Galactic Queries: Black Hole Lifespans, Lunar Impacts & Sun-Seeking Missions

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:01.320
Professor Fred Watson: Hi there.

1
00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:03.560
Andrew Dunkley: Andrew Dunkley here, and you're listening to

2
00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:05.880
Space Nuts. It's a Q and A edition. This is

3
00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:08.280
where we take audience questions. We put them

4
00:00:08.280 --> 00:00:10.640
in a barrel, we pluck one out and we go, now

5
00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.960
that's too hard. And we just keep doing that

6
00:00:13.440 --> 00:00:15.880
over and over again until we find four easy

7
00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.880
ones. Uh, today we've got questions about

8
00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:20.880
black hole evaporation.

9
00:00:21.520 --> 00:00:24.000
Simple. Uh, Jordy atmosphere,

10
00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.080
uh, Artemis 2, and those, uh, moon

11
00:00:27.080 --> 00:00:29.240
meteorites that they witnessed. Somebody's

12
00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:31.600
thrown in a question about that. And missions

13
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.260
to the sun. Don't forget your sunscreen.

14
00:00:34.260 --> 00:00:37.060
That's all coming up on this episode of space

15
00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:37.620
nuts.

16
00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:39.980
Professor Fred Watson: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.

17
00:00:40.300 --> 00:00:42.940
10, 9. Ignition

18
00:00:42.940 --> 00:00:45.904
sequence start. Space nuts. 5, 4, 3,

19
00:00:45.976 --> 00:00:46.264
2.

20
00:00:46.336 --> 00:00:46.624
Speaker C: 1.

21
00:00:46.696 --> 00:00:49.504
Professor Fred Watson: 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2,

22
00:00:49.576 --> 00:00:49.900
1.

23
00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:51.180
Andrew Dunkley: Space nuts.

24
00:00:51.180 --> 00:00:53.020
Professor Fred Watson: Astronauts report it feels good.

25
00:00:53.740 --> 00:00:56.380
Andrew Dunkley: And joining us to try and solve all of those

26
00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:58.380
little riddles is Professor Fred Watson,

27
00:00:58.380 --> 00:00:59.900
astronomer at large. Hello, Fred.

28
00:01:00.690 --> 00:01:02.850
Professor Fred Watson: Good day, Andrew.

29
00:01:03.970 --> 00:01:05.930
Andrew Dunkley: Nearly say good morning or good afternoon or

30
00:01:05.930 --> 00:01:07.810
good evening. Because it might not be that.

31
00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:09.810
When people listen to us, on the

32
00:01:09.810 --> 00:01:11.530
Professor Fred Watson: other hand, it is a day. I could say good

33
00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:11.810
night.

34
00:01:11.810 --> 00:01:12.610
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, yeah.

35
00:01:12.770 --> 00:01:15.490
Professor Fred Watson: Anyway, it's certainly a day. Daytime here.

36
00:01:17.490 --> 00:01:19.250
Andrew Dunkley: All is well with you, I assume?

37
00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:22.170
Professor Fred Watson: Um, apparently, um, still seem to have.

38
00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:23.850
That's a good answer I'm supposed to have.

39
00:01:23.850 --> 00:01:26.170
Yes. Well, it can only be apparently, because

40
00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.650
you never really know, do you? What's going

41
00:01:28.650 --> 00:01:30.530
on inside, what's going on?

42
00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:33.990
The things that you haven't found out about

43
00:01:33.990 --> 00:01:36.910
yet. Yes, all well so far.

44
00:01:37.470 --> 00:01:40.470
Andrew Dunkley: I recently had a profile piece

45
00:01:40.470 --> 00:01:42.710
done by the Cancer Council in Australia for

46
00:01:42.710 --> 00:01:45.150
Men's Health Week because of what You've been

47
00:01:45.150 --> 00:01:46.870
dealing with the last three and a half years.

48
00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:49.830
So, uh, to encourage men to

49
00:01:49.830 --> 00:01:52.260
go and get their PSA tests and, uh,

50
00:01:52.830 --> 00:01:55.470
get their, let's just say, junk

51
00:01:55.630 --> 00:01:57.950
checked out to make sure that they're free

52
00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:00.880
and clear. And, um, I

53
00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:02.400
think it's a very important message. But one

54
00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.720
of the things I've learned, uh, through the

55
00:02:05.360 --> 00:02:07.360
treatment and discussions I've had over the

56
00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:09.080
last three and a half years in regard to

57
00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.920
prostate cancer is that because I have

58
00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.960
now had it, there is a possibility

59
00:02:15.040 --> 00:02:17.560
that my three children have a

60
00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.920
50% higher chance of developing it in their

61
00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:22.240
lives. So it's not just about you.

62
00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:24.080
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, exactly.

63
00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.560
Andrew Dunkley: It's not just about you as an individual.

64
00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:30.050
If you've got, um, sons, it's

65
00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:32.330
about them too. So it makes it even more

66
00:02:32.330 --> 00:02:33.650
important to get tested.

67
00:02:34.290 --> 00:02:35.010
Professor Fred Watson: Absolutely.

68
00:02:35.010 --> 00:02:36.530
Andrew Dunkley: And you don't just have to be in Australia.

69
00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:39.490
This can happen to any male on the planet.

70
00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:42.290
So go and get

71
00:02:42.290 --> 00:02:44.610
that, uh, Prostate test done

72
00:02:45.090 --> 00:02:45.890
for peace of

73
00:02:45.890 --> 00:02:48.770
Mendham, lecture

74
00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:51.690
over. Uh, let's deal with

75
00:02:51.690 --> 00:02:52.690
some questions, Fred.

76
00:02:53.150 --> 00:02:56.050
Um, we will go to our first one. This is a

77
00:02:56.050 --> 00:02:58.900
pretty short and sweet one, but it's, um,

78
00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:02.100
a complicated issue really. Uh, black holes

79
00:03:02.100 --> 00:03:04.900
are gaining Massey, if

80
00:03:04.900 --> 00:03:07.060
they are colder than the cmb,

81
00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:10.620
how much does this lengthen the

82
00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:13.500
time before they evaporate? That's a

83
00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:14.580
question from Bob.

84
00:03:15.700 --> 00:03:18.700
Professor Fred Watson: So I'm interested in who this question has

85
00:03:18.700 --> 00:03:20.580
come from because I've got a very old friend

86
00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:23.740
by the name of Bob Argyle, uh, which is the

87
00:03:23.740 --> 00:03:25.850
name on the email you sent me.

88
00:03:25.850 --> 00:03:26.410
Andrew Dunkley: It is.

89
00:03:26.450 --> 00:03:28.650
Professor Fred Watson: Uh, we worked together in the Royal Greenwich

90
00:03:28.650 --> 00:03:30.330
Observatory, uh, at a place called

91
00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:32.890
Herstmonceux Castle in the south of England

92
00:03:32.890 --> 00:03:35.610
in the early 70s. Uh, now, Bob went

93
00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:38.530
to Cambridge and I think he's still there. I

94
00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:40.410
wondered if there was any clue to his

95
00:03:40.570 --> 00:03:42.090
whereabouts in your email.

96
00:03:42.830 --> 00:03:45.450
Andrew Dunkley: Um, no, because what you see

97
00:03:45.450 --> 00:03:46.570
is what you get.

98
00:03:46.570 --> 00:03:47.610
Professor Fred Watson: What you get. Okay.

99
00:03:49.210 --> 00:03:51.610
Anyway, well, if it's Bob. G', day, Bob.

100
00:03:52.170 --> 00:03:55.050
Good to hear from you. We should email

101
00:03:55.130 --> 00:03:58.030
one day. Yes, um, it's good, Good to

102
00:03:58.030 --> 00:03:59.790
hear he's still going strong, if it is. And

103
00:03:59.790 --> 00:04:02.670
if it's not, um, I apologise that I'm mixing

104
00:04:02.670 --> 00:04:05.390
you up with somebody else. Uh, but it's a

105
00:04:05.390 --> 00:04:08.230
great question and it's one that, uh,

106
00:04:08.230 --> 00:04:10.950
I had to, um, do some homework

107
00:04:10.950 --> 00:04:13.670
on before, um, before the, before the show.

108
00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:16.630
Um, and the,

109
00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:20.030
the bottom line is, first of all, what's the

110
00:04:20.030 --> 00:04:22.910
cmb? The cosmic microwave background. That

111
00:04:22.910 --> 00:04:25.780
is the, basically the flash of the

112
00:04:25.780 --> 00:04:28.190
Big Bang, which we still see. Uh,

113
00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:31.620
when that light was emitted, it was bright,

114
00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:34.300
white light. Uh, as the universe has

115
00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:37.260
expanded, that radiation has expanded

116
00:04:37.260 --> 00:04:39.220
also. It's been stretched, the waves have

117
00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:41.420
been stretched into microwave

118
00:04:42.700 --> 00:04:45.580
waves. So we see this background

119
00:04:45.740 --> 00:04:48.700
of, um, microwave light over the

120
00:04:48.700 --> 00:04:50.780
whole sky and we can deduce lots of things

121
00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:53.580
from it. Um, it corresponds to a time, I

122
00:04:53.580 --> 00:04:55.980
think it was about 380,000 years after the

123
00:04:55.980 --> 00:04:58.200
Big Ban, when the universe basically,

124
00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:02.120
um, stopped being bright and a fog of

125
00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:05.840
radiation, uh, everywhere, which it

126
00:05:05.840 --> 00:05:08.720
was until that time. So that's the cmb. Now,

127
00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:11.680
what the CMB does is give space

128
00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.200
a temperature. And the temperature

129
00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:16.600
is 2.73

130
00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:19.960
degrees Kelvin, uh, degrees above

131
00:05:19.960 --> 00:05:22.690
absolute zero. And

132
00:05:22.690 --> 00:05:25.690
so, uh, that is when

133
00:05:25.690 --> 00:05:28.610
you compare it with the temperature of

134
00:05:28.610 --> 00:05:30.450
a black hole. And we've discussed this

135
00:05:30.450 --> 00:05:33.250
before, Andrew, uh, on The Q&As,

136
00:05:33.650 --> 00:05:36.210
black hole temperatures are very, very

137
00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:38.770
cold. Um, typically,

138
00:05:39.230 --> 00:05:41.970
um, a few tens of nanokelvin.

139
00:05:42.210 --> 00:05:45.210
That means a few tens of billionths of

140
00:05:45.210 --> 00:05:47.650
a degree above absolute zero. Compared with

141
00:05:47.650 --> 00:05:50.610
the 2.73 degrees. And so,

142
00:05:50.670 --> 00:05:53.450
um, that, uh, that temperature.

143
00:05:53.610 --> 00:05:56.250
What that means then is that,

144
00:05:56.910 --> 00:05:59.770
uh, photons of cosmic microwave

145
00:05:59.770 --> 00:06:02.330
background radiation, uh, can

146
00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:05.330
be added to the mass of a black

147
00:06:05.330 --> 00:06:06.970
hole because,

148
00:06:08.130 --> 00:06:11.090
uh, the temperature of the black hole is

149
00:06:11.090 --> 00:06:13.370
colder than the temperature of the background

150
00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:16.170
radiation. So,

151
00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:20.170
uh, there is an issue, uh,

152
00:06:20.170 --> 00:06:22.830
which is one that Bob raises.

153
00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:26.150
Uh, I've lost my question here. It is, how

154
00:06:26.150 --> 00:06:28.670
much does this lengthen the time before they

155
00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.110
evaporate? So if you've got a situate, we

156
00:06:31.110 --> 00:06:33.830
know that black holes evaporate. Um,

157
00:06:34.190 --> 00:06:36.510
the situation that was highlighted by

158
00:06:36.910 --> 00:06:39.310
Stephen Hawking back in the 70s. Black holes

159
00:06:39.310 --> 00:06:41.990
evaporate over very, very long

160
00:06:41.990 --> 00:06:44.830
periods of time. Uh, but what Bob's

161
00:06:44.830 --> 00:06:47.750
saying or asking is, does the fact

162
00:06:47.750 --> 00:06:50.110
that they're gaining mass because the cosmic

163
00:06:50.110 --> 00:06:52.030
microwave background is warmer than the black

164
00:06:52.030 --> 00:06:54.630
hole, does that extend this time

165
00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.790
significantly? Uh, I had to go

166
00:06:57.790 --> 00:07:00.390
to AI to answer this question because it's

167
00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:02.710
got some very, very lengthy

168
00:07:02.710 --> 00:07:05.510
calculations. Uh, but the answer

169
00:07:05.510 --> 00:07:08.490
is, uh, it's, um.

170
00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:11.390
Well, as the AI tool I used says, it

171
00:07:11.390 --> 00:07:14.190
was practically negligible. Oh, um,

172
00:07:14.590 --> 00:07:17.420
uh, changing the final lifespan by less than

173
00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:20.180
one part in 10 to the power 50. So

174
00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.910
that is definitely negligible. Uh,

175
00:07:23.100 --> 00:07:25.660
and it's because of the,

176
00:07:26.270 --> 00:07:28.940
uh. It's about the length of

177
00:07:28.940 --> 00:07:30.860
time that the

178
00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:33.940
cosmic microwave background radiation feeds

179
00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:35.980
the black hole. And it turns out that,

180
00:07:37.010 --> 00:07:39.820
um, the black hole is

181
00:07:39.820 --> 00:07:41.820
effectively evaporating

182
00:07:42.700 --> 00:07:45.190
faster than the stuff that it's. That's

183
00:07:45.190 --> 00:07:47.630
feeding it. And so it

184
00:07:48.030 --> 00:07:50.790
basically extends the life of the black

185
00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:53.670
hole by a very, very small amount

186
00:07:53.670 --> 00:07:56.590
indeed. Uh, there's plenty on the web

187
00:07:56.590 --> 00:07:58.550
about this if you really want to get into the

188
00:07:58.550 --> 00:08:01.470
nitty gritty of it. But, um, it is a

189
00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:04.030
really interesting question, one

190
00:08:04.590 --> 00:08:07.510
that I have to say, Andrew, had not occurred

191
00:08:07.510 --> 00:08:09.790
to me before. Uh, so I'm very,

192
00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:13.030
uh, glad that Bob has raised it and I

193
00:08:13.030 --> 00:08:15.550
appreciate him doing that. And if it is you,

194
00:08:15.550 --> 00:08:18.190
Bob, I've still got your record of Das

195
00:08:18.190 --> 00:08:20.990
Rheingold in my record cabinet behind

196
00:08:21.070 --> 00:08:23.550
me. The one that you gave me back in

197
00:08:23.710 --> 00:08:24.910
1973.

198
00:08:24.990 --> 00:08:27.870
Andrew Dunkley: Well, he doesn't want it back. No, that's the

199
00:08:27.870 --> 00:08:29.630
other thing that said in the email. Don't

200
00:08:29.710 --> 00:08:32.390
send that back. It's rubbish. No, I don't

201
00:08:32.390 --> 00:08:34.670
know. But maybe Bob could message us again

202
00:08:34.670 --> 00:08:36.430
just to confirm or deny.

203
00:08:36.900 --> 00:08:39.220
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, I know nothing of Fred Watson.

204
00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:42.060
Andrew Dunkley: Yes, never met him. I don't want to.

205
00:08:42.060 --> 00:08:43.300
Professor Fred Watson: I don't want to know.

206
00:08:44.790 --> 00:08:46.820
Andrew Dunkley: Um, the other interesting thing that comes

207
00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:49.140
from that is, uh, because of, uh, how cold a

208
00:08:49.140 --> 00:08:51.660
black hole is, um, if you get too Close. You

209
00:08:51.660 --> 00:08:53.940
turn not only into spaghetti, but cold

210
00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:56.580
spaghetti and that. Have you ever eaten that?

211
00:08:56.580 --> 00:08:57.380
It's horrible.

212
00:08:57.700 --> 00:08:59.660
Professor Fred Watson: It's not nice. No, you're right. It's the

213
00:08:59.660 --> 00:09:00.860
worst of all worlds, isn't it?

214
00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:02.860
Andrew Dunkley: Gosh, it just gets worse. These black holes

215
00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:04.940
are just starting to m. Make things even more

216
00:09:04.940 --> 00:09:07.910
horrible. Yeah, thanks, Bob.

217
00:09:07.910 --> 00:09:10.190
Great question and thanks for sending it in

218
00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:12.150
and we, uh, look forward to hearing from you

219
00:09:12.150 --> 00:09:12.430
again.

220
00:09:12.430 --> 00:09:15.150
Our next question, Fred, comes from

221
00:09:15.550 --> 00:09:18.110
Greg. Uh, hello, Fred and Andrew. It's Greg

222
00:09:18.110 --> 00:09:20.270
from Minnesota. Coincidentally,

223
00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:23.230
Greg is the only Greg in

224
00:09:23.230 --> 00:09:24.030
Minnesota.

225
00:09:25.550 --> 00:09:27.390
Professor Fred Watson: That's just as well, I believe.

226
00:09:28.030 --> 00:09:31.030
Andrew Dunkley: Maybe not. Uh, he says Titan is just a

227
00:09:31.030 --> 00:09:33.350
moon of Saturn. I mean just a moon of Saturn.

228
00:09:33.350 --> 00:09:34.990
That's all it is. It's nothing important.

229
00:09:35.070 --> 00:09:37.690
Anyway, it has an atmosphere so thick the

230
00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:40.330
pressure is 1 1/2 times Jordy

231
00:09:40.490 --> 00:09:43.050
Venus is just a bit smaller than Jordy and

232
00:09:43.050 --> 00:09:45.450
its atmospheric pressure is 90 times

233
00:09:45.610 --> 00:09:48.610
Jordy give or take. Uh, does Jordy have an

234
00:09:48.610 --> 00:09:51.530
unusually thin atmosphere for a rocky planet

235
00:09:51.530 --> 00:09:54.170
this size? If so, could our

236
00:09:54.170 --> 00:09:56.890
wispy atmosphere be because it all got

237
00:09:56.890 --> 00:09:59.650
blown away by fear? Love the

238
00:09:59.650 --> 00:10:02.490
show. Uh, thank you, Greg. Uh, the one and

239
00:10:02.490 --> 00:10:03.690
only Greg in Minnesota.

240
00:10:04.170 --> 00:10:06.860
Um, that's a really interesting question.

241
00:10:07.010 --> 00:10:09.540
Uh, I've never really thought of Jordy

242
00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:12.540
atmosphere as maybe being, you know,

243
00:10:12.860 --> 00:10:15.160
thin and wispy. Thin and wispy. But, um,

244
00:10:16.140 --> 00:10:18.500
it generally is. When you look at photos of

245
00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:20.860
Jordy from space and you

246
00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:24.060
identify the atmosphere, oh, it makes

247
00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:26.100
you cringe a bit because you think, is that

248
00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:27.260
it? Is that all it is?

249
00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:32.060
Professor Fred Watson: I mean, 10 kilometres, you're above

250
00:10:32.140 --> 00:10:35.140
75% of it. It's scary

251
00:10:35.140 --> 00:10:37.020
in that regard. So you're you

252
00:10:38.520 --> 00:10:40.840
when you're in a jet, you're above most of

253
00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:43.400
the atmosphere. Uh, quite extraordinary.

254
00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:47.080
Yes, it's thin and wispy, exactly as

255
00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:47.800
Greg says.

256
00:10:48.270 --> 00:10:49.800
Um, so

257
00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.680
let's deal with these objects first.

258
00:10:54.920 --> 00:10:57.880
Titan. Uh, and yes,

259
00:10:57.880 --> 00:11:00.280
just a moon. It's the second largest moon in

260
00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:02.080
the solar system. It's bigger than the planet

261
00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.070
Mercury. Uh, it's got, but

262
00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:07.270
it does have about one and a half times the

263
00:11:07.270 --> 00:11:09.790
atmospheric pressure of our own planet

264
00:11:10.190 --> 00:11:12.750
and that's largely due

265
00:11:13.550 --> 00:11:15.630
to the difference in temperature between

266
00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:17.940
Jordy and Titan. Um,

267
00:11:18.910 --> 00:11:20.510
so Titan has

268
00:11:21.230 --> 00:11:23.590
temperatures, it's in the surface

269
00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:25.790
temperatures around about minus 180,

270
00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:29.190
minus 190 Celsius. And of

271
00:11:29.190 --> 00:11:32.040
course that's cold enough for its surface

272
00:11:32.040 --> 00:11:34.800
to be solid ice, water ice and to have

273
00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:37.520
liquid natural, uh, gas, ethane and

274
00:11:37.520 --> 00:11:40.400
methane lakes on its surface, lakes and

275
00:11:40.400 --> 00:11:43.200
seas. Uh, it's also got this very thick

276
00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.320
atmosphere. Um, so these,

277
00:11:45.959 --> 00:11:48.920
the molecules of Gas in

278
00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:52.040
Titan's atmosphere are very cold

279
00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.440
and so they don't sort of bubble

280
00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:58.050
up to be the. To get up to

281
00:11:58.050 --> 00:12:01.010
escape velocity. And so basically you've

282
00:12:01.010 --> 00:12:02.690
got an entrapment of this,

283
00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:06.530
um, atmosphere. Um, of

284
00:12:07.420 --> 00:12:10.360
m. I think it's mostly nitrogen. Thinking,

285
00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.130
uh, about it. Um, actually it

286
00:12:13.130 --> 00:12:15.380
is just checking a number here. It's 90, uh,

287
00:12:15.650 --> 00:12:18.610
5% nitrogen, uh, and the rest is

288
00:12:18.770 --> 00:12:21.730
methane and other hydrocarbons. So,

289
00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:23.880
yes. So it's um. The

290
00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.520
nitrogen atmosphere, very, very cold,

291
00:12:26.920 --> 00:12:29.440
doesn't have enough energy to sort of

292
00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.920
disappear off into space. So its pressure is

293
00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:34.720
much higher than Jordy Um, it's a

294
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.400
similar storey in regard to Venus,

295
00:12:37.560 --> 00:12:40.240
only kind of more so. Uh,

296
00:12:40.280 --> 00:12:42.880
because, um, with

297
00:12:42.880 --> 00:12:45.640
Venus we have the situation

298
00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:47.210
that, um.

299
00:12:48.680 --> 00:12:49.450
Uh,

300
00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:53.720
excuse me, sorry, I've just CLOiD the page I

301
00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.440
was looking at here. Uh, which is not what I

302
00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:59.280
wanted to do. Um, let me

303
00:12:59.280 --> 00:13:00.440
just bring it back.

304
00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.080
Andrew Dunkley: So we've all been there, Fred. We've all done

305
00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:03.400
that.

306
00:13:04.280 --> 00:13:06.440
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. So, um, we've got a pressure.

307
00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:09.720
It's roughly 90 times

308
00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:12.220
Jordy uh, which is, uh,

309
00:13:13.400 --> 00:13:16.260
kind of unbelievable. Um, why is

310
00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:18.940
that? It is because the atmosphere is

311
00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.820
mostly carbon dioxide, which is a

312
00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:24.780
dense gas. As you know, it's uh, uh, heavier

313
00:13:24.780 --> 00:13:27.540
than air. Um, and so that

314
00:13:28.180 --> 00:13:30.580
basically, uh, increases the

315
00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:33.170
atmospheric pressure. Uh,

316
00:13:33.300 --> 00:13:36.260
we know that, uh, it's had this, you know,

317
00:13:36.260 --> 00:13:38.740
runaway greenhouse effect because there is so

318
00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:41.220
much carbon in the atmosphere

319
00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:44.980
and that's essentially the carbon dioxide

320
00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:46.540
traps the heat. You've got the runaway

321
00:13:46.540 --> 00:13:48.080
greenhouse effect. So you've got a surface

322
00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:50.320
temperature which I think is in the region of

323
00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.080
460 degrees Celsius.

324
00:13:54.910 --> 00:13:57.840
Um, so the question, I guess

325
00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:01.960
the real nub of Greg's question

326
00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:04.440
is why isn't the Jordy like that? Was it all

327
00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.360
blown away by theia? And the answer

328
00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.160
is maybe,

329
00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:13.800
probably not, but maybe in a way because

330
00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:15.480
what keeps our atmosphere

331
00:14:16.040 --> 00:14:18.880
temperate, uh, is what's

332
00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:21.520
called the carbon cycle. It's the fact that

333
00:14:21.520 --> 00:14:24.440
we have, uh. Basically we've got a planet

334
00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:26.560
whose surface is divided into tectonic

335
00:14:26.560 --> 00:14:29.560
plates. Those plates slide around one

336
00:14:29.560 --> 00:14:32.040
another and you get a, uh, volcanism,

337
00:14:32.640 --> 00:14:35.560
uh, putting carbon into the atmosphere.

338
00:14:35.560 --> 00:14:38.280
That carbon sinks down into the

339
00:14:38.280 --> 00:14:40.920
ocean and eventually gets subsumed back

340
00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:43.650
underneath. Uh, the, um,

341
00:14:45.160 --> 00:14:47.960
uh, continental plays. Uh, that's the

342
00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:50.880
mechanism. And that, uh, circulation of

343
00:14:50.880 --> 00:14:53.720
carbon acts as a kind of thermostat. It's

344
00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:55.440
what keeps the Jordy uh, temperature

345
00:14:55.680 --> 00:14:57.650
reasonable. Uh, uh.

346
00:14:58.560 --> 00:15:00.440
The reason why I said there might be a link

347
00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.080
with THEIA is I guess it's possible that

348
00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:05.600
THEIA had something to do with the Origin of

349
00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.880
tectonic plates. Although my understanding.

350
00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.930
Andrew Dunkley: So not a direct correlation,

351
00:15:11.930 --> 00:15:14.170
but maybe something, you know, an after

352
00:15:14.170 --> 00:15:14.530
effect.

353
00:15:14.930 --> 00:15:17.290
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, that's right. The consequences. We've

354
00:15:17.290 --> 00:15:19.570
got tectonic plates, uh, which

355
00:15:19.730 --> 00:15:22.530
stabilise the atmosphere and that might have

356
00:15:22.530 --> 00:15:24.250
something to do with Theia. Although my

357
00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:27.250
understanding of the Theia impact is that the

358
00:15:27.250 --> 00:15:29.410
Jordy at that time was probably

359
00:15:29.940 --> 00:15:32.730
um, basically a magma world. It was, it

360
00:15:32.730 --> 00:15:35.330
probably had a molten surface.

361
00:15:35.650 --> 00:15:38.370
Andrew Dunkley: So would it have not had an

362
00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:40.450
atmosphere at all or maybe just something

363
00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:42.600
really sinister and nast?

364
00:15:43.070 --> 00:15:44.790
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, I think it had pretty nasty stuff in

365
00:15:44.790 --> 00:15:45.950
its atmosphere. There would have been an

366
00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:48.310
atmosphere there which was probably highly

367
00:15:48.310 --> 00:15:51.150
toxic and uh, not good for

368
00:15:51.710 --> 00:15:53.710
future planet Jordy So

369
00:15:54.470 --> 00:15:56.830
um, there could be a link with Theia.

370
00:15:57.790 --> 00:16:00.630
I suspect not. As I said, I think my

371
00:16:00.630 --> 00:16:03.470
understanding of the latest idea on the Thea

372
00:16:03.470 --> 00:16:06.310
impact is that the Jordy had basically a

373
00:16:06.310 --> 00:16:08.670
magma ocean when the impact took place. And

374
00:16:08.670 --> 00:16:10.290
that's why, um,

375
00:16:13.070 --> 00:16:15.350
the structure of the moon, the isotopes in

376
00:16:15.350 --> 00:16:17.710
the moon are more related to

377
00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:21.150
the Jordy uh, isotopes than

378
00:16:21.950 --> 00:16:24.310
what THEIA might have had. We don't know what

379
00:16:24.310 --> 00:16:26.669
isotopic ratios there were on Theia. We don't

380
00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:29.450
know exactly what elements were there. Uh,

381
00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:32.070
but the moon is made of stuff largely similar

382
00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:34.830
to the Jordy Okay, all right.

383
00:16:34.910 --> 00:16:37.310
Andrew Dunkley: Um, but yes, we do live on

384
00:16:37.950 --> 00:16:40.500
a planet with a um, thin and

385
00:16:40.500 --> 00:16:43.380
wispy atmosphere and we, we should

386
00:16:43.380 --> 00:16:45.620
do as much as we can to protect it.

387
00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:46.900
Professor Fred Watson: Keep it there. That's right.

388
00:16:46.900 --> 00:16:49.660
Andrew Dunkley: Although, although you did, um, you gave me

389
00:16:49.660 --> 00:16:51.940
an idea. I mean if, if carbon comes out of

390
00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:53.820
the volcanoes, goes back into the ocean and

391
00:16:53.820 --> 00:16:55.579
then eventually gets sucked back down through

392
00:16:55.579 --> 00:16:58.420
the tectonic plates. We're not

393
00:16:58.420 --> 00:17:00.300
wrong to throw all our rubbish in the ocean.

394
00:17:00.300 --> 00:17:02.540
By the sound of a threat, we should keep

395
00:17:02.540 --> 00:17:03.060
doing that.

396
00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:07.100
Professor Fred Watson: Uh, yes, I think there

397
00:17:07.100 --> 00:17:08.540
might be arguments against that. Yeah,

398
00:17:08.540 --> 00:17:09.100
probably are.

399
00:17:09.100 --> 00:17:11.720
Andrew Dunkley: Yes, yes, don't, don't do anything usually

400
00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.720
wrong. Uh, but thank, uh, you very much,

401
00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.800
Greg for sending in your question.

402
00:17:16.800 --> 00:17:19.320
This is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and

403
00:17:19.320 --> 00:17:20.720
Professor Fred Watson.

404
00:17:23.520 --> 00:17:25.760
Speaker D: Three, two, one.

405
00:17:26.320 --> 00:17:29.280
Andrew Dunkley: Space Nuts. Okay Fred, we got a couple

406
00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:32.120
of audio questions, uh, so let's get into

407
00:17:32.120 --> 00:17:34.680
those. The first one comes, uh, this one

408
00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:35.840
comes from Switzerland.

409
00:17:38.330 --> 00:17:40.930
Speaker D: Hello Fred and Andrew, this is Michael from

410
00:17:40.930 --> 00:17:43.810
Switzerland. I have a

411
00:17:43.810 --> 00:17:46.410
question for you regarding the

412
00:17:46.810 --> 00:17:49.700
Artemis 2 mission. So, uh,

413
00:17:50.090 --> 00:17:52.570
there it is claimed that they have

414
00:17:53.130 --> 00:17:56.010
visuals of meteorite impacts

415
00:17:56.330 --> 00:17:59.210
on um, the moon's far side.

416
00:18:00.250 --> 00:18:03.130
So uh, my question is how

417
00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:05.930
do we discriminate uh, these

418
00:18:06.260 --> 00:18:09.050
uh, one person side things

419
00:18:09.850 --> 00:18:12.330
from physiological, uh, impact

420
00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:14.890
of uh, high energy

421
00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:17.610
radiation with the human retina

422
00:18:17.930 --> 00:18:20.410
in in space,

423
00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:23.610
um, one person,

424
00:18:23.770 --> 00:18:26.690
visual, uh, to my knowledge, is

425
00:18:26.690 --> 00:18:29.250
not a scientific evidence. So you need uh,

426
00:18:29.770 --> 00:18:31.530
at least two or more

427
00:18:32.510 --> 00:18:35.310
individual, uh, sightings of the

428
00:18:35.310 --> 00:18:38.310
same event, uh, or at

429
00:18:38.310 --> 00:18:40.380
least a technical, um,

430
00:18:41.310 --> 00:18:44.030
sighting. So, uh, what is your

431
00:18:44.190 --> 00:18:46.590
opinion on that? Because this

432
00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:49.950
makes uh, big wave, uh, in the,

433
00:18:50.350 --> 00:18:52.420
in the community. And uh,

434
00:18:53.470 --> 00:18:56.110
I'm not sure whether they really have seen

435
00:18:56.430 --> 00:18:59.390
meteorite impact or just were fooled by their

436
00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.140
own side. Thank you for

437
00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:05.100
answering and love your show. Bye.

438
00:19:05.100 --> 00:19:05.420
Bye.

439
00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:08.380
Andrew Dunkley: Thank you. Michael. Uh, I

440
00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:11.180
mean, it's a good question to ask because,

441
00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.420
uh, all I've heard is that

442
00:19:14.540 --> 00:19:17.260
there were four astronauts on Artemis 2,

443
00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:18.860
uh, that went around the moon,

444
00:19:19.660 --> 00:19:22.620
um, as far as I'm aware,

445
00:19:22.620 --> 00:19:25.460
and I've just double checked it, all four of

446
00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:28.270
them witnessed this event.

447
00:19:30.110 --> 00:19:32.270
So it wasn't just one,

448
00:19:32.990 --> 00:19:34.190
as far as we're aware.

449
00:19:35.590 --> 00:19:37.790
Professor Fred Watson: Um, it's a bit more complicated than that,

450
00:19:37.870 --> 00:19:38.430
Andrew.

451
00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:39.870
Andrew Dunkley: I had suspected it would be.

452
00:19:39.870 --> 00:19:40.350
Speaker C: Yeah.

453
00:19:42.030 --> 00:19:43.790
Professor Fred Watson: So there were

454
00:19:44.990 --> 00:19:47.710
the Gary.com of four and

455
00:19:47.870 --> 00:19:50.110
six impact flashes were

456
00:19:50.590 --> 00:19:53.400
observed, uh, uh, and I

457
00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:55.400
think there is a breakdown, um,

458
00:19:56.120 --> 00:19:58.920
which I have had, but

459
00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:01.840
can't lay my hands on it as to. Oh, here

460
00:20:01.840 --> 00:20:04.600
we are. Yeah. Um, Reid Wiseman

461
00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:07.640
was the commander. He saw

462
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.000
two impacts. Jeremy

463
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.600
Hansen observed another two.

464
00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:15.940
And uh,

465
00:20:16.600 --> 00:20:19.540
I think also the other two

466
00:20:19.540 --> 00:20:21.700
Gary.com members observed some.

467
00:20:22.660 --> 00:20:25.140
But, uh, the bottom line here is

468
00:20:25.620 --> 00:20:27.300
Andrew Dunkley: they only saw them one at a time.

469
00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.860
Professor Fred Watson: Were they. Yes. Were they

470
00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:32.740
seen together? And,

471
00:20:33.270 --> 00:20:36.100
um, once again my AI assistant,

472
00:20:36.590 --> 00:20:39.540
uh, says the specific number of flashes

473
00:20:40.020 --> 00:20:42.620
definitively witnessed by more than one

474
00:20:42.620 --> 00:20:45.620
astronaut at the exact same moment has

475
00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:48.180
not been isolated from the total Nally by

476
00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:50.800
nas. So we

477
00:20:50.800 --> 00:20:53.720
don't know whether any of them

478
00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:56.400
saw the same, you know, more than one of them

479
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:58.800
saw the same flash.

480
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:02.440
And in that regard, Michael's got a very good

481
00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:04.960
point. I think because one

482
00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:07.280
visual sighting isn't really

483
00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.880
a scientific observation. It needs to be,

484
00:21:11.520 --> 00:21:14.440
uh, somehow corroborated. And you know,

485
00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:15.920
one way of doing that would have been

486
00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.890
photography. Uh, but I don't think there were

487
00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:21.890
any photographic or imaging records

488
00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:24.810
of these flashes. So I think he's right to

489
00:21:24.810 --> 00:21:27.610
raise the question, uh, because we do know

490
00:21:27.690 --> 00:21:30.530
that, uh, subatomic particles, and this

491
00:21:30.530 --> 00:21:33.289
is particularly cosmic rays, pass through the

492
00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:36.250
body and can uh, essentially

493
00:21:37.050 --> 00:21:39.810
give you a flash on the retina as they go

494
00:21:39.810 --> 00:21:42.570
through one of your retinal cells. They can

495
00:21:43.060 --> 00:21:45.700
basically excite it, uh, and you see a flash

496
00:21:45.700 --> 00:21:47.940
of light. I'm pretty sure You've been them

497
00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:50.020
myself. A single flash

498
00:21:51.540 --> 00:21:54.380
against a black background. Certainly

499
00:21:54.380 --> 00:21:56.660
the electronic detectors that we used to use

500
00:21:57.060 --> 00:21:58.740
at Siding Spring Observatory, they're

501
00:21:58.820 --> 00:22:01.260
probably better these days. Were Very

502
00:22:01.260 --> 00:22:03.700
susceptible to these cosmic ray events. So

503
00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:06.020
when you took an image, uh, you found that a

504
00:22:06.020 --> 00:22:08.860
lot of flashes, sometimes lines where the

505
00:22:08.860 --> 00:22:11.580
cosmic ray has gone. Actually

506
00:22:11.580 --> 00:22:13.620
entered in the plane of the detector. So it's

507
00:22:13.620 --> 00:22:16.240
gone through many pixels and excited them

508
00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:18.720
all. Um, so it's a real phenomenon.

509
00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:19.440
Now,

510
00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.800
my instinct would be that there might be

511
00:22:25.800 --> 00:22:28.240
a differentiation in the duration of these

512
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.560
flashes. Because cosmic ray flashes on your

513
00:22:30.560 --> 00:22:33.550
retina are, uh, extremely brief. Uh,

514
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:36.480
but I think the flashes observed by

515
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.200
the Artemis astronauts were also

516
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.970
extremely brief, uh, in

517
00:22:42.970 --> 00:22:45.410
the region of milliseconds, probably.

518
00:22:46.030 --> 00:22:48.810
Um, and that's. You probably

519
00:22:48.810 --> 00:22:50.370
would not be able to tell the difference

520
00:22:50.370 --> 00:22:53.070
between one and the other. And, uh,

521
00:22:53.570 --> 00:22:56.050
again, they're in a high radiation

522
00:22:56.050 --> 00:22:57.330
environment. They are,

523
00:22:58.790 --> 00:23:01.490
uh, in orbit around the moon. They are,

524
00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:05.050
um, shaded from the radiation field

525
00:23:05.050 --> 00:23:07.090
of the sun, the direct radiation field of the

526
00:23:07.090 --> 00:23:09.450
sun, because the moon's in the way. Uh, they

527
00:23:09.450 --> 00:23:11.210
were looking at these on the dark side of the

528
00:23:11.210 --> 00:23:14.050
moon, but the cosmos as a whole was open to

529
00:23:14.050 --> 00:23:15.910
them. And that's where cosmic rays come from.

530
00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:17.870
They come from the universe, generally.

531
00:23:18.670 --> 00:23:21.110
So I, uh, think Michael raises a good point,

532
00:23:21.110 --> 00:23:24.030
and it's one. It'd be nice to get a bit

533
00:23:24.030 --> 00:23:26.750
more knowledge of this to see if we can get

534
00:23:27.550 --> 00:23:29.830
some eyewitness accounts from the Artemis

535
00:23:29.830 --> 00:23:32.830
astronauts. They may be writing their memoirs

536
00:23:32.830 --> 00:23:35.110
or whatever at the moment. It would be very

537
00:23:35.110 --> 00:23:37.150
good to see if any of them can corroborate

538
00:23:38.030 --> 00:23:40.720
these millisecond long, uh,

539
00:23:40.800 --> 00:23:41.680
flashes of light.

540
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:44.520
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. It says a lot though, about the

541
00:23:44.520 --> 00:23:46.360
sensitivity of the human eye though, doesn't

542
00:23:46.360 --> 00:23:46.640
it?

543
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.280
Professor Fred Watson: It does, yes. Yes. Well, it all does, we

544
00:23:49.280 --> 00:23:52.240
think, um, there have been experiments done,

545
00:23:52.750 --> 00:23:55.720
uh, quite some time ago that suggest that the

546
00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:57.960
human eye can almost detect individual

547
00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:00.880
photons, kind

548
00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.240
of, you know, perhaps groups of five or

549
00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:05.080
something like that are, ah, detectable. I

550
00:24:05.080 --> 00:24:07.640
can't remember the details of it, but yeah, a

551
00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:09.980
good, uh. Well, well thought out, um,

552
00:24:10.690 --> 00:24:13.330
uh, question from Michael there. To which we

553
00:24:13.330 --> 00:24:15.970
don't really have the exact answer. No.

554
00:24:15.970 --> 00:24:18.090
Andrew Dunkley: I Space if, um, they do

555
00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:21.290
write a report or something, they might be

556
00:24:21.290 --> 00:24:24.130
able to, um, clarify what

557
00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:27.050
exactly was seen and who saw it and how

558
00:24:27.050 --> 00:24:29.370
many of them at the same time, etc.

559
00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:32.490
Uh, but if it turns out that they only each

560
00:24:32.490 --> 00:24:35.450
saw this phenomenon

561
00:24:35.450 --> 00:24:38.410
individually, then probably, uh, it remains

562
00:24:38.410 --> 00:24:41.010
just a, um, I don't know, a casual

563
00:24:41.010 --> 00:24:43.430
observation, not a, A scientific

564
00:24:44.230 --> 00:24:44.630
thing.

565
00:24:45.350 --> 00:24:47.750
Professor Fred Watson: That's. That's correct. Yes, exactly.

566
00:24:48.150 --> 00:24:50.390
Andrew Dunkley: All right, great question, Michael. Well

567
00:24:50.390 --> 00:24:52.790
done. Uh, and thanks for sending that one in.

568
00:24:55.510 --> 00:24:57.350
Okay, We've had a problem here.

569
00:24:57.350 --> 00:24:58.029
Speaker D: This is Houston.

570
00:24:58.029 --> 00:25:00.310
Professor Fred Watson: Say again, please. Houston, we've had about.

571
00:25:00.310 --> 00:25:02.750
Andrew Dunkley: We've had a main B undervolt. Roger, main B

572
00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:04.950
undervolt. Okay, standby 13. We're looking at

573
00:25:04.950 --> 00:25:07.520
it. Stay sputs F5.

574
00:25:07.590 --> 00:25:10.310
Final question today comes from somebody who

575
00:25:10.310 --> 00:25:11.670
forgot to tell us their name.

576
00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:16.310
Speaker C: Hi guys. Um, You've been listening to the

577
00:25:16.310 --> 00:25:18.970
show for many many years. Um,

578
00:25:19.110 --> 00:25:21.950
I'm a Brit obviously. You've been wondering

579
00:25:21.950 --> 00:25:24.190
about how to ask a question. I've had several

580
00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:26.550
questions in the past. Uh, the question I

581
00:25:26.550 --> 00:25:29.270
have now is is there anything else that I

582
00:25:29.270 --> 00:25:31.990
haven't found that is going to go and

583
00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:35.350
observe the sun at such or even at

584
00:25:35.350 --> 00:25:37.590
a longer thing? Because my favourite

585
00:25:37.670 --> 00:25:40.410
spacecraft in the world, Parker Solar

586
00:25:40.410 --> 00:25:42.450
Probe and I think it is

587
00:25:43.250 --> 00:25:46.170
done such an amazing job and I was just

588
00:25:46.170 --> 00:25:48.410
wondering if there was anything else that you

589
00:25:48.410 --> 00:25:51.330
guys knew that might um, be

590
00:25:51.570 --> 00:25:54.450
more exciting. So there we

591
00:25:54.450 --> 00:25:56.950
go. Anyway, thank you very much for this. Um,

592
00:25:56.950 --> 00:25:59.370
the podcast has been fantastic for me. It's

593
00:25:59.370 --> 00:26:02.210
kept me going through several nights, months

594
00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:05.010
and years and that was the best

595
00:26:05.010 --> 00:26:05.940
question I could come up with.

596
00:26:07.850 --> 00:26:09.710
Andrew Dunkley: Fair enough. And uh, it's a good one. Uh,

597
00:26:09.710 --> 00:26:11.650
thanks for sending it in. Don't know your

598
00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:14.650
name but um, we know where you are. We know

599
00:26:14.650 --> 00:26:17.420
where you are. Um,

600
00:26:17.850 --> 00:26:20.060
now he mentioned the Parker Solar Probe. Um,

601
00:26:20.060 --> 00:26:22.890
that's also uh, achieved the fastest speed by

602
00:26:22.890 --> 00:26:25.450
a human made object ever I think.

603
00:26:26.090 --> 00:26:28.650
Um, fairly recently. Uh, there are

604
00:26:28.810 --> 00:26:31.370
several uh, probes out there

605
00:26:31.610 --> 00:26:34.490
sort of doing the solar thing. The Solar

606
00:26:34.490 --> 00:26:36.970
Orbiter which is an ESA mission. There's also

607
00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:38.630
the Solar Dynamics Dynamics Observatory,

608
00:26:38.630 --> 00:26:41.070
although I don't is it, is it up there or is

609
00:26:41.070 --> 00:26:42.950
it on Jordy I can't remember. It's a NASA

610
00:26:42.950 --> 00:26:45.190
observatory, uh, soho,

611
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.190
uh, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

612
00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.230
Uh, stereo, uh that's we've talked about

613
00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:54.920
stereo. It's two spacecraft um,

614
00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:57.390
orbiting the sun from different angles uh, so

615
00:26:57.390 --> 00:27:00.310
that they can get a um, 360 degree view

616
00:27:00.310 --> 00:27:02.990
of the star. And the JAXA

617
00:27:02.990 --> 00:27:03.830
NASA mission.

618
00:27:07.280 --> 00:27:08.160
Professor Fred Watson: That's right, yeah.

619
00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:10.950
Andrew Dunkley: Uh, which is focusing on magnetic fields. Um,

620
00:27:11.280 --> 00:27:13.080
so they're the ones that I'm aware of at the

621
00:27:13.080 --> 00:27:15.720
moment. Are they more exciting? I Space in

622
00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:17.920
their individual ways they've all got

623
00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:19.839
something different to contribute. So they'd

624
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:22.800
all be exciting in one way or another.

625
00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:27.480
Professor Fred Watson: Um, that's right. And uh, there are some

626
00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:29.400
upcoming ones as well that I think qualify

627
00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:31.690
for being exciting. Um, but

628
00:27:32.010 --> 00:27:34.970
just backstory of the Parker Solar

629
00:27:34.970 --> 00:27:37.490
Probe, uh, the reason why it goes so fast is

630
00:27:37.490 --> 00:27:39.810
that it comes so close to the sun and

631
00:27:39.810 --> 00:27:41.810
anything that's in orbit, um, and an

632
00:27:41.810 --> 00:27:44.130
elliptical orbit is at its fastest when it's

633
00:27:44.130 --> 00:27:46.330
at uh, perihelion, the nearest point to the

634
00:27:46.330 --> 00:27:49.210
sun. Uh and in fact that near point

635
00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.010
um takes it through the

636
00:27:52.010 --> 00:27:54.850
sun's inner corona. Uh and I think

637
00:27:54.850 --> 00:27:57.730
I read um, this last week

638
00:27:57.730 --> 00:27:59.950
it had its um. Was it its 28th

639
00:28:01.040 --> 00:28:03.380
uh, flyby of the solar

640
00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:05.220
corona? I think that's right.

641
00:28:05.450 --> 00:28:07.360
Um, uh

642
00:28:08.020 --> 00:28:10.980
yes. Uh, on the 11th of

643
00:28:11.620 --> 00:28:14.420
June it completed its

644
00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:17.420
28th close approach to the sun, sorry on the

645
00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:20.380
8th of June, uh matching its record distance

646
00:28:20.380 --> 00:28:23.220
of 3.8 million miles or about

647
00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:26.190
5 million kilometres, something like that. So

648
00:28:26.190 --> 00:28:28.070
that's why that's exciting because it gets

649
00:28:28.070 --> 00:28:30.710
fried nearly every time it goes that close to

650
00:28:30.710 --> 00:28:32.990
the sun. But I think there are some coming up

651
00:28:33.550 --> 00:28:36.270
which are uh, um, also pretty exciting.

652
00:28:36.790 --> 00:28:39.630
Uh, ESA's Vigil spacecraft

653
00:28:40.090 --> 00:28:42.510
uh, which will launch in 2031.

654
00:28:42.990 --> 00:28:45.550
That's going to be at the L5 point. Andrew.

655
00:28:45.790 --> 00:28:48.590
So it's one of the two Lagrange

656
00:28:48.590 --> 00:28:51.110
points which shares the same orbit as the

657
00:28:51.110 --> 00:28:53.110
Jordy and it's actually the one behind the

658
00:28:53.110 --> 00:28:55.990
Jordy in terms of uh, the

659
00:28:55.990 --> 00:28:58.770
way the Jordy uh circulates in its orbit. So

660
00:28:58.770 --> 00:29:01.210
it's 60 degrees behind the Jordy

661
00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.770
Uh and what it sees from that vantage point

662
00:29:04.770 --> 00:29:07.290
is a different view of the sun because it

663
00:29:07.290 --> 00:29:09.610
sees uh, the side of the sun

664
00:29:10.330 --> 00:29:13.290
that is invisible to us but is about

665
00:29:13.370 --> 00:29:15.610
to become visible as the sun rotates.

666
00:29:16.330 --> 00:29:17.930
So it will see the sun

667
00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:22.170
uh several days before

668
00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:25.310
it moves into our view from

669
00:29:25.310 --> 00:29:27.670
Jordy So what it's doing is giving you

670
00:29:27.670 --> 00:29:30.550
advanced warning of all the kind of

671
00:29:30.550 --> 00:29:32.650
activity that we see on the sun's surface.

672
00:29:32.650 --> 00:29:35.230
Uh, coronal Massey, ejections,

673
00:29:35.230 --> 00:29:38.110
solar flares, all of that stuff will be

674
00:29:38.110 --> 00:29:41.070
visible before it comes uh, into

675
00:29:41.150 --> 00:29:43.910
our uh, um before it points

676
00:29:43.910 --> 00:29:46.830
towards the Jordy Uh where some of

677
00:29:46.830 --> 00:29:48.590
these things could actually have an effect on

678
00:29:48.590 --> 00:29:51.130
us. On Jordy Um, there's

679
00:29:51.130 --> 00:29:54.060
ah, something called Prober

680
00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:57.180
3 which is two satellites

681
00:29:57.500 --> 00:29:59.900
and this I think is pretty exciting as well.

682
00:30:00.410 --> 00:30:03.110
Uh they're in Jordy orbit but they uh,

683
00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:06.380
basically give you an artificial eclipse

684
00:30:06.540 --> 00:30:09.260
in space. Oh wow. So um, you have

685
00:30:09.260 --> 00:30:12.220
one which is shaped like a disc

686
00:30:12.620 --> 00:30:14.900
in as much as you can see it in the direction

687
00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:17.020
towards the sun that sits in front of the

688
00:30:17.020 --> 00:30:19.340
sun, the other one's some distance behind.

689
00:30:20.150 --> 00:30:22.950
Uh, and the two of them uh

690
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:25.400
let you see the inner corona of the sun. So

691
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:28.180
that's also exciting. Uh,

692
00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.640
I uh, don't know when that's uh, planned to

693
00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:33.840
be launched but I Beg your pardon, that is

694
00:30:33.840 --> 00:30:35.960
already in orbit. Uh, that's one that's

695
00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:38.600
already in orbit. It's a very

696
00:30:38.600 --> 00:30:41.500
highly precise formation, um,

697
00:30:41.800 --> 00:30:43.960
pair of satellites. I think we've talked

698
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:46.240
about it before actually now I've come to

699
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:46.600
remember.

700
00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:47.560
Andrew Dunkley: Sounds familiar.

701
00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:50.670
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. And then once again another uh

702
00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:53.240
there's a NASA, a set of satellites called

703
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:56.200
Punch, uh four satellites um

704
00:30:56.200 --> 00:30:59.040
which basically are ah in what's called a sun

705
00:30:59.040 --> 00:31:01.990
synchronous orbit. They're always uh

706
00:31:01.990 --> 00:31:04.920
moving along the line between day and night

707
00:31:05.080 --> 00:31:07.960
and again that will give us uh

708
00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.280
3D observations because there are four

709
00:31:10.280 --> 00:31:12.680
satellites more than and they're in different

710
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:15.240
places uh there's going to be an Indian one

711
00:31:15.800 --> 00:31:18.280
I think there's all sorts of really exciting

712
00:31:18.280 --> 00:31:20.960
stuff coming up up for solar astronomy which

713
00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:23.840
we'll uh learn from a whole new fleet of

714
00:31:23.840 --> 00:31:26.800
spacecraft. So once again uh, I'm sorry I

715
00:31:26.800 --> 00:31:28.240
don't know your name but it's a good question

716
00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:30.310
and a great one to ask indeed.

717
00:31:30.310 --> 00:31:32.480
Andrew Dunkley: Uh and not forgetting all the land based

718
00:31:32.560 --> 00:31:35.040
solar observatories and one that You've been

719
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:37.960
that um I visited there last year or

720
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:40.920
drove past it anyway was on uh Mount Tedi

721
00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:43.680
in Tenerife. Yes it's

722
00:31:44.320 --> 00:31:46.880
a solar observatory, the Gregor

723
00:31:47.360 --> 00:31:49.040
Professor Fred Watson: Observatory I think, I think that's right,

724
00:31:49.040 --> 00:31:51.680
yes. And there's also the Daniel K Inouye

725
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:53.640
telescope uh which is on the summit of

726
00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:56.520
Haleakala on Maui uh we

727
00:31:56.520 --> 00:31:58.860
got married in front of it Marnie and I um

728
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:01.560
and uh that's the biggest solar telescope at

729
00:32:01.560 --> 00:32:03.320
the moment. Uh I think there's a bid to try

730
00:32:03.320 --> 00:32:05.720
and build a bigger one but the Daniel uh K

731
00:32:05.720 --> 00:32:08.520
inoue telescope, a 4 metre telescope looking

732
00:32:08.520 --> 00:32:10.840
at the sun. So we've got the most exquisite

733
00:32:10.840 --> 00:32:12.760
detail on the sun's surface coming from the

734
00:32:12.760 --> 00:32:13.240
telescope.

735
00:32:13.240 --> 00:32:15.080
Andrew Dunkley: You can't keep China out of it because

736
00:32:15.080 --> 00:32:17.360
they've got the Chinese Large Solar Telescope

737
00:32:17.460 --> 00:32:20.340
um which is um quite a big

738
00:32:20.340 --> 00:32:22.940
one and the list is long. There are many,

739
00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:24.460
many on the, on the actual

740
00:32:25.580 --> 00:32:27.780
surface of the planet that are dedicated to

741
00:32:27.780 --> 00:32:30.620
solar observatory so and for the record

742
00:32:30.620 --> 00:32:33.580
the Parker solar probe uh achieved the

743
00:32:33.580 --> 00:32:36.540
fastest speed by any human made

744
00:32:36.540 --> 00:32:39.260
object on 24th December 2024

745
00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:42.700
when at perihelion it achieved a speed

746
00:32:42.780 --> 00:32:45.500
of 430,000

747
00:32:45.820 --> 00:32:48.460
miles per hour which is

748
00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:51.160
692,000 kilometres hour

749
00:32:51.560 --> 00:32:54.440
and uh, yes everyone's been arrested now

750
00:32:56.840 --> 00:32:58.200
Professor Fred Watson: quite right too, yes

751
00:32:58.330 --> 00:33:00.280
Andrew Dunkley: um, that's, that's, that's extraordinary

752
00:33:00.280 --> 00:33:03.240
speed though. It really is um, quite an

753
00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:06.030
amazing feat but um, thanks for sending it

754
00:33:06.030 --> 00:33:08.880
uh in your question uh whoever you are but

755
00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.800
we know where you live uh and that brings us

756
00:33:11.800 --> 00:33:13.400
to the end. Fred thank you very much.

757
00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.200
Professor Fred Watson: Pleasure Andrew good uh to talk again and

758
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:17.240
we'll speak again soon.

759
00:33:17.480 --> 00:33:20.000
Andrew Dunkley: We will indeed. Professor Fred Watson,

760
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:22.360
Astronomer at large. And if you would like to

761
00:33:22.660 --> 00:33:24.980
send a question in for our Q A episodes,

762
00:33:24.980 --> 00:33:27.620
please do. Just, uh, go to our website, space

763
00:33:27.620 --> 00:33:30.580
nutspodcast.com spacenuts IO

764
00:33:30.740 --> 00:33:33.060
Click on the AMA link at the top where you

765
00:33:33.060 --> 00:33:35.980
can send text and audio questions and we'll

766
00:33:35.980 --> 00:33:38.260
do our very best to ignore them, but then

767
00:33:38.260 --> 00:33:40.510
again, we'll probably answer them. Uh,

768
00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:42.220
sometimes we get people that double up and

769
00:33:42.220 --> 00:33:45.140
triple up. And, uh, so if we don't answer

770
00:33:45.140 --> 00:33:46.780
your question, it's probably because someone

771
00:33:46.780 --> 00:33:48.650
else already beat you to the punch. But, uh,

772
00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:50.940
you know, I do my best to go through them and

773
00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:53.510
make sure we don't miss anybody. But, um,

774
00:33:53.510 --> 00:33:56.310
yes, I try to share it around. So it's, um,

775
00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:58.560
different people all the time as well. So

776
00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:00.800
there's all these bureaucratic things I've

777
00:34:00.800 --> 00:34:03.600
got to deal with. And, uh, thanks also

778
00:34:03.600 --> 00:34:04.960
to Hugh in the studio.

779
00:34:04.970 --> 00:34:07.760
Uh, now, our last, um, question came from,

780
00:34:07.810 --> 00:34:10.760
um, a fellow who said he was looking into

781
00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:13.320
how to ask a question. And that got Hugh

782
00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:15.240
thinking, so he went to look it up and he's

783
00:34:15.240 --> 00:34:17.080
still trying to figure out how to ask a

784
00:34:17.080 --> 00:34:19.160
question. That's why he couldn't be with us

785
00:34:19.160 --> 00:34:21.120
today. And from me, Andrew Dunkley. Thanks

786
00:34:21.120 --> 00:34:22.520
for your company. We'll see you on the next

787
00:34:22.520 --> 00:34:24.800
episode of Space Nuts. Bye. Bye.

788
00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:28.700
You're listening to the Space Nuts podcast,

789
00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:33.100
available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

790
00:34:33.180 --> 00:34:35.980
iHeartRadio or your favourite podcast

791
00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:38.340
player. You can also stream on demand at

792
00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:39.130
Bitesz.com.

793
00:34:39.130 --> 00:34:41.820
Professor Fred Watson: Um, this has been another quality podcast

794
00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:43.610
production from Bitesz.com.

795
00:34:43.610 --> 00:34:44.030
Andrew Dunkley: Um,