JWST rules out MOST LIKELY culprit for 'Crisis in Cosmology' | Night Sky News January 2024

#astronomy #space #AAS243

00:00 Intro
01:02 Saturn at sunset (gone soon!)
01:42 27th Jan Mercury + Mars Conjunction
03:24 7th Feb Venus + Toenail Moon!
04:04 Valentine's Day! Jupiter, Moon, and Pleiades
04:50 BetterHelp
06:25 AAS 243!
07:20 The "Big Ring" Megastructure of Galaxies
11:53 Hubble images most-distant FRB galaxy
16:27 Early Supermassive Black Holes larger than expected
19:18 OSIRIS-REx canister finally opened!
22:10 Crisis in Cosmology made worse by 3 JWST results!
32:43 Conclusion & Bloopers

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.

[ParameterGrenze]

I remember the time when the error bars on both methods were still overlapping. Articles I red back then were mostly confident that this would work itself out. So much more fun this way.

[seantlewis]

I've always had a keen interest in astronomy, but I pursued computer science instead. I occasionally read the linked papers, but I don't have the education to fully understand them, so I love that there are astrophysicists like Dr. Becky who are able to explain these studies and discoveries in ways that layman me can understand. Good job, Dr. Becky! Your efforts to educate the rest of us are appreciated!

[frostebyte]

Hubble: "Idk man, it just doesn't look right..."
JWST: "Aight, step aside, let the big boys take--"
Hubble: "what"
JWST: "Bollocks."

[SleepyHooman]

dropping the 8σ label on the alternative model like "yea, its not this" lol

[OvertravelX]

It's so cool that we keep learning how much we don't know.

[sarahlewisphoenix]

I feel like the most common phrase I have heard in space-related videos since the JSWT went live is "This should not exist in our model of the Universe". lol What an exciting time to be alive though, such fascinating discoveries and I'm sure we'll get more mind blowing findings as the research continues.

[d]

I continue to be so impressed with how clearly you explain complex concepts. Thanks!

[Cobinja]

I'm waiting for a paper describing a formula for CCF (Crisis in Cosmology Factor), which calculates the factor in which JWST makes the Crisis worse 😅

[BigZebraCom]

@00:39 I'm so glad the went with 'The Big Ring' and not with the first suggestion, The Big Sphincter '. I'm so glad that someone at these conferences knows how to name things.

[SiqueScarface]

25:15 A short historical background for the word "standard candle": In 1860 in the United Kingdrom, the Metropolitan Gas Act defined "candlepower" as the unit of luminosity. It was defined as the light a candle emits, which is made from 1/6 pounds of spermaceti (fat from sperm whales, read "Moby Dick" for more information), and which burns at a rate of 120 grains per hour. This was a high quality, standardized candle with a well known luminosity, and in the same vain, other bright objects with well known luminosity are called standard candles.

[OneCentChemist]

A lot of these mega-structures kinda look like the structures you see in phase separating polymer blends. I dont know much about the astrophysics of large scale megastructures, but I wonder if phase separation type equations can model their formation.

[deezynar]

I knew a guy who was majoring in nuclear engineering, and minoring in astronomy. I asked him what he thought of the methods used in astronomy and he laughed. He said that nuclear engineering is extremely precise, and astronomy is founded on suppositions that are so tenuous that he could not understand how anyone could call it a science. Studying both caused him to see how the two fields deal with ideas of precision in vastly different ways.

[robertzimmerman]

Doc Becky, you're the first person I've ever heard explain just how and why cephid variable stars are used as astronomical "candle sticks". Do you a good job of explaining scientific concepts and have a lot of enthusiasm for the subject.

[silo_fx]

While many may feel it is disappointing to realise we don't know as much about the universe as we thought, to me that is nothing but opportunity to learn more and discover scientific facts to enlighten the current gaps in understanding. There is soooo much more we have to learn - this is exciting.

[robbierobinson]

Night Sky News is a great way to keep updated on newest information. Thank you, Dr Becky.

[tessaN]

the frequency i hear "much more/less than would be expected" on these videos only goes to show our best models still have so much growth and development to do. Very exciting stuff!

[marcusdirk]

Thank you again, Dr. Becky, for another fascinating video!

[PhilRable]

The diagrams you use to explain the physics are very helpful.

[FrancisFjordCupola]

I think the best way to solve the crisis in cosmology is to cease labeling the parameter the Hubble Constant. Instead, we should label it the Hubble Variable. After all, for as long as it has been around, the number has kept shifting around.

[spidalack]

I love how you specify "from our perspective here on earth"
Too many people think "close in the sky, close in the universe"
Love your work. Keep it up.
Wish we had some more blackhole news.