[dramatic percussion music]
- HEY, WELCOME TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."
I'M YOUR HOST, SCOTT BEDNAR.
NOW, YOU KNOW NASA HAS A WIDE REACH,
NOT JUST OUT INTO SPACE BUT HERE ON EARTH TOO.
ASIDE FROM THE NASA CENTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY,
NASA RESEARCH IS DONE AT A VARIETY OF SITES
ALL OVER THE PLACE.
OUT IN ARIZONA, WE RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH DR. DRAKE DEMING,
SENIOR SCIENTIST FOR EXOPLANET RESEARCH
FROM NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER.
WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH WAS HE UP TO OUT THERE?
LET'S LET HIM EXPLAIN.
- WELL, WE'RE HERE AT KITT PEAK NATIONAL OBSERVATORY
USING THE TWO-METER TELESCOPE
TO LOOK AT STARS, RELATIVELY NEARBY STARS,
THAT EACH HOST A GIANT PLANET.
AND IN THE CASE OF THESE SYSTEMS,
THIS PLANET NOT ONLY ORBITS THE STAR,
BUT, AS SEEN FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT,
IT PASSES IN FRONT OF THE STAR ONCE IN ITS ORBIT,
WHICH IS, FOR THESE PLANETS, EVERY FEW DAYS.
WHEN IT PASSES IN FRONT OF THE STAR,
OR TRANSITS THE STAR,
WE SEE A DECREASE IN THE LIGHT OF THE STAR
DUE TO THE SHADOW OF THE PLANET.
SO WE'RE MEASURING SHADOWS OF PLANETS.
- WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.
THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR, RIGHT?
WELL, IT SHOULD.
IT'S A VERY SIMILAR PROCESS TO THE KEPLER MISSION,
WHICH WE COVERED HERE ON "LAUNCHPAD."
GO BACK AND CHECK OUT THE SEGMENT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
NOW, DR. DEMING AND HIS TEAM ARE MEASURING TRANSITS
TO STUDY EXOSOLAR PLANETS.
THOSE ARE PLANETS NOT IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
BUT WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT KEPLER'S DOING
AND THE RESEARCH THAT THE TEAM IS DOING OUT AT KITT PEAK?
- THIS IS LIKE KEPLER IN THE SENSE
THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR TRANSITS OF PLANETS.
HOWEVER, KEPLER IS IN SEARCH MODE.
IT'S LOOKING AT STARS NOT KNOWN TO HOST A TRANSITING PLANET,
AND IT'S IN PARTICULAR LOOKING FOR VERY SMALL PLANETS.
WE ARE IN FOLLOW-UP MODE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT STARS
THAT ALREADY HAVE A GIANT TRANSITING PLANET.
AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE SIGNATURES
OF SMALLER PLANETS IN THE SYSTEM
THAT MAY PERTURB THE GIANT PLANET,
SO WE'RE DOING A KIND OF FOLLOW-UP WORK.
- NOW, WE KNOW THAT FROM EARTH,
WE CAN SEE THE TRANSITS OF MERCURY AND VENUS
AS THEY PASS IN FRONT OF OUR OWN SUN.
DR. DEMING IS LOOKING FOR GIANT PLANETS
IN FAR-OFF SOLAR SYSTEMS
AS THEY TRANSIT THEIR OWN HOST STAR.
NOW, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER ANOTHER "LAUNCHPAD" SEGMENT
WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT THE OBSERVATORIES
ON MAUNA KEA IN HAWAII.
WHY NOT DO THIS WORK THERE
OR ANYWHERE ELSE, FOR THAT MATTER?
WHAT MAKES KITT PEAK, SOUTHWEST OF TUCSON, ARIZONA,
THE PLACE FOR DR. DEMING'S EXOSOLAR STUDY?
ARE WE TALKING ABOUT LOOKING AT CERTAIN STARS
THAT CAN ONLY BE SEEN FROM THIS LOCATION?
- THE REASON FOR THIS LOCATION IS, FIRST OF ALL,
THE TELESCOPE AND THE INSTRUMENT ARE VERY SUITABLE FOR THIS WORK,
AND THE OBSERVATORY HAS GOOD WEATHER
AND GOOD ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVING CONDITIONS.
SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE.
VIRTUALLY ALL OBSERVATORIES ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH,
AT APPROPRIATE LATITUDES,
WOULD BE ABLE TO OBSERVE THESE SAME TRANSITING SYSTEMS.
BUT ONE OF THE REASONS WE'RE HERE IS THE INSTRUMENT.
THE OTHER REASON WE'RE HERE
IS THAT MORE TIME IS AVAILABLE HERE
THAN IT WOULD BE AT SOME OTHER OBSERVATORIES
FOR OUR PARTICULAR PROGRAM.
- SO HERE'S SOMETHING TO CONSIDER.
AS THE RESEARCHERS ARE MEASURING THEIR TRANSITS,
IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THEM
TO GET FINELY TUNED, ACCURATE RESULTS.
AND LIGHT'S A VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECT.
SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT MAKING SURE
YOU CAN CORRECTLY INTERPRET THE INFORMATION YOU'RE GETTING?
WELL, CALIBRATION IS YOUR ANSWER.
- SO THAT GIANT WHITE SPOT IS USED FOR CALIBRATION.
AND IT'S NOT JUST FOR OUR OBSERVATIONS,
BUT MANY ASTRONOMERS COME HERE.
WHEN THEY USE THIS INSTRUMENT,
THEY USE THAT WHITE SPOT FOR CALIBRATION.
AND THE WAY IT WORKS IS THAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO RELATE
THE SENSITIVITY OF ONE PIXEL IN THE DETECTOR
TO ANOTHER PIXEL IN THE DETECTOR.
SO WE NEED TO IMAGE SOMETHING
THAT WE KNOW HAS A UNIFORM INTENSITY.
AND THEN WHEN WE SEE CHANGES, WE CAN USE THAT
TO CALIBRATE THE RESPONSE OF THE DETECTOR
THAT DIFFERS FROM PIXEL TO PIXEL.
SO WE POINT THE TELESCOPE AT THAT GIANT WHITE SPOT
AND TAKE IMAGES OF A BLANK FIELD,
AND THOSE IMAGES ARE USED FOR CALIBRATION.
- ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION
FOR THE RESEARCHERS
IS THE TEMPERATURE OF THE INSTRUMENT.
LIKE THE INFRARED TELESCOPE FACILITY ON MAUNA KEA,
THE TWO-METER TELESCOPE
USED BY DR. DEMING'S TEAM HERE IN ARIZONA
ALSO OBSERVES INFRARED WAVELENGTHS.
UNNECESSARY HEAT OR LIGHT, KNOWN AS THE THERMAL BACKGROUND,
CAN INTERFERE WITH OBSERVATIONS
FROM THESE SENSITIVE INSTRUMENTS.
SO TO MAKE SURE THE HEAT SIGNATURE
OF THE INSTRUMENT ITSELF DOESN'T AFFECT THE RESULTS,
ENGINEERS KEEP THE TELESCOPE AT A VERY COOL TEMPERATURE.
AND HOW DO THEY DO THAT?
WELL, LIQUID NITROGEN IN A SPECIALLY DESIGNED CHAMBER
TO KEEP THE TELESCOPE OPERATING AT EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE INFRARED SIGNATURES IN THE BRIGHT SKY?
DOESN'T THAT AFFECT THEIR RESULTS?
WELL, SURE, IT COULD.
BUT THESE RESEARCHERS HAVE COME UP WITH THE ANSWER,
AND IT'S CALLED THE NIGHT-SHIFT.
- IN PRINCIPLE, IF WE WERE TO WORK
AT A LONGER INFRARED WAVELENGTH,
WE COULD DO THIS IN THE DAYTIME.
BUT WE'RE AT A SUFFICIENTLY SHORT INFRARED WAVELENGTH
THAT THE SKY IS BRIGHT.
LONG INFRARED WAVELENGTHS, THE SKY WOULD BECOME DARKER.
BUT IN OUR WAVELENGTH, IT'S STILL BRIGHT,
SO WE WOULD GET TOO MUCH BACKGROUND FROM THE SKY
TO DO IT IN THE DAYTIME, SO WE HAVE TO DO IT AT NIGHT.
WE'VE DEFINITELY BECOME NIGHT OWLS.
WE BEGIN WORK AT 8:00 P.M., AND WE'RE DONE AT 4:30 A.M.
USUALLY WE GET UP AT, LIKE--
YOU KNOW, WE SLEEP FROM, LIKE, 5:00 A.M. TO 11:00 A.M.,
AND THEN WE GET UP, HAVE LUNCH,
AND WORK ON THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S DATA
AND GET READY FOR THE NEXT OBSERVATIONS.
- JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU,
NASA ISN'T ALWAYS A NINE-TO-FIVE JOB.
SO, YOU OUT THERE
THINKING THAT YOU LIKE TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT,
MAYBE THIS IS FOR YOU.
ANYWAY, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE
ABOUT ALL THE RESEARCH THAT'S BEING DONE?
- ONE REASON THAT THIS IS OF AN INTEREST TO EVERYONE,
TO ALL CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD,
IS THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR EARTHLIKE PLANETS,
ULTIMATELY, THAT ORBIT OTHER STARS.
IMAGINE THAT WE FOUND A REAL EARTHLIKE PLANET,
YOU KNOW, A HABITABLE PLANET LIKE THE EARTH,
ONE THAT EVEN MIGHT CONTAIN FORESTS AND OCEANS,
AND IT'S A POTENTIALLY VERY EXCITING POSSIBILITY,
TO FIND ANOTHER WORLD.
- COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF.
WELL, THAT'S IT FOR NOW. THANKS FOR WATCHING.
I'M SCOTT BEDNAR,
AND WE WILL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME HERE ON "NASA LAUNCHPAD."