Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries: Big Rips, Neutron Collisions & Lunar Sunsets

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.400
Andrew Dunkley: Hello again and thank you for joining us.

1
00:00:02.400 --> 00:00:04.800
This is a Q and A edition of Space

2
00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:07.760
Nuts. My name is Andrew Dunkley. Thanks for

3
00:00:07.760 --> 00:00:10.600
your company. Uh, in this show we answer

4
00:00:10.600 --> 00:00:13.120
audience questions and we've got,

5
00:00:13.140 --> 00:00:16.000
uh, plenty. Today, uh, Martin

6
00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:18.880
is asking us questions about the Big Rip.

7
00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:21.920
Or is it the gnab gib. We don't know which.

8
00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.200
Uh, Mike is wanting to know what was

9
00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:27.320
around before the Big Bang. I think we've had

10
00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.180
that one before but we will revisit it. Uh,

11
00:00:30.180 --> 00:00:32.300
questions about colliding neutrons on the

12
00:00:32.300 --> 00:00:34.860
stars and sunsets on the moon.

13
00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:37.740
Ah, how, ah, beautiful. Sitting

14
00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:39.980
there looking out over the Sea of Tranquilly

15
00:00:40.540 --> 00:00:43.460
getting covered in dust a

16
00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:45.780
pina colada that you can't drink because you

17
00:00:45.780 --> 00:00:48.380
know. Never mind.

18
00:00:48.620 --> 00:00:50.580
We'll answer all of those questions on this

19
00:00:50.580 --> 00:00:53.420
episode of Space Nuts. 15 seconds.

20
00:00:53.420 --> 00:00:55.704
Professor Fred Watson: Guidance is internal. 10,

21
00:00:55.856 --> 00:00:58.700
9. Ignition sequence start.

22
00:00:58.860 --> 00:01:01.739
Space Nuts. 5, 4, 3, 2.

23
00:01:01.836 --> 00:01:04.149
1. 2, 3, 4, 5.

24
00:01:04.246 --> 00:01:04.680
Speaker C: 4321.

25
00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:07.520
Professor Fred Watson: Space nuts astronauts report it feels

26
00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:07.800
good.

27
00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:10.760
Andrew Dunkley: Joining us again to solve all of those

28
00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:12.480
riddles is Professor Fred Watson Watson,

29
00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.040
astronomer at large. Hello Fred Watson.

30
00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:16.760
Professor Fred Watson: Hello Andrew. Good to hear your

31
00:01:17.450 --> 00:01:20.320
uh, conjectured sunset. Uh, drinks on the Sea

32
00:01:20.320 --> 00:01:22.520
of Tranquilly. I hope I can join you for it.

33
00:01:23.880 --> 00:01:26.680
Andrew Dunkley: Even if you could suck on that straw. Uh,

34
00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:28.760
lunar regolith probably doesn't taste very

35
00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:29.160
nice.

36
00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:32.630
Professor Fred Watson: That's right, yep.

37
00:01:32.630 --> 00:01:35.430
Andrew Dunkley: But um, yes, one day someone will be sitting

38
00:01:35.430 --> 00:01:38.430
in a, um, in a building looking out over

39
00:01:38.430 --> 00:01:41.030
the lunar surface, probably, you know,

40
00:01:41.030 --> 00:01:43.590
downing a beer or who knows what,

41
00:01:44.440 --> 00:01:46.110
uh, or maybe they'll just have to suck it out

42
00:01:46.110 --> 00:01:48.710
of the, the air in front of them because of

43
00:01:48.710 --> 00:01:51.630
the gravity. Who knows? Um, shall

44
00:01:51.630 --> 00:01:53.390
we get down to business and see if we can

45
00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:54.470
solve some of this stuff?

46
00:01:54.870 --> 00:01:55.510
Professor Fred Watson: Why not?

47
00:01:56.070 --> 00:01:58.550
Andrew Dunkley: All right, our first question comes from

48
00:01:58.550 --> 00:02:01.430
Martin. Now this was a really long involved

49
00:02:01.430 --> 00:02:04.410
question and I' um, I

50
00:02:04.410 --> 00:02:07.010
hope Martin will forgive me but uh, I sent

51
00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:09.730
you the whole question but I'm just going to

52
00:02:09.730 --> 00:02:12.090
do the precede version so that we're not here

53
00:02:12.090 --> 00:02:14.250
for the next 25 minutes reading out. It's not

54
00:02:14.250 --> 00:02:16.650
that long but anyway, uh, gents, thanks so

55
00:02:16.650 --> 00:02:18.290
much for the podcast. That was the question.

56
00:02:18.930 --> 00:02:21.730
No, I have uh, some questions about the Big

57
00:02:21.730 --> 00:02:24.450
Crunch now it seems to be back in vogue.

58
00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:27.770
One, is it in fact now the favoured

59
00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:30.730
theory? And two, also if we

60
00:02:30.730 --> 00:02:33.660
do get a Gnab Gibson in a

61
00:02:33.660 --> 00:02:36.300
lot of ways it sounds like a super ultra

62
00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:39.140
hyper massive black hole with all the matter

63
00:02:39.140 --> 00:02:41.260
and energy of the universe gathering to a

64
00:02:41.260 --> 00:02:44.260
singularity. Which one is it? And

65
00:02:44.350 --> 00:02:47.060
uh, why? Uh, that's Martin from

66
00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:49.019
Melbourne of course, he goes into a lot of

67
00:02:49.019 --> 00:02:51.540
detail within his question, with

68
00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:54.380
possibilities and ideas and concepts and

69
00:02:54.380 --> 00:02:57.300
lefts and rights. But yeah, um, we have

70
00:02:57.300 --> 00:02:58.950
talked about the, um,

71
00:03:00.470 --> 00:03:03.030
the Big Crunch making a comeback. They're

72
00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:05.510
starting to. Although we are still seeing an

73
00:03:05.510 --> 00:03:07.710
expanding universe, it's just not

74
00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:10.150
accelerating like it was, I think.

75
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.830
Um, so that's what's brought the Big Crunch

76
00:03:12.830 --> 00:03:14.990
concept back into vogue. But, um,

77
00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:18.830
at the moment, the Big Rip seems more logical

78
00:03:18.830 --> 00:03:19.830
given what's happening.

79
00:03:20.950 --> 00:03:22.230
Professor Fred Watson: Yes. So

80
00:03:23.830 --> 00:03:26.510
it could be neither. That's

81
00:03:26.510 --> 00:03:28.670
true. You're right.

82
00:03:29.260 --> 00:03:31.910
Um, and Martin's right that we've seen a lot

83
00:03:31.910 --> 00:03:34.790
of discussion about the

84
00:03:34.790 --> 00:03:37.470
possible reduction

85
00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:40.190
of, um, the acceleration.

86
00:03:40.510 --> 00:03:42.350
So the

87
00:03:43.070 --> 00:03:45.550
universe is expanding. We've known since

88
00:03:45.550 --> 00:03:48.190
1998 that that expansion is

89
00:03:48.190 --> 00:03:51.150
accelerating. Uh, that is the work

90
00:03:51.150 --> 00:03:53.310
that got, uh, Adam

91
00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:56.470
Reese, um, saw Perl

92
00:03:56.470 --> 00:03:59.470
Mutter and uh, Brian Schmidt, their

93
00:03:59.950 --> 00:04:02.190
Nobel Prize in 2011.

94
00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:06.270
Now, um, the recent

95
00:04:06.350 --> 00:04:08.910
evidence from the Dark Energy survey, because

96
00:04:08.910 --> 00:04:10.950
we think that's caused by dark energy. We

97
00:04:10.950 --> 00:04:12.830
think it's caused by an energy of space

98
00:04:13.390 --> 00:04:16.310
itself. That, uh, means

99
00:04:16.310 --> 00:04:18.990
that as space gets bigger, it has more

100
00:04:18.990 --> 00:04:21.230
energy. And so it gets bigger, faster.

101
00:04:21.870 --> 00:04:24.070
That's the bottom line. Now, dark energy is

102
00:04:24.070 --> 00:04:27.040
the big puzzle. Um, what is it? Uh, how does

103
00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.800
it behave? So the Dark Energy

104
00:04:29.880 --> 00:04:32.120
Survey, which we've talked about recently,

105
00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:35.240
it's presented some results, has

106
00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:38.390
suggested that, uh,

107
00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:40.320
um,

108
00:04:43.320 --> 00:04:45.720
the acceleration may be decreasing,

109
00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:49.320
um, but it's not by any means

110
00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:51.640
confirmed. That still,

111
00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:55.700
uh, sort of new research,

112
00:04:56.420 --> 00:04:58.500
it needs a lot of verification.

113
00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:01.980
Um, and even if that was

114
00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:04.780
verified, we'd need to know just

115
00:05:04.780 --> 00:05:07.220
by how much it is decreasing,

116
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.020
uh, and what phenomena might

117
00:05:11.020 --> 00:05:13.940
lie ahead in order to predict

118
00:05:13.940 --> 00:05:16.660
a Big Crunch or a gnab gib, as

119
00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:19.520
Brian Schmidt always put it. Not a missing

120
00:05:19.520 --> 00:05:22.360
BG brother. Was that Martin? Yes, that

121
00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:24.480
was another Martin. If you said that.

122
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.840
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, Martin Berman Govine.

123
00:05:26.840 --> 00:05:29.720
Professor Fred Watson: That's the man. Yes. Um, so it's still.

124
00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:33.120
I, um, think it's still a, uh, fairly

125
00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:35.620
speculative idea. Uh,

126
00:05:36.200 --> 00:05:38.320
I think it's very speculative that we might

127
00:05:38.320 --> 00:05:41.240
end up with a Big Crunch. Uh, it's still

128
00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:43.840
speculative that the acceleration is

129
00:05:43.840 --> 00:05:46.720
decreasing. And I was looking, uh, a couple

130
00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:48.360
of days ago at another paper,

131
00:05:48.930 --> 00:05:51.720
um, actually written by, um, a

132
00:05:52.440 --> 00:05:54.760
big group of authors, including some

133
00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:57.400
luminaries from Australia. Ah, also

134
00:05:57.640 --> 00:05:59.520
Brian Schmidt and Adam Reese, who I was just

135
00:05:59.520 --> 00:06:01.920
talking about. Now, uh, they are also on this

136
00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.519
paper, they've done a very, very careful

137
00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:07.400
reanalysis of the data. Ah,

138
00:06:08.440 --> 00:06:11.130
that basically was, um,

139
00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:14.520
what we based the initial idea of dark

140
00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:16.560
energy on. The accelerating universe. It's

141
00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.540
all about supernova explosions. Um,

142
00:06:19.640 --> 00:06:22.620
because there a recent paper that

143
00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:25.620
suggested that the acceleration wasn't real,

144
00:06:26.330 --> 00:06:29.020
uh, because of phenomena to do with

145
00:06:29.020 --> 00:06:31.940
galaxies. But, um, it turns out that,

146
00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.380
yes, it is definitely real.

147
00:06:35.380 --> 00:06:37.940
The acceleration has been firmly confirmed.

148
00:06:38.340 --> 00:06:41.180
But what hasn't been confirmed is that

149
00:06:41.180 --> 00:06:43.820
it's decreasing. So at the moment, I think

150
00:06:43.820 --> 00:06:46.740
the Big Rip is still the likely, you know,

151
00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:49.500
the likely outcome that the universe gets so

152
00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:51.980
big that space starts tearing itself to

153
00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.260
pieces. I find that very hard to imagine.

154
00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:55.300
Andrew Dunkley: I do too.

155
00:06:55.960 --> 00:06:58.660
Professor Fred Watson: Um, but that seems to be the more likely

156
00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:01.580
outcome than a big crunch. Or it might just

157
00:07:01.580 --> 00:07:04.420
keep going forever. Look, we're talking

158
00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:06.500
so far into the future now. With the

159
00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:08.060
observations that we can make at the moment,

160
00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:10.100
it's very hard to make any firm predictions.

161
00:07:10.580 --> 00:07:12.420
Andrew Dunkley: You know what I can't get my head around,

162
00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:14.660
Fred Watson, is that, uh, we've got an

163
00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:17.570
expanding universe. It's expanding

164
00:07:17.570 --> 00:07:20.570
at an accelerating rate. Makes me wonder

165
00:07:20.970 --> 00:07:23.770
how much bigger it's getting every second

166
00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:26.170
because it's expanding out in all directions.

167
00:07:26.650 --> 00:07:29.570
Professor Fred Watson: It is. And actually that's a parameter that

168
00:07:29.570 --> 00:07:32.370
we don't know. Uh, um,

169
00:07:34.330 --> 00:07:37.250
well, no, that's not quite true. Um, there

170
00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:39.770
is something that we call the scale factor.

171
00:07:40.170 --> 00:07:42.410
It's just a measure of the scale of the

172
00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:44.410
universe and that's getting bigger.

173
00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:45.930
Uh, so

174
00:07:49.080 --> 00:07:51.480
you can talk about the scale factor. You can

175
00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:54.010
say that now it's, uh,

176
00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:57.480
X amount bigger than it was the day before

177
00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.440
yesterday. Um, but in terms

178
00:08:00.440 --> 00:08:03.040
of the physical size of the universe, we

179
00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.980
don't know, we don't know how big it is. Um,

180
00:08:07.780 --> 00:08:10.640
uh, we know that

181
00:08:10.640 --> 00:08:12.960
the expansion extends out to the horizon

182
00:08:12.960 --> 00:08:15.540
beyond which we can't see any further. Uh,

183
00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:17.740
but there's more universe beyond that and

184
00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:20.540
it's still expanding. So we don't know how

185
00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:22.700
far it goes on beyond that. And that means we

186
00:08:22.700 --> 00:08:24.900
don't know how big it's getting. The scale

187
00:08:24.900 --> 00:08:27.420
factor is an interesting one though. Um, and

188
00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:29.540
it's what you get from redshift. If you

189
00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:32.080
measure the redshift, ah, of a, uh,

190
00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:33.300
distant galaxy,

191
00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.420
um, that immediately gives

192
00:08:37.420 --> 00:08:39.940
you the geometry, gives you the scale factor

193
00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:42.500
from that redshift, uh, we call the redshift

194
00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:45.460
Z. It's a, a M measure

195
00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:48.340
of how far to the red the spectrum of a

196
00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:51.220
galaxy shifted. And the increase in scale

197
00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:53.780
factor, uh, as you look back,

198
00:08:54.260 --> 00:08:55.860
I should say the decrease as you look

199
00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:58.460
backwards, if you look out to a redshift of

200
00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:01.220
Z, the difference in scale factor

201
00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:03.420
between the universe now and the universe as

202
00:09:03.420 --> 00:09:06.260
it was then is one over one plus Z.

203
00:09:06.420 --> 00:09:09.420
It's such a simple equation. Scale factor is

204
00:09:09.420 --> 00:09:12.290
one over one plus z. Uh, that's the

205
00:09:12.290 --> 00:09:14.650
change in uh, scale factor and that's an

206
00:09:14.650 --> 00:09:17.170
absolutely rigorous geometrical equation. So

207
00:09:17.170 --> 00:09:19.850
we do know the scale factor changes but we

208
00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:21.770
don't know what it means in terms of physical

209
00:09:21.770 --> 00:09:23.370
size because we don't know how big the

210
00:09:23.370 --> 00:09:24.050
universe is.

211
00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.470
Andrew Dunkley: No, can't see it. Um, but uh,

212
00:09:27.470 --> 00:09:29.970
it must be a massive amount of

213
00:09:30.050 --> 00:09:31.800
inflation uh

214
00:09:32.850 --> 00:09:35.010
every second if it's accelerating outwards

215
00:09:35.010 --> 00:09:37.010
and it's already as big as it is. I mean.

216
00:09:37.010 --> 00:09:37.730
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, that's right.

217
00:09:38.290 --> 00:09:40.500
Andrew Dunkley: What's driving all this dark energy? Um,

218
00:09:41.330 --> 00:09:43.440
probably. But uh. Oh gosh,

219
00:09:44.630 --> 00:09:46.880
um, it's unthinkably huge.

220
00:09:47.520 --> 00:09:49.360
But uh. M. Martin, in answer to your

221
00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.960
question, uh, there isn't really a favoured

222
00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:53.920
theory, they're just theories.

223
00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.040
So it's um, at the moment still

224
00:09:57.040 --> 00:09:59.680
expanding. Therefore the RIP concept's

225
00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:01.640
probably more favourable than the crunch

226
00:10:01.640 --> 00:10:04.440
concept. But maybe it won't be either. It

227
00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:06.720
might just keep going forever and ever until

228
00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.510
we bump into something else. I don't know. I

229
00:10:09.510 --> 00:10:12.230
don't know. Maybe it'll be the Big Dint. I

230
00:10:12.230 --> 00:10:12.750
don't know.

231
00:10:14.190 --> 00:10:16.030
Professor Fred Watson: I've got one of those in my car actually.

232
00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:19.150
Andrew Dunkley: Oh, haven't we all? Um, yes,

233
00:10:19.150 --> 00:10:20.960
thanks for the question Martin. It's a, ah,

234
00:10:21.070 --> 00:10:22.750
really interesting one to speculate about.

235
00:10:23.150 --> 00:10:25.190
This is Space Nuts Andrew Dunkley with

236
00:10:25.190 --> 00:10:26.510
Professor Fred Watson Watson.

237
00:10:29.310 --> 00:10:30.510
Space Nuts.

238
00:10:30.750 --> 00:10:33.230
Our next question is an audio question from

239
00:10:33.230 --> 00:10:33.710
Mike.

240
00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:38.130
Speaker C: This is Mike, uh, from Chroma in the uk.

241
00:10:39.170 --> 00:10:41.890
Um, you had a question.

242
00:10:42.210 --> 00:10:44.690
Uh, well on the podcast I'm listening to

243
00:10:45.010 --> 00:10:47.410
the beginning of the universe as in the Big

244
00:10:47.410 --> 00:10:50.329
Bang. Um, you referred to it as

245
00:10:50.329 --> 00:10:52.370
being nothing before it.

246
00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:56.130
Um, surely from uh,

247
00:10:56.130 --> 00:10:58.970
a non science point of view it would be

248
00:10:58.970 --> 00:11:01.890
better to say there was something before

249
00:11:01.890 --> 00:11:04.530
the Big Bang but you don't know what it was.

250
00:11:05.140 --> 00:11:07.250
Um, why do you

251
00:11:08.290 --> 00:11:10.930
refer to it as nothing

252
00:11:11.410 --> 00:11:14.130
before the Big Bang? Bit of a strange

253
00:11:14.130 --> 00:11:15.730
question but I thought I'd ask.

254
00:11:16.049 --> 00:11:19.010
Andrew Dunkley: Cheers, thank you Mike. And I'm

255
00:11:19.010 --> 00:11:21.370
going to make a little correction Mike,

256
00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:24.210
because I think it's me who suggested

257
00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:26.330
that um, there was nothing and I think

258
00:11:26.330 --> 00:11:28.530
Fred Watson corrected me and said well no, we

259
00:11:28.530 --> 00:11:29.730
don't know what there was.

260
00:11:30.530 --> 00:11:32.830
Professor Fred Watson: Is that the one like that? Yeah,

261
00:11:33.390 --> 00:11:35.590
something along those lines. It's nice to

262
00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:38.120
hear from you Mike. Um, we have uh,

263
00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.510
Chroma here in Sydney which is just down the

264
00:11:40.510 --> 00:11:42.190
road from where I live. So

265
00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:46.470
you were right to put the words UK after or

266
00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:49.350
the letters UK after Chroma, the

267
00:11:49.350 --> 00:11:50.430
original Chroma.

268
00:11:50.990 --> 00:11:53.310
Andrew Dunkley: We've had a few of these recently with people

269
00:11:53.310 --> 00:11:56.030
from Vancouver in the United States. Where

270
00:11:56.030 --> 00:11:58.790
was the other one? Um, which

271
00:11:58.790 --> 00:12:01.310
wasn't where we'd normally think. Yeah,

272
00:12:01.310 --> 00:12:01.670
anyway.

273
00:12:01.670 --> 00:12:03.350
Professor Fred Watson: Well, yeah, it depends on your perspective,

274
00:12:03.350 --> 00:12:04.990
doesn't it? Yes, it does. If you're in

275
00:12:04.990 --> 00:12:06.390
Britain, Chrome is in the uk.

276
00:12:06.630 --> 00:12:07.110
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah.

277
00:12:07.520 --> 00:12:10.510
Professor Fred Watson: Um, so, so the, yes,

278
00:12:10.510 --> 00:12:13.310
the, I, I mean you can say there was

279
00:12:13.310 --> 00:12:15.310
nothing. Uh, look, the, the glib way of

280
00:12:15.310 --> 00:12:17.910
saying of the origin of the universe is in

281
00:12:17.910 --> 00:12:19.470
the beginning there was nothing and then it

282
00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:21.950
exploded. And that might be what Mike's

283
00:12:21.950 --> 00:12:24.630
thinking of, um, but that

284
00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:27.730
is pointing you in the wrong

285
00:12:27.730 --> 00:12:29.450
direction because

286
00:12:30.730 --> 00:12:33.210
certainly with the best of our knowledge at

287
00:12:33.210 --> 00:12:35.690
the moment, and that excludes things like

288
00:12:35.690 --> 00:12:38.570
ideas of multiverses, because we simply don't

289
00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:40.730
know whether multiverses exist or not.

290
00:12:41.290 --> 00:12:43.930
We have a universe that we know

291
00:12:44.410 --> 00:12:46.410
had a very explosive event

292
00:12:46.890 --> 00:12:49.690
13.8 billion years ago. We believe

293
00:12:49.690 --> 00:12:52.140
it was the beginning because, uh,

294
00:12:52.640 --> 00:12:55.560
the theory of relativity says that, and

295
00:12:55.560 --> 00:12:58.520
relativity, in all the tests we've thrown at

296
00:12:58.520 --> 00:13:01.480
it over the hundred odd years that

297
00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:04.480
it's been, you know, accepted,

298
00:13:05.010 --> 00:13:08.000
um, it survived all the tests with incredible

299
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.680
robustness. So it's worthwhile

300
00:13:10.680 --> 00:13:13.640
believing what it tells you. And

301
00:13:13.640 --> 00:13:16.000
what it tells you is that time started

302
00:13:16.560 --> 00:13:19.040
with the Big Bang. And so,

303
00:13:19.430 --> 00:13:21.350
um, it means that

304
00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:24.790
the word before doesn't mean anything

305
00:13:25.750 --> 00:13:28.070
because there was no time.

306
00:13:28.850 --> 00:13:31.270
Um, it was Stephen Hawking who always

307
00:13:32.150 --> 00:13:34.910
drew the analogy that um, you

308
00:13:34.910 --> 00:13:37.870
know, he said when you look back in

309
00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:40.310
time it's like

310
00:13:41.130 --> 00:13:44.110
um, going along a line of longitude on

311
00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:47.030
the, ah, Earth heading, say northwards. You

312
00:13:47.030 --> 00:13:49.070
keep on going northwards. What are you doing?

313
00:13:49.070 --> 00:13:50.870
You're going northwards. You know where

314
00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:52.390
you're going, you know what direction you're

315
00:13:52.390 --> 00:13:55.190
going in. When you get to the North Pole, it

316
00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:57.870
has no more meaning because you're at the

317
00:13:57.870 --> 00:13:59.790
beginning, you're kind of at the origin of

318
00:13:59.790 --> 00:14:02.550
it. And that's the

319
00:14:03.030 --> 00:14:05.950
analogy he draws, that the Big

320
00:14:05.950 --> 00:14:08.910
Bang, um, time stops

321
00:14:08.910 --> 00:14:11.840
having any meaning. So you can't

322
00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.680
describe what came before because before

323
00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:14.560
doesn't exist.

324
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:17.120
Andrew Dunkley: Okay,

325
00:14:19.680 --> 00:14:21.600
I see where he's getting frustrated though,

326
00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:21.880
because.

327
00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:24.760
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, well, we all are. Ah, yeah. And that's

328
00:14:24.760 --> 00:14:27.360
because we think in a normal four

329
00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:30.320
dimensional world, three dimensions of space

330
00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.240
and one of time. And time is such a

331
00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.140
fundamental part of our existence, uh,

332
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.960
that um, it's hard to

333
00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:41.480
imagine something without

334
00:14:41.640 --> 00:14:44.280
time. Um, the

335
00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:46.770
most recent work on this, uh,

336
00:14:47.160 --> 00:14:49.990
looks as though time is actually, ah,

337
00:14:49.990 --> 00:14:52.320
something that emerges from a much deeper

338
00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.200
reality. Uh, this is what the people who are

339
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.600
trying to unite relativity and quantum

340
00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.360
mechanics say that there's a

341
00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.040
deeper reality and maybe time is just an

342
00:15:03.040 --> 00:15:05.920
artefact that in fact some people say

343
00:15:05.920 --> 00:15:07.840
emerges from entanglement. Quantum

344
00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.580
entanglement. That works. I have no idea.

345
00:15:10.580 --> 00:15:13.380
But, um, it's a possibility

346
00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:16.100
that we might understand time a bit better,

347
00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:19.580
uh, with some of the outcomes of

348
00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:22.380
some of these theories, and then you might

349
00:15:22.380 --> 00:15:25.060
be able to see. Well, yes, you're right.

350
00:15:25.060 --> 00:15:26.860
Before the Big Bang, there was no time. So

351
00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:28.500
there's no before. It doesn't exist.

352
00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:31.620
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. And I just did a

353
00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:35.540
speculative question to Chatgpt what was

354
00:15:35.540 --> 00:15:37.980
around before the Big Bang, and it basically

355
00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:39.540
said exactly what you've just said.

356
00:15:40.020 --> 00:15:40.970
Professor Fred Watson: Glad to hear that.

357
00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.960
Andrew Dunkley: One of the answers is nothing. Uh, another

358
00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.840
one is that, um, um, something

359
00:15:45.920 --> 00:15:48.840
from nothing. A quantum origin, a, uh,

360
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.840
previous universe, which is the bounce model.

361
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:52.530
Professor Fred Watson: Ah.

362
00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:55.440
Andrew Dunkley: Eternal inflation, multiverse

363
00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.800
possibilities, uh, or cyclic universes. I

364
00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:00.240
don't think we've talked about that before.

365
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:03.480
Um, and look, the

366
00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:06.240
real answer is we just don't know.

367
00:16:06.970 --> 00:16:09.810
Professor Fred Watson: No, but imagine if we could really iron out

368
00:16:09.810 --> 00:16:12.730
what time is all about, then we might have

369
00:16:12.730 --> 00:16:14.810
a bit better idea. We might have some sort of

370
00:16:15.050 --> 00:16:17.890
lever on the Big Bang. The

371
00:16:17.890 --> 00:16:19.880
only physical, um,

372
00:16:21.370 --> 00:16:24.050
we understand the Big Bang quite well in

373
00:16:24.050 --> 00:16:26.330
terms of the chemistry that it generated,

374
00:16:26.650 --> 00:16:29.530
what happened in terms of the energy creating

375
00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:32.010
atoms. That's all pretty well,

376
00:16:32.810 --> 00:16:35.550
um, understood from the particle physics

377
00:16:35.550 --> 00:16:37.790
theory. Uh, but

378
00:16:39.950 --> 00:16:42.230
when you go to the first few gazillionths of

379
00:16:42.230 --> 00:16:45.070
a second, then all these theories just break

380
00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:47.550
down and we've no idea what was going on. But

381
00:16:47.550 --> 00:16:49.390
if we could understand time a bit better,

382
00:16:49.390 --> 00:16:51.390
then that might lead us some insights.

383
00:16:51.390 --> 00:16:53.510
What I was going to say was the only real

384
00:16:53.510 --> 00:16:55.710
measurements that we can make, uh, of the

385
00:16:55.710 --> 00:16:57.870
cosmic microwave background radiation, and

386
00:16:57.870 --> 00:16:59.910
that's been very well measured to try and

387
00:16:59.910 --> 00:17:02.910
understand what the conditions were like

388
00:17:02.910 --> 00:17:05.630
in the Big Bang. Um, um, what you're seeing

389
00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:08.510
then is something that happened 380,000 years

390
00:17:08.510 --> 00:17:10.230
after the Big Bang. So you're not talking

391
00:17:10.230 --> 00:17:11.790
about the first gazillionth of a second.

392
00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:14.550
You're looking at a bright surface which

393
00:17:14.550 --> 00:17:17.030
corresponds with, uh, the time when the

394
00:17:17.030 --> 00:17:18.510
universe was glowing brightly.

395
00:17:20.270 --> 00:17:22.590
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. My theory is that God was making

396
00:17:22.590 --> 00:17:24.670
breakfast, cracked an egg, and that some of

397
00:17:24.670 --> 00:17:27.350
the whites slid out of the side of the fry

398
00:17:27.350 --> 00:17:30.330
pan and hit the hot plate and there was a

399
00:17:30.330 --> 00:17:32.730
big bang. That's what I reckon happened.

400
00:17:33.530 --> 00:17:34.010
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.

401
00:17:35.290 --> 00:17:37.130
Andrew Dunkley: Which also proves the theory that the egg

402
00:17:37.130 --> 00:17:37.850
came first.

403
00:17:41.530 --> 00:17:43.130
So, yeah, I solved two problems.

404
00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:46.050
Professor Fred Watson: It's two problems at once. Nobody

405
00:17:46.050 --> 00:17:48.210
can say you don't get good value for money

406
00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:50.970
from space nuts. Very true.

407
00:17:51.050 --> 00:17:53.770
Especially considering it's free. Yeah.

408
00:17:53.770 --> 00:17:54.170
Yeah.

409
00:17:55.050 --> 00:17:56.570
Andrew Dunkley: Unless you want to. But that's optional.

410
00:17:56.570 --> 00:17:57.540
Professor Fred Watson: Unless you want to. That's right.

411
00:17:57.540 --> 00:17:59.780
Andrew Dunkley: Um, but all voluntary. Mike.

412
00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:02.940
Can't answer the question, really. We, we

413
00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:05.100
don't really know what was around before the

414
00:18:05.100 --> 00:18:07.060
Big Bang. If there was anything, I think

415
00:18:07.060 --> 00:18:09.020
would be the bottom line. Thanks for the

416
00:18:09.020 --> 00:18:10.940
question. Thanks for sending it in. This is

417
00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:13.180
Space Nuts, a Q and A edition with Andrew

418
00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:15.220
Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson Watson.

419
00:18:18.100 --> 00:18:20.340
Speaker C: Three, two, one.

420
00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:23.180
Andrew Dunkley: Space Nuts Radio.

421
00:18:23.180 --> 00:18:26.020
Our next question, uh, is from Colin. When

422
00:18:26.020 --> 00:18:28.900
two neutron stars collide, do

423
00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:31.840
any FR Break off? If so,

424
00:18:31.970 --> 00:18:33.920
uh, there could be billions of such high,

425
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.600
ultra high density fragments loose in the

426
00:18:36.600 --> 00:18:39.400
universe. Uh, what would an impact mean

427
00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.320
for a planet like Earth? Thank you, Colin.

428
00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.680
You make us feel very cosy and safe now,

429
00:18:46.130 --> 00:18:48.760
uh, after that one, um, I would

430
00:18:48.760 --> 00:18:50.900
imagine because neutron stars, uh,

431
00:18:51.280 --> 00:18:53.680
renowned for their intense gravity, are they

432
00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.480
not? Would it be more or less

433
00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.960
impossible for a bit to break off and fly off

434
00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:00.480
into the universe or could that happen?

435
00:19:01.210 --> 00:19:03.870
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, um, you're right, Andrew. Um,

436
00:19:04.570 --> 00:19:06.410
they coalesce, they become

437
00:19:07.770 --> 00:19:10.410
one object, um, because of the

438
00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:12.950
extreme gravity. Uh,

439
00:19:13.090 --> 00:19:14.400
uh. And um,

440
00:19:17.290 --> 00:19:19.130
there might be fragments caused, but they'd

441
00:19:19.130 --> 00:19:22.130
instantly be sucked back into the

442
00:19:22.130 --> 00:19:24.250
neutron star. Um, I think it's probably

443
00:19:24.250 --> 00:19:26.890
better to imagine them as two blobs

444
00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:29.770
that uh, that coalesce together once they

445
00:19:29.770 --> 00:19:32.690
collide with a very considerable release of

446
00:19:32.690 --> 00:19:34.970
energy, which we see mostly as gravitational

447
00:19:34.970 --> 00:19:35.690
waves, actually.

448
00:19:36.490 --> 00:19:38.490
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, well, we're talking ultra high

449
00:19:38.970 --> 00:19:41.610
density in a very small package, aren't we?

450
00:19:41.690 --> 00:19:44.010
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, exactly. Something the size of a city,

451
00:19:44.810 --> 00:19:46.330
uh, with a mass of a star.

452
00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:49.610
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, um, I think Los Angeles

453
00:19:49.610 --> 00:19:52.210
is probably denser. No, I'm sorry, I couldn't

454
00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:54.540
help that. That was, you know, I'm not

455
00:19:54.540 --> 00:19:57.260
picking on Los Angeles. In fact, I probably

456
00:19:57.260 --> 00:19:59.140
picked a bad target because that's a lot of

457
00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:00.860
people that would be very angry with me right

458
00:20:00.860 --> 00:20:01.060
now.

459
00:20:01.060 --> 00:20:03.860
Professor Fred Watson: But anyway, we just lost half our audience.

460
00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:06.500
Andrew Dunkley: Yes, I think we did. Um, but

461
00:20:06.580 --> 00:20:09.140
no, um, they've got to understand my sense of

462
00:20:09.140 --> 00:20:10.980
humour. But nobody does understand it.

463
00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:13.060
Professor Fred Watson: Not even you.

464
00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:14.100
Andrew Dunkley: Not even me.

465
00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:17.460
But we're talking a

466
00:20:18.340 --> 00:20:21.240
really interesting object in space too. Um,

467
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:23.860
neutron stars are, ah. Um.

468
00:20:24.100 --> 00:20:26.960
One of the storeys we did not was a while ago

469
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.280
now was about the mountain ranges on neutron

470
00:20:29.280 --> 00:20:32.000
stars. You know, the highest peaks are like a

471
00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.760
few millimetres high or something.

472
00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:34.800
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, they were.

473
00:20:35.040 --> 00:20:36.880
Andrew Dunkley: It's very, very weird place.

474
00:20:37.040 --> 00:20:38.320
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah.

475
00:20:38.750 --> 00:20:41.360
Andrew Dunkley: Um, do we know how they're formed initially?

476
00:20:42.080 --> 00:20:44.550
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah. By gravitational collapse at uh,

477
00:20:44.600 --> 00:20:46.200
the end of a star's life when.

478
00:20:46.200 --> 00:20:49.160
Andrew Dunkley: So what class of star would have existed to

479
00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:50.400
create a neutron star?

480
00:20:50.560 --> 00:20:51.280
Professor Fred Watson: Big ones.

481
00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:53.970
Andrew Dunkley: Big sort of super blue giant.

482
00:20:53.990 --> 00:20:56.730
Professor Fred Watson: Um, yeah, that's right. That's exactly

483
00:20:56.730 --> 00:20:58.690
right. So, um, stars with a mass,

484
00:21:01.490 --> 00:21:03.490
I think it's two to

485
00:21:04.130 --> 00:21:06.570
sort of. Two to Five times the mass of the

486
00:21:06.570 --> 00:21:09.570
sun or something like that. It um, might be a

487
00:21:09.570 --> 00:21:11.850
bit bigger. Uh, ten times the mass of the sun

488
00:21:11.850 --> 00:21:14.330
gives you a black hole basically. So

489
00:21:14.330 --> 00:21:17.290
somewhere below that but in the upper reaches

490
00:21:17.290 --> 00:21:19.890
will give you a neutron star collapse.

491
00:21:20.370 --> 00:21:22.930
Andrew Dunkley: Okay, so, okay, so

492
00:21:23.250 --> 00:21:25.810
our star won't do that. It's not big enough

493
00:21:25.810 --> 00:21:27.890
to do anything. It's just going to, you know,

494
00:21:27.890 --> 00:21:30.330
retire and find itself a street corner with

495
00:21:30.330 --> 00:21:32.810
a, with a, you know, a beer and a brown paper

496
00:21:32.810 --> 00:21:34.929
bag and a packet of cigarettes. That'll be

497
00:21:34.929 --> 00:21:37.810
the end of the sun. But the bigger they

498
00:21:37.810 --> 00:21:39.650
get, the more possibilities.

499
00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:44.010
Professor Fred Watson: Yes, exactly. Um, look, um, the

500
00:21:44.010 --> 00:21:46.160
sun, uh, is a non smoker

501
00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:49.680
but it will do

502
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:52.240
something similar because it

503
00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.080
will puff off its outer

504
00:21:55.080 --> 00:21:55.600
layers.

505
00:21:56.080 --> 00:21:58.440
Andrew Dunkley: Well that happens to all of us. We get fat as

506
00:21:58.440 --> 00:21:59.520
we retire. So

507
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:02.240
that's what I'm saying.

508
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.720
Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah. It puffs off its outer layers,

509
00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.320
it'll become a white dwarf, will be the

510
00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:09.680
nucleus which itself is an exotic object.

511
00:22:10.080 --> 00:22:11.960
That's something the size of Earth but with

512
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:14.880
the mass of the sun. Um, um,

513
00:22:15.270 --> 00:22:17.960
um, but its outer envelope will turn into

514
00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:20.480
something very beautiful. Probably what we

515
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:21.760
call a planetary nebula.

516
00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:23.600
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, we won't think so.

517
00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.960
Professor Fred Watson: We might not, but this will be a long time

518
00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:27.640
after we're gone because we'll have been

519
00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:28.320
swallowed up.

520
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.720
Andrew Dunkley: Exactly. But um, as far

521
00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:34.240
as a neutron star is concerned, you've got

522
00:22:34.560 --> 00:22:37.400
a lot of density in a very small package

523
00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.280
with a hell of a lot of gravity. And um, the

524
00:22:40.280 --> 00:22:41.960
easiest thing to do there would be to climb

525
00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:43.760
the mountains. But I wouldn't recommend it.

526
00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:47.060
Professor Fred Watson: No, quite so.

527
00:22:47.140 --> 00:22:50.140
Andrew Dunkley: But the bottom line for Colin is um, bits

528
00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:51.820
might break off in the collision but the

529
00:22:51.820 --> 00:22:54.420
gravity is so intense they get sucked back

530
00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:56.740
in. So no, we don't have to worry about

531
00:22:56.820 --> 00:22:59.260
flying pieces of neutron star hitting Earth

532
00:22:59.260 --> 00:23:01.220
while you're trying to sleep. I mean that

533
00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:04.140
wouldn't be fun at all. Thanks Colin.

534
00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:05.140
Thank you for your question.

535
00:23:05.300 --> 00:23:07.940
Our final question today comes from Bill

536
00:23:08.340 --> 00:23:10.820
in relation. Now this was an audio question

537
00:23:10.820 --> 00:23:13.300
that Bill sent in, but the audio quality

538
00:23:14.060 --> 00:23:17.040
um, was super muff for some reason.

539
00:23:17.280 --> 00:23:20.200
And um, we couldn't use the

540
00:23:20.200 --> 00:23:23.200
audio Bill. But um, sometimes these

541
00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.970
things get messed up in the ether. So um,

542
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:28.840
I listened to it about four or five times and

543
00:23:28.840 --> 00:23:31.530
I hope your name is actually Bill. Uh,

544
00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:34.880
and I hope I got uh, the words right in the

545
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:36.600
question. But he's basically saying in

546
00:23:36.600 --> 00:23:39.560
relation to the Artemis astronauts witnessing

547
00:23:39.560 --> 00:23:41.560
the solar eclipse and seeing the sun's

548
00:23:41.560 --> 00:23:44.080
corona, would you see the same effect

549
00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:46.920
standing on the moon during a lunar

550
00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.520
sunset? And uh, Bill's in, in Dover And

551
00:23:49.520 --> 00:23:51.640
Judy and I were in Dover last year. It's

552
00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:54.120
absolutely wonderful there. Went to Dover

553
00:23:54.120 --> 00:23:56.040
Castle, went down into the World War II

554
00:23:56.040 --> 00:23:57.840
tunnels. Although they've been around a lot

555
00:23:57.840 --> 00:24:00.720
longer than that. Fascinating um, place

556
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.110
and the white cliffs and looked out over um,

557
00:24:03.560 --> 00:24:06.120
over the English um, Channel and it was a

558
00:24:06.120 --> 00:24:08.980
clear day so I could see France. Uh,

559
00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:11.270
yeah. Um, something I've always wanted to

560
00:24:11.580 --> 00:24:14.140
witness. The locals are probably saying, oh

561
00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:16.540
gosh, he's boring. I can see that every day.

562
00:24:18.220 --> 00:24:19.940
Professor Fred Watson: They might like to see a kangaroo though,

563
00:24:19.940 --> 00:24:21.180
which you could see every day.

564
00:24:21.180 --> 00:24:24.180
Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, you know, um, it's

565
00:24:24.180 --> 00:24:25.260
a pest species.

566
00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:25.900
Professor Fred Watson: Yes.

567
00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:28.580
Andrew Dunkley: Uh, because, um, they've really

568
00:24:28.580 --> 00:24:31.180
adapted to um, uh, life

569
00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:34.380
post, um, modern agriculture and um.

570
00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:37.220
Yeah, they're doing well. M.

571
00:24:37.340 --> 00:24:40.060
So, um, yes. So

572
00:24:40.060 --> 00:24:40.540
yeah.

573
00:24:40.780 --> 00:24:42.620
Now we'll go back to the Artemis astronauts

574
00:24:42.620 --> 00:24:44.320
because they did see, ah, when they went

575
00:24:44.320 --> 00:24:47.040
around the moon, they saw um, um, a lunar

576
00:24:47.040 --> 00:24:49.960
eclipse and witnessed the corona. They saw

577
00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:51.880
a few other interesting things as well, like

578
00:24:52.280 --> 00:24:54.560
impact, um, flashes on the lunar surface from

579
00:24:54.560 --> 00:24:57.370
micrometeorites. Uh, but yeah,

580
00:24:57.370 --> 00:24:59.640
um, could you see the same effect

581
00:24:59.800 --> 00:25:01.240
standing on the moon?

582
00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.920
Professor Fred Watson: Um, yes. The answer is yes,

583
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.240
because the moon doesn't have an atmosphere.

584
00:25:08.090 --> 00:25:10.880
Um, what there is on the

585
00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.600
moon is something called levitating

586
00:25:13.600 --> 00:25:16.040
regolith, uh, which is

587
00:25:16.760 --> 00:25:19.720
soil being lifted as a lunar soil particle.

588
00:25:19.800 --> 00:25:22.120
Basically the lunar dust, very, very fine

589
00:25:22.120 --> 00:25:25.119
dust. Um, and that gets

590
00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:27.920
electrostatically charged up during the lunar

591
00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.440
day and tends to fly off the

592
00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:31.000
surface.

593
00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.120
Andrew Dunkley: And that's why it ends up in your pina

594
00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:33.880
colada.

595
00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:36.360
Professor Fred Watson: It could be. Yes, that's right.

596
00:25:37.470 --> 00:25:40.450
Uh, so that's right. Uh, so,

597
00:25:40.870 --> 00:25:43.850
um, there could be a little bit

598
00:25:43.850 --> 00:25:46.850
of a dust haze, uh, on the moon

599
00:25:47.090 --> 00:25:49.490
which might spoil your view of the corona.

600
00:25:49.890 --> 00:25:52.050
That's the only thing that I could think of

601
00:25:52.050 --> 00:25:54.290
that would, um.

602
00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:57.450
Uh, it's certainly true that um, the Apollo

603
00:25:57.450 --> 00:26:00.450
astronauts, several of them, yes, witnessing

604
00:26:00.530 --> 00:26:03.530
the. Looking for exactly what we're talking

605
00:26:03.530 --> 00:26:05.650
about the corona of the sun as it rises

606
00:26:06.600 --> 00:26:09.240
above the limb of the moon. They could see

607
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:12.080
this lunar dust being illuminated

608
00:26:12.080 --> 00:26:14.950
and that's how we know it happens. Um,

609
00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:18.080
there are some quite well known sketches made

610
00:26:18.080 --> 00:26:20.360
by some of the astronauts because it's very,

611
00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:23.040
very faint and with the cameras they had at

612
00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:25.080
that time, it wasn't possible to

613
00:26:25.320 --> 00:26:28.040
directly uh, record it, but there were

614
00:26:28.040 --> 00:26:30.800
sketches that they made. So it wasn't a

615
00:26:30.800 --> 00:26:33.400
solar phenomenon, it's this levitating dust.

616
00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:37.160
Um, but I think you'd see the

617
00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:39.560
lunar corona as well from the surface.

618
00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:40.280
Andrew Dunkley: Okay.

619
00:26:40.280 --> 00:26:42.160
Professor Fred Watson: Maybe one day somebody will find out because

620
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.360
at the moment we've never had a human

621
00:26:44.360 --> 00:26:47.320
Watching a lunar sunset or moon. Sorry?

622
00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:49.880
A lunar sunset or sunrise.

623
00:26:50.439 --> 00:26:53.320
Andrew Dunkley: Yes, yeah, it'll happen, It'll happen.

624
00:26:53.320 --> 00:26:53.600
Professor Fred Watson: It will.

625
00:26:53.600 --> 00:26:55.600
Andrew Dunkley: Uh, yes, you know the way they're talking,

626
00:26:55.600 --> 00:26:58.160
within a very short period of time, there

627
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:01.120
will be permanent habitation on the moon

628
00:27:01.120 --> 00:27:03.770
of some kind. Research stations, maybe, um,

629
00:27:05.120 --> 00:27:07.280
power generators, I don't know. They've got.

630
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.240
There's a lot to do and as we mentioned in

631
00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:11.920
the last episode, there's, uh. They're

632
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:13.360
already looking at ways of building

633
00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:16.000
infrastructure on the. On the moon using.

634
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:19.040
Using moon dust. So, um. Yeah,

635
00:27:19.040 --> 00:27:21.400
we'll get there. I was going to say

636
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:23.040
eventually, but I don't think it'll be

637
00:27:23.040 --> 00:27:25.320
eventual. I think it's. We're at the dawn of

638
00:27:25.320 --> 00:27:25.600
it.

639
00:27:25.600 --> 00:27:27.440
Professor Fred Watson: Yep. So exciting.

640
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:30.040
Andrew Dunkley: M. But yes, a sunset on the moon could be.

641
00:27:30.040 --> 00:27:32.640
Could be quite fascinating. And thank you,

642
00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:34.880
Bill, for your question. Hope all is well in

643
00:27:35.040 --> 00:27:37.340
Dover. And if got questions for us, please

644
00:27:37.340 --> 00:27:39.580
send them in to us via our website,

645
00:27:39.580 --> 00:27:42.380
spacenutspodcast.com or

646
00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:44.940
spacenuts IO. Click on the

647
00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:47.820
AMA button at the top and, uh, that means

648
00:27:47.820 --> 00:27:50.140
ask me anything. And you can send in text

649
00:27:50.140 --> 00:27:52.620
questions or audio questions. If you've got a

650
00:27:52.620 --> 00:27:54.740
device with a microphone, you're all set. And

651
00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:57.260
that's just about everything these days. And,

652
00:27:57.420 --> 00:27:59.180
um, don't forget to tell us who you are and

653
00:27:59.180 --> 00:28:00.620
where you're from and have a look around on

654
00:28:00.620 --> 00:28:02.160
our website while you're there. And, um,

655
00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:04.900
please leave reviews wherever you listen to

656
00:28:04.900 --> 00:28:07.420
us because they help, apparently. I don't

657
00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:08.860
know what they help with. Probably someone

658
00:28:08.860 --> 00:28:11.800
else getting paid, I don't know. But, um,

659
00:28:11.800 --> 00:28:14.620
yes, reviews are always good. They move us up

660
00:28:14.620 --> 00:28:16.380
the pecking order. Number one in Iceland.

661
00:28:17.540 --> 00:28:20.540
Um, but yeah, uh, it's all good stuff.

662
00:28:20.860 --> 00:28:22.660
And Fred Watson, thank you so much. It's been

663
00:28:22.660 --> 00:28:23.260
good to talk.

664
00:28:24.140 --> 00:28:26.620
Professor Fred Watson: It has. It's been a, um, great pleasure as

665
00:28:26.620 --> 00:28:26.940
always.

666
00:28:27.820 --> 00:28:29.380
Andrew Dunkley: We'll catch you soon. Professor Fred Watson

667
00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:31.060
Watson, astronomer at large. And thanks to

668
00:28:31.060 --> 00:28:33.340
Huw in the studio, who couldn't be with us

669
00:28:33.340 --> 00:28:35.960
today because he likes pina coladas and walks

670
00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:38.000
in the rain. Not much into health food, but

671
00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:39.800
he's into champagne. That's why he's under

672
00:28:39.800 --> 00:28:42.000
the table. Couldn't join us today. And from

673
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:43.800
me, Andrew Dunkley, thanks for your company.

674
00:28:44.360 --> 00:28:46.760
Some people will get that joke. See you on

675
00:28:46.760 --> 00:28:48.400
the next episode of Space Nuts.

676
00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:49.080
Professor Fred Watson: Bye. Bye.

677
00:28:50.280 --> 00:28:52.520
Andrew Dunkley: You've been listening to the Space Nuts

678
00:28:52.520 --> 00:28:55.480
podcast, available at

679
00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:57.480
Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

680
00:28:57.720 --> 00:28:59.890
iHeartRadio or your favourite favourite

681
00:28:59.890 --> 00:29:02.450
podcast player. You can also stream On Demand

682
00:29:02.450 --> 00:29:03.410
at bytes.

683
00:29:03.410 --> 00:29:03.810
Professor Fred Watson: Com.

684
00:29:04.130 --> 00:29:06.210
Andrew Dunkley: This has been another quality podcast

685
00:29:06.210 --> 00:29:08.000
production from Bytes. Com.

686
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:08.030
Speaker C: Um,