June 29, 2025

Celestial Curiosities: Pulsars, Gravitational Waves & the Secrets of the Universe

Celestial Curiosities: Pulsars, Gravitational Waves & the Secrets of the Universe

Cosmic Curiosities: Exploring Neutron Stars and Gravitational Waves In this engaging episode of Space Nuts, hosts Heidi Campo and Professor Fred Watson embark on a fascinating journey through listener questions that probe the depths of astrophysics...

Cosmic Curiosities: Exploring Neutron Stars and Gravitational Waves
In this engaging episode of Space Nuts, hosts Heidi Campo and Professor Fred Watson embark on a fascinating journey through listener questions that probe the depths of astrophysics and cosmology. From the nature of neutron stars to the mysteries of gravitational waves, this episode is brimming with insights that will expand your understanding of the universe.
Episode Highlights:
Neutron Stars vs. Pulsars: The episode opens with a thought-provoking question from Dean in Washington, D.C., asking whether all neutron stars are pulsars. Fred clarifies the distinction between these celestial objects, explaining that not all neutron stars emit pulsations, with many having “retired” from their energetic displays.
Gravitational Waves and Mass Conversion: New listener Ben dives into the complexities of merging neutron stars and the resulting gravitational waves. Fred explores the intricate relationship between mass and energy, shedding light on how these cosmic events contribute to our understanding of the universe's fabric.
Galactic Mysteries and the Big Bang: Craig from Marimbula raises intriguing questions about the implications of massive galaxies observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Fred discusses how these findings fit into current cosmological models and the significance of the Big Bang theory in understanding the universe’s age.
Meteors on Mars: Listener Martin from Bloomington, Indiana, wonders about the appearance of meteors on Mars compared to Earth. Fred explains how the thin Martian atmosphere affects meteor visibility and the likelihood of impacts, offering insights into the unique conditions on the Red Planet.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
(00:00) Welcome to Space Nuts with Heidi Campo and Fred Watson
(01:20) Discussion on neutron stars and pulsars
(15:00) Exploring gravitational waves from merging neutron stars
(25:30) Implications of massive galaxies and the Big Bang
(35:00) What meteors would look like on Mars
For commercial-free versions of Space Nuts, join us on Patreon, Supercast, Apple Podcasts, or become a supporter here: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support

 

 

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Heidi Campo: Welcome back to another fun and exciting

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Q and A episode of Space Nuts.

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I am your host for this episode, Heidi Campo. And

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joining me is Professor Fred Watson,

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astronomer at large.

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Voice Over Guy: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.

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10, 9. Ignition

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sequence star space nuts. 5, 4, 3,

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2. 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4,

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3, 2, 1. Space nuts

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Astronauts report. It feels good.

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Heidi Campo: Fred, how are you on this fine day?

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Professor Fred Watson: I'm very well, thanks, Heidi.

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And, um, I'm, um, delighted to see you again

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because it is always a pleasure to take our, uh, listener

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questions, uh, especially on a nice fine.

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What is here in Australia, Winter's morning?

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Uh, uh, it's a sunny day, as we

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often get in wintertime in Sydney.

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Heidi Campo: Well, you'll be delighted to hear that it has

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finally stopped raining here in Houston, Texas.

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The sun has come back out, starting to forget what it looked

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like. But, um, we will be going

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camping this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. I

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will, um, report back to you guys next week what, uh, the

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weather from West Texas looks like.

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Professor Fred Watson: If you get any great photos, Heidi, we should try and

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post them on the Space Nuts website.

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Heidi Campo: Oh, maybe I'll have to bring my telescope, uh, and do some

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astrophotography out there. Actually, that's. I'm gonna, I

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am gonna do that.

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Um, and speaking of the United States, all of our

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questions are from the U.S. this, uh,

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this, this go around. And our first question

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comes from dean from Washington,

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D.C. doesn't get any more United States

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than that. Dean asks,

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um, are all neutron stars

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pulsars in? If so, is it not

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theoretically possible that a collapsing star has

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so little angular momentum that it doesn't pulse?

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If not, what else can a neutron

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star be?

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Professor Fred Watson: So, um, yeah, this, this, this

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question has a simple answer. No.

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Um, thank you, Dean.

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Heidi Campo: Moving on.

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Professor Fred Watson: I might elaborate on that a little bit. Um,

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not all neutron stars are pulsars. And actually, look, I'm

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going to take a direct quote from a NASA

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website called Ask an Astrophysicist.

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Doesn't come any better than that. Um,

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because I love the opening of this little

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answer. Most neutron stars in the

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universe are old enough and tired enough

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that they are no longer pulsars.

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Um, and let me just interrupt

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that quote by reminding us what

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a neutron star and a pulsar is. A neutron star

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is this highly collapsed object. It used to be a star,

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but now we're seeing the collapsed core of the star,

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only a few kilometers or miles across.

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Uh, uh, what makes it a pulsar is

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when it's spinning rapidly, uh,

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and beaming radiation from its magnetic Poles.

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So they behave just like a lighthouse, flashing, uh,

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on and off, pulsing, uh, as the name implies.

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So, uh, Dean's question is a good one. Are all

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neutron stars pulsars? And they're not.

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And as the NASA website says,

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most of them are old enough and tired enough that they're no longer

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pulsars. They've stopped spinning. Uh, and

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just one, uh, further sentence on

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that, which I think is quite illuminating. A recent paper

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estimates 1000 million, what we call

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a billion, normally 1000 million old

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neutron stars in our galaxy in. Even though

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the known number of pulsars, uh,

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is only about 1000. So

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there are many, many more neutron stars

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that don't pulsate than there are that do

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just because they've lost all their rotational energy.

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So, a great question from Dean, um, sent

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me to NASA's website, which is always a good thing.

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Heidi Campo: I think they know the right answer.

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Professor Fred Watson: One would hope so. Yeah.

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Heidi Campo: I saw a T shirt in their gift shop a few weeks ago when

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I was there, and it just. The Earth is round. We

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checked. Love NASA.

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I thought that was kind of cute and cheeky.

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Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.

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Heidi Campo: Our next question is from Ben,

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who is actually a new listener. So thank

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you, Ben, for writing in. This is, uh, so much

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fun. Ben says, I came across the

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podcast last week and I've been zooming through

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it. I love the content. Thank you.

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And then Ben goes on to say, I've got a question, and hopefully you

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haven't already answered it on the roughly

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450 episodes I haven't had

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a chance to listen to yet. Um, but he

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says one, when neutron stars and

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or black holes merged to

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produce gravitational waves, they lose mass,

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which gets converted to energy, which

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comprises. Which comprises of the gravitational

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wave. But how does that conversion work?

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Specifically? I'm thinking of a binary

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neutron star system merging,

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since my understanding is that the mass of the

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neutron is quite consistent across the universe.

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A reduction in mass would imply that a

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reduction in the number of neutrons

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would imply a reduction in the number of neutrons.

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If this small leap of logic holds,

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what determines which neutrons get converted

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to energy? Are the faded neutrons

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extracted evenly from throughout the

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merging objects, or is there a region

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that seems to be favored? And what

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does this process of converting neutrons to

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energy look like?

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Ben is curious and hungry for answers.

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Professor Fred Watson: It's a fabulous question, Ben.

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Um, I've got a question for you, Ben, as well. How did you manage to get

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through 450 episodes in

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a week, less than a week? That

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defies, um, probably the laws of physics. I

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Think, uh, but that's all right because

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apparently uh, merging neutron

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stars also apparently derive

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um, they, they break the laws of

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physics. So um,

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Ben, your question, as some of our

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listener questions often do because they are so good,

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sent me to the World Wide Web.

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And the answer to this question is

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quite, uh, it's quite subtle and there's

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several things going on, partly because

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we're dealing with very intense

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gravitational fields. Uh, and

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um, you know, to answer your question, are

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the fated neutrons extracted evenly throughout the

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merging objects or is there a

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region that seems to be favored, um,

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that probably relates to the

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event horizon of the neutron stars because

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they do have event horizons. Um, and

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I don't think I'm capable of answering

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that question. Uh, and

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in any case it's more subtle than

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just um, you know, neutrons getting thrown

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away, uh, than what we were, than what

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your question might imply. So

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I would actually suggest, uh, Ben, that

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you have a look uh, online,

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uh, ah, at the uh, physics.stackink

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exchange.com website,

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uh, because

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physics.stackexchange.com

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has got a uh, very nice set

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of question, question very similar to

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yours and some quite lengthy answers

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that go into some detail, um, and

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look at different aspects of this question.

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Um, so if you Google energy conversion from

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mass to gravitational wave, the, that will take

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you to this website and maybe

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I can just um, you know, talk about

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uh, one of those answers. And that is that

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um, if you imagine, uh,

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uh, one of the sort of subatomic particles and what

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we call an alpha particle, which is the nucleus, a helium

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4 nucleus, got two protons, two

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neutrons, but its mass

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is actually less than the

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sum of those protons and neutrons.

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And that's because there is something called

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binding energy, uh, that's

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released when that particle is

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formed. And so uh, the

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bottom line here is that mass and

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energy are uh, highly interchangeable. When you're

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talking about the kinds of things, the sort of

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extremes that we are looking at in the

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case of um, a neutron star, neutron star

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collisions. Even in a neutron star doing its thing,

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it's still extreme situations. And because

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of the relationship that we're all aware of between

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mass and energy, E equals MC squared.

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That is, uh, why

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you know, you've got this

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potential to transform what looks

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like a mass of a single particle,

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uh, into energy, uh, to result

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in a lower gravitational mass

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for the pair of neutron stars. Sorry, the bottom line

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here, which I should have said at the beginning, is that often when you've

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got this neutron star, neutron star

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collision, uh, you Get a

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gravitational wave which

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essentially, uh, has enough energy

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to account for a difference in mass. It's not

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just the sum of the two neutron stars that come together.

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There is a mass loss as well, which we see as the

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gravitational wave. And this is one of the mechanisms

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that causes that. So have a look Ben, at

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that webpage. Uh, and if you still

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don't get it, ask us again, uh, and

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I'll have another shot at it. But it is a really

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interesting question and a good one too.

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Um, um, got me thinking yesterday. I

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was worrying all day about this

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question, uh, trying to take my mind off the

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root canal treatment that I was having at the dentist. At

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the same time.

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Heidi Campo: I also think of particle, uh, physics while I'm at the dentist.

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Professor Fred Watson: It's the only thing to do really, isn't it?

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Heidi Campo: So I actually, I will give my dentist a shout out.

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My dentist, um, was one of my good friends

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in, uh, doing my undergrad. And it was kind of cute

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because the whole little cohort of us, we

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um, started, we were in a powerlifting club in

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my undergrad and uh,

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we were just, you know, just a bunch of kids. And now he's

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a grown up who's a dentist and we're all doing our

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things. One of the other ones went on to be um,

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a neurosurgeon. And so I'm like, it's quite a

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little brainiac group of strength athletes.

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So shout out to, uh, Dr. Gatlin

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Marks, dentist at Platinum Dentistry

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in Utah. On that's, you know, unprompted.

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Not paid for free advertising, but he's great.

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Professor Fred Watson: Well, I should advertise mine, shouldn't I?

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Nothing like as nice a story, but I won't bother.

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Heidi Campo: Space nuts.

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Um, well, our next question is an audio question

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from Craig and we are going to play that

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question for you right now.

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Professor Fred Watson: Hi professors, it's Craig down in

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sunny Marimbula. Um, I've been

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seeing items about James Webb, uh,

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seeing really massive galaxies

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much bigger than they, than current

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cosmology expects. Are we

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in an older universe? Could we

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tell the difference between a big bang and a supermassive

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white hole that's erupted into an existing space

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time? They're just an uh,

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overactive imagination. I hope you're enjoying your

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week. Ciao.

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Heidi Campo: All right, that was Craig's, uh, question.

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Professor Fred Watson: Craig, the only person asking uh, a

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question this week from.

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Not from the usa.

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Okay, his question about big galaxies,

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is it telling us that the universe is older than we think?

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Maybe, uh, that's a, it's a nice way of Thinking

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about it, um, except that

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we, we still,

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you know, all the evidence points

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to the

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universe having a beginning which

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was 13.8 billion years ago,

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um, which, um, we think was,

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um, the result of a, an event called the Big Bang,

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an explosive event. Uh, we

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believe that's the case partly because of what we observe today.

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But we can also still see the flash of that Big Bang

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by the fact that the light has taken 13.8 billion

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years to get to us. So, um, it's

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very hard to see how, uh,

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if the universe was older than that Big Bang,

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how galaxies would survive that

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explosive event. Um,

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so you know what, um,

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Craig's question is about is,

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uh, are, uh, there galaxies that are older than we think the

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universe is? And

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it defies logic. It's like saying,

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um. And in fact, for a while, this was one of the problems

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with the Big Bang theory. People thought, uh, the

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um, planets,

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uh, stars and atoms were actually older

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than the measurement of the age of the universe that

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we got. And that was one of the problems for the Big Bang theory,

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uh, which was, uh, only really resolved in

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the 60s, 1950s and 60s.

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Um, so

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I think that's still a step of logic that

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we're not prepared to dismiss,

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uh, that yes, there is that, um,

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the Big Bang does mark the start of, uh, the

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formation of galaxies and the galaxies in the

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universe. Um, I have a colleague and uh,

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friend, uh, who's a, uh, very distinguished

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astronomer in the uk, Richard Ellis. And

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he is absolutely. He's a

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cosmologist. He's somebody who looks at the history of the universe,

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very interested in the history of the early universe.

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He is absolutely certain, uh,

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that those galaxies that we can see that

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do look bigger and older than what we expected them to

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be, uh, that they do not defy,

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uh, conventional cosmology, that we can still,

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um, you know, work out

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theoretical models that would allow those galaxies still to

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be young, even though they look more

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advanced in years than we thought they

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would be. So, uh, it's all about

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our understanding of galaxy formation rather than

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having the cosmology wrong, rather than having,

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uh, the age of the universe wrong. So,

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a good suggestion, uh, uh, but I think

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we are still stuck with trying to understand how

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these galaxies got so big so quickly.

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Heidi Campo: And stuck is what it is. Sometimes

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that's what I get excited about with space. There's

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so many questions that have to be answered.

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Other sciences are so defined, but space

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is infinite for us to figure out.

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Professor Fred Watson: Okay, we checked all four systems and.

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Heidi Campo: Dealing with the space nets, our, um,

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our last Question is from another curious

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listener. Mark from Bloomington,

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Indiana says hello there.

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What might meteors look like to a person on the

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surface of Mars or Venus, if that were possible.

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The planets are at uh, extremes of atmospheric

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density. But carbon dioxide is the primary

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aspheric gas for each.

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The primary aspheric gas for each. And there is very little

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oxygen present compared to Earth and to

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each other. Would meteors appear brighter or dimmer,

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different colors travel faster or slower,

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more or less likely to be seen given the thick or

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thin clouds and the uh, clouds altitudes

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more or less likely to strike the surface. Thanks

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for any insights or even guesses.

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Professor Fred Watson: I think we've been sprung here, Heidi. People have realized that we

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just take guesses at these things.

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Um, so it's uh,

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it's another great question. You know, we uh, this is,

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I think none of the questions that we've had today have

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ever come in before. Uh, maybe,

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maybe people have been speculating about the um,

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the mystery of these early galaxies. But this is a

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great question. What would meteorites, sorry, what would meteors

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look like, uh, to somebody. Let's

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just stick with Mars for now because that's the easier

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one to deal with. I um, think Venus will

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be a problem because the atmosphere is so thick, uh,

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so opaque that uh, you probably wouldn't see any

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meteors at all just because,

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you know, there's very little transparency in the

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atmosphere. Mars however, is different. Uh,

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it does have clouds, but not as many as we have here on

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Earth. Uh, let's get to the easy

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question, the easy part of this question, uh,

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which is, um,

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Query. Are they more or less likely to

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strike the surface? And the answer is they're more likely

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because Mars's atmosphere is much thinner. It's less than

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1% of the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere. That

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means that um, it's uh, more likely

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that a meteoritic object would

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survive its passage through the atmosphere to

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reach the ground. Um, and we do find

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meteorites on Mars. There are many examples that the

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uh, various Mars rovers have found meteorites on

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the planet Mars. A uh, meteorite is

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a meteor that's got as far as landing on the, on the

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ground, but what they would look like in

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the uh, in the sky, uh,

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uh, doesn't really have that much to do with what the

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constituents of the atmosphere are. Uh,

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uh, because what you see when you see a

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meteor, a shooting star is the fact

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that it is simply um,

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it's being um, heated up to

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incandescence. It's not burning in the

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sense that things burn

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in the presence of oxygen. Uh, and that I think is the

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thrust of, uh, Mark's question.

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But what you're seeing is this thing shooting through the

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atmosphere. It is meeting a gas. Uh,

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the gas is providing some resistance, but

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also a lot of friction on the outside of this

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particle or stone or rock or baseball, whatever

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it is that's coming in, uh, whatever size it is that's coming,

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coming in. And that's what causes the brightness

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of the meteorites being flashed into

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incandescence by its speed rather than a

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chemical reaction taking place. Um, that

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would, um, make uh, that much difference. Although

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certainly we do see evidence of the oxygen

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in the light of some of these. So meteors on

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Mars would look similar to what they do on

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Earth. There's some dispute

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because the atmosphere of Mars, whilst

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it's also much thinner than Earth's atmosphere, is

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distributed differently. You know, uh,

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the way in which it falls off in pressure as you go

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up in height, uh, is different from

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what it is on Earth. So that might mean that the

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height at which meteors start to glow

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as they come through the surface, sorry, come through

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the atmosphere of Mars might be different.

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And if they were lower, if they were burning up lower down

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in the atmosphere, then they would look a bit brighter than they

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do here on Earth. If they were burning up higher in the

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atmosphere, they would, uh, look a bit

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fainter. And it's not quite clear which of those

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is the case. Uh, there's some dispute among

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the. Certainly the things I've read about whether they

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will be brighter or fainter, but they will be much the same.

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So, uh, we hope that maybe one

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day when, uh, astronauts are

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exploring, uh, but not colonizing

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Mars, uh, that they might send us

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back reports of meteors that they've seen in the night skies of

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Mars. And maybe you'll hear about it on Space notes.

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Heidi Campo: Maybe so. And it is my understanding that that

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is one. I mean, there's so many concerns with Moon

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to Mars missions. And a potential Mars colony

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is it's not as safe. Our atmosphere does

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surprisingly a lot to protect us. And that is,

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um, in a lot of student design

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competitions that is something they're really

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asking for students to look at is, hey, how can we

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protect potential analogs

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or colonies or any other assets we put

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on Mars? How do we protect those from these

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constant, um, impacts? And

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ah, that is really kind of an interesting question right now.

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And that's not really my wheelhouse. But, um,

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people in the engineering world are, um.

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There's a lot of fun things for them. To do with those

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projects.

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Professor Fred Watson: Indeed. That's right. Look, it's a different world

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from ours. Everything's

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different. Uh, radiation, meteoritic

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bombardment, all of those things. Low pressure, low gravity,

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different world and a lot to think about if

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we are ever going to have humans walking on Mars.

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Heidi Campo: All right, Fred. Well, ah, this has been

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another fantastic Q and A episode. I

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always, I love the way you answer these questions. I

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00:22:01.540 --> 00:22:04.020
feel like, uh, every time we write in,

449
00:22:04.260 --> 00:22:07.140
I feel like each one of us has an opportunity

450
00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:09.620
to be a, uh, collaborator with you and

451
00:22:09.860 --> 00:22:12.820
gets to experience what it's like to be on

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00:22:12.820 --> 00:22:15.540
this intellectual journey together. So keep

453
00:22:15.540 --> 00:22:18.420
sending in your amazing questions. You guys are,

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00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:21.540
you guys are half of the brilliance of this show. So

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thank you so much.

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Professor Fred Watson: That's right. I agree there

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wholeheartedly, Heidi. At least half. In fact, maybe more than

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that.

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Heidi Campo: Excellent. Well, thank you everybody to listening to

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another episode of Space Nuts. We will catch

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you next time.

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Professor Fred Watson: Sounds great. Thanks again, Heidi.

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Andrew Dunkley: Hi, Fred. Hi, Huw. Hi,

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Heidi.

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It's Andrew from the southwestern

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Indian Ocean. We've just finished a seven day crossing

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of the Indian Ocean and stopped yesterday at

468
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the beautiful island country of

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Mauritius. And it's winter there, but

470
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the temperature was in the

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uh, mid to high 20s. So,

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um, yeah, if that's winter, I'll take it. It's been

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beautiful. The seas were quite smooth after our, uh,

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treacherous rounding of south, uh, southern

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Australia. Uh, but now that we've left Mauritius,

476
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we're heading into, into some heavy seas as we

477
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move towards the Cape of Good Hope and

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then come up the other side of Africa. But

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Mauritius was absolutely beautiful, lovely, uh,

480
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people, interesting story behind Mauritius.

481
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It's a, an island that was discovered by

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Arabian, uh, sailors. Uh, it was unoccupied,

483
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so they moved in and uh, of course they brought their

484
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slaves with them. Um, somewhere along the

485
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line they handed us over to, um,

486
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the Dutch and the Portuguese. Uh, the

487
00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:48.840
Dutch kind of decimated everything they possibly

488
00:23:48.840 --> 00:23:51.760
could. My wife's half Dutch, so I've got

489
00:23:51.760 --> 00:23:54.400
to be careful what I say. But, uh, they killed off the

490
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:57.040
dodo bird, they destroyed most of the

491
00:23:57.040 --> 00:23:59.640
forests. Uh, they killed off the

492
00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:02.560
native giant turtles. Uh,

493
00:24:02.840 --> 00:24:05.800
so, um, yeah, nothing like that is there today.

494
00:24:05.800 --> 00:24:08.670
But then, uh, the French moved in and they

495
00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:11.630
stayed there for a very long time until they were tipped out by the British.

496
00:24:11.630 --> 00:24:14.430
And the British held sovereignty over Mauritius until

497
00:24:14.430 --> 00:24:17.310
independence late last century. Beautiful

498
00:24:17.310 --> 00:24:20.110
country, very rugged volcanic

499
00:24:20.110 --> 00:24:23.010
landscape. Uh, saw, uh,

500
00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:25.910
the volcano at the top that still, uh, exists. It's

501
00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:28.910
dormant. It hasn't erupted for a long, long time. And I hope it doesn't because

502
00:24:28.910 --> 00:24:31.770
it's got houses all over it. Uh, but, um,

503
00:24:31.790 --> 00:24:34.550
just a, just a beautiful landscape. They speak French

504
00:24:35.190 --> 00:24:38.070
and English as their predominant, uh, languages.

505
00:24:38.070 --> 00:24:41.070
But the, but the, the native people who are originally, uh,

506
00:24:41.830 --> 00:24:44.790
you know, from the slaves of South Africa speak

507
00:24:44.790 --> 00:24:47.350
French Creole. So it's really, really

508
00:24:47.350 --> 00:24:50.350
interesting mix of people. But, uh, a lovely country

509
00:24:50.350 --> 00:24:53.150
and, and very, very much worth

510
00:24:53.150 --> 00:24:55.830
visiting. Uh, and a very big Hindu

511
00:24:56.070 --> 00:24:58.950
population as well. And so we

512
00:24:59.030 --> 00:25:01.960
visited, visited a Hindu temple and the sacred waters

513
00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:04.800
that were discovered by a Hindu many, many years ago,

514
00:25:05.510 --> 00:25:08.170
uh, where people were blessing children and uh,

515
00:25:09.120 --> 00:25:11.880
walking through the waters, which are just as sacred as the

516
00:25:11.880 --> 00:25:14.650
Ganges, apparently. Uh, and um,

517
00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.640
there was a little monument there to the sun

518
00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:20.560
and the planets. So, uh, there was a little

519
00:25:20.800 --> 00:25:22.560
astronomical connection,

520
00:25:23.410 --> 00:25:24.720
uh, while I was there.

521
00:25:24.970 --> 00:25:27.650
Anyway, that's where we're up to. Next stop will be

522
00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:30.610
Cape Town. It's going to take us five days of sailing to get

523
00:25:30.610 --> 00:25:32.810
there, so I'll report on that next time.

524
00:25:33.610 --> 00:25:36.330
So hope all is going well with Space Nuts. See you soon.

525
00:25:37.530 --> 00:25:40.330
Professor Fred Watson: You've been listening to the Space Nuts. Podcast,

526
00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:44.650
available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

527
00:25:44.890 --> 00:25:47.650
iHeartRadio or your favorite podcast

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00:25:47.650 --> 00:25:50.350
player. You can also stream on demand at bitesz.com

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00:25:51.540 --> 00:25:54.340
This has been another quality podcast production from

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00:25:54.340 --> 00:25:55.060
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