WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520 Andrew Dunkley: Hello again. Thanks for joining us on another 1 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:04.920 episode of Space Nuts. My name is Andrew 2 00:00:04.920 --> 00:00:06.440 Dunkley. It's great to have your company. I 3 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:08.920 hope you're well. Uh, coming up in this 4 00:00:08.920 --> 00:00:11.520 episode, some exciting storeys. And 5 00:00:11.680 --> 00:00:13.520 one of them is a new 6 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:15.920 CSIRO map 7 00:00:16.400 --> 00:00:18.080 developed in Australia of 8 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:21.920 magnetic fields. Now, it's been quite a while 9 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.800 since they updated this and they've got a new 10 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.160 one out. And, uh, it's quite extraordinary, 11 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:28.160 uh, the way it was done and what it shows and 12 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:31.240 what it can be used for. Uh, we've also got 13 00:00:31.240 --> 00:00:33.660 a new report about the relationship 14 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:36.940 or otherwise between, uh, black holes 15 00:00:36.940 --> 00:00:39.100 and dark matter. Now this is interesting 16 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:41.500 because it's only been a theory 17 00:00:41.900 --> 00:00:44.540 until now. Now, this isn't absolute 18 00:00:44.540 --> 00:00:47.180 proof, but it's a step closer to 19 00:00:47.180 --> 00:00:49.740 proving there is something going on between 20 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:51.140 the two of them and they just don't want 21 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:53.900 anyone to know. And the world's first 22 00:00:53.980 --> 00:00:56.820 trillionaire goes public. We'll talk 23 00:00:56.820 --> 00:00:59.460 about all of that on this episode of space 24 00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:00.100 nuts. 25 00:01:00.180 --> 00:01:02.660 Professor Fred Watson: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 26 00:01:02.900 --> 00:01:05.540 10, 9. Ignition 27 00:01:05.620 --> 00:01:06.580 sequence start. 28 00:01:06.740 --> 00:01:07.461 Professor Fred Watson: Space nuts. 29 00:01:07.533 --> 00:01:10.320 Professor Fred Watson: 5, 4, 3, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 30 00:01:10.391 --> 00:01:12.500 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 31 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:13.700 Andrew Dunkley: Space nuts. 32 00:01:13.779 --> 00:01:15.620 Professor Fred Watson: Astronauts report it feels good. 33 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:19.060 Andrew Dunkley: And he's with us again for another dose of 34 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:21.100 whatever it is he takes before he talks to 35 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:21.380 me. 36 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:23.980 It's Professor Fred Watson Watson, Astronomer 37 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:25.060 at, uh, large. Hello, Fred Watson. 38 00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:27.490 Professor Fred Watson: It's good cup of tea that I take 39 00:01:27.490 --> 00:01:28.090 normally. 40 00:01:29.580 --> 00:01:32.530 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, I've been drinking a bit more 41 00:01:32.530 --> 00:01:35.140 tea of late. Um, only because, um, 42 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:38.170 by the afternoon I'm not really into coffee. 43 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:40.490 But today I did have coffee, so. 44 00:01:41.849 --> 00:01:42.970 Do love my coffee. 45 00:01:43.050 --> 00:01:45.370 Professor Fred Watson: I do too, but I make my own. 46 00:01:45.530 --> 00:01:47.370 Andrew Dunkley: I got the whole barista thing going. 47 00:01:48.330 --> 00:01:50.650 I'm even doing latte art, Fred Watson. 48 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:51.450 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, really? 49 00:01:51.530 --> 00:01:53.890 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. I don't know if you'll see this. I took 50 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:55.740 this photo, um, 51 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:59.070 today of my latte art. Can you see that? 52 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:00.350 Professor Fred Watson: That is brilliant. 53 00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:00.990 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. 54 00:02:01.070 --> 00:02:01.510 Andrew Dunkley: Whoa. 55 00:02:01.510 --> 00:02:03.990 Professor Fred Watson: That's real pro stuff. Self taught 56 00:02:03.990 --> 00:02:04.910 barista. 57 00:02:05.150 --> 00:02:05.710 Professor Fred Watson: Yes. 58 00:02:06.110 --> 00:02:08.350 Andrew Dunkley: I don't know what it is. It's like some kind 59 00:02:08.350 --> 00:02:09.750 of flower, like a lotus flower. 60 00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:11.950 Professor Fred Watson: Well, it reminds me of ears of corn. 61 00:02:12.110 --> 00:02:14.110 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, yeah, it does, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, 62 00:02:14.110 --> 00:02:16.150 yeah, that's what it was. Or just ducks 63 00:02:16.150 --> 00:02:17.790 sitting on top of each other or something. 64 00:02:17.790 --> 00:02:20.510 Professor Fred Watson: Could be your. Could be your corny latte. 65 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:23.150 Andrew Dunkley: Yes, it could be. Anyway, I've been working 66 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:23.510 on that. 67 00:02:23.510 --> 00:02:25.160 Professor Fred Watson: That's very good. Yeah. 68 00:02:25.640 --> 00:02:27.360 Andrew Dunkley: I was going to do a whole series and put them 69 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.040 on Instagram of my progression through being 70 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:32.920 really crap at it and to reaching a 71 00:02:32.920 --> 00:02:35.280 point where it's, you know, something to look 72 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.960 at, but I didn't bother and now I wish I had 73 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:40.520 because I've had some epic fails. 74 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:43.280 But um, that one came out quite well today. 75 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:44.520 Professor Fred Watson: That's very nice. Well done. 76 00:02:44.630 --> 00:02:47.280 Andrew Dunkley: M. Right, let's uh, let's get on with this 77 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.760 because, uh, we've got a lot to talk about as 78 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:50.120 always. 79 00:02:50.440 --> 00:02:52.920 And our first storey comes from Australia, 80 00:02:53.160 --> 00:02:55.850 mate. And it is the uh, 81 00:02:56.030 --> 00:02:58.910 remapping of uh, the magnetic 82 00:02:58.910 --> 00:03:01.790 fields of a, uh, large swathe of 83 00:03:01.890 --> 00:03:04.630 um, uh, the universe. Or is it a large 84 00:03:04.630 --> 00:03:07.430 swathe of uh, whatever piece of the backyard 85 00:03:07.430 --> 00:03:09.829 sky someone can see out of. Not sure how much 86 00:03:09.829 --> 00:03:10.270 of it they 87 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:13.070 Professor Fred Watson: got a good chunk of it 88 00:03:13.070 --> 00:03:15.440 actually. I, uh, thought so because, um. 89 00:03:16.910 --> 00:03:19.150 So these observations were made 90 00:03:19.710 --> 00:03:22.390 at uh, uh, a site in 91 00:03:22.390 --> 00:03:24.990 Western Australia known as Inyariman il Ghare 92 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:27.290 Bundara, which is Wajari for 93 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:29.930 sharing sky and stars. The Wodgery people are 94 00:03:29.930 --> 00:03:32.050 the traditional owners there. And it's also 95 00:03:32.050 --> 00:03:34.410 called the CSIRO Murchison Radio Astronomy 96 00:03:34.410 --> 00:03:36.370 Observatory, but we tend to refer to it as 97 00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:39.170 Inyarimana il Ghari Bundara because it's a 98 00:03:39.170 --> 00:03:41.010 very nice name. Uh, 99 00:03:42.010 --> 00:03:45.010 so what's there? There is, um, first of 100 00:03:45.010 --> 00:03:47.290 all, um, it's the site for the 101 00:03:47.690 --> 00:03:50.530 Low Frequency, uh, arm, um, of the 102 00:03:50.530 --> 00:03:53.250 Square Kilometre Array. Uh, Square Kilometre 103 00:03:53.250 --> 00:03:56.010 Array Observatory exists in three places. 104 00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.150 Uh, one is western, earlier where the Low 105 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:00.790 Frequency antennas are. The uh, other is 106 00:04:00.790 --> 00:04:03.310 in South Africa where the mid Frequency 107 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:05.830 antennas are. And the other is near 108 00:04:05.830 --> 00:04:08.540 Manchester where the headquarters are. Um, 109 00:04:08.790 --> 00:04:10.710 that's Chodrell bank is where the 110 00:04:10.710 --> 00:04:13.670 headquarters of SKAO are. Uh, uh, and 111 00:04:13.670 --> 00:04:15.620 they've just got a new Director General, uh, 112 00:04:15.990 --> 00:04:18.870 by the way, um, Jessica Dempsey I think is 113 00:04:18.870 --> 00:04:21.670 her name. Somebody I've kind of run 114 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:23.950 into before over the years. Uh, is um, 115 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:27.430 uh, the new Director General of the SKAO 116 00:04:27.430 --> 00:04:30.350 Observatory. Sorry, SKA Observatory. Anyway, 117 00:04:30.510 --> 00:04:32.910 yeah, also on the site in Western Australia 118 00:04:33.470 --> 00:04:35.470 is ascap, which is the 119 00:04:35.950 --> 00:04:37.790 Australian SKA 120 00:04:38.510 --> 00:04:40.910 Pathfinder. A s K a p. 121 00:04:41.950 --> 00:04:42.670 Coincidence. 122 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:45.190 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, an ASCAP is also something you can wear 123 00:04:45.190 --> 00:04:46.270 if you don't have any pants. 124 00:04:50.590 --> 00:04:52.270 Professor Fred Watson: There's no answer to that, Andrew. 125 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:53.870 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, no, 126 00:04:55.470 --> 00:04:56.950 no, that one. Can't we just let that one. 127 00:04:56.950 --> 00:04:58.670 Professor Fred Watson: No, I might leave that one alone. Yeah. 128 00:04:59.630 --> 00:05:01.550 Anyway, notwithstanding that. 129 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:04.710 See, you don't get this on other podcasts, do 130 00:05:04.710 --> 00:05:07.470 you? It's why we're number one in Iceland. 131 00:05:07.710 --> 00:05:10.350 Andrew Dunkley: That's right, we are. Thank you. 132 00:05:10.350 --> 00:05:10.910 Iceland. 133 00:05:11.150 --> 00:05:13.920 Professor Fred Watson: Absolutely. Go for it. Um, 134 00:05:14.270 --> 00:05:16.030 I forgot. Yes. ASCAP, 135 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:20.040 not the garment, but the um, 136 00:05:20.350 --> 00:05:23.030 Radio Telescope Array, 3612 metre 137 00:05:23.030 --> 00:05:25.750 dishes which were built um, over 138 00:05:25.750 --> 00:05:28.570 the. I guess 15 years ago was when they 139 00:05:28.570 --> 00:05:30.890 started. It's been operational for probably 140 00:05:30.890 --> 00:05:33.410 more than 10 years now and done some fabulous 141 00:05:33.410 --> 00:05:36.170 work. Uh, but the latest piece of high 142 00:05:36.170 --> 00:05:39.050 profile research that's come from ASCAP is 143 00:05:39.130 --> 00:05:41.530 exactly as you've said, the largest 144 00:05:41.530 --> 00:05:44.250 magnetic map of the universe ever produced, 145 00:05:44.250 --> 00:05:46.610 five times larger than all previous efforts 146 00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:49.130 combined. And it marks the beginning of a new 147 00:05:49.130 --> 00:05:51.210 generation of research into the field of 148 00:05:51.210 --> 00:05:53.530 intergalactic magnetism. And I'm reading 149 00:05:53.530 --> 00:05:55.850 there from the CSIRO news release, 150 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:58.990 um, probably spot the hype but it's well 151 00:05:58.990 --> 00:06:00.950 deserved type as well and a, uh, well 152 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:03.470 deserved kudos to the team leader Alec 153 00:06:03.470 --> 00:06:05.920 Thompson of csiro. Um, 154 00:06:06.150 --> 00:06:08.630 what they've done is used 155 00:06:08.870 --> 00:06:11.790 the telescope uh, in a, I 156 00:06:11.790 --> 00:06:14.230 suppose in an innovative way. 157 00:06:14.940 --> 00:06:16.990 Uh, how do you measure magnetic fields? Well 158 00:06:16.990 --> 00:06:18.950 you know normally to measure a magnetic field 159 00:06:18.950 --> 00:06:21.670 we stick uh, a magnetometer in the way. 160 00:06:21.670 --> 00:06:23.510 That's how magnetic fields are measured in 161 00:06:23.510 --> 00:06:25.550 the solar system by various spacecraft 162 00:06:25.550 --> 00:06:27.710 because they carry magnetometers which 163 00:06:27.710 --> 00:06:29.790 measure the local magnetic field of where you 164 00:06:29.790 --> 00:06:32.530 are. Um, and that gives us 165 00:06:32.530 --> 00:06:35.370 some insights into not just the sun's 166 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:36.970 magnetic field, not the Earth's magnetic 167 00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:38.850 field and the sun's magnetic field, but also 168 00:06:39.400 --> 00:06:41.690 uh, courtesy of Voyager, the two Voyager 169 00:06:41.690 --> 00:06:44.010 spacecraft. The galaxy's magnetic field 170 00:06:44.010 --> 00:06:46.569 because we can sense the direction of that 171 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:49.250 with the magnetometers uh, carried by those 172 00:06:49.250 --> 00:06:51.330 spacecraft which are now beyond the sun's 173 00:06:51.330 --> 00:06:53.170 magnetic influence. But 174 00:06:54.220 --> 00:06:57.170 uh, it's quite a long jump 175 00:06:57.250 --> 00:07:00.170 from the environs of the 176 00:07:00.170 --> 00:07:02.360 solar system to the universe as a whole, 177 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:05.550 uh, which is what these scientists have done. 178 00:07:06.190 --> 00:07:08.670 And the basic technique 179 00:07:09.310 --> 00:07:12.030 is uh, it's all about 180 00:07:12.900 --> 00:07:15.390 um, polarisation and 181 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:18.350 we've talked about polarisation before, we 182 00:07:18.429 --> 00:07:21.070 all know what it does when we 183 00:07:21.470 --> 00:07:23.790 wear our uh, polarising sunglasses and you're 184 00:07:23.790 --> 00:07:26.750 driving your car into the sunlight and 185 00:07:26.750 --> 00:07:29.270 there's a huge reflection coming off the 186 00:07:29.270 --> 00:07:31.790 road, especially if it's wet. Uh, and your 187 00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:34.730 polarising sunglasses magically take away 188 00:07:35.290 --> 00:07:37.770 that's happening because uh, the light waves 189 00:07:38.280 --> 00:07:39.590 uh, have um, 190 00:07:41.450 --> 00:07:43.970 if you think of them as just being wiggles in 191 00:07:43.970 --> 00:07:45.930 space, which they are, ah, electromagnetic 192 00:07:45.930 --> 00:07:48.250 wiggles, they have a preferred direction. 193 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:51.330 Um, normal light has a mix of all these 194 00:07:51.330 --> 00:07:54.170 directions but uh, it turns out that 195 00:07:54.170 --> 00:07:56.930 you can separate out them by using 196 00:07:56.930 --> 00:07:59.050 well a polarising filter which is what we've 197 00:07:59.050 --> 00:08:01.290 got in our sunglasses that only lets through 198 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:04.310 the vibrations that are vertical. That's the 199 00:08:04.310 --> 00:08:06.430 vertical direction of the light that's coming 200 00:08:06.430 --> 00:08:09.390 to you because the horizontal ones which are 201 00:08:10.910 --> 00:08:13.040 very um, much reflected uh, 202 00:08:14.990 --> 00:08:17.350 in the reflection from the wet road, they are 203 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:20.020 cancelled out and so you don't see them. Uh, 204 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:24.030 so we're kind of familiar with that idea of 205 00:08:24.030 --> 00:08:26.670 the direction of vibration of 206 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:29.470 Light waves. Well, the same holds good 207 00:08:29.630 --> 00:08:32.450 in, um, in radio waves. And 208 00:08:32.450 --> 00:08:34.890 so ASCAP and many other radio 209 00:08:34.890 --> 00:08:37.010 telescopes can actually sense the 210 00:08:37.010 --> 00:08:39.330 polarisation of the radio 211 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:41.890 signals that they're receiving from deep 212 00:08:41.890 --> 00:08:44.890 space. Uh, and so that's all 213 00:08:44.890 --> 00:08:46.170 well and good, you can sense the 214 00:08:46.170 --> 00:08:48.370 polarisation, but you can also 215 00:08:48.770 --> 00:08:51.690 detect if that polarisation's 216 00:08:51.690 --> 00:08:54.530 been twisted. And that's what happens 217 00:08:54.530 --> 00:08:56.530 when the light passes through a magnetic 218 00:08:56.530 --> 00:08:59.500 field. Um, it actually rotates, 219 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:02.140 called Faraday rotation. It's the plane of 220 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:05.500 the radio waves twists. And 221 00:09:05.660 --> 00:09:08.220 you can detect that with an array like 222 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:11.020 ascap. And that is what has allowed 223 00:09:11.020 --> 00:09:13.620 people to measure the magnetic field of the 224 00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:16.460 universe. Because what you do 225 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:19.820 is you look at, uh, the light from 226 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:22.820 a distant galaxy and you look at the way 227 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:25.760 its polarisation changes, uh, as that 228 00:09:25.760 --> 00:09:28.000 light comes towards us by using this 229 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.000 technique. And so what you're saying is 230 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:33.180 that you've got a kind of, um, 231 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.400 a beacon lamp in the distance and 232 00:09:37.400 --> 00:09:39.360 what you can sense is what's happening to the 233 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.760 light coming from that as it passes through 234 00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:44.440 magnetic fields on its way. And so 235 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.400 that's the basis of the map, as 236 00:09:47.400 --> 00:09:50.400 far as I can tell from, because I'm not a 237 00:09:50.400 --> 00:09:52.590 radio astronomer, which is pain, the obvious, 238 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:54.350 probably from the way I'm talking about it. 239 00:09:54.910 --> 00:09:57.790 Um, I think you probably 240 00:09:57.790 --> 00:10:00.070 don't know how far away that magnetic field 241 00:10:00.070 --> 00:10:02.870 is. And so, um, what you can 242 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:04.980 infer is, uh, 243 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:08.740 for example, how rapidly it changes, uh, 244 00:10:08.750 --> 00:10:11.710 depending on the position 245 00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:13.160 in the sky. Um, 246 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:17.750 when you look at this map, and I urge our 247 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:19.270 listeners to have a look at it, it's pretty 248 00:10:19.270 --> 00:10:21.780 easy to find and largest magnetic map of the 249 00:10:21.780 --> 00:10:24.780 universe yet. Um, you'll see lots of colours. 250 00:10:24.850 --> 00:10:27.100 Um, the colours, I think, are colour coded in 251 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:29.860 that. I, um, think if I remember rightly, 252 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.540 red is with the North Pole 253 00:10:32.540 --> 00:10:35.420 pointing towards us of the magnetism, and 254 00:10:35.660 --> 00:10:38.380 blue is it pointing the other way. Um, 255 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.540 and so that, uh, lets you sense the 256 00:10:41.540 --> 00:10:44.500 magnetism along that line of sight. And so 257 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:46.380 the biggest detail is actually in the 258 00:10:46.380 --> 00:10:49.180 galactic centre, which is full of churning 259 00:10:49.180 --> 00:10:51.260 magnetic fields. I guess you are having a 260 00:10:51.260 --> 00:10:51.740 look at it now. 261 00:10:52.280 --> 00:10:54.040 Andrew Dunkley: I'm looking at it right this minute. And 262 00:10:54.280 --> 00:10:56.160 yeah, you're right that they're explaining 263 00:10:56.160 --> 00:10:58.320 that just like, um, you've got blue shift and 264 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.240 redshift with light waves, the magnetic 265 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:04.320 fields have the same kind of qualities in 266 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.320 terms of north, south, um, on the 267 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.400 magnetic plane. And yes, the centre of the 268 00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:11.240 Milky Way galaxy is probably the most 269 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:14.070 volatile part of this entire picture. Um, 270 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:16.840 which is not surprising. We live there. 271 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:17.560 Professor Fred Watson: That's right. 272 00:11:17.560 --> 00:11:18.920 Andrew Dunkley: We know all about volatility. 273 00:11:19.160 --> 00:11:21.320 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. It's home from home. 274 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:24.700 Uh, and just going back to, um, what 275 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:27.380 you said a few minutes ago, um, there is a 276 00:11:27.380 --> 00:11:30.380 hole in the, uh, map. And 277 00:11:30.380 --> 00:11:33.060 that's because ascap, there's certainly 278 00:11:33.060 --> 00:11:35.260 regions of the northern sky that ASCAP can't 279 00:11:35.260 --> 00:11:37.180 see because they're permanently below the 280 00:11:37.180 --> 00:11:38.980 horizon. They're relatively small, actually, 281 00:11:38.980 --> 00:11:41.140 because ASCAP can look a long way down 282 00:11:41.140 --> 00:11:42.900 towards the horizon, much further than we 283 00:11:42.900 --> 00:11:45.100 can. In optical astronomy. In optical 284 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:47.180 astronomy, the atmosphere just gets too thick 285 00:11:47.180 --> 00:11:49.460 when you're looking very low down until you 286 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:51.180 get all the distortions and everything from 287 00:11:51.180 --> 00:11:53.460 the atmosphere. That doesn't happen, uh, with 288 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:55.260 low frequency radio waves. Um, 289 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.120 the gap that's missing because of the 290 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.440 Northern Hemisphere, uh, because it's not 291 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.080 visible to the telescope, that's actually 292 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:04.680 relatively small compared with if it was an 293 00:12:04.680 --> 00:12:06.520 optical astronomy picture that you were 294 00:12:06.520 --> 00:12:09.120 looking at. But yes, this map has 295 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.920 the line of the Milky Way across its equator, 296 00:12:11.920 --> 00:12:14.840 across the middle. Um, lots of magnetic 297 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.480 turbulence in there, some really intriguing 298 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:19.360 features, things that look like magnetic 299 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.240 fingers just sort of pointing around. It's 300 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.880 a remarkable map which, um, yeah, I encourage 301 00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:25.770 people to have a look at. 302 00:12:26.400 --> 00:12:29.000 Andrew Dunkley: Now, just by way of, um, taking this a step 303 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.760 further. Uh, what can they now, 304 00:12:31.760 --> 00:12:34.440 or what can anybody now do with a map like 305 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:36.240 this? Because it's been made publicly 306 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:37.200 available, hasn't it? 307 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.300 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, so that's exactly right. Those data, uh, 308 00:12:40.300 --> 00:12:43.160 are now publicly available. By the way, I 309 00:12:43.160 --> 00:12:45.880 do like the name of it, which is 310 00:12:45.880 --> 00:12:46.320 Spice. 311 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:47.280 Andrew Dunkley: Spice Racks. 312 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.440 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. Uh, so Racks is 313 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:53.120 the Rapid ASCAP Continuum Survey. 314 00:12:53.680 --> 00:12:56.200 And I've forgotten what Spice is, but it's 315 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:59.180 something equally, equally delightful. 316 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:01.900 Uh, but the Spice Racks Survey, I think is, 317 00:13:01.900 --> 00:13:04.130 uh, is. It's got its own, uh, 318 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:06.460 own. Own charm about it. 319 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:09.380 Andrew Dunkley: I was going to say something tongue in 320 00:13:09.380 --> 00:13:11.900 cheek about a girl group named Something to 321 00:13:11.900 --> 00:13:12.580 do with spice. 322 00:13:12.580 --> 00:13:13.580 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, yes, I know that. 323 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:16.260 Andrew Dunkley: Then I thought, no, you can't really 324 00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:17.940 associate that with racks. You could get 325 00:13:17.940 --> 00:13:18.780 yourself smashed. 326 00:13:20.060 --> 00:13:22.180 Professor Fred Watson: I would leave that well alone. I will. 327 00:13:22.180 --> 00:13:23.100 Andrew Dunkley: I won't mention it. 328 00:13:23.100 --> 00:13:25.600 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, so, um, 329 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:28.540 it's. Yes, so it's so. And, and yes, 330 00:13:28.540 --> 00:13:31.320 as data are already publicly 331 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.280 available, uh, research groups are already 332 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:37.560 actually digging through this to see 333 00:13:37.800 --> 00:13:40.640 what it tells us about the, you know, the 334 00:13:40.640 --> 00:13:42.520 magnetism of galaxies, for a start. 335 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:43.100 Professor Fred Watson: Uh, 336 00:13:44.920 --> 00:13:47.720 Professor Fred Watson: and just the way the environment of a galaxy 337 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:50.680 is dominated by a particular magnetic field. 338 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:53.640 It's only recently that we've understood 339 00:13:53.640 --> 00:13:56.570 that cosmic magnetic fields. That, 340 00:13:56.570 --> 00:13:58.840 uh, is magnetic fields in space play a huge 341 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:01.790 role in so many areas of astrophysics, 342 00:14:01.790 --> 00:14:04.430 but certainly in the way galaxies evolve 343 00:14:04.670 --> 00:14:07.630 over the millennia. Millennia. 344 00:14:07.630 --> 00:14:10.350 I suppose they are uh, the way they evolve, 345 00:14:10.610 --> 00:14:13.550 uh, is, um, very much 346 00:14:13.550 --> 00:14:16.310 dominated by the local magnetic fields. And 347 00:14:16.310 --> 00:14:19.110 one of the big puzzles in cosmology, the 348 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:22.070 science of the universe as a whole, is where 349 00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:23.910 did these magnetic fields come from in the 350 00:14:23.910 --> 00:14:25.790 first place? And it's actually 351 00:14:26.910 --> 00:14:29.310 one of the things on the list of target 352 00:14:29.950 --> 00:14:32.890 science. The Square Kilometre Array 353 00:14:32.890 --> 00:14:35.810 itself was designed to address what's the 354 00:14:35.810 --> 00:14:38.770 origin of the cosmic magnetic field, uh, 355 00:14:38.770 --> 00:14:41.490 because we really don't know how they came to 356 00:14:41.490 --> 00:14:44.370 exist. And more than that, we don't 357 00:14:44.370 --> 00:14:46.970 know how magnetic fields have changed as, you 358 00:14:46.970 --> 00:14:49.370 know, as the universe itself has evolved. All 359 00:14:49.370 --> 00:14:51.010 this lets you do that because, of course, as 360 00:14:51.010 --> 00:14:52.810 you look further out into space, you're 361 00:14:52.810 --> 00:14:55.410 looking further back in time. So there's a 362 00:14:55.410 --> 00:14:56.890 time dimension of this as well. 363 00:14:57.300 --> 00:14:59.540 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, there's a lot of magnetism out there. 364 00:14:59.540 --> 00:15:01.460 And as you say, they don't know where it came 365 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:04.380 from. Uh, we probably would have solved it 366 00:15:04.380 --> 00:15:06.340 except dark matter and dark energy came along 367 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:07.940 and we went, oh, well, this is more exciting. 368 00:15:08.420 --> 00:15:10.820 But, um, yeah, it's just another one of those 369 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:11.380 mysteries. 370 00:15:12.020 --> 00:15:14.660 Professor Fred Watson: It is. And I'm sure, 371 00:15:14.980 --> 00:15:17.460 um, all the scientists who've been involved 372 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.100 with this have got magnetic personalities. 373 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:23.140 Oh, sorry. I do my best. 374 00:15:23.140 --> 00:15:24.100 We aim to please. 375 00:15:24.420 --> 00:15:26.740 Andrew Dunkley: Pretty good, that one. All right. If you'd 376 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:28.300 like to read up on it, you can do that 377 00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:30.840 through the scene. CSIRO website. It's an 378 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:33.080 Australian website and you can download the 379 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:35.920 map. It's only 6 million megabytes. It's 380 00:15:35.920 --> 00:15:38.840 a 6 megabytes. It's not a big file in the 381 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.520 modern age. Uh, you can also read the 382 00:15:41.520 --> 00:15:44.440 paper in publications of the Astronomical 383 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:47.160 Society of Australia. This is 384 00:15:47.160 --> 00:15:49.440 Space Nuts with Professor Fred Watson Watson 385 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:50.720 and Andrew Dunkley. 386 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:56.400 Space Nuts. 387 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:59.800 Professor Fred Watson: All right. Um, now, you 388 00:15:59.800 --> 00:16:01.340 did press, didn't you? 389 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:04.260 Andrew Dunkley: I did press record. Yes. Um, yes, 390 00:16:04.260 --> 00:16:06.140 the giant gap was a misfire. 391 00:16:06.140 --> 00:16:07.180 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, good. That's good. 392 00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:08.620 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, we get those. 393 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.060 Uh, now our next storey, it's a, uh, new 394 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:14.540 report about the relationship between 395 00:16:14.780 --> 00:16:16.659 black holes and dark matter. Now this is, 396 00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:19.020 this is something that our audience has quite 397 00:16:19.020 --> 00:16:21.300 often thrown up. You know, there's got to be 398 00:16:21.300 --> 00:16:24.300 a connection, uh, between black holes and 399 00:16:24.300 --> 00:16:26.840 dark matter, et cetera, et cetera. Uh, 400 00:16:27.020 --> 00:16:29.920 and now they've released a paper that's 401 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:31.200 suggesting just that. 402 00:16:31.920 --> 00:16:34.320 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, this is really interesting stuff. And of 403 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.160 course, um, it covers 404 00:16:37.160 --> 00:16:39.920 two of the most popular topics that we 405 00:16:40.400 --> 00:16:43.280 discuss on, uh, Spacenuts. This is 406 00:16:43.280 --> 00:16:45.600 research, uh, from Virginia Tech, 407 00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:48.160 uh, in the United States. And 408 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.960 it's very neat because it uses a technique 409 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:53.880 that I've always found absolutely 410 00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:56.640 fascinating, um, which 411 00:16:56.800 --> 00:16:59.670 is it's got A fancy name, uh, 412 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.630 called reverberation mapping. Uh, 413 00:17:02.640 --> 00:17:05.440 but we usually talk about light echoes. 414 00:17:06.050 --> 00:17:08.520 Uh, and the easiest way to 415 00:17:08.520 --> 00:17:10.720 envisage it is, uh, the one that 416 00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:13.360 I think drew 417 00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:16.480 everybody's attention to this phenomenon back 418 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.440 in the 1980s, uh, when 419 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.840 supernova 1987A, 420 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.800 the nearest supernova to us since 421 00:17:24.800 --> 00:17:27.510 Kepler's supernova in 1604, I think it was, 422 00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:30.940 um, that uh, became very much the object 423 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:32.940 of attention. Uh, it was in the Large 424 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:35.780 magellanic Cloud, to 165,000 light 425 00:17:35.780 --> 00:17:37.820 years away from us as the crow flies. 426 00:17:38.620 --> 00:17:41.460 And what was discovered as time 427 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:43.980 went on was the. So that the 428 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.300 supernova explodes. You've got this brilliant 429 00:17:46.300 --> 00:17:48.220 flash of light. It was easily visible to the 430 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:50.980 naked eye. I remember looking at it. Uh, 431 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:54.020 and uh, then as time goes by, the light 432 00:17:54.020 --> 00:17:56.420 fades. But what you get, 433 00:17:57.940 --> 00:18:00.660 uh, uh, as time goes on is a series of 434 00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:03.620 rings around the, apparently around 435 00:18:04.340 --> 00:18:07.300 the site of the explosion. And those 436 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:10.340 rings are caused by light being 437 00:18:11.060 --> 00:18:13.900 reflected off clouds of dust which 438 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:16.860 are between us and the supernova. And you 439 00:18:16.860 --> 00:18:19.860 can do all kinds of really neat calculations, 440 00:18:20.310 --> 00:18:23.210 uh, to discover how thick those clouds of 441 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.010 dust are, where they are in relation to the 442 00:18:25.010 --> 00:18:27.650 supernova. Um, um, one of my 443 00:18:27.650 --> 00:18:30.330 colleagues, now sadly no longer with us, 444 00:18:30.330 --> 00:18:32.850 David Allen, was a past master, 445 00:18:32.850 --> 00:18:35.130 uh, about working on this and writing about 446 00:18:35.130 --> 00:18:37.969 it. And uh, those rings are called 447 00:18:37.969 --> 00:18:39.930 light echoes because it's the echo of the 448 00:18:39.930 --> 00:18:42.250 light of the supernova which has now faded 449 00:18:42.250 --> 00:18:44.810 away. But you can still see it because it's 450 00:18:44.810 --> 00:18:47.730 bouncing off clouds of dust in space. 451 00:18:48.530 --> 00:18:51.350 So, so what this article is 452 00:18:51.350 --> 00:18:53.630 about, the Virginia Tech work that we've just 453 00:18:53.630 --> 00:18:56.430 mentioned is we know that black 454 00:18:56.430 --> 00:18:58.870 holes, supermassive black holes, are 455 00:18:58.870 --> 00:19:01.710 surrounded by swirling discs of 456 00:19:01.710 --> 00:19:04.470 matter. Uh, they're called the accretion 457 00:19:04.470 --> 00:19:06.510 disc. It's the stuff that's basically 458 00:19:06.590 --> 00:19:09.550 swirling around the plug hole, um, before it 459 00:19:09.550 --> 00:19:11.390 either gets sucked into the black hole or 460 00:19:11.390 --> 00:19:14.070 shot out vertically from the poles of the 461 00:19:14.070 --> 00:19:16.910 black hole. The rotation poles it in the form 462 00:19:16.910 --> 00:19:18.990 of these jets, which we hear a lot about. But 463 00:19:18.990 --> 00:19:20.910 the accretion disc itself is bright, 464 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:24.350 um, in X rays and radio radiation. 465 00:19:25.060 --> 00:19:27.710 Uh, once in a while, um, a 466 00:19:27.790 --> 00:19:30.230 larger dollop of matter enters the 467 00:19:30.230 --> 00:19:32.750 accretion disc. And you get this 468 00:19:32.750 --> 00:19:35.390 outburst, you get a brilliant outburst 469 00:19:36.270 --> 00:19:39.190 of radiation. Um, and 470 00:19:39.190 --> 00:19:42.070 that outburst is relatively short lived. 471 00:19:42.070 --> 00:19:44.870 It might last for a few weeks or even months, 472 00:19:44.870 --> 00:19:47.630 but it's short lived. And so what you can 473 00:19:47.630 --> 00:19:50.030 look for is a light echo 474 00:19:50.510 --> 00:19:52.790 around it. Because that light radiates 475 00:19:52.790 --> 00:19:55.670 outwards from the accretion disc. And if it 476 00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:58.190 hits anything outside it, 477 00:19:58.430 --> 00:20:01.030 it will reflect back to us. And we'll see it 478 00:20:01.030 --> 00:20:03.870 at a later date from when 479 00:20:04.030 --> 00:20:06.670 the bright event itself 480 00:20:06.670 --> 00:20:09.150 happened. So you see the bright event in the 481 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:11.310 accretion disc and then at, uh, some time 482 00:20:11.310 --> 00:20:14.270 later you see an echo of that 483 00:20:14.270 --> 00:20:16.910 light which is being reflected off, 484 00:20:17.070 --> 00:20:19.610 usually gas and D which is surrounding, 485 00:20:20.540 --> 00:20:23.210 uh, the accretion disc. What this storey is 486 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:25.850 all about though, is that, uh, when you do 487 00:20:25.850 --> 00:20:28.650 calculations about how 488 00:20:28.650 --> 00:20:31.410 much material there 489 00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:34.329 is in the accretion disc where the echo 490 00:20:34.329 --> 00:20:37.050 is taking place, you get a much 491 00:20:37.050 --> 00:20:39.730 higher mass than what you can see. And 492 00:20:39.730 --> 00:20:42.010 that's always the, um, 493 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:44.970 that's always the um, uh, kind of 494 00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:47.370 telltale signature of dark matter 495 00:20:48.330 --> 00:20:50.550 when you can only see a limited, limited 496 00:20:50.550 --> 00:20:53.470 amount of stuff. But gravity tells you 497 00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:55.230 there's much more, there's more there. And 498 00:20:55.230 --> 00:20:57.710 that's exactly the basis of this storey. So 499 00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:00.310 it's just a new way of detecting 500 00:21:00.870 --> 00:21:03.350 the dark matter, uh, around 501 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:06.670 black holes. But it looks as though black 502 00:21:06.670 --> 00:21:09.590 holes, as you'd expect, not only 503 00:21:09.590 --> 00:21:12.510 are a magnet for regular matter. I, uh, 504 00:21:12.590 --> 00:21:15.070 mean a gravitational magnet. I guess it's not 505 00:21:15.070 --> 00:21:16.670 magnetic in the sense that we've just been 506 00:21:16.670 --> 00:21:19.030 talking about, uh, but a gravitational, 507 00:21:19.570 --> 00:21:21.700 uh, pull from, for normal matter. It's also a 508 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:24.660 gravitational pull for dark matter as 509 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:26.540 well. And it looks as though the dark matter 510 00:21:26.620 --> 00:21:29.300 actually congregates around black holes that 511 00:21:29.300 --> 00:21:32.260 we've got, um, these buildups of dark 512 00:21:32.260 --> 00:21:34.980 matter, ah, in the vicinity of a black 513 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:36.700 hole. Quite remarkable. 514 00:21:37.260 --> 00:21:39.500 Andrew Dunkley: Now, the situation is that they 515 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:42.700 haven't absolutely proven it. They've 516 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:45.140 just come up with a way of suggesting that 517 00:21:45.140 --> 00:21:47.550 this might be the case. But, um. 518 00:21:47.900 --> 00:21:49.970 Yeah, it's not absolute. It's not. 519 00:21:52.760 --> 00:21:55.240 Professor Fred Watson: It is in the sense that, um, they've looked 520 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:57.880 at this for 14 different 521 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:00.200 galaxies and all found 522 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:02.830 cases where, uh, 523 00:22:03.560 --> 00:22:05.880 what you're looking for is the way the mass 524 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:08.600 changes with distance from the black hole. 525 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:11.400 And that mass is increasing because you're 526 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.040 looking at stuff swirling around. But the 527 00:22:14.040 --> 00:22:16.760 increase in mass is faster 528 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.720 than the visible matter on its own can 529 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:22.670 explain. And that's the a. It's 530 00:22:22.670 --> 00:22:24.430 a kind of smoking gun for dark matter, 531 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:24.830 really. 532 00:22:24.830 --> 00:22:27.110 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, I, I've, I've found the paragraph. It 533 00:22:27.110 --> 00:22:30.110 says data limitations mean the results are a 534 00:22:30.110 --> 00:22:32.270 proof of concept, not a definitive, 535 00:22:32.350 --> 00:22:34.550 Definitive detection. Detection. But the 536 00:22:34.550 --> 00:22:36.590 study outlines a clear path to confirmation. 537 00:22:36.590 --> 00:22:37.669 Professor Fred Watson: That's right, yeah. So that. 538 00:22:37.669 --> 00:22:38.470 Andrew Dunkley: We're almost there. 539 00:22:38.470 --> 00:22:40.310 Professor Fred Watson: We're almost there. That's. That's exactly 540 00:22:40.310 --> 00:22:41.390 right. We're almost there. 541 00:22:41.870 --> 00:22:44.150 Andrew Dunkley: That is very exciting news. And, um, that 542 00:22:44.150 --> 00:22:47.150 will stop probably 75% of the questions we 543 00:22:47.150 --> 00:22:49.510 get on our Q A editions. 544 00:22:50.550 --> 00:22:53.550 Professor Fred Watson: Well, it, it might, but I Bet it produces 545 00:22:53.550 --> 00:22:56.430 another 150 about what it is that we're 546 00:22:56.430 --> 00:22:58.910 finding and how do we know why? Isn't it mond 547 00:22:58.910 --> 00:23:00.390 and things like that? Yeah. 548 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:03.470 Andrew Dunkley: Yes. Oh gosh, it will just. It'll never end. 549 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:05.670 It will never end. I hope it never ends. 550 00:23:05.670 --> 00:23:06.390 Professor Fred Watson: I think it's great. 551 00:23:07.030 --> 00:23:08.550 Andrew Dunkley: But if you want to read about it, 552 00:23:08.550 --> 00:23:11.510 it's@fizz.org uh, they publish the paper 553 00:23:11.510 --> 00:23:14.190 in the Physical Review D. Does that mean 554 00:23:14.190 --> 00:23:15.950 there's an A, B and C that comes with. 555 00:23:16.110 --> 00:23:16.910 Professor Fred Watson: Yes it does. 556 00:23:17.070 --> 00:23:18.110 Andrew Dunkley: I assume so. 557 00:23:18.510 --> 00:23:20.910 Professor Fred Watson: But um, that's a high profile journal though. 558 00:23:20.910 --> 00:23:23.500 Physical Review. It's uh, definitely uh, 559 00:23:24.130 --> 00:23:26.790 uh, you know it's, it's uh, ranks with Nature 560 00:23:26.790 --> 00:23:28.830 and Science and these very high profile 561 00:23:28.830 --> 00:23:31.070 journals. So it's not work that is 562 00:23:31.870 --> 00:23:34.430 in any way secondary. It's not like Space 563 00:23:34.430 --> 00:23:37.150 Nuts where it's adequate. This is top 564 00:23:38.190 --> 00:23:39.070 ranked stuff. 565 00:23:39.470 --> 00:23:42.390 Andrew Dunkley: Indeed it is. Uh, yes. So read about it 566 00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:45.300 at Physical review or@phys.org this is 567 00:23:45.450 --> 00:23:46.850 space Nuts. Andrew Dunkley here with 568 00:23:46.850 --> 00:23:48.250 Professor Fred Watson Watson. 569 00:23:51.290 --> 00:23:53.210 Professor Fred Watson: Okay, we checked all four systems. 570 00:23:54.250 --> 00:23:55.290 Professor Fred Watson: Space Nets. 571 00:23:56.010 --> 00:23:58.890 Andrew Dunkley: Our final storey. Fred Watson takes us 572 00:23:58.890 --> 00:24:01.070 into the realm of um, 573 00:24:01.610 --> 00:24:04.130 publicly offering your company up on the 574 00:24:04.130 --> 00:24:04.970 stock exchange. 575 00:24:05.850 --> 00:24:07.690 Professor Fred Watson: I wonder why we're going to talk about that. 576 00:24:07.690 --> 00:24:09.650 Andrew Dunkley: I wonder why uh, the world's first 577 00:24:09.650 --> 00:24:12.650 trillionaire has just done that in um, a 578 00:24:12.650 --> 00:24:14.610 very interesting way. And to coincide with 579 00:24:14.610 --> 00:24:17.550 the launch, um, he's selling stuff 580 00:24:17.550 --> 00:24:20.430 like we do on the Space Nuts shop. All 581 00:24:20.430 --> 00:24:23.310 sorts of little bits and bobs if you want a 582 00:24:23.310 --> 00:24:24.070 piece of the action. 583 00:24:24.390 --> 00:24:25.910 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, the IPO merch. 584 00:24:26.870 --> 00:24:29.190 Andrew Dunkley: It really is a remarkable storey though. Uh, 585 00:24:29.270 --> 00:24:31.760 elon Musk and SpaceX. Because uh, 586 00:24:32.150 --> 00:24:35.030 as this article briefly um, mentions, 587 00:24:35.510 --> 00:24:37.790 he didn't think the company would survive. He 588 00:24:37.790 --> 00:24:40.550 didn't expect it to actually be a success. 589 00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:43.110 He gave it a very low chance of lasting 590 00:24:43.750 --> 00:24:44.790 and look at him now. 591 00:24:46.070 --> 00:24:48.150 Professor Fred Watson: Quite so. The world's world first 592 00:24:48.310 --> 00:24:51.150 trillionaire. Ah yeah, it's um, 593 00:24:52.310 --> 00:24:54.670 I mean I don't honestly I know virtually 594 00:24:54.670 --> 00:24:56.710 nothing about the world of high finance. 595 00:24:57.170 --> 00:24:59.510 Andrew Dunkley: Um, well you know more than me then. 596 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:02.830 Professor Fred Watson: When I see numbers like millions and 597 00:25:02.830 --> 00:25:04.550 billions, I always expect there to be light 598 00:25:04.550 --> 00:25:06.150 years after them rather than dollars. 599 00:25:07.350 --> 00:25:10.150 But yeah, it's uh, the, the public, 600 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.820 the IPO initial public offering, um, has 601 00:25:13.820 --> 00:25:15.580 valued this company at uh, something 602 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:18.140 absolutely huge. Compared with all the other 603 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:20.820 tech companies that are being floated or are 604 00:25:20.820 --> 00:25:23.420 likely to be floated into public ownership. 605 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:26.300 It's enormous. Um, is it 606 00:25:26.300 --> 00:25:28.460 170 billion? Am I thinking of the right 607 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:30.260 number there or is that light years? That 608 00:25:30.260 --> 00:25:31.980 could be light years, I don't know. 609 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:35.860 Anyway, um, the bottom line so, yes, that 610 00:25:35.860 --> 00:25:38.800 was, um, uh, over the weekend that 611 00:25:39.190 --> 00:25:41.520 m offering IPO 612 00:25:42.560 --> 00:25:45.360 happened, uh, and it was very successful. 613 00:25:45.530 --> 00:25:48.240 Um, I heard people on Friday saying, oh, no, 614 00:25:48.560 --> 00:25:50.640 it'll probably just fail because nobody will 615 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.800 actually believe what Elon Musk's saying. 616 00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:55.000 Well, they might not have believed what he 617 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:56.800 was saying, but they put their money where 618 00:25:56.800 --> 00:25:59.440 their mouths were. And um, yeah, so it's done 619 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.400 very, very well. Um, I think the number 620 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.160 I'm thinking of is $160.95, 621 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:06.800 which is the share price. 622 00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:09.260 Andrew Dunkley: Well, I've just looked now and I know this is 623 00:26:09.260 --> 00:26:11.740 being recorded. So by the time people hear 624 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:13.500 this, the number will change. But at the 625 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:15.180 moment, at this very moment, 626 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:18.380 $192.50 in US 627 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:18.900 dollars. 628 00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:21.300 Professor Fred Watson: All right, so they've already gone up then. 629 00:26:21.300 --> 00:26:23.420 Andrew Dunkley: They've gone up 19.6%. 630 00:26:23.820 --> 00:26:24.300 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. 631 00:26:24.620 --> 00:26:27.420 Andrew Dunkley: In fact, they're up 31.55% today. 632 00:26:27.420 --> 00:26:29.540 Professor Fred Watson: So not a bad investment really, if you're 633 00:26:29.540 --> 00:26:31.820 into that kind of thing. Yeah, well, we're 634 00:26:31.820 --> 00:26:33.180 not into that kind of thing, but we're 635 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:35.960 definitely into merge. Uh, and that's what 636 00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.560 this storey's about because, 637 00:26:38.750 --> 00:26:41.560 um. Uh, I guess the one 638 00:26:41.560 --> 00:26:44.440 thing you can not accuse Elon 639 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:47.300 Musk of is lacking flair, um, 640 00:26:47.520 --> 00:26:49.720 because he's done this very nicely. You can 641 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:50.800 buy a mission patch, 642 00:26:52.550 --> 00:26:52.870 Professor Fred Watson: uh, 643 00:26:52.870 --> 00:26:55.520 Professor Fred Watson: for the ipo, uh, which says 644 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.000 the future is public. There's a lovely 645 00:26:58.320 --> 00:27:01.000 embroidered starship in the 646 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.120 background. Uh, in the middle it says 647 00:27:03.120 --> 00:27:05.910 SPCX, which is SpaceX liftoff 648 00:27:06.300 --> 00:27:08.860 underneath it. And, uh, SpaceX 649 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:11.700 2026. Uh, and it's also got a four 650 00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:13.820 leaf clover on it, which I think is present 651 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:16.300 on all Elon Musk. SpaceX. 652 00:27:16.380 --> 00:27:18.700 Andrew Dunkley: I think that's been his logo since day one. 653 00:27:18.860 --> 00:27:21.420 Professor Fred Watson: Yes. Yeah. M a sign of good luck. 654 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:24.420 Maybe that's what's done it. But the thing I 655 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:27.260 liked was, um, uh, 656 00:27:27.820 --> 00:27:29.740 you can have a souvenir bell. 657 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:33.390 And I guess I don't know whether 658 00:27:33.390 --> 00:27:35.630 bells are normally associated. I know they're 659 00:27:35.790 --> 00:27:37.710 certainly associated with the stock exchange, 660 00:27:37.710 --> 00:27:40.510 but whether with, uh, public offerings, 661 00:27:40.510 --> 00:27:42.630 they're associated. But they certainly are in 662 00:27:42.630 --> 00:27:44.710 this case. And what he's chosen for the shape 663 00:27:44.710 --> 00:27:46.630 of his bell is something absolutely perfect. 664 00:27:46.630 --> 00:27:49.390 It's the bell, um, of, 665 00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:52.430 uh, a Raptor engine. These rocket 666 00:27:52.430 --> 00:27:55.070 motors have a very strongly bell shaped, 667 00:27:55.420 --> 00:27:58.340 uh, thrust chamber. I guess it's the, um, 668 00:27:58.670 --> 00:28:01.560 opening, uh, that lets all the gas out, uh, 669 00:28:01.560 --> 00:28:03.940 after it's been ignited in the combustion 670 00:28:04.010 --> 00:28:05.970 combustion chamber above it. And so it's a 671 00:28:05.970 --> 00:28:08.050 scale replica of the Raptor engines that 672 00:28:08.050 --> 00:28:11.010 actually power the Falcon 673 00:28:11.010 --> 00:28:13.450 Heavy, um. I beg your pardon, the super heavy 674 00:28:13.930 --> 00:28:16.570 Booster, which is the basis of starship. 675 00:28:16.650 --> 00:28:19.610 It's got 33 of these. And 676 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:22.570 um, uh, this one's 677 00:28:22.570 --> 00:28:24.450 got a little clapper in the middle that lets 678 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:27.250 you ring it as well as all the artwork. And 679 00:28:27.250 --> 00:28:28.810 apparently it rings. Yes, because there's a 680 00:28:28.810 --> 00:28:31.540 video on the website that shows you that, uh, 681 00:28:31.770 --> 00:28:32.050 they 682 00:28:32.050 --> 00:28:34.810 Andrew Dunkley: haven't released those yet to the 683 00:28:34.810 --> 00:28:35.090 public. 684 00:28:35.170 --> 00:28:35.690 Professor Fred Watson: That's right. 685 00:28:35.690 --> 00:28:37.490 Andrew Dunkley: They will be out probably. I think they're 686 00:28:37.490 --> 00:28:40.210 talking December. Yeah, um, 687 00:28:40.450 --> 00:28:43.330 yeah, they're sort of an 18 centimetre or 688 00:28:43.330 --> 00:28:45.930 7 inch scale model of the, the 689 00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:48.810 SpaceX Raptor Bell. This 690 00:28:48.810 --> 00:28:51.770 one has a, you know, clunker in it that makes 691 00:28:51.770 --> 00:28:53.370 it ring. I don't know what that thing's 692 00:28:53.370 --> 00:28:56.130 called inside the bell, the dinghy thing. 693 00:28:56.770 --> 00:28:59.450 Professor Fred Watson: It's a clapper, is it? That's the technical 694 00:28:59.450 --> 00:29:00.210 name. Yeah, for. 695 00:29:00.210 --> 00:29:02.170 Andrew Dunkley: Anyway, so they're selling those, they're 696 00:29:02.170 --> 00:29:04.750 selling, uh, tote bag and 697 00:29:05.100 --> 00:29:07.950 um, as you said, mission patches, T shirts, 698 00:29:08.510 --> 00:29:11.390 caps, you 699 00:29:11.390 --> 00:29:13.390 Professor Fred Watson: know, he's um, he's the sort of 700 00:29:13.390 --> 00:29:15.910 Andrew Dunkley: bloke that never lets opportunity get away. 701 00:29:15.910 --> 00:29:18.750 Professor Fred Watson: None whatsoever. I, I did hear 702 00:29:19.550 --> 00:29:22.470 some of the things that he said publicly at 703 00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:24.590 the launch which made me cringe, 704 00:29:25.300 --> 00:29:26.190 uh, because, 705 00:29:28.430 --> 00:29:31.230 you know, I can, I can, can just about, 706 00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:34.990 um, believe that we 707 00:29:34.990 --> 00:29:37.790 might get humans to Mars in his lifetime. 708 00:29:38.670 --> 00:29:41.390 It won't be millions. And that's because 709 00:29:41.390 --> 00:29:43.950 that's immoral, apart from anything else. 710 00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:47.150 Um, but he was talking about, 711 00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:50.750 uh, you know, flying through, 712 00:29:50.750 --> 00:29:53.630 around the solar system and beyond. 713 00:29:54.110 --> 00:29:57.000 And at the moment that is off 714 00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:00.000 the agenda. Physics doesn't let you do 715 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:00.280 that. 716 00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:03.960 Uh, just actually as a little footnote to 717 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:06.720 that, I read a paper yesterday, uh, which 718 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:09.400 is about, you know, the idea of 719 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.080 using, um, photonic 720 00:30:12.080 --> 00:30:14.560 propulsion, or basically light, Ah, 721 00:30:14.840 --> 00:30:17.760 energy blasted at a light sail. You've got a 722 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:20.560 laser, uh, you fire it at this light sail and 723 00:30:20.560 --> 00:30:22.440 the spacecraft accelerates because of that. 724 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:24.600 That's all fine and dandy and will work, 725 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.100 um, if you can make your spacecraft light 726 00:30:27.100 --> 00:30:29.580 enough. But it turns out that you're not ever 727 00:30:29.580 --> 00:30:31.580 going to get near the speed of light 728 00:30:32.220 --> 00:30:34.700 beyond about 75% of the speed of light. 729 00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:37.980 You, uh, get something called relativistic 730 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:40.900 drag, uh, where space itself drags on the 731 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:42.820 light sail as well as any kind of 732 00:30:42.820 --> 00:30:45.020 interstellar matter that you've got to plough 733 00:30:45.020 --> 00:30:47.900 through at 75% of the speed of light. 734 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:50.180 So that's not going to get us touring around 735 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:50.940 the galaxy. 736 00:30:51.100 --> 00:30:52.700 Andrew Dunkley: No, we'll have to find another way. 737 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:54.140 Professor Fred Watson: Need another way? Yes. 738 00:30:54.140 --> 00:30:56.510 Andrew Dunkley: They need to go to science fiction, um, 739 00:30:56.760 --> 00:30:58.600 writers and see what they've come up with. 740 00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:01.920 Professor Fred Watson: Maybe that's what Elon's thinking of. Maybe 741 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:03.840 he was suddenly in the realm of science 742 00:31:03.840 --> 00:31:05.480 fiction, but he didn't bother to tell us. 743 00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:08.200 Andrew Dunkley: No, maybe not, no. But there's no, Nothing 744 00:31:08.280 --> 00:31:10.520 fictional about his, um, ip. 745 00:31:11.080 --> 00:31:12.040 Professor Fred Watson: No, not at all. 746 00:31:12.750 --> 00:31:14.720 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, initial public offering that is out there 747 00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:17.280 and it is going gangbusters. It's burning 748 00:31:17.280 --> 00:31:19.880 like a raptor at the moment. 749 00:31:20.120 --> 00:31:23.080 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, probably will. I mean, you know, 750 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:25.830 you've got to give the guy credit. Uh, 751 00:31:26.120 --> 00:31:28.640 two of the biggest breakthroughs of our, of 752 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:31.600 our generation, huh? Electric vehicles 753 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:34.280 and, um, reusable booster rockets. And 754 00:31:34.360 --> 00:31:35.800 basically they've come from him. 755 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:38.280 Andrew Dunkley: Yes, they have. It's quite 756 00:31:38.280 --> 00:31:40.920 extraordinary. Yeah, you can read about it at 757 00:31:41.320 --> 00:31:44.010 collectspace. Uh, dot com. We, um, 758 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:46.000 won't tell you all the prices of everything 759 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.820 he's selling because that's, you know, you go 760 00:31:48.820 --> 00:31:50.390 and have a look. Um, 761 00:31:51.420 --> 00:31:54.340 totally your call. Um, but I do like the 762 00:31:54.340 --> 00:31:56.780 idea of mission patches and I'm pretty sure I 763 00:31:56.860 --> 00:31:59.780 suggested that to Huw many years ago that we 764 00:31:59.780 --> 00:32:01.060 should have mission patches. 765 00:32:01.060 --> 00:32:02.540 Professor Fred Watson: Yes, yes, we do. 766 00:32:02.780 --> 00:32:05.180 Andrew Dunkley: Yes. I've got something we should. A new one 767 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:06.140 for every episode. 768 00:32:07.180 --> 00:32:08.460 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, all right. Okay. 769 00:32:09.020 --> 00:32:10.220 Andrew Dunkley: No, that's a bit much. 770 00:32:10.540 --> 00:32:12.620 Professor Fred Watson: Look, the trouble is the mission patches, 771 00:32:12.620 --> 00:32:14.700 they would just be adequate and if you. 772 00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:17.820 Andrew Dunkley: Although, I think, ah, our logo would make a 773 00:32:17.820 --> 00:32:18.460 great patch. 774 00:32:19.180 --> 00:32:20.330 Professor Fred Watson: It would. Yeah. 775 00:32:20.330 --> 00:32:20.730 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah. 776 00:32:21.210 --> 00:32:24.130 Andrew Dunkley: Anyway, um, we'll, we'll do that one day 777 00:32:24.130 --> 00:32:25.610 maybe. I don't know. There's plenty of other 778 00:32:25.610 --> 00:32:27.330 stuff in the shop. Just go and have a look in 779 00:32:27.330 --> 00:32:28.650 our shop. It's on our website. 780 00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:31.090 Spacenutspodcast.com or 781 00:32:31.090 --> 00:32:33.620 spacenuts IO uh, 782 00:32:33.850 --> 00:32:35.770 click on the shop link and buy yourself a 783 00:32:35.770 --> 00:32:38.570 pair of socks or a notebook or a, 784 00:32:38.660 --> 00:32:41.650 um, or a coffee cup or a hat or a 785 00:32:41.650 --> 00:32:43.920 hoodie, stickers. Um, 786 00:32:44.450 --> 00:32:46.810 there's just all this great stuff there. I've 787 00:32:46.810 --> 00:32:48.560 got some of it. Look, I've got my car cup 788 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.560 here. See, here's my cup. 789 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.960 Professor Fred Watson: Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I might 790 00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:54.960 have one of those somewhere. 791 00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:57.880 Andrew Dunkley: I probably do, yes. And I've got the tote 792 00:32:57.880 --> 00:33:00.160 bag as well. So we thought of that before 793 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:03.080 Elon. Probably using the same company that 794 00:33:03.080 --> 00:33:04.240 we do. But 795 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.880 yes. Um, I think that brings us to the end. 796 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:10.080 Fred Watson, thank you so much. 797 00:33:10.080 --> 00:33:12.600 Professor Fred Watson: A pleasure, Andrew, good to talk. And we'll 798 00:33:12.600 --> 00:33:13.200 speak again. 799 00:33:14.410 --> 00:33:15.370 Andrew Dunkley: We will indeed. 800 00:33:15.610 --> 00:33:17.250 Professor Fred Watson Watson, astronomer at 801 00:33:17.250 --> 00:33:18.610 large, and thanks to Huw in the studio, 802 00:33:18.610 --> 00:33:20.850 couldn't be with us today because he wants to 803 00:33:20.850 --> 00:33:23.490 be the world's second trillionaire and he's 804 00:33:23.490 --> 00:33:25.090 just put down five bucks and he's just 805 00:33:25.090 --> 00:33:27.290 watching to see what happens. And from me, 806 00:33:27.290 --> 00:33:28.810 Andrew Dunkley, thanks for your company. 807 00:33:28.810 --> 00:33:30.490 We'll see you on the next episode of Space 808 00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:31.090 Nuts. 809 00:33:31.090 --> 00:33:31.770 Professor Fred Watson: Bye. Bye. 810 00:33:33.050 --> 00:33:35.250 Andrew Dunkley: You've been listening to the Space Nuts 811 00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:38.250 podcast, available at 812 00:33:38.250 --> 00:33:40.180 Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 813 00:33:40.340 --> 00:33:43.180 iHeartRadio or your favourite podcast 814 00:33:43.180 --> 00:33:44.900 player. You can also stream on 815 00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:47.860 demand@bytes.com this has been another 816 00:33:47.860 --> 00:33:49.900 quality podcast production from 817 00:33:49.900 --> 00:33:51.060 bytes.com.