Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson in this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts, where they tackle a variety of intriguing questions from listeners around the globe. From the mysteries of black holes to the minimum temperature of space and the ambitious Starshot mission, this episode is packed with thought-provoking insights and lively discussions.
Episode Highlights:
- Black Hole Plasma Beams: Listener James from New Orleans sparks a fascinating discussion about plasma beams emanating from the M87 black hole and the recycling of matter in the universe. Andrew and Fred explore the implications of cooling plasma and its potential to change states.
- Minimum Temperature of Space: Buddy from Morgan raises a thought-provoking question about whether the minimum temperature of space will continue to drop as the universe expands. The duo dives into cosmic background radiation and its effects on the elements in the universe.
- Light and Gas Pressure: Jacob from Western Australia asks whether gas pressure can affect light. Andrew and Fred clarify the relationship between light, pressure, and the fascinating phenomenon of light refraction.
- Starshot Mission Hypotheticals: Ash from Brisbane presents a mind-bending hypothetical about launching a micro spacecraft to Alpha Centauri at a right angle to the galactic plane. The team calculates the time it would take to observe our galaxy from the outside, revealing the vastness of space travel.
For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. 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.
00:00 - Introduction and audience questions
02:15 - Discussion on black hole plasma beams
10:30 - Minimum temperature of space and its implications
18:00 - Light behavior under gas pressure
26:45 - Starshot mission hypothetical and calculations
30:00 - Listener Ash engagement and closing thoughts
✍️ Episode References
Hubble Telescope Observations of M87
https://www.nasa.gov/hubble
Cosmic Background Radiation Studies
https://www.nasa.gov/cosmic-background-radiation
Starshot Mission Overview
https://www.breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiatives/starshot
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.
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
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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
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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.