Dec. 20, 2024

Space Station Smells, Sombrero Galaxy & Dark Energy Dilemmas: #479

Space Station Smells, Sombrero Galaxy & Dark Energy Dilemmas: #479

This episode is brought to you with the support of Incogni...the best way to cleanup your privacy online and remain that way. To get our special 60% off offer, visit https://www.incogni.com/spacenuts

Space Nuts Episode: Stink in Space, Sombrero...

Spotify Apple Podcasts Youtube Music iHeartRadio Spreaker PocketCasts YouTube Goodpods Amazon Music TuneIn Overcast JioSaavn Castro RSS Feed
Spotify podcast player icon Spotify Spotify Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Apple Podcasts Apple Podcasts Youtube Music podcast player icon Youtube Music Youtube Music iHeartRadio podcast player icon iHeartRadio iHeartRadio Spreaker podcast player icon Spreaker Spreaker PocketCasts podcast player icon PocketCasts PocketCasts YouTube podcast player icon YouTube YouTube Goodpods podcast player icon Goodpods Goodpods Amazon Music podcast player icon Amazon Music Amazon Music TuneIn podcast player icon TuneIn TuneIn Overcast podcast player icon Overcast Overcast JioSaavn podcast player icon JioSaavn JioSaavn Castro podcast player icon Castro Castro RSS Feed podcast player icon RSS Feed RSS Feed

This episode is brought to you with the support of Incogni...the best way to cleanup your privacy online and remain that way. To get our special 60% off offer, visit www.incogni.com/spacenuts

Space Nuts Episode: Stink in Space, Sombrero Galaxy, and Dark Energy Revelations #479
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson as they explore the latest cosmic events in this entertaining episode of Space Nuts. From a mysterious odour aboard the International Space Station to stunning images of the Sombrero Galaxy and groundbreaking theories on dark energy, this episode is packed with stellar insights and astronomical wonders.
Episode Highlights:
- International Space Station's Stinky Situation: Discover the unexpected odour that caused astronauts to temporarily seal off a recently docked Russian supply ship. Explore the potential causes and the measures taken to ensure the crew's safety.
- Sombrero Galaxy's New Look: Marvel at the breathtaking mid-infrared images of the Sombrero Galaxy captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Learn about the intricate details revealed in the galaxy's dusty rings and the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
- Dark Energy's New Twist: Delve into the latest research suggesting that dark energy might not be constant, challenging our understanding of the universe's expansion. Consider the implications of this potential paradigm shift in cosmology.
For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a review, message or comment on your favourite platform.
For more Space and Astronomy News Podcasts, visit our HQ at www.bitesz.com.
Become a supporter of this podcast for extended commercial-free episodes and more. Visit our Support page for options: spacenutspodcast.com/about
Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
For our special NordVPN deal, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn
00:00 - Andrew Dunkley hosts Space Nuts, where we talk astronomy and space science
01:08 - Professor Fred Watson will be doing archival episodes over the Christmas New Year period
03:02 - Bad smell coming from Russian spacecraft docking with International Space Station
09:01 - Arthur Dent. What a name. Only Douglas Adams could think up a name like that
09:24 - Andrew Dunkley says odour on International Space Station could be anything
11:09 - Incogni is a way of cleaning up your online presence
13:17 - James Webb telescope has taken a marvellous mid infrared image of galaxy
18:32 - The James Webb Space Telescope is seeking 78,000 hours of observing time
24:54 - Andrew Dunkley and Fred Watson discuss the accelerating expansion of the universe
32:25 - Fred Watson: This could indicate new physics that we don't yet understand
✍️ Episode References
Space.com
[https://www.space.com](https://www.space.com)
Phys.org
[https://www.phys.org](https://www.phys.org)
Incogni
[https://www.incogni.com/spacenuts](https://www.incogni.com/spacenuts)
Bytes.com
[https://www.bytes.com](https://www.bytes.com)


Become a supporter of this podcast:

 

 

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.960
Hi there, Thanks for joining us on Space Nuts, where

2
00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:07.000
we talk astronomy and space science. My name is Andrew Dunkley.

3
00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:11.279
Coming up on this episode. It is a real stinker,

4
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:16.399
and we'll tell you why. Also some also some you're

5
00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.000
not supposed to make any noise yet, Fred.

6
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.280
And also it's the end of the year, so we'll

7
00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.239
do whatever we like.

8
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.920
The Sombrero Galaxy a new image or two, and it

9
00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:31.600
is stunning, to say the least, and possible new data

10
00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.679
about dark energy that might just tip everything upside down.

11
00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.799
We'll talk about all of that on this episode of Space.

12
00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:48.280
Nut fifteen in Channel ten nine Ignition Space Nuts or

13
00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:53.320
three two one Space Notes.

14
00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:55.359
I bought it, Neils good.

15
00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:58.799
It's very hard to keep Fred quiet when he's excited.

16
00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:03.320
Hello, Fred, I do apologize for speaking out of sherp.

17
00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:05.640
I keep forgetting you know.

18
00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:08.400
I'm not here yet, not here until I introduce you

19
00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:10.879
Professor Fred Watts, an astronomer at large.

20
00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:11.959
Thank you.

21
00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:13.280
That'll be that'll do yet.

22
00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:16.799
Nice Nice to see you, Nice to see you. It's

23
00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.760
our second to last episode of the year.

24
00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:20.760
Officially, we will be.

25
00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:24.840
Doing some archival episodes over the Christmas New Year period,

26
00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.959
probably some that people haven't heard in a very long time.

27
00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.120
It's it's I don't know whether it's a good or

28
00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:32.040
a bad thing that we've been going long enough to

29
00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:32.799
have archives.

30
00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:36.760
That's the past, that's the bart that stun speeding. It's

31
00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:37.359
fair enough.

32
00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:42.680
So yeah, but they're really good episodes. And what we're

33
00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:45.920
going to do just to keep them a bit fresher

34
00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:50.000
is tag them with a little bit of astronomical news

35
00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.400
as it happens over the Christmas New Year period. I'm

36
00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.599
leaving that up to Hugh in the studio. We finally

37
00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:55.359
found him a job.

38
00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:58.040
But yes, that's that's well.

39
00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:00.400
You see, there is a job there because if you've

40
00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.840
got if you've got an archive, you've got to have

41
00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:07.319
an archivist, Yes, somebody who you know, who looks after

42
00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.080
the archive. And I'm not going to give anything away

43
00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.639
here but money. And I have a really good friend

44
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.000
who is the archivist to a former prime minister and

45
00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:24.080
she is still very very busy with things that concerned

46
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:26.879
you know, his prime ministership and ongoing stuff.

47
00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:27.960
It's really about that.

48
00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:28.680
Yeah.

49
00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:34.439
Yeah, gosh, over my forty years in radio, I got

50
00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.240
to meet a lot of people with really fascinating jobs.

51
00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:41.879
I remember doing an interview with a fellow from Dubbo

52
00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.759
who was a tennis coach and he was a point

53
00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.199
he was appointed. You don't think about this thing, this

54
00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:50.319
sort of thing happening in Dubbo, but he was appointed

55
00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:56.439
to be the Davis Cup coach for India. Well, it

56
00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:59.240
was really fascinating. Yeah, you just never know what's going

57
00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:01.639
to pop up, never know it's correct.

58
00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:04.240
Now, we have.

59
00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.080
Some stories to tell in this second last episode of

60
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:11.159
the year, and the first one's a real stinker involving

61
00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:15.960
the International Space Station, or at least a transport spacecraft

62
00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:19.800
that's arrived there. Recently, we talked about that weird sound

63
00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:24.879
coming from the Boeing star Liner, which ended up meaning

64
00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:28.240
it was they thought it was feedback, but there's been

65
00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:34.240
a few other theories. Now it's a rather stinky situation,

66
00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:35.240
quite literally for it.

67
00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:37.360
Yes, it is.

68
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:37.680
So.

69
00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:42.599
This is a supply ship, a Russian supply ship. It's

70
00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:48.400
a Progress ninety spacecraft which docked with the International Space

71
00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:50.680
Station on the twenty third of November, just a few

72
00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:56.240
days ago as we're speaking now. And they it's a routine,

73
00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:59.680
completely routine process. You know, the supply ship arrives, you

74
00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:02.919
the hatches do the airlocks stuff, and.

75
00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:05.080
You take all thet all the peckets of M and

76
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.759
m's and get on with everything.

77
00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.479
Yeah, that's right, and all the you know, the coffee

78
00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:15.159
supplies and all the rest of it. Probably, yes, that's right. Anyway,

79
00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.800
notwithstanding all that, they opened the door but immediately have

80
00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.399
to shut it again because there's such a bad smell

81
00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:22.199
coming from it.

82
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:24.639
Wow, and uh.

83
00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:31.759
It's it's actually we might be we might be jumping

84
00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:35.680
to conclusions here. It's been described as an unexpected odor.

85
00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.560
And in fact, somebody, I think one of the comments

86
00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:44.519
was it smells a bit like a spray. And I

87
00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.600
assume by that I mean, you know, like an air

88
00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:49.680
freshener or something like that.

89
00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:52.480
So it might not be a bad smell, right, we're

90
00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:54.120
just assuming that because.

91
00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.199
Yeah, well that's why they don't only have baked beans

92
00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:00.480
on the Internet space track.

93
00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:01.879
Sure, that's right.

94
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:06.920
The truth about being right, what was that blazing saddles

95
00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:13.800
the Yeah, so they shut the door straight away. And

96
00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:18.360
I should explain that the spacecraft, the the International Space

97
00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:22.839
Station is divided into sector excuse me, sectors. You know,

98
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.399
it was made by joining together lots of modules, some

99
00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.639
of which were Russian, some of which were NASA and

100
00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.120
the Russian spacecraft dock with the Russian side of the

101
00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:38.680
of the International Space Station. So they the cosmonauts, Ross

102
00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:44.600
Cosmos scientists and well the cosmonauts, they're all flying. They

103
00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:49.800
they shut the shut the door immediately. Apparently they also

104
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.839
saw what are described as small droplets, but I don't

105
00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.480
know whether they were droplets in the air or droplets

106
00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.920
in you know, the surfaces. But anyway, at the moment

107
00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:06.279
as we speak this, the door is shut and they

108
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:10.319
are apparently and I'm quotingspace dot com here, the crew

109
00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:12.879
is not in danger and efforts to open the spacecraft

110
00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.920
are ongoing. That NASA stressed, but.

111
00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:17.360
There is.

112
00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:22.600
There is, you know, it's it's not when you've got

113
00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.399
an environment like that. All the air that these people

114
00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:30.000
are breathing is contained in the space station. It's not

115
00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:31.839
a question of opening the windows to let.

116
00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:33.600
I was about to say, they just should have just

117
00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:36.439
opened a window, open a window fresh and get some

118
00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:38.399
fresh nothing in there.

119
00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.120
Well, yes, so, but so what you have to do

120
00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:45.600
is something a little bit more serious. And again quoting

121
00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.160
from space dot com, very nice article on this. After

122
00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.959
Russian cosmonauts closed the hatch, air scrubbers and contaminant sensors

123
00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:55.639
on the International Space Station monitored the station's atmosphere and

124
00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:58.879
flight to Control has said their air quality was at

125
00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:02.040
normal level, so it hasn't sort the spread a bad

126
00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:07.120
smell throughout the whole of the of the spacecraft. Yeah, yes,

127
00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:14.360
that's right, Yeah, it is. It is a bit complex

128
00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.800
because there's there's doors and valves everywhere, and something I

129
00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:23.439
didn't know. Apparently the hatch that separates the Russian side

130
00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:28.160
from the U. S side is quite often closed at

131
00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:31.439
the moment, and that's people.

132
00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:34.560
Yeah, I was going to say, people will automatically, automatically

133
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:36.800
assume that's got something to do with the war in Ukraine.

134
00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.160
But it's not nothing to do with that at all.

135
00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.199
Nothing at all. It's because the Russian side's leaking. There's

136
00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:47.720
an air leak. Again, everybody's stressing it's not a danger

137
00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:53.360
to anybody on board, but there is disagreement between NASA

138
00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:56.600
and Ross Cosmos as to what this leak is caused

139
00:07:56.600 --> 00:08:01.120
by and how you fix it and whether there is

140
00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.360
a longer term risk. You know, if if you've got

141
00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:07.920
a leak, you kind of worry that some something's fractured

142
00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.680
or something like that, and that it might catastrophically give

143
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.040
way and suddenly you've got a big hole in the spacecraft.

144
00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:15.600
Yeah, apparently that leak's been going for.

145
00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:20.560
Like five years. That five years, I know, Oh goodness, Yeah,

146
00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:24.959
that was surprised at that too. Clearly, the the International

147
00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:30.800
Space Station is an aging piece of recruitment, and obviously

148
00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.960
you know it's it's the shining example of modern technology.

149
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.639
But I'm always reminded of what was it that the

150
00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:42.639
I forgot what the name of the construction fleet was

151
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.000
in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

152
00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.120
Oh, theog Voggs.

153
00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.279
That's right, it is the Vogon Constructive Fleet. And when

154
00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.159
they when the heroes got inside one of the spacecraft,

155
00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.559
it was just full of old mattresses, l dingy, and

156
00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:59.000
so that it makes you think of that sort of thing.

157
00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.600
Was Arthur Arthur Dent, wasn't it then?

158
00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.159
After d Yes, that's right, and forward prefect.

159
00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:09.399
Yes, Oh gosh, I remember some trash.

160
00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:12.840
Oh no, that's that's worth remembering that it is.

161
00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:16.039
And and my favorite slaty bad Fast.

162
00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.480
Yeah slightly bart fast. Yeah, what a name. Only Douglas

163
00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:20.720
Adams could think of the name.

164
00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.320
He was avazing, wasn't he amazing, we're off the track.

165
00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:27.960
We're talking about the old mattresses on the ISS.

166
00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:33.440
Well, I mean we were talking not very long ago

167
00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:37.559
Andrew about people just parking things on places where there's

168
00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:39.919
a bit of velcrow that they can do something on,

169
00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.200
and you know, stuff that you wouldn't expect because uh,

170
00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:49.440
there was that study of done of the archaeology of

171
00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:53.080
the International Space Station and people photographing bits of the

172
00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:56.080
space station just to provide a record of how what

173
00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.159
life is like on the International Space.

174
00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.720
And they put all these still porage systems up for

175
00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:05.200
certain uses and found that people were using them for

176
00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.000
completely different reasons.

177
00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:07.600
For other things.

178
00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:11.440
That's right, Yeah, it's quite interesting. So they don't know

179
00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:14.480
what the stink is. They don't know. What I understand

180
00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.960
about this supply chip is that they take all the

181
00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.480
goods out and then they fill a thing with rubbish

182
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.720
and then they burn it up on re entry.

183
00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:22.759
I'll get rid of the rubbish.

184
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.840
So that's you know, if you yeah, if you can't

185
00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:30.759
get into it without a space tom, Yeah, it's not

186
00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.559
very nice. Yeah, we'll worry. Look forward to hearing what

187
00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.519
the cause was if they have a work it out,

188
00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.159
and if we can we'll bring it to spacelu's listeners.

189
00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:46.039
Yes, indeed, not something you really need going into Christmas. Yeah,

190
00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:49.759
could could be anything, could could be anything. Hopefully it's

191
00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:52.440
not a bad smell. We haven't determined, you know, what

192
00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:58.039
the caliber of the odor is, but yeah, hopefully nothing

193
00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.200
nasty or noxious.

194
00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:00.559
Or any like that.

195
00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:04.879
You can read that story at space dot com. This

196
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.080
is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson.

197
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:11.600
Let's take a break from the show to tell you

198
00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:15.000
about our sponsor in Cogny, and I'll be giving you

199
00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:18.440
a special Space nuts url so you can get up

200
00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:22.759
to sixty percent off in Cogni. But first, what's in

201
00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.279
Cogniti all about. It's a way of cleaning up your

202
00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.879
online presence and reducing the risk of your personal information

203
00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:34.240
being sold to unscrupulous people via the dark web or

204
00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:37.399
just via a hacker who's trying to fleece you or

205
00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.279
other people. It's also a great way to reduce spam

206
00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.519
emails and spam phone calls, reduce the risk of identity theft,

207
00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:50.039
which is big business these days. I think most significantly,

208
00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:54.360
it greatly reduces your risk of being scammed, and that

209
00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.480
is just such a viral thing that's happening around the

210
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:02.120
world at the moment. So how does all this work? Well,

211
00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.399
it's simple. All you have to do is sign up

212
00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.480
to in Cogni, give them permission to act on your behalf,

213
00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:11.639
and they'll do the rest. They'll trawl the Internet and

214
00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:15.080
remove your personal information from the web, the stuff that

215
00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:19.840
can be found on search engines, public websites, even private databases.

216
00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.159
It's all easily accessible. And let's face it, are you

217
00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:26.279
really going to be able to clean up the entire

218
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.720
world wide web of your personal information by yourself?

219
00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:31.559
Right now?

220
00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:36.039
In Cogni is offering a significant discount for space Nuts listeners,

221
00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:38.759
up to sixty percent off and that comes with a

222
00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:44.120
thirty day money back guarantee. Just go to incogni dot

223
00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:50.799
com slash space nuts that's i Ncogni, incogni dot com

224
00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:55.279
slash space nuts to find out more. And they have

225
00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:59.240
special prices for students and graduates as well. Make your

226
00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:04.120
personal inform much harder to find online with in Cogni.

227
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.720
Check out all their plans today at incogny dot com

228
00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:17.919
slash space nuts. Now back to the show Space Nuts Now, Fred,

229
00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:22.679
we head out a little way from our own galaxy

230
00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:28.080
to a wonderful place called the Sombrero galaxy M one

231
00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:32.039
O four to be official, and James Webb has just

232
00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:37.919
taken a marvelous mid infrared image of it that has

233
00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.919
got a lot of people very excited.

234
00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:43.759
It does, yeah, and it's you know, this is the

235
00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:46.320
thing about the web telescope. It just blows you away

236
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.320
with everything new that comes from it, because we're seeing

237
00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:53.080
familiar objects in the completely new lights in for red

238
00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:57.159
lights to be exact. So just to paint the picture,

239
00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:00.679
you said, m one O four and is Messier of

240
00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:05.759
French astronomer of the eighteenth i think late eighteenth century

241
00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:07.960
who was interested in comets and he could see all

242
00:14:07.960 --> 00:14:10.000
these other fuzzy patches in the sky, so he just

243
00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:13.480
numbered them and we and these are mostly galaxies. He

244
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.519
didn't know that's what they were, but that's what we find.

245
00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.840
So M one O four normally known as the Sombrero

246
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.799
galaxy because that's what it looks like. It's got a

247
00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:26.759
prominent dusty ring around it and a very bright and

248
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:31.759
very extended core so that the central region, you know,

249
00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:35.039
looks like the top of a hat, and the and

250
00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:37.399
the outer ring looks like the rim of the hat,

251
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:40.519
but with the MIRI view, and MIRI is the midim

252
00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:45.519
for red instrument on the James West Telescope. The core

253
00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.000
which is made of stars, that extended core the sort

254
00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:50.360
of bowl of the hat, if I can put it

255
00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:56.080
that way, it vanishes completely and we see the ring

256
00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:00.559
itself in glorious detail. This is I think they're actually

257
00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.440
two rings, because there's a ring very near the center

258
00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:08.360
of the galaxy also, but this outer ring which is

259
00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.679
very very dusty, and that's why it shows up so

260
00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:14.440
well in mid in forread remember mid in for read light,

261
00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:18.120
the dusties opaque, and you can actually see the dust

262
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.200
directly near In forred, the light penetrates the dust. So

263
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.279
what is excited people is detail in this ring that

264
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:34.120
has never been seen before. And it's the scientists, and

265
00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.000
some of them are a number among my friends who

266
00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.960
look at this kind of thing, dusty regions in galaxies.

267
00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:47.000
They are excited to see that it's very clumpy on

268
00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.200
a scale of detail that, as I said, hasn't been

269
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:51.240
seen before. And when you look at the image, you

270
00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.919
can see that this ring is made up of myriads

271
00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:01.080
of tiny clumps of dust. Now, the spectroscopy instrument or

272
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:08.039
part of Mary. The infrared detector has provided evidence of

273
00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.360
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

274
00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:15.080
Wow, that's that's a coincidence, because I believe that's what

275
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.960
they're smelling on it extra space.

276
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.159
It might be, Yeah, it might be. It depends how

277
00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:22.679
aromatic they are. They might be a bit un aromatic.

278
00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:23.960
The might it is.

279
00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:31.720
But polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons a class of organic molecules carbon containing,

280
00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:35.399
and you know the sort of thing that we think

281
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:39.360
of as as going into young solar systems that they

282
00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:44.480
demonstrate that there's probably star forming regions embedded in the

283
00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:49.960
disc of the of the galaxy Sombrero is it's a

284
00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.759
it's not a you know, one of these galaxies that's

285
00:16:52.919 --> 00:16:59.279
rapidly forming forming stars. It's it's what you might call

286
00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.279
a quiescent galaxy. It is forming stars, but it's at

287
00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:07.839
a slow rate. It's about half the rate that our

288
00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:12.720
own galaxy is forming stars, which is roughly two stars

289
00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:13.119
per year.

290
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.319
Roughly. I think, I think I know why.

291
00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:18.920
I think I know why the sombrero is slightly dipped.

292
00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:21.400
So I think this galaxy is having a siesta.

293
00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:24.400
There you go.

294
00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.799
That would be the official scientific reason.

295
00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.759
That probably would be look.

296
00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:31.240
I like that.

297
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:36.240
I like that terminology. The siesta time of the Sombrero galaxy.

298
00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:37.000
Lovely good bit.

299
00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.480
And indeed it is slightly dipped in the sky, so

300
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:47.119
it does have a black hole, supermassive black hole something

301
00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:49.720
like nine billion solar masses, much much bigger than the

302
00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:53.240
black hole at the center of our own galaxy. And

303
00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:57.680
it is active. So it's what we call an agn

304
00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:01.960
an active galactic nucleus, which is something that is you know,

305
00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:06.799
it's having a polite and well behaved meal of material

306
00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:11.039
that's falling into it from its surroundings, rather than a

307
00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:15.440
quasar which is absolutely gobbling everything up and radiating energy

308
00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:16.799
at a great rate because of that.

309
00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:21.759
So, yes, I think they described this one as docile,

310
00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:22.720
if that.

311
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:24.680
Can be a yeah, I think that's probably the word

312
00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:29.759
I was looking for. Andrew, Yeah, Doso, Yes, it's low

313
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:34.720
luminosity active galactic nucleus. Sombrero has always been interesting though,

314
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.240
and this goes back to beautiful images of the Sombrero

315
00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:40.680
that were made by my colleague David Maelin back in

316
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.680
the nineteen eighties, the first time we saw these galaxies

317
00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:48.119
in color, along with many other nebulae. He was the

318
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.519
person who put true color into astronomical imaging by using

319
00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:55.799
a three color photographic technique. His image of the Sombrero

320
00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.799
is perhaps one of the iconic images of the galaxy.

321
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.400
But what it did show was that the Sombrero is

322
00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.920
very rich in globular clusters, these sort of more or

323
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:13.039
less spherical clusters of hundreds of thousands of stars. There

324
00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:17.799
are about two thousand of them surrounding the Sombrero galaxy.

325
00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.960
We have less than two hundred. I think this about

326
00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.599
one hundred and sixty if I remember rightly, globular clusters

327
00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.799
in the outskirts of our own galaxy. But the Sombrero

328
00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.640
is much much richard. And of course it's near enough.

329
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.680
It's thirty million light years away. That's pretty well on

330
00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:40.480
our doorstep, which is where gets such good images of it.

331
00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:43.799
It's near enough that we can study those globular clusters

332
00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.920
in detail. And globular clusters are one of the they're

333
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:51.680
one of the puzzling things in our understanding of the universe.

334
00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:56.920
Are they the nuclei of galaxies that have been stripped

335
00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:01.480
of their outer stars by interactions with other galaxies, or

336
00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.240
where they formed like that as globular clusters in the

337
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.519
earliest history of the universe. There was quite a under

338
00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:08.599
discussion on that topic.

339
00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:09.359
Actually our.

340
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:16.000
Fiftieth anniversary symposium for the End of Australian Telescope, it

341
00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:19.720
was an interesting session on globular clusters what we can

342
00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:20.599
learn from them.

343
00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.680
Judy and I've got a lot of experience with globular clusters.

344
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.200
Every Tuesday we baby sit the grandchildren.

345
00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:30.400
A lot of globby for clusters.

346
00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:34.039
I bet there are. Yeah, you've got two thousands of

347
00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:35.480
them though, then you're in real trouble.

348
00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:36.839
Oh I think they managed that.

349
00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:42.400
Yeah, yeah, So look, there's just more to come. It's

350
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:47.720
a reminder of how prolific the James Web Telescope is.

351
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.839
Its fourth year of science. Operations will start in the

352
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:53.279
middle of next year, next July.

353
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:53.640
Wow.

354
00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:59.160
They've already had a record breaking number of proposals for

355
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:06.319
time on that during that fourth period. The deadline for

356
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:13.359
submissions for observations was fifteenth of October. And you know

357
00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:20.279
it's an over subscribed instrument. The request I love this

358
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:24.200
request for seventy eight thousand hours of observing time, which

359
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.759
is nine times more than there is available. That's what

360
00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:29.839
we call an over subscription rate. We used to get

361
00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:33.519
over subscription rates of two or three and sometimes four

362
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:36.119
on the Anglo Australian Telescope. People want, you know, for

363
00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.240
every one night on it, the four people wanted to

364
00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:42.079
use it. But nine to one is quite extraordinary, and

365
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.720
it speaks of just the excellence of the data that

366
00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:46.480
are coming from the Jamesweg Telescope.

367
00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:48.240
I suppose that means fre it.

368
00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.519
If they've got a record number of proposals put to

369
00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.599
them for time on the James web Space telescope, they're

370
00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.440
going to have to sit down and pick hand pick

371
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:01.720
who gets to use it and who gets to miss out.

372
00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.759
Yes, that's the job of time allocation committees.

373
00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:05.799
That's exactly what they do.

374
00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:08.680
And I think every telescope in the world has got

375
00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.799
committees like that that go through them, and they're usually

376
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:20.319
extremely ethical. They give time based only on scientific excellence.

377
00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:24.920
So the applications throughout the world again I would think

378
00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:27.079
this is true. They're anonymized, so you don't know who

379
00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:30.000
they've come from. They're sort of gender free, so you

380
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.359
don't know you know what the gender of the applicant is.

381
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:36.200
It's to avoid any kind of bias of any sort,

382
00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:43.079
and it's a fairly stringent proge process. I do remember

383
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.440
talking to one of my colleagues who was sat on

384
00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.640
one of these time allocation committees actually for the Angle

385
00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.400
of Australian Telescope over quite a long period, and he

386
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.559
mentioned the occasional death threats that he got from you know,

387
00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.079
who hadn't been given their time. Yeah. Yeah, people life

388
00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:03.319
and soul into it. There weren't death threats, So it's

389
00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:08.720
just you know, uh, fairly fairly. How can I put

390
00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:10.319
its robust criticism?

391
00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:13.519
That's sort of yeah, well that's a nice win putting

392
00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:14.200
it robust.

393
00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:16.119
He interpreted them as death threats.

394
00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:19.640
Wow, that's extraordinary.

395
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.319
Yes, I wouldn't have thought that of the of the

396
00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:24.200
astronomical community for it.

397
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:24.839
You wouldn't.

398
00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:27.359
But if you've you know, if you've submitted the same

399
00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:29.960
application maybe three years in a row, and you've put

400
00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:32.079
your life and soul into it, and you've got students

401
00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:35.759
who's whose future depends on getting the observing time and

402
00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.960
you don't get it, you would feel naturally very frustrated.

403
00:23:39.319 --> 00:23:43.039
Oh yeah, that makes that makes perfect sense. But I

404
00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:45.880
think when we were first talking about James Web we

405
00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:49.839
did talk about how that process worked and how how

406
00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:51.480
they were going to do it to make sure that

407
00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:54.880
it was all, you know, above board, level playing field,

408
00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.480
no bias, and yeah, but if you want look at

409
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.240
the pictures of the Sombrero Galaxy as taken by the

410
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:05.880
James web Space telescope.

411
00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:08.799
Not surprisingly, it's at fizz dot org.

412
00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:11.400
I'm starting to feel sorry for Hubble because.

413
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:13.400
Whenever there's a new James Webb image, they go and

414
00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:18.559
this is what Hubble took. I just don't think that's fair.

415
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:22.880
No, but it's you know, and of course the Hubbles

416
00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.559
are two point three meters telescope. James Webb is a

417
00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.559
six point five meter telescope. He astronomy sizes everything.

418
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:32.920
Yes, well, very true. But Hubble's still doing a great job.

419
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:35.200
But feel sorry for Hubbling, you know it is.

420
00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:38.559
It's doing doing a fine job and still producing good science.

421
00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.000
I'm sorry I was slightly distracted there. I'm trying to

422
00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:43.720
pick the key to the James Webb telescope which has

423
00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:45.759
fallen on the floor and I can't actually pick.

424
00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:45.920
It up.

425
00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.960
Fair enough fizz dot org.

426
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.640
If you want to check out that story about the

427
00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.599
Sombrero Galaxy and what we're learning about it.

428
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.799
This is Space Nuts with Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson.

429
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:02.440
Okay, we've taken all.

430
00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:10.359
Space nuts. Finally, Fred a story that has been published

431
00:25:10.599 --> 00:25:14.240
only in the last few days our time, but this

432
00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:16.799
one will be talked about for a long time because

433
00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:22.799
again they're suggesting that this one could rewrite what we

434
00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:28.400
know about the cosmos. This all centers around dark energy

435
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:32.960
and we might have to explain what that is again

436
00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:37.480
because it's so poorly named. But now they're starting to

437
00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:43.319
think that dark energy might be a finite thing based

438
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:44.240
on this new data.

439
00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:51.880
Yes, it's a very difficult thing to measure. Is the

440
00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:54.880
accelerated expansion of the universe, which is why we didn't

441
00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:58.599
know about it until nineteen ninety eight. Two groups of scientists,

442
00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:03.160
one in the USA and one in Australia actually worked

443
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:06.960
out that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. So

444
00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.079
a lot of thoughts has gone into it since then.

445
00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:20.319
That's twenty six years ago. And the simplest interpretation is

446
00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:25.599
that dark energy is constant. That means that the acceleration

447
00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:30.880
of the universe is something that does not change over

448
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.319
time except by the fact that a space gets bigger,

449
00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:39.400
the energy content of space gets bigger, and so you've

450
00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.519
got an increased push to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

451
00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:53.000
So there's been a fairly consistent view which has apparently

452
00:26:53.079 --> 00:27:00.839
been supported by observations that this dark energy is constant. However,

453
00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:08.920
some work that's been done on basically a telescope in Arizona.

454
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:13.920
Actually it's the Male telescope, which has a camera on

455
00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:15.079
it which has been.

456
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:15.640
Used to.

457
00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:21.119
Basically study distant galaxies in great detail and look at

458
00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:23.839
a huge number of them. It's a very very elegant

459
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:30.799
sort of camera. They are now thinking that the dark

460
00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:38.519
energy is not quite constant. And it's basically that issue

461
00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:42.839
that is concerning those of us in the astronomy community

462
00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:45.240
who are interested in the future of the universe as

463
00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:48.240
well as it's past. What it means is so and

464
00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:53.119
I should you know, I shouldst mentioned that this involves

465
00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:56.000
a very large number of scientists. It's a huge collaboration.

466
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:58.599
Some of my colleagues here in Australia, the members of

467
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.680
this collaboration. There are ninehundred scientists all over the world

468
00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:09.720
studying these data. Now it's a re analysis that we've

469
00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:12.960
seen coming out within the last few days. This is

470
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:17.400
why this is in the headlines again. It was the

471
00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.599
original data were published earlier in the year, but the

472
00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:26.160
new analysis has sort of confirmed it that there is

473
00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:32.359
something going on that we don't understand that change.

474
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:35.319
That's a big change.

475
00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:38.960
So the way it works, it's an instrument called DESI,

476
00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:43.960
the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, which is on the Male Telescope,

477
00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.920
and that's very similar to the to d F instrument

478
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.319
that we have on the d Australian Telescope, which did

479
00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:53.440
this sort of thing back in the early two thousands.

480
00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:56.279
But now the technology has improved to the extent that

481
00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:59.279
you can look at many many more objects simultaneously. To

482
00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:03.359
DF looked at at four hundred and now you've got

483
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:05.799
many many more than that and seeing them in more

484
00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:11.759
detail spectroscopically and with sensitive detectors that you let you

485
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.960
look back in time up to about eleven billion years

486
00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:19.720
before the present time. So what you're doing there is

487
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:24.400
you are basically you're mapping the universe. This is where

488
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:27.400
it gets a little bit counterintuitive the way you detect

489
00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:31.160
dark energies to map the universe, to map where galaxies lie,

490
00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:35.200
because it's all about the way galaxies cluster. That gives

491
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.799
you the geometry of the universe, and that then gives

492
00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:44.440
you what its expansion rate is doing. So they've looked

493
00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:51.200
at these galaxies over eleven billion years and basically it

494
00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:57.519
reveals that, yes, if dark energy was a constant force,

495
00:29:58.319 --> 00:30:02.000
and Jordie's getting excited because somebody's about to come home.

496
00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:08.599
If dark energy was a constant force, that map would

497
00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:14.920
would not make sense. And what they are interpreting this

498
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:19.160
mapping as telling us that the energy is weakening and

499
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:24.640
that it's you've got an acceleration that is itself slowing down,

500
00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:28.359
even though the expansion of the universe is still accelerating,

501
00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:32.759
but the acceleration is slowing down because dark energy is

502
00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:36.640
reducing and that means it's quite different from what we

503
00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:40.519
thought it was, or that we're barking up the wrong

504
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:44.519
tree completely, that it's not an energy of space, that

505
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:46.759
there is something totally different going on.

506
00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:53.119
This could turn a whole understanding of the cosmological model

507
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.680
upside down. They're basically, oh, Jeordie's upset by that.

508
00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.359
No, you've hit the nail on the head there. I

509
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.119
think the joy I think that's that's agreed, that's agreement.

510
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:08.960
Is that Jodey if O, my goodness, say, I'm really sorry.

511
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:12.920
This is what he does is he gets very enthusiastic

512
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.440
hang hagos ad.

513
00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:22.880
Oh gosh, that is so funny. Do you reckon.

514
00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:24.960
It?

515
00:31:25.079 --> 00:31:26.319
Can't even find him.

516
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.480
Oh boy, we've just got to the key, the key

517
00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:40.839
moment of the story. Yeah, oh gosh, I'm going to

518
00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:43.880
put an asterisk on that so that I can find

519
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:47.480
it later. I hope you're listening here. That's that's worth

520
00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:53.240
bottling that one. They can't hear me because Fred used

521
00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:56.079
his Headphanes, I keep telling you this part of the

522
00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:59.680
story without him, But honestly, it's it's it's mind blowing.

523
00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:03.960
It's mind blowing. Needs an expert touch, which I can't

524
00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:06.160
give you. Here he cams with here gams.

525
00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:11.559
Sorry about that, so we might have got that bit

526
00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:12.960
able to do apologize.

527
00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:16.119
Oh no, that's all right. He'll probably lave it in.

528
00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.839
It just goes mad. Apparently there's another dog around.

529
00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:23.359
Which, oh, well, that'll do it. That'll do it.

530
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:23.440
Do it.

531
00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:27.880
So we were talking about what this means for our

532
00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:31.920
understanding of the standing cosmological model.

533
00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:34.720
We were and it obviously means that dogs are going

534
00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:37.000
to bark louder and longer than they ever have done

535
00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:41.519
before because it's such an astonishing result. Yeah, So what

536
00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:46.839
it means is it's it's going to be an ongoing story.

537
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:48.720
We will hear more about.

538
00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:54.559
This over the next few months probably, and hopefully we

539
00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:57.799
will have some sort of what you might call a

540
00:32:57.839 --> 00:33:03.880
consensus coming up something that that that will you know,

541
00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:08.400
allow the theory theoretical astronomers who build models of all

542
00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:11.359
this stuff to try and get their heads around what

543
00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:15.920
might be happening with this current reduction of the acceleration

544
00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:16.839
rate of a time.

545
00:33:17.559 --> 00:33:17.960
Mm hmm.

546
00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:21.960
Well, yeah, it's it's one of the big mysteries, and

547
00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:25.240
it's something that we get asked about quite often for

548
00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:28.920
Q and A episodes, and it's something that keeps coming up,

549
00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:33.440
and they keep testing Einstein's theory of general relativity to

550
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:38.240
see if they can break it. You know, there is

551
00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:41.960
so much at stake in terms of this kind of

552
00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:47.799
data and studying dark energy and you know, finding out

553
00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:49.519
what it is and what it's doing and why it's

554
00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:52.240
there and how it works, all of which we don't

555
00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:53.119
really understand.

556
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:56.079
No, I mean, you've hit the nail on the head

557
00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:59.559
and drew in the sense that this could be an

558
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:03.000
indicat of new physics that we don't understand. Going on

559
00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:06.319
in the universe, and that's where things get really exciting,

560
00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:08.960
because we rewrite the textbooks on levels of that sort

561
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:09.239
of thing.

562
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:13.880
Yes, and that leads to dogs and cats living together

563
00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:24.119
and all sorts of terrible things. Maybe not, but yeah.

564
00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:23.159
Yeah indeed, but yeah.

565
00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:28.440
It's a fascinating story, very much worth reading, and I'm

566
00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:32.400
sure it will spawn multiple questions for us to deal

567
00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:36.280
with in the next a series of episodes in twenty

568
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:40.880
twenty five. You can read that story in fizz dot org.

569
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:43.760
The dark energy pushing a universe apart may not be

570
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:47.039
what it seems scientists say. That's the title of the piece.

571
00:34:48.239 --> 00:34:51.519
We are just about done, Fred, thank you so much.

572
00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:57.119
Ah, pleasure as always, and we'll speak again soon, I hope.

573
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:01.360
Yes, very soon, probably for our finalpisode of the year.

574
00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:05.199
Thanks Fred, Professor Fred Watson, Astronomer at Large, and thanks

575
00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:07.960
to Hugh in the studio who couldn't be with us

576
00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:10.760
because he was dealing with a dark matter bomb bomb.

577
00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:13.199
And from me from me Andrew Dunkley.

578
00:35:13.559 --> 00:35:15.239
By the way, don't forget to visit our website and

579
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:19.840
our social media platforms and leave reviews on your podcasting

580
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:23.119
platforms if you If you do don't mind. Reviews are

581
00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:26.320
always very helpful to spread the word. But for now,

582
00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:28.280
thank you and we'll see you again on the next

583
00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:30.199
episode of Space Nuts.

584
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:35.360
Bye bye Nuts. You'll be listening to the Space Nuts podcast.

585
00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:42.480
Available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or your favorite podcast player.

586
00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:45.920
You can also stream on demand at bides dot com.

587
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:51.239
This has been another quality podcast production from nights dot com.
Send a Voicemail