The South Pole Telescope - Studying the Big Bang at the bottom of the world!

Join Dr. Sasha Rahlin as she takes you through one of astronomy's modern marvels: The South Pole Telescope. Located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica, this marvel of engineering is used to peer deep into the cosmos (and backward in time) to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Dr. Rahlin briefly explains what the CMB is, how the telescope studies it, and gives an exclusive look inside the telescope's inner workings.
The Telescope is supported by grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
0:50 - What is the telescope looking at?
2:01 - How does the telescope work?
2:38 - What if you need to check/fix something?
3:22 - Inside the receiver cabin
3:52 - Why are cryogenics are needed?
4:22 - How does the telescope rotate?
4:56 - The Event Horizon Telescope
5:26 - Upstairs, atomic clock, and seeya later!
Watch my interview with Sasha! - • Meet Sasha, the Lead S...
Watch make the walk to the Dark Sector from the South Pole Station! - • A Walk at the South Po...
See my visit to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal, Chile! -
• The Very Large Telesco...

[@KH-qe5zf]

Not in a million years would I be able to see this in person. So thanks for showing us.

[@Leatherargento]

Same, here!

[@kylethompson1379]

Yes, thank you!

[@metal87power]

not a million years I'd like to see south pole in person...brrrr

[@sourabhkarmakar8040]

​@@metal87power why not ❔

[@wesleyjohnson597]

​@@metal87powerthey make this stuff called winter clothing now.

[@HereticalKitsune]

When even the darkest, coldest Antarctic winters are still way too warm for experiments... Great video, thank you so much for sharing!

[@Ollied]

I am extremely impressed with the graphics in these videos, who does them??

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

I do!

[@jorgevaldivia7482]

What a good production and editing this needs more recognition, subscribed

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

🙏🙏

[@littlemeg137]

5:20 To paraphrase Andy Tanenbaum, never underestimate the bandwidth of an LC-130 full of hard drives hurtling through the sky.

[@austinskylines]

This whole series and set of videos are incredible! Thank you so much to you and Sasha Rahlin! Being able to have a conversation with Dr. Rahlin would be something I would never forget!

[@edopronk1303]

This is the first time for me someone explains the background radiation in more detail. Thank you both!

[@debt4717]

Wow! Super channel and very educational! You need to get picked up by a network. These episodes would be great spot fillers for the Discovery Channel, PBS, or Disney.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Thanks! Yeah that would be awesome

[@StormsandSaugeye]

Very great video. I work at the VLA but have considered putting in for a winter over multiple times.

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Hey thanks! You should, it's a pretty cool experience

[@brianbailey5859]

If you are interested in applying as I just did today, the SPT winter-over technician position is currently posted out on the University of Chicago's job site. I was lucky to visit Arecibo before its unfortunate collapse, but have yet to visit the VLA, which is next on my bucket list.

[@StormsandSaugeye]

@@brianbailey5859 I'm gonna give it a few years before I do. I just got settled here at the VLA and I'm already being dragged into two different NgVLA groups for Encoders and RFI. Also, if you do go visit the VLA, do it on a Wednesday. We have it in maintenance mode at that time so you won't have to shut off your phone

[@COYOTE_N8]

It's amazing how they built all this stuff so far out there, very cool

[@陳軍民-m2g]

2:50 Thanks to all your works.

[@michael97931]

Wow, so cool! What a shame that we are doing all this cool science on Antarctica - and many other places - that we don't know about, and have to rely on individuals like you, Joe, to give us an inside look.

[@entropymaster2012]

It is amazing to see that microwaves can be focused using mirrors! Thanks for the amazing explanation and inside look!

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

you're welcome, thank you!

[@alenahawke475]

I have no words....but thst was so amazing!

[@shannonparkhill5557]

All your videos are under-rated. Loving them. Cheers Joe

[@TheCCBoi]

Amazing work - loving your channel (the animations, music and delivery are amazing)!

[@lindaj5492]

Best ever explanation of CMB 👍🏼

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

All of your antarctica videos are wonderful!

[@solvamstudio]

Super cool! I love watching your content. You mentioned that your winters are Feb-Nov, so are you back for your second winter?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Nope, been in the states since December, just now getting around to finishing these videos.

[@simonabunker]

This is a great channel. Really nice 3d animations too!

[@adventureswithjosie]

Very cool! It's really something how this telescope, and some of the other things at the station, can operate in such a harsh environment!

[@mrbaab5932]

Harsh environment that is 350 F too hot 🔥 for the microwave detectors.

[@alberttiii]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@loveluneo]

This is amazing. Things have wondered about time to time. Thanks Joe!

[@Zerileous]

Great video, I really enjoyed learning about the CBR and what it can teach us!

[@liamh9814]

This is how to explain complicated stuff, without being patronising. Very good.

[@undasea]

Dr. Sasha has such a great smile and nice dimples! I wouldn't mind being cooped up with her for a long winter.

[@MikeKobb]

That was absolutely amazing.

[@Czeckie]

incredible footage

[@Merrybearsky]

So epic! Thank you. I'm an arm chair sky researcher and I so appreciate this!

[@637122a]

I know all of you have worked very hard, but I hope you realise what people like me would give up just to stand where you are and marvel at the science. Good Luck

[@brandonhamilton833]

Great video!!

[@stephenj1772]

Hey Joe, thanks for these great videos. I'm looking to apply for the south pole in a few years (I'm a machinist by trade) and I am looking forward to your south pole store video. Do you have timeline on when it will be released?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Great question. I'm hoping to finish a new batch of uploads about 4-5 weeks from now... Doing a bit of traveling at the moment

[@Muonium1]

I have a tattoo of the hydrogen hyperfine transition symbol on my leg 😄. It's a phenomenon that seems to keep popping up again and again in the strangest of places. Are you using helium dilution to get to millikelvin scale for those detectors? Are those superconducting ZIP detectors like they used on the CDMS dark matter search? I don't see any steam or anything coming from the telescope building, is it getting all its power and heat from electricity wired in from the main building?

[@SashaRahlin]

We use pulse tubes to cool to 4K and then a closed cycle He3/He4 adsorption fridge to cool the sensors to 300mK. The sensors are superconducting transition-edge bolometers - similar technology, but I believe CDMS uses the ZIPs as calorimeters. And the building is heated with a diesel boiler, but gets power from the main power plant.

[@Muonium1]

@@SashaRahlin interesting, thanks!

[@johngrundowski3632]

Thanks ,great production and info🔆

[@Partimepeasant]

When can we get an update on the CMB animations to date?

[@tehllama42]

A dumb question - have any of the sensors ever been over-cooled? I know it's already crazy that Antarctic air is basically scalding hot for the equipment, but is that even a remote concern?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Nah not a dumb question. The sensors need to be kept pretty precisely at that temperature or it'll be a dead pixel (if too cold) or stuck pixel (if too warm). I'm sure there's been failures that have overcooled it temporarily, but that's what the cryo system is working to prevent.

[@SashaRahlin]

We aren't worried about the sensors getting too cold from the outside air, but I imagine that's not what you're asking. There's basically a lower limit to how cold we can make the camera using the cryogenic system, and pretty much any extra radiation getting inside the camera box will heat it up above that lower limit, so mostly we try to insulate the camera as much as possible, to make the sensors as cold as possible. Joe is right though, that some of the pixels might have dead circuitry or not enough sensitivity to the CMB if they're too cold or too warm; that sort of thing might happen due to fabrication defects in how the sensors are made, so we generally know in advance which pixels will work the way we designed them to, and which won't. A bigger worry is that some of the computers and electronics inside the cabin might get too cold, so we do have to actually heat the cabin air space around them up to at least 0C (32F), especially in the super-cold winter months.

[@tehllama42]

@@SashaRahlin Yeah, it's wild to think that there is a bigger temperature delta between those sensors and ambient Antactic air than there is between ice and steam... and that some of those can go nonlinear because of overcooling, but that's actually kinda awesome that you basically pre-bin the sensors and know which ones will perform well there. I'll take great pleasure in knowing that despite having to put our data acquisition racks under their own dedicated air conditioners for field testing, somebody somewhere has to actually heat up their computers to keep them working correctly

[@SashaRahlin]

@@tehllama42 fun fact: the IceCube lab building (shown in another video on this channel) has so many busy computers in it, that it is the only human-occupancy building on station that has to be actively cooled due to all the waste heat the computers generate.

[@philkarn1761]

@@SashaRahlin The operations/sec/watt of modern computers is decreasing so rapidly I wonder how much longer that will remain true.

[@MichaelBattaglia]

Thanks for flipping this video for the northern hemisphere people

[@eileenh4927]

0.3K?? That's insanely cold, I was always told we could never get down that low!

[@SashaRahlin]

Actually I think there are some condensed matter systems that can get down to even colder temperatures. I saw an article recently where some scientists were able to reach tens of pico-Kelvin. That’s a few millionths of a millionth of one Kelvin!

[@philkarn1761]

We can't get to exactly zero -- that's the third law of thermodynamics -- but everything above that is simply a small matter of engineering!

[@daleolson3506]

Where do you get your cold weather gear?what brand is good?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Mostly Carhartt and Canada goose

[@hypercomms2001]

No problems with cooling the low noise amplifier!

[@BusyMEOW]

I imagine those electromagnetic receivers wouldn't be able to pick up microwave light very reliably in warmer environments, hence the South Pole providing the perfect range of sensitivity..?

[@Shinzon23]

3:40 raise a beer to the Blinking Lights that are only seen a few hours a year

[@PLM_RO]

Very cool video 😅 😁 thanks, regards from Romania!

[@antonleimbach648]

Amazing! It looks like the antenna uses a cable twist system as opposed to slip rings correct? I’m an old radar tech from the Navy and am still fascinated by the hardware that moves these heavy pieces of equipment. Thank you so much for showing some of the nuts and bolts, I would love to see more.

[@skunkjobb]

It definitely looked like that. I guess slip rings give too much distortion of the signal and it doesn't need to be able to turn many times in one direction.

[@MikeCzenkmd]

I had an opportunity to go to Antarctica as a Physician. Wish I would have. Maybe I'll do so

[@willtoulan]

This is awesome man! who did the 3d modeling?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Meeeee. I had some help from the designers of the telescope, so that's why it's so detailed, but it took some work to look right

[@willtoulan]

@@JoeSpinstheGlobe damn! great work! very impressive

[@fallbrookastro]

The graphics in this video are stunning. Is the 3d model of the telescope available anywhere?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Not publicly, not as far as I know

[@haroldishoy2113]

A very interesting and informative video, please thank Sasha for us. It seems as with the ambient light it might be more practical to have that telescope in orbit adjacent to the ISS, but that is just my limited opinion, I know more informed decisions would prevail.

[@brianbailey5859]

Sasha, how many Mark6 digital recorders does the R2DBE currently consist of at the SPT, what is the overall storage capacity of each, and how many hours of recording does this provide?

[@SashaRahlin]

16 recorders across four bands, but I don’t recall the capacity… at least a few PB in total, and certainly enough for a full week of observations. Typically SPT doesn’t participate in all of the observations during the campaign, though, since some of the EHT science targets are below our horizon.

[@brianbailey5859]

@@SashaRahlin Cool, thanks. I have always found VLBI and interferometry in general very interesting.

[@brianbailey5859]

@@SashaRahlin What percentage of time do folks typically spend out at the SPT vs working remotely from the B2 science lab and does this differ between summer and winter?

[@johnlee5937]

I have such a personality that I could spend the rest of my life at the South Pole Telescope. Just make sure there are plenty of tasty foods and a place to exercise.

[@deansimono7057]

Wow! Thats alot of cool science, must have taken some time and effort to get all that equipment!

[@borntoclimb7116]

That is very interesting

[@bangsarumsaatiniadalahrusi4636]

Sometime, please try to observe every edge of the Antarctic using telescope from there... and post what you see, upload its video here so everyone can see too 🙏

[@apolloskyfacer5842]

?

[@kitcanyon658]

Well, what are you doing expecting to see?

[@mqegg]

you do know this doesnt do visible light right?

[@pokerman9108]

wow building all of that must have been quite the task. let alone maintainig it.

[@subbywan1422]

Is the little white speck over Sasha's head the moon?

[@stevechance150]

Sasha, there's a really nice telescope on Haleakalā. If I had a choice, I'd find a way to work there.

[@nekomakhea9440]

kinda funny the _literal south pole_ isn't cold enough for the detectors

[@jesse7644]

Would love to go a few months

[@guillaumeguay2679]

Where do I apply?

[@ExplainedThroughRap]

Amazing content loving it! We dropped a rap explaining the Big Bang 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🚀🚀🚀

[@piyushprasad5026]

How can i work there

[@CarlineMullins-te9hg]

😮 I would like to see what the telescope see 😲

[@thomasharhen2168]

Awesome

[@lukamarinkovic7610]

how did you come to Antarctica from which country and how much does it cost to come to the amundsen base from which country did you come from and can ordinary people visit amundsen

[@1noduncle]

Do you have any idea what's right underneath of you. Why don't you guys take the cameras to the no fly zone???

[@Dan.Parker]

Hello. Are there any months of the year where there is sun 24 hours a day?

[@bobmusil1458]

Of course. When winter is in the northern hemisphere, it’s summer in the southern hemisphere. And then the sun does not set for several months.

[@givemespace2742]

Funny hearing microwave spectrum sensitive equipment called a 'camera', but when you think about it, what else is it?

[@wesleyjohnson597]

Brains and beauty would love to meet her.

[@zapfanzapfan]

Looks like you have to raise the telescope soon to keep it above the snow.

[@I.M.Q7119]

I agree. Now just get Richard Hammond down for some engineering connections. 🇬🇧

[@GingerNinja1]

Fascinating. She doesn't have to worry about job security 😂

[@hardyje1915]

so...what are you doing next year??

[@lindaj5492]

Surprised you’re inside without protective clothing & hair covering. Isn’t there a risk of contamination from “floating fragments” of skin cells & hair landing on a mirror?

[@fabreezethefaintinggoat5484]

And there was light.

[@ala3480]

❤

[@MetaView7]

What is the cost of this telescope? What is the operating budget of this telescope?

[@SD-Rob]

Is the flag the south Pole?

[@steveec9704]

44,000 views ? There's not that many people awake lmao

[@infinitecanadian]

Dr. Rahlin is pretty cute. I like smart women...

[@danielsea6479]

“Let there be light” - God. I’m sure it was like a big bang

[@waynearrington6727]

That is some serious White Out you got yerself there......

[@JayBane-n9l]

How would an old Machinist get a job down there?

[@whiteeyedsh4rk697]

That might be the nerdiest thing ive seen yet

[@themanunleashed]

Here is a random question: Did a flat earther ever visit Antarctica?

[@sstrick500]

Only if their mom's basement is located in Antarctica.

[@themanunleashed]

@@sstrick500 lol the best answer!

[@shlomoishtov7617]

Joe stopped spinning the globe? Anything else coming?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

yep still here, but unfortunately I've been sticking to TikTok because 1) good content is rewarded with more views, unlike KZbin, 2) i have way more followers and I'm verified on there

[@enzofitzhume7320]

You might want to update this video about the big bang. JWST has proven the big bang never happened. Great video .

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

The JWST never showed that. I'm familiar with this story and lemme see the record straight for future commenters. A jwst scientist said they "lie awake at night wondering if everthing i've worked on is wrong." They don't work on big bang cosmology. They work on early Galaxy formation, which is a young science. But someone twisted their words to wrongly refer to the big bang and wrote an article.

[@behavior852]

With the risk of sounding off the alarm; What do you do when you find a frozen spaceship buried deep within the ice you're inhabiting?! I'm just wondering what are your procedures? Do you thaw it out for future experimentation, or, do you load it with C-4 and reduce it to a cinder of ash, with its contents, for the sake of humanity?! Knowledge is power, unless you stumble over an alien ship, then all bets are off!

[@nunya_bizniz]

Take your meds to avoid presenting yourself as a gullible and brainless conspiratard.

[@ericcrawford1132]

So amazing something came from nothing . One day people will seethe truth😮

[@starwolven]

Don't fall off the planet! 😂 you really think you're upside down, don't you?

[@JoeSpinstheGlobe]

Nah you're the one upside down relative to me (:

[@I.M.Q7119]

Flat earthers. They’re thinking WAY too literal.

[@bobmusil1458]

@@I.M.Q7119they are not thinking at all

[@EeeEee-bm5gx]

I can't believe nobody has made a sex joke about the title 😢

[@mcjtls7]

Thanks for showing! Thats awesome! Hope everyone has a blessed year 😊 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

[@AS-fm6iw]

Big bang lol.. so stupid to come to that conclusion just from that

[@Noneyabuiness]

People at the ass end of the world studying an asanying theory

[@I.M.Q7119]

Want a job there?

[@deanpd3402]

"Though wise they were fools."

[@bobmusil1458]

You are sharp as a marble

[@11ildiko11]

Do you believe all this, +and someone spent millions of$ to search what they do not know what?

[@kitcanyon658]

Was that so-called sentence supposed to be written in English?

[@I.M.Q7119]

That’s the challenge and mystery. Wanting to be enlightened is good for the soul?

[@lynneuribeross2695]

It was God not a big bang. But pretty cool to see!

[@Valdemar135]

There is no god. Educate yourself please before writing nonsense.

[@estebanwedontneednostinkin9969]

Obviously, the big bang didn’t happen, so what the hell you spending all that money on top of the mountain😮😮

[@I.M.Q7119]

What is your proof it didn’t happen? Just answer the question and don’t turn around and ask me the same thing.

[@bobmusil1458]

The BB did happen and we have the pictures to prove it.

[@joshc606]

Spoiler alert. God created everything :)

[@balijosu]

😆

[@Valdemar135]

There is no god. Stop believing in fairytales.

[@matztertaler2777]

I Look into my bible and see the same.....😂

[@balijosu]

🙄

[@stansmith1766]

Dr. Sasha's commentary would have much better if she have refrained from frequently making the "'uhhhh" noise!!