Dr. Jack Hughes, Rutgers Unv - Neutrinos and Supernova Eruptions - The Cosmic Companion May 11, 2021
Channel: The Cosmic Companion - Science Comedy, Astronomy
Date: 2021-05-11

This week, we talk with Dr. Jack Hughes, astrophysicist at Rutgers University, telling us of new findings about supernovae, the powerful eruptions that can mark the end of life for massive stars.

But first, we will use computer simulations to peer inside the atmosphere of Saturn. We will look in on an unusual yellow supernova, and find what made this eruption so strange. And, we will look to the future, as researchers plan a massive radio telescope on the far side of the Moon.

The magnetic field of Saturn is surprisingly symmetrical near the poles, a mystery of the ringed planet that might now be explained. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University took data collected during the suicide plunge of the Cassini spacecraft into Saturn, feeding it into computer simulations similar to those used to model weather and climate here on Earth. They found that helium rain falling through the atmosphere of Saturn could explain the oddly-regular nature of this massive magnetic field. Join us on June1st, when we will talk with Professor Sabine Stanley of Johns Hopkins University about this unique study.

An unusual supernova which took place 35 million light years from Earth called 2019yvr, exploded without the layer of hydrogen typically seen covering massive stars prior to these stellar eruptions. This unusual yellow supernova was first seen following the eruption, and researchers then traced its location back to a star seen by the Hubble Space Telescope more than two years before the explosion. Researchers believe a small unseen companion star may have stripped its larger companion of hydrogen, resulting in this unusual supernova eruption.

For hundreds of millions of years after matter first formed in the Cosmos, hydrogen and helium gas floated free, before collapsing into stars, and releasing light. This era, known as the cosmic dark ages, is little understood by astronomers, as light from this age of the Universe is now in the form of extremely low-frequency radio waves, which are blocked by the atmosphere of Earth. 

A proposed Lunar Crater Radio Telescope, placed on the far side of the Moon, could study this radiation, free of the Earth's atmospheric effects and interference from human-made radio signals. This revolutionary instrument, which would be constructed by robots on the far side of the Moon, is currently being seriously considered by NASA for further development.

Watch the video here or listen to the podcast of this episode at:  https://bit.ly/TCC-210511-pod

More info: https://thecosmiccompanion.net

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