Things You Thought You Knew – Is Everything Light?

About This Episode

How bright is the Earth from the moon? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice have fun with the sun’s reflectivity, discuss light pollution, and explore the electromagnetic light spectrum.

What the heck is albedo? Are there any things that have no albedo? We talk about brightness, and objects that reflect versus absorb light. How does melanin impact albedo in humans? How bright or not bright is the moon? You’ll learn tricks on how to stay cooler in the summer. What is the view of Earth like from the moon? What is Earthshine?

What is going on with light pollution? We discuss something you don’t always think about, but worries astronomers everywhere: light pollution. What do you lose with increased light pollution? We explore the International Dark-Sky Association and the work they do. What other types of pollution exist? Find out about radio pollution and satellite pollution. Is there a way to delete satellites from the view of telescopes? How do we create a long term solution for maintaining seeing conditions from Earth?

Neil explains a revelation he had about potatoes and how it’s sort of like the electromagnetic spectrum. Is everything light? We discuss how ultraviolet got its name, what frequency means, and how sunscreen works. Is there anything beyond gamma rays? How long is a microwave? How did we used to think about the light spectrum? Learn about William Herschel and his discovery of infrared light in 1800. How did he do it before detection technology? We explore all that starting from…potatoes?

Thanks to our Patrons Nicholas Santiago, Bill Mccollough, Mizarare, Marcus Lanigan, Hrvoje Medarac, Geoff Skinner, Scooter, Odf12, Michele H, Thecasualtease, Alna Hofmeyr, Bev, Mitc…Nicholas Santiago, Bill Mccollough, Mizarare, Marcus Lanigan, Hrvoje Medarac, Geoff Skinner, Scooter, Odf12, Michele H, Thecasualtease, Alna Hofmeyr, Bev, Mitchell Abbott, Hades 1000, Allysia Wright, A Smith, Patrick Miller, Brian Parch, McBeardy, Blue, TamTam, Brendan Santangelo, Jonathan Collins, Nick Obrien, David Everett, Beautiful Universe, Vlad Condoroș, William T. Drummond III, Vision Novaa, Adam Martin, Courtney Lopotosky, Christopher Pickett, Tormonty, Abby Roberts, Claire Ture, Diego Kunke, Anatolii Okhotnikov, Tom Grissom, Korrey Allen, Simon, D Biswas, Sidlywinks, Gabriel Snell, Sonja Gardiner, John B, Mike Rivera, Duane Wolfe, Eva Carleton, Dan Hadaway, William Benedict, Zachary E, Muhammad Jawad Bashir, Jonathan Greenberg, Robert Hollis, Quinn McSperryn, Ross Kennedy, Kyle Brummet, Chadders, Erick Valdez, Jamie Haley, William Tyree, Sternritter, Yung Alien, Cosmicmoss, Kristopher Kapeel, David Bunting, Scotti Hinds, David Lott, JD Morales, Dan, DaleMorgansLife, Kelsey LeVert, Ethan Free, Johnathan Letcher, Misha Art, Tarsha Wynn, Periloux Peay, Jeremiah B Luther, Dee Programmer, Luis Santiago, Claude Jones Jr, Michael Rose, Robert Pennell, C.B. Winterton, Javier Alvarado, Toygar Ermin, John Cucetta, Uqbar, Alisha, Charles Loflin, Bobby Sue, Colton Upchurch, Michele Bollo, Michael Baker, William Crew, Charlie Mahoney, Seth Stinson, Brent Wiese, Vallous, Linda in Alameda, and Bzd for supporting us this week.

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