About this episode

The episode discusses a sugary molecule in the Milky Way, the contamination risk from lunar landers, and features a Q&A on various astronomy topics.

This episode covers three very different astronomy stories and then moves into a lively Q&A with listener questions. Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson discuss a possible sugary molecule in the center of the Milky Way, the risk lunar landers may contaminate ice that could preserve clues to life’s origins, and a new way to track lost dogs using satellite connectivity. The second half of the episode answers questions about moons with atmospheres, secret astronomy, hot Jupiters, and black hole mergers. Key topics In this episode, Fred Watson explains an update from Peter Verweyen on MOND, now referred to as Aether Scalar Tensor Theory, and how it relates to dark matter and dark energy debates. We discuss the detection of erythrulose, a sugar molecule found in interstellar gas clouds near the center of the Milky Way, and why this matters for prebiotic chemistry. Fred describes how molecules like sugar can form in cold molecular clouds before stars and planets exist, making some ingredients for life surprisingly common. We discuss a new study warning that rocket exhaust from future lunar landings could contaminate ice in permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s south pole…

People in this episode

Hosts: Professor Fred Watson, Andrew Dunkley

Topics covered

• sugary molecules
• lunar landers
• prebiotic chemistry
• satellite connectivity
• dark matter
• dark energy
• life's origins

Keywords

• sugar molecule
• interstellar gas clouds
• rocket exhaust
• lunar landings
• prebiotic molecules
• dark matter
• black hole mergers

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Milky Way, Moon, Moon’s south pole

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