About this episode

This episode explores intriguing space stories including Phobos, the pink exoplanet GJ 504b, and the SWIFT Observatory's challenges.

Space Nuts Episode 369: Exploring Phobos, Pink Exoplanets, and Saving the SWIFT Observatory This episode dives into some of the most intriguing space stories, from the mysterious Martian moon Phobos and its peculiar orbit to the bizarre, salt-colored exoplanet GJ 504b—possibly a pink dwarf. Plus, learn about a swift rescue mission to save the vital SWIFT space observatory. In this episode: The unique orbit and origin hypotheses of Phobos, including upcoming JAXA mission MMX How Phobos's orbit might decay within millions of years and its potential internal structure The discovery and characteristics of the pink, salty exoplanet GJ 504b The debate over whether GJ 504b is a planet, brown dwarf, or star The challenges faced by the aging SWIFT observatory and innovative plans for its rescue Listener questions about universe expansion, gravitons, particles, and effects of space travel on humans Timestamps: 00:00 - Overview of today's space stories and why they matter 00:40 - Insights on Phobos, Mars's close-in moon with unusual orbit 03:01 - How Phobos's orbit is unstable and upcoming JAXA's MMX mission 04:37 - Theories about Phobos's origin: collision vs. capture 07:05 - Surface…

People in this episode

Hosts: Professor Fred Watson, Andrew Dunkley

Topics covered

• exoplanets
• Phobos
• SWIFT Observatory
• space exploration
• Mars
• astronomy

Keywords

• Phobos
• GJ 504b
• SWIFT Observatory
• exoplanets
• Mars
• space exploration
• astronomy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: JAXA, SWIFT Observatory

Places: Mars, Phobos, GJ 504b

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