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Witness the remarkable scientific breakthroughs in this captivating video!
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00:00The James Webb Space Telescope is an absolutely stunning piece of equipment,
00:04which is around 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope,
00:09and the latter has managed to observe places that are around 13 billion light-years away.
00:14But recently, James Webb has outdone itself.
00:17It spotted something it wasn't supposed to see.
00:20Astronomers using the telescope have detected a supermassive black hole
00:24from when our universe was less than 600 million years old.
00:27Just a baby.
00:29This discovery is the most distant, actively feeding supermassive black ever observed.
00:34It's located at the heart of its host galaxy, designated Sears 1019.
00:39The black hole is also one of the smallest and least massive ones found in the early universe.
00:44It's equal to approximately 9 million suns.
00:47It might seem like a lot, but in reality,
00:50supermassive black holes often grow to billions of times the mass of our star.
00:55But what is so unusual about this find?
00:57And why are scientists having a hard time trying to explain it?
01:01You see, it's supposed to take way longer than 600 million years for a supermassive black hole to grow to
01:07its full potential.
01:09It happens when a black hole either feasts on surrounding matter or merges with a larger black hole.
01:14Even black holes similar to the one at the center of our Milky Way galaxy,
01:18which is almost 4.5 million times the mass of our sun,
01:22are supposed to be seen in the more recent universe.
01:26Well, to tell you the truth, scientists have long suspected that supermassive black holes
01:31could have existed in the early universe.
01:33But this theory has been proven only thanks to the JWST and its infrared eye.
01:38It has shown that the black hole Sears 1019 is actively munching on all the matter it can lay its
01:44hands on.
01:45Such feeding black holes are usually surrounded by swirls of gas and dust falling inside them.
01:51Such swirls are also called accretion disks.
01:54The gravitational force of a black hole heats this matter,
01:57which makes the disk shine bright like a diamond.
02:00Uh-hum.
02:01Sorry, but that's not all.
02:02Strong magnetic fields produced in the process channel the matter to the poles of the black hole,
02:06and from time to time this matter is blasted out of there in twin powerful jets.
02:10They move at a speed that is close to the speed of light, which generates incredibly bright light.
02:16By the way, astronomers were watching the galaxy hosting the unusually old black hole
02:22as part of the cosmic evolution early release since survey.
02:26They saw the galaxy as it was when the universe, which is around 13.8 billion years old now,
02:32was a mere 570 million years old.
02:35Besides the main character of this video, scientists spotted two other black holes.
02:40Those probably appeared 1 in 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang,
02:44and 11 ancient galaxies that existed between 470 and 675 million years after the beginning of cosmic history.
02:53The coolest thing about all these discoveries is that until recently,
02:58all research about things that existed in the early universe was mostly theoretical.
03:02But now, with the help of the James Webb Telescope,
03:05astronomers can not only see galaxies and black holes at unimaginable distances,
03:10but they can also measure them.
03:12This isn't the only discovery connected with black holes made recently.
03:16For example, not so long ago, scientists saw two stars slow down in their orbits around black holes
03:21and concluded it was most likely the result of drag produced by dark matter.
03:26It was the first time astronomers might have discovered some indirect evidence
03:30that huge amounts of dark matter could surround black holes.
03:34Now, about that dark matter, what is it, and what does it consist of?
03:39Our universe consists of normal matter, dark matter, and dark energy.
03:43Normal matter, which is everything you can see with your own eyes or with the help of instruments,
03:48makes up around 5% of the universe.
03:51Hmm, since it's such a small fraction of the universe, maybe we shouldn't call it normal?
03:57Dark energy takes up around 68%, and about 27% of the universe is dark matter.
04:04This dark matter is just one more space thing that confuses scientists to no end.
04:10If dark energy is a force responsible for the expansion of the universe,
04:14dark matter is supposed to explain how objects work together.
04:17Potential candidates for dark matter vary from strange particles to super dim objects.
04:23But even though astronomers can't grasp what exactly dark matter is,
04:27they know for sure what it isn't.
04:29This matter is dark, so we can rule out visible stars and planets.
04:33It also can't be dark clouds of normal matter.
04:36Otherwise, scientists would be able to detect it.
04:39Dark matter is not antimatter,
04:41since astronomers don't see unique gamma rays that appear when antimatter comes in contact with matter.
04:46And neither is dark matter gigantic galaxy-sized black holes.
04:50In other words, dark matter is still as much of a mystery to us as dark energy.
04:55Anyway, back to the potential dark matter discovered around the black holes.
05:00If it is confirmed, it'll be a great breakthrough in dark matter research.
05:04What helped scientists come up with this idea,
05:07is that dark matter interacts gravitationally, influencing ordinary matter.
05:12So, a team of researchers watched the orbits of two stars decay by about one millisecond per year,
05:19while they were circling their companion black holes.
05:22The scientists concluded that these changes in speed,
05:25were the result of dark matter generating friction, and a drag on the stars.
05:31With the help of computer simulations of the black hole systems,
05:34the team tested a model widely known in cosmology.
05:38It's called the Dark Matter Dynamic Friction Model,
05:41and it predicts a certain loss of momentum by objects that are gravitationally interacting with dark matter.
05:48And guess what?
05:49The simulation matched these predictions.
05:52The results of this research helped to confirm a theory that had existed for a long time,
05:57that black holes can actually swallow dark matter that comes too close.
06:00As a result, dark matter gets redistributed around black holes,
06:05creating areas with different densities,
06:07which can influence the orbits of surrounding objects,
06:10like the stars we've been talking about.
06:13Speaking of black holes,
06:14there's a theory that primordial black holes could actually be dark matter.
06:18This type of black hole is hypothetical,
06:20since scientists have never got any real proof of their existence.
06:24Such holes are insanely old and quite tiny.
06:27By black hole standards, that is.
06:29Astronomers believe they could appear several milliseconds after the Big Bang.
06:33At that time, stars and galaxies weren't born yet.
06:37It means primordial black holes probably witnessed the entire history of the universe.
06:41By now, the smallest primordial black holes have most likely evaporated away,
06:46but some bigger ones can still be scattered out there in space.
06:50If primordial black holes indeed existed,
06:53they could appear because in some regions of space,
06:55it was hotter, other regions were cooler,
06:58and some areas were extremely dense.
07:01Scientists believe these dense spots could collapse into primordial black holes.
07:05The most curious thing, though?
07:07These holes might be so small exactly because they popped up right after the Big Bang.
07:11The thing is, the longer it took a black hole to appear, the larger it was.
07:16The mass difference between older, smaller, and younger, bigger black holes was incredible.
07:22Compare the mass a thousand times greater than our sun's and that of a pea.
07:25There you go.
07:27Anyway, the idea of the connection between primordial black holes and dark matter,
07:32or rather, the idea of them being the same thing,
07:35remained unpopular for decades.
07:38But recently, scientists have realized there are many more black holes in the universe than they used to think,
07:43and it means that the theory might actually work.
07:46And the vast and still hidden from us,
07:49population of Big Bang black holes,
07:51could not only make up but be dark matter.
07:54After all, astronomers haven't discovered a single dark matter particle yet,
07:59even after decades of searching.
08:02Okay, I officially give up on the hope that the moon is made of cheese, after all.
08:07Wow, not even Gouda.
08:08The shiny lunar ball, or a curved banana,
08:11or half of a coin, depending on what phase it's in,
08:14has different layers inside, just like Earth.
08:17One of these layers is called the inner core.
08:20About 20 years ago, scientists were observing how the moon rotates.
08:24Using that data, they concluded that it had a fluid outer core.
08:28But the inner core was hard to study,
08:31so they didn't know if it was solid like a rock,
08:33or molten like a hot liquid.
08:35But things are clearer now.
08:38Astronomers have collected data from different missions,
08:41including the Apollo missions,
08:42where astronauts went to the moon and gathered information themselves.
08:46Plus, they've used a special technique called seismic data.
08:50This method is all about studying how sound waves move through things.
08:54Take earthquakes on our planet as an example.
08:57When an earthquake happens,
08:58it creates waves that travel through the ground.
09:02Scientists can detect and analyze these waves
09:04to learn more about Earth's interior.
09:06The same idea can apply to other objects in our solar system,
09:09or planets, or, in this case, the moon.
09:13When quakes, or moonquakes, happen,
09:15they generate sound waves.
09:17And by carefully listening to and studying these waves,
09:20scientists can create a detailed map of what's inside the object.
09:25They can figure out things like different layers,
09:27what they're made of, and how they're arranged.
09:30To check the moon's deep interior,
09:32scientists also use something called laser ranging.
09:36This method measures the distance
09:37between the surface of the Earth and the moon very precisely.
09:41And ta-da!
09:43Our natural satellite's inner core
09:45is a dense, solid ball made of iron,
09:48just like Earth's.
09:49It's about 310 miles wide,
09:51which is nearly 15% the size of the entire moon.
09:55Researchers also have stumbled upon evidence
09:57that supports the theory
09:58that the layer between the moon's surface and its core,
10:02called the mantle,
10:03has been moving around as the moon evolved over time.
10:06This movement is something we call lunar mantle overturn,
10:10and it could explain why we find elements
10:13rich in iron on the lunar surface.
10:16Mantle material ends up being carried upward,
10:18and the volcanic rock remains in the moon's crust.
10:23Some of the materials in this rock were too dense,
10:26like me,
10:27so they just sank back through the lighter crust material
10:30all the way to the core mantle boundary.
10:33It's like a cycle where the moon's mantle material
10:36goes up during volcanic activity,
10:38carries iron-rich elements to the surface,
10:41and then sinks back down.
10:43There's another mystery scientists have been trying to solve.
10:46What caused the moon's magnetic field to weaken
10:49and nearly disappear over time?
10:52It seems that now that we know about the iron core
10:55and the global mantle overturn,
10:57we might get some more answers about the moon's magnetic field.
11:00Knowing what the inner core is like
11:02can help us better understand the moon's history
11:04as well as the history of our entire solar system.
11:08Now, one of the theories that's widely accepted
11:11about the origin of the moon
11:12says there was a massive collision between Earth
11:15in its early stages
11:16and another mysterious object in our solar system.
11:20It's called the Large Impact Theory,
11:22and this collision was so strong,
11:24it ripped off a big chunk of the primitive molten Earth.
11:28I mean, not so big compared to what's left.
11:31If you put a U.S. nickel next to a green pea,
11:33you get a good idea of how big our planet is
11:36compared to the moon.
11:37Now, this chunk was set into orbit around our planet.
11:40And this might have happened about 95 million years
11:43after our solar system formed.
11:46The object that collided with Earth
11:49could have been about 10% the mass of our home planet
11:52and roughly the size of Mars.
11:54Well, it makes sense.
11:55Earth and the moon do have similar compositions, after all.
11:59Of course, there are other ideas about how the moon formed.
12:03One says that the gravitational force of our planet captured it.
12:08This means that the moon was just an object
12:11innocently passing by
12:12when suddenly it got attracted and pulled into Earth's orbit.
12:16There's even a hypothesis that Earth stole the moon from Venus.
12:20Ooh.
12:20In that case, the moon shouldn't complain.
12:23I guess the view is way better here.
12:25So yeah, the moon and Earth are similar
12:27when it comes to rocks and some minerals.
12:29But the moon doesn't have the same atmosphere as our planet.
12:33It's atmosphere is thin and consists of some weird gases
12:36that include potassium and sodium,
12:39which is not something you can find in the atmosphere of Mars, Venus, or Earth.
12:43And the rocks on the moon don't contain water.
12:46But that doesn't mean there's no water at all up there.
12:50A long time ago, in the 17th century,
12:53astronomers saw large, dark spots on the moon's surface.
12:56One of these astronomers thought these spots looked like oceans,
13:00and he called them maria, which means seas in Latin.
13:04Other astronomers also made maps of the moon,
13:06and they used the term maria to describe these dark spots.
13:09For example,
13:11Mare Tranquillitatis translates to Sea of Tranquility,
13:15where Apollo 11 made its touchdown.
13:17But it seems those dark spots are not actually oceans.
13:21They are plains made of hardened lava that erupted long ago.
13:25These volcanic eruptions left behind smooth, flat areas called basalt plains.
13:31In the late 1800s,
13:33one sky watcher studied the moon and found it didn't have an atmosphere.
13:38Without an atmosphere,
13:39there are no clouds and no air to keep water from evaporating.
13:43So scientists thought that any water on the moon would just disappear right away.
13:48They believed the moon was totally dry.
13:51But then, in 1961,
13:53one physicist had a different idea.
13:56He pointed out there could be water on the moon in special areas
14:00called permanently shadowed regions.
14:03These are spots on the moon where the sun doesn't shine,
14:06so they stay dark all the time.
14:09Water ice could exist in these dark areas
14:12because they're extremely cold and the ice wouldn't evaporate.
14:16But when astronauts from the Apollo missions went to the moon,
14:19they brought back soil samples,
14:21and scientists found no signs of water in them.
14:24So everyone went back to thinking that the moon was completely dry.
14:28In the 90s,
14:30NASA focused on these shadowed craters
14:32and found high concentrations of hydrogen,
14:35which meant there could be ice at the moon's poles.
14:38They still weren't certain,
14:39so they kept digging and, after a while,
14:42found hydrogen trapped inside tiny beads of volcanic glass.
14:46Since there are no active volcanoes on the moon today,
14:50which means water probably was present on the moon
14:53when these volcanoes erupted long ago.
14:55Plus, there could be way more water
14:57back in the early days of our moon.
15:00In 2020, NASA's SOFIA mission
15:03showed us what we'd been looking for for a really long time.
15:07There is water on the moon, after all.
15:09It turns out the water is hidden
15:11within the grains of lunar dust
15:13or sticking to the surface in the sunlit areas of the moon.
15:16So there are no oceans like we have on Earth,
15:19but at least there's something.
15:22The question remains,
15:23how did water even get there?
15:26It seems the moon had a chaotic history
15:28back at the time when it was forming,
15:30as probably most of the planets and moons in our solar system.
15:33So there is some evidence that water came there
15:36from comets hitting its surface back in the old days,
15:40or maybe even keeps on coming
15:42from those that are slamming into the moon right now.
15:45We're talking about a chaotic situation,
15:48where icy micrometeorites collide with the moon's surface,
15:52and dust then makes an even bigger mess
15:54when interacting with the solar wind.
15:56But we're waiting to find out more about this.
15:59Because, as we all know,
16:02when you mention water,
16:03you also inevitably talk about life.
16:06That's why we want to know more,
16:08for instance,
16:09about all that ice hidden in polar craters on the moon.
16:12Maybe it can teach us more about how life developed on Earth.
16:16Maybe comets brought all the necessary elements here.
16:19Then, what if there are some of those elements
16:22stuck in the ice on the moon, too?
16:24Hmm.
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