S02E17: Protecting New Worlds: Planetary Policies and Feeding Black Holes

0:00 Goody everybody, and welcome to Astronomy Daily for Friday, the seventh of July

0:05 twenty twenty three. My name is Tim Gibbson. I will be your host

0:09 for today's edition, and as usual I have my AI assistant Halle with me

0:15 here in the studio. Now, one of our listeners, Paul, has

0:19 suggested that I engage in some witty repartee with you, Hally, what do

0:25 you think not going to happen? Tim, I will get on with the

0:29 news. Formulating policies for planetary protection issues and keeping them up to date is

0:41 the responsibility of the Committee on Space Research COSPER Panel on Planetary Protection. In

0:48 an article in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, an international group of experts

0:53 affiliated with COSPER reviewed the panel's role and its planetary protection policy, including recent

0:59 consideration regarding the policy for the Moon, Venus, Mars, and small planetary

1:03 bodies. Now. Writing on the Frontier's news site, the panel's leadership,

1:08 consisting of chair doctor Athena Kustini's and vice chairs Nicholas Headman and Professor Peter Dorian,

1:14 explain why this endeavor is so important for future deep space explorers. Imagine

1:19 robotic rovers taking soil samples on the surface of Mars looking for evidence of past

1:25 life, and instead finding bacteria that had traveled all the way from Earth.

1:29 The impact on subsequent research would be incalculable. Or picture a probe digging through

1:34 the crust of an icy moon such as Europa or Enceladus and injecting organic contamination

1:38 from Earth into the subsurface ocean, thus compromising any further search for life in

1:44 that body. At the same time, if extant or extinct life were to

1:48 exist on such bodies, returning samples to our planet without proper measures to prevent

1:53 hazards to our biosphere could lead to important risks for humanity, and international policy

1:57 is thus needed to help prevent the harmful introduction of biological and organic contamination of

2:02 space missions to make sure that future scientific exploration and discoveries do not adversely impact

2:08 the new worlds they visit. Similarly, protocols should be established for returned alien

2:15 material to Earth. California Science Center to start complex process to display Space Shuttle

2:21 Endeavor vertically. The lengthy process of putting the retired Space Shuttle Endeavor on display

2:25 in the vertical launch position will begin this month in Los Angeles. The California

2:31 Science Center announced Thursday that the six month process will get underway July twentieth at

2:37 the future Samuel Oscanair and Space Center, currently under construction in Exposition Park.

2:43 The initial step, dubbed Gopher Stack, will be installation of the bottom portion

2:46 of the solid rocket boosters known as aft skirts, upon which will be stacked

2:51 the booster segments, the external tank, and then Endeavor. The twenty story

2:55 tall display will show the shuttle as it would appear waiting on a launch pad.

3:00 Endeavor was built as a replacement for the destroyed shuttle Challenger and flew twenty

3:04 five missions between nineteen ninety two and two thousand eleven. When Nassa's shuttles were

3:09 retired, Endeavor was flown to California a top Nassa's special Bowing seven forty seven

3:15 shuttle carrier in two thousand twelve, drawing crowds as it flew over locations in

3:20 the state associated with the space program. After landing at Los Angeles International Airport,

3:25 the shuttle was placed on a special trailer and then created a sensation as

3:29 it was inched through tight city streets to the California Science Center over several days.

3:35 A groundbreaking ceremony for the Air and Space Center was held last year on

3:38 the eleventh anniversary of Endeavor's final return from space. The Center said in a

3:44 statement that stacking the components of the shuttle system is a complex process that has

3:49 never been undertaken outside a NASA facility. December thirty first will be the last

3:53 chance to see Endeavor as it has been displayed horizontally in the landing position for

3:59 years since a rival at the Center. The shuttle will be moved across Exposition

4:03 Park and lifted by a crane to be intricately mated to the external tank.

4:08 Construction of the Air and Space Center will be completed around the full shuttle stack.

4:14 Hungry black hole switches on as astronomers watch in surprise. J two to

4:18 one nine five one is one of the most extreme examples yet of a black

4:21 hole taking us by surprise. One of the brightest transient events is the result

4:27 of a supermassive black hole beginning to feast on surrounding matter, resulting in one

4:31 of the most dramatic switching on events ever seen. Transients are astronomical events or

4:38 objects that change in brightness over short periods. Of time and the one powered

4:42 by this greedy black hole J two to one, nine five one is one

4:46 of the brightest transients ever recorded. The position of the black hole corresponds with

4:50 the center of a previously observed galaxy, just where a supermassive black hole would

4:55 be expected to sit. However, astronomers still aren't sure exactly what is causing

5:00 the transient event witnessed in J two two one nine five one. Our understanding

5:04 of the different things that supermassive black holes can do has greatly expanded in recent

5:10 years with discoveries of stars being torn apart and accreating black holes with hugely variable

5:15 luminosities. Team member and University of Belfast astronomer Matt Nichol said in a statement,

5:20 J two two one nine five one is one of the most extreme examples

5:24 yet of a black hole taking us by surprise. The nature of what the

5:29 supermassive black hole, located around ten billion light years away, is consuming is

5:32 currently unknown, but it is possible that J two two one nine five one

5:36 represents a star that has ventured too close to the black hole, being violently

5:41 ripped apart by tidal forces arising from its immense gravity. In a process called

5:45 spaghetification. This occurrence, called a tidal disruption event TD, would see some

5:50 of the stellar material from the destroyed star fall to the surface of the black

5:54 hole, while other matter is funnel to the poles of the black hole before

5:58 being blasted out at near lightspeed. It's generating intense electromagnetic radiation. And that's

6:03 the news headlines for today, Tim the Astronomy Daily Podcast. Thanks for that,

6:10 Hallie, and now for us some stories that I'd like to talk about.

6:14 Saying goodbye to Europe's Ryan five rocket. Europe's Ryan five heavy livid vehicle

6:21 is now officially retired, and the last launch on Wednesday, July fifth,

6:28 at six pm Local time from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana.

6:35 Its final mission, Ryan five launched a pair of telecommunication satellites for the German

6:41 and Italian governments. Arian five has harry and five began its operational career in

6:46 nineteen ninety six and has stood as isa's workhorse launch vehicle longer than any other

6:53 previous Arian models. In its final flight, Arian five successfully delivered its two

6:58 payloads to geostationary orbit, but perhaps the most notable part of the launch took

7:03 place in the seconds it took the rocket to clear the tower. The morning

7:10 following the final launch, ESA tweeted a group of photographs from liftoff. They

7:14 feature some close ups of the launch pad with the fire from ryan formidable solid

7:20 rocket boosters lighting the surrounding area like the sun. The two stage rocket was

7:25 built by air for Airbus Defense and Space and managed by Arian Space for ISSA

7:30 and CNS, the French Space Agency. Now that the Aryan five has closed

7:35 out its launch manifest Europe is left with a gap in available launch vehicles until

7:41 the Aryan six is ready. However, delays in the rockets development have continually

7:46 extended the timeline for its expected completion. The most recent estimate have the rockets

7:51 first flight taking place in late two and twenty three, but it may yet

7:56 shift into two and twenty four, which would be really unfortunate. Now,

8:03 Ian, here is a special story just for you. The University of Glasgow

8:09 has celebrated its links to Albert Einstein with a special ceremony. Researchers from the

8:13 School of Physics and Astronomy planted an apple cutting on the campus after it was

8:18 taken from the famous scientist's summer home. The fruit was donated by John Hancock,

8:24 a graduate of the university's School of Chemistry who runs the social enterprise Scottish

8:31 Fruit Trees. The tribute took place on Monday June twenty six, which was

8:35 ninety years since Einstein visited the city and received an honorary degree from the university.

8:41 In recognition of his contribution to physics, researchers planted an apple tree cutting

8:46 on the campus. It comes from. It comes as he famously predicted the

8:52 existence of gravitational waves in nineteen sixteen as part of his general theory of relativity.

8:58 Researchers from the university's Institute for Gravitational Research were part of the international collaboration

9:05 which discovered the first direct evidence of gravitational waves in two thousand and five,

9:11 finally confirming his theory. A century later, Glasgow scientists have developed the mirror

9:18 suspension technology at the heart of the laser interferometer Gravitational Wave of Observery LIGO,

9:26 which has made the detection possible. LIGO is the most sensed sensitive scientific equipment

9:31 ever developed. It is capable of detecting the very faint traces of gravitational waves

9:37 as they pass through the Earth. The suspensions help hold forty kilogram mirrors completely

9:43 still, so lasers bounced from their services can measure the tiny displacement. The

9:52 gravitational waves cause a movement of around one in ten thousandth the width of a

9:58 proton, which is just amazing. Now, thank you everybody for listening to

10:03 today's episode. Over to you Hollee for today's terrible joke. Okay, ready,

10:09 why did the sun go to therapy? Because it felt a little eclipsed

10:13 by all the attention the moon was getting. Bye. Thanks everybody for listening

10:20 to today's episode. You can catch all of the details on spacenuts dot io

10:24 and bytes dot com. Over to you, Steve for Monday's episode. Bye

10:30 for now, The Astronomy Daily Podcast