Episode Title

Taking the Measure of the Universe with Quasars

Series Producers

Joshua Colwell, University of Central FloridaFollow
Adrienne Dove, University of Central FloridaFollow
James Cooney, University of Central FloridaFollow

Streaming Media

Series Title

Walkabout the Galaxy

Keywords

Quasars; Parker Solar Probe

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy | Physics

Description

Quasars, those incredibly bright and distant sources powered by supermassive black holes, may have a trick to their radiation that let's us use them as standard candles. We'll dive into that and take a dive in close to the Sun with the Parker Solar Probe to learn about its discoveries of new populations of dust in the inner solar system. Plus, impactor trivia, and how long would you want to stay in space?

Episode Sponsor

Calabi–Yau Manifolds

If you're feeling lost in your walkabout the multi-dimensional spacetime continuum of superstring theory, then maybe you should pull a Calabi-Yau Manifold as a map out of your 6-dimenional pocket. After all, with Ricci flatness, and a vanishing first Chern class, the Calabi-Yau manifold is the ideal solution to your geometrical dilemmas. And if you feel daunted by its multi-dimensional complexity, just remember that the conical bundle of the manifold is trivial. So whether you're trying to fit the universe into 11 dimensions of space time, or maybe working on a new Marauder's Maps, try a Calabi-Yau manifold. Calabi-Yau manifold, all the dimensions that's fit to print (New York Times).

© Joshua Colwell, All Rights Reserved

Date Created

9-22-2021

Item Type

Podcast

Type

article

Length of Episode

45:00

Recommended Citation

Colwell, Joshua; Dove, Adrienne; and Cooney, James, "Taking the Measure of the Universe with Quasars" (2021). Walkabout the Galaxy Podcast. 179.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/walkaboutthegalaxy/179