“The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)” with Dr Katie Mack

Throughout history philosophers, poets and explorers have been pondering upon and debating the question that what the long term future of our universe would be. The focus has been on two intriguing perspectives: would the universe continue to exist forever or would it end at some point in time in future. Modern scientists seem to be in agreement that in the distant future the world will end; our universe will die. At that time, humanity might still exist in many unrecognizable spinoff forms, venturing out to distant space, finding new homes and building new civilizations. But the death of the universe if final. It is hard to contemplate that a time will come when, all that we care about, all that we have imagined and built, that all will end. It is equally hard to address the question that how our universe will end. In her latest book “The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)”, Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack outlines five different ways the universe could end, and discusses in detail the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in physics. In this episode of Bridging the Gaps, I speak with Dr Katie Mack about her research and about these possible endings of our universe.

Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who studies a range of questions in cosmology, the study of the universe from beginning to end. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, where she is also a member of the Leadership in Public Science Cluster. Throughout her career she has studied dark matter, the early universe, galaxy formation, black holes, cosmic strings, and the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Alongside her academic research, she is an active science communicator and has been published in a number of popular publications such as Scientific American, The New York Times, Slate, Sky & Telescope, and Cosmos Magazine, where she is a columnist.

We start our conversation by discussing with Dr Katie Mack the beginning of the universe; we then discuss nature and the large scale structure of the observable universe. We discuss cutting-edge research on two important unknowns that we are faced with: Dark Matter and Dark Energy. In the book Dr Katie Mack outlines a number of ways in which this universe could end. We discuss in detail two of these possibilities. Finally we discuss the models and theories that we presently use to study the cosmos and how might a “theory of everything” enhance our ability to understand the true nature of reality. This has been a fascinating discussion with one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics.

By |August 27th, 2020|Cosmology, Physics, Podcasts|
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Spitzer Space Telescope: Discovering “More Things in the Heavens” with NASA’s Spitzer Project Scientist Michael Werner

Since 2003, in a unique Earth-trailing orbit around the Sun, the Spitzer Space Telescope has been observing in infrared an optically invisible universe dominated by dust and stars. Astronomers have been studying visible universe for thousands of years; however due to interstellar dust clouds and other obstructions to visible light, it was not possible to observe various regions of the universe. The Spitzer Space Telescope, the most sensitive infrared space observatory ever launched, has enabled us to study such optically obscure regions and processes in infrared. “The Spitzer Space Telescope has opened up a new window on the cosmos, yielding new perspectives and crucial insights into the genesis of planets, stars and galaxies”.

Michael Werner and Peter Eisenhardt are among the scientists who worked for decades to bring this historic mission to life. Their book “More Things in the Heavens: How infrared astronomy is expanding our view of the universe” outlines an inside story of how Spitzer continues to carry out cutting-edge infrared astronomy to help answer fundamental questions that have intrigued humankind since ancient time: Where did we come from? How did the universe evolve? Are we alone? In this episode of Bridging the Gaps podcast, I speak with Michael Werner, one of the authors of this insightful book. Discussing various features of Spitzer’s mission and numerous topics covered in the book, this podcast presents a fascinating view of how infrared astronomy is aiding the search for exoplanets, enabling us to study exoplanet atmospheres, and is transforming our understanding of formation of stars and galaxies, and of the history and evolution of our universe.

Michael Werner is a senior research scientists at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. He has been the lead scientist for the Spitzer Space Telescope since 1984.

By |July 2nd, 2019|Uncategorized|
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Everything a Curious Mind Should Know About Planetary Ring Systems with Dr Mark Showalter

When Galileo pointed his telescope towards Saturn (circa 1610), he was not able to fully understand what was around the planet; in 1659 Christian Hygen published a drawing of the ring of Saturn and suggested there was thin, flat ring around the planet. He observed that the ring was inclined to the ecliptic and didn’t touch the planet.

In 1675, Giovanni Domenic Cassini described that Saturn’s ring was composed of multiple smaller rings with gaps between them. In 1787, Pierre-Simon Laplace suggested that the rings were composed of a large number of solid ringlets. Research on the rings around Saturn continued and in 1859 James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated that the rings could not be solid or they would become unstable and break apart.

When looked at from a distance, rings around Saturn appear thin with smooth surfaces; however close up images captured by various robotic space missions and additional data collected by sensors onboard several spacecraft visiting and flying-by Saturn show that there are number of dynamic processes happening in these ring systems, and there are horizontal as well as vertical surface features. When sunlight hits the surface of these rings at an angle, dark shadows of mountains and dark valleys become visible and various patterns become noticeable; this informs us that these surfaces are not smooth as previously thought. Also, it has been observed that the tilt of the ring system is not fixed. Research shows that if something has changed the tilt of a ring system, an analysis of the ripple patterns exhibited by the particles forming these rings can inform us the cause of this change. Thus by observing and studying the structure of rings and the dynamic processes going on in these rings, one can learn a lot about the history of the host planet and the system within which the planet exists. An interesting aspect of studying planetary ring systems is the question that can an understanding of dynamic processes that occur in planetary ring systems inform us about the similar processes that occur during the formation of solar systems and spiral galaxies.

Dr Mark Showalter works on some of NASA’s highest profile missions to outer planets. He has been a member of Cassini Mission Science Team for nearly a decade, and has been involved in the observations of Jupiter’s rings using New Horizons spacecraft. A frequent user of Hubble Space Telescope, Dr Showalter has to his credit the discovery of Jupiter’s outer most ring, Saturn’s moon PAN, and two moons and two faint rings around the planet Uranus. In a presentation Dr Mark Showalter describes himself as a ring geek. In this podcast Dr Showlater discusses planetry ring systems in detail; this podcast is about everything that a curious mind should know about planetary ring systems.

By |April 2nd, 2017|Podcasts|
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