1 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: Hey, Crystal, I have a question for you. Do you 2 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: believe in planet number nine? Do you mean the planet 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: that rob Pluto of its real planetary designation? That's right, exactly, 4 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,319 Speaker 1: Pluto is outseas, But I'm talking about another planet, a 5 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: planet that might be hiding behind Neptune and Uranus. So 6 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: just like the hottest new planet on the block. That's right. 7 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: Every ten years there's something new, something sexy that astronomers 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: want to talk about, something hidden out there. So you 9 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: can always be replaced by a better idea or a 10 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,160 Speaker 1: better planet. That's right. No planet is safe. That's cold, man, 11 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: that's right. But you know there's no room for sentiment 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: out there in the far reaches of the Solar System. 13 00:00:49,920 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: It is a cold, cold place out there. Hi. I'm Daniel. 14 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 1: I'm a particle physicist and the co author of the 15 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: book We Have No Idea, A Guide to the Unknown Universe, 16 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: with my friend and frequent collaborator, Jorge cham And you're 17 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: listening to the podcast Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, 18 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: brought to you by I Heart Radio. Jorge is still 19 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,839 Speaker 1: away for a little while, but don't worry, folks, he'll 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: be back soon. And until then, we have our wonderful 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: guest host, Crystal here with us today. I'm Crystal Dilworth. 22 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: I'm a neuroscientist by training and a triple A s 23 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: IF then STEM ambassador, and I'm super excited to do 24 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: my best to do what Jorge does and help explain 25 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: the universe. Are you going to be a Jorge simulator? 26 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: I could try, but I don't have any bananas with me. 27 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: Maybe offline. I want to hear your best Jorge impression. 28 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: I could probably do most of his talk. That's hilarious, 29 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 1: but a dangerous road, so let's not go down there. 30 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: But thanks for tuning in, folks. Our podcast is all 31 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: about the amazing things about the universe, the crazy bonker 32 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: stuff that we discover when we are trying to understand 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: this universe that we find ourselves in. And often we 34 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: talk about things super far away, but sometimes we like 35 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: to talk about things that are happening right in our backyard, 36 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: things that are happening recently, things that are happening right 37 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: here at home. Because it turns out there are lots 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: of discoveries to be made and stuff is happening all 39 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: the time. So if you haven't been keeping up with 40 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: the latest greatest scientific news stuff that's happening in our 41 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: Solar system. We're here to break it down for you, 42 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: breaking science, Well, I don't know. We want to break 43 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: science or just break the news or maybe break people's minds. 44 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: I'm on board with that. Sounds good. So today on 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: the episode, folks, we're going to be talking about scientific 46 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: news of the Solar system? What is out there? Do 47 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: we really understand what the Solar system is made out of? 48 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: How can it be possible that we still haven't figured 49 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: out what's in our own backyard? What's in your backyard? Crystal? 50 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: There are lots of mysteries hiding out there. There's like 51 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,519 Speaker 1: a lot of potted plants and bugs, but nothing like 52 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: new astrological or astronomical phenomenon. Are you sure there are 53 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,519 Speaker 1: no aliens in your backyard? Can we ever be sure 54 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: that there are not aliens in our backyard? Crystal admits 55 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: there might be aliens in her backyard by some definition 56 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: of alien, by some definition of might. All right, But 57 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: specifically today we want to dig into some news you 58 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: might have heard about about a potential extra planet out 59 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: there at a visitor from another solar system, and new 60 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: discoveries about one of the familiar planets, Saturn. So before 61 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: we dig into that, is wondering if people around town 62 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: had heard about the news of the Solar system, if 63 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: they were keeping up with the latest breaking information. So 64 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: I walked around you see, Irvine, and I asked folks 65 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: if they had heard of some of the latest discoveries. 66 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: Here's what people that you see Irvine had to say. 67 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: I haven't heard of planet nine, but I've heard of 68 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: planet X, which might be the same thing, which is 69 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: a theoretical planet which nobody has seen, but they've seen 70 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: potential effects from it, sort of the gravitational disruption on 71 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: other bodies. I think they believe it has a very 72 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: large orbit beyond the other eight planets, and probably very 73 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: elliptical and even possibly on a completely different plane. No, 74 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: I haven't heard of that. I just know that, like 75 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: we discovered it, and that there could be potential to 76 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: be life. So I don't know. That's why we're interested 77 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: in it. And what about the comment from another Solar 78 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: system we heard about that guy? I don't think so. No, 79 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: I haven't heard of that. No, is that Pluto? No 80 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: that I haven't I don't think I have. No. I 81 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: think I just read a headline and then that was it. No, 82 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: I haven't heard of Yes, I'm not aware of what 83 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: it is, all right, So what do you think of 84 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: those responses, Crystal, Well, it's kind of shocking that people 85 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: are still associating with Pluto, although I do get it. 86 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: Pluto was charismatic, was it? Though? I mean, it's just 87 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: a cold spec out there. I never really understood why 88 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: Pluto struck so many heartstrings with people because it was 89 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: tiny and cute and adorable and lonely. Or is it 90 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: like the baby planet or is it like the underdog planet, 91 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: the scrappy little rascal. I think both right, like, depending 92 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: on which you more identified with. But now we know 93 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: that Pluto is like not even by itself. But I'm 94 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 1: sure we'll get into that. Yes, So you think Pluto 95 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: has lost some sort of special place in our hearts 96 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: now that we discovered there's a whole lot of cosmic 97 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: junk out there in Pluto's orbit. I think that scientists 98 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: would want us to open our hearts to all of 99 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: the cosmics junk. That's right. It's all part of our family, right, 100 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: and we really need to put labels on it. Every 101 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: rock is just you know, it self identifies as a rock. 102 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 1: We don't really care if it's a rock or a 103 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: dwarf planet or a real planet or an asteroid or whatever. 104 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: It all deserves love and investigation. That's right. Every object 105 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: in the Solar System is worthy of our curiosity, perfect right. 106 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: And on that note, let's dig into some of this news. 107 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: I was surprised that people hadn't heard more about this 108 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: interstellar comment, because that blows my mind. That kind of 109 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: thing really gets me interested in potential news from other 110 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: parts of the universe and sort of messages from other 111 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: places that we can't normally access. It's like a special 112 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: opportunity to learn something. A comma is a messenger from 113 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: the great beyond. Yeah, sort of, it's coming from a 114 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: place that we can't normally get to, and so it 115 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: carries with it some information maybe about where it came from. 116 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: And so, because we're trapped on this little tiny rock 117 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: and we can't see most of the univer is very easily, 118 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: we have to develop every kind of eyeball we can, 119 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 1: and mostly we're just looking. So when something actually comes 120 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: from somewhere else, carrying with it like samples and bits, 121 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: then wow, that's an incredible opportunity to really see something 122 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: that otherwise would be totally invisible to us. Okay, I'm 123 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: way more excited about comments now alright, where you're gonna 124 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: have to hold your horses because we'll be talking about 125 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: that at the end of the episode. First, let's dig 126 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: into planet nine and is most of you know, we 127 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: have eight planets in our Solar system since Pluto was demoted. 128 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: One of the things that I've always found amazing is 129 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: that modern science is only responsible before discovering two of those, 130 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: Neptune and Uranus. All the planets before that we're basically 131 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: discovered by ancient civilizations. So from that I must infer 132 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: it is easy to find a planet. While you're really 133 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: throwing some shade on those ancient civilizations, you know, no, 134 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: it is not that hard to find nearby planets. And 135 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: remember the way that we spot planets is only in 136 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: their reflected light, because planets don't actually glow. If you're 137 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: seeing Jupiter or more Us in the sky, you're seeing 138 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: the reflected sunlight off of those planets. They don't actually 139 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: emit any light. And so for us to see a 140 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: planet has to be close enough that that reflected light 141 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: get to Earth and if it's far enough away from 142 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: the Sun it doesn't even get much light, not to 143 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: mention reflected all the way back to Earth. So as 144 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: the planets get further and further from the Sun, they 145 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: are harder and harder to spot. So yeah, the ancient 146 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: civilization sort of found all the easy ones. So which 147 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: ones did we find? We discovered Neptune and Uranus. And 148 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: there's a really interesting story there which is sort of 149 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: going to lead into Planet nine, which is that people 150 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,559 Speaker 1: found Uranus and you know, they saw it by actually 151 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: seeing it in the sky, by finding this little dot 152 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: and tracking its orbit and discovering where it was. But 153 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: urine is is what gave us a clue that Neptune 154 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: even existed, because when they found Uranus, when they saw 155 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: its orbit, it didn't quite make sense. They're like, huh, 156 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: this doesn't move like a gravitational object. This doesn't move 157 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: the way you would expect just a rock out there 158 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: to move. So those ancient scientists that I threw shade 159 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: on a little bit earlier, we're actually amazing because they 160 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: were able to predict how those objects should be moving, 161 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: so we know when we see something abnormal, is that right? Well, 162 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: the ancient scientists. They could see things moving in the sky, 163 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: and they deduced that Mars, for example, in Venus were 164 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: not stars. There were other planets, but it wasn't kntild 165 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: about the eighteen hundreds that we found Uranus and that 166 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: we deduced from Uranus is orbit. At that point we 167 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: had like a solid theory of gravitation, and we could 168 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: calculate the predictions for how these planets should move. And 169 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: when we did that, we found that our predictions for 170 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: Uranus weren't right, Like they just didn't add up. Urinus 171 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: wasn't moving the way we expected to, and things made 172 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:44,959 Speaker 1: a lot more sense if you sort of added one 173 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: more element, like there's some chaos and Uranus is orbited. 174 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 1: It wasn't as simple as they expected, and that's what 175 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: suggested that there might be something else out there, something 176 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: tugging on it, something tweaking it, something making it. So 177 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: it wasn't just moving smoothly and simply so we knew 178 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: the math was right. So something about the way that 179 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: we described what we were seeing had to be wrong. Yeah, well, 180 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: that's a great point. You know, whenever we have a 181 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,560 Speaker 1: theory and then the data disagrees with the theory, you 182 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: have two questions. You're like, well, is the theory wrong? 183 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: And we were pretty sure about the theory of gravitation, 184 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: so that's not the first thing we're going to go to. 185 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: But the other option is, well, maybe we're missing some data, 186 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: Maybe there's some missing element in our theory, maybe there's 187 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: something asked out that it's not in our model. And 188 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: when they added the concept of another planet, like, well, 189 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: what if there's another planet out there, then it made 190 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: a lot more sense. If they put another planet, Neptune 191 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: into the model, then the orbit of uriness makes perfect sense. 192 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: And then they went and looked for Neptune and actually 193 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: found it. So the cool thing about Neptune is that 194 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,959 Speaker 1: we suspected it was there from the gravitational hints before 195 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: we found it. How long between the time when scientists 196 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,439 Speaker 1: are able to predict that there should be a gravitational 197 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 1: mass in an area and the actual concrete servation of 198 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: that planet or mass, Like, what should we expect that 199 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: timeline to be? That's a great question. I wish I knew. 200 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: It depends on a lot of things. That it depends 201 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: on the size of the planet, the distance from the Sun, 202 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: and its shining nous. Because the only way to really 203 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: see it is to see it reflecting life from the Sun, 204 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:20,760 Speaker 1: and the further they are from the Sun, the less 205 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: light they reflect. And it also depends, you know, on 206 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: the color of the planet and its shining nous. Some 207 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: planets absorb more light than they reflecting, so they are 208 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: just harder to spot. I think scientists call this the albedo, 209 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: which always makes me think of the libido. You know, 210 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 1: it's not that exciting, but scientists get excited about different 211 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: things for different reasons. That's right. You gotta get interested 212 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: in something about science. And the cool thing is that 213 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: now we're in the same situation with Urinus and Neptune 214 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: and also all these little objects he's called sort of 215 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: trans Neptune objects, a bunch of dwarf planets and weird 216 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: rocks floating out there in the Solar System, deep deep 217 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: in the Solar System. Those orbits don't make sense, sort 218 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: of in the same way that Urin is used to 219 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: not make sense, and then we found Neptune. Now we're 220 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: looking at Uranus and Neptune and all these trans Neptune 221 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: objects and we're thinking, these don't make sense. These are 222 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: weird orbits for them to have so a piecing the 223 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: puzzle together. As we go further and further away from 224 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: the Sun, it gets harder and harder for us to 225 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: see what we're looking for. Yeah, but the story is 226 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: the same. We ask, can we explain everything we're seeing 227 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: in terms of the objects we have? We say, well, 228 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: would it makes sense if we added another object? And 229 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: this is really fun because that's a clue. If you 230 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: build a model and then you're like, Okay, this makes 231 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: much more sense, and we add this new planet, then 232 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: you can go look for It gives you something sort 233 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: of specific to look for, rather than just scanning the 234 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: sky and wondering if you're going to see something. If 235 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: you know where to look, you have a much better 236 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,320 Speaker 1: chance of actually finding it. So what do we know 237 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: about Planet nine. We don't even know if it exists, right. 238 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: We know that these trans Neptune objects have weird orbits, 239 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: like they've clustered around a common plane that's tilted with 240 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: respect to the Solar System. You know, there's a bunch 241 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: of these guys with really long orbits and they're all tilted, 242 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: and that's not the kind of thing you expect, like 243 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: it can happen. But in order to get a tilt 244 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: relative to sort the sort of Solar System plane you 245 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: have to have a collision or be tugged by something else. 246 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: And they did all these calculations and they found this, 247 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 1: like a one in five of our Solar System ending 248 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: up in this sort of situation without a planet nine. 249 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: So I wouldn't say they're pretty sure that there's a 250 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: planet nine, but it seems unlikely that there isn't a 251 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: planet nine. How do you like that sort of scientific 252 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,800 Speaker 1: word word jumble there? That was a good hedge. I 253 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: like that. But before before these calculations for planet nine 254 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: were made, and before the erratic behavior of these other 255 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: bodies became so obvious that we couldn't ignore them, the 256 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: existence of a ninth planet was kind of like relegated 257 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: to the crazies that wear tin hats and jump around 258 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: in lightning storms, wasn't it. I'm not a member of 259 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,200 Speaker 1: that community, so I'm not sure. But you know, people 260 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: have been wondering about a planet none for a long time, 261 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: and when Pluto is discovered, some people thought, ah, there 262 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: it is. This answers the question about Uranus and Neptune's 263 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: weird orbits and this other stuff. But of course Pluto 264 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: can't actually explain that because it's too tiny. Pluto is 265 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: really small. That's why it got downgraded from planet to 266 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: dwarf planet, so it doesn't actually answer this question. So yeah, 267 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 1: I think that this idea of a of another planet 268 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: out there was a bit of a bit of a 269 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: crazy theory. But now that we get more information, we 270 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: have better telescopes to see more of these trans neptune objects, 271 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: and people have done more careful calculations that I think 272 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: they're better received. But you tell me, you know some 273 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: of these researchers, don't you. I do. Yeah. Mike Brown, 274 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: who was one of the researchers that actually worked to 275 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: demote Pluto because he found other objects that were just 276 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: as big or bigger, so Pluto wasn't as exciting anymore. 277 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: And Constantine Patigue in who the theorists who helped do 278 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: those calculations, are both from my institution, Caltech, So I 279 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to talk to them when they had 280 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: first made this prediction, and they kind of knew people 281 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: were going to think they were crazy, but they are crazy, 282 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: just not in a scientific way. So they were very 283 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: happy to be making this outrageous statement knowing that they 284 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: could back it up with math Um, and they are 285 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: very excited about the idea of observing what they've predicted. 286 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: But in Constantine's predictions, the mass is like five thousand 287 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: times the size of Pluto, So they're looking for something 288 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: that's really significantly large. That's right, Pluto cannot explain this 289 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: weird stuff they're seeing out there. And let me just 290 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: say that I'm so jealous of those guys because it's 291 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: sort of a scientific fantasy to find evidence for something 292 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: that seems bonkers. Because you know, we know the universe 293 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: is bonkers, we know it has surprises waiting for us. 294 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: But you can't just make stuff up. You have to 295 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: discover it. And so to be in that situation where 296 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: you the data are telling you something fascinating and new 297 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: that you know most of the community is gonna have 298 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: a hard time accepting that, honestly seems like a lot 299 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: of fun to me. Yeah, these two guys, they really 300 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: enjoy shaking things up. Yeah, but you asked earlier, like, 301 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: what do we know about planet nine? Well, again, we 302 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: don't know that it exists. But the hypothesis, like sort 303 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: of the theory that would explain these orbits more simply 304 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: is that it's orbiting really far out there. It's like 305 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: four hundred to eight hundred times the radius of Earth's orbit, 306 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: so really deep in space, and that far out in space, 307 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: it would take like ten thousand or twenty thousand years 308 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: just to go around the Sun one time. That is 309 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: a really really long time to wait to get data 310 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: for your PhD. I'm just saying, it's also a really 311 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: long time to have a birthday. I mean, you're born 312 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: on planet nine and like your ten Earth years have 313 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: passed before your first birthday. Wow. And then also it's 314 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: going to make it really hard for us to see right, 315 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: and like coming from like the people's perspective, the neuroscience perspective, 316 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:06,719 Speaker 1: like the visual system is our primary system. That's how 317 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: we feel that we really know what's going on. So 318 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 1: until scientists can really put eyes on this planet, is 319 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: it going to be something that's accepted by the community. 320 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: Do you think No? I think you're totally right. It's 321 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: like a murder, you need a body, you know it's Uh, 322 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: until you've seen it directly, you're not sure that it exists. 323 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,719 Speaker 1: I totally agree. Otherwise it's sort of circumstantial or indirect 324 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: evidence it's the same deal. In particle physics, we suspected 325 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 1: the Higgs Boson was there. We had a lot of 326 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: clues about where it might be and how it might work. 327 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: All the other information pointed to it, but until we 328 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 1: actually saw it, until we created it and and saw 329 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,360 Speaker 1: it in the lab, we didn't even believe it existed. 330 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: And I think in the same way, this is a 331 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: great idea. But until they actually spotted, they see light 332 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: reflected off of it, they see its motion and complaud 333 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: its orbit, I don't think it would be accepted as 334 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: a real thing. So I understand the thrill of discovery. 335 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: I understand how addictive and amazing it can be when 336 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,919 Speaker 1: you make a prediction based on the things that you 337 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: think you know about the universe, and that prediction is true. 338 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: But once we and I'm going to be optimistic, care 339 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 1: once we see evidence of planet nine, what is that 340 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: going to tell us other than it's there. Well, your 341 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: friends are gonna throw a big party and say we 342 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: told you so, we told you so, which is probably 343 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: gonna be really satisfying. But it also it's every piece 344 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: of information we get about the nature of the Solar 345 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: System gives us a clue about how it formed because 346 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: it rules out a bunch of stories. You know, scientists 347 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,199 Speaker 1: work in the framework of stories. I think a lot 348 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: of people think of science is like super objective, But 349 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,439 Speaker 1: in the end, we're telling a story. We're trying to 350 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: explain the universe. We're trying to say, this is what 351 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,239 Speaker 1: happened this and then that and the other thing. And 352 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: right now we have lots of different ideas about how 353 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: the Solar system might have formed, and the more data 354 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: we get, the more we can rule some of those 355 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: out because they're inconsistent with that data. So the more 356 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: we know about the Solar System, especially out in the 357 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: far reaches, the more we can get a sense for 358 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: how things came together. And that's of course important and interesting, 359 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: not just because we want to know, like what is 360 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: the context of our existence? How is our solar system formed? 361 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: But we want to know if our solar solar system 362 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: is unusual, if other solar systems might have formed this way, 363 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 1: if there are other planets like this out there. And 364 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: so I think this touches on a lot of really 365 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: deep and broad scientific questions. So does planet nine have 366 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: to be a planet or could it be something else? 367 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: With like a huge mass. You put your finger right 368 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: on the question there, because what we know about Planet nine, 369 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: if it exists, comes just from its gravitational interactions. We 370 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: can speculate about how much mass it has and how 371 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: it's moving and how that is tugging on those other objects, 372 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: but you're right, that doesn't tell us what its nature is. 373 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: Is it a ball of rock. A ball of rock 374 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: or a ball of ice, for example, that have the 375 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: same mass would have the same exact gravitational effects, and 376 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: even something crazy like a black hole. We talked down 377 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: on the podcast once about what would happen if the 378 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: Sun became a black hole. I think a lot of 379 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: people were surprised to learn that a black hole has 380 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 1: the same gravitational force as a star of the same mass, 381 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: And so if you've fixed the mass of the object, 382 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: it really could be anything um and have the same 383 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: gravitational effects. So we won't know until we see it. 384 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: We won't know until we see it. And there's been 385 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: some press recently about the possibility that planet nine might 386 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: be a black hole, which is exciting because it seems 387 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 1: cool and wow, it would be kind of awesome now 388 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,400 Speaker 1: have a black hole so nearby that we could study Um, 389 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 1: there's not a whole lot of specific evidence pointing in 390 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: that direction. Um. But the cool thing is that if 391 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: it is a black hole, there are some things we 392 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: can look for if a black hole. If it was there, 393 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: would probably have a big blob of dark matter surrounding it, 394 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: and we could look for dark matter smashing into itself 395 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: and giving us gamma rays, and a black hole if 396 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: it's there again, because it's denser than a planet or 397 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: something else, might give us some gravitational lensing. And actually, 398 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: in some data there are a few signs of sort 399 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: of unexpected micro lensing, like weird distortions of the background 400 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: galaxies that would be consistent with the passing of black hole. 401 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,640 Speaker 1: But they're not really conclusive, so it's more than like 402 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,080 Speaker 1: fun speculation at this point. But yeah, it's totally possible 403 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: that planet nine is not a ball of rock with 404 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: water on it, but a tiny black hole left over 405 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: from the creation of the universe. I feel a little 406 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: uneasy about like a casual black hole in the backyard 407 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: of our Solar system. For all you know, you have 408 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: a black hole in your backyard. It doesn't sound like 409 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: you have a really good inventory what's out there. Yeah, 410 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: I'm not a big gardener. No, you're right, a black 411 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: hole does us. It sounds awesome. It also sounds a 412 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: little scary. But this black hole, if it exists, is 413 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: orbiting really far out there and probably very stable, and 414 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: so it's unlikely to come anywhere near the Earth. But yeah, 415 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: it's if it's there, it would certainly be the closest 416 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: black hole to the Earth. And then you have to 417 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: one or like, what if he got tweaked out of 418 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: its orbit and plunged in towards the Sun. Actually, just 419 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: read an amazing science fiction novel just that topic. Yeah, 420 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: I was gonna say that sounds like a movie that 421 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I want to see. No, it's 422 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: a great science fiction novel by one of my favorite authors, 423 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,919 Speaker 1: Greg Egan, and he talks about what would happen if 424 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: a black hole passed near the Earth but didn't gobble it, 425 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: and it has crazy effects on the tides and all 426 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 1: sorts of other cool stuff. Anyway, we don't know if 427 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: Planet Night is there. If it's there, we don't know 428 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: if it's the black hole or another planet. We don't 429 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: even know what we would call it. Right if we 430 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: actually discover it, we can't call it planet nine. What 431 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: do you think we should call it Crystal? I don't. 432 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:44,920 Speaker 1: All I know is that scientists are historically, I'm gonna say, 433 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: bad at naming things. I mean, there's like a ligand 434 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: pro to mic receptor pair in my field, which is 435 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: like sonic and hedgehog. Clearly, these people were Saga fans 436 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,679 Speaker 1: and they couldn't think of anything on their own. So 437 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: I'm saying, let's not let them name this planet. If 438 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: it's Discovery, we should get all of our listeners to 439 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: come together and come up with a good name. I 440 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: do a little survey, and I think people are calling 441 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: it planet nine. Some scientists call it planet X, some 442 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: scientists are calling it George, and other ones are even 443 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: calling it Fatty. So I think you're right. The scientists 444 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: need a lot of help in its regard George George. 445 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: It's like I know, I think that shows some people 446 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 1: sort of generic bias for objects. They need Jrees help on, 447 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: like something that's really catchy and informative. We have a 448 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,239 Speaker 1: long list of things to talk to Core about when 449 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: he returns, but I'll put that on the top of 450 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 1: the list. So do we have to look that far 451 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: out for things that we don't know about our Solar system, 452 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: or are we still learning about stuff that's closer to us. 453 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: There's a huge amount to learn about stuff that's even 454 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: closer than the far far depths of the Solar System. 455 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: Let's talk about that, but first let's take a short break. 456 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,000 Speaker 1: All right, we're back and we're talking about news of 457 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: the Solar system, crazy discoveries, things that we're learning just 458 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: recently in the last weeks and months about our own 459 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: cosmic backyard, and Krystal, you were saying, are there things 460 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: we're learning that are closer to home than the far 461 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: reaches a space past Pluto, And in fact there are 462 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 1: people have probably learned recently in the Science news that 463 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: Saturn has been upgraded. It is now the moon king 464 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,919 Speaker 1: of the Solar system because it now has eighty two moons, 465 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: so it's beating Jupiter Stuper that are the second place 466 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,439 Speaker 1: moon owner. That's right, as far as we know. You know, 467 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: we can't say we know all the moons that are 468 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: out there, because we keep finding more as we look 469 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,080 Speaker 1: more carefully and build new instruments. But so far Saturn 470 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: has the most moons of the Solar System, and I 471 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: don't know if that's a point of pride among planets, 472 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,159 Speaker 1: or they just don't care how many moons the Saturn have. 473 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: Saturn now has eighty two moons. That's a lot. It's 474 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: a lot of things. It is the name. Also, I 475 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: don't even know the names of all these objects. But 476 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: you know scientists are gonna be arguing about things the 477 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: way scientists usually argue about things. Then this is gonna 478 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: be a long conversation about how to name all these moons. 479 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: Are just gonna have a lot of moons named after 480 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:17,719 Speaker 1: scientists or scientists dogs or family members or stuff like that. 481 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Sounds reasonable. But actually you can contribute. You 482 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: listener can participate because there's a contest out there to 483 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: name these moons. So if you have an idea for 484 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: how to name the new moons of Saturn, you should 485 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: throw your ideas into the hat. Save the scientists from 486 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: themselves come up with a good name. That's right. We 487 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 1: are crowdsourcing the hardest part of solar system science, which 488 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,919 Speaker 1: is naming all the new stuff they find. So usually 489 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: when scientists are finding something new, that means there's been 490 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: some type of technological advance that's allowing them to see 491 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,959 Speaker 1: things that they couldn't see before, or detect things that 492 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: they previously couldn't detect. Is that true here? Yeah, And 493 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: it's also sometimes just a question of scientific resources. Sometimes 494 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: we have the divice is it's just been sort of 495 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: pointed somewhere else, and so here people were interested in 496 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 1: questions about the formation of the Solar System, so they 497 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: wrote these proposals to dedicate telescope time to look specifically 498 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: for these for moons around Saturn. Moons are sort of 499 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,679 Speaker 1: further out than the other moons. These moons are really 500 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: far away from Saturn. They're like in very distant orbits. 501 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: So the scientific machine finally got around to thinking this 502 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: was important. That's right exactly, or the scientists who think 503 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 1: this is important finally got the attention they deserve. And 504 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 1: you know, all these moons they're not like really big objects. 505 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: If you're looking up in the night sky and you 506 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: see our moon and you think that that's typical, remember 507 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: that our moon is huge compared to most of the 508 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,919 Speaker 1: moons in the Solar System. These moons are like rocks 509 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 1: three miles wide, and some of them take like three 510 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,879 Speaker 1: years to go around Saturn. So it really is just 511 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: more like a careful catalog of all the stuff around Saturn, 512 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: whether you call it a moon, whether you call it 513 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: a rock. Like we were saying before, we love it all. 514 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: So where do these smaller moons come from? Like how 515 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: do they end up orbiting these these larger planets. Yeah, 516 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: that's a great question you might wonder, like why are 517 00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: their moons at all? Why don't objects just coalesce into planets? 518 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: And one reason is that these planets have very strong 519 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: gravitational fields, and those gravitational fields provide tidal forces. If 520 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: you're big enough, then there's a difference between the gravitational 521 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: tug on the side of you that's close to the planet, 522 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: then the gravitational tug that's on the side of you 523 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,719 Speaker 1: that's far from the planet. If you're large enough for 524 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,440 Speaker 1: that to have a big effect, that means because there's 525 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: a difference in the gravitational force from one side to 526 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,119 Speaker 1: the other side, that essentially the planet is pulling you 527 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 1: apart because it's tugging on one part more than the 528 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: other part. And so if you're around a big enough 529 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: planet and you're in sort of the right gravitational zone, 530 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,199 Speaker 1: the planet will tear you up. It will shred you 531 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: and so that's why you don't have all the stuff 532 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: around Saturn just coalesced into one big moon. That's why, 533 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,439 Speaker 1: for example, Saturn has rings, we think because is the 534 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,919 Speaker 1: tidal forces are too great for those rings to coalesce 535 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: into moons. So Saturn's so big that it's gravitational force 536 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: is doing crazy things to what's around it. Basically, this 537 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: is my technical interpretation. I heard shredding, I heard a 538 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: lot of other things like so crazy things. No, you're 539 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: totally right. And it also gives us a bit of 540 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:24,239 Speaker 1: a window into the timeline of Saturn because some of 541 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,440 Speaker 1: this stuff, if he had been around since the beginning 542 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 1: of the Solar system, probably would have found a way 543 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: to get into a stable place that it might have 544 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: been able to coalesce into a moon. Like for example, 545 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: we don't know how long Saturn's rings have been around, 546 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: and we don't know how long they will be around. 547 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: It might be that another hundred million years or billion 548 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: years they will eventually coalesced into an object um that 549 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: Saturn's tidal forces won't pull apart. And so if we 550 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: look at where these moons are, we don't think these 551 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: moons could have been around for very long because if so, 552 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: they would have been slowed by all sorts of gas 553 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: and dust that surrounds Saturn, and they would have slowed 554 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: them down and they would have been sort of dragged 555 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: down into lower orbits. So by understanding sort of where 556 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: the moons are, the close by ones and the far 557 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: away ones, it gives us a window into the time frame, 558 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: like how long this happening and what's the sort of 559 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: dynamics Saturn looked the same way since the beginning of 560 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: the Solar system, or the new features that aliens from 561 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: a billion years ago wouldn't recognize if they came and 562 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: visited today. Yeah, So I learned a long time ago 563 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: that when different types of scientists used time to always 564 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: ask what scale we're talking about. So when an astrophysicist 565 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,959 Speaker 1: says these moons haven't been around for very long weeks, 566 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: they don't mean months, they mean hundreds of millions of years. 567 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: They mean the time scale of the Solar System, which is, 568 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: you know, four and a half billion years. So they're 569 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: way old, but yet young for the universe. Yeah, exactly. 570 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: They are probably hundreds of millions of years old, which 571 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: is pretty young compared to Saturday itself and other things. 572 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: In the Solar system, So why does it matter to 573 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: us how many moons Saturn has? No? I think, um, 574 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: some people out there might be excited every time we 575 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,040 Speaker 1: discover a moon because it's sort of a new element 576 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: in the Solar system. People like like discovery, like finding 577 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,280 Speaker 1: things in their backyard. Um, that never really gets it 578 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: for me, because I feel like, you know, we know 579 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: there's rocks out there. Doesn't really matter how many rocks 580 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: there are, but it does help us scientifically, it doesn't 581 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: really give us a clue as to how things happened. 582 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: Like we were saying before, there's a story by the 583 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: formation of Saturn, and now some of those stories don't 584 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: make sense anymore because they're inconsistent with finding these moons 585 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: out there this far away. And so the more data 586 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: we get, the more we can narrow it down and 587 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 1: find the one true story of our solar system. And hey, 588 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 1: who doesn't want to know the story of the origin 589 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: of our solar system? Right? I think all of us 590 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: are interested in where we came from and how we 591 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: came to be, and the beginning of the Solar system 592 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: is like going as far back as we could possibly 593 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: we could possibly think. But you said that like everybody 594 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: knows there's rocks out there, Like, yeah, planets are just rocks, 595 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: are not They're not that interesting. But I heard some 596 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: deep passionate excitement about comments. So tell me why comments, 597 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: and about this one in particular. Yeah, let's do that. 598 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: Let's talk about comments and comments from other solar systems. 599 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: But first let's take another break. So we're back, and 600 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: we're talking about exciting stuff that's been discovered in our 601 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: solar system pretty recently. So we are updating you on 602 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: news of our solar system. And one of the most 603 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 1: interesting things to happen in our solar system in the 604 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: last few years was that we got a visitor. Our 605 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: solar system is a little island in the middle of 606 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: an enormous empty ocean of space. The next solar system 607 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,000 Speaker 1: over is light years and light years away. What that 608 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: means is that we don't expect a lot of messages 609 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: is from all our solar system to the other, or 610 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: from other solar systems to us. We expect to basically 611 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,479 Speaker 1: be isolated. It should it should be very very rarely 612 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 1: that something gets tossed out of our solar system and 613 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,800 Speaker 1: actually happens to land in another one. It's like if 614 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: there are two basketball hoops on the Earth, one here 615 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: and one on the other side of the Earth, and 616 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: you lost your basketball and ended up somehow drifting all 617 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 1: the way around the Earth and making a slam dunk 618 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:30,880 Speaker 1: in the other basketball highly improbable. But those of you 619 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: who have listened to our podcasts know that in we 620 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: did get a visitor from another solar system. It's called Omuamua, 621 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: and it was really weird. It was long, it was thin, 622 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: it was shiny. It seemed to accelerate as it left 623 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 1: the Solar system. Those you interested in that, go check 624 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: out our whole podcast on it. But these days most 625 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: people think it probably was a comet, a comet from 626 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: another solar system, so that when we say interstellar, that's 627 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: what we mean. Yeah, into selling means from another star. 628 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: Because stars are big and they're exciting and they're bright, 629 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: but they are not very dense. You can fly through 630 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 1: a whole galaxy and not encounter any stars because they 631 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: are light years and light years apart. And that's why 632 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,520 Speaker 1: we thought it was very unusual for things from one 633 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: solar system to end up in another one. And we 634 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: talked about the Solar system in terms of the planets, 635 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: and these objects that are sort of in the far 636 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: reaches of the solar system. But there's stuff in our 637 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: solar system that's even further away. This is thing we 638 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: call the art cloud, which is basically a huge collection 639 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: of balls of ice, and that's where comments in our 640 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: solar system come from. They get nudged and they fall 641 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: in towards the star, and they accelerate on their journey 642 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: towards the center of the solar system, whizz around and 643 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: go all the way back those where our comments come from. 644 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: The ideas maybe sometimes one of those objects in the 645 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 1: war cloud gets nudged. Instead of falling in, it sort 646 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:54,719 Speaker 1: of falls out. And so that would be like us 647 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: sending a message. That would be us sending a message. 648 00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: And it's a message in the sense that it tells 649 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: you some thing about our solar system. That Commet has 650 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: in it a particular mix of ice and rocks and 651 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 1: and other trace elements to tell you about the blob 652 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: that formed our solar system, that huge you know, nebula 653 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: of gas and dust and stuff that made our solar system. 654 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: But because we're trapped on this one island, we never 655 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,359 Speaker 1: know is what we're looking at. Typical or unusual. That's 656 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: the frustration with having an equals one, with only having 657 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: a single example and trying to generalize to the whole universe, 658 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: because of course, what we want to do is understand 659 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: the whole universe. So if we can get comments from 660 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:39,000 Speaker 1: other solar systems and study them, then we can figure out, like, hey, 661 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: does that commet look like ours or is it totally 662 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: weird in comparison? So how often do we have the 663 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 1: privilege of encountering an interstellar object. It's super duper rare. Oh, 664 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: Mua Mua was the first one ever found, and they 665 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: found it, as you said, because they turned on a 666 00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,759 Speaker 1: new kind of telescope, a telescope that could see this 667 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,239 Speaker 1: kind that thing. Now, the amazing thing about that was 668 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: when they turned it on, they really had no idea 669 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: how often they would expect to see things, but they 670 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: expected it would be really rare. And then just days 671 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: or weeks after they turned it on, they saw Omama. 672 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 1: In fact, they saw it as it was leaving the 673 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: solar system, so we only got this sort of trailing 674 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: glimpse as it accelerated out of our field of view, 675 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: and we got less and less information. Now they've been 676 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:26,680 Speaker 1: watching the skies and they found a second one, So 677 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,880 Speaker 1: not as rare as we thought, then, yes, and that's exciting. 678 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: It's also sort of surprising. If we're getting comments from 679 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,800 Speaker 1: other solar systems fairly regularly, like every couple of years, 680 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: that means that it can't be very unusual for these 681 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:41,960 Speaker 1: rocks to get knocked out of solar systems and end 682 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,799 Speaker 1: up in other solar systems. Because you know they're so 683 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: far apart, it seems really unlikely. So for a couple 684 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: to end up here means it must be happening all 685 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: the time. So this interstellar object, this comment that we 686 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: saw coming in, do we know where it came from? 687 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: So this one we don't yet know where it came from, 688 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,560 Speaker 1: but this is very recent. We've only got a few 689 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,879 Speaker 1: snapshots of it, and to figure out where it came 690 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:08,360 Speaker 1: from we need to sort of track it and understand 691 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,320 Speaker 1: the direction it's moving in. But this one is a 692 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 1: very clearly an icy blob, and it has a tail. 693 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: It's got this sort of halo as as stuff melts 694 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: off of it, and that makes it harder to know 695 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: its exact location, and that makes it hard to pinpoint 696 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: its exact trajectory. Um So We don't know exactly where 697 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,880 Speaker 1: it came from, but we can see very clearly that 698 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: its trajectory is not consistent with anything that's orbiting the Sun. Right. 699 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,640 Speaker 1: That's how we know that something is an interstellar object, 700 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,120 Speaker 1: that it just doesn't look like it's moving in an 701 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,879 Speaker 1: orbit around the Sun. And this one, in particular, if 702 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: you if you take the plane of the Solar system 703 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: sort of the palm of your hand, this one is 704 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,879 Speaker 1: shooting like straight down into the palm of your hand. 705 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,600 Speaker 1: It's very clearly coming from somewhere else. We don't know 706 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 1: exactly where yet. We love to like point back to 707 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,400 Speaker 1: the Solar System it came from, but there's a lot 708 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: of uncertainty still. Yeah, you know, it's like sort of 709 00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: conjures up these images of being able to chip and 710 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 1: ask it all the scientific questions do you want to ask, 711 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,440 Speaker 1: like what's in your ice? And what are your rocks 712 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,759 Speaker 1: made out of? Yes, and we're already doing that. The 713 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:10,799 Speaker 1: lucky thing about this one is that we're catching it 714 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,720 Speaker 1: on the way in which means it's getting closer and closer, 715 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: and we can prepare and we can prepare for that 716 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 1: moment when it comes closest to Earth. Just gives us 717 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,920 Speaker 1: our best chance to understand it. And we can't like 718 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,480 Speaker 1: launch a spaceship and go visit it. We don't have 719 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: the time or the expertise to do that. But we 720 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: can study it just by looking at the light that 721 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,759 Speaker 1: reflects off of it. That tells us about you know, 722 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:33,759 Speaker 1: what is the atomic makeup? Does it have this kind 723 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 1: of gas and that kind of gas. We talked on 724 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:38,359 Speaker 1: this podcast a few weeks ago about how different kinds 725 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: of gas shine different kinds of lights. Just like if 726 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:43,440 Speaker 1: you put weird stuff in a Bunsen burner will turn 727 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: green or purple. We can look at the colors of 728 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,000 Speaker 1: lights coming from this thing and get a sense for 729 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 1: what's in it, and as he gets closer and closer, 730 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 1: we get better and better measurements. So yeah, it's gonna 731 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 1: be visiting and we're gonna be asking it a lot 732 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,880 Speaker 1: of questions. So we're not just figuring out things that 733 00:37:57,920 --> 00:37:59,840 Speaker 1: are happening in our own solar system, but like the 734 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:02,399 Speaker 1: our reaches of what we have known about before, but 735 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,799 Speaker 1: we're also learning new things that are coming to us 736 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: from other stars, other solar systems. Yeah, of course, and 737 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:11,879 Speaker 1: my fantasy is that one day one of these things 738 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,960 Speaker 1: will not just be a comment. It will be some 739 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,719 Speaker 1: alienship and the physicists from that solar system will have 740 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 1: arrived to solve all these problems and answer all of 741 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:23,359 Speaker 1: our deep questions about the nature of the universe. I've 742 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: seen that movie. It doesn't end well, I know, but 743 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:30,399 Speaker 1: there's always a moment of satisfaction when they have learned 744 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,320 Speaker 1: some deep secrets about the universe before the aliens eat everybody. 745 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:36,480 Speaker 1: And that's the moment. I'm living for, the moment of 746 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:41,040 Speaker 1: discovery before complete and utter destruction. That's right. I will 747 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:44,280 Speaker 1: sacrifice the future of humanity just for a fleeting glimpse 748 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:46,480 Speaker 1: at the secrets of the universe. Do you think that 749 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,600 Speaker 1: when the aliens that are going to come and share 750 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:52,400 Speaker 1: their physics with us before eventually just showing us all, 751 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,919 Speaker 1: do you think they'll have that moment of looking down 752 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: on us the way that we look up at comments 753 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 1: and thinking, wow, the versus pretty amazing and pretty beautiful. 754 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: I hope so. I hope that being a super intelligent 755 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:09,040 Speaker 1: alien that travels the universe comes with moments of grandiose 756 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,520 Speaker 1: wonder at the at all, at this beautiful universe that 757 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: we find ourselves in. I certainly hope so. Well. I 758 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:19,440 Speaker 1: will continue to read the news looking for well evidence 759 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: of planet nine and also contact with an alien species. Well, 760 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:26,240 Speaker 1: I think that's a good idea, and keep your ears 761 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:29,720 Speaker 1: tuned from more Solar System news because that interstellar comment 762 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,360 Speaker 1: is coming and it will be here. The closest approach 763 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,040 Speaker 1: to the Earth will be on December seven, So we 764 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: hope to learn something. Maybe it's a comment, maybe it's 765 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:41,680 Speaker 1: hiding an alien spaceship. We don't know. You know, listeners know, 766 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,360 Speaker 1: of course, the solution we're hoping for. So until we 767 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,800 Speaker 1: learn more secrets about the nature of our Solar system 768 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:51,120 Speaker 1: or get clues from other Solar systems, we're here to 769 00:39:51,239 --> 00:39:54,319 Speaker 1: break down today's news for you. Thanks everybody for tuning in, 770 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: and thank you Crystal for joining us again on the podcast. 771 00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me tune in next time for more 772 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 1: crazy the amazing, mind blowing facts about our universe. Thanks 773 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:14,000 Speaker 1: for listening. Before you still have a question after listening 774 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:16,799 Speaker 1: to all these explanations, please to drop us the line. 775 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,000 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. You can find us 776 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,759 Speaker 1: on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Daniel and Jorge That's 777 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,200 Speaker 1: one word, or email us at Feedback at Daniel and 778 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,760 Speaker 1: Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening and remember that Daniel 779 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,279 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explaining the Universe is a production of I 780 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:36,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. More podcast from my heart Radio, visit the 781 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:40,040 Speaker 1: I heart Radio Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 782 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. Yea.