1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,839 Speaker 1: What happens when an interstellar visitor, I mean, an object 2 00:00:03,839 --> 00:00:06,919 that started its life around a completely different star is 3 00:00:06,919 --> 00:00:10,039 about to get blasted by a massive, high energy eruption 4 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:10,679 from our Sun. 5 00:00:10,839 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 2: It sounds like something out of science fiction, doesn't it 6 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,519 an impossible cosmic alignment, But that is the precise high 7 00:00:18,559 --> 00:00:22,199 stake scenario unfolding in real time right now with interstellar 8 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:22,920 Object three I. 9 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,039 Speaker 1: At least absolutely, and that's exactly why we're here. Welcome 10 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,399 to the deep dive today. We are undertaking well a 11 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,960 really critical analysis of the latest data surrounding three I outlaws. 12 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,119 This is a celestial tourist that it just continues to 13 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,840 redefine our understanding of commentary and interstellar physics. 14 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 2: And we have two huge immediate updates that just demand 15 00:00:43,039 --> 00:00:46,119 our attention. First, NASA is finally breaking its silence with 16 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,280 some definitive critical imagery, and at. 17 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: The same time, a new powerful coronal mass ejection a 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,759 CME is already hurtling straight toward the object. 19 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,159 Speaker 2: Our mission today is surgical. We need to unpack the 20 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,159 complex science behind this object really mysterious and very active behavior. 21 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: Right We're going to delve deep into the baffling controversy 22 00:01:05,799 --> 00:01:08,640 over its true size, which is an uncertainty that throws 23 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,719 off nearly every calculation we try to make. 24 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,079 Speaker 2: And most importantly, we're going to explain why you absolutely 25 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:17,760 have to understand some cutting edge plasma physics to make 26 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,599 any sense of this visitor from outside our Solar system. 27 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,079 Speaker 1: This object is forcing us to rewrite the rules. I mean, 28 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,959 it's exhibiting features, a clear tail, distinct stable jets, a 29 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:33,719 massive diffuse coma, all things you'd expect from a regular 30 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:34,840 Solar system commet. 31 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: But it's not. It remains an interstellar anomaly. It could 32 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,280 be an icy planetesimal, or maybe even a fragment that 33 00:01:42,359 --> 00:01:43,799 was ripped from an exoplanet. 34 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,439 Speaker 1: So we're cutting through all the speculation and noise right 35 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,439 now to bring you the essential thrilling details you need 36 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,519 to be well informed and frankly ready for the incoming 37 00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:53,280 data tsunami. 38 00:01:53,599 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 2: Let's start with the release that the astronomical community has 39 00:01:56,519 --> 00:01:58,799 just been waiting for because the lack of certainty up 40 00:01:58,799 --> 00:02:02,120 to this point has created a real data vacuum. 41 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:06,879 Speaker 1: Okay, let's unpack this. This is monumental news. For weeks, 42 00:02:07,239 --> 00:02:10,599 observation details on three iet lists were just incredibly sparse. 43 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,240 It was hampered by its position relative to the Sun. 44 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,599 Speaker 2: Right, it was in a really tough spot to observe 45 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:16,120 from Earth. 46 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: But now NASA has officially broken its silence. So what's 47 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,520 the definitive date and time for this critical data reveal. 48 00:02:23,759 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 2: The official release is scheduled via a livestream. It's set 49 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,360 for Wednesday, November nineteenth at twelve pm Pacific time. And 50 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,280 the expectation is, well, it's high. It's really high, because 51 00:02:34,319 --> 00:02:37,639 this isn't just a general image release. It's specifically targeted 52 00:02:37,719 --> 00:02:39,319 data that we've all been hoping for. 53 00:02:39,439 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: And the payload itself, the data, is the most crucial 54 00:02:42,879 --> 00:02:46,479 part of this announcement. The release promises to include high 55 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,039 resolution imagery. Specifically, they're calling it high rise imagery. Why 56 00:02:51,199 --> 00:02:55,199 is that specific designation so vital to solving the mysteries 57 00:02:55,199 --> 00:02:56,159 of three iet lists? 58 00:02:56,199 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 2: Well, high rise is short for high resolution imaging science experiment. 59 00:02:59,159 --> 00:03:00,879 Like this is not your stand space camera. So the 60 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,800 highest resolution camera ever sent to orbit another. 61 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: Planet, another planet, So it wasn't even designed for this. 62 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 2: No, not at all. It's on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 63 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,280 or MRO. The MRO is this phenomenal, incredibly stable platform 64 00:03:13,759 --> 00:03:17,759 and high rise imagery has a very specific function. It 65 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,520 can resolve details down to about twenty five centimeters per 66 00:03:20,599 --> 00:03:22,240 pixel on the Martian's surface. 67 00:03:22,439 --> 00:03:26,159 Speaker 1: Wow, twenty five centimeters from Orgon exactly. 68 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 2: Now, obviously three at lace is much much farther away, 69 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,159 but the quality of the optics means that if any 70 00:03:32,199 --> 00:03:35,439 instrument we have out there could resolve the tiny, obscured 71 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,479 nucleus of this thing, it's mro's high rise camera. 72 00:03:38,759 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: So we're talking about an instrument designed to capture incredibly 73 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,360 fine detail, even though, like you said, it wasn't originally 74 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,719 intended for fast moving interstellar. 75 00:03:46,159 --> 00:03:48,919 Speaker 2: Objects precisely, and the timing of when they got this 76 00:03:49,039 --> 00:03:51,719 data is also key. It was captured on October third, 77 00:03:52,159 --> 00:03:55,039 during what astronomers were calling a period of reduced visibility 78 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:56,719 or you know, an observation. 79 00:03:56,319 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: Shutdown, right, That's when we couldn't see it from Earth 80 00:03:58,319 --> 00:03:58,680 at all. 81 00:03:58,759 --> 00:04:01,919 Speaker 2: We couldn't. It was near what's called superior conjunction, meaning 82 00:04:02,039 --> 00:04:04,639 it was almost directly behind the Sun from our perspective. 83 00:04:05,319 --> 00:04:08,520 Terrestrial observation was just impossible because of the solar glare 84 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:09,879 and all the background noise. 85 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,599 Speaker 1: So we had to rely on assets in deep space entirely. 86 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,879 Speaker 2: We were relying on things like MRO, which was strategically 87 00:04:15,879 --> 00:04:19,120 positioned relative to Mars to obtain this data when nobody 88 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:19,639 else could. 89 00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: It speaks volumes. Doesn't it that NASA devoted such a 90 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,519 high value asset a Mars orbiter to capturing this image 91 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,879 even when visibility was at its worst from Earth. They 92 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:32,160 clearly knew this was the only chance to get a 93 00:04:32,199 --> 00:04:34,199 crucial glimpse of the object's core. 94 00:04:34,319 --> 00:04:36,959 Speaker 2: It was a calculated risk, absolutely, but it was a 95 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,920 necessary one. Terrestrial observers were fighting the Sun, which makes 96 00:04:40,959 --> 00:04:45,040 the data just unusable. MRO, being millions of miles away, 97 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,040 offered this unique vantage point away from the immediate glare 98 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,519 and all the atmospheric distortions that played Earth based imaging. 99 00:04:53,079 --> 00:04:55,319 Speaker 1: Now, setting side the science for just a moment, there's 100 00:04:55,319 --> 00:04:58,160 a cultural element to this timing that I find fascinating. 101 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,959 Our source noted that the date November nineteenth, it coincides 102 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,279 with what's called a critical planetary geometry, and while this 103 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,560 doesn't affect the data itself obviously, the source mentioned that 104 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:13,120 this geometry is sometimes associated with communication breakdowns and paradigm 105 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,279 shattering moments. As it relates to communications, it's. 106 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 2: An interesting narrative frame, isn't it. I mean, whether or 107 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,879 not one adheres to those kinds of cultural observations, the 108 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,959 fact remains that this piece of data is scientifically poised 109 00:05:26,959 --> 00:05:28,120 to shatter paradigms. 110 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:28,959 Speaker 1: It really is. 111 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,759 Speaker 2: For years we've struggled with these conflicting measurements about three iyeatlysts. 112 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,439 If this high rise data finally resolves the nuclear size, 113 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:40,439 it will irrevocably change the scientific conversation around this object. 114 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:46,000 It is quite literally an information paradigm shift in astronomical communications. 115 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: And speaking of communication, there's a subtle but really important 116 00:05:49,399 --> 00:05:53,560 linguistic shift happening. While the original discoverers and many astronomers 117 00:05:53,879 --> 00:05:58,040 they formally refer to it as interstellar object three I out. 118 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,959 Speaker 2: Lists, which is the correct neutral term. 119 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: Right, but NASA in their press releases about this image, 120 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,360 they're explicitly calling it an interstellar comet. 121 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 2: And that terminology shift from object to commet is significant. 122 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,399 It's not an accident. It implies that NASA's internal analysis 123 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,480 of the object's behavior, you know, the strength of its outgassing, 124 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,480 the development of its tail and coma, is leaning heavily 125 00:06:19,519 --> 00:06:22,240 toward the conventional cometary classification. 126 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: Even though it's from another star system. 127 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,199 Speaker 2: Even though it has a non Solar system origin, it's 128 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:31,399 behaving at least outwardly in a very conventional cometary way 129 00:06:31,439 --> 00:06:32,600 in terms of its activity. 130 00:06:32,759 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: Hold on, if it's acting like a comet, why is 131 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,360 it still fundamentally different from a comet that formed in, say, 132 00:06:38,399 --> 00:06:40,839 the ort cloud of our own solar system. Why does 133 00:06:40,879 --> 00:06:43,759 it retain that special interstellar status. 134 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,199 Speaker 2: The difference really lies in its composition and its trajectory. 135 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,439 Primarily the trajectory we know it came from outside our 136 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,600 system because its hyperbolic orbit confirms it has enough velocity 137 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,519 to escape the Sun's gravitational pull. It's not bound to 138 00:06:59,560 --> 00:06:59,879 our Sun. 139 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: It's just passing through. 140 00:07:01,319 --> 00:07:04,319 Speaker 2: It's just passing through. It didn't originate here. And while 141 00:07:04,319 --> 00:07:07,920 it exhibits activity, the jets the coma that looks very 142 00:07:07,959 --> 00:07:11,120 similar to a solar system commet, its internal composition, its 143 00:07:11,199 --> 00:07:14,959 volatile materials could be fundamentally different. How so well it 144 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,519 may harbor ices, say nitrogen or carbon monoxide, ices that 145 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,319 formed in a much colder or just different stellar environment, 146 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,000 and that dictates how it out gases, when it out gases, 147 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,480 and how it creates that plasma environment we're going to talk. 148 00:07:28,399 --> 00:07:30,639 Speaker 1: About, right and You have to contrast this with the 149 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,160 other interstellar visitors we've had. Umua was rocky, it didn't outgas, 150 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,279 it was shaped like a cigar. It was anything but 151 00:07:37,319 --> 00:07:40,319 a comma, completely different beast and two Iborisov. While it 152 00:07:40,399 --> 00:07:43,759 was clearly a comet, it was exceptionally dark and pristine. 153 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,959 Three Idolys is in this fascinating middle ground. It's highly active, 154 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,040 but it's still alien. 155 00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 2: It is three eyedalysis is forcing us to expand the 156 00:07:52,839 --> 00:07:56,360 very definition of a comet to include these highly active bodies, 157 00:07:56,639 --> 00:07:59,480 regardless of their star of origin. The data they're releasing 158 00:07:59,519 --> 00:08:03,040 should help solidify whether its composition is chemically close to 159 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,120 our comments or if it holds something unique that only 160 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,240 physics from a different star system could produce. 161 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: And just as a final note for listeners who want 162 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,319 to get directly involved, NASA plans to take questions from 163 00:08:13,399 --> 00:08:15,480 the public during the broadcast, So if you're quick, you 164 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,800 can ask your own burning questions using the hashtag hashtag 165 00:08:18,839 --> 00:08:20,720 ask NASA on social media. 166 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,279 Speaker 2: Okay, so now we shift from a data release, which 167 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,839 remember deals with historical observations from back on October third, 168 00:08:27,279 --> 00:08:33,200 to something immediate and frankly spectacular, an imminent, real time 169 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:34,159 cosmic interaction. 170 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,919 Speaker 1: This is truly breaking news. A powerful new coronal mass ejection, 171 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:44,559 a huge blast of solar plasma and magnetic energy. It 172 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,679 blasted off today and it came from the very same 173 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,759 active sunspot group that has been causing all the geomagnetic 174 00:08:51,799 --> 00:08:54,559 storming here on Earth. This is a huge wave of 175 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:55,519 energy moving. 176 00:08:55,279 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 2: Across space, and this wave is not missing its target. 177 00:08:58,399 --> 00:09:01,559 That's the key. Stays with models are showing a direct 178 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,919 shot toward three I at lists. The impact is predicted 179 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,519 to occur around November twenty second at twelve Universal time. 180 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: The twenty second I mean, the timing is just astonishing. 181 00:09:11,519 --> 00:09:13,919 It's just three days after NASA's Big Data reveal. 182 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,399 Speaker 2: It's almost too dramatic. It's like we get the scientific 183 00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:19,080 blueprint for the object and then the universe decides to 184 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,000 immediately test it in a cosmic crucible. 185 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,279 Speaker 1: So how certain are we about this trajectory. 186 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 2: The confirmation is key here and it's pretty solid. We 187 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,639 were able to look at the chronograph imagery. Those are 188 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:30,480 the instruments that block out the Sun's discs so we 189 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,519 can see the corona, and it showed the ejection launching 190 00:09:33,519 --> 00:09:35,120 off the side of the Sun. It came from a 191 00:09:35,159 --> 00:09:38,519 sunspot group that was just around the limb, so slightly out. 192 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: Of our direct view, and that's how we know it's 193 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:40,759 not coming for us. 194 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 2: Critically, Yes, those observations immediately confirmed it was not Earth's 195 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:49,519 direct so Earth is safe from a major geomagnetic storm 196 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:50,720 from this particular event. 197 00:09:50,799 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: But three ia plus is precisely in the. 198 00:09:53,399 --> 00:09:56,919 Speaker 2: Firing line exactly. The confidence level for a direct hit 199 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,519 is high because of the angle of launch. CME observed 200 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,639 launching slightly above the ecliptic plane, which is the plane 201 00:10:03,639 --> 00:10:06,879 the planet's orbit in, and that angle precisely matches the 202 00:10:06,919 --> 00:10:10,120 current inclination and position of three ilis. It's an extremely 203 00:10:10,159 --> 00:10:11,000 well aligned shot. 204 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,679 Speaker 1: This raise is a really fascinating physics question. I mean, 205 00:10:13,759 --> 00:10:15,399 what does a hit like this even mean for an 206 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,799 object that is already outgassing so rapidly and is surrounded 207 00:10:18,799 --> 00:10:22,519 by this vast cloud of plasma. This isn't a physical collision, right, 208 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,399 It's an electromagnetic and energetic shock wave, right. 209 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 2: And this is where we learn the most. For the 210 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,080 object itself, the solid nucleus, it's actually somewhat protected by 211 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,399 its massive coma, But the coma and the tail, which 212 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,720 are pure highly charged plasma, they will experience a violent interaction. 213 00:10:37,879 --> 00:10:40,360 And to understand the potential magnitude of this, we can 214 00:10:40,399 --> 00:10:41,600 look to the Rosetta precedent. 215 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,559 Speaker 1: Okay, tell us more about that, the Rosetta emissions observations 216 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:45,799 of Comet sixty seven P. 217 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 2: The Rosetta spacecraft which tracked Comet sixty seven P was 218 00:10:50,519 --> 00:10:52,919 in the perfect position to observe the effects of a 219 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,399 powerful CME up close. For ordinary Solar system commets, a 220 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,200 strong CME can do a couple of things. It can 221 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,039 break off the plasma tail that's called a tail disconnection event, 222 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,039 or can fundamentally reorganize the magnetic environment around the nucleus. 223 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,919 Speaker 1: And what did Rosetta's instruments actually measure during that CME impact? 224 00:11:10,919 --> 00:11:11,759 What were the numbers? 225 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 2: The effect was dramatic. The impact caused the surrounding magnetic 226 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,840 field strength is the field that's induced around the comet 227 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,879 by the flowing plasma to surge. It went from a 228 00:11:20,879 --> 00:11:24,759 baseline of about thirty to fifty nanotesla. 229 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,279 Speaker 1: Okay, which is a pretty low magnetic field. 230 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,879 Speaker 2: Pretty low, yes, Yeah, it's surged up to an astounding 231 00:11:28,919 --> 00:11:30,919 three hundred nanotesla. 232 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,639 Speaker 1: Three hundred That is a massive what is that? A 233 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,240 tenfold increase in the local magnetic field strength? 234 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 2: Almost yeah, a huge jump. A tenfold increase is a 235 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,279 great way to think about it. That tells you immediately 236 00:11:40,279 --> 00:11:43,840 that the environment changes from relatively calm space to a 237 00:11:43,919 --> 00:11:46,799 highly stressed, compressed, and violently charged bubble. 238 00:11:47,039 --> 00:11:49,759 Speaker 1: So what's happening there? Why does the field jump so much? 239 00:11:50,159 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 2: It happens because the CME is essentially a supersonic wave 240 00:11:54,639 --> 00:11:59,480 of high density magnetized plasma. When that wave hits the 241 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,600 comets slower moving, denser cloud of ionized gas and dust, 242 00:12:03,919 --> 00:12:07,879 the COMA, it compresses the comet's own magnetic field structure. 243 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,480 It's a boundary we call the comma pause, and that 244 00:12:10,519 --> 00:12:14,600 compression drastically increases its strength and changes the dynamics of 245 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:16,360 the plasma flow almost instantly. 246 00:12:16,759 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: So if three to eight less experiences a similar compression, 247 00:12:19,879 --> 00:12:21,799 what are astronomers going to be watching for? What's the 248 00:12:21,879 --> 00:12:25,320 visual evidence that this event occurred and gave us new data? 249 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 2: The primary observation, the thing everyone will be looking for 250 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:29,399 is that tail disconnection. 251 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,879 Speaker 1: Event, the tail literally breaking off visually. 252 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 2: Yes, if the magnetic pressure from the CME is strong enough, 253 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,399 it can literally sever the magnetic field lines that connect 254 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,720 the ion tail to the head of the coma, And 255 00:12:40,759 --> 00:12:42,480 when you look at it, the tail appears to just 256 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,159 float away and a new and immediately begins to form 257 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:45,720 in its place. 258 00:12:45,799 --> 00:12:48,519 Speaker 1: That would be a breath taking visual confirmation. But what 259 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:50,720 does that tell us scientifically? What's the takeaway? 260 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,799 Speaker 2: It gives us real time evidence of two things. First, 261 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,559 the density and speed of the CME, which we can track. 262 00:12:57,159 --> 00:13:00,240 But second, and much more importantly, it tells us about 263 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,440 the resilience and structure of three I at leas's own 264 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,399 plasma environment. How so, well, if it's tail snaps off easily, 265 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,559 it tells us something about the magnetization of the material 266 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,600 it's shedding. If it resists the pressure, or if the 267 00:13:13,639 --> 00:13:16,919 magnetic field surge is even greater than three hunderd nanotesla, 268 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,000 it would suggest the material that's shedding is more conductive 269 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,440 or maybe denser than a typical solar system. 270 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,519 Speaker 1: Comments Ah, so it could hint at unique compositional differences 271 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,759 that are rooted in its interstellar origin. 272 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,399 Speaker 2: Exactly. So, the CME hit isn't just a spectacle. It's 273 00:13:32,399 --> 00:13:35,480 a controlled cosmic stress test happening right before our eyes, 274 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,200 and it's allowing us to compare this interstellar object to 275 00:13:38,279 --> 00:13:41,600 our familiar Solar System commets like sixty seven p Okay. 276 00:13:41,639 --> 00:13:43,799 Speaker 1: So while we wait for that CME impact, we need 277 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,799 to talk about the current state of three Aatles because 278 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,799 after moving past perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun, 279 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,240 and as its viewing position improves, the object is concerned 280 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,120 to be, as our source put it, very much awake 281 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:56,600 and alive. 282 00:13:56,759 --> 00:13:57,919 Speaker 2: It's putting on quite a show. 283 00:13:58,159 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: It really is one of the key features a strong 284 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:00,759 are observing. 285 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 2: Right now. We see a very clear discernible tail. We 286 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,159 see distinct, highly focused jets of material, and of course 287 00:14:08,519 --> 00:14:13,120 that vast diffuse coma enveloping the nucleus. This activity confirms 288 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,360 that even weeks past its peak solar heating, the object 289 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,360 is still shedding volatile materials at a very high rate. 290 00:14:19,799 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: Let's just emphasize the scale here, because this is where 291 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,960 three ilis just transcends what you think of as a 292 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,919 regular commet. We have a nucleus that is likely tiny, 293 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,360 yet it produces this absurdly large cloud. 294 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 2: Of material that is the crucial point of disproportion. We 295 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,279 have estimates that at one point the comma the enveloping 296 00:14:37,279 --> 00:14:40,480 cloud of gas, dust and plasma was about seven hundred 297 00:14:40,519 --> 00:14:41,919 thousand kilometers across. 298 00:14:41,759 --> 00:14:44,879 Speaker 1: Seven hundred thousand kilometers. Let's just put that in perspective 299 00:14:44,879 --> 00:14:47,039 for everyone listening. The diameter of the Sun is about 300 00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:50,720 one point four million kilometers. So this interstellar traveler, whose 301 00:14:50,759 --> 00:14:54,000 core is probably only a few kilometers wide, is generating 302 00:14:54,039 --> 00:14:56,519 an atmospheric bubble that is roughly half the diameter of 303 00:14:56,519 --> 00:14:57,279 the Sun itself. 304 00:14:57,559 --> 00:15:01,039 Speaker 2: It's immense, it is a vast region of influence, and 305 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,159 its size just demonstrates the high rate of outgassing and 306 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,440 the low density of the material being ejected. The coma 307 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,320 typically grows as the object nears the Sun, and while 308 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,639 it may have shrunk a little since its closest approach, 309 00:15:13,039 --> 00:15:16,360 it remains gargantuan relative to its tiny core. 310 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: And we also have some data on its rotation, which 311 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,919 seems to complicate the picture even further. 312 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,679 Speaker 2: Indeed, the rotation period has been calculated at approximately sixteen 313 00:15:25,799 --> 00:15:29,720 point sixteen hours with very minimal variants. This suggests a 314 00:15:29,759 --> 00:15:33,080 relatively slow, maybe slightly irregular tumbling motion. 315 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,759 Speaker 1: Okay, so here's where the physics puzzle deepens and it 316 00:15:35,799 --> 00:15:38,039 really sets up the need for the plasma solution. We'll 317 00:15:38,039 --> 00:15:42,360 discuss next. How does that slow sixteen hour rotation square 318 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,200 with the highly stable jets we are persistently observing. 319 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:47,759 Speaker 2: This is the central anomaly, This is the big mystery. 320 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,320 We observe specific persistent channels of material flow, including a 321 00:15:52,399 --> 00:15:55,600 sunward facing jet sometimes called an anti tail, and several 322 00:15:55,639 --> 00:15:59,000 other lateral jets that remain highly focused. They're like laser beams. 323 00:15:59,039 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: But if the nucleus is re rotating, right. 324 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 2: If the nucleus is rotating every sixteen hours and the 325 00:16:04,279 --> 00:16:08,000 only force governing the material is thermal outgassing and simple inertia, 326 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,639 those jets should not hold their shape. They should smear out. 327 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,519 Speaker 1: Why not? I mean, if I spray a can of 328 00:16:13,559 --> 00:16:16,399 paint from a rotating object, the spray spreads out, but 329 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,000 the material is still leaving the object in a directed path. 330 00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 2: Isn't it in a vacuum? Yes, But in the case 331 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,279 of a comet, you have volatile ices turning directly into gas, 332 00:16:24,559 --> 00:16:27,759 and that gas immediately carries dust particles with it. As 333 00:16:27,799 --> 00:16:31,000 the nucleus rotates, that source point on the surface moves 334 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,480 over sixteen hours, the rotation should smear the jet material 335 00:16:34,759 --> 00:16:38,480 across the entire spherical coma, it should turn those specific 336 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,159 channels into a generalized homogeneous cloud a fog. 337 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,679 Speaker 1: So the fact that astronomers can identify stable, persistent jets 338 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,519 is essentially proof that a simple mechanical model based on 339 00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:51,879 rotation and inertia is failing. It's not enough, it. 340 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,519 Speaker 2: Is definitive evidence. It proves that something external to the 341 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:00,799 nucleus's rotation, something much larger and more influential, is organizing 342 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,240 and channeling the flow of the ejected material after it 343 00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:08,119 leaves the surface. And that something else cannot be gravity 344 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,279 or simple thermal pressure. It has to be the electromagnetic environment. 345 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: Which is just a huge clue. But the anomaly of 346 00:17:14,519 --> 00:17:17,799 these stable jets is compounded by what is frankly the 347 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,880 fundamental embarrassing truth of this entire observation. We still do 348 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,240 not know the definitive size of three EE out losses nucleus. No, 349 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,279 we don't, and this colossal uncertainty is why that NASA 350 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,400 High rise data is so eagerly awaited. 351 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,279 Speaker 2: This lack of certainty is the most critical scientific kurdle 352 00:17:33,319 --> 00:17:37,039 we face. Without an accurate size and mass estimate, all 353 00:17:37,079 --> 00:17:39,960 the subsequent calculations about its behavior are based on massive 354 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,240 assumptions as the source material. Dryly noted, scientists are simply 355 00:17:44,559 --> 00:17:46,839 fiddling around with some of the values to make the 356 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:47,480 numbers work. 357 00:17:47,519 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: Why does the size matter so fundamentally to everything else. 358 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,880 Speaker 2: Because size, combined with density, determines mass. If we don't 359 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,359 know the mass, we can't calculate the most important factor. 360 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,119 It's mass loss. 361 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: Rate, how quickly it's dissolving exactly. 362 00:18:01,519 --> 00:18:04,559 Speaker 2: How quickly it's falling apart. Furthermore, we need the size 363 00:18:04,599 --> 00:18:07,640 to accurately measure its non gravitational acceleration. 364 00:18:07,799 --> 00:18:10,759 Speaker 1: Okay, explain non gravitational acceleration. 365 00:18:10,839 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 2: For us, that's the slight deviation in its orbit that's 366 00:18:13,759 --> 00:18:16,599 caused by the momentum carried by the material in the jets. 367 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:20,480 When gas and dust blast off the nucleus, it provides 368 00:18:20,519 --> 00:18:24,319 a tiny, continuous thrust, like a very very low power 369 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:27,920 rocket engine, a little push. If the nucleus is large 370 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,400 and massive, that thrust is negligible. But if the nucleus 371 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,759 is tiny, that thrust can significantly alter its path, which 372 00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:38,119 is critical for predicting its future trajectory and understanding its past. 373 00:18:38,279 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: But the calculation of size requires another crucial, often overlooked variable, albedo. 374 00:18:44,599 --> 00:18:46,519 We need to be clear about what that term means. 375 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,880 Speaker 2: Albedo is simply the measure of how reflective a surface is. 376 00:18:50,279 --> 00:18:52,799 It's a percentage. Think of wearing a black shirt versus 377 00:18:52,839 --> 00:18:55,400 a white shirt on a sunny day. A high albedo 378 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,559 means the object is more reflective, it's whiter like fresh snow, 379 00:18:58,799 --> 00:19:02,079 and it absorbs less heat. A low albedo means it's dark, 380 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,000 like soot or charcoal, and it absorbs a lot of heat. 381 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,160 Speaker 1: And why is this so central to the size controversy. 382 00:19:08,799 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 2: Because when we observe a tiny faint dot surrounded by 383 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,039 this massive bright coma, astronomers have to estimate the nucleus 384 00:19:16,079 --> 00:19:19,759 size by measuring how much light is reflecting off of it. Okay, 385 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,559 so if we assume the nucleus is highly reflective a 386 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,680 high albedo, we only need a small nucleus to account 387 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,599 for the observed light. But if we assume the nucleus 388 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,599 is incredibly dark a low albedo, we would need a 389 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,079 much much larger nucleus to reflect that same amount of light. Ah. 390 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: So the uncertainty in albedo leads directly to this massive 391 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,000 conflict in the size estimates. You're just guessing at how 392 00:19:44,039 --> 00:19:45,319 bright the surface. 393 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,839 Speaker 2: Is precisely, and the conflicting measurements are drastically different, which 394 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,440 really demonstrates the scale of this albedo uncertainty. The initial 395 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,119 Hubble estimate from back in July suggested the nucleus was 396 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,319 up to maybe two point eight kilometers in diameter. That 397 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:00,880 estimate likely assumed a relative high albedo. 398 00:20:01,079 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: But what about the other end of the scale, The 399 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:04,880 really big estimates well. 400 00:20:04,759 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 2: Other measurements that have been floating around have suggested a 401 00:20:07,039 --> 00:20:11,759 diameter of up to fifty kilometers fifty five zero. To 402 00:20:11,799 --> 00:20:14,039 get that large a diameter from the amount of light 403 00:20:14,079 --> 00:20:16,640 we see, the object would have to be incredibly dark, 404 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,880 a very low albedo like the darkest comets we've ever 405 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:21,279 seen in our own solar system. 406 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: Fifty kilometers versus less than three kilometers, that is an 407 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,160 enormous factor of uncertainty. It's not even in the same 408 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,519 ballpark dot at all. It means that three E and 409 00:20:29,599 --> 00:20:33,119 oz is either a very small, highly efficient engine of activity, 410 00:20:33,519 --> 00:20:37,119 or it's a colossal dark body that frankly should be 411 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:38,119 much brighter than it is. 412 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 2: The discrepancy just underscores the difficulty of observing the object 413 00:20:42,599 --> 00:20:44,880 during the period when the high rise data was captured. 414 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:47,680 When the nucleus is obscured by a coma half the 415 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,559 size of the Sun and the albedo is a complete unknown, 416 00:20:51,079 --> 00:20:54,759 any estimate is highly speculative. We are literally struggling to 417 00:20:54,839 --> 00:20:57,759 find the tiny dark needle within a massive bright haystack. 418 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: So all our hope is resting on the November nineteenth 419 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,079 NASA release. Astronomers need the high rise imagery from MRO 420 00:21:04,319 --> 00:21:08,119 captured on October third to provide the necessary spatial resolution 421 00:21:08,279 --> 00:21:10,680 to constrain the size, and maybe it just maybe offer 422 00:21:10,759 --> 00:21:13,880 new photometric data that limits the range of possible albedos. 423 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 2: If high rise can resolve the core, or at least 424 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,640 provide an unprecedented upper limit on the size that forces 425 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,599 those fifty kilometer estimates out of the picture, it would 426 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:27,039 fundamentally refine all subsequent calculations of mass density and crucially, 427 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,480 its mass loss efficiency. Until then, the scientific community is 428 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,079 just held hostage by this massive discrepancy. 429 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: This brings us right back to the central scientific puzzle 430 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,240 that can't be solved by gravity or size alone. How 431 00:21:40,319 --> 00:21:43,079 does a tiny rotating core, whether it's three kilometers or 432 00:21:43,079 --> 00:21:47,279 fifty kilometers maintain those incredibly focused and stable jets within 433 00:21:47,319 --> 00:21:49,960 a half a million mile wide coma. 434 00:21:49,559 --> 00:21:52,559 Speaker 2: And the answer, as we hinted, lies in this specialized 435 00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:55,640 and often overlooked domain of dusty plasma physics. 436 00:21:55,759 --> 00:21:58,519 Speaker 1: This is truly the AHA moment for understanding three iOS, 437 00:21:58,599 --> 00:21:59,000 isn't it? 438 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 2: It is need to discard the idea of space as 439 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,880 simply a vacuum where objects are governed only by Newtonian physics. 440 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:07,759 The crucial principle here is that the moment gas and 441 00:22:07,839 --> 00:22:11,000 dusts are rejected, they are subjected to intense solar radiation 442 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,279 and the solar wind, and this causes rapid ionization. 443 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: Okay, let's clearly define ionization for everyone. 444 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,079 Speaker 2: Ionization is what happens when a gas molecule loses or 445 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:23,680 gains an electron that gives it an electrical charge. And 446 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,480 once it's charged, it is no longer an inert physical 447 00:22:26,519 --> 00:22:30,240 particle just floating around. It becomes highly susceptible to electric 448 00:22:30,279 --> 00:22:31,119 and magnetic fields. 449 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,079 Speaker 1: And this happens through a few different ways. 450 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,680 Speaker 2: Yes, there are several mechanisms at play. You have photoonization 451 00:22:36,799 --> 00:22:41,039 from the Sun's powerful UV light. You have charge transfer 452 00:22:41,079 --> 00:22:43,759 interactions with the particles in the solar wind, and you 453 00:22:43,799 --> 00:22:46,920 have electron impact, ionization. All of these things are working 454 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,039 to strip electrons off the gas molecules. 455 00:22:49,319 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: So the poma isn't a passive physical cloud of neutral 456 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:56,279 gas and inert dust. It's an immense turbulent, electrically charged 457 00:22:56,319 --> 00:22:58,000 bubble of plasma exactly. 458 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,759 Speaker 2: And because it's charged, it becomes electrically conductive. It interacts 459 00:23:01,839 --> 00:23:05,200 dynamically with the Sun's magnetic field lines, which are carried 460 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,799 outward by the solar wind. This whole interaction leads to 461 00:23:08,839 --> 00:23:13,039 the formation of distinct, structured magnetic regions around the comet. 462 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,759 It's almost like a tiny planet with its own atmosphere 463 00:23:15,759 --> 00:23:16,680 and magnetosphere. 464 00:23:16,839 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: And we mentioned three distinct regions earlier, the bowshock, the ionopause, 465 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,319 and the comma pause. Can we differentiate those for the listeners? 466 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:29,079 Speaker 2: Certainly? So. Imagine the comet is traveling through the solar wind, 467 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:33,160 which is moving supersonically, that is faster than the speed 468 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:34,640 of sound in that medium, like. 469 00:23:34,599 --> 00:23:37,079 Speaker 1: A supersonic jet flying through the air. You get a. 470 00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:40,519 Speaker 2: Shock wave perfect analogy. First, you hit the bowshock region. 471 00:23:40,839 --> 00:23:44,200 This is a standing shock wave where the supersonic solar 472 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,720 wind abruptly slows down and becomes turbulent as it piles 473 00:23:47,759 --> 00:23:50,880 up against the dense, heavy material being ejected by the comet. 474 00:23:51,039 --> 00:23:52,160 It's the initial barrier. 475 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: Okay, So the solar wind hits that wall and slows down. 476 00:23:55,839 --> 00:23:59,920 Speaker 2: Then what the now slower but still charged particles can 477 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,680 continue inward and they encounter the cometary material more directly. 478 00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:06,880 This leads to the commopause. Now, this is the key 479 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,000 magnetic boundary. It's the region where the cometary magnetic magnetic field, 480 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,839 the field that's induced by the comet's own plasma, is 481 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,640 balanced against the magnetic field being carried by the solar wind. 482 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,480 It acts like a massive, invisible, protective magnetic bubble around 483 00:24:20,519 --> 00:24:21,359 the entire coma. 484 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,319 Speaker 1: And finally, the ionopause. What's that. 485 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,119 Speaker 2: The ionopause is the innermost boundary, sitting closest to the nucleus. 486 00:24:27,319 --> 00:24:30,400 It's the sharp dividing line between the heavily magnetized solar 487 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,920 wind plasma on the outside and the virtually magnetic field 488 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,200 free region immediately surrounding the nucleus on the inside. So, 489 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:42,119 in short, the bowshock is the slowdown, the chemopause is 490 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,160 the main magnetic boundary, and the ionopause is the core. 491 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: Shield that makes the environment so much clearer. It's a 492 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,880 series of nested magnetic bubbles. Now, how does this massive 493 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,759 structured magnetic field, this comopause bubble, which is hundreds of 494 00:24:55,759 --> 00:24:59,119 thousands of kilometers across, how does that solve the problem 495 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,279 of the tiny rotating core. 496 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,680 Speaker 2: The key is that the nucleus is tiny and it's 497 00:25:03,799 --> 00:25:08,160 rotating slowly every sixteen hours inside this immense highly charged 498 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,079 plasma bubble. The rotational inertia the nucleus is completely utterly 499 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:16,359 overwhelmed by the organized channeling force of the massive electromagnetic 500 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:17,960 environment it is created around itself. 501 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: So the magnetic fields are acting like invisible guide rails 502 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:22,680 for all the material coming off the surface. 503 00:25:22,839 --> 00:25:26,319 Speaker 2: Precisely, the magnetic field lines that are generated or trapped 504 00:25:26,319 --> 00:25:29,279 within the coma can guide the flow of charged particles, 505 00:25:29,559 --> 00:25:32,400 and that even includes the dust grains through a process 506 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,839 called dust charging. So instead of the material diffusing evenly 507 00:25:35,839 --> 00:25:39,039 outward because of the nucleus rotation, the field lines act 508 00:25:39,039 --> 00:25:43,200 as conduits. They're like magnetic hoses. They sort, accelerate and 509 00:25:43,319 --> 00:25:47,279 channel the ionized gas and dust into those specific stable 510 00:25:47,559 --> 00:25:48,480 observed jets. 511 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: That is a phenomenal explanation. So the stability of the 512 00:25:51,799 --> 00:25:54,839 jets isn't a function of some complex nozzle or weird 513 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,000 structure on the nucleus itself. It's a function of the 514 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:02,559 massive surrounding electromagnetic environment channeling the material along these magnetic 515 00:26:02,559 --> 00:26:03,200 field lines. 516 00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:06,640 Speaker 2: It is the most robust physics based explanation we have. 517 00:26:07,079 --> 00:26:10,519 It suggests that three Ietellis's active behavior is less about 518 00:26:10,559 --> 00:26:13,680 its internal mechanics and much more about its powerful rapid 519 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,160 interaction with the solar environment, which creates this huge, self 520 00:26:17,279 --> 00:26:22,079 organizing plasma structure. This complex dusty plasma physics provides a 521 00:26:22,079 --> 00:26:25,240 compelling evidence, grounded reason for the anomaly, and it takes 522 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,039 the explanation firmly out of the realm of unsupported speculation. 523 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: It fundamentally changes how we view comments. They aren't just 524 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:37,400 orbiting dirty snowballs anymore. They are highly dynamic, electrically active 525 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,960 generators of magnetospheres, even if they are just passing through. 526 00:26:41,319 --> 00:26:44,039 Speaker 2: Given all the excitement over the NASA data and the 527 00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:48,240 anticipation for the CME impact, a lot of amateur astronomers 528 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,039 and curious observers are trying to spot three iout lists now, 529 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:53,480 But we need to be realistic about the challenges. 530 00:26:53,559 --> 00:26:56,680 Speaker 1: Absolutely, this is important three I out list is not Jupiter. 531 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,319 It is quite dim even with decent equipment. If you 532 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,799 just look at a single live feed image, you will 533 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,759 likely see only a blurry, pale, little dot, and. 534 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,880 Speaker 2: That leads to tremendous confusion Online. You see people who 535 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,799 watch a live stream and they confidently state the astronomers 536 00:27:11,799 --> 00:27:14,359 are lying. There's no tail, It's just a fuzzy blob. 537 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,160 And this denial is rooted entirely in a misunderstanding of 538 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:19,559 observational technique. 539 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: Let's clarify the essential technique then stacking images. Why is 540 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,359 stacking mandatory to resolve the faint tail and the jets? 541 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,799 Speaker 2: Okay, so to resolve faint objects like the three ie 542 00:27:28,799 --> 00:27:30,680 at us tail. It's the signal you want. You need 543 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,680 a long exposure to gather enough light. But a single, 544 00:27:33,839 --> 00:27:36,200 very long exposure captures way too much noise. 545 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: And what do you mean by noise? In this context? 546 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 2: The noise includes the constantly shimmering atmospheric distortions, any tiny 547 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,240 movement in the telescope mount, and the inherent electrical noise 548 00:27:47,279 --> 00:27:50,960 from the camera sensor itself. The longer the exposure, the 549 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,400 more blurred and noisy the image becomes. The signal gets 550 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:54,880 washed out. 551 00:27:55,279 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: So the signal is the light from the comet, but 552 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,759 the noise is all the distortion and unwanted back ground data. 553 00:28:00,759 --> 00:28:06,440 Speaker 2: Correct stacking solves this problem. You take dozens, sometimes hundreds, 554 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,480 of shorter, medium length exposures, say thirty to sixty seconds each. 555 00:28:11,039 --> 00:28:15,519 Then sophisticated software digitally aligns all those images perfectly on 556 00:28:15,559 --> 00:28:16,480 the target object. 557 00:28:16,599 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 1: So it layers them all on top of each other exactly, and. 558 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,480 Speaker 2: By mathematically averaging all those aligned frames, the consistent signal 559 00:28:23,519 --> 00:28:25,400 the photons that are actually forming the tail and the 560 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,839 jets is reinforced and integrated. It gets stronger. Meanwhile, the 561 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,680 random noise like that atmospheric wobble and random sensor artifacts, 562 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,400 it's effectively canceled out or drastically diminished. 563 00:28:35,519 --> 00:28:38,839 Speaker 1: It's the only way to dramatically improve the crucial signal 564 00:28:38,839 --> 00:28:41,480 to noise ratio and to pull out those fine details 565 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,000 that are otherwise completely hidden. So if someone is looking 566 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,079 at an unprocessed live single frame image, they are failing 567 00:28:49,119 --> 00:28:52,839 to perform the necessary due diligence for dim object astronomy. 568 00:28:53,119 --> 00:28:56,960 Speaker 2: Exactly those beautiful images you see online showing the faint, 569 00:28:57,079 --> 00:29:01,640 extensive tail and the distinct sounward face jet. Those are 570 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,519 the result of many hours of acquisition and post processing 571 00:29:05,559 --> 00:29:10,039 work by dedicated AFTRA photographers who understand this technique. They 572 00:29:10,039 --> 00:29:13,440 are not fabricated, They are simply the result of necessary processing. 573 00:29:13,559 --> 00:29:15,759 Speaker 1: The good news, though, is that the viewing conditions are 574 00:29:15,759 --> 00:29:17,559 actually starting to improve dramatically. 575 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:22,599 Speaker 2: Yes, during the most difficult observation period around that superior conjunction, 576 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,160 if the tail was there, it would have been stretching 577 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,799 effectively directly away from us. It would be pointing right 578 00:29:27,839 --> 00:29:30,279 back along our line of sight, making it very difficult 579 00:29:30,279 --> 00:29:31,799 to distinguish from background glare. 580 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: But as the object moves further along its orbit toward 581 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,920 its closest approach to Earth on December nineteenth, it's viewing 582 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:39,400 geometry gets better. 583 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,319 Speaker 2: Much better. We're now seeing it at a more oblique 584 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,640 or lateral angle. 585 00:29:43,799 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: And what does that mean visually? 586 00:29:45,359 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 2: That oblique angle means the tail is no longer stretching 587 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,240 directly away from our line of sight, but is presented 588 00:29:51,279 --> 00:29:54,119 more to the sign. It gives us much better contrast 589 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,359 against the background sky. Assuming a course that we employ 590 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:58,720 the stacking technique, and. 591 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: We have some really clear examples contrasting the effort. If 592 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,799 you try to use a basic smart telescope like a 593 00:30:04,799 --> 00:30:08,160 five hundred dollars c star. You might capture the bright 594 00:30:08,279 --> 00:30:11,279 central coma with a few stacked images, but the. 595 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,640 Speaker 2: Tail will remain invisible. You need the commitment to process. 596 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,720 For instance, you can compare that simple image to the 597 00:30:17,799 --> 00:30:21,920 professional results taken using say six hundred and eighty two exposures. 598 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,839 That is, one hundred and eighty two exposures in six 599 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,960 different filtered bands, resulting in thousands of captured frames that 600 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:28,759 are then stacked. 601 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: The difference must be staggering. 602 00:30:30,559 --> 00:30:33,359 Speaker 2: It is one shows a fuzzy doc the other shows 603 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:36,400 a fully formed active inter cellar body with clear jets 604 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:37,480 and a long, faint tail. 605 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: It is a clear reminder that in deep space observation, 606 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,680 your technique often matters just as much as your equipment. Okay, 607 00:30:43,759 --> 00:30:47,440 let's synthesize the critical elements of this incredible situation. We 608 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,359 have tracked the immediate imminent news NASA's critical high rise 609 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,759 image reveal on November nineteenth, and that holds the key 610 00:30:54,839 --> 00:30:58,400 to solving the object's true size, the most fundamental unknown, 611 00:30:58,720 --> 00:30:59,000 and we. 612 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 2: Have identified the real time high stakes threat, the CME 613 00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:06,519 strike around November twenty second. This provides an involuntary high 614 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,960 energy physics experiment that's set to test the resilient and 615 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,440 density of the object's plasma environment. 616 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,079 Speaker 1: And crucially, we've learned that making sense of three ilo 617 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,200 less requires moving past simple Newtonian physics and really embracing 618 00:31:19,319 --> 00:31:23,119 dusty plasma dynamics. The stable persistent jets are likely not 619 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,200 features of the tiny nucleus, but rather a function of 620 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:30,200 the massive electromagnetic fields within its enormous coma channeling the 621 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,759 ionized material along these magnetic conduits. 622 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 2: This interstellar object is forcing the absolute application of our 623 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,400 most cutting edge physics to a body that originated outside 624 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,000 of our stellar neighborhood, and that brings us to the 625 00:31:42,039 --> 00:31:45,079 final necessary question that's raised by this whole saga. 626 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: What stands out to you is the ultimate takeaway from 627 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,920 this ongoing observation, What should we be thinking about? 628 00:31:51,079 --> 00:31:54,079 Speaker 2: The CME hit on November twenty second is more than 629 00:31:54,119 --> 00:31:57,559 just a passing headline. It represents a unique opportunity to 630 00:31:57,599 --> 00:32:01,200 gain new fundamental knowledge. If we see a dramatic tail 631 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,799 disconnection event, or if instruments confirm a massive surge in 632 00:32:04,839 --> 00:32:08,680 the surrounding magnetic field, say comperal to that tenfold increase 633 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,160 scene during the Rosetta mission at Comet sixty seven P. 634 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:16,279 What new profound information about the composition, density, and magnetic 635 00:32:16,319 --> 00:32:19,720 interaction capabilities of objects born around other stars will that 636 00:32:19,759 --> 00:32:20,680 force us to integrate? 637 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,319 Speaker 1: It's a measure of how different the environment of another 638 00:32:23,359 --> 00:32:25,079 star system might make these objects. 639 00:32:25,319 --> 00:32:28,640 Speaker 2: Exactly? Will the severity of the plasma interaction tell us 640 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,880 that three Iatlys is shedding denser, more highly volatile material 641 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,319 than we ever expected from a typical comment? What boundaries 642 00:32:36,359 --> 00:32:40,440 of cometary science was interstellar challenger help us shatter? Next? 643 00:32:40,759 --> 00:32:43,640 So think about this. How profoundly does the knowledge of 644 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,400 plasma dynamics, the fact that the space around this object 645 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,680 is an electrically charged active environment, How does that change 646 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,960 how you view space itself? We are observing something born 647 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,200 somewhere else being violently tested by our own son, and 648 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,480 the results coming in the next few days could genuinely 649 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,799 rewrite the rule book on interstellar visitors