WEBVTT 00:02.266 --> 00:05.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JOHN YANG: Itús been an exciting time for astronomers, astrophysicist and other scientists 00:07.033 --> 00:09.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who specialized in the goings on in the far reaches of space. Since the beginning of the month 00:09.766 --> 00:14.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% observations of some never before seen celestial events have been reported in science journals. 00:16.433 --> 00:19.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Science correspondent Miles OúBrien is here to explain all. Miles, 00:19.133 --> 00:24.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% thanks for joining us. The first one is a star swallowing up a planet that was orbiting around 00:26.000 --> 00:30.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it. And as you talk about, weúre going to show some animation from Caltech depicting, 00:30.166 --> 00:35.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MILES OúBRIEN: Well, John, I donút want to ruin your weekend. But this is in fact a preview of 00:37.700 --> 00:42.666 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% what lies ahead for our little planet Earth. A team of researchers at Palomar Observatory 00:44.700 --> 00:49.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% outside San Diego, were using a Wide Field Camera called the Zwicky Transient Facility, 00:51.300 --> 00:55.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% which looks at a big swath of the night sky looking for things like comets and asteroids. 00:56.900 --> 01:01.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Astronomer Kishalay De at MIT, is going through data from 2020. 01:03.866 --> 01:06.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Thereús so much data that they have a backlog, and he noticed a star about 01:08.533 --> 01:12.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% 12,000 light years away that grew 100 times brighter over the course 01:12.400 --> 01:17.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of a week. He thought maybe that was a binary star, which he studied quite a bit two stars, 01:19.966 --> 01:23.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% which kind of interact with each other. And their brightness changes as the gravity pushes in polls. 01:23.400 --> 01:27.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But the problem was the total amount of energy that was released by this event 01:27.166 --> 01:32.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% was way less than it would be if it was two stars. And so that meant by virtue of that, 01:34.233 --> 01:38.300 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% that it was probably a black hole swallowing up a planet, but itús not just any planet 10 times 01:40.900 --> 01:44.633 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% bigger than Jupiter. And I guess the flash that he saw, I guess it amounts to a Cosmic Belt, John. 01:48.133 --> 01:50.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: You say this is going to happen to earth. 01:50.300 --> 01:54.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Does this happen to all planets? Do they eventually sort of go into their sons? 01:54.433 --> 01:58.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MILES OúBRIEN: Not all of them I gather planets in our solar system are likely to 01:58.466 --> 02:03.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% be spared. And weúre kind of on the bubble. We know Venus and Mercury theyúre goners 02:05.100 --> 02:07.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% eventually. Thereús some scientific debate as to what will happen to us. 02:07.533 --> 02:11.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But basically, the star gets bigger and bigger as it gets older, like we all do, 02:11.866 --> 02:16.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I suppose, and gets hotter, and eventually gobbles up the near planet. So Iúm sorry 02:19.433 --> 02:24.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to give that piece of news to everybody here this weekend. But we have some time to plan. 02:26.066 --> 02:28.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Youúve given us a lot of lead time. The next thing I want to 02:28.000 --> 02:31.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ask you about is the largest space explosion ever detected. 02:31.600 --> 02:36.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MILES OúBRIEN: This one is very far away 8 billion light years away. So that means what 02:38.533 --> 02:42.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% weúre seeing in these images or animations, or data is at about 6 billion years after the 02:44.366 --> 02:48.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% creation of the universe, the Big Bang. This explosion lasted about three years. 02:50.700 --> 02:55.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So what was it? No oneús really sure. The current thinking is that maybe the black 02:57.100 --> 03:01.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% hole in this case, much more powerful than ours swallowed up a huge gas cloud and in 03:03.466 --> 03:07.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% so doing created this multi-year explosion. So again, the universe is rough place, John. 03:09.700 --> 03:14.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Tough neighborhood. Thereús also a neutron star that is behaving in 03:16.633 --> 03:19.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a way that scientists didnút think a star could behave. And first of all, 03:19.066 --> 03:21.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% start off by telling us what a neutron star is. 03:21.566 --> 03:26.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MILES OúBRIEN: Itús like a dead star didnút quite make it to black hole status. But a 03:26.266 --> 03:31.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% neutron star is very, very dense object. There are limits to how bright they can 03:31.000 --> 03:35.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% become. Itús called the Eddington limit, little bit of physics here, but basically, 03:35.333 --> 03:40.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% itús a push and pull between the light photons and gravity. And the physicists would tell you 03:42.300 --> 03:45.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that given the size of any particular object, thereús a limit to how bright it can be. 03:47.466 --> 03:50.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But this one turns out is 100 to 500 times brighter beyond this so called Eddington limit. 03:53.200 --> 03:58.200 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And they think whatús happening here is that the magnetic field at this particular neutron star is 04:00.800 --> 04:05.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% actually warping the atoms and allowing that star to hold together longer than it would otherwise. 04:08.100 --> 04:12.766 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So thatús a little bit mind-bending and actually literally add embedding. But there you have it. 04:12.766 --> 04:17.766 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JOHN YANG: This is all mind-bending to me. The closest instance of a black hole tearing apart 04:19.766 --> 04:23.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% a star, remind us or describe what a black hole is. And weúll play some animation from NASA. 04:25.133 --> 04:28.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MILES OúBRIEN: Yeah, these are huge gravity wells that are at the center of most galaxies 04:30.300 --> 04:33.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% is one of the center of ours. This one, they say close in astronomical terms, 04:33.600 --> 04:38.600 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% itús 137 million light years away from Earth. And we know about these tidal disruption events, 04:40.966 --> 04:45.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% which create this thing, what my favorite astronomical term spaghettification, 04:47.866 --> 04:51.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it pulls things in so rapidly that they stretch out spaghetti style. 04:53.933 --> 04:56.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And this was the closest one weúve seen. But as you look at this animation that NASA made for us, 04:58.866 --> 05:02.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% this is all a reminder of number one, how far science has taken us to even understand all of 05:04.633 --> 05:09.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% this. And the fact that we know this all exists. We have the Webb Space Telescope giving us great 05:11.333 --> 05:15.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% imagery. We have the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile coming online soon, 05:15.000 --> 05:20.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% all kinds of instruments, which are going to take us even farther and further back in time. 05:21.933 --> 05:25.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And, you know, to me, John, itús a reminder that we are pretty insignificant in the grand 05:27.133 --> 05:31.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% scheme of things. And yet, weúve gotten pretty smart at figuring some big things out. So, 05:33.066 --> 05:37.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% as we face our problems here on Earth, we do have the capability of understanding big 05:39.300 --> 05:42.833 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% things. And maybe thatús something we can take in our daily lives to help us understand how 05:45.300 --> 05:47.366 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% we solve smaller problems right here on Earth. Thatús my philosophical note for the weekend. 05:47.366 --> 05:50.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: We appreciate it, Miles. This has been fascinating. Our own -- very 05:50.700 --> 05:53.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% own master the universe, Miles OúBrien. Thank you very much. 05:53.666 --> 05:54.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% MILES OúBRIEN: John, itús a pleasure.