Gravitational waves from two colliding neutron stars 130 million million light-years away were detected recently, and this cosmic event has sparked an astronomy revolution. The Sky Crew returns to explain what the cosmic tells us about how heavy elements like gold, platinum and uranium were formed, and what it means for the future of astronomy. We check in on how NASA is improving the odds of identifying habitable exoplanets, plus another discovery, a "quasi-satellite." And we look at a Planet Nine conspiracy theory!
GUESTS:
- Mal Cameron - former astronomy and space educator at the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center and coordinator of its NASA Educator Resource Center.
- John Gianforte –astronomy instructor and UNH Observatory Director; co-founder of the "Astronomical Society" of northern New England.
- Nicole Gugliucci -Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Saint Anselm College.
#kilonova
Here's NASA's visualization of doomed neutron stars whirling towards their demise:
This video from the Australian National University offers a quick but comprehensive explanation of what scientists were able to see and why it's important:
Read the New York Times coverage of the discovery of the neutron stars colliding, which more than one researcher described as "the holy grail."
Exoplanets, and Planet 9
NASA needs your help searching for new objects at the edge of our solar system. Help scan the realm beyond Neptune for brown dwarfs and Planet Nine with the Backyard Worlds project.
The BFR
Elon Musk proposes to use SpaceX's BFR to travel around Earth.
