Stellar Questions, Black Hole Mysteries & the Dance of Dark Matter | Space Nuts: Astronomy...

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Kind: captions
Language: en

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welcome to Space Nuts i'm your host


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today Heidi Compo and I'm here with


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Professor Fred Watson astronomer at


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large and we are going to be answering


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some of your questions today 15 seconds


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guidance is internal 10 9g Ignition


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sequence start space nuts 5 4 3 2 1 2 3


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4 5 4 3 2 1 Space nuts astronauts report


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it feels good


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so we have a question from Keith Wilson


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keith did not list where he was from are


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you from Earth Keith or are you hailing


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us from another planet uh that would be


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my question for Keith keith's question


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for Fred is I have a question because


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the sun burns its fuel so fast how much


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smaller is it now compared to its size 2


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billion years ago


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um and it's there's an answer to that


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which we can calculate we weren't around


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2 billion years ago so it's not easy to


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measure it then um but we can work out


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what it was by the rate at which the sun


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is burning its fuel now so the sun goes


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through and these numbers always stagger


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me uh roughly four million tons of fuel


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hydrogen fuel per


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[Music]


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second and that means you think my god


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that's an awful lot of hydrogen every


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second uh that's what it's turning into


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helium and it's that process the nuclear


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fusion that is releasing the energy that


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we see um um with um you know with the


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all the light and the subatomic


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particles and everything that comes from


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the sun is the underlying process is


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that nuclear fusion uh the the there is


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also um uh I've not seen this statistic


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before but I did look it up about 1 and


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a half million tons per second that is


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the solar wind that's the particles


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coming off the sun uh so there's this


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loss of about you know roughly five


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million tons per second so uh you can do


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the calculation and it turns out that


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what saves the day is the sun is very


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big uh it's you know it's got the the


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the huge amount of of um of material in


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it when you think of it it's 100 times


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the diameter of the earth uh it's a very


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very massive object so there's a lot of


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it so that uh release of energy and so


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solar particles over its lifetime 4.6


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billion years amounts to a loss of mass


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of wait for it uh


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0.05% it's virtually negligible uh the


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sun's mass has changed but by a very


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tiny amount uh there's a number of


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places on the web where you can find


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that calculation uh but uh that's what


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we believe it's lost mass but it's only


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lost a tiny amount compared with its in


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you know the the mass of the sun itself


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that's interesting i have never thought


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about that but it's good that this is


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something that doesn't need to also keep


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me up at night along with the other


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things I worry about


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um our next question is from Michael who


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is in New York hello this is Mike from


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New York and I have a question about


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primordial black holes and dark energy


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uh I believe you guys have addressed


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questions before about primordial black


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holes and how a concentration of them


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could result in dark matter and the


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gravitation that we observe behind them


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and that's I believe generally been


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disproven my question is how could


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primordial black holes potentially


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relate to dark energy if we assume that


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they are spread evenly across the


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universe if there's a sufficient amount


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of them as they evaporate and that loss


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of gravitation


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um goes with them as they evaporate


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could that explain the increased


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acceleration of the expanding of the


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universe being driven by dark energy i'm


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just curious to know if you've heard of


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that being tossed about before as an


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idea and as I imagine the math doesn't


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bear out has any studies been conducted


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to definitively say that is not the case


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thanks guys and keep up the good work


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yeah thank you Mike good question the um


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you're right the math doesn't bear it


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out um but the the bottom line here well


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two things I guess um what was it


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that basically got rid of the idea that


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dark matter was made up of primordial


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black holes um it was experiments done


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in


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the '9s 1990s


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uh to look for the gravitational lensing


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effect if we had a universe that was


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filled with black holes um that we


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couldn't see because they weren't


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gobbling anything up so they didn't glow


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in X-rays as you do when you're gobbling


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stuff up if you're a black hole uh the


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the those black holes should have


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distorted the images uh of stars behind


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them magnified them and we should have


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seen these if we measured the brightness


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of large fields of stars uh regularly we


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should have seen um stars brightening


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and dimming all over the place due to


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all these black holes uh and that was


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not uh was not seen it was an experiment


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called macho and macho actually


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was basically the the acronym for those


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objects massive compact halo objects


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machos uh so it was at that point that


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we decided it wasn't machos it was wimps


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uh wimps being weakly interacting


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massive particles and that's what we've


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been looking for ever since with dark


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matter not finding it I have to say but


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then going on to your uh your comment


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about black holes relating to dark


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energy um black holes do evaporate we


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know that from the effect of what the


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theoretical work that was done by by


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Steven Hawking back in the 70s actually


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uh that demonstrated that there is a


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radiation that comes from black holes


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it's by quantum processes rather than


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relativistic processes uh and that is


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called Hawking radiation and what it


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leads to is the evaporation of black


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holes but the time scale for that


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doesn't tally with the dark energy


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problem um black holes evaporate but on


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time scales of tens to hundreds of


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billions of years it's a slow slow


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process and um it's hard to imagine how


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that could contribute in any way uh to


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the dark energy that we see that is


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making the universe expand ever more


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rapidly so um a nice idea which uh which


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I think doesn't as exactly as you've


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said doesn't hold up because of the


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mathematics thanks a lot thanks again


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Michael yeah that's very very


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interesting a lot of uh deep thinking


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questions here yes


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now let's take a break from the show to


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now back to the show 3 2 1 Space nuts


00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.870
and speaking of deep questions we have


00:10:00.880 --> 00:10:05.269
Duncan Sergeant from Waymouth it's a


00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:08.230
follow-up question and it is a thesis


00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.949
that he's having me read here so buckle


00:10:10.959 --> 00:10:14.230
up listeners we have the question of the


00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:17.110
episode coming at you hello to both of


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you this is a follow-up question from


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one I asked ages ago well over a year if


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I recall it was the one about how can


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two black holes merge into one if no


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mass can come out of a black hole


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neither can take the matter from one


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neither can take the matter from one to


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the other to become one of all the


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questions I have sent the answer to this


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is the one that was the least satisfying


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I felt normally I feel you give good


00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.389
answers but on this one I was but this


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is the one that I was suggested that I


00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:53.269
read up on the process well I have spent


00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.230
months doing this he has done his


00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.630
homework he has read it and I still do


00:10:58.640 --> 00:11:00.710
not have a definitive answer but I will


00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.350
lay out what I have discovered basically


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as black holes near merge something


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happens within them that creates massive


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amounts of gravitational waves this


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accounts for roughly 10% mass loss to in


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the eventual combined black hole i


00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.670
initially thought this mass loss was


00:11:19.680 --> 00:11:22.150
from the event horizon only but


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apparently not and the actual black


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holes themselves lose mass now neither


00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.829
mass or energy can escape the black


00:11:29.839 --> 00:11:32.069
holes but apparently this is what the


00:11:32.079 --> 00:11:34.310
math says and words can't really


00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.630
describe it other than just to say that


00:11:36.640 --> 00:11:40.470
the mass says so as it does it is


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something to do with the mass energy


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that is not really defined in the way


00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:46.870
that we think it is and it becomes a bit


00:11:46.880 --> 00:11:50.069
fuzzy the gravitational waves are in


00:11:50.079 --> 00:11:52.790
spaceime itself and the whole merger


00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:54.949
process is somehow carried out with the


00:11:54.959 --> 00:11:57.030
actual confines of the spaceime they


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occupy rather than the actual black


00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.590
holes themselves as we know neither of


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them can actually take mass from the


00:12:03.880 --> 00:12:06.790
other apparently at the very last point


00:12:06.800 --> 00:12:09.110
before they merge each black hole sends


00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.509
out a very thin tentacle of something


00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.430
which when they touch together the


00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.470
merger happens however whilst this


00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.949
mathematically defined it is not able to


00:12:18.959 --> 00:12:22.710
be easily defined by words so could


00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.829
Professor Fred please attempt to put


00:12:25.839 --> 00:12:28.550
into words for me as with all the


00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:30.949
reading I have done my head hurts and I


00:12:30.959 --> 00:12:33.430
cannot think of a way to put it myself


00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:36.550
how much does matter from one black hole


00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:39.509
or two of them get extracted from one


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from sorry get extracted from the other


00:12:41.680 --> 00:12:44.670
and combined what happens to the actual


00:12:44.680 --> 00:12:47.230
singularity do we end up with nested


00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:51.030
singularities and how can that exist


00:12:51.040 --> 00:12:54.389
please help me understand then easily in


00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.430
easily defined English i get impressed


00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:59.670
from I get impressed from what I have


00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:01.670
read that a lot of this comes down to


00:13:01.680 --> 00:13:03.430
the math that says that we see it


00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.910
happening so it does but we actually


00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:08.870
don't know we actually don't know how is


00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:11.190
that pretty much it okay thank you for


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looking into my answer my followup i


00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:15.509
look forward to your podcast each week


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listening carefully for new snippets of


00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:20.550
information please keep up the good work


00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:24.550
well done Heidi thank you most Duncan


00:13:24.560 --> 00:13:26.389
put me through the challenge my first


00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.590
Q&A yeah it's like a script for a whole


00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:33.190
show but thank you Duncan uh yeah Duncan


00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.670
a fellow Brit living in Wemouth there in


00:13:35.680 --> 00:13:37.190
the south of England always nice to hear


00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.310
from him uh but this yeah look Duncan


00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:43.350
this is um it's a challenging thing and


00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:46.110
it challenges uh the


00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.790
whole you know the whole of astrophysics


00:13:49.800 --> 00:13:53.509
um because we don't really know what


00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:58.710
happens to black holes within that last


00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:02.150
uh well 3.26 light years is the number


00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:04.230
it's called the the final parseek


00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.590
problem a parseek is a distance it's


00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.430
what astronomers measure rather than


00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:10.790
light years you can't measure light


00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:12.310
years because we don't have stopwatches


00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.350
good enough but a parseek is 3.26 light


00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.150
years and it's what we uh in the trade


00:14:18.160 --> 00:14:20.710
of astronomy what we actually uh talk


00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.310
about uh so the final parseek problem uh


00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.870
is um that there's not


00:14:27.880 --> 00:14:33.750
um the the way the the energy from the


00:14:33.760 --> 00:14:36.710
merging black holes is released into


00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.550
gravitational waves which is exactly


00:14:38.560 --> 00:14:41.829
what you've said uh that is the issue


00:14:41.839 --> 00:14:45.590
how does it happen um I'm going to read


00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:49.230
uh a paragraph from uh actually


00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:52.230
space.com one of uh the websites that we


00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.110
are big fans of at Space Nuts um they


00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.509
had an article a few years ago called


00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.310
What Happens When Black Holes Merge uh


00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.110
and I'll I'll read a paragraph from that


00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.750
um because it sort of illuminates uh


00:15:05.760 --> 00:15:11.269
what you said uh and um actually sort of


00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.710
quotes uh uh almost quotes to the letter


00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.949
what you what you had in your uh what


00:15:16.959 --> 00:15:19.430
you had in your um question the final


00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:21.829
part problem reading now is currently an


00:15:21.839 --> 00:15:23.829
unsolved riddle in astrophysics but


00:15:23.839 --> 00:15:25.750
whatever mechanism takes place


00:15:25.760 --> 00:15:27.590
eventually black holes get close enough


00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.910
that the gravitational waves can really


00:15:29.920 --> 00:15:32.470
pull a lot of energy from the system at


00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:34.470
the this point the black holes only have


00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.990
a few seconds before they merge at those


00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.310
close distances the black holes start to


00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.870
deform each other they don't really have


00:15:42.880 --> 00:15:44.710
surfaces the event horizons are just


00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.230
invisible boundaries that mark the


00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.710
region of no escape but the shape of the


00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.710
event horizon depends not just on the


00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.550
black hole itself but also the geometry


00:15:52.560 --> 00:15:54.550
of spaceime around it so as the black


00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:57.350
holes begin their deadly dance the event


00:15:57.360 --> 00:15:59.829
horizons elongate and stretch towards


00:15:59.839 --> 00:16:02.230
each other we understand what happens


00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.629
next only through complex computer


00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.550
simulations that monitor and track the


00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:08.949
evolution of the event horizons in the


00:16:08.959 --> 00:16:11.110
milliseconds before impact each black


00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.629
hole sends out a thin tendril a tiny tr


00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.910
tunnel of its event horizon towards its


00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:20.550
companion these tendrils meet and merge


00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:22.230
forming a bridge between the two black


00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.150
holes as if they were connected by an


00:16:24.160 --> 00:16:26.870
umbilical cord very quickly the bridge


00:16:26.880 --> 00:16:28.790
widens and the event horizons glue


00:16:28.800 --> 00:16:31.110
together like two colliding soap bubbles


00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.990
within an instant the black holes merge


00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.870
into one but here's the crunch what


00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:39.749
happens inside is anybody's guess the


00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.350
center of a black hole is known as a


00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.350
singularity a point of infinite density


00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:44.870
this is where our current understanding


00:16:44.880 --> 00:16:47.509
of physics breaks down simulations show


00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.350
that the singularities quickly find each


00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.430
other briefly orbit and then merge but


00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:56.069
what actually happens is unclear um so


00:16:56.079 --> 00:16:58.069
Duncan your your question is at the


00:16:58.079 --> 00:17:01.829
forefront of astrophysics uh and um I


00:17:01.839 --> 00:17:04.549
applaud you for asking it i don't think


00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.990
you'll find this answer satis


00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.870
satisfactory um as you've commented


00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.029
before because you're asking questions


00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.750
that really we don't have answers to but


00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:15.590
thank you for getting your head around


00:17:15.600 --> 00:17:17.429
the problem in the way that you have and


00:17:17.439 --> 00:17:20.549
thanks again for your question


00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:23.270
fred are there any theories


00:17:23.280 --> 00:17:25.350
yes theories about what are the leading


00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:27.429
what are the leading theories well it's


00:17:27.439 --> 00:17:29.190
basically what we've said we you know


00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.230
that somehow uh the black holes uh


00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.310
actually come together that there is a


00:17:34.320 --> 00:17:37.350
there's a sort of all this happens uh


00:17:37.360 --> 00:17:39.669
very much in the last absolutely the


00:17:39.679 --> 00:17:43.270
last few milliseconds of a merger um and


00:17:43.280 --> 00:17:45.590
um that's the bit that we see with the


00:17:45.600 --> 00:17:48.950
gravitational wave um records that that


00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.230
we get from u instruments like LIGO the


00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:54.070
large interferometric gravitational wave


00:17:54.080 --> 00:17:56.390
observatory uh and other gravitational


00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.789
wave detectors so somehow they come


00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:02.150
together there is a a phenomenon which


00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.750
is talked about in black hole


00:18:04.760 --> 00:18:08.630
merger parliament as being the ring down


00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.230
and this is when the merger is complete


00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.510
uh there the gravitational waves from


00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:18.070
the collision have been emitted they've


00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:21.110
basically stopped they switched off uh


00:18:21.120 --> 00:18:24.789
and the thing rings down and it's got I


00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.909
suppose implications of something


00:18:26.919 --> 00:18:29.990
vibrating uh so it may well be that


00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.710
there is a bit more to the story than


00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.789
what we've just been talking about uh


00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.430
but um that's after the event that's


00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.390
after the collision has happened and um


00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.390
Duncan's problem is trying to understand


00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:46.310
how something that you know you that


00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:48.950
won't let go of any mass how how it can


00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:51.029
come together with something else and


00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:54.390
the answer is it does you know I think


00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.549
of this in probably this might be the


00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.470
strangest metaphor you've ever thought


00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.310
of for black holes but I'm thinking of


00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:03.190
this like cooking an egg if we have two


00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.590
cracked eggs in a frying pan they're


00:19:05.600 --> 00:19:07.590
they're you know the the yolk would


00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:10.789
represent the singularity and the white


00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:12.950
would represent the event horizon if


00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.190
these two eggs were to let's just say


00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.630
because eggs don't do this but let's


00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.950
just say they the they were being pulled


00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.990
towards each other and merged that point


00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:23.909
where they're merging is when the yolks


00:19:23.919 --> 00:19:26.950
both break so there is kind of a point


00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.150
where it's two broken eggs but then if


00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:32.310
they merged together to form one super


00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:34.630
egg there would be something going on


00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.310
there i don't know this is how my brain


00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:38.150
is trying to wrap around these really


00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.310
complex problems is something as simple


00:19:40.320 --> 00:19:42.150
as food


00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.029
food's a good way to do


00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:48.470
it in uh if in doubt turn to food and so


00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.190
um I think it's a good metaphor


00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.350
okay we checked all four systems and


00:19:55.360 --> 00:19:57.669
being with the girls space nets all


00:19:57.679 --> 00:20:01.590
right so our last question for today is


00:20:01.600 --> 00:20:04.070
from Lawrence Lawrence Ingum and this is


00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:07.430
a audio question hi Fred and Andrew it's


00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.669
Lawrence from Ingam here i have a


00:20:09.679 --> 00:20:11.510
question about your favorite subject


00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:14.710
matter that being dark matter um and


00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.029
I'll cut straight to the chase could


00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:19.390
dark matter not simply be energy


00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.710
manifest and and what I mean by that is


00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.270
it seems that during really intense


00:20:25.280 --> 00:20:28.149
periods in the universe we don't really


00:20:28.159 --> 00:20:30.470
have the current scientific models to


00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:34.549
explain how those processes occur and my


00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.350
main example would be the epoch of


00:20:36.360 --> 00:20:39.510
inflation where such a rapid expansion


00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:41.830
of the universe in such a small period


00:20:41.840 --> 00:20:44.549
of time to me seems as though there must


00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.470
be processes going on there which we


00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.430
just do not understand and we cannot


00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.270
recreate we cannot test it but there


00:20:53.280 --> 00:20:55.990
must have been in such an intense period


00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.230
certain processes in which events


00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:01.110
happened which created things like


00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:04.310
potentially dark matter and when you


00:21:04.320 --> 00:21:06.470
look at the expansion of the universe


00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.710
and reasons why there's all this


00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.230
unaccounted mass um all these things we


00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.630
attribute to dark matter could that not


00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:17.510
potentially be simply energy manifest


00:21:17.520 --> 00:21:19.669
during that epoch of inflation energy


00:21:19.679 --> 00:21:22.710
itself could potentially have been


00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.549
transformed into a different type of


00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.630
matter which we do not understand yet


00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.190
and cannot understand but that would


00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.149
explain why the universe is expanding it


00:21:32.159 --> 00:21:34.630
would explain why we can't visualize and


00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:36.310
test dark matter because once that


00:21:36.320 --> 00:21:39.430
energy has been used you can't then test


00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.190
it because it's expanding universe and I


00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:45.190
guess it also somewhat aligns with


00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.270
Einstein's equations with energy and


00:21:47.280 --> 00:21:50.390
mass being almost interchangeable i


00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.870
don't know it seems that there are


00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:54.310
certain periods in which we cannot


00:21:54.320 --> 00:21:56.390
explain what was going on and our


00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:57.990
current scientific models aren't fit for


00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:00.310
purpose because those events are so


00:22:00.320 --> 00:22:02.789
unique and so extreme um is this


00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.789
something that's been explored is it


00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.070
something that's currently being


00:22:06.080 --> 00:22:07.830
explored um I'd love to hear your


00:22:07.840 --> 00:22:10.990
answers many thanks so


00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:15.270
uh so yes um in fact you know the answer


00:22:15.280 --> 00:22:22.110
is um uh Lawrence uh the


00:22:22.120 --> 00:22:25.430
the you you've basically said exactly


00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:27.270
what the situation is as we understand


00:22:27.280 --> 00:22:28.669
it


00:22:28.679 --> 00:22:31.669
sorry pausing for words there uh trying


00:22:31.679 --> 00:22:35.990
to find new words uh the um so the idea


00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.270
of dark matter being energy manifest in


00:22:39.280 --> 00:22:42.470
other words energy turned into matter


00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.669
because they're related by E= MC²


00:22:45.679 --> 00:22:47.990
uh is how we think it got there that's


00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:50.149
how we what we think the origin of dark


00:22:50.159 --> 00:22:53.190
matter is uh within the big bang itself


00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.390
which uh was an energetic phenomenon


00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.270
that very quickly created the matter


00:22:59.280 --> 00:23:02.630
that we see in the universe uh so it's


00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.230
uh that some of the processes are


00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:05.990
actually quite well understood it's not


00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.270
that we're not understanding that uh


00:23:09.280 --> 00:23:11.110
it's just when it happened that it


00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:13.270
happened right at the beginning the dark


00:23:13.280 --> 00:23:15.510
matter was created at the same time


00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:17.270
whatever it is was created at the same


00:23:17.280 --> 00:23:19.909
time as the normal matter what we call


00:23:19.919 --> 00:23:22.950
the barionic matter uh and basically


00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.870
formed this as the universe expanded


00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.710
formed this web of material that we call


00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.870
the cosmic web and that led to the


00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.549
distribution of galaxies that we see


00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.909
today so uh you're you're the answer to


00:23:33.919 --> 00:23:36.230
your question is yes but it doesn't


00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:39.510
change the issue we yes energy was


00:23:39.520 --> 00:23:42.070
turned into particles but we don't know


00:23:42.080 --> 00:23:44.149
what those particles are the dark matter


00:23:44.159 --> 00:23:47.029
particles are as yet undiscovered it's


00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:49.590
some form of super you know subatomic


00:23:49.600 --> 00:23:52.549
particle uh which is very important in


00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:54.470
the universe we think it's why galaxies


00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:57.110
formed uh without it maybe they didn't


00:23:57.120 --> 00:23:59.190
they wouldn't have formed uh so the


00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:00.950
quest is still on to find out what dark


00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:02.950
matter is but you're right it came from


00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:06.630
energy excellent Fred well I I I feel


00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:09.110
enlightened myself these are fantastic


00:24:09.120 --> 00:24:10.870
questions and it's interesting you know


00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.110
there's always so many questions that


00:24:13.120 --> 00:24:14.950
everyone always wants to ask about dark


00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:17.430
holes and dark matter and the big


00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:19.029
heavy-hitting questions is the questions


00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:22.230
that all humanity has and I think that


00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:24.230
it's that's just the exciting thing is


00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.149
to remember there's there's that's the


00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:28.149
thing in space is there's more questions


00:24:28.159 --> 00:24:30.630
than there are answers and we do our


00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:33.909
best on this show to provide answers but


00:24:33.919 --> 00:24:36.630
ultimately it's up to the scientists and


00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:39.029
the people who are discovering these


00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.269
things and you can even get involved as


00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:43.350
a as a citizen scientist i'll give a


00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:45.430
little plug for NASA and some of the


00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:47.269
opportunities they have for free online


00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.350
you can you can um help contribute to


00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:51.190
some of this research if you look up


00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.190
citizen science with NASA that's


00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:54.549
something you can get involved with


00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.710
yourself already always a fan of citizen


00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:59.029
science absolutely some great things


00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:01.830
have come from citizen science


00:25:01.840 --> 00:25:03.269
yeah absolutely do you have anything


00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:05.430
else you'd like to say about uh citizen


00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:07.510
science


00:25:07.520 --> 00:25:09.510
no we we might do we might have a chat


00:25:09.520 --> 00:25:11.590
about that down the track one of our


00:25:11.600 --> 00:25:13.669
upcoming episodes because it is it's


00:25:13.679 --> 00:25:16.549
it's such a now a fundamental part of


00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:18.950
what we do it's very very important not


00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.190
just in astronomy and astrophysics but


00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:23.430
of course in the the you know the whole


00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.149
world of research um whether it's botony


00:25:26.159 --> 00:25:31.750
or arctic uh arctic um evol ecology uh


00:25:31.760 --> 00:25:33.350
all of those things can benefit from


00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:35.750
citizen science yeah oh well and there's


00:25:35.760 --> 00:25:38.310
the really really fun um one if you guys


00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:39.830
have telescopes and you're into


00:25:39.840 --> 00:25:42.070
astronomy as I assume these listeners


00:25:42.080 --> 00:25:44.470
are you can even look up uh some of the


00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.549
exoplanet opportunities that you can


00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:49.029
have with NASA to try and help um


00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:50.510
discover and identify


00:25:50.520 --> 00:25:53.510
exoplanets um but with that being said I


00:25:53.520 --> 00:25:55.830
think we've uh answered some questions


00:25:55.840 --> 00:25:58.549
we've gave some questions and we have


00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:01.750
more questions yet to answer so uh Fred


00:26:01.760 --> 00:26:04.149
thank you so much that uh concludes


00:26:04.159 --> 00:26:07.750
another Q&A session of Space Nuts great


00:26:07.760 --> 00:26:09.669
pleasure Heidi always good to talk and


00:26:09.679 --> 00:26:12.470
we'll speak again soon space Nuts you've


00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:16.549
been listening to the Space Nuts podcast


00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:19.510
available at Apple Podcasts Spotify


00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:22.149
iHeart Radio or your favorite podcast


00:26:22.159 --> 00:26:24.990
player you can also stream on demand at


00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:27.430
byes.com this has been another quality


00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:31.960
podcast production from byes.com