#449: 20,000 Black Holes, Polaris Dawn's Spacewalk & New Horizons' Deep Dive

Space Nuts

Join Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson in this enthralling episode of Space Nuts, where they delve into groundbreaking discoveries and missions in the cosmos.
Episode Highlights:

• Swarm of Black Holes: Explore the astonishing possibility of a swarm of up to 20,000 black holes in a well-known region of Space. Once thought to contain a single intermediate-mass black hole, new findings suggest a much more complex scenario.
• - Polaris Dawn Mission: Discover the exciting details of the Polaris Dawn mission, potentially the first crewed mission to achieve a polar orbit around Earth. Learn about their ambitious plans, including the first privately conducted spacewalk, and the technical challenges they face.
• - New Horizons Mission: Find out what the New Horizons spacecraft is up to 18 years after its launch. After its historic flyby of Pluto, the mission continues to break new ground by examining the darkness of Space, providing insights into the cosmic optical background.
• - 00:00:00 Andrew Dunkley: Coming up on this episode of Space Nuts
• - 00:01:32 You can't go bluetooth through this panel I've got because of time delay
• - 00:02:35 Geordie says he got hay fever from living in England
• - 00:04:28 Astronomers have been hunting for intermediate black holes for decades
• - 00:15:00 The world will have to come up with a collective noun for black holes
• - 00:16:14 Professor Fred Watson talks to Andrew Dunkley about the Polaris dawn mission
• - 00:23:22 Andrew Dunkley dives into black hole; hopes all goes well
• - 00:24:26 New Horizons spacecraft has been sent off to examine darkness of night sky
• - 00:32:17 Professor Fred Watson: Thanks for your company, Andrew Dunkley
• For more Space Nuts, including our continually updating newsfeed, visit our website at spacenutspodcast.com. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favourite platform. For more Space and Astronomy News Podcasts, visit our HQ at www.bitesz.com. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts/support.Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.

Episode References:
Hubble Space Telescope
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html
Polaris Dawn mission
https://polarisprogram.com/
New Horizons spacecraft
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
Sky & Telescope
https://skyandtelescope.org/
French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
https://www.cnrs.fr/en
Leiden Observatory
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/science/astronomy
Royal Observatory Edinburgh
https://www.roe.ac.uk/
SpaceX Crew Dragon
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/dragon/
Falcon 9
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-9/
Astronomy AstroDailyPod
https://astronomydaily.io/