1 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: Hey, Daniel, how do you feel about sequels? Well, in general, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: they tend to be sort of bigger, more expensive, and 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: early on schedule. I think bigger and more expensive is 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: the whole point of sequels. Well, can you imagine what 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: you liked? My favorite sequel is called the PhD Movie Too, 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: totally unbiased opinion, totally unbiased. I wrote and produced it, 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: but I think it was good. Yeah. Well when I 8 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: when we made it, I took inspiration from like, you know, 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: The Empire Strikes Back and you know The Matrix Too. 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: I think those are all movies that did pretty well 11 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: on the sequels. Oh, I see you meant movie sequels. Yes, 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: what kind of sequels did you think I was talking about? Hey, 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: it's the podcast, So I was thinking science experiment sequels 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: of course, Indiana Jones and the Thesis of Dude, Rise 15 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: of the Protons. Hi. I'm or Having, a cartoonist and 16 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: the creator of PhD Comics. Hi, I'm Daniel. I'm a 17 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: particle physicist, and I actually am a fan of movie sequels. 18 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to our podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, 19 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: a production of My Heart Radio. I think this is 20 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: our episode number a hundred or so I think we're 21 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: like twenty, so I don't even know if it counts 22 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: as a sequel anymore. What would that be called. I 23 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: think it's called episode A hundred and twenty, and it's 24 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: got to be a Latin name for it or something 25 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: like de sentiqual. Well, I think we probably are going 26 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: to peek out around two hundreds, So if people can 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: just hang on and wait for that one, maybe we'll 28 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: come out before Avengers. We are slowly building the dramatic tension, 29 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: So welcome to five guys. It's about the universe and 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: all the amazing and beautiful and mind blowing things to 31 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: see out there in the far reaches of the cosmos. 32 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: It's about all the things that you want to understand, 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: all the things that you want to see about the universe, 34 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: all the things that you'd like us to explain to you. 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: So that's our job here today is to take you 36 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: on a tour of the cosmos, help you visualize and 37 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: help you really understand the universe that we find ourselves in. Yeah, 38 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: and sometimes we don't just talk about the things that 39 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: are out there or that might be out there in 40 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: the universe, but we also kind of like to talk 41 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: about how we see these things out there and how 42 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: we know that they're there, and how can we know 43 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: more about them? That's right. One important role of science 44 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: is to develop new eyes into the universe, new ways 45 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: to look out there and discover crazy, mind blowing stuff 46 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: that informs our understanding of how everything works. And so 47 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: we talk sometimes about how particle accelerators give us a 48 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: new vision of the very small, or if we look 49 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: at a strophysical new trinos, we can see the universe 50 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: in a different way. And so every time we build 51 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: a new telescope or a new device or new something, 52 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: it's like we're opening a new kind of eyeball. Yeah, 53 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: because there is a lot out there for us to 54 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: see and discover, and it's pretty amazing that we can 55 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: see a lot of it from our little you know, 56 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: spherical rock here floating in the middle space, in a 57 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: corner of the galaxy, in the in the little corridor 58 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: of the universe, and almost spherical rock, remember our podcast, 59 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: that's right, almost spherical Yeah. But it is incredible that 60 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: we can learn anything, you know, that without going anywhere, 61 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: we can learn so much about this vast cosmos just 62 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: by sitting on our little home and that relies on 63 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: us gathering all this information. And if you think about 64 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: it from the other perspective, there's so much information about 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: the universe just washing over us right now. You know, 66 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: we know about light, and we know about neutrinos and 67 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: all sorts of other particles. But we think that there 68 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: are other kinds of matter washing over us that are 69 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: still in this sable, and there might be yet new 70 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: forms of matter we haven't yet even imagined that contained 71 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: incredible revelations about the universe. We haven't even figured out 72 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: how to listen to that information yet, how to open 73 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: up an eyeball that will let us see the universe 74 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: in that way. Oh, man, Daniel, you just gave me 75 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: galactic fomo like cosmic fear of missing out. What if 76 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: there's something, you know, revelatory about the reality of the 77 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: universe right now going through us, coming from space in 78 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: the in the light flashing over is but nobody's looking 79 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: What if almost certainly right, think about the history of science. 80 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: You know, for millions and millions of years, light that 81 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: contained information about the universe was hitting the Earth and 82 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,359 Speaker 1: there was nobody even looking up. And then for thousands 83 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: of years we looked up, but we had no idea 84 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: what that information contained. It's only the last few decades 85 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: we're starting to get a clue for how much information 86 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: there is. So I'm sure we've only begun to crack 87 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: that nut. Man, what if we started looking out and 88 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: we missed the first part the US movie and we 89 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: just catch the sequel. I mean, how confusing would that be. 90 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: We are looking at the universe sort of almost fourteen 91 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: billion years after the story started, but fortunately the movie 92 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: started also very far away, and so it's just getting 93 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: here now. We can go back and watch the original prequels. Oh, 94 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: I see, this is not like an episode fourteen billion 95 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,119 Speaker 1: in the movie of the Universe. No, episode fourteen billion 96 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: is happening right here on Earth right now. But we 97 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,600 Speaker 1: hope that episode zero is still out there and that 98 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: if we get in powerful enough telescope, we can see 99 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: as it arrives on Earth because it took so long 100 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: to get here. All right, So today we'll be talking 101 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: about one such tool to look out into the universe. 102 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 1: And it's a pretty exciting too. It's still under construction, 103 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: but it's uh planned to be launched pretty soon, right 104 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: in the next couple of years. Yeah, they actually finished 105 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: building it a couple of years ago, but they're still 106 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: sort of tweaking it and preparing it. It's a really 107 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: complex device and then to really get it ready for launch. 108 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: It's going to be a delicate thing when it finally 109 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: goes up into space, and it's sort of the child 110 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: or the successor to something that everybody is familiar with, 111 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: one of the most famous experiments in astronomy. So today 112 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: on the podcast, we will be asking the question what 113 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: will the James Web space telescope tell us about the universe? 114 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: And you might be familiar with space telescopes in general 115 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: because of Hubble. Hubble, of course named after Edwin Hubble, 116 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 1: who discovered that the universe was expanding, is provided these 117 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: gorgeous pictures of the Cosmos had looked further and further 118 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: out into the universe and anything before it. It's an 119 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: incredible technological marvel. And now we're talking about basically Hubble 120 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: two point oh, how about the next generation or if 121 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: this was like horror movies, would be like son of Hubble, 122 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: that hub will have a son. He might object to that. 123 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: You know, well, Hubble's son was probably named Hubble actually 124 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: just lives, so that would be Terrible Hubble, son of 125 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: Hubble Hubble episode two. Yeah. The real name for it, though, 126 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: is the James Webb Space Telescope, named after an administrator 127 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: of NASA who had a big role in the Apollo program. 128 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: And I hope that James Webb becomes as famous as Hubble, 129 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: and hope that James Webb Space Telescope teaches us as 130 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: much about the universe as the Hubble did. Yeah. So, actually, 131 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: one of the reasons I brought up the PhD movie 132 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: too in the opening of the episode is that that 133 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: those were two movies, PhD Movie One and Tune, which 134 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: that started real graduate students and real scientists and postdocs 135 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: in the movie. And so it just so happened that 136 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: one of the stars of the movies is now a 137 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: scientist at the James Webb Space Telescope project. Her name 138 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: is Alexander Lockwood, and she's awesome. She has a PhD 139 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: in astronomy from cal Tech and she works on it 140 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: right now. And so I went on and I asked 141 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: her what she thought is exciting and knew about this 142 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: new telescope. Yeah, so I called her out since we 143 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: were I knew we were talking about this space Telescope, 144 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 1: and I asked her to tell us a little bit 145 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: about what this space telescope is and how it's different 146 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: than the Hubble Telescope. So here's what you had to say. 147 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: The James Web Space Telescope is NASA's next huge mission. 148 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: It is going to tell us new things about all 149 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: aspects of the universe, from planets to galaxies to the 150 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: very beginning of what we know in the universe. It 151 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: still works like Hubble does, like a giant telescope in space, 152 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: but it's seven times bigger, and it's going to see 153 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: back even further and even deeper into all sorts of things. 154 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: So it's it's basically Hubble on steroids. It's not replacing Hubble, 155 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: because Hubble's still up there and working. But they're gonna 156 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: work side by side and tell us things you know 157 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: that we can't even imagine. All Right, it's an ambitious sequel. 158 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: The thing is what he's saying. You know it's been 159 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: working out, you know it's ripped. They didn't just try 160 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: to do the same thing as if first one. They're 161 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: really trying to upgrade it and let us see further 162 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: into the universe and try to answer some of the 163 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: new and bigger questions we have in astronomy, right, Yeah, 164 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: And you don't get to build one of these things 165 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: very often, and so when you do, you have to 166 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: balance being really ambitious about developing new technologies that are 167 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: going to give you incredible new information about the universe 168 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 1: with actually making the thing work. And so they always 169 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: want to push the boundaries a little bit. But then 170 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: again you also actually want to get the thing funded 171 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: and up into space. And so here they've tried to 172 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: go way beyond what they did with Hubble. They try 173 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: to do something much more impressive and much more powerful 174 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: because Hubble still working, right, You don't just want another Hubble, 175 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: You want something better than Hubble. You don't want a 176 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: double Hubble. I take ten Hubbles. But you know, if 177 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: you're gonna launch something, you want something that's a super Hubble. 178 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: All right, So, so what does steroids and physics look like? 179 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: It sounds like that he said that it's on It's 180 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: like the old one, but on steroid. So I'm wondering, 181 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: first of all, is it legal? Is it allowed in 182 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: the international community? And second of all, what is a 183 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: physics steroid do? I think it's a pretty good analogy 184 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: because the physics steroid just makes you bigger. And being bigger, 185 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: as we'll talk about in detail in a moment, is 186 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: really important for telescopes because it means you can gather 187 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: more light, and more light you can gather the more 188 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,200 Speaker 1: distant objects you can see. So being bigger really is better. 189 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: And when it comes to telescopes, all right, Well, we 190 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: were wondering, as usual, how many people out there had 191 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,319 Speaker 1: heard of the James Webb Space Telescope and whether they 192 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: knew what we could possibly learn from it. So it's 193 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: usual Daniel went out there into the streets of uc 194 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: Irvine and ask people out there if they knew what 195 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: the James Webb Space Telescope is and what we could 196 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: learn from it. Here's what people had to say. Well, 197 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to be doing. 198 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: My guess would be to get tighter constraints on the 199 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,560 Speaker 1: age of the universe. Again, I don't know what it's doing. Um, 200 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: one of the things that we need to know. UM, 201 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: you know, we could get tighter constraints one lifetime with 202 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: dark matter. UM, maybe on proton decay things like that. 203 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:19,680 Speaker 1: I have not no, I've not I've not no I think, so, okay, 204 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:21,319 Speaker 1: do you know what it's going to teach us when 205 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: you discovered using it? Is it the one that just 206 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: recently went up to like replace a different telescope? Um, 207 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: I think it's okay for x SO planet something like that. 208 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: I'm not entirely sure, but yeah, I've not no. The 209 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: James Webbs is going to be the successor to the Hubble. 210 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: It's going to be able to capture in red light 211 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: all the way back to the beginning of the universe, 212 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: where the light wasn't actually being recaptured and its immediate surroundings. 213 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: All right, well, I guess it's not up there yet, 214 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: so maybe that's why people haven't heard of it very much. 215 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: I was sort of disappointed. I mean, Hubble is so famous. 216 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: I figured that people must have heard of this, you device, 217 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: It's been all the talk of astronomy for years and 218 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: years and years, but almost nobody had heard of it. 219 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: Not even the guy wearing a NASA T shirt knew 220 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,959 Speaker 1: what I was talking about. Oh, he was just wearing 221 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: it for the ironic value. Probably. I thought you were 222 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: going to say, because it's so cool and sexy. Is 223 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,439 Speaker 1: that what you're gonna say? Ironically? Yes, that's what I meant. Yes, 224 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: So it seems like people out there aren't aware of 225 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 1: what the James Web space telescope. We'll teach us about 226 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: the universe and our origins and all sorts of crazy stuff. 227 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: So it's good that we're going to dig into it 228 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: today on the podcast. People at least a dozen people 229 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: will now know what it is after this podcast, me 230 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: you and the tend people I interviewed. Is that what 231 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: you mean? You're forgetting our editor also, no, I'm just kidding. 232 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: We know there are thousands of people out there listening, 233 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: and so we are very happy to tell people about 234 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: this great and interesting new tool. We have to extend signs. 235 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: All right, so let's jump into it, Daniel, what is 236 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: I guess? First of all, let's maybe take a step 237 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: back and just talk about what a space telescope is. 238 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: I mean, is at a telescope to look at space 239 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: or is it actually like made out of space or 240 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: does it take up a lot of space? What? What 241 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: does space telescope? A space telescope is a telescope that 242 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: is in space. Now, all these telescopes, of course look 243 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: at space, but if you're on the ground, you have 244 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 1: to look at space through the atmosphere, and the atmosphere 245 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: looks nice and clear, but you know it's not totally clear, 246 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: and it's wally. When it gets hot, it shakes, and 247 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,439 Speaker 1: so photons have traveled for billions and billions of miles 248 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: to get here on Earth. For us to learn some 249 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 1: secrets of the universe, you don't want to bend and 250 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: twist and blur them just before they get to your telescope. 251 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: So if you put a telescope up in space, you 252 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: get to skip that last little fuzzy bit from the atmosphere, 253 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: all right, because at the atmosphere blocks some of the 254 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: light coming from space, and it also distorts it, right, Yeah, 255 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: it blocks some of the light, specifically the light that's 256 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: longer wavelength, and we can see what we call infrared. 257 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: That light is especially absorbed by the atmosphere, and that 258 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: light is really powerful because it's not absorbed by cosmic dust, 259 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: so it travels much more easily through the whole universe 260 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: until it gets here, and then it's basically blocked by 261 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: the atmosphere. But on top of that, as you said, 262 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: the atmosphere wiggles, and so you have to un somehow 263 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: undo that wiggle if you want to really crystal clear 264 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: picture of space. The other thing is that there aren't 265 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: clouds in space. You could build an awesome telescope here 266 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: on the ground and then apply for time and finally 267 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,400 Speaker 1: get like ten hours in the telescope, and then it's 268 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: just cloudy that day and you just can't see anything. 269 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: Oh man, I was just about to copyright the term 270 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: space cloud. But you're telling me that there's no such thing. Well, 271 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: there's weather in space, as we talked about, but there 272 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: aren't clouds, and so the really the best place to 273 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: observe is up in space. Now it comes with some downsides, 274 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: of course, right. So then, so we have telescopes here 275 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: on Earth and on mountains, but those are still under 276 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: the atmosphere. And so the idea that um somebody had 277 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: at some point was to put a telescope in space 278 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: and then take pictures of the universe that way. That's right, 279 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: it's uninterrupted, you can keep the Earth behind you, you 280 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,160 Speaker 1: don't have the atmosphere. You're open to different kinds of light. 281 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: Of course, the disadvantage is that it's a lot harder 282 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: to repair. You remember when Hubble went up, there was 283 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: like a fuzz on its mirror. Its billions of dollars 284 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: telescope finally launched and they turned it on and the 285 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: pictures were fuzzy, and they had to send astronauts to 286 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: repair it. And if you ever wait to like get 287 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: your cable repair, this takes even longer to get an 288 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: astronaut to repair. Can I get an astronaut to repair 289 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: my cable then also work? I think they're pretty qualified. Yeah, 290 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: but it's pretty expensive. I don't know what the service 291 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: plan is like. All right, So you put it out 292 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: into space and it can look out and it's has 293 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: a better view, but it's harder to maintain and fix 294 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 1: and to control I imagine, right, it's pretty tricky, yeah, 295 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: and it's complicated, and also you have to risk launching it. 296 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: You put this thing, your baby that you worked on 297 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: for ten or twenty years, that you've got billions of 298 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: dollars of funding and hundreds of people have helped you build. 299 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: You put it on a rocket and send it up 300 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: into space. And some fraction of these rockets they just blow. 301 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: So it could be the little baby blows up on 302 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: the path. That's a space telescope and the Hubble space telescope, 303 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: which maybe I think If you've been on the Internet 304 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: for a while, you've probably most likely have seen images 305 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:17,840 Speaker 1: from the Hubble Space Telescope, which Louis launched in the 306 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: nineties I think or eighties. Yeah, I think it started 307 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 1: operations in the early two thousand's. Oh all right, I 308 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: have to check that. Actually I'm not sure. Just record, 309 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: just record all versions here, here's fifty versions every started 310 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: in October seven, seven seven. That sounds very incredible. Yeah, 311 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: Hubble has been around for a while, it's been providing 312 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: us amazing pictures. But this telescope is going to be 313 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: quite different from Hubble. I mean, they'll be in space still, 314 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: but it's got some significant upgrades. All right, So this 315 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: is the sequel to Hubble. Uh And so what are 316 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: what's better, better, and bigger about it? Well, first of all, 317 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: it's bigger. So Hubble had about four point five square 318 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: meters of observing area and this one is going to 319 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: have about twenty five. That means that it can gather 320 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: five times as much light. And that's really critical because 321 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: the reason we can see something that's far away is 322 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: because we focus on it and gather light for a while. 323 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: You need to get enough photons from those things before 324 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: you can see them. It's like having a bigger catchers 325 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,120 Speaker 1: mit to catch light. You just get you're just you're 326 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 1: getting more stuff precisely. Think about that object that's billions 327 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 1: and billions of light years away. Where it is, it's 328 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: super bright. But then the photons as they leave that thing, 329 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: they spread out through the universe, so you've got fewer 330 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: and fewer photons per area, per volume actually, and so 331 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: when you get to Earth, you're getting a very small 332 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 1: number of photons. So the larger your catcher's mitt and 333 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,679 Speaker 1: the longer you can point it there, the deeper in 334 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: space and the further back in time you can see. 335 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: So size is huge, literally, but this thing is so 336 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: big that it doesn't fit into a rocket. So they 337 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: had to design this really complex thing. It's made out 338 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: of eighteen hexagonal mirrors that will unfold in space to 339 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: make a big mirror. Wow, sounds tricky. It does sound tricky. 340 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: When that thing goes up, those guys are going to 341 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: be nervous. Well, we have high KI confidence in NASA, 342 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 1: and and so you're saying it's gonna let us see 343 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 1: further away. I guess you know, because the stuff that's 344 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: further away is giving off less light that's getting to us. 345 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,719 Speaker 1: And so if we have a bigger lens, a bigger mirror, 346 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 1: bigger catchures myth, we can see those really far away 347 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,640 Speaker 1: objects precisely. That's one way that it let us see 348 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: deeper into the universe. And there's a second, totally separate 349 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: way that will also help us see further into the universe, 350 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: and that's that it can look at a different kind 351 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,640 Speaker 1: of light. Remember, the things that are far away are 352 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: also moving away from us more quickly. There's this relationship 353 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,159 Speaker 1: between distance from us and speed, which something that's moving away, 354 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: and the further something is away from us, the fastest 355 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: moving away from us, which shifts the frequency of the light, 356 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: and so they called this red shift. The further something 357 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: is away from us, the fastest moving away from us, 358 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: the more the wavelength of light is shifted towards the red. Right, 359 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: like the whole signal of the light just becomes more red, 360 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: that's right, And at some point it passes out of 361 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: the band that Hubble can see images from the very 362 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: first things in the universe, which were really far away 363 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:31,560 Speaker 1: at the time, and the images are just out getting here. 364 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: They're getting here, but they're so infrared shifted that Hubble 365 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: cannot see them. Oh wow, it's it's like you're blind 366 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: to those things. Yeah, so we're opening up a new 367 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,360 Speaker 1: kind of eye. They can see light from those objects. 368 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: Even if you pointed Hubble at one of these objects 369 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,479 Speaker 1: for a year and just focused on it and gathered 370 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: all the light, Hubble still could not see it. It's 371 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: just blind to it. So this is gonna be bigger, 372 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:55,920 Speaker 1: and it's gonna be able to see in the infrared 373 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: where these really really distant objects are emitting. Wow, sound 374 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: like a pretty good sequel. I would pay to see 375 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:06,640 Speaker 1: that movie. And it has some has some new features 376 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: to let it do that. Because to see in the infrared, 377 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: you have to stay very very cold, because infrared is 378 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: basically the transmission of heat. So to be sensitive to 379 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: infrared light, you have to have a really cold object, 380 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,119 Speaker 1: and that introduces another layer of complexity. Not only are 381 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: you out in space, but you have to like cry 382 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: oh cool the whole thing. Oh I see, because if 383 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: you're if you're too warm, then your sensors can't pick 384 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: up these warm signals. Is that what it is like 385 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: it gets lost in the noise. Precisely, you have to 386 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: be really cold to be sensitive to infrared signals. So 387 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,240 Speaker 1: they have to keep this thing less than fifty degrees kelvin. 388 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: That's colder than it is in space, is it. No, 389 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: it's pretty cold, and it's colder than the sort of 390 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: atmosphere of spaces, you know, the cosmic microwave background radiation 391 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: is like two point three degrees kelvin. But something that's 392 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 1: sitting out in space that absorbs sunlight will get hotter 393 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: than that. And so they had to build the shield 394 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: for this thing. This thing is a huge telescope and 395 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,159 Speaker 1: it sits on top of a shield that's going to 396 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: protect it from the sun. Interesting needs a paracel. Yeah, 397 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: it's gonna sit in its own shadow for its entire life. Alright, cool, Well, 398 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: I'll sign up to see that sequel. It sounds like 399 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,400 Speaker 1: it's gonna be bigger and redder. A should be the subtitle, 400 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: Space Telescope to Redder, cooler, further, further, redder, fainter but cooler, 401 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: but cooler. Here you go. All right, let's get into 402 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: when this thing is actually gonna launch and what we 403 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: can expect to tell us. But first let's take a 404 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:55,440 Speaker 1: quick break. Alright, we're talking about the new and upcoming 405 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 1: James Web Space Telescope, and we it's we know it's 406 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: gonna be bigger, and it's going to be cooler technically 407 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: and figuratively and literally, and it's going to be pretty 408 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,680 Speaker 1: cool in that it's going to let us see further 409 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: away objects and older objects. So Daniel, when can when 410 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: are they planning on launching this and when when will 411 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: it be ready to take cool picks of the universe. Well, 412 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,919 Speaker 1: the official launch date is March, but that's sort of 413 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: the official launch date today. There's been a lot of 414 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: official launch dates. The original launch date was two thousand seven, 415 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: but obviously we missed that one and so they had 416 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: some trouble getting it ready or well, you know, this 417 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: thing is doing something that nobody's ever done before, and 418 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 1: when you develop these instruments that nobody's ever developed before, 419 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: then sometimes you run into snags and you have to 420 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 1: change plans. And so, like every big project, it's years 421 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 1: behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. But we 422 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 1: think it's going to launch. Yes, So there's been a 423 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: few days in launching the Space the Scope, and so 424 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,040 Speaker 1: I was curious, so I asked Alex again how she 425 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:10,360 Speaker 1: felt about the new launch plan for Yeah, so we 426 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,679 Speaker 1: we recognize that it has been delayed, but it it 427 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: is full of things that have literally never been done before. Like, 428 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: not only is the science going to be great, but 429 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: in order to do that, the things that people have 430 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: made just to make this work, which include this giant 431 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: eighteen section segmented me or the biggest thing we've ever 432 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: sent into space, and to do all that, the technology 433 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: that we needed is incredibly incredibly technical. Um and so yeah, 434 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: it's taken longer than we need than we thought it would, 435 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: but that's because it is so profoundly innovative, and the 436 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,199 Speaker 1: science is going to be amazing because we thought of 437 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: all these new things to make it happen. I am 438 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: very confident that it's going to launch, all right, So 439 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: that's pretty soon March. I mean that's uh, probably sooner 440 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: than next Adventures equel, I think, And hopefully it'll last longer. Yeah, 441 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: and hopefully. But I hear it's going to cost about 442 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: the same as this telescope a few billion dollars or 443 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: make up a few billion. We should just make the profits, 444 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: take the profits from adventures and put it to space astronomy. 445 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: Oh my god, I've been saying that forever. The amount 446 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: of money that we spend on wasted fidget spinners and 447 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 1: movies compared to the science budget of this country, it's 448 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,400 Speaker 1: embarrassing and um, probably equally mind blowing. Well, this thing 449 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: originally was going to cost about five million bucks. That's 450 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: when they started planning it in But by two thousand 451 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: and six the budget had exploded to four and a 452 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: half billion dollars, and now the total budget is just 453 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: just shy of ten billion dollars. That's quite the accounting 454 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: call they probably had to have to figure out these numbers. 455 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: But um, but probably worth it, I'm sure. I mean 456 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: nine billion, that's like the cost of one jet airplane, right, Yeah, 457 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: it's totally worth it. For secrets of the universe, for 458 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: things that nobody has ever seen before. It's definitely gonna 459 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: be worth it. And you know, the day that they launched, 460 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: the day that this thing unfold and turns on and 461 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: sends down the first pictures, that's going to be an 462 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: incredible moment in the history of you know, humanity. I 463 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: think it's gonna be an exciting day for astronomers. They 464 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: gonna gathered around the computer screen to see that first 465 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,720 Speaker 1: picture So then let's talk about where they're gonna put this. 466 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: I mean, I know it's going to be out in space, um, 467 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: but space is pretty big. So Houses is going to 468 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,360 Speaker 1: be in the same place where Hubble is. Like, it's 469 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: as it's gonna sit next to Hubble or is it 470 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: doing something totally different? Well, Hubble is in orbit around 471 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: the Earth. It's about three forty miles up. And that's 472 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: convenient because if you do need to send Comcast or 473 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: your cable guy up to fix it, then you can 474 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: get there. Right. We have space shuttles, and or we 475 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: had space shuttles, but now we have ways to get 476 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: up into orbit to fix this stuff. That works for Hubble, 477 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: but it doesn't work for the James Web Space Telescope 478 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: because it's a different kind of telescope and in the 479 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: to be blocked from the light of the Sun and 480 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,600 Speaker 1: the Moon and the Earth constantly. Oh, I see, it 481 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: needs to get away from things that are reflecting or 482 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: are bright, right, And so they put it out in 483 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: this point. It's called a lagrange point. There's several places 484 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: around a large body where you can orbit in this 485 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: sort of stationary location. They're called lagrange points, and there's 486 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: one is called the second Lagrange point. And basically, you 487 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: take the Sun, you draw a line from the Sun 488 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: to the Earth, and then you keep going and there's 489 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: a point there where you can stay in stable orbit 490 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: around the Sun and the Earth. And the cool thing 491 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: there is that you keep the same relationship with the 492 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: Sun and the Earth at all times, so you can 493 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: keep sort of all these objects that are too bright 494 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: behind your sun shield. Oh, I see, it's like you 495 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: don't um need to be spinning around the object to 496 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: stay in orbit because you're sort of far enough away 497 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: where the gravity is weaker. Yeah, it's's there's a stable 498 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: little spot there where you can hang out. So you 499 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: move around the Sun, sort of following the Earth in 500 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: the same angle with respect to the Sun as the 501 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,600 Speaker 1: Earth does at all times. And that way you can 502 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: sort of put your back towards the Earth and also 503 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: the Sun. And so this thing needs to manage, and 504 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:13,880 Speaker 1: it has this one sun shield right has to block 505 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon at all times, 506 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,959 Speaker 1: and so it keeps all those things sort of behind 507 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: it by being a little bit out further than the Earth. 508 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: So it's gonna be like almost a million miles away 509 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: from the Earth a million miles a million miles, which 510 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: means repair will be essentially impossible. Wow, can you send 511 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: robots to try to fix it or clean the lens? 512 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,360 Speaker 1: You probably could, but they will probably cost a billion dollars. 513 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: We don't have like, you know, standard robots roaming the 514 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 1: Solar system to fix stuff. We used to it all 515 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: to make the telescope. We forgot to leave a little 516 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: bit for the room, but needed to clean it up. 517 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:50,719 Speaker 1: Or maybe the next time, you know, we're sending our 518 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: cable repair guys out to Mars, they can just sort 519 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,439 Speaker 1: of stop off at the James Web telescope and fix it. 520 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: Or that's that's probably the next sequel, you know, to 521 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: make it a trilogy. The next Space is going to 522 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: rescue the second space perhaps, or maybe it'll just work fine. 523 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,640 Speaker 1: Maybe the sun shield will unfold and the telescope will 524 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: unfold and will open up and just give us beautiful 525 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: pictures from day one. Let's be optimistic. And so then 526 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: as it as the Earth goes around the Sun, this 527 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 1: telescope is going to kind of maintain that the Earth 528 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: and the Sun behind it, right like it's going to 529 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: rotate also kind of like a giant clock precisely. You 530 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: draw that line from the Sun to the Earth and 531 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: you extend it through the Earth, it'll hit the James 532 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: Web space telescope. It should be fixed always. Yeah, yeah, 533 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: that's pretty interesting. If you want to keep it cool 534 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: and you want to see into the infrared, and you 535 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: want to see deep, deep into the universe. It really 536 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: is the best place to put a space telescope. Oh, 537 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: I see it sits in the shadow that the Earth 538 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: makes from the Sun. Well, the right is also bright. Yeah, 539 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: but it will see a constant eclipse. The Earth will 540 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: be constantly in front of the Sun, and so that 541 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: helps block it. But also it has its own son 542 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: shield right that it keeps the Earth, the Moon, and 543 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 1: the Sun all behind it at all times. Oh man, 544 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: is it going to take a selfie? That would be 545 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: pretty cool, Like if it takes a picture backwards and 546 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: it's like to get the Earth eclipsing the Sun. That 547 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,479 Speaker 1: that was I hope, I hope they're putting in a 548 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: backwards facing camera. They're just for that selfie. I just 549 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: want that selfie. You know. We don't build space telescopes 550 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: for selfies. We build them to look out into the 551 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: universe and see other stuff. I think there's already billions 552 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: of selfies being taken on Earth at any moment. I see, 553 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: I see. We should just call him spaces. Let's write 554 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: a proposal to NASA for the Jorge him space telescope selfie. 555 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: Everyone on Earth take a duck face at the same 556 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: time at the count of three. That's worth ten billion 557 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: dollars for sure, I think everyone. I think, I'm sure 558 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: everyone on Earth would pay a dollar to get that 559 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: selfie sst selfie Space telescope a dollar. Let's see, Let's 560 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: do a fundraiser. Let's see how far we it. I'll 561 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: start the Indiego go right right now, we can show 562 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: people how easy it is to raise money for science 563 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: when you're doing something ridiculous. All right, well, let's get 564 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: now into what it's going to tell us about the universe. 565 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: What is this new lens into the cosmos going to 566 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: reveal that we haven't seen before in this new sequel. 567 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: But first, let's take another quick break. All right, Daniel, 568 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:42,000 Speaker 1: this James Webb space telescope that's new is going to 569 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 1: open up our eyes to new things in the universe. Right, 570 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,719 Speaker 1: It's it's going to let us see further A rudder 571 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: and cooler. So what are some of the things we 572 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: can expect to tell us. Well, like in any sequel, 573 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: it's gonna hit the best points of the previous one, right, 574 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: it's gonna double down and all the good stuff I see. 575 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: And so we're gonna see further away, which means we 576 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 1: might be able to see like the first stars that 577 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: formed in the universe, which are invisible to bubble because 578 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: they're so red shifted. We might see the first galaxies formed, 579 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: and we might really get to see what it's like 580 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: on another planet. What all right, let's bring it down 581 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: that there was a lot of cool stuff there. Um, 582 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: So what do you mean the first stars, Like, we're 583 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: gonna see them be born or we're going to see 584 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: them you know, still sort of burning in the universe 585 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,479 Speaker 1: historical sense, Yeah, we're gonna look back in time and 586 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: see the first stars that formed in the universe. Remember 587 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:41,800 Speaker 1: the universe began, and then we had a lot of 588 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: hydrogen gas and a little bit helium. And these days 589 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,920 Speaker 1: stars have more heavy stuff in them because there's been 590 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: stars around to burn and diffuse and to create carbon 591 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: and iron and that stuff. But back in the early days, 592 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: we had the first stars forming just out of that 593 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: raw gas from the Big Bang, and we think we 594 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: know what those stars might have looked like. We think 595 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,080 Speaker 1: they're probably all much much bigger than the sun, and 596 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: they burned out in just a few million years or 597 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: tens of millions of years. But we don't really know 598 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: what did star formation look like when there had never 599 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 1: been a star, And so that's something we'd like to see. 600 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: And right now that light is hitting us, but it's 601 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: too red shifted and too faint for us to see it. 602 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: So we just need to turn this eyeball on so 603 00:32:22,360 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: we can see what those stars look like. Oh I see, 604 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: So I mean these stars aren't by now long gone 605 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: like right now in this instant there, they're they were 606 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: gone a long time ago, but the ones that were 607 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: really really far away, we might still be able to 608 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,720 Speaker 1: see them because it took so long for the light 609 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: to get here. That's right. We have this amazing feature 610 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,000 Speaker 1: that we can look backwards in time by looking further 611 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: away because light takes so long to get here. So 612 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: something really interesting that happened a long long time ago, 613 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: fourteen billion light years or so, he's just now getting 614 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: here on Earth. So we're looking to get to the 615 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: furthest shell, right, But it has to be. It has 616 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: to be. The stars are formed at the very edge 617 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,560 Speaker 1: of the universe. The stars have formed really far from here. 618 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: We don't know if there is an edge to the 619 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: universe or what's going on over there. But you're right, 620 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: we can't see things that happened a long time ago 621 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: close by. That light is now left and it's is 622 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: being observed by aliens somewhere on another planet. But the 623 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: light that was created from these first stars fourteen billion 624 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: years ago is still flying through the universe. If it's 625 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,240 Speaker 1: if it came from really really far away and it's 626 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: just now getting to the Earth. Wow, And these first 627 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,520 Speaker 1: stars are different than the ones we see now? Are 628 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: they interesting and different? Well, the stars that we see 629 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 1: now have all sorts of mix of gases in them 630 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: because their formed from the leftovers of other stars that 631 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: have died. So remember, the universe is many cycles of 632 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: star life and death. In the first stars formed, they 633 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: clumped together this gas and burned and created heavier elements 634 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: like helium and beryllium and lithium and oxygen, and then 635 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: then they blew up, and then more stars formed from 636 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,920 Speaker 1: the remnants from the sharks of those ours, and they 637 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: could burn even hotter because they're more massive and they 638 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,800 Speaker 1: have heavier stuff in them, and eventually you get heavier 639 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: and heavier and stuff, and that's how you make you know, 640 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 1: iron and all the stuff that makes us up. But 641 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: were many cycles in, so we want to see the 642 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,800 Speaker 1: first cycle. We want to see how this whole series 643 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,399 Speaker 1: got started, right, We want to see the O G stars. Yeah, 644 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,439 Speaker 1: and you know, star formation seems sort of basic. It's like, well, 645 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: gas clumps together and you get stars, but it's actually 646 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 1: really complicated and we still don't understand it. For example, 647 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: we look out at galaxies all around us, and we 648 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,760 Speaker 1: see that some of them are still making new stars, 649 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: other ones are not. Some galaxies seem like dead, and 650 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,319 Speaker 1: we don't understand the difference. We don't understand why some 651 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,439 Speaker 1: galaxies keep making stars and other ones don't. So we'd 652 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: have to go back to the very beginning and see 653 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: the original stars and see what started it all. Pretty 654 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,680 Speaker 1: cool and so well, you said, we will also get 655 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: to see some of the first galaxies. What do you mean, 656 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,000 Speaker 1: have there been second galaxies since? Yeah? In exactly the 657 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,720 Speaker 1: same way that we don't really understand how stars formed 658 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: in the first moments. We also don't really understand what 659 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:04,319 Speaker 1: the first galaxies looked like. Now, our galaxy is the 660 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 1: ones that you're familiar with, Like the Milky Way has 661 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: a bar in the middle and then these lines swirling around. 662 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: It is a spiral galaxy, right, it looks like a swirl, 663 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,279 Speaker 1: looks like a swirl. But the older galaxies that would 664 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: look at if we look really far back in time, 665 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,279 Speaker 1: not as far back as James Webbill tell us, the 666 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: galaxies don't look like that. They're sort of just like 667 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: little clumps, are more like blobs, and they don't have 668 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,839 Speaker 1: these swirl shapes. And we don't really understand how did 669 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,560 Speaker 1: you get from the blobs to the swirls Where all 670 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,319 Speaker 1: the galaxies back then blobs and then the galaxies we 671 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: have now are like combinations of galaxies where they've merged 672 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,880 Speaker 1: together through collisions and formed these super galaxies which then 673 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: becomes swirls or is there a different process? Interesting because 674 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: so before they so you're saying, before galaxies look different 675 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:49,960 Speaker 1: than they are and and we kind of don't know 676 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 1: how to make that connection. Yeah, we don't know how 677 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: they started. And most interestingly, we don't know the role 678 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: that black holes played, Like we think that there's a 679 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,319 Speaker 1: black hole the center of a galaxy, like there is 680 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: one the center of the Milky Way, but we don't 681 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: know what the cause and effect is, Like does every 682 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: galaxy eventually form a black hole because you get so 683 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: much stuff in the middle, or do galaxies form around 684 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: black holes? Like do black holes cause galaxies or the 685 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: other way around. So we'd like to go back to 686 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: the original galaxies and see are these the first black 687 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 1: holes formed in the universe. It's the old you know, 688 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,880 Speaker 1: chicken and the black hole problem, which one came first? 689 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever seen a chicken lay a 690 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,080 Speaker 1: black hole, but i'd like to. Yeah, maybe with this 691 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,839 Speaker 1: new telescope. Who knows, right the possibilities are in add 692 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 1: that to the list of science missions for the James 693 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:41,800 Speaker 1: Webb Telescope. So that's when I want to see in 694 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: a sequel. That's definitely that's prequel territory. But you know, 695 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 1: I think there's there's something here that I want people 696 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,360 Speaker 1: to understand, which is that seeing the first thing, seeing 697 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,000 Speaker 1: the origins of stuff really gives you a sense for 698 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: like why something is. You know, it could have been 699 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,120 Speaker 1: that the universe didn't have galaxies that it's just a 700 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,319 Speaker 1: bunch of stars distributed through space. Why do we have 701 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 1: galaxies at all? What made that happen? And why our 702 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,320 Speaker 1: galaxies the size they are not ten jillion times bigger 703 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,000 Speaker 1: or much much smaller. And I think the clues to 704 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,040 Speaker 1: those big questions about like the nature of space that's 705 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: out there lies in the origins of galaxy formation, which 706 00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:21,400 Speaker 1: we will get to watch. Wow. Yeah, it sounds like 707 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: this telescope is not just gonna let us travel further 708 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,000 Speaker 1: out into the universe or see with more clarity, but 709 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 1: it's actually like kind of like a time machine, you know, 710 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:34,479 Speaker 1: like you can go back in time further and see 711 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:39,160 Speaker 1: closer to the origin and birth of the universe precisely. 712 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:41,719 Speaker 1: And when you want to understand how why things are 713 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 1: the way they are, you got to go back to 714 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,440 Speaker 1: the beginning, and this is going to take us back there. 715 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: You're exactly right, it's like a time machine. It's gonna 716 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: let us see light from the very first moments that 717 00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,239 Speaker 1: there was even light in the universe, because you know, 718 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: the universe had these dark ages after all this stuff 719 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: was created, It was just sort of dark for a 720 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,040 Speaker 1: while before the first stars formed, So we're gonna it 721 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 1: to see the first light that was generated from stars. Interesting, 722 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: and then somebody said, let there be light. Is that 723 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: what you're saying, Daniel? That sounds like something from our 724 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: writer's room. Man, all right? And then you said one 725 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: last thing that was pretty mind blowing to me is 726 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:19,319 Speaker 1: that this new telescope might let us actually kind of 727 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 1: find out if there's life out there in the universe. Yeah, 728 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: we have these amazing telescopes now that can help us 729 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,600 Speaker 1: find other planets like Kepler and tests. These are designed 730 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,880 Speaker 1: to see that there are other planets there around other stars. 731 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: And in the last five, ten twenty years that field 732 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: is exploded, we found now thousands of stars that have 733 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: planets around them. Problem with those telescopes is they're really 734 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,120 Speaker 1: good at seeing that the planet is there, but they're 735 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,400 Speaker 1: not good at studying the planet. They're like more about breath. 736 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:51,319 Speaker 1: You know, they can find the stuff, but once they 737 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,880 Speaker 1: find it, they can't like zoom in on it very well. 738 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: Whereas James Webb is great at zooming in on stuff 739 00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: cool because it has kind of a it's a more 740 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 1: powerful full who lends right, like it's bigger and so 741 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,240 Speaker 1: you can with better focus, and so you might actually, 742 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,200 Speaker 1: you know better, peer into these distant planets, right and 743 00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:11,600 Speaker 1: maybe make out things that would tell you if there 744 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: is life out there exactly. Just like if you're searching 745 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,920 Speaker 1: a beach for I know, somebody's lost wedding ring or something. 746 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,360 Speaker 1: You can use a metal detector to tell if something 747 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: is there. But when you hear a signal, you want 748 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,680 Speaker 1: to dig down and look ut the magnifying glass from 749 00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,719 Speaker 1: microscope and see what you found. You want to zoom 750 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,479 Speaker 1: in and gory detail. So James Webb what he can do. 751 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,319 Speaker 1: It's not great. It's finding that there are planets there, right. 752 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,280 Speaker 1: You wouldn't want to search a beach with a magnifying glass. 753 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,640 Speaker 1: That's what essentially would be like looking for exoplanets with 754 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 1: James Webb. But once you found one, then you point 755 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,359 Speaker 1: your super hubble at it, you point James Webb at it, 756 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,160 Speaker 1: and you can study the atmosphere of these planets. If 757 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: they're close enough, it might even give us pictures of 758 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:53,560 Speaker 1: the planets themselves. Wow, it would be like the ultimate 759 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:57,719 Speaker 1: paparazzi tool. Yeah, we can spy on what's going on 760 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:01,600 Speaker 1: in those planets. Uh, what if you turn it around 761 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:03,839 Speaker 1: and spun and pointed at at Earth then and what 762 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,719 Speaker 1: could we see. We can see vain cartoonists making a 763 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:11,839 Speaker 1: duck face. There you go. That's that's that's worth ten 764 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,479 Speaker 1: billion dollars right there. And they have this really cool 765 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:16,960 Speaker 1: instrument on it. The problem, of course, when you point 766 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: a telescope at a planet that's really far away is 767 00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:22,480 Speaker 1: that it's also next to a star, and that star 768 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:25,200 Speaker 1: sort of drowns it out. And so to keep your 769 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:27,920 Speaker 1: instrument from getting like swamped by the star, they have 770 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:31,520 Speaker 1: this thing called a coronagraph which they used to basically 771 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:33,799 Speaker 1: block the life from the star. They move it so 772 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:35,360 Speaker 1: that it blocks the life from the star and you 773 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,040 Speaker 1: can only see around the star the corona of the star. 774 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,960 Speaker 1: People do this to study the corona of the sun, 775 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,319 Speaker 1: block out the Sun. It has at like a little 776 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: dot in the middle. M m. It's a little the 777 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:48,719 Speaker 1: middle to block out the life from the star, so 778 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,200 Speaker 1: you could only see the stuff near it avoid your 779 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,920 Speaker 1: instrument from getting like swamped and saturated from all the 780 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,279 Speaker 1: light from that star. So we could that will help 781 00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:59,360 Speaker 1: us visualize these exoplanets, so it doesn't look like a J. J. 782 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:04,239 Speaker 1: Abrams version of Star Wars sequel with all the lens 783 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:10,000 Speaker 1: flares exactly, lens flares, not documentary lens flares, not real physics, 784 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:12,160 Speaker 1: all right, And so to close out the episode, we 785 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,040 Speaker 1: thought we'd have Alex tell us a little bit about 786 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,799 Speaker 1: what we can expect from the James Webb Telescope. So 787 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:23,360 Speaker 1: this telescope is the biggest telescope that we've ever built. 788 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,640 Speaker 1: This is really meant to answer some of the big 789 00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:29,520 Speaker 1: questions like, you know, why where do we come from? 790 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:34,040 Speaker 1: And are we alone? And the possibilities for what's out 791 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:38,400 Speaker 1: there are tremendous, and so we're gonna see all the 792 00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: way back, you know, into our deepest history, but then 793 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:45,319 Speaker 1: all the way out to to you know, what could 794 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 1: be out there now. And you know, we're probably not 795 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,719 Speaker 1: going to see another mission of this, of this magnitude 796 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,280 Speaker 1: in my lifetime. Well, you can really hear the excitement 797 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,680 Speaker 1: in the voice of these astronomers. You know, we are 798 00:41:56,719 --> 00:42:00,359 Speaker 1: building them where they're building a huge new toy, and 799 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,680 Speaker 1: we're paying for it, but they get to see the light. 800 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,680 Speaker 1: And so I'm excited for them, and I'm excited for 801 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:08,280 Speaker 1: what humanity is gonna learn. I'm excited for what those 802 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,440 Speaker 1: first stars and first galaxies are gonna look like and 803 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,720 Speaker 1: I'm excited to see pictures of other planets. Yeah, that's definitely. 804 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,160 Speaker 1: I think a sequel that will get me to pay 805 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:21,680 Speaker 1: for another movie ticket ticket. I think joking aside, I 806 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:24,040 Speaker 1: would definitely pay more taxes if it meant we've got 807 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,400 Speaker 1: to build more awesome space telescopes. You know, Daniel, you 808 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:30,200 Speaker 1: can't pay more taxes if you wanted to know. But 809 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,360 Speaker 1: I can't fund the space telescope with my income. Everybody's 810 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,239 Speaker 1: got to pay more taxes to make that happen. All right, Well, 811 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,400 Speaker 1: hopefully this will get more people excited about it, and 812 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:43,239 Speaker 1: so when the trailer drops, people will um share it 813 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:46,839 Speaker 1: and be even more excited. And so stay tuned. It's 814 00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:48,680 Speaker 1: coming out in a couple of years, and hopefully it 815 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,560 Speaker 1: will tell us all about where we came from. I'm excited. 816 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:55,839 Speaker 1: I hope you're excited, and we'll look forward to unpacking 817 00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:59,040 Speaker 1: the discoveries of the James Web space telescopes sometime in 818 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,719 Speaker 1: late you one, Well, thanks for listening, see you next time. 819 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:12,920 Speaker 1: Before you still have a question after listening to all 820 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,160 Speaker 1: these explanations, please drop us the line we'd love to 821 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,600 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, 822 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:22,360 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge That's one Word, or 823 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:26,440 Speaker 1: email us at Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com. 824 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:29,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and remember that Daniel and Jorge Explain 825 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,279 Speaker 1: the Universe is a production of I Heart Radio from 826 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:35,279 Speaker 1: More podcast from my heart Radio, visit the I heart 827 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 828 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:39,720 Speaker 1: favorite shows.