1 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: What's the color of ice? I think about the wedge 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: of ice broken from the lid of the lake in winter. 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: It goes from dusky white to clear as it leaks 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: itself into your hands. But when the glacier shears off 5 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: and unveils its inner face, forged over one hundred thousand years, 6 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 1: now you see a questioning blue. Now the glacier melts 7 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: into the sea and it's gone, becomes green with algae, 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: gray with mud, and a color that was once called 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: wine dark. But what is the color of ice? That's 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: not the ice we know that lies hidden behind a 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: haze and swims in a darkness, crushed by diamond rain. 12 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: We approach our destination along the orbital plain, great wide 13 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: table of the sun. 14 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 2: But as the. 15 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: Planet comes into view, we're looking at the north pole. 16 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: This is summer. The frozen eye reclines on its flank. 17 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: There's the pole now bathing in the season of light. 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: The hidden face the opposite pole now holds cord in 19 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: the bitter cold of the stars. There's something about that blue, 20 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: almost as cold as a thing can be, but joyful 21 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: in the way it devours the sunshine. It reminds us 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: of something something on Earth. That brings life, or invites 23 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: the living, or is alive itself. 24 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 3: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 25 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 2: Hey you, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 26 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: name is Robert Lamb. 27 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: And I'm Joe McCormick, and today we're going to be 28 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: fulfilling a very common request. Years ago, we did a 29 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 1: series of episodes where we looked at the moons of 30 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: various planets in the Solar System, the moons of Jupiter, 31 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: the moons of Saturn, the moons of Mars, and I 32 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: think we even did one even though Venus doesn't have 33 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: a moon. 34 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 2: We did an. 35 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: Episode sort of about the alternative universe where there would 36 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,119 Speaker 1: be a moon of Venus something like that. But today 37 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about the moons of the 38 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: seventh planet in our Solar System. In this first episode 39 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: in the series, I think we're going to be focusing 40 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: mainly on the planet itself, and then we will get 41 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: more into the moons in the subsequent part or parts. 42 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: And since this is an audio medium, the question of 43 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: how to pronounce that planet's name is unavoidable. I thought 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: we should tackle it right here at the beginning, because 45 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: I know we have said it moultiple ways on the 46 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: podcast before. I think I have said it multiple ways before, 47 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: and the only thing to do is give ourselves preemptive, 48 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: full absolution to pronounce it any which way we want. 49 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: But basically, so I was trying to figure out, like 50 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: what is actually the right way, and I think it 51 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: goes like this. If you listen to astronomers and planetary 52 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: scientists talk about this planet, most often you will hear 53 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: them pronounce it urinus, basically the word urine and then 54 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: the word us. On the other hand, there's sort of 55 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: a dos Boot situation going on with this planet name, 56 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: like for the most part, like the scientists might say urinus, 57 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: but for the most part, just people say uranus, you know, 58 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: at least they do in America. I don't know if 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: it's different in other English speaking cultures or other languages 60 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: where the name would be you know, a direct homophone. 61 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: But anyway, Uranus is. It's sort of part of the culture, 62 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: it's part of the world we grew up in, and 63 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: there's really no fixing that. So I think that will 64 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: probably come out of our mouths as well. 65 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 2: Well. The tragedy of it is that I feel like 66 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 2: most of the time. When you hear uranus as the 67 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 2: pronunciation for the planet Uranus, it is coming out of 68 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 2: the mouth of, say a of a talk show host 69 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 2: or you know, late night news situation, a little bit 70 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 2: of t he. Yeah, I mean not just a little 71 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 2: bit of t he, but like a front loaded, like 72 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 2: dump truck quality of t he to the to the 73 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 2: to the detriment of whatever the actual news is. Like, 74 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 2: it could be announced tomorrow that life was discovered on Uranus, 75 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: but the the the late night talk show hosts would 76 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 2: say you're anus, everyone would laugh and completely forget that 77 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 2: the most breathtaking news in the history of our species 78 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 2: was just revealed. Because Uranus if pronounced slightly incorrectly, I'm sorry. 79 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: From my point of view, it sounds like you're saying 80 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 2: somebody's anus. 81 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: Right, a benevolent jellyfish inhabit the clouds. It's it's very interesting, 82 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 1: But the main thing is we did successfully probe uranus. 83 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 2: Haha. Yeah, yeah, So it's it's I mean, especially for 84 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 2: a professional space science communicators, people working for NASA and 85 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 2: so forth. I don't know, I guess it probably comes 86 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,679 Speaker 2: to the point where you've got to just embrace it, yeah, 87 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 2: and enroll with it, but it also there has to 88 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 2: still be some at least low level of just fixed 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 2: frustration over the situation. 90 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: I think it's one of those things that becomes annoying 91 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: and then it comes full circle and becomes funny again. Yeah, 92 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: but for another wrinkle, we have the apparently correct uranus 93 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: and then we have the common uranus. But according to 94 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: an interview I saw with the American physicist Kevin Grazier, 95 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: who writes a lot about space and about science fiction 96 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: from a science perspective, he was the editor and a 97 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: contributing author on the science of Doune, which we have 98 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: talked about on the show before. He says in one 99 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: interview that it technically it is uranus. So you know, 100 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: maybe he's right, But apparently nobody says it that way. 101 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 2: I mean, it starts with everyone who wants to start 102 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 2: pronouncing it differently. You know, say uranus sounds good to. 103 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: Me, so you say uranus. I say uranus. Most experts 104 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: say urinus. But in any case, it's gonna be fine. 105 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: We all know which planet we're talking about. It's number seven. 106 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: It's big, it's blue, it's cold, it's beautiful, and it 107 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 1: has a heck of a lot of moons. 108 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, and and the fair amount of mystery surrounding it. 109 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 2: You know, in this episode we're venturing farther out into 110 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 2: the void here, so we're gonna encounter some more space 111 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 2: to wonder. We'll also, I think eventually be getting to 112 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 2: a fourth pronunciation for your old boy, So so strap in, 113 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,359 Speaker 2: but Urinus. Here are some of the basics for anyone 114 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 2: who needs a refresher, and I think we can all 115 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 2: deal with a refresher. Uranus is the seventh planet from 116 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 2: the Sun, and in size it has the third largest 117 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 2: diameter in the Solar System. It's about four times larger 118 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 2: than Earth in diama. Yes, While Uranus and its neighbor 119 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 2: Neptune were previously classified as gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, 120 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 2: it became clear in the nineteen nineties so they are 121 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 2: actually a subset of gas giants ice giants. So most 122 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 2: of the planet's mass is believed to be a hot 123 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 2: and dense fluid of icy materials around a small rocky core. 124 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 2: Its atmosphere is mostly molecular hydrogen and atomic helium, and 125 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 2: there also seems to be a small amount of methane. 126 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 2: It experiences the equivalent of a seventeen hour day like 127 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 2: a seventeen hour seventeen hours of Earth day, and an 128 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 2: eighty four year solar orbit. 129 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: Now, you mentioned that most of the planet's mass is 130 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: this relatively hot and dense fluid of icy materials. But 131 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: that should not give you the wrong impression about the 132 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: planet overall, because an interesting fact about Uranus is that 133 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: it is the coldest planet in the Solar System, even 134 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: though it is not the farthest from the Sun. Neptune 135 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: is much farther away from the Sun. I think something 136 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: like ten times the distance from the Earth to the 137 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: Sun farther away than Urinus is, and yet it is 138 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: actually a little bit warmer. On average, the temperature in 139 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: the upper atmosphere of Urinus reaches negative two hundred and 140 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: twenty four degrees celsius, colder than equivalent measures on Neptune, 141 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: which are about ten degrees celsius higher. I want to 142 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: come back in a little bit to why that might be. 143 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: But yeah, not the farthest away, but the coldest. 144 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 2: It's cold out there. It's lonely out there. 145 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: Now, you mentioned that it takes eighty four years for 146 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: Uranus to orbit the Sun once. That means since its 147 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: discovery in seventeen eighty one, which we will narrate in 148 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: a few minutes. Here, less than three full years have 149 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: elapsed on Uranus. It's seventeen eighty one plus eighty four 150 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: Earth years is eighteen sixty five plus another eighty four 151 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: is nineteen forty nine, and then it will be another 152 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: full year on that planet. When it's twenty thirty three 153 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,199 Speaker 1: on Earth. Calendar pages tear away quite a bit slower there. 154 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: This longer year also gives you an idea of how 155 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: far away from the Sun this planet is. You know. 156 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: This comes up on the show a good bit. When 157 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: we make visual representations of the Solar System. One thing 158 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: that's pretty much always impossible to capture is the real 159 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: relative size and distance between objects. There really, I think 160 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: is no convincing way to represent the real distance between 161 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: planets in the Solar System within the same image and 162 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: have it make intuitive sense. So let's talk about the 163 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: scaling up of distances as one moves further out from 164 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: the Sun. The average distance from Earth to the Sun 165 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: is a commonly used measurement. It's called an astronomical unit, 166 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: or AU for short, and it's equivalent to about one 167 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: hundred and forty nine point six million kilometers, pulling up 168 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: numbers cited by NASA JPL for these other planets. Both 169 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: Mercury and Venus, of course, are within one AU, so 170 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: Mercury is about zero point four and Venus is about 171 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: zero point seven AU from the Sun. They're both closer 172 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: than Us. Mars is about one point five AU, so 173 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: about one point one and a half times the distance 174 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: from Us to the Sun. Suddenly Jupiter is more than 175 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,079 Speaker 1: five times the distance. Saturn is nine point five AU, 176 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: and then Urinus is suddenly nineteen point two AU, So 177 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: the distances multiply greatly the further you go out, and 178 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: then Neptune is about thirty so another another ten basically 179 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: sort of ten AU between Saturn and Uranus, and then 180 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: another ten between Uranus and Neptune. 181 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, So venturing into into the outer Solar system, you know, 182 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 2: it's like it's like leaving an urban center and traveling 183 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 2: out into the boonies. The gas stations that you you 184 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 2: would venture into or are are farther and farther apart, 185 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 2: and you begin to wonder where your next tank is 186 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 2: going to come from. 187 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's always impossible to reckon the real scale 188 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: of space. And the funny thing is, this is just 189 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: our Solar system. You know, this is like the things 190 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: that are actually relatively very close together from a space perspective. 191 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, all right, So let's see some more facts 192 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 2: about Urinus itself. It has thirteen rings, and like Venus, 193 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 2: it rotates east to west. It also rotates at a 194 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 2: near ninety degree angle from the plane of its orbit, 195 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,679 Speaker 2: so this gives it the appearance of spinning on its side. 196 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: That is a very interesting and unique fact about Uranus. 197 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: So if you can picture it, all of the other 198 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: planets in the Solar system, you know, they all have 199 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: some degree of axial tilt, but they more or less 200 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: spin like a top, with the north and south poles 201 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,199 Speaker 1: facing more or less perpendicular to the solar plane. So 202 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: you can imagine the Sun in the middle of the 203 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,439 Speaker 1: Solar system, and then there is a disc of flat 204 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: discs spreading out from the Sun that all of the 205 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: planets orbit on. Those planets have some tilt, but they 206 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,079 Speaker 1: more or less rotate so that their equator is in 207 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: line with that plane, and their north and south poles 208 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: are at right angles to it. Urinus is the exception. 209 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: It lies on its side Its axial tilt is something 210 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,680 Speaker 1: like ninety seven or ninety eight degrees, so almost perfectly 211 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: sideways from the perspective of the solar plane. Its equator 212 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: rotates up and down, and its poles point to the sides, 213 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,280 Speaker 1: which has the strange effect that its seasons as it 214 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,439 Speaker 1: orbits the Sun throughout its year, mean that the poles 215 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: get like many Earth years of light and darkness as 216 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: the year progresses. So for forty two years, its north 217 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,319 Speaker 1: pole will be in relative sunshine and its south pole 218 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: will be in relative darkness, and then it flips around 219 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,679 Speaker 1: for the other season. It's a weird planet, very strange. 220 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: This actually comes back to the question of why Uranus 221 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: is the coldest planet, even though it's not the farthest 222 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,560 Speaker 1: from the Sun. How could a planet closer to the 223 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: Sun be colder than one farther away. The answer is 224 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,319 Speaker 1: that planets give off their own heat, and compared to most, 225 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: Urinus gives off very little. So one major idea proposed 226 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: to explain why Urinus gives off so little intrinsic heat, 227 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: is the same as the reason it, unlike other planets 228 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: in the Solar System, rotates on its side. Scientists think 229 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,560 Speaker 1: that billions of years ago during the formation of the 230 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: Solar System, Urinus very likely suffered a colossal impact from 231 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: a roughly Earth sized or Mars sized object, which was 232 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: able to both knock it out of its original orientation 233 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: and give it its its backwards rotation pattern opposite the 234 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: rest of the Solar System and its a sideways orientation 235 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: sways axial tilt, but also to blast away much of 236 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: its mass and energy, leaving it with less intrinsic heat 237 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: than even other ice giants like Neptune, and so if 238 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: this impact hypothesis is correct, it would explain much of 239 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: what we know about Uranus, why it's so cold, why 240 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: it's tilted, and why its rotation is the way it is. 241 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: One of the most striking things about Uranus is its appearance, 242 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,440 Speaker 1: which can vary based on seasonal conditions. But in the 243 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: famous true color images assembled from what was captured by 244 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: the narrow angle camera of Voyager two in nineteen eighty six, 245 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: the planet looks like an almost perfectly uniform field of 246 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: pale blue green color, like a featureless Cyan ocean of fog. 247 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: And this is especially strange when you think about it 248 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: in contrast to the sort of banded surface of Jupiter, 249 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: it's just ripping with visible storms, or or like the 250 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: sandy stripes you see on Saturn with that big, nasty 251 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: polar hexagon. The truth is Urinus is not always as 252 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: calm looking as it is in these famous photos. For 253 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: one example, I found a February seventh, twenty nineteen NASA 254 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: news article by Ray Villard and Claire Seravia noting photos 255 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,240 Speaker 1: that had been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of 256 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: visible storms on both Uranus and Neptune. And in these pictures, 257 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: the storm on Urinus appears as a gigantic white dome 258 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: of clouds swarming over the planet's north pole, and the 259 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: authors note that this gigantic weather pattern might have been 260 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: formed by seasonal changes of flow in the atmosphere, because remember, 261 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: the planet is tilted on its side, so as the 262 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: seasons change, the part of the planet facing the direction 263 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: of the sun goes from a polar region that basically 264 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: remains in direct sunlight for many, many Earth years at 265 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: a time to an equatorial reaon that rotates through standard 266 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: day night cycles like Earth does, except it's rotating on 267 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: its side, and these drastic changes in seasons may give 268 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: rise to major changes in the flow of the atmosphere, 269 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: resulting in weather like this. I was reading an article 270 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: by the astrophysics blogger Ethan Seagull which made the point 271 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: that the Voyager two images are probably especially featureless because 272 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: they were taken during the solstice on Uranus, when the 273 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: continuous rays of sunlight had been falling on one of 274 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: the planet's polar regions for many earth years, and so 275 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: this regime of NonStop polar daytime created a haze of 276 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: methane in the upper atmosphere. So up at the top 277 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: of the atmosphere, there's all this methane up there, which 278 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 1: both masks the clouds and the visible weather patterns below, 279 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: so you can't really see what's going on beneath all 280 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: that methane, and it absorbs red light, leading to the 281 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 1: pale blue green color that we can't stop staring at. 282 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: By contrast, when you see photos of Uranus taken by 283 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: telescopes during its equinox, you will see more defined atmospheric 284 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: bands and storms and clouds, not as dramatic at all 285 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 1: as what you'd see on Jupiter, but the stuff is there, 286 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: so Uranus is not actually always featureless. This seems to 287 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: be a function of when and how it was photographed 288 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 1: by Voyager two. But in those voyager images it is 289 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: deeply striking, almost haunting, how frozen and unperturbed and uniform 290 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: the planet appears. 291 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 2: Very interesting. Yeah, yeah, it's a it's there's a there's 292 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 2: a calmness. So it's a call like you look at 293 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,919 Speaker 2: images of of of Urinus and it's it's calming compared 294 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 2: to like the the the the the evident kind of 295 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 2: complexity and chaos of Jupiter. 296 00:17:54,600 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: Absolutely colder, stiller, more uniform, it'll even lying on its side, 297 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,639 Speaker 1: and not to get to anthropomorphic, but as if dead. 298 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's also a sense of the sky to it, 299 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 2: which is fitting. We'll come back to that in a second. 300 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 2: But yeah, mostly though this episode, we're getting into the 301 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 2: moons of Uranus and it has a healthy number of 302 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 2: moons twenty seven known moons. This is a good n 303 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 2: this is a number that we can handle, we can 304 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 2: actually name, I think, all the moons of Urinus, where as, 305 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 2: of course there are some really robust moon counts for 306 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,880 Speaker 2: Jupiter and Saturn. So things are leveling out a little 307 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 2: bit for us as we continue our journey out through 308 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 2: the Solar system. 309 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this is more of a fair fight. 310 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: I don't think we said the names of all the 311 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: moons of Jupiter or Saturn. 312 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 2: Right. 313 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: Well, we can't promise in this series that we're going 314 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: to like discuss all of Urinus's moons deeply, because some 315 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: of them are just kind of rocks that I don't 316 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: know how much there is to say about them. I 317 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: don't mean to be offensive if you're a devotee of 318 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,719 Speaker 1: any particular Bianca or something, but yeah, we will have 319 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 1: more to say about some than others. 320 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's just not a lot to say about 321 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 2: some of them, just because we just haven't explored Uranus 322 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 2: or its moons as much. We've only had the one 323 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 2: voyager two fly by, really, and that's it, basically. 324 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:17,959 Speaker 3: Know. 325 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 2: In addition to things like Hubble analysis and so. 326 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: Forth, Before we explore more about the planet and its moons, 327 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,880 Speaker 1: I think we should take a little bit of time 328 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:40,320 Speaker 1: to discuss the origins of this name, the mythological moniker 329 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,880 Speaker 1: that has caused so much pleasure and pain among astronomers worldwide. 330 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, and you know, it could have been 331 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 2: it could have been weirder in some respects because it 332 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 2: took about seventy years for this to be firmly decided 333 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 2: upon that, yes, this planet is Uranus. William Herschel wanted 334 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 2: to name it after King George the Third, so he 335 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 2: wanted to call it essentially the George Star Georgian Sidas, 336 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 2: but luckily we didn't. Can you imagine if if that 337 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 2: was the we had all these you know, these Roman 338 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 2: deity names, and then George Starr amazing presumably not. 339 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: I've got a story to tell about William Herschel in 340 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: a little bit here, but yeah, wanting to name it 341 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: after King George the third, He's just forever in the 342 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: heavens that that would be hilarious. Yeah, I don't know 343 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: what the modern equivalent like this is the this is 344 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: the gerald Ford planet. 345 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,160 Speaker 2: I mean it is. There's always gonna be something weird 346 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 2: about naming these astral bodies after things and a given culture, 347 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 2: and we'll run into some of that again when we 348 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,920 Speaker 2: get into some of the literary names that are invoked 349 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 2: in the moons. But but yeah, I just can't imagine 350 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 2: this being the George Star. So the namesake here is 351 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 2: the Greek primordial deity of the sky urin Us or 352 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 2: I think I think more correctly, or it would be Urunas. Right. 353 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 2: We've talked about this before on the show. 354 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:06,920 Speaker 1: I don't know if i'd stand by that. I've heard 355 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: it said that way too, So we've got Urinus is 356 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:14,959 Speaker 1: what most astronomers and planetary scientists say. The lay public, 357 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 1: at least in the US, says Uranus. We got one 358 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 1: interview with the guy who says, technically it's Uranus, and yes, 359 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: I've also heard uranus. 360 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, though, I love Uruanas. But I'm gonna feel like 361 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 2: a weirdo if i start calling it that just among 362 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 2: friends and family or even on the podcast. So I'm 363 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 2: just gonna have to stick with you. Okay, let's do 364 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 2: it all right, So who is we can say Urunas? 365 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 2: Though when we're referring to the god, I think maybe 366 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 2: that's a good way of differentiating it. Here Greek primordial 367 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 2: deity of the sky and both a child and a 368 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 2: consort of Gaya, the parent and a parent of Titans 369 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 2: of the Cyclopses, as well as the Hecataneries, the one 370 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 2: hundred handed warriors who don't get enough I think attention 371 00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 2: in the various wars of the gods, perhaps just because 372 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 2: they're hard to illustrate. It's hard to maybe imagine what 373 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 2: one hundred handed monster looks like. 374 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: I don't know, you can imagine two hands is just 375 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: kind of multiply from there. 376 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, just like an absurdity of goro coming at you. There. 377 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: What's the Latin prefix for fifty? Like the quinta deca goro? 378 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,640 Speaker 2: I don't know that sounds good. Okay, that's a lot 379 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 2: of button inputs though, for the punches. Anyway, Uranas is 380 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 2: the one who stands on high. He is the rain maker. 381 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 2: Among his many children was the titan Cronus, who, at 382 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 2: Gaya's urging, rebelled against his father, And of course Cronus 383 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 2: famously castrated his father in the myths and cast the 384 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 2: bloody pieces over his shoulder and ushered in a new 385 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 2: age of gods. Cronus would of course, eventually be overthrown 386 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 2: by his own son Zeus. 387 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: Okay, well, here I thought, this is a good opportune, ever, 388 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: reading from Hesiod's Theogony to explain what happened to old Urinus. Here, Oh, 389 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,119 Speaker 1: let's happy, Okay. This is the version hosted on Harvard 390 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: Center for Hellenic Studies website. This is a translation by 391 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: Naggie and banks. Oh, and it's gonna mention Earth and Sky. 392 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: I think Earth would be the goddess Gaia, and Sky 393 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: would be Urinus. Here yeah, Hesiod writes, Now monstrous strength 394 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: is powerful joined with vast size. Four of as many 395 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: sons as were born of Earth and Sky. They were 396 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: the fiercest and were hated by their father from the 397 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: very first. As soon as any of these was born, 398 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,719 Speaker 1: he would hide them all and not send them up 399 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: to the light. In a cave of the Earth and 400 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: Sky exulted over the work of mischief, while huge Earth 401 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: groaned from within. Straightened as she was, and she devised 402 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,199 Speaker 1: a subtle and evil scheme. For quickly, having produced a 403 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: stock of white iron, she forged a large sickle blade, 404 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: and gave the word to her children, and said, encouragingly, 405 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: though troubled in her heart, children, of me and of 406 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: a father madly violent, if you would obey me, we 407 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: shall avenge the baneful injury of your father, for he 408 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: was the first that devised acts of indignity, so spoke she, 409 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: But soon seized on them all, nor did any of 410 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: them speak till, having gathered courage, great and wily Cronos 411 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 1: addressed his dear mother. Thus in reply, Mother, this deed 412 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,199 Speaker 1: at any rate I will undertake and accomplished. Since our 413 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: father of detested name, I care not, for he was 414 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,360 Speaker 1: the first that devised acts of indignity. They're really hitting 415 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: the talking points here. Thus spoke he and huge Earth 416 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 1: rejoiced much at heart, and hid and planted him in ambush. 417 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 1: In his hand she placed a sickle with jagged teeth, 418 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: and suggested to him all the stratagem. Then came vast Sky, 419 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,159 Speaker 1: bringing night with him, and eager for love, brooded around Earth, 420 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: and lay stretched on all sides but his from out 421 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: his ambush grasped at him with his left hand, while 422 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: in his right he took the huge sickle, long and 423 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: jagged toothed, and hastily mowed off the genitals of his father, 424 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 1: and threw them backwards to be carried away behind him. 425 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,679 Speaker 2: Pretty rough stuff. I don't know why the sickle had 426 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 2: to have jagged teeth. 427 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:20,360 Speaker 1: I don't know either. 428 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 2: Thed was just laying it in there a little bit. 429 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: It's a serrated sickle. I've never even heard of such 430 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: a thing. It's like a steak knife. 431 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. 432 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: But as I mentioned Urinus there, his name is synonymous 433 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: with Sky, so in this translation they just call him Sky. 434 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,400 Speaker 1: So I think it's very interesting that we end up 435 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: with a planet that, in a way, based on the 436 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: original mythological context, could just be called sky. It is 437 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: the sky planet. 438 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And of course it's interesting that we're switching 439 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 2: from Roman to Greek in coming out here to Uranus. 440 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 2: And of course this may raise the question of why 441 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 2: why are we talking about modern discussions of what this 442 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:00,840 Speaker 2: planet will be named? And of course you know that 443 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 2: has to do with with how late it was discovered, 444 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 2: properly discovered, because when discussing basically this comes down to 445 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 2: a discussion of the classical planets versus the the more 446 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 2: outer and I guess you could say modern planets. The 447 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 2: classical planets are those visible to the naked eye and 448 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:25,400 Speaker 2: bright enough to be considered important in ancient astronomy and astrology. 449 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 2: And we'll discuss a little bit more about what that 450 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 2: means in just a second there. There there are many 451 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 2: names for the classical planets because they pop up in 452 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 2: various astronomical systems. 453 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: Right, they were known to many different ancient cultures, so 454 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: they have many different names exactly. 455 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, So you know, for instance, mercury through Saturn have 456 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 2: names that indicate elemental alignment in Chinese tradition, So Mars 457 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 2: is the fire star, Jupiter is the wood star, that 458 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 2: sort of thing. But the Chinese for the outer planets, 459 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 2: interestingly enough, is not based in an actual like Chinese 460 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 2: at astrological history, but in translation of at least the 461 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 2: spirit of the Western names. So Uranus in Mandarin is 462 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 2: Tan wang Shing or sky king star. So I think 463 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 2: that's that's center, just basically alluding to this is a 464 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 2: sky god. That's the name that we've used in naming 465 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 2: the planet. So it's sky sky king star. Neptune is 466 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 2: ocean king star, Pluto is nether World king star. In translation. 467 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,800 Speaker 1: I love that, Yes, translating the sense of the names. 468 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: So the name in Mandarin is like a summary of 469 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: where the name comes from, like the Latin or Greek name. 470 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. So again talking about the classical planets here, these 471 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 2: were the planets that were known to antiquity Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 472 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 2: and Saturn. Uranus was the first planet discovered via the 473 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 2: aid of a telescope, and it happened in seventeen eighty 474 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 2: one by astronomer William Herschel In addition, he also discovered 475 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 2: infrared radiation. He's also credited with the discovery of Titania 476 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 2: and Oberon, which are some moons we'll get into in 477 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 2: a bit, as well as two of the moons of Saturn, 478 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 2: Enceladus and Mimas. His son John Herschel got to carry 479 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 2: on their tradition and named seven moons of Saturn and 480 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 2: four moons of Uranus. 481 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,480 Speaker 1: Now, a really interesting thing about the discovery of Uranus 482 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: by William Herschel is that at first he did not 483 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: realize he had discovered a new planet in the Solar System. 484 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: And the reason for this will sort of tie into 485 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: things we've been talking about. I was reading about this 486 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: in a paper called Uranus in the Establishment of Herschel's 487 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: Astronomy by Simon Schaeffer, published in the Journal of the 488 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: History of Astronomy in nineteen eighty one, and so the 489 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: story of the discovery of Urinus goes like this. William 490 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: Herschel had undertaken a project, beginning in seventeen seventy nine, 491 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: to survey all of the stars in the sky to 492 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: the limit of the eighth magnitude using a seven foot 493 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:12,200 Speaker 1: reflecting telescope, mainly for the purpose of identifying double stars 494 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: so that Herschel could try to make measurements of stellar parallax. 495 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: In March seventeen eighty one, Herschel had his telescope moved 496 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: to his house on New King Street in Bath in Somerset, England, 497 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: and he was picking up with his observations from this location. 498 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: And on the week of the discovery of Uranus, he 499 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: had been occupied cataloging the visible stars within the constellation Gemini, 500 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: and also with some observations of the planet's Mars and Saturn. 501 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: And on Tuesday, March thirteenth, at ten thirty pm, Herschel 502 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: made a note of an object in the area of 503 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: the star Pollux, also known as Beta Geminorum. The object 504 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: was quote a curious either nebulous star or perhaps a comet, 505 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: and later translated this discovery to his volume in progress, 506 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: which was called Observations on the Fixed Stars. 507 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 2: Quote. 508 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: Looking at a star in the quartile between oreguess right 509 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: foot and the left foot of Castor, I discovered a comet. 510 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: It was at the distance of almost two thirds of 511 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: my field of view from a small telescopic star which 512 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: followed it, and seemed to have the same declination. Now 513 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: Herschel didn't seem to be immediately overwhelmed with ideas of 514 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: the importance of this finding. He after this just went 515 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: back to looking for double stars, and it wasn't until 516 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: Saturday March seventeenth, which was four days later, that he 517 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: went back and looked for the curious nebulous star or 518 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: perhaps comet again, and this time he concluded that it 519 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: must be a comet rather than a star, because it 520 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 1: had changed its place. So he invited some friends over, 521 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: including a guy named doctor William Watson, to come take 522 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 1: a look at the comet he had found, and he 523 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: noted in his journal that unfortunately the measurements he took 524 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: that night were written down wrong because Watson and another 525 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: gentleman wouldn't stop talking at him while he was trying 526 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: to write them. But he eventually sent off his findings 527 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: in a letter to the Royal Society in London, and 528 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: Herschel reported that the object was a newly discovered comet, 529 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: but there were some strange things about it. Based on 530 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: initial observations, it would seem that the comet was quote 531 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: much larger in diameter but less luminous than any comet 532 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: known at the time, and that quote its body seemed 533 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: very well defined, having neither beard nor tail. Now that 534 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: struck me because I was like, what is a beard? 535 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: Comets are often said to have tails, but the idea 536 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: of a beard I was less familiar with. As best 537 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 1: I could figure out, this, I think seems to just 538 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 1: be another way of describing the tale of a comet, which, 539 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: of course the tale is an elongated cloud trailing off 540 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: of the comet away from the Sun, caused when the 541 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: comet approaches closer in its orbit to the Sun and 542 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: then solar radiation and heats the volatile materials on the 543 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: surface of the comet and they vaporize and stream away 544 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: into space. I don't know if the following is the 545 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:12,320 Speaker 1: difference emphasized by beard versus tail, but comets often do 546 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 1: have two distinct tails. A dust tail made of the 547 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:20,440 Speaker 1: dust to find particles coming off of the comet from 548 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: this outgassing when it's heated, and then also a gas 549 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:27,640 Speaker 1: tail made of glowing ionized gases. However, I could find 550 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: archaic references to comets in general simply calling them quote 551 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: bearded stars. So I don't know. Maybe a beard means 552 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: either one. I guess the other ideas that it could 553 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: possibly refer to the idea of a coma, which is 554 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: the sort of tenuous atmosphere of a comet, seen usually 555 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: as a fuzzy spherical cloud around the solid nucleus. 556 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 2: I wonder too if this might come down to sort 557 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 2: of the distinction between sort of more modern telescope generated 558 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 2: imagery and your telescope observation. You know, we've talked about 559 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 2: that a little bit, like the role of the observer 560 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:11,920 Speaker 2: in real time and sort of you know, classical telescope 561 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 2: astronomy versus the more modern use of imagery. 562 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: I don't know for sure about that, but so he's like, ah, okay, 563 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: it's a comet, but it just it doesn't have a 564 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 1: lot of the characteristics we would expect of a comment. 565 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: In fact, the paper cites a letter from the French 566 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:31,600 Speaker 1: astronomer Charles Messier, who was known as quote the ferret 567 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: of comets. I'd never heard that before, but I think 568 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: he found a lot of them. Messier, the Ferret of comments, 569 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: wrote to Herschel in April of seventeen eighty one. It 570 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,200 Speaker 1: was quoted in the paper in French, so I had 571 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 1: to translate. Apologies if this is a little bit approximate 572 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: but Messier says, I'm amazed at this comment, which does 573 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: not carry with it any distinctive character of comets, and 574 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 1: that it does not resemble any of those which I 575 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: have observed, which are eighteen in number. So I just 576 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: thought this was interesting. It seemed at first all of 577 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: the learned astronomers were calling it a comet, even though 578 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: they recognize that it's really not like a comet at all, 579 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: Like it doesn't have any of the characteristics we would expect, 580 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: doesn't behave like a comet. It seems that the first 581 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: person on record to have mentioned that this new comet 582 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:20,800 Speaker 1: might actually be a planet was the British astronomer Royal 583 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 1: Neville Masculine, who argued that it might be a comet, 584 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,919 Speaker 1: but it might also be a new planet, and if 585 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: it were a comet, it would be unlike any other 586 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: Herschel apparently did not refer to Uranus as a planet 587 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,120 Speaker 1: until the summer of seventeen eighty two, when he called 588 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,759 Speaker 1: it quote my planet and again he wanted to originally 589 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: call it GEORGI mciitas the George Star again lol. But 590 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,319 Speaker 1: so I was just wondering, like, why is everybody so 591 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: quick to assume it's a comet? Why did it take 592 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 1: them a little while to come around to the conclusion 593 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 1: that it was actually a planet? And Schaeffer in this 594 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 1: paper argues that even though Maskerline was the first to 595 00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: suggest it might be a planet, quote, Maskerline's own practice 596 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:17,680 Speaker 1: was fundamentally conditioned by the eighteenth century triumphs in cometary astronomy. 597 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: Comets dominated the contemporary perception of the heavens. It seemed 598 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,840 Speaker 1: inconceivable that a new planet could be discovered. And I 599 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: think this must just come back to the state of 600 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 1: astronomy as it was at the time, because as you 601 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: were talking about rob Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, all 602 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,480 Speaker 1: the other planets up to this point had been known 603 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:42,879 Speaker 1: about since antiquity. They were written about by Babylonian astronomers 604 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,360 Speaker 1: thousands of years ago. They were charted with the naked eye, 605 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,719 Speaker 1: and Copernicus had correctly figured out that they orbited the 606 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:50,920 Speaker 1: Sun and not the Earth. 607 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:53,799 Speaker 2: Now, I just want to drive home here that again, Yeah, 608 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,480 Speaker 2: the classical planets are those that could be seen with 609 00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 2: the naked eye, but also were distinct enough to be 610 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,000 Speaker 2: of value. But if you're really looking with the naked eye, 611 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,840 Speaker 2: and the conditions are just right, you apparently can see Urinus. 612 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 2: But again, the whole deal here is that what you 613 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 2: see is not significant enough to have, you know, had 614 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 2: any impact on these ancient astrological and astronomical systems. According 615 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 2: to Pete Lawrence, writing for BBC Sky at Night magazine 616 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,799 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, yeah, it is possible to see Uranus 617 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 2: with the naked eye conditions and preparations or just right. 618 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,799 Speaker 2: He stresses, however, that the planet quote shines at the 619 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 2: edge of naked eye visibility, and any direct views of 620 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 2: Urinus aren't always conclusive. 621 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was my understanding from reading all this stuff 622 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: as well, that it's sort of right on the edge 623 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,839 Speaker 1: of naked eye visibility, to the point where some people 624 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 1: argue that, oh, maybe this thing that somebody said, you know, 625 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,440 Speaker 1: a naked eye astronomer in the ancient world observed was 626 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,399 Speaker 1: actually an observation of Urinus. But it's hard to know. 627 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 2: To put it in terms of are weird how cinema 628 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,239 Speaker 2: listeners might appreciate. It's like watching The Devil's Rain and 629 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,520 Speaker 2: then asking is John Travolta in this is John Travolta 630 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:08,040 Speaker 2: a star? 631 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: Evidence is inconclusive, right, but so coming back to this, 632 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: so like all the planets through Saturn had been known 633 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,600 Speaker 1: since antiquity to multiple different cultures, there had been other 634 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 1: heavenly bodies identified since the invention of telescopes, but none 635 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:27,080 Speaker 1: of them were planets in the Solar System. Galileo had 636 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:32,440 Speaker 1: identified moons of Jupiter, Cassini and Heuygen's identified moons of Saturn, 637 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 1: but Herschel's identification of Uranus was actually the first time 638 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: since ancient times that the existence of a new planet 639 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,200 Speaker 1: in the Solar System had been confirmed. That's just not 640 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: something these astronomers were really expecting to find. Comets, on 641 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: the other hand, were constantly being discovered. Discovering new comets 642 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: was one of the major endeavors of astronomers of the day. 643 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 1: You had the ferret of comets out there doing ferreting 644 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:02,360 Speaker 1: them out, so you could think of this as a 645 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:06,319 Speaker 1: kind of astronomical confirmation bias. Comets were just that's what 646 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,720 Speaker 1: you discover, that's the thing you're expecting to see. 647 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's planets, and then just it's filthy with 648 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,479 Speaker 2: comets and you got to send the comet truffle hog 649 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,120 Speaker 2: out there to root them out. 650 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: So of course there were many subsequent discoveries of the 651 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: moons of Urinus, but a lot of what we now 652 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:26,880 Speaker 1: know about Urinus really comes in the later twentieth century 653 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,080 Speaker 1: with the fly by a Voyager two. 654 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:32,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, and as we'll really be driven home as we 655 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,560 Speaker 2: discuss these moons one by one. It's like Voyager two 656 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,640 Speaker 2: is the defining mission. Like a lot of what we 657 00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:43,759 Speaker 2: know comes either in it from that fly by or 658 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:48,839 Speaker 2: it's the combination of that flyby information combined with say 659 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 2: Hubble telescope information as well. So it's a lot of 660 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 2: the mysteries of Uranus and its moons remains all right, 661 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,920 Speaker 2: So when we come back in the next stepisodeisode, we 662 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 2: will blow through the twenty seven known moons of Urinus. 663 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: All twenty seven in one episode. 664 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 2: I don't know if we can do that all twenty 665 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,839 Speaker 2: seven one episode. That's a guarantee. That's a guarantee, so 666 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 2: be sure to join us for that. And then I 667 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:17,240 Speaker 2: don't know, And then at some point in the future 668 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 2: we'll move on to Neptune. But next episode will be 669 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,680 Speaker 2: Moon by Moon the moons of Uranus. In the meantime, 670 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,480 Speaker 2: if you would like to check out other episodes of 671 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 2: stuff to blow your mind. Well, check out the Stuff 672 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,719 Speaker 2: to Blow Your Mind podcast feed. If you go back 673 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,680 Speaker 2: far enough, you'll find those episodes we did about the 674 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 2: other moons in our solar system and Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, 675 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:43,680 Speaker 2: et cetera. But yeah, core episodes published on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 676 00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:46,120 Speaker 2: On Mondays we do listener mail. Wednesdays we do a 677 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:49,400 Speaker 2: short form monster fact or artifact, and tomorrow's will also 678 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,200 Speaker 2: tie into Urinus, so tune in for that. And then 679 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:55,960 Speaker 2: on Fridays we set aside most serious concerns and just 680 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,440 Speaker 2: talk about a weird movie on Weird House Cinema. 681 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,080 Speaker 1: Huge thanks to our audio producer JJ Pausway. If you 682 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:04,120 Speaker 1: would like to get in touch with us with feedback 683 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,440 Speaker 1: on this episode or any other, to suggest a topic 684 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 1: for the future, or just to say hello, you can 685 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind 686 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 1: dot com. 687 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,840 Speaker 3: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For 688 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 3: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 689 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:42,399 Speaker 3: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to your favorite shows.