About NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast
Come get curious with NASA. As an official NASA podcast, Curious Universe brings you mind-blowing science and area adventures you received’t discover wherever else. Discover the cosmos alongside astronauts, scientists, engineers, and different prime NASA consultants who’re reaching outstanding feats in science, area exploration, and aeronautics. Study one thing new concerning the wild and fantastic universe we share. All you want to get began is a bit curiosity.
NASA’s Curious Universe is an official NASA podcast hosted by Padi Boyd and Jacob Pinter
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In regards to the Episode:
The Solar is our closest star. Billions of years in the past, it formed the formation of our residence planet and the start of life on Earth. At present, it offers the warmth and vitality that powers our civilization, however it will possibly additionally disrupt our expertise and spacecraft by means of explosive outbursts of radiation. Be a part of NASA Solar scientist Joe Westlake on a journey from the floor of Earth to the Solar’s core to find out how intricately we’re linked to our star and the progress we’ve made unraveling its mysteries. That is episode one of many Solar and Eclipse collection from NASA’s Curious Universe, an official NASA podcast.
[MUSIC: Dreaming Animation by Elliot Greenway Ireland]
HOST PADI BOYD: That is NASA’s Curious Universe. Our universe is a wild and fantastic place. I’m your host, Padi Boyd…
JACOB PINTER: And I’m co-host Jacob Pinter.
PADI: And on this podcast, NASA is your tour information.
JACOB: From right here on Earth, the Solar can appear… a bit boring. Or a minimum of, predictable. It’s an enormous, docile yellow ball up within the sky. It rises and units day-after-day, proper on schedule. Properly, we’re right here to make you see the Solar in a complete new manner.
[SFX: Buzzing solar wind data sonification]
PADI: In the event you zoom in nearer, our nearest star is an extremely dynamic place… filled with swirling magnetic fields and explosions of plasma that rocket out into area in all instructions. And proper now, in 2024, the Solar is close to Photo voltaic Most… which implies it’s at its most energetic and stormy, sending explosions of area climate in the direction of Earth that may disrupt the expertise that we take as a right, each up in area and proper right here on the bottom.
JACOB: This 12 months, the Solar is ensuring we all know it’s the star of our photo voltaic system. So, we’re bringing you one thing particular in its honor… a five-part Curious Universe miniseries about all issues photo voltaic.
PADI: For the following 5 weeks, we’ll be bringing you the tales of daring NASA missions like Parker Photo voltaic Probe…
[Parker Solar Probe launch broadcast: Liftoff of the mighty Delta IV heavy rocket with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe…]
PADI: …which is overcoming unbelievable odds to the touch the Solar and unravel a few of its largest mysteries.
JACOB: You’ll meet individuals obsessive about auroras and eclipses… voyaging the world over, braving icy blizzards and baking sizzling deserts to catch fleeting glimpses of our Solar’s energy proper right here on Earth…
[SFX: Whistling wind]
PADI: We’ll take you into the trail of totality for the otherworldly expertise that could be a complete photo voltaic eclipse…
[2023 Ring of Fire annular eclipse broadcast: Wow, that is a gorgeous sight to behold, everyone is cheering…]
PADI: …and contained in the NASA management rooms the place heliophysicists forecast area climate dangers to our astronauts…
JACOB: These tales will change the way in which you concentrate on our nearest star… I promise.
[THEME MUSIC: Curiosity by SYSTEM Sounds]
PADI: And so, to do all that, we’re bringing the entire group collectively. You’ll hear from me…
JACOB: Me…
CHRISTIAN: And me!
PADI BOYD: That’s Christian Elliott, Curious Universe producer.
CHRISTIAN: Hello Padi, hello Jacob!
PADI: On this episode, Christian, you mentioned you’re bringing us an important story of all… our Solar’s superhero origin story. The story of how a star is born, the way it shapes and molds the photo voltaic system and planets, and the way it makes life on Earth attainable. Christian, that’s so much to cowl. So the place can we begin?
CHRISTIAN: Properly, how concerning the very fundamentals… Solar 101. I imply, what precisely is the Solar?
JOE WESTLAKE:
Oooh, that’s a, that’s… what, what isn’t the solar? Proper? [Laughs]
[Music: Idle Thumbs by Thomas Ellis}
CHRISTIAN: For that hard-hitting question, I went right to the top.
JOE:
Yeah, so my name is Joe Westlake. I’m the Division Director for heliophysics at NASA headquarters.
JACOB: So, you asked NASA’s director of heliophysics what the Sun is?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, I did Jacob. That’s the great thing about working at NASA… you get to ask very smart people questions like… that one. But anyway, Joe is a great person to explain the Sun to us. He’s new to the job at NASA, but he’s worked on nearly every aspect of space science that you could think of. He was on the team that helped discover the Higgs Boson, a new elementary particle in physics…
JOE:
At a laboratory in Europe…
CHRISTIAN: He’s studied Saturn’s moons…
JOE:
Titan’s upper atmosphere, it’s a really fascinating place…
CHRISTIAN: Earth’s magnetosphere…
JOE:
The magnetosphere, our home here on the Earth.
CHRISTIAN: So anyway, back to the big question…
JOE:
At the most basic level, the sun is a giant ball of gas and plasma, that is sort of the fundamental life force or the fundamental source of energy in our solar system…
CHRISTIAN: It’s a great energy source because of all that gas, mostly hydrogen, that’s scrunched together under the huge gravity of the Sun.
JOE:
The hydrogen is, you know, undergoing this, like, this fusion to go into helium. So you’re fusing atoms together, creating energy and doing that, that energy comes out as light, and the light that we see, you know, when the sun comes up…
[SFX: Humming/rumbling Sun sonification]
PADI: That’s all true for our Solar, however it’s really true for many stars more often than not! The vital level right here is that the Solar is a star, similar to some other. It simply occurs to be our closest star!
CHRISTIAN: Proper, sure! While you search for on the evening sky, you’re taking a look at a sky filled with faraway “Suns” of an unlimited vary of sizes and ages.
JOE:
Our Solar is a reasonably common, you already know, essential sequence star… you might discover a related one in lots of locations inside our galaxy.
JACOB: So, what I’m listening to right here is that we aren’t particular?
CHRISTIAN: Properly, sure and no… it could be a mean star, however the Solar is good for us.
JOE:
If it was a a lot bigger star, if it was a a lot smaller star, if it had way more mass, a lot much less mass, we would not have the identical state of affairs on the Earth. It will not be as liveable, may not be as distinctive of an expertise right here for humanity. As a result of our Solar could also be extra violent, could also be much less violent, issues like that.
PADI: Our Solar is certainly good for us, however since it’s a star similar to all of the others… simply lightyears nearer to us… we research it right here at NASA to each higher perceive the way it impacts us, and to raised perceive how stars elsewhere within the universe work.
CHRISTIAN: Proper, Padi you’re an astrophysicist, and also you’re centered outward from our photo voltaic system often, towards different stars and exoplanets. But it surely seems we sort of have astrophysics right here at residence too, in our personal yard. We simply name it heliophysics!
JACOB: Huh. So, simply to recap, we’ve this star, and it’s the identical sort of star that we are able to see all throughout the evening sky which have planets of their very own, however it’s proper right here in the course of the photo voltaic system conserving our Earth good and toasty and hospitable. I suppose my subsequent query is, how did all of it begin? How did we get right here?
[Music: Light Warp by Elliot Greenway Ireland]
CHRISTIAN: Properly, that could be a excellent query… and to reply it, we’re going to go wayyy again… think about the place our photo voltaic system, our Solar, our Earth is now, is simply utterly empty, simply the black void of area. Properly, it’s not utterly empty, there’s some mud and gasses floating round.
[SFX: Whooshing gasses, bouncing sounds]
JOE:
However what occurs is that you just get form of collections of fuel, these collections of fuel, mainly, are gravitationally sure to one another. So, the gravity pull of huge plenty of fuel is pulling these particles collectively. And finally, you find yourself with sufficient to the place they’re pulling in a lot extra fuel, a lot extra fuel, and the issues which can be getting packed into the within, are getting so shut collectively, that they actually can’t preserve themselves aside. And then you definitely begin to do, bear fusion, and that star is ignited.
[SFX: Echoing explosion]
JACOB: OK so a star ignites in area, in order that’s the start of our photo voltaic system, proper? However what about all the opposite stuff that’s across the Solar at the moment, like when does Earth come into the image?
PADI: Properly, generally, after getting all of the mass of the star in a single place, all of the leftover fuel and ins and outs begin to orbit round it, and so they decide up velocity and momentum.
[SFX: Whooshing sounds increasing in speed]
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, that’s precisely what Joe mentioned. You get this disk of fuel and dirt orbiting the Solar.
JOE:
As this fuel goes round and begins orbiting the solar, you find yourself getting like clumps, proper, a number of the perturbations, as they arrive collectively, flip into these bigger perturbations, you already know, bigger fluctuations, bigger adjustments in that native gravity, issues begin to gather collectively and stick.
JACOB: So, we’re dwelling on a … what’s that phrase he used? A perturbation? Like, a clump of matter?
JOE:
The third farthest assortment of matter from the solar, [Laughs] in our photo voltaic system.
CHRISTIAN: Mainly yeah, these clumps of fuel and matter orbiting the Solar flip into Earth, and into all of the planets. And there’s so much that occurs over billions of years to make our Earth what it’s at the moment after all. However the largest issue all alongside the way in which, the explanation why we’re right here in any respect, is the Solar.
JOE:
Clearly, you want gravity, in any other case, we might float off into, into our personal space, and possibly not be close to a star, be very chilly. So, the gravity of the Solar that has stored the Earth in shut, has created an atmosphere that’s helpful for us.
CHRISTIAN: And once more, the Solar is pushing aside simply the correct quantity of vitality, photons, that carry mild and warmth to Earth, to maintain our planet’s floor beneath the proper circumstances for all times to start.
PADI: And the place a planet is with respect to its star actually issues. The Earth is in like, this excellent place with respect to our Solar, one thing we name the liveable zone, or goldilocks zone.
[MUSIC: Harmonic Echo by Ella Ryan]
PADI: And what meaning is that after life acquired a foothold right here on Earth, it might unfold and thrive and evolve.
JACOB: So at this level within the story we’ve acquired Earth, we’ve acquired life, which is beginning up due to the Solar’s light and heat, after which people present up, and we begin to construct civilizations, proper?
[SFX: Animal noises, children playing at a playground]
CHRISTIAN: Proper, and we’ve been wanting up on the Solar, questioning about it, fascinated about it… ever since.
[SFX: Wind through tree branches, bird song]
PADI: It’s fairly wild if you concentrate on it… simply how impactful the Solar has been… it’s made agriculture attainable, for one, which allow us to settle in cities and develop civilizations all world wide. And on the similar time, we’ve the Solar to thank for calendars, our sense of time and seasons. Mainly all of the rhythms of our life right here on Earth. And wherever you look, the Solar reveals up over and over… in literature, music, faith… By wanting on the Solar by means of telescopes and observing its affect on us by means of the aurora, eclipses and extra, we as people discovered increasingly about the way it works over the centuries.
CHRISTIAN: And our understanding of the Solar actually superior when NASA got here into the image.
[Explorer 1 satellite video: All at once, Americans were interested in the oncoming age of space. And with the curiosity came a mounting, swelling demand to get a satellite into the air, on the double…]
CHRISTIAN: So, to set the scene… it’s the Fifties, it’s the area age, we’ve acquired rockets and satellites, and we are able to go into area, and scientists are keen to check all of the our bodies in our photo voltaic system and past.
[Explorer 1 satellite video: Cosmic ray intensity, meteor impacts, solar radiation. These are the dry facts that will help carry man ever farther into the age of space…]
JOE :We’ve had an extended historical past of observing the Solar. It dates again, you already know, earlier than america had shaped. However observing the solar from area has occurred actually for the reason that starting of the area age. And there’s been a whole lot of discoveries which have occurred for the reason that starting of our spacefaring, you already know, race.
[MUSIC: Veronique by Benjamin James Parsons]
CHRISTIAN: Learning the Solar has form of outlined NASA’s historical past… understanding our star was a purpose for area science even earlier than NASA shaped. So, there have been a whole lot of missions.
PADI: Proper, learning the Solar has been an enormous focus for NASA for many years. There’s a complete fleet of heliophysics spacecraft! They usually’re unfold out in strategic locations between the Solar, and Earth, and even into the interstellar medium past our photo voltaic system.
CHRISTIAN: So, from all these missions, we’ve discovered that the Solar, and its relationship with the Earth, is extra difficult than we thought.
JACOB: Hmm. Difficult how?
CHRISTIAN: Properly, first we’ve to actually perceive the Solar. It’s acquired layers, actually. So, let’s begin by zooming all the way in which in… on the very heart of our solar is its core, the place these nuclear reactions occur, that fusion that releases the Solar’s vitality. Then we’ve acquired the radiative zone and the convection zone, two layers the place the plasma and magnetic fields are swirling round and up in the direction of the photosphere, the place the Solar’s mild comes from.
[SFX: Rumbling Sun sonification, swirling, whooshing]
JOE:
In the event you have been to face on the floor of the Earth, and together with your protecting Eclipse glasses on, search for on the solar, you see the photosphere, you see the place the photons are coming from, that’s comparatively chilly.
PADI: Chilly sure, however nonetheless fairly sizzling in comparison with Earth, coming in at over 6,000 levels Fahrenheit!
CHRISTIAN: Proper. However that photosphere is definitely not the Solar’s outermost layer, or its hottest! That honor goes to the corona, the Solar’s crown, its outer ambiance. And the corona is a very wild and mysterious place. It’s manner, manner hotter than the photosphere…
JOE:
What occurs is, as you come from this photosphere, out into the corona, you get this intense, you already know, warming, intense heating of the particles and plasma.
JACOB: Yeah, that looks as if a puzzle. I imply, if the core is the most well liked half, as you progress additional away from that, you’d count on it to get cooler, proper? Like, I’m picturing if you make a campfire and also you sit too near it and also you get sizzling, and so, what do you do, you stroll away from it, proper?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to heliophysicists both, however it’s true! The way it will get so, so sizzling is among the Solar’s largest mysteries.
PADI: And an enormous motive why it’s mysterious is that you may’t see the corona together with your bare eye! From Earth, we are able to solely see and research it throughout eclipses, when the moon blocks off our view of a lot of the solar… or by means of the eyes of spacecraft or telescopes.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, however we are able to see a number of the stuff the corona does. As a result of this outer ambiance of the Solar is so sizzling and has a lot exercise, it has these large explosions, these outbursts that we are able to detect.
[SFX: Explosive solar storm sonification]
JOE:
It’s actually the, like, the ambiance, the solar is blowing off into area. And that ambiance is so sizzling, so extremely sizzling, that it then ejects itself off into area, generally violently, generally with these coronal mass ejections and issues like that.
JACOB: So, coronal mass ejections… What are these?
CHRISTIAN: Good query. There’s really a pair sorts of explosions or eruptions that come off of the Solar.
[MUSIC: Hip Flop by Thomas Ellis]
JOE:
Now, coronal mass ejection is one thing the place you’re seeing, mainly an enormous parcel of sizzling fuel being blown off of the floor of the solar…
JACOB: So, there’s an explosion on the Solar that really sends materials from the Solar flying off into area? Like, an ejection of coronal mass, I suppose?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it’s well-named. But it surely really will get even wilder than that. The second sort of eruption is named a photo voltaic flare.
JOE:
A flare is a really explosive occasion that mainly sends off all this vitality very, very quick within the type of usually mild and excessive vitality mild to the Earth.
CHRISTIAN: Coronal mass ejections and photo voltaic flares may even occur on the similar time!
JOEAnd generally you get it the place there’s a coronal mass ejection that has flares inside it. Okay, however that coronal mass ejection travels a lot slower to the Earth, a number of days.
JACOB: So, you’ve acquired flares, these fast flashes of vitality, radiation, that hit the Earth, after which these coronal mass ejections, that are huge chunks of plasma that come our manner much more slowly, as a result of they’ve mass?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, precisely. Now bear in mind, you possibly can actually simply see the photosphere from right here on Earth, until there’s an eclipse. All this wild, chaotic exercise within the Solar’s ambiance is mainly invisible. However NASA has satellites just like the Photo voltaic Dynamics Observatory floating out in area, wanting on the Solar that may zoom in shut on that violent exercise so you possibly can see it for your self in imagery. That satellite tv for pc is a part of a program NASA calls “Dwelling with a Star,” as a result of it’s about studying to reside subsequent to such an explosive neighbor.
[MUSIC: Heat Seeking by Benjamin James Parsons]
JACOB: Ah yeah, I feel I’ve an explosive neighbor at my home too, so I get that.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, I feel all of us do, it’s very true. Anyway, within the imagery you possibly can see sunspots, these darkish, cooler areas of the floor the place magnetic fields are going loopy, and naturally coronal mass ejections and flares.
JOE:
You recognize, it virtually seems to be like, to me like volcanic eruptions, proper?
CHRISTIAN: However Joe mentioned, not like a volcano, there’s extra order to it, Joe mentioned, as a result of it’s all managed by the Solar’s electrical energy and magnetism.
[SFX: Gurgling, bubbling lava]
JOE:
So that you see particles, you see what seems to be like, you already know, plasma, this actually, you already know, brilliant stuff being blown off of the floor, however then it follows these paths, stunning paths, throughout the floor, the place you see, you already know, sinews like these actually like, stunning little traces of particles going throughout and lighting up.
[SFX: Bubbling, boiling water]
CHRISTIAN: Joe informed me it’s sort of like watching a pot of boiling water… you get this sizzling water that’s continually rising as much as the floor and going again down, churning round within the pot’s convection zone, generally bursting out, similar to the plasma and magnetic fields do within the Solar’s convective zone.
[MUSIC: Earth Shine by Arun Ganapathy]
CHRISTIAN: Now there’s one other NASA mission I’ve to say, it’s known as Parker Photo voltaic Probe. We talked about it on the prime of this episode, and we’ll discuss it much more a bit later on this miniseries, as a result of it’s so cool. It’s NASA’s mission to “contact” the Solar’s corona. And because it will get nearer and nearer to the Solar with each orbit, it’s beginning to fly by means of these explosions! Like there was this one time the place this large coronal mass ejection hit the spacecraft, and it was so highly effective it rattled it, you possibly can see issues transfer on it because it will get hit.
[SFX: Coronal mass ejection explosion hits Parker Solar Probe]
JOE:
However you might see, it virtually appeared like a bubble, you already know, coming onto it, after which nothing. And so, you already know, you noticed, you noticed this huge, burst of fuel go throughout the spacecraft, after which the celebs got here out, as a result of swiftly, the fuel that was there, the ambiance that was there, has been blown off. And there’s this large vacuum behind it, which is simply unbelievable.
CHRISTIAN: So, all that to say…
JOE:
As you get nearer and nearer to the solar, it goes from being this stunning, you already know, timid, yellow ball of fuel to being this very thrilling, very highly effective, very chaotic floor, the place one thing’s all the time happening, one thing’s all the time occurring.
PADI: And that exercise shouldn’t be all the time the identical, proper? We’ve talked about early on that the solar is close to Photo voltaic Most, proper now in 2024. So, it’s at its peak exercise, and we’re seeing extra sunspots, coronal mass ejections and flares than standard!
[MUSIC: Speaking in Riddles by Zachary Scott Lemmon]
JACOB: So, I’m pondering, if elements of the Solar’s ambiance are exploding away, and so they’re simply getting blown off into area by means of coronal mass ejections, the place do these go?
JOE:
As these exit into area, you already know, it’s increasing into this form of void between the Solar and the Earth. And because it expands, there’s not a whole lot of particles in between there. However there’s this fixed form of photo voltaic wind, that’s shifting from the Solar to the Earth.
[SFX: Whistler waves detected by satellites]
JACOB: So, we primarily reside in that photo voltaic wind right here on Earth, proper? Within the ambiance of our star? Being within the crosshairs of that regular stream of particles from the Solar sounds… not optimum.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it will possibly positively be unhealthy! and there’s much more on that to come back later on this collection. However what you want to know proper now could be that right here at NASA we attempt to regulate the Solar’s exercise, as a result of it may be hazardous.
PADI: Proper… In actually excessive circumstances, area climate may even have an effect on us right here on Earth’s floor! In 1859, probably the most intense photo voltaic storm in historical past hit Earth. It was known as the Carrington Occasion. It launched photo voltaic flares so brilliant that astronomers noticed them from right here on the bottom… for the primary time ever. When all that vitality reached Earth, it set telegraph strains on hearth!
JACOB: And I’m pondering one thing like that must be manner worse at the moment, proper? I imply in 1859 it’s telegraph strains, however at the moment we’ve far more electrical infrastructure that could possibly be at risk from that sort of occasion, proper?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, I imply, there’s the potential for issues to be fairly unhealthy. However don’t fear, fortunately, we’ve this built-in protect that protects us from all however the worst storms right here on Earth.
[SFX: Earth’s magnetosphere rebounding from solar wind data sonification]
JOE:
So, as you progress as you get nearer and nearer to the Earth, you stumble upon this impediment, which is the Earth’s magnetic discipline. It’s created by, you already know, the rotation of the metallic core of the Earth, that units up this magnetosphere, that’s our protecting protect. You come as much as that, and swiftly, you’re blocked. You, because the photo voltaic wind, you’re pushed off to the northern and southern areas of the Earth and introduced down into the poles the place the form of the sphere strains reconnect after which funnel particles down onto the earth in form of these polar areas, which creates the aurora.
PADI: You possibly can really see visible proof of our magnetosphere’s safety at work in the event you’re far sufficient north or south and catch a glimpse of the aurora, the northern and southern lights!
JOE:
Particles, they arrive down, they hit our ambiance on Earth. And after they hit the ambiance, the colours that you just see within the Aurora are the totally different composition of each the particles but additionally of the ambiance lighting up as these particles hit.
CHRISTIAN: Proper now, in 2024, the northern lights are going loopy up on the poles, as a result of the extra radiation coming from the Solar, the extra particles our magnetic protect has to funnel down into the poles. When the Solar’s exercise is basically excessive, you possibly can really even see the aurora additional south.
JOE:
The aroura, the northern lights are simply these stunning shows within the sky, however stunning shows of each the ability of the solar, but additionally of our Earth’s protecting magnetosphere. The safety is at work, proper? It’s conserving these photo voltaic particles away from our, the floor of the Earth.
PADI: So, to recap, the Solar makes life attainable right here on Earth by means of the sunshine and warmth it offers us. But it surely additionally releases highly effective storms and radiation that may disrupt our expertise. And so, we’ve a quirk of planetary geology, our Earth’s steel core, to thank for the protect that protects us.
JACOB: That’s fairly cool… I nonetheless have another query although. I imply, if the Solar is sending out the photo voltaic wind in all instructions, on a regular basis, I imply—solely a tiny fraction of that’s going to hit Earth. So, what occurs to the remainder of it?
PADI: Properly, because the photo voltaic wind expands out previous Earth and thru our photo voltaic system, it creates this huge, protecting bubble round us. We name that bubble the heliopshere! It retains out a lot of the galactic cosmic rays from elsewhere within the universe that in any other case would hit us on Earth and harm our DNA.
[MUSIC: New Beginning by Lincoln Jaeger]
JOE:
That bubble that the solar creates, this protecting bubble, is basically one of many issues that has allowed humanity, the habitability of the Earth to exist, as a result of it’s protected us from this, the tough interstellar atmosphere.
JACOB: So, I’m picturing these Russian nesting dolls, you already know? Like we’ve a bubble right here on Earth that protects us from the Solar, after which we’re inside this bigger bubble that the Solar creates that protects us from stuff coming from outdoors the photo voltaic system, proper?
CHRISTIAN: Precisely! And, in the event you’re like me, you could be questioning how on Earth we all know that.
PADI: Yeah, it’s a great query! We’ve studied the heliosphere in a whole lot of methods, however one of many issues we’ve completed is definitely despatched spacecraft on the market, just like the well-known Voyager missions that launched again in 1977. Voyager 1 and a pair of have been the primary NASA spacecraft to depart our photo voltaic system and the primary to instantly discover the heliopshere.
JACOB: The Voyager missions have the golden file on them, proper? That mixtape of details about Earth and humanity for potential life in different elements of our personal galaxy might perhaps sometime discover.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it’s fairly wild to consider. Close to the start of the area age, we’re sending this message in a bottle out into the universe, increasing our horizons, manner earlier than all our fashionable Solar-studying spacecraft…
[Voyager 1 launch broadcast: …the first of two Voyager spacecraft to extend Man’s senses farther into the solar system than ever before…]
CHRISTIAN: …and a long time later it leaves the photo voltaic system, and it detects the boundary of the heliosphere, this bubble that allowed humanity to flourish on Earth within the first place, that’s given us this liveable planet that we are able to use to construct spacecraft just like the Voyager probes!
PADI: Ooh.
JOE:
So, the Voyagers moved out. They usually punched out by means of the heliosphere in two areas, roughly 100 instances the space between the Solar and the Earth. So, at about 100 astronomical items is roughly the place they punched out.
[Voyager 1 milestone broadcast: The most distant human-made object, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, is in interstellar space, the space between the stars…]
PADI: Regardless that they’re out in interstellar area now, the area between the celebs, this wild west with out the heliosphere’s safety, they’re nonetheless sending us again priceless information!
JOE:
It was the primary mission for us to actually perceive the interstellar medium. It nonetheless had the devices out there, it nonetheless had the observations out there, to punch out of our heliosphere and begin to perceive what that native interstellar medium is, what the gasses between the celebs are.
JACOB: I’m nonetheless not over that distance… 100 instances the space between the Solar and the Earth? I imply that’s fairly far itself if you concentrate on how we’ve Mercury and Venus between us and the Solar! What does the heliosphere seem like? I imply if it’s a heliosphere, is it only a huge sphere all the way in which across the photo voltaic system?
CHRISTIAN: We nonetheless actually don’t know… there have been different missions that attempted to detect its form by means of distant sensing and there’s one other interstellar mapping probe deliberate. However proper now, we simply have theories…
JOE
And, and it’s fascinating to consider, similar to the construction, what does our heliosphere actually seem like?
[MUSIC: Phony Friends by Daniel Marantz]
CHRISTIAN: OK so, there are mainly two theories. There’s the banana slash croissant idea, that has to do with how the photo voltaic wind comes off the Solar’s poles, which we nonetheless don’t find out about, since we haven’t actually seen the Solar’s poles.
JOE
You recognize these form of theories say like, perhaps there’s two jets that go off the 2 poles, and so they wrap round form of making this banana or croissant-shaped sort of factor…
CHRISTIAN: I just like the banana slash croissant idea, however…
JOE:
There’s theories that say properly, perhaps it’s simply form of a bubble and you already know, it form of terminates someplace a bit farther again and issues like that. We actually don’t perceive that in any respect. We haven’t despatched a spacecraft down the tail of our heliosphere.
CHRISTIAN: There are additionally different forces past our photo voltaic system performing on the heliosphere, sort of affecting its form. It’s not all decided by the Solar’s exercise.
JOE:
As a result of if you concentrate on, you already know, how the Solar has developed and the way issues have developed over time, you already know, we’re not, we’re not the one star within the neighborhood. And there’s a number of stars and fuel within the neighborhood that impacts how huge that heliosphere is, the larger the heliosphere, so the extra highly effective the solar is, the much less radiation you get that is available in from outdoors. The smaller it’s, the extra radiation you get to come back in from outdoors.
CHRISTIAN: All that different stuff, these clouds of interstellar fuel, change our heliosphere over time, similtaneously our Solar adjustments its exercise on its 11-year cycle.
JOE
We’ve seen the heliosphere breathe, it expands proper? The photo voltaic wind is dynamic, it adjustments how that interplay is. It’s an enormous object, simply an enormous object.
JACOB: So, you want a star that’s highly effective sufficient to create a protecting heliosphere however not so sturdy it cooks you in your planet with radiation?
CHRISTIAN: Precisely. Our relationship to our nearest star is much more advanced than you may assume.
[MUSIC: Deepen the Mystery by Espen Fahlen]
JOE:It’s actually each our nearest protecting neighbor, but additionally might be, I suppose, a bit little bit of an ornery neighbor at instances. And has these form of, these actual explosive occasions that may have an effect on our vital infrastructure and issues like that. So, you actually need each, you already know, you want the photo voltaic wind to create this protecting bubble across the Earth. However you additionally want the Earth’s magnetosphere to guard us from that photo voltaic wind that’s additionally defending us. It’s form of round in that manner.
PADI: It’s like this stunning stability.
JACOB: It’s so much to consider. As a result of a lot of our life is determined by the solar being the steady accomplice that we’ve come to know not simply by means of our lives however by means of humanity’s time on Earth. However there’s a whole lot of ways in which’s not all the time the case, proper? It sounds prefer it’s vital to maintain understanding the way it all works.
CHRISTIAN: Yeah, it truly is. And it’s all just a bit thoughts blowing to me. However that’s simply the beginning. We’re going to get into a lot extra within the coming episodes.
JACOB: OK, so what do we’ve to look ahead to, can we get a bit trace for now?
CHRISTIAN: Sure, I will provide you with a touch! A mysterious pink line within the sky known as STEVE, petroglyphs carved right into a desert cliff a thousand years in the past that may assist us perceive our upcoming complete photo voltaic eclipse in a brand new manner, and the story of a spacecraft misplaced spinning in area for months that, as soon as it recovered, had a capability to find new issues near the Solar that no person anticipated! The Solar is simply such a mysterious place, full of recent issues to find. However you don’t should take my phrase for it.
JOE
Heliophysics is form of at this actually brilliant time in its path, the place we’re constructing upon the information that we’ve gained concerning the Solar…and we’re actually turning it right into a well-refined scientific subject…about actually one thing that’s so elementary in our lives. Daily you get up you see the Solar, hopefully, relying on the place you reside. And it’s a tremendous factor that we take as a right. And it’s so extremely ingrained in what we do. And it’s a spot the place nice discoveries are nonetheless to be made.
PADI: We’ll have all that and extra proper right here on Curious Universe.
JACOB: And earlier than we go, we’ve a particular new phase for you…
[MUSIC: Sound Design Digital Uplifting Texture by David Thomas Connelly]
PADI: What are you continue to interested by? We ask that query to each single particular person we interview for this present. And we wish to know what you’re interested by too. On this phase we’ll take a query from a curious listener and monitor down the reply. At present’s query comes from Dallas Taylor. He’s a sound design and audio knowledgeable, and he’s the host of the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz, which explores the tales behind the world’s most fascinating and recognizable sounds. Dallas, it’s nice to have you ever with us.
DALLAS TAYLOR: The sensation is mutual as a result of I’m so excited to speak to you.
PADI: You’ve produced fairly a number of episodes about area, proper?
DALLAS: Yeah. So often, I do reveals all about very recognizable sounds, just like the Netflix ta-dum sound or the Wilhelm scream. However we generally dabble in mind science and all kinds of issues. However what I spend a whole lot of my very own free time on is simply fascinated about area and the unknown and all of that.
PADI: Let’s hear a clip from a kind of episodes, “Area Remix”, which is all about what different planets may sound like.
DALLAS:
Let’s go from planet to planet in our photo voltaic system to seek out out what every floor would sound like. To our ears. To be clear although, you’d just about die immediately in all places, apart from right here. However, for these examples we’re going to faux to have superhuman powers that may preserve us alive. So, with that disclaimer out of the way in which, let’s begin closest to the Solar.
LORI GLAZE:
Locations like… Mercury and these rocky our bodies with no atmospheres could be much like being in area. There wouldn’t be a lot sound if any.
KEITH NOLL:
Mercury is an airless physique, so we’re again to listening for Mercury quakes, primarily. That may be actually the one supply of sound.
[SFX: Rumbling Mercury quake]
DALLAS:
And you might solely hear these Mercury quakes in case your head was pressed up towards the rock, as a result of there’s no ambiance for conventional sound to journey by means of. Subsequent up, Venus.
LORI:
In my thoughts, what sound could be like on the floor, as a result of you might have this actually dense ambiance, a lot denser than Earth’s, the sound could be extra like or have a tendency towards what issues sound like if you’re underwater.
[SFX: Bubbling underwater sound]
LORI:
In the event you might think about one thing in between air and water, that sort of density, you’re operating your hand by means of that, and you’d really feel that.
KEITH:
One factor we do find out about Venus is that’s has lightning, so that you may hear thunder.
[SFX: Muffled underwater thunder sound]
DALLAS:
I’m wondering what different issues, like my voice, may sound like. I’m on Venus on this ethereal world that’s a combination between a gas-like ambiance and water. I’m virtually floating, however but it’s not as restrictive as being submerged in water. My voice… the thunder… it’s all barely muffled and distorted because it travels by means of the thick ambiance.
PADI: I acknowledge a few of these voices, and it’s cool that you just function NASA scientists in your present. So, what are you continue to interested by on the subject of area?
DALLAS: So, we went by means of each planet within the photo voltaic system. However we by no means talked concerning the Solar. And I do not know what it could be like on the Solar. And it’s extra of a thought experiment, however I might like to know in the event you don’t instantly dissipate and in the event you’re in some facet of what you’d name a floor, simply let your thoughts go. What would it not sound like on the so-called floor of the Solar?
[MUSIC: Collective Conscious by Aron Wright and Florian Moenks]
PADI: Proper, one other thought experiment, much like what you probably did with Venus there, we are able to do it with the Solar. And also you’re in luck, as a result of in our final season of Curious Universe we took a deep dive into that very query in an episode we known as “Hum of the Solar.” It seems that we really can take heed to the Solar, however it’s a bit difficult. Our star is a very energetic place. It emits this fixed stream of particles known as the photo voltaic wind, and in that photo voltaic wind in area, plasma waves can journey, full of electrical and magnetic fields. You possibly can’t hear these waves in the identical manner you possibly can hear sound waves within the air on Earth as a result of area simply isn’t dense sufficient. However we are able to detect them with satellite tv for pc devices, particularly after they collide with Earth’s magnetic discipline strains and vibrate them like large area guitar strings. Then we are able to play these waves aloud right here on Earth in a spread our ears can hear.
DALLAS: But when we have been really standing on the floor, would it not simply be like a loud roar? Wouldn’t it simply be like, Krrrrghhh?
PADI: In order that’s an incredible query, and we’ve a complete division right here at NASA known as heliophysics that’s centered on studying extra concerning the Solar from area. And one of the vital thrilling missions that’s energetic now is named the Parker Photo voltaic Probe. One of many issues the Parker Photo voltaic Probe goes to do is contact the Solar, and so it’s the artifical spacecraft that may get the closest to the Solar that we’ve ever come. So, we’ll be capable of reply these questions with actual scientific information.
DALLAS: Ooh, I adore it. Properly, in the event you ever wish to make any sound reveals which can be very romantic about area, you already know who to show to.
PADI: It was nice to speak to you, Dallas.
DALLAS: Nice to speak to you too.
PADI: Thanks once more to Dallas from Twenty Thousand Hertz for his query. Count on extra solutions to curious questions within the coming episodes.
[THEME MUSIC: Curiosity by SYSTEM Sounds]
JACOB: That is NASA’s Curious Universe. This episode was written and produced by Christian Elliott. Our government producer is Katie Konans. The Curious Universe group contains me, Jacob Pinter, Maddie Olson and Micheala Sosby… and naturally, Padi Boyd. Krystofer Kim is our present artist.
PADI: Our theme track was composed by Matt Russo and Andrew Santaguida of SYSTEM Sounds. Particular due to NASA’s heliophysics group.
CHRISTIAN: In the event you loved this episode of NASA’s Curious Universe, please tell us by leaving us a assessment and sharing the present with a buddy. And bear in mind, you possibly can “observe” NASA’s Curious Universe in your favourite podcast app to get a notification every time we submit a brand new episode.
[NASA Podcasts stinger: 3, 2, 1. This is an official NASA podcast]