SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 41
The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast
Mysterious Red Sprite Lightning, Shocking Spherules on Mars, and a New Geological Map of the Asteroid Belt
In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore the breathtaking phenomenon of red sprite lightning captured over the Himalayas. Chinese astrophotographers documented over 100 of these rare electrical discharges, revealing insights into the complex thunderstorms of the region. We discuss the mechanisms behind these sprites and their implications for understanding upper atmospheric phenomena.
Shocking Discoveries on Mars
Next, we turn our attention to Mars, where NASA's Perseverance rover has uncovered a strange rock formation composed of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres. This unexpected discovery raises questions about the geological processes that could create such features, prompting scientists to investigate their origins and significance for Mars' geological history.
New Geological Map of the Asteroid Belt
Additionally, we delve into a new geological map of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which has been developed to enhance our understanding of meteorite origins and planetary defense. This groundbreaking work traces the impact orbits of meteorites, providing a clearer picture of how asteroid collisions contribute to the debris we observe on Earth.
00:00 Space Time Series 28 Episode 41 for broadcast on 4 April 2025
00:49 Capturing red sprite lightning over the Himalayas
06:30 Mechanisms behind the upper atmospheric electrical discharges
12:15 Discovery of strange spherules on Mars
18:00 Implications for Martian geology and history
22:45 New geological map of the asteroid belt
27:00 Summary of recent astronomical findings
30:15 Skywatch: Highlights of April night skies
www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com (https://www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com/)
www.bitesz.com (https://www.bitesz.com/)
🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn (https://www.bitesz.com/nordvpn) . Enjoy incredible discounts and bonuses! Plus, it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌
Check out our newest sponsor - Old Glory - Iconic Music and Sports Merch and now with official NASA merchandise. (https://www.bitesz.com/oldglory) Well worth checking out...
Become a supporter of this Podcast for as little as $3 per month and access commercial-free episodes plus bonuses: https://www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com/about (https://www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com/about)
✍️ Episode References
Advances in Atmospheric Sciences
https://www.springer.com/journal/13274 (https://www.springer.com/journal/13274)
NASA
https://www.nasa.gov (https://www.nasa.gov/)
Meteoritics and Planetary Science
https://www.mps-journal.org/ (https://www.mps-journal.org/)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-space-astronomy--2458531/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
00:00 Scientists have captured rare images of red sprite lightning high above thunderstorms
05:20 The Mars Perseverance rover has discovered a strange rock composed of spheres
08:41 Knowing from what asteroid debris field meteorites originate is important for planetary defense efforts
14:10 April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, and so consider adopting pets
19:16 The Southern Cross is considered an important constellation for navigation
30:17 The Southern Cross appears to have four main stars and they make up shape
32:37 Brightness does not equate with distance; you've got to dig deeper
33:17 Canopus is the second brightest star in the night sky
36:36 Is that why the moon looks bigger on the horizon than it does high up
37:58 Take a look at Jupiter with a pair of binoculars
39:19 You need to be up before dawn to see Saturn, Mercury and Venus
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/26439402?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 this is spacetime series 28 episode 41
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 for broadcast on the 4th of April
00:00:05 --> 00:00:09 2025 coming up on SpaceTime mysterious
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 red sprite lightning seen over the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:15 Himalayas shocking spheral on Mars and a
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 new geological map for the asteroid belt
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 all that and more coming up on
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 SpaceTime welcome to SpaceTime with
00:00:24 --> 00:00:41 Stuart Gary
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 scientists have captured rare images of
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 red sprite lightning high above thunder
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 storms in the Himalayas the mesmerizing
00:00:49 --> 00:00:50 display of more than a 100 of these red
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 Sprites were photographed by Chinese
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 asttr photographers Angel an and chuch
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 Chang dong over the world's highest
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 mountain range at an observational site
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 located in the southern Tibetan plateau
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 in one of the Region's three sacred
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 Lakes the breathtaking Celestial event
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 included dancing Sprites rarely seen
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 secondary Jets and the first ever
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 recorded case in Asia of green Afterglow
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 at the base of the nighttime ionosphere
00:01:15 --> 00:01:16 a new study reported in the journal
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 advances in atmospheric sciences sheds
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 light on the driving force behind this
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 Grand Sprite display by analyzing the
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 parent lightning discharges the authors
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 discovered that the Sprites were being
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 triggered by high peak current positive
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 CL Cloud to Cloud lightning strikes
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 within a massive misos scale convective
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 system this suggest that the
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 thunderstorms in the Himalayan region
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 have the potential to produce some of
00:01:39 --> 00:01:40 the most complex and intense upper
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 atmosphere electrical discharges on
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 Earth lacking precise timestamps for
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 detail analysis the authors developed an
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 Innovative method to synchronize video
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 timing using satellite trajectories and
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 Starfield analyses this allowed them to
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 determine the exact occurrence times of
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 the Sprites and Link that to their
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 parent lightning discharges the study
00:02:00 --> 00:02:01 revealed that the parent lightning
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 discharges occurred within Strat
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 precipitation regions of Mescal
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 convective complexes stretching from the
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 Ganges Plaine to the southern foothills
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 of the Tibetan Plateau the events
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 recorded the highest number of Sprites
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 during a single thunderstorm in South
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 Asia suggesting that thunderstorms in
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 this region possess upper atmospheric
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 discharge capabilities comparable with
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 those on the United States great ples
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 and offshore European storms moreover
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 the findings indicate the storms may
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 generate even more complex discharge
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 structures potentially influencing
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 atmospheric coupling processes with
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 significant physical and chemical
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 effects Sprites belong to a colorful
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 group of transient luminous phenoma with
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 fairy tale names such as Sprites blue
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 jets and elves their transient vertical
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 column-like plasma flashes high in
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 Earth's atmosphere often resembling a
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 glowing reddish jellyfish with tentacle
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 streaming down they're thought to be
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 large scale electrical discharges at
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 altitudes of between 50 and 100 km above
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 the ground triggered by Rare positive
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 lightning that originates in the Anvil
00:03:04 --> 00:03:05 head of a thunderstorm Cloud where
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 positive charges tend to accumulate now
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 positive lightning is about five times
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 as hot and Powerful as the regular type
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 of lightning we normally see which is
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 technically known as negative lightning
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 positive lightning also lasts about 10
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 times longer allowing it to strike many
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 kilometers from the storm in fact that's
00:03:23 --> 00:03:24 the feature which is led to the famous
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 expression a bolt out of the blue unlike
00:03:27 --> 00:03:28 negative lightning which occurs either
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 inside the storm cloud or from the base
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 of the thunderstorm Cloud to the ground
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 positive lightning travels outside the
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 cloud striking the ground directly
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 Sprites sometimes preceded by a red halo
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 emission lighting up a millisecond
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 before the Sprite about 70 km above the
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 initiating lightning strike then there
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 are sprite Halos they look like 50 km
00:03:49 --> 00:03:50 wide discs and are thought to be
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 produced by a weaker version of the same
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 ionization processes which produce the
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 Sprites next we have blue Jets blue jets
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 are very bright narrow cones of plasma
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 seen above thunderstorms propagating
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 upwards into the stratosphere from the
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 cloud tops often reaching Heights of 80
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 km or more they're thought to be
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 associated with strong hail activity
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 during thunderstorms and their colors
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 beli to be caused by Blue and near
00:04:14 --> 00:04:15 infrared emissions from neutral and
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 ionized molecular nitrogen another
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 closely related phenomena are blue
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 starters which are thought to be shorter
00:04:22 --> 00:04:23 brighter versions of blue jets only
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 reaching to about 20 km in height and
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 then there's a third type known as
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 gigantic Jets which are thought to be
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 bigger versions of blue jets and finally
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 we have the elves they flattened
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 expanding reddish concentric rings that
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 often appear is dim expanding 400 km
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 wide glows lasting for just a
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 millisecond they've been seen at
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 altitudes of 100 km above thunderstorms
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 and are thought to be generated by the
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 excitation of nitrogen molecules due to
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 collisions between electrons energized
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 by lightning from the underlying
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 thunderstorm Sprites elves and jets are
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 all very little understood seldom scen
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 but a fascinating part of our upper
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 atmosphere this is spacetime still to
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 come shocking spheral discovered on Mars
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 and scientists develop a new geologic
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 map of the main asteroid build all that
00:05:14 --> 00:05:32 and more still to come on SpaceTime
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 ness's Mars perseverance Rover has
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 discovered a strange Rock composed of
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 hundreds of millimeters size spheres the
00:05:39 --> 00:05:40 finder shocked scientists were now
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 working overtime to try and understand
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 their origin it's now been 2 weeks since
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 the perseverance Rover arrived at broom
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 Point situated at the lower slopes of
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 the witch hazel Hill area on the rim of
00:05:51 --> 00:05:55 jezzro crater here a series of light and
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 dark toned bands of rock were visible
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 from orbit now last week the six wheel
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 car-sized Rover successfully abided and
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 sampled one of these light toned beds
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 and it was from this sampling workspace
00:06:06 --> 00:06:08 that perseverance spied a very strange
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 texture in a nearby Rock The Rock which
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 is now being named St Paul's B appeared
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 to be comprised of hundreds of
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 millimeter siiz dark gray spheres some
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 of these occurred as more elongated
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 elliptical shapes While others possessed
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 angular edges perhaps representing
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 broken spheral fragments and some
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 spheres even possess tiny pin holes it's
00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 all raising questions about the type of
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 geology that could produce these strange
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 shapes of course this isn't the first
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 time strange spheres have been spotted
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 on Mars you may recall back in 2004
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 NASA's Mars exploration Rover
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 opportunity spotted so-called Martian
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 blueberries in the meridiani plum and
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 since then curiosity observes spheral in
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 the rocks of Yellow Knife Bay in gal
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 crater in fact just a few months ago
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 perseverance itself also spied
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 popcorn-like Textures in sedimentary
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 rocks which had been exposed in the gzro
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 crater Inlet Channel near Riva valys now
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 in each of these cases the spheral have
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 been interpreted as being concretions
00:07:07 --> 00:07:08 features that were formed through the
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 interaction with groundwater circulating
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 through poor spaces in rock however not
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 all spheral form this way here are Earth
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 that can also be formed by the rapid
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 cooling of molten rock droplets from
00:07:19 --> 00:07:20 volcanic eruptions or through the
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 condensation of rock which is vaporized
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 during a meteor impact each of these
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 formation mechanisms would have vastly
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 different implications for the evolution
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 of these rocks so scientists need to
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 work hard to try and determine their
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 context and origin however the simpul
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 bay was a float Rock that's a term used
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 by geologists to describe something
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 that's not in place scientists are now
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 working to try and Link the spheral rich
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 texture observed at some's Bay with the
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 widest strateg graphy at witch hazel
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 Hill initial observations have provided
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 tantalizing indications that could be
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 linked to one of the dark toned layers
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 identified from orbit placing these
00:07:57 --> 00:07:58 features in geological context is
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 crucial for understanding their origin
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 and determining their significance for
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 the geological history not just of jez
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 Creator's Rim but also for the red
00:08:06 --> 00:08:10 planet Beyond this is spacetime still to
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 come a new geological map of the main
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 asteroid built between Mars and Jupiter
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 and the splendas of the Southern Cross
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 and its two pointer Stars Alpha and beta
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 sentor the blue super giant canopus and
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 the ly's meteor shower are all among the
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 highlights of the April night skies on
00:08:26 --> 00:08:41 Skywatch
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 scientists have put together a new
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 geological map of the main asteroid
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 built between Mars and Jupiter knowing
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 from what asteroid built debris field
00:08:49 --> 00:08:50 and meteorites hitting the Earth
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 originate from is important for
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 planetary defense efforts the new
00:08:55 --> 00:08:56 findings reported in the journal
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 meteoritics and planetary science traces
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 the impact orbits of a number of
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 observed meteorite Falls including
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 several the previously unidentified
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 Source regions in the main asteroid belt
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 the studies lead Author Peter jisin from
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 NASA's as Research Center and the SEI
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 Institute describes the report as a
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 decades long detective story with each
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 meteorite impact providing a new clue 10
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 years ago jesin teamed up with hadrien
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 diloy and astronomist from curtain
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 University to develop the first outlines
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 of a geologic map of the asteroid build
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 by then had already developed its now
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 famous Outback Fireball network of
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 cameras and they assisted jesin and
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 colleagues in North America to build a
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 similar network of all Sky cameras in
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 California and Nevada these are designed
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 to capture and track the bright lights
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 of meteors as they hit the Earth's
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 atmosphere many other institutions as
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 well as citizen scientists have
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 participated in these efforts over the
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 years and eventually created a global
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 fball
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 Observatory initially Dilo and
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 colleagues tracked the path of 17
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 recovered meteorite Falls and many more
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 Fireballs were tracked using doorbell
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 and dash cam video cameras by citizen
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 scientists as well as by other dedicated
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 networks now altoe the effort has now
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 yielded some 75 laboratory classified
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 meteorites each with an impact orbit
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 tracked by video and photographic
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 cameras jisin says that this is
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 providing enough material to start to
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 see some patterns in the direction from
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 which meteors approach the Earth most
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 meteorites originate from the main
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 asteroid built between Mars and Jupiter
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 were over a million asteroids larger
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 than a kilometer orbit the sun now this
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 massive collection of space rocks all
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 originate from much smaller number of
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 larger asteroids which have been broken
00:10:40 --> 00:10:41 apart in collisions creating debris
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 fields which litter much of the region
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 even today asteroids are colliding
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 creating new debris fields or clusters
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 Within These asteroid families during
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 their studies the authors have found
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 that 12 of the iron rich ordinary htype
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 condite meteorites originated from a
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 single debris field now called Coronas
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 it's located in the pristine main belt
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 jesin says that these meteorites arrived
00:11:05 --> 00:11:06 at lwi inclined orbits on orbital
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 periods consistent with this debris
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 field astronomers can measure how long
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 ago these rocks were dug up from below
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 an asteroid Surface by measuring the
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 level of radioactive elements created by
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 exposure to cosmic rays and this cosmic
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 ray exposure ede in meteorites can be
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 used to match the dynamical age of some
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 of the asteroid debris Fields scientists
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 can determine the dynamical age of an
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 asteroid debris field by measuring how
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 far the asteroids of different sizes
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 have spread over time by measuring the
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 cosmic rare exposure age of meteorites
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 they could determine that three of these
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 12 meteorites originated from the kiring
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 cluster of the coronus field and the
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 coronus field has a dynamical age of 5.8
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 million years and a further two came
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 from the coronus 2 cluster which has a
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 dynamical age of 10 to 15 million years
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 another meteorite from this group May
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 well be measuring the age of the coronus
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 3 cluster resulting in a figure of
00:12:00 --> 00:12:04 around 83 million years jisin and Dil
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 Ploy also found a group of hondes on
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 steep orbits they appear to originate
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 from the Neil asteroid family in the
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 Central Main asteroid belt and it's been
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 shown to have a dynamical age of around
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 6 million
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 years a third group of H condres that
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 have exposure ages of around 35 million
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 years originated from the inner main
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 belt these are all thought to have
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 originated from the mallar asteroid
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 family low in the inner Main built
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 jenkinson says that the asteroid which
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 created that cluster 20 Melia is also an
00:12:34 --> 00:12:38 AG condite parent body type jenkinson
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 nilo find that the low iron L Type
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 condres and very low iron LL condite
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 meteorites also primarily come from the
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 inner main belt CST have long link the
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 LL condres to the Flora asteroid family
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 on the inner side of the main asteroid
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 belt and this new work has now confirmed
00:12:55 --> 00:12:55 that is
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 correct jenkinson proposes that the old
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 condr originated from the hether
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 asteroid family located just above the
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 mallia group but asteroid Heria doesn't
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 look anything like its debris it's
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 covered in dark rocks that were all
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 shock blackened indicative of an
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 unusually violent Collision the El
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 condres experienced a very violent
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 origin 468 million years ago and since
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 then these meteorites have showered the
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 Earth in such numbers that they can be
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 found throughout the geological
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 record knowing from which debris field
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 an asteroid built meteorite originates
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 from is important for Planet your
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 defense efforts against near Earth
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 asteroids an approaching asteroids orbit
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 can provide clues about its origins in
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 the main asteroid built in the same way
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 as a meteorite orbit does but Neo
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 asteroids don't arrive on the same
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 orbits as meteorites that's because they
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 take longer for these to evolve into
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 Earth Crossing orbits but they
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 nevertheless come from some of the same
00:13:50 --> 00:14:09 asteroid families this is spacetime
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 and time now to check out the night
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 skies of April on Skywatch April is the
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 fourth month of the year in the gorian
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 calendar and the fifth in the early
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 Julian calendar the Romans gave this
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 month the Latin name ailis although the
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 name's Origins aren't certain
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 traditional entomology suggested from
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 the verb aara to open as in it being the
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 season when the trees and flowers begin
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 to open as the Northern Hemisphere moves
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 into spring April is also Prevention of
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 Cruelty to animals month and so it's a
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 good time to consider adopting a shelter
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 pit or donating to an animal welfare
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 charity high in the southern sky during
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 April you'll find the Southern Cross and
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 its two pointer Stars Alpha and beta
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 centor the more distant of the two
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 pointer stars from The Southern Cross is
00:14:57 --> 00:15:00 Alpha centu which also happens to be the
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 nearest star system to our own located
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 some 4.3 light years away Alpha centor
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 actually consists of three stars there's
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 Alpha centor A and B which orbit each
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 other and Proxima centor which orbits
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 the pair and at 4.25 lie distant is
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 currently the nearest St of the earth
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 other than the Sun a lightyear is about
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 10 trillion kilm the distance of photon
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 can travel in a year at 300 km/s the
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 speed of of light in a vacuum and the
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 ultimate speed limit of the universe
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 like the sun Alpha centu a is a spectr
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 type G yellow dwarf star it's slightly
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 bigger having about a tenth more mass
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 than the Sun and has about 50% more
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 Luminosity astronomers describe stars in
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 terms of spectral types A classification
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 system based on temperature and
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 characteristics the hottest most massive
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 and most luminous stars are known as
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 spectr type O blue stars
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 they're followed by spectr type B blue
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 white stars then spectr type a white
00:16:04 --> 00:16:08 stars spectr type f whitish yellow stars
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 spectr type G yellow stars that's where
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 our sun fits in spectr type K orange
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 stars and the coolest and least massive
00:16:15 --> 00:16:18 stars of all are spectral type M red
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 dwarf stars each spectral classification
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 is further subdivided using a numeric
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 digit to represent temperature with zero
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 being the hottest and nine the coolest
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 and then a Roman numeral to represent
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 Luminosity so our sun is a spectr type
00:16:35 --> 00:16:39 g2v or G25 yellow dwarf star also
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 included in the Stellar classification
00:16:41 --> 00:16:44 system are special types LT and Y which
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 are assigned to failed Stars called
00:16:46 --> 00:16:50 Brown dwarves these are sometimes born
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 as spectr typm red dwarf stars but
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 become Brown dwarves after losing some
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 of their Mass Brown dwarves fit into a
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 category between the largest planets
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 which are about 13 times the mass of
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 Jupiter and the smallest spectr type M
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 red dwarf stars which are around 75 to
00:17:06 --> 00:17:09 80 times the mass of Jupiter or about
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 0.08 solar
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 masses orbiting in a binary system with
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 Alpha centori a is Alpha centor B A
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 spectr type K orange dwarf star a little
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 smaller and cooler than the sun with
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 about 0.9 times the Sun's mass and about
00:17:25 --> 00:17:29 half its Luminosity Alpha centor a in
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 orbit each other around a common center
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 of gravity every
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 79.9 earth years the distance between
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 the two stars varies between roughly
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 that of Pluto in the Sun and that of
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 Saturn in the Sun the third star in the
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 system Proxima centor sometimes called
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 Alpha centor C is a spectral type M Red
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 Dwarf star with roughly a seventh the
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 diameter and about an eighth the mass of
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 the Sun it takes around 550 earth
00:17:55 --> 00:17:59 years to orbit Alpha centu A and B
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 the nearer of the two pointer stars to
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 the Southern Cross is beta centor also a
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 triple star system but this one located
00:18:06 --> 00:18:10 a far more distant 390 light years away
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 all three are massive young blue stars
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 far larger and more luminous than the
00:18:15 --> 00:18:19 sun two of the stars named beta centu AA
00:18:19 --> 00:18:22 and beta centor a orbit each other while
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 the third star bentor B orbits the
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 primary pair every 1500 Earth years
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 bentor AA and ab are known as a
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 spectroscopic binary orbiting each other
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 every 357 Earth days spectroscopic
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 binaries are double star systems
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 orbiting each other so closely and at
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 such an angle that they can only be
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 visually separated from our point of
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 view here on Earth at least by their
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 spectroscopic signatures both these
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 stars are now reaching the end of their
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 time on the main sequence and will soon
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 run out of the core hydrogen they Ed for
00:18:54 --> 00:18:57 Fusion the process which makes stars
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 like the sun shine the two pointer Stars
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 Alfred and be centori are named after
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 siron the centur a mythological Greek
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 being half man half horse siron taught
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 many of the Great gods and heroes but
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 was placed Among the Stars after
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 accidentally being shot with a poison
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 arrow by
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 Hercules next to the point of stars is
00:19:18 --> 00:19:21 the spectacular Southern Cross or Crux
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 the smallest but one of the best known
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 of the 88 constellations in the sky the
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 Southern Cross is considered an
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 important constellation for navigation
00:19:30 --> 00:19:32 and he's featured on the flags of
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 several Nations including Australia
00:19:34 --> 00:19:37 Brazil New Zealand Papa New Guinea and
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 Samoa in April the Southern Cross lies
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 on its side in the early evening but
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 becomes more and more upright as the
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 night
00:19:45 --> 00:19:47 progresses the bottom and brightest star
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 in the Southern Cross is Alpha cruus or
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 AC which is actually a multiple star
00:19:52 --> 00:19:56 system located 321 light years away it
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 consists of three stars a one cruises
00:19:59 --> 00:20:02 which is a spectroscopic binary and A2
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 crues A2 crues and the primary staring
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 A1 cruises are both spectral type B blue
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 stars with surface temperatures of
00:20:10 --> 00:20:14 26 and 28 Kelvin respectively
00:20:14 --> 00:20:16 the two components orbit each other
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 every 1500 Earth years at an average
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 distance of around 430 astronomical
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 units an astronomical unit is the
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 average distance between the Earth and
00:20:26 --> 00:20:29 the Sun roughly 150 million kilm or 8.3
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 L minutes the spectroscopic binary A1
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 Cruis is thought to comprise two stars
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 with about 10 and 14 times the mass of
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 the Sun respectively the pair orbit each
00:20:41 --> 00:20:44 other every 76 Earth days at a distance
00:20:44 --> 00:20:47 of around 150 million kilm in other
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 words one astronomical unit the masses
00:20:49 --> 00:20:52 of A2 crues and the larger component of
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 A1 crues are expected to eventually
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 explode as core collapse Supernova
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 ending up as Neutron St Stars while the
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 smaller component of A1 crues could
00:21:02 --> 00:21:03 survive as a white
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 dwarf the left hand and second brightest
00:21:06 --> 00:21:08 star in the Southern Cross is called
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 beta cruus and it's also a spectroscopic
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 binary consisting of two stars orbiting
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 each other every five Earth years at an
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 average distance which varies between
00:21:17 --> 00:21:21 5.4 and 12 astronomical units beta cruus
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 is located some 280 L years away the
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 primary star beta cruus a is a spectral
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 type B B a sephy variable blue star
00:21:30 --> 00:21:32 which changes in brightness over a
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 period of around 4 to 4 1/2 hours it has
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 about 16 times the Sun's mass about 8
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 times its diameter and a surface
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 temperature of some 27 Kelvin by
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 comparison our sun has a surface
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 temperature of just 6 the second
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 star in the system betac cruus B has
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 about 10 solar masses a third companion
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 has also been detected in the system
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 however it appears to be a low mass pre
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 sequence star which hasn't yet commenced
00:22:01 --> 00:22:04 nuclear fusion NE beta cruus is the
00:22:04 --> 00:22:06 spectacular young open star cluster
00:22:06 --> 00:22:11 known as the Capac crusis cluster or NGC
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 4755 and more commonly referred to as
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 the jewelbox the name given to it by
00:22:17 --> 00:22:19 famous 18th century astronomer John
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 hersel open star clusters are groups of
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 stars which were originally all born at
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 the same time out of the same collapsing
00:22:26 --> 00:22:29 molecular gas and dust cloud although
00:22:29 --> 00:22:31 somewhat still gravitationally bound to
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 each other stars in open clusters
00:22:33 --> 00:22:35 eventually separate moving to other
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 parts of the Galaxy as the name suggests
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 the jewel box is a stunning collection
00:22:40 --> 00:22:43 of more than 100 bright colorful stars
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 located some 6 light years away
00:22:46 --> 00:22:48 although its exact distance is somewhat
00:22:48 --> 00:22:50 difficult to determine because of the
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 nearby ksac nebula which obscures some
00:22:52 --> 00:22:55 of the light the corac is a dark nebula
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 containing lots of gas and dust blocking
00:22:58 --> 00:23:01 out background stars in Australian
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 Aboriginal dream time Legend the K saac
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 forms the head of the Emu constellation
00:23:05 --> 00:23:08 with a dark dust Lanes of the Milky Way
00:23:08 --> 00:23:11 forming the emu's body and legs the
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 central parts of the jawbox are framed
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 by Bright Stars making up an a-shaped
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 asterism these are among the brightest
00:23:18 --> 00:23:21 known blue white and red super Giants in
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 the Milky
00:23:22 --> 00:23:25 Way gamma cruus which is located at the
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 top of the Southern Cross is the third
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 brightest star in the the constellation
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 it's also one of the nearest red giants
00:23:31 --> 00:23:34 to our solar system located just 88.6
00:23:34 --> 00:23:37 light years away although any 30% more
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 massive than the sun its expanded outer
00:23:40 --> 00:23:43 envelope is bloated out to some 84 times
00:23:43 --> 00:23:46 the sun's radius and is radiating some
00:23:46 --> 00:23:49 1500 times more Luminosity than the sun
00:23:49 --> 00:23:51 as a red giant no longer on the main
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 sequence gamic Cruis is nearing the end
00:23:54 --> 00:23:56 of its life its surface temperature is
00:23:56 --> 00:24:00 some 3,6 26 Kelvin and it has a
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 prominent reddish orange
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 appearance the star on the right hand
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 side of the Southern Cross is delac
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 cruus a massive hot and rapidly rotating
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 star that's in the process of evolving
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 into a red giant and will eventually end
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 up as a white dwarf the Stellar corpse
00:24:16 --> 00:24:19 of sunlike stars Delta cruus is located
00:24:19 --> 00:24:22 some 345 light years away and has about
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 nine times the Sun's mass and 8 times
00:24:25 --> 00:24:28 its radius it's presently radiating at
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 around 10 times the Luminosity of
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 the Sun at an effective temperature of
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 22570 kelv causing it to Glow with a
00:24:35 --> 00:24:38 blue white Hue the smallest star in the
00:24:38 --> 00:24:41 Southern Cross is Epsilon crues which is
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43 located in the space between Delta and
00:24:43 --> 00:24:47 Alpha crues it's a red giant some 228
00:24:47 --> 00:24:51 light years away it is about 1.42 time
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 the mass of the Sun and about 32 times
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 its radius its surface temperature of
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 4 kin means it sometimes referred to
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 as an orange
00:25:01 --> 00:25:04 giant the Southern Cross is at its
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 highest point in the southern sky this
00:25:05 --> 00:25:08 time of year and is pointing directly at
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 the southern Celestial pole it's within
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 the constellation Centaurus the centur
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 the half man half horse of Greek
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 mythology we mentioned earlier the
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 creature is holding a bow loaded with an
00:25:19 --> 00:25:22 arrow the centaur's front leg is marked
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 by the two pointer Stars Alpha and beta
00:25:25 --> 00:25:28 curus his back arches over the southern
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 C Ross and just above this is Amiga
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 centori a spectacular globular cluster
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 visible with the uned eye from dark
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 locations unlike open star clusters
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 globular clusters are tightly packed
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 spheres containing thousands to millions
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 of stars which were originally all
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 thought to have been born at the same
00:25:47 --> 00:25:49 time from the same molecular gas and
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 dust cloud Amigas centori is about
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 16 light years away it's one of the
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 largest and brightest of the hundreds of
00:25:58 --> 00:26:00 po clusters known to orbit around the
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03 Milky Way galaxy curus was included
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 among the 48 constellations listed by
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 the second century astronomer té and it
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11 remains one of the 88 modern day
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 constellations the constellation Aryan
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 the hunter is still clearly visible in
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18 the Northwestern sky this time of year
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 with its rectangle of four stars
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 surrounded by a central Trio of stars
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 which form aion's build to the right or
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 east of Aion is the constellation Gemini
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32 and its two brighter Stars Pax and cter
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 this time of year the Gemini twins are
00:26:34 --> 00:26:36 almost directly due north for southern
00:26:36 --> 00:26:39 hemisphere Sky Watchers the higher of
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 the two stars paax is a red giant some
00:26:42 --> 00:26:44 11 times the diameter of the Sun and
00:26:44 --> 00:26:47 located just 34 light years away the
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 other star Caster is much further away
00:26:49 --> 00:26:53 some 51 light years look to the East and
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 you'll see the star regulars the
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 brightest star in the constellation of
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 Leo the Lion
00:26:58 --> 00:27:00 regulus which means little King is
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 located 77 light years away and it's
00:27:03 --> 00:27:05 about 3 and 1/2 times as massive as the
00:27:05 --> 00:27:08 sun and about 140 times as luminous
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 regulus is a binary companion star which
00:27:11 --> 00:27:14 takes 130 years to orbit the
00:27:14 --> 00:27:16 primary to the right of regulus and
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 virtually due east in the sky right now
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 is the star Spiker located directly
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 below the four stars in the
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 constellation corvis the crow Spiker is
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 the brightest star in the constellation
00:27:28 --> 00:27:31 Virgo also known as Alpha virgines it's
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 the 16th brightest star in the night sky
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 and is another spectroscopic binary
00:27:36 --> 00:27:39 comprising two stars closely orbiting
00:27:39 --> 00:27:42 each other every four Earth days in fact
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 the two stars in Spiker are orbiting so
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 close together that the gravitational
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 interaction between them has caused them
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 to become rotating epsol loidal
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 variables distorting them into the shape
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55 of a rugby league or GD iron football
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 light from the Spiner changes in
00:27:57 --> 00:27:59 brightness as the two stars orbit each
00:27:59 --> 00:28:01 other exposing their elongated
00:28:01 --> 00:28:04 hemispheres to us Spiker is located some
00:28:04 --> 00:28:07 260 light years away it is some 2
00:28:07 --> 00:28:10 times as luminous as the sun Spiker
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 means ear of wheat which Virgo is
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 holding in her hand it's so named
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 because it marks the start of the
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 harvest season in the northern
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 hemisphere the primary is a blue giant
00:28:22 --> 00:28:25 variable beted which undergoes small
00:28:25 --> 00:28:27 rapid variations in brightness because
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 of pulsations in the star surface
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 thought to be caused by the unusual
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 properties of iron at temperatures of
00:28:32 --> 00:28:36 200 de in the Stellar interior it is
00:28:36 --> 00:28:38 about 10 times the Sun's mass and about
00:28:38 --> 00:28:41 7 and 1/2 times its diameter once a
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 spectr type B blue white main sequence
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 star it's now pulsating rapidly rotating
00:28:46 --> 00:28:50 at more than 199 km/s over
00:28:50 --> 00:28:54 01738 Earth day period it's one of the
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 nearest stars to the Earth which is
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 expected to end its life as a type 2
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 core collapse Supernova the second star
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 in the system is also thought to be a
00:29:03 --> 00:29:06 spectal Type e blue white giant about
00:29:06 --> 00:29:08 seven solar masses and 3.6 times the
00:29:08 --> 00:29:10 Sun's
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12 diameter okay going back to the Southern
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 Cross and looking to the right or west
00:29:14 --> 00:29:17 you'll see the star kopus it's the
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 second brightest star in the night sky
00:29:18 --> 00:29:22 after Sirius even though kopus is 32
00:29:22 --> 00:29:24 light years away it looks incredibly
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 bright because it's huge 100 times the
00:29:27 --> 00:29:30 diameter of the Sun and 10 times as
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 luminous this year's second major meteor
00:29:32 --> 00:29:35 shower the lids will Peak on April the
00:29:35 --> 00:29:38 22nd and 23rd the liid appear to radiate
00:29:38 --> 00:29:41 out from the constellation Lyra close to
00:29:41 --> 00:29:43 the star Vega one of the brightest stars
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 in the sky this time of year the source
00:29:45 --> 00:29:47 of the meteor shower are particles of
00:29:47 --> 00:29:50 dust and debris shed by the long period
00:29:50 --> 00:29:54 Comet C1 1861 G1 Thatcher Sky Watchers
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 in the northern hemisphere get the best
00:29:56 --> 00:29:59 view of the lieds however listeners at
00:29:59 --> 00:30:01 mids southern hemisphere latitudes can
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03 also see the shower between midnight and
00:30:03 --> 00:30:06 Dawn patient observers will be rewarded
00:30:06 --> 00:30:08 with around 18 meteors per hour before
00:30:08 --> 00:30:10 Dawn from dark sky
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 locations and now with a look at what
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 else is happening in the April night
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 skies we're joined by science writer
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 Jonathan alley good day Stuart well
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 we're now under Autumn here where I live
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 which will be spring in the northern
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 half of the Planet of the course and for
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 me the Sun is setting earlier and the
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 night's becoming longer which means it's
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 perfect conditions for starga so we'll
00:30:27 --> 00:30:29 start with a old Southern Cross which we
00:30:29 --> 00:30:31 can find in the Southeast about a third
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 to halfway up from the Horizon sort of
00:30:33 --> 00:30:35 after Sunset an hour or two after Sunset
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 it's lying on its left hand side at the
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 moment so it looks like a kite that's on
00:30:40 --> 00:30:42 its left hand side but as the night goes
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 on and the Earth turns a bit more on its
00:30:43 --> 00:30:45 axis you'll see that it becomes more
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 upright we'll just talk about the cross
00:30:46 --> 00:30:48 for a sec the Southern Cross appears to
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 have four main stars and they make up
00:30:50 --> 00:30:52 the shape of this kite two of those
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 stars are Solo stars but the third of
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 them is made up of either two or three
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 stars it's either abinding star system
00:30:58 --> 00:31:00 or a trinary star system they're so
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 close together that to the uned eye they
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 just look like one star of course but
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 the fourth star it's the brightest of
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 the four stars is actually a six star
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 system and six stars all sort of
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 circling each other in this star which
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 is called acux it's really amazing that
00:31:13 --> 00:31:15 how many stars out there are part of
00:31:15 --> 00:31:19 binary or trinary or prary systems it's
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21 the norm really to be in a binary star
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 system or Triple Star system or
00:31:22 --> 00:31:24 something so our sun is a bit of an
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 odity being on its own but you don't see
00:31:27 --> 00:31:28 this you don't think about this when you
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 look up and look at some of the stars in
00:31:29 --> 00:31:31 the night sky don't no that one's part
00:31:31 --> 00:31:32 of a six-star system or that one's part
00:31:32 --> 00:31:34 of a four star system but a lot of them
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 are now right next to the Southern Cross
00:31:36 --> 00:31:38 there's a dark patch that's known as the
00:31:38 --> 00:31:40 coal sack this was once thought to be a
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43 gap or a hole in the Milky Way long time
00:31:43 --> 00:31:45 ago but really it's just a huge region
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 of gas and dust that's very thick and it
00:31:47 --> 00:31:49 blocks our view of the stars behind it
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 so we can't see the background stars now
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 in order to see the co sack you do need
00:31:53 --> 00:31:57 to have some clear Dark Skies citt skies
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 probably don't cut it because all the
00:31:58 --> 00:32:00 light pollution just drowned stuff out
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 anyway so the thing is that the Southern
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 Cross for instance that there is a fifth
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 star in a Southern Cross but a lot of
00:32:05 --> 00:32:07 people in cities can't see it this light
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 pollution is now so bad that in fact I
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 think from where I am I can't even see
00:32:10 --> 00:32:13 the fifth far sad isn't it it is really
00:32:13 --> 00:32:15 sad you know it's one of the funny
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 things is that here in Australia there's
00:32:16 --> 00:32:18 a uh piece of from one of the government
00:32:18 --> 00:32:20 departments they have a a software
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 service that's used for um navigation
00:32:22 --> 00:32:24 systems and surveying systems and it's
00:32:24 --> 00:32:26 named after this fit star and the the
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 irony of course is that used to be used
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30 for finding your position and navigating
00:32:30 --> 00:32:32 but most people now can't see it because
00:32:32 --> 00:32:34 they live in cities that are so light
00:32:34 --> 00:32:36 polluted that the star is invisible
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 that's the way it goes I'm afraid and
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 speaking of brightnesses and not being
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 able to see things know you might think
00:32:40 --> 00:32:42 that stars when you look up you see
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 stars and they all look much the same
00:32:43 --> 00:32:45 brightness and you think that because
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 they're of similar brightness they'll
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 all be roughly the same distance from
00:32:47 --> 00:32:49 the Earth but that's not the case we've
00:32:49 --> 00:32:51 got some stars that are intrinsically
00:32:51 --> 00:32:53 very bright but they might be very far
00:32:53 --> 00:32:55 away and that that therefore they seem
00:32:55 --> 00:32:57 dim but then you have other stars that
00:32:57 --> 00:32:59 are dim but they're very close so they
00:32:59 --> 00:33:01 seem brighter than the bright ones are
00:33:01 --> 00:33:03 so the four stars of Southern Cross for
00:33:03 --> 00:33:05 instance they range in distance from us
00:33:05 --> 00:33:07 from about 90 light years to about 340
00:33:07 --> 00:33:10 light years so you can't really tell the
00:33:10 --> 00:33:12 distance of a star from the earth just
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14 based on its brightness you got to think
00:33:14 --> 00:33:16 a bit deeper than that so brightness
00:33:16 --> 00:33:18 does not equate with distance now
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 speaking of a bright star up really high
00:33:19 --> 00:33:21 in the south at the moment there's a
00:33:21 --> 00:33:23 bright star called kopus This is the
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 brightest light in the constellation of
00:33:24 --> 00:33:26 Karina and it's actually the second
00:33:26 --> 00:33:28 brightest star in the night sky and it's
00:33:28 --> 00:33:29 no wonder talking about brightness
00:33:29 --> 00:33:31 because even though it's more than 300
00:33:31 --> 00:33:33 light years away intrinsically it's more
00:33:33 --> 00:33:37 than 10 times brighter than our sun
00:33:37 --> 00:33:40 and it's 70 times as big now that's
00:33:40 --> 00:33:43 that's really big imagine that 10
00:33:43 --> 00:33:45 times brighter that's why it's the
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 second brightest star in the night sky
00:33:46 --> 00:33:48 even though it's 300 light years away
00:33:48 --> 00:33:50 the night Sky's brightest star Sirius is
00:33:51 --> 00:33:53 also very easily visible at the moment
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 it's practically overhead in the early
00:33:54 --> 00:33:56 evening if you live at the latitude of
00:33:56 --> 00:33:57 Sydney in the southern hemisphere
00:33:57 --> 00:34:00 comparing Sirius to canopus that canopus
00:34:00 --> 00:34:02 being that really big one Sirius is only
00:34:02 --> 00:34:05 25 times brighter than the sun but it's
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 only 8 and a half light years away
00:34:06 --> 00:34:09 compared to 300 so that's why it seems a
00:34:09 --> 00:34:11 bit brighter to our eyes now not far
00:34:11 --> 00:34:13 from Sirus you've got the constellation
00:34:13 --> 00:34:15 of Ry with its two bright stars rul and
00:34:15 --> 00:34:17 Beetle Juice and there are three stars
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19 in a row known as Orion's Belt now if
00:34:19 --> 00:34:21 you thought canopus is impressive being
00:34:21 --> 00:34:23 10 times brighter than the sun well
00:34:23 --> 00:34:26 Riel beats that easily scus not quite
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 sure the number for some technical
00:34:27 --> 00:34:29 reasons is a that of a range of
00:34:29 --> 00:34:31 estimates of how bright it intrinsically
00:34:31 --> 00:34:33 is and that ranges from 60 times
00:34:33 --> 00:34:37 brighter than our sun to 360 times
00:34:37 --> 00:34:39 brighter than our sun I mean that's just
00:34:39 --> 00:34:41 berserk and the other star I mentioned
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 Beetle Juice it's no slouch either it's
00:34:42 --> 00:34:44 about 60 times brighter than the sun
00:34:44 --> 00:34:46 but with Beetle Juice it's the size that
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48 really impresses it's somewhere between
00:34:48 --> 00:34:51 about 640 and
00:34:51 --> 00:34:54 76 times as big as our star which is
00:34:54 --> 00:34:56 just crazy it's hard to imagine isn't it
00:34:56 --> 00:34:59 if you put it center of our solar system
00:34:59 --> 00:35:01 its outer limb would be roughly where
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 Jupiter is yeah basically yeah it would
00:35:03 --> 00:35:05 gobble up Mercury Venus Earth Mars the
00:35:05 --> 00:35:07 asteroid Bel pretty much all the way out
00:35:07 --> 00:35:09 to Jupiter that's how big it would be
00:35:09 --> 00:35:11 it's just unimaginable there are some
00:35:11 --> 00:35:13 big big stars out there now let's look
00:35:13 --> 00:35:15 at the planets if we take a look to the
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 north at least from here in the southern
00:35:16 --> 00:35:18 hemisphere about a third of the way up
00:35:18 --> 00:35:20 from the Horizon you'll find what
00:35:20 --> 00:35:22 appears to be three stars in a row the
00:35:22 --> 00:35:24 two whitish ones are actually Stars they
00:35:24 --> 00:35:27 the Stars Castor and Pollock but the
00:35:27 --> 00:35:30 orangey looking one is the planet Mars
00:35:30 --> 00:35:32 okay now you hear this thing quite often
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 that when you look up with the night sky
00:35:33 --> 00:35:36 night sky stars twinkle and planets
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 don't and the explanation usually given
00:35:38 --> 00:35:40 for that is that stars are so far away
00:35:40 --> 00:35:42 that they are effectively Point sources
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 like tiny pinpoint of light and that
00:35:43 --> 00:35:45 when the light comes through the Earth's
00:35:45 --> 00:35:47 atmosphere it gets interfered with by
00:35:47 --> 00:35:49 air currents and things so that makes
00:35:49 --> 00:35:51 that's what makes stars twinkle whereas
00:35:51 --> 00:35:53 planets even though you can't make out
00:35:53 --> 00:35:55 their size with the uned eye they do
00:35:55 --> 00:35:57 have a bit of a size and therefore that
00:35:57 --> 00:35:59 doesn't get interfere with quite so much
00:35:59 --> 00:36:01 so that's that's the explanation usually
00:36:01 --> 00:36:03 given but when stars and even planets
00:36:03 --> 00:36:05 are low down towards the horizon even a
00:36:05 --> 00:36:07 planet will twinkle I remember getting a
00:36:07 --> 00:36:09 phone call one what night from mamine
00:36:09 --> 00:36:11 and he said every night out there he Liv
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 in the water every night out over the
00:36:12 --> 00:36:15 water there's this red star but it
00:36:15 --> 00:36:17 changes color and it goes red and green
00:36:17 --> 00:36:19 and white and and it's there every night
00:36:19 --> 00:36:21 and is it the Air Force doing something
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 what could it be and I looked it up and
00:36:22 --> 00:36:24 it was just miles but because it was
00:36:24 --> 00:36:26 down low on the horizon the the light
00:36:26 --> 00:36:28 coming through our
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30 the the Earth's atmospheric currents
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32 were distorting the light basically and
00:36:32 --> 00:36:35 making it flicker so even planets can
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37 twinkle if you like is that why the Moon
00:36:37 --> 00:36:40 looks bigger on the horizon than it does
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 when it's high up in the sky oh this is
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 the Moon Illusion and I don't know
00:36:43 --> 00:36:45 anyone's ever really got to the bottom
00:36:45 --> 00:36:47 of this there are all sorts of ideas
00:36:47 --> 00:36:49 about why the moon appears to be bigger
00:36:49 --> 00:36:52 because it's you know you can compare it
00:36:52 --> 00:36:54 against houses or trees or the horizon
00:36:54 --> 00:36:56 or whatever so it seems to have a
00:36:56 --> 00:36:58 discernable you know not a discernable
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 size but you know something you can
00:36:59 --> 00:37:01 compare it against whereas when it's up
00:37:01 --> 00:37:03 there high in the night sky it's just an
00:37:03 --> 00:37:05 empty empty sky so you can't really get
00:37:05 --> 00:37:07 a good good comparison against anything
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 else I mean the moon's only half a
00:37:08 --> 00:37:10 degree across I mean from Horizon to
00:37:10 --> 00:37:13 Horizon you drew a line from The Horizon
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 up overhead down to the other Horizon
00:37:14 --> 00:37:17 that of course is 180° so you could
00:37:17 --> 00:37:19 stack 360 moons all the way from one
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 horizon to the other it's actually
00:37:20 --> 00:37:22 really small as for the Moon Illusion
00:37:22 --> 00:37:24 the so-call Moon Illusion why the moon
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 appears bigger on the horizon I don't I
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 really don't know the answer there all
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 sorts of things with those but might
00:37:28 --> 00:37:30 have more to do with our brains and the
00:37:30 --> 00:37:34 way our brains perceive things than the
00:37:34 --> 00:37:36 a lot of that yeah yeah I mean you can
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 do a test if the moon's down near the
00:37:37 --> 00:37:39 Horizon have a look and see how big it
00:37:39 --> 00:37:41 is and then get a cardboard tube and
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 look at the Moon through the cardboard
00:37:42 --> 00:37:44 tube so you can't see anything else
00:37:44 --> 00:37:46 around it no houses and trees and things
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 and see whether it seems quite as big
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49 I've actually measured it on the horizon
00:37:49 --> 00:37:51 compared to when it's high in the sky
00:37:51 --> 00:37:53 and it it's exactly the same size but it
00:37:53 --> 00:37:54 just doesn't look it it's weird that's
00:37:54 --> 00:37:55 right yeah there's something in our
00:37:55 --> 00:37:58 brains that that does it so anyway yeah
00:37:58 --> 00:37:59 that's the moon now over to the
00:37:59 --> 00:38:01 Northwest again looking this is from
00:38:01 --> 00:38:03 looking from the southern hemisphere so
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 the Southwest if you're in the northern
00:38:04 --> 00:38:07 hemisphere there appears to be a bright
00:38:07 --> 00:38:09 white star but it is in fact the planet
00:38:09 --> 00:38:11 Jupiter now if you have even just a pair
00:38:11 --> 00:38:13 of binoculars take a look at Jupiter you
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 won't be able to make out anything on
00:38:15 --> 00:38:16 the planet itself it'll just look like a
00:38:16 --> 00:38:18 bright star but you should be able to
00:38:18 --> 00:38:21 see up to four tiny pin Pricks of light
00:38:21 --> 00:38:23 either to its left or right or both it
00:38:23 --> 00:38:24 might be you know three on one side and
00:38:25 --> 00:38:26 one on the other or two on one side and
00:38:26 --> 00:38:28 two on the other whatever now these are
00:38:28 --> 00:38:31 the four moons discovered by Galileo and
00:38:31 --> 00:38:32 by looking through a pair of binoculars
00:38:32 --> 00:38:34 you've got about the same Optical power
00:38:34 --> 00:38:37 as Galileo had with his first little
00:38:37 --> 00:38:38 telescope in fact your binoculars would
00:38:38 --> 00:38:41 be far better quality W than Galileo's
00:38:41 --> 00:38:42 telescope was but youd have about the
00:38:42 --> 00:38:44 same magnifying power so yeah have a
00:38:44 --> 00:38:45 look at Jupiter even through a pair of
00:38:45 --> 00:38:47 binoculars and you'll see these tiny pin
00:38:47 --> 00:38:48 picks of light they're very noticeable
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 they're very very noticeable you go out
00:38:50 --> 00:38:52 and do it every night night after night
00:38:52 --> 00:38:54 for a while you'll see that these little
00:38:54 --> 00:38:56 p light will have moved because they're
00:38:56 --> 00:38:58 orbiting around Jupiter and a lot of
00:38:58 --> 00:38:59 astronomers like to do this of course
00:38:59 --> 00:39:00 with their telescopes and and what you
00:39:01 --> 00:39:03 can see is for instance sometimes when
00:39:03 --> 00:39:05 one of these moons goes around behind
00:39:05 --> 00:39:06 Jupiter and goes into its shadow it just
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 Winks out it just disappears because
00:39:09 --> 00:39:11 it's CL into the the shadow behind
00:39:11 --> 00:39:13 Jupiter and just vanishes and then it'll
00:39:14 --> 00:39:15 reappear sometime later on the other
00:39:15 --> 00:39:16 side when it comes back into the
00:39:16 --> 00:39:18 sunlight again so that's fun to watch
00:39:18 --> 00:39:20 but it does take a little while so you
00:39:20 --> 00:39:22 need to allow some time now to see the
00:39:22 --> 00:39:23 other bright planets the other three
00:39:24 --> 00:39:25 bright planets you'll need to be up
00:39:25 --> 00:39:27 before Dawn this month and looking to
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 East Saturn is the first of them to rise
00:39:29 --> 00:39:32 at about 5:30 a.m. daylight sing time at
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 least here in Australia followed around
00:39:34 --> 00:39:36 about 20 minutes later by both Mercury
00:39:36 --> 00:39:39 and Venus now Saturn's fairly bright and
00:39:39 --> 00:39:41 it has a slightly yellowish teen so it
00:39:41 --> 00:39:42 should be pretty easy to identify
00:39:42 --> 00:39:45 Mercury is quite small and dim Venus on
00:39:45 --> 00:39:48 the other hand is big and bright now if
00:39:48 --> 00:39:50 you're up early enough to spot these
00:39:50 --> 00:39:52 you'll see that they're going to be in
00:39:52 --> 00:39:54 the beginning of the Dawn glow as the
00:39:54 --> 00:39:56 Sunrise approaches and the sky is
00:39:56 --> 00:39:58 starting to lighten and as it gets
00:39:58 --> 00:39:59 lighter and lighter Mercury and Saturn
00:39:59 --> 00:40:01 will quickly fade into that Dawn glow
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02 but Venus will linger a bit longer
00:40:03 --> 00:40:04 because it is really quite bright and
00:40:04 --> 00:40:06 then the sun will come up of course and
00:40:06 --> 00:40:07 they all drowned out although you can
00:40:07 --> 00:40:09 actually see Venus during the daytime
00:40:09 --> 00:40:10 I've seeing Venus during the daytime
00:40:10 --> 00:40:12 when it's up high in the sky and in a
00:40:12 --> 00:40:15 crystal clear bright blue sky Venus is
00:40:15 --> 00:40:17 actually bright enough to be seen with
00:40:17 --> 00:40:18 the uned eye but you've got to know
00:40:18 --> 00:40:20 exactly where to look so if you've got a
00:40:20 --> 00:40:22 way to pinpoint exactly where it is you
00:40:22 --> 00:40:23 look up and you think oh goodness yes
00:40:23 --> 00:40:25 there is a tiny thing that looks like a
00:40:25 --> 00:40:27 star up there when you look directly at
00:40:27 --> 00:40:29 at it you know it's there you can see it
00:40:29 --> 00:40:32 you think wow that is Venus but because
00:40:32 --> 00:40:35 it's usually closest to the Sun people
00:40:35 --> 00:40:37 of course don't bother looking up don't
00:40:37 --> 00:40:38 go looking up with a pair of binoculars
00:40:38 --> 00:40:40 or telescope during daytime if the sun's
00:40:40 --> 00:40:41 anywhere near please don't do that
00:40:41 --> 00:40:43 because just one wrong move and you
00:40:43 --> 00:40:44 might blind yourself so on that happy
00:40:44 --> 00:40:47 note St that's the um sky for a that's
00:40:47 --> 00:40:50 science writer Jonathan alley and this
00:40:50 --> 00:41:06 is spacetime
00:41:07 --> 00:41:09 and that's the show for now SpaceTime is
00:41:09 --> 00:41:11 available every Monday Wednesday and
00:41:11 --> 00:41:14 Friday through Apple podcast iTunes
00:41:14 --> 00:41:17 Stitcher Google podcast pocketcasts
00:41:17 --> 00:41:21 Spotify acast Amazon music bites.com
00:41:21 --> 00:41:24 SoundCloud YouTube your favorite podcast
00:41:24 --> 00:41:26 download provider and from SpaceTime
00:41:26 --> 00:41:29 with Stuart Gary com spacetimes also
00:41:29 --> 00:41:31 broadcasts through the National Science
00:41:31 --> 00:41:33 Foundation on science Z Radio and on
00:41:33 --> 00:41:36 both iHeart radio and TuneIn radio and
00:41:36 --> 00:41:38 you can help to support our show by
00:41:38 --> 00:41:40 visiting the SpaceTime store for a range
00:41:40 --> 00:41:43 of promotional merchandising goodies or
00:41:43 --> 00:41:45 by becoming A Spacetime Patron which
00:41:45 --> 00:41:47 gives you access to Triple episode
00:41:47 --> 00:41:49 commercial free versions of the show as
00:41:49 --> 00:41:51 well as lots of bonus audio content
00:41:51 --> 00:41:53 which doesn't go to we access to our
00:41:53 --> 00:41:55 exclusive Facebook group and other
00:41:55 --> 00:41:57 Awards just go to space space time with
00:41:57 --> 00:42:01 Stewart gary.com for full details you've
00:42:01 --> 00:42:03 been listening to SpaceTime with Stewart
00:42:03 --> 00:42:05 Gary this has been another quality
00:42:05 --> 00:42:09 podcast production from bites.com