Solar Curiosities, Stellar Siblings, and the Quest for Sun Missions
In this enlightening episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson dive into a plethora of solar-themed questions submitted by their curious audience. From the intriguing arc of the sun across the sky to the search for the sun's long-lost siblings, this episode is packed with cosmic insights that will leave you pondering the mysteries of our solar system.
Episode Highlights:
- The Sun's Arc: Andrew kicks off the episode with a question about the sun's arc as observed from the French Alps. Fred explains the celestial mechanics behind this phenomenon, illustrating how our perspective from Earth creates the illusion of an arc due to the spherical nature of the celestial sphere.
- Searching for Solar Siblings: Ernie's inquiry about the sun's siblings leads to a fascinating discussion on galactic archaeology. The hosts explore ongoing research aimed at identifying stars with similar chemical compositions to the sun, potentially revealing our sun's stellar family tree.
- Close Encounters with the Sun: Mark's question about missions to the sun sparks an exploration of the Parker Solar Probe, which has been gathering invaluable data by flying close to the sun. Andrew and Fred discuss the probe's findings and the various other missions dedicated to studying our star.
- Exoplanetary Possibilities: Martin shares his sci-fi aspirations and questions the potential for breathable atmospheres on exoplanets. The hosts reflect on recent discoveries of Earth-sized exoplanets and the challenges of confirming their atmospheres, while also encouraging Martin's creative writing endeavors.
For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. (https://www.spacenutspodcast.com/) Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, Instagram, and more. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.
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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/31442835?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello again. Thank you for joining us on
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 Space Nuts. This is our weekly Q&A
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 edition where we take questions from the
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 audience. We go and find someone who can
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 tell us the answer and then we pretend
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 we're doing it. Um, my name's Andrew
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 Dunley, your host. Fred's Fred's face
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 went, "Oh, we don't." [laughter]
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 Uh, coming up on this episode, uh, we've
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 got a lot of, uh, solar questions. We've
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 got a question from Andrew about the
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 sun's arc. Ernie wants to know about the
00:00:27 --> 00:00:28 sun's siblings and Mark wants to know
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 about missions to the sun. You go, Mark.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 I'm not setting foot on it. It's hot
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 enough here already. And we're going to
00:00:35 --> 00:00:36 finish off with a question about
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 Earthlike planets. That's all coming up
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 on this episode of Space Nuts.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:46 >> 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 10 9g
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 Ignition sequence start.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:49 >> Space nuts.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 >> 5 4 3 2
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 >> 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 >> Space Nuts. Astronauts report. It feels
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 good.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 >> Back again for more. His name is
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 Professor Fred Watson, astronomer at
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 large. Hello, Fred.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 >> Hello. Hello, Andrew. Um, fancy seeing
00:01:05 --> 00:01:06 you here.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 >> Yes, it's quite unusual. Quite unusual.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 And we're all decked out in blue today.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:12 You've got the gun barrel blue. I've got
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 the sky blue of New South Wales on.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 >> That's the um official sporting color of
00:01:18 --> 00:01:19 my state.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:20 >> I didn't know that.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 >> Yeah. Yeah.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 >> Didn't even know there was
00:01:22 --> 00:01:26 >> sky blue. Yeah. Oh, look. Um, the the
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 the official Australian sporting colors
00:01:28 --> 00:01:29 are green and gold.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 >> Green and gold. That's right.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 >> But that that wasn't actually uh
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 official until the 80s. Before that,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 they just used to wear a pair of thongs
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 and a cut off jeans and go to the
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 Olympics, I think.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 >> She'll be right.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:47 >> Yeah, mate. No worries. Yes. Um, we got
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 a bunch of questions to deal with, so we
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 might as well hit the ground running in
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 our thongs. I know there's some people
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 laughing at that because thong means
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 something else in other countries, but
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 it does. That's right.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 >> It's it's a pair of flip-flops or
00:02:00 --> 00:02:01 jandles or whatever you call them,
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 wherever you're from. Uh, first question
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 comes from Andrew. It's about the Sun's
00:02:06 --> 00:02:07 Ark. I'm sitting here in the French Alps
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 on Boxing Day. You lucky duck. uh
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 slightly hung over thanks to uh an
00:02:13 --> 00:02:17 excess of a prey ski uh last night and
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 watching the sun trace an arc across the
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 sky measured from mountain peak to
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 mountain peak. But why an arc the shape
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 of which varies uh by the time of year
00:02:27 --> 00:02:31 given the earth itself is rotating uh on
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 only one axis. Uh, I know the Earth's uh
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 tilted from um from the vertical, but
00:02:37 --> 00:02:41 how does that explain the arc uh with
00:02:41 --> 00:02:42 only one axis of rotation? Shouldn't it
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 be a straight line? That comes from
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 Andrew Jones. Hope you had a nice
00:02:46 --> 00:02:47 Christmas, Andrew. Sounds like it. What
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 a what a horrible place to be. The
00:02:49 --> 00:02:50 French Alps for Christmas.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 >> Oh, yeah. Sounds great, doesn't it?
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 >> Yeah. But he brings up an interesting
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 point. Uh sitting there sipping on
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 whatever it is he was drinking and uh
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 and and watching the sun and going,
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 "Hang on a minute. What's going on here?
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 There's an arc and it's not Noah's.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 It's not. That's right. Uh it's a
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 different sort of arc. Uh because it's
00:03:11 --> 00:03:12 spelled differently. It's got a C
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 instead of a K. [laughter]
00:03:15 --> 00:03:21 [snorts] Uh it uh and in fact so so uh
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 you know Andrew's question is uh with
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 only one axis of rotation shouldn't it
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 be a straight line? And the answer is it
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 is a straight line.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 >> Yeah. Uh but it's a straight line on a
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 sphere. Uh because we are our vantage
00:03:36 --> 00:03:40 point uh from Earth. Uh we look out into
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 space. We imagine something called the
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 celestial sphere. It's a great way of uh
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 you know working out the way things move
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 in space and how the motion of the sun
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 and planets all fits together. You what
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 you imagine is a sphere of infinite
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 dimensions and we're sitting at the
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 middle of it. We only see half of it
00:03:58 --> 00:03:59 because the other half is below the
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 horizon. It's still there. The celestial
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 sphere goes on below the earth, this
00:04:05 --> 00:04:09 hypothesized sphere. Um but um it's very
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 useful uh a useful device for
00:04:12 --> 00:04:13 understanding how things move in the
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 sky. And if you imagine yourself uh
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 sitting in the French Alps uh with the
00:04:20 --> 00:04:24 celestial sphere above you uh you uh
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 would certainly in the northern
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 hemisphere be able to see uh the thing
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 that we call the north pole star polar
00:04:30 --> 00:04:34 star Polaris. Uh the pole star faint
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 star that um I nearly always look for
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 whenever I'm in the northern hemisphere
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 just to reconnect with it. It's at the
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 end of the the little bear's tail. uh if
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 you know your northern constellations
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 but that
00:04:47 --> 00:04:51 would come with us sometime.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:52 >> Yeah, they they're great. The northern
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 constellations of they've got great
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 charm. Anyway, that's another story. So,
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 um that is the point about which the
00:04:59 --> 00:05:04 whole celestial sphere seems to rotate.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 And so, uh, the height of the pole star
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 above your horizon, uh, is the same as
00:05:10 --> 00:05:14 your latitude. So, if you're at latitude
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 French Alps is probably 45 or
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 thereabouts, maybe a bit more than that,
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 45, uh, it means your pole star is going
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 to be 45 degrees above the horizon. And
00:05:24 --> 00:05:28 this entire sphere rotates around that
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 point. And so uh that's why on on a
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 sphere the sun's motion is a straight
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 line. It goes from the east eastern side
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 of the sky depends on the time of year
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 as to exactly where it rises and sets.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 Uh but it sets on the western side. And
00:05:43 --> 00:05:47 so um uh what looks like an arc to you
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 is really a straight line bent by the
00:05:50 --> 00:05:54 celestial sphere. this apparent uh you
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 know it's it's a just a great way of
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 imagining the sky because it doesn't you
00:05:59 --> 00:06:00 don't have to worry about the distances
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 of anything. You're just imagining
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 everything projected onto this infinite
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 sphere. And when you do that as the
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 earth's rotating the sun rises in
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 towards the east and sets towards the
00:06:11 --> 00:06:16 west. Um and uh it follows basically an
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 arc as we see it from our position. But
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 in terms of the sphere itself, it's just
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 going from one side to the other in a
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 straight line.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 >> There you go. Sounds like putting in
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 golf. Like every putt they say every
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 putt's a straight putt except
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 that the um the green isn't dead flat
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 and straight, so the ball will move
00:06:37 --> 00:06:38 accordingly.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 >> Yes, that's right. Yeah. In fact, that's
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 um that's that almost puts you into a
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 different uh regime because that's
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 effectively what geodessics are, which
00:06:49 --> 00:06:50 are
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 >> uh the way light behaves uh in general
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 relativity. Uh so light travels what it
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 in what it thinks is a straight line,
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 but it's going through different
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 gravitational fields and gravitational
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 wells. And so like you know like your
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 your golf ball when you're put putting
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 it uh it it's it it's moving around.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 It's wandering around.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 >> Yeah. Uh we we have a quirk at um do
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 golf club where um if you want to figure
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 out where the putt goes work out which
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 direction the river is.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 >> Yes.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 >> They they always fall towards the river.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 >> Always remember Andrew that five irons
00:07:28 --> 00:07:29 don't flow.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 >> They do not. It's a good book that I
00:07:32 --> 00:07:33 don't know who wrote it, but it's a
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 ripper.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:35 >> I should read this.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 >> It's a ripper.
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 >> Well, it's got swearing in it. Don't
00:07:38 --> 00:07:39 know how that happened.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 >> Yeah. Gosh. Disgraceful. Disgraceful.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 And by the way, the French Alps are at
00:07:44 --> 00:07:45 455
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 degrees north.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:48 >> So, you did very well.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 >> Yeah.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 >> And 6.85
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 uh 65 degrees east.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:54 >> That's right.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 >> Yeah. Uh, thank you for the question,
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 Andrew. Great to hear from you. Hope you
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 survived the u the French Alps um
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 adventure. Uh our next question comes
00:08:06 --> 00:08:10 from a a new contributor. Hello Ernie.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 >> Hello Andrew and Fred. My name is Ernie
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 and I'm reaching out to you from a small
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 town near Buffalo, New York. I'm a
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 longtime listener and this is the first
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 time I'm submitting a question. In a
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 recent episode, a listener asked if
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 astronomers have ever identified the
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 star or stars that went supernova,
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 seating the nebula our sun formed in
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 with heavy elements. This got me to
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 thinking, stars typically form in
00:08:37 --> 00:08:41 clusters. And I assume our sun isn't any
00:08:41 --> 00:08:45 different. Has there ever been or is
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 there any active research that is
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 looking for any of the son's siblings?
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 Thank you so much um for doing this
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 podcast. Really enjoy it. Always look
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 forward when new episodes drop. Wishing
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 you the best for the holidays. Thank
00:09:02 --> 00:09:03 you, Ernie. Great to hear from you, a
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 first time callerina. And uh great
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 question, too. Great question. Sorry to
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 hear about the Buffalo Bills. I don't
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 know if you're into the uh American
00:09:12 --> 00:09:16 football um Ernie, but um we visited
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 Buffalo um late last year and they were
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 very very hopeful that the the Bills
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 would come through, but they've been
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 knocked out in the playoffs. So, um very
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 unfortunate, but maybe maybe next year.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 They're certainly starting to look like
00:09:29 --> 00:09:33 a pretty solid outfit. So, um yeah, any
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 work going into finding the Sun's
00:09:35 --> 00:09:36 siblings? Now, I remember us talking
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 some time back about the possibility
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 that the son had a twin [clears throat]
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 >> and they got separated at birth and they
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 can't find each other, but they're
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 they're going through the archives to
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 see if there's any family history that
00:09:50 --> 00:09:55 can connect them. Um that Yeah, but the
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 the sun would have been part of um I I
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 imagine a whole bunch of stars that were
00:10:00 --> 00:10:04 born in that um that um supernova
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 situation. Is that what he was talking
00:10:05 --> 00:10:06 about?
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 >> Well, that's part of the issue. The the
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 fact that the you know the the gas cloud
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 in which the sun and the rest of the
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 cluster that was formed at the same time
00:10:17 --> 00:10:21 as the sun um that that was uh seeded by
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 gases from a supernova explosion which
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 we have no knowledge of but we you know
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 it's just the background interstellar
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 medium is enriched by the elements that
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 come from a supernova explosion. But um
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 no Ernie's question is on the money and
00:10:36 --> 00:10:40 the answer is yes. Uh that's um
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 to try and find the sun's siblings is
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 actually uh ongoing research and it's
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 part of the subject that we usually call
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 galactic archaeology. is looking at the
00:10:50 --> 00:10:54 way our galaxy has evolved uh by
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 studying in detail the chemical
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 composition of the stars within uh the
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 sun's neighborhood within a few thousand
00:11:02 --> 00:11:03 light years. I was involved with all
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 that with the rave project a few years
00:11:05 --> 00:11:09 ago. And so one of the uh not the holy
00:11:09 --> 00:11:10 grails of that but certainly one of the
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 interesting aspects is to find stars
00:11:13 --> 00:11:17 that have identical chemical mixes to
00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 the sun. Uh and um if you can do that,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 if you can find them, uh there's a good
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 chance that they were born from the same
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 dust cloud as the sun was. Uh and so
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 they might very well be solar siblings.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 Um it may even be possible that, you
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 know, we know that the sun's four four
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 and a half billion years old, about 4.6
00:11:39 --> 00:11:43 4.7 billion years old. Um if you could
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 look at the motion of stars that have
00:11:46 --> 00:11:49 the identical uh constituents to the sun
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 and you will be able to certainly me
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 measure their velocities quite easily
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 then you might be able to almost rewind
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 back to a time uh when you could prove
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 that they were all in the same place at
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 the same time.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 >> Okay. Yeah. All right. Um
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 >> so so the answer is yes. We are there is
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 interest there is certainly research on
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 all that and yes I had a couple of weeks
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 in Buffalo once I was a guest lecturer
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 at the Canius College there and it's
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 very cold
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 >> uh wasn't cold while we were there I
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 mean it's it's a stones throw from
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 Niagara Falls which is
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 >> yeah like you could almost walk it
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 >> they were pretty icy when we were there.
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 >> Yeah. Um, but I I really enjoyed
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 spending some time there and and
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 learning like they they they had a big
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 big exhibition on while we were there
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 about the um one of the great canals
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 that was built 150 odd years ago now I
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 think. Um and and how it changed the
00:12:48 --> 00:12:49 entire region
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 >> forever um in terms of trade and
00:12:51 --> 00:12:55 movement of materials and uh fascinating
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 place really quite fascinating. Um,
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 yeah. I suppose the the the problem with
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 trying to find the sun's siblings is is
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 the amount of time that's passed. It's
00:13:05 --> 00:13:06 not like you're looking back through
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 your family tree a couple of
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 generations, which we're talking
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 billions of years of movement.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 >> That's right. Yes. But but as I said,
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 you you know, the way you identify them
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 is not because they're close or anything
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 like that. It's by their chemical
00:13:22 --> 00:13:23 composition.
00:13:23 --> 00:13:28 uh which we can do out to many several
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 thousands light years depending how how
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 precise you want it to be. Um in fact
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 there's an instrument on the Anglo
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 Australian telescope which is called
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 Hermes uh which is designed exactly for
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 doing that job. It looks at very limited
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 areas uh regions of the spectrum of
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 stars uh to look for [clears throat]
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 exactly the amount of chemicals that
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 that are in those atmospheres of those
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 stars. And that's the kind of instrument
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 that you use to try and find the sun
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 siblings. What I haven't said is whether
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 there's been any success on that.
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 >> I was bad to ask.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 >> Yeah. [laughter]
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 And um uh I can't remember the answer. I
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 I mean there are certainly stars which
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 have got very similar chemical
00:14:08 --> 00:14:12 composition and ages to the sun. Uh, I'm
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 not sure just how near we are to to
00:14:14 --> 00:14:15 being able to identify them as
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 definitely coming from the same gas
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 cloud and being born in the same cluster
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 as the sun was.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 >> Well, according to a quick search I've
00:14:24 --> 00:14:28 just done, and this is an AI response,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 uh, yes, astronomers have identified
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 several candidates. Yeah.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 >> The solar siblings, stars formed from
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 the same gas cloud as our sun 4.5
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 billion years ago, but none are
00:14:38 --> 00:14:42 definitely confirmed. There you go.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 >> Um they maybe they don't want to be
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 found. Maybe maybe our our son was, you
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 know, the black sheep of the family and
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 they all went, "No, we're out of here.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 We know what's going to happen around
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 this place. It's going to fall planets
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 and then where will we be?" And then
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 there'll be humans and then
00:14:58 --> 00:14:59 >> Yes, that's right. Exactly.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 >> You know, they'll want us they'll want
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 us to pay them money or something. Yeah.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 I don't know. Um but it was a great
00:15:05 --> 00:15:06 question, Ernie. Thanks for sending it
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 in and please do so again. This is Space
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 Nuts with Andrew Dunley and Professor
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 Fred Watson.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 >> Hey, that's one of the better sims.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 Believe me, we've had a couple of
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 cardiac [music] arrest down here too,
00:15:20 --> 00:15:20 Pete.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 >> There weren't any time for that up here.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 >> Space nuts.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 >> I love that one. No time for a cardiac
00:15:27 --> 00:15:32 arrest. Uh let's uh carry on to our next
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 question that comes from Mark. It's
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 another story about this uh question
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 about the sun. Hi Andrew and Fred. Are
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 there any plans to send a spacecraft to
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 the sun? And I mean up close and
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 personal. Uh the data they could get
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 would be invaluable and could really
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 tighten up uh some loose ends on what we
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 think we know. Uh keep up the great
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 work. Uh that's Mark from Sussex. Sussex
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 in England. I assume England. Uh I'm
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 pretty sure that'd be right.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 >> So you s I used to live in Sussex as
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 well.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 >> Yes. Yeah. I think we mentioned that a
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 week or two ago. So we've had a few
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 >> where the royals from Sussex of late
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 >> the the Royal Greenwich Observatory used
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 to be a place called Hmansu. Yeah.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 [clears throat and cough] Not far from
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 where William the Conqueror landed in
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 1066.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 >> Okay.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 >> It was all very historic place. Um and
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 the Royal Observatory was actually
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 >> he defeated he did he defeated King
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 >> Henry was it?
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 >> Harold. Harold. I knew it started with
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 an H.
00:16:29 --> 00:16:34 >> Yeah. H um so yeah look I I I I know
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 there are probes that are um gathering
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 information about the sun all the time
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 and in fact we had a recent probe that's
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 name escapes me that actually touched
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 the sun which was uh a pretty
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 extraordinary thing and
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 >> in fact that's the one that um that
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 really Mark is asking about uh uh are
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 there any plans to sp send a spacecraft
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 to the sun uh and I mean up close and
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 personal it is already there Uh it's
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 called the Parker Solar Probe. Uh it's
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 um flown through the inner or the outer
00:17:04 --> 00:17:08 corona of the sun uh experiencing those
00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 very high temperatures. It's got a heat
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 shield. It's in a or an orbit that is
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 highly elliptical, very elongated. So
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 [clears throat] it it spends some of its
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 time close to the sun and some of its
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 time quite a long way away. I'm not
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 actually sure whether it is still
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 active. uh but what it's done is it has
00:17:27 --> 00:17:31 enhanced our understanding of the uh of
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 the way the corona is heated. The sun's
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 corona is at so several tens of millions
00:17:37 --> 00:17:41 of degrees uh and the surface of the sun
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 the photosphere this bit that we see is
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 about 5 a half thousand degrees. How
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 does the outer atmosphere get so hot
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 when you've got something relatively
00:17:49 --> 00:17:53 cool inside? And the Parker Solar Probe
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 has revealed that it's almost certainly
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 magnetism that does that, the
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 transportation of energy via magnetic
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 fields. You're about to tell me whether
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 it's still going or not.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 >> It is. It is actually uh the uh is fully
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 active. It's healthy. It's operating
00:18:08 --> 00:18:12 normally as at early 2026. It's done 26
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 close approach
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 >> uh approaches to the sun. Um, and that
00:18:18 --> 00:18:21 was up to December of of last year. And
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 it uh will continue to orbit the sun.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 It'll set speed records while it's doing
00:18:25 --> 00:18:27 it. Uh, it's it's been doing some
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 extraordinary things. Uh, what I find
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 extraordinary is that it can survive
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 temperatures around 2 and a half
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That's um
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 that's that's mighty warm.
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 >> Yep. With a with a clever cleverly
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 designed heat shield. I think that's
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 whath keeps the spacecraft cool and lets
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 it continue its work. It's a very
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 successful mission.
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 >> Are there any other probes working out
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 there? I mean, there are observer
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 probes. I believe they're not designed
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 to go in and out of the sun's corona,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 but they're they're sort of keeping a
00:19:01 --> 00:19:03 close eye on it.
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 >> Yeah, that's right. There's uh so so the
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 sun's observed from a safer distance uh
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 up close and personal uh compared with
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 where we are on Earth. uh there's a
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 there's a flatilla of uh of
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 observatories looking at the various
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 aspects of the sun. We also now have um
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 a very large groundbased telescope that
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 is set providing the most amazing images
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 of the sun's photosphere. That's the the
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 visible sphere of the sun. Uh it's the
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 Daniel K. Anui solar telescope. It's on
00:19:34 --> 00:19:38 top of Halakala on the island of Maui uh
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 in the Hawaiian islands. Money and I got
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 married in front of it.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:47 >> Yeah, I remember. Yeah. Um they have
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 great names for stuff in Hawaii, don't
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 they?
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 >> Yeah, they do.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 >> They do.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 >> Just rolls off the tongue, that one. Uh
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 there are plenty of probes actually um
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 Mark that are that are wandering around
00:19:59 --> 00:20:01 the sun. There's the Solar Orbiter,
00:20:01 --> 00:20:05 which is an ISSa NASA mission um taking
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 high resolution imagery and and
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 gathering data about the sun. There's
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 another one that was launched in 2023
00:20:12 --> 00:20:14 uh an Indian mission uh which is
00:20:14 --> 00:20:17 dedicated to observing the solar corona
00:20:17 --> 00:20:22 and it's the Adita L1 mission and
00:20:22 --> 00:20:26 there's a there's a a whole fleet of uh
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 probes that are that are monitoring the
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 solar winds. So the Solar Dynamics
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 Observatory SOHO that's a famous one. Uh
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 the STEREO mission because there are
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 twin satellites doing that. I think we
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 talked about that one. Uh Hinade, which
00:20:40 --> 00:20:43 is a a JAXA mission. Uh the GO solar
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 ultraviolet imager and the advanced
00:20:45 --> 00:20:49 composition explorer or ACE uh which is
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 looking at the solar winds which have um
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 been very busy of late. We've seen some
00:20:54 --> 00:20:56 incredible activity. The sun's sort of
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 reaching the end of its most active
00:20:59 --> 00:21:02 phase, isn't it Fred? Yeah, it's it's
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 sort of still at solar maximum, but it
00:21:04 --> 00:21:08 gradually uh dies away to solar minimum.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 >> Yeah. And from what I understand, you've
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 you've really only got a short period of
00:21:12 --> 00:21:15 time to enjoy the the the current level
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 of activity before things start to ease
00:21:17 --> 00:21:23 off and um we see less um less
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 spectacular
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 light shows. Would that be the way to
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 describe?
00:21:26 --> 00:21:28 >> Yeah. And and certainly as the sun's
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 activity declines, the aurora that we
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 see get further and further away from
00:21:33 --> 00:21:35 the equator, if I put it that way. The
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 more active the sun is, the the the
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 lower latitude you can you can see it
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 at.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:44 >> Well, it's um it's certainly uh been
00:21:44 --> 00:21:47 spectacular lately. Uh thanks for the
00:21:47 --> 00:21:50 question, Mark.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:52 >> You're here also.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 >> Space nuts.
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 >> Our final question, or is it a sermon?
00:21:55 --> 00:21:58 comes from Martin. Sit back, relax, grab
00:21:58 --> 00:22:00 a cup of tea. This is going to take a
00:22:00 --> 00:22:05 while. Hello, space nuts. Margin Burman
00:22:05 --> 00:22:09 Gorvine here, writer extraordinaire in
00:22:09 --> 00:22:11 many genres
00:22:11 --> 00:22:16 with a question for my work in progress.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:21 uh my science fiction novel involving a
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 certain unpleasant
00:22:23 --> 00:22:29 very rich dude called Egon Rusk who
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 wishes to see the stars with what he
00:22:32 --> 00:22:36 imagines is the master race and comes to
00:22:36 --> 00:22:41 a rather unfortunate end. Um,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:47 as I've been writing this, the uh their
00:22:47 --> 00:22:52 supposed destination is Trappist 1E.
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 Now,
00:22:54 --> 00:22:57 Professor John T. Hero mentioned on a
00:22:57 --> 00:23:01 recent podcast that all the star, all
00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 the planets in the Trappist one system
00:23:04 --> 00:23:07 lack an atmosphere.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:09 So, I was very concerned about that
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 because uh I don't want my characters
00:23:12 --> 00:23:17 all choking and dying. So, I had a look
00:23:17 --> 00:23:21 and it seems according to NASA that it's
00:23:21 --> 00:23:24 Trappist 1D
00:23:24 --> 00:23:28 as in David that has been shown to lack
00:23:28 --> 00:23:30 an atmosphere. But they're still trying
00:23:30 --> 00:23:35 to figure out whether Travis 1E has one
00:23:35 --> 00:23:40 or not. Um, in any case, I was just
00:23:40 --> 00:23:44 wondering if there are any other
00:23:44 --> 00:23:48 uh stars with with exoplanets
00:23:48 --> 00:23:53 within say 20, 30, 40 light years of
00:23:53 --> 00:23:57 Earth that might conceivably be roughly
00:23:57 --> 00:24:00 the mass of Earth and might conceivably
00:24:00 --> 00:24:04 have a breathable atmosphere. I mean,
00:24:04 --> 00:24:06 this is all
00:24:06 --> 00:24:09 kind of off-the-wall satirical se uh
00:24:09 --> 00:24:11 sci-fi, so it doesn't matter that much,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 but I was just wondering about your
00:24:13 --> 00:24:18 thoughts, and I don't mean to uh
00:24:18 --> 00:24:24 disparage Professor her. Um I I I but I
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 I you know I just suspect that he did
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 see that Trappist one D lacks an
00:24:30 --> 00:24:32 atmosphere and sort of thought well
00:24:32 --> 00:24:35 maybe that's all the planets in that
00:24:35 --> 00:24:38 system. And also
00:24:38 --> 00:24:42 um I would like to conclude by reading a
00:24:42 --> 00:24:45 poem on that I've just written that is a
00:24:46 --> 00:24:49 riff on
00:24:49 --> 00:24:53 uh Robert Frost's famous uh fire and ice
00:24:54 --> 00:24:57 about the back and forth debate over the
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 big bang versus the big crunch also
00:25:00 --> 00:25:03 known as the ganab gibb although I don't
00:25:03 --> 00:25:05 love that term because it sort of sounds
00:25:05 --> 00:25:08 like A lost BG.
00:25:08 --> 00:25:11 So
00:25:11 --> 00:25:14 swell or crunch.
00:25:14 --> 00:25:18 Some think the cosmos swells for I. Some
00:25:18 --> 00:25:22 see a crunch of aging bones I know and
00:25:22 --> 00:25:26 sigh. So might the cold get worse for I.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 But pressure hits you like a punch. You
00:25:29 --> 00:25:33 feel your skin begin to burn. And so I
00:25:33 --> 00:25:37 have a dreadful hunch. We may all learn.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:40 We must all bunch.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:44 Burman Gorvine. Over and out.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:48 Never leaves you wondering, Martin. Uh,
00:25:48 --> 00:25:51 thanks for the question. Um, I'm going
00:25:51 --> 00:25:53 to go first here, Fred, because only
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 this morning by coincidence did I read a
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 story and it's a little bit of an irony
00:25:57 --> 00:25:59 in this because it comes from the
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 University of Southern Queensland where
00:26:01 --> 00:26:05 Professor Jonty her works and it's uh
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 this has been published on the ABC uh
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11 science website. Uh so it it basically
00:26:11 --> 00:26:13 says that the that astronomers at the
00:26:13 --> 00:26:15 University of Southern Queensland have
00:26:16 --> 00:26:19 discovered a potential candidate for an
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 Earth-sized planet. It's uh planet
00:26:21 --> 00:26:24 HD137030B.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 It's a bit further away than Martin
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 would like, 150 light years from Earth,
00:26:29 --> 00:26:33 but it orbits a sunlike star and they're
00:26:33 --> 00:26:36 referring to it as a planet candidate.
00:26:36 --> 00:26:39 Um the p paper needs uh one more
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 observation to confirm the uh status of
00:26:42 --> 00:26:46 planet but this one is only slightly
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 bigger than earth if it is uh indeed a
00:26:49 --> 00:26:53 um a a a planet. They think they think
00:26:53 --> 00:26:57 so. Uh an earth almost earthsized planet
00:26:57 --> 00:27:00 orbiting a sunlike star sounds like it's
00:27:00 --> 00:27:02 got some some potential there coming out
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 of the University of Southern
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 Queensland. So that's uh interesting
00:27:05 --> 00:27:08 news, very interesting timing based on
00:27:08 --> 00:27:10 um receiving Martin's question.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:10 >> Yeah.
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 >> Um just before the uh the publication of
00:27:12 --> 00:27:14 that story.
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 >> Yeah. Um and uh Luke, Martin's as
00:27:17 --> 00:27:20 capable as I am of looking all these up.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 Uh the Wikipedia list of nearest
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 terrestrial exoplanet candidates is
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 probably the the neatest source to go to
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 because it gives references to a lot of
00:27:28 --> 00:27:32 the original papers of these uh the in
00:27:32 --> 00:27:35 which the planets are described. Um it's
00:27:36 --> 00:27:40 uh uh currently got this is uh uh ones
00:27:40 --> 00:27:44 within 50 light years. uh I put in when
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 I went through this the search 34
00:27:46 --> 00:27:49 exoplanets 11 of which probably lie
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 inside their stars habitable zone. It's
00:27:52 --> 00:27:56 a bit more difficult to, as Martin was
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 um kind of hinting there, it's a bit
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 more difficult to confirm the atmosphere
00:28:01 --> 00:28:05 uh of a of a an exoplanet because what
00:28:05 --> 00:28:08 you what you're trying to do is um most
00:28:08 --> 00:28:10 of these are discovered by the transit
00:28:10 --> 00:28:12 method. You know, planets that go in
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 front of their parent star, they dim the
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17 light slightly uh as they pass in front
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 of the parent star, and you can measure
00:28:18 --> 00:28:22 that dimming. Uh but you can also um if
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 you're if you've got very topline
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 equipment like the web telescope uh you
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 can also look at the spectrum uh change
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 in the star as the planet passes in
00:28:32 --> 00:28:34 front of it and if that spectrum changes
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 then uh you can be sure that the planet
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 has an atmosphere and you can actually
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 see what gases are are actually present
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 in the atmosphere. So, um, that's a much
00:28:44 --> 00:28:46 more difficult observation and I think
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 that's why, uh, it's a bit of a struggle
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 for Martin to find to to identify with
00:28:51 --> 00:28:54 certainty, uh, which of these exoplanets
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 might have an atmosphere. I might leave
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 him to that and remind him that since
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 he's writing fiction, he can do anything
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 like with these planets, anything,
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 anything he wants.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 >> I I'm um well into my trilogy, Fred.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 I've uh written the first book and I'm
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 six chapters into the second book and
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 >> still the the ideas are still coming.
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 I'm I'm wondering when I'll hit the
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 brick wall, but um yeah, it's it's going
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 well at the moment. I'm enjoying it. So,
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 I'm not going to give anything away, but
00:29:22 --> 00:29:22 um
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 >> you're making it up as you go along.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:27 >> That's exactly how I'm
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 >> I'll get to the next chapter and go,
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 okay, where do I want this to go? And I
00:29:30 --> 00:29:33 just let my imagination run wild. So, um
00:29:33 --> 00:29:35 that's how I've always written. I don't,
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 you know, started at school doing it
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 that way when I won a composition
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 contest.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 >> Very good.
00:29:40 --> 00:29:44 >> And that was that. Um, so yeah, we we
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 covered Martin's question. Great poetry,
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 by the way. The the big crunch. Yeah,
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 nice work. Thanks, Martin. Good to hear
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 from you as always. If you'd like to
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 send questions into us, you can do so on
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 our website, spacenutspodcast.com.
00:29:56 --> 00:29:58 Spacenuts.io.
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 Choose your URL wisely and just click
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00:30:05 --> 00:30:08 me anything and that's what we're all
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00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 plenty of other things to see and do on
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 our website as well. Uh one thing we do
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 ask is if you um it doesn't matter what
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 platform you're on, whether it's YouTube
00:30:20 --> 00:30:24 or Spreaker or uh Apple Podcasts, please
00:30:24 --> 00:30:27 leave a review. Uh the more the merrier.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 uh they do help apparently to um find
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 more listeners and that's what we'd like
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00:30:35 --> 00:30:38 for us, we would appreciate it greatly
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 and thank you Fred as always. It's been
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 great fun.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43 >> Um it's good fun or else we wouldn't do
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 it.
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 >> That's that's absolutely true. Certainly
00:30:46 --> 00:30:49 not doing it for the money. Um
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 >> no,
00:30:49 --> 00:30:51 >> thanks Fred.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:53 >> We'll see you next week. Uh, Professor
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 Fred Watson, astronomer at large. And
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 thanks to Hugh in the studio, who
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 couldn't be with us today because he's
00:30:58 --> 00:31:00 actually put his hand up for a mission
00:31:00 --> 00:31:02 to the sun because it's a lot cooler
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 there than it is in Australia at the
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 moment. Can't blame him for that. And
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 from me, Andrew Dunley, thanks for your
00:31:07 --> 00:31:09 company. We'll catch you on the next
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11 episode of Space Nuts. Bye-bye.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:13 >> Space Nuts. You've been listening to the
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 Space Nuts podcast
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00:31:21 --> 00:31:23 podcast player. You can also stream on
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00:31:26 --> 00:31:28 another quality podcast production from
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