July 24, 2025 • 42 mins
NASA's Crew-10 will hold a press conference to update their mission and talk about their return home. Scientists have discovered a new giant molecular cloud in the center of the Milky Way. A 3rd interstellar comet has been observed entering our solar system. Plus an asteroid will make a pass by the Earth but it's nothing to worry about. And there's no solar eclipse on August 2 of this year that will cause the planet to go completely dark but there will be an eclipse two years later that will cause darkness in the band of totality the same way every eclipse does.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Warning. The following podcast contains an entertaining look at astronomy, physics,
and space news throughout the known universe. Listeners have been
known to learn about astronomical phenomenon the scientific method, and
expanded vocabulary to include terms like quasar asterism and uranus. Listen,
that's your own risk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go ahead. When made of stars, made them stars.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Made sizes. When made of stars, you could be from
high they would New Mexicomus, where all stars.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
When we are made of stars.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
I'm West Carol, joined by my good friend doctor Sean
Cruising from Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
More than Seawan.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Good morning, West, good to be here today.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
I want to mention this because we've been talking about
it last week, but we're starting to get things in
gear for our dragon Con coverage, which will come up
on Labor Day weekend when dragon Con happens, and we'll
have the dragon Con pregame show come into about two
hundred radio stations around the state of Georgia, and any
of those signals that bleed over into other surrounding states,
they'll get an opportunity to hear it there on the
(01:27):
radio as well, and then on the dragon Con Pregame
show podcast wherever you hear this podcast, you can right
now listen to past dragon Con pregame shows and listen
to interviews with people like I don't know, William Shatner.
I mean, I just I just throw that one out
there just because you know, big deal. It's just William Shatner,
that's all. And then you know stars from Star Wars,
(01:50):
other Star Trek people, the Marvel Universe, also Walking Dead
shows like that. So those are available now for you
to listen to. Some Disney stars. I mean I've interviewed Goofy,
Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck. All that's left now really is
gonna be Mickey, you know. I mean we're getting to
that stage. I guess I actually did interview Pete. That's
(02:13):
another one. So anyway, all of that stuff waiting for
you there on the dragon Con pregame show for you
to listen to and then get ready for. I can't
announce the guests yet, but coming very soon will be
the names of the guests.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I've put in teen.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Them, right, you know, so there's good ones.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yes, I got a pretty good idea of who I'm
going to have on the show at this stage at
least a couple of the guests. There's a couple that
I'm kind of waiting to find out, and we'll see
how it all plays out, but they always come through
for me. I end up with some fun people to
talk to, like the aforementioned guests I've mentioned. And then
I want to just thank you guys at Columbus State
(02:50):
University sponsoring our coverage every year, and we always talk
at some point, and you're on the pregame show with
me in more recent years talk about these connections between
science and science fiction and how it all just makes
sense and the way one draws from the other and
then it also goes the other direction, and you know,
all of a sudden, you're watching an old episode of
(03:11):
Star Trek and you're like, is that an iPad that
they're using in a medical examination room? And you're like,
this was a long time ago. How did they know
iPads were coming? And you go, well, you know, and
then they're little communicators that were eerily like next tell
phones and stuff like that, and you're like, yeah, I
get it. This is kind kind of a nice connection there,
and then of course science itself does. We had a
(03:33):
guest on this show on the Mat of Stars podcast
doctor Ed MacDonald, who is a consultant on Star Trek
and the Star Trek programming on Paramount, and you know,
we talked with her about some of the things that
she does as a consultant on that show, where she says,
all right, you guys want to go in this direction
with science fiction, but we want to keep it grounded
(03:54):
in science, so let me try to keep you on course.
So there's a lot of those connections with a can
like Dragon con it's not just sci fi, it's really
pop culture in general. And then a lot of you know,
comic book artists and authors and actual scientists that will
be there. And you know last year, you know Katie Coleman,
(04:15):
the astronaut, we had her on the show and she
was there at the convention. So you know, I mean,
there's just a lot to this convention and it just
makes sense that we team up for it every year.
But I just want to let you know again as always,
appreciate your involvement with it and you guys helping to
sponsor the coverage.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, you know, one of the big stories in space
in the last year was astronaut Don Pettitt spending some
significant time aboard the International Space Station. Of course, he's
the astrophotographer, so to speak. He's very into photography of
both space and the Earth from the International Space Station,
so he made a lot of headlines this year. He
plays in a band with Katie Coleman. Who knew that right, Well,
(04:56):
we knew it because we heard Katie Coleman talk on
last year's pregame show. So yeah, check out, make sure
and check out the dragon Con free game show with Wes.
It's always got really entertaining people on there and gives
you insights into both science, yes, but also into the
entertainment industry, and it's just kind of a fun thing
to do. Well.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Speaking of astronauts, let's jump into the NASA Crew ten
astronauts as they're getting ready for Crew ten.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, we got a name to drop on the Crew
ten group, which is Anne McLain. Yeah, so Anne McLain
is actually aboard the International Space Station as part of
Crew ten right now. She has been a visitor here
at the Coca Cola Space Science Center, so we're really
excited that she's you know, we'd call her a friend
of the museum. She's a friend of the museum here
(05:45):
and she is now a board iss on Crew ten.
The big news on Crew ten is that they're having
a press conference. This will be on Friday, so you know,
tomorrow as we're recording the show here ten forty am
Eastern daylight time, from the International Space Station, the Crew
ten astronauts will be speaking with the media, so make
sure you check out those interviews that the Crew ten
(06:08):
team includes Takuya Onishi, who's a Jack's astronaut, Japanese Space Agency,
our friend A McClain of course, Nicole Errs, another NASA astronaut,
and from ros Cosmos Careel Peskov. So these astronauts will
be speaking to the media from the International Space Station
on Friday, July twenty fifth. So if you don't hear
(06:31):
the story, if you don't hear the podcast this week,
go back and hear the interviews from Friday, July twenty fifth.
Of the Crew ten astronauts. They launched to the International
Space Station on March the sixteenth, so they've been up
there for a while now, and they'll be concluding their
mission sometime August September something along those lines, after approximately
(06:51):
five to six months on board Space station. When Crew
eleven takes off. An announcement has just been made about
Crew eleven's launched eight. They're looking toward the end of July,
the last week in July to launch. If they can't
hit it for weather reasons or something the first week
in August. So Crew eleven will be the relief crew
for Crew ten, and so we'll have we'll have more
(07:13):
coverage on that story on this podcast as events unfold.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Friends, So what you're saying is if there's a weather
issue and Crew eleven can't go up, crew ten will
be stuck on the International Space Station? Is that what
you're saying?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
They'll be nearly hopelessly stranded.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
They'll be forced to eat freeze dried meals up there.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I did just read that that Crew eleven is scheduled
for six months, but their mission could be extended up
to one or two months, so they could go seven.
So I guess those last two months are just simply
stranded aboard.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
That's what it would be.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, that's pretty cool, and like I said, what we do.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
We're getting ready for the press conference on Friday, but
it'll be great to hear kind of where things are
with the current mission. And then as they prep for
that return home.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, they've been doing a lot of exciting experiment to
board the International Space Station, the crew ten astronauts have
and they'll be talking about those experiments on Friday. And
something fun is that several of our alumni from here
at Clombus State University and former interns here at are
Space Science Center now work at the Marshall Space Flight
Center in the payload Operations area. Their flight controllers over there,
(08:23):
operations controllers working with the astronauts aboard the space station
on the experiments that they do up there every day.
So shout out to some of our alum who are
over there at Marshall. And by the way, quick shout
out to Marshall Space Flight Center itself. They're celebrating a
very important anniversary. Actually, they celebrated at the end of
last week, July nineteenth. They celebrated sixty five years of
(08:43):
operation over there. So Marshall Space Flight Center established in
July of nineteen sixty and so they have a sixty
fifth anniversary of that vaunted institution over there, the Marshall
Space Flight Center in nearby Huntsville, Alabama. So congratulations to all.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Of them, Kudos to them.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
On that.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Let's talk about this new giant molecular cloud found near
the center of the Milky Way. Now, when they say
it's a new cloud, does that mean it's just formed
or does it mean they've only just found it.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I think it's new to us. Yeah, we didn't know
it was there. Certainly it's old.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Considering how far away it is in the way light works,
we know it can't be too new.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It's not new. So that's my bad headline writing. But anyway,
so the cloud is new to us. We now know
of a new discovery of a molecular cloud in a
place we didn't know that there was a molecular cloud,
at least not this of this size. So one of
the important things about it is how big it is.
It's what's referred to technically as a giant molecular cloud,
(09:43):
but it is truly giant. It has the mass of
hydrogen gas equivalent to one hundred and sixty thousand suns.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It's a lot of suns, yeah, right, so you could
make a lot of stars out of the gas in
this giant cloud. Right. So that's why it gets classified
as what they call a giant molecular cloud. Why do
we say molecular, Well, it's because it's molecular hydrogen, and
that means two hydrogen atoms that are joined together in
a molecule called H two. If you stuck an O
(10:16):
on it, you might be able to drink it. So
just think about it. Just go with me on that
one anyway. So it's molecular H two is one of
those elements that's out there that's responsible for star formation,
for galaxy formation. And yes, even if there's a planet
out there with water on it, it probably came the
(10:36):
hydrogen probably came from one of these giant molecular clouds
as that Solar system was forming. So it's also very
large in size because it stretches out over two hundred
light years, which is kind of crazy. It's like two
hundred light years from one side to the other of
this massive cloud of hydrogen, molecular hydrogen that's just sitting
(10:57):
there ready to form stars. So that's the interesting thing
about it. It's about twenty three thousand light years away
from us, which that's that's a pretty good distance. And
here's another weird thing. The Milky Way galaxy is what's
known as a barred spiral that means right in the
middle of the galaxy, we have this structure that's kind
of like just a straight line rectangle, and that rectangle
(11:20):
is known as a galactic bar. Well, this giant molecutar
cloud that has been newly discovered is sitting inside the
Milky Way's galactic bar. They gave it an interesting name.
It just rolls off the tongue. Doesn't really roll off
the tongue. You probably won't remember it, but it's M
four point seven H zero point eight. Got it?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Committed to memory?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Got it? I think that's the name of Ela Musk's
fourth child. I can't remember M four point seven dash
zero point eight anyway, he just calls him M. You know,
it's just M for short.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
So if that was literally the name of kid, I
wouldn't be surprised. I could have bought that and gone,
of course it is, so you know.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's fake news. I I'll just throw that out. That
was a fake news moment here on the podcast. But
but you wouldn't be surprised, as you say, right, it's
at least consistent with previous behavior.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Yeah, it means like the you know, chemical symbol for
boron or something in the middle of it, and that
would have been exactly his name.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
But anyway, so, yes, this is the giant molecular cloud
called M four point seven DASH zero point eight, formerly
known as Dave.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So the researchers have already spotted some centers of possible
star formation within this giant molecular cloud. It is literally
out there birth and babies. That's what it's doing. It's
birth and baby stars down there inside the milky ways
galactic bar.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Nice just for understanding when you said if you put
an O on it, you might be.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Able to drink it.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
At times, very very literal brain thought, why wouldn't you
be able to drink it if it had an O one?
And of course you could drink it. And then I thought, oh,
because you'd have to get to it to be able
to drink it. Therefore you wouldn't be able to drink it.
So that's where my brain went for a couple of seconds.
That's why it probably looked like I was, you know,
just kind of frozen over here on this side, just
(13:19):
kind of going, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
What is he talking about? You know this, I will
tell you regular listeners of the show, you probably already
know this, but But for the rest of you out
there who might be tuning in for the very first time,
you know, this guy is a science teacher, and he
makes science teacher jokes, and quite often science teacher jokes
are just met with blank stares like, eight, what are
(13:41):
you talking about? And b did you really think that
was funny? It's like I.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
Followed it, absolutely completely followed it. I just went off
into this very literal direction and just kind of, you know,
like I was maybe buffering as you're looking at me,
probably a little imagining a little hour glass spinning right
underneath me, And that's probably really what I looked like.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
But in my nearly three decades completed of you know,
teaching college, I've seen that look many times on the
faces of people in my classroom.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
So's I would imagine. So coming up after a quick break,
we have two stories you may have seen online, you
almost certainly have seen online, and are they actually stories?
We'll find out after this. All right, let's let's start
(14:46):
with this asteroid that apparently is Oh my gosh, we're
gonna have a nearby a near pass of this asteroid.
We better look out here it comes watch out. We're
in big trouble, and it's less than a week away.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So so as with many things that propagate in this manner,
there's some kernel of truth somewhere in there, somewhere deep down.
For years, Wes, when you and I were on the radio,
we had what appeared to be the annual event of
a Mars hoax, which was, Mars is going to look
(15:22):
as large as two full moons in the sky because
it's so close, and it's going to happen. It happens
every August. Every August there was the Mars. What is
it about August, I don't know, August coming up here.
So what happened was that there was actually a close
pass of the planet Mars in and August, and then
(15:43):
just every year after that, they just kept coming back
with the same story. And this story kept getting more fantastical.
You know, the Mars was going to be, you know,
as close as the moon and twice the size of
the sky. We'll have news for your friends. If Mars
was actually as close as the moon, it would be
more than twice the size of the moon in the.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Sky anyway there at like that, and we would be
in a lot of trouble. Like just the way gravity works.
There would be a lot of problems if we were
that close to Mars.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Ho's gonna be some complications gravitationally, Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
I would.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
I would also just like to point out that it's
not just space news this happens with because I'm pretty
sure I've read the headline that Andy Griffith just died
about every three months that pops in somewhere where it's like, oh,
it's so sad to see this. It's been a while,
you know.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Why, why do people do these things? I just don't understand.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
But I don't know, all right, So you're saying there's
some kernel of truth to this somewhere, that we actually
do have something set to pass by, but it's not
going to be nearly as close as what's being reported.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yes, digging down, digging down to the truth of the
matter is that there is an asteroid. The asteroid's name
is twenty twenty five. OW don't get too obsessed about
what that means. It's just a catalog description, so that
means it was discovered in this year. It measures about
(17:07):
two hundred and ten feet in length, and it's going
to pass by the Earth on July twenty eighth. This
is where the truth ends and the fantasy begins, at
least if you're out there on certain social media platforms
reading about violent asteroids nearly colliding with the Earth. Okay,
because the rest of the story that's factual is that
(17:29):
this particular asteroid is going to come within about three
hundred and ninety three thousand miles of the Earth. Now, listen,
on the scale of the Milky Way, Yeah, that's right
next to us. On the scale of the Solar System,
that's pretty close. On the scale of the Earth Moon system,
(17:51):
and the Moon's not close, you know, like it takes
takes a while to grab an uber and get out
to the Moon. Ask the people working on the SLS
right now. So it's about one point six times the
average distance of the Moon. That's how close this asteroid
is going to pass. So, in other words, not very
close in these other comparative scales, yes, it's kind of close,
(18:15):
but in reality, for an asteroid we have to worry about.
This pass is no big deal. And a lot is
being made of how fast this asteroid is passing by
the Earth. It's passing by it forty six thousand miles
an hour. It is kernel of truth. Yes it's true.
But because it's more than one and a half times
the distance from Earth to Moon and it's only two
(18:38):
hundred and ten feet across, it's not a big deal.
In fact, these kinds of encounters are what NASA scientists
describe as routine. Now, we all have our different routines.
You may not have the same routine as a NASA astroid.
You might think, oh wow, you know, an asteroid passing
by a forty or forty six thousand miles and half
(19:00):
times a distance to the Moon, that's that's scary. Well
not if you watch asteroids a lot, as Ian o'
O'Neil does, who's a media relations specialist at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, And he came out and told ABC News
this quote, this is very routine. If there was a threat,
you would hear from us. Unquote. I'd just like to
(19:23):
stop the quote right there. I think that's enough, drop
the mic. This is very routine, if there was a threat,
you would hear from us, well, Ian j O'Neil, I
hope we would hear from you, by the way, Like
but the next part of his statement is kind of funny,
which she says again, quoting Ian J O'Neil, we would
always put out alerts on our Planetary Defense blog. Does
(19:49):
that mean I have to like every day? Like how
many times a day do I need to be checking
the Planetary Defense Blog? I don't like that part of
your quote, Ian J O'Neil.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, that's that's the slight uncomfortable part. It's like the
whole like you mean, I'm supposed to follow that because
nobody's going to tell me otherwise. I think I'd like
to know if there was a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I mean, I think the Planetary Defense Blog might have
a viewership that's maybe one tenth the size of our audience.
You know, it's so who's out there checking the Planetary
Defense block. We would have told you you would hear
from us. We would post it on the Planetary Defense Blog.
I think we got to do a bit better than that. Wes,
you might want to go ahead and, oh, I don't know,
(20:30):
pass it on to a news outlet.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Maybe we can make this arrangement with our listeners. If
this were to become a problem and we became aware
of it being on the Planetary Defense Blog, maybe we
would just record a very special episode of the show
to tell you, hey, breaking news, you need to start
digging a hole, like right now, just go ahead, dig
(20:53):
the biggest hole you can dig, and you know, put
your head between your legs in that hole and we'll
all see what happens on the other side. We would
tell you that. We would be like quick to tell
you that we're not gonna make you go to our blog.
All right, We're not gonna do that. We're gonna we're
gonna get the word out. That's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
That's our plage.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Jan j O'Neill. We're proud of you that you've surprised
Doge thus far, so good job there. But I will
I will just tell you on behalf of the you know,
producers and listeners of the Native Stars podcast, that quote
we would always put it out alerts on our Planetary
Defense blog. Unquote is not reassuring.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Maybe he didn't survive Doje and he just hasn't read
it on the Doge blog yet and he's like, oh,
you mean that's how I was supposed to find out
that I'm not supposed to still be here now.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Like the only way to find out if you were
a cover from your job was to go check the
Doge blog. You might be checking that several times a day. Yeah,
we're talking about rocks hitting the Earth. Yeah, that would
so I would just like to put out I would
just like to put this out to our listeners here.
I'm made of stars. You know, if we all were
to get I think we can cover this. Let's just
all once in a while, just all of us individually
(22:05):
log in once in a while to the Planetary Defense Blog.
Just hit it once in a while. And you know,
by the massive numbers of all the listeners to this podcast,
if we all just hit it once in a while,
we'll be if you find something like, hey, they just
posted on the Planetary Defense Blog that Apofus has changed
course and is going to absolutely run into New York City.
(22:25):
If you find that on the Planetary Defense Blog, let
Wes and I know, and we will get a special
edition of Native Stars out to the public as fast
as possible.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Yeah, we're gonna check, and then we'll get the word out.
That's the thing we're going to assure you on. And
it's almost like we're this next story where we're letting
you also know this because this has spread like wildfire
on social media, and the first time I read it,
I injured my eyes rolling them because yes, this story
(22:55):
about an eclipse that will make the entire planet go
dark for six minutes. Now, as you pointed out, there
can be some element of truth to these stories. First
of all, half the planet is always dark, right, I mean,
it's it's called night time, So that's like we're starting
(23:18):
at that. If that's our baseline, then yeah, okay, half
the planet'll be dark. And then guess what places, especially
those experiencing totality, are going to go dark during an eclipse,
because that's how eclipses work. We just had one here
not long ago, and if you went to one of
the areas for totality, yeah, you got complete darkness in
(23:39):
those areas, but that doesn't encompass the entire hemisphere that's
not experiencing night So no, the whole planet isn't going
to go dark for six minutes. But there is an
eclipse coming in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
So you know, I love my friends who come up
and ask me questions about astronomy because it shows that
they're interested, and that's really what I try to foster.
I try to foster an interest in science. And astronomy,
and so when they read something on you know, that
social media platform that begins with F or wherever, something
(24:16):
like that. If they get online somewhere and they read
a new story about astronomy and it strikes them as interesting,
they have an eagerness to share it with me. And
I appreciate this. So if any of you are in
my friend group, I'm not talking about you, okay, but
but if you read I'm those other people. If you
(24:38):
read a headline that says half the planet's going to
go dark, as West just very astutely pointed out, that's
called night. It happened just a few hours ago. I
mean it's happening as we speak.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Yeah it is, but I mean here where we are,
it was just going on not long ago. I mean,
I didn't know we needed to do a breaking news
episode of Made of Stars coming up as the sun
starts to set.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
In an unprecedented development, half the planet has gone dark.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
I just traveled halfway around the world. We crossed the
date line. It was very confusing.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
We looked out and we were like, it was just light.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Now it's dark. What's going on? There must be an.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Eclipse about like three fourths of the planet was dark
and that would be a news story. Yeah it did, Okay,
all right, so let me dial it back. The headline
said that because of an eclipse that's going to happen
on August second, just a few days from now, August
second of twenty twenty five, that half the Earth will
(25:42):
go dark and there'll be night and a little tiny
strip of a shadow because the moon's moving in front
of the sun. Okay, part of that story is true.
Half the Earth will actually go dark and we will
still call it night. The rest of it's not true
at all. There is no eclipse on August second, twenty
twenty five. So if you're out there, you're reading this
(26:04):
story on Facebook. Maybe you just read it and you
decided to tune into NATO Stars to find out the
veracity of this particular story, let me assure you false.
No solar eclipse August twenty August second, of twenty twenty five.
There is, however, a kernel of truth west First of all,
(26:25):
night does exist. Half the Earth does go dark pretty
much all the time. The other part is that on
August second of twenty twenty seven, see here it is
now August second, twenty twenty seven, there's going to be
a solar eclipse visible from Europe, North Africa, and the
(26:50):
Middle East. And if you happen to be in one
of those special regions inside the band of totality passing
through part of Europe, North Africa, in the Middle East,
you might see up to six minutes of darkness in
that very thin band. But see, here's the cool thing again,
(27:12):
the kernel of truth buried down in here somewhere is
actually kind of interesting. This is going to make this
one of the longest total solar eclipses visible over land
on planet Earth between the years of nineteen ninety one
and twenty one fourteen. So there's something kind of special
(27:33):
about August second, and you know, something going to darkness.
It's just not this year. It's not half the planet,
and it's not even in North America. So there you go, friends,
there is going to be an eclipse twenty twenty seven,
August second that will last in some places over six
minutes in length, making it the longest solar eclipse visible
(27:55):
from land between the years nineteen ninety one It's great year,
and twenty one fourteen.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
And we make this pledge to you here.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
It made of Stars that if there were something that
we're going to block out the sun for the entire
planet for any length of time, and we had any
sort of heads up about it, even if we didn't
have to find it on the Planetary Defense Blog, or
if we did, we would make sure that we would
give you a special heads up with a very special
edition of Made of Stars. By the way, don't expect
(28:26):
to have any sunlight for a while anywhere on the planet.
That would be breaking news, and we would make sure
to give that, especially if there was somehow an eclipse
that caused that to happen for the entire planet. That
alone would be unprecedented, because it would also mean that
the Moon was a lot bigger.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Or it got a lot closer, grew substantially, or somehow
it varied in its orbital where it's really close to
the Earth. Now one of those two things.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
And if you're one of those people that believes the
Moon is just full of air and it's hollow and
it maybe could be inflated even more, we would we
would pass that along. If any element of any of
that was true, we would do a breaking news episode.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I'm sure we hear from Ian J. O'Neil at the
Jepard Bols.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
We still we may hear from Ian Jay O'Neil anyway,
because we got people who are listening to this show
that may know him.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
All right. By the way, by the way, Ian, we
do not want you to be dosed, by the way.
We don't. We don't. We want you there writing that
Planetary Defense blog. We need you. We did we get.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
Only in fun. It's only in jest. There is no
no negativity there. And if you are sharing this with
him right now as a listener, thanks for listening. And
really we're just kidding.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
We promise we want you on that blog. We need
you on that blog.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Coming up, after one more quick break, we'll talk about
an actual story that it doesn't like it lives up
to the hype. I guess is maybe the way to
describe it. We'll do that right after this, all right.
(30:22):
So it's always fun when we can even speculate about this,
or when there's a possibility of it and it's not
a common thing where we're able to go, oh wow,
we got something that's come in from outside of our
solar system. So this is always fun when we find
a story like this in Hubble has spotted a comment
that's come in and this story is actually real.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah, so this this story was first well, let me
say it just differently. The discovery of this object was
first made by the Atlas Survey telescope. And the Atlas
Survey Telescope is a special telescope designed to observe large
swa of the sky so that they can they're cataloging many,
(31:04):
many objects all at once. So it's not a high
magnification really taking a tight look at one object. It's
more of a wide view, take a look at many
objects at the same time kind of telescope. And that's
why it has in recent years discovered lots of brand
new comets, because if you're taking a look at a
broad swath of the sky with really high resolution and
(31:28):
light gathering capabilities, you're gonna find a lot of comets
kind of zipping through the field of view. So there's
been a lot of Comet Atlases lately, all right, And
that's why. It's because the comets are named after the
discoverer of the comet, all right. So there we go.
So there's a new one. It's called Comet three I
Atlas Comet three eye Atlas discovered on July first by
(31:52):
the Atlas Atlas Survey Telescope. That's twenty twenty five, by
the way, July first of this year. And so now
the Hubble Space Tells Hope has been doing some follow
up observations. The real story here, it's out on space
dot com today as we're recording. It's it's actually, uh,
a new Hubble image has been released. So the Hubble
Space telescope image of this object has been released. But
(32:14):
that's not why this is really newsworthy. You know, since
the last time that Wes and I have recorded a
podcast together, there have been some new discoveries about this
comment three I at Lias, and that's that it has
a trajectory that very much looks like it came from
outside of our solar system. So that's the thing. It's
it's a it's a visitor from another star.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
And that's what the eye and the catalog name is.
It's interesting, I.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Believe, so, right, So it's it's yes, interstellar, right, it's
an interstellar comet. So this this would be the third
third interstellar Yeah, okay, it is actually the third of
this class of objects. I should back up and say
only the third right. So it is only the third
object that we've ever discovered that we can verify has
(33:00):
some sort of an interstellar trajectory as it zips its
way through our solar system. In other words, it's not
really orbiting the Sun. It's not a member of the
Sun's family. It's coming from the outside the other two
or comment one eye, oh muamoah, you can come again.
I had trouble the first time. That's a Hawaiian word.
(33:22):
By the way, I don't speak Hawaiian very well. I
got to visit Hawaii recently and found out I can't
say any of their names. Okay, So comment o'mu amooah
back in twenty seventeen, and commet Borisov back in twenty nineteen,
and o' muamua was one eye, Borisov is two I,
(33:43):
and now Comet Atlas is three I, the third interstellar
comma to be discovered. And a really interesting part about
the story is it's coming from a very interesting place
in the Milky Way. It's coming from a place where
the stars formed a lot earlier in time than our
own son. In other words, these stars and solar systems
(34:04):
around them formed something like seven billion years ago, whereas
our solar system only formed about four and a half
billion years ago. So in other words, this comet is
almost twice the age of any of the objects in
our own solar system. This is actually the oldest comet
(34:24):
we've ever seen. If all of those things are true,
this would make it the oldest comet that we've ever seen.
So doing spectral analysis and really taking a detailed look
at this comet is really important now. As almost as
a side note that might go along with the previous
two stories that we had, there has been a Harvard
(34:46):
professor by the name of a Vi Lobe. If you
know of Avi Lobe, you probably know that he's the
Harvard professor that's very interested in objects made by other
intelligences outside of our solar system. Shall we call it
that people from my neck of the woods would have
said UFOs. He likes those UFOs. We all right, So
he's very interested in the possibility of objects being created
(35:09):
by alien technology. And back in twenty seventeen, when he
realized that comet O'muamoa was actually an interstellar commet, he
claimed that Comet o'mu moo was likely a piece of
alien technology, and we all listened because he was from Harvard.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
That's right, But.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Then other scientists did follow up observations. Now auvi Lobe
has come out and said that this newly discovered Comet
three I Atlas is very likely a piece of alien technology.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
There it is. Yeah, I knew that's where this is.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
And he's given a whole list of reasons why he
thinks that. Thank goodness, there are people out there like
our good friend, doctor Tony Phillips. He feels like a friend.
He's like, I'm not your good friend. I'm just listening
to the podcast, Tony. If you're listening to the podcast,
you feel like a friend of ours because we have
read your website faithfully for decades and we talk about
(36:05):
it all the time on the radio. When we were
on the radio and now on the podcast. We love
spaceweather dot com. And for the rest of you listeners,
this is why we love spaceweather dot com because doctor
Tony Phillips has gone out and reviewed all of the
claims from Harvard professor a Vilobe and posted it up
just a few days ago on July twenty first, So
(36:27):
if you would like to read all of Auvilobe's claims
about three I Atlas and why he thinks it's a
piece of alien technology. And then you would like to
further read doctor Tony phillips follow up comments to all
of those claims. They are excellent. Check out spaceweather dot
com in the upper right hand corner you can go
(36:48):
hit the archive, pull up the date of July twenty
first of twenty twenty five, and see how real scientists
debate real science issues. It's a great piece of it's
just fun space news, but it's also a really good
way to look at the kind of analytical thinking that
scientists engage in two to support or debunk other claims.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
I got a text message yesterday from one of Jake's
very best friends, a Rouche, who has been enjoying time
at camp at the Columbus State University Coca Cola Space
Science Center this week, and he was just updating me
on what was going on uh there at camp uh.
And I know you guys are in full swing with
(37:33):
the camps. And then you guys also have something going
on with Dave Scott.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
We have so many things going on West It's it's
just great. Yeah, any time you guys, I know the
camp that the that your that your son's friend of
Rush is part of is a it's actually part of
our summer Academy for Robotics. Uh. It's uh. It's supported
in part by Pratt and Whitney, and Pratt and Whitney
has made available these slots within the academy camp to
(38:02):
cut for students to apply to these positions, come in
and learn how to build robots and do engineering. So
we hope that A. Rush and all of his friends
are having a great time in this week's camp. I
will tell you that the summer camps at the Space
Science Center have taken major steps forward and we've even
have now a dedicated robotics laboratory. It's a robotics education
(38:23):
lab here at the Space Science Center. That's going to
be just a room with a full of equipment that
students and even teachers can come in and learn how
to do the basic processes of robotics, which is really
great because we need to know more about this technology
as we become an even more advanced technological civilization. All right,
so that's going on, But you're right, we do have
(38:45):
a great event taking place at the bo Bartlett Center,
which is an art Gallery. Right down the street here
from the Space Science Center, we have the David Scott
Exhibit down at bo Bartlett. Dave Scott, commander of Apollo fifteen,
through his brother Tom, has donated many pieces to our
Coca Cola Space Science Center, so many in fact, that
we couldn't put them all on display at the same time,
(39:05):
so we have outsourced for a period of time some
of those pieces to be put on display down at
the Bow Bartlett Center here at Columbus State University. You
can check them out at the bow Bartlett Center this summer.
That exhibit is going to be winding up though within
the next few weeks, so make sure and head down
there now. Check out the exhibit on the Dave Scott
Artifacts and Memorabilia now on exhibit and display at the
(39:28):
Bow Bartlett Center here at Columbus State University, a sister
organization of the Coca Cola Space Science Center at Columbus
State University.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
Sean and I thank you for listening, and we'll do
this again next weeks. Overhead Door Company of Columbus has
all of your garage door needs covered residential and commercial
service and repairs. If you need a new garage door
or you're just looking to upgrade or repair your current
(39:59):
door overhead Door Company of Columbus has you covered. Plus
they've got your emergency repairs or service covered as well.
Seven oh six three five eight forty five hundred seven
oh six three five eight forty five hundred o dccolumbus
dot com. Get ready for dragon Con twenty twenty five
Labor Day weekend downtown Atlanta with the dragon Con Pregame
(40:23):
Show coming August twenty third and twenty fourth to a
radio station near you if you live in the state
of Georgia or one of the states near enough to
the State of Georgia to pick up a radio signal
coming from the network of stations in the State of
Georgia that'll be carrying the show, and there are many
in Alabama and Tennessee and the Carolinas that'll have a
(40:44):
chance to hear it even down into Florida. Or simply
listen to it on the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast
wherever you listen to your podcast, yes, where you're listening
to this podcast. You can also find past editions of
the dragon Con Game Show podcast with interviews with William
Shatner other stars from Star Trek, The Walking Dead, the
(41:07):
Marvel Cinematic Universe, many animated stars, some of your favorite
Disney stars. Chances to hear interviews with them, and this
year's dragon Con pregame show will drop to the podcast
on August twenty third, and you can hear this year's interviews.
It's sponsored by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center,
(41:29):
where doctor Sean Cruisin and I often like to discuss
the science behind the science fiction and the connections between
where science fiction sometimes leads to science science sometimes leads
to science fiction. It's just a weird connection that's already there.
It's built into it. And I say it's weird, but
it's really not. It makes perfect sense. The two go
(41:51):
together very well. Learn more about the Coca Cola Space
Science Center at CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this
year's dragon Con the website, which is DragonCon dot org
Warning. The following podcast contains an entertaining look at astronomy, physics,
and space news throughout the known universe. Listeners have been
known to learn about astronomical phenomenon the scientific method, and
expanded vocabulary to include terms like quasar asterism and uranus. Listen,
that's your own risk.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Go ahead. When made of stars, made them stars.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Made sizes. When made of stars, you could be from
high they would New Mexicomus, where all stars.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
When we are made of stars.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
I'm West Carol, joined by my good friend doctor Sean
Cruising from Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
More than Seawan.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Good morning, West, good to be here today.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
I want to mention this because we've been talking about
it last week, but we're starting to get things in
gear for our dragon Con coverage, which will come up
on Labor Day weekend when dragon Con happens, and we'll
have the dragon Con pregame show come into about two
hundred radio stations around the state of Georgia, and any
of those signals that bleed over into other surrounding states,
they'll get an opportunity to hear it there on the
(01:27):
radio as well, and then on the dragon Con Pregame
show podcast wherever you hear this podcast, you can right
now listen to past dragon Con pregame shows and listen
to interviews with people like I don't know, William Shatner.
I mean, I just I just throw that one out
there just because you know, big deal. It's just William Shatner,
that's all. And then you know stars from Star Wars,
(01:50):
other Star Trek people, the Marvel Universe, also Walking Dead
shows like that. So those are available now for you
to listen to. Some Disney stars. I mean I've interviewed Goofy,
Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck. All that's left now really is
gonna be Mickey, you know. I mean we're getting to
that stage. I guess I actually did interview Pete. That's
(02:13):
another one. So anyway, all of that stuff waiting for
you there on the dragon Con pregame show for you
to listen to and then get ready for. I can't
announce the guests yet, but coming very soon will be
the names of the guests.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I've put in teen.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Them, right, you know, so there's good ones.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yes, I got a pretty good idea of who I'm
going to have on the show at this stage at
least a couple of the guests. There's a couple that
I'm kind of waiting to find out, and we'll see
how it all plays out, but they always come through
for me. I end up with some fun people to
talk to, like the aforementioned guests I've mentioned. And then
I want to just thank you guys at Columbus State
(02:50):
University sponsoring our coverage every year, and we always talk
at some point, and you're on the pregame show with
me in more recent years talk about these connections between
science and science fiction and how it all just makes
sense and the way one draws from the other and
then it also goes the other direction, and you know,
all of a sudden, you're watching an old episode of
(03:11):
Star Trek and you're like, is that an iPad that
they're using in a medical examination room? And you're like,
this was a long time ago. How did they know
iPads were coming? And you go, well, you know, and
then they're little communicators that were eerily like next tell
phones and stuff like that, and you're like, yeah, I
get it. This is kind kind of a nice connection there,
and then of course science itself does. We had a
(03:33):
guest on this show on the Mat of Stars podcast
doctor Ed MacDonald, who is a consultant on Star Trek
and the Star Trek programming on Paramount, and you know,
we talked with her about some of the things that
she does as a consultant on that show, where she says,
all right, you guys want to go in this direction
with science fiction, but we want to keep it grounded
(03:54):
in science, so let me try to keep you on course.
So there's a lot of those connections with a can
like Dragon con it's not just sci fi, it's really
pop culture in general. And then a lot of you know,
comic book artists and authors and actual scientists that will
be there. And you know last year, you know Katie Coleman,
(04:15):
the astronaut, we had her on the show and she
was there at the convention. So you know, I mean,
there's just a lot to this convention and it just
makes sense that we team up for it every year.
But I just want to let you know again as always,
appreciate your involvement with it and you guys helping to
sponsor the coverage.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, you know, one of the big stories in space
in the last year was astronaut Don Pettitt spending some
significant time aboard the International Space Station. Of course, he's
the astrophotographer, so to speak. He's very into photography of
both space and the Earth from the International Space Station,
so he made a lot of headlines this year. He
plays in a band with Katie Coleman. Who knew that right, Well,
(04:56):
we knew it because we heard Katie Coleman talk on
last year's pregame show. So yeah, check out, make sure
and check out the dragon Con free game show with Wes.
It's always got really entertaining people on there and gives
you insights into both science, yes, but also into the
entertainment industry, and it's just kind of a fun thing
to do. Well.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Speaking of astronauts, let's jump into the NASA Crew ten
astronauts as they're getting ready for Crew ten.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Yeah, we got a name to drop on the Crew
ten group, which is Anne McLain. Yeah, so Anne McLain
is actually aboard the International Space Station as part of
Crew ten right now. She has been a visitor here
at the Coca Cola Space Science Center, so we're really
excited that she's you know, we'd call her a friend
of the museum. She's a friend of the museum here
(05:45):
and she is now a board iss on Crew ten.
The big news on Crew ten is that they're having
a press conference. This will be on Friday, so you know,
tomorrow as we're recording the show here ten forty am
Eastern daylight time, from the International Space Station, the Crew
ten astronauts will be speaking with the media, so make
sure you check out those interviews that the Crew ten
(06:08):
team includes Takuya Onishi, who's a Jack's astronaut, Japanese Space Agency,
our friend A McClain of course, Nicole Errs, another NASA astronaut,
and from ros Cosmos Careel Peskov. So these astronauts will
be speaking to the media from the International Space Station
on Friday, July twenty fifth. So if you don't hear
(06:31):
the story, if you don't hear the podcast this week,
go back and hear the interviews from Friday, July twenty fifth.
Of the Crew ten astronauts. They launched to the International
Space Station on March the sixteenth, so they've been up
there for a while now, and they'll be concluding their
mission sometime August September something along those lines, after approximately
(06:51):
five to six months on board Space station. When Crew
eleven takes off. An announcement has just been made about
Crew eleven's launched eight. They're looking toward the end of July,
the last week in July to launch. If they can't
hit it for weather reasons or something the first week
in August. So Crew eleven will be the relief crew
for Crew ten, and so we'll have we'll have more
(07:13):
coverage on that story on this podcast as events unfold.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Friends, So what you're saying is if there's a weather
issue and Crew eleven can't go up, crew ten will
be stuck on the International Space Station? Is that what
you're saying?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
They'll be nearly hopelessly stranded.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
They'll be forced to eat freeze dried meals up there.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I did just read that that Crew eleven is scheduled
for six months, but their mission could be extended up
to one or two months, so they could go seven.
So I guess those last two months are just simply
stranded aboard.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
That's what it would be.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Well, that's pretty cool, and like I said, what we do.
Speaker 5 (07:50):
We're getting ready for the press conference on Friday, but
it'll be great to hear kind of where things are
with the current mission. And then as they prep for
that return home.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Yeah, they've been doing a lot of exciting experiment to
board the International Space Station, the crew ten astronauts have
and they'll be talking about those experiments on Friday. And
something fun is that several of our alumni from here
at Clombus State University and former interns here at are
Space Science Center now work at the Marshall Space Flight
Center in the payload Operations area. Their flight controllers over there,
(08:23):
operations controllers working with the astronauts aboard the space station
on the experiments that they do up there every day.
So shout out to some of our alum who are
over there at Marshall. And by the way, quick shout
out to Marshall Space Flight Center itself. They're celebrating a
very important anniversary. Actually, they celebrated at the end of
last week, July nineteenth. They celebrated sixty five years of
(08:43):
operation over there. So Marshall Space Flight Center established in
July of nineteen sixty and so they have a sixty
fifth anniversary of that vaunted institution over there, the Marshall
Space Flight Center in nearby Huntsville, Alabama. So congratulations to all.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Of them, Kudos to them.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
On that.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Let's talk about this new giant molecular cloud found near
the center of the Milky Way. Now, when they say
it's a new cloud, does that mean it's just formed
or does it mean they've only just found it.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
I think it's new to us. Yeah, we didn't know
it was there. Certainly it's old.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Considering how far away it is in the way light works,
we know it can't be too new.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It's not new. So that's my bad headline writing. But anyway,
so the cloud is new to us. We now know
of a new discovery of a molecular cloud in a
place we didn't know that there was a molecular cloud,
at least not this of this size. So one of
the important things about it is how big it is.
It's what's referred to technically as a giant molecular cloud,
(09:43):
but it is truly giant. It has the mass of
hydrogen gas equivalent to one hundred and sixty thousand suns.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
That's a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It's a lot of suns, yeah, right, so you could
make a lot of stars out of the gas in
this giant cloud. Right. So that's why it gets classified
as what they call a giant molecular cloud. Why do
we say molecular, Well, it's because it's molecular hydrogen, and
that means two hydrogen atoms that are joined together in
a molecule called H two. If you stuck an O
(10:16):
on it, you might be able to drink it. So
just think about it. Just go with me on that
one anyway. So it's molecular H two is one of
those elements that's out there that's responsible for star formation,
for galaxy formation. And yes, even if there's a planet
out there with water on it, it probably came the
(10:36):
hydrogen probably came from one of these giant molecular clouds
as that Solar system was forming. So it's also very
large in size because it stretches out over two hundred
light years, which is kind of crazy. It's like two
hundred light years from one side to the other of
this massive cloud of hydrogen, molecular hydrogen that's just sitting
(10:57):
there ready to form stars. So that's the interesting thing
about it. It's about twenty three thousand light years away
from us, which that's that's a pretty good distance. And
here's another weird thing. The Milky Way galaxy is what's
known as a barred spiral that means right in the
middle of the galaxy, we have this structure that's kind
of like just a straight line rectangle, and that rectangle
(11:20):
is known as a galactic bar. Well, this giant molecutar
cloud that has been newly discovered is sitting inside the
Milky Way's galactic bar. They gave it an interesting name.
It just rolls off the tongue. Doesn't really roll off
the tongue. You probably won't remember it, but it's M
four point seven H zero point eight. Got it?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Committed to memory?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Got it? I think that's the name of Ela Musk's
fourth child. I can't remember M four point seven dash
zero point eight anyway, he just calls him M. You know,
it's just M for short.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
So if that was literally the name of kid, I
wouldn't be surprised. I could have bought that and gone,
of course it is, so you know.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
It's fake news. I I'll just throw that out. That
was a fake news moment here on the podcast. But
but you wouldn't be surprised, as you say, right, it's
at least consistent with previous behavior.
Speaker 5 (12:16):
Yeah, it means like the you know, chemical symbol for
boron or something in the middle of it, and that
would have been exactly his name.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
But anyway, so, yes, this is the giant molecular cloud
called M four point seven DASH zero point eight, formerly
known as Dave.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So the researchers have already spotted some centers of possible
star formation within this giant molecular cloud. It is literally
out there birth and babies. That's what it's doing. It's
birth and baby stars down there inside the milky ways
galactic bar.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
Nice just for understanding when you said if you put
an O on it, you might be.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Able to drink it.
Speaker 5 (12:59):
At times, very very literal brain thought, why wouldn't you
be able to drink it if it had an O one?
And of course you could drink it. And then I thought, oh,
because you'd have to get to it to be able
to drink it. Therefore you wouldn't be able to drink it.
So that's where my brain went for a couple of seconds.
That's why it probably looked like I was, you know,
just kind of frozen over here on this side, just
(13:19):
kind of going, wait a minute.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
What is he talking about? You know this, I will
tell you regular listeners of the show, you probably already
know this, but But for the rest of you out
there who might be tuning in for the very first time,
you know, this guy is a science teacher, and he
makes science teacher jokes, and quite often science teacher jokes
are just met with blank stares like, eight, what are
(13:41):
you talking about? And b did you really think that
was funny? It's like I.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
Followed it, absolutely completely followed it. I just went off
into this very literal direction and just kind of, you know,
like I was maybe buffering as you're looking at me,
probably a little imagining a little hour glass spinning right
underneath me, And that's probably really what I looked like.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
But in my nearly three decades completed of you know,
teaching college, I've seen that look many times on the
faces of people in my classroom.
Speaker 5 (14:08):
So's I would imagine. So coming up after a quick break,
we have two stories you may have seen online, you
almost certainly have seen online, and are they actually stories?
We'll find out after this. All right, let's let's start
(14:46):
with this asteroid that apparently is Oh my gosh, we're
gonna have a nearby a near pass of this asteroid.
We better look out here it comes watch out. We're
in big trouble, and it's less than a week away.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
So so as with many things that propagate in this manner,
there's some kernel of truth somewhere in there, somewhere deep down.
For years, Wes, when you and I were on the radio,
we had what appeared to be the annual event of
a Mars hoax, which was, Mars is going to look
(15:22):
as large as two full moons in the sky because
it's so close, and it's going to happen. It happens
every August. Every August there was the Mars. What is
it about August, I don't know, August coming up here.
So what happened was that there was actually a close
pass of the planet Mars in and August, and then
(15:43):
just every year after that, they just kept coming back
with the same story. And this story kept getting more fantastical.
You know, the Mars was going to be, you know,
as close as the moon and twice the size of
the sky. We'll have news for your friends. If Mars
was actually as close as the moon, it would be
more than twice the size of the moon in the.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Sky anyway there at like that, and we would be
in a lot of trouble. Like just the way gravity works.
There would be a lot of problems if we were
that close to Mars.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Ho's gonna be some complications gravitationally, Yes, sir.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
I would.
Speaker 5 (16:13):
I would also just like to point out that it's
not just space news this happens with because I'm pretty
sure I've read the headline that Andy Griffith just died
about every three months that pops in somewhere where it's like, oh,
it's so sad to see this. It's been a while,
you know.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Why, why do people do these things? I just don't understand.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
But I don't know, all right, So you're saying there's
some kernel of truth to this somewhere, that we actually
do have something set to pass by, but it's not
going to be nearly as close as what's being reported.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yes, digging down, digging down to the truth of the
matter is that there is an asteroid. The asteroid's name
is twenty twenty five. OW don't get too obsessed about
what that means. It's just a catalog description, so that
means it was discovered in this year. It measures about
(17:07):
two hundred and ten feet in length, and it's going
to pass by the Earth on July twenty eighth. This
is where the truth ends and the fantasy begins, at
least if you're out there on certain social media platforms
reading about violent asteroids nearly colliding with the Earth. Okay,
because the rest of the story that's factual is that
(17:29):
this particular asteroid is going to come within about three
hundred and ninety three thousand miles of the Earth. Now, listen,
on the scale of the Milky Way, Yeah, that's right
next to us. On the scale of the Solar System,
that's pretty close. On the scale of the Earth Moon system,
(17:51):
and the Moon's not close, you know, like it takes
takes a while to grab an uber and get out
to the Moon. Ask the people working on the SLS
right now. So it's about one point six times the
average distance of the Moon. That's how close this asteroid
is going to pass. So, in other words, not very
close in these other comparative scales, yes, it's kind of close,
(18:15):
but in reality, for an asteroid we have to worry about.
This pass is no big deal. And a lot is
being made of how fast this asteroid is passing by
the Earth. It's passing by it forty six thousand miles
an hour. It is kernel of truth. Yes it's true.
But because it's more than one and a half times
the distance from Earth to Moon and it's only two
(18:38):
hundred and ten feet across, it's not a big deal.
In fact, these kinds of encounters are what NASA scientists
describe as routine. Now, we all have our different routines.
You may not have the same routine as a NASA astroid.
You might think, oh wow, you know, an asteroid passing
by a forty or forty six thousand miles and half
(19:00):
times a distance to the Moon, that's that's scary. Well
not if you watch asteroids a lot, as Ian o'
O'Neil does, who's a media relations specialist at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, And he came out and told ABC News
this quote, this is very routine. If there was a threat,
you would hear from us. Unquote. I'd just like to
(19:23):
stop the quote right there. I think that's enough, drop
the mic. This is very routine, if there was a threat,
you would hear from us, well, Ian j O'Neil, I
hope we would hear from you, by the way, Like
but the next part of his statement is kind of funny,
which she says again, quoting Ian J O'Neil, we would
always put out alerts on our Planetary Defense blog. Does
(19:49):
that mean I have to like every day? Like how
many times a day do I need to be checking
the Planetary Defense Blog? I don't like that part of
your quote, Ian J O'Neil.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
Yeah, that's that's the slight uncomfortable part. It's like the
whole like you mean, I'm supposed to follow that because
nobody's going to tell me otherwise. I think I'd like
to know if there was a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I mean, I think the Planetary Defense Blog might have
a viewership that's maybe one tenth the size of our audience.
You know, it's so who's out there checking the Planetary
Defense block. We would have told you you would hear
from us. We would post it on the Planetary Defense Blog.
I think we got to do a bit better than that. Wes,
you might want to go ahead and, oh, I don't know,
(20:30):
pass it on to a news outlet.
Speaker 5 (20:32):
Maybe we can make this arrangement with our listeners. If
this were to become a problem and we became aware
of it being on the Planetary Defense Blog, maybe we
would just record a very special episode of the show
to tell you, hey, breaking news, you need to start
digging a hole, like right now, just go ahead, dig
(20:53):
the biggest hole you can dig, and you know, put
your head between your legs in that hole and we'll
all see what happens on the other side. We would
tell you that. We would be like quick to tell
you that we're not gonna make you go to our blog.
All right, We're not gonna do that. We're gonna we're
gonna get the word out. That's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
That's our plage.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Jan j O'Neill. We're proud of you that you've surprised
Doge thus far, so good job there. But I will
I will just tell you on behalf of the you know,
producers and listeners of the Native Stars podcast, that quote
we would always put it out alerts on our Planetary
Defense blog. Unquote is not reassuring.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Maybe he didn't survive Doje and he just hasn't read
it on the Doge blog yet and he's like, oh,
you mean that's how I was supposed to find out
that I'm not supposed to still be here now.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Like the only way to find out if you were
a cover from your job was to go check the
Doge blog. You might be checking that several times a day. Yeah,
we're talking about rocks hitting the Earth. Yeah, that would
so I would just like to put out I would
just like to put this out to our listeners here.
I'm made of stars. You know, if we all were
to get I think we can cover this. Let's just
all once in a while, just all of us individually
(22:05):
log in once in a while to the Planetary Defense Blog.
Just hit it once in a while. And you know,
by the massive numbers of all the listeners to this podcast,
if we all just hit it once in a while,
we'll be if you find something like, hey, they just
posted on the Planetary Defense Blog that Apofus has changed
course and is going to absolutely run into New York City.
(22:25):
If you find that on the Planetary Defense Blog, let
Wes and I know, and we will get a special
edition of Native Stars out to the public as fast
as possible.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
Yeah, we're gonna check, and then we'll get the word out.
That's the thing we're going to assure you on. And
it's almost like we're this next story where we're letting
you also know this because this has spread like wildfire
on social media, and the first time I read it,
I injured my eyes rolling them because yes, this story
(22:55):
about an eclipse that will make the entire planet go
dark for six minutes. Now, as you pointed out, there
can be some element of truth to these stories. First
of all, half the planet is always dark, right, I mean,
it's it's called night time, So that's like we're starting
(23:18):
at that. If that's our baseline, then yeah, okay, half
the planet'll be dark. And then guess what places, especially
those experiencing totality, are going to go dark during an eclipse,
because that's how eclipses work. We just had one here
not long ago, and if you went to one of
the areas for totality, yeah, you got complete darkness in
(23:39):
those areas, but that doesn't encompass the entire hemisphere that's
not experiencing night So no, the whole planet isn't going
to go dark for six minutes. But there is an
eclipse coming in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
So you know, I love my friends who come up
and ask me questions about astronomy because it shows that
they're interested, and that's really what I try to foster.
I try to foster an interest in science. And astronomy,
and so when they read something on you know, that
social media platform that begins with F or wherever, something
(24:16):
like that. If they get online somewhere and they read
a new story about astronomy and it strikes them as interesting,
they have an eagerness to share it with me. And
I appreciate this. So if any of you are in
my friend group, I'm not talking about you, okay, but
but if you read I'm those other people. If you
(24:38):
read a headline that says half the planet's going to
go dark, as West just very astutely pointed out, that's
called night. It happened just a few hours ago. I
mean it's happening as we speak.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
Yeah it is, but I mean here where we are,
it was just going on not long ago. I mean,
I didn't know we needed to do a breaking news
episode of Made of Stars coming up as the sun
starts to set.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
In an unprecedented development, half the planet has gone dark.
Speaker 5 (25:11):
I just traveled halfway around the world. We crossed the
date line. It was very confusing.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
We looked out and we were like, it was just light.
Speaker 4 (25:18):
Now it's dark. What's going on? There must be an.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Eclipse about like three fourths of the planet was dark
and that would be a news story. Yeah it did, Okay,
all right, so let me dial it back. The headline
said that because of an eclipse that's going to happen
on August second, just a few days from now, August
second of twenty twenty five, that half the Earth will
(25:42):
go dark and there'll be night and a little tiny
strip of a shadow because the moon's moving in front
of the sun. Okay, part of that story is true.
Half the Earth will actually go dark and we will
still call it night. The rest of it's not true
at all. There is no eclipse on August second, twenty
twenty five. So if you're out there, you're reading this
(26:04):
story on Facebook. Maybe you just read it and you
decided to tune into NATO Stars to find out the
veracity of this particular story, let me assure you false.
No solar eclipse August twenty August second, of twenty twenty five.
There is, however, a kernel of truth west First of all,
(26:25):
night does exist. Half the Earth does go dark pretty
much all the time. The other part is that on
August second of twenty twenty seven, see here it is
now August second, twenty twenty seven, there's going to be
a solar eclipse visible from Europe, North Africa, and the
(26:50):
Middle East. And if you happen to be in one
of those special regions inside the band of totality passing
through part of Europe, North Africa, in the Middle East,
you might see up to six minutes of darkness in
that very thin band. But see, here's the cool thing again,
(27:12):
the kernel of truth buried down in here somewhere is
actually kind of interesting. This is going to make this
one of the longest total solar eclipses visible over land
on planet Earth between the years of nineteen ninety one
and twenty one fourteen. So there's something kind of special
(27:33):
about August second, and you know, something going to darkness.
It's just not this year. It's not half the planet,
and it's not even in North America. So there you go, friends,
there is going to be an eclipse twenty twenty seven,
August second that will last in some places over six
minutes in length, making it the longest solar eclipse visible
(27:55):
from land between the years nineteen ninety one It's great year,
and twenty one fourteen.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
And we make this pledge to you here.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
It made of Stars that if there were something that
we're going to block out the sun for the entire
planet for any length of time, and we had any
sort of heads up about it, even if we didn't
have to find it on the Planetary Defense Blog, or
if we did, we would make sure that we would
give you a special heads up with a very special
edition of Made of Stars. By the way, don't expect
(28:26):
to have any sunlight for a while anywhere on the planet.
That would be breaking news, and we would make sure
to give that, especially if there was somehow an eclipse
that caused that to happen for the entire planet. That
alone would be unprecedented, because it would also mean that
the Moon was a lot bigger.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Or it got a lot closer, grew substantially, or somehow
it varied in its orbital where it's really close to
the Earth. Now one of those two things.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
And if you're one of those people that believes the
Moon is just full of air and it's hollow and
it maybe could be inflated even more, we would we
would pass that along. If any element of any of
that was true, we would do a breaking news episode.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I'm sure we hear from Ian J. O'Neil at the
Jepard Bols.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
We still we may hear from Ian Jay O'Neil anyway,
because we got people who are listening to this show
that may know him.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
All right. By the way, by the way, Ian, we
do not want you to be dosed, by the way.
We don't. We don't. We want you there writing that
Planetary Defense blog. We need you. We did we get.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
Only in fun. It's only in jest. There is no
no negativity there. And if you are sharing this with
him right now as a listener, thanks for listening. And
really we're just kidding.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
We promise we want you on that blog. We need
you on that blog.
Speaker 5 (29:48):
Coming up, after one more quick break, we'll talk about
an actual story that it doesn't like it lives up
to the hype. I guess is maybe the way to
describe it. We'll do that right after this, all right.
(30:22):
So it's always fun when we can even speculate about this,
or when there's a possibility of it and it's not
a common thing where we're able to go, oh wow,
we got something that's come in from outside of our
solar system. So this is always fun when we find
a story like this in Hubble has spotted a comment
that's come in and this story is actually real.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah, so this this story was first well, let me
say it just differently. The discovery of this object was
first made by the Atlas Survey telescope. And the Atlas
Survey Telescope is a special telescope designed to observe large
swa of the sky so that they can they're cataloging many,
(31:04):
many objects all at once. So it's not a high
magnification really taking a tight look at one object. It's
more of a wide view, take a look at many
objects at the same time kind of telescope. And that's
why it has in recent years discovered lots of brand
new comets, because if you're taking a look at a
broad swath of the sky with really high resolution and
(31:28):
light gathering capabilities, you're gonna find a lot of comets
kind of zipping through the field of view. So there's
been a lot of Comet Atlases lately, all right, And
that's why. It's because the comets are named after the
discoverer of the comet, all right. So there we go.
So there's a new one. It's called Comet three I
Atlas Comet three eye Atlas discovered on July first by
(31:52):
the Atlas Atlas Survey Telescope. That's twenty twenty five, by
the way, July first of this year. And so now
the Hubble Space Tells Hope has been doing some follow
up observations. The real story here, it's out on space
dot com today as we're recording. It's it's actually, uh,
a new Hubble image has been released. So the Hubble
Space telescope image of this object has been released. But
(32:14):
that's not why this is really newsworthy. You know, since
the last time that Wes and I have recorded a
podcast together, there have been some new discoveries about this
comment three I at Lias, and that's that it has
a trajectory that very much looks like it came from
outside of our solar system. So that's the thing. It's
it's a it's a visitor from another star.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
And that's what the eye and the catalog name is.
It's interesting, I.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Believe, so, right, So it's it's yes, interstellar, right, it's
an interstellar comet. So this this would be the third
third interstellar Yeah, okay, it is actually the third of
this class of objects. I should back up and say
only the third right. So it is only the third
object that we've ever discovered that we can verify has
(33:00):
some sort of an interstellar trajectory as it zips its
way through our solar system. In other words, it's not
really orbiting the Sun. It's not a member of the
Sun's family. It's coming from the outside the other two
or comment one eye, oh muamoah, you can come again.
I had trouble the first time. That's a Hawaiian word.
(33:22):
By the way, I don't speak Hawaiian very well. I
got to visit Hawaii recently and found out I can't
say any of their names. Okay, So comment o'mu amooah
back in twenty seventeen, and commet Borisov back in twenty nineteen,
and o' muamua was one eye, Borisov is two I,
(33:43):
and now Comet Atlas is three I, the third interstellar
comma to be discovered. And a really interesting part about
the story is it's coming from a very interesting place
in the Milky Way. It's coming from a place where
the stars formed a lot earlier in time than our
own son. In other words, these stars and solar systems
(34:04):
around them formed something like seven billion years ago, whereas
our solar system only formed about four and a half
billion years ago. So in other words, this comet is
almost twice the age of any of the objects in
our own solar system. This is actually the oldest comet
(34:24):
we've ever seen. If all of those things are true,
this would make it the oldest comet that we've ever seen.
So doing spectral analysis and really taking a detailed look
at this comet is really important now. As almost as
a side note that might go along with the previous
two stories that we had, there has been a Harvard
(34:46):
professor by the name of a Vi Lobe. If you
know of Avi Lobe, you probably know that he's the
Harvard professor that's very interested in objects made by other
intelligences outside of our solar system. Shall we call it
that people from my neck of the woods would have
said UFOs. He likes those UFOs. We all right, So
he's very interested in the possibility of objects being created
(35:09):
by alien technology. And back in twenty seventeen, when he
realized that comet O'muamoa was actually an interstellar commet, he
claimed that Comet o'mu moo was likely a piece of
alien technology, and we all listened because he was from Harvard.
Speaker 5 (35:27):
That's right, But.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Then other scientists did follow up observations. Now auvi Lobe
has come out and said that this newly discovered Comet
three I Atlas is very likely a piece of alien technology.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
There it is. Yeah, I knew that's where this is.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
And he's given a whole list of reasons why he
thinks that. Thank goodness, there are people out there like
our good friend, doctor Tony Phillips. He feels like a friend.
He's like, I'm not your good friend. I'm just listening
to the podcast, Tony. If you're listening to the podcast,
you feel like a friend of ours because we have
read your website faithfully for decades and we talk about
(36:05):
it all the time on the radio. When we were
on the radio and now on the podcast. We love
spaceweather dot com. And for the rest of you listeners,
this is why we love spaceweather dot com because doctor
Tony Phillips has gone out and reviewed all of the
claims from Harvard professor a Vilobe and posted it up
just a few days ago on July twenty first, So
(36:27):
if you would like to read all of Auvilobe's claims
about three I Atlas and why he thinks it's a
piece of alien technology. And then you would like to
further read doctor Tony phillips follow up comments to all
of those claims. They are excellent. Check out spaceweather dot
com in the upper right hand corner you can go
(36:48):
hit the archive, pull up the date of July twenty
first of twenty twenty five, and see how real scientists
debate real science issues. It's a great piece of it's
just fun space news, but it's also a really good
way to look at the kind of analytical thinking that
scientists engage in two to support or debunk other claims.
Speaker 5 (37:12):
I got a text message yesterday from one of Jake's
very best friends, a Rouche, who has been enjoying time
at camp at the Columbus State University Coca Cola Space
Science Center this week, and he was just updating me
on what was going on uh there at camp uh.
And I know you guys are in full swing with
(37:33):
the camps. And then you guys also have something going
on with Dave Scott.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
We have so many things going on West It's it's
just great. Yeah, any time you guys, I know the
camp that the that your that your son's friend of
Rush is part of is a it's actually part of
our summer Academy for Robotics. Uh. It's uh. It's supported
in part by Pratt and Whitney, and Pratt and Whitney
has made available these slots within the academy camp to
(38:02):
cut for students to apply to these positions, come in
and learn how to build robots and do engineering. So
we hope that A. Rush and all of his friends
are having a great time in this week's camp. I
will tell you that the summer camps at the Space
Science Center have taken major steps forward and we've even
have now a dedicated robotics laboratory. It's a robotics education
(38:23):
lab here at the Space Science Center. That's going to
be just a room with a full of equipment that
students and even teachers can come in and learn how
to do the basic processes of robotics, which is really
great because we need to know more about this technology
as we become an even more advanced technological civilization. All right,
so that's going on, But you're right, we do have
(38:45):
a great event taking place at the bo Bartlett Center,
which is an art Gallery. Right down the street here
from the Space Science Center, we have the David Scott
Exhibit down at bo Bartlett. Dave Scott, commander of Apollo fifteen,
through his brother Tom, has donated many pieces to our
Coca Cola Space Science Center, so many in fact, that
we couldn't put them all on display at the same time,
(39:05):
so we have outsourced for a period of time some
of those pieces to be put on display down at
the Bow Bartlett Center here at Columbus State University. You
can check them out at the bow Bartlett Center this summer.
That exhibit is going to be winding up though within
the next few weeks, so make sure and head down
there now. Check out the exhibit on the Dave Scott
Artifacts and Memorabilia now on exhibit and display at the
(39:28):
Bow Bartlett Center here at Columbus State University, a sister
organization of the Coca Cola Space Science Center at Columbus
State University.
Speaker 5 (39:36):
Sean and I thank you for listening, and we'll do
this again next weeks. Overhead Door Company of Columbus has
all of your garage door needs covered residential and commercial
service and repairs. If you need a new garage door
or you're just looking to upgrade or repair your current
(39:59):
door overhead Door Company of Columbus has you covered. Plus
they've got your emergency repairs or service covered as well.
Seven oh six three five eight forty five hundred seven
oh six three five eight forty five hundred o dccolumbus
dot com. Get ready for dragon Con twenty twenty five
Labor Day weekend downtown Atlanta with the dragon Con Pregame
(40:23):
Show coming August twenty third and twenty fourth to a
radio station near you if you live in the state
of Georgia or one of the states near enough to
the State of Georgia to pick up a radio signal
coming from the network of stations in the State of
Georgia that'll be carrying the show, and there are many
in Alabama and Tennessee and the Carolinas that'll have a
(40:44):
chance to hear it even down into Florida. Or simply
listen to it on the dragon Con Pregame Show podcast
wherever you listen to your podcast, yes, where you're listening
to this podcast. You can also find past editions of
the dragon Con Game Show podcast with interviews with William
Shatner other stars from Star Trek, The Walking Dead, the
(41:07):
Marvel Cinematic Universe, many animated stars, some of your favorite
Disney stars. Chances to hear interviews with them, and this
year's dragon Con pregame show will drop to the podcast
on August twenty third, and you can hear this year's interviews.
It's sponsored by Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center,
(41:29):
where doctor Sean Cruisin and I often like to discuss
the science behind the science fiction and the connections between
where science fiction sometimes leads to science science sometimes leads
to science fiction. It's just a weird connection that's already there.
It's built into it. And I say it's weird, but
it's really not. It makes perfect sense. The two go
(41:51):
together very well. Learn more about the Coca Cola Space
Science Center at CCSSC dot org. Learn more about this
year's dragon Con the website, which is DragonCon dot org
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