 00:30:59.669
place. Beautiful scenery.


00:30:59.679 --> 00:31:01.510
>> They they love their cathedrals, don't


00:31:01.520 --> 00:31:04.389
they? In Iceland, the churches, gee,


00:31:04.399 --> 00:31:06.389
they're amazing. The one the one we saw


00:31:06.399 --> 00:31:08.789
in Rekuik just blew my mind.


00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.549
>> That's right. That's that's the classic


00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:13.269
one. That is such an elegant building.


00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:13.669
It is.


00:31:13.679 --> 00:31:15.590
>> And indeed the church in Nakureri is


00:31:15.600 --> 00:31:16.230
lovely as well.


00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:17.990
>> It is. Yeah, you got a photo of that


00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.110
one. Yeah, I'll post that too.


00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:25.430
>> Uh what was the question again? Oh yeah.


00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:28.549
>> As a good platform for a space elevator.


00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:34.950
Um the yes um there's a kind of problem


00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:39.350
because to make a space elevator stable


00:31:39.360 --> 00:31:43.110
uh it has to start off from a point on


00:31:43.120 --> 00:31:45.830
the equator of whatever world you're


00:31:45.840 --> 00:31:48.950
trying to get up into space from. Right.


00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.630
And Olympus Mons, I am told, is at


00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:57.430
latitude 18° north. In fact, it's 18° 39


00:31:57.440 --> 00:31:59.190
minutes north, which is not the equator


00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:02.310
of Mars. So, you'd have problems with


00:32:02.320 --> 00:32:04.149
it. Uh, it would need to stretch and


00:32:04.159 --> 00:32:06.870
shrink uh and I think would probably


00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:09.830
shake itself to pieces. So, uh I think


00:32:09.840 --> 00:32:11.909
you've got to have the equator. So


00:32:11.919 --> 00:32:14.870
that's a bit sad because Olympus Mons as


00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:19.750
um as Robert is hinting at uh is um you


00:32:19.760 --> 00:32:21.990
know it's high enough that you kind of


00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:24.070
already you're already out.


00:32:24.080 --> 00:32:25.430
>> Well, you're already Yeah, you're


00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:27.350
already on the way up your space


00:32:27.360 --> 00:32:29.909
elevator. So, a nice idea. Very nice


00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:31.909
idea, but I don't think it would work.


00:32:31.919 --> 00:32:35.509
>> That's a pity. Well, I I suspect that uh


00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:38.710
the space elevator concept's probably


00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:40.149
not ever going to happen. And it just


00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:41.750
sounds like it's too expensive, too


00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:43.269
hard, and there are easier ways to do


00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:44.549
things.


00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.070
>> Yeah. Well, that's right. Reusable


00:32:46.080 --> 00:32:48.230
boosters is the way to do it. And uh as


00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:49.909
we talked about in the last show, that's


00:32:49.919 --> 00:32:52.230
now basically the normal way of getting


00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.990
into space.


00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:55.669
>> Very much so, Robert. Great to hear from


00:32:55.679 --> 00:32:58.389
you. Enjoy those eclipses later this


00:32:58.399 --> 00:33:00.630
year. Uh yeah, that that'll be very


00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:02.149
exciting in Iceland if you can get


00:33:02.159 --> 00:33:05.830
there. Uh be a lot of fun, too. Um so,


00:33:05.840 --> 00:33:07.669
Robert, hopefully we answered your


00:33:07.679 --> 00:33:09.590
question. It was an easy one as it turns


00:33:09.600 --> 00:33:11.669
out. U and that brings us to an end.


00:33:11.679 --> 00:33:13.029
Don't forget if you've got questions for


00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:14.870
us, please send them in. We we're


00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.789
actually quite desperately short of


00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:19.110
questions. So, uh send them to us via


00:33:19.120 --> 00:33:21.269
our website spacenutspodcast.com.


00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:22.870
spacenuts.io


00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:25.909
or just do a search for spaceodcast on


00:33:25.919 --> 00:33:27.750
your favorite search engine. Click on


00:33:27.760 --> 00:33:30.070
the AMA button that is ask me anything


00:33:30.080 --> 00:33:31.909
and send your text and audio questions


00:33:31.919 --> 00:33:34.630
in with your name and location. We would


00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:36.950
really love to hear from you. Fred,


00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:38.549
we're all done. Thank you so much. It


00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:39.909
was good fun today.


00:33:39.919 --> 00:33:41.190
>> Yeah, it's been great.


00:33:41.200 --> 00:33:42.630
>> Oh, it's never It's never fun any other


00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:45.350
time, but it was good fun today.


00:33:45.360 --> 00:33:47.509
>> I love connecting with our listeners.


00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:49.590
It's especially when they're in places


00:33:49.600 --> 00:33:51.269
like Arureri.


00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:53.029
>> Yeah. Yeah. What a what an amazing


00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:55.590
place. See you soon, Fred.


00:33:55.600 --> 00:33:56.789
>> Cheers for now.


00:33:56.799 --> 00:33:58.389
>> Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at


00:33:58.399 --> 00:34:00.789
large, part of the team here at Space


00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:03.110
Nuts. And uh thanks to Hugh in the


00:34:03.120 --> 00:34:05.029
studio, uh works really hard, but he


00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:06.389
couldn't be with us today. He got on a


00:34:06.399 --> 00:34:08.470
space elevator and he thought he'd be


00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:10.629
back in time, but some kid pushed all


00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:14.230
the buttons. So, he was he was very


00:34:14.240 --> 00:34:16.790
angry. Anyway, he sent me a text. Uh,


00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:18.710
and from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for


00:34:18.720 --> 00:34:20.069
your company. We'll catch you on the


00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:22.310
next episode of Space Nuts. Bye-bye.


00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:23.349
>> Space Nuts.


00:34:23.359 --> 00:34:25.430
>> You'll be listening to the Space Nuts


00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:27.669
podcast


00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:30.629
>> available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,


00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:33.349
iHeart Radio, or your favorite podcast


00:34:33.359 --> 00:34:35.750
player. You can also stream on demand at


00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:38.629
byes.com. This has been another quality


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podcast production from byes.com.