Source:
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/448-galactic-life-cycles-black-hole-growth-space-junk-rings--61228739
Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson in this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts, where they dive into fascinating listener questions about the life and death of celestial bodies, black holes, and the mysteries of Space junk.
Episode Highlights:
- Life and Death in the Universe: Trevor from Port Macquarie asks about the life cycle of the universe. Could everything eventually collapse into a singularity, leading to another Big Bang? Discover the theories and science behind the universe's expansion and the concept of the "Big Rip."
- - Growth of Black Holes: David from Texas wonders how black holes grow in mass. Fred Watson explains the process of accretion and the role of the event horizon in this cosmic phenomenon.
- - Space Junk and Artificial Rings: Mikey from Illinois speculates if SpaceTime debris could form an artificial ring around Earth. Learn about the current state of SpaceTime junk and the potential future of Earth's orbital environment.
- - Seeing the Milky Way in the UK: Ian from Cambridge asks about the visibility of the Milky Way from the UK. Fred Watson provides insights on the best times and conditions to observe our galaxy from the northern hemisphere.
- - 00:00:00 This is a Q and A edition of space nuts
- - 00:01:44 Fred asks two questions about the accelerating expansion of the universe
- - 00:08:54 Why do black holes grow as they eat? Why do they keep growing
- - 00:13:08 Andrew Dunkley was wondering about space junk in the future
- - 00:18:39 Fred: Can you see the Milky Way from the UK on a clear night
- - 00:22:10 Do you think early spring affects viewing of the skies in any way
- For more Space Nuts, including the Astronomy Daily continually updating newsfeed, visit our website at spacenutspodcast.com. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform.
- For more Space and Astronomy News Podcasts, visit our HQ athttps://biteszhq.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts/support.
- Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 hello again thanks for joining us on
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 Space Nuts Andrew Dunley here and it's a
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 Q&A Edition that means that we're going
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 to answer questions or we're going to
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 pretend to or we're going to refer them
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 to an a future episode for possible
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 answering or not or maybe we'll just put
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 them in a bin I don't know uh what do we
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 got today we're looking at life and
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 death within the universe not the life
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 life or death of people or other
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 entities for that matter but maybe the
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 life and death of planets and galaxies
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 and maybe the universe itself what's
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 that all about we'll tell you uh we're
00:00:39 --> 00:00:43 also going to um look at how black holes
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 grow uh that question's being asked
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 another question about space junk and
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 seeing the Milky Way in the UK how do
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 you do it you get a very tall ladder to
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 get above all the smog and the clouds
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 that's what I reckon that's all coming
00:00:56 --> 00:01:00 up on this edition of Space Nuts seconds
00:01:00 --> 00:01:05 guidance is internal 10 9 ignition
00:01:05 --> 00:01:10 sequence start Space Nuts 5 4 3 2 1 2 3
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 Space Nuts as the nuts
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 report it feels good and it's good to
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 have Professor Fred Watson here to
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 answer all of those because I haven't
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 got a clue hello
00:01:22 --> 00:01:27 Fred oh yeah true neither of I really ah
00:01:27 --> 00:01:31 well we'll we'll do our best through wor
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 we we have a a homework segment that we
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 occasionally do when a question gets too
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 hard might take us through a four months
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 to get back to you but we do it we do it
00:01:40 --> 00:01:44 what's the rush um Shall We Begin why
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 not okay um this first question comes
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 from Trevor Trevor's in Port mcquarry
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 which is up on the midn North Coast of
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 New South Wales Australia horrible part
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 of the world nobody wants to live
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 there I mean they've got beautiful green
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 trees and subtropical forests and white
00:02:01 --> 00:02:05 beaches and fishing and why would you
00:02:05 --> 00:02:10 want to live there um okay Trevor uh
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 nice nice to get your question hi Andrew
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 and Fred everything in the universe is
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 born at some point and has a lifespan on
00:02:17 --> 00:02:21 Earth at the end of uh their life at the
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 end of their life uh plants and animals
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 return to the soil from where they came
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 in space Suns and planets live and die
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 and eventually become part of the space
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 around them once more so could this be
00:02:32 --> 00:02:36 true for the entire universe we think we
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 know that the Universe was born in the
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 Big Bang and that it will probably die
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 at some point in the future so I'm
00:02:43 --> 00:02:47 wondering if over the eons of time could
00:02:47 --> 00:02:48 the black holes that seem to be at the
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 middle of every Galaxy eventually pull
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 everything currently in the universe
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 back into one Singularity at which point
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 we would have another big bang and a new
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 universe would would be born many thanks
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 for your program I listen in bed every
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 night and it helps me go off to sleep at
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 least twice a week I'm glad we can do
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 that for you
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 Trevor we put him to sleep Fred U that's
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 right and um that's something I'm really
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 good
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 at oh boy I'm sure he didn't mean it
00:03:22 --> 00:03:23 that
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 way I'm sure he didn't know uh look
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 Trevor great great to talk to you um you
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 have uh as you might know in Port mcari
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 a brand new marvelous Science Center in
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 the middle of town which is being opened
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 a little bit later in the year uh it's
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 on the site of the old Observatory there
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 which um I was always very fond of and
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 indeed was its Patron and I think I
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 might be the patron of the new science
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 center as well wonderful brilliant and
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 so um that opens uh in a couple of
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 months uh so make sure you go along and
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 check it out Trevor because you're
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 you're in po position to do that up
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 there in Port mcquary
00:04:00 --> 00:04:04 uh and the answer is um well yes uh it's
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 true everything seems to have a life
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 cycle uh and the the theory that you've
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 mentioned that the gravitational pull of
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 everything in the Galax in the universe
00:04:15 --> 00:04:18 uh might eventually caus the universe to
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 collapse back on itself uh into another
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 Singularity the gab GI the ganab Gibb
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 that's right uh the opposite of the Big
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 Bang that's the name coined by Brian
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 Schmid um before he did his Nobel prize
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 winning work uh we used to we usually
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 called it the Big Crunch the idea was
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 that everything would eventually
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 collapse back on itself and uh would be
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 a big crunch which may have spawned
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 another big bang um and that would be a
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 you know a new universe being Reb born
00:04:50 --> 00:04:54 exactly as you've said uh Trevor uh what
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 basically through that or through cold
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 water onto that argument was Brian
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 himself uh and other colleagues in the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 United States who together in
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 1998 discovered that actually the
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 universe its expansion is not slowing
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 down as you would have had to have if
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 you're going to get a ganab Gib or a or
00:05:13 --> 00:05:17 a big crunch uh it's accelerating so the
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 accelerated expansion of the universe
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 really knocks that on the head and it
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 also tells us that there is something in
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 the universe that is causing space to
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 accelerate not just expand but to expand
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 ever more rapidly uh and we call that
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 dark energy and if you thought Dark
00:05:35 --> 00:05:37 Matter was a mystery wait till you get
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 to Dark Energy um we really have very
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 little idea of what it is it's some sort
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 of vacuum energy it's some kind of
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 energy of space itself the more space
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 you get the more energy you get and it's
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 causing the universe to expand ever more
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 rapidly so uh it looks as though the
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 universe may never have an ending if it
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 just keeps on going going uh and
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 expanding unless uh the thing that some
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 other people have
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 hypothesized that one day space itself
00:06:09 --> 00:06:13 might just get so stretched by the
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 accelerating expansion that it fractures
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 and you get something called the Big Rip
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 and the Big Rip is another possible end
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 to the universe when space itself just
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 gets ripped apart well yeah that seems
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 to be the popular opinion at the moment
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 doesn't isn't it uh it is yeah uh whe
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 the well the Big Rip is a little bit
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 hypothesized but certainly The
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 Accelerated expansion is taken as fact
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 now since that Discovery was made it's
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 not just the observations of supernova
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 exploding stars that uh were what
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 allowed that Discovery to be made but
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 many other observations of the state of
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 the universe if I can put it that way
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 imply that the big that the um dark
00:06:55 --> 00:06:56 energy is
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 there okay there you are um so in regard
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 to his question about life cycles in the
00:07:04 --> 00:07:08 universe uh we are seeing that and and
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 uh we I mean eventually everything's
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 going to finish in terms of the physical
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 forms the the Stars the galaxies the
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 black holes themselves May well you in
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 billions upon billions of years
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 evaporate because they are burning their
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 energy they're they're getting weaker
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 over time it's just a very slow process
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 um but the universe as a whole that's a
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 different question I
00:07:34 --> 00:07:38 suppose uh yes uh that's right uh you
00:07:38 --> 00:07:42 know so so you're right in that the the
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 kind of life and death processes that
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 involve stars and stars are
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 the you know the main kind of matter in
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 the universe apart from Dark Matter uh
00:07:52 --> 00:07:53 the way we detect matter in the universe
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 anyway uh that life and death cycle is
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 well known and uh when you look forward
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 perhaps 100 billion years or so all
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 you've got is dark remnants remnants
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 black dwarfs we call them remnants of
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 stars uh and probably a lot of black
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 holes as well uh so everything's kind of
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 dead and dormant there's no black holes
00:08:13 --> 00:08:14 are not feeding because there's nothing
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 for them to feed on so it becomes a very
00:08:17 --> 00:08:21 boring Universe indeed uh maybe a big
00:08:21 --> 00:08:22 rip would be the fitting end for a
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 universe like that and once everything's
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 expanded beyond our capacity to see them
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 no no astronomers
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 [Music]
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 frig damn yeah you'll have to retire
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 then yeah I'm just a Dying Breed oh
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 that's terrible never thought of that
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 how many bazillion years away is that
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 yes anyway um yeah quite a few we're in
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 no rush uh thank you Trevor uh hope
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 you're enjoying Port mcor um lovely
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 lovely place it is uh let's go to our
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 next question this one comes from David
00:08:58 --> 00:09:02 hey Fred and Andrew to David from Sing
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 Texas um just sitting here in bed
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 thinking about black
00:09:06 --> 00:09:07 holes
00:09:07 --> 00:09:11 and questioning how is it that black
00:09:11 --> 00:09:12 holes
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 grow like when a black
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 hole over time becomes a super massive
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 black hole how is it that they grow
00:09:21 --> 00:09:22 because if their gravity can suck in
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 even light and they're supposed to be
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 infinitely dense why don't they just
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 stay the same size and just continue
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 eating why do you why do they grow as
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 they eat like what is it that's
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 growing thank you guys love the podcast
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 thank you David yeah it's it's um it's a
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 tough nut to crack isn't it the the old
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 black hole what what's it eating how's
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 it getting bigger they eat each other or
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 they merge we know that um but yeah uh
00:09:52 --> 00:09:53 it's a good question why don't they just
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 stay the same size why do they keep
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 growing what what is causing that what
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 what are they actually eating
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 well yeah I think the the issue is not
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 so much what they're eating because we
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 do know that they gobble up anything
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 that's well basically that can catch yes
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 that's right uh not that they go chasing
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 around the universe uh to uh to find
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 them no they a trapdor spider aren't
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 they it's yes or or indeed a huntsman
00:10:19 --> 00:10:23 spider which also just grabs things um
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 but so that all goes into the black hole
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 all that debris Stars gas dust other
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 black holes occasionally all goes into
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 the black hole apart from what's shot
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 out by the way by the magnetic fields
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 that give you the jet from an active
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 black hole um but the the the question
00:10:41 --> 00:10:46 is really about uh why doesn't it grow
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 now it doesn't grow in physical
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 dimensions because by definition a black
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 hole has zero Dimensions it's a
00:10:54 --> 00:10:59 singularity um and so its volume is zero
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 uh and we know I think the way we Define
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 a black hole is a point in space of
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 infinite density uh so it's density is
00:11:07 --> 00:11:11 infinite now density is mass over volume
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 uh density is infinite because volume is
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 zero and you're dividing something by
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 zero which produces
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 Infinity uh that's the density but that
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 says nothing at all about its mass and
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 the mass is what changes so it's not the
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 size of the black hole but it's mass
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 that changes they do grow but they grow
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 in mass and that's how we get the super
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 massive black holes because they've been
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 at it for a long time and creating this
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 material so yeah so um they do grow uh
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 they don't get physically bigger their
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 Mass gets bigger and in turn the Event
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 Horizon gets bigger so that's the bit
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 that delineates where you can't
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 penetrate uh nothing can penetrate out
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 of it no not even light is the Event
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 Horizon and so as a black hole gets
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 bigger its Event Horizon grows and grows
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 and grows even though it's still a
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 singularity uh but its mass is going up
00:12:07 --> 00:12:08 and that causes the Event Horizon to
00:12:08 --> 00:12:12 swell okay yeah and you can do this
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 experiment at home by eating a 100
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 Donuts exactly the same thing your mass
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 increases it does but usually your
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 volume does as well if you do
00:12:25 --> 00:12:30 that um yes I won do that any
00:12:30 --> 00:12:31 okay fair enough so what was the answer
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 to the question the the mass increases
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 but the the black
00:12:36 --> 00:12:40 hole doesn't the dimensions don't the
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 dimensions of the Event Horizon do
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 because they're linked to the mass so
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 it's the mass that increases okay there
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 you go David you can go to sleep
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 now sitting sitting in bed trying to
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 figure out black holes that's that's
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 self-inflicted torture that is but um
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 yes at least somebody trying to figure
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 it out a lot of people are trying to
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 figure it out David thanks for the uh
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 thanks for the um question lovely to
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 hear from you uh and I hope all is well
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 in Texas this is Space Nuts Andrew
00:13:10 --> 00:13:15 Dunley here with Professor Fred
00:13:15 --> 00:13:20 Watson 3 2 1 Space
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 Nuts uh now Fred we've got another audio
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 question this one a little closer to
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 home from Mikey hey Brad hey Andrew this
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 is Mikey from Illinois again
00:13:29 --> 00:13:33 I was uh wondering about space junk uh
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 there's a lot of it around Earth right
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 now and there's only going to be more
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 you know come the future and if nothing
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 ever gets done of it I was wondering if
00:13:41 --> 00:13:45 somewhere in maybe the distant future um
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 all of this space junk would kind of
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 coales and the Earth would maybe have
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 its own artificial ring system uh kind
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 of like Saturn but just instead of ice
00:13:55 --> 00:13:59 rock and dust it's junk uh yeah just
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 something that kind of crossed my mind
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 wonder what you guys think about it
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 thanks guys yeah that's a really
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 interesting sort and I mean it's out
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 there some of it re-enters some of it
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 burns up uh some of it's just floating
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 around out there and it can be as small
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 as a flick of paint uh but it's moving
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 at a rapid speed and uh has had um a few
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 close calls and caused a few problems
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 from time to time um in terms of dealing
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 with it it's uh every nation's
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 responsibility to look after their own
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 staff isn't it or every entity's
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 responsibility um although that's only a
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 recent law and we're we're still you
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 know grappling with it we've been
00:14:39 --> 00:14:40 experimenting with ways to collect the
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 stuff but I think there's just too much
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 stuff well it's it's not that there's
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 too much it's that it's kind of spread
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 all over the place yeah and space is big
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 as um Douglas Adams put it um but you
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 know just thinking about this Mike's
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 Point and in way the Earth already has a
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 ring of debreath uh because it's around
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 it's the geostationary satellite ring
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 that's where there are very large
00:15:09 --> 00:15:10 numbers of satellites I don't know the
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 total number that's in geostationary
00:15:12 --> 00:15:16 orbit but it's quite large um and beyond
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 that there is what they call the
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 graveyard orbit where geostationary
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 satellites have to be pushed out into a
00:15:22 --> 00:15:26 graveyard orbit uh once their their
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 useful life is over uh and it's a fairly
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 stable orbit one that's not you know
00:15:32 --> 00:15:36 being perturbed so that it'll um so that
00:15:36 --> 00:15:37 a satellite will collide with another
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 satellite so um so we've already got a
00:15:40 --> 00:15:44 ring the G stationary satellite ring
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 most of them are in one piece because we
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 use them every day uh for
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 communications but um in terms of the
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 low earth orbit and midar orbit uh
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 spacecraft um yes there's there is a lot
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 of Deb around because these spacecraft
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 collide with one another from time to
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 time um it's as you said Flex of paint
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 everything upwards from Flex of paint uh
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15 and um it just begs the question whether
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 at sometime in the future they would
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 actually coales into a ring that that
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 the orbits of these things would flatten
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 out uh so that rather than having orbits
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 at all inclinations they're going all
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 around the earth so so the Earth is like
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 inside a shell of of of space staby
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 whether it would flatten out into a ring
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 um and I suspect it would in the very
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 long term that you would end up with
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 with a ring of space junk uh however
00:16:42 --> 00:16:43 we're a long way from that I think the
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 thing about the lower orbit stuff is
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 that that will burn up before before we
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 ever get to that stage so um it did you
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 know they they'll re-enter and burn up
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 and cause pollution in the upper
00:16:57 --> 00:16:58 atmosphere which we now know is
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 happening uh detecting aluminium and
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 other stuff like that in the upper
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 atmosphere that comes from re-entering
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 spacecraft uh but that's a vapor rather
00:17:06 --> 00:17:10 than a solid entity like a like a a ring
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 uh so I think the answer to your
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 question Mikey is we've got a ring
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 already and most of it useful but um
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 some of it's not no and long term maybe
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 some of the stuff that is orbiting by
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 default and won't return to Earth May
00:17:23 --> 00:17:27 well become a ring yes that's right
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 assuming assuming we don't find a good
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 way to clean it up in the meantime yeah
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 I mean we could you know there's many
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 projects that have been launched to and
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 some have actually been launched into
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 space but the there you know ways that
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 you can either throw a grappling iron or
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 a net or something at a piece of space
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 debris and slow it down so it does
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 re-enter the the atmosphere that's
00:17:49 --> 00:17:53 becoming um or maybe it's too early to
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 say it's becoming but it will become a
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 standard procedure I think especially
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 for large pieces of debris that if they
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 re-entered in an uncontrolled fashion
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 they they could do damage I think that's
00:18:04 --> 00:18:07 that's going to be the norm uh it's also
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 the norm as you hinted at that any any
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 nation that um re launches anything into
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 space or any organization that launches
00:18:15 --> 00:18:18 anything to space has to demonstrate
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 that they've they've built in a way of
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 deorbiting it uh in other words they can
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 get rid of it and that I think has been
00:18:24 --> 00:18:28 in place for quite a few years now so uh
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 in the long ter um we're in better shape
00:18:30 --> 00:18:32 than we are at the moment hopefully uh
00:18:32 --> 00:18:36 the space junk situation will improve
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 indeed all right uh great question Mikey
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 thank you very much uh one more question
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 possibly two I don't know how we'll go
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 for time but we've got a question
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48 without notice from um YouTube I assume
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 or something to that effect uh but this
00:18:50 --> 00:18:53 one coming from Ian uh who is in
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 Cambridge hi Andrew and Fred I asked a
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 question last year about not being able
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 to see the Milky Way
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 I still haven't seen the Milky Way here
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 in the UK however there are some photos
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 on social media showing the Milky Way
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 high in the sky above Stonehenge are
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 these genuine I would have thought from
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 the UK perspective the Milky Way would
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 be low in the southern Sky thanks for
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 the great podcast Ian um well you're
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 you're from the UK Fred so you you know
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 the LIE of the land and um you the LIE
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 of the Stars the LIE of the stars in
00:19:28 --> 00:19:32 perspective uh to the um the positioning
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 of the northern hemisphere um can you
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 see the Milky Way from the UK even on a
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 clear
00:19:38 --> 00:19:43 night um you can uh and the Milky Way it
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 goes all the way around the sky uh so
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 everywhere on Earth we'll see it at some
00:19:49 --> 00:19:54 point um the best time to look uh from
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 there's two kind of good times I suppose
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 uh from the Northern Hemisphere uh is
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 the um middle of winter because the
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 Milky Way stretches right up goes past
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 Orion goes through cipia all those
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 constellations it goes right basically
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 from north to south across the sky um uh
00:20:11 --> 00:20:15 it's in in the middle of the year as
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 well you can see it quite well I think
00:20:17 --> 00:20:22 what uh Ian is really meaning though is
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 the center of our Milky Way galaxy which
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 is the brightest part of the Milky Way
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 which goes directly overhead here in
00:20:29 --> 00:20:31 Australia uh but it only skirts the
00:20:31 --> 00:20:35 southern Horizon uh in the nor in the
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 northern hemisphere certainly at the
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 latitude of the UK um so you can see it
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 I've observed Sagittarius which is where
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 the uh the the galactic center is I've
00:20:44 --> 00:20:46 observed it from Scotland actually but
00:20:46 --> 00:20:49 it's been very very low down in the sky
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 and very difficult to see because
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 there's pollution and light pollution
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 and everything there uh but the problem
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 uh but the Milky Way itself goes all the
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 way around the sky and is visible as I
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 said best in in uh in midwinter in fact
00:21:00 --> 00:21:02 in the middle of summer it's too de
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 there's too much daylight uh the nights
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 last too long or the days last too long
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 so so um but the main thing is to be
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 away from light pollution and that's
00:21:12 --> 00:21:15 because the Milky Way as seen from the
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 northern hemisphere is fainter than it
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 is in the South because we've got the
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 galactic center where it is richest
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 milky ways at its pricest so you are
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 right in that the Milky Way is fainter
00:21:25 --> 00:21:27 in the northern hemisphere but it's
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 still visible and on a dark night away
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 from City Lights is pretty impressive so
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 that picture of the milk over Stonehenge
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 would not necessarily be a fake okay
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 I've I've looked at a few here and uh
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 one of them's referring to a photograph
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 on a summer night at Stonehenge and it's
00:21:46 --> 00:21:49 showing the Milky Way vertical how does
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 that sound to you yeah that would be
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 right it would be vertical okay as it is
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 in Winter as well on a midwinter night
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 okay there you have it so it's probably
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 genuine uh there'd be a lot of others
00:22:01 --> 00:22:02 out there that have been constructed
00:22:02 --> 00:22:06 from um superimposed photographs but um
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 yes it's is a
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 possibility uh and uh yeah thanks for
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 the question one quick one without
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 notice Fred uh comes from uh I think uh
00:22:14 --> 00:22:18 tdj has uh messaged us before he's just
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 got home from work do have a question
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 does the early spring affect viewing of
00:22:22 --> 00:22:24 the skies in any
00:22:24 --> 00:22:27 way um yeah only um weatherwise you know
00:22:27 --> 00:22:29 we've got um probably
00:22:29 --> 00:22:33 um warmer weather uh that should produce
00:22:33 --> 00:22:37 drier drier atmospheres uh and give you
00:22:37 --> 00:22:40 a better view I noticed um I've just
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 I've got a bit of a weather station on
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 the wall I noticed the uh pressure is
00:22:43 --> 00:22:45 low actually at the moment it's much
00:22:45 --> 00:22:47 warmer than it should be in Winter yeah
00:22:47 --> 00:22:50 uh the uh the air though is very dry
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 compared with what it normally is like
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 and that normally gives you better
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 viewing um less twinkling in the sky
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 because the uh the amount of turbulence
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 in the atmosphere settles down when the
00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 when the air is dryer how about that
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 there you go tdj thanks for the question
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 at the last minute and um he's in Sydney
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 as well Fred um probably probably cross
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 the road from you could be could be
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 indeed yeah wrestling goannas yeah yes
00:23:16 --> 00:23:20 that's right and a reminder to anybody
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 who wants to send in a question to us to
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 go to our website because that's where
00:23:24 --> 00:23:26 you send them and you can do text
00:23:26 --> 00:23:30 questions just click on the AMA tab uh
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 or Link at the top uh you can also send
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 audio questions that way or on the right
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 hand side where you would usually be a
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 send a sha voice
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 message and it's not there today don't
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 know what happened to that uh probably
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 my computer doing silly bugger things
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 like it tends to but yes we welcome your
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 questions for our Q&A episodes of Space
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 Nuts keep them coming thanks Fred as
00:23:53 --> 00:23:55 always it's a great pleasure great to
00:23:55 --> 00:23:58 talk to you Andrew uh we we struggled
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 through and we got some good answers
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 there I think yeah I think so and we
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 made them all up as we went along we
00:24:03 --> 00:24:06 didn't even have to sit down before the
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 show and work out fake answers we we
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 made them up as we went along it was
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 brilliant we're getting better at this
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 uh thanks red we'll see you
00:24:15 --> 00:24:19 soon uh Fred Watson astronomer at large
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 thanks to Hugh in the studio who sent us
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 one
00:24:22 --> 00:24:24 question yeah we can't tell you anything
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 about that at all Fred Hugh we don't
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 know the answer um talk to your
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 electricity provider and from me from me
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 Andrew Dunley thanks for your company
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 we'll see you again soon on another
00:24:36 --> 00:24:40 episode of Space Nuts bye-bye nuts
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 you'll been listening to the Space Nuts
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