00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Andrew Dunkley: Hi there. Thanks for joining us on a Q and A
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 edition of Space Nuts. My name is Andrew
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 Dunkley. It's always good to have your
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 company. Thanks for joining us. All right,
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 uh, what are we doing today? We're answering
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 audience questions from all around the place.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 Well, mainly Australia, but one from New
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 Orleans asking about black holes and plasma
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 bursts. Uh, and Jordy wants to know where
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 his food is. Uh, we're also talking about the
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 minimum temperature of space, the effect of
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 gas or on light and the
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 starshot mission. That's all coming up in
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 this edition of space nuts.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 Voice Over Guy: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 10, 9. Ignition
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 sequence start. Space nuts.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 Andrew Dunkley: 5, 4, 3. 2.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 Professor Fred Watson: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3,
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 2, 1. Space nuts. Astronauts report
00:00:49 --> 00:00:50 it feels good.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 Andrew Dunkley: And joining us along with Jordy, not Jaunty
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 Joe Jordy. Uh, it's professor Fred Watson,
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 astronomer at large. Hello, Fred.
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 Professor Fred Watson: Hello, Andrew. Uh, yes, John. Um, John,
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 Jordy's in the back.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 Johnty's not. Yeah,
00:01:06 --> 00:01:07 Jordy the dog.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Andrew Dunkley: He's um, he's always welcome on the show.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 Always welcome on the show.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, he had a good walk with me this
00:01:14 --> 00:01:15 morning. I, I'm good fettle.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 Andrew Dunkley: I'm sure he did. Um, now you're so
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 tall and he's so small, I bet his legs go 20
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 to the dozen.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 Professor Fred Watson: M quite cute to watch.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:26 Andrew Dunkley: Be like a little wind up.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 Professor Fred Watson: It's what it's like. Yeah, absolutely.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, gosh.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Um, now I, I, I, we, we, we've got some
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 questions, a couple of text and a couple of
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 audio. Now I uh, must, uh,
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 preempt this by saying I had an eye
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 check this morning and I had to have my
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 pupils dilated. Right now what I'm looking
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 at is absolute gobbledygook
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 and it's very hard for me to read.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Professor Fred Watson: So please, you want me to read it?
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 Andrew Dunkley: I'll give it a go.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 Professor Fred Watson: Give it a go.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, everything's, it's all double vision
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 and blurry. Um, but anyway, let's, let's
00:02:02 --> 00:02:03 see what, uh, happens.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 Uh, this question comes from Jim in New
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 Orleans. I read where the Hubble
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 telescope last fall. I assume you mean
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 autumn for the people in the rest of the
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 world. Um, I read where the Hubble telescope
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 last fall observed what appeared to be a
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 plasma beam of 3 light years emanating
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 from, from the black hole at the center of
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 Galaxy M M87 doing well so
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 far. That black hole was
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 estimated to be 6.5 billion
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 solar masses. I realized that questions
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 concerning black holes are rather rare.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 Uh, on the podcast, however, I
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 understand that When a plasma, uh, cools
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 on Earth, it can either return to its
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 original, original gaseous elemental
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 state, or it can potentially reform into
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 completely different elements. Given the near
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 absolute zero temperatures in space, I
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 believe that at some point the plasma beam
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 from, uh, uh, the uh,
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 black hole at M. M87 will eventually cool.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 Rather than being cursed as the ultimate
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 destroyer of matter in the universe, perhaps
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 black holes should be considered the ultimate
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 recyclers of matter instead. Love
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 the podcast. Uh, all the best. Cheers.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 Jim in New Orleans. Uh,
00:03:19 --> 00:03:20 is he on the money?
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 Professor Fred Watson: Well, it's an interesting question. Yes. Uh,
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 I mean, I think he's, he's right in the
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 sense that the plasma, when it
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 cools, um, will,
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 uh, essentially turn, you know,
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 what's a plasma? A plasma is an ionized gas.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 So it's a gas with an electrical charge. It's
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 an electrified gas. When it loses its
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 charge, it basically stays the same
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 gas, uh, but is
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 cooler. Uh, now the completely
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 different elements idea would involve nuclear
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 processes because, uh, that's the only way
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 you can change the elements, despite
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 what the, um, what the alchemists used to try
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 and do. Uh, you can do it with
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 accelerators. Uh, and it may well be
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 that, uh, the conditions in some plasmas,
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 like the one from the M87 black hole, maybe
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 they do, um, have collisions
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 between the, uh, the ionized
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 atoms, uh, that are of such high
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 energy that you might split them or something
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 of that. So I'm not familiar with that
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 because I'm not a particle physicist, but in
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 that regard, yes, if that happens, you've
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 got, uh, a nice recycling process
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 which, um, you know, is what goes on in a
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 nuclear reactor as well. Uh, but nice
00:04:37 --> 00:04:38 to hear from you, Jim. Uh, glad you're
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 enjoying the podcast too.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, um, there's so much happening when it
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 comes to black holes. I mean, there's just.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 Yes, you know, it's not just the plasma.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:49 It's, it's um,
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 you know, the hunger, if I can use that
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 term, black holes, uh, they get the
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 munchies. They probably smoke too much pot.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 Professor Fred Watson: Um, is that what happens when you smoke too
00:05:01 --> 00:05:02 much pot?
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 Andrew Dunkley: Apparently, I've been told, yeah. Yeah,
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 Medical paper once,
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 I spent a lot of time reading those.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 Um, but yeah, they're very active,
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 um, parts of the, the
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 universe. And there's so much we know that
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 they do, but we don't know so much more about
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 them. And we've, uh, only in recent times
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 been able to image them. Yep, not so much
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 photographs, but, um, it, uh, was infrared,
00:05:31 --> 00:05:31 wasn't it?
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 Professor Fred Watson: That's Radio signals in the Event
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 Horizon Telescope. That's right. And that's
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 where this image comes from that, that Jim's
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 talking about.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, so, um, yeah, the.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 And, and we get so very many
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 questions about them. They. One of the great
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 mysteries. Sorry.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 Professor Fred Watson: And I'll just correct what I just said. Uh,
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 the, the Hubble telescope is certainly,
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 um, what observed that, uh, plasma
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 beam. Uh, but M87, of
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 course, has had its, its structure, uh,
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope. Sorry,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 just. Just correcting myself there.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 Andrew Dunkley: That's okay. It's all good. Thank you, Jim.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:10 Professor Fred Watson: Appreciate.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:11 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, the question.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 Uh, our next question comes from, uh, one of
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 our regulars, Buddy. Uh, we'll
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 see what, uh, he's got on his mind this time.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 Buddy: Well, hello. This is Buddy from
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 Morgan. All right, guys, um, I
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 got one more good one. I'll leave you alone
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 for a while. Uh,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 is the minimum temperature of space,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 like, in the dark? Uh, is that gonna get
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 lower as the universe spreads out? And
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 if so, is that going to affect how things
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 root in the universe react? Like, is that
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 going to make the hydrogen or, you
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 know, like helium turn into a liquid or
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 something? Um, all right, thanks,
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 guys.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, thank you, Buddy. Um, so as the
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 universe is expanding, is the minimum
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 temperature of space going to get lower? And
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 what effect might that have on the elements?
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 I think that's sort of the pricey.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 Professor Fred Watson: That's a nice pricey. Um, and,
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 uh, Buddy's rice, it is getting
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 lower. Uh, so, uh,
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 the minimum temperature of space is
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 essentially the temperature, uh, that we
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 record from the cosmic background radiation,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 which is 2.7 degrees above absolute
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 zero. Uh, so 2.7 degrees
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 Kelvin is the temperature of space. Uh,
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 and, uh, if you think about
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 what that temperature was when the universe
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 was much younger than it is now,
00:07:40 --> 00:07:41 certainly, uh, in the aftermath of the Big
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 Bang, that temperature was, you know, 5,
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 6, 7 degrees Kelvin. So as
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 the universe has expanded, that
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 temperature has fallen. And that 2.7
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 degrees is what we have now. And as the
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 universe continues to expand, it will
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 continue to cool, but not at a rate that
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 would ever be detectable by human
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 instruments. But it is cooling.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 Um, whether that changes the,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 you know, the circumstances of clouds of gas
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 or whatever is a different question. And I
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 suspect the answer is no. Uh,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 it may, you know, it would have a superficial
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 effect, but I don't think it's got any
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 really fundamental effect on the makeup of
00:08:24 --> 00:08:25 the, of the cosmos.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, um, let's focus
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 on the, the Kelvin scale for a
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 moment. Ah, it's, it's a measure of
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 temperature based on the absolute,
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 absolute zero, lowest temperature.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 Professor Fred Watson: That's right. And
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 that temperature is defined by
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 being the temperature at which all
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 motion of atoms stops. So
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 temperature is um, a vibration of
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 atoms. So as a solid gets warmer, the
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 atoms vibrate more. As a liquid gets warmer,
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 the atoms sort of slosh around more. And
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 as a gas gets warmer, the atoms whiz around
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 much faster, uh, in space. So um,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 the three states of matter there, uh,
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 that, uh, that's to say that
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 um, uh, at, at zero degrees
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 Kelvin, uh, all atomic motion
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 stops and we know it's absolutely
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 zero. I think, um, some modern laboratories
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 have got within a gazillionth of a degree of
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 absolute zero. But it's one of those things
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 you can never actually reach, uh, and
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 get something that's whose atoms have
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 stopped. As far as I know. Um, I might be
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 wrong there, there might be physics
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 laboratories where that's actually been done.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:39 But.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 Andrew Dunkley: Right, well, if you have, you know, chances
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 are if you did achieve it, you'd never get
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 home from work. Quite, you wouldn't be able
00:09:45 --> 00:09:46 to move.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:48 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 Andrew Dunkley: So, so obviously this is a dumb
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 question, but, um, if you like, when you
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 freeze a tray of ice in your fridge,
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 you've got an old fashioned fridge like me
00:09:59 --> 00:10:00 where you have to actually get the thing out,
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 fill it with water and put it in and.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:03 Professor Fred Watson: Wait, you do that too?
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. Um, that's not
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 absolute zero. So there's still
00:10:08 --> 00:10:09 movement.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:10 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. In the atoms.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 Andrew Dunkley: In the atoms, yes, that's right.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 Professor Fred Watson: Even though the ice looks pretty inert, uh,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 the fact that it's probably, uh,
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 well, absolute zero is minus 273
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 degrees Celsius. So if you're cooling it down
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 to, you know, -13 or something, then you've
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 still got another 260 degrees to
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 go before you get to absolute zero. So
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 there's still plenty of movement in the atoms
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 of your ice. Yeah.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 Andrew Dunkley: What about out in the depths of the solar
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 system where the ice is so cold
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 that it's the same as rock
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 here? Is that anywhere near absolute zero?
00:10:46 --> 00:10:47 Professor Fred Watson: It's about um, uh,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 minus 190 on the
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 surface of Titan, which is where ice is
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 certainly effectively rock. It's as hard as
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 rock, uh, hard as granite I think
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 was the way, um, Jonti described it last
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 week. Yeah, um, but even then
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 you still, you know, 83 degrees away from
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 absolute zero. Wow. Uh, it's a very, very
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 cold temperature.
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 Andrew Dunkley: Sure is. Um, yeah, I,
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 I, I, it's hard to imagine that kind of cold
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 when the temperature outside here gets to 9
00:11:19 --> 00:11:20 degrees. That's enough for me.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, yeah,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:24 yeah.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, so just to clarify one more
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 point. Um, um, so absolute
00:11:29 --> 00:11:32 zero. Even though the universe is
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 cooling, absolute zero is still absolute
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 zero. That's not going to alter.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 Professor Fred Watson: That's right. Yes, that's right. And, and the
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 universe isn't at, uh, that temperature yet.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 It's 2.7 degrees above it still.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:45 Buddy: Okay.
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. And that's the leftover heat of the Big
00:11:47 --> 00:11:47 Bang.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 Andrew Dunkley: Right. But it's slowly diminishing
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 as, as the universe expands.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 Professor Fred Watson: That's right.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 Andrew Dunkley: But it could take a while to get down.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 Professor Fred Watson: Could it ever get down another degree? It
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 will probably. If the universe
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 carries on behaving as it does now. Uh, as it
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 continues to expand. Yep. The temperature
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 will continue to go down. Uh, it will
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 never reach absolute zero. It
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 might approach it asymptotically, which means
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 it gets nearer and nearer, but takes longer
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 and longer to do that.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 Andrew Dunkley: Right, okay. Very interesting. Great
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 question, buddy. Thanks for sending it in.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:25 Good to hear from you as always.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 This is Space Nuts, Andrew Dunkley here with
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 Professor Fred Watson.
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 Professor Fred Watson: Three, two, one.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Andrew Dunkley: Space Nuts. Now, if my eyes do not
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 deceive me, I have a text question in front
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 of me. Or it could just be a message from my
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 wife that I probably shouldn't read. Uh,
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 no, it's a question. We know that light
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 travels at slightly different speeds in
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 different mediums. Uh, we also see different
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 mediums affect light via refraction
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 since this is somewhat related to the density
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 of gas. Can pressure affect this?
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 Uh, if we go to the extreme case, is it
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 possible for enough pressure, ah, of a gas,
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 I assume cloud, or enough pressure of
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 a gas in general to push back on light
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 itself and stop it? That comes from Jacob
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 in Western Australia. Um, I
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 assume Western Australia. It could be an
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 American state that has the abbreviation Wa I
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 believe there is one, so could be either.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 But um, this reminds me of an
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 experiment they did not so long ago where
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 they actually did claim to have stopped
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 light.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right. Um, so you can
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 stop photons. Um, and I'm
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 not sure about the
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 mechanism that is used to do that. It's not
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 just pressure. There's more to it than
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 that. I think it involves basically
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 grabbing hold of photons using
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 optical tweezers, uh, to stop the
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 light. Uh, and so you can stop light. It's
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 been done exactly as you've said, Andrew.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 But, uh, it's not just pressure. Pressures
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 does have an interesting. I mean it does
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 affect the gas. So refraction, the
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 refraction of gas is invent, is affected by
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 the pressure of the gas. Um, what
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 also is affected Is
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 if you send light of a single
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 wavelength through a gas at
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 high pressure, um, it will spread
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 into adjacent wavelengths. It uh, means that,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 you know, the way we see it is as a spectrum
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 line. If you send that light through a
00:14:37 --> 00:14:40 rain, sorry, a prism or something like
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 that, you'll uh, end up with a single line of
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 light corresponding to that color which
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 corresponds to uh, a certain
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 wavelength. Pressure actually broadens that
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 and so these lines become wider.
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 Uh, the process is called guess what?
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 Pressure broadening. And um,
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 um, that's what we see. Uh, and that's
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 actually how we can use light, uh,
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 from stars to measure the pressure in the
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 atmosphere of the star, uh, by how much
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 the line of light is
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 broadened.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, okay. All right.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 Um, I was just reading something that,
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 um, because we were talking about the fact
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 that they have stopped light in a lab,
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 um, the way they did it
00:15:27 --> 00:15:30 was um, they used, as you said, a
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 special medium like um, a cloud of
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 ultra cold atoms.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, that's right.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Andrew Dunkley: Trapped the light's photons and it
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 effectively brought the light to a complete
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 standstill for a brief period. And that was
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 work that was pioneered by physicists,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 um, uh, lean Howe,
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 uh, from the Bose Einstein,
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 um.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 Condensate. Condensate.
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 Professor Fred Watson: Condensate, yeah.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 Andrew Dunkley: So, yes, your eyes aren't working.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, well, you're doing well actually.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 You're doing very well. If I, um. The eyes
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 that you've got at the moment, I couldn't
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 read any of the stuff that you're looking at.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 A, um, Bose Einstein condenser is
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 basically, uh,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 it says peculiar state of matter
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 where it behaves as a single quantum object.
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 Uh, so you know, you put all the atoms
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 together and they all behave like one object.
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 It's a bit like entanglement.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 Andrew Dunkley: Right. It's headache y stuff, isn't it?
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 Professor Fred Watson: It is, yeah. A very headache, yeah.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 Andrew Dunkley: Um, we gave uh, Jonti a lot of headaches
00:16:35 --> 00:16:35 while he was.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, good. Well that's good. He
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 complained his keep then every time.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 Andrew Dunkley: He was constantly having
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 headaches. Um. All right, uh, so we
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 covered Jacob's question effectively.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 Professor Fred Watson: I, uh, hope so. Um, it's uh, really all I've
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 got to say about it. Unless you want to throw
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 in a couple of.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 Andrew Dunkley: Oh no, you're getting into the realm
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 of science fiction if you ask me to start
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 talking about this.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 Professor Fred Watson: That's all right. That's perfectly
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 acceptable.
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 Andrew Dunkley: Thanks, Jacob. Great. Uh, question.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 Okay, we checked all four systems,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 space nets, and our final question
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 today comes from Ash in
00:17:17 --> 00:17:17 Brisbane.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 Jonti: G'day Fred and Andrew. Ash from Brisbane
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 here. Um, got a bit of a mind bender
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 question for you. I'm, uh, just wondering if
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 we were to take one of the breakthrough star
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 shot micro spacecraft that we're going to
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 send through to Alpha Centauri, but launch it
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 90 degrees to the plane of our galaxy,
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 how far, ah, and for how long? Going to have
00:17:39 --> 00:17:41 to travel before I can look back and see what
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 our galaxy looks like from the outside.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 Interested to hear your thoughts. See you
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 guys. Love the show. Bye.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 Andrew Dunkley: Thank you, Ash. I'm, uh, thinking that
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 question came from one of the
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 hypotheticals, um, that were thrown at us
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 recently, asking if we could go
00:17:59 --> 00:18:02 anywhere in the universe and look
00:18:02 --> 00:18:04 at something, what would it be? And your
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 answer was to go outside our galaxy and look
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 back at it and see what it really looked
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 like.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:10 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 Andrew Dunkley: I think that's where that one's come from.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:13 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 Andrew Dunkley: So if Starshot was able to do that, uh, how
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 long would it take to get out there
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 far enough for us to be able to look back and
00:18:22 --> 00:18:24 go, oh, look, there's our, oh gosh, we need
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 to take the garbage out. Um.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 Professor Fred Watson: Um, so, uh, the
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 answer, rather remarkably, Andrew,
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 is a number that you quoted in our last
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 400 years. That's right.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 So I'm doing that as a calculation in my
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 head. So Starshot is
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 the, it's breakthrough. Starshot is
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 still just a concept investigator, uh,
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 that the idea with the project Breakthrough
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 Starshot was to look at the possibilities of
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 accelerating a spacecraft smaller than your
00:19:00 --> 00:19:03 mobile phone, uh, to something like a
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 quarter of the speed of light so that you get
00:19:06 --> 00:19:09 to Alpha Centauri maybe
00:19:09 --> 00:19:12 in, um, rather than in, you know,
00:19:12 --> 00:19:14 4.3 years. Um, you get there in 16
00:19:14 --> 00:19:16 years or something like that. 4.3 years is
00:19:17 --> 00:19:19 how long it would take for light to get to
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 us. Uh, you could do it in 16 years if
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 you were traveling at four times a, uh,
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 quarter of the speed of light. With
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 conventional rockets it takes about 60
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 years. So that's the difference. So if you.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 All right, so you accelerate your spacecraft
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 to a quarter of the speed of light, I reckon
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 you need to be 100 light years above the
00:19:38 --> 00:19:41 plane to see our galaxy in all its splendor.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:44 Because that's its diameter. It's 100
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 light years in diameter. So you
00:19:47 --> 00:19:49 push back, um, push
00:19:49 --> 00:19:52 out one, uh, hundred thousand light years,
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 you'll see the whole thing, um, at, uh, a
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 quarter of the speed of light, that's going
00:19:56 --> 00:19:59 to take you 400 years. So it's not as
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 quick trip.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:03 Andrew Dunkley: No, no. And, um, yeah, it makes
00:20:03 --> 00:20:05 it very hard to um, to arrange really,
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 because by the time it's there, no one
00:20:08 --> 00:20:11 will have remembered it, why it was.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 Professor Fred Watson: Sent, what it was.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 Andrew Dunkley: And then of course it sends back the photo.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 It's 800 years. 800 years.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right. No, um, actually it's
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 not. It's
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 500 because, because the light travels
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 back at, you know, speed of light.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 Andrew Dunkley: Speed of light, of course.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 Professor Fred Watson: Half a million. Half a million years for the
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 full mission.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 Professor Fred Watson: That's doable, I think, Andrew, don't you?
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, you know, I,
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 I'm, I'm a fairly patient person. I'm just
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 sure I'm patient. That, patient enough for
00:20:41 --> 00:20:41 that?
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 Professor Fred Watson: No, me neither.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 Andrew Dunkley: Do you think Starshot will happen though?
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 Professor Fred Watson: No, I think, I think
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 the results that are coming out are
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 promising. But uh, the Starshot is
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 only a project to investigate whether it's
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 feasible. Uh, so that will wind up.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 Then somebody's got to put the money in to
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 not just build the spacecraft, which is
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 probably quite cheap because it's small,
00:21:07 --> 00:21:10 uh, but to arrange for that Mylar, uh, light
00:21:10 --> 00:21:12 sail that's going to catch the light of the
00:21:12 --> 00:21:15 laser. And the big ticket item is the
00:21:15 --> 00:21:17 laser itself. Yeah, we currently
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 don't have a laser that's anywhere near
00:21:19 --> 00:21:22 powerful enough to uh, accelerate something
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 to the quarter of the speed of light.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 Andrew Dunkley: Which leads me to um, uh, um,
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 a question without notice because we've
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 actually, I think in recent weeks or months
00:21:32 --> 00:21:35 had two or three questions directly
00:21:35 --> 00:21:38 related to sending a
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 mission to Alpha Centauri using
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 Laser United
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 spacecraft. Um, this is not
00:21:45 --> 00:21:48 science fiction. This is feasible
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52 and doable. We've uh, been doing all sorts of
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 experiments with spacecraft sending up
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 wooden satellites and things like that.
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 But this would probably be
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 one of the most efficient ways to send a long
00:22:03 --> 00:22:06 haul spacecraft to another place.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, so you're quite right. It is doable,
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 it's feasible.
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 Professor Fred Watson: Uh, but you need the technology which we
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 don't have at the moment. And um, uh, I
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 mean we should put a footnote in that.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 It has been done. There's light sail
00:22:20 --> 00:22:22 experiments have already been done, uh, in
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 orbit around the Earth just by the spacecraft
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 deploying a very large sheet of Mylar,
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 uh, and the ground controllers
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 noticing the change in the acceleration of
00:22:33 --> 00:22:36 the spacecraft as a result of that. That's,
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 that's been done and I think you and I
00:22:38 --> 00:22:40 covered it actually on one of the shows. Um,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 so the principle works. Uh,
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 light sail, that's a principle that
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 will actually work well. But uh,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 for the kind of figures that you were talking
00:22:53 --> 00:22:56 about sending a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri.
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 You need such a big laser, uh, that
00:22:58 --> 00:23:01 we simply don't have at the moment. And it
00:23:01 --> 00:23:04 may even. You might even have to uh,
00:23:04 --> 00:23:06 put it into orbit around the Earth, uh
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 because if you had it on the ground it might
00:23:08 --> 00:23:10 fry the atmosphere or something like that.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, that'd be fun.
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, yeah, we do.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, we really need that.
00:23:15 --> 00:23:18 Um, yeah, I love that it's
00:23:18 --> 00:23:21 feasible. I have a
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 sneaking suspicion that we could never do it
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 out of Australia because of electricity
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 prices and you're talking about leaving a
00:23:27 --> 00:23:30 light on for 16 years. I mean let's face it.
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, and it's a big light too.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:33 Andrew Dunkley: Not feasible in Australia.
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 Not with what we pay for.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 Professor Fred Watson: You get a bill.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:41 Andrew Dunkley: Um, another thing that uh, has fascinated me
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 in recent times, uh, and I read a couple of
00:23:43 --> 00:23:46 stories like this when you were away, Fred
00:23:46 --> 00:23:49 was uh, the ongoing
00:23:49 --> 00:23:52 development into new engine technology
00:23:52 --> 00:23:54 for space travel. And I know NASA's been
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 working on something called the Deep Space
00:23:57 --> 00:23:59 Engine. Um,
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 um, it's a thruster,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:05 uh, that uh, is showing a heck of a lot of
00:24:05 --> 00:24:07 promise in terms of its power.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 Uh, it's a low cost chemical compound
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 engine. Uh, it's lightweight,
00:24:13 --> 00:24:15 uh, and it promises to do some pretty amazing
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 things if they can perfect it. We're on the
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 cusp of probably achieving
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 breakthrough technology in terms
00:24:24 --> 00:24:26 of speed and long haul space travel by
00:24:27 --> 00:24:28 the sound of it.
00:24:28 --> 00:24:30 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, I think we covered um,
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 some stories last year about EU
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 ion drives and plasma drives and things like
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 that which are all very promising.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:40 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, I, yeah, I think it's uh, it's a pretty
00:24:40 --> 00:24:43 exciting time and uh, there's a lot of
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 development going on, a lot of money being
00:24:44 --> 00:24:47 poured into it because there are rewards
00:24:47 --> 00:24:50 to be gained if you can get out there.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:50 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. Ah.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:53 Andrew Dunkley: And um, you probably don't like the idea
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 but they're. You know, we've already spoken
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59 about uh, in the last episode or two about
00:24:59 --> 00:25:02 uh, asteroid mining. That's a, um, that's
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 a mission test that's been um. Well as
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 we talked about in the previous episode, has
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 fallen uh, foul unfortunately. But that,
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 that's just the beginning. That's just going
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 to be. Yes, it will continue on and of course
00:25:14 --> 00:25:17 mining the moon for that um, that, that
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 mineral that's not so common on Earth. Can't
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 remember the name of it.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 Professor Fred Watson: Something called water, I think.
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 Andrew Dunkley: No, no, there's something else up there.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 Something else up there that they.
00:25:25 --> 00:25:27 Professor Fred Watson: Well, helium 3 is it?
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 Andrew Dunkley: That's it. So there's a lot going on
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 and um, yeah, I'm sorry to
00:25:33 --> 00:25:36 say that profit's uh, probably the driving
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 force behind.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 Professor Fred Watson: It in the end. That's right.
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 Andrew Dunkley: It's a very human thing to do.
00:25:41 --> 00:25:44 Yep, essentially.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 All right, thank you, Ash. Thanks, uh, for
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 the question. Great to hear from you. And
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 don't forget, if you've got questions for us,
00:25:50 --> 00:25:53 you're always welcome to send them to us via
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 our website, spacenutspodcast.com
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 or spacenuts IO
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01 and you just click on the little thing at the
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 top called ama. Now, I know some time ago
00:26:03 --> 00:26:05 someone said, can you change it to something
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 else so that we know where to send
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 questions? Still working on that.
00:26:10 --> 00:26:12 Not sure where that's up to. I'll have to
00:26:12 --> 00:26:15 check with Huw in the studio, uh, as to where
00:26:15 --> 00:26:17 that's up to. But, uh, yeah, the AMA M button
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 @ the top is the one you click on. When you
00:26:19 --> 00:26:22 click on that, which I'm doing right now, you
00:26:22 --> 00:26:24 can send us a text question just, um, with
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 your name, email address and the message, or
00:26:26 --> 00:26:29 you can click start recording. If you've got
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 a device with a microphone.
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 It's really quite simple. And while you're on
00:26:34 --> 00:26:37 the website, um, just randomly click on, oh,
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 I don't know, shop.
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 Speaking about profitable humans. And, uh,
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 look at all the, uh, Space Nuts
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 paraphernalia. You can get stickers, you can
00:26:47 --> 00:26:50 get T shirts, you can get mugs, you can get,
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 uh, polo shirts, dad hats, bucket
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 hats. Uh, for those of you that live in those
00:26:55 --> 00:26:58 northern cold latitudes, um, you can get a
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 ribbed beanie, all with the
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 Space Nuts logo. You can even get Space Nuts
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 socks.
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 Professor Fred Watson: I need one of those beanies for the next time
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 we go up to the Arctic.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 Andrew Dunkley: Yes, yes. Well, when
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 we're up above the Arctic later this year,
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 even though it'll be summer, the temperatures
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 that we don't get down to here in winter,
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 essentially. So we've bought ear muffs.
00:27:19 --> 00:27:22 So we should get some Space Nuts earmuffs, I
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 reckon. Uh, there's also the, uh, the Space
00:27:25 --> 00:27:27 Nuts hoodie. That's a fun item
00:27:28 --> 00:27:30 if, you know, if you want to scare people.
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 Not just Space Nut, but you've got a Space
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 Nut hoodie on that'll freak people
00:27:34 --> 00:27:37 out. Yeah, that's all
00:27:37 --> 00:27:39 on the Space Nuts website and plenty of other
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 things to see and do there. And if you want
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 to become a Space Nut supporter, you can do
00:27:44 --> 00:27:47 that on the Space, uh, Nuts website
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 as well. And thank you to all of our patrons.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:52 Uh, um, we think you are awesome. Um,
00:27:52 --> 00:27:54 thanks for getting behind us.
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 Uh, and did I say goodbye, Fred?
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 Professor Fred Watson: Uh, I'm not sure whether you got there or
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 not, actually.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 Andrew Dunkley: Thank you, Fred.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 Professor Fred Watson: Nice.
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 Good to talk to you, Andrew. And we shall
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 speak again soon.
00:28:07 --> 00:28:09 Andrew Dunkley: We will indeed. And, uh, that's Professor
00:28:09 --> 00:28:11 Fred Watson, astronomer at large. And thanks
00:28:11 --> 00:28:13 to Huw in the studio, who couldn't be with us
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15 today because, uh, he actually thought
00:28:16 --> 00:28:18 Starshot was real. And, um, he went, bought a
00:28:18 --> 00:28:21 ticket, and it cost him a million
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 bucks. So he's out, uh, doing his second
00:28:24 --> 00:28:26 and third job to pay it off from me, Andrew
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 Dunkley. Thanks for your company. Catch you
00:28:27 --> 00:28:29 on the next episode of Space Nuts. Until
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 then, bye bye.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 Voice Over Guy: You've been listening to the Space Nuts
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 Podcast, available at
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 Radio, or your favorite podcast player. You
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 can also stream on demand at bitesz.com.
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 This has been another quality podcast
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 production from bitesz.com um.