Interstellar Comet 3I ATLAS, Milky Way's Black Hole Dynamics, and Scotland's Dark Sky Sanctuary

This is Spacetime Series twenty nine, episode sixty one, for broadcast on the twenty second of May twenty twenty six. Coming up on space Time, the ledust observations of interstellar comet three I Atlas using two spacecraft instead of just one, The shocking data and new AI models of our Milky Way galaxy, super massive black hole, and the Isle of Rum listed as Britain's second dark sky sanctuary. All that and more coming up on Spacetime. Welcome to space Time with Stuart Gary. Astronomers have used two separate spacecraft to obtain your ultra violet spectrographic images of the interstellar comet three I Atlas as it continues its outbound journey from our Solar system. The ultraviolet spectrograph instruments about ace's jupiter Ic Muns Explorer or Juice spacecraft and NASA's Europa Clipper mission have made unique observations of the interstellar visitor, simultaneously imaging both hemispheres of the comet and detecting this vagabond's ultraviolet emissions. Early the third recognized interstellar object, three I Atlas, entered our Solar system in July twenty twenty five. The New Studies. Principal investigator Kirk Reatherford from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, says that as the comet passed between Juice and Europa Clipper, his team we're able to coordinate observations between the two spacecraft. Retherferthing colleagues observed hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon emissions. Now these elements are produced when gases escaping from the comet's nucleus break apart into atoms when exposed to sunlight. The ultraviolet spectrograph is one of ten instruments aboard the Juice spacecraft. The Juice mission has overarching goals of investigating potentially habitable worlds around the gas giant Jupiter, as well as studying the planet system as an archetype for gas giants both in our Solar System and beyond. So observing an interstellar comet close up and personal wist bonus science. The resulting rare and unique data set includes gas emissions and scattered dust. It's the first time astronoms have had simultaneous views of a comet's coma of escaping gas and dust from two separate directions. Europe Equipper showed the night side of the comet with a great deal of scattered dust, while juice image mostly gass's outflows. On the day side, comets are composed of water, ice, frozen comedoxide, and other materials. As they approach the Sun, comets heat are causing their internal ices to supplement and escape into space. The authors have found higher levels of carbon emissions from thraialysts and expected, especially when compared to comets from our own solar system. Observing the trends of emissions over several days revealed how the ratios of these molecules changed and how the comet evolved during its journey through our solar system. By studying the ratio of water, ice, and carbon dioxide, scientists can compare the composition of this interstellar comet the comet's native to our own solar system, thereby helping them to understand how different the star system with three our Atlas was formed is compared to our own solar system. Three I Atlas was discovered entering our solar system last year at a speed of sixty one kilometers per second on a highly eccentric path with a hyperbolic trajectory, confirming that it originated from beyond our Solar System, apparently in the direction of the constellation Sangittarius in the Milky Way scalactic center. The vertical velocity of three our Outlass is quite high compared to those of nearby stars and other interstellar objects. That means the comet's following a tilted orbit around the Milky Way and therefore belongs to either the thin or thick disc populations. The thick disk mainly consists of older stars whose compositions have lower levels of heavy elements compared to the Sun. A study led by Matthew Hopkins and colleagues estimated with sixty eight percent confidence the three Eye Outlys is between seven point six and fourteen billion years old based on the typical ages of stars in the thick disk, and this means that three Outlts could be much older than our Solar system, which is four point six billion years old. In fact, it may well be the oldest comet we've ever seen. The only other confirmed interstial of visitors to the Inner Solar System are one eye A Mau MAUA and two I Borisov. One Eye A Mau Mau was first detected back in January twenty seventeen as it was already leaving the solar system. It appears to have come from roughly the direction of Vega in the constellation Lyra, and it was leaving our solar system in the direction of Pegasus. It was rocky and shaped like a cigar. To IBORISEV was discovered in August twenty nineteen. It entered our solar system from the direction of Cassiopia, near the border with Perseus, and this indicates it originated from the galactic plane rather than the galactic halo. It left our solar system in the direction of Telescopium, and it's taking roughly nine thousand years to travel a light year relative to the Sun. This is space time still to come. Shocking data and new artificial intelligence models of the Milky Way Galaxy super massive black hole and Scotland's Isle of Rum listed is Britain's second only dark sky sanctuary. All that and more still to come on space time. A new study has discovered that our Milky Way Galaxy super massive black hole, Sagittarius a star is rotating almost as fast as the laws of physics allow, and its axis is pointing directly towards the Earth. Located some twenty seven thousand light years away at the galactic center. Sagittarius, a star has some four point three million times the mass of our Sun, and it's the anchor point around which how entire galaxy revolves. The new findings reported in the journal Astronomy, based on artificial intelligence computer driven models. They show the monster black hole's external spin represents a boundary in general relativity beyond which a black hole's event horizon would theoretically vanish. By training artificial intelligence on millions of simulations, the authors were able to filter through the blurry noisy data of the galactic center to identify Sagittarius astars precise mechanics, which are currently framed dragging the very fabricous space and time at an astonishing rate. The study also confirms observations from the event horizon intoferometer radio telescope. The found that the black hole's axis is oriented directly towards the Earth, an alignment that facilitates a unique view of its light bending silhouette. However, the models are also showing unexpected turbulence in the surrounding magnetic fields, and that challenges current hypotheses of how matter and energy interact near a black hole's event horizon point of no return, beyond which matter falls forever into the singularity. The new findings support earlier observations that the heart of our galaxy is far more dynamic than previously thought. It means Sagittary's a star is far from quiescence, and it offers a rare glimpse into the extreme physics that shape the evolution of galaxies and the behavior of space time itself. And this is space time still to corm Scotland's Isle of Rum listed as Britain's second dark Sky Sanctuary. Later in the science report, new warnings of a link between taking Amega three supplements and your risk of dementia. All that and more still to come on space time. The Isle of Rum has become the first place in Scotland to achieve Dark Sky Sanctuary s, one of just twenty three places around the world so designated by Dark Sky International. Now a new documentary funded by the Royal Astronomical Society has showcased the Hebrides community's efforts to gain this status. The Isle of Rum, spanning just thirteen kilometers, is only the UK second dark Sky sanctuary, joining Bards the Island in Wales. With no public street lighting and a population of less than forty full time residents, the remote island offers unparalleled opportunities for stargazing. The hope is that such status will help boost the island's economy through increased visitor numbers and activities that can ensure the community can continue to act as the responsible custodians of the island's nature. The Isle of Rum removed all public lighting in two thousand and eight and followed this up with community wide initiative to replace household and business outdoor lighting as well. The islands home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including seabirds, golden eagles, white tailed sea eagles, red throated divers, and over one hundred and twenty thousand breeding pairs of Mannix shea waters. The island's future plans include creating an observing tower for enhanced stargazing, the installation of an all sky camera and weather station for global viewing, and increased education outreach programs visitors and residents. Scotland Astronomer Royal Professor Katharine Hayman's supported both the Isle of Rum's application for the Dark Sky Sanctuary status and the making of the documentary RUMs dazzling dark skys. Hayman says the film shows Rum's aspirational journey seeking to achieve international recognition as a Dark Sky Sanctuary, showcasing its uniqueness in the UK and its access to genuinely dark skies and Aurora sightings, and she says a new generation of stargazers has been inspired by the Island's commitment to the project. Local risident Alex Mumford organized the islands application for the Dark Sky Sanctuary status. We start our application for the Dark Sky Sanctuary status maybe two and a half years ago. Now, I contacted a local astronomer on Instagram who came here to run a sanitarium event. So he came and we did some local community events, We did some work in the school and he says, if you ever thought about doing a Dance Sky application. So we've had to do a lot of work on the ground with changing a lot of the lights, a lot of work community level, just trying to get people understanding what it's going to mean to the place longer term. Now we're at the stage where we're on a one hundred and twenty one hundred and thirty page document with all the work we've done what the future looks like over the next five ten years. When we started, we were shooting for community status, which is a different status and a different level to what we're looking for. We were advised to go for the highest level due to how great our skies are here and that's what we're on right now. Hoping in our season up beyond October would be fantastic. From the island, there's many communities that almost close up over that time up here, but to make it a viable optional year round could change, local businesses, could change, more opportunities for more people to come out and live here, and more grant funding might become available. Hopefully we've got a new ammenity hub coming up. Being off on the Islands and Highlands means they sometimes these things take a bit longer for the plan's there, so that future is definitely a possible one. About this space time and time out of take another brief look at some of the other stories making us in science this week with a science report. A new study has raised fresh warnings about the ability of Amiga three supplements to help combat age related issues. A Mega threes are often marketed as supporting cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of cognitive decline in dementia. However, a new study reported in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease suggest that they may actually be linked to a faster decline in cognitive function. The study examined cognitive and brain imaging scans looking for changes over five years in two hundred and seventy three Omega three users and compared them with similar scans in a control group involving five hundred and forty six non users who were matched for age, sex, genetics, and diagnoses. The results showed that those taking Amega three supplements displayed more rapid decline across key primary cognitive assessments. In fact, the scans revealed a significant drop in brain glucose metabolism, which the authors think may be linked to Omega three supplementation. ME and Mars State run media is reporting the discovery of a giant two point two kilogram ruby. The eleven thousand carrot precious gemstone was discovered near murgoch A is reported to be one of the largest rubies ever found. The rock has a purplish red color with yellowish undertones. While smaller than a similar twenty one thousand, four hundred and fifty carrot ruby found in the same area in nineteen ninety six. This new discovery is considered to be more valuable due to its superior color clarity and overall quality. The Australian military will now go ahead with the development of the new Speartooth underwater drone. C two Robotics will build the autonomous vehicle, which will focus on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, strike and logistics operations at sea. Speedooth is optimized for seabed warfare, reaching areas Go Shark can't company behind the projects. He To Robotics has already developed counter drone technology which is being deployed to conflict zones in Ukraine and the Middle East. Investigators have now revealed the full scale of Dubai's infamous can securing cult, which claims he can cure not just cancer but also HIV and even regrow amputated legs. The court operates by a luring vulnerable families and encouraging them to reject medical healing in favor of fantasy. The Skeptics timendum says the investigators, including women's rights campaigners and the founders of Dubai Watch, say that it's turned Dubai into a dumping ground for some of the world's worst criminals. Well, this is what the skippy come across all the time. Because we have phudo medicine. What harm does it do? Quite a lot? Actually, it's only because it takes people away from proper medical treatment that could help, and instead of stuff that some clack cure that probably doesn't help, and it doesn't stop the disease or whatever it is that is progressing through your body, and therefore you waste your time on something which a class example is Steve Job, someone who's been through developing computers and things. He would think would be pretty sort of clue that he had pancreatic cancer, and he sort of went and tried rather than trying evidence based treatment necesssi went through Asia and think of Thailand and it had all sorts of alternative stuff, and then died and then he realized the alternative stuff wasn't doing a lot good. It was too late. Created cancer usually is a death sentence anyway, It's horrible, that's right. You don't know you've got it til it's too late. And when this thing in Dubai, the one that's specifically talking about a thing called theater healing. There's a brain wave thing, and yes it exists and is supposed to be associated with calming and hypenagogic states and that sort of thing, and that you feel good. But this is saying that that happens with a lot of these things. But something this is science based becomes applied to all sorts of different medical area is totally unproven. Just one in particular, a group in Dubai misclaiming can cure HIV, you can regrow amputated legs. Cancer is one of the easiest things to cure. All that sort of stuff. I mean encouraging people who are desperate to go to a place like Dubai, which is Islamic, highly religious. If you step out of the line from a religious point of view, you can be in big trouble. However, it allows a lot of this sort of pseudo stuff to come in there. Usually the case that Mexico had a lot of clinics to suppose of the cure cancer and they were practicing in Mexico, so it was by Dubai might be the same to the place. One of the people they look at, in particular with someone who said that it's about Awakening the Masters, and someone said, I've always been fascinated by spoon members, but my mind had a doubt that I can do it. Today I bent this very sturdy spoon from the first attempt. Money to work Shop's got a house from Dubai now think it's now part of their course. And if you speak to a lot of skeptics, I know people who are skeptics who can bend spoons quite easily, thank you very much. Nothing particularly clever, slight of hand. Petition's trick. And if you start using that as an example of your medical expertise, then you really should go somewhere else. That's the skeptics timendum. And this is space Time, and that's the show for now. Spacetime is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through at bytes dot com, SoundCloud, YouTube, your favorite podcast download provider, and from space Time with Stuart Gary dot com. Space Time's also broadcast through the National Science Foundation, on Science Own Radio and on both iHeartRadio and tune In Radio. And you can help to support our show by visiting the space Time Store for a range of promotional merchandising goodies, or by becoming a Spacetime patron which gives you access to triple episode commercial free versions of the show, as well as lots of Bonnus audio content which doesn't go to wear, access to our exclusive Facebook group, and other rewards. Just go to space Time with Stewart Gary dot com for full details. You've been listening to space Time with Stuart Gary. This has been another quality podcast production from bytes dot com.