Milky Way's Black Hole Secrets, Solar Flare Spectacles, and Mars Rover Discoveries

This is Spacetime Series twenty nine, Episode fifty three were broadcast on the fourth of May twenty twenty six. Coming up on Space Time, the Milky Ways, mysterious black hole gas clouds finally explained, two massive solar flares explode out of the Sun, and NASA's Mars rovers show the two sides of the Red planet. All that and more Coming up on space. Time Welcome to space Time with Stewart Gary. Astronomers have discovered a massive binary star system, the Sagittarius A star the super massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The findings, reported in the journal Astronomy in Astrophysics, suggested the star system may be responsible for a series of mysterious gas clouds which have been observed feeding in two Sagittarius A star, the center of our Milky Weight galaxy, is a remarkably dense and dynamic region. At its heart, some twenty seven thousand light years away, lies the super massive black hole Sagittarius A star, which has some four point three million times the mass of our Sun. Most, if not all, galaxies are thought to have supermassive black holes at their centers. These are the monsters which hold the galaxy together and provide the pivot point for their rotation. Sagittarius A Star is surrounded by stars, gas and dust moving under extreme gravitational forces, and these surroundings provide a natural laboratory for astronomers who are studying how matter behaves close to a black hole and how these central monsters are supplied with new material. Over the past twenty years, astronomers using infrared observations have discussed several compact gas clouds, and these Sagittarius A Star. These clumps for one of a better. Term are important clues to understanding how gas eventually reaches the black hole, yet their exact origin and the physical processes that shape them have remained uncertain. In twenty twelve, astronomers identified a first compact ionized gas cloud, which they named G two. It had several times the mass of the Earth and was emitting light from hydrogen and helium, which is fairly typical for hot, dusty gas. G two follows an elongated orbit around Sagittarius A Star and it shows a faint trailing structure, which astronomers then named G two t revisiting earlier observations, revealed a similar object, G one, also moving along a similar orbit around the black hole. So G one, G two, and G two t seemed to be denser clumps of gas, all moving within a common stream. Moderate density fluctuations can lead to a clump appearance because the cloud's brightness increases with a square of its density. More recently, astronomers found that gas from G two's tail is condensed into a third compact clump moving along a similar path, which the astronomers would have named G three, except that that name had already been taken by a different object. Together, these objects form coherent structure, the G one two three streamer, tracing material that flows through the galactic center. Calculations show that the infall of one such clump, roughly one Earth's mass every decade, would provide enough material to sustain Sagittari's a star's current activity level. So understanding how these clumps form is therefore key to explaining how the black hole is fuelled. Several origins have been proposed still a winds from massive nearby stars, explosive events such as supernovae, or tidal stripping of stars by Sagittaris a star itself to test these ideas, astronomers used adaptive optics assisted space, which enable sharp infrared spectroscopy. Focusing on the hydrogen bracket gamma emission line. The authors reconstructed the orbits of the three gas clouds based on their positions and velocities. Their analysis revealed that G one, G two, and G two T all travel on orbits with almost identical orientation and shape. The chance that three unrelated objects share such specific orbital parameters is extremely small, and so this indicates a common origin for all three clumps. By tracing the motions of the gas streamer backwards through space and radio velocity, the authors eventually identified a visible source, a massive contact binary star headlogged as IRS sixteen s W, which is located in a clockwise disc of young stars orbiting Sagittarius a star. The small differences between the G cloud orbits can be explained by the binary star system's own orbital motion. Follow up hydrodynamical computer simulations support this conclusion. They show the gas clumps can form where the stellar winds from the binary collide with the surrounding medium, producing a shock front between the two stars. There, gas accumulates and becomes compressed eventually detaching as individual clumps that travel inwards, exactly like what's observed in the G one two three streamer. These findings suggest that stellar winds from massive stars at the galactic center can continually supply material to feed the black hole. This result connects stellar revolution, gas dynamics, and black hole feeding into one consistent picture, showing astronomers how star formation and black hole growth can be linked even in our own galaxy. This is space time still to come. Two massive solar flares explode out of the Sun, and NASA's Mars rovers show the two sides of the red planet. All that and more still to come on space time. The Sun has just emitted two strong solar flares, lasting out into deep space within the day of each other. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured both explosions, classifying them as X two point four and X two point five class events. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy caused by magnetic field lines from deep inside the Sun bursting through the solar surface, creating dark regions called sun spots, and then twisting, snapping, and finally reconnecting. The twisting happens because different parts of the sun rotated different speeds. Studying these intense streams of radiation is important because they can damage or even destroy satellites, They disrupt communications and navigation signals, they can overload power grids on the ground, triggering electrical blackouts, and they expose astronauts and even people in high flying aircraft increased radiation exposure. Solar flares are classified on a logarithmic scale according to their strength. The smallest ones are B class, followed by C, then M, and finally X being the largest and most powerful. It's similar to a Richter scale for earthquakes, each litter representing a ten fold increase in energy output, and so an X class flare has ten times the power of an M class flare and one hundred times are strong as a C class flare. Within each letter classification, there's a finer scale from one to nine. B and C class flares are far too weak to noticeably affect the Earth, so astronomers really only start paying attention when an M class flare occurs, because these can cause brief radio blackouts at the polls and minor radiation storms that could endanger astronauts, and of course they pay even more attention when it's at X class flare. Now, unlike the BC and M class flares, X class flares. Go beyond the once in night scale. That's because they can reach far higher levels of power. There have been flares more than ten times the power of an X one. In fact, the most powerful solar flare ever recorded was back in two thousand and three. That was during the last solar maximum cycle twenty four. It was so powerful it overloaded the sensors measuring it. They cut out at X seventeen and the flare was later estimated to be about at X forty five. The Sun goes through a regular eleven year solar cycle. This starts at solar minimum, where there are often no sun spots on the solar surface and the Sun is comparatively quiet. This is also where the Sun's poles switch polarity. The magnetic north pole becomes south and the magnetic south pole becomes north. The last solar minimum was in November twenty nineteen. Then gradually, over the next five and a half years, the rate of activity on the Sun increases. It becomes more violent until it reaches solar maximum, which occurred late last year. Then gradually the Sun starts to quieten down again, which is what it's doing now, but interestingly, it's during this quietening down period where some of the biggest solar storms can occur. The next solar minimum won't occur until around twenty thirty, and needless to say, we'll keep you informed. This is space time still to come. NASAs Mars rovers show the two sides of the Red planet, and later in the science report warnings that Omega Almino events expected to develop within the next month or so. All that and more still to come on space time. NASA is Mars Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have provided astronomers with two very different views of the Red planet, which are hoping to piece together puzzles on how this near neighbor of Earth has changed and evolved. The two three hundred and sixty degree landscapes highlight how the missions are revealing details of the Red planet's formation, it's watery past, and its potential for life. Located three thousand, seven hundred and seventy five kilometas apart on almost opposite sides of the Red planet, the two Cassis six World Mobile Laboratories are both exploring areas that are billions of years old, but as the nearly fifteen year old Curiosity rover reaches ever younger terrain in the foothills of gal Crater's central peak five and a half kilometator mount Sharp, the five year old Perseverance rover is venturing into some of the oldest landscapes in the entire Solar System, the outer ring of Czro Crater. By time traveling in opposite directions, the two rovers are filling in missing details about Martian history. Stitch together from one thousand and thirty one images taken late last year, Curiosity's latest three hundred and sixty degree panorama offers a detailed look at a region filled with a vast network of box work formations resembling giant spiderwebs in orbital images. These strange surface structures of low ridges created by groundwater that once flowed through large cracks and fishes in the bedrock. The minerals left behind hardened the rock along the fractures, resulting in erosion resistant ridges. Meanwhile, Perseverances panorama focused on a place named Lac de Chameais, which sits just outside the rim of Jesro Crater. Its nine hundred and eighty images stitched together over the Christmas New Holiday period provides a three hundred and sixty degree view capturing the jesiro Rim and the ancient rocks around the crater. Today, both these landscapes are frigid deserts that evidence of a more dynamic past hides within. When Curiosity landed on the floor of gal Crater back in twenty twelve, it's set out to determine whether Mars once had an environment capable of supporting life as we know it. Within a year, a sample drawled from an ancient lake bed confirmed those conditions work present once, and that included the right chemistry and potential nutrients for microbes to survive and even possibly thrive. Since twenty fourteen, Curiosity has been ascending the lower ridges of Mount Shark, which first began forming when layers of sediment were deposited in a series of lakes. These lakes, ponds, and streams dried up, refilled, and dried up again over repeated cycles, leaving a record of the mountains layers that formed in drier eras a sort of geological history book which scientists can read. And because the lowest layers of the oldest and higher and higher layers are younger curiosities, essentially progressing through geological time as it slowly climbs the mountain. Last year, Curiosity science team documented how they found that the mineral ciderite might be storing carbon dioxide that once was part of the thicker early Martian atmosphere. A thicker atmosphere would have retained heat also allowed water to pul on the surface, thereby suggesting Mars was once a warmer, wetter play one capable of supporting life. Scientists are long suspected that cabinet minerals such as ciderite formed when carbon diox are dissolved into ancient lakes, but supporting evidence in the guise of these deposits have only rarely been found. The mission also announced the detection of three of the largest organic molecules ever discovered on Mars, that was in a sample drilled back in twenty thirteen. These long chain hydrocarbons, possibly the remains of fatty acids, are a milestone in the search for more complex prebioder chemistry on the red planet, and just this year, scientists announced that a rock Curiosity drilled and analyzed back in twenty twenty includes the most diverse collection of organic molecules ever found on the Red planet. Of the twenty one carbon containing molecules identified in the sample, seven of them were detect it here for the first time. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, the Perseverance were over which landed on Mars in twenty twenty one, has been studying the origin of ancient rocks within Jezro cre and the hunt for evidence that microbial life may once have existed there. Billions of years ago, molten rock cooled and formed the crater's floor. Then a river fed a lake in the crater, leaving behind sediments where traces of microbes might have been preserved. In twenty twenty. Four, Perseverance discovered a rock named she Ava Falls. It was dotted with what scientists called leopard spots, a pattern formed by chemical reactions that microbes are known to create in rocks here on Earth. It's not proof that life existed on Mars, but it is tantalizing evidence. While Curiosity pulverizes its rock samples for analysis, Perseverance collects samples as intact rock cares, each about the size of a piece of blackboard chalk, and then stores them in metal tubes. Aside from a backup of ten tubes Perseverance deposited into sample reserve. The rover keeps all its samples twenty three so far in an onboard cage. Scientists are hoping that if they ever get enough funds, there'll be out of center mission Mars to collect these samples and return them to labs on Earth where they can investigate them more fully with instruments far bigger and more complicated than those that can be sent to Mars. While the sample return mission funding debate continues, Perseverance continues to investigate other aspects of the red planet. For instance, late last year, mission scient has shared the first recordings of electrical sparks in a passing dust devil lightning on Mars. That's a phenomenon that had only been theorized before Perseverance's microphone actually caught them. Meanwhile, a separate study detailed how one of Perseverance's cameras was able to capture the first visible light auroras from the surface of another planet back to the other side of Mars. Now and Curiosity has now left the box work region and has started exploring a mountain layer enriched by salty minerals called sulfates. Perseverance, meanwhile, will keep heading towards an area of exceptionally old terrain, including one called the Singing Canyon. Needless to say, we'll keep you informed this report from Messit. NASA has two rovers on Mars, and they're currently exploring completely different chapters of Martian history. They're two thoy three hundred miles apart, or roughly the distance from Los Angeles to Washington, d C. But the real divide between them isn't miles, it's millions, even billions of years. In and around Jeziro Crater, the Perseverance rover is looking back toward Mars's earliest years, searching for signs of ancient microbial life. After exploring an area of the crater that was once an ancient river delta, Perseverance climbed to the crater rim to reach terrain that's nearly four billion years old. These rocks were here long before water filled the crater. Scientists even believe some rocks in this area formed when Mars was still shaping its crust and atmosphere and massive asteroids were pummeling the planet's surface. This terrain is a time cap from the earliest period of the Solar system. Meanwhile, over two thousand miles to the east, the Curiosity rover is looking for evidence that ancient Mars have the right conditions to support life. Inside Gille Crater, Curiosity is climbing Mount Sharp, a mountain built from layers of sediment deposited over millions of years. Each layer is younger than the one below it, creating a geological timeline that records how Mars changed. So, while Perseverance looks back towards Mars' formative years, asking how the planet came of age, Curiosity is moving forward in time, reading a later story of water, climate, and habitability. Together they're helping scientists reconstruct how Mars formed, how it changed, and how it went from wet to dry. This is space time. And time out of Take a brief look at some of the other stories making news and science this week. With a science report, the World Meteorological Organization warns that a strong El Nino events expected to develop within the next month or so. The latest monthly global seasonal climate update signals a clear shift in the equatory of Pacific, with sea surface temperatures rising rapidly, pointing to a likely return of El Nino conditions. In fact, the rice is so dramatic this event could be the strongest in the past one hundred and fifty years, surpassing the devastating eighteen seventy seven El Nino event. El Nino and its opposite La Nina are phases of the El Nino Southern oscillation or Enzo, one of the most powerful climate patterns on Earth. El Nino is Spanish for little Boy, and it was first identified by Peruvian fishes who noticed a sudden drop in their anchovy catch. As water is in the Eastern Pacific. Heated up Enzo events reshape global weather, influencing rainfall, drought, and extreme events right across the planet. Almina is characterized by a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern Equatorial Pacific. It typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts around nine to twelve months. It's usually associated with increased rainfall in parts of Southern America, the southern United States, the Horn of Africa, and Central Asia, and by drought conditions across Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia. Almino's warm water can also fuel hurricanes and cyclones in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, while it hinders hurricane formation across the Atlantic Ocean. Its opposite La Nina, which means Little Girl, causes warmer sea surface temperatures in the Western Pacific and increasing rainfall across Eastern Australia and increased likely of hurricane conditions in the Atlantic basin and drier conditions across the Americas. Your research based on fossil evidence suggests that some of the earliest octopus were enormous, powerful kraken like predators, reaching twenty meters or more in length. The findings reported in the journal Science are based on fossilized jaws or beaks in inside rock samples from the Late Cretaceous spanning between one hundred and seventy two million years ago. Today's octopus are soft bodied, intelligent, remarkably flexible animals that like to lurk in reefs and hiding crevices or drift through the deep sea. Their lack of burns makes them especially difficult to trace through geological history compared to berny animals or those with shells, so the authors used high resolution grinding tomography and an artificial intelligence model to study fossils from an extinct fin octopus known as Serrata, samples of which have been uncovered from seafloor sediments preserved in Japan and around Vancouver Island. In British Columbia. Scientists have uncovered how Australia's iconic twelve Apostles were formed. The findings, reported in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, shows these geological towers are the result of tectonic plate movements over millions of years, which lifted and then tilted the giant structures out of the sea. The authors say that much like an environmental time capsule, each layer of these giant pillars has preserved information about Earth's climate, tectonic activity, as well as plants and animals over millions of years, including a key time about thirteen point eight million years ago when the climate was much warmer than what it is today. With only eight of the twelve apostles remaining, scientists need to study and learn from them while they can. Preliminary research indicates these ancient limestone layers range between seven and fifteen million years old, but the authors discovered microscopic fossils that are more accurately dating the layers to between eight point six and fourteen million years old. All the twelve apostles were pushed out of the sea millions of years ago by shifting tectonic plates. It was only in the last few thousand years after the Last Ice Age that coastal erosion exposed and shaped the towering rock pillars that we see in the Great Southern Ocean off the Victorian coast today. A Birmingham man in the United Kingdom claims to have seen a bigfoot running through the woods while he was taking a stroll with his partner. After searching online and discovering his bigfoot sighting wasn't the first in that area, the sixty year old now believes the seven to ten foot tall figure may actually have been one of the fable creatures. Reports and rumors of a sasquatch like beast roaming Cannot Chase date back as far as the eighteen hundreds. This latest incident took place near Castle ring Hillfort. Now it's worth pointing out that prior to the sighting, Ghostbusters have been playing on the Movie Channel repeatedly over the previous few days, and the new final series of Stranger Things had just dropped on Netflix. The skeptics timendum points out that the supposed sighting happened on the misty day, and importantly neither the man's partner nor his dog noticed anything. There's supposedly big feet in virtually every country of the world. Bigots, well, bigfoots, unknown, animal, humanoid, blah blah blah. They're spposed to be in every country of the world. Basically, there's variation of the theme. Australia's obviously got it, you know Asia, most Asian countries to every state of America has their own, and so there's big foots all over the place, so it's not unusual for someone to suggest that they found one in another country. Now this is in a town near Birmingham in the UK, and you get into the story, you realize that he saw something that was fleeting. A fella there was walking out with his wife. Apparently came for a walk through the woods, and a broad and upright beast with light and dark flowing fur charging through the Stafford Hure beauty spot called Cannock Chase, and it was seven to ten foot tall and naturally therefore that means a bigfoot, but it was fleeting. It was like poof gone and pasted him, covering at fifteen miles an hour, which is pretty fast for a person to be running. But that's it. That's the evidence they put forward for this cannic chase Bigfoot. Now there are other people research and they say, yeah, there's supposed to be things out there in the bush, out that part of the world. It could be anything. I don't know about a seven to ten foot tall humanoid with light and dark flowing thir and so therefore you know it's an unknown I think the evidence through it is pretty weak. One research I claims to have found a big footprint saying that this area has history of sightings. Could mean there's something interesting out there or something mundane and that people aren't seeing very well. Is a deer is another person wandering through the forest and you look at it and you have trouble measuring how tall it is because it might be a distance away. Although this one was supposed to be quite close, but it was very fast. They didn't get a good look. Lost in the woods. Who knows, But I mean, there's no other evidence throw it apart from a few sightings, etcetera. And now these parts of the world aren't huge forests, right, It's not like the middle of Washington State where you've got the enormous ranges of hills and mountains and forests. This is a place in Shropshire, near Birmingham, which is not exactly known as being a wilderness area. You tend to think if there was something there, it probably would have been found more competitively than these sort of rapid fire So what was that sort of thing going past? So who knows. There's no evidence to make you think it is true at this staate Afar from some anecdotal suggestions they saw something, and this one research as his reckons he's found a large footprint, bigger than a human footprint. It's interesting. It's another siding of Bigfoot. He had big foot funning fairly regularly in the US in different places, and they're still like the UFOs. There's still no evidence put forward as to what it might be, or even if it does exist at all, which is a shame, actually, Beau, it'd be a pretty fun to have it been, Love, I wouldn't mind. I've got no objection to bigfoot being around, right the same way as they have no objection to lock their sponsor and things the way the U phone movement is going, it's going to be anti science, anti authoritarian, whereas the Bigfoot things are not anti science. Sainty, it's just pseudoscience, but it's not anti side, and it's not necessarily anti authority. It's just saying this is unknown. Not rehanly people talk about a government cover up of bigfoot, while they do with alien intelligences and bodies and things. So it's a fairly harmless thing. It's fine as nice as you get people out in the woods and go for a walk, which is not a bad thick but no evidence about as far as I go. That's the skeptics ti mindum, And this is Spacetime, 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 is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation, on Science Own Radio and on both iHeartRadio and tune in Radio. 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