S03E134: Ancient Galaxies Unveiled, DART Debris Mystery, and Polaris' Hidden Spots

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm anna your guide on this

0:02 Speaker 1: cosmic journey. Today, we have a thrilling lineup of stories

0:06 Speaker 1: straight from the universe's farthest reaches. We'll dive into the

0:10 Speaker 1: discovery of ancient galaxies that shed light on the early universe,

0:14 Speaker 1: explore potential debris from NASA's Dart mission making its way

0:17 Speaker 1: to Earth and Mars, and unveil stunning new images of

0:20 Speaker 1: Hilaris our North Star. Will also decode the legendary Wow

0:23 Speaker 1: signal and discuss how longer Earth days influenced evolutionary milestones.

0:27 Speaker 1: So sit back, relax, and let's embark on this incredible

0:31 Speaker 1: voyage through space and time. Astronomers using China's Fast telescope

0:36 Speaker 1: have made a groundbreaking discovery six ancient galaxies teeming with hydrogen.

0:41 Speaker 1: This significant finding not only advances our understanding of the

0:44 Speaker 1: early universe, but also highlights the extraordinary potential of modern

0:48 Speaker 1: radio telescopes. These galaxies, identified by doctor Hongway She and

0:52 Speaker 1: his team from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese

0:55 Speaker 1: Academy of Sciences and AOC, contain vast quantities of atomic

1:00 Speaker 1: hydrogen gas. This is a stark contrast to the tens

1:03 Speaker 1: of thousands of galaxies previously surveyed, indicating that four billion

1:06 Speaker 1: years ago galaxies held much more star forming gas than

1:10 Speaker 1: those we see today. The discovery was part of the

1:12 Speaker 1: FAST Ultra Deep Survey, underscoring the sensitivity of the five

1:16 Speaker 1: hundred meter aperture Spherical Radio Telescope or FAST, located in

1:21 Speaker 1: Gijo Province, China. So far, over one hundred new galaxies

1:25 Speaker 1: up to five billion light years away have been discovered

1:28 Speaker 1: through this survey, and the final count is expected to

1:31 Speaker 1: surpass one thousand. Identifying the optical counterparts of these distant

1:35 Speaker 1: radio discoveries turned out to be quite a detective story

1:39 Speaker 1: given their faint appearance due to the immense distances. Using

1:43 Speaker 1: some of the largest optical telescopes in the US and Russia,

1:47 Speaker 1: the team was able to pinpoint these counterparts, finding that

1:50 Speaker 1: they contained two to three times more stars than our

1:53 Speaker 1: Milky Way, but about ten times the mass of hydrogen gas.

1:57 Speaker 1: This discovery also illustrates the power of in international collaboration,

2:01 Speaker 1: as radio astronomers from China and Australia work together. It

2:05 Speaker 1: paves the way for future observations with upcoming radio telescopes

2:08 Speaker 1: such as the International Square Kilometer Array Observatory SCOW, promising

2:13 Speaker 1: even more astonishing insights into the cosmos. Next, NASA's DART mission,

2:18 Speaker 1: which stands for Double Asteroids Redirect Test, made headlines when

2:21 Speaker 1: it successfully demonstrated a strategy for deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids

2:26 Speaker 1: by using the kinetic impact method. On September twenty sixth,

2:29 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, the DART spacecraft collided with Demorphose, a

2:33 Speaker 1: small moon orbiting the larger asteroid Ditemos, showcasing how we

2:37 Speaker 1: might protect our planet from future asteroid threats. However, while

2:41 Speaker 1: this technique proved effective in altering Demorphos's trajectory, it also

2:45 Speaker 1: produced a significant amount of debris. This ejecta could potentially

2:49 Speaker 1: reach both Earth and Mars within a decade, opening up

2:52 Speaker 1: a unique opportunity for scientists to study new meteor showers.

2:56 Speaker 1: A recent study conducted by an international team of scientists

2:59 Speaker 1: explored the fate of this debris Using data from the

3:02 Speaker 1: light Italian Cube SAT for Imaging of Asteroids, which accompanied

3:05 Speaker 1: the DART mission. The researchers ran dynamic simulations to track

3:09 Speaker 1: the millions of particles generated by the DART impact. These

3:12 Speaker 1: simulations revealed that some of the fragments could travel to

3:15 Speaker 1: Mars in about thirteen years and to Earth in as

3:18 Speaker 1: little as seven years, depending on their velocities. What's particularly

3:22 Speaker 1: fascinating is that if these particles do make their way

3:25 Speaker 1: to Earth's atmosphere, they are expected to disintegrate harmlessly, creating

3:30 Speaker 1: luminous streaks across the sky, essentially a new meteor shower

3:35 Speaker 1: generated by human activity. This phenomenon, tentatively dubbed the Dimorphids,

3:40 Speaker 1: could be observed in ongoing and future meteor observation campaigns.

3:44 Speaker 1: While these tiny fragments pose no risk to us, their

3:47 Speaker 1: study offers valuable insights. Monitoring the behavior and impacts of

3:51 Speaker 1: this debris could refine our understanding of how asteroid deflection

3:55 Speaker 1: missions affect both the target asteroids and the surrounding space environment.

4:00 Speaker 1: It also underscores the importance of continued vigilance and innovation

4:04 Speaker 1: in planetary defense strategies. Polaris the North Star has long

4:08 Speaker 1: been a celestial guidepost for navigators and astronomers alike, but

4:12 Speaker 1: recent advancements in telescope technology have unveiled a deeper layer

4:16 Speaker 1: of its complexity. Thanks to the work done by the

4:18 Speaker 1: Chara Array located on Mount Wilson in California. We've managed

4:22 Speaker 1: to capture high resolution images of Polaris that are quite revolutionary.

4:26 Speaker 1: This array consists of six telescopes working in unison, effectively

4:30 Speaker 1: creating a single powerful viewing instrument with a remarkable diameter

4:34 Speaker 1: of three hundred and thirty meters or approximately one thousand

4:38 Speaker 1: and eighty three feet. What this means is unprecedented clarity

4:42 Speaker 1: and detail in the images produced. For years, we've seen

4:45 Speaker 1: Polaris depicted in art and astronomy, but these new images

4:49 Speaker 1: have revealed something we didn't expect, large bright and dark

4:52 Speaker 1: spots on its surface. These spots are similar to sunspots

4:55 Speaker 1: that we observe on our own sun, and they fluctuate

4:58 Speaker 1: and move over time. Discovery is groundbreaking because Polaris is

5:01 Speaker 1: a type of star known as a Cepheid variable, characterized

5:05 Speaker 1: by its periodic brightening and dimming cycles. Typically, these variations

5:08 Speaker 1: in luminosity make seafeed stars reliable distance markers in the universe. However,

5:13 Speaker 1: spotting surface anomalies on Polaris adds in exciting, albeit challenging

5:17 Speaker 1: dimension to its study. Interestingly, Polaris is not a solitary star.

5:21 Speaker 1: It resides in a triple star system, and the Chara

5:24 Speaker 1: array's initial aim was to chart the orbit of its

5:26 Speaker 1: closest and faintest companion. Through this mission, it was determined

5:30 Speaker 1: that Polaris is about forty six times the size of

5:33 Speaker 1: our Sun and perhaps five times more massive than previously thought.

5:37 Speaker 1: Not only does this give us further insights into cepheide variables,

5:41 Speaker 1: but it also opens up several enthralling questions for future

5:44 Speaker 1: cosmic explorations. In some the high resolution images captured by

5:49 Speaker 1: the Chara Array not only uncover previously hidden features of

5:53 Speaker 1: our famed North Star, but also promised to propel our

5:56 Speaker 1: understanding of stellar behaviors and characteristics into new terrains. In

6:02 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, the intriguing Wow signal, a powerful and

6:06 Speaker 1: narrow band radio signal, was detected by the Ohio State

6:09 Speaker 1: University's Big Ear radio telescope while it was scanning the

6:13 Speaker 1: skies for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. This unique signal was

6:17 Speaker 1: so unusual that astronomer Jerry Amens scribbled the word Wow

6:21 Speaker 1: next to the data print out, giving the signal its

6:23 Speaker 1: famous name. For decades, the source of this signal remained

6:27 Speaker 1: one of the great mysteries in the search for alien life. However,

6:30 Speaker 1: recent research has brought us closer to understanding this signal.

6:33 Speaker 1: A team led by Able Mendes from the University of

6:35 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico at Arecibo suggests a more down to earth explanation.

6:39 Speaker 1: According to their study, the WOW signal was likely caused

6:43 Speaker 1: by the transient brightening of hydrogen clouds in space. Such

6:46 Speaker 1: brightening can occur due to events like a magnetar flare

6:50 Speaker 1: or a soft gamma repeater, which are natural astrophysical phenomena

6:53 Speaker 1: capable of producing strong hydrogen emissions. These findings were made

6:57 Speaker 1: possible by analyzing archival data from the now defunct Arecibo

7:01 Speaker 1: Radio telescope. The data collected between twenty seventeen and twenty

7:05 Speaker 1: twenty revealed signals similar to the WAW signal, albeit less

7:09 Speaker 1: intense and originating from multiple locations. What links these signals

7:13 Speaker 1: to the nineteen seventy seven WOW signal is their striking

7:15 Speaker 1: similarity in spectral characteristics, differing only in brightness. The researchers

7:20 Speaker 1: propose that the WAW signal resulted from a rare alignment

7:23 Speaker 1: of a strong transient radiation source with hydrogen clouds. Such

7:28 Speaker 1: precise conditions are infrequent, explaining why the signal has been

7:31 Speaker 1: seen only once. According to the team, this alignment could

7:34 Speaker 1: also help in pinpointing the origin of similar signals and

7:38 Speaker 1: monitoring them for future occurrences. In conclusion, while the WOO

7:42 Speaker 1: signal was initially thought to be a potential techno signature

7:45 Speaker 1: from extraterrestrial intelligence, this recent study offers a plausible natural explanation.

7:51 Speaker 1: By shedding light on this mystery, we can reframe our

7:54 Speaker 1: search for alien life and be mindful of these new

7:56 Speaker 1: sources of false positives in future technos signals searches. The

8:01 Speaker 1: studies findings not only demystify a stellar enigma, but also

8:05 Speaker 1: enrich our understanding of the dynamic and transient processes occurring

8:08 Speaker 1: in the cosmos. Next, returning closer to home, recent studies

8:13 Speaker 1: have shed light on an intriguing correlation between the Moon's

8:16 Speaker 1: gradual departure from Earth and the lengthening of our planet's days.

8:20 Speaker 1: As the Moon drifts farther away, it siphons off Earth's

8:22 Speaker 1: rotational energy, causing our planet's spin to slow and our

8:26 Speaker 1: days to lengthen. Over millions of years, these incremental changes

8:30 Speaker 1: have added up, with days becoming more than two hours longer. Interestingly,

8:34 Speaker 1: this extended daylight may have played a pivotal role in

8:37 Speaker 1: Earth's biological history. Researchers propose that longer days could have

8:41 Speaker 1: led to significant oxygenation events, which in turn fostered and

8:45 Speaker 1: explosion of life. These periods of increased sunlight and extended

8:49 Speaker 1: day length could have affected the distribution of solar energy,

8:52 Speaker 1: temperature gradients, and overall weather patterns. One key period highlighted

8:57 Speaker 1: by the study occurs roughly between six hundred fiftifty million

9:00 Speaker 1: and five hundred million years ago, an era known for

9:03 Speaker 1: the Cambrian Explosion. During this time, life on Earth diversified dramatically,

9:08 Speaker 1: filling new ecological niches and leading to the complex ecosystems

9:12 Speaker 1: we observe today. This study suggests that two staircase intervals

9:15 Speaker 1: of rapidly changing rotation rates, one during the Cambrian explosion

9:20 Speaker 1: and another between three hundred forty million and two hundred

9:23 Speaker 1: eighty million years ago, corresponded with significant environmental and biological shifts.

9:29 Speaker 1: While these gradual changes may seem modest, the cumulative effect

9:32 Speaker 1: over geological time scales is profound. The study underscores the

9:36 Speaker 1: interconnectedness of astronomical and terrestrial phenomena, revealing how the subtle

9:42 Speaker 1: dance between Earth and its Moon can have far reaching

9:45 Speaker 1: impacts on life as we know it. Thank you for

9:51 Speaker 1: tuning into Astronomy Daily with Anna. It's been a fascinating

9:54 Speaker 1: journey exploring the latest wonders of the cosmos together. Remember

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10:26 Speaker 1: Anna signing off from Astronomy Daily. Sunday Stars Star