S26E14: First Brown Dwarf Imaged in the Hyades Open Star Cluster // Comparing Notes // Rocket Lab US Launch

1 00:00:00,410 --> 00:00:07,214 This is Spacetime Series 26, episode 14 for broadcast on the 1 February 2023. 2 00:00:07,412 --> 00:00:13,130 Coming up on Space Time the first brown dwarf image in the Haiti's open star cluster. 3 00:00:13,290 --> 00:00:21,326 Baby Colombo and Solar Orbiter spacecraft compare notes on Venus and Rocket Lab carries out its first launch from U. 4 00:00:21,348 --> 00:00:21,534 S. 5 00:00:21,572 --> 00:00:22,298 Soil. 6 00:00:22,474 --> 00:00:24,950 All that and more, coming up on Space. 7 00:00:24,980 --> 00:00:25,830 Spacetime. 8 00:00:26,890 --> 00:00:30,470 Welcome to Spacetime with Stuart Gary. 9 00:00:46,590 --> 00:00:51,920 Astronomers have imaged a brown dwarf in the hiatus open star cluster for the first time. 10 00:00:52,290 --> 00:00:55,306 The observations reported in The Astrophysical Journal. 11 00:00:55,338 --> 00:01:00,618 Letters Were made using The Kecken Subaru Telescopes upon Monarch Cay in Hawaii. 12 00:01:00,794 --> 00:01:11,950 The brown dwarf was discovered orbiting a young sunlight star named Hiap 21 152 located 150 light years away in the constellation Torust the Bull. 13 00:01:12,110 --> 00:01:26,806 The Hayedes is the closest open star cluster to Earth and its V shape pattern can be easily seen with the unaided eye because the group of young stars were all born at almost the same time in the same molecular gas and dust cloud. 14 00:01:26,908 --> 00:01:35,398 The Haiti star clusters attracted astronomers attention as an important research target, allowing them to study the evolution of stars and planets. 15 00:01:35,574 --> 00:01:45,182 The newly found brown dwarf, called HAP 21 152 B is the first confirmed subsellar companion of a mean sequence star in the Hi 80s. 16 00:01:45,236 --> 00:01:47,210 Discovered by direct imaging. 17 00:01:47,370 --> 00:01:54,686 Its mass is between about 22 and 36 times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. 18 00:01:54,868 --> 00:02:14,200 The study's lead author, Maziyuki Kuzuhara from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan says the discovery can provide an important clue to understanding the atmosphere of giant planets and brown dwarves based on how and when they show atmospheric characteristics similar to those seen in the planets of the Ho 87 99 system. 19 00:02:14,570 --> 00:02:17,030 Brown dwarves are failed stars. 20 00:02:17,370 --> 00:02:25,286 They're objects which don't have enough mass to sustain the core hydrogen fusion process which makes stars like our sun shine. 21 00:02:25,478 --> 00:02:30,998 However, some brown dwarves do fuse Uterium and lithium under the right conditions. 22 00:02:31,174 --> 00:02:38,138 While some brown dwarves are born as such others actually start their lives out as spectral type M red dwarf stars. 23 00:02:38,234 --> 00:02:47,834 But during their time in the main sequence, they burn off so much mass they evolve to cease core nuclear fusion turning them from red dwarfs into brown dwarfs. 24 00:02:47,962 --> 00:03:00,770 Brown dwarves fit into a category between the largest planets, which can have up to 13 times the mass of Jupiter and the smallest spectral type M red dwarf stars, which have about 75 to 80 times the mass of Jupiter. 25 00:03:00,850 --> 00:03:03,858 That's about 0.08 solar masses. 26 00:03:04,034 --> 00:03:14,358 These objects are useful for studying the evolution of atmospheres of giant planets because Jupiter like gas giants and lighter brown dwarves are expected to have similar characteristics. 27 00:03:14,534 --> 00:03:26,298 While thousands of brown dwarves have now been discovered since the first was found in 1995, companion type brown dwarves are still rare with a frequency of only a few for every hundred stars. 28 00:03:26,474 --> 00:03:35,118 The authors were able to derive the mass of Hip 21 152 B by calculating its orbit using a total of four direct images. 29 00:03:35,294 --> 00:03:49,858 These were captured using the Subaru Telescope's extreme adaptive optics system and Chronographic high angular resolution imaging spectrometer as well as the Keck Observatory's adaptive optics paired with its second generation near infrared camera. 30 00:03:50,034 --> 00:04:08,838 The researchers also obtained spectre from the Brown dwarf showing that Hip 21 152 b's atmosphere is transitioning between a type L and a type T brown dwarf, which means it's getting cooler with a surface temperature of between 1200 to 1300 Kelvin. 31 00:04:09,014 --> 00:04:10,650 This is spacetime. 32 00:04:11,150 --> 00:04:12,154 Still to come. 33 00:04:12,272 --> 00:04:20,346 DEPI Colombo and Solar Orbiter compare notes at Venus and Rocket, lab conducts its first launch from American soil. 34 00:04:20,458 --> 00:04:23,550 All that and more still to come from spacetime. 35 00:04:38,170 --> 00:04:52,940 The fatuitous conversion of two spacecrafted Venus, back in August 2021, gave scientists a unique opportunity to examine how a planet's able to retain a thick atmosphere without the protection given by a global magnetic field. 36 00:04:53,310 --> 00:05:14,254 The joint European Space Agency Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Peppy Columbo mission, which is on its way to studying the planet Mercury, and the joint European Space Agency NASA's Solar orbiter mission, which is studying the sun, have both been using a number of gravity assists of Venus in order to change their trajectories and guide them along their way. 37 00:05:14,452 --> 00:05:25,894 On August the 9th and 10th 2021, both missions flew past Venus within a day of each other, sending back observations captured from eight sensors and two vantage points in space. 38 00:05:26,092 --> 00:05:31,030 Unlike the Earth, Venus doesn't generate its own intrinsic magnetic field. 39 00:05:31,180 --> 00:05:32,600 No one's sure why. 40 00:05:33,130 --> 00:05:40,538 Nevertheless, a weak comet shaped induced magnetosphere is created around the planet by the interaction of the solar wind. 41 00:05:40,624 --> 00:05:47,878 That's the constant stream of charged particles emitted by the sun with electrically charged particles in Venice's upper atmosphere. 42 00:05:48,054 --> 00:05:55,114 Around this magnetic bubble, the solar wind is slowed down, heated and deflected, sort of like the wake of a boat. 43 00:05:55,242 --> 00:05:58,058 It's a region called the magneto sheath. 44 00:05:58,234 --> 00:06:07,586 During its flyby, Beepy Columbus swooped along the long tail of the magneto sheath, then emerged through the bluntness of the magnetic regions closest to the sun. 45 00:06:07,768 --> 00:06:13,838 Meanwhile, Solar Orbiter captured a peaceful solar wind from its location up front of Venus. 46 00:06:14,014 --> 00:06:26,386 The study's lead author, Mel Person from the University of Tokyo, says these dual sets of observations are especially valuable because the solar wind conditions experienced by Solar Orbiter were extremely stable. 47 00:06:26,578 --> 00:06:35,958 This meant that Pepper Columba had a perfect view of the different regions within the magnetos sheath and the magnetosphere understood by fluctuations from solar activity. 48 00:06:36,134 --> 00:06:49,610 She says peppy Columbus flyby was a rare opportunity to investigate the stagnation region, an area at the nose of the magnetosphere where some of the largest effects of the interaction between Venus and the solar winds are observed. 49 00:06:49,690 --> 00:07:07,362 We have used measurements from Epic Colombo, a mission that is currently on its way to Mercury, and in August of 2021, it made a flyby of Venus and it passed through a region that is previously almost unexplored in front of the planet on the day side, which is called the Stagnation region. 50 00:07:07,506 --> 00:07:20,406 This region is very important to characterize because it is very connected to how the solar wind interacts with the Venusian atmosphere at the same time as Peppercolonbo was close to Venus. 51 00:07:20,518 --> 00:07:30,140 Another mission, the Solar Orbiter, was located closely to Venus, but upstream of the planet, because Solar Orbiter had a similar flyby on Venus the day before. 52 00:07:30,590 --> 00:07:32,730 And this is a very rare configuration. 53 00:07:32,810 --> 00:07:36,638 We have two spacecraft located very close to Venus at the same time. 54 00:07:36,804 --> 00:07:45,390 And this allow us to make combine these measurements and further characterize what Becca column we're really seeing at Venus. 55 00:07:45,470 --> 00:07:54,260 Because the environment around Venus is very characterized by the variations that we see both in the atmosphere of Venus as well as in the solar wind. 56 00:07:54,630 --> 00:08:09,270 And with this combination of measurements it allows us to understand what is caused by the variations of the solar wind and what is really caused by intrinsic variations of different regions that Epic Colombo passed through. 57 00:08:09,420 --> 00:08:16,294 But Solar Orbiter at the time of this flyby was located approximately a million kilometers away from Venus. 58 00:08:16,422 --> 00:08:24,510 And so we have to take into account how long time it takes for the solar wind to move to Venus and if it changes during this time. 59 00:08:24,660 --> 00:08:31,146 And to do this we have used the spider tool which allows to make this exact propagation. 60 00:08:31,338 --> 00:08:56,294 And so, by combining the measurements from Solar Orbiter Moved To Venus and the measurements made by Becky Colombo as it passed through this almost unexplored region in the Day Side, we could further characterize this region which allow US to further understand how the solar wind interacts with Venus and the consequences this might have had for the atmospheric evolution of Venus over time. 61 00:08:56,412 --> 00:09:13,866 The data gathered gave the first experimental evidence that charged particles in this region are slowed significantly by the interactions between the solar wind and Venus, and that this then extends to an unexpectedly large distance of some 1900 kilometres above the planet's surface. 62 00:09:14,058 --> 00:09:24,834 The observations also showed how the induced magnetosphere provides a stable barrier that protects the atmosphere of Venus from being eroded away by the solar wind. 63 00:09:25,032 --> 00:09:35,802 And this protection remains robust even during solar minimum, when the lower ultraviolet emissions from the sun reduce the strength of the currents that generate the induced magnetosphere. 64 00:09:35,966 --> 00:09:44,920 The finding, which is contrary to previous predictions, sheds new light on the connection between magnetic fields and the atmospheric loss due to solar wind. 65 00:09:45,690 --> 00:09:47,334 The study's coauthor say. 66 00:09:47,372 --> 00:10:04,762 A zoa from Jackson's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science says the effectiveness of the induced magnetosphere is helping the planet retain its atmosphere and has important implications for helping scientists understand the habitability of planets without internally generated magnetic fields. 67 00:10:04,826 --> 00:10:12,400 All the planets in the solar system are exposed to supersonic plasma flow blowing from the sun, so called solar wind. 68 00:10:12,850 --> 00:10:20,366 The interaction between the solar wind and planetary bodies give birth to unique plasma environment around the planet. 69 00:10:20,478 --> 00:10:28,738 In particular, depending on whether a planet has an intrinsic magnetic field and or thick atmosphere. 70 00:10:28,914 --> 00:10:31,542 The nature of the interaction will differ. 71 00:10:31,676 --> 00:10:45,738 For example, at the Earth, because of the global intersychomagnetic field which can deviate the solar wind plasma flow, the atmosphere is sort of protected and does not directly interact with the solar wind. 72 00:10:45,824 --> 00:11:04,718 However, Venus is known as a planet that does not possess an intrinsic magnetic field like Earth or crystal magnetic field like Mars, but it has a thick atmosphere, thus interplanetary magnetic field carried with the Solo in plasma drapes around the planet. 73 00:11:04,814 --> 00:11:13,630 The combination with the Venusian upper atmosphere, so called ionosphere it produces induced magnetosphere. 74 00:11:13,710 --> 00:11:20,626 Venus has been explored by two of the missions in past Pioneer Venus Oliveir and Venus Express. 75 00:11:20,738 --> 00:11:31,318 The solar wind is thought to be able to directly interact with blind atmosphere and transfer the energy into it, resulting in atmospheric escape. 76 00:11:31,494 --> 00:11:46,538 However, what kind of phenomena is occurring there or how much energy can be transferred by which mechanism? This important question to address the escape and evolution of planter atmosphere still remains. 77 00:11:46,634 --> 00:12:01,022 Pippy Columbo comprises a pair of spacecraft Mio the Jaxolead Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter and MPO the Esoled Mercury Planetary Orbiter which is stacked together for the cruise phase of their journey to Mercury. 78 00:12:01,166 --> 00:12:14,402 The study combined data from Mio's four particle sensors as well as its magnetometer and another particle instrument on the MPO and the magnetometer and solar wind analyzer on solar orbiter Europlanet's Spider. 79 00:12:14,466 --> 00:12:27,494 Space weather modeling tools enabled the authors to then track in detail how features the solar wind observed by solar orbiter were affected as they propagated towards Peppy Colombo through the Venusian magneto sheath. 80 00:12:27,622 --> 00:12:43,920 The findings, which have been reported in the journal Nature Communications, demonstrate how activating sensors during planetary flybys while a spacecraft is still on the cruise phase of its mission can lead to some important and unique scientific discoveries this space time. 81 00:12:44,290 --> 00:12:56,210 Still to come Rocket Lab's first launch from American soil and later in the Science report growing light pollution is quite literally taking the stars out of the night skies. 82 00:12:56,370 --> 00:12:59,590 All that and more still to come of spacetime. 83 00:13:15,290 --> 00:13:20,780 New Zealand based company Rocket Lab has successfully launched its first mission from the United States. 84 00:13:21,150 --> 00:13:22,646 The Virginia is for launch. 85 00:13:22,678 --> 00:13:26,858 Labour's electron mission blasted into orbit from the company's launch complex. 86 00:13:26,954 --> 00:13:32,138 Two at NASA's Wallop silent flight facility on Virginia's mid Atlantic coast. 87 00:13:32,314 --> 00:13:40,146 The mission deployed three satellites into a 550 kilometer high orbit for geospatial analytics provider Hawkeye 360. 88 00:13:40,328 --> 00:13:48,266 The flight was Rocket Lab's 33rd electron mission and it means the company has now placed 155 satellites into orbit. 89 00:13:48,398 --> 00:13:51,682 It also means the company now operates three launch pads. 90 00:13:51,826 --> 00:13:58,450 There are two at Launch Complex, one on the Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand's North Island and one at Wallops Island. 91 00:13:58,610 --> 00:14:03,178 This will allow RocketLab to undertake more than 130 launches a year. 92 00:14:03,344 --> 00:14:04,902 As well as electron launches. 93 00:14:04,966 --> 00:14:14,110 Virginia will also play host to Rocket Lab's new larger launch vehicle than Neutron which will be built, tested, launch and landed within the Wallops Island Flight Facility. 94 00:14:31,890 --> 00:14:32,654 and time. 95 00:14:32,692 --> 00:14:37,960 Now to take another brief look at some of the other stories making using Science this week with a Science report. 96 00:14:38,730 --> 00:14:52,326 New research warns that vaccinated people are producing fewer neutralizing antibodies in response to the new BQ one one and XBB one COVID variants compared to the previously dominant Omecron strains. 97 00:14:52,518 --> 00:15:14,398 A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says researchers tested the antibody response of a small group of people who'd received multiple mRNA vaccines when exposed to the original Wuhan variant, as well as the Ombicron subvariants BA five, BF seven, BA 2752, BQ one one and XBB one. 98 00:15:14,564 --> 00:15:20,420 The researchers say the antibody response was significantly lower for the last two compared to the others. 99 00:15:20,790 --> 00:15:31,730 They say this information is just part of the picture, and protection against severe infection from these variants could come down to Tcell response if the antibody response is weakened. 100 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:44,010 Over 6.8 million people have now been killed by the COVID-19 coronavirus since it was first detected near China's Wuhan Institute of Virology around September 2019. 101 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:54,350 The World Health Organization estimates the true death toll is likely to be around 16 million, with some 675,000,000 confirmed cases globally. 102 00:15:55,570 --> 00:16:12,370 A new study looking at how a nighttime light pollution hides your ability to see the stars says a child born in a region where an average of 250 stars were visible in the night skies at any one time would only be able to see 100 of them from the same spot by the time they turned 18. 103 00:16:12,790 --> 00:16:19,198 The findings, reported in the journal Science, shows how quickly light pollution is hiding the stars. 104 00:16:19,374 --> 00:16:29,150 Astronomers analyzed data from a citizen science project where participants recorded how many stars they could see from their vantage point over a ten year period. 105 00:16:29,330 --> 00:16:37,446 They say that each year the decrease in visible stars reported was equivalent to an ear 10% increase in sky brightness. 106 00:16:37,638 --> 00:16:48,080 And because of the importance of maintaining natural daily cycles, both humans and nature, the researchers say more needs to be done to address this global light pollution problem. 107 00:16:49,490 --> 00:17:02,078 A new study has found that eating almonds every day resulted in a 69% boost in the molecule in blood called 1213 diehome, which is known to aid in recovery after exercise. 108 00:17:02,254 --> 00:17:10,210 It also found a 40% drop in 910 dihydroxy twelve octadesynoic acid, which is mildly toxic. 109 00:17:10,370 --> 00:17:24,474 The findings, reported in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, studied 64 participants who are asked to eat either 57 grams of almonds every day for four weeks or a cereal bar without almonds and then exercise for 90 minutes. 110 00:17:24,672 --> 00:17:29,734 Their blood was then analyzed at the beginning of the trial and before and after the exercise session. 111 00:17:29,782 --> 00:17:45,938 Four weeks later, the beneficial 1213 dihomi was 69% higher in the almond group, while the mildly toxic 910 dihydroxy twelve octadesinoic acid was 40% higher after exercise in the non almond group. 112 00:17:46,104 --> 00:17:54,930 The effects may be due to the brown skin of the almonds, which contains polyphenyls that end up in the large intestine and help control inflammation. 113 00:17:55,270 --> 00:17:59,030 A study was funded by the Almond Board of California. 114 00:18:00,330 --> 00:18:08,790 New updates for iOS users bad news for augmented reality fans, but possibly some good news for virtual reality fans. 115 00:18:09,130 --> 00:18:15,114 With the latest, we're joined by technology editor Alex Ahar of Roy from iTWire.com. 116 00:18:15,232 --> 00:18:18,518 So the newest Apple operating systems for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. 117 00:18:18,534 --> 00:18:24,510 You can now use a physical security key which plugs into either the USBC or the Lightning port. 118 00:18:24,580 --> 00:18:39,470 Now, companies such as Ubico have their Uber keys, which are physical keys, and there are other types of key out there, but these are the ones that allow you to make it so that you need something physical to plug in so that your phone, iPad or Mac can actually be logged into successfully. 119 00:18:39,550 --> 00:18:41,186 So those are the main things. 120 00:18:41,208 --> 00:18:42,638 Of course, there are a few bug fixes. 121 00:18:42,734 --> 00:18:45,246 Watch OS 9.3 also has some bug fixes. 122 00:18:45,278 --> 00:18:50,066 Now, there were reports of people with HomePods and TV OS also getting the 16.3 update. 123 00:18:50,098 --> 00:18:52,982 But then there's also reports that have been called and some issue there. 124 00:18:53,036 --> 00:18:59,718 And some of the older devices like those running iOS twelve, can now go to 12.5.7. 125 00:18:59,804 --> 00:19:03,194 And there's also I think it's an iOS 15.7.3. 126 00:19:03,232 --> 00:19:21,754 So if you haven't yet updated to iOS 16 and you're still on the older iOS for whatever reason, or you have an iPhone Five S, which isn't, it goes back a decade or so, then there are still security updates coming out from Apple for those and some bad news for those of us who are waiting for augmented reality glasses from Apple. 127 00:19:21,802 --> 00:19:29,730 Yeah, having that really small, simple, elegant pair of glasses that can project 3D sort of images in your field of view, that's still very difficult to do. 128 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:42,566 People like Qualcomm demonstrated their AR glasses platform, but even they were saying to me that it takes two or three years for these things to actually become real products as Apple threw rumors and back channel reports and nothing official was yet. 129 00:19:42,588 --> 00:19:44,774 But their glasses are delayed as well. 130 00:19:44,812 --> 00:19:53,014 But they will, according to the rumors, be launching a VR headset this year that will obviously let you look at an iOS style 3D version of iOS or iPad OS. 131 00:19:53,062 --> 00:19:55,254 And you'd be able to have browsers and games and apps. 132 00:19:55,302 --> 00:19:57,626 There's also going to be some aspects to it. 133 00:19:57,648 --> 00:20:08,590 There's a number of cameras pointing out and will let you interact with the real world, but it will still look like a headset that covers your eyes like a jordy from Star Trek on steroids are the much bigger sort of area. 134 00:20:08,660 --> 00:20:16,190 So that dream of the really simple super portable glasses, it's still coming later this decade, but sadly not this year. 135 00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:22,818 But the news from Bloomberg report is that the operating system will be based upon what the iOS can do. 136 00:20:22,824 --> 00:20:25,470 And you can also use it as another screen for your Mac. 137 00:20:25,550 --> 00:20:34,198 It's also apple is working with a number of content partners like Disney and others to create content and apps and games and other software for this particular platform. 138 00:20:34,284 --> 00:20:42,970 So we're going to be hearing more about this as the year goes on and as Apple brings this Xros device extended Reality OS device to life. 139 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:51,982 And there'll be the launch of the new Galaxy S 23 range from Samsung, and presumably there'll be watches and buds and earbuds as well, so we'll find out more about that next time we speak. 140 00:20:52,036 --> 00:20:55,600 It's alexaharovroyt from itwired.com. 141 00:21:11,190 --> 00:21:13,234 And that's the show for now. 142 00:21:13,432 --> 00:21:32,694 Space time is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts, itunes, Stitcher, Google Podcast, PocketCasts, Spotify, Acast, Amazon Music Bites.com, SoundCloud, YouTube, your favorite podcast download provider and From Spacetime with Stuartgarry.com. 143 00:21:32,892 --> 00:21:40,902 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