Speaker 1: Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos
Speaker 1: with our soothing Bedtime Astronomy podcast. Each episode offers a
Speaker 1: gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for
Speaker 1: unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries
Speaker 1: of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful
Speaker 1: slumber under the night sky. This week in Astronomy, simulating
Speaker 1: the Universe's first light through cosmic lenses in ancient water
Speaker 1: around Young Star. Simulating the Universe's first light with SKLOW.
Speaker 1: Scientists have developed a highly detailed computer simulation that replicates
Speaker 1: what the score kilometer array low frequency telescope known as
Speaker 1: SKALOW we'll be able to observe when it begins searching
Speaker 1: for some of the faintest and most ancient signals in
Speaker 1: the universe. This simulation marks a major advancement in the
Speaker 1: effort to directly study a period of cosmic history known
Speaker 1: as the cosmic Dawn, as well as the subsequent epoch
Speaker 1: of reionization, two defining eras in the evolution of the universe.
Speaker 1: These periods represent the transition from a dark, lightless universe
Speaker 1: to one filled with the first stars and galaxies. Specifically,
Speaker 1: the cosmic dawn refers to the era about two hundred
Speaker 1: to six hundred million years after the Big Bang, when
Speaker 1: the first stars ignited and began to radiate light into
Speaker 1: the cold, neutral, hydrogen filled cosmos. Before this, the universe
Speaker 1: had experienced a prolonged dark age, devoid of any luminous sources.
Speaker 1: As those early stars began to shine, they triggered the
Speaker 1: release of a unique signal from the neutral hydrogen gas,
Speaker 1: a faint radio emission at a wavelength of twenty one centimeters.
Speaker 1: Because the universe has been expanding ever since, this signal
Speaker 1: has been redshifted to lower frequencies that can now be
Speaker 1: picked up by sensitive radio telescopes operating today. Following the
Speaker 1: cosmic Dawn, the epic of reonization began. During this phase,
Speaker 1: intense ultraviolet radiation from the first generations of stars and
Speaker 1: galaxies ionized the surrounding hydrogen gas. This ionization broke the
Speaker 1: atoms apart and created expanding bubbles of charged particles throughout space.
Speaker 1: Over time, these bubbles grew emerged, leading to a dramatic
Speaker 1: transformation of the universe's structure and effectively ending the cosmic
Speaker 1: dark ages. Capturing and studying these ancient signals is a
Speaker 1: dawning challenge due to how extraordinarily faint they are. In fact,
Speaker 1: they are thousands of times weaker than all the foreground
Speaker 1: noise generated by our own galaxy, other galaxies, and various
Speaker 1: natural and artificial sources. To properly detect them, telescopes must
Speaker 1: collect massive amounts of data over long periods, often within
Speaker 1: specific frequency ranges, such as one hundred and six to
Speaker 1: one hundred and nine ninety six megahertz. The simulation created
Speaker 1: by Anna Bonaldi in her team at the SKA Observatory
Speaker 1: in Jadrell Bank, UK addresses these challenges by including every
Speaker 1: major factor that SKA LOW will face in real observations.
Speaker 1: The simulated environment contains not only the actual signal from
Speaker 1: the cosmic dawn, but also emissions from powerful radio sources
Speaker 1: inside and outside the telescope's field of view, complex foreground
Speaker 1: interference from the Milky Way, and the influence of technical
Speaker 1: limitations such as instrumental calibration issues and atmospheric distortions. All
Speaker 1: of this is necessary to create a realistic setting in
Speaker 1: which scientists can develop, test, and refine methods for isolating
Speaker 1: the genuine cosmological signal from overwhelming foreground contamination. This level
Speaker 1: of simulation is vital as it will help astronomers prepare
Speaker 1: to extract the desired signal from a background filled with brighter,
Speaker 1: overlapping emissions. The SKLO telescope, once completed, will be the
Speaker 1: most sensitive low frequency radio telescope ever built. Its extraordinary
Speaker 1: capabilities will allow researchers to probe the cosmic dawn and
Speaker 1: epic of reionization in weighs never before possible, offering both
Speaker 1: high spectral and spatial resolution. The team behind the simulation
Speaker 1: even included sources with brightness ranging from over five djanskis
Speaker 1: at one hundred and fifty megahertz, which represents very strong
Speaker 1: radio galaxies, to those a million times fainder just one microjanski,
Speaker 1: alongside detailed representations of our galaxies, diffuse radio glow and
Speaker 1: the small structures scattered across interstellar space. The unit jansky
Speaker 1: is a standard measure of radio source brightness. When SKLO
Speaker 1: comes online, it is expected to deliver the most accurate
Speaker 1: and detailed measurements of the first sources of light in
Speaker 1: the cosmos. In addition to detecting the twenty one centimeter
Speaker 1: hydrogen signal during the early universe. It will also be
Speaker 1: able to map how hydrogen emissions changed before, during, and
Speaker 1: after the reionization process. This will provide unprecedented insight into
Speaker 1: the Universe's transition from darkness to light, revealing how the
Speaker 1: earliest cosmic structures formed and evolved through cosmic lenses, unlocking
Speaker 1: the universe with light and gravity. By combining the way
Speaker 1: massive galaxies in galaxy clusters, warp space and magnified distant
Speaker 1: regions of the cosmos with cutting edge instruments capable of
Speaker 1: detecting both gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation, scientists are entering
Speaker 1: a new era of discovery in fundamental physics, cosmology, and astrophysics.
Speaker 1: A recent study underscores how this approach, known as multi
Speaker 1: messenger gravitational lensing, can unlock answers to some of the
Speaker 1: biggest questions about the Universe's structure, history and underlying loss.
Speaker 1: Gravitationally lensed explosions, when observed through multiple types of signals,
Speaker 1: provide an opportunity to see the same cosmic events from
Speaker 1: different angles, deepening our understanding of phenomena like the formation
Speaker 1: of compact objects, the nature of dark matter, and the
Speaker 1: behavior of gravity itself across enormous distances. The research, published
Speaker 1: in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, comes
Speaker 1: from an international collaboration led by the University of Birmingham.
Speaker 1: The team acknowledges the technical and logistical hurdles involved, including
Speaker 1: the difficulty of locating the exact positions of these distant
Speaker 1: lensed events and coordinating observations across a wide range of disciplines.
Speaker 1: They argue that overcoming these challenges will require deeper collaboration
Speaker 1: between scientific fields, more open data sharing practices, and the
Speaker 1: development of advanced simulation and analysis tools. According to Professor
Speaker 1: Graham Smith of the University of b Irmingham, recent technological
Speaker 1: advances have made it possible to observe these cosmic phenomena
Speaker 1: in unprecedented detail across the full spectrum of energy, from
Speaker 1: radio waves invisible light to gamma rays and gravitational waves.
Speaker 1: These improvements set the stage for what could be transformative
Speaker 1: breakthroughs over the next decade. With these tools, researchers hope
Speaker 1: to refine our understanding of how quickly the universe is expanding,
Speaker 1: probe the elusive properties of dark matter, and reveal how
Speaker 1: extraordinary cosmic events like neutron star collisions and black hole
Speaker 1: mergers come to be the core of this new strategy
Speaker 1: lies in the technique of multi messenger gravitational lensing, which
Speaker 1: leverages signals that span an immense range of energies, from
Speaker 1: high energy neutrinos to the subtle ripples of space time
Speaker 1: known as gravitational waves. By using massive celestial objects as
Speaker 1: natural lenses, this technique can amplify and even duplicate signals
Speaker 1: from faraway events, offering rare opportunities to test gravitational theories
Speaker 1: and gain sharper insights into the early universe. It also
Speaker 1: provides an innovative way to connect seemingly unrelated phenomena like
Speaker 1: fast radio bursts and gamma ray bursts to common origins,
Speaker 1: giving scientists multiple viewpoints on the same underlying events. Looking ahead,
Speaker 1: the focus is on what can realistically be achieved in
Speaker 1: the next ten years with instruments either currently operating or
Speaker 1: on the verge of coming online. Key facilities in this
Speaker 1: effort include the Ligoverbocagri network of gravitational wave detectors, which
Speaker 1: are already capturing space time disturbances from cosmic collisions, along
Speaker 1: with advanced satellite observatories monitoring the universe in gamma and
Speaker 1: X ray wavelengths, and cutting edge radio surveys. Central to
Speaker 1: this effort is the Veris Reuben Observatory, whose legacy Survey
Speaker 1: of Space and Time LSST is set to launch at
Speaker 1: the end of twenty two twenty five. Anticipation is building
Speaker 1: around the observatory's first public demonstration this summer, when the
Speaker 1: team will unveil initial images captured by the powerful Simoni
Speaker 1: Survey telescope, an event expected to mark a major milestone
Speaker 1: in observational astronomy. Professor Smith emphasized that multi messenger gravitational
Speaker 1: lensing represents not just a technological advance, but a turning
Speaker 1: point for the global scientific community. The progress made so
Speaker 1: far as the result of collaborative efforts across borders and disciplines,
Speaker 1: with early career researchers playing a key role in shaping
Speaker 1: this field. This international cooperation is creating fertile ground for
Speaker 1: the next wave of transformative discoveries. Doctor Gavin Lamb of
Speaker 1: Liverpool John Moore's University noted how ideas that were considered
Speaker 1: fringe or speculative just five or ten years ago are
Speaker 1: now forming the basis of next generation scientific inquiry. Helena U,
Speaker 1: a postgraduate researcher at the University of Barcelona's Institute of
Speaker 1: Cosmos Sciences, expressed her enthusiasm at being involved in such
Speaker 1: a dynamic and emerging area and her excitement about the
Speaker 1: discoveries that are likely to unfold in the near future
Speaker 1: as this field rapidly evolves. Ancient water ice found around
Speaker 1: young star suggests pre solar origins. Astronomers from Leiden University
Speaker 1: in the Netherlands and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in
Speaker 1: the US have made a major discovery. For the first time,
Speaker 1: they've clearly and reliably detected semi heavy water ice water
Speaker 1: that contains deuterium instead of one of its hydrogen atoms,
Speaker 1: around a young Sun like star. This is important because
Speaker 1: it strongly supports the idea that some of the water
Speaker 1: found in our solar system actually formed long before the
Speaker 1: Sun or the planets even existed. The team's findings, published
Speaker 1: in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, revolve around a key methodistronomers
Speaker 1: used to trace the origins of water by measuring something
Speaker 1: called the duduration ratio. This ratio tells them how much
Speaker 1: of the water contains deuterium, a heavy version of hydrogen
Speaker 1: instead of regular hydrogen. When water contains one deuterium atom,
Speaker 1: it becomes hdo instead of H two oh, and we
Speaker 1: call it semi heavy water. A high concentration of this
Speaker 1: kind of water usually means it formed in extremely cold environments,
Speaker 1: like the dark icy clouds of gas and dust that
Speaker 1: stars are borne from. Interestingly, in places like Earth's oceans, comets,
Speaker 1: and icy moons, about one out of every few thousand
Speaker 1: water molecules is semi heavy. That's much more than what
Speaker 1: you'd expect based on the composition of our sun. So
Speaker 1: scientists have theorized that this water must have come from
Speaker 1: those ancient dark clouds and survived all the way through
Speaker 1: the birth of our solar system. But to prove that,
Speaker 1: they needed to measure the deutero ration ratio in the
Speaker 1: solid water ice of young star systems, which until now
Speaker 1: wasn't possible with enough precision. That changed thanks to the
Speaker 1: James Webb Space Telescope. Using its powerful instruments, the researchers
Speaker 1: examined a young protostar called L fifteen twenty seven IRS,
Speaker 1: located about four hundred and sixty light years away in
Speaker 1: the Taurus constellation. This star is thought to resemble what
Speaker 1: our own Sun may have looked like in its infancy.
Speaker 1: For the first time, they were able to directly observe
Speaker 1: a clear signature of semi heavy water ice surrounding this
Speaker 1: baby star. What they found is that the ratio of
Speaker 1: semi heavy to normal water ice around L fifteen twenty
Speaker 1: seven is quite similar to what we see in some
Speaker 1: comets and in other young star systems. This suggests that
Speaker 1: the water in all of these different places may have
Speaker 1: a shared origin, one that goes all the way back
Speaker 1: to the cold dark clouds from which stars form. According
Speaker 1: to a wine Vein and Hoke, a senior astronomer at
Speaker 1: Leiden University, this adds to the growing body of evidence
Speaker 1: that most of the water ice in space travels through
Speaker 1: the entire star formation process without being significantly changed. Still,
Speaker 1: there were some small differences in the water ratios. For instance,
Speaker 1: the semi heavy water ratio in L fifteen twenty seven
Speaker 1: is a little higher than what's been measured in comets
Speaker 1: and on Earth. That could be due to a number
Speaker 1: of reasons. Maybe some of the water in our solar
Speaker 1: system was chemically altered as it moved through the protoplanetary
Speaker 1: disc or maybe the dark cloud that formed our sun
Speaker 1: had slightly different conditions than the one around L fifteen
Speaker 1: twenty seven. To better understand this, the team plans to
Speaker 1: continue their observations. They're now preparing to look for semi
Speaker 1: heavy water, ice and thirty other young stars and dark
Speaker 1: clouds using the James Web Telescope. Meanwhile, additional observations will
Speaker 1: be done using the Atacoma Large Millimeter SLASH Submillimeter Array ALMA,
Speaker 1: this time focusing on semi heavy water and gas form. Together,
Speaker 1: these studies could help scientists learn even more about how
Speaker 1: water forms survives and moves through space to eventually end
Speaker 1: up on planets like Earth. To get a