WeWow On The Weekend (12/10/23)

Favorite Planets

Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz engage in a lively discussion about their favorite planets, highlighting some lesser-known celestial bodies. Mindy shares her fascination with Hat P-1, a planet larger than Jupiter but as light as a cork, earning it the nickname "puffy planet" 1. Guy humorously chooses Earth as his favorite, citing its convenience for storing all his belongings. Mindy also promotes their new book, "Wow in Space," which explores various space phenomena, including life on the International Space Station 1.

   

Moon Phenomena

The duo explores the fascinating phenomena of moons, particularly focusing on Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos. Guy Raz explains how Phobos is slowly being torn apart by Mars' gravity, a process that could eventually lead to the formation of a ring system around Mars, similar to Saturn's rings 2. Mindy adds that Phobos' orbit is changing, and its proximity to Mars makes it one of the closest orbiting moons in the solar system 3.

   

Space Neighborhoods

The concept of solar systems as space neighborhoods is humorously discussed, with Earth portrayed as the neighborhood snoop. Mindy Thomas and Guy joke about Earth's role in observing other planets with telescopes and probes 4. They also touch on the whimsical idea of space vampires and the materials used in modern telescopes, like the gold-plated beryllium mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope, which could potentially reveal such mythical creatures 4.