Artemis Updates, the Brian Nebula, and Galactic Mapping
In this enlightening episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson dive into the latest developments in space exploration and celestial phenomena. From the shifting timelines of the Artemis program to the fascinating discoveries made by the James Webb Space Telescope, this episode is packed with cosmic insights and intriguing discussions.
Episode Highlights:
- Artemis Program Updates: Andrew and Fred discuss the recent delays in the Artemis 2 mission, which is now expected to launch no earlier than April. They also explore the implications of the newly inserted Artemis 3 mission, which will focus on testing spacecraft capabilities in Earth orbit before the lunar landing.
- The Brian in Space: The hosts delve into the discovery of the PMR1 nebula, also known as the Exposed Cranium Nebula. They discuss its unusual appearance and the significance of the James Webb Space Telescope's observations that reveal this nebula's intricate structure, reminiscent of a brain.
- Mapping the Galactic Center: Andrew and Fred highlight a groundbreaking survey of the center of our galaxy, revealing the complex dynamics and chemical compositions within this turbulent region. They discuss the technologies used in this research and what it means for our understanding of the Milky Way.
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Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/32036521?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hi there. Thanks for joining us again.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 This is Space Nuts. My name is Andrew
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 Dunley. It's great to have your company.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 We're um going to talk about a lot of
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 things today and one of them is the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 Arteimus program. Now, we did talk about
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 it um very recently because things had
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 changed. The Arteimus 2 launch was set
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 back and it looks like they're actually
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 going to take the Artemis 2 rocket back
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 to the assembly building now. and
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 they're not anticipating an Artemis 2
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 launch to send humans around the moon
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 and back until at least April. But
00:00:34 --> 00:00:35 that's not what we're going to talk
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 about. We'll explain that shortly. Uh
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 we're going to look at the new Cranium
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 Nebula. This one sounds quite
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 unbelievable. Um a brain in space could
00:00:47 --> 00:00:50 be. And the center of our galaxy has
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 been mapped in detail. What's it look
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 like? We will tell you on this episode
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 of Space Nuts.
00:00:56 --> 00:01:01 >> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 Ignition sequence start.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:04 >> Space Nuts.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 >> 5 4 3 2
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 >> 1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
00:01:09 --> 00:01:10 >> Space Nuts.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 >> Astronauts report. It feels good.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 >> Joining us once again is Professor Fred
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 Watson, astronomer at large. Hi Fred.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 >> Hello Andrew. Good to see you back from
00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 your sodome. Yes. Yes. Um, I won't dwell
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 on it too much. I'm sure people have
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 seen the photos on Facebook if they care
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 to look uh on on my page. I didn't put
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 them on the space page, but uh yeah, we
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 went to Borneo for a couple of weeks.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 Uh, and we saw some amazing wildlife.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:41 Uh, orangutang, uh, sunbears,
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 uh, proboscus monkeys, civets, you know,
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 you know about the civet, they eat the
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 eat the coffee berry and poo out the
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 bean and then they collect the beans and
00:01:50 --> 00:01:51 turn them into coffee.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Yeah, we saw some of those. Uh, didn't
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 try the coffee. Um, what else? Oh,
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Macack Monkeys. I even managed 18 holes
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 at a a rather nice resort golf course.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 Um, and I paid the price for that
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 because it was a pretty ordinary game,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:07 but I enjoyed the course. Beautiful.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:09 Although
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 >> the greens in do are better than that.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:12 >> There you go.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:13 >> Much better.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 >> It's our superintendent was very pleased
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 to hear when I saw him the other day.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:19 Um, but yeah, incredible country. I
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 think um I don't know if you can see the
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 map behind me, Fred. See that?
00:02:23 --> 00:02:24 >> I can. Yes, you can see.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 >> That is the map of the Sandakin death
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 march uh in World War II. Uh Australian
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 and English military personnel that have
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 been captured by the Japanese were sent
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 to Borneo uh to build an airport. And
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 when it looked like the war was lost to
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 Japan, they were ordered to kill all
00:02:43 --> 00:02:47 prisoners. and they force marched 1
00:02:47 --> 00:02:52 Australians from Sandakan to uh a um a a
00:02:52 --> 00:02:56 a place called Rena in northern Borneo.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 Uh of those 1800,
00:02:58 --> 00:03:02 six survived. Uh it's a terrible
00:03:02 --> 00:03:06 tragedy. It's um Australia's worst
00:03:06 --> 00:03:10 um atrocity in terms of uh of war. Uh
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 and not many people know about it. They
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 know all about Gallipoli. They know all
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 about uh some of the major battles of
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 World War I and World War II. Um the
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 rats of Tbrook. It all goes down in
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 folklore. But this is one of the
00:03:25 --> 00:03:26 probably one of the most forgotten
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 elements of Australian military history
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 and really and I would encourage people
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 to go and read about it. um I knew about
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 it, but um it's it's not well publicized
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 and I think it's a tragedy that we tend
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 to put this stuff at the at the back of
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 our minds. Um and and should never be
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 forgotten what happened over there. Uh
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 so we we've basically on the tour
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 followed the the route of the the death
00:03:52 --> 00:03:53 march. Not intentionally, it was just
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 the way the road went, but um uh went to
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 the memorials and um and and read all
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 the names. uh hundreds and hundreds of
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 names. Uh the British suffered
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 similarly. Uh there were 600 British
00:04:05 --> 00:04:09 that were captured and basically left to
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 die. It was just just horrible, Fred.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:12 Horrible.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 >> But the wildlife and the rainforest and
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 the rivers and and the people
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 magnificent. Highly recommend Borneo.
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 Highly recommend it. Now, you were up
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 late last night, weren't you?
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 >> I was. Yeah. There was u because of the
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 total eclipse of the moon
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 >> which um we I know you didn't get to see
00:04:31 --> 00:04:35 because you had 88 cloud in do I know
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 that because the Anglo Australian
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 telescope not very far away from you got
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 no observations last night of any kind
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 but in Sydney uh we've had cloudy
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 weather for weeks. Um but the the clouds
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 the clouds broke uh and uh so we saw the
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 eclipse and um that was Jordi of course
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 >> uh that just chimed in there. But uh we
00:04:57 --> 00:04:58 actually have Jord's sister staying with
00:04:58 --> 00:05:02 us for a little while. Uh so um yeah,
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 this is going to probably for the next
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 few weeks we'll have uh the terrible
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 duo. They're more or less identical.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:09 One's a little bit fatter than the
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 other. I won't mention which is which,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 but um yeah. And so they Yes. She
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 arrived, Rosie arrived today. Uh but
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 yeah, that's nothing to do with the
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 eclipse. Uh we did see the blood moon.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 It was a total eclipse of the moon. So
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 that the earth, the moon was well
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 immersed in the shadow of the earth. Uh
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 we had about an hour of totality. Uh and
00:05:30 --> 00:05:31 during that time, the clouds came and
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 went a bit, but we got uh really good
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 view of the that blood moon phenomenon
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 caused by scattering of light from the
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 earth's atmosphere, scattering of
00:05:41 --> 00:05:42 sunlight. Yes. So it was it was good.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 But it was, as you've just said, a late
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 night and I'm just catching up
00:05:46 --> 00:05:46 basically.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 >> Yeah, fair enough. Yeah, it's quite a
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 spectacle, a blood moon. I'm sorry I
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 missed it, but uh you can't help the
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 weather.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 >> Um which reminds me, we also had to deal
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 with flooding at the end of the monsoon
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 while we were overseas. So, uh that was
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 fun driving through flood waters. They
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 wouldn't let you do that in Australia,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 but we weren't in Australia, were we?
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 So, yeah. Uh we should get down to it,
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 Fred. There's a lot to talk about. And
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 our first subject is yet again the
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 Arteimus missions. And I mentioned at
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 the beginning that Artemis 2's been put
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 back in the shed and probably won't
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 launch those astronauts until at least
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 April. But we are now talking about
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 Arteimus 3. Now this was the mission
00:06:28 --> 00:06:33 that was slated for initially 2027, then
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 pushed back to probably 2028
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 to put people on the moon.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 Uh there's been several changes. It
00:06:42 --> 00:06:43 looks like they won't be doing that and
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 they might not be using SpaceX
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 >> the way things are shaping up.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:52 >> Uh that's right. So um this was uh an
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 announcement last week uh at the time
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 we're recording. Uh and you're quite
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 right. What has happened is that there's
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 been a major update to the Arteimus
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 program uh with an extra mission slotted
00:07:05 --> 00:07:06 in. M
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 >> um so Arteimus 3 exactly as you've said
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 was originally going to be the lunar
00:07:11 --> 00:07:15 landing uh uh mission uh sometime after
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 2027.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:21 Uh but what they have uh what NASA has
00:07:21 --> 00:07:25 done is uh inserted
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 another mission which is now Arteimus 3
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 which will not land on the moon. Uh it
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 will be a spacecraft uh that will simply
00:07:34 --> 00:07:38 go into earth orbit. Uh and uh what it
00:07:38 --> 00:07:42 will do is essentially
00:07:42 --> 00:07:47 replicate in a sense what Apollo 9 did
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 um after the Apollo 8 mission. Uh it
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 it's to check that you can rendevu with
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 the equipment. You can do the necessary
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 steps that need to be taken in space. uh
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 which um have not yet been tried and
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 tested because Artemis 2 uh will simply
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 involve the uh the Orion capsule
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 containing the four astronauts. Uh what
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 that will do is uh it will accelerate up
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 to the 11 kilometers/s needing to get to
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 the moon, go around the moon and then
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 come back again without um any of the
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 kind of technical details involved with
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 first of all refueling uh spacecraft in
00:08:26 --> 00:08:27 space. That's one of the things that's
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 part of the Arteimus program, but also
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 >> doing the rendevous uh and turning
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 spacecraft around and things of that
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 sort. It's a bit like in the Apollo
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 missions where you had to turn the um
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 turn the uh lunar module around to dock
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 with the with the crew module with the
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 the basically the the crew capsule. So
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 all of that is now being slotted into
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 Apollo sorry beyond Arteimus 3 with the
00:08:56 --> 00:09:00 landing itself uh actually forecast for
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 Arteimus 4 and one of the reasons for
00:09:02 --> 00:09:07 this is the fact that there is still a
00:09:07 --> 00:09:09 lot of work to do on the landing
00:09:09 --> 00:09:13 vehicle. Now um back in the day some
00:09:13 --> 00:09:17 years ago uh NASA contracted both SpaceX
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 and Blue Origin uh the two companies led
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 by the two billionaires Elon Musk and
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 Jeff Bezos. Uh those two companies were
00:09:25 --> 00:09:29 tasked with developing a a crew lander
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 uh vehicle to land on the moon. Uh the
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 favored version was uh Elon Musk's uh
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 Starship uh the top end of a Starship um
00:09:39 --> 00:09:43 which would which uh was originally
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 going to be the Arteimus 3 lander. Now
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 the lander landing has been pushed back
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 to Artemis 4, but the the gate is now
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 still open for the BA Bezos company uh
00:09:55 --> 00:09:59 to further develop its own lunar landing
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 module uh which has been under test for
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 quite a while and is so in a sense is a
00:10:05 --> 00:10:09 competitor uh to SpaceX. So the two the
00:10:09 --> 00:10:10 two programs are running side by side
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 and NASA will eventually have to make a
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 choice as to which one they go with. Uh
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 if I may, there's a very nice quote from
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 uh NASA,
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 a NASA associate administrator, a very
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 senior person in NASA uh who says, "We
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 are looking back to the wisdom of the
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 folks that designed Apollo. The entire
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 sequence of Arteimus flights needs to
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 represent a stepbystep buildup of
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 capability with each step bringing us
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 closer to our ability to perform the
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 landing missions. Each step needs to be
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 big enough to make progress, but not so
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 big that we take unnecessary risk given
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 previous learnings. Therefore, we want
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 to fly the landing missions in as close
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 to the same earth ascent configuration
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 as possible, which means using an upper
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 stage and pad system as close to the
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 block one configuration as possible.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 That's the basic the basic uh space
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 launch system configuration. Uh so we
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 will see what happens. Uh you're right
00:11:05 --> 00:11:09 that um Artemis 2 uh the that the uh the
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 stack is currently back in the vehicle
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 assembly building for checks on the
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 upper stage. That's the second stage
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 that will actually push the spacecraft
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 into a lunar trajectory. Uh there were
00:11:22 --> 00:11:26 issues with the helium uh mechanism for
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 that upper stage. You might remember we
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 did talk about that before. Uh that's
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 now being fixed. uh and we have a date
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 no sooner than April the 6th for uh a
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 launch of Otimus 2. So we'll look out
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 for that. But yes, a major change in the
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 in the strategy which makes a lot of
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 sense.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 >> Yeah, I think it does. Uh and copying a
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 successful series like the Apollo
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 missions, notwithstanding what happened
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 to Apollo 13, but that wasn't that that
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 was unforeseen. It was just a a quirk
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 really.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 >> Uh and everyone got home. But um yeah,
00:12:02 --> 00:12:03 what what I find interesting is those
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 Apollo missions went back to back to
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 back to back to back really fast. Uh
00:12:08 --> 00:12:08 these ones
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 >> seem to be much more elongated in their
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 in their um mission dates, don't they?
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 >> They do. Um and that's partly because
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 the technology is now far more complex
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 because the these missions are not just
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 to achieve boots on the ground. Uh it's
00:12:24 --> 00:12:27 all about setting up science, you know,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 a kind of almost permanent presence on
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 on the moon. Um the the ultimate
00:12:31 --> 00:12:35 schedule uh again this came out of the
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 recent press releases uh and press
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 conferences. The ultimate schedule is
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 one Arteimus mission per year once we
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 have start once the the first lunar
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 landing has taken place. There'll be one
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 a year. Now that is much slower than the
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 Apollo cadence. They were one every few
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 months. Um I think so Apollo 11 was
00:12:54 --> 00:12:59 July. Apollo 12 was uh was November.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 Can't remember when Apollo 13 was but
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 you get that you know the the intervals
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 were a few months rather than a few
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 years.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:06 >> Yeah.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:10 >> Um I guess another reason for um not
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 just not just the the scientific reasons
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 for for making it a spacing of one year
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 but that each of these is a very
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 expensive venture. Uh, I've seen a
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 figure quoted of $4 billion per launch
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 for an Arteimus mission, which is eye
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 watering. That's right.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 >> Yeah. Yeah. Did they hit you up for a
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 loan for it?
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 >> I think Yeah, I could probably muster a
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 few dollars there, you know.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 >> Yeah. Uh, it's funny when you talk about
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 the advances in technology because um,
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 I'm holding my mobile phone in my hand
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 right now. It's got a hell of a lot more
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 computer power than the computer on
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 Apollo 11.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 >> That's right. Sadly, it's also invisible
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 uh because of your background.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 >> Is that better?
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 >> No. No.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:56 >> Yeah.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 >> It just disappears.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 >> You know what it looks like.
00:13:58 --> 00:13:59 >> You know what it looks like. That's
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 right. Yeah. But but you're absolutely
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 right. Yes. Um
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 >> it's it's quite amazing. Not many people
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 probably realize they're packing a lot
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 more power than the Apollo missions
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 carried. So yeah, it's all in your
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 pocket. Uh if you'd like to read about
00:14:13 --> 00:14:17 the latest in regard to uh the Artemis
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 missions, you can do that at the
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 universetoday.com
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 website, but NASA will have it on their
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 website and many others as well. This is
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and
00:14:27 --> 00:14:34 Professor Fred Watson.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 That's agre that's agreement. He's at
00:14:36 --> 00:14:41 for goodness sake. I'M REALLY
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 THIS IS what he does is he gets very
00:14:43 --> 00:14:48 enthusiastic. Hang on. Hang on.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 Space nuts.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 >> Oh dear.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 >> Drives me in mud. Honestly, it drives me
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 mud.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 >> I love it. I really do. Uh to our next
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 story. Um this this could be the title
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 of a science fiction novel, The Brain in
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 Space. Uh we're talking about a very
00:15:06 --> 00:15:10 strange nebula that looks like a brain
00:15:10 --> 00:15:14 inside a clear sphere. Uh and and this
00:15:14 --> 00:15:19 is the consequence of a um a star that's
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 kind of shed its outer layers and
00:15:20 --> 00:15:24 created this this quite bizarre looking
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 nebula called PMR1.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 >> Indeed. That's right. Um I I very much
00:15:30 --> 00:15:34 liked uh the headline from space.com
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 covering this story uh which is James
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Webb Space Telescope performs brain
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 surgery on mysterious exposed cranial
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 nebula which I think sums it up pretty
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 well. That's a good one.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:49 >> Yeah, it's great. Uh so uh it's it's a
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 basically a highly evolved star by which
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 I mean a a star that's getting near the
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 end of its life. it's thrown off some of
00:15:56 --> 00:16:01 the layers of its outer envelope. And
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 what we've seen from the James Web is uh
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 images which are taken in the near
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 infrared and in the mid infrared. And so
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 we get two quite different views of this
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 thing that does look for all the world
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 like a like an X-ray uh inside
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 somebody's head. It's you can see the
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 outline of the skull and a lot of funny
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 stuff going on inside. It really does
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 look that way, doesn't it? Like somebody
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 put a a brain in a goldfish bowl and
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 chucked that up in the air.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 >> Yes, that's right. With a few stars in
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 the background.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 >> Um it's uh a little bit close to home
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 for me actually because um this the
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 object's technical formal name is PMR1.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:48 Um, and it was uh discovered originally
00:16:48 --> 00:16:50 uh by astronomers using the telescope,
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 one of the telescopes I was astronomy in
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 charge of, the 1.2 m UK Schmidt
00:16:54 --> 00:16:58 telescope uh back in the late 1990s. And
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 three of my close colleagues were
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 involved with this program. Quentyn
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 Parker, David Morgan, and Ken Russell.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 And their names are Parker, Morgan, and
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 Russell. And that is why this is called
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 PMR1. was the first uh object that was
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 discovered under a program actually
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 really masterminded by Quentyn Parker,
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 an old friend who's now a professor in
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 the University of Hong Kong. um he uh
00:17:23 --> 00:17:28 had a uh a mission to photograph the sky
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 cuz back in those days we were still
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 using photography on the Schmidt
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 telescope using what we call a narrow
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 band filter that just picked out the
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 light of excited hydrogen something
00:17:37 --> 00:17:41 called an H1 filter or an Halpha filter.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 Um and so the telescope used this filter
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 to survey the night sky and many uh
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 interesting objects were revealed of
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 which the first one in the particular
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 program that he collaborated with David
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 Morgan and Ken Russell uh was concerned
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 uh PMR1 that's the object we're talking
00:17:59 --> 00:18:02 about now we never saw it with the
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 Schmidt telescope that was just a flame
00:18:04 --> 00:18:08 faint glowing blob but with the um with
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 the James Web
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 uh we see this extraordinarily detailed
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 uh this detailed image so that the
00:18:16 --> 00:18:18 history is that it was discovered in the
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 late 1990s on the Schmidt telescope the
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 Spitzer space telescope which was a kind
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 of forerunner of the James Webb
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 telescope an infrared telescope a NASA
00:18:25 --> 00:18:28 infrared observatory um when they looked
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 at PMR1 that was when this curious
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 appearance led to its unofficial name of
00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 the exposed cranium nebula uh but the
00:18:37 --> 00:18:39 James Web has taken that a step further
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 with these latest observations which are
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 really quite remarkable and you do get a
00:18:43 --> 00:18:45 very strong impression of the
00:18:45 --> 00:18:49 three-dimensional view of this um ball
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 of not so much a ball. It's a kind of
00:18:52 --> 00:18:56 elongated almost like a you know an oval
00:18:56 --> 00:19:01 football uh elongated sphere of gas with
00:19:01 --> 00:19:04 a whole lot of stuff going on inside it.
00:19:04 --> 00:19:08 Um and what we've got is uh an ancient
00:19:08 --> 00:19:12 star which is casting off its outer
00:19:12 --> 00:19:16 outer layers. Um there is a there is a
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 class of stars called Vulf Rea stars
00:19:19 --> 00:19:24 named after two astronomers I think um
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 doctors Vulf and Rey I think that's
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 right thinking back um they are really
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 ancient stars massive stars that are
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 getting near the end of their lives uh
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 and uh and are basically they have winds
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 of radiation which are blowing away
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 their outer envelopes um and and form
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 this nebula and eventually uh they may
00:19:43 --> 00:19:45 turn into a supernova, an exploding
00:19:46 --> 00:19:50 star. Uh so um we understand though from
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 the research that's been carried out
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 with this that whether it is a Vulfraa
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 star in the middle of PMR1 or something
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 else, we don't know. Uh that's going to
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 be absolutely at the very center of that
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 brainike nebula inside the exposed
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 cranium.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:10 >> Yeah. Um I'm gathering that seeing
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 something like this is very unusual. Uh
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 it doesn't look like the kind of nebula
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 you'd normally see photographed. It's
00:20:19 --> 00:20:23 got uniformity for a start and it's uh
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 and you can see the explosive effect uh
00:20:26 --> 00:20:30 radiating out. It just happens to look
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 like a brain.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:35 >> Yes, that's right. Um, so it I mean it
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 that um hydrogen alpha survey that I
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 mentioned that Quentyn Parker and
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 colleagues were engaged in. I'm pretty
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 sure I took some of the photographs for
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 it as well back in the day. Um because I
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 was still a working astronomer then when
00:20:48 --> 00:20:52 I was astronomer in charge. Uh I think
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 uh that one of the main things that that
00:20:54 --> 00:20:58 uh program did was reveal a very large
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 number of so-called planetary nebula. So
00:21:00 --> 00:21:03 a planetary nebula is a cloud of gas
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 that's got usually has circular symmetry
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 which is why it looks like a planet and
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 it was William who gave it gave them the
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 name a planetary nebula. The most famous
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 ones are are the the ring nebula in the
00:21:16 --> 00:21:18 northern hemisphere and the helix nebula
00:21:18 --> 00:21:20 down in the south. Uh but um this thing
00:21:20 --> 00:21:22 might might be might actually in the end
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 turn out to be a planetary nebula which
00:21:24 --> 00:21:28 is an old star that's um cast off its
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 outer layers and the central core of the
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 star has turned into what we call a
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 white dwarf something about the size of
00:21:36 --> 00:21:41 the earth uh but with um very high mass
00:21:41 --> 00:21:44 um mass of a star. uh and uh those are
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 white dwarfs are very hot and they're
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 what excite the the the g the glowing
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 the gas into into glowing, but it's not
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 clear whether this object is actually a
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 white dwarf or one of these wolf stars
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 that I was just talking about.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh I I think we've probably
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 got a bit of a paradolia effect here
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 because we've just looked at it and gone
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 that's a that's a brain.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 >> It's a it's a brain. Yeah, that's right.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 Definitely was paradolia. Yeah. When we
00:22:08 --> 00:22:11 were out on the river in Borneo, um what
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 they told us was it's chalk full of
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 saltwater crocodiles. Of course, every
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 time we saw a log.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 >> Yes.
00:22:18 --> 00:22:20 >> The thing you thought it was.
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 >> Oh, it's a crocodile. Yes. Yeah.
00:22:22 --> 00:22:26 >> Yeah. I I think when we saw that 40 m
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 crocodile surging down the river, we
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 were all panicking a bit. Turned out to
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 be a tree,
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 >> but um
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 >> Well, the branches gave it away, did
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 they?
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 >> Yes. Well, no, it didn't have any. was
00:22:36 --> 00:22:38 that's what really made it weird.
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 >> Like a crocodile. Yeah.
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 >> Well, cuz we had all that monsoon rain
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 while we were there and the river was
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 flooded. And this is a river 560
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 kilometers long and about where we were
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 2 or 300 m wide. It was massive.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:53 >> And the water was flowing very fast. It
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 was quite scary actually. But um yeah,
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 it is it is um yeah, one of those weird
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 effects. We we try to humanize
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 everything we see and you'll look at
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 something and think crocodile. No,
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 actually, no. That's a log. Uh, and here
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 we here we are looking at a brain in
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 space, which is a yeah, some kind of
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 nebula trying to figure out what kind
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 and how it all happened. But you can
00:23:16 --> 00:23:19 read about that at the issae.org
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 website if you want to check it out.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 Amazing images they are, too. This is
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 Space Nuts with Andrew Dunley and Fred
00:23:25 --> 00:23:28 Watson.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:32 >> I'm going to step off the land now.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:37 That's one small step for man,
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 one giant leap for mankind.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 >> Space nuts.
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 >> In the past, Fred, we've had questions
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 from the audience about the center of
00:23:46 --> 00:23:50 our galaxy. Uh, and it's not easy to
00:23:50 --> 00:23:52 answer because we can't see it. It's all
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 shrouded in dust. Although you and I
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 have discussed what it would be like on
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 Earth if there was no dust and the light
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 would be so much different for us. So,
00:24:01 --> 00:24:03 um things could have turned out a
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 different way had that dust not been
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 there. But, um yes, it's shrouded, but
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 there are ways to look. And they've just
00:24:10 --> 00:24:14 published a um a finding uh thanks to a
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 couple of the the great telescopes on
00:24:16 --> 00:24:19 Earth of what the center of our galaxy
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 is like. They've mapped a a massive
00:24:21 --> 00:24:25 section of it in in significant detail.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 >> That is correct. And um I might just
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 preface this discussion by uh noting
00:24:31 --> 00:24:35 that um in terms of personnel there is a
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 close connection with what we've just
00:24:37 --> 00:24:39 been talking about the UK Schmidt
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 telescope because one of my former
00:24:41 --> 00:24:44 colleagues at the UK Schmidt telescope
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 um uh Dr. Randy Longore. Uh I worked
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 with him at the Royal Observatory,
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 Edinburgh. Uh he's still based in
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 Edinburgh, but he and his wife Marie
00:24:53 --> 00:24:55 were actually visiting us here in
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57 Australia at the beginning of this year.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 So I went up to Newcastle to see them,
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 and it's their son that is the lead
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 author on the paper that has just mapped
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 the center of the galaxy. Uh which is
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 very nice. It's a lovely connection. So
00:25:09 --> 00:25:13 Steve Longmore their son uh like father
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 like son he's turned into an astronomer
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19 and very capable because he has led this
00:25:19 --> 00:25:25 major survey uh which is called as is a
00:25:25 --> 00:25:30 uh an acronym for ALMA CMZ
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 exploration survey and the CMZ if I
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 remember rightly is the central uh
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 something zone central molecular zone of
00:25:38 --> 00:25:41 the uh of the galaxy where molecules
00:25:41 --> 00:25:45 lurk around uh around the the black hole
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 at the center of the galaxy. So these
00:25:47 --> 00:25:49 observations uh have been principally
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 done by as you said uh it's been done by
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 some of the great telescopes uh one of
00:25:54 --> 00:25:57 them is ALMA Alma itself the Atakama
00:25:57 --> 00:26:01 large millimeter submill array uh that
00:26:01 --> 00:26:05 has basically formed images of the whole
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 of the region around the center of our
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11 galaxy and it's a very very detailed uh
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 image. It's a mosaic basically that's
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 been built up. The great thing about
00:26:15 --> 00:26:19 Alma is that you can tune it in uh to
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 various chemical molecules all of which
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 emit their radio frequencies at
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 different wavelengths. So it's like
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 having a radio spectrum of every point
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 in the center of our galaxy which means
00:26:31 --> 00:26:34 that you can build up images showing how
00:26:34 --> 00:26:39 these molecules behave around the center
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 uh of the of the galaxy. So it it really
00:26:42 --> 00:26:46 is u an extraordinary piece of work um
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51 with a lot of detail uh a great deal of
00:26:51 --> 00:26:54 um information about both the the the
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 turbulence and the chemistry that's
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 taking place around the center of our
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 galaxy. There's a very extensive article
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 about it on the brighter side of of of
00:27:04 --> 00:27:08 science uh a brighter side of news. Uh
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 it's um got some great images and a lot
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 of details about what has been found.
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 I'm looking for a quote which came from
00:27:15 --> 00:27:19 one of the scientists uh which really
00:27:19 --> 00:27:23 describes very cogently uh what uh
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 they've done. Um, in fact, Andy, sorry,
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 Steve Longmore himself, uh, is saying
00:27:29 --> 00:27:32 the CMZ or CMZ we would call it, but
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 Americanizing it because that's the
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 Artakama large millimeter arrays got a
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 strong US contingent as well as other
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 international users. The CMZ hosts some
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 of the most massive stars known in our
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 galaxy. Uh many of these stars live fast
00:27:46 --> 00:27:49 and die young and they end in supernova
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 explosions and in some cases what we
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 call hypernovi very very intense uh
00:27:54 --> 00:27:57 supernovi. Um let me just find some
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 other words that I was looking for
00:27:58 --> 00:28:03 because uh the the the the extraordinary
00:28:03 --> 00:28:06 thing is just how turbulent this region
00:28:06 --> 00:28:10 is. uh the fact that we've got u packed
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 into that region around the center of
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 our galaxy. We've got the turbulence of
00:28:15 --> 00:28:18 gas moving under the in gravitational
00:28:18 --> 00:28:20 influence of a black hole. You've got
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 the gravity of the black hole. You've
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 got intense magnetic fields. You've got
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 outflows from these giant stars. And all
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 of this is coming together to make a
00:28:29 --> 00:28:33 very complex uh region of space which
00:28:33 --> 00:28:35 basically is what has been revealed uh
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 by this new image. is quite
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 extraordinary.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:40 >> It is rather and I'm just reading some
00:28:40 --> 00:28:43 of the data and uh you know the
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 description they've given lists a radius
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 of 6.1 parex
00:28:48 --> 00:28:50 uh with an expansion velocity of 21
00:28:50 --> 00:28:53 kilometers a second. Uh
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 like you said it's a pretty busy
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 neighborhood.
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 >> Yes. About 650 light years across. So
00:29:00 --> 00:29:03 really quite a large a large area. And
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 you're right actually um that the the
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 other telescope that was involved sorry
00:29:07 --> 00:29:09 I didn't mention that is the European
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11 Southern Observatory's Vista telescope
00:29:11 --> 00:29:13 which is one that is also at Sarah
00:29:13 --> 00:29:17 Paranel near the the VT. Uh Vista was a
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 telescope built actually by the Brits
00:29:18 --> 00:29:22 and used by them as their buy into the
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 European Southern Observatory.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:27 >> I it's a really great article. Uh I like
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 the way they've got those different
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 images of the various chemical makeups
00:29:32 --> 00:29:34 of sex and they've over overlapped them
00:29:34 --> 00:29:37 all to create one image but uh you can
00:29:37 --> 00:29:39 you can look at it from several
00:29:39 --> 00:29:42 viewpoints really and um helps you to
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44 understand what's going on in there
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 which we've been trying to figure out
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 for a long time. friend.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:49 >> Yeah, that's right. I mean, um, you
00:29:49 --> 00:29:53 know, again, hopping back to my time at
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, um,
00:29:54 --> 00:29:57 my work was actually on my research was
00:29:57 --> 00:30:00 about stars in the galactic center
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 region. And we we couldn't see the
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 galactic centers because it's it's
00:30:03 --> 00:30:05 hidden from us by dust. And a lot of
00:30:05 --> 00:30:08 these stars were, you know, visible
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 through thick layers of dust. That's all
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 penetrated, of course, with infrared
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15 telescopes. That's why and and by
00:30:15 --> 00:30:17 millimeter wave telescopes too. That's
00:30:17 --> 00:30:20 why you can reveal all these fairly
00:30:20 --> 00:30:23 complex molecules that have been that
00:30:23 --> 00:30:26 that have been found. Uh so um really
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28 quite a remarkable exactly as you've
00:30:28 --> 00:30:31 said it's a great article uh gives you a
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 good idea of just what's going on in the
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 center of our galaxy.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 >> Somebody's going to ask so I'll ask on
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 their behalf. Why couldn't James Webb
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 have done this?
00:30:40 --> 00:30:44 Um, so it a lot of it's to do with field
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 of view. Um, the fact that you've got a
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 huge area here, uh, you need the
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 coverage of what we would call a survey
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 telescope, which the James Web isn't. It
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 homes in on fine points of detail. Um,
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 and the other thing is the James Web
00:30:57 --> 00:31:01 would give you a different set of um of
00:31:01 --> 00:31:03 of chemical constituents because you're
00:31:03 --> 00:31:07 looking at different wave. Uh so these
00:31:07 --> 00:31:11 are the the the um the the uh ACS
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 project the one I just mentioned uh
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 which uses ALMA as its main uh
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 instrument that's looking in the
00:31:18 --> 00:31:21 millimeter sub millimeter wave region.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:23 Uh and so you see that's sensitive to
00:31:23 --> 00:31:25 different molecules from what you get in
00:31:25 --> 00:31:29 the infrared. So, uh, it is it's really,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 uh, it's a really neat piece of work
00:31:31 --> 00:31:33 that's been done by the right telescope
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 by the look of it and the right group of
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 people.
00:31:35 --> 00:31:37 >> Indeed. Yes. Fantastic. Uh, if you want
00:31:37 --> 00:31:40 to read all about it, you can do so by
00:31:40 --> 00:31:42 uh, finding the paper. Just do a search
00:31:42 --> 00:31:45 for AS's overview paper or you can read
00:31:45 --> 00:31:49 the fabulous article at the brightside.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:52 News. Uh, we're just about done. Fred,
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 thank you very much.
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 >> Uh, it's a pleasure. That went extremely
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 quickly. Andrew,
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59 >> it has been lately.
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 Maybe we're finally getting more
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 efficient.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 >> No, no, no.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 >> Don't think so.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 >> All the adequate not efficient.
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 >> Uh I think it's because Jordy didn't
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 actually play up too much that
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 >> that's right. It's because his sister's
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 holding him down.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:16 >> Yeah, she is. Sisters do that. Thanks,
00:32:16 --> 00:32:18 Fred. We'll catch you very, very soon.
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 >> Sounds great. Thanks, Andrew.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 >> Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 large. Uh don't forget to visit us
00:32:22 --> 00:32:25 online while you're uh listening to the
00:32:25 --> 00:32:27 podcast. Maybe uh spacenutspodcast.com
00:32:27 --> 00:32:29 or spacenuts.io
00:32:29 --> 00:32:32 and have a look around, visit the shop,
00:32:32 --> 00:32:35 maybe become a supporter. Um leave a
00:32:35 --> 00:32:38 review uh on your platform wherever you
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00:32:43 --> 00:32:45 questions on the ask me anything tab at
00:32:45 --> 00:32:48 the top ama. And thanks to Hugh in the
00:32:48 --> 00:32:51 studio. Now Hugh couldn't be with us
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 today. Apparently, he uh heard about
00:32:53 --> 00:32:55 this this mapping of the center of the
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57 galaxy and put the coordinates in his
00:32:57 --> 00:33:00 car GPS and he has hasn't been seen
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 since.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:03 >> And from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for
00:33:03 --> 00:33:04 your company. We'll see you on the next
00:33:04 --> 00:33:06 episode of Space Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 >> Space Nuts.
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 >> You've been listening to the Space Nuts
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