The Cool Universe

In Our Time: Science

BBC

History

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2010

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

The Cool Universe is the name astronomers give to the matter between the stars.These great clouds of dust and gas are not hot enough to be detected by optical telescopes.But over the last few decades, they have increasingly become the focus of infrared telescopy.Astronomers had long encountered dark, apparently starless patches in the night sky. When they discovered that these were actually areas obscured by dust, they found a way to see through these vexing barriers, using infrared telescopes, to the light beyond.However, more recently, the dust itself has become a source of fascination.The picture now being revealed by infrared astronomy is of a universe that is dynamic.In this dynamic universe, matter is recycled - and so the dust and gas of the Cool Universe play a vital role. They are the material from which the stars are created, and into which they finally disintegrate, enriching the reservoir of cool matter from which new stars will eventually be formed. As a result of the new research, we are now beginning to see first-hand the way our planet was formed when the solar system was born.With:Carolin CrawfordMember of the Institute of Astronomy, and Fellow of Emmanuel College, at the University of CambridgePaul MurdinVisiting Professor of Astronomy at Liverpool John Moores University's Astronomy Research InstituteMichael Rowan-RobinsonProfessor of Astrophysics at Imperial College, LondonProducer: Phil Tinline.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for downloading the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co.uk.
0:09.0	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.0	Hello, over the last few decades, astronomers have been using infrared
0:16.0	telescopes to make visible the matter between the stars, immense clouds of dust and
0:20.8	gas that are not hot enough to be seen with optical equipment.
0:24.4	This is the cool universe.
0:26.4	Once astronomer thought of this cosmic dust has nothing more than an irritant blocking
0:30.8	our view of the bright important astral bodies.
0:33.7	But more recent research is now revealed how the universe functions as a dynamic system
0:37.9	and how this dust and gas play a large and vital role.
0:41.9	The stars themselves are formed from this cool
0:43.7	interstellar matter and when they eventually disintegrate their elements drift
0:47.3	back into these clouds and materials spread across the galaxies. Recent infrared
0:51.4	images of these astonishing processes are now allowing us to see firsthand the means
0:56.2	by which our planet was formed when the solar system was born.
0:59.2	With me to discuss the cool universe are Paul Murden, visiting professor astronomy at Liverpool John
1:05.2	Moore's University's Astronomy Research Institute, Michael Rowan Robinson, Professor
1:10.1	of Astrophysics at Imperial College London and Carolyn Crawford a member of
1:13.9	the Institute of Astronomy and a fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of
1:18.0	Cambridge.
1:18.8	Calvin Crawford, can you summarize what astronomers thought of the universe, what it
1:22.4	consisted of and in particular what lay between the cells and
	...

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