WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.560 This is Spacetime Series twenty nine, Episode ninety two, for 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:07.120 broadcast on the third of August twenty twenty six. Coming 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.400 up on Spacetime, The Monster That's been let out of 4 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:15.160 its cage, counting down to next week's solar eclipse, and 5 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:19.160 a major setback for NASA Swift Space Telescope Rescue mission. 6 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:23.079 All that and more coming up on space Time. 7 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.440 Welcome to space Time with Stuart Gary. 8 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.560 Astronomers have for the first time discovered a monster as 9 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:50.079 super massive black hole wandering alone near the edge of 10 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:54.039 a galaxy. These giants of the universe, which can be 11 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.280 millions to billions of times the mass of our Sun, 12 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.880 are usually found at the centers of galaxies, are reporting. 13 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:03.679 The Astrophysical journal Letters claims the newly identified behemoth was 14 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:06.760 only discovered as a released a flash of light while 15 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:10.799 destroying and consuming a nearby star in a tidal disruption event. 16 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.359 It's the first time scientists have detected a super massive 17 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:18.200 black hole so far away from a galaxy center. The 18 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:21.439 studies lead author, Robert david Stein from the Joint Space 19 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:25.560 Science Institute, says the new discovery will have huge implications. 20 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:29.760 Until now, the assumption was that super massive black holes 21 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:33.439 always reside at the centers of their galaxies. The new 22 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:36.640 discovery means astronomers will be able to better understand how 23 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.560 galaxies and their black holes merge and how they build 24 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:43.480 up over time. Theorists have predicted that wandering black holes 25 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.439 would exist roaming along the outskirts of galaxies as a 26 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:50.200 result of galaxy collisions and mergers. But the thing is, 27 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.079 many of these black holes would be quiescent, meaning they're 28 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.760 not swallowing material and consequently not emitting any light, literally 29 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:01.519 tiptoeing around the universe undetected. This newly discovered black hole 30 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.719 was detected by this Vicki transient facility, which searches the 31 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:09.800 skies looking for transient objects. Vicki scans the entire northern 32 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.080 sky every two days using a pair of telescopes at 33 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:17.000 the Palomar Observatory in San Diego. Mind you, it's virtually 34 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:19.360 impossible to check for black holes in each of the 35 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:23.319 hundreds of thousands of celestial events at Ziki documents every evening. 36 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:28.080 So astronomers developed an artificial intelligence program which identifies a 37 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:31.599 characteristic light signature that occurs when the black hole shreds 38 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.879 a star. These title disruption events are well documented at 39 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.680 galaxy centers, but the AI looked for similar flares elsewhere 40 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:43.319 in the sky. The authors launched the artificial intelligence program 41 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:46.319 back in August twenty twenty five, and made their first 42 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.879 black hole discovery using it just three months later. In 43 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.000 this case, the super massive black hole was located some 44 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:56.840 thirty thousand light years from the galactic center. It's around 45 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.560 four million solar masses, about the same as set us 46 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.439 a star. The super massive black hole at the center 47 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.039 of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. It likely ended 48 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.719 up at its current location following a collision between two galaxies. 49 00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:15.800 One possibility is that a larger galaxy cannibalized a smaller 50 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.960 one and then slowly stripped away all its stars until 51 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.280 only the core remained. But a more intriguing second possibility 52 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.439 is that one galaxy already had two black holes orbiting 53 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:29.240 close to the center in a binary system, having already 54 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.080 merged with another galaxy. Then if a third black hole 55 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:36.400 from yet another galaxy merger enters the mixed complex, three 56 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:41.159 body interactions could kick the smallest one out. Continued observations 57 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:43.960 of this title disruption event but eventually favor one of 58 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.840 these two hypotheses. Characterizing how quiesce and black holes behave 59 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.080 is important because most black holes, including the one at 60 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.360 the center of the Milky Way, are dormant for most 61 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.759 of the time. In other words, you only know they're 62 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.400 there when they start feeding. The authors in asking the 63 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.560 Skies for more wandering black holes so they can determine 64 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.520 just how common they really are. This is space time 65 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.680 still to come, counting down to next week's solar eclipse 66 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.240 and a major setback for NASA Swift Space Telescope Rescue mission. 67 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:35.000 All that and more still to come on space Time. Spain, Portugal, Greenland, Iceland, Russia, 68 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.800 and the Arctic are about to experience a total solar 69 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.600 eclipse as the Moon's shadow sweeps across the surface of 70 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:44.879 the Earth. Other parts of Europe, from the British Isles 71 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.800 and France across to Greece, Italy and Lithuania, as well 72 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:51.480 as northern Africa, will experience a partial eclipse during the event. 73 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.079 Depending on where you are, the celestial spectacular will begin 74 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:57.519 around three point thirty four in the afternoon of August 75 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:00.879 the twurth, with totality occurring at five four and the 76 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.399 show ending just before eight o'clock in the evening Solar 77 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.920 eclipses happen when the Moon passes directly between the Earth 78 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.199 and the Sun. You see, the Moon's orbit around the 79 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.680 Earth is inclined by five degrees compared to the Earth's 80 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.480 orbit around the Sun, so normally the Moon appears to 81 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.240 cross the sky slightly above or below the path of 82 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.639 the Sun. But about every eighteen months or so, the 83 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:29.160 lunar orbit places the Moon directly between the Sun and Earth, 84 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:33.399 resulting in a solar eclipse. Eclipses happen because the Moon 85 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.040 is four hundred times smaller than the Sun, but it's 86 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.560 also four hundred times closer to the Earth, and so 87 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.759 the two appear to be about the same size in 88 00:05:40.839 --> 00:05:44.720 the sky as seen from Earth, and when the Sun, Moon, 89 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.800 and Earth line up exactly, the Earth experiences a total 90 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:52.399 solar eclipse. As this occurs, the Moon begins to slowly 91 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.120 pass in front of the Sun and the partial lunar 92 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:58.560 shadow or penumber, crosses the surface of the Earth. This 93 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.759 can last for more than an hour as more and 94 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:03.079 more of the Sun is hidden by the face of 95 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:07.519 the Moon. Then, just before totality occurs, the crescent Sun 96 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:11.319 converges into a single, bright white diamond of sunlight as 97 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.240 the last bit of the Sun's bright disk shines along 98 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.879 the edge of the Moon, and the first glimpses of 99 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:20.040 the fake corona create a ring around the Moon, an 100 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:23.399 effect known as the diamond ring. In the last fleeting 101 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:26.759 moments before totality, the diamond ring breaks up into a 102 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.040 string of beads created by the Sun's rays shining through 103 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.120 the low lying valleys between the mountains along the limb 104 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.399 or edge of the Moon. Once this effect, known as 105 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.439 Bailey's beads, comes to an end, the Moon has completely 106 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:43.240 covered the entire disk of the Sun and ear in totality. 107 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.079 During totality, the largest part of the Moon's shadow, the umbra, 108 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.839 crosses the Earth's surface. People along the path of totality 109 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.439 view a total eclipse, which can last up to seven 110 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.319 minutes and thirty one seconds, but is usually far shorter. 111 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.360 During this period, the sky goes down, stars will appear, 112 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:05.079 and it will suddenly get noticeably cooler. Birds will start roosting, 113 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.519 shadows will take on an unusual crescent shape, and you'll 114 00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:11.759 be able to see the Sun's tenuous outer atmosphere, The corona, 115 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.920 glowing milky white. Often explosions on the Sun's surface, called prominences, 116 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.639 will appear as spectacular bright pink or red clouds stretching 117 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.759 above the lunar limb. The path of totality can be 118 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:26.439 up to two hundred and seventy two kilometers wide, although 119 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:28.879 it's usually a lot less, and the further away you 120 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:30.759 are from the center of the path, the shorter the 121 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:34.319 eclipse duration will be. Now, if you're outside the line 122 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.600 of totality, either to the north or south of it, 123 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.879 you'll only see a partial eclipse, in which only part 124 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:41.879 of the Sun's disk will be covered by the Moon. 125 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.279 The reason each eclipse is only visible over a small 126 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.639 part of the Earth is because the Moon's shadow is 127 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:51.160 relatively small when it falls on the Earth's surface. Now, 128 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:54.480 another important factor is that, on average, the Moon orbits 129 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.279 about three hundred and eighty four thy four hundred kilometers 130 00:07:57.319 --> 00:07:59.639 away from the Earth. But the Moon's orbit around the 131 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:02.959 Earth is in a perfect circle, it's slightly elliptical. That 132 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.160 means one part of the orbit may be a bit 133 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.439 closer to the Earth, maybe three hundred and fifty seven 134 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.560 thousand kilometers that's known as perigy. Well, another part of 135 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:12.720 the orbit will be a bit further away, around four 136 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:16.279 hundred and six thousand kilometers, known as apergy, and when 137 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.800 the Moon's orbit takes it a bit further away, the 138 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.800 Moon looks a bit smaller in the sky, and if 139 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.720 that coincides with the solar eclipse, it doesn't cover the 140 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:28.360 entire face of the Sun, so instead of a solar eclipse, 141 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.279 the Moon's passage across the Sun creates an annulus, a 142 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.320 ring of fire, as light from the Sun surrounds the 143 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:39.279 dark Moon, resulting in an annular eclipse. Solar eclipses are 144 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.440 accompanied by a lunar eclipse, occurring either two weeks before 145 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.279 or after the main event. That's due to the same 146 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:49.159 alignment which caused the solar eclipse, so lunar and solar 147 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.759 eclipses occur with equal frequency, but lunar eclipses are seen 148 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:55.399 over a far broader area because the Earth's shadow is 149 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.399 far larger and therefore covers more of the lunar surface. 150 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.399 A lunar eclipseccurs during full moon, when the Sun, Earth, 151 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:05.960 and Moon a line. During this event, the Moon passes 152 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.679 completely through the Earth's dark shadow or umbra. Even though 153 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:12.759 the Earth completely blocks out sunlight from directly reaching the 154 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:13.679 surface of the Moon. 155 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.080 The Moon is still visible. 156 00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:18.799 During a total lunar eclipse, you'll see the Moon gradually 157 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:21.519 get darker than take on a rusty or blood red 158 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:24.320 color as the light from the Sun refracts through Earth's 159 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.240 atmosphere and undergoes rarely scattering, leaving only the longer red 160 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:31.879 wavelengths as all the Earth's sunsets and sunrises happen at 161 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.759 once to indirectly reflect on the lunar surface. A total 162 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.000 lunar eclipse and also look yellow, orange, or even browning 163 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:42.039 color depending on how different types of dust, particles, and 164 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:45.200 clouds in Earth's atmosphere allow different wavelengths of light to 165 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:49.720 reach the lunar surface. During next week's event, science teams 166 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:52.039 will be chasing the Moon's shadow with one of NASA's 167 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:56.519 high altitude WB fifty seven research jets and with scientific balloons. 168 00:09:57.320 --> 00:10:01.200 They'll investigate the Sun's dynamics the temporary darkening of our 169 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.200 skies affects the atmosphere. A squeed of four cameras mounted 170 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:07.919 in the nosecone will take high resolution images of the 171 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.360 Sun's corona in different wavelengths of visible and infrared light. 172 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.720 The cameras will capture at least twenty images per second. 173 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.600 Recording structures, outflows, and rapid changes in the corona during 174 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:22.759 the total eclipse. These images will allow scientists to learn 175 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.240 more about the formation of prominences, better understand the corona 176 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:28.639 and how it gets heated to nearly a million degrees, 177 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:31.799 and the relationship between material and the corona and in 178 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.399 the Solar wind, a continuous stream of charged particles flowing 179 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:37.679 out from the Sun and bathing the Earth and rest 180 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:40.960 of the Solar System. By chasing the Moon's shadow, the 181 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:44.120 jet will extend how long cameras can observe the corona. 182 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:46.840 See On the ground, the longest anyone will be able 183 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.279 to see the corona is two minutes in eighteen seconds, 184 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:52.600 but by flying along the eclipse path of totality, the 185 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:55.279 WB fifty seven's view of the corona can last nearly 186 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:59.639 three minutes. NASS WB fifty seven will flight fifty thousand 187 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.600 feet that's above any clouds that might obscure the view 188 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.559 of the Krona from the ground. The altitude will also 189 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.240 allow cameras to observe some of the infrared wavelengths that 190 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.360 get absorbed by the lower atmosphere before reaching the ground. 191 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.279 The crone has only been observed at those wavelengths a 192 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:17.919 few times before. The key instrument is called a multi 193 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:21.279 spectral able in imager. It was developed by the Southwest 194 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:24.600 Research Institooting Boulder, Colorado, and was also used during the 195 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:27.840 April twenty twenty four solar eclipse, where it provided valuable 196 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:31.080 observations this report from MESSATV. 197 00:11:31.639 --> 00:11:34.639 For most people, a total solar eclipse lasts just a 198 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:37.840 few minutes, but NASA's pilots find a way to make 199 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:40.679 it last longer by trying to outrun the Moon's shadow 200 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.159 with an airplane. 201 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:45.200 The truth is it's actually chasing us. We get out 202 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:47.080 in front of it and let it overtake us. Once 203 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.000 we're in totality, then we'll advance to artles to max 204 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:51.879 and try and stay in totality for as long as 205 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:52.240 we can. 206 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:58.039 Making that happen takes extreme precision. Scientists calculate exactly where 207 00:11:58.039 --> 00:11:59.879 the airplane needs to be at each moment. 208 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.240 We do a lot of missions where being in the 209 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.960 right point and time and space are critical, and this 210 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:05.919 is one of them. 211 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:09.799 On eclipse Day, the WB fifty seven aircraft climbs more 212 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:13.399 than fifty thousand feet into the stratosphere that's above most 213 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.000 of Earth's atmosphere where clouds, dust, and water vapor could 214 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:17.840 obscure the view. 215 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:21.480 Viewing an eclipse from fifty thousand feet provides a really 216 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:24.799 clear shot of the Sun, and that allows the scientists 217 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:27.879 to have confidence of the data that they're seeing is 218 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.840 on the Sun rather than distortions from the atmosphere. 219 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:34.320 When the Moon's shadow arrives, it engulfs the aircraft. 220 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:37.120 It's weird. Right where you're at is dark, but everywhere 221 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.200 you see is twilight, and the temperature of the cockpit drops, 222 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:41.279 so it's very noticeable. 223 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.759 As the eclipse unfolds. The pilot keeps the aircraft on 224 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:48.600 course while the sensor operator fine tunes the cameras, capturing 225 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.000 every second of data. 226 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:53.799 You're very, very, very busy, and it's very high pressure 227 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:56.240 because of course there's no du overse. You only get 228 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.639 one opportunity to get all these instruments trained on the 229 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:00.600 rate spot. 230 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.440 For the aircraft crew, it's a chance to witness one 231 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:07.279 of nature's most spectacular events while helping scientists better understand 232 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:07.679 our son. 233 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:10.039 I'm sitting in the best seat in the house. It's 234 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:10.679 pretty excited. 235 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:13.159 And in that report from Massa TV, we heard from 236 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:17.039 WB fifty seven Parlot, Tom Parnett, and WB fifty seven 237 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:22.840 censor equipment operator carry CLAM. Meanwhile, a NASA funded nationwide 238 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.480 eclipse ballooning project by Angelo de Jardines from Montana State 239 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.159 University will be sending students from several American universities to 240 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.879 Iceland and Spain to launch scientific balloons before, during, and 241 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.519 after the eclipse in order to better understand how an 242 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:40.679 eclipse affects the atmosphere. In Iceland, two teams will launch 243 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.120 eighty balloons starting eighteen hours before the eclipse until eight 244 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:46.360 hours after the event in order to study how the 245 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:49.200 eclipse affects Earth's boundary layer. That's the part of the 246 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:50.679 atmosphere that touches the ground. 247 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:51.639 You see. 248 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.799 The thickness of the boundary layer changes depending on factors 249 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.480 such as surface temperature and a humidity. Previous balloon flights 250 00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.440 during solar eclipses in Octo twenty twenty three and April 251 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.399 twenty twenty four showed that the boundary layer either collapsed 252 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:08.120 or decreased in thickness in locations with clear skies. 253 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:09.440 But not where there were cloudy skies. 254 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.039 Scientists want to see if that will be any different 255 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:15.399 in Iceland next week changes in the boundary layer are 256 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:19.480 driven by the day nights cycle. However, in Iceland in August, 257 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.159 the days are long and the nights are short, so 258 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.000 the nighttime influences might not be as strong as in 259 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:29.080 twenty twenty three or twenty four. Meanwhile, in Spain, three 260 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.080 balloon teams launch a total of six balloons with threendre 261 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.679 and sixty degree cameras in order to image the eclipse 262 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.720 shatter from above. These balloons will also include instruments designed 263 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.480 to measure levels of ozone in the atmosphere, which requires 264 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:45.600 sunlight to form. Previous balloon experiments in April twenty twenty 265 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:49.960 four showed that ozone decreases during totality, and scientists want 266 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:52.279 to determine if there are any differences with this eclipse, 267 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:54.759 especially as it's happening much later in the day and 268 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:56.039 during a different season. 269 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.200 Teams of students from across the United States have a 270 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:03.720 unique vantage point of total solar eclipses thanks to scientific balloons. 271 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.759 The Nationwide Eclipse Fluting Project is a NASA mission like 272 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:13.080 adventure and collecting data from balloons that go high up 273 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:14.240 into the atmosphere. 274 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:18.240 Started in twenty fourteen, the project engages college students and 275 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.840 high schoolers in one of two distinct paths. 276 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.759 One is the engineering track that has mostly engineering students 277 00:15:24.840 --> 00:15:28.120 that get to tinker on different payloads, and the other 278 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.080 track is an atmospheric science track where they'll actually be 279 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.440 launching weather sensors to study the impact of the eclipse. 280 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.000 Atmospheric science teams launch helium filled weather balloons the same 281 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:43.039 as those used by the National Weather Service every hour 282 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:47.960 for hours before and after an eclipse. Engineering teams fly 283 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:51.600 larger balloons laden with cameras and experiments. They build themselves 284 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:55.399 one hundred thousand feet up into the stratosphere. From there, 285 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:58.519 they study a variety of things such as incoming cosmic 286 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:02.320 radiation and ozone levels, as well as offering dramatic views 287 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.039 of the Moon's shadow on our planet. 288 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:07.759 The project is really a unique one in that it's 289 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:12.519 both an education but also doing amazing science that's both 290 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:16.840 about the eclipse itself and also the atmospheric response of 291 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:17.480 the eclipse. 292 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.240 Student balloon teams made a historic first during the twenty 293 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:25.840 nineteen eclipse. They measured eclipse driven atmospheric gravity waves in 294 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:29.440 Earth's stratosphere, or large ripples in the air caused by 295 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:32.000 the temporary cooling due to the drop in sunlight. 296 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.159 What excites me the most about this project is thinking 297 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:40.480 about the experiences that the students have that fell remember forever. 298 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.159 And in that report from Messa TV, we had from 299 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:47.120 Nationwide Eclipse Blue and project principal investigator Angela Deja Deen 300 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:51.919 and this is space time still to come. NASA's Swift 301 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.320 Space Telescope rescue mission suffers a major setback. Later in 302 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.200 the science report form of Biden Administration CHAEF Health Advisor 303 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.759 Anthony found faces the US Senate and pleads the Fifth 304 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.359 all that and more still to come on space time. 305 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:24.680 NASA's Link mission to try and save the Swift Space 306 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.640 telescope has suffered a major setback with a sudden loss 307 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:31.519 of attitude control, putting the rescue craft into an uncontrollable spin. 308 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.119 Link is on a mission to run the vous with 309 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:36.759 Swift and boost the orbiting observatory back up to a 310 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:41.000 higher altitude. Launched in two thousand and four, Swift was 311 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:44.359 designed to survey the skies looking for short lived events 312 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:48.319 like gamma ray bursts. Although they're the most powerful explosions 313 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:51.480 in the universe, gamma ray bursts only last a few 314 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:56.480 seconds before fading away. Swift acts like an early warning system, 315 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.160 detecting the burst first and then quickly messaging astronomers to 316 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.960 turn their telescopes towards the location of the blast. However, 317 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:07.559 recent space weather events like solar flares and chronal mass 318 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.400 ejections have blasted charged particles from the Sun towards the Earth, 319 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.559 causing our planet's atmosphere to wobble like a jelly blubber, 320 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:18.920 expanding one way, contracting another. As Swift travels through the 321 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.480 expanded part of the atmosphere, a process called atmospheric drag 322 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:26.720 slows the spacecraft down, decaying its orbit. The thing is, 323 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.680 engineers weren't expecting the impact of the current space where 324 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.720 the cycle it'd be as big as it is, and 325 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:34.480 so the probe wasn't equipped with the repulsion system in 326 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.000 order to boost itself back up into its intended six 327 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.880 hundred kilometre high orbit. Without help, Swift will fall back 328 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.640 into its atmosphere and burn up in a matter of months. 329 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:47.640 The Link spacecraft was launched last month on a Pegasus 330 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.680 rocket with the aim of catching up to and then 331 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:52.640 locking onto Swift using its three robotic arms, and then 332 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.720 firing its onboard engine to boost the telescope back up 333 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.880 to its original orbit. However, mission manager say Links now 334 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:03.839 started experiencing attitude control problems, causing the spacecraft to spin 335 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:10.039 uncontrollably and sporadically losing communication with mission managers. Preliminary investigations 336 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:13.119 suggest that two of Link's three reaction wheels, which control 337 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.799 the spacecraft's attitude and orientation in space, have stopped working, 338 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.960 and there's also some loss of functionality with its cold 339 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.160 gas thruster system, but neither LINKS operator, Catalyst, or NASA 340 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.880 at giving up hope, at least not yet. Mission managers 341 00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:30.039 are working on the plant to stop Link spin using 342 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.880 the spacecraft's electric propulsion thrusters, and once they've re established 343 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.720 a stable attitude and better understand the spacecraft's status, they'll 344 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:40.640 then uplink a new set of guidance, navigation, and control 345 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:45.440 commands to accommodate the spacecraft's new configuration. They'll then evaluate 346 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.640 revised plans to approach and capture Swift, depending on the 347 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:52.240 safety of the approach and Link's health. And needless to say, 348 00:19:52.599 --> 00:20:12.799 we'll keep you informed. This is space time, and time 349 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.079 that to take a brief look at some of the 350 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.599 other stories making news in Science this week with the 351 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:21.240 Science Report. The former Biden administration National Institutes of Health 352 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:24.880 Chief Advisor Anthony Fauci has faced a United States Senate 353 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.480 Homeland Security Committee hearing, accused of repeatedly lying to the 354 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.680 American public about the causes and origins of the deadly 355 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:36.319 COVID nineteen pandemic. Is part of his interaction with Senator 356 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:37.400 to Josh Harley. 357 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.319 Well, nothing says honesty like taking the fifth hun dark. 358 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:40.119 Let's try something. 359 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:41.440 What day of the week is it today? 360 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.279 On the divisive Council? I respectfully declined to answer, based 361 00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:47.920 upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. 362 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.119 What color tiere you wearing? 363 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:53.200 On the advisive Council? I respectfully declined to answer based 364 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.079 upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution? 365 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:57.720 What color is the carpet in front of you? 366 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.440 On the advisive Council? I respect declined to answer based 367 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.480 upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. 368 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:06.039 Let's just get one thing straight. You don't have any 369 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.720 rights under the Fifth Amendment because you've been pardoned, as 370 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:11.000 you very well know, as a Supreme Court has been 371 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.839 clear for a century and more. Brown versus Walker eighteen 372 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.400 ninety six. When he has been pardoned, he may not 373 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.799 stand upon his privilege. You know that your lawyer are 374 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:22.160 sitting behind you now, shifting nervously in their chairs. They 375 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:24.519 know it. This isn't about the constitution, This isn't about 376 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.079 the law. This is about contempt, contempt for this body, 377 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:28.680 and contempt for the American people. 378 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:31.240 With the threat of real jail time now hanging over 379 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.880 his head like the proverbial sort of Democles, Fauci pleaded 380 00:21:34.920 --> 00:21:37.000 the fifth and no less than one hundred and eleven 381 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:41.279 occasions in order not to incriminate himself. However, statements he 382 00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:44.119 wrote in his personal diary have already done that for him. 383 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.920 Fauci's diary confirms that he was funding gain of function 384 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:51.400 research into the Corona bat virus at China's Wuhan Institute 385 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:54.160 of Virology, and that ten scientists from his own team 386 00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:58.559 supported the lably hypothesis that is, a biologically engineered COVID 387 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:02.839 nineteen virus escape from the Chinese lab and quickly spread globally. 388 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:07.400 Over more than ten thousand pages, the diary, retrieved from 389 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:11.640 government computer servers in recent months, exposes Fauci's deepest thoughts 390 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:16.160 and darkest secrets, his obsession with the media, his infatuation 391 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.279 with his own growing fame and perceived importance, and his 392 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:25.039 schoolgirl like becited giddiness with celebrities. But more importantly, Fauci's 393 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:28.319 diary entries confirmed that he knew, or at least suspected 394 00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:31.960 COVID nineteen didn't originate in the local wet markets despired 395 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:36.559 him continuously and vigorously pushing that line publicly. Fauci's January 396 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.200 twenty twenty diary entry states categorically in his own words, 397 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.440 that we know the market was not the source. About 398 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:46.240 a week later, he referenced the conference call in which 399 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:50.079 several top infectious disease experts all thought the coronavirus might 400 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:53.640 not have originated in nature. He even writes the possibility 401 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:55.920