1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,440 Speaker 1: Okay, let's just dive right in. Imagine a high speed train. Okay, 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,879 but this train, well, it's maybe up to five point 3 00:00:07,879 --> 00:00:11,640 six kilometers wide, and it's made of ancient ice from 4 00:00:11,679 --> 00:00:14,919 another star system, and it's currently tearing through our solar 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,000 system at fifty eight kilometers per second. 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, that speed is it's staggering. That's the situation that's 7 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,000 got scientists all over the world scrambling pointing basically every 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,199 telescope they can at it. 9 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,199 Speaker 1: We are tracking this incredibly rare visitor right from way 10 00:00:30,199 --> 00:00:32,039 outside our stellar neighborhood. 11 00:00:31,559 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 2: Exactly, and the scientific mobilization to understand it has been 12 00:00:34,799 --> 00:00:37,439 well unprecedented. This is only the third one like it 13 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,640 we've ever confirmed. Wow, and it's forcing us to, you know, 14 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,679 rewrite the book on how comets work. Almost in real time. 15 00:00:43,759 --> 00:00:47,359 Speaker 1: We're talking about three ils. It's sort of burst onto 16 00:00:47,439 --> 00:00:50,799 the scene back in July twenty twenty five, first spotted 17 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,719 by the ATLS survey, that's. 18 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 2: The Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System. Their job is 19 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,320 scanning the sky for potential threats, but they found this instead. 20 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,159 Speaker 1: And here is where it gets really wild, especially for 21 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:04,959 anyone trying to keep up the sheer amount of scientific 22 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,840 information about this thing has just exploited that. 23 00:01:07,879 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 2: Speed of discovery is really key here. When it was 24 00:01:11,439 --> 00:01:15,359 first spotted, maybe four research papers something like that. Right now, 25 00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:18,760 just a few months later, we're looking at nearly seventy papers, 26 00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:23,319 seventy covering everything from what it's made of to well 27 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:25,319 some pretty out there ideas. 28 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,879 Speaker 1: Like alien origins, which we'll definitely get to. 29 00:01:27,079 --> 00:01:31,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's this incredibly dynamic, almost frantic race against time 30 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,760 because we know we don't have long before it heads 31 00:01:33,799 --> 00:01:34,959 back out into deep space. 32 00:01:35,239 --> 00:01:38,519 Speaker 1: So our mission today for you listening is to try 33 00:01:38,519 --> 00:01:41,640 and cut through all that noise, synthesize everything we know, 34 00:01:41,719 --> 00:01:45,799 everything you need to know about this elusive visitor before 35 00:01:45,799 --> 00:01:46,959 it gets closest to the sun. 36 00:01:47,159 --> 00:01:49,719 Speaker 2: Consider this your deep dive, the shortcut to getting up 37 00:01:49,719 --> 00:01:51,959 to speed on this interstellar anomaly. 38 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,719 Speaker 1: Okay, so let's set the stage, as you said, Third 39 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,920 interstellar object three I. We had Uhamua back in twenty seventeen, 40 00:01:58,959 --> 00:02:02,040 which was weird in its right, totally weird, and then 41 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,400 Comet Borisov in twenty nineteen. 42 00:02:04,319 --> 00:02:06,519 Speaker 2: Right, which looked more like a typical comment but still 43 00:02:06,519 --> 00:02:07,280 from another star. 44 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,439 Speaker 1: And this one three IAT lists. The parameters are just 45 00:02:11,599 --> 00:02:15,599 mind bending. That speed fifty eight kilometers a second, that's 46 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,120 what like one hundred and thirty thousand miles an hour roughly. 47 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the age estimate astronomers think this thing is 48 00:02:22,159 --> 00:02:26,599 incredibly ancient, somewhere between three and eleven billion. 49 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,159 Speaker 1: Years old, eleven billion years. 50 00:02:28,199 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 2: It's potentially been traveling since the very early days of 51 00:02:31,479 --> 00:02:35,280 star formation in the universe, a leftover from way back. 52 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: Then, three maybe eleven billion years, drifting through space just 53 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,199 to zip through our little solar system for a few months. 54 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,800 I mean, the perspective on that is just hard to grasp, 55 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,400 it really is. Okay, let's start decoding this thing section. 56 00:02:48,159 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 2: One, right, and we have to start with the urgency. 57 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:54,080 That incredible speed dictates the speed of the science. You know, 58 00:02:54,159 --> 00:02:57,400 that jump from just a handful of papers to nearly 59 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:01,400 seventy Yeah, that really highlights what armors call a target of. 60 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: Opportunity, meaning drop everything else. 61 00:03:03,479 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 2: Exactly, drop everything, because if you wait, if you stick 62 00:03:06,439 --> 00:03:10,159 to normal scheduling, the object's gone. The data is lost forever. 63 00:03:10,599 --> 00:03:14,199 Speaker 1: And when you say drop everything, we're talking about interrupting 64 00:03:14,479 --> 00:03:19,360 carefully planned observations on the biggest, most in demand telescopes 65 00:03:19,599 --> 00:03:22,919 on and off the planet. Like getting time on Hubble. 66 00:03:23,159 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 2: Oh, it's notoriously difficult. You write proposals years in advance. 67 00:03:26,879 --> 00:03:29,479 You're competing with thousands of other scientists for just a 68 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:31,560 few hours of observation time. 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,759 Speaker 1: It's like the Mount Everest of telescope. 70 00:03:33,199 --> 00:03:37,039 Speaker 2: Time pretty much. But Hubble and other major facilities they 71 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,360 have specific time set aside for these kinds of emergencies, 72 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:44,599 for targets that are unique, scientifically, crucial and fleeting. 73 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:46,159 Speaker 1: And three ISO made the cut. 74 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,199 Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely, it was deemed worthy of basically skipping the 75 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,240 entire queue. That level of response that tells you just 76 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,199 how important the scientific community thinks understanding this object is 77 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,919 getting a sample, even remotely of material from another star system. 78 00:03:59,080 --> 00:03:59,800 That's huge. 79 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:02,719 Speaker 1: Hubble delivered almost immediately, didn't it. It got an image 80 00:04:02,719 --> 00:04:05,520 back on July twenty first, the object was still pretty 81 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:06,159 far out then. 82 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, four hundred and forty six million kilometers from Earth, 83 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:10,319 still way out there. 84 00:04:10,719 --> 00:04:12,319 Speaker 1: I saw that image, and what's cool is you can 85 00:04:12,319 --> 00:04:16,399 actually see this speed. The background stars aren't pinpricks. 86 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 2: They're streaks, right, little lines of light. 87 00:04:18,199 --> 00:04:21,759 Speaker 1: Exactly because the telescope had to lock onto this fast 88 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,800 moving comet and track it across the sky during the exposure, 89 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,759 the stars trailed in the background. It's a visual confirmation 90 00:04:29,879 --> 00:04:31,720 of just how quickly it's moving. 91 00:04:31,759 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 2: And even visually it was already looking interesting. The comma 92 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,680 the dust cloud around the nucleus have this really distinctive 93 00:04:38,759 --> 00:04:42,839 tear drop shape. But the absolutely critical finding from Hubble 94 00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:44,680 the game changer was the size. 95 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,519 Speaker 1: Ah right, Because the first estimates were bigger, much bigger. Yeah. 96 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 2: Those initial sort of back of the envelope calculations were 97 00:04:51,959 --> 00:04:55,560 based purely on how bright the object looked overall. They 98 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,560 assumed most of that light was reflected off the solid nucleus, 99 00:04:58,600 --> 00:04:59,279 the icy. 100 00:04:59,079 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: Core, which is u usually the standard starting point. 101 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:03,639 Speaker 2: I guess it is, but it's a problem if the 102 00:05:03,639 --> 00:05:06,439 object is really active, like this one clearly was, if 103 00:05:06,439 --> 00:05:08,759 it's spewing out a lot of gas and dust, and then. 104 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,319 Speaker 1: That cloud reflects sunlight too, making the whole thing look brighter. 105 00:05:11,639 --> 00:05:14,399 Speaker 2: Precisely, most of the light you're seeing isn't from the 106 00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:19,000 nucleus itself, it's reflected off that huge enveloping dust cloud, 107 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,920 the coma. So once the Hubble team carefully subtracted the 108 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,600 light contribution from that massive coma. 109 00:05:25,319 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: The estimated size of the actual solid bed. The nucleus 110 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:30,480 had to shrink dramatically. 111 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 2: We went from those early guesses that it might be 112 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,560 you know, ten kilometers wide, maybe even bigger. 113 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: Which would be a monster comet. 114 00:05:37,199 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 2: A very significant object, yes, down to a much more 115 00:05:40,399 --> 00:05:44,040 refined estimate. The nucleus diameter is somewhere between four hundred 116 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,199 and forty meters, so less than half a kilometer and 117 00:05:47,319 --> 00:05:50,560 maybe five point six kilometers at the absolute upper end. 118 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: Okay, that's a massive reduction, and that changes the whole conversation, 119 00:05:54,319 --> 00:05:56,920 doesn't it, especially around how rare it is, and as 120 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:58,480 you mentioned those alien. 121 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,959 Speaker 2: Theories, it completely reframes the statistical arguments. Ok A smaller 122 00:06:01,959 --> 00:06:04,519 object is much more likely to be just a natural 123 00:06:04,519 --> 00:06:07,480 piece of interstellar debris wandering by. We'll definitely circle back 124 00:06:07,519 --> 00:06:08,480 to that whole controversy. 125 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:12,399 Speaker 1: But this smaller size, this intense activity, it points towards 126 00:06:12,439 --> 00:06:15,480 needing to understand its composition, right, what's actually in. 127 00:06:15,399 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 2: This thing exactly? And that's where the James Web Space 128 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,720 Telescope came in. JWST, the Infrared Powerhouse. 129 00:06:22,439 --> 00:06:25,639 Speaker 1: Web took a look on August six, used its Near 130 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,240 Infrared Spectrograph NIRSpec. That's the instrument you want for sniffing 131 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:32,079 out molecules, especially icy ones. 132 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 2: That's right. A study led by astrochemist doctor Martin Cordner. 133 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,319 Near infrared light is perfect because different molecules, different ices, 134 00:06:40,759 --> 00:06:44,600 absorb and emit infrared light at very specific wavelengths. It's 135 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:45,839 like a chemical fingerprint. 136 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: So what did web find in that early look composition wise? 137 00:06:49,399 --> 00:06:52,079 Speaker 2: Well, first, it confirmed the coma was complex. The gas 138 00:06:52,079 --> 00:06:55,800 and dust weren't coming off smoothly uniformly. It showed complex 139 00:06:55,879 --> 00:06:59,800 morphology suggesting uneven heating or different materials exposed on the 140 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:01,639 like patches. 141 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: Of different stuff boiling off at different rates. 142 00:07:03,439 --> 00:07:06,519 Speaker 2: Sort of Yeah. And crucially, at that distance, still quite 143 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,120 far from the sun, it found that carbon monoxide CO 144 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,759 and carbon dioxide CO two were sublimating, turning directly from 145 00:07:13,759 --> 00:07:15,959 ice to gas much more readily than water. 146 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: Ice was okay, So CO and CO two are more 147 00:07:18,199 --> 00:07:20,839 volatile than water. They turn into gas at colder temperatures, 148 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:21,879 much more volatile. 149 00:07:21,959 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 2: Yes, this tells us that these ices CO and CO 150 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,199 two must be near the surface of the nucleus, maybe 151 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,079 mixed in the pop layers. There are the first things 152 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,160 to boil off as the comet feels even the faintest 153 00:07:34,199 --> 00:07:37,519 warmth from the approaching sun. Water ice needs things to 154 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:38,920 get significantly warmer. 155 00:07:39,199 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: But web also spotted something physically weird, didn't it Something 156 00:07:42,399 --> 00:07:43,439 about the dust? 157 00:07:43,639 --> 00:07:47,639 Speaker 2: Ah? Yes, the sunword dust anomaly. This was unexpected. Normally, 158 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,319 you know, a comet's tail points away from the sun. 159 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,079 Speaker 1: Right pushed by sunlight pressure in the solar wind, like 160 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:54,399 a wind sock exactly. 161 00:07:54,879 --> 00:07:59,519 Speaker 2: But the Jawst observations and others found a surprising amount 162 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,920 of dust, a significant amount appearing to emanate towards the 163 00:08:02,959 --> 00:08:05,319 sun on the sunward side of the nucleus. 164 00:08:05,319 --> 00:08:08,279 Speaker 1: Okay, that sounds wrong, Like the wind sock is pointing 165 00:08:08,279 --> 00:08:09,639 into the wind. How does that work? 166 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 2: It required some pretty sophisticated modeling to figure out it's 167 00:08:12,319 --> 00:08:16,480 not actually defying physics, thankfully. The leading hypothesis involves a 168 00:08:16,519 --> 00:08:19,360 couple of things. First, remember that intense outgassing of CO 169 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:20,959 and CO two we just talked about. 170 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:22,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, the hypervolatils boiling off. 171 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,879 Speaker 2: That escaping gas, especially the CO two, could be acting 172 00:08:26,959 --> 00:08:30,600 like little rocket engines, blasting dust grains off the nuclear 173 00:08:30,639 --> 00:08:34,320 surface with considerable force in all directions, not just away 174 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:34,879 from the sun. 175 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,159 Speaker 1: Okay, so the initial launch isn't just passive exactly. 176 00:08:38,519 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 2: And then second, as these dust grains travel away from 177 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,519 the nucleus, they might be fragmenting, breaking into smaller pieces. 178 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,919 How would they fragment could be collisions, could be the 179 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,399 solar radiation itself breaking down fragile structures, But smaller fragments 180 00:08:54,399 --> 00:08:57,799 scatter sunlight much more efficiently, so you get this halo effect, 181 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,120 and the increased reflection from these fragmented grains, especially on 182 00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:03,720 the sunward side where the sunlight is hitting them directly, 183 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,159 creates the appearance of more dust coming off in that direction. 184 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,320 Speaker 1: Ah, So it's partly an optical illusion caused by the 185 00:09:10,399 --> 00:09:13,279 dust breaking up and reflecting more light back at us, 186 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:15,240 combined with the forceful. 187 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 2: Ejection that seems to be the best explanation. It's in 188 00:09:18,039 --> 00:09:21,720 fact really exacerbated by how incredibly active this object is, 189 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,200 how much gas is powering this process. 190 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,519 Speaker 1: It paints a picture of a really volatile, maybe even 191 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,000 structurally weak object, doesn't it already showing signs of stress 192 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:32,799 way out there? 193 00:09:32,879 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 2: Absolutely fragile and hyperactive seem to be the key takeaways 194 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:36,919 early on. 195 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: Okay, let's talk more about that activity search, because it 196 00:09:39,519 --> 00:09:42,960 wasn't just web that noticed something unusual let's bring in tests. 197 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 2: Right, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey satellite tests. 198 00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: Now Tess's day job is hunting for planets around other stars. 199 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,639 It stares at huge patches of sky looking for the 200 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:57,480 tiny dips in starlight when a planet passes in front 201 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,399 of its star. How does an exo planet hut and have? 202 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 2: Studying a comet tests is a fantastic example of getting 203 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,519 more science out of a mission than originally planned. Because 204 00:10:06,519 --> 00:10:09,320 it stares at these wide feels for long periods, about 205 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,080 a month at a time. 206 00:10:10,279 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: It just happened to be looking in the right place 207 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,000 at the right time exactly. 208 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 2: Is High precision cameras actually captured three i allis between 209 00:10:16,639 --> 00:10:20,320 May seventh and June second, well before the official discovery 210 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,559 in July by the ground based ATLA survey. 211 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,919 Speaker 1: Wow, So it gave us prediscovery data like fighting old 212 00:10:26,919 --> 00:10:28,200 security footage of an event. 213 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,879 Speaker 2: Precisely, it's like a time machine for the comet's early behavior. 214 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,960 And that backward look provided by tests led to probably 215 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,519 the biggest surprise so far, the brightest paradix. 216 00:10:39,159 --> 00:10:41,519 Speaker 1: The brightness paradox. Okay, with the paradox, well, a. 217 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,759 Speaker 2: Team of researchers Feinstein Nunin Seligman among them, used this 218 00:10:45,919 --> 00:10:49,240 test data to measure the object's brightness its visual magnitude 219 00:10:49,519 --> 00:10:53,440 during that May June period. Now, during that test observation window, 220 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,000 the object was getting closer to the Sun. It moved 221 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,559 inwards by about zero point nine astronomical units, So. 222 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,919 Speaker 1: The distance from the Earth to the Sun closer. That's 223 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:04,559 a significant move inwards. 224 00:11:04,879 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 2: It is, and basic physics tells you as it gets closer, 225 00:11:08,039 --> 00:11:11,080 it intercepts more sunlight, gets warmer, and should get brighter 226 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:12,480 as more ice supplements. 227 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: Makes sense, So what was the expected brightness increase? 228 00:11:16,159 --> 00:11:19,759 Speaker 2: Based on how typical solar system comments behave They calculated 229 00:11:19,799 --> 00:11:22,440 that its flux, the total energy it received and reflected, 230 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,759 should have increased by a factor of about one point 231 00:11:24,759 --> 00:11:27,799 five over that period. That would make its visual magnitude 232 00:11:27,799 --> 00:11:31,080 around twenty point five by the end of the observation. Remember, 233 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,559 lower magnitude numbers mean brighter objects. 234 00:11:33,879 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: Okay, so expect one point five times brighter magnitude twenty 235 00:11:37,519 --> 00:11:40,759 point five. That's the baseline. What did tests actually see. 236 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,279 Speaker 2: The reality was stunning. Its magnitude didn't just reach twenty 237 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,919 point five, It surged all the way to nineteen point 238 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:47,440 two eight. 239 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: Well, wait, nineteen point two eight is much brighter than. 240 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 2: Twenty point five, significantly brighter. That brightness corresponds to a 241 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,559 flux increase, not by a factor of one point five, 242 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,639 but by a factor of five, five times brighter than 243 00:11:59,639 --> 00:12:01,759 expect just from getting closer to the sun. 244 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: Five times. Okay, that's not subtle. What causes that kind 245 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,399 of explosive brightening. It wasn't like a single outburst, right, 246 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:09,759 It was a sustained increase. 247 00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 2: It seemed to be sustained over that period. Yeah, it 248 00:12:12,399 --> 00:12:14,559 implies the amount of material boiling off, the amount of 249 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:17,679 dust and gas being produced was far far higher than 250 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,840 you'd expect from just water, ice, or even CO and 251 00:12:20,919 --> 00:12:22,240 CO two at that distance. 252 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: So when you combine that extreme brightness increase from tests 253 00:12:25,639 --> 00:12:28,639 with the smaller nucleus size we got from Hubble, what's 254 00:12:28,639 --> 00:12:31,639 the conclusion? How can a small object be so incredibly 255 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:32,840 active so far out? 256 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 2: It leads directly to what's being called the hypervolatile hypothesis. 257 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,919 Speaker 1: Hypervolatile meaning stuff even more volatile than CO two. 258 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 2: Exactly, if you have a relatively small nucleus, maybe only 259 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,320 a few kilometers wide at most, generating five times the 260 00:12:46,399 --> 00:12:50,039 expected activity, it must be releasing materials that need almost 261 00:12:50,039 --> 00:12:53,480 no heat to turn into gas. The analysis suggested this 262 00:12:53,519 --> 00:12:56,360 object might have already been significantly active when it was 263 00:12:56,399 --> 00:12:58,200 still six Au away from the Sun. 264 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: Six au. That's near Jupiter's orbit way out there. 265 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 2: For context, water ice really only starts sublimating in earnest 266 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,759 around three au, maybe four Au. For some comets, even 267 00:13:09,799 --> 00:13:11,759 CO two needs things to warm up a bit more 268 00:13:11,799 --> 00:13:13,000 than they are at six AU. 269 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,639 Speaker 1: So to be active way out at six AU, you 270 00:13:15,639 --> 00:13:18,039 need something with an incredibly low boiling. 271 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,759 Speaker 2: Point, precisely things like solid nitrogen N two or maybe 272 00:13:21,799 --> 00:13:25,000 even solid hydrogen H two, though hydrogen is trickier. These 273 00:13:25,039 --> 00:13:28,519 are called exotic or hypervolatile aces. They're very common in 274 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,960 the coldest, outermost regions of stellar systems, like our Kuiper 275 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:33,080 Belt or Ort cloud. 276 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,039 Speaker 1: So the thinking is three ietulusts formed in a similar 277 00:13:36,039 --> 00:13:39,639 super cold region around its parent star, preserving these hypervolatiles. 278 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:43,159 Speaker 2: That's the implication. It's chemically distinct. It's been kept in 279 00:13:43,159 --> 00:13:46,480 a pristine deep freeze for billions of years, loaded with 280 00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:49,559 this incredibly sensitive material, and then as soon as it 281 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,360 felt even the faint warmth of our sun boom, it 282 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,039 just exploded. Into activity. 283 00:13:54,519 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: So tests didn't just give as a time machine. It 284 00:13:56,759 --> 00:14:00,000 gave us a fundamental clue about the chemistry just by 285 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,159 measuring brightness. That's amazing, it really is. 286 00:14:03,279 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 2: And test data also helped tackle another puzzle, the rotation. 287 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,519 Speaker 1: Puzzle, how fast is it spinning? 288 00:14:08,759 --> 00:14:12,919 Speaker 2: Exactly? By analyzing the light curve how the object's brightness 289 00:14:13,039 --> 00:14:15,879 varies over time as different sides of rotate into view, 290 00:14:16,159 --> 00:14:18,559 you can figure out its rotation period and get clues 291 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,159 about its shape and stability. 292 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: Right like with Umamua, its light curve was quite extreme, 293 00:14:23,519 --> 00:14:25,440 suggesting that weird elongated shape. 294 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, Umua's light curve was relatively clean, though dramatic. Three 295 00:14:29,759 --> 00:14:33,120 I Atlas initially was the opposite. The test light curve 296 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,480 data was quite noisy, very messy. 297 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,559 Speaker 1: What does a noisy light curve suggest? 298 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 2: It could mean a highly irregular shape, or maybe it's 299 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,279 not spinning smoothly, perhaps it's tumbling end over end. It 300 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,600 made it really hard to pick out a clear repeating 301 00:14:45,639 --> 00:14:48,720 pattern at first, so tricky to pin down the spin. 302 00:14:49,159 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: Very tricky. With test alone, they did find some tentative 303 00:14:52,039 --> 00:14:56,600 hints possible signals suggesting periods around twenty nine hours and 304 00:14:56,639 --> 00:15:00,679 maybe sixteen hours, but it wasn't definitive from that data set. 305 00:15:00,799 --> 00:15:02,679 Speaker 2: That's where you need the big guns on the ground, right, 306 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,759 dedicated observations exactly. 307 00:15:04,799 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: You need specialized ground based telescopes capable of taking very rapid, 308 00:15:09,559 --> 00:15:13,879 frequent measurements, high cadence observations to really nail down the rotation. 309 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,519 And they did follow up observations confirm the shorter period, 310 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,919 the sixteen hour one. Yes, the sixteen hour spin period 311 00:15:20,919 --> 00:15:22,080 seems to be the correct one. 312 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,799 Speaker 2: And knowing that rotation is vital, why does it tell 313 00:15:24,879 --> 00:15:26,559 us more than just how fast it's turning? 314 00:15:26,799 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: It can Yeah, a relatively fast rotation period for an 315 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,679 object potentially made of loosely bound ice and rock could 316 00:15:33,679 --> 00:15:36,919 put significant stress on its structure. It might make it 317 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,519 more prone to flying apart, especially as it gets closer 318 00:15:39,519 --> 00:15:42,159 to the sun and the outgassing ramps up. It adds 319 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,759 to that picture of fragility. Okay, so we have this 320 00:15:44,879 --> 00:15:51,200 picture emerging small nucleus ancient incredibly hyperactive due to exotic ices, 321 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,279 possibly fragile spinning every sixteen hours. Let's get deeper into 322 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,000 the actual chemistry. Now, what specific molecules have we detected? 323 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 2: Right? This springs us to section three chemical fingerprints and 324 00:16:02,279 --> 00:16:06,200 some really strange physical properties. And for the chemical finger fronts, 325 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,960 the Gemini South telescope in Chile played a crucial role. 326 00:16:10,159 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: Gemini South up high in the Andes great seeing. 327 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:16,559 Speaker 2: Conditions there fantastic site. On August twenty seventh, they used 328 00:16:16,559 --> 00:16:20,519 their multi object spectrograph GMOs to get not just images 329 00:16:20,559 --> 00:16:22,480 but also spectra of the coma. 330 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: And tail and visually did it confirm the activitiy? Oh? 331 00:16:24,799 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. By late August the tail was clearly visible, stretching 332 00:16:27,879 --> 00:16:30,039 about eleven hundred and twentieth of a degree across the 333 00:16:30,039 --> 00:16:33,480 sky in their images, a clear visual confirmation of that 334 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:36,759 massive activity surge. The test data hinted at earlier, but. 335 00:16:36,759 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: The real prize was the spectrum the chemical breakdown absolutely. 336 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 2: The analysis led by Binyang found a very clear emission 337 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:44,840 signature in the CN. 338 00:16:44,519 --> 00:16:46,399 Speaker 1: Band CN that's cyanide. 339 00:16:46,559 --> 00:16:49,679 Speaker 2: Cyanide, yes, a molecule made of one carbon and one 340 00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:53,960 nitrogen atom. Detecting CN emission is pretty standard for commets. 341 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,879 It's a common molecule, but actually confirming it in an 342 00:16:56,879 --> 00:16:59,440 interstellar object is critical verification. 343 00:17:00,039 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: How does a chunk of ice end up releasing cyanide gas? 344 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:05,319 It sounds vaguely sinister. 345 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 2: Huh, it does, but it's a natural process. The nucleus 346 00:17:08,799 --> 00:17:13,119 ice likely contains frozen hydrogen cyanide HCN. It's a simple molecule, 347 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,480 very common in interstellar space and protoplanetary discs. 348 00:17:16,519 --> 00:17:18,519 Speaker 1: Okay, So HTN is frozen inside. 349 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,079 Speaker 2: Then what as the comet nears the sun. The water 350 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,799 ice starts sublimating, turning to gas. This gas flow carries 351 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,640 the frozen HTN along with it, away from the nucleus 352 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,920 surface into the coma. Once the HCN molecule is out 353 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,359 in the coma, floating free, it gets zapped by ultraviolet sunlight. 354 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,400 That solar radiation has enough energy to break the bond 355 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,359 between the hydrogen and the cyanode group. 356 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 1: So sunlight breaks apart the HCN, leaving the CN. 357 00:17:43,279 --> 00:17:46,319 Speaker 2: Exactly and that free CN molecule then gets energized by 358 00:17:46,319 --> 00:17:49,480 sunlight and emits light at very specific wavelengths, creating that 359 00:17:49,599 --> 00:17:52,799 characteristic spectral signature that Gemini detected. 360 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: And does when you detect CN tell you anything it does. 361 00:17:55,319 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 2: That CN signature typically becomes strong when a comet gets 362 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,440 within about two point five to three AU from the Sun. 363 00:18:02,039 --> 00:18:05,799 That's the distance where water sublimation really kicks in strongly 364 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,839 enough to release sufficient HCN. And that distance range fits 365 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,880 perfectly with where three Ilus was located in late August 366 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:14,039 when Gemini observe. 367 00:18:13,799 --> 00:18:16,440 Speaker 1: It, so it's like a location marker based on chemistry. 368 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,519 Did they figure out how much cyanide was coming on? 369 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,319 Speaker 2: They did. They measured the production rate at about eight 370 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,960 hundred six tillion cyanide molecules per second. 371 00:18:25,079 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: Six tillion. That's a lot of zero. 372 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,559 Speaker 2: It's eight followed by twenty three zeros, an absolutely mind 373 00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:32,519 boggling number in everyday terms. 374 00:18:32,559 --> 00:18:35,640 Speaker 1: But how does that compare to say, comets from our 375 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:37,640 own solar system? Is that a lot or a little 376 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:38,200 for a commet? 377 00:18:38,559 --> 00:18:41,519 Speaker 2: Interestingly compared to many of the brighter commets we see 378 00:18:41,519 --> 00:18:44,599 originating from our ort cloud or Kuiper belt, that CN 379 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,160 production rate actually puts three Ilus on the lower end 380 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:48,200 of the scale loor end. 381 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: But we just said it was hyperactive and five times 382 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,440 brighter than expected. How can it be both hyperactive and 383 00:18:53,519 --> 00:18:55,119 a low producer of cyanide? 384 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,519 Speaker 2: That's the key, right It points back to that small 385 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,279 hypervolatile nucleus. It might be inc credibly efficient at releasing 386 00:19:01,319 --> 00:19:04,319 gas because of those exotic ices near the surface, leading 387 00:19:04,319 --> 00:19:07,480 to the high brightness and activity. But maybe the overall 388 00:19:07,519 --> 00:19:11,640 abundance of specific molecules like hcn within the nucleus isn't 389 00:19:11,759 --> 00:19:15,440 exceptionally high compared to some giant orc cloud comment. 390 00:19:15,519 --> 00:19:18,240 Speaker 1: Okay, that makes sense, high efficiency, maybe not huge. 391 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,079 Speaker 2: Reserves, which leads directly to another critical classification they made 392 00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:23,920 carbon chain depletion. 393 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,079 Speaker 1: Carbon chain depletion. What does that mean? 394 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 2: Scientists look at the ratio of different carbon bearing molecules. Specifically, 395 00:19:31,079 --> 00:19:33,480 they measured the amount of di carbon, which is C 396 00:19:33,599 --> 00:19:37,119 two two carbon atoms bonded together, relative to the amount 397 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,000 of cyanide cn C. 398 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: Two versus cn What does that ratio tell you? 399 00:19:41,079 --> 00:19:43,160 Speaker 2: Di carbon C two is thought to form from the 400 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,519 breakdown of more complex, longer carbon chain molecules frozen in 401 00:19:46,559 --> 00:19:49,240 the nucleus ice. So a higher C two to cn 402 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,640 ratio suggests the comet formed in an environment richer in 403 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,720 these complex organic precursors. 404 00:19:55,039 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: And three I. At last, what was its ratio? 405 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 2: It was classified as one of the most carbon chained 406 00:19:59,799 --> 00:20:03,920 pla pleated commets ever observed. Its C two cn ratio 407 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:05,480 is less than point zero nine. 408 00:20:05,799 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: Less than point zero nine C two molecules for every 409 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,319 CN molecule, so very little. 410 00:20:11,079 --> 00:20:14,839 Speaker 2: C two extremely little. In simpler terms, it's severely lacking 411 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,039 in the stuff that breaks down to form C two. 412 00:20:17,079 --> 00:20:20,960 It seems chemically quite primitive or formed under very specific conditions. 413 00:20:21,279 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: What kind of conditions lead to that being carbon chain depleted? 414 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 2: It suggests the place where three I at lass originally 415 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,480 formed around its parent star was probably unique. Maybe it 416 00:20:31,559 --> 00:20:34,839 formed at extremely low temperatures, so cold that these more 417 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,279 complex carbon chains simply couldn't condense effectively. 418 00:20:37,799 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: Onto the ice greens, or maybe something else. 419 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 2: Another possibility is that it formed in a region heavily 420 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:46,400 shielded from the ultraviolet radiation of its host star. Usually 421 00:20:46,559 --> 00:20:50,160 UV radiation helps process simpler molecules into more complex ones 422 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,160 over time. If it was shielded, that processing wouldn't happen 423 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:54,000 as much. 424 00:20:53,759 --> 00:20:57,079 Speaker 1: And didn't comet Borisov, the previous interstellar comet, also show 425 00:20:57,079 --> 00:20:58,240 this intriguingly. 426 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 2: Yes, Boresov was all so found to be carbon chain depleted, 427 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,640 though maybe not quite as severely as three IE lists. 428 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,400 It's starting to hint at a potential pattern for interstellar 429 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:09,200 Comment two for. 430 00:21:09,279 --> 00:21:12,519 Speaker 1: Two suggests it might be common for these interstellar visitors, 431 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,119 but well, a sample size of two is still tiny exactly. 432 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 2: We need more visitors, But it's a fascinating clue about 433 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,599 the chemical environments in the outer reaches of other star systems. 434 00:21:23,279 --> 00:21:25,519 It might be telling us that the conditions needed to 435 00:21:25,519 --> 00:21:28,839 build up complex carbon chemistry are less common out there. 436 00:21:29,319 --> 00:21:31,680 Or maybe these depleted objects are just the ones most 437 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,720 easily ejected in this chemistry. 438 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,319 Speaker 1: This lack of complex binding agents maybe ties back to 439 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:38,640 that fragility you mentioned. 440 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,559 Speaker 2: It absolutely could. There was a great quote from astronomer 441 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,200 Karen Meach describing objects like this. She said, they are 442 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,359 really very fragile, dirty snowballs. 443 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,079 Speaker 1: Ragile, dirty snowballs. I like that. 444 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 2: It's a perfect description, and it's a stark warning. If 445 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,240 this hyperactive, chemically simple, potentially loosely bound ice ball gets 446 00:21:56,279 --> 00:21:58,720 hit with too much thermal stress as it whips around 447 00:21:58,720 --> 00:21:59,240 the sun. 448 00:21:59,279 --> 00:22:00,519 Speaker 1: It could just cintegrate. 449 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,759 Speaker 2: It could break apart, and if that happens, you'd suddenly 450 00:22:03,759 --> 00:22:07,039 expose huge amounts of fresh ice from the interior, stuff 451 00:22:07,039 --> 00:22:10,240 that hasn't seen sunlight in billions of years. That would 452 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:15,119 cause a massive sudden surge and outcasting a spectacular flare up. 453 00:22:15,799 --> 00:22:18,480 The whole astronomical community is kind of holding its breath, 454 00:22:18,559 --> 00:22:21,119 watching to see if it holds together through perihelium. 455 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,839 Speaker 1: Okay, beyond the chemistry, there was another technique used something 456 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,240 really specialized to probe its physical structure. 457 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 2: Yes, polarimetry. This was only the second time polarimetry had 458 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,160 ever been successfully used on an interstellar object, after boris 459 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:37,319 off polarimetry. 460 00:22:37,319 --> 00:22:38,960 Speaker 1: Okay, break that down. What are we measuring. 461 00:22:39,039 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 2: It's complex, but basically, sunlight is unpolarized. The light waves 462 00:22:43,039 --> 00:22:46,599 vibrate in all directions. When that sunlight hits the dust 463 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,640 grains in the comet's coma and scatters towards our telescopes, 464 00:22:49,839 --> 00:22:53,920 the light becomes partially polarized. The way it's polarized, the direction, 465 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,400 and the amount depends critically on the physical properties of 466 00:22:57,440 --> 00:22:58,960 the dust grains it's scattered off. 467 00:22:59,279 --> 00:23:02,079 Speaker 1: Soasuring the polarization of the light you can figure out 468 00:23:02,079 --> 00:23:02,839 stuff about. 469 00:23:02,599 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 2: The dust exactly. It tells you things you can't easily 470 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,599 get from just brightness or standard spectroscopy, things like the 471 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,680 average size of the dust grains, their shape, whether they're 472 00:23:12,759 --> 00:23:16,240 smooth or fluffy, their composition, to some extent, the structure 473 00:23:16,279 --> 00:23:18,400 of the regolith on the nuclear surface. If you could 474 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:22,400 measure that directly and even the overall shape of the coma, so. 475 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: A powerful tool for understanding the physical nature of the dust. 476 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,799 What did the polarimetry team led by Zuri Gray find 477 00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:31,279 four three ils? 478 00:23:31,759 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 2: They announced their findings on September fifth, and it was 479 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,720 another major anomaly. They found that three I atlass exhibits 480 00:23:37,759 --> 00:23:41,440 an exceptionally deep and narrow negative polarization branch. 481 00:23:41,519 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: Okay, deep narrow negative polarization. Let's unpack negative polarization right. 482 00:23:45,519 --> 00:23:48,400 Speaker 2: When light scatters, imagine a plane defined by the Sun, 483 00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:51,359 the comet, and the observer US on Earth. That's the 484 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,759 scattering plane. If the scattered light tends to vibrate perpendicular 485 00:23:54,759 --> 00:23:58,319 to this plane, we call that positive polarization. That's more 486 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,319 typical for many asteroids and some comets, and negative polarization 487 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,039 means the light preferentially vibrates parallel to the scattering plane. 488 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,839 It usually happens at certain viewing angles. But the depth 489 00:24:08,839 --> 00:24:12,400 and narrowness of this negative branch for three idealas was extreme. 490 00:24:12,559 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: How extreme? What does it mean physically? 491 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,799 Speaker 2: It means this specific light scattering behavior has never been 492 00:24:17,839 --> 00:24:21,920 seen before, not in any comet, not in any asteroid ever. 493 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,359 Observed within our own solar system. Nothing quite matches it 494 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:26,599 never wow. 495 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: Okay, So what does that imply about the dust. 496 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,839 Speaker 2: This deep and negative polarization strongly suggests the dust grains 497 00:24:32,839 --> 00:24:37,319 are structurally very complex. They're likely not simple compact spheres 498 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,319 or chunks like typical silicate dust. They might be highly porous, 499 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:46,319 extremely irregular, fluffy aggregates think microscopic snowflakes or fractal structures. 500 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,279 It's a physical fingerprint indicating the dust formed in a 501 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,599 very different environment or from different materials than typical solar 502 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:53,359 system bodies. 503 00:24:53,519 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: So if positive polarization is like light bouncing off relatively 504 00:24:57,039 --> 00:25:00,599 smooth pebbles, negative polarization is like light getting trapped and 505 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,519 bouncing around inside incredibly intricate, fluffy dust bunnies. 506 00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 2: That's a really good analogy. 507 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. 508 00:25:06,279 --> 00:25:09,839 Speaker 2: It fundamentally sets three Ilis apart, and importantly, it also 509 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:11,640 sets it apart from comet Borisov. 510 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: Worsov didn't show that. 511 00:25:12,839 --> 00:25:17,319 Speaker 2: Now Borisov showed positive polarization more similar, though not identical, 512 00:25:17,759 --> 00:25:21,400 to comments in our solar system. This confirms that three 513 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,200 Iolis and Borsov, despite both being interstellar visitors, likely came 514 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,519 from different types of environments or are fundamentally different types 515 00:25:29,519 --> 00:25:33,480 of objects. Three ils might represent a whole new class 516 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,519 of small planetary body based on this unique light scattering signature. 517 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,279 Speaker 1: Its dust is just alien, physically different. 518 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,319 Speaker 2: Alien in the truest sense, originating elsewhere and having measurably 519 00:25:44,319 --> 00:25:45,599 different physical properties. 520 00:25:45,799 --> 00:25:49,079 Speaker 1: And yet amidst all this incredibly high tech analysis from 521 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,240 Hubble web Gemini, there was this other anomaly that popped 522 00:25:53,279 --> 00:25:55,359 up thanks to amateurs, the green hue. 523 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,839 Speaker 2: Yes, this was a wonderful example of pro am collaboration 524 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,720 and just kenops. In early September, there was a lunar eclipse, 525 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:03,559 which meant dark. 526 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,839 Speaker 1: Skies, perfect comet watching condition. 527 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:11,079 Speaker 2: Exactly, and experienced amateur astronomers Michael Jaeger and Jeral Raymond 528 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,880 were taking long exposure photos from Namibia and they noticed 529 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,720 this beautiful, distinct green glow around three iAtlas. 530 00:26:19,039 --> 00:26:21,799 Speaker 1: A green comet. That's pretty classic, right. We know why 531 00:26:21,839 --> 00:26:23,559 comets sometimes turn green, we do. 532 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 2: The green color is typically caused by the fluorescence of 533 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,519 diatomic carbon C two, that molecule we discussed earlier. When 534 00:26:30,559 --> 00:26:34,000 C two molecules released from the nucleus get energized by sunlight, 535 00:26:34,279 --> 00:26:35,079 they glow green. 536 00:26:35,319 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 1: Okay, so amateur sea green sciences green means C two. 537 00:26:38,759 --> 00:26:39,640 Well that's the problem. 538 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 2: The problem is the conflict with the spectroscopy. Remember the 539 00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:46,680 Gemini results showed three aat liss is extremely carbon chain depleted. 540 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,720 It produces very very little C two compared to cn ah. 541 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,039 Speaker 1: So the chemical analysis says hardly any C two, but 542 00:26:54,079 --> 00:26:57,559 the photos say glowing green, which means C two. That 543 00:26:57,599 --> 00:26:58,240 doesn't add up. 544 00:26:58,319 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 2: It's a direct conflict in the data, presenting a fascinating 545 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,599 little mystery. Right now, there are a couple of possibility. Okay, 546 00:27:04,599 --> 00:27:07,720 look what one is That C two production has suddenly 547 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,480 rapidly ramped up in the short time between the Gemini 548 00:27:10,519 --> 00:27:14,319 spectroscopy run in late August and the amateur observations in 549 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:18,440 early September. Maybe the increasing heat finally started breaking down 550 00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:21,680 whatever parent molecules produce ce two more efficiently, so. 551 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: The chemistry changed quickly. 552 00:27:23,039 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 2: It's possible comets can change activity levels rapidly. The other 553 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,519 possibility is, well, maybe there's another explanation for the green 554 00:27:29,599 --> 00:27:33,359 hue in this specific object. Maybe some other molecule or 555 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:37,279 dust property is causing a green glow under these conditions, 556 00:27:37,279 --> 00:27:40,200 something we haven't seen before. Because this object's composition is 557 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:40,920 so unique. 558 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 1: So either rabid chemical evolution or completely new source of 559 00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:48,640 green in comets. That's a great little cliffhanger for future research. 560 00:27:48,759 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 2: It really is. It perfectly illustrates how dynamic this whole 561 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,920 field is. Right now, we're getting conflicting data points in 562 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:54,640 near real time. 563 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,119 Speaker 1: Okay, this feels like a good point to pivot to 564 00:27:57,279 --> 00:28:00,400 the inevitable controversy that seems to follow these in interstellar 565 00:28:00,519 --> 00:28:04,799 objects around section four, the alien hypothesis. 566 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 2: Ah yes, and that inevitably brings us to astrophysicist Avi Lobe. 567 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 1: Lobe is a prominent Harvard astrophysicist, well respected but also 568 00:28:13,759 --> 00:28:19,079 known for pushing boundaries, sometimes controversially, especially regarding interstellar objects 569 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,839 and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. 570 00:28:22,039 --> 00:28:25,240 Speaker 2: He definitely makes headlines. His initial argument concerning three il 571 00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:28,680 as emerged back in July, shortly after discovery, and it 572 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:32,079 was critically based on those early much larger size. 573 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,519 Speaker 1: Estimates ten kilometer estimates exactly low. 574 00:28:34,559 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 2: Ebb argued, from a statistical standpoint, based on our best 575 00:28:38,039 --> 00:28:41,400 understanding of how much stuff rocks, ice should be floating 576 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,519 between the stars, the probability of a natural object as 577 00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:47,680 large as ten kilometers wandering into our solar system during 578 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,000 our observational lifetime was extremely low. 579 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,559 Speaker 1: So he was saying, finding something this big naturally is 580 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,079 so unlikely, we should question if it is natural. 581 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,599 Speaker 2: That was the core of his initial challenge. He basically 582 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,160 set up a dichotomy. Either our models of interstellar object 583 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,440 density are fundamentally wrong by a huge margin, or this 584 00:29:05,559 --> 00:29:07,720 object isn't just a random piece of rock and ice, 585 00:29:07,839 --> 00:29:12,960 and the alternative you propose was the controversial alternative alien technologer. 586 00:29:13,839 --> 00:29:16,960 Just days after his initial statistical argument, he co authored 587 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,000 a follow up paper. The title was pretty direct, is 588 00:29:20,039 --> 00:29:23,559 the interstellar object three I eight less? Alien technology? 589 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,279 Speaker 1: Can't get much clearer than that? Do they elaborate on 590 00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:27,079 what kind of tech? 591 00:29:27,599 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 2: They explored possibilities referencing concepts like the dark forest resolution 592 00:29:32,599 --> 00:29:34,680 to the Fermi paradox. 593 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,559 Speaker 1: Right, the Fermi paradox being if aliens are common, where 594 00:29:37,599 --> 00:29:40,200 are they? And the dark forest idea. 595 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 2: Is it's a somewhat chilling idea that the universe might 596 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,359 be like a dark forest full of hunters in prey. 597 00:29:46,039 --> 00:29:49,759 Advanced civilizations might stay silent and hidden like prey to 598 00:29:49,839 --> 00:29:54,200 avoid attracting attention from potential cosmic predators. Broadcasting your existence 599 00:29:54,279 --> 00:29:54,960 is too risky. 600 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: So Low and his co authors suggested three I eight 601 00:29:58,039 --> 00:30:01,279 less could be some kind of hidden pro maybe deliberately 602 00:30:01,319 --> 00:30:03,559 targeting our system or just passing through silently. 603 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,279 Speaker 2: They explored that possibility, Yes, maybe using a gravitational assist 604 00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:10,319 to fly by maneuver. Importantly, they did include a caveat 605 00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:13,240 in the paper, stating the exploration was partly for educational 606 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,519 purposes and quote fun to pursue, irrespective of its likely validity. 607 00:30:17,839 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: Fun to pursue. Oh okay, But science isn't just about 608 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,640 fund speculation. It's about data. And this is where the 609 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,000 scientific rebuttal came in. Strong, wasn't it? 610 00:30:28,359 --> 00:30:31,519 Speaker 2: Absolutely? The most immediate and critical flaw pointed out by 611 00:30:31,519 --> 00:30:34,640 many in the community was Love's continued reliance on that 612 00:30:34,799 --> 00:30:37,920 outdated larger ten kilometer size. 613 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: Estimate, even after Hubble had refined it. 614 00:30:40,119 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 2: Yes, by the time the alien technology paper was circulating, 615 00:30:43,759 --> 00:30:48,079 the Hubble observations had already drastically reduced the maximum possible 616 00:30:48,119 --> 00:30:52,640 size down to five point six kilometers and likely much smaller, and. 617 00:30:52,599 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: A smaller object is statistically much. 618 00:30:54,599 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 2: More compt Exactly the entire premise of his statistical improbability 619 00:30:58,759 --> 00:31:02,039 argument essentially collapse apsed once you plugged in the best available, 620 00:31:02,079 --> 00:31:06,160 observationally constrained size data. Science demands you use the most current, 621 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,599 most credible data, and the argument as presented failed that 622 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:10,519 fundamental test. 623 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: So the community's reaction was basically correct the input data 624 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,720 and the need for an exotic explanation evaporates. 625 00:31:17,039 --> 00:31:19,599 Speaker 2: That was the core of the scientific rebuttal on the 626 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,480 size front. And then there was the orbital mechanics. 627 00:31:22,119 --> 00:31:26,519 Speaker 1: Argument, right because some of Lobe's hypotheses, especially for Umu Mua, 628 00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:31,200 previously involved needing some kind of non gravitational acceleration like 629 00:31:31,319 --> 00:31:33,480 a push from engines or a solar fail to explain 630 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,519 its trajectory. Did that come up here? 631 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 2: It did indirectly, but geoscientist akm asenal Hawk published a 632 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,920 detailed rebuttal focusing specifically on the trajectory of three I Atlas. 633 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,279 He argued very compellingly that the object's path, including its 634 00:31:48,279 --> 00:31:52,119 flybys of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, could be perfectly well 635 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,440 explained by natural cometary dynamics alone. 636 00:31:55,119 --> 00:31:57,599 Speaker 1: Meaning the push it gets from gas and dust escaping 637 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,160 that outgassing. 638 00:31:58,559 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 2: Force precisely show that the observed trajectory did not require 639 00:32:02,279 --> 00:32:05,839 any kind of artificial, non gravitational push or engineered maneuver. 640 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:10,559 The subtle deviations from a purely gravitational path were entirely 641 00:32:10,599 --> 00:32:13,319 consistent with the kind of outgassing forces we expect from 642 00:32:13,319 --> 00:32:16,279 a hyperactive commet like this one. No need to invoke 643 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:17,279 alien engines. 644 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: So natural physics works just fine to explain where it's going. 645 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:25,039 Speaker 2: That's the strong consensus view. While three iotlis is undeniably weird, 646 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:29,799 its composition, its activity, its polarization are all highly unusual, 647 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,000 its motion seems to follow the known laws of commentary 648 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,000 physics quite well. The lesson really is caution against jumping 649 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,920 to extraordinary conclusions, however fun they might be. Before all 650 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,880 the natural explanations based on the best data have been 651 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:44,920 thoroughly exhausted. 652 00:32:45,039 --> 00:32:47,799 Speaker 1: A good reminder for all science. Really. Okay, So where 653 00:32:47,839 --> 00:32:52,079 did that leave us now? As this fascinating, ancient, hyperactive, fragile, 654 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,200 maybe green, definitely weird object heads towards the Sun, what's 655 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:57,000 the final act? 656 00:32:57,519 --> 00:33:00,799 Speaker 2: Well, the next major milestone is perihelion, its approach to 657 00:33:00,839 --> 00:33:02,640 the Sun that happens on October THIRTYEF. 658 00:33:02,839 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: How close does it get? 659 00:33:03,799 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 2: It'll pass about one point four au from the Sun, 660 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,559 so a bit further out than Earth's orbit, closer than 661 00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:10,640 Mars's orbit. That's when the heating will be most. 662 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,279 Speaker 1: Intense primetime for activity. 663 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 2: But there's a catch, isn't there? 664 00:33:14,119 --> 00:33:17,480 Speaker 1: Unfortunately yes, right around perihelion and for a period afterwards, 665 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,160 the comet will be too close to the Sun in 666 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:22,119 our sky to observe safely from Earth or with space 667 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,839 telescopes like Hubble and Web. It gets lost in the 668 00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:28,519 Sun's glare, so just when it's likely most active, we 669 00:33:28,599 --> 00:33:30,160 can't really watch it closely. 670 00:33:30,039 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 2: For that peak period. Mostly No, it's frustrating timing. It 671 00:33:34,279 --> 00:33:37,240 essentially dips behind the Sun from our perspective, cutting off 672 00:33:37,279 --> 00:33:40,759 detailed observation until it emerges from the glare sometime in 673 00:33:40,839 --> 00:33:41,599 early December. 674 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,039 Speaker 1: But astronomers are obviously not giving up. The race isn't over. 675 00:33:45,279 --> 00:33:47,359 What's planned for when it reappears in December. 676 00:33:47,519 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 2: Oh, the observation campaigns are already lined up. It's going 677 00:33:49,759 --> 00:33:53,960 to be intensive. NASA's solar observing missions like SOHO and 678 00:33:54,039 --> 00:33:58,240 maybe even Mavin at Mars might catch glimpses of its activity. 679 00:33:58,279 --> 00:34:00,880 Closer to the Sun, and the other Comming Sphere X 680 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:02,640 mission could contribute. 681 00:34:02,079 --> 00:34:05,759 Speaker 1: To and the big ground and space telescopes. 682 00:34:05,119 --> 00:34:08,760 Speaker 2: Absolutely Renewed observation time has already been allocated on Hubble, 683 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:12,079 on James Webb and on the Gemini Observatory. Once it's 684 00:34:12,079 --> 00:34:14,800 safely observable again in December, they'll be hitting it hard, 685 00:34:15,079 --> 00:34:17,519 tracking how its activity changes as it moves away from 686 00:34:17,519 --> 00:34:19,559 the Sun and starts to cool down again. We'll have 687 00:34:19,599 --> 00:34:22,519 several months of prime observation as it recedes back towards 688 00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:23,480 interstellar space. 689 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,320 Speaker 1: That post perihelium phase sounds crucial. So as we wait 690 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:30,559 for it to round the Sun and come back into view, 691 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,400 what are the big questions left hanging? What should you, 692 00:34:34,599 --> 00:34:36,039 our listener be pondering? 693 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,599 Speaker 2: Yeah, there are some great ones. First, the chemistry as 694 00:34:39,599 --> 00:34:43,440 it cools down after perihelium. Will those hypervolatiles the nitrogen 695 00:34:43,519 --> 00:34:46,599 or whatever it is continue to dominate or did the 696 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:49,880 intense heating near the Sun finally bake off those surface 697 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,719 layers and trigger a massive release of good old water 698 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,679 ice from deeper inside. Watching the chemical signature change as 699 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,719 it receives will tell us a lot about its layered structure. 700 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,880 Speaker 1: And then there's the elephant in the room. Will it survive. 701 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 2: That's the big one, the fragility factor. Did it hold 702 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,320 together through the thermal and gravitational stresses of perihelium or 703 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,119 did it break apart? As Karen Meach warned, If it 704 00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:15,280 did fragment, we might see a spectacular brightening event as 705 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,840 it emerges from the Sun's glare as all that fresh 706 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,199 interior ice gets exposed, or we might see multiple fainter 707 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,320 fragments instead of one object. Its physical state post perihelium 708 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,159 is a huge question mark, and the. 709 00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:29,800 Speaker 1: Ultimate question, I suppose is the origin always. 710 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:32,840 Speaker 2: Can we refine our understanding of where it came from 711 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,239 by continuing to study its unique chemical fingerprint, that extreme 712 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:41,239 carbon depletion, and its bizarre physical properties, especially that unique 713 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,599 negative polarization signature. Can we maybe start to narrow down 714 00:35:44,599 --> 00:35:47,000 the type of star system it might have originated in. 715 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,440 Every weird data point is another clue, another coordinate helping 716 00:35:51,519 --> 00:35:54,719 us trace this ancient wanderer back to its home among 717 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:55,280 the stars. 718 00:35:55,679 --> 00:36:00,199 Speaker 1: That deep negative polarization, the light scattering that we've ever 719 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,639 seen before in our own systems, comets or asteroids. That 720 00:36:03,719 --> 00:36:06,000 really feels like the most profound physical clue we have 721 00:36:06,119 --> 00:36:06,559 right now. 722 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,679 Speaker 2: Doesn't it it's arguably the most unique physical characteristic. Yes, 723 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,880 because it's not just weird. It actually links three iatlists 724 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,519 to something else, something within our own solar system, but 725 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:16,960 far far out. 726 00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:17,559 Speaker 1: What's the link? 727 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:23,280 Speaker 2: That specific pattern of deep, narrow negative polarization, while unique 728 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,079 among typical comets and asteroids, bears a striking resemblance to 729 00:36:27,119 --> 00:36:30,960 the polarization measured from some of the most distant mysterial 730 00:36:31,079 --> 00:36:34,639 objects in our own solar system, the Transneptunian objects or 731 00:36:34,679 --> 00:36:37,440 t and os, and the centaurs that orbit out beyond 732 00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:39,519 Neptune in the frigid outer darkness. 733 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:43,119 Speaker 1: Wait, so it's dust physically behaves like the dust from 734 00:36:43,159 --> 00:36:45,880 the most remote objects in our solar system, even though 735 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:47,360 it came from another star entirely. 736 00:36:47,559 --> 00:36:51,440 Speaker 2: That's the profound connection the polarimetry suggests. It implies a 737 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,960 potential shared heritage, not of the same parent star, but 738 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,360 perhaps the same kind of formation environment. 739 00:36:57,119 --> 00:37:00,679 Speaker 1: Meaning things formed in the absolute coldest, most remote, maybe 740 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:05,000 most radiation shielded outskirts of stellar systems, whether ours or 741 00:37:05,039 --> 00:37:07,559 another one billions of years ago, might end up with 742 00:37:07,599 --> 00:37:09,559 physically similar dust structures. 743 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,760 Speaker 2: That's the provocative thought, isn't it that this subtle physical property. 744 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:17,239 The way light scatters off microscopic dust grains might be 745 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:19,920 telling us something fundamental about the conditions and the most 746 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,480 remote nurseries where icy bodies form regardless of which star 747 00:37:23,599 --> 00:37:26,880 they orbit. Three eye Loss isn't just a visitor. It's 748 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,480 like a physical sample delivered to our doorstep from the 749 00:37:29,559 --> 00:37:32,960 dark frozen fringes of another stellar system, formed billions of 750 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,840 years ago. Ponder what that similarity implies about the commonality, 751 00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:40,199 or perhaps the specific conditions required for forming these kinds 752 00:37:40,199 --> 00:37:42,519 of icy bodies across the entire galaxy.