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The Universe: Pulsars & Quasars Infiltrate the Sky (S4, E10) | Full Episode | History

HISTORY・28 minutes read

The universe is a vast realm of time, space, and matter, where pulsars and quasars reveal cosmic secrets through rapid rotation and powerful magnetic fields. Pulsars act as astronomical clocks with slow energy loss, while quasars, powered by massive black holes, emit intense light across the observable universe.

Insights

  • Pulsars, initially mistaken for alien signals, are rapidly rotating stars emitting energy beams due to strong magnetic fields, serving as precise astronomical clocks and maintaining accurate time despite glitches and starquakes.
  • Quasars, powered by massive black holes at galaxies' centers, emit intense light and are part of active galactic nuclei, with their brightness often obscured by surrounding material, forming a family of objects including radio galaxies and blazars.

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Recent questions

  • What are pulsars and quasars?

    Pulsars are rapidly rotating stars emitting beams of energy due to magnetic fields, serving as astronomical clocks. Quasars are massive black holes emitting large amounts of light, powered by material falling onto them.

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Summary

00:00

"Pulsars and Quasars: Cosmic Anomalies Revealed"

  • The universe is a place of endless time, space, and matter, with new discoveries revealing the secrets of pulsars and quasars.
  • Pulsars and quasars are cosmic anomalies, shining brightly, rotating rapidly, and emitting cosmic rhythms.
  • Pulsars were initially thought to be signals from aliens but were later identified as rapidly rotating stars.
  • Pulsars emit beams of energy due to their magnetic fields, creating a flashing effect when viewed from Earth.
  • Neutron stars, created from massive star supernovas, are incredibly dense objects, with a sugar cube-sized piece weighing close to a billion tons.
  • Neutron stars, like pulsars, have high-speed spins, generating powerful magnetic fields that fling particles into space, emitting radiation in beams.
  • Pulsars, with unique spins, serve as astronomical clocks and tools for determining location in space, used by NASA in spacecraft like Pioneer and Voyager.
  • Pulsars are nature's ultimate flywheels, maintaining accurate time due to their slow energy loss and rotational conversion to radiation.
  • Pulsars can experience glitches and starquakes, with their spins slowing down over time but remaining accurate astronomical clocks.
  • Pulsars, found in supernova remnants, create pulsar wind nebulae, like the Crab Nebula, where a spinning neutron star energizes the surrounding material, lighting it up.

15:54

"Pulsars: Celestial Phenomena and Musical Harmony"

  • An astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.
  • Time-lapse pictures reveal the chaotic interior of the Crab Nebula, showcasing shockwaves and polar jets created by the spinning star's pulsar wind.
  • Millisecond pulsars are recycled pulsars that speed up due to mass transfer from a nearby star, spinning several hundred to 1,000 times a second.
  • Matter falling onto a pulsar causes it to speed up, illustrated by a rotating bicycle wheel analogy.
  • Magnetars, with intense magnetic fields, are extremely rare and have the potential to demagnetize all credit cards and disrupt human molecules.
  • Pulsars, emitting strong radio waves, are unique in their radio frequency emissions, making them stand out in the sky.
  • Pulsar radio beams, audible hundreds of light years away, can be converted into sound, with different pulsars producing distinct tones.
  • The Vela Pulsar, rotating 11 times a second, emits X-rays and material jets, inspiring musician Mickey Hart to incorporate its rhythm into his compositions.
  • 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster 16,000 light years away, houses 22 millisecond pulsars, each generating a musical note, forming a stellar choir.
  • A binary system with two pulsars orbiting each other exists, alongside pulsars with planets, challenging the expectation that pulsars would obliterate planets due to supernova explosions.

31:48

"Quasars: Massive Black Holes Emitting Light"

  • Quasars are massive black holes that emit large amounts of light and are found across the observable universe.
  • The black holes inside quasars, often called monsters, are millions to billions of times the mass of the sun and consume material around them.
  • Quasars are powered by black holes at the center of galaxies, despite black holes being objects from which light cannot escape.
  • To form a quasar, a massive black hole at a galaxy's center needs a supply of gas to fall onto it, causing it to shine brightly.
  • Galaxies colliding can reignite quasars by pushing gas towards the central supermassive black holes.
  • The Andromeda galaxy merging with the Milky Way could potentially create a quasar brighter than the full moon.
  • Quasars are part of a family of objects called active galactic nuclei, powered by material falling onto huge black holes.
  • Quasars produce high-speed jets of material due to magnetic field lines anchored to a disk of gas orbiting the black hole.
  • Quasars, radio galaxies, and blazars are essentially the same objects viewed from different angles, with their brightness often hidden by surrounding material.
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