WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Heidi Campo: Welcome back to another fun episode, a Q 1 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.680 and A episode of space nuts. 2 00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:08.480 Generic: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 3 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.360 10, 9. Ignition 4 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:14.324 sequence start. Space nuts. 5, 4, 3. 5 00:00:14.396 --> 00:00:17.204 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 6 00:00:17.276 --> 00:00:20.240 3, 2, 1. Space nuts. Astronauts 7 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:21.440 report. It feels good. 8 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.800 Heidi Campo: I'm your host, Heidi Campo, filling in for 9 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.520 Andrew Dunkley. And joining us is Professor 10 00:00:27.520 --> 00:00:29.760 Fred Watson, astronomer at large. 11 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:31.980 How are you doing, Fred? That was quite the 12 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:34.940 smart, uh, little adjustment of your glasses. 13 00:00:34.940 --> 00:00:36.900 It made you look even more smart. 14 00:00:37.940 --> 00:00:40.900 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, thank. Thank 15 00:00:40.900 --> 00:00:43.620 you, Heidi. You can come again. Um, 16 00:00:43.860 --> 00:00:46.680 Luke, um, it's great to see you again and, 17 00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:49.480 uh, all going well here and lots, um, 18 00:00:49.780 --> 00:00:52.500 of exciting space stuff always to talk about, 19 00:00:52.580 --> 00:00:54.180 especially with the questions that we get 20 00:00:54.180 --> 00:00:55.460 from our listeners, which are always 21 00:00:55.540 --> 00:00:58.100 intriguing and often very 22 00:00:58.100 --> 00:00:58.900 insightful. 23 00:01:00.120 --> 00:01:00.360 Heidi Campo: Yeah. 24 00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:02.480 And so we do have. We have four questions 25 00:01:02.480 --> 00:01:05.160 today. Um, you know, two. 26 00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:07.160 Two audio questions, two 27 00:01:07.800 --> 00:01:10.440 written questions. Um, but we do want to say 28 00:01:10.440 --> 00:01:12.480 if you did not hear our announcement on the 29 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:15.400 last episode, uh, we'll make that an episode 30 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:16.920 and make that announcement again. We just 31 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:19.400 want to say thank you to our listeners. We 32 00:01:19.800 --> 00:01:22.280 were declared, I guess you could say, the 33 00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:25.050 seventh, uh, top 20, top 34 00:01:25.050 --> 00:01:27.890 seven, uh, astronomy podcasts, 35 00:01:28.050 --> 00:01:30.330 wherever you listen to your podcast. So thank 36 00:01:30.330 --> 00:01:33.050 you so much. Fred, do you have anything you 37 00:01:33.050 --> 00:01:33.890 want to add to that? 38 00:01:34.770 --> 00:01:37.770 Professor Fred Watson: Only, um, uh, only that 39 00:01:37.770 --> 00:01:40.530 it's amazing how many people do 40 00:01:40.850 --> 00:01:43.410 listen to our podcasts. Um, I was in a 41 00:01:43.410 --> 00:01:46.090 medical waiting room on Monday, and a 42 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:48.170 gentleman, I think his name was Stephen, came 43 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:50.450 up and said, really enjoy the podcast. 44 00:01:51.810 --> 00:01:52.930 So, uh, it's quite nice. 45 00:01:53.230 --> 00:01:54.510 Heidi Campo: You're, like, at poverty. 46 00:01:55.470 --> 00:01:57.870 Professor Fred Watson: Well, you must be, too. I bet you find 47 00:01:57.870 --> 00:02:00.590 people, uh, and if you don't now, you will. 48 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:02.830 You will do. Eventually, people who come up 49 00:02:02.830 --> 00:02:05.110 to you and say, yeah, I know your face, or, I 50 00:02:05.110 --> 00:02:06.510 know your. I know your voice. 51 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:09.510 Heidi Campo: Well, I think I have to leave my house for 52 00:02:09.510 --> 00:02:12.390 that to happen. I. I'm. I'm too 53 00:02:12.390 --> 00:02:15.390 busy. I'm at the lab or I'm at home, so 54 00:02:15.550 --> 00:02:17.470 you don't see me in public unless you see me 55 00:02:17.470 --> 00:02:18.430 at the grocery store. 56 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:22.510 Professor Fred Watson: There you go. That could be where it happens. 57 00:02:22.510 --> 00:02:25.350 You never know. So anyway, yeah, 58 00:02:25.350 --> 00:02:27.390 it's. Look, it's great to have that, 59 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.310 um, seventh ranking in, uh, the 60 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:33.110 world's top 50 astronomy 61 00:02:33.110 --> 00:02:35.790 podcasts. I'm thrilled to hear it. 62 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:38.910 Heidi Campo: Well, I guess that makes our, uh, regular, 63 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:41.630 um, people who write in their questions 64 00:02:41.630 --> 00:02:43.910 famous too, then, because we do have some 65 00:02:43.910 --> 00:02:45.470 regulars, a few of them today. 66 00:02:46.060 --> 00:02:48.670 Um, our first question today is from Mark 67 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:52.090 Painter, and Mark has another 68 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:54.810 black hole question. And then he has this 69 00:02:54.810 --> 00:02:57.650 funny emoji, uh, next to it that he, he 70 00:02:57.650 --> 00:02:59.690 made with text. It's not like a regular 71 00:02:59.690 --> 00:03:01.690 emoji. He did that with like special 72 00:03:01.690 --> 00:03:04.050 characters. Very clever. All right, so we 73 00:03:04.050 --> 00:03:06.170 have another, we have another black hole 74 00:03:06.170 --> 00:03:08.930 question from Mark. And Mark asks, as a 75 00:03:08.930 --> 00:03:11.290 singularity is formed with infinite mass, 76 00:03:11.450 --> 00:03:13.370 there must be a process of reduction, 77 00:03:13.770 --> 00:03:16.250 starting with electron degenerate matter, 78 00:03:16.490 --> 00:03:19.300 then collapsing to a neutron star. Then there 79 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:22.020 is a quark, quark matter in 80 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:24.460 massive neutron stars, where quarks are no 81 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:26.940 longer confined to protons and 82 00:03:26.940 --> 00:03:29.940 neutrons. So my question is this. Can there 83 00:03:29.940 --> 00:03:32.740 be more stages of matter reduction to go 84 00:03:32.740 --> 00:03:35.700 through before a singularity or a Planck star 85 00:03:35.700 --> 00:03:38.140 is formed? That is, can 86 00:03:38.140 --> 00:03:41.020 quarks be composed of smaller units of 87 00:03:41.020 --> 00:03:43.620 matter and then these units break down 88 00:03:43.940 --> 00:03:46.750 to, to their constitutes 89 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:49.390 and so on? Could there be many forms of 90 00:03:49.390 --> 00:03:52.190 matter we are yet to theorize 91 00:03:52.350 --> 00:03:54.870 and at some time possibly 92 00:03:54.870 --> 00:03:57.830 discover? Could it be elephants all 93 00:03:57.830 --> 00:03:58.350 the way down? 94 00:04:01.550 --> 00:04:04.510 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, uh, oh, turtles all the way down. I 95 00:04:04.510 --> 00:04:06.590 think that was the other way of looking at 96 00:04:06.590 --> 00:04:09.350 the universe. Um, so it's a great 97 00:04:09.350 --> 00:04:12.180 question. Um, you know, if you think of. So 98 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:14.900 we envisage the process of a black 99 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.540 hole forming after a supernova explosion. 100 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.380 You've got the uh, star which 101 00:04:20.380 --> 00:04:22.940 has run out of hydrogen fuel. Uh, 102 00:04:23.260 --> 00:04:25.700 this is one way of black hole formation. 103 00:04:25.700 --> 00:04:28.380 There's others. Uh, but anyway, it uh, runs 104 00:04:28.380 --> 00:04:30.540 out of hydrogen fuel, so there's no longer 105 00:04:30.700 --> 00:04:33.100 the outward radiation pressure to support the 106 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:35.700 mass of the star, and it collapses. Uh, and 107 00:04:35.700 --> 00:04:38.390 if there's enough material there, the 108 00:04:38.390 --> 00:04:40.950 collapse doesn't just stop with 109 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:44.030 uh, as, as Mark points out, electron 110 00:04:44.030 --> 00:04:46.270 degenerate matter. That's what we call a 111 00:04:46.270 --> 00:04:49.230 white dwarf star. Uh, or it doesn't 112 00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:50.950 stop with that, and it doesn't stop with 113 00:04:51.350 --> 00:04:53.550 neutron degenerate matter, which is what we 114 00:04:53.550 --> 00:04:56.230 call a neutron star. It just collapses down 115 00:04:56.710 --> 00:04:59.390 basically to uh, to, to a 116 00:04:59.390 --> 00:05:01.430 singularity, to this point of infinite 117 00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:04.140 density. Um, and it's not 118 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:06.860 infinite mass, as Mark said, it's 119 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:09.860 infinite density. But, um, that's not the 120 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:12.300 point. The point is, um, you know, is there, 121 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:13.900 uh, as you get to that 122 00:05:14.460 --> 00:05:16.620 singularity, are there 123 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:19.980 other constituents of matter 124 00:05:20.620 --> 00:05:23.420 that the collapse goes through? And 125 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:26.180 my understanding of this is that the answer 126 00:05:26.180 --> 00:05:28.780 is no. Uh, we understand 127 00:05:29.400 --> 00:05:32.350 the very well from particle physics 128 00:05:32.830 --> 00:05:35.390 what the, the most fundamental 129 00:05:35.950 --> 00:05:37.970 particles of matter are. Uh, 130 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.190 uh, and it's what we call the standard model. 131 00:05:41.190 --> 00:05:43.030 There are 16 of them, plus something called 132 00:05:43.030 --> 00:05:45.470 the Higgs boson, which gives all, all the 133 00:05:45.470 --> 00:05:47.120 others their mass. Um, 134 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:51.030 um, and ah, that these as far 135 00:05:51.030 --> 00:05:53.710 as we know, are ah, indivisible. 136 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:56.690 They are not able to fall 137 00:05:56.930 --> 00:05:59.890 into, into Pieces. They are, 138 00:06:00.130 --> 00:06:02.730 they are the ultimate, you know, the 139 00:06:02.730 --> 00:06:04.930 ultimate building blocks of matter. 140 00:06:05.820 --> 00:06:08.690 Um, there are six quarks, the up, down, 141 00:06:08.850 --> 00:06:11.410 charm, strange top and bottom quarks. 142 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:14.890 Uh, that's the, you know, the, 143 00:06:14.890 --> 00:06:17.410 the, the, the quark component. So quarks 144 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:19.770 themselves are, ah, have, have different 145 00:06:19.770 --> 00:06:22.460 varieties. Um, there are six 146 00:06:22.460 --> 00:06:25.180 leptons. The electron muon, tau, 147 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:28.300 electron neutrino, muon neutrino and tau 148 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.940 neutrino. And then the four fundamental 149 00:06:30.940 --> 00:06:32.860 forces of nature. What are called the gauge 150 00:06:32.860 --> 00:06:35.100 bosons, the gluon which 151 00:06:35.310 --> 00:06:37.900 uh, operates the strong atomic force, 152 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:40.300 the photon, which we know is all about 153 00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:43.260 electromagnetic radiation, and the Z and W 154 00:06:43.260 --> 00:06:45.900 bosons, which uh, uh, dictate the weak 155 00:06:45.900 --> 00:06:48.850 nuclear force. So those are what, what 156 00:06:49.010 --> 00:06:50.930 everything is made of. And 157 00:06:51.630 --> 00:06:54.450 uh, the idea of separating them 158 00:06:54.450 --> 00:06:57.170 into smaller particles I think is 159 00:06:57.850 --> 00:07:00.490 uh, something that uh, the particle 160 00:07:00.490 --> 00:07:02.530 physicists rule out. They're telling us that 161 00:07:02.530 --> 00:07:05.370 that's the way it goes. And so yes, as 162 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:07.930 the collapse takes place, um, these are 163 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:10.810 probably the last things to you know, not 164 00:07:10.810 --> 00:07:13.460 to come into existence but to disappear, uh, 165 00:07:13.460 --> 00:07:15.370 down the singularity, if I can put it that 166 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:18.220 way. But it's a great question, uh, Mark, and 167 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:20.500 got me thinking about particle physics once 168 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:20.820 again. 169 00:07:21.940 --> 00:07:22.660 Heidi Campo: Excellent. 170 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:26.100 Well it looks like our next question is from 171 00:07:26.100 --> 00:07:28.540 one of those uh, famous regular 172 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:31.460 listeners and it is a audio question, 173 00:07:31.700 --> 00:07:33.820 so we are going to play that for you now. You 174 00:07:33.820 --> 00:07:36.300 guys can all listen to Buddy from Oregon's 175 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:38.420 question and Fred and I are going to listen 176 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:40.620 to that right now. I'm just letting Fred get 177 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:42.580 that queued up. All right everyone, we're 178 00:07:42.580 --> 00:07:44.420 going to play Buddy's question for you now. 179 00:07:44.900 --> 00:07:46.580 Buddy: This is Buddy from Ontario, Oregon again. 180 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:49.780 Hey, I was listening to your latest episode 181 00:07:50.420 --> 00:07:53.420 and uh, where you m announced that 182 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.500 there's a third object from outside our solar 183 00:07:55.500 --> 00:07:58.260 system passing through a comet I guess. And I 184 00:07:58.260 --> 00:08:00.580 know you said there was no point before in 185 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:03.940 uh, trying to catch these objects because 186 00:08:03.940 --> 00:08:06.020 if you get that fast, you can sense something 187 00:08:06.340 --> 00:08:08.980 or that object in any direction. What if you 188 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:11.700 were to just land like a spin launch on, 189 00:08:11.700 --> 00:08:13.600 on one of those objects with a few 190 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.160 satellites. That way anytime it happen to get 191 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.040 close enough to, to uh, something 192 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.040 interesting, we could launch it with a spin 193 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.560 launch and possibly maybe use that spin 194 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.600 launch to counteract the speed that you're 195 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:26.640 going at so that you could just kind of 196 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:29.360 gently place a object in, 197 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:32.360 in orbit around something. Seems like we 198 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:34.320 should have eyes in any, every direction we 199 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.800 can send one. But ah, anyways, what do you 200 00:08:36.800 --> 00:08:39.130 guys think? Thanks guys. Love this podcast. 201 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:42.650 Professor Fred Watson: Um, intriguing stuff from Buddy as always. 202 00:08:44.560 --> 00:08:47.410 Um, so just uh, Filling 203 00:08:47.410 --> 00:08:50.330 in a few gaps in that SpinLaunch is indeed a 204 00:08:50.330 --> 00:08:52.810 technique for launching 205 00:08:53.210 --> 00:08:56.010 space vehicles. Uh, it's 206 00:08:56.330 --> 00:08:58.890 a company, I think they're called SpinLaunch, 207 00:08:59.560 --> 00:09:02.330 uh, and they've built this gigantic device 208 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:05.320 that spins things up to a high level of 209 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:08.300 rotation and that lets them go. Um, 210 00:09:08.560 --> 00:09:11.120 my understanding, although they've got um, I 211 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.000 know there's an announcement recently they've 212 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.280 got a large contract uh, for 213 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.680 some possible uh, space vehicles. I don't 214 00:09:19.680 --> 00:09:22.560 think they've yet achieved um, a sufficient 215 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:26.240 velocity as ah, you release it from the spin 216 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.760 to get into orbit. That needs to go up to 217 00:09:28.760 --> 00:09:31.680 8km per second and I think they're much 218 00:09:31.680 --> 00:09:34.560 less than that. So um, M from Earth. 219 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.350 Ah, that's not really a viable way 220 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:39.590 of doing what Buddy's talking about, which is 221 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:41.630 chasing after an interstellar object. 222 00:09:42.560 --> 00:09:45.390 Um, if you had one of these machines 223 00:09:45.550 --> 00:09:48.510 on board a spacecraft already, that 224 00:09:48.510 --> 00:09:50.950 might be a viable way of doing it because you 225 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:53.310 only need to give it a smaller impulse. But 226 00:09:53.310 --> 00:09:55.590 you can still do that chemically. You can 227 00:09:55.590 --> 00:09:57.340 actually, you've got much more control over 228 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.390 uh, what you're doing with chemical rockets. 229 00:09:59.690 --> 00:10:02.570 And the problem is, uh, as Buddy 230 00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:05.130 highlights the objects 231 00:10:05.290 --> 00:10:07.370 like these various, 232 00:10:07.990 --> 00:10:10.710 um, the three interstellar, um, 233 00:10:10.710 --> 00:10:12.650 objects that have passed through the solar 234 00:10:12.650 --> 00:10:15.210 system, Oumuamua, uh, 235 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:17.770 Borisov, Comet Borisov, and the Current 1, 236 00:10:17.970 --> 00:10:20.970 uh, 3i Atlas, which is showing all the signs 237 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:23.410 of being a comet. Um, 238 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:25.370 that one's passing through the solar system 239 00:10:25.370 --> 00:10:26.890 at the moment. The problem is they're moving 240 00:10:26.890 --> 00:10:29.700 so fast. Um, uh, Atlas is 241 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:32.260 moving at 60 ah, kilometers per second. 242 00:10:32.420 --> 00:10:35.380 It's a huge speed, 243 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:38.180 bigger um, than anything that we've ever 244 00:10:38.260 --> 00:10:40.820 launched into space before, so we'd never 245 00:10:41.060 --> 00:10:43.380 chase it. Um, and 246 00:10:44.260 --> 00:10:46.440 this is the problem from our vantage point on 247 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:48.700 uh, Earth. The idea is that one of these 248 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:51.220 things comes in, you mount a space mission to 249 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:53.100 go and rendezvous with it and check it out, 250 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:55.700 which would be wonderful. But exactly as 251 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:58.260 Buzzy says, you need eyes in all directions 252 00:10:58.660 --> 00:11:00.880 and more especially you need spacecra that 253 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:03.720 are probably already out there, uh, just 254 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.000 waiting to be deployed in particular 255 00:11:06.160 --> 00:11:08.040 directions. Now there's an interesting 256 00:11:08.040 --> 00:11:10.970 footnote though to this story because, um, 257 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.920 within the last week we've had a 258 00:11:13.920 --> 00:11:16.800 proposal from our good 259 00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:19.400 friend Avi Loeb of the Harvard 260 00:11:19.400 --> 00:11:22.080 Smithsonian, uh, Center for Astrophysics. 261 00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:25.520 He has made the suggestion that 262 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:28.800 uh, because uh, the ATLAS 263 00:11:28.880 --> 00:11:31.880 comet, uh, currently going through the solar 264 00:11:31.880 --> 00:11:34.240 system from some other solar system, it's 265 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.440 probably older than our solar system because 266 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:39.240 that passes relatively close to Jupiter. And 267 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:41.080 I think it's either next year or the year 268 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:42.720 after I Think it's probably next year, 269 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:45.680 um, you could deploy 270 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.160 a uh, spacecraft already in orbit around 271 00:11:49.160 --> 00:11:51.320 Jupiter. Uh, and he's thinking of the Juno 272 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.980 spacecraft which is uh, already uh, 273 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.660 orbiting Jupiter and telling us a lot about 274 00:11:56.660 --> 00:11:59.300 that planet. Um, you could change its 275 00:11:59.300 --> 00:12:01.820 orbit. It's in a very, uh, already in a 276 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:04.540 highly elliptical or elongated 277 00:12:04.540 --> 00:12:07.100 orbit. Uh, uh, Loeb and his 278 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:08.900 colleagues suggest that you could change that 279 00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:11.460 orbit, uh, make it 280 00:12:11.619 --> 00:12:14.180 elongated enough that you actually 281 00:12:15.060 --> 00:12:17.980 get uh, a closer look at uh, Comet 282 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.660 3I Atlas as it passes by Jupiter. 283 00:12:20.900 --> 00:12:23.900 And that will be fabulous because it would be 284 00:12:23.900 --> 00:12:26.100 a way of getting up close and personal 285 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:28.760 uh, with an interstellar object that might 286 00:12:28.760 --> 00:12:31.400 tell us a lot more about them, uh, about it 287 00:12:31.400 --> 00:12:33.880 than we, we know already. So um, 288 00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:37.320 so I think this is an exciting area that 289 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:39.520 Buddy's highlighted. Uh, the idea of 290 00:12:39.520 --> 00:12:42.360 rendezvousing with uh, extraterrestrial 291 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.380 or extrasolar, um, 292 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:46.040 uh, extra 293 00:12:46.920 --> 00:12:49.880 extrasolar asteroids or comets, 294 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:52.520 rendezvousing them with them, uh, with 295 00:12:52.520 --> 00:12:54.840 whatever we have at our disposal. And if 296 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.400 we've got Juno at our disposal already 297 00:12:57.400 --> 00:12:59.760 hanging around in the vicinity of Jupiter, 298 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.640 maybe it will be a good thing to do to bring 299 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:04.960 the mission to an end by rendezvousing with 300 00:13:05.040 --> 00:13:08.000 Comet 3i Atlas. So I like that 301 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:08.320 question. 302 00:13:08.400 --> 00:13:10.720 Heidi Campo: A lot of tongue twisters in this field. 303 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:13.680 Professor Fred Watson: It's true. 304 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:17.400 Andrew Dunkley: Hi everyone. Let's take a moment to talk 305 00:13:17.400 --> 00:13:19.760 about our sponsor, Insta360. 306 00:13:20.330 --> 00:13:22.730 Trailblazers in 360 and action 307 00:13:22.810 --> 00:13:25.170 cameras pushing the boundaries of what's 308 00:13:25.170 --> 00:13:27.930 possible for creators everywhere. Last 309 00:13:27.930 --> 00:13:30.610 week Insta360 dropped their 310 00:13:30.610 --> 00:13:33.570 latest game changer, the Go Ultra, a pocket 311 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:35.650 sized camera that's redefining how you 312 00:13:35.650 --> 00:13:38.490 capture life's adventures. 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Check the 340 00:14:51.260 --> 00:14:53.700 description for links and more details. 341 00:14:54.020 --> 00:14:56.740 Don't miss out on this tiny titan of a camera 342 00:14:56.900 --> 00:14:59.260 that's ready to capture your world like never 343 00:14:59.260 --> 00:15:01.620 before. Now back to the show. 344 00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:03.500 Generic: Roger in your labs right here. 345 00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:04.900 Professor Fred Watson: Also space nuts. 346 00:15:05.300 --> 00:15:07.540 Heidi Campo: Our next question starts, uh, off with a 347 00:15:07.540 --> 00:15:10.190 tongue twister. This is Lawrence from London 348 00:15:10.910 --> 00:15:13.910 says hi agents Lawrence from London. Lawrence 349 00:15:13.910 --> 00:15:16.190 from London here. I will jump straight to the 350 00:15:16.190 --> 00:15:18.710 point. Has there ever been any sort of 351 00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:21.350 proposal of space time being a super 352 00:15:21.350 --> 00:15:24.270 fluid? And if so, how did that play out? 353 00:15:24.750 --> 00:15:27.670 One of my biggest grievances are those space 354 00:15:27.670 --> 00:15:30.190 time diagrams that show a single plane with 355 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:32.910 the planet on top causing curvature 356 00:15:32.910 --> 00:15:35.890 on said plane. For me it feels like 357 00:15:35.890 --> 00:15:38.650 it skews the four dimensional reality that 358 00:15:38.650 --> 00:15:41.610 truly exists as there is not just a single 359 00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:44.050 plane for everything to rest on. If we could 360 00:15:44.050 --> 00:15:46.650 find ways to visualize this more accurately, 361 00:15:46.970 --> 00:15:49.730 I feel like we would appeal to the 362 00:15:49.730 --> 00:15:52.530 fluid more often to describe the behavior 363 00:15:52.530 --> 00:15:55.130 of space time as it would allow for these 364 00:15:55.130 --> 00:15:57.610 extra dimensions rather than the typical two 365 00:15:57.610 --> 00:16:00.330 dimensional spacetime diagrams. As for 366 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:03.000 time, perhaps it could be understood 367 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.120 to be the flow rate of the superfluid. 368 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:08.840 As for the elasticity and the structural 369 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.640 integrity we see of space time, maybe 370 00:16:11.640 --> 00:16:14.640 quantized vortices. As for 371 00:16:14.640 --> 00:16:17.279 gravity, I have no idea. It is a good thing 372 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.520 that I can ask this question to an 373 00:16:19.520 --> 00:16:22.320 astrophysicist. Many thanks gents. Looking 374 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.440 forward to hearing your response. 375 00:16:25.560 --> 00:16:27.680 I'm interested too. That was quite an 376 00:16:27.680 --> 00:16:29.840 interesting, um, visual. 377 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.040 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right. And his point's well 378 00:16:34.040 --> 00:16:36.480 made. Um, thanks. Thanks Lawrence for this. 379 00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:39.120 Your point's well made that we have no way of 380 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:42.080 depicting space time being distorted by 381 00:16:42.560 --> 00:16:45.280 matter, which is what happens other than, 382 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.640 you know, this picture that we all are 383 00:16:47.640 --> 00:16:49.640 familiar with of a planet sitting on a 384 00:16:49.640 --> 00:16:52.000 trampoline, uh, with the 385 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.760 trampoline map being distorted by the, by the 386 00:16:54.760 --> 00:16:56.520 gravity of the planet. That's because we have 387 00:16:56.520 --> 00:16:58.550 to reduce it to two dimensions. It's because, 388 00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:00.140 because it's the only way we can really 389 00:17:00.140 --> 00:17:02.300 envisage it. But 390 00:17:02.760 --> 00:17:05.740 um, the notion underlying 391 00:17:06.080 --> 00:17:08.940 uh, Lawrence's question is 392 00:17:09.020 --> 00:17:11.780 that, uh, he's sort of in a 393 00:17:11.780 --> 00:17:14.460 sense ahead of the game. And that is because, 394 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:17.460 well, uh, he talks about superfluids. A 395 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:19.660 superfluid is a fluid with zero 396 00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:22.060 viscosity and that is what 397 00:17:22.060 --> 00:17:25.030 spacetime is. Uh, it is already 398 00:17:25.750 --> 00:17:28.310 effectively a superfluid. Uh, our 399 00:17:28.310 --> 00:17:31.110 Understanding of space time comes from 400 00:17:31.350 --> 00:17:34.190 general relativity, Einstein's general theory 401 00:17:34.190 --> 00:17:36.470 of relativity. And he was, 402 00:17:37.430 --> 00:17:40.230 he understood the idea that 403 00:17:40.710 --> 00:17:43.470 matter would distort 404 00:17:43.470 --> 00:17:45.940 space, uh, 405 00:17:46.310 --> 00:17:48.310 because he was basically trying to understand 406 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:50.870 gravity. Uh, and he 407 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:55.690 basically what he did was propose that 408 00:17:55.690 --> 00:17:58.570 gravity, so that gravity was the way he was 409 00:17:58.570 --> 00:18:01.250 approaching this. Gravity is the same as 410 00:18:01.250 --> 00:18:04.170 acceleration. Um, so if 411 00:18:04.170 --> 00:18:06.930 you were in a spacecraft, uh, with 412 00:18:06.930 --> 00:18:09.410 no windows, uh, and 413 00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:12.410 somebody lit the fuse and put the 414 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:14.450 rocket underneath the spacecraft and sent it 415 00:18:14.450 --> 00:18:17.210 accelerating on its way from within that 416 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:19.740 spacecraft, you would not know whether you're 417 00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:22.580 feeling the effect of the acceleration or the 418 00:18:22.580 --> 00:18:24.940 pull of gravity. They are indistinguishable. 419 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:27.740 It's something that technically is 420 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:29.980 known by the equivalence principle, which 421 00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:32.860 holds up incredibly strongly. 422 00:18:33.820 --> 00:18:35.380 So what you're saying is gravity and 423 00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:37.420 acceleration are effectively the same thing. 424 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:40.020 That allowed Einstein to build a 425 00:18:40.020 --> 00:18:42.540 geometrical model of how gravity works. 426 00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:45.300 And that's what led to our 427 00:18:45.300 --> 00:18:47.300 understanding of space time. Something that 428 00:18:47.300 --> 00:18:49.580 is distorted by the presence of matter. 429 00:18:50.840 --> 00:18:52.980 Uh, it's got a uh, 430 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:55.130 gobbledygook description, the 431 00:18:55.130 --> 00:18:58.090 mathematical uh, description 432 00:18:58.090 --> 00:19:01.090 or the mathematical structure if you 433 00:19:01.090 --> 00:19:03.890 like, that we see a 434 00:19:03.890 --> 00:19:06.770 space time, um, it is based 435 00:19:06.770 --> 00:19:08.450 on geometry developed by 436 00:19:09.730 --> 00:19:12.050 a uh, German mathematician who's can't 437 00:19:12.050 --> 00:19:13.610 remember his first name. His second name was 438 00:19:13.610 --> 00:19:16.170 Riemann. Riemann in the 439 00:19:16.170 --> 00:19:19.000 1850s proposed the idea 440 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:21.200 of spaces that could be 441 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.960 distorted by things within them. 442 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.960 And that turns out that that's exactly what 443 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:30.800 space time is. Uh, in the 444 00:19:30.800 --> 00:19:33.520 relativistic view it's something a 445 00:19:33.520 --> 00:19:35.280 mathematical construct that we call a 446 00:19:35.280 --> 00:19:38.160 Riemannian manifold. And it is a 447 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.640 superfluid. It basically behaves just like a 448 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:43.480 superfluid. Uh, and uh, you 449 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:46.120 know, the quantized vortices that Lawrence 450 00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:49.000 mentions, that puts a different slant 451 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:51.800 on it because you're suddenly into 452 00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:54.840 um, uh, um, quantum ah, 453 00:19:55.280 --> 00:19:58.080 theory, uh, rather than 454 00:19:58.080 --> 00:20:00.880 relativity theory. So we'll just leave that 455 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.600 to one side. But as far as relativity is 456 00:20:03.600 --> 00:20:06.440 concerned, space is a superfluid. And the way 457 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:08.960 gravity emerges. Lawrence says, as for 458 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:10.560 gravity, I have no idea. It's a good thing I 459 00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:12.400 can ask this question to an astrophysicist. 460 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:14.665 Well, I'm glad you did. Uh, because grav, 461 00:20:14.665 --> 00:20:16.500 gravity is the acceleration. It's the 462 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:18.980 distortion of space causing 463 00:20:19.860 --> 00:20:22.860 us to feel an acceleration which we see as 464 00:20:22.860 --> 00:20:25.740 gravity. I hope that answers Lawrence's 465 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:26.100 question. 466 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:28.740 Heidi Campo: That was fantastic. 467 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:33.940 Generic: Three, two, one. 468 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:35.700 Heidi Campo: Space nuts. 469 00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:38.660 Our very last question of this episode 470 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:40.830 is from Dan, 471 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:44.310 um, on the Gold coast. And this is also an 472 00:20:44.310 --> 00:20:46.150 audio question. So I'm going to give Fred 473 00:20:46.150 --> 00:20:49.030 just a second to cue that up and we are going 474 00:20:49.030 --> 00:20:50.110 to play that for you now. 475 00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:52.830 Martin Berman Gorvine: Hey, guys. Dan here from the Gold Coast. 476 00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:54.670 Quick, um, question. Thought it might be a 477 00:20:54.670 --> 00:20:57.590 bit different for you. Got a friend who a 478 00:20:57.590 --> 00:21:00.190 couple of years ago we were discussing space 479 00:21:00.190 --> 00:21:02.310 exploration, that kind of stuff, and his view 480 00:21:02.310 --> 00:21:04.670 was that he'd understand why the human race 481 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:07.870 puts, uh, time into exploring space 482 00:21:08.540 --> 00:21:10.780 when we still don't quite understand Earth. 483 00:21:11.100 --> 00:21:13.900 And I couldn't, you know, I couldn't put into 484 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:16.660 words myself why it's so important, which I 485 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:19.500 understand it is. I was hoping you could put 486 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:22.140 into your own words why is it so important 487 00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:24.960 that we also put time into, uh, 488 00:21:25.100 --> 00:21:27.770 exploring space? Thanks for that. Um, 489 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:30.860 also, Heidi, with your sci fi brain, 490 00:21:30.860 --> 00:21:32.780 I'm wondering, have you read Project Hail 491 00:21:32.780 --> 00:21:35.540 Mary? Do you love it like I do? And are you 492 00:21:35.540 --> 00:21:37.860 excited for the movie? All right, cheers. 493 00:21:38.020 --> 00:21:38.500 Bye. 494 00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:42.300 Heidi Campo: Oh my goodness. I'm so excited that you 495 00:21:42.300 --> 00:21:45.060 brought up Project Hail Mary. Um, that is 496 00:21:45.060 --> 00:21:47.980 next on my list. Um, it 497 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:49.900 is next on my list. I have read other books 498 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:52.900 from that author and I'm very excited to 499 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:55.780 read it, but I have not yet. Um, and I 500 00:21:55.780 --> 00:21:58.260 feel a little bit like a hypocrite because 501 00:21:58.740 --> 00:22:01.580 I pride myself on often reading the 502 00:22:01.580 --> 00:22:03.580 books before the movies. But now I feel like 503 00:22:03.580 --> 00:22:05.300 a hipster because I'm reading it before the 504 00:22:05.300 --> 00:22:06.100 movie comes out. 505 00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:11.220 Professor Fred Watson: That's good. No, that's. You're ahead of the 506 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:14.140 game, Heidi. That's the great thing. Um, when 507 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:16.060 you've read it, I'd love to hear what it's 508 00:22:16.060 --> 00:22:16.340 about. 509 00:22:18.340 --> 00:22:18.740 Heidi Campo: Facebook. 510 00:22:20.340 --> 00:22:22.820 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. Yep, sounds great. 511 00:22:24.580 --> 00:22:27.220 Very quickly, uh, why do we 512 00:22:27.780 --> 00:22:30.580 explore space? Why explore the universe, uh, 513 00:22:30.580 --> 00:22:33.180 when there's so much on Earth that's left to 514 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:36.100 understand? Uh, and I guess we. One way 515 00:22:36.100 --> 00:22:39.060 of. There's many, many, many reasons why. And 516 00:22:39.060 --> 00:22:41.620 it's principally governments that support the 517 00:22:41.620 --> 00:22:44.300 exploration of space, certainly by 518 00:22:44.300 --> 00:22:47.060 astronomers, and um, to some extent the 519 00:22:47.060 --> 00:22:49.660 exploration of space by space probes as well. 520 00:22:49.820 --> 00:22:51.660 Although there's a, certainly, uh, a 521 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:54.520 commercial sector moving into that, uh, 522 00:22:54.520 --> 00:22:56.420 trying to send spacecraft to the moon and 523 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:58.880 things of that sort. But why do we do it? Um, 524 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:00.940 well, we wouldn't be able to understand Earth 525 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:02.940 fully if we didn't know about space. 526 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:06.630 Um, so, uh, the two are 527 00:23:06.630 --> 00:23:08.390 really part and parcel of the same thing. 528 00:23:08.390 --> 00:23:11.270 It's trying to understand our environment on 529 00:23:11.270 --> 00:23:13.150 the biggest possible scale. 530 00:23:13.840 --> 00:23:16.750 Uh, and you know, uh, if you 531 00:23:16.750 --> 00:23:19.630 didn't, um, understand how planets form, 532 00:23:20.430 --> 00:23:23.350 then it wouldn't really tell you, um, how the 533 00:23:23.350 --> 00:23:25.870 Earth has formed. Uh, and that's an important 534 00:23:25.950 --> 00:23:28.670 part of the Earth's history. So that's. 535 00:23:29.150 --> 00:23:31.350 And of course the other thing is that we as a 536 00:23:31.350 --> 00:23:34.150 species are curious we want to know about 537 00:23:34.150 --> 00:23:35.950 our environment in space, we want to know 538 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:37.990 about the origin of space, we want to know 539 00:23:37.990 --> 00:23:39.910 about where everything came from. It's 540 00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.790 fundamental science that may not have an 541 00:23:42.790 --> 00:23:45.470 immediate commercial benefit, but it 542 00:23:45.470 --> 00:23:48.290 tells us about ourselves, uh, 543 00:23:48.350 --> 00:23:49.450 and um, 544 00:23:51.950 --> 00:23:54.190 satisfies our uh, curiosity, 545 00:23:54.670 --> 00:23:57.650 our yearning to understand uh, 546 00:23:57.650 --> 00:23:59.950 the scale of space and 547 00:24:00.580 --> 00:24:03.420 how it all works. That's the, I 548 00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:05.700 guess the fundamental reason for doing it. 549 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:07.700 But there are many other reasons. 550 00:24:08.820 --> 00:24:11.100 One uh, reason why governments invest in 551 00:24:11.100 --> 00:24:13.700 space and astronomy is to 552 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:15.460 inspire upcoming generations 553 00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:19.140 because we know that there's nothing like 554 00:24:19.860 --> 00:24:22.820 black holes or killer asteroids or whatever 555 00:24:22.820 --> 00:24:25.660 for getting kids switched on to science. 556 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:27.540 And it's a great way. Even if they don't 557 00:24:27.540 --> 00:24:30.100 become astronomers or space scientists, they 558 00:24:30.100 --> 00:24:31.930 at least understand the scientific methods. 559 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:34.400 They understand the evidence based method 560 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.640 that is fundamental to all signs. Um, and 561 00:24:37.640 --> 00:24:40.600 so that's another reason we've got of course 562 00:24:40.600 --> 00:24:43.300 spin offs, we've got all kinds of uh, 563 00:24:43.520 --> 00:24:46.080 things. There are three different things 564 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:48.840 inside this mobile phone that I'm holding up 565 00:24:48.840 --> 00:24:51.360 for those of you who don't have, don't have 566 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.430 YouTube Music version of this podcast. Uh, 567 00:24:54.560 --> 00:24:57.040 three things of that that came from astronomy 568 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.120 and understanding physics. Uh, you know 569 00:25:00.120 --> 00:25:02.160 the GPS system relies on general 570 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:04.380 relativity which was test by 571 00:25:04.860 --> 00:25:07.500 astronomical observations. The camera in it 572 00:25:07.820 --> 00:25:09.830 was essentially um, 573 00:25:10.310 --> 00:25:13.180 uh, evolved from cameras that were 574 00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:15.010 developed from uh, 575 00:25:15.820 --> 00:25:18.220 astronomical cameras that we were bringing 576 00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:21.180 to fruition in the 1980s. These 577 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:24.220 silicon devices that let us see very faint 578 00:25:24.220 --> 00:25:26.900 light levels and WI fi, the WI fi, uh, 579 00:25:27.020 --> 00:25:29.820 that um, lets us use our phones actually 580 00:25:29.900 --> 00:25:32.500 started off in the head of an astrophysicist 581 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:35.230 working in radio astronomy. How do you send 582 00:25:35.230 --> 00:25:37.470 signals backwards and forwards in your 583 00:25:37.470 --> 00:25:39.190 laboratories? And he was an Australian. Well 584 00:25:39.190 --> 00:25:41.390 he still is. His name is John o' Sullivan and 585 00:25:41.390 --> 00:25:43.390 I've had a number of 586 00:25:44.270 --> 00:25:47.090 pleasant chats with him over the years. Uh, 587 00:25:47.090 --> 00:25:49.990 very well known astrophysicist. So um, 588 00:25:49.990 --> 00:25:52.630 lots of reasons why we do space, uh, 589 00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:55.670 not just because we are curious 590 00:25:55.670 --> 00:25:57.470 about it, but that's the main 591 00:25:58.510 --> 00:25:59.790 underlying reason. 592 00:26:01.230 --> 00:26:03.230 Heidi Campo: Fred, what got you interested in space? 593 00:26:04.110 --> 00:26:05.790 Why did you choose this as a career? 594 00:26:06.670 --> 00:26:09.550 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, look, in 595 00:26:09.550 --> 00:26:12.230 a sense, um, I'm a product of exactly what 596 00:26:12.230 --> 00:26:14.760 I've just been talking about. Um, 597 00:26:15.270 --> 00:26:17.630 ah, although things were a little bit 598 00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:20.470 different when I was a youngster because I 599 00:26:20.470 --> 00:26:23.310 was at school in the late 1950s, early 1960s 600 00:26:23.310 --> 00:26:26.240 at the dawn of the space age. Uh, so 601 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:28.880 it was in our faces all the time. Uh, 602 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:31.760 and plus the fact that there had 603 00:26:31.760 --> 00:26:34.320 recently been a world war and a lot of people 604 00:26:34.320 --> 00:26:35.640 thought there was going to be another one 605 00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:37.200 which will be fought on the grounds of 606 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.560 Science. So science was 607 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.960 absolutely hammered into us. Um, the school 608 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.560 I was at had four streams. 609 00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:47.920 Uh, three of them were science streams, one 610 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:50.840 was an art stream. And that is not the case 611 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:53.640 now. Um, so, um, in a sense 612 00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:55.870 I was a product of my time. But 613 00:26:56.510 --> 00:26:58.990 I was inspired, um, by, 614 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.030 uh, in fact, an astronomer who. I was only 615 00:27:02.030 --> 00:27:04.310 thinking about him this morning. Sadly now no 616 00:27:04.310 --> 00:27:06.510 longer with us, a gentleman by the name of 617 00:27:06.510 --> 00:27:09.150 Patrick Moore, who, uh, was 618 00:27:10.030 --> 00:27:12.910 the most famous astronomer in Britain for 619 00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:16.270 40, maybe even 50 years. He 620 00:27:16.270 --> 00:27:18.870 had a TV program which, uh, started in 621 00:27:18.870 --> 00:27:21.110 1957. It's still running. He's not in 622 00:27:21.110 --> 00:27:23.630 Britain. Does it anymore. Uh, the sky at 623 00:27:23.630 --> 00:27:26.150 night. So the sky at night was one of the 624 00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.350 things that inspired me and got me interested 625 00:27:28.350 --> 00:27:31.230 in space. And I never really grew up. I 626 00:27:31.230 --> 00:27:33.630 just, um, carried on being interested and 627 00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:35.110 have been all my life. So. 628 00:27:35.350 --> 00:27:38.310 Heidi Campo: So I love that. That's a really fun story. 629 00:27:40.310 --> 00:27:43.070 Professor Fred Watson: Yes. You know, I, I just 630 00:27:43.070 --> 00:27:45.830 feel very fortunate to have had 631 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:48.800 a job throughout my life that I probably 632 00:27:48.800 --> 00:27:51.320 would have done even if they hadn't paid me 633 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:53.760 for it because it was my passion. 634 00:27:54.080 --> 00:27:56.160 Not sure how I would have lived had that been 635 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.680 the case. But anyway. 636 00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:58.400 Heidi Campo: That's wonderful. 637 00:27:58.400 --> 00:27:59.120 Professor Fred Watson: It's been great. 638 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.080 Heidi Campo: Well, on, um, that positive note, um, keep, 639 00:28:02.080 --> 00:28:04.120 keep dreaming, everyone. Keep looking at the 640 00:28:04.120 --> 00:28:06.720 stars and keep sending us your questions. 641 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:09.080 Especially if you're one of our female 642 00:28:09.080 --> 00:28:11.320 listeners. I have been here all summer and we 643 00:28:11.320 --> 00:28:13.680 have not gotten one question from the ladies. 644 00:28:13.840 --> 00:28:16.720 So if you're a female listener and you 645 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:19.440 have been wondering if your question's good 646 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:21.080 enough. It's good enough. Just send it in. 647 00:28:21.960 --> 00:28:24.400 We, um, love our fellas, but if there are, I 648 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:26.000 mean, we've got to have female listeners. 649 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:28.440 This can't be 100% guys who are interested in 650 00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:31.360 space. Uh, so send in your questions. We 651 00:28:31.360 --> 00:28:34.040 want to hear from you. Fred, do you have any 652 00:28:34.040 --> 00:28:35.000 closing remarks? 653 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:38.840 Professor Fred Watson: No, just to, to say, uh, absolutely, I agree 654 00:28:38.840 --> 00:28:40.680 with that. We do know we've, we've got some 655 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:42.720 female listeners. We've occasionally had 656 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:45.580 questions in the past. We have, uh, 657 00:28:45.760 --> 00:28:48.160 one, uh, person who is a pilot. 658 00:28:48.560 --> 00:28:50.800 She flies across the Atlantic and looks at 659 00:28:50.800 --> 00:28:53.080 the stars and sends us notes, uh, about what 660 00:28:53.080 --> 00:28:53.600 she see. 661 00:28:53.840 --> 00:28:55.840 Heidi Campo: That's such a beautiful picture. 662 00:28:56.800 --> 00:28:59.640 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, isn't it great? And so, uh, yeah, I 663 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.440 agree we should shout out to our female space 664 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:04.640 nuts listeners. Get your questions in. We'd 665 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.260 love to hear from you all. 666 00:29:06.260 --> 00:29:08.520 Heidi Campo: Ah, righty then. Well, you heard it from the 667 00:29:08.520 --> 00:29:11.040 man himself. Um, and you probably only 668 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:13.280 maybe, maybe only a few more weeks with me. 669 00:29:13.280 --> 00:29:15.880 So send in your questions. Um, if you have 670 00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:18.660 any sci fi related questions about favorite 671 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:21.100 sci fi books and whatnot. Because Andrew is 672 00:29:21.100 --> 00:29:23.660 going to be back soon. We're not quite sure 673 00:29:23.660 --> 00:29:26.020 when, but we've got a few more weeks left of 674 00:29:26.020 --> 00:29:28.460 me, and then, um, Andrew will be back as your 675 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:31.260 host. But till then, you're stuck with me and 676 00:29:31.260 --> 00:29:33.940 I thank you all for listening. Till next 677 00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:35.180 time. See you later. 678 00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:38.540 Generic: You've been listening to the Space Nuts 679 00:29:38.540 --> 00:29:41.100 podcast, available 680 00:29:41.260 --> 00:29:43.170 at Apple podcasts, Spotify, 681 00:29:43.250 --> 00:29:46.010 iHeartRadio, or your favorite podcast 682 00:29:46.010 --> 00:29:47.770 player. You can also stream on 683 00:29:47.770 --> 00:29:50.490 demand at bitesz.com This has been 684 00:29:50.490 --> 00:29:52.770 another quality podcast production from 685 00:29:52.770 --> 00:29:53.970 bitesz.com