1 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: Ay, Daniel, When you were growing up, when did you 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: first realize that the rest of the world was not 3 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: like the neighborhood you lived in. Mmm, well, I grew 4 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: up in Los Alngos, where I was surrounded by people 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: with pH d s, and now I live on campus 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: at you see Irvine, also surrounded by people with PhDs. 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,519 Speaker 1: Are you saying that's not typical? First of all, I 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: feel a little sad for you. The second, I think 9 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: maybe you need to travel more. Hey, I mean I 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: have lots of friends who don't have PhDs like me, 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: And you mean you do know I have a PhD. Right, Oh, 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: that's true. Actually, well, I'm sure one of my friends 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: out there doesn't have a PhD in something. Probably sometimes 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: you have to leave your comfort zone to discover what 15 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: the rest of the world or the universe is. Like. 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: Hi am or hand Ma cartoonists and the creator of 17 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: PhD comics. Hi, I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist by 18 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: day and a podcaster by night. It makes it sound 19 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: like you're a superhero. Like you you put on a 20 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: costume and you go and fight crime and discover things. Wait, 21 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: which is the alter ego and which is a superhero. 22 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: Ag are you saying particle physicists are superheroes or podcasters? Well, 23 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: since I'm not a physicist, I would say the podcasters 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: are the superhero. That's right. By day, a boring, run 25 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: of the mill particle physicists like the kind you meet 26 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: at your grocery store every day. No more like during 27 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: the day. You're a physicist scientists supervillain during night, then 28 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: you try to fix fixed by being a podcaster. That's right, 29 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: And I take off my glasses to reveal my secret 30 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: podcast identity. You shave your beard every night never. That 31 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: is the source of my knowledge and inspiration, source of 32 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: your source of professor male professor's powers. That's right. I 33 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: am the Samson of physics. Before I grew this beard, 34 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: I never achieved anything in science. Oh man, what if 35 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: you could a got Does that cut your productivity? You 36 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: can have? It's nonlinear. Well, welcome to our podcast, Daniel 37 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe, a production of I Heart 38 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: Radio in which we tackle all things about the universe 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 1: that are mysterious, that are amazing, that are bonkers, from 40 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: how the universe was formed, to how big is it? 41 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: To how old the Earth is, to whether or not 42 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: your facial hair determines your evil or innocence yep. Or 43 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: whether being a podcaster makes you a superhero or not. 44 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: I think we all know the answer to that one. 45 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: But basically, we talk about all the things that are 46 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: interesting and different and fascinating about our universe right especially 47 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: the things around us, and we try to focus on 48 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: the things that science is asking right now, the questions 49 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: in the minds of scientists. We try to take you 50 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: to the cutting edge of current science and then do 51 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: obscurify it. We don't use complicated words like de obscurify. 52 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: We try to make things clear and understandable. You just 53 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: contradicted yourself there. I feel like we try to explain 54 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 1: things in the simplest way possible. When we explain it 55 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: are explaining, we use the most complicated words possible. Hey, 56 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: this is Daniel Jorge explained the universe, not Daniel Jorge 57 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: explained the explaining and then welcome through new podcast Daniel 58 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: and Jorge explain. Daniel and Jorge explain the universe. That's right, 59 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: the spinoff podcast exactly. I'm looking forward to that one. 60 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: A lot of TV shows now having like an aftershow, 61 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: So that's the better off solid podcasts. Yeah, let's talk 62 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: Daniel and Jorge podcast. Doesn't that need to have somebody 63 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: else on it though, where they can ridicule all of 64 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: our jokes. Yeah, let's pretend to be some other person. Oh, 65 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: there you go. I'll be David and you'll be Gearmo. 66 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: David and Jose. David Jose ridiculed Daniel and Jorge. Al right, well, yeah, 67 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: we talked about all the things scientists want to know 68 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: and um and how they look at the universe as well, right, Like, 69 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: you know, one way to look at the universe is 70 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: to compare it to the things around us. That's right, 71 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: and something we're always trying to do in sciences. Understand 72 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: our context is understand where we live, because hey, this 73 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: is our planet in our solar system. We'd like to 74 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: know is the rest of the of the universe similar 75 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: to what we're finding around us or is it totally different? Yeah, 76 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: because we like the Earth presumably, and it's pretty comfortable. 77 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: And I'm pro Earth. Your pro it's pretty I'm taking 78 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: a controversial opinion here at night, you're pro probably during 79 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,679 Speaker 1: the day your entire Earth. Well, it's not like particle 80 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: physicists threatened to destroy the universe at any moment, so 81 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: on purpose, right, Hey, intentions matter. Okay, I'm sure they 82 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: matter once we're all made out of dissolved particles now. 83 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: But we want to understand the world around us, and 84 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: we want to understand if there are other worlds out there, 85 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: and we'd also just like to know is the thing 86 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: that we've been studying for the entire history of science 87 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: is it normal? Is it typical? Or are we studying 88 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: something which turns out to be really unusual and that 89 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: we can't generalize from to get sort of deeper truths 90 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: about the nature of the universe. Yeah, we like the Earth, 91 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: we like our solar system, but um is the rest 92 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: of the universe like us. And we're an amazing moment 93 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: in human history when we're for the first time really 94 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: getting glimpses for what the rest of the universe looked like. 95 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: You know, for thousands of years, all we could see 96 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: where other stars, but didn't even know if there were 97 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: other planets out there. And then fairly recently in human history, 98 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: thousands of years ago we discovered that there are other 99 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: planets out there. And now super recently, just like twenty 100 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: years ago, we've begun seeing planets around other stars. So 101 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: we can now ask and answer this question people have 102 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: been wondering about four thousands and thousands of years. So 103 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: today on the podcast, we'll be asking the question, is 104 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: our solar system weird or typical? And either way we 105 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: love it. Right, it's our solar system, whatever label you 106 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: put on it, we like it. But we're still curious. 107 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: Is it sort of the oddball solar system it's the 108 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: only one we've been studying for a long time, or 109 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: is it pretty typical? Yeah, this is a really cool question. 110 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: And because you know, I think we grew we grew 111 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: up in this solar system, right, and we don't have 112 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: we have no idea whether it's every other solar system 113 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: looks like this one, or whether we're like, it's really weird, 114 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: odd special gem or disaster, depending on how things work 115 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: out of a solar system. Yeah, and it's all we 116 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: could have studied for the long this time because our 117 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: telescopes couldn't see any further, so we were limited to 118 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: only looking at our cosmic neighborhood, to studying our planet 119 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: and the ones nearby, and so of course we were 120 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: curious what else was out there in the rest of 121 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: the universe. But imagine if you had only lived in 122 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: your hometown your whole life, and you never received any 123 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: news in the outside world, and so you didn't know 124 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: that people eight differently in other countries, and people went 125 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: to the bathroom differently in other countries, and dressed differently 126 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: and spoke differently. You imagined that everything else in the 127 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: world was sort of like your hometown. That's where we 128 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: are right now in science we're wondering if those other 129 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: solar systems are totally different or just the same as ours. Yeah, 130 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: you're saying humanity sort of like a like those mirror 131 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: cats you've seen documentaries. We were just finally sticking our 132 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: head out of the hole in the ground that we've 133 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: been living in and looking around this. Yeah, but we've 134 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: been desperate to do it for for a long time, 135 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: and we've only recently built a technology that's let us 136 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: see other solar systems and start to get an answer 137 00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: to this question, because you know, I feel like most 138 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: people just assume that the rest of the universe looks 139 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: like our solar system and our planet, right Like, if 140 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: you look at most science fiction TV shows and movies, 141 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: you know, everywhere they go, it sort of looks suspiciously 142 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: like Earth. Yeah, And I think that's a failure of imagination, 143 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: especially on the part of science fiction. When you fly 144 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: to another planet and you know, hey, it has oxygen 145 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 1: on it and trees and hills and water that looks 146 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: just like ours, and oh, people on it that look 147 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: just like ours, but their foreheads are slightly wrinkly. I 148 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: think that's a failure of imagination. But it's also sort 149 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: of understandable because it's hard to imagine things totally different 150 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: from anything you've ever seen before. That's why good science 151 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: fiction is rare. Did you just insult All Star Trek 152 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: and Star Wars that was supposed to be sort of 153 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: like a subtweet? Didn't mention it by name, but yeah, yeah. 154 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: And so the question is are those science fiction movies right? 155 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: Are Are there really other earths out there? Are other 156 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: solar systems like ours? Or are we unique in this universe? 157 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: And so, as usual, we were wondering how what people 158 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: thought about this question, whether people thought that we are 159 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: unique or whether things are very different out there in 160 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: the verse. So I walk around campus and I asked 161 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: random students about other random solar systems. I think, for 162 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: a moment, do you think other solar systems look like ours? 163 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: Is our solar system typical or is our solar system 164 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: going to turn out to be really weird? The galactic oddball. 165 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: Here's what people had to say. From what I know, 166 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: it's typical. Um, I mean it depends what you say. 167 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: Typical is considering there billions of stars, but it's not unusual. No, 168 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: I have no idea. It's probably random. If there were 169 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: gases on a planet that were closer to the Sun 170 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: or like star, maybe they would like dissipate faster. I 171 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:51,680 Speaker 1: think that it's ranks. I think you say I do 172 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: not know. I think it's random, and I think it's 173 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: going to be different Because our solar system it revolves 174 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: around the Sun. I think other systems are gonna be different. 175 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:02,959 Speaker 1: So what do you think of those answers? Or pretty good? 176 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: I thought I felt like people had a strong opinion 177 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: about this topic. You know, everyone said I think it's X. 178 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: Nobody said I don't know or only one. Only a 179 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: few people said I had no idea, But a lot 180 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: of people that were like, I think I have an 181 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: opinion about this. Yeah, given that nobody really knows the 182 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: answer to this question, I was a little surprised at 183 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: the strength of people's opinions. I mean, I often ask 184 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: people questions and they go, I have no idea quantum what. 185 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: But this time people had an opinion. And maybe that's 186 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 1: just because people have thought about this. They've wondered what 187 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: other solar systems look like. They've thought about traveling to 188 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: the stars and walking on those planets and wondered if 189 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: they would be like ours. I wonder if you would 190 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: get different answers if you caveat each time you ask 191 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: these questions, If you caveat them with oh, and by 192 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: the way, some of the smartest people in the world 193 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: don't know the answer to this, I would be so 194 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: much less fun. Who would want to answer that? Nobody? 195 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: I love when people speculated. I of seeing them in 196 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: their minds sort of take this question on and sometimes 197 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: for the first time and formulate an answer. And my 198 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: favorite moments are when you can see somebody giving an 199 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: answer that sort of surprises themselves. They think about it, 200 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: they give an answer that, oh, I didn't realize I 201 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: do think that. That's fascinating. Makes me wonder how much 202 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: we actually think about the things we say. Sometimes I'm 203 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: just listening to my own self talking, I'm like, what 204 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: did he just say? So that's the question of the day. 205 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: Is is our solar system unique? Or is it pretty typical? 206 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: And if it's not typical, how different could it be 207 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: out there? And you should count yourself lucky to live 208 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: in a time when we will know the answer to 209 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: this question. Some of the greatest minds in history, Galileo Einstein, Newton, 210 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: even recent people like Richard Feynman, they looked up at 211 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: the stars and they wondered if other solar systems look 212 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: like ours. They all died not knowing the answer. All 213 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: you have to do is listen to this podcast. Yeah, 214 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:00,599 Speaker 1: so you're welcome. Are you taking it for all the 215 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: scientific discoveries? Thank you? Or hey who personally built the 216 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,319 Speaker 1: Hubble space telescope with his own hands? I signed the 217 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: back of it. I don't know if anyone will ever 218 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,120 Speaker 1: you drew a doodle on it? Are you the official 219 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: cartoonist of the space telescope? Technically you can't prove that 220 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: I didn't sign the back of the Hubble telescope. Oh 221 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: I need another telescope trained on the space telescope to 222 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:21,959 Speaker 1: see the back of it. I wonder if anybody ever 223 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: does that, But yeah, do you think so? Yeah, it's 224 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: an interesting question. I'm sure a lot of people have 225 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: asked before. So let's break it down for people, Daniel. 226 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: Let's talk about our solar system, and then let's talk 227 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,400 Speaker 1: about what other solar system. Well, we know about other 228 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: solar systems out there, right, and our solar system is 229 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: actually quite fascinating because it has some sort of trends 230 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: in it. And you have to remember that all of 231 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: our knowledge of solar systems and how they're formed, all 232 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: of our theories how solar systems were built, have been 233 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: developed over decades or hundreds of years based on just 234 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: this one example, our solar system. So you know, we 235 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: sort of tuned these theories to describe what we've seen here, 236 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: and now comes the big test to see whether these 237 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,200 Speaker 1: theories can be applied and explain other solar systems, right, 238 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: Because I think maybe people a lot of people don't 239 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: realize that we can't. Just up until very very recently, 240 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: and only just now barely, we haven't really been able 241 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: to like take a telescope pointing at another star and 242 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,319 Speaker 1: see another solar system, right like it's up until very 243 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: very recently, it's been a complete mystery. What other solar 244 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: systems look like? Yeah, the first planet around another star 245 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: was seen just over twenty years ago, so it's a 246 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: blip in human history and even in scientific history. But 247 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: even before we talk about the other solar systems, our 248 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: solar system is interesting, like there are some weird trends 249 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: in it. You know, the first four planets in the 250 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: Solar System are all rocky planets. Planets basically come in 251 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,319 Speaker 1: two flavors, rocky or gassy. It sounds like sounds like 252 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: a bad ice cream shop. Yeah, like like like what 253 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: happens when I like those into olm prison goes to 254 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: an ice cream shop? Yeah, well, the first four planets 255 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: have surfaces on them, right, You've got Mercury, Venus, Earth, 256 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: and Mars. These are basically balls of rock, rock and metal. 257 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: And so we call those rocky planets. And there's no 258 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,760 Speaker 1: gas planets in the inner flour And said, you know 259 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: the four rocky planets, then you have the asteroid belt 260 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: that we dug into in a recent episode. And then 261 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: after the asteroid belt, you've got the gas giants and 262 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: the ice giants. You got Saturned, You've got Jupiter, you've 263 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: got Urinus and Neptune, and those are pretty different from 264 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: the inner planets. Is there a reason we don't have 265 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: liquid planets or like wet planets or like giant balls 266 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: of of a liquid floating around. Well, we can't have 267 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,800 Speaker 1: liquid planets. In the far Solar System. We have basically 268 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: ice giants Uranus and Neptune. A huge fraction of them 269 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: is made of water, but it's frozen. Of course, it's 270 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: too cold out there. There is of course water here 271 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: on Earth. But could you have just like an entire 272 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: drop of water be a planet, that would be pretty amazing. 273 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: I think the pressure from it would probably crystallize the inside. 274 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: So basically become an ice planet with a ocean around it, 275 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: kind of like a Europa or what's what's the wound 276 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: that's like a giant ocean. Yeah, Europa has a huge, 277 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: actually thick crust of ice on top and then a 278 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: layer of water underneath, like an ocean underneath, and then 279 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: we don't know what's inside of that. So that's like 280 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: an eminem sort of. But as the reason we don't 281 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: have liquid planets, just just depending on the elements that 282 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: we have in our Solar system, I don't think you 283 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: can make a blob of of liquid water large enough 284 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: stay liquid because the core of it would just be 285 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: too dense. It would form a solid, like by the 286 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: time it got big enough to be called the planet, 287 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: would it would totally not be liquid. Yeah, the gravitational 288 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: pressure would make the inside of it become a solid 289 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: or or something more dense, so it wouldn't be liquid anymore. 290 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 1: Do you have this fantasy of swimming through like a 291 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: planet sized pool of water? The universe is biggest swimming pool. 292 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: That would be pretty cool, nothing but a huge drop 293 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: of water the size of the Earth and then a 294 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: single diving boards. You're like, you think you have an 295 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: infinity pool. I have a planet universe universe infinity pool. 296 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: But no, we don't have any liquid planets in our 297 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: solar system. But hey, maybe you know, we'll find planets 298 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: in other solar systems that are liquids and that will 299 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: prove us wrong, and maybe liquid planets are possible, but 300 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: we don't happen to have any in our solar systems. 301 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: That we have four rocky planets the asteroid belt and 302 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 1: then the gas giants and the ice giants. And you're saying, 303 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: that's kind of funny in that it's sort of like 304 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: a pattern, like it's four rocky asteroid belt gas giants. 305 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: It's not like rocky gas, rocky gas gas gas rocky. Yeah, 306 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: it doesn't seem random. Here's a question from a listener, 307 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: Camille who thought just the same thing. Hello, Danielle and Jey. 308 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: One of the recent episodes I have listened to your show, 309 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: which was all about the asteroid belt, you, daniel mentioned 310 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: that there must be a reason why we have solid 311 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 1: rocky planets before the asteroid belt and then only gas 312 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: giants afterwards. But you never got to answering this question, 313 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: is there a reason we know? Why? Is it like 314 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: this that we see these kind of pattern other stuff? 315 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: I'm dying to know. That's such a good point. Thank 316 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: you Camille for sending in that question. And every time 317 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: you see a pattern, you think maybe there's a reason 318 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: and you want to untangle that reason. Now, it's very 319 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: dangerous when you're drawing conclusions from one example. If you 320 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: visit somebody's house and they're like, oh, look, their family 321 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: is boy boy, boy, boy boy, girl, girl, girl, girl girl, 322 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: you're going to conclude there's a reason, right that they 323 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: all have younger girls and older boys. But if you're 324 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: only looking at one house, you're gonna be totally wrong. 325 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: That would be kind of impolite to ask Daniel. You're like, 326 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: did you guys try are you're doing something different? You 327 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: know when you um um, you know you'd be desperate 328 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: to know though, you'd be super curious. And also, there's 329 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,959 Speaker 1: lots of families where it's like five boys and then 330 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: a girl, and you know that they were trying for 331 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: a girl and they finally got one and that's when 332 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: they stopped having kids. That's when they're like, we're a 333 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: closing shop. Yeah, so maybe our source systems close shops 334 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,959 Speaker 1: after after Neptune or uranus. We're done trying to make 335 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: a liquid planet. It's not happening. We're sorry, we're trying 336 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,679 Speaker 1: to make a giant swimming pool, but you know, it 337 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: just hasn't happened. That's right. The kid's gotta go swim 338 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: somewhere else. But so we do have some explanations we've 339 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:14,360 Speaker 1: cooked up, but of course the proviso is, we don't 340 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: know if this works until we try to apply to 341 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: other solar systems. And the basic idea is that you 342 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 1: don't get gas giants close into the sun because the 343 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: Sun has all this radiation it spewing up the solar wind, 344 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: and that basically blows out all the light elements, the hydrogen, 345 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: the helium, all the stuff you need to make a 346 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,560 Speaker 1: gas giant, all the gas. It blows it away from 347 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: the Sun. So that's why you don't have gas giants 348 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,479 Speaker 1: close up to their star. It's kind of like a cloud. 349 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: It gets too close to the Sun, which is kind 350 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: of wish evaprate. Yeah, and so that's sort of the 351 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,199 Speaker 1: explanation for why you have rocky planets close in. And 352 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: then in the outer planets it's colder, and so instead 353 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: of having liquid water, you have ice, and then that 354 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: ice helps the core of the planet's form. You're like, 355 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: you know, how does the planet form? Anyway, You the 356 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: initial sort of disc of stuff from the that formed 357 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: the whole Solar System, and some of it is spinning 358 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: so it doesn't fall into the star. And then in 359 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: the outer reaches, it's cold enough that you have ice 360 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: and that helps accumulate the gravity very slowly gather the 361 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,360 Speaker 1: stuff together. Because you have ice out there, it can 362 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: sort of add ice to your basic planet core and 363 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: they can get big enough to suck up all the 364 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: gas and the hydrogen in the helium. Because remember hydrogen 365 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: helium is very light, which means it's hard to hold onto. 366 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,679 Speaker 1: You need a huge gravitational mass to attract that. So 367 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: to make a gas giant, you have to form a 368 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: really big core of some metals and some ice in 369 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: order to pull in the rest of the gas. And 370 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: that can only happen in the outer reaches of the 371 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: solar system, where you have ice. And so the reason 372 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: you get gas giants and the outer Solar system is 373 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: because that's where the gas is and because that's where 374 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 1: the ice is to help pull those light gases together 375 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: into a gas giant. At least that's our theory, and 376 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: that's based on just what we've observed, all right. So 377 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: that explains why our solar system looks to wait us, 378 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,360 Speaker 1: why it's like rocky in the middle and then gassie 379 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: out there in the edges of it. And so that's 380 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: kind of the picture of our solar system. We have 381 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 1: a yellow sun, some rocky planets, some asteroids, and then 382 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: giant gas balls um swirling around the edges of them, precisely. 383 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: And remember we've been aware of this for decades and 384 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: decades and decades and so we had a long time 385 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: to cook up this model based on just this one 386 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: solar system. It's become very fine tuned and and very 387 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 1: sort of baroque to explain exactly what we're seeing. And 388 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: so now comes the test. Now we get to apply 389 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,160 Speaker 1: it to other solar systems and see if it also 390 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: explains what we see out there. Yeah, all right, so 391 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: let's get into what other solar systems look like. But 392 00:20:45,960 --> 00:21:01,320 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break. All right, we're talking 393 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,199 Speaker 1: about how our solar system may or may not be 394 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: different than other solar systems out there, and we know 395 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: that we have a pretty good picture you're saying, of 396 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: our solar system, and it's taken as a while, but 397 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: we can have a good idea of how our solar 398 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: system formed sort of and or white looks like rocky 399 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: planets and then gas giants. And so now the question 400 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: is is this what other solar systems look like like? 401 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: If I went to a nearby star, would I also 402 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: see you know, a similar sun, similar rocky planets in 403 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: the middle, and similar gas giants on the edges? Yea, 404 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: So maybe we should start from the center, right from 405 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: the star. That is, of course the easiest thing to see. 406 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: Our star is something we call a yellow dwarf, and 407 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: it turns out that even our kind of star is unusual. 408 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: Only like ten of the stars in our galaxy are 409 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: yellow dwarfs. The rest are something else we call a 410 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: red dwarf. And these names have to do with not 411 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: just like the size of the Sun, but also how 412 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: old the Sun is. Right, Yeah, they tell you something 413 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: where the Sun is in its life cycle. And there's 414 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: lots of different sort of paths that a sun can 415 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: take depending on how much mass it's started with. And 416 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,760 Speaker 1: we had a whole episode about stellar evolution, and based 417 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: on the size that the Sun started with, they will 418 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,199 Speaker 1: follow a certain path, And so the name of the 419 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: star tells you sort of which path it's on and 420 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: sort of how far along that path is. But most 421 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: of the stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs, which 422 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: mean that they're older than our Sun, and they're colder 423 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: and they're smaller. So if you want as much heat 424 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: that we as we feel on Earth, you'd have to 425 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: be closer to the star than you would be to ours. 426 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: So our sun is kind of is big for compared 427 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: to other stars in the universe, and it's also kind 428 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: of young, right, Like I think we're sort of like 429 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: in the teenage years of our shunt. It's big compared 430 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 1: to most of the stars in the galaxy. Of course, 431 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,639 Speaker 1: there are other stars out there that totally dwarf it. 432 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 1: There these huge giants out there that are fantastically bigger 433 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: than our star, but they're unusual. Most of the stars 434 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: in the galaxy are smaller and colder and older than ours. 435 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: And ours is also different in another really fascinating way, 436 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: in that it's by itself. Our star doesn't have a 437 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: companion star. It's not like there's another star orbiting. It 438 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: turns out most stars actually formed together to like a 439 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: pair of stars. Right, So our son is all alone, 440 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,880 Speaker 1: or or as uh Emma Watson would sage, where our 441 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 1: son is self partnered. Yea, our star is like the 442 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: runaway teenage star. It's all by itself in this lonely universe. 443 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: Of other stars in the universe are totally different than 444 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: our sun. Yeah. Yeah, so right there. If you want 445 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: to extrapolate from our solar system to others, you have 446 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: to be careful because most solar systems have a very 447 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: different kind of star. And that doesn't mean it's going 448 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: to be a completely different solar system where that it's 449 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: impossible to live there. But it means you want the 450 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:51,199 Speaker 1: same amount of heat. For example, you have to be 451 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: closer up, so the Goldilocks zone for these stars is 452 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:59,160 Speaker 1: smaller than it is for our star. The sun is colder, 453 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: and then you need to be closer to it to 454 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: be to have any life as we know it here 455 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: on Earth. Yeah, to have liquid water on the surface, 456 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: for example, which is basically what you need to have life, 457 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: we think life as we defined it. Right, Then they 458 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,200 Speaker 1: need to be close enough to the star to get 459 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: enough radiation, and that would be closer to those smaller, 460 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: colder stars than ours. And so ninety percent of stars 461 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: are different out there, which means that if you are 462 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: in another planet, in another solar system, you know, ninety 463 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: percent of the time, it's not going to look like 464 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: it looks like you're it's not going to look like 465 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: a bright yellow you know son. Yeah, it would be 466 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: a little redder and a little colder. It sounds like 467 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,439 Speaker 1: maybe in a lot of or most solar systems out there, 468 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,640 Speaker 1: it would look like in Star Wars where they see 469 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 1: two sons in the horizon. Yeah, most of them have companions, 470 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: and those aren't necessarily super close together. Sometimes the companions 471 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: can be kind of far apart. But yeah, most stars 472 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: have another star pretty close by and they're orbiting each other. 473 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: But ours is by itself, and that's that's more unused 474 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: dual than typical. So already our star is unusual in 475 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,679 Speaker 1: two ways, and that it's by itself, and that it's 476 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: a yellow dwarf. So already our solar system is is 477 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: pretty odd compared to the universe. Well, now, let's let's 478 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: talk about the Earth. Is a planet like Planet Earth, 479 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: the weird to have in a solar system out there? 480 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: Or is it pretty common? It turns out that the 481 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: most common planet to have in one of these solar 482 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 1: systems is not the Earth. It's something called a super Earth. 483 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: It's a rocky planet that's like ten or fifteen times 484 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: bigger than the Earth. And they categorize these planets in 485 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: other solar systems by giving them names relative to our planets, 486 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: like define the various categories. So like you have an 487 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: Earth planet or a super Earth up to you know, 488 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: ten or fifteen times the Earth. Anything bigger than that, 489 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,879 Speaker 1: they call it like a mini Neptune. So that's the 490 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: names of these categories. And most solar systems have a 491 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: super Earth. It's the most common planet out there. Now, 492 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,159 Speaker 1: you'll notice we don't have a super Earth. There's no 493 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: planet in our solar system that's a rocky planet that 494 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: it's like ten times the size of Earth. Is the 495 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: Earth the biggest rocky planet in our solar system? Yeah, 496 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: the Earth and Venus Venus is almost as big as 497 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: the Earth. Mars and Mercury are much smaller. And so 498 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 1: the Earth is the biggest rocky planet in our solar system. 499 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 1: But most solar systems you would find one that's like 500 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: ten or fifteen times bigger, bigger in terms of like 501 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: the radius or like the you know, there's the weight 502 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: of it. Yeah, ten times the mass, which doesn't quite 503 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: correspond to ten times the radius because you know, there's 504 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,479 Speaker 1: some nonlinear effects there. But it's a lot more stuff, right, 505 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,240 Speaker 1: So ten times as many rocks came together to form 506 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,160 Speaker 1: a planet, and so we don't really know what that means. 507 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: This is something we've only recently figured out. We don't 508 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: know if that means that the distribution of rocks in 509 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: our solar system was different when it formed, or maybe 510 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: there was a super big planet, but it got broken up. 511 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: We don't really know. Is this just random that we 512 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: not unlucky, or is there some important reason for why 513 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,800 Speaker 1: our solar system looks different in this important way. We 514 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: just don't know. So that if there are scientists on 515 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,400 Speaker 1: those other earths, they would probably say that we live 516 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: in many Earth. Yeah, they would say, hey, look at 517 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,160 Speaker 1: this weird solar system we found. It has only many 518 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: rocky planets. How cute. Look at those tiny little planets, 519 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 1: Baby Earth's look at those tiny little people with tiny heads. 520 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,240 Speaker 1: Not only is our solar system weird in that that 521 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: our Sun is weird, but also our Earth is really weird. 522 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,400 Speaker 1: So most earths out there are much much bigger. Yeah, 523 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: and some solar systems we found out there just have 524 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: more planets sort of tucked in close to the Sun. 525 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,719 Speaker 1: Like we found this one solar system it's called the 526 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: Trappist System. It has seven planets within six million miles 527 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: of their sun. Remember, the Earth is like ninety million 528 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: miles from our Sun, So they have seven planets tucked 529 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: in like around the distance that Mercury is. Wow, just 530 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: spinning around like like crazy. Yeah, I'm just spinning around 531 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,920 Speaker 1: like crazy. So most of the solar systems we've seen 532 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,400 Speaker 1: have more planets close to the Sun than ours. Now, 533 00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: this is hard to know. It might be that there's 534 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: a bias here because it's harder to see planets that 535 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: are far from the Sun because the way we observe them. Remember, 536 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: as we see planets like passing in front of the Sun, 537 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 1: and if a planet is going around the Sun every 538 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: hundred years, it just doesn't pass in front of the 539 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: Sun is often, so it's easier for us to see 540 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: planets that are close to their Sun. So it might 541 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: be that there's a bias that we're finding the weird 542 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: ones first. But they don't think so. They think they've 543 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,120 Speaker 1: accounted for that effect and they think it's still real 544 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: that the average solar system out there has more planets 545 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 1: close to the Sun than ours. Interesting, so the average 546 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: solar system out there is busier, yeah, especially close in 547 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: like more I guess, more concentrated. It's like a traffic 548 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: jam every day, all day for the for for eternity literally. Yeah. 549 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: But on the other hand, it means it's not as 550 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: hard to get from planet to planet, like your neighboring 551 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: planet is more like a neighbor, you know, you could 552 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 1: jump from planet to planet. Wouldn't take hundreds of days 553 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: like it would take for us to get from Earth 554 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,120 Speaker 1: to Mars. You could get to the next planet it 555 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: in you know, just a few days. Right, and maybe 556 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: even more dangerous to write, because all those planets that 557 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: close together, they some of them could crash into each other, right, yeah, 558 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: and they can also affect each other's orbits. Right, planets 559 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: are big, and remember these planets are not tiny things, 560 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: and so they can tweak each other's orbits. Theres lots 561 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: more weird gravitational interactions, and we've also seen that we've 562 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: seen that a lot of these solar systems have weird orbits. 563 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: Like in our Solar system, things are very neatly laid out, 564 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: like the planets are sort of equally spaced, and everything 565 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: is separated, and everything is mostly flat in a single 566 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: plane and pretty circular, though not completely. But other Solar 567 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: systems the orbits were seeing are really eccentric. They are 568 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: much less circular, some of them, Like there's one for example, 569 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: I looked up and it goes from being just a 570 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: few million miles of its from its star on one 571 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 1: side to two hundred million miles on the other, so 572 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: like it's super close and then whizzes out really far away, right, 573 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: Because orbits can be not just circular or oval shaped, 574 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: they can also be kind of off center from the Sun, 575 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: kind of like comets have these weird elliptical orbits that 576 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 1: are like go really far out and then come back 577 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,640 Speaker 1: in really close, right. Yeah, And commets don't have to 578 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: be sort of on the plane of the planets. And 579 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: what we're seeing is that other solar systems don't always 580 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: have the same orderly plane, that the planets are all 581 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: all on different planes, and we don't know what that means. 582 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: We don't know, like is that typical and our solar 583 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: system is just kind of weirdly randomly well ordered, or 584 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 1: maybe something happened in those solar systems there were some 585 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: collisions because everything was so crowded in and they got 586 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: tugged and thrown off into weird orbits. We just don't know. 587 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: I feel like we're getting more and more into the 588 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: idea that maybe our solar system is really weird. It's 589 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,520 Speaker 1: like we have a weird Sun and a weird Earth, 590 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 1: and a weird, weird arrangement of planets and a weird orbit. 591 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,240 Speaker 1: It's like it's just right. Yeah, And we're like that 592 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: kid that went to school for the first time and 593 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: discovered that his family is really, really weird. Nobody else 594 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: eats peanut butter pickle sandwiches for lunch and dresses in 595 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: that weird way or whatever. And the other thing that 596 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: I found really fascinating is that, you know, in our 597 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: Solar system we have all the gas giants on the outside. 598 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: We thought we had an explanation for that, that the 599 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: gas was blown out by the solar wind. But in 600 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: other solar systems we find these planets we call hot jupiters, 601 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: big gas giants that are close to their stars, close 602 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: enough to be hot. Right, they're trending, that's right, exactly, 603 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: they're viral jupiters. No. But for example, there's a system 604 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: um I won't pronounce the name because it's just letters 605 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: and numbers, but there's a Jupiter sized planet that's so 606 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: close to its star at orbits every two days. What 607 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,680 Speaker 1: it's whipping around the Sun every two days. Yeah, but 608 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: it's the size of Jupiter, and so people wonder, like, 609 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,720 Speaker 1: how did this planet form? There's not enough gas in 610 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: our understanding in the center of the Solar system, to 611 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: form a gas giant. Right, the gas either fell into 612 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: the Sun to form the star or got blown out 613 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: by that star into the outer reaches of those solar systems. So, 614 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: how do you make a hot jupiter if it's just 615 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: a cloud of as when in it just kind of 616 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: you know, whipping around that fast wheed it just kind 617 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: of break apart or dissolver smear. But no, it's somehow 618 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: it's spinning around every two days. Yeah, and maybe it 619 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: has a really strong magnetic field which helps protected from 620 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: the solar radiation and the solar wind from blowing it apart. 621 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: We don't know. And one idea is that maybe it 622 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: did form on the outer reaches of that solar system, 623 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: but then sort of moved up, like bumped the other 624 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,400 Speaker 1: planets out of the way to get closer to the Sun. 625 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: This could happen, right, Planets can change orders. Wow, So 626 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,560 Speaker 1: you're basically saying that like our nice orderly solar system 627 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: with the rocky planets first and our gas giants out there, 628 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: is maybe not even typical either, Like that sort of arrangement. 629 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 1: You can have gas giants close to the Sun and 630 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: you could probably have rocky planets out there. Yeah, we've 631 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,520 Speaker 1: seen hot jupiters. We've seen solar systems with gas giants 632 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: close to the Sun, and in some of these it 633 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: does look like maybe they did migrate in from the outside, 634 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: because we don't see like a lot of other inner 635 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,600 Speaker 1: planets nearby. What would happen if Jupiter, for example, moved 636 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: in and tried to take over Venus orbit, well, Earth 637 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,479 Speaker 1: and Mars and Venus and Mercury, we probably get tossed 638 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,240 Speaker 1: out of the Solar system by Jupiter's gravity, And that's 639 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: what we see in these solar systems with a hot Jupiter. 640 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,800 Speaker 1: We don't see a lot of other inner planets, so 641 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,440 Speaker 1: we think maybe, you know, the big gas giant bully 642 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: came in and cleared out the playground, all right. So yeah, 643 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: there's a lot of ways in which our Solar system 644 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: is weird, right in terms of the Sun, the Earth, 645 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: and the gas giants. And so now let's talk about 646 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: UM some of the ideas that scientists have about whether 647 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 1: solar systems all formed the same way, or whether are 648 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: somehow made it into this special configuration for a special reason. First, 649 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break a right, So let's talk 650 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: about um. What idea scientists have to explain all these 651 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: weird types of solar systems, like why is ours different? 652 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: How do other system solar systems form? What's the sort 653 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:12,399 Speaker 1: of prevailing theory about how solar systems are made. Yeah, 654 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:14,840 Speaker 1: So the theory we had for a long time before 655 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:16,840 Speaker 1: we saw all these other solar systems, we call that 656 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: the core accretion theory, and it basically says, you start 657 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,799 Speaker 1: from a big rotating blob of gas and dust and 658 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,840 Speaker 1: some ice, and the star forms and the rest of 659 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: it you get you accrete the cores of these planets. 660 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: That just means that like the biggest rock that happens 661 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: to be out there gathers up other rocks around it, 662 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: and they form and they gather more stuff until you 663 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: get stuff big enough stuff to make a planet. And 664 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 1: that's how we explain how you get Jupiter. For example. 665 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 1: You're gathering together a bunch of rocks and ice and 666 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: that sucks up all the gas. Also, stuff was just 667 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: floating around and then they just because of gravity, just 668 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,279 Speaker 1: formed into planets like condensation almost. And one the thing 669 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,360 Speaker 1: that people have always wondered about that theory that they 670 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,720 Speaker 1: didn't really like is that it takes a long time. 671 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,880 Speaker 1: I mean gravity is really weak, and we're talking about 672 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: when you start, you're tugging on really small bits, you know, 673 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 1: bits of gas and bits of dust and tiny little pebbles. 674 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,240 Speaker 1: So it's gonna take a long time to make Jupiter 675 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: out of bits of sand, right, And they worry that 676 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 1: it takes so long to form the core on this, 677 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: you know, the dust and the ice, that by then 678 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 1: all the gas will just have floated away or been 679 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: blown away by the solar wind. So there's always been 680 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: this bit of tension like how do you get these 681 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,919 Speaker 1: planets to form soon enough that they can gather any 682 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:31,240 Speaker 1: of that less leftover gas. So that's the old idea 683 00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: and the sort of the concerns people have with it. 684 00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: And now that we've seen these other solar systems, they're wondering, well, 685 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: maybe we need new ideas. And so there is a 686 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,239 Speaker 1: new idea on the block. Oh I see, because this 687 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: idea that solar systems kind of form slowly might explain 688 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,760 Speaker 1: may not even explain ours. But looking at other solar systems, 689 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:51,440 Speaker 1: we're like, oh, whoa, whoa, we don't really have a 690 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:53,799 Speaker 1: good idea about how solar systems form, because whatever we 691 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:55,759 Speaker 1: come up with has to work for all of these 692 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:59,239 Speaker 1: other solar systems. Yeah, and you know you need inspiration 693 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,360 Speaker 1: in science, and this old idea was inspired by this 694 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 1: one example. Now that we've seen these other examples and 695 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,680 Speaker 1: sort of stretches us in the right way to come 696 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,320 Speaker 1: up with new ideas for how you could explain these examples. 697 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 1: And so one of these new ideas is called the 698 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: disc instability model. That idea is basically that when the 699 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,439 Speaker 1: Solar system formed, you have this disc, but it wasn't 700 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 1: like a nice, calm, smooth disc that was slowly formed 701 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 1: from the rotating blob, but that there was still a 702 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 1: lot of sort of stuff going on. There's a lot 703 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: of action there, and that these instabilities is action inside 704 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:32,440 Speaker 1: the disc might be a way to get these planets 705 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: to form sooner and also for them to form closer 706 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: to their stars. But what do you mean disc instability? 707 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: Like there's something extra special going on that makes Jupiters 708 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: and weird planets like that. Yeah. If the model you 709 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,320 Speaker 1: have in your head is sort of like a giant, 710 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:51,200 Speaker 1: stately cloud which is slowly rotating and then gradually gathering 711 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,439 Speaker 1: together into a flat disc, that's the core creation model. 712 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: It assumes that everything is sort of very smoothly flowing. 713 00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: But if instead it's a bit more turbulent, if this 714 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: is a little bit more chaos in there, you know, 715 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,200 Speaker 1: it's more like a storm and it's being squeezed by 716 00:37:04,239 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: gravity a little bit, but there's still sort of stuff 717 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 1: going on inside of it. That's stuff that energy can 718 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,919 Speaker 1: be used to sort of collide stuff together and make 719 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:16,080 Speaker 1: and from those instabilities form gravitational course that can that 720 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,480 Speaker 1: can gather stuff more rapidly. Oh, and that would explain 721 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: our solar systems or sort of all solar systems. Well, 722 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,360 Speaker 1: it's not a very popular model yet and it's very fresh, 723 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 1: but it might explain how our solar system got gas 724 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: giants because it unless you form planets more rapidly. And 725 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,359 Speaker 1: it also might explain how you were able to form 726 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,399 Speaker 1: gas giants close to the star, because you could form 727 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 1: them quickly enough that you could form them before all 728 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 1: the gas was blown away by the Sun. But it's 729 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,359 Speaker 1: still it's a very fresh model and it hasn't gained 730 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: wide acceptance yet, so it could be like maybe it's 731 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: just like the way solar systems form, is it just 732 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: this very chaotic process and sometimes you get solar systems 733 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 1: like ours and sometimes you get totally different solar systems. Yeah, precisely. 734 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,640 Speaker 1: And the other idea is about planetary migration. People think 735 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: that maybe it's not unusual for planets to sort of 736 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,440 Speaker 1: tug each other out of orbit and switch spots, you know, 737 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: to take each other's seats. And there's even the idea 738 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,800 Speaker 1: that it could have happened in our Solar system. People 739 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,400 Speaker 1: think that maybe. Yeah, people think that maybe Saturday and 740 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,120 Speaker 1: Jupiter used to have an opposite order, and there was 741 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,319 Speaker 1: another planet out there, a big ice giant, and the 742 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,680 Speaker 1: three of them are sort of in this chaotic bumping 743 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 1: of each other, and they switched Saturn and Jupiter switched 744 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: and tossed the other planet sort of out to the 745 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,920 Speaker 1: far reaches of the Solar System. And we just did 746 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,719 Speaker 1: a whole episode about planet nine that could explain like 747 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: why planet nine is so far out there. So, yeah, 748 00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:44,240 Speaker 1: you're saying that even if you you form a solar system, 749 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 1: it can still change. You can still you can still 750 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: switch it around and change the structure of it, even 751 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:52,719 Speaker 1: when it's sort of stable and floating along. Yeah, and 752 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,680 Speaker 1: that means something interesting for our Solar system. It could 753 00:38:55,719 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: be in the future if you went away on a 754 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,600 Speaker 1: spaceship for a billion years and came back, that you 755 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,360 Speaker 1: could come back and find the Solar system looking quite different. Right, 756 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,360 Speaker 1: Jupiter might have moved in on Mercury's territory and become 757 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,920 Speaker 1: hot and tossed out all the other planets. We just 758 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,360 Speaker 1: don't know. We don't know if this configuration is stable 759 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,719 Speaker 1: on billions year time scales. That would be pretty cool 760 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 1: if you left for a few million years and then 761 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: came back and you're like, what happened to my house? Remodeled? 762 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,839 Speaker 1: Just like everybody who goes away to college and comes 763 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 1: back after Thanksgiving and like, hey, everything looks different. You 764 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:29,839 Speaker 1: turned my plan into a workout room. All right, Well, 765 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: it sounds like our solar system is not. It is weird, 766 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:37,239 Speaker 1: that's the answer to the Today's question. It is kind 767 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,360 Speaker 1: of weird in that you know, our son is single 768 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:45,520 Speaker 1: and hot and young, and we apparently live in a 769 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: mini Earth, are not super Earth. And it's also weird 770 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:51,719 Speaker 1: that we have all all of our gas giants out 771 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,799 Speaker 1: there floating out there far away from the Sun. And 772 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,160 Speaker 1: so it is because it sounds like it is sort 773 00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: of a special case or solar system, like if we 774 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,400 Speaker 1: go to other solar systems. We should be prepared to 775 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 1: see things that are very different. Yeah, and I'm so 776 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:07,320 Speaker 1: glad that that's the answer. It would be so boring 777 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,200 Speaker 1: if we discovered every solar system looked like ours, and 778 00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 1: that the idea we have for how the solar system 779 00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:15,440 Speaker 1: formed was pretty much being on. It's exactly what you 780 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 1: hope for in science, that once you open up new 781 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 1: eyeballs or build bigger eyeballs, that you see surprises, that 782 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,040 Speaker 1: you learn things, the things that shake up your ideas 783 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,919 Speaker 1: for how our home and our solar system have been made. 784 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 1: And maybe it gives us a bit of a special 785 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:31,480 Speaker 1: appreciation for this particular little cute many Earth we find 786 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: ourselves on. Yeah, maybe you'll go to another solar system 787 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,840 Speaker 1: and everybody will have two pH d s. Should be 788 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:42,280 Speaker 1: like what the Bruce Banner solar system? All right, Well, 789 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:44,480 Speaker 1: we hope you the next time you think about your 790 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,520 Speaker 1: planet or the solar system we're in, you sort of 791 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: think about how special it is and how weird it is, 792 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:53,120 Speaker 1: and how unique it is out there in the universe. 793 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,759 Speaker 1: And in five years or twenty years or fifty years, 794 00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:59,000 Speaker 1: we could find even more weird, surprising solar systems out 795 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,960 Speaker 1: there that challenge our very concept of what the universe 796 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:05,360 Speaker 1: looks like. Yeah, so stay tuned and keep funding science. 797 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, See you next time. Before you 798 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: still have a question after listening to all these explanations, 799 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:21,360 Speaker 1: please drop us the line. We'd love to hear from you. 800 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,520 Speaker 1: You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at 801 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,960 Speaker 1: Daniel and Jorge That's one word, or email us at 802 00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 1: Feedback at Daniel and Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening 803 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,680 Speaker 1: and remember that Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe is 804 00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,200 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcast from 805 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:41,960 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 806 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:44,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.