Bug Splat Galaxies with Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

About This Episode

What type of planets orbit black holes? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Negin Farsad sit down with Mordecai-Mark Mac Low to crack open the mysteries of galaxy collisions, dark matter, and the massive planetary systems around black holes.

We explore the catalogue of peculiar galaxies that got astronomers thinking about what makes some galaxies weird. Mordecai explains why actual collisions are rare unless you’re a gas cloud headed toward another gas cloud. We talk about active galactic nuclei and how black holes generate the brightest objects in the universe.

Learn how the Earth formed and how accretion disks keep cropping up in different places in the universe. What are planetary systems like around supermassive black holes? Mordecai tells us about Jupiter-mass rocky planets around black holes. Could they hold the potential for life or would they be hostile to biology? A question about Jupiter’s gravity leads to the story of Shoemaker-Levy 9, the first observed comet impact in our solar system. Fan questions push further: could Jupiter ignite into a star if it gained enough mass? How is dark matter built into galaxy simulations? How long does it actually take to form a star versus a planet, and could simulations ever reveal whether large moons like ours are common?

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