In this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a variety of intriguing questions from listeners. The episode kicks off with Clark from Auckland, who wonders about the possibility of stars and planets being ejected from galaxies, and what that means for rogue celestial bodies. Next, Scott from Hobart delves into the life cycle of black holes, asking what happens when they can no longer hold back light and how they ultimately meet their end. Rusty from Brooklyn poses a thought-provoking hypothetical scenario about the sun disappearing and its effects on Earth's gravitational tether. Finally, Bea from Sydney seeks advice on resources for beginners in astronomy, prompting a discussion on apps, books, and equipment to kickstart a cosmic journey. Join Andrew and Fred Watson as they explore these cosmic curiosities with their signature blend of wit and insight.
Key topics
- The mechanics of stars and planets being ejected from galaxies and the existence of rogue celestial bodies.
- Understanding the final stages of black holes, including Hawking radiation and potential explosive endings.
- The implications of the sun's sudden disappearance on Earth's gravitational stability.
- Resources and tips for beginners looking to dive into the world of astronomy.
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction and overview of listener questions
01:20 - Clark’s question about ejected stars and planets from galaxies
15:30 - Scott’s inquiry on the life cycle and death of black holes
25:00 - Rusty’s hypothetical scenario about the sun disappearing
35:15 - Bea’s request for beginner astronomy resources
45:00 - Closing thoughts and listener engagement
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.
00:00 - Introduction to Space Nuts and Listener Questions About Ejected Planets and Black Holes
01:56 - Can Planets and Stars Be Ejected From a Galaxy and the Nature of Intergalactic Space
04:24 - Understanding Stellar Ejection Mechanisms and Measuring Galactic Escape Velocity
07:37 - Comparing Earth's Escape Velocity to Our Galaxy's and the Impact of Galactic Mergers
09:04 - Analogy of Bank Mergers to Galactic Mergers and Universe Dynamics
09:50 - Exploring Black Hole Evaporation Through Hawking Radiation and the Final Violent Burst
11:17 - The Inverse Relationship Between Black Hole Mass and Temperature Leading to Evaporation
14:09 - Theoretical End States of Black Holes Including Gravitational Shockwaves and Information Release
15:13 - Summarizing Black Hole Endings and Thanking Listeners for Thought-Provoking Questions
15:44 - What Happens if the Sun Instantly Disappears and the Speed of Gravity
19:56 - Writing a Prequel and Speculating on Threats to Earth and Solar System Stability
21:11 - Concluding Questions and Addressing Beginner Astronomy Resources
21:43 - Recommended Astronomy Resources Including Podcasts, Websites, and Sky Apps
23:06 - Using Binoculars and Telescopes for Sky Observation and Visiting Astronomy Optics Stores
24:30 - The Value of Planispheres and Considering a Smart Telescope for Modern Astronomy
26:07 - Smart Telescopes with Built-in Filters and AI Image Enhancement Capabilities
27:26 - Enhancing Astronomical Images with AI Software and Affordable Smart Telescope Options
29:04 - Concluding the Episode and Discussing Time Dilation and Future Episodes
30:11 - A Humorous Ejection Analogy and Farewell from Space Nuts Hosts
30:42 - Podcast Availability and Production Credits for Space Nuts
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Andrew Dunkley: Hello again. This is Space Nuts, a Q and A
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 edition where we talk. Well, whatever you
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 want to talk about. Basically, it's your
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 show. This part of it, uh, every, uh, Monday
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 we release these online. But, um.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 Yeah, uh, so what questions are we going to
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 be dealing with today? Well, uh, we've got a
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 question from Clark asking about the ejection
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 of planets and stars. It's like being kicked
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 out of a nightclub, really. Scott, uh, is
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 asking about the death of black holes.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Rusty wants to know about the, uh. Uh, this
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 is an old chestnut, this one. We've done it a
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 few times, but I really like this question,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 so we'll, we'll do it. It's a what if about
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 the sun and a story or a
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 question about resources for getting into
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 astronomy. If you want to be, uh, uh, you
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 know, a beginner, we'll tell you all about it
00:00:46 --> 00:00:49 on this episode of space nuts. 15
00:00:49 --> 00:00:50 seconds.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 Professor Fred Watson: Guidance is internal. 10,
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 9, ignition sequence. Star
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 space nuts. 5, 4, 3, 2. 1, 2,
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 Andrew Dunkley: Space nuts. Astronau Feels
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 good. And unravelling the
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 unravel, ravelable is
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 Professor Fred Watson Watson. I thought I'd
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 try that. Didn't work. Astronomer at large.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 Professor Fred Watson: Hello, Fred Watson. Uh, unravelling
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 the ravioli, is that, uh.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, that might be easier. Yeah, might be
00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 easier to say too.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:22 Professor Fred Watson: Yes.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:24 Andrew Dunkley: Uh, how are you, Fred Watson?
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 Professor Fred Watson: Very well, thank you. Andrew. Good to see you
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 again as always. And, um, looking forward to
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 hearing what our listeners have dished up for
00:01:30 --> 00:01:31 us today.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Andrew Dunkley: Yes, why don't we get straight into it? Um,
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 our first question comes from ORK Auckland,
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 New Zealand. Beautiful city. If you've never
00:01:38 --> 00:01:39 been there and you're thinking of a holiday,
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 that's not a bad choice. Love Auckland.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 Um, and get out on a boat and go and visit
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 one of the islands where all the vineyards
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 are. It's awesome. Anyway, Clark, uh,
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 asks, um. Hi, guys. Love the podcast.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:54 And I have a question.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 Professor Fred Watson: Good.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 Andrew Dunkley: Cause this is the Q and A edition.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Clark, your timing's perfect. Uh, can a sun
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 or planet be ejected from a galaxy or
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 is the gravity from the galaxy centre too
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 strong for this? Uh, I've always wondered if
00:02:07 --> 00:02:10 a lonely star or planet could be sitting
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 between us and, say, the Andromeda galaxy.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 Thanks. That comes from Clark. Uh,
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 we've kind of talked about this before. We
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 know there are rogue planets, we know there
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 are stars that get bumped around. But, um,
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 this is kind of within the
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 galaxy. Could they be ejected
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 beyond? I mean, let's do the whole spectrum
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 of ejection. You know, you're not good
00:02:32 --> 00:02:33 enough. Get out.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 Professor Fred Watson: Um, and in fact, uh, there's more of these
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 things than you might think. And the ones
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 that we can detect are all stars. I'm not
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 sure that there's been any detections of
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 interstellar, sorry,
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 intergalactic rogue planets or
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 orphan planets. I think they're all stars.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 But yes, the space in between the galaxies,
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 the intergalactic medium
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 as it's called, uh, you kind of imagine
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 it would be empty, at least empty of stars.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 There's quite a lot of stuff in there
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 actually. Um, one of my
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 colleagues, Ken Freeman for a while was
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 really interested in, uh, what are called
00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 extra galactic planetary nebulae. These are
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 stars that have basically died, uh, shed
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 their, uh, outer layers and formed what we
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 call a planetary nebula. Nebula, nothing to
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 do with planets. It's a name given to it by
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 William Herschel because they look like
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 planets, they're round. Um, so
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 those are obviously things where a star has
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 been ejected from a galaxy.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:35 Uh, and indeed there are some between
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 ourselves and the Andromeda
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 galaxy, um, as Clark
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 mentions. Uh, but, um,
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 more to the point, we can
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 measure the velocities of stars
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 in our local neighbourhood and when you do
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 that, there are some that are going
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 fast enough that they will be
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 ejected from the galaxy as a whole.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 Uh, in other words, um,
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 planets, sorry, stars that are
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 disappearing. And the usual ejection
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 method is probably, uh, a
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 star that gets too close to the supermassive
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 black hole in the middle of the galaxy gets
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 this gigantic gravitational kick,
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 uh, that hurls it out of the galaxy.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 Uh, uh, often if stars interact with one
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 another, particularly when you've got binary
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 stars, stars that come in pairs, um,
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 something might perturb that, the fact that
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 they're orbiting each other around the common
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 centre of mass, um, and one might get
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 booted out, the other might wind up
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 going somewhere else. Uh,
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 but that would not necessarily give you
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 enough energy to leave the galaxy,
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 uh, as a whole. And in that regard
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 Clark's point is well made. Is the gravity
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 from the galaxy centre, uh, too strong for
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 this for a star to be ejected from the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 galaxy? Um,
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 and it's not, but it
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 needs a kick by something as massive as a
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 black hole to give you the impetus, the
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 energy to leave the galaxy. Uh,
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 so we essentially have
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 used that, certainly with, um,
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 what we call the RAVE survey. The Radial
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 Velocity Experiment was carried out on, um,
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 the UK Schmidt telescope in the early 2000s,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 finished it in 2013. The survey that
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 I was the project manager for,
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 uh, we measured the velocities of half a
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 million Stars altogether. And one of the
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 first papers that came out of
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 um, um, that survey when we
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 didn't have all that many stars that we'd
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 measured their velocities for. But
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 uh, it was a paper that was basically about
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 looking at stars that have been
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 ejected from our Milky Way galaxy,
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 uh, or are going to be ejected from the Milky
00:06:04 --> 00:06:06 Way galaxy. They've got enough speed to do
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 that um, and work out
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 what the escape velocity of the galaxy is.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 It sounds like picking yourself up by your
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 own bootlaces but you can do it. Once you
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 know the escape velocity of the galaxy you
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 know its mass. So this was a way of weighing
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 the galaxy which we did very early on in the
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 rave survey. I think the numbers have changed
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 slightly now because we've got far far more
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 particularly from the Gaia ah survey uh,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 which was um, a
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 spacecraft that was measuring um, very
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 accurately the speeds of stars across the
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 line of sight, not necessarily along
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 the line of sight. Anyway, the bottom line is
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 to cut a short question, uh,
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 a long answer to a short question shorter,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 the answer is yes Clark, you can uh, and we
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 see them and we can measure them and we can
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 actually get useful information from them.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 Andrew Dunkley: M. Uh, the escape velocity of our galaxy
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 uh, at the centre is roughly 220 to
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 230 kilometres per second.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 Uh, an object would need an additional boost
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 of about 317 to 330
00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 kilometres a second in the direction of
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 motion to completely break free of the
00:07:18 --> 00:07:19 galaxy's gravitational pull.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 That's pretty heavy stuff, isn't it?
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, and that tallies with my recollection
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 uh, about um, in
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 what we call the solar rays radius, the sun's
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 position in the galaxy because the escape
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 velocity varies depending on where you are in
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 the galaxy.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 Andrew Dunkley: By comparison, Earth's escape velocity is
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 only 11.2.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 Professor Fred Watson: Correct. That's right. Um, but the
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 galaxy's escape velocity in the region of the
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 sun is about 400 kilometres per second.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 Uh so yeah, it's because it's a bigger
00:07:52 --> 00:07:52 object.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, that's tough going.
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 Professor Fred Watson: Yep. But stars do it. We've got
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 something.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 Andrew Dunkley: Oh they do. It prompts a question in my mind
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 that slipped out of my head but now it's
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 jumped back in again. Uh, are there
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 likely to be ejections as a
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 consequence of the merger between the Milky
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 Way and Andromeda galaxies?
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 Something's going to get kicked out.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:17 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, I think whenever you have a
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 Andrew Dunkley: company merger someone gets the boot.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 Professor Fred Watson: Um, yeah, it will be um, look, it'll
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 be kicked out uh city. I think
00:08:28 --> 00:08:29 when that happens there will be
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 such high, um, levels
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 of gravitational interactions between
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 stars and stars, stars and giant molecular
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 clouds and stars and black holes that
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 we'll probably see, um, the resulting
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 galaxy, which, as you know, will be called
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 Milcomeda, uh, the Milky Way and the
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 Andromeda galaxy combined. Milkomeda, uh,
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 will probably eject a very large number of
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 stars, many more than we see being ejected
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 from the Milky Way.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. Ah, well, before I got into radio, I
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 was a banker, believe it or not, and I
00:09:03 --> 00:09:04 actually worked.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. And I,
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 I, I worked for a bank that merged with
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 another bank. And it was kind of like
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 Milkometer, because we had twice as many
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 tellers, twice as many managers, twice as
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 many examiners, twice as many,
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 uh, general hands, um, all those, those
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 banking positions that, uh, yeah, we had
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 twice as many people, um, because, you know,
00:09:27 --> 00:09:28 they closed half the branches because you
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 didn't need two branches of the same bank in
00:09:30 --> 00:09:31 the same street of every town and city in
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 Australia. So, yeah, we eventually it
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 created this conglomeration of people and
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 there weren't enough jobs for them, and it
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 got, yeah, it's part of the reason I got out
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 and got into radio, because there wasn't much
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 of a future for me there. So
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 it's just how the universe works sometimes.
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 Indeed. All right, thank you, Clark.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 Um, that was a great question. Lots of fun to
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 tear that one apart. Boom. Boom. Question,
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 uh, two today comes, uh, from,
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 um, Scott in Hobart,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 Tasmania. Hello. Fred Watson and Andrew have
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 a question for you. I understand that Hawking
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 radiation will cause black holes to
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 eventually evaporate. I think I heard 10
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 to the 76 years. Uh, what I
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 haven't heard described is what happens to
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 the black hole once the mass falls below the
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 threshold where light can escape. Will the
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 loss of equilibrium between mass and light
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 pressure result in an explosion? Perhaps you
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 can talk us through the final process in the
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 life cycle of a black hole. Thank you both
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 for a terrific podcast. Thank you, Scott, for
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 the good wishes and the great question. Yeah,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 um, I've never thought about a black hole
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 getting to the point where its gravity can't
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 hold back the light anymore.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:46 What happens then?
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 Professor Fred Watson: Um, so actually,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 uh, um, um,
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Scott. I beg your pardon? I'm trying to get
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 my nose here. Yeah, Scott is
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 right. Uh, there's an explosion
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 and it's very violent. Uh, and
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 sometimes it's got a name. It's called the
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 Final burst, which is, uh,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 a bit modest really, for what kind of
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 energies that they're talking about.
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 Um, and so it comes about,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 and we've talked about this before, Andrew,
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 A uh, black hole's temperature is
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 inversely proportional to its mass.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 So the more massive a black hole is, the
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 cooler it is. And the ones we've talked about
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 in the past have been very cold indeed, uh,
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 just a few degrees above absolute zero.
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 But as the mass gets less, uh,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 it gets hotter. And um, and
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 so that produces
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 a radiation from the black hole.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 And we're talking now about a time, yes,
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 when it can no longer hang on to everything.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 And you get this sort of runaway, uh,
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 effect, like a runaway greenhouse effect,
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 except it's not the same. But basically
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 that runaway causes um,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 the explosion. Um,
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 I mean the theory, you know, this is all
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 theoretical of course, but the theory
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 predicts that the temperature of a dying
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 black hole right at the end of its life
00:12:23 --> 00:12:26 will increase to billions of degrees.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 And in the final second
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 the evaporation rate becomes so extreme
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 that you get this enormous amount of energy
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 that comes from uh, the
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 dying black hole. Uh, and
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 there are possible different
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 end states. Um, and I guess
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 the one, the most logical one
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 is that it totally evaporates, so it
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 becomes nothing. Uh, all the mass has
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 gone in a flash of
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 really high energy particles, probably
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 gravitons as well as photons and other stuff.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 It basically uh, just
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 flashes out everything, uh, and
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 once again leaves nothingness behind.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 There is one, uh, I mean we're talking now
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 about theoretical stuff. Some others
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 have suggested that it shrinks to
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 something called uh, the Planck
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 mass, uh, where
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 quantum gravity effects
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 become the dominant feature. Um,
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 and essentially you get, and that
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 sort of stops the evaporation, if I can put
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 it that way. Um, so there's
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 something gets left behind, a sort of
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 quantum element. And then
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 finally, um,
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 Again, when you look at the details, uh,
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 it's probably uh, another
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 possibility rather than all these things
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 happen as well. I think, uh, we're talking
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 about separate cases here that may have
00:14:07 --> 00:14:08 different, different starting points.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 I'm not sure, I'm not actually sure how uh,
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 robust this theoretical stuff is as well.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 But some authors have suggested that
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 you get gravitational shock waves as
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 well. Basically when it gets
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 to the end, uh, you get a shockwave as well
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 as that explosion. Uh, and
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 so what you might call trapped
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 information, the stuff that Hawking argued
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 about with another well known cosmologist, I
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 can't remember who it was, uh, that trapped
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 actually gets blown out into the universe
00:14:41 --> 00:14:44 because of a gravitational shockwave. All
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 these things sound like, you know, using posh
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 names for something dramatic that happened.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 And I'm not sure how many of them are really
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 very robust theories, but it seems to be the
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 case that the likelihood is there will be a
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 violent explosion at the end of the Hawking
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 radiation period as
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 um, uh, Scott says, you know, 10 to the
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 76 years. It's a huge number of years down
00:15:08 --> 00:15:08 the track.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 Andrew Dunkley: Yes. A black hole doesn't go out quietly.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:13 Professor Fred Watson: That's the bottom line.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 I think that's the succinct way of expressing
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 what I've just taken half an hour to say.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, that's fine, yeah.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 It's our job to take half an hour to say
00:15:23 --> 00:15:24 something that takes and
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 Professor Fred Watson: it's your job to make it succinct. So that's
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 good. And you do it very well. Andrew, I have
00:15:29 --> 00:15:29 to say.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 Andrew Dunkley: Oh, thank you Fred Watson. Uh, and thank uh,
00:15:33 --> 00:15:34 you Scott for your question. Lovely to hear
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 from you. This is Space Nuts, a Q and A
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 edition with Professor Fred Watson Watson and
00:15:39 --> 00:15:39 Andrew Dun.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 Space Nuts. Uh, now Fred Watson, we have an
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 audio question. This is an old chestnut, but
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 I, I do like uh, these what if questions.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 This is Rusty.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 Professor Fred Watson: Hey guys, this is Rusty Mac from
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 Brooklyn, New York. Uh, they say that the
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 speed of light is the fastest thing known to
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 man. And if the sun instantly
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 disappeared, we would still have light for 8
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 minutes and 20 seconds because that's how
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 long it takes for light to get from the sun
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 to the Earth. So if the sun
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 disappeared suddenly, would the Earth
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 still be gravitationally locked to the solar
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 centre? Or would Earth, uh, and all the
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 other planets get flung off into interstellar
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 space immediately or would there be a
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 delay? And if that happened instantly,
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 what would that mean? That gravity was
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 faster than the speed of light and that
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 gravity waves are actually the fastest thing
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 in the universe. Mhm.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 Andrew Dunkley: Okay, thank you Rusty and uh, hope all is
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 well in Brooklyn. I walked across the
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 Brooklyn Bridge last year from Brooklyn into
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 Manhattan and uh, it's a heck of a walk,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 which is worth doing if you're a tourist.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 Um, lovely, lovely place. Love the
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 buildings around that part of the world.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 Yeah, gee, it's, it's a. Yeah, it's
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 just so different to anything we have here
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 really. Well, parts of Sydney probably
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 resemble it, but nothing out where I live.
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 Um, the vanishing of the sun
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 instantaneously. We have had that what if
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 question once or twice before over the last
00:17:18 --> 00:17:19 ten years or so. Uh, but it's worth
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 revisiting. I wouldn't like to think what
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 could cause such a horrible thing to happen
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 because I don't imagine that we would be
00:17:28 --> 00:17:29 around long to witness the long term
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 ramifications.
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 Professor Fred Watson: No, that's right. Uh, it would be
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 cataclysmic. Um, but it's a good thought
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 experiment to say, okay, what happens if the
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 sun vanishes? And Andrew, you know the answer
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 to this because we've talked about it before.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 So.
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 Andrew Dunkley: Well, we'd have 8
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 minutes and 20 seconds of sunlight and then
00:17:50 --> 00:17:53 we would be uh, plunged into
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 eternal darkness and all the dogs and cats
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 would start living together and um,
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 everything would, would, would die. There'd
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 be no photosynthesis, we'd uh, we'd not be
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 able to produce food. We'd um, we'd, we'd, I,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 I, because we are not being held into a
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 gravitational orbit around the,
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 the sun, uh, everything would start to drift
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 off into the Never, never uh, never
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 to be heard from again. And, and we wouldn't
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 last very long at all.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 Professor Fred Watson: Um, that's certainly true.
00:18:22 --> 00:18:25 Andrew Dunkley: And it would become cold. It would become
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 very cold.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:30 Professor Fred Watson: Absolutely. Um, a bit of
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 radiation from the Earth itself because of
00:18:33 --> 00:18:35 the nuclear processes that are going on
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 inside it. But they're pretty low level.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 We're not a star, we're a planet. Uh, and so
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 yeah, you wouldn't be that warm. Um, but
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 in answer to the question though,
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 uh, actually you
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 would still be attached to the sun
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 for the 8 minutes and 20 seconds that it took
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 gravitational waves, waves to reach our uh,
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 planet. So uh, gravitational waves have been
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 demonstrated a number of times and
00:19:03 --> 00:19:06 theoretically this was predicted by Einstein.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 They travel at the speed of light.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 Gravitational waves travel at exactly the
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 same speed. So that means that yes,
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 gravitational waves are the fastest thing in
00:19:14 --> 00:19:17 the universe along with light and radio waves
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 and all the rest of it. So um, there will
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 be an 8 minute 20 second delay before we
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 not only went dark, but also wandered off
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 into the wide blue yonder. Uh, without the
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 sun to hold us in orbit, we'd be zooming off
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 at 30 kilometres per second in some straight
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 line depending on it would be heading,
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 depending on where the when, at what point
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 in its orbit. The sun in the Earth's orbit,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 the sun disappeared. But it beliked a
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 horrible thought. Slingshot effect. Yeah, it
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 is a horrible thought. You should write a
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 science fiction story about this.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 Andrew Dunkley: I think probably could. You know what I'm
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 doing at the moment? I'm writing a prequel to
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 um.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:53 Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, you said.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:55 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, the Human Epoch. Yeah.
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 I'm halfway through the first book. I'm
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 trying to uh. Cause the hero of the
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 Human Epoch trilogy is um, a fellow
00:20:04 --> 00:20:07 by the name of Gary Forrester. And I made him
00:20:07 --> 00:20:08 Canadian because the Canadians never get
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 mentioned anywhere a lot of the time. And
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 I thought they're such nice people, they
00:20:13 --> 00:20:15 certainly deserve a mention. So I made my
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 hero Canadian. Could have made him
00:20:17 --> 00:20:19 Australian. Could have gone down the American
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 road. But I think we've had enough American
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 heroes in science fiction for the time being.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 So I went Canada, and, um, I've decided to
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 write his story leading up to the beginning
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 of the human epoch, um, because I like the
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 character so much, um, but I don't
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 think he could even save us from, uh, from
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 something as cataclysmic as the sun
00:20:38 --> 00:20:41 vanishing. I wonder what
00:20:41 --> 00:20:43 could cause that. And I don't think there's
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 anything that could wipe it out instantly.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 But maybe a black hole venturing into our
00:20:47 --> 00:20:49 vicinity would not be a good thing.
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 Professor Fred Watson: That's right. But if the black hole was black
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 hole worth its salt would be, uh, seized into
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 orbit around that, uh, long before it gobbled
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 up the sun. So we'd know about it.
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 Andrew Dunkley: Yes. We'd also get a lot heavier.
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 Maybe.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:09 Professor Fred Watson: Indeed. Probably so. Yeah.
00:21:09 --> 00:21:11 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. All right. I, uh, think we covered
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 that.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 Uh, Rusty, thanks for the question. Great to
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 hear from you. Love the accent.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:19 Okay, we've had a problem here.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 Professor Fred Watson: This is Houston.
00:21:19 --> 00:21:22 Andrew Dunkley: Say again, please. Houston, we've had a
00:21:22 --> 00:21:24 problem. We've had a main beam. Roger,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:26 maineville. Okay, standby 13. We're looking
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 at it. Stay smarts. Our
00:21:29 --> 00:21:32 final question today is, um,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:34 more of a. An educational query.
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 I've, uh, recently gotten into astronomy.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:40 What are some of the resources for a
00:21:40 --> 00:21:43 beginner? Thanks. I, uh, haven't got a name.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 Just B, from Sydney. Thanks. Bea
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 wants to get into astronomy, or has just
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 started. Um, what would you recommend,
00:21:50 --> 00:21:53 Fred Watson, as somebody who's had a
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 wonderful career in that exact
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 science?
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 Professor Fred Watson: Well, I'd start with, um, there's this
00:21:59 --> 00:22:02 really good podcast called spacenots that
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 anybody wanting to get into astronomy could
00:22:05 --> 00:22:07 perhaps listen to as a resource.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 Um, ah, a lot depends on what you
00:22:10 --> 00:22:13 mean. Whether you want to be observing
00:22:13 --> 00:22:16 the sky, uh, or whether you're more
00:22:16 --> 00:22:18 interested in the stories that we often
00:22:18 --> 00:22:21 cover on space nuts about the way the galaxy
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 behaves and whether stars can be ejected from
00:22:23 --> 00:22:26 galaxies and all of that sort of stuff. Um,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 and there's certainly plenty of
00:22:29 --> 00:22:32 material on the World Wide Web,
00:22:32 --> 00:22:34 uh, from reliable sources, um,
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 including NASA, including Universe Today,
00:22:38 --> 00:22:41 an old friend of, uh, this podcast, including
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 Ars Technico, another good friend, and
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 phys.org, uh, they're all places where
00:22:46 --> 00:22:49 you can get good information that's P, P, H,
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 Y, S, not F, I, double Z.
00:22:52 --> 00:22:54 Um, so, uh, those are the sorts of things.
00:22:55 --> 00:22:58 Now, um, I also would point you
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 if you're interested in learning your way
00:22:59 --> 00:23:02 around the sky to some of the
00:23:02 --> 00:23:05 sky apps that there are. There's
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 several of them.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 Um, I have one on my phone that
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 I'm a cheapskate, so I never went for
00:23:12 --> 00:23:15 the higher version, figuring that because I'm
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 an astronomer I should know my way around the
00:23:16 --> 00:23:18 sky anyway. But sometimes when you can only
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 see one object because of the cloud clouds,
00:23:20 --> 00:23:22 it's a good way of finding out what it is.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 Um, lots of stuff like that. Um, hardware,
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 of course, telescopes, binoculars. I'm
00:23:29 --> 00:23:32 always, uh, a, uh, fan of,
00:23:32 --> 00:23:34 in terms of astronomy, because even if you've
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 got a site where you've got some light
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 pollution and you're in Sydney B,
00:23:39 --> 00:23:42 so that, uh, it means you probably
00:23:42 --> 00:23:45 do have. It is. But you can still
00:23:45 --> 00:23:48 see, you get lovely views of the moon,
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 uh, bright objects like the Orion Nebula.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 Even in light polluted, you can see them.
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 Uh, and the planets. Binoculars are not good
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 enough to show up the rings of Saturn. Um,
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 but a powerful pair of binoculars will
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 show you some of the satellites of Jupiter
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 and see the way they're moving, they look
00:24:05 --> 00:24:07 like little stars right next to Jupiter. Uh,
00:24:08 --> 00:24:10 and then if you want to get into telescopes,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 there are one or two companies which
00:24:12 --> 00:24:15 specialise in optics for astronomy.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:18 Um, and they are for the most part,
00:24:18 --> 00:24:20 and certainly the one I'm thinking of, which
00:24:20 --> 00:24:23 is in Glebe, Sydney, uh,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 I won't give because that would be
00:24:25 --> 00:24:27 advertising, but, uh, they all know who I
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 mean. Uh, it's, uh, not far from the fish
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 market. There you go.
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 Uh, that's a great place, uh, to get good
00:24:33 --> 00:24:36 advice on what you might need for what
00:24:36 --> 00:24:38 interests you and for what you can afford.
00:24:39 --> 00:24:42 Uh, it's a place where, uh, the
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 staff are not just there, uh, because it's a
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 job. They're there because they're passionate
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 about astronomy themselves and they want to
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 enthuse, uh, other people in the same way
00:24:50 --> 00:24:52 that they are. So you get really good advice.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 And that's true, I think, with other people.
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 Um, uh, astronomy
00:24:57 --> 00:25:00 optics centres around the country. There's
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 several I can think of some in Melbourne and
00:25:02 --> 00:25:04 in Brisbane and elsewhere too.
00:25:06 --> 00:25:08 Of course, then you're starting to spend big
00:25:08 --> 00:25:11 money and it really depends
00:25:11 --> 00:25:13 on what your resources are like and what your
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 interests are. I still
00:25:17 --> 00:25:20 love, um, a planisphere,
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 which is a piece of hardware, goes back
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26 at least 2 years. Uh, it's a little
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 analogue computer, usually two cards, one
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 with a hole in it, one with a star map on it
00:25:30 --> 00:25:32 and you can dial up the date and time on the
00:25:32 --> 00:25:34 edge and it gives you what the stars look
00:25:34 --> 00:25:36 like, of course, you can do the same thing
00:25:36 --> 00:25:39 online now. Um, and they're much more
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 accurate. And of course they show the planets
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 the online versions, which the old cardboard
00:25:43 --> 00:25:45 or plastic ones don't. But I've always been
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 very fond of planispheres.
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 Andrew Dunkley: I'm just looking at some pictures of them
00:25:48 --> 00:25:50 now. Yeah, I know what you're talking about.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:56 Professor Fred Watson: Sometimes called a star wheel. Um, I've still
00:25:56 --> 00:25:58 got the first one I ever bought when I was, I
00:25:58 --> 00:26:01 think 15. Uh, it's a Phillips
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 planisphere. Uh, it's the 5 inch version.
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 It was the small one, but it still works.
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 Um, of course I see the sky from a different
00:26:09 --> 00:26:12 hemisphere now, so I've also got ones from
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 the southern hemisphere too.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 Andrew Dunkley: That's pretty cool. Another thing B that you
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 may want to consider, given our current level
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 of technology is, um, something like I've got
00:26:23 --> 00:26:26 now, which is a smart telescope. Yeah.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:28 And, um, you know, on a clear night you can
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 put this outside in your backyard and then
00:26:30 --> 00:26:32 sit in the comfort of your lounge room,
00:26:32 --> 00:26:35 especially if it's a cold night, and
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 photograph, uh, things you can't see with the
00:26:38 --> 00:26:40 naked eye and would struggle to see with
00:26:40 --> 00:26:42 binoculars. Um, and
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 keep the images that you've taken with it.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:48 And um, it. A lot of them have built
00:26:48 --> 00:26:50 in educational information. They can tell you
00:26:50 --> 00:26:52 what you're looking at and explain who found
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 it, when they found it, what it is, why it
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 is. It's incredible technology. And
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 they've built them so well that they
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 actually have light pollution filters
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 built into them. So even, um,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 the last few nights here, as we record,
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 have been very, very m. Uh,
00:27:14 --> 00:27:16 bright nights with the moon. We had a full
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 moon a few nights ago. Um, doesn't bother the
00:27:18 --> 00:27:21 smart telescopes. They just filter all that
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24 out and, um, you can still
00:27:24 --> 00:27:25 see a really good image.
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 Uh, and I've found a good trick. Um,
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 when you get your image, I actually adjust
00:27:31 --> 00:27:34 the image as it is being, um, recorded by
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 the system because it does stacking. Um,
00:27:38 --> 00:27:40 uh, I'll then put it through an
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 AI, um, piece of AI
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 software and say, I want you to just
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 tidy this up. I'm paraphrasing. I tell it
00:27:48 --> 00:27:50 exactly what I want and
00:27:51 --> 00:27:54 it will enhance the image even further.
00:27:54 --> 00:27:56 I showed you Fred Watson. I took a photo of
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 the moon with it the other day and then I put
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 it into ChatGPT and said, can you enhance
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 this, sharpen it up, show me a bit more
00:28:02 --> 00:28:05 detail in the cratering. And it just went
00:28:05 --> 00:28:08 bang. And the image I got was, was
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 stunning.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:12 Professor Fred Watson: I thought it is, it's remarkable. Yeah,
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 it is, absolutely.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 Andrew Dunkley: So that's something to consider. And it's a
00:28:15 --> 00:28:17 really inexpensive way of actually getting
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 into astronomy. Uh,
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 I didn't mention the brand of mine, but
00:28:25 --> 00:28:27 they're all very, very popular. They're all
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 very good. There are a whole bunch of them.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 Some of them are, um, in the hundreds of
00:28:30 --> 00:28:32 dollars. Some are in the thousands of
00:28:32 --> 00:28:34 dollars. It just depends what you want to
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 spend. But for someone like
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 me, who, who doesn't want to spend
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 hours and hours outside in the dark in the
00:28:41 --> 00:28:43 cold because it gets damn cold out here in
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 winter, um, that's the perfect solution.
00:28:46 --> 00:28:49 So, yeah, might, um, be worth considering.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 That's just my piece of the pie.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:54 Professor Fred Watson: Well, I'm glad you put that in as well
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 because that's a very important resource in
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 today's day and age.
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 Andrew Dunkley: Indeed. And, uh, thank you
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 for the question, uh, Bea.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 And um, good luck with your future in
00:29:06 --> 00:29:09 astronomy. And that brings us to
00:29:09 --> 00:29:11 the end of the show. Fred Watson, thank you
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 so much.
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 Professor Fred Watson: A, uh, great pleasure, Andrew. I'm glad we
00:29:14 --> 00:29:17 made it without a hiccup. And, uh,
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 great to have all those questions as well.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 Thought provoking as always.
00:29:20 --> 00:29:23 Andrew Dunkley: And please send us more questions, uh,
00:29:23 --> 00:29:25 because it's going to sound weird. This is
00:29:25 --> 00:29:28 time dilation at its absolute best. Um,
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 Fred Watson and I will talk again next week,
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 but we won't see each other for a month.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:37 I'll leave you to figure that one out. But
00:29:37 --> 00:29:40 yeah, go online to our website and, uh, send
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 your questions through the Ask me Anything
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 Anything tab. Uh, that is
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 spacenutspodcast.com or
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 spacenuts IO.
00:29:48 --> 00:29:51 And Fred Watson, we'll see you real soon or
00:29:51 --> 00:29:53 in a month. Whichever comes second or first.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:56 Professor Fred Watson: Whichever. Whichever. Is time dilated?
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 Yes.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:59 Andrew Dunkley: I'll tell you about our travels when, when I
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 get back next week.
00:30:00 --> 00:30:02 Professor Fred Watson: I'm looking forward. I'm looking forward to
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 hearing that. Yes. Thanks,
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 Fred Watson.
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 Andrew Dunkley: We'll see you soon.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:08 Professor Fred Watson: Cheers for now. Bye.
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 Andrew Dunkley: And, uh, thank you.
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 Professor Fred Watson: Thanks.
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, thanks, Fred Watson.
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 Yeah, I appreciate it. It's gonna be a long
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15 haul. Uh, and thanks to Huw in the studio.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 Uh, you're gonna love this one, Fred Watson.
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 Uh, Huw couldn't be with us today. He, ah,
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 was ejected from our galaxy.
00:30:21 --> 00:30:23 Wait for it. Because he's lactose
00:30:24 --> 00:30:26 intolerant. Uh, you
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 gotta think about it.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:30 Professor Fred Watson: But I get it. I get it.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:33 Andrew Dunkley: I like that one. And from me, Andrew Dunkley.
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 Thanks for your company. We'll see you on the
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36 next episode of Space Nuts. Bye. Bye.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 You've been listening to the Space Nuts Po.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:45 Available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:30:45 --> 00:30:48 iHeartRadio or your favourite podcast
00:30:48 --> 00:30:50 player. You can also stream on demand at
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 bytes.
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 Professor Fred Watson: Com. This has been another quality podcast
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 production from Bytes. Com. Um.