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cover of episode Is There a Giant Blob of Water in Space?

Is There a Giant Blob of Water in Space?

2024/11/15
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I Wonder Podcast

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Could a massive blob of water floating in space reveal the secrets of the universe? Join us as we uncover the mind-boggling discovery of a 12 billion-year-old water vapour cloud and what it means for the potential of life beyond Earth. Photo Credit: Nasa"This image, an artist's concept, illustrates a quasar, or feeding black hole, similar to APM 08279+5255, where astronomers discovered huge amounts of water vapor. Gas and dust likely form a torus around the central black hole, with clouds of charged gas above and below. X-rays emerge from the very central region, while thermal infrared radiation is emitted by dust throughout most of the torus. While this figure shows the quasar's torus approximately edge-on, the torus around APM 08279+5255 is likely positioned face-on from our point of view."

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