# Your Questions Answered: The Mysteries of Jupiter and the Sun

An episode of [Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1080090608), 14 Sep 2026, 32 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/op3.dev/e/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75111699/your_questions_answered_the_mysteries_of_jupiter_and_the_sun_nordvpn.mp3

Sponsor Link: This episode of Space Nuts is brought to with the support of NordVPN. To grab our special NordVPN deal, simply visit www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts ....take control of your online privacy because no-one else is going to do it for you! Space Nuts: Q&A on Mitsubishi's Role in Telescope Manufacturing, Jupiter's Storms, and Gravitational Waves In this Q&A episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a range of fascinating listener questions, from the involvement of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in telescope manufacturing to the mysteries of Jupiter’s storms and the nature of gravitational waves. Join them as they delve into these cosmic queries with their signature wit and expertise. Key topics - Thomas from Canberra asks about Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and their role in the manufacturing of telescope hardware at Siding Spring Observatory. Fred Watson explains the engineering behind the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the significance of its construction. - Young listener Emily poses a question about Jupiter's Great Red Spot, prompting a discussion on the dynamics of storms and atmospheric patterns on the gas giant. - Butch from the UK inquires about the Parker Solar Probe and its mission to study the sun, as well as the advancements in solar observation technology. - Trent from North Georgia wonders if gravitational waves are slowed down by passing through matter, leading to an insightful explanation of how these waves interact with the fabric of spacetime. - The episode wraps up with a lively discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in astronomy and its implications for the future of scientific research. Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction to the Q&A format and listener interactions 01:20 - Thomas's question about Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Siding Spring Observatory 10:30 - Emily's question about storms on Jupiter 18:45 - Butch's inquiry on the Parker Solar Probe and solar missions 26:00 - Trent's question about gravitational waves and their speed 32:15 - Discussion on artificial intelligence in astronomy and its impact 40:00 - Closing remarks and listener engagement Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.

## Transcript

[0:00] Andrew Dunkley: Hello again and thank you for joining us.
[0:02] This is a Q and A edition of Space Nuts. Uh,
[0:05] my name is Andrew Dunkley. Uh, this is
[0:07] the episode where we answer questions from
[0:10] our audience and sometimes our studio
[0:13] audience. We've had, uh, people asking us
[0:15] questions live in recent times. Uh,
[0:17] coming up today, uh, we have actually
[0:20] received an email from a listener,
[0:23] um, Thomas in Canberra, asking about
[0:26] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and their
[0:28] involvement at Siding Spring. I know someone
[0:30] who might know something about.
[0:32] Generic: About that.
[0:34] Andrew Dunkley: Anyway, we'll talk about that. Um, we've got
[0:36] a young listener who's sent in a question,
[0:40] uh, about the storm on Jupiter.
[0:43] Uh, we've also got a question about a mission
[0:45] to the sun and,
[0:47] uh, the speed of gravitational waves. We'll
[0:50] try and tackle all of that on this Q A
[0:52] edition of space nuts.
[0:54] Generic: 15 seconds. Guidance is internal.
[0:56] 10, 9. Ignition
[0:59] sequence start.
[1:00] Professor Fred Watson: Space nuts.
[1:01] Generic: 5, 4, 3, 2. 1, 2, 3, 4,
[1:04] 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
[1:06] Andrew Dunkley: Space nuts.
[1:07] Generic: Astronauts report it feels good.
[1:10] Andrew Dunkley: And he's back again to solve all of those
[1:12] riddles. Professor Fred Watson Watson,
[1:14] Astronomer at large. Hello, Fred Watson.
[1:15] Professor Fred Watson: Hello, Andrew.
[1:16] Hello. Good to see you.
[1:17] Andrew Dunkley: Good to see you.
[1:18] Professor Fred Watson: Can I see you? Yes, I can see you.
[1:20] Andrew Dunkley: You can see me?
[1:20] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, good to see you.
[1:23] Andrew Dunkley: I've got a bit of a box head at your end of
[1:25] things.
[1:26] Professor Fred Watson: You. You squashed him. But, um, you're
[1:29] looking nonetheless handsome for that. It's
[1:31] all right.
[1:32] Trent from North Georgia USA: Yeah.
[1:33] Andrew Dunkley: My wife wouldn't agree, but anyway, she
[1:35] might.
[1:36] Trent from North Georgia USA: Different.
[1:36] Andrew Dunkley: There's a different storey.
[1:37] Professor Fred Watson: Yes.
[1:39] Andrew Dunkley: Uh, shall we tackle some questions?
[1:41] Professor Fred Watson: Why not?
[1:42] Andrew Dunkley: All right.
[1:43] Our first one comes from Thomas in Canberra.
[1:46] I was down in Canberra a couple of weeks ago,
[1:47] uh, and it was bitterly cold
[1:50] as always. Some years ago we visited
[1:53] Australia's very own Acropolis, um,
[1:55] um, Pantheon and the Temple of Fred Watson I.
[1:58] E. Siding Spring Observatory. Luckily for us,
[2:01] it was an open day, so we got got to
[2:04] tour inside the telescope hall. Uh, the
[2:07] guide pointed out that we were standing on a
[2:09] trapdoor several storeys up. Suffice to say
[2:12] we all stepped aside onto solid flooring. I
[2:15] noticed a plaque on the telescope hardware
[2:17] that read Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. My
[2:20] question is, what role does Mitsubishi play
[2:23] in manufacturing modern telescope hardware,
[2:26] if any? And is the telescope mirror made
[2:28] in Ohio and polished in England,
[2:32] still, uh, one of the best? Um, or he's
[2:35] asking if it's still one of the best. So. Ah,
[2:37] that's a good question. So, yeah, plenty to
[2:40] ply through on that, Fred Watson. Uh, I've
[2:42] been exactly there with you, doing a
[2:45] television show, I believe. It was at one
[2:48] stage many moons ago, but, uh, they kicked me
[2:51] out because I had a head for radio. But,
[2:53] um. Yeah, it's a good question. Uh, and
[2:56] very observant of Thomas to pick up on all of
[2:59] that. Except for the trapdoor. He missed
[3:01] that.
[3:02] Professor Fred Watson: Um, yeah, the trapdoor's
[3:05] quite important because that's what lets you,
[3:07] um, hoist things from the ground floor, which
[3:10] is, uh, eight storeys below,
[3:13] up seven storeys below, uh, up into the dome
[3:16] area. And there's an intermediate level,
[3:18] which is where we recoat the mirror every
[3:21] year. And I'm saying we because it
[3:24] used to be we when I was the astronomer in
[3:26] charge and worked, uh, there for many, many
[3:29] years. Uh, it's now other people, but, um, I
[3:32] hope they won't mind, um, including
[3:35] myself as part of their team, because I know
[3:37] them all pretty well. Um, so, uh, that
[3:40] trapdoor, uh, actually I do remember,
[3:43] um, hearing a storey. I didn't see this
[3:46] happen myself, but the trapdoor itself weighs
[3:48] probably about three tonnes. Uh, and it's on
[3:51] a hinge and it's got a kind of crane
[3:53] mechanism to lift it up. And I do remember
[3:55] somebody once telling me that it accidentally
[3:57] got let go and it slammed shut and the
[4:00] entire building shook, as you'd
[4:03] expect. Yeah, that, uh, wasn't in my time
[4:05] there, though, so, um. Indeed, the
[4:08] Anglo Australian Telescope, a joint project
[4:11] between the two governments, the Australian
[4:13] government and the British government. Um,
[4:15] really interesting storey, uh, how it
[4:18] all started and, uh, how it emerged.
[4:21] Um, it, uh, was uh,
[4:24] the. Basically the first thing that happened
[4:27] when, when they, you know, when the
[4:29] governments decided to spend the money on
[4:31] this. And it was, I think, 16 million was
[4:33] what they had at the time. That would be more
[4:36] like 100 million now to the same thing.
[4:38] Um, but back in the late, uh,
[4:41] 1960s, actually, uh, they set up a
[4:44] project office and the project office looked
[4:46] at all the contractors and all the rest of
[4:47] it. And so, um, that,
[4:51] uh, office, which for a while
[4:53] was run by a very old friend of mine, Herman
[4:56] Wehner, um, who was in Canberra. He was
[4:59] an engineer, uh, in Canberra.
[5:01] Uh, so he would have been, I think, party
[5:04] to some of these decisions, along with
[5:06] another old friend, Ben Gascoigne, one of the
[5:08] great names in Australian astronomy.
[5:11] Um, and they elected to,
[5:14] uh, accept a bid from Mitsubishi
[5:17] Heavy Industries to build the mounting of the
[5:20] telescope. And by that I mean the part that
[5:22] actually points the thing around
[5:25] and this is, it is heavy engineering, because
[5:28] if I remember rightly, the moving parts of
[5:30] the telescope are about 60 tonnes or
[5:31] thereabouts, and yet you've got to point it
[5:34] with an accuracy of a second of
[5:37] arc, uh, which, you know, when you think of
[5:39] the number of microns, that means in terms of
[5:42] where the telescope structure is pointing,
[5:44] that's quite significant. Uh, the telescope
[5:46] floats on oil bearings. It actually floats on
[5:49] oil. Um, and so all of that
[5:52] has to come together and a company like
[5:54] Mitsubishi uh, were very, very well
[5:56] placed to deliver that.
[5:59] Now, uh, um, uh,
[6:02] Thomas's question is to an extent Mitsubishi
[6:05] M is still involved with this sort of thing.
[6:07] Uh, I think they would um, with
[6:10] having that expertise, I think they would um,
[6:13] sort of tender for contracts uh, whenever
[6:16] there was an opportunity. Now, um,
[6:18] if I'd had a bit more time and forethought
[6:20] and I could still cheque it. But um, the
[6:23] biggest telescope operated
[6:26] by Japanese astronomers is called
[6:28] Subaru. Uh, and
[6:30] Subaru is of course the Japanese word for the
[6:33] Pleiades. That's why you've got six stars on
[6:35] your Subaru car badge. Subaru, uh,
[6:39] is on the big island of Hawaii. It's an 8
[6:41] metre class telescope. It is one of the
[6:43] finest 8 metre telescopes in the world. I'm
[6:46] not sure whether Mitsubishi played
[6:49] a part in building
[6:51] Subaru but that might be the kind of thing
[6:53] that you might be able to tell me within a
[6:56] few minutes with Claude whispering into your
[6:58] ear or something. Were
[7:01] Mitsubishi involved with Subaru.
[7:03] Um, uh, the other side of the storey though
[7:06] is what we call the tube of the telescope
[7:08] which isn't a tube, it's an open structure
[7:11] for anybody standing in front of it. It's the
[7:14] white part, um, which contains all
[7:17] the optics that was built by the company
[7:20] I started my career working for. Sir Howard
[7:22] Grubb Parsons Co. Ltd. They indeed
[7:25] polished the mirrors. My uh,
[7:28] old friend and colleague David Sindon
[7:31] was the chief optician for that.
[7:34] I am privileged to have in this
[7:37] room his notebook, uh, that
[7:40] he had all the notes when he was doing that
[7:42] polishing and one of the first things it
[7:45] says in the notebook, uh, when the mirror
[7:48] blank was delivered indeed from Ohio, as
[7:51] Thomas uh, said, um, uh, it was
[7:54] then a 20 tonne block of material,
[7:57] uh 4 metres in diameter. There's a comment in
[8:00] the notebook that says this thing is bloody
[8:03] big. Um, that's
[8:06] David Sinden. So he was the optician. It made
[8:08] a fantastic job working with his colleague
[8:10] David Brown, my first boss, David Brown
[8:13] and I worked a little bit on the mirror, um,
[8:16] actually preparing the um,
[8:18] hardware for the mirror to be supported
[8:21] while it was being ground and polished, uh,
[8:23] in the works in Newcastle on Tyne in England.
[8:26] I did that just Before I left, uh, Grub
[8:29] Parsons to go back to university to further
[8:31] my career in astronomy.
[8:34] Andrew Dunkley: Did you know at the time, or you wouldn't
[8:36] have probably known at the time you were
[8:37] working on it in the UK that you'd end up
[8:39] using it?
[8:41] Professor Fred Watson: Um, no, that's right. Not only did
[8:44] I end up using it, I ended up as its
[8:46] astronomer in charge, which I was for 20
[8:48] years. Um,
[8:53] it's a really good question. Um, thinking
[8:56] back to that time, I was a bit
[8:59] fixated on getting back to university because
[9:01] I wasn't happy with my degree and I wanted to
[9:03] do a research degree in astronomy, which I
[9:06] did. That's another storey. Um,
[9:09] and so I, um. You know, this, making these
[9:12] supports for the telescope mirror was, uh,
[9:15] something that I was quite keen to get out of
[9:17] the way and I probably just never gave it a
[9:20] thought that maybe one day I would use this
[9:21] telescope. Certainly would never have given
[9:23] it a thought that one day I'd be responsible
[9:26] for its scientific output, which I was for 20
[9:28] years.
[9:29] Trent from North Georgia USA: Yeah.
[9:29] Andrew Dunkley: And in answer to your query, the Subaru
[9:32] telescope in Hawaii was
[9:34] manufactured by Mitsubishi
[9:37] Electric company.
[9:39] Professor Fred Watson: There you go. Yeah, yeah, that was a, that
[9:41] was a guess, but, um, uh, obviously a
[9:44] reasonably informed guess.
[9:46] Andrew Dunkley: Yeah, indeed. Thanks, uh, for the question,
[9:49] Thomas, but, uh, yeah, um, it's an amazing
[9:52] facility and I, I, uh, up at
[9:54] Siding Spring. And I don't think people
[9:56] realise how massive that building
[9:59] is.
[9:59] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.
[10:00] Andrew Dunkley: Until I sort of get up the top of the
[10:02] mountain and take a look. You can see it from
[10:05] just about everywhere. Uh, you can still see
[10:07] it quite clearly. Um, uh, in the
[10:09] aftermath of those tragic fires so many years
[10:11] ago.
[10:13] Um, but, uh, yeah, it's sort of
[10:15] like a big pimple on the top of a hill.
[10:18] It is, it's amazing. Thanks,
[10:21] Thomas. Uh, we've got a few live viewers,
[10:23] Fred Watson. We've got uh, Ollie in Geelong.
[10:26] G' day, Ollie. Danny, uh, says he's added
[10:28] Outback Astronomer to his, uh, audible wish
[10:31] list. Uh, we've got Turk listening from
[10:33] Sunnyvale in California and he's 35
[10:36] miles from the Lick Observatory. You can see
[10:38] it from his bedroom. Um, and uh, Moose
[10:41] is back again. He's found us again. Hi,
[10:43] Moose. You've, you've missed pretty much half
[10:46] the whole deal today, but we're on a bit
[10:49] earlier and uh, Tommy has
[10:51] messaged us, um, uh, in the evening
[10:54] in Frederikstad in Norway.
[10:57] So welcome everybody.
[11:00] Uh, let's go to an audio question.
[11:02] Fred Watson, this is Sandy, but
[11:04] it's not Sandy's question.
[11:08] This will become self obvious.
[11:09] Sandy from Melbourne: G' Day Fred Watson and Andrew. It's Sandy
[11:11] here again from Melbourne. Um, this time my
[11:14] little listening buddy, um, Emily, my
[11:16] daughter would like to ask a question. Um,
[11:19] she, she quite enjoys listening in the car,
[11:22] um, to your show with me. So I'm going to
[11:24] hand the, the microphone over to my daughter.
[11:27] Why does Jupiter have a storm on it?
[11:31] Excellent question. Thank you. Um, thank you
[11:33] friend Andrew. I hope you get a chance to
[11:35] answer this question and we're looking
[11:37] forward to the answer.
[11:39] Andrew Dunkley: Thank you, Sandy. Thank you, Emily. Hi Emily.
[11:42] Um, that's a great question and
[11:45] we've talked about the storm on Jupiter uh
[11:48] many times in the past and in fact I think
[11:50] there's more than one storm on Jupiter. But
[11:53] there's one big one that
[11:55] um, that's famously known as the Red
[11:58] Spot.
[12:00] Professor Fred Watson: It is in fact because it's big,
[12:03] it's called the Great Red Spot. Um,
[12:06] and um, I think there's another one sometimes
[12:09] called Little Red as well,
[12:11] Andrew Dunkley: which is uh, not far away
[12:13] from the big one.
[12:15] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, um, Emily, your question's a great
[12:17] one. Uh, and so in
[12:20] the last episode we were talking about some
[12:23] of the patterns that we get in the cloud
[12:26] belts of Saturn. This
[12:29] hexagon pattern and the decagon pattern.
[12:32] And they are caused by um, the
[12:35] way atmospheres behave. So this is
[12:38] movements of air. Basically it's not air like
[12:40] we breathe here on Earth, but it's wind,
[12:44] uh, that give rise to these various patterns.
[12:46] And the same thing happens on Jupiter.
[12:48] Jupiter's got um, what we call the cloud
[12:51] belt. So a, uh, lot of um, you
[12:54] know, I don't know how many there are
[12:56] altogether, how many are recognised. It used
[12:57] to be eight or nine when I was a youngster.
[13:00] Uh, these are different belts of cloud on the
[13:02] planet, all of which are moving east to west
[13:05] or west to east but at ah, different
[13:08] speeds. And it's
[13:11] those um, winds, if you like,
[13:14] these mass movements of
[13:17] atmospheric gas that cause
[13:19] what we call turbulence on the edge. It's
[13:22] where you find um,
[13:26] um, air swirling around in a circle.
[13:29] Um, many of us know about turbulence if we
[13:32] fly on aeroplanes because you run into it
[13:35] and it shakes the aircraft. And what you're
[13:37] talking about there is the same sort of
[13:39] thing. It's swirls of air that are not
[13:42] behaving in a nice smooth, uh, manner.
[13:44] And so uh, that's what happens at the
[13:47] boundaries of these cloud belts. And uh,
[13:50] sometime in the past, and it's
[13:52] certainly more than 300 years ago, uh, that
[13:55] was enough to form a storm,
[13:58] uh, between two of these cloud belts, uh and
[14:01] we still see that as the Great Red Spot. Uh,
[14:04] you might know Emily, and maybe Sandy
[14:07] will too. Your dad, um, that
[14:10] uh, the Great Red Spot seems to be changing.
[14:12] It's sort of grown and shrunk a bit a few
[14:14] times recently. So it's
[14:17] like uh, because this is, you know,
[14:21] when we look at Jupiter we're seeing the top
[14:23] of the cloud belts. We're not seeing a
[14:24] surface that doesn't change. We're seeing
[14:26] something that's very dynamic and active,
[14:29] always uh, in motion. And so maybe one day
[14:32] the Great Red Spot will just fizzle out and
[14:35] we won't have that beauty spot on the
[14:38] face of Jupiter anymore.
[14:39] Andrew Dunkley: No, uh, when you talk about
[14:42] storms on Earth, they come and go in minutes,
[14:44] hours, sometimes occasionally days.
[14:48] This one has been active for at least
[14:50] 190 years. It was uh, first
[14:53] tracked in 1831 I think.
[14:56] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, it may have been spotted before that as
[14:58] well. Some people think
[15:00] um, possibly um, even ah, Cassini or
[15:03] Huygens, one of these great observers of
[15:05] Saturn might have seen it.
[15:09] Andrew Dunkley: Maybe so, or he was just having a
[15:11] migraine but
[15:15] you just never know. But um, it's a
[15:18] fascinating thing that uh, is displayed on
[15:20] that planet. Uh, it's not the only gas giant
[15:23] that has a storm like that. Does Saturn have
[15:25] something similar?
[15:26] Professor Fred Watson: Well Saturn does have storms but they
[15:29] tend to be much more short lived. And that's
[15:32] where young Trevor Barry that we were talking
[15:34] about last episode, he monitored
[15:37] those storms so that the Cassini mission
[15:40] could home in on them uh, uh,
[15:43] when they were at their most active.
[15:44] Andrew Dunkley: So yeah, in fact it was Giovanni uh,
[15:48] Cassini who suggested that there was a
[15:50] permanent spot on Jupiter. And that was back
[15:52] in 1665. There you go. Yeah, so yeah,
[15:55] they've known about it for a long, it's been
[15:56] around for a very long time Emily, this
[15:59] particular storm.
[16:01] Um, and uh, Fred Watson started his career
[16:03] before the storm began
[16:08] Professor Fred Watson: when it was just a wisp of wind.
[16:13] Andrew Dunkley: Uh, thanks Emily, Lovely to hear from you.
[16:15] This is Space Nuts Andrew Dunkley here with
[16:17] Professor Fred Watson Watson.
[16:21] Okay, we checked all four systems and
[16:23] Professor Fred Watson: being with a girl, space nats.
[16:25] Andrew Dunkley: Our next question, uh, comes from
[16:29] Butch, I think. Yes. In Suffolk in the
[16:32] uk. Hey Andrew, Professor Fred Watson,
[16:33] possibly Jonty and Huw in the studio, not Huw
[16:36] in the studio, I can tell you that now. Love
[16:38] the show, uh, been with you for over two
[16:41] years now. I went to a planetarium show in
[16:44] Greenwich in the UK six years ago for my
[16:46] 46th birthday. Uh, this was hosted by
[16:49] impressionist John Kulshaw. He was
[16:52] amazing and One of the scientists with him
[16:54] was working on the mission satellite to
[16:57] the sun and explained how they can
[17:00] film and track and circle the sun,
[17:03] uh, and the heat involved.
[17:05] Just wondering if you were aware of this
[17:07] or had more information or opinions on it.
[17:10] Quite an incredible mission really. There was
[17:12] also a quiz after prizes were
[17:15] astronaut food. I won nothing.
[17:18] He says, uh, thanks for the excellent
[17:20] podcast, love listening to you and uh, the
[17:23] listener question. Thanks Butch. Uh, I
[17:26] bought some astronaut food when I was in um,
[17:29] NASA in Florida. Um,
[17:32] it's not all that palatable
[17:35] in my opinion. Probably
[17:37] more designed for sustaining life than
[17:41] enjoying food. Would that be, that'd be fair
[17:43] remark?
[17:44] Professor Fred Watson: Well, I think that's right. Although I
[17:45] suspect things have moved on quite a bit. I
[17:48] think, um, the International Space Station
[17:51] has some, some quite nice gourmet meals
[17:54] now. Seems to be, particularly when there are
[17:56] Italian astronauts on board. They get great
[17:58] coffee, you know.
[18:00] Great, great.
[18:01] Andrew Dunkley: Why am I not surprised? Yes. Um, because
[18:04] they're gearing up for the restaurant at the
[18:05] end of the universe probably.
[18:07] Professor Fred Watson: Right? Yeah, yeah. Um, so
[18:10] I'm, I'm guessing, uh, from what Butch
[18:13] said that um, I mean there are, there are
[18:16] several solar, ah, spacecraft
[18:18] or spacecraft observing the sun.
[18:21] Um, soho, the Solar Heliospheric
[18:24] Observatory was one of the first. There's a
[18:26] pair of spacecraft called stereo, uh, that
[18:28] are in orbit around the sun
[18:31] at uh, slightly different positions so they
[18:33] get a stereo view of the sun. Um, I'm
[18:36] wondering if the one that he's thinking of
[18:37] though is the Parker solar probe.
[18:39] And that's because that one of all
[18:42] those uh, solar spacecraft is the one
[18:45] that goes closest to the sun. And
[18:48] indeed as that mission has evolved, I think
[18:52] they've thrown caution to the
[18:55] winds and got closer and closer to the sun.
[18:58] It's got a very, very robust heat shield on
[19:00] it, uh, which they point sunwards when
[19:03] it's near the sun, uh, to protect the
[19:06] spacecraft from the heat. Uh, its mission is
[19:08] all about trying to sample the
[19:11] solar corona, the outer atmosphere of the
[19:14] sun, which as many of our listeners will
[19:17] know, is heated to very, very high
[19:20] temper, uh, in the region of
[19:23] 15 million degrees Celsius,
[19:26] whereas that's right, the surface
[19:28] is at about five, five and a half thousand
[19:32] Celsius. And yet you've got this
[19:34] region above, uh, and
[19:37] we tend to think of heat rising by
[19:39] convection. Uh, why is the surface so
[19:42] cool compared with the heat of the
[19:45] corona? And the clues that come from the
[19:47] Parker solar probe and other spacecraft seem
[19:49] to relate it directly to the magnetic
[19:51] activity of the Sun. The sun is a hotbed of
[19:54] magnetism, which is only really
[19:57] becoming, uh, better understood. I might
[20:00] just throw in a bit of advice though, for
[20:03] Butch, because there's just lately, within
[20:05] the last couple of weeks, we've seen some
[20:08] extraordinary images of the solar, uh,
[20:10] surface. It's not really a surface, it's
[20:13] the gas region that we can see. It's called
[20:16] the photosphere. They've come from the Daniel
[20:18] K Inouye Solar Telescope, which is
[20:21] on top of a mountain, uh, on the
[20:24] island of Maui in Hawaii. It's, uh, the
[20:26] summit of Haleakala. And that's the biggest
[20:29] telescope, uh, in the world, able, uh,
[20:32] to look at the sun and the images. The detail
[20:34] that's coming back is quite
[20:37] extraordinary.
[20:38] Um, and what,
[20:41] uh, has come from these latest images, and
[20:44] this is a little bit off the track, but it's
[20:46] interesting, uh, something that's fascinated
[20:48] me for a long time. Things called, uh,
[20:50] Kelvin. Hello. Well, let me get it
[20:53] out. Kelvin Helmholtz instabilities,
[20:56] if you want to look that up. Uh,
[20:59] they're a little bit like what we were
[21:01] talking about with Emily's question, where
[21:03] you've got two masses of
[21:06] atmosphere shearing against one another,
[21:08] they're moving at different speeds and you,
[21:11] uh, sometimes get these regular patterns
[21:14] which are called Calvin Helmholtz
[21:16] instabilities. They're quite striking. Um,
[21:20] we saw some in Japan last year which, uh,
[21:23] I took a photograph of. Um, this was with
[21:25] clouds because clouds kind of reveal where
[21:28] they're taking place. But these have now been
[21:30] seen in the atmosphere of the sun.
[21:32] Uh, people have thought they would find them,
[21:34] but, yes, they have now been revealed.
[21:36] Andrew Dunkley: Wow, that's exciting, isn't it?
[21:38] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah.
[21:39] Andrew Dunkley: Um, and you mentioned the Parker solar
[21:42] probe, which may well be the mission that
[21:44] Butcher, uh, is referring to. But, um,
[21:47] it's become famous because of,
[21:49] uh, the speed, speeds that it's achieved.
[21:52] Professor Fred Watson: Yeah, that's right.
[21:53] Andrew Dunkley: In fact, it's the fastest object
[21:56] ever made by human beings. It, uh,
[21:59] reached a top speed on 24 December 2024, of
[22:01] 692,000
[22:05] kilometres per hour. That's 430,000
[22:07] miles an hour, skimming about 3.8
[22:10] million miles above the solar surface.
[22:13] That's extraordinary.
[22:15] Extraordinary. Fastest object ever are
[22:18] made by humans. Uh, although
[22:21] you turn a torch on and you're making light,
[22:23] I think that should count. We've all achieved
[22:26] light speed. Um, but,
[22:29] yeah, uh, that's pretty impressive stuff.
[22:31] And while we're talking about missions to the
[22:33] sun, um, they've got a few coming up.
[22:36] Uh, the sun coronal Ejection Tracker,
[22:40] uh, which is supposedly
[22:43] about to happen. Designed to track coronal
[22:46] mass ejections and improve space weather
[22:48] forecasting. There's the Multi slit
[22:50] Solar Explorer which is due to launch in
[22:53] 2027. That's a NASA uh, mission
[22:56] targeting fine detail of the solar
[22:58] atmosphere. Um, I
[23:01] don't know how to pronounce this. TSIS 2, uh,
[23:04] is set to launch in 2027. And
[23:08] um, they'll measure spectral
[23:10] solar energy input into Earth's atmosphere.
[23:14] And this one uh, is
[23:17] already up there was uh, 2025, the
[23:19] Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe
[23:21] IMAP, um, which uh,
[23:24] is looking at the boundary where the
[23:25] heliosphere meets interstellar space. So
[23:28] uh, lots and lots of work going on around the
[23:31] sun and I uh, don't think they'll stop there.
[23:34] They'll keep going back to figure out more
[23:36] about it. Um, I mean it's the easiest star
[23:39] for us to study really.
[23:41] Um, it's just
[23:44] over there all the time. It's shining very
[23:46] brightly today. I'm actually going to go
[23:48] outside later because we're at the beginning
[23:50] of the pollen season and see if I can
[23:53] get myself another um, photo of the
[23:56] um, pollen, pollen, pollen corona,
[23:58] pollen corona.
[23:59] Professor Fred Watson: Which, that would be great. Yeah, yeah.
[24:02] Andrew Dunkley: I took one many years ago but I haven't been
[24:04] able to get one uh, since. So I must have got
[24:07] lucky that day. But I think
[24:09] those photos work out better with an iPhone
[24:12] than they do a ah, camera, uh, or
[24:15] a telescope for that matter. But um, yeah,
[24:17] anyway, I'll give it a go later. Thanks uh,
[24:19] Butch, for your question.
[24:23] The crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the moon.
[24:26] Professor Fred Watson: Humanity's next great voyage begins.
[24:29] Andrew Dunkley: Space Nuts. Our final question, an
[24:32] audio uh, question comes from
[24:35] somebody else who I've lost. I've found him
[24:38] again. It's Trent.
[24:40] Trent from North Georgia USA: Hello Andrew and Dr. Fred Watson.
[24:42] This is Trent from North Georgia
[24:45] USA. I had a
[24:48] question. I know that gravitational
[24:50] waves move at the universal
[24:53] speed limit, the same as light in a
[24:56] vacuum, but are
[24:58] gravitational waves slowed down
[25:02] as they pass through atmosphere and
[25:04] planets?
[25:05] You and water and things
[25:08] like that, like light waves are
[25:11] just curious. Love your show.
[25:15] Been a long time listener and thoroughly
[25:17] enjoy asking questions here. Y' all have a
[25:20] wonderful day and I look forward to hearing
[25:22] Matt.
[25:23] Andrew Dunkley: Thank you Trent. Um, really good question.
[25:25] Gravitational waves have been um,
[25:28] a very popular topic of late. Uh, not
[25:31] only with space nuts and listeners, but
[25:33] scientists around the world trying to detect,
[25:34] uh, them and figure them out and learn from
[25:37] them because they can tell us about things
[25:39] that have happened that we have not
[25:40] witnessed. But uh, we know what they are and
[25:43] why. Um, because
[25:46] they vary according to, uh, the source.
[25:50] Um, so, um, how fast do they
[25:53] go and can something slow them down?
[25:55] Fred Watson?
[25:56] Professor Fred Watson: Yes, they go at the speed of light, exactly
[25:58] as, uh, Trent says, but they don't slow
[26:01] down. Oh, yeah. So they're not like
[26:04] light. Um, they're not like photons of light,
[26:07] which are, uh, subatomic particles that
[26:10] interact with, you know, the electrons and
[26:12] atoms, um, of, uh, of
[26:15] a medium that they're pla. That they're
[26:17] passing through, and that's what slows them
[26:18] down. But gravitational waves are actually
[26:22] in, well, we sometimes call it the fabric
[26:25] of space time. They're basically. They're
[26:28] waves in space. Um, and so,
[26:31] um, matter, the kind of stuff that
[26:34] I think Trent's thinking of, doesn't block
[26:36] them, doesn't absorb them, doesn't impede
[26:38] them, doesn't slow them down. They just go
[26:40] right through it. Uh, uh, they go through
[26:43] planets, stars,
[26:46] humans, anything, as though they were
[26:48] just empty space. So they
[26:51] don't.
[26:52] Andrew Dunkley: They don't.
[26:53] Trent from North Georgia USA: All right.
[26:53] Andrew Dunkley: That was easy. That was quick.
[26:55] Professor Fred Watson: It was, wasn't it?
[26:56] Andrew Dunkley: So I'm going to give you a question without
[26:57] notice that's come from our live audience.
[26:59] This comes from Tommy. He says artificial
[27:02] intelligence, uh, is great for pattern
[27:05] recognition. Any comments about the
[27:07] advancements in computer science?
[27:10] Professor Fred Watson: Um, certainly AI is used a lot in, um,
[27:13] astrophysics, um, because
[27:16] a lot of what we study in astronomy and
[27:18] astrophysics relies on very
[27:22] complex statistical methodologies.
[27:25] Um, you know, Bayesian statistics and all
[27:27] kinds of stuff that I never knew about when I
[27:30] was a student. Uh, and AI
[27:33] is great at dealing with that kind of thing
[27:35] and teasing out some of the nuances
[27:38] from, uh, you know, from the work that's
[27:41] going on. So,
[27:45] um, and that's just one example of the way
[27:47] that perhaps AI is being used in astronomy
[27:49] and astrophysics. Yes.
[27:51] Andrew Dunkley: Yeah. Um, it's making inroads into
[27:54] just about every facet of life and business,
[27:57] isn't it, Fred Watson? Um, and
[28:00] there's a lot of debate over whether or not
[28:01] this is a good thing. I actually
[28:04] read a report today, not, uh, that it's
[28:07] suggesting AI is the problem, but, uh, it's
[28:10] suggesting that screen time is the problem.
[28:12] But, um, the, um,
[28:15] academic decline in the
[28:18] school students, um, that they're
[28:21] witnessing now, the exam results,
[28:24] uh, globally, uh, on standard
[28:27] tests, is showing that, um,
[28:30] there's a, you know, the curve is falling.
[28:33] Um, we're seeing a decline in scholastic
[28:36] ability. And they're blaming screen time,
[28:38] they're blaming access to easy data
[28:41] without using your brain to figure it out.
[28:43] Um, it's, uh, something that
[28:46] governments and institutions around the world
[28:49] are going to have to tackle, if they haven't
[28:51] started already. And I'm sure they have. But,
[28:53] uh, yeah, ah, it's, it's a growing, it's a
[28:54] growing problem. But, um, I don't think we're
[28:57] going to stop, um, using AI and
[28:59] computers and tablets and
[29:02] smartphones anytime soon. So we've got
[29:05] to find a way for everything to work together
[29:08] in unison to the benefit of
[29:11] humanity.
[29:12] And, uh, um, maybe
[29:15] doing what we've done in New South Wales and
[29:17] banning phones in classrooms, uh, might be
[29:20] a start.
[29:20] Professor Fred Watson: Who knows?
[29:22] Andrew Dunkley: Uh, thanks, Trent. Great question. Great to
[29:24] hear from you.
[29:24] Great to hear from everybody who contributed.
[29:26] Thank you so much. And don't forget to send
[29:28] your questions through to us on our website,
[29:30] spacenutspodcast.com or
[29:33] spacenuts IO. Click on the little AMA
[29:36] link at the top. That means ask me anything.
[29:38] And don't forget to tell us who you are or
[29:40] where you're from, uh, in text or audio form.
[29:42] And while you're there, have a look around,
[29:44] visit our shop, sign up for the astronomy
[29:46] newsletter and, um, yeah, whatever
[29:49] you like. And please leave reviews wherever
[29:51] you listen to us. Uh, and thank you,
[29:54] Fred Watson, as always. It's been great fun.
[29:56] Professor Fred Watson: It's been good, doesn't it? Yep. And we'll do
[29:58] it again soon. We will.
[29:59] Andrew Dunkley: Professor Fred Watson Watson, astronomer at
[30:01] large, and thanks to Huw in the studio,
[30:02] couldn't be with us today, did a mission to
[30:04] the sun, forgot his sunscreen back in
[30:07] hospital.
[30:07] And from me, Andrew Dunkley. Thanks for your
[30:09] company. We'll see you in the next episode of
[30:12] Space Nuts. Until then, bye bye.
[30:15] Uh, you'll be listening to the Space Nuts
[30:18] podcast, available
[30:20] at Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
[30:23] iHeartRadio or your favourite podcast
[30:26] player. You can also stream on
[30:27] demand@bytes.com. this has been another
[30:30] quality podcast production from
[30:32] bytes.com.

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