WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.080 Virgin Media broadband is smooth. How smooth you ask? Well, 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:08.640 Imagine you're a big old Walruss and rather than lumbering 3 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:12.119 around a glacier avoiding polar bears, you're on a lake, 4 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:18.320 driving a speedboat three thousand kilos of mollusk, munching magnificence, 5 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.559 feeling the wind in your whiskers and the sun. 6 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.039 On your big blubbery face. That's the kind of smoothness 7 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:29.760 you feel. With ninety nine point nine percent broadband reliability 8 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:36.280 available nationwide Virgin Media, It's playtime subject to ACATAL availability. 9 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:39.079 Tacncys apply for broadband reliability see Virgin Media, dot I 10 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:40.039 E Forward slash Proof. 11 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:43.159 Do you know what real power is? It's knowing you're 12 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:45.920 on the same rate for energy all day, every day 13 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.840 with a smart all day plan from board Gosh Energy, 14 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.240 save up to eight hundred and eighty euro on dual 15 00:00:51.320 --> 00:00:53.719 fuel plus get a two hundred and thirty five You're 16 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:57.079 a welcome bonus switch today at board gash Energy, dot 17 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:00.200 I E Board Gosh Energy. Know your power. 18 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:02.759 Estimating on your bill of twenty six and twenty on 19 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:05.920 your new customer zone thirst percentiscento Smart all day Electricity 20 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:07.879 unit rates in twenty nine percent of GASTI unit rates 21 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:10.040 se porcoshiant for full teasncs. 22 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.640 Oh hi, it's Smologies. This is the first ever episode. 23 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:20.400 I'm Ali Ward. These are small Ologies episodes delivering blue, tiny, 24 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:24.760 bite sized brain snacks, little episodes that are refreshers on 25 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:29.680 your favorites and classroom friendly, all ages cuts of Ologies 26 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.079 episodes that you love. So I hear it from folks 27 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:35.239 every day. I get messages, Yo, dad word, I see 28 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.680 you have bleeped episodes, But what about making Ologies super 29 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.000 family friendly? Can you change your whole vibe for Smologites? 30 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:44.280 And I can't. I love you, but I love the 31 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:46.200 way I get to make the full length Ologies episodes 32 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:48.599 that come out and land on your feed every Tuesday. 33 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:51.799 But I did decide I can tweak what we have 34 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:55.719 and release these clean, shorter edited versions as free bonus 35 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:59.040 episodes so that when you see the Smologies title, you 36 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.920 know that you can listen with your kids and my parents. 37 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.560 And Smologies are quicker, cleaner cuts of the back catalog 38 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:10.120 favorites that are just perfect for my wheezy jog around 39 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.360 the block, or your dinner prep or anytime you have 40 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:14.199 about twenty minutes to burn and if you want the 41 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:18.159 full scoop, all the juicy full episodes with more facts 42 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:21.080 and backstories and words that we would not say around youngsters, 43 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.280 you can find a link to that full version in 44 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.520 the show notes. So with that, welcome to Smologies, which 45 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.680 are dropping twice today as a little honeymoon break debut 46 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.520 this week, just kind of an introduction to our podcast Baby, 47 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:36.120 and then Smologies will be out every other week on 48 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:42.280 Thursdays as a bonus. So introducing somologies number one. Selenology 49 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:44.800 a word that comes from the Greek sellen for moon, 50 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:49.479 So get ready to bask in the glow of selenologist, raquel, 51 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.120 new nomology. 52 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:55.560 Old. 53 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:12.719 Prologyology, schologies. So what exactly would you say when you 54 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.000 introduce someone and say what you do? What do you 55 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:15.439 tell them? 56 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:19.159 I tell them that I'm a planetary geologist. That's just 57 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:21.599 what I say. And people usually have no idea what 58 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:23.960 that means. They're like, I know geology, I don't know 59 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:26.360 planetary what does that even mean? So then I say 60 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:29.680 I'm a space geologist. I study rocks on other planets, 61 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:31.479 and that's what I tell them, And. 62 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:33.199 Then they lose their minds and then they're like what 63 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:33.639 does that? 64 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:33.840 What? 65 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:36.280 Yes, yes, that's what I do. So what does a 66 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.879 space geologist necessarily do? 67 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:43.400 So I say that I'm actually an armchair geologist, So 68 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:46.039 I sit on a chair and do geology. 69 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.319 You're reclining geologists, lining or geologists. 70 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:54.960 Yeah, so we we have samples from rocks and other worlds, 71 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.800 but most of the time we don't. So I essentially 72 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:03.000 use spacecraft data to analyze either images. I also do 73 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.879 a lot of programming, so a lot of computational modeling 74 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:09.000 of what's happening surface processes that are happening in other worlds. 75 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:12.080 And so you are crunching numbers and data to try 76 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:16.319 to figure out what is happening with the rocks on 77 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:17.519 other planets. 78 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:19.160 That's right, That's what I say. 79 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.720 That's crazy. Do all of the planets or just a 80 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:23.040 few of. 81 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:24.519 The planets, just a few of the planets. So my 82 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.040 two babies are the Moon and Mars. So Raquel got 83 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:32.519 her bachelor's in geophysics and space physics, she got a 84 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:37.000 master's inn geology, and she's now completing her PhD in 85 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.879 geology in planetary science. Is all at UCLA do A 86 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:42.480 lot of people tend to think that the Moon is 87 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:47.720 a planet. Okay that if you'd ask a planetary scientist, 88 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.199 they would say, yeah, it's a planet because it acts 89 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.120 like a planet, it behaves like a planet, but it's 90 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:56.079 just orbiting the Earth versus orbiting the Sun. So it's 91 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:58.439 not in the true definition of what a planet is. 92 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.360 It's not a planet. Have to say planetary body because 93 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:02.759 it's not technically a planet. 94 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.000 So it's a planet if it's orbiting the Sun. 95 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:05.560 That's right. 96 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.879 How do you guys determine what's a planet, what's an exoplanet? 97 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:11.399 What's a planetary body? I mean, a planetary body is 98 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:13.680 not orbiting a sun, but it could be orbiting another planet. 99 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.279 Well, a planetary body can be a planet as well. 100 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.319 Oh okay, so the Earth is a planetary body, but 101 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:24.120 so are asteroids. Asteroids are planetary bodies because they're orbiting. 102 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.040 They're in our Solar system, so they're a planetary body. 103 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:29.240 I feel like it's kind of like a not all 104 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:32.680 cack not all succulents are cactive, but all cacti are. 105 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:35.839 Yeah, yeah, something like that. So you have to be round, 106 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.040 so you have to have enough gravity to have formed 107 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.800 a around shaped object. So there's a lot of asteroids 108 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.160 that are that look like potatoes or like weird dumb 109 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:50.879 bell things, and those are not could never be planets 110 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:52.879 because they're not shaped like a planet is. So you 111 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:55.199 have to have enough mass that you create enough gravity 112 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.639 to round out your your shape. You also have to 113 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:00.879 have cleared your orbit and what that means is that 114 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.279 there's no debris in front of your behind you. You 115 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:08.879 have collected all of the matter that's in your path 116 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.839 to form yourself, to form the planetary body. 117 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:15.920 I don't think I've ever realized that we're kind of 118 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.120 like a swiffer, Like that's part of where we get 119 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:21.240 all of our stuff to make things is just by 120 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:22.240 picking it up as we go. 121 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:26.519 Yeah, So it's actually interesting. We Earth acquires a lot 122 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.920 of mass just by traveling through space. And when you 123 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.759 see like meteor showers, that's us traveling through a trail 124 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:38.800 of rocks of stuff that then encounters our atmosphere or 125 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:41.600 that we encounter it and then they come crashing in 126 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:43.360 beautiful light shows in the sky. 127 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:47.160 That's so exciting. Yeah, And have we always had the moon? 128 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:52.120 So the moon essentially, so the Moon formed very very 129 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:56.639 soon after the Earth did so essentially, when you're thinking 130 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.639 about geologic time, yes, the moon has always been here. 131 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:01.800 With that, I talk to a lot of people and 132 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:04.439 when I tell them what I do, Oh, you're an astronomer, Like, no, 133 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.240 I'm not. I don't. I'm not an astronomer. I'm a 134 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:10.759 planetary scientist. I study rocks. And it's funny to think 135 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.560 that a lot of the rovers, like all of the 136 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:16.519 rovers that have gone to Mars, they're all robotic geologists' 137 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.319 that's what they are. They're not astronomers. They're geologists. 138 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.160 Yeah they're not. They're looking down, they're not They're not right. Yeah, 139 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:26.800 that's right, that's hot. Goss about the moon. Okay, explain 140 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.360 to me where does this moon come from? 141 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:28.759 Yeah? 142 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.399 So the cool thing is actually we're not one hundred 143 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:36.480 percent sure, which is really really cool. It's just how 144 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.800 many science questions are still left answering. We don't know 145 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:41.839 that much about the Moon. There's still so much more 146 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.839 to learn. But the idea is the prevalent, the one 147 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:47.920 that most people think is the real thing that happened 148 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:52.720 was that a marsized object, which we call THEA, was 149 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.959 just floating around space and crashed into the pro the 150 00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:02.120 early Earth, and they collided and stuff. Kind of it 151 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:05.399 was flung out into space and coalesced to form the Moon. 152 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:08.120 When you look at what the Moon and the Earth 153 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.120 are made of, they're very similar. They look like they're 154 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.959 made of the same stuff. So we think that that's 155 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.360 what happened. Things collided, they mix together, and then a 156 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.160 big chunk of it got or several chunks of it 157 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:25.839 got flown into space and then eventually coalesced into what 158 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.000 our moon is today. 159 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.399 And it's gravity that's keeping it all together and into 160 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:31.800 a ball. 161 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.480 Yeah, that's how planets get bigger. You start out with 162 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.600 little dust particles that are electrically attracted to each other, 163 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.519 and they start getting sticking together, and everything has mass. 164 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:45.720 Even a tiny dust particle has mass, and so it 165 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.639 starts attracting the next dust particle. And then now now 166 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:53.519 you have little pebbles, and now the pebbles start getting 167 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.480 stuck together, and then eventually you form a planet that's 168 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:00.559 gravitationally bound to to itself. 169 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.480 So why on Earth aren't there more of these craters 170 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:06.399 to which we can take road trips. 171 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:09.320 Our atmosphere protects us from a lot of them. If 172 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:12.080 the rock is small enough, it'll just break up in 173 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:16.080 the atmosphere, whereas on the Moon, there is no atmosphere. 174 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:18.840 I'll just slam into the ground and it'll be left. 175 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:21.200 There'll be a hole there. And that's actually one of 176 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.600 the cool things about studying the Moon. The Moon has 177 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.840 experienced pretty much everything that the Earth has experienced. So 178 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:29.799 and because it doesn't have plate tectonics and it doesn't 179 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.480 have an atmosphere, it acts as a witness plate to 180 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:36.759 everything that the Earth has experienced. 181 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:40.000 So that's why the surface of the Moon is pitted. 182 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.879 But what about the Moon itself? Does it have a 183 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.919 pit like a peach? What's of the Moon's core? Is 184 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.639 it like a jawbreaker? Raquel says, it has a core, 185 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:50.919 it's just much smaller than the Earth's. 186 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.039 One of the cool things that I think when I 187 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:56.000 think about the Moon and the impact that caused it, 188 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.279 was there was so much energy that collected from that 189 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.720 original impact that formed the Moon that the entire Moon 190 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:09.840 was just a magma ocean. So that's the Yeah, just 191 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:13.919 imagine the whole Moon. No, just magma. Yeah, So that's 192 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:17.720 what that's the prevailed theory. Here on Earth, we have 193 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:20.200 different types of rocks. We have igneous rocks atimentary rocks, 194 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:23.320 whereas the Moon, it's essentially, all that light stuff is 195 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.159 just one one thing, and the only way that you 196 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.240 can form something like that is if it all just 197 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:30.840 pretty much formed at the same time from the same stuff. 198 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.799 And so we think it's just a big anortheisie crust 199 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.360 except for the dark regions that you see on the moon, 200 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:38.399 and those are ancient volcanic planes. 201 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.159 How big around is the moon comparatively? What's the size 202 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:41.840 difference between the moon? 203 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:45.240 So if you were so, if the Earth were to 204 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:50.759 be a basketball, then the moon is a tennis ball. 205 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.399 Oh yeah, perfect, Yeah, done, amazing, That's how I like 206 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:58.000 to think of it. Yeah, so the side nearer to 207 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.639 us is actually the crust is thinner, so it's easier 208 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.720 for lavas to bubble up. And so what you see 209 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.440 when you look up those dark regions, we're just ancient 210 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.080 lava planes that flowed and found a low place on 211 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:11.639 the moon and just settle there. 212 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.399 And you can see more of those areas when the 213 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:17.919 moon is full, which makes me wonder how do moon 214 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.879 phases work? Just like, pretend I'm someone you met at 215 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:23.639 the car wash. She doesn't know jack about the moon, 216 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:25.440 because that's pretty much what's happening. But we're not at 217 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:25.960 a car wash. 218 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:32.639 So the faces of the moon are caused by what 219 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:35.879 we're seeing is where the sun is lighting the moon. 220 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:41.559 So during a full moon, the sun is directly behind 221 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.799 If you were to be staring at the moon and 222 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.120 it's a full moon, the sun would be directly behind you. 223 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.720 But the reason that there's if you see the full 224 00:11:49.799 --> 00:11:53.279 moon and it's not an eclipse, is because that there's 225 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:56.559 a slight tilt to the Moon's orbit, so it's not 226 00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:00.519 perfectly in line with the sun, and so you see 227 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.240 the sun lighting up the full face of the moon. Now, 228 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.960 when the sun, if you're again staring at the moon 229 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.440 and you see only half of it lit, that means 230 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:10.639 that the sun is to your either to your left 231 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.519 or to your right. And when it's a new moon, 232 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.120 when you don't see any light of the moon is 233 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:19.559 because the sun is lighting the dark side of the moon, 234 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.840 the far side, what we call the far side. 235 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.320 So it's always a full moon somewhere. 236 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:26.600 It just depends on where you're hanging out, that's right. Yeah, 237 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.559 it's only our perspective that makes the phases of the 238 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:30.159 moon happen. 239 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.000 How does the moon affect the oceans and maybe us, 240 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:37.440 so the Moon has a. 241 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:40.399 Couple of effects on us. So it creates our tides, 242 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:44.799 so high tide, low tide, that's from the it's the 243 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:46.559 moon and the Sun. A lot of people think it's 244 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:48.600 just the moon, but it's a combination of both. But 245 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.519 the Moon is stronger because it's it's closer, so it 246 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.480 pulls on our oceans depending on where it is on 247 00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.159 the planet, which area where on the planet's closest to, 248 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:01.480 it's going to ug on that part of the planet. 249 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.080 So it actually tugs the rocks as well. It's not 250 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:06.600 just the water, just the water is just easier to deform. 251 00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:08.600 Oh my gosh, so it's tulling. 252 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:11.600 Yeah, So actually our earth is Yeah, our Earth is 253 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:15.399 slightly oblate because we have the Moon tugging at it. 254 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:18.000 The Moon and the Sun. Of course, then we tug 255 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.200 at it. We tug at the moon as well. 256 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:23.279 Oh man, I'm going to have galaxy brain break down 257 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:23.639 right now. 258 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:29.360 And the other way it affects us as it slows 259 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:33.120 down our days. So the Earth used to be spinning 260 00:13:33.159 --> 00:13:37.080 a lot faster than it used to be, but because 261 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:41.519 of conservation of momentum angular momentum, it has slowed down 262 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:43.120 the Earth's spin. 263 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:46.320 So about every one hundred years, we get two point 264 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.360 five milliseconds slower, and in twenty twelve we had to 265 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.919 add a second to the world clock just to make 266 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.480 up for it. Moon's like I did that. Likewise, Earth's 267 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.600 gravity pulls on the Moon. The Moon slows down, and 268 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:03.919 then the Moon becomes what's called tidally locked, so its 269 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:07.399 orbit around us takes twenty eight days, and its own 270 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.120 rotation takes about twenty eight days, which means that it's 271 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.799 daylight for over thirteen earth days straight, Raquel explains. And 272 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.519 as you will hear, this was news to me. How 273 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.399 does the moon work? So the far side of the Moon, 274 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.360 what exactly is there? What's happening on the far side 275 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:23.639 of the Moon. 276 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:27.519 More craters, Okay, less lava, much less lava. Most of 277 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.720 the lava, the ancient lava fields are here on the 278 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.080 near side. Like I said, the crust is thinner, so 279 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.440 it's easier for lava to bubble up on this side. 280 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:40.639 The far side. It just like a much lighter color 281 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:42.960 to the Moon because it's mostly that Anorthas site that 282 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.320 I was talking about earlier, and lots of impact craters 283 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:47.240 side notes. 284 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.879 So yes, the light side is on the dark side, 285 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.879 which is really the far side. So the far side 286 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.120 has tons of craters and it's lighter in color and 287 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:00.360 so far no alien communes. Now the near side is 288 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:04.519 smoother and has darker splotches of basalt. Those are called 289 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.960 mares because way back in the day folks thought they 290 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.679 were oceans. Now the mares are flatter and they have 291 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:15.320 fewer craters because it's younger terrain, so lighter parts a 292 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.519 north to side rock called the highlands. The darker parts 293 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.360 are basalt, called the mares. Boom. 294 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:26.080 So Pollo sixteen landed on in the Highlands, at the 295 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.360 lighter regions, but again they tried to look for a 296 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.960 place that was nice and flatten on the ladder craters 297 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:34.399 because it's safer for the astronauts and for the lander 298 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:38.000 to land in. And then Apollo seventeen landed right on 299 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.919 the edge between highlands and a mare because they were 300 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.799 trying to sample the rocks from the two different places. 301 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:45.679 How many times have we been to the moon? Six 302 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:46.960 We've been to the moon six times. 303 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.720 Yeah, there's water there. Do you know that there's wait, 304 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.240 there's water on the moon ice water ice on the road? Yes, yes, 305 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:56.600 where is it in these at the poles? There's these 306 00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:00.960 craters that never see sunlight. They're so deep that sunlight 307 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:06.000 never actually enters the crater, so they have not seen 308 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.720 sunlight for billions of years. 309 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:08.240 Oh my god. 310 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.480 And it's actually one of the coldest places that we've 311 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.799 ever measured. The Solar system. Are inside these craters colder 312 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:14.960 than the surface of Pluto. 313 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:20.399 No, no, yes, how cool? Is that? Literally? Very very cool? 314 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:21.440 So chilly. 315 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.600 Another reason the moon's cool is like there's lava caves. 316 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:26.000 Do you know about the caves? 317 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:27.120 Caves? 318 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:32.320 I look like, Yeah, there's caves where we can set 319 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:37.480 up human bases because they'll be shielded from radiation and 320 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:41.440 from the cold and the heat because the sun, the 321 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:43.399 sun heats up the surface a lot. So there's it's 322 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:46.039 it's either very very hot or very very cold, depending 323 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.320 on if you're in the shade or in the sun. 324 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.879 How cold how hot we talk in oh man, In 325 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.720 these permally shadowed craters, you can get down to fifteen 326 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:59.000 degrees calvin. So that's so zero kelvin is absolute zero, 327 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:02.080 and you can I mean, this is just fifteen degrees 328 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:02.679 higher than that. 329 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.319 Is very very very cold. So to put that in 330 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.960 context with the thermometer on your porch or like your 331 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:12.720 car's dashboard. Daylight on the Moon can get up to 332 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:17.160 two hundred and sixty degrees fahrenheit, and at night it's 333 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.759 a brisk negative two hundred and eighty fahrenheit. That's one 334 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:24.359 twenty seven celsius at its hottest and minus one seventy 335 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:28.000 three celsius when it's cold, which means if we do 336 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:31.559 end up cramming ourselves into caves on the Moon, we're 337 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:34.400 gonna need a lot of extra space just for scarves 338 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:38.440 and parkas for the thirteen Earth days of nighttime. Also 339 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:42.039 perhaps some flip flops and a hibachi for those long days, 340 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.279 and some sunscreen made out of magic. It's funny because 341 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:46.720 you think of the Moon. I think the images we 342 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:51.079 see of the Moon look relatively flat, and everything looks 343 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:53.759 so dark that it just seems there's something like it 344 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:56.559 just seems very inert. Oh like it must just be 345 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.279 like tepid room temperature and everything very flat. That's just 346 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:01.039 not what's happening. 347 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:01.400 I know. 348 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.880 It's it just wanders from hot cold hot cold, And 349 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.680 so then we need to if we do set up 350 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.039 bases there, we need to shield our astronauts from that. 351 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:13.480 And I think caves are a good place to do it, 352 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.119 or maybe inside some of these craters. 353 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:19.839 I mean we started in caves here. Yeah, that's a 354 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:21.799 good point, right, Yeah, we should continue. 355 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.920 This is like the way to continue human exploration, to 356 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:26.240 just find caves and go live. 357 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:27.680 And would you ever go to the moon if given 358 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:28.079 a chance. 359 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:33.039 My opinion changes often Before I had kids, it's like, yeah, 360 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.599 of course. And then I had kids, and I'm like, 361 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.799 they need me, they need me here until they are 362 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:45.160 the self sustaining, so like thirty, bring them to the moon. 363 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:45.920 I would. 364 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.599 I would be so happy if my kids became astronauts. 365 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.000 I don't know why, Like it's it's super weird because 366 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.799 it's probably not the safest thing for them to do, 367 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.960 but to explore, I don't know, to become exploited. There's 368 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.960 something so poetic and beautiful about, you know, pushing the 369 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.119 boundaries of what humanity has done and can do do. 370 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:09.559 Her kids like the moon. 371 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.240 My little I mean, my my he's two and a 372 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.920 half now, but I think ever since he was like 373 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:16.000 a year and a half, he'll point to the moon 374 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.039 and be like moon Moon. Because I think, like every 375 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.119 night I set up the telescope just to look at 376 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:25.680 the Moon like almost every night. It's I love looking 377 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.440 at it, and it doesn't get old. Every time I 378 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:32.039 look at that eyeps or through my cameras, it's just 379 00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:35.839 beautiful and I don't know, breasttaking to me every time 380 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:36.599 doesn't get old. 381 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:40.759 Do you have favorite craters or mares or highlands? 382 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:43.920 I know the lingo, No, yeah, you're in it. I 383 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:51.359 really like Copernicus Crater and Eratosthenes. And the reason why 384 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:54.599 is they I think they pretty much set off the 385 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:59.880 entire field of lunar science. So and how we study 386 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:05.640 how things age and impact craters. So, Copernicus Crater is 387 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.559 a bright, bright crater. So this is something we could 388 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.440 talk about space weather. So if something is fresh, it's bright, 389 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:18.200 and as it's exposed to space weather, it darkens. So 390 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.359 if you see something that's a crater that's very bright 391 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:23.720 on the Moon, it's a younger crater than something else. 392 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.480 And the reason we knew this is because so this crater, 393 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:30.960 Copernicus Crater, has these crater rays, and crater rays are 394 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:35.400 material that were ejected during the impact. You punch the 395 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:37.640 ground and a lot of stuff comes up and then 396 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.680 gets flown all over the place and creating these beautiful 397 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:45.039 crater rays, and some of those crater rays went into 398 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.640 another crater. So that's how we knew that stuff that 399 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:52.119 was bright must be younger than the stuff that is darker, 400 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.519 because we have these rays that are going into these craters. So, 401 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.720