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A gleaming blue planet,
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rising in black space
above the moon's horizon.
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The Earth.
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This was the first view humans ever had
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of their planet as a whole.
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People began to wonder whether someone
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or something out there might not
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in fact be observing our world already.
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In the same year, an amazing
discovery had been made.
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Strange radio waves emanating
from outermost space.
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At regular intervals.
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Could these be signals from
some extraterrestrial beings?
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Was it an intelligent signal
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00:00:58,642 --> 00:01:01,298
from outer space or not?
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Strange pulses from outer space.
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Earth's astronomers now competed
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to identify the source.
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Research into the pulses
lead to the discovery
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of a strange new celestial body.
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One that produces something that
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has long attracted human interest, gold.
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A mysterious celestial body
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that sends out pulses and produces gold.
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What could this body look like?
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This is a voyage to explore
the strangest object
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in outer space.
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Something mysterious, hidden
deep within nebulous gasses.
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Explorers entering this region
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would be buffeted by fearsome storms.
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And a blinding, pulsing force,
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emanating and expanding waves.
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As they approach the object,
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they would see a rotating beam.
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And a star, with a diameter
of just 10 kilometers,
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with a glinting mirror-like surface.
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This marvelous object
really does exist in space.
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And now we will learn
how it was discovered.
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Cambridge, England.
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Where the likes of Newton and Darwin
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launched more than one
scientific revolution.
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A controversy in 1968 also started here.
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It was in the Cambridge suburbs
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that the antennas of the Mullard
Radio Astronomy Observatory
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picked up some bizarre signals.
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Antony Hewish is one of the
discoverers of those signals.
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There was one in particular
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which my student Jocelyn pointed out,
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which was a little bit unusual.
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The perceptive graduate student Hewish
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refers to was Jocelyn Bell.
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Day in and day out she
was studying radio waves
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from outer space.
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And so I was looking for sources
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that twinkled, that varied.
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And rather to my surprise,
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I found something that looked a bit
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like a twinkling radio source,
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but was not exactly like it.
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This is the actual record
of Bell's observations.
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Usually there were hardly any undulations,
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but on this day she detected
some regular pulses.
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The regularity of the intervals
is indicated by the arrows,
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and the signals were strong.
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This was a first.
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It looked artificial, unlike
any natural phenomenon.
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Crazy! Totally unlike
anything astronomical.
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Never been seen before.
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Probably impossible.
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Pulse, pulse, pulse, pulse.
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The pulses continued the next day,
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and the next, the exact same spacing.
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Close analysis revealed a period,
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or interval, of exactly 1.34 seconds.
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It was amazingly precise.
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My immediate assumption,
as a radio astronomer
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whose been in the game for several decades,
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is that it's some radio interference.
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Somebody is generating a signal somewhere.
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Suspicion fell first on the spark plugs
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of passing motor vehicles.
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But testing found that
an engine's spark plug
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could not produce so regular a pulse.
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Next they considered radio waves
from nearby observatories.
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Perhaps they emitted radio waves
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during the course of their observations.
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But all the observatories they
asked denied the possibility.
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Third suspect, the Moon.
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Radio waves from sources on Earth,
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might be reflected back
to Earth by the Moon.
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00:07:54,661 --> 00:07:58,953
But the pulses were coming
even on moonless nights.
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They considered ships' radars, arc welders.
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And amateur radio operators
all to no avail.
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Finally they found proof that the signals
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were in fact coming from outer space.
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The stars take 23 hours and 56 minutes
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to go round and come back to
the same spot in the sky.
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Not 24 hours, they get four
minutes earlier each day.
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And this object was moving like the stars.
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So it's either something very very curious,
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or it's stellar.
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And here we have this signal.
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00:09:01,941 --> 00:09:05,491
It looks quite unnatural.
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Was it an intelligent signal
from outer space, or not.
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That thought had to be taken seriously.
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Someone started to use the
name, little green men.
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I'm not sure if it's this recording or not.
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Yes there we are,
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someone, you see, I think
that may be my writing,
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has written green men on the report.
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Could Hewish and his associates
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prove a sentient alien
source scientifically?
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It occurred to them that such a source
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most probably resided on another planet.
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00:10:03,815 --> 00:10:08,123
I think if you have alien intelligence,
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it's likely to be on a planet
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which is in orbit about a star.
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And that orbital motion could be detected.
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Hewish thought as follows.
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Aliens are unlikely to be living right
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on a burning star like the sun.
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They would be living on a
planet orbiting that star.
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00:10:37,786 --> 00:10:40,452
And there was a perfect way
to test whether the pulses
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00:10:40,453 --> 00:10:44,681
did or did not come from such a source.
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00:10:50,521 --> 00:10:52,174
Anything moving will give off sounds
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or radio waves of varying periodicity.
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00:10:57,433 --> 00:11:00,173
For example, the sound
of an approaching train
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will get higher.
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As the train approaches,
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00:11:02,937 --> 00:11:06,328
the spaces between the sound
waves it emits become shorter.
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00:11:07,331 --> 00:11:09,870
That shorter cycle gives it a higher pitch.
131
00:11:12,653 --> 00:11:15,068
By the same token, as it pulls away,
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00:11:15,443 --> 00:11:18,023
the spaces between sound waves get longer,
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00:11:18,024 --> 00:11:19,783
and the pitch lower.
134
00:11:19,784 --> 00:11:23,106
It's called the Doppler Effect.
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00:11:25,011 --> 00:11:27,217
So if those pulsing radio waves were
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00:11:27,218 --> 00:11:30,332
from aliens on a planet
in orbit about its sun,
137
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the space between pulses should grow longer
138
00:11:32,871 --> 00:11:37,521
as the planet moves farther from Earth.
139
00:11:37,522 --> 00:11:41,339
And as it moves closer, the
spaces should get shorter.
140
00:11:41,340 --> 00:11:44,006
If this was the pattern, than
one might indeed conclude
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that the signals were being sent by aliens.
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00:11:49,532 --> 00:11:54,084
This was round about December, 1967,
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I was doing that work.
144
00:11:56,273 --> 00:12:01,273
And after three weeks, I could
detect no orbital motion.
145
00:12:04,219 --> 00:12:05,828
If the signals did not originate
146
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from a planet in orbit,
then they did not come
147
00:12:08,869 --> 00:12:11,332
from an alien life source.
148
00:12:11,333 --> 00:12:14,415
That meant they had to emanate from a star.
149
00:12:17,285 --> 00:12:21,673
But what sort of star could
send out these regular pulses?
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00:12:25,263 --> 00:12:28,198
The mystery only deepened.
151
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It was then that they discovered
a second similar pulse,
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and it came from a totally
different direction.
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The next day they found third
154
00:12:45,299 --> 00:12:48,781
and almost immediately a fourth.
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00:12:53,811 --> 00:12:56,188
The objects emitting these bizarre signals
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were all over the universe.
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The mysterious objects
came to be called pulsars.
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00:13:07,836 --> 00:13:11,253
But there was considerable surprise
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and interest in this result.
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Word went round the astronomical community
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very very quickly about
this surprising result.
162
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And the whole world knew about it.
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And of course every radio
telescope that could point
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in the right direction
looked at these pulsars.
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A new celestial body
emitting a mysterious pulse.
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What could it possibly be like?
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Pulsars were a strange new celestial body.
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A clue as to what they were like,
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came from an unexpected source.
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Thirty years before the
discovery of the pulsars,
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a genius of an astronomer
posited the existence
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of a fantastic type of star.
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00:14:12,193 --> 00:14:16,232
In 1934 the Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky
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made certain theoretical calculations
175
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about the final stage of
a type of giant star.
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When the giant star uses up it's fuel,
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it erupts in a giant explosion
called a super nova.
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00:14:37,554 --> 00:14:42,554
After the explosion, what's left
is an extremely small star.
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00:14:45,885 --> 00:14:50,358
Furthermore, this small star
is of a most peculiar kind.
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00:14:51,164 --> 00:14:53,605
According to Zwicky's calculations,
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such a star might have
the mass of our sun,
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but a diameter of just 10 kilometers.
183
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The star would be composed exclusively
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not of ordinary atoms, but
of particles neutrons.
185
00:15:13,467 --> 00:15:16,090
So could the pulsars be the neutron stars
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predicted by Zwicky?
187
00:15:26,714 --> 00:15:31,714
Stars, neutron stars,
can rotate fast enough
188
00:15:31,919 --> 00:15:34,371
and produce directed radiation.
189
00:15:34,372 --> 00:15:38,057
So that what you're looking at,
190
00:15:38,255 --> 00:15:40,632
is essentially a lighthouse.
191
00:15:40,633 --> 00:15:43,172
Like a terrestrial lighthouse.
192
00:15:45,390 --> 00:15:48,429
Neutron stars have magnetic fields.
193
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The stars rotate rapidly, all the while
194
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emitting electromagnetic radiation,
195
00:15:53,581 --> 00:15:56,054
including radio waves.
196
00:15:56,055 --> 00:15:57,664
Like the light from a lighthouse,
197
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These radio waves will seem to
pulse with every revolution.
198
00:16:02,007 --> 00:16:06,459
The neutron star was a winning
candidate for the pulsar.
199
00:16:10,625 --> 00:16:14,091
If a radio telescope could
detect those pulsing radio waves
200
00:16:14,092 --> 00:16:17,338
amidst the remains of a
supernova explosion,
201
00:16:17,339 --> 00:16:19,557
then it would be clear
proof that the pulsar
202
00:16:19,558 --> 00:16:21,732
was none other than the likely product
203
00:16:21,733 --> 00:16:25,674
of that supernova explosion,
the neutron star.
204
00:16:31,748 --> 00:16:34,447
Telescopes were pointed to the Crab Nebula
205
00:16:34,448 --> 00:16:37,428
in the constellation Taurus.
206
00:16:45,508 --> 00:16:47,470
The Crab Nebula is formed of the remnants
207
00:16:47,471 --> 00:16:51,443
of a supernova that occurred in 1054.
208
00:16:51,620 --> 00:16:55,486
Ancient texts record that supernova.
209
00:17:01,635 --> 00:17:04,077
It was so brilliant that it could be seen
210
00:17:04,078 --> 00:17:07,144
even in the middle of the day.
211
00:17:14,296 --> 00:17:18,188
The Crab Nebula is some
10 light years across.
212
00:17:18,189 --> 00:17:19,883
That is vast.
213
00:17:19,884 --> 00:17:24,884
It's 600,000 times the distance
from the Earth to the Sun.
214
00:17:29,303 --> 00:17:32,906
Astronomers around the world
are surveying it closely,
215
00:17:32,907 --> 00:17:36,256
believing that somewhere in
these remnants of a supernova
216
00:17:36,257 --> 00:17:39,306
there must be a neutron star.
217
00:17:39,307 --> 00:17:43,653
But no one has yet found a pulse.
218
00:17:46,454 --> 00:17:50,949
Perhaps the pulsar is not
a neutron star after all.
219
00:17:57,952 --> 00:18:01,572
The jewel of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico.
220
00:18:05,183 --> 00:18:08,169
In Arecibo, in the Western
part of the island,
221
00:18:08,170 --> 00:18:11,336
is situated a gigantic structure,
222
00:18:11,337 --> 00:18:14,527
the Arecibo Observatory.
223
00:18:17,662 --> 00:18:20,829
With a dish antenna 305 meters across,
224
00:18:20,830 --> 00:18:24,739
this is the world's
largest radio telescope.
225
00:18:30,504 --> 00:18:34,354
Compare that dish antenna
to a baseball stadium.
226
00:18:34,355 --> 00:18:38,892
The stadium fits in with room to spare.
227
00:18:45,917 --> 00:18:49,798
This giant radio telescope was
used to search for a pulsar
228
00:18:49,799 --> 00:18:52,609
in the Crab Nebula.
229
00:19:00,368 --> 00:19:05,269
But even this telescope could
not find a pulsar there.
230
00:19:16,154 --> 00:19:19,418
Richard Lovelace of Cornell
University spent eight months
231
00:19:19,419 --> 00:19:23,124
at Arecibo observing the nebula.
232
00:19:29,818 --> 00:19:34,105
Why could a pulsar not be
found in the Crab Nebula?
233
00:19:34,106 --> 00:19:37,112
Lovelace consulted with his colleagues.
234
00:19:37,113 --> 00:19:39,694
One theory emerging from their discussions
235
00:19:39,695 --> 00:19:41,827
was that it was there,
236
00:19:41,828 --> 00:19:45,842
but with a much shorter
period than expected.
237
00:19:46,158 --> 00:19:50,221
We should look for much shorter periods.
238
00:19:50,222 --> 00:19:55,222
Because in fact the pulsars
found by Hewish and Bell,
239
00:19:55,299 --> 00:19:58,348
those were one second period
240
00:19:58,349 --> 00:20:00,871
and one of them was a quarter of a second.
241
00:20:02,189 --> 00:20:03,809
So Lovelace and his colleagues
242
00:20:03,810 --> 00:20:07,223
developed an analytical
program to identify pulsars
243
00:20:07,224 --> 00:20:12,032
with merely 1/5 the period of
most Hewish and Bell pulsars.
244
00:20:17,434 --> 00:20:20,399
On November 9th, 1968, after Lovelace
245
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,567
had completed his Gallop computer program,
246
00:20:23,568 --> 00:20:26,681
he focused Arecibo's
giant spherical antenna
247
00:20:26,682 --> 00:20:29,364
on the Crab Nebula.
248
00:20:31,535 --> 00:20:33,625
Gallop worked splendidly.
249
00:20:33,626 --> 00:20:38,626
Capturing and analyzing radio
waves in rapid succession.
250
00:20:39,151 --> 00:20:41,859
Here are the computational results.
251
00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:43,619
Pulses were assigned number values
252
00:20:43,620 --> 00:20:47,341
in order of magnitude from one to nine.
253
00:20:47,342 --> 00:20:50,663
The strongest pulses of all were labeled X.
254
00:20:54,552 --> 00:20:58,629
And here is the much sought after X.
255
00:21:01,918 --> 00:21:04,359
Detailed analysis showed that this pulse
256
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,218
from the Crab Nebula
occurred at an interval
257
00:21:07,219 --> 00:21:10,129
of 0.03 seconds.
258
00:21:10,130 --> 00:21:13,884
That is a mere 1/40 of the pulsar
periods initially observed
259
00:21:13,885 --> 00:21:16,935
by Hewish and his associates.
260
00:21:21,564 --> 00:21:24,880
The reason this pulsar had
not previously been detected
261
00:21:24,881 --> 00:21:27,494
in the Crab Nebula was because
the star producing it
262
00:21:27,495 --> 00:21:31,781
was spinning so fast,
yielding such a small period.
263
00:21:31,782 --> 00:21:35,648
The Gallop Program had scored a great coup.
264
00:21:38,427 --> 00:21:43,392
It was really a turning point
in the ideas about pulsars.
265
00:21:44,134 --> 00:21:46,638
So it became absolutely clear they
266
00:21:46,639 --> 00:21:49,562
were rotating neutron stars.
267
00:21:49,563 --> 00:21:51,610
There was no doubt about that.
268
00:21:51,611 --> 00:21:54,148
Discovery of a pulsar in the Crab Nebula
269
00:21:54,149 --> 00:21:59,149
was the confirmation that all
of this was fitting together
270
00:22:00,005 --> 00:22:03,311
and we understood it properly.
271
00:22:06,692 --> 00:22:10,040
In 1999, the Subaru telescope at the summit
272
00:22:10,041 --> 00:22:14,916
of Mauna Kea in Hawaii was
aimed at the Crab Nebula.
273
00:22:23,217 --> 00:22:26,360
Observe the object indicated in the middle.
274
00:22:30,856 --> 00:22:33,410
Here it is in slow motion.
275
00:22:38,013 --> 00:22:41,745
Something is twinkling, flashing unlike any
276
00:22:41,746 --> 00:22:43,985
of the stars around it.
277
00:22:43,986 --> 00:22:46,348
A pulsar.
278
00:22:47,484 --> 00:22:50,182
And it is indeed a neutron star,
279
00:22:50,183 --> 00:22:53,259
the remnant of a supernova.
280
00:22:56,337 --> 00:22:58,832
The strange object predicted by Zwicky
281
00:22:58,833 --> 00:23:01,728
had finally revealed itself.
282
00:23:05,829 --> 00:23:09,295
So the pulsar is a neutron star.
283
00:23:09,296 --> 00:23:12,795
It is the result of an
exceptionally turbulent process.
284
00:23:20,111 --> 00:23:25,111
A giant star, eight to 20 times
the mass of our own sun,
285
00:23:25,349 --> 00:23:28,154
reaches the end of its life.
286
00:23:35,641 --> 00:23:39,176
It explodes as a supernova.
287
00:23:47,161 --> 00:23:50,412
In the middle of it all, the
atoms that make up its matter
288
00:23:50,413 --> 00:23:53,970
are subjected to
tremendously violent forces.
289
00:23:54,030 --> 00:23:57,650
The orbits of particles disintegrate.
290
00:23:57,677 --> 00:24:01,783
Electrons and protons fuse
together creating neutrons
291
00:24:01,784 --> 00:24:05,777
which rapidly condense in volume.
292
00:24:07,330 --> 00:24:10,177
What finally emerges is a ball of neutrons
293
00:24:10,178 --> 00:24:13,713
a mere 10 kilometers in diameter.
294
00:24:15,724 --> 00:24:20,017
A neutron star is born.
295
00:24:22,508 --> 00:24:24,395
The spinning energy of a giant star
296
00:24:24,396 --> 00:24:27,200
more than eight times the volume of the sun
297
00:24:27,201 --> 00:24:30,453
is now concentrated in this tiny object
298
00:24:30,454 --> 00:24:33,327
10 kilometers in diameter.
299
00:24:36,566 --> 00:24:41,566
So the neutron star revolves
at fantastic speed.
300
00:24:43,456 --> 00:24:45,183
And with its magnetic field,
301
00:24:45,184 --> 00:24:46,964
the neutron star sends out pulses
302
00:24:46,965 --> 00:24:50,201
of both radio waves and light.
303
00:24:54,143 --> 00:24:58,072
The pulsar.
304
00:25:01,556 --> 00:25:05,032
Professor Antony Hewish.
305
00:25:05,033 --> 00:25:07,976
The discovery of pulsars for which you
306
00:25:07,977 --> 00:25:10,656
played a decisive role is...
307
00:25:10,717 --> 00:25:13,394
For role in the discover of the pulsar,
308
00:25:13,395 --> 00:25:17,773
Hewish was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1974.
309
00:25:21,789 --> 00:25:24,476
Further research revealed even more.
310
00:25:24,477 --> 00:25:27,910
That the pulsar was responsible
for a stupendous phenomenon
311
00:25:27,911 --> 00:25:32,076
that went beyond anyone's imagination.
312
00:25:32,604 --> 00:25:35,653
Stimulated by the discoveries
of Hewish and Bell,
313
00:25:35,654 --> 00:25:39,675
astronomers all over the world
are using radio telescopes
314
00:25:39,676 --> 00:25:43,030
to look for pulsars.
315
00:25:43,089 --> 00:25:45,893
Parkes, Australia is home
to a scientist known
316
00:25:45,894 --> 00:25:49,094
as the world's number one pulsar hunter.
317
00:25:53,573 --> 00:25:57,674
Richard Manchester.
318
00:25:58,704 --> 00:26:00,601
He's been using the Parkes Observatory
319
00:26:00,602 --> 00:26:04,265
to search for pulsars for
the last four decades.
320
00:26:10,511 --> 00:26:12,601
Parkes is a big telescope,
321
00:26:12,602 --> 00:26:16,025
but by world standards, it's not huge.
322
00:26:16,026 --> 00:26:19,011
There are radio telescopes
in other parts of the world,
323
00:26:19,012 --> 00:26:21,432
in Europe, in North
America, which are bigger,
324
00:26:21,433 --> 00:26:25,719
but we've found twice as many pulsars
325
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,293
as all of the rest of them put together.
326
00:26:29,294 --> 00:26:32,307
And we're pretty proud of that.
327
00:26:32,931 --> 00:26:35,959
The telescope is located
in a natural setting
328
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,629
with more kangaroos than humans passing by.
329
00:26:39,630 --> 00:26:43,042
There are almost no artificial
radio sources nearby
330
00:26:43,043 --> 00:26:46,727
to contaminate observations
of the universe.
331
00:26:48,738 --> 00:26:51,574
And given its location in
the southern hemisphere,
332
00:26:51,575 --> 00:26:55,030
it has a great view of the
center of the Milky Way.
333
00:26:55,031 --> 00:26:58,326
All this makes the Parkes
Observatory the perfect place
334
00:26:58,327 --> 00:27:01,905
for pulsar hunting.
335
00:27:04,641 --> 00:27:08,443
Manchester also has a special device here.
336
00:27:18,603 --> 00:27:20,874
It's housed in a white box as large
337
00:27:20,875 --> 00:27:25,476
as a two-story bungalow
positioned above the reflector.
338
00:27:28,693 --> 00:27:32,282
This will be a rare look inside the box.
339
00:27:44,116 --> 00:27:46,942
It takes 10 minutes to
climb the 50 meter ladder
340
00:27:46,943 --> 00:27:49,017
to the white box.
341
00:27:53,769 --> 00:27:56,776
So this is the multibeam receiver.
342
00:27:56,777 --> 00:28:01,319
It has 13 beams. You can
just see the feed horns
343
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,405
through these panels.
344
00:28:06,344 --> 00:28:08,732
Each of the 13 elements in the array
345
00:28:08,733 --> 00:28:11,880
collects radio waves from
a different direction.
346
00:28:17,746 --> 00:28:19,486
A single receiver can cover
347
00:28:19,487 --> 00:28:22,936
only one region of space at time.
348
00:28:22,973 --> 00:28:24,935
But Manchester and his team have developed
349
00:28:24,936 --> 00:28:27,671
an array of 13 receivers.
350
00:28:27,848 --> 00:28:32,823
This multibeam receiver can
observe 13 areas at once.
351
00:28:41,972 --> 00:28:44,776
Once the multibeam was introduced,
352
00:28:44,777 --> 00:28:48,259
pulsar identifications
increased dramatically.
353
00:28:48,595 --> 00:28:52,429
Manchester's team soon found
more than 1,100 of them.
354
00:28:57,192 --> 00:29:00,199
Thanks to the efforts of
astronomers around the world
355
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,639
that number has reached roughly 2,000.
356
00:29:03,709 --> 00:29:06,459
If we could see pulsars with our own eyes,
357
00:29:06,460 --> 00:29:09,729
they would liberally
populate the night sky.
358
00:29:15,026 --> 00:29:17,243
It has become apparent that pulsars,
359
00:29:17,244 --> 00:29:21,104
that is neutron stars, are quite common
360
00:29:21,105 --> 00:29:23,222
throughout the universe.
361
00:29:25,734 --> 00:29:29,083
Six, five, four, three,
362
00:29:29,084 --> 00:29:32,016
we have a go for engine start, zero,
363
00:29:32,017 --> 00:29:34,415
we have booster ignition...
364
00:29:34,416 --> 00:29:37,934
in 1999 the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
365
00:29:37,935 --> 00:29:41,262
was launched into Earth orbit.
366
00:29:41,263 --> 00:29:42,606
You look out and this thing is so big...
367
00:29:42,607 --> 00:29:45,454
Earth is constantly bombarded by x-rays
368
00:29:45,455 --> 00:29:47,705
from distant parts of the universe.
369
00:29:50,692 --> 00:29:52,632
Ground based scopes however,
370
00:29:52,852 --> 00:29:54,334
are hindered from observing them
371
00:29:54,335 --> 00:29:57,273
by the Earth's thick atmosphere.
372
00:29:57,748 --> 00:30:00,029
That is the advantage of basing a telescope
373
00:30:00,030 --> 00:30:04,259
in space where there is
no such interference.
374
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:13,703
Chandra provides an excellent way
375
00:30:13,704 --> 00:30:16,316
to observe the remnants of a supernova.
376
00:30:16,317 --> 00:30:19,744
We'll look at a portion of the
constellation Cassiopeia.
377
00:30:21,744 --> 00:30:24,863
There's that famous W shape.
378
00:30:24,869 --> 00:30:27,780
And off to one side is a supernova remnant
379
00:30:27,781 --> 00:30:29,829
dubbed Cassiopeia A.
380
00:30:34,876 --> 00:30:38,883
This is an image of Cassiopeia
A taken with visible light
381
00:30:39,305 --> 00:30:43,619
and with visible light that's
about as good as it gets.
382
00:30:44,104 --> 00:30:48,796
With Chandra however, it looks like this.
383
00:30:48,797 --> 00:30:51,133
Gas clouds enveloping a neutron star
384
00:30:51,134 --> 00:30:54,018
that is fiercely emitting x-radiation.
385
00:31:01,715 --> 00:31:05,538
What does an analysis of
their composition reveal?
386
00:31:08,231 --> 00:31:10,566
This shows the presence of silicon.
387
00:31:10,567 --> 00:31:13,841
The redder the area, the more there is.
388
00:31:13,842 --> 00:31:15,483
The distribution indicates the extent
389
00:31:15,484 --> 00:31:20,395
of the supernova explosion.
390
00:31:20,955 --> 00:31:25,547
This is calcium.
391
00:31:26,342 --> 00:31:30,240
And this is the distribution of iron.
392
00:31:31,761 --> 00:31:34,138
Elements such as iron and silicon
393
00:31:34,139 --> 00:31:38,549
are produced by supernovas.
394
00:31:46,426 --> 00:31:50,356
Next, we'll use Chandra
to search for a pulsar.
395
00:31:57,037 --> 00:32:00,753
This nebula lies in the
constellation Sagittarius.
396
00:32:01,708 --> 00:32:06,708
A pulsar in its midst flashes
with exceptional luminosity.
397
00:32:08,876 --> 00:32:11,563
Ringed by gases, it's understandably
398
00:32:11,564 --> 00:32:14,288
called the Bullseye pulsar.
399
00:32:24,662 --> 00:32:28,975
This supernova remnant is
in constellation Vela.
400
00:32:33,088 --> 00:32:35,971
A pulsar has been detected here.
401
00:32:39,828 --> 00:32:43,875
The nebula has an odd,
tail-like protrusion.
402
00:32:54,014 --> 00:32:57,207
This nebula has some pointy-ness to it.
403
00:32:59,965 --> 00:33:03,298
It also has a pulsar, here.
404
00:33:03,517 --> 00:33:06,460
Gases expelled by a
supernova normally expand
405
00:33:06,461 --> 00:33:09,308
outward in a spherical fashion.
406
00:33:09,309 --> 00:33:11,441
But collisions with surrounding gases
407
00:33:11,442 --> 00:33:14,742
have produced these strange angles.
408
00:33:26,865 --> 00:33:30,709
This nebula has a long, long tail.
409
00:33:33,894 --> 00:33:37,898
And at one tip, a pulsar.
410
00:33:38,459 --> 00:33:42,122
The gas cloud is 4.2 light-years in length.
411
00:33:45,872 --> 00:33:47,992
Measurements show that the pulsar itself
412
00:33:47,993 --> 00:33:49,678
is not going anywhere.
413
00:33:49,679 --> 00:33:52,873
So this long tail is a mystery.
414
00:33:57,135 --> 00:34:01,097
This nebula has been
called the Cosmic Hand.
415
00:34:04,729 --> 00:34:08,952
The nebula almost looks like my hand here,
416
00:34:08,953 --> 00:34:10,541
with the pulsar sitting here.
417
00:34:10,542 --> 00:34:13,080
There are finger-like
structures reaching up here.
418
00:34:13,081 --> 00:34:15,810
There's a thumb-like region over here.
419
00:34:15,811 --> 00:34:19,122
And we don't know why it looks like that.
420
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:22,956
I think most of us just
smiled and looked at it
421
00:34:22,957 --> 00:34:26,684
and said, well this isn't
going to be easy to explain.
422
00:34:30,743 --> 00:34:34,636
The pulsar is located at
the heel of the palm.
423
00:34:34,637 --> 00:34:38,929
The hand seems to be
trying to grasp something.
424
00:34:43,841 --> 00:34:48,304
It's a broad palm, 150 light-years across.
425
00:34:48,620 --> 00:34:52,379
Truly this cosmic hand is an awesome sight.
426
00:35:03,851 --> 00:35:05,748
Scientists find another structure
427
00:35:05,749 --> 00:35:09,327
to be even more astonishing though,
428
00:35:09,386 --> 00:35:11,823
the Crab Nebula.
429
00:35:15,370 --> 00:35:19,609
Chandra can capture the x-rays it produces.
430
00:35:24,980 --> 00:35:28,157
What appears now is a mushroom shape.
431
00:35:28,158 --> 00:35:31,779
This is quite different
from its optical image.
432
00:35:41,790 --> 00:35:44,733
Koji Murai used the
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
433
00:35:44,734 --> 00:35:47,452
to study the Crab Nebula.
434
00:35:47,453 --> 00:35:52,012
He observed it continuously
over a five month period.
435
00:35:57,511 --> 00:36:00,134
As he did so, he saw an awesome phenomenon
436
00:36:00,135 --> 00:36:03,084
he had no expectation of seeing.
437
00:36:04,423 --> 00:36:06,065
What attracted his attention was
438
00:36:06,066 --> 00:36:08,491
the ring of gas in the center.
439
00:36:11,932 --> 00:36:14,416
He imaged it at three week intervals
440
00:36:14,417 --> 00:36:17,067
and combined the results.
441
00:36:19,899 --> 00:36:21,995
It had moved.
442
00:36:26,853 --> 00:36:29,866
The ring is one light-year across.
443
00:36:30,075 --> 00:36:32,196
That's 60 thousand times the distance
444
00:36:32,197 --> 00:36:36,746
from the Earth to the Sun.
445
00:36:38,895 --> 00:36:43,188
Yet on that gigantic scale,
the ring suddenly enlarged.
446
00:37:09,752 --> 00:37:13,522
A ring expanding at half
the speed of light.
447
00:37:16,343 --> 00:37:19,085
Why is the gas ring expanding at all?
448
00:37:28,834 --> 00:37:31,286
One scientist has tried
to solve the mystery
449
00:37:31,287 --> 00:37:33,419
of this pulsar phenomenon by means
450
00:37:33,420 --> 00:37:38,420
of computer simulations.
451
00:37:38,902 --> 00:37:41,493
Shinpei Shibata thinks
that the reason the ring
452
00:37:41,494 --> 00:37:44,064
is enlarging so fast is that the pulsar
453
00:37:44,065 --> 00:37:46,442
at its center carries an exceptionally
454
00:37:46,443 --> 00:37:49,232
powerful magnetic charge.
455
00:38:00,234 --> 00:38:02,996
Shibata and his associates
used a supercomputer
456
00:38:02,997 --> 00:38:06,164
at the National Astronomical
Observatory of Japan
457
00:38:06,165 --> 00:38:09,039
to simulate the pulsars environment.
458
00:38:14,271 --> 00:38:17,469
Then they set a pulsar,
meaning a powerful magnet,
459
00:38:17,470 --> 00:38:19,839
spinning in that environment.
460
00:38:26,078 --> 00:38:29,266
That yields a vast amount
of electrical energy,
461
00:38:29,267 --> 00:38:33,560
which in turn produces a
huge quantity of particles.
462
00:38:34,430 --> 00:38:37,724
The particles are spun off
by the rotating pulsar
463
00:38:37,725 --> 00:38:40,787
and flung out toward the periphery.
464
00:38:47,474 --> 00:38:51,356
The speed of these ejected
particles has been calculated.
465
00:38:51,357 --> 00:38:56,357
It's 99.999999999999%
of the speed of light.
466
00:39:40,946 --> 00:39:44,828
The pulsar wind blasts out at light speed.
467
00:39:54,286 --> 00:39:56,791
At those fierce speeds, the pulsar wind
468
00:39:56,792 --> 00:40:00,188
pushes surrounding gases outward.
469
00:40:07,148 --> 00:40:09,259
This rendering of the pulsar is based
470
00:40:09,260 --> 00:40:12,134
on the latest research by Shibata.
471
00:40:18,817 --> 00:40:21,560
And so we take an imaginary journey
472
00:40:21,561 --> 00:40:24,929
into deep space to the Crab Nebula.
473
00:40:28,924 --> 00:40:31,141
We plunge into the nebula
474
00:40:31,142 --> 00:40:33,434
greeted by a fearsome particle storm
475
00:40:33,435 --> 00:40:36,587
with winds reaching half
the speed of light.
476
00:40:44,101 --> 00:40:47,231
It's still one light-year to the pulsar.
477
00:40:47,312 --> 00:40:50,079
We can see the ripples spreading out.
478
00:40:53,605 --> 00:40:56,703
The pulsar is now a
billion kilometers away.
479
00:40:56,704 --> 00:41:00,025
And now we can see the lighthouse effect.
480
00:41:04,074 --> 00:41:07,033
The source of that flashing
light is the pulsar.
481
00:41:21,897 --> 00:41:26,897
Finally, the pulsar itself, a
shimmering ball of neutrons
482
00:41:27,283 --> 00:41:30,232
just 10 kilometers in diameter.
483
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:33,863
It's gravitational force is so tremendous,
484
00:41:33,864 --> 00:41:36,743
all bumps and dips are leveled out.
485
00:41:36,744 --> 00:41:39,324
The surface gleams like a mirror.
486
00:41:39,325 --> 00:41:41,820
It even reflects the spaceship.
487
00:41:41,821 --> 00:41:45,953
It's simply amazing that
such an object exists.
488
00:41:48,956 --> 00:41:52,347
Seen close up, the pulsar
can only be called
489
00:41:52,348 --> 00:41:55,382
a wonder of the universe.
490
00:41:57,510 --> 00:41:59,760
The latest research has revealed
491
00:41:59,761 --> 00:42:02,949
that pulsars are also a
source of a certain element
492
00:42:02,950 --> 00:42:07,563
of particular interest to humans.
493
00:42:08,484 --> 00:42:10,904
It happens during the
most violent explosions
494
00:42:10,905 --> 00:42:13,263
known to occur in outer space.
495
00:42:21,369 --> 00:42:25,293
Thomas Janka and Shinya Wanajo
are pursuing this matter
496
00:42:25,294 --> 00:42:27,426
by creating computer simulations
497
00:42:27,427 --> 00:42:31,026
of violent collisions
between two neutron stars.
498
00:42:39,245 --> 00:42:43,057
First Janka creates the
neutron star collisions.
499
00:42:47,575 --> 00:42:49,590
The two neutron stars orbit each other
500
00:42:49,591 --> 00:42:50,891
in very close distance.
501
00:42:50,892 --> 00:42:53,206
You can see that the distance
between the two neutron stars
502
00:42:53,207 --> 00:42:56,800
is a bit smaller already than the diameter.
503
00:42:56,801 --> 00:42:59,649
And then the two neutron
stars actually finally
504
00:42:59,650 --> 00:43:02,186
approach each other with violence and merge
505
00:43:02,187 --> 00:43:04,993
into one big blob of metal.
506
00:43:07,691 --> 00:43:09,578
As soon as they collide and merge,
507
00:43:09,579 --> 00:43:11,711
the two neutron stars are enshrouded
508
00:43:11,712 --> 00:43:15,461
in a misty shell of particles.
509
00:43:15,509 --> 00:43:19,300
These are neutrons shed
by the neutron stars.
510
00:43:22,932 --> 00:43:25,588
And eject in the end at large distances
511
00:43:25,589 --> 00:43:28,126
radiates a gamma ray burst which we see
512
00:43:28,127 --> 00:43:31,022
as the brightest flash
observable in the universe.
513
00:43:35,337 --> 00:43:39,143
The two neutron stars
approach one another rapidly.
514
00:43:39,144 --> 00:43:42,451
Finally, at 30% of the speed of light,
515
00:43:42,452 --> 00:43:45,869
they collide and merge.
516
00:43:46,430 --> 00:43:50,375
At that point, a huge quantity
of neutrons is released,
517
00:43:50,376 --> 00:43:52,775
along with a huge amount of energy
518
00:43:52,776 --> 00:43:56,194
causing a gigantic explosion.
519
00:43:57,203 --> 00:44:02,167
The biggest explosion in the
universe, a gamma ray burst.
520
00:44:05,351 --> 00:44:07,931
Wanajo believes that this
is when various forms
521
00:44:07,932 --> 00:44:10,694
of matter emerge from the cloud of neutrons
522
00:44:10,695 --> 00:44:12,833
released by the explosion.
523
00:44:17,329 --> 00:44:19,184
They say that it is actually rather easy
524
00:44:19,185 --> 00:44:21,435
to envision the phenomenon of neutrons
525
00:44:21,436 --> 00:44:23,541
producing other matter.
526
00:44:41,168 --> 00:44:42,692
The neutrons that spread about
527
00:44:42,693 --> 00:44:46,943
at the moment of impact
carry a neutral charge.
528
00:44:47,056 --> 00:44:49,945
So they can combine with
other matter easily,
529
00:44:49,946 --> 00:44:52,308
they offer no resistance.
530
00:45:06,670 --> 00:45:09,347
As more and more neutrons
attach to a given nucleus,
531
00:45:09,348 --> 00:45:13,683
the nucleus grows larger and larger.
532
00:45:15,384 --> 00:45:17,762
Wanajo calculated the type and quantity
533
00:45:17,763 --> 00:45:20,456
of elements created at that stage.
534
00:45:25,176 --> 00:45:28,567
Consider what happens during
the first 0.3 seconds
535
00:45:28,568 --> 00:45:30,631
after the explosion.
536
00:45:35,255 --> 00:45:38,326
The line extended towards the
upper right of the graph
537
00:45:38,327 --> 00:45:41,969
indicates the volume of
neutrons combining together.
538
00:45:45,399 --> 00:45:48,688
Heavy elements appear in a flash.
539
00:45:54,070 --> 00:45:58,596
0.01 seconds after the blast.
540
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,663
The neutrons as they combine,
541
00:46:02,664 --> 00:46:05,111
begin to form heavier nuclei.
542
00:46:07,539 --> 00:46:10,321
Large quantities of neutrons whiz about,
543
00:46:10,322 --> 00:46:13,602
creating elements such as iron and silver.
544
00:46:18,919 --> 00:46:21,958
At 0.3 seconds after the explosion,
545
00:46:21,959 --> 00:46:25,355
more neutrons get added.
546
00:46:28,209 --> 00:46:30,085
When they reach a certain mass,
547
00:46:30,086 --> 00:46:32,427
the nuclei stabilize.
548
00:46:54,586 --> 00:46:56,942
So the collision scatters vast quantities
549
00:46:56,943 --> 00:46:58,926
of neutrons about.
550
00:46:58,927 --> 00:47:02,409
And in very short order, they produce gold.
551
00:47:12,686 --> 00:47:14,349
So how much gold does the collision
552
00:47:14,350 --> 00:47:17,091
of those two neutron star produce?
553
00:47:17,092 --> 00:47:20,061
And how does it get scattered about?
554
00:47:24,675 --> 00:47:26,786
This is a computer graphic rendering
555
00:47:26,787 --> 00:47:29,490
based on those calculations.
556
00:47:30,253 --> 00:47:34,465
All those neutrons have produced
a vast quantity of gold
557
00:47:34,466 --> 00:47:36,871
which is then dispersed through space.
558
00:47:41,677 --> 00:47:44,320
The quantity of gold produced at this time
559
00:47:44,321 --> 00:47:47,814
is equivalent to triple
the mass of planet Earth.
560
00:47:50,657 --> 00:47:54,241
Wanajo and Janka say that if
one goes back far enough,
561
00:47:54,242 --> 00:47:56,022
one could trace Earth's gold also
562
00:47:56,023 --> 00:47:59,793
to collisions between neutron stars.
563
00:48:00,439 --> 00:48:02,667
At least the neutron star merges seem
564
00:48:02,668 --> 00:48:05,451
to be a good candidate for the most,
565
00:48:05,452 --> 00:48:08,459
for the main produces
for the origin of most
566
00:48:08,460 --> 00:48:11,984
of the very heavy elements,
like uranium and gold.
567
00:48:15,716 --> 00:48:18,141
Collisions between neutron stars,
568
00:48:18,142 --> 00:48:21,569
happening far away, and long ago.
569
00:48:28,509 --> 00:48:31,473
The gold we ourselves handle was created
570
00:48:31,474 --> 00:48:34,593
by the largest collisions in the universe.
571
00:48:45,420 --> 00:48:46,599
During the filming of the work done
572
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:49,202
by pulsar hunter Richard Manchester,
573
00:48:49,203 --> 00:48:52,034
an unexpected discovery was made.
574
00:48:57,727 --> 00:49:01,838
Coffee cup in hand, he begins
his observations for the day.
575
00:49:03,657 --> 00:49:05,469
Manchester knows a number of regions
576
00:49:05,470 --> 00:49:08,942
where pulsars are relatively
likely to be found.
577
00:49:09,673 --> 00:49:13,272
He targets one of them.
578
00:49:15,944 --> 00:49:19,378
For 30 minutes he directs
the 64 meter antenna
579
00:49:19,379 --> 00:49:22,637
at one star in particular.
580
00:49:24,094 --> 00:49:26,556
That's when it happened.
581
00:49:26,557 --> 00:49:28,710
Oh, oh, oh! Oh look at that.
582
00:49:28,711 --> 00:49:32,171
Yeah, yeah, yeah that's a binary.
583
00:49:32,936 --> 00:49:37,250
Well now, let me just, I turned off...
584
00:49:38,705 --> 00:49:42,870
Is this binary star the
kind that produces gold?
585
00:49:43,174 --> 00:49:44,165
There is a...
586
00:49:44,166 --> 00:49:46,567
There's a curvature
There's a curvature, yeah.
587
00:49:50,026 --> 00:49:51,060
Very good!
Yeah, yeah
588
00:49:51,061 --> 00:49:52,447
That could be an interesting source,
589
00:49:52,448 --> 00:49:55,592
what's the period?
590
00:49:55,593 --> 00:49:57,139
One two three milliseconds.
591
00:49:57,140 --> 00:50:00,894
123, so it could even be
a double neutron star.
592
00:50:04,264 --> 00:50:08,079
So that's pretty amazing, wow.
593
00:50:08,084 --> 00:50:12,259
Not a bad haul Pretty good.
594
00:50:13,416 --> 00:50:17,917
And we only know of ten or
twelve of these systems
595
00:50:17,918 --> 00:50:21,799
out of the 2,000 pulsars that we know about
596
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,856
and so finding another one
would be very exciting.
597
00:50:27,368 --> 00:50:29,949
The two neutron stars in a binary system
598
00:50:29,950 --> 00:50:31,815
will eventually, it is thought,
599
00:50:31,816 --> 00:50:33,970
approach each other and collide.
600
00:50:37,896 --> 00:50:41,329
Along with one of the greatest
explosions in the universe,
601
00:50:41,330 --> 00:50:43,601
the result will be an
increase in the amount
602
00:50:43,602 --> 00:50:45,958
of gold in existence.
603
00:50:45,959 --> 00:50:48,720
An increase equivalent to
several times the mass
604
00:50:48,721 --> 00:50:50,902
of our entire planet.
605
00:51:04,091 --> 00:51:08,757
Today as well, pulses from
afar are reaching our planet.
606
00:51:19,962 --> 00:51:24,186
Pulses that led to the
discovery of neutron stars,
607
00:51:24,187 --> 00:51:27,690
spectacular celestial bodies.
608
00:51:35,215 --> 00:51:38,488
The pulsating neutron star, or pulsar,
609
00:51:38,489 --> 00:51:41,453
is the strangest object in the universe.
610
00:51:41,454 --> 00:51:45,076
And one deeply associated
with the creation of matter.
611
00:51:46,330 --> 00:51:48,866
It will continue to challenge
humanities vision and
612
00:51:48,867 --> 00:51:52,274
intelligence for many years to come.
48079
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