WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:23.839 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:28.879 I want you to tray something for me real quick. 8 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.439 Just close your eyes for a second. Imagine you are 9 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.439 standing outside on a really perfect day. It's mid July. 10 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:39.399 Maybe you're at the beach or just hanging out in 11 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.359 your backyard, and you feel that warmth hitting your face. 12 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.159 It feels totally consistent, right. It feels a steady, like 13 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:47.920 a reliable old radiator that just you know, keeps the 14 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:48.840 whole planet alive. 15 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:51.840 It is a very comforting sensation. Yeah, honestly, it is 16 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:54.000 the definition of stability for most of us. 17 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.200 But here's the thing about that feeling. It is a 18 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.159 complete lie. Ah, It is a total illusion, because if 19 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.399 we could strip away the distance, if we could zoom in, 20 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:06.799 and I mean really really zoom in, that steady ball 21 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:11.799 of light is actually a screaming, chaotic nightmare of nuclear fire. 22 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.920 Well, nightmare might be a bit subjective, but chaotic is 23 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:19.640 definitely scientifically precise to us. It's a light bulb, but 24 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.560 up close it's a battlefield, right. 25 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:23.480 And usually when we talk about this, we talk about 26 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:27.439 the big explosions, the flares, the coronal mass ejections that 27 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.879 sound like doomsday. 28 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:30.640 Weapons, dramatic events. 29 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.840 Yeah, But today, for this exploration, we are looking at 30 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:38.879 something different, something strangely organized amidst all that chaos. I 31 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.760 want you to picture a giant blast of glowing gas, 32 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.200 but instead of just exploding everywhere randomly, it forms a shape, 33 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.079 a very specific shape. 34 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.920 We are talking about turbulence, but not just random turbulence. 35 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.280 We're talking about structure. 36 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.799 We are talking about smoke rings. We are giant planet 37 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:00.640 size smoke rings rolling off the surface of the Sun. 38 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.640 It sounds completely impossible, but we are going to unpack 39 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.719 a major new study that says this is exactly what 40 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:07.640 is happening right now. 41 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:09.159 And this is an old news by the way, this 42 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:10.280 is very fresh from the. 43 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.400 Lab, literally days old. This study comes from the University 44 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.759 of Hawaii at MANOAH, published just two days ago February eighteenth, 45 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.919 twenty twenty six. It's in the Astrophysical Journal, which I'm 46 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:22.400 told is a pretty huge deal. 47 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.120 Oh, it is the gold standard for this kind of research. 48 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.439 If it is in there, the data has been put 49 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:28.759 through the absolute ringer. 50 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.319 The research is led by A. Shadia Habal at the 51 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:35.039 Institute for Astronomy, and what her team found it basically 52 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.400 changes how we understand the Sun's atmosphere. They found that 53 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:41.840 the Sun is pumping out these aerodynamic shapes vortex rings 54 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:44.960 that actually travel through space. It's literally like the Sun 55 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:46.520 is blowing smoke rings at us. 56 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.159 It is a fantastic image, but the physics behind it 57 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.599 are even more interesting because this is about energy transfer, 58 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.919 It is about the invisible machinery that drives space weather, 59 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.000 and ultimately it is about understanding the environment we actually live. 60 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.159 In, because, as you always remind me, we don't just 61 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:06.280 live on Earth. We actually live inside the atmosphere of 62 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:06.599 the Sun. 63 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.080 We do, we absolutely do, and that atmosphere is a 64 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:10.680 lot more turbulent than we ever thought. 65 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.719 So let's start this investigation. We have the what is 66 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.319 the smoke rings on the Sun, But I really want 67 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.759 to start with the how, because when I was reading 68 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:21.719 through the study, one thing stood out immediately. They didn't 69 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:25.120 find this using the ten billion dollar James Webb telescope. 70 00:03:25.400 --> 00:03:28.400 They didn't find it using the Solar Dynamics Observatory or 71 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:31.960 some giant satellite can use the moon, right, They used 72 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.159 a solar eclipse. And I have to ask the really 73 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.560 obvious question. Here we are in twenty twenty six. We 74 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.560 have probes that can literally touch the Sun as atmosphere. 75 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.759 Why are we still relying on a rock floating in 76 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:46.840 front of the Sun to do cutting edge science? Why 77 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.560 is the moon a better tool than our best technology? 78 00:03:49.960 --> 00:03:54.919 It is a fair question. It feels a bit analog, 79 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:57.479 doesn't it Like using a sun dial in the age 80 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:58.240 of the Apple Watch? 81 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.680 Exactly? It feels complete nage. 82 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.159 But it all comes down to a very specific problem 83 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:06.560 in optics called dynamic range. Think about it this way. 84 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.360 Imagine you were driving at night and a car is 85 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.960 coming towards you with its high beams blaring. You are 86 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.240 completely blinded. Yeah, Now imagine a moth flies right in 87 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.160 front of those headlights. Can you see the moth? 88 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:19.399 No? Way, The glare is way too strong. 89 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.079 Right, The signal to noise ratio is impossible. The Sun 90 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.600 is millions of times brighter than its outer atmosphere, which 91 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.560 we call the corona. To see the corona, that faint, 92 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:29.759 wispy moth, you have to block. 93 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:31.720 The headlight, which is what we do with satellites, isn't it. 94 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.439 They have those little metal disks inside them, corona graphs 95 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.040 they do. 96 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.720 We build artificial eclipses inside our telescopes. We put a 97 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:40.519 little disk right in front of the sensor to block 98 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:44.079 the sun. But here's the problem with that diffraction. 99 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:45.519 Okay, walk us through diffraction. 100 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.360 When light hits the edge of that metal disk inside 101 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:52.120 the telescope, it bends, it scatters, It creates this fuzzy 102 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:56.279 bright edge. To keep that stray light from completely ruining 103 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:59.079 the image, we have to make the blocking disc slightly 104 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.800 larger than the sun itself. We have to overblock. 105 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.920 Oh so you're covering the Sun, but you're also covering 106 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.839 the most interesting part, the edge where the surface actually 107 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:09.560 meets the atmosphere exactly. 108 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:12.199 We lose the inner corona, We lose the shore line 109 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:14.600 basically because we are blocking the view of the ocean 110 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.560 just to save our eyes. But the moon, the moon 111 00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:20.800 is perfect nature's lens cap. It really is. It is 112 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.800 effectively infinitely far away from the observer on Earth, so 113 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.680 there's no scattering inside your eye or inside the telescope. 114 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:30.360 It fits over the Sun with incredible precision. When the 115 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.279 Moon blocks that bright disc, we can see right down 116 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.279 to the surface. We get this eclipse view that reveals 117 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.120 details no satellite can match. 118 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:41.079 And the study mentions this specifically. It says that standard 119 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:45.639 satellite observations show a smoothed out view of the corona. 120 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.600 Right, if you look at a satellite image, the corona 121 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:53.199 looks like this soft, growing halo. It looks almost static, 122 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:54.160 like a painting. 123 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.279 But the eclipse view, the eclipse. 124 00:05:55.959 --> 00:05:59.240 View reveals the truth. It isn't a soft halo at all. 125 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.800 It is made of thousands of sharp, distinct threads. It 126 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:03.879 is far more dynamic. 127 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:06.920 Dynamic is just the polite scientist word for chaos. 128 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.399 Right in this context, yes, it means everything is moving, 129 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:14.680 twisting and changing constantly. These threads are magnetic field lines, 130 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:17.560 and they are guiding the plasma in very complex ways. 131 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:20.800 But here is the real kicker with this specific study 132 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:23.360 from the University of Hawaii. They didn't just take one 133 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:25.040 picture of one eclipse and call it a day. 134 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.000 That's the other part that blew my mind and eclipse 135 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:28.800 last what four minutes? 136 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.000 If you are lucky, sometimes it's two minutes. 137 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:33.199 So you have two minutes of data. How do you 138 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:36.279 build a massive scientific paper on two minutes of data? 139 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.879 You don't, You wait, you travel, and you do it again. 140 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:44.279 Shadiyahabal and her team didn't just chase one shadow. This 141 00:06:44.360 --> 00:06:47.399 study utilizes data collected over nearly twelve years. 142 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.680 Twelve years. That is incredible dedication just chasing two minute 143 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.040 windows around the world. 144 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:56.079 It is fundamental though. Think about the Sun's heartbeat. The 145 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.519 Sun isn't the same every single day. It goes through 146 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.600 a cycle, the solar cycle, which is roughly eleven years long. 147 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:03.519 Right, solar minimum and solar maximum. 148 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.439 Exactly. At solar minimum, the sun is relatively quiet, the 149 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:10.600 magnetic field is organized. At solar maximum, the magnetic field 150 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:13.439 is a tangled mess, and the Sun is firing off 151 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.319 flares left and right. If you only looked at one 152 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:19.800 eclipse in say twenty fifteen, you wouldn't know if what 153 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.600 you saw was normal or just a weird Tuesday. 154 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.680 You need the whole movie, not just a screenshot. 155 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.279 Precisely, by tracking this over a full twelve year cycle, 156 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:31.480 have All's team can see the evolution they could prove 157 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:34.399 that these structures they found weren't just accidents. They are 158 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:36.120 a fundamental part of how the sun works. 159 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.399 Okay, so we have the perfect tool, the eclipse. We 160 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:42.839 have the long term data, twelve years of chasing shadows 161 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.240 across the globe. Now let's get to the thing they 162 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.120 actually found, the smoke rings. 163 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:49.439 The vortex rings. 164 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:51.319 Use the fancy term if you want, but they look 165 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:54.920 like smoke rings to me. The study describes turbulent structures 166 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:55.959 forming in the corona. 167 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:58.879 Yes, and this is a big deal because for a 168 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.600 long time the corona was thought to be fairly laminar, smooth, 169 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.319 flowing in straight lines like water in a calm river. Ay, 170 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:11.600 But what they found was turbulence, eddies, swirls, and specifically, 171 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.759 these vortex rings explain. 172 00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:15.240 The physics of a vortex ring. To us, how do 173 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:16.879 you get a donut shape made of gas? 174 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.199 It is a fluid dynamics classic. A vortex ring forms 175 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:22.600 when a fast moving slug of fluid pushes through a 176 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:25.839 stationary or slower moving fluid. The friction at the edges 177 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.040 basically rolls the fluid back on itself. 178 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.319 Like blowing a smoke ring, you push the smoke out 179 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.240 quickly through your lips, and the air in the room 180 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.360 drags on the edges and it spins into a doughnut exactly. 181 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:38.000 Seeing this on the Sun tells us something very specific. 182 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:41.200 There is a massive speed difference involved. There is a 183 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.440 pulse of energy pushing plasma through the atmosphere at incredible speeds. 184 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.279 And the study also mentions rolling waves. They compared them 185 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:50.159 to clouds on Earth. 186 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:54.399 Yes, likely Kelvin Helmoltz instabilities. You have seen these before. 187 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:56.840 Have you ever looked up at the sky and seen 188 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:00.360 a cloud layer that looks like ocean waves breaking like 189 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.159 a perfect row of surfer curls. 190 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:04.840 Yeah, they look like a van go painting. It's super trippy. 191 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:07.279 Yeah, that happens when two layers of air moving past 192 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:10.639 each other in different speeds, the sheer force rolls the 193 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.440 boundary up into a wave. Finding that on the Sun 194 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.919 is remarkable, means the solar atmosphere isn't just hot gas 195 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:19.960 hanging there. It has weather, It has wind shear, it 196 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:21.159 has storms. 197 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.600 Makes the Sun feel so much more tangible. It's not 198 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.440 just a light source. It's a place, a place with 199 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:27.799 really really violent weather. 200 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.240 Violent is the right word, because remember on Earth, those 201 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.600 clouds are water vapor On the Sun, there are a 202 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.120 million degree plasma. 203 00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.879 Which leads me to the next big question. On Earth 204 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:41.519 storms are caused by hot air meeting cold air, or 205 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:45.600 high pressure meeting low pressure. What causes a storm on 206 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.440 a star? What is the engine creating these smoke rings? 207 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:52.279 That is the core discovery of this paper. They trace 208 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:55.600 these smoke rings back to their source, and the culprit 209 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:57.679 is a structure called a prominence. 210 00:09:57.720 --> 00:09:59.600 A prominence, I've seen pictures of these. They look like 211 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.919 big l loop sticking out of the sun like handlebars. 212 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.799 A good visual. A prominence is a large, bright feature 213 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:09.039 extending outward from the Sun's surface. It is anchored to 214 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.679 the Sun, usually in a loop shape. But here's the 215 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:13.799 thing that makes them chaotic. They are cold. 216 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:16.000 Okay, you keep doing this, you say cold when we 217 00:10:16.039 --> 00:10:17.480 are talking about the Sun explained. 218 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:21.080 It is all relative. The corona, the outer atmosphere where 219 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.279 these things live, is bafflingly hot. It is over a 220 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:28.919 million degrees celsius. Okay, But the prominence, the material inside 221 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:31.200 that loop, it is much much cooler, maybe tens of 222 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:32.080 thousands of degrees. 223 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:33.759 So it's basically an ice cube in. 224 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.879 That specific environment. Yes, it is a dense, heavy, cool 225 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.840 iceberg of plasma sitting right in the middle of a 226 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:42.559 sparse million degree furnace. 227 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:44.679 And I'm guessing those two things don't get along. 228 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.759 Nature hates a sharp gradient. Nature wants equilibrium. When you 229 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.840 have cool, dense matter right next to hot, thin matter, 230 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:57.000 you create an incredibly unstable boundary. It's a plash. It 231 00:10:57.080 --> 00:11:00.279 is a war zone of physics. The study explained that 232 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.200 where these two extremes meet, you get sharp changes in 233 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:07.600 temperature and density. This creates massive instability. The hot plasma 234 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.039 tries to rush in the cold plasma is heavy and 235 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.919 tries to fall. The magnetic fields are twisting to hold 236 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:13.519 it all together. 237 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.320 It sounds like a pressure cooker lid rattling before it blows. 238 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:19.399 That is a great analogy. And when it rattles, it 239 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:23.519 creates turbulence. It sheds these layers. The instability triggers the 240 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.759 formation of these vortex rings. It basically peels them off 241 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:27.559 the main structure. 242 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.480 So the smoke rings are essentially the exhaust from this 243 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.679 clash between the hot atmosphere and the cool loop. 244 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.480 Exactly. They're the visible sign of the Sun trying to 245 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:38.679 balance out this massive temperature difference. 246 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.840 Okay, so we have the storm, we have the smoke 247 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:44.399 rings forming, but usually turbulence just stops. If I stir 248 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:46.759 my coffee, the swirl lasts for a few seconds and 249 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:48.360 then friction kills it right. 250 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.559 In normal fluid dynamics, viscosity eats up the energy, the 251 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:54.600 turbulence dissipates into heat. 252 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.720 But Hubball's team says, these things don't just sit there 253 00:11:57.720 --> 00:11:59.559 and fade out. They travel. 254 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.559 They do, and this is the part that connects the 255 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:03.159 Sun to us. 256 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.679 There's a quote from Haball in the notes. For the 257 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:08.240 first time, we were able to watch these turbulent structures 258 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:10.320 form near the Sun and then follow them as they 259 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:11.120 float outward. 260 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.799 Flowed outward. That implies survival. 261 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.039 But how did they track them? You just said the 262 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:18.360 eclipse only last a few minutes. You can't watch a 263 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:21.120 smoke ring travel a million miles and four minutes. 264 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:23.399 No, you can't. This is where they had to get 265 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:26.919 really clever and combine their ancient eclipse method with the 266 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.320 absolute cutting edge. They took the high resolution images from 267 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.720 the ground, the eclipse data, and they overlaid them with 268 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.960 data from space, which satellite the Parker Solar Probe, specifically, 269 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.559 the whisper instrument, the wide fueled imager for solar probe. 270 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.559 The Parker Solar Probe. That's the one that's basically hugging 271 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:44.759 the Sun right. Yeah. 272 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.799 It is the fastest man made object in history, and 273 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:51.440 it is actively diving into the solar corona. It is 274 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.879 flying through the very atmosphere we are discussing right now. 275 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.919 That is bonkers. So they take the picture from Earth 276 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.279 and they take the picture from the probe inside the corona. 277 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.720 And they match the structure. They saw the exact same 278 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.080 vortex rings in the eclipse data and in the space 279 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:05.799 based images. 280 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.240 That is the smoking gun. 281 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:10.559 It is, and it proves that these features remain intact 282 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:14.519 over enormous distances. They survive the journey away from the 283 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.600 Sun moving out into the Solar system. 284 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:20.120 How how does a swirl of gas hold its shape 285 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.399 for millions of miles magnetism. 286 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.080 If this were just normal gas, it would dissipate, Okay, 287 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:28.000 but this is plasma. It is highly charged. It carries 288 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:32.080 a magnetic field. These vortex rings are essentially magnetic capsules. 289 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:35.600 The magnetic field locks the plasm in place, holding the 290 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.639 shape together as it travels through the vacuum. 291 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.320 So it's not just a puff of smoke. It's a 292 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:40.320 magnetic bullet. 293 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.600 That is a very evocative and somewhat concerning way to 294 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:43.879 put it. 295 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:45.720 But yes, which brings us to the part of the 296 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.480 show where we ask, so what why should you or 297 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.200 I care? I'm sitting here on Earth drinking my coffee. 298 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:53.440 Why do I care if the Sun is firing magnetic 299 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:54.440 bullets into space? 300 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:58.360 Because you are in the line of fire? Comforting, We 301 00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.600 need to talk about the solar wind. 302 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:03.279 Okay, the solar wind, I know it exists. It's the 303 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:05.440 stuff that makes the northern lights right, that is. 304 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:08.039 The beautiful side of it. Yes, the solar wind is 305 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:10.879 a constant stream of charged particles flowing out from the 306 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:14.080 Sun in all directions. It fills the entire solar system. 307 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:17.159 But we have always had a really hard time explaining 308 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:21.759 exactly how it gets so fast. It actually accelerates as 309 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:23.120 it moves away from the Sun. 310 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.080 Which makes no sense at all. Gravity should be pulling 311 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.279 it back and slowing it down. 312 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.120 Exactly. Something is pushing it, something is adding energy to 313 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:29.519 the flow. 314 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.039 And let me guess the smoke rings. 315 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:36.200 The smoke rings. The study suggests that this turbulence, these 316 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:40.559 vortex rings and rolling waves plays a key role in 317 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:41.960 accelerating the solar. 318 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:43.559 Winds, so they are like little booster rockets. 319 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:48.159 They are packets of energy and momentum. As they travel outward, 320 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.840 they transfer that energy to the surrounding particles, kicking the 321 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:53.600 wind up to higher and higher speeds. 322 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.080 So the storms on the Sun are basically the engine 323 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.320 that drives the wind that hits Earth. 324 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:00.919 Correct And that wind isn't just a gentle breeze when 325 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:02.440 it hits Earth. We call it space weather. 326 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:04.799 Space weather. It always sounds like a bad sci fi 327 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:06.720 movie title to me, But it's a real problem for 328 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:07.519 our tech, isn't it. 329 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.879 It is a critical vulnerability for modern society. When the 330 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.480 solar wind is turbulent, when it is full of these 331 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:19.519 dense magnetic structures, it impacts Earth's magnetic field. It compresses it, 332 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:20.440 it shakes. 333 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.000 It, and that shaking breaks things. 334 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:26.360 It disrupts things heavily. The study explicitly lists the consequences. First, 335 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:30.519 up satellites GPS. GPS, your phone knows exactly where you 336 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:32.879 are because it receives a signal from a satellite with 337 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:36.799 nanosecond precision. That signal has to pass through the ionosphere, 338 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:37.679 the upper part of our. 339 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:39.679 Atmosphere, and when a solar storm hits. 340 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.039 The honosphere gets churned up. It gets thicker in places, 341 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.080 thinner in others. It delays the signal, and. 342 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.320 A delay means an error. 343 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:48.559 A delay means your phone thinks the satellite is further 344 00:15:48.600 --> 00:15:52.360 away than it actually is. Suddenly your GPS says you're 345 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:53.799 driving in the middle of a lake. 346 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.519 Which is annoying for me trying to mind a coffee shop, 347 00:15:55.559 --> 00:15:57.960 but probably a catastrophic for a self driving car or 348 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:00.240 an airplane landing in fog exactly. 349 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:05.600 Then there is radio communication, high frequency radios used by airlines, 350 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.159 and the military can be completely blacked out. 351 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:11.440 And the big one the power grid a grid. 352 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.480 This is the black Swan event everyone fears in this field. 353 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.240 Explain how a storm on the Sun turns off the 354 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:19.240 lights in Chicago. 355 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:23.279 It is basic physics. A changing magnetic field creates an 356 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.480 electric current. That's literal how a generator works. When a 357 00:16:26.519 --> 00:16:30.039 solar storm hits Earth, it causes our planet's magnetic field 358 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:32.759 to fluctuate wildly. It wiggles, it wiggles, and that wiggling 359 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:36.200 field induces electrical currents in any long conductor on the ground, 360 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:41.120 like power lines, like power lines, oil pipelines, undersea internet cables. 361 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:45.360 Suddenly you have massive amounts of uncontrolled electricity flowing through 362 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:47.600 wires that were definitely not designed. 363 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.080 For it, and the transformers explode, they melt. 364 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.039 It has happened before. The nineteen eighty nine Quebec blackout 365 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:58.000 is the classic example. Six million people lost power in 366 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.159 ninety seconds because of the solar storm. 367 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:02.240 And that was nineteen eighty nine. We didn't have nearly 368 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:03.519 as much tech dependency then. 369 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:07.079 Exactly, we are far more vulnerable now. So bringing it 370 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:10.240 back to Shorty A. Hubball's research, this isn't just about 371 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:11.880 finding cool shapes in the corona. 372 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.880 It is about prediction, right, because if we know how 373 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:16.200 these things form in the first. 374 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:20.519 Place, exactly, Hubball says, understanding where this turbulence comes from 375 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:24.160 is key to predicting those impacts. If we know that 376 00:17:24.279 --> 00:17:27.319 a specific type of prominence interacting with the corona in 377 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.599 a specific way generates these vortex. 378 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.200 Ranks, we can spot it before it hits us. 379 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:33.839 We can look at the sun and say, okay, see 380 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.799 that loop on the eastern edge. It's unstable, it's pumping 381 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.240 out turbulence. We're going to see a spike in solar 382 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.119 wind velocity in three days. 383 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.000 And that actually gives us time to prepare. 384 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:45.799 We can put satellites in safe mode. We can d 385 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:49.559 couple parts of the power grid to prevent a cascading failure. 386 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.000 We can reroute flights away from the poles. 387 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:54.640 It moves us from just reacting to disaster to actually 388 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:55.759 forecasting it. 389 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:00.000 It turns a potential disaster into a manageable event. Is 390 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:02.359 the ultimate goal of all this space weather research. 391 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.960 It is wild to think about the chain of events here. 392 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:08.559 We started with a shadow a moon blocking the sun 393 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:12.920 Step one. Then we saw the threads, then the prominence, 394 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.799 the cold loop step two, then the clash, the temperature 395 00:18:16.839 --> 00:18:17.920 fight that creates. 396 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:19.839 The smoke rings step three. 397 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.119 Then the rings travel boosts the solar wind fly across 398 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:25.759 ninety three million miles of empty. 399 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.480 Space and potentially knock out your Wi Fi. 400 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:30.599 The butterfly effect, but with million degree. 401 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:32.000