An ULTRA-HIGH energy cosmic ray hit Earth | Night Sky News Dec 2023

In this month's Night Sky News episode we're chatting about the Amaterasu cosmic ray particle that hit the Earth with 813 billion times more energy than a typical cosmic ray particle! Plus there's three new exoplanet research articles released this past month from the first planet forming system spotted outside the Milky Way in the Large Magellanic Cloud, to a "perfect" 6 planet system all in resonance with each other, and a new paper claiming we sadly don't have any evidence for exomoons. And of course there's all the details on how you can spot the Quadrantids meteor shower in January, and the International Space Station in December.
JWST proposal 1947 - www.stsci.edu/jwst/phase2-pub...
McLeod et al. (2023; massive young star with dusty disk in Large Magellanic Cloud) - www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
Luque et al. (2023; "perfect" 6 exoplanet system in resonance) - arxiv.org/pdf/2311.17775.pdf
Heller & Hippke (2023; no exomoon evidence) - www.nature.com/articles/s4155...
Teachey et al. (2018; exomoon Kepler-1625b i) - iopscience.iop.org/article/10...
Kipping et al. (2022; exomoon Kepler-1708b i) - www.nature.com/articles/s4155...
Telescope Array collaboration et al. (2023; Amaterasu particle discovery) - arxiv.org/pdf/2311.14231.pdf
Bird et al (1995; "Oh My God" particle) - articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/p...
Sakaki et al. (2001; second highest energy CR detected) - galprop.stanford.edu/elibrary...
00:00 Intro
00:53 Winter Solstice!
01:58 Moon & Jupiter & Pleiades
02:57 Xmas Full Moon in Winter Hexagon
03:10 ⚠️ ISS Fly-over on Xmas morning! 🎅
04:08 Venus in the early morning sky
04:29 Quadrantids Meteor Shower
05:58 Saturn & Toenail Moon!
06:53 SN Cassiopeia A imaged by JWST
08:30 Trouble with Hubble
10:24 First extragalactic proto-protoplanetary disk spotted
13:17 Six exoplanets in "perfect" resonance
18:23 Past exomoon discovery appears unlikely
20:17 Ultra-high energy cosmic ray hits Earth
28:18 Conclusion
29:11 Bloopers
Video edited by Jonny Hyman: / @thehumanverse
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
drbecky.uk.com
rebeccasmethurst.co.uk

[@spikeygubbinz]

Looking forward to my new superpowers

[@aero1000]

No wipes required when on the toilet.

[@genghisgalahad8465]

then we shall be perpetual superhero/villain frenemies!

[@BigWhoopZH]

​@@aero1000All the French have that and call it a bidet 🇨🇵

[@MrJBA79]

I think I got my superpower already... it's the ability to discern Republican BS from facts.

[@BigWhoopZH]

@@MrJBA79 it would only be a superpower when you could also discern Democrat bullshit from facts. Blindly following one side is the source of all problems of our time.

[@alperrin9310]

Ever since my grandfather set up his 4 inch telescope in our backyard in 1963 I've been fascinated by the glorious majesty of a pristine night sky. Saturn is also my favorite planet. Unfortunately, there is way too much light pollution now to enjoy that, but at least I can still enjoy your videos. Thank-you. Your bloopers also remind me that I'm not the only one who flubs up talking once in a while. I take from that a sort of perverse schadenfreude that even those with a vastly more extensive educational background than I possess can make mistakes too! Thanks again!

[@manumben5241]

I’m from a major US city and have shown many people Saturn with a small spotting scope. You can still see it really clearly now too!

[@poiu477]

Take a trip camping, you can pretty easily find dark patches pretty close to most places, even in the Northeastern US (one of the most dense areas around) a few hours drive and you can have pristine views. Light Pollution maps are pretty easy to find, google is your friend!

[@kurtreber9813]

​@@manumben5241I was gonna say... I used to see Saturn in a regular telescope in 5ge heart of Richmond back in the 80s.

[@patrickohara1653]

I am 66 years old and have been following you for a long time. I really enjoy what you do. Growing up in South Africa - I was an avid Listener to Patrick Moores The Night sky (We had no TV). In the early 60's one Xmas eve My sister and I were beside ourselves with excitement when my Father took us outside and just happened to see a Satellite passing overhead. A Much rarer in occurance in those days. He spun us the story that it was Santa on his way. We ran inside and dived into bed in case he missed us. I remember it like it was yesterday. Thank you.

[@jackvanchimpe]

Huzzah for 5 years to my favorite astrophysicist and science communicator! Dr. Becky always does a splendid job of breaking down complex space science into easy-to-digest tidbits. It's one thing to grasp these concepts; it's another thing entirely to interpret them for curious folks like myself. Thank you, Dr. Becky!

[@freeforester1717]

Er, doesn’t the IPCC only give scant acknowledgment to climate impacts originating from space? Isn’t that why their CMIP5 does not include them in their modelling, etc, preferring to ascribe such matters to mankind’s influences? 😂🤡🤡🤡 Doug Vogt is laughing from the heavens, at them, not with them.

[@matt-fh6hb]

@@mikaelbiilmann6826if we are here for generalisations, North Americans end every sentence by raising the pitch of their voice, as if asking a question. Or we could be adults and focus on the professional delivery and properly referenced data, that Becky provides, in an accesible way.

[@cayetanonicolaas3251]

​

[@Npc1488-wc1kf]

U wot m8

[@shawnadams1460]

Growing up Pleiades was always my favorite star cluster, was told it was called the 'Seven Sisters'. My Scoutmaster was a HUGE fan of astronomy and had a portable telescope he would bring with him whenever terrain allowed. I was 12 when we went to West Virginia, hiked up a mountain (dont remember which one it was) and camped out. He set up his telescope and showed me the Andromeda galaxy! It was amazing, we also got to see Jupiter and Saturn with rings and moons from both. Thanks for all your vids, it has been an amazing journey watching them and learning about the field.

[@LukeChaos]

The Pleiades in Greek mythology are the seven daughters of Pleione, so "Seven Sisters" is a nice and appropriate name. Your sky watching camping trips sound awesome!

[@Lamster66]

Indeed my Dad always called it "The 7 sisters"

[@Chichimomma]

What a wonderful experience you had while young. People like that Scoutmaster are so special in our lives. Makes me want to go back and rewatch that 7 brides for 7 brothers old movie. I’m sure that was comms galore.

[@murrayedgar4791]

Special significance here in NZ as the appearance of Pleiades is referred to as Matariki by the Maori. So significant it is now a public holiday!

[@candisstewart6481]

My dad called it the 7 Sisters also & when I was 12 we made a telescope, this was in the late 60’s & we as a family slowly ground those lenses, by hand, in front of the tv, watching the Flintstones lol. That telescope was surprisingly amazing!

[@tiaraguy7705]

The high energy particle just reminds me of the one theory someone had of a very famous speedrun in the Super Mario 64 community where a guy was livestreaming his perspective and Mario seemed to teleport up to the top of the level. Someone had a theory that a high energy particle tripped a single byte in the games code that bugged it out and that's why Mario teleported.

[@whatthebeepvideos]

Tik Tok clock

[@adamengelhart5159]

It's certainly possible--if some event flipped a high-order bit from 0 to 1 in the memory location storing Mario's vertical position, I'd expect him to just reappear that number of units above where he was on the next frame. Intel ran into an issue like this back in the '70s, but after they built a MASSIVE lead box (something on the scale of tons) to test the theory, they found cosmic rays actually weren't the problem. The truth was much stranger . . . *the single event upsets were coming from inside the chips.* Specifically, from trace amounts of radioactive elements in the ceramic packaging. They had to work out how to get the impurities down to a level where they wouldn't be an issue.

[@hubbsllc]

@@adamengelhart5159 I remember that story but I thought it was someone other than Intel - Sun or IBM? I'd been thinking that if I ever ran a data center again, I might fill some spaces in server racks with slabs of Teflon to help prevent bit-flips.

[@Sally4th_]

I worked in IT for 20 years or so and sometimes bugs happened that after running all the diagnostics and tests available were just inexplicable and unrepeatable. SOP was to shrug and declare "cosmic ray". No idea if it was but sometime you've just got to move on.

[@paulmillcamp]

Dr. Becky!!! Just wanted to say that I bought the Dutch version of your book 'Space: 10 things you should know' as a Christmas gift for my dad. He's going to love it I'm sure! And of course a big massive thanks for your continued coverage of astronomy, science and space-news!

[@adamus]

I can’t believe it took me this long to find this channel. It’s kind of perfect. I’ve always wanted to be able to watch something that feels like the news, but it said a little further away.

[@URnickel_MY2cents]

And Thank _You,_ Dr. Becky !!!!! Wishing you and yours a *_VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS_* and a *_HAPPY NEW YEAR_* as well !!!!!

[@Toast_the_Toaster617]

As someone who was introduced to astrophysics at about age 10 with Carl Sagan's Cosmos, I always look forward to your videos. I'm still always amazed by what we discover about the universe.

[@leonardgibney2997]

Don't you really mean astronomy? Astrophysics is very specialized and endlessly complex.

[@GGCC36712]

@@leonardgibney2997 So is my Johnson.

[@ClebRuckus2]

@@leonardgibney2997 Pure pseudoscience

[@smitty347]

​@@leonardgibney2997 Astronomy and astrophysics are really both done by physicists. The focus is a bit different, but they overlap so much that the terms are often used interchangeably.

[@BillPatten-zh6lx]

Dr., your graphics are outstanding! Wonderful graphs explaining the transitions. And great Christmas sweater!

[@jimcaird5499]

I absolutely love your videos. I got interested in astronomy watching the late great Patrick Moore, and the best compliment I can give you is that you are brilliantly carrying on his idea of getting people interested in the night sky. Also can I just say that your video of the JWST launch is on my must watch list. Anytime I need a lift, I watch it again. Your passion is so infectious ( I recommend everyone to check it out ). Thanks again for your videos, and have a brilliant 2024. and I hope we have loads of NEW mysteries in Science to solve

[@jbirsner]

Love the sweater! And thanks so much for having such a great channel.

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

I know it's not quite this simple, but it should be. Hubble is like a wonderful elderly person and given us so much over the years, I truly hope we do all we can to keep it going because it will always provide incredible information no matter what, so I would love to see it still showing the next few generations of telescopes what it is truly capable of. I mean it already has and it will always be legendary! 😊 As always a wonderful video!!!

[@lepidoptera9337]

If you could get two newer and better telescopes for the price of one Hubble servicing mission, why would you waste your money on Hubble? Science funding doesn't grow on trees. It has to be worked for by the taxpayer, you know.

[@HicSvntDracones]

@@lepidoptera9337 Exactly, Hubble is amazing, but we can do much better for cheaper now. I would rather see Hubble moved to a museum orbit.

[@lepidoptera9337]

@@HicSvntDracones Me, too. Eventually we will have the means and money to capture these instruments as "tourist destinations". It would probably be a good investment to move it up and out of the way for now. That might be accomplished with a rather small robotic mission. The total delta v is probably tiny.

[@zombiedad]

Hubble is amazing. Imagine having a car that is over 30 years old and hasn’t been serviced in 15 years and is still (mostly) going. lol. Do we know how (if/when)NASA plans to scrap it. Don’t want more space junk. A mannee we d mission has ittown bonuses though, outside the repairs.

[@dancingwiththedogsdj]

@@lepidoptera9337 because until it no longer exists, if it can see, it will add to our knowledge and be worthwhile. Just because it's aging and there is newer stuff out there doesn't mean it can't still show us some magic! And the fact it IS old is even sweeter in my opinion! 😁

[@snastynate]

I knew as soon as I heard "exomoon" Dr. Kipping would come up in this video. I absolutely adore the Cool Worlds channel! You and him are by far my favorite space channels! I would love to see you two do some sort of collab video. Take care, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you!

[@Pawek13]

I always have a hard time visualizing the energies in eV, so the dropping brick comparison really helped me put into perspective just how MUCH energy this particle had. Just amazing. 🤯

[@peteronyoutube612]

Merry Christmas Dr. Becky. I never miss an upload - looking forward to 2024! Thank you for another year (!) of excellent content. You are a YT star, that is for certain.

[@mebdeb1508]

Aside of the excellent astroscience presentation as per usual, this also had one of your funniest blooper outtake I've seen in a while. Very entertaining. Nice.

[@CollinGerberding]

I love this type of educator that can't hide their passion. The information itself is awesome in the literal sense. The energy in the telling just makes it that much more fun. Thank you for sparking the love of science.

[@justinwalker4475]

or just look up the info yourself pff

[@CollinGerberding]

​@@justinwalker4475 I mean this in every sense possible: Why are you here?

[@xondxonderson5784]

Thanks Dr. Becky! Merry Christmas to you and yours. The content is informative, concise and charmingly delivered.

[@walterwadlow9438]

Thanks! These are always SO informative and effectively communicated!!!

[@DrBecky]

Thanks Walter! Very kind of you.

[@forghy]

Thanks Dr. Becky for you videos. Always informative and very enjoyable.

[@triedzidono]

Agreed, Dr B is my new Patrick Moore. O.B.E. worthy facts, without the monocle

[@edcherney]

I know it's not "Astrophysics" but, your outfit and background are "Out of this world" Awesome! Hovered over the thumbnail, saw that, and had to compliment you on it! Merry Christmas Dr. Smethurst! Keep up the good work! You are a wonderful science communicator! I really enjoy how you are so engaged and enthusiastic about the things happening in your specific field of knowledge. And your dedication to explaining all of the aspects of the happenings! And, quite humorous at times (which, may be part of what, makes you so relatable and understandable.) as well! Especially love the Blooper reels at the outro!:D All-in-all, great content, Dr. Becky!:)

[@recifebra3]

You're so special Dr. Becky!! Thanks again for another video that we all love! Would you ever do something with Kathy Loves Physics? I feel like you two would have a wonderful conversation about a lot of what you cover.

[@alihouadef5539]

I would love to see you interview the author of the Amaterasu paper. That discovery , if its not an error, is beyond anything I've ever new about particles.

[@madcow3235]

Been watching this charming channel for couple weeks now and I really like your passion for astronomy and night sky news is freaking awesome. Keep going

[@zydicious]

Omg, watching the bloopers and thought "I'm amazed she hasn't stumbled onto I'm a tiramisu yet," immediately followed by you doing just that lol. Looking forward to more Night Sky News in 2024.

[@arthurcamargo8416]

It has been an incredible 5 year journey!! All of the excitement around so many things!! And all of the amazing things we got to hear from you... including the singing you do in the bloopers! You may have enough for an album, over the last 5 years.... just sayin' .... Thank you, also, for refocusing attention to the truth and the science around many stories that were not honestly or scientifically presented in other forms of media or even here on YT as well! It's been a wonderful time, and an amazing journey!! I wonder what the next 5 years will bring?

[@arandomperson8336]

I still can't get over how literally every single JWST image has zillions of galaxies in the background, regardless of what the science target is.

[@kickmonlee3390]

I had to google it since i knew that number had to be an exaggeration. There issomewhere around 2 trillion galaxies in our observable universe.

[@MP-nz8cf]

As a newbie, it would be interesting to know what becomes of these high energy cosmic rays after they ‘hit’ the planet or detectors. Do they simply pass through and keep going unchanged, do they change their state, are they destroyed, etc?

[@RobinTheBot]

Good question

[@thamerkules8081]

Great question!!!

[@Pharisaeus]

As mentioned on the video - they collide with atoms in the upper atmosphere and create shower of secondary particles resulting from the collision. They can't go "unchanged" because in such case we would not be able to detect them at all - they have to make some interaction with the detector at least. In case of charged particles, we might detect interaction with electromagnetic field for example. But to measure the energy you often use special detectors called calorimeters which are designed to stop the particle completely in order to measure how much energy it was carrying.

[@Zouzou123gen]

Thanks for explaining​@@Pharisaeus but in my newbie mind, OP's question still remains... To rephrase: * When the first particle hits our atmosphere, how changed does it become - does it change direction, does it also transmute into another particle? * When the secondary particle hits our detector, you said it is "stopped completely" - does this mean this secondary particle disappears? * What if there were no detectors, would that secondary particle stop on the ground, or would it go through Earth and beyond? Apologies if this all seems obvious

[@Pharisaeus]

@@Zouzou123gen the direction of the secondary particles is defined by momentum of the system. Since most of the momentum comes from this initial cosmic ray, the direction of the shower will match that, although since it hit something stationary, the direction will get deflected to some extent. It's a bit tricky to define precisely what will happen to the particles, there are many options, but it might be the easiest to assume that following e=mc2 it will turn into pure energy and then new particles will be created from that energy. You can't really destroy matter, at best you can turn it into energy. Most heavy particles interact with matter, so they would be stopped when reaching the ground eventually. However, something like neutrino could pass through.

[@carpediemarts705]

I'm amazed and confounded on how you make so many videos per week with such good info, good graphics, AND conduct your own research. Keep up the good work.

[@ztreedad3579]

Thanks so much for including the "outtakes". Love your videos!

[@1_2_die2]

Thank you for another great, fantastic, interesting and exciting year of astronomical events. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Dr Becky.

[@user-vl7ys9nh1h]

Thing that sucks for me is this time of year it is almost always cloudy or foggy here. Sometimes when it's foggy one can head up into the hills and get above the fog and take advantage of the darkest nights of the year(the fog also helps in blocking the city lights.). I remember doing this back in the day when I was in school.

[@ariedekker7350]

Merry Christmas Dr. Becky. Thank you for another year (!) of excellent content. I looking forward to 2024!

[@Uniteddave]

First time finding your channel. Loved the video! Look forward to future vids. Have a merry Christmas!!

[@Lamster66]

What amazed me about looking at Pleiades through a10" telescope is the amount of other stars in the cluster that you can't normally see.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

And most of them are M, K, and G dwarfs! We see the bright B-types with unaided eye.

[@Mtnsunshine]

Thank you so much for all the news you share here and for explaining complex ideas in a way that is understandable. 🙏. Happiest wishes to you too, for a wonderful Holiday Season. 🎄

[@DrBecky]

Thanks! Happy holidays to you too🎄🎄

[@lorienator]

Great video! Happy holidays Dr Becky!

[@tarasaurus98]

Happy holidays Dr Becky! Thank you for all that you do!

[@Ardalambdion]

I noticed that people won the Nobel prize for their discovery of quantum dots and their usage. I hope that benefits astronomy as well. Happy holidays to everyone, especially Becky that for so long, almost without breaks, has given us the most interesting astronomical news (pun intended)! ❤💚

[@reubenrosenberg7715]

Your videos are terrific! I even decided to order your book from the UK (I'm in the US) to get a more "original" version. Love the NASA sweater! Keep up the great work!

[@stoffls]

Merry Christmas Dr. Becky! I really love your videos and your contagious enthusiasm for space!

[@GigaEnigma]

This just randomly popped up on my suggestions. Super interesting, subbed, looking forward to the next one

[@NASTIX24]

I love how astronomy is basically all about "we don't know anything, this is so exciting!"

[@TheDanEdwards]

That's not really what astronomy is.

[@joshrutherford1480]

i haver found myself so incredibly fascinated with anything and everything space for the last few years. i really wish i would have followed the field of astronomy!

[@PazLeBon]

you still can, go for it

[@stephensorrell4550]

Thank you, as always, Dr. Becky and Merry Christmas!

[@danellis-jones1591]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I love your videos, you are wonderful at explaining very complex science and I'm waiting for you to appear regularly on TV. Although I'm in Australia, so you might be all over UK TV!

[@albertusmagnus5829]

I never knew sunbeds could be used as cosmic ray detectors (21:00) 🙂 - Thanks Dr Becky for your unending enthusiasm and erudition on all matters astronomical, looking forward to your work in 2024!

[@supernova8679]

it's even funnier when you think about that these "sunbeds" were put there only by helicopters of the US Army because the Telescope Array is in a military area... :D

[@lmonahan24]

Thanks you for the excellent explanations of what’s happening in astronomy! Looking forward to more of your wonderful work in 2024. 🎉

[@padders1068]

Dr Becky, thanks for sharing and educating! Happy holidays to you, your family, friends and loved ones! 🙂😎🤓❤

[@JoeShowers]

Happy New Year, Dr. Becky! Love night sky news!

[@quixoticsalamander]

Can you make a video that explains why planets have to form in resonance and can’t migrate into resonance? It seems like a resonant situation could be more stable and thus planets making their wait into resonance over time. I thought that often moons were captured and eventually move into resonant configurations.

[@rogerstone3068]

Definitely! There is some resonance in the solar system, yet they seem quite sure our planets have moved about. Some have resonance thrust upon them; why assume THESE ones were born resonant?

[@lepidoptera9337]

They don't "have to" form that way. Most systems might actually form in a chaotic state and then just lose most of the bodies. The argument is more likely one from statistical mechanics: if we represent the system in a multi-dimensional phase space, then the "keyhole" that the trajectory has to go through to end up in resonance if we start with non-resonance is probably extremely small. I don't know if one can prove that such a keyhole can't exist using energy and angular momentum conservation laws. In an case, no matter what happens something either has to be thrown out of the system or collide with the star, so a lot of the original matter in the accretion disk has been removed by the process either way.

[@BlinkinFirefly]

YES! That would be awesome. Also I was loving the musical depiction graph of the planets obits. That was fun. I could listen to it more ^^

[@YULspotter2]

Love the tree and specially the sweater. Thanks Dr Becky for sharing the space news with us this year and over the past 5 years. I never miss an episode and I look forward to many more videos to come in 2024. Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to you and your family.

[@RichTBiscuit101]

Love your work Becky. Merry Christmas!

[@mrstogie912]

First time watching, and I Love the bloopers at the end. I think its a great addition to your videos. Cheers, and thanks for taking the time to make these videos!

[@sapelesteve]

Yet another terrific year of Night Sky News with Dr. Becky! Wishing you & your family Happy Holidays & the very best of the New Year! Be well, be safe! 👍👍🌲🌲💥💥

[@righty-o3585]

I've seen a meteor that actually washed out the city lights. Yep, it was that bright. Saw a streak and the entire night sky lit up like it was the middle of the day, to the point where the stars weren't visible in the sky anymore, and then it all just went back to normal. The entire event took MAYBE one full second. Possibly not even that long. It was extremely fast. This happened about 1 am I think. About 7 years ago

[@patrikhjorth3291]

Many years ago, when I still lived in my parents' house in the countryside, I was awake at night for some reason and looking out the window. This was in the middle of a very cold and snowy winter, but because of the distance to any large towns it was still pretty much pitch black outside. All of a sudden, there was a flash of light that I first thought was a lightning strike, except there was no thunder. Everything lit up, even brighter than daylight (or at least it seemed that way). I had _no idea_ what could have caused it, and my parents wouldn't believe me when I told them the next day. A couple of decades later, I witnessed a meteor flash across the sky, and that's when I understood that it must have been the same thing I saw back then.

[@stargazer7644]

We call that a bolide, or a fireball.

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

the universe forgot to turn off flash on its phone camera

[@gregalbert4033]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Dr. B!!!

[@grahampaulkendrick7845]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and Sam, Dr Becky.

[@rheanne1543]

I absolutely love your NASA christmas sweater, where is it from?

[@aq5426]

As an old space nerd, I love this channel so much. You have such a great way of explaining things, and your enthusiasm is infectious! Go Go Dr. Becky!

[@williamburke1882]

Thank you so much for all of your hard work I didn't understand a word that you said but I love it. Happy New Year!

[@csh43166]

Beautiful Christmas tree, Dr. Becky!! Thank you for another awesome video - so many interesting topics!!

[@zebulonswearingen4607]

If you released a record album of your singing about scientific discoveries involving space and other cosmic phenomena, I would buy that music and sing karaoke to it in my personal vehicle with friends and family. And my vehicle seats 8 people. Rock on & keep on singing, Dr. Becky. I value your channel content for more than just the important information you provide therein. I value this subscription for the way you just happen to be entertaining and quite engaging. From your enthusiasm for reality to your concise, dare I say down to earth explanations of complex concepts, you truly rock.🤟🏼🎶 This has been a perfect way to celebrate the Winter Solstice of Ancient Yule. ✊🌀🗽☯️ Some people like Neil Degrasse Tyson. Quite frankly, I find him condescending, boastful and wildly, casually disrespectful. I’m no vegan or vegetarian, but I find his proud public declaration of his hobby of aiming for pigeons with his Tesla Model X despicable. So it’s not only that you’re gorgeous and a genius, it’s also that you’re professional and humane (to humans - and probably animals too). It’s his fatal flaws that make your inner and outer beauty even more precious. We the people desperately need more people like you who are a good example to scientists, children and other people who have a love for wonder. In America, we love space. But Dr. Becky, you have Made Space Exciting Again. Thank you for being you, Dr. Becky.

[@carterkent4424]

Okay, the high energy cosmic ray particle beam is my bad. We can't always predict the density of cosmic obstacles we might encounter when teleporting to your planet, so boosting the carrier wave is a necessary precaution. I've informed my relief of a more realistic energy level to utilize for his arrival so that, when we switch assignments, it will go unnoticed by local authorities hereafter.

[@sadderwhiskeymann]

It's ok fella. About that waist high brick... are you willing to cover the medical bills??

[@valtaojanesko5118]

Merry Chrismas! And keep up the great work!

[@lukeemerson7384]

Thank you for all you do!!!!! love your videos so much!!! Merry Christmas!!!

[@hubbsllc]

The Amaterasu particle is fascinating. I guess that knowing its energy, you can't know its composition without knowing its speed and vice versa? I know that Apollo astronauts were subjected to some cosmic ray interactions (I recall Aldrin saying that if you closed your eyes you would occasionally see flashes, and I've seen an electron micrograph of a cone-shaped impact crater on a polycarbonate helmet) but I was wondering - if Amaterasu or OMG hit you, would anything happen?

[@stargazer7644]

This particle had a kinetic energy of nearly 40 J. That's about 1/3 of the energy from a .22 rifle bullet. It's about 30 times higher energy than a BB gun. 130 J can kill you. Yes you'd notice getting hit by it.

[@hubbsllc]

@@stargazer7644 Yeah, but a BB will actually start hitting whole molecules in my head the moment it reaches me; Amaterasu might go in a ways before having any matter interactions at all. It's apparent from the video that it didn't even make it all the way to the ground but still I'm wondering, would anything have happened to someone if they had been standing where that one patch of detectors was?

[@stargazer7644]

@@hubbsllcThe original particle doesn't make it very far into the atmosphere. The resulting blast of energetic debris that plows through the atmosphere to hit the ground would be spread out. You wouldn't notice the small portion of it hitting you. They like to say these events are rare, but what they mean is us detecting them with an instrument is rare. They happen all the time. Chances are good that one or more has hit you already in your lifetime.

[@caejones2792]

Wasn't there a guy working on the LHC who took a particle beam to the head, and had some weird neurological side-effects? Not the superpowers kind, unfortunately.

[@stargazer7644]

@@caejones2792That was 30 years before LHC was built. In 1978 Anatoli Bugorski had an accident at the Soviet Union's U-70 synchrotron where he took a 76 GeV proton beam to the head. The LHC is nearly 200 times more powerful. He was initially expected to die from his exposure, but he eventually recovered with serious permanent injuries.

[@pliktl]

❤HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE❤ It is considered one of the happiest days of the year because the days grow longer there on out ❤

[@luckosteve12]

Thanks for all the information and explanation. You really have an excellent delivery. The bloopers are great too. Merry Christmas!

[@1charmingrod]

😂 those bloopers always so funny, one of my favorite parts!

[@AmatureAstronomer]

"An ULTRA-HIGH energy cosmic ray hit Earth" Odd. I didn't feel anything.

[@thehellyousay]

i did. had a twinge in my knee. always happens when one of them pesky buggers hits us, 'cept for the time one bloodied my nose during a drunken scuffle outside an all-night burrito joint somewhere i'm sure i've been. everyone was like, "whoa ..."

[@Markfr0mCanada]

Unfortunately for me in my corner of the world the winter months come with a lot of cloud cover, so the star gazing here is terrible. I'm glad to live in the window of time where I have access to the internet but the sky is completely covered with junk yet.

[@rogerstone3068]

It's so sad. I remember as a kid in the 1950s when coming back home, out of town, late at night, whenever the sky was clear, seeing that whole spangled dome strewn with tiny lights, and the straggle of the milky way clearly identifiable; then my dad pointing out a row of bright orange points on our horizon, explaining it was a new kind of much-"improved" streetlight, with sodium bulbs - and now, all the way around the horizon, it's just a mid-grey glow, no stars at all. Right overhead, on a clear night, there's just a vestige of the wonder. We are the last generation who grew up with starry skies, and unless you go way out into a desert or an ocean, that's all you're going to get. We have filled up the darkness, and left only a grey fog.

[@kayinoue2497]

Happy Christmas, Becky! Hope you have a wonderful holiday! Thanks so much for another great video

[@Avarn_]

Thank you for another year of your wonderful videos. Wishing you a lovely Christmas. All the very best, Dr. B.

[@dustinking2965]

Can we use Ameratsu and other high-energy cosmic rays to do the work of particle accelerators? For example, could we use their byproducts to look for evidence of dark matter particles, gravitons, etc., or is it just too small and noisy a sample?

[@stargazer7644]

You'd need to know where and when they'd be likely to happen, and you'd need your particle detectors there, and you'd need to observe a LOT of them.

[@bobbyd.roberson5588]

I’m genuinely curious what would happen if I were walking along and got hit by one of these OMG particles or equivalent… would I feel it? Would it cause cancer or a really bad ache or anything like that? Or would I not at all notice?

[@OldBenOne]

Like a brick dropped from waist level, just a bump on your head :)

[@EinsteinsHair]

Astronauts see flashes of light, believed to be caused by cosmic rays. As far as I know none report feeling anything. The total LHC beam would quickly be fatal, but Becky was comparing the most powerful LHC single particle to this single particle. If I figured right, this particle is one ten-millionth of the total beam. Astronauts have surely been hit by some. I think they are more concerned about the long-term cumulative exposure.

[@crazykhespar8487]

A brick dropped 3 feet is still very painful.

[@stargazer7644]

It has 1/3rd the energy of a .22 rifle bullet, but is considerably smaller and faster.

[@tdkrage]

Love You Becky!! Have great Xmas and new year!

[@capicolaspicy]

Thank you for what you do - and Merry Christmas!!!

[@user-ot7fc8jo8x]

Your revelation of the phenomenal energy held within “a partial” raised the imagination to wonder about density and distance of the source. It seemed feasible that such a concentrate would be able to obliterate any trace of itself. I am, again awed by the detail you and your fellow scientists open up the mysterious.👍👏👌

[@jasonclow6962]

Love your videos! Thank you for sharing all this!

[@magginicshiomoin9810]

Just hit on your podcast Becky, delighted. Thanks. Unfortunately, here in Connemara there are very few clear nights in Winter. Happy memories though of sleeping out with my 4 boys on the trampoline, over in Vancouver and pointing out the constellations to them. Happy holidays to you and your team.

[@NickPBond]

Happy Christmas. Thanks for doin what you do!!

[@deninetate]

Congratulations on your 5th anniversary. I really enjoy your show and have learned a lot from you.

[@magneto44]

thanks for all the great concise information, lovely delivery too for the subject matter that is the perfect amount of entertaining, not too little and not too much 👍🏼 just subscribed! thanks again for the great content and good luck in the future

[@okiejammer2736]

Love this content. Love the bloopers. New subscriber!

[@peterjones958]

Thank you Dr Becky for all your shared videos. Hope you have a great Christmas from a follower in New Zealand

[@charlesvane2774]

Love the sweater. Happy Solstice!

[@ReggieArford]

And a very merry Christmas to you and yours, as well!

[@Chip_in]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays Dr Becky. Thank you for all your videos and making me look up ⛳

[@mikemajor1399]

Happy fifth anniversary ! Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge with us. You’re clearly intelligent and also quite funny. The bloopers let us see your personality which I also appreciate. I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

[@kevink2398]

Merry Christmas Dr. Becky!

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

*MERRY CHRISTMAS, Dr. B!*

[@davidstephens8543]

Love your content. Look for it all the time. If you DO celebrate Christmas, have a Merry One!

[@andrealadelfa1018]

Always so nice listening to you Becky. Season greetings from Sicily. All the best and stay safe and well. Andrea

[@AndyGabrielPowell]

Season's Greetings @Dr_Becky. Here's to 2024 and more Night Sky News. Thank you for this channel!

[@patriciadean1649]

Happy holidays-thanks for all this stuff-loving it ❤

[@scrymglin]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Dr Becky. Hope you have a great holiday break.

[@flauscheballchen2855]

Im glad i live in a little mountain village i Switzerland. Especially in cold winter nights the sky just looks stunning and you can see so many stars. Is like a sparkling sea of stars x3