WEBVTT 00:00:01.262 --> 00:00:06.554 Coming up on The Children's Hour, we learn about exoplanets, the planets that are found outside 00:00:06.554 --> 00:00:12.697 of our solar system, with exoplanetologist Dr. Diana Dragomir from the University of New 00:00:12.697 --> 00:00:18.910 Mexico. Dr. Dragomir is part of a very small group of scientists who are searching the 00:00:18.910 --> 00:00:26.163 galaxy for exoplanets. We'll explore how they find them, what we know so far, and how we 00:00:26.163 --> 00:00:32.899 can all join the hunt. We'll even find out if they've found aliens yet. There's a learning 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:40.262 guide with this episode at ChildrensHour.org. Look for exoplanets. Stick with us to learn 00:00:40.262 --> 00:00:45.190 more. The Children's Hour is an independent production of The Children's Hour Incorporated, 00:00:45.190 --> 00:00:51.225 a New Mexico based non-profit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio 00:00:51.225 --> 00:00:58.594 network. It's time for The Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio! 00:01:04.874 --> 00:01:13.134 Why did the planet have a chicken sitting on it? I don't know, why? Because it was an egg-xo 00:01:13.134 --> 00:01:13.794 planet. 00:01:16.814 --> 00:01:22.454 It's time for The Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio! 00:01:40.376 --> 00:01:48.298 Looking for a planet, for a planet, for a planet. Where I might rest my burrow for the night 00:01:48.298 --> 00:01:58.090 Brush out all his nettles and thank him for his company I'm looking for a planet in the 00:01:58.090 --> 00:02:07.859 sky I'm looking for an ocean, for an ocean on a planet. Where I might rinse the journey 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:18.057 from my clothes And wash away my soreness in the music of the tide I'm looking for an ocean. 00:02:18.057 --> 00:02:29.039 Ocean on a planet I'm looking for a planet in the sky I'm looking for a mountain, for 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:37.285 a mountain by the ocean. Where big cats and the grizzlies have their way. And the hills 00:02:37.285 --> 00:02:45.287 they give me shelter from the howling winds of winter I'm looking for a mountain, a mountain 00:02:45.287 --> 00:02:56.251 by the ocean, an ocean on a planet. I'm looking for a planet in the sky. I'm looking for a 00:02:56.251 --> 00:03:05.966 valley, for a valley near a mountain, where kindness is the way of everyone. neighbors 00:03:05.966 --> 00:03:14.191 all respect me and they even like my burrow I'm looking for a valley, a valley near a 00:03:14.191 --> 00:03:24.177 mountain. A mountain by the ocean, an ocean on a planet I'm looking for a planet in the sky 00:03:46.862 --> 00:03:57.540 Looking for a meadow, for a meadow in a valley. Where bluebells and geraniums prevail I can 00:03:57.540 --> 00:04:07.257 pick a bundle and make a fine bouquet I'm looking for a meadow, meadow in a valley. A 00:04:07.257 --> 00:04:17.065 valley near a mountain, a mountain by the ocean. An ocean on a planet, I'm looking for a planet 00:04:17.065 --> 00:04:27.153 in the sky I'm looking for a stable, for a stable in a meadow. Where I might rest my burrow 00:04:27.153 --> 00:04:38.926 for the night. Shout all his medals and thank him for his company Looking for a stable, stable 00:04:38.926 --> 00:04:49.246 in a meadow. A meadow in a valley, a valley near a mountain. A mountain by the ocean, an ocean 00:04:49.246 --> 00:04:51.886 on a planet. 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:58.930 Looking for a planet in the sky 00:05:12.204 --> 00:05:19.538 Thats the Green Chili Jam Band looking for a planet from a CD called Coconut Moon. And that's 00:05:19.538 --> 00:05:24.622 what we're going to be doing today. We're going to be talking with people who actually are 00:05:24.622 --> 00:05:30.105 looking for planets. But before we get there, you're listening to The Children's Hour. I'm 00:05:30.105 --> 00:05:36.059 Katie Stone. I'm so happy to be with everybody today, including all these great kids on our 00:05:36.059 --> 00:05:47.408 crew. Hello. Hi! It's so nice to see everyone here. Who do we have with us? Hi, I'm Camila. 00:05:47.468 --> 00:05:55.951 Hello, it's Isaac. Hi, it's Evan. Happy day, it's Maya. Hi, it's Illuminata. Hi, it's Octavia. 00:05:56.351 --> 00:06:02.663 Hi, it's Thaniel. Cock-a-doodle-doo, it's Maya and Lou. Hi, it's Corbit. Hi, it's Airdrie and 00:06:02.663 --> 00:06:08.797 Flo. Hello, it's Zen. Hello, it's Amadeus. Well, everyone, thank you for being here today. 00:06:08.797 --> 00:06:14.548 I'm really excited about this show because we're going to be getting out of this world. We're 00:06:14.548 --> 00:06:23.131 going to galaxies far, far away or nearby, and we're going to explore exoplanets. Does anyone 00:06:23.131 --> 00:06:29.542 on the crew want to take a stab at what they think an exoplanet might be? A planet that 00:06:29.542 --> 00:06:37.087 is out of our solar system, I think. I think that might be right. Yeah, Corbit. An exoplanet 00:06:37.087 --> 00:06:46.265 is not a planet. Pluto is a good example. Pluto is an exoplanet. All exoplanets are technically 00:06:46.265 --> 00:06:51.659 in the solar system. They're just not actually planets. And there's a long set of rules describing 00:06:51.659 --> 00:06:57.784 what's a planet, what's an exoplanet, and what's what that I don't really have memorized. I 00:06:57.784 --> 00:07:03.969 think I would agree more with Maya. An exoplanet, from what I know, is a planet outside of our 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:11.965 solar system. And I think what I think Corbett was saying was a dwarf planet and those are 00:07:11.965 --> 00:07:18.117 smaller celestial bodies. Well, this just goes to show we do have a lot to learn today 00:07:18.117 --> 00:07:23.860 on The Children's Hour. We're going to be focusing on exoplanets with a professor of physics and 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:30.643 astronomy from the University of New Mexico, Dr. Diana Dragomir. And she's going to enlighten 00:07:30.643 --> 00:07:36.994 us about everything to do with exoplanets. And we're also going to learn the latest and 00:07:36.994 --> 00:07:43.517 greatest information about exoplanets and how they're being discovered today and how many 00:07:43.517 --> 00:07:49.791 there are as of right now. But speaking of Pluto, which I'm glad you brought up, Corbit, 00:07:50.131 --> 00:07:56.405 Pluto is very, very special here in the state of New Mexico where we are, because it was 00:07:56.405 --> 00:08:03.040 discovered by a New Mexican astrophysicist named Clyde Tombaugh. And so when Pluto was declared 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:09.655 to be too small to be a legitimate planet. The state of New Mexico did something pretty unique. 00:08:10.036 --> 00:08:15.369 There was actually a piece of legislation that was passed to declare that in the state of 00:08:15.369 --> 00:08:22.704 New Mexico, Pluto will always be a planet. Today's show is mixed with great music and we have 00:08:22.705 --> 00:08:30.090 so much to learn together about exoplanets with Dr. Dragomir, but first. This song is for 00:08:30.090 --> 00:08:36.328 Pluto. And for all those who have ever found themselves on the outside looking in. 00:08:39.766 --> 00:08:48.466 I heard it on the news this morning not a planet anymore 00:08:53.024 --> 00:09:06.162 sank in I felt confused things would not be as they were before you first emerged in 00:09:06.162 --> 00:09:20.470 1930 when Clyde Tombaugh spotted you in space and you were named by a young British girl 00:09:20.470 --> 00:09:33.564 What big rock could ever take your place? You'll always be a planet to me Pluto, you're 00:09:33.564 --> 00:09:44.683 the coolest icy mass in the galaxy Your orbit is eccentric and Neptune's path may intersect 00:09:44.683 --> 00:09:53.682 it Be a planet to me 00:10:04.531 --> 00:10:07.976 Scientists have said you're just too small 00:10:11.758 --> 00:10:19.922 Even smaller than the us-own moon But that's never bothered me at all. 00:10:22.922 --> 00:10:38.250 Some people say that you seem distant 3.6 billion miles from the sun. To think of you as just 00:10:38.250 --> 00:10:54.714 far out In my heart you're always number one be a planet to me. Pluto, you hold such a special 00:10:54.714 --> 00:11:08.445 place in astronomy. You may have been demoted, but I will always be devoted And you'll always 00:11:08.445 --> 00:11:12.498 be a planet to. 00:11:18.156 --> 00:11:32.898 Mercury and Venus are two amazing planets Earth and Mars and Jupiter are fine Saturn and Uranus 00:11:32.898 --> 00:11:42.546 and Neptune are great. But why do we have to stop with eight? 00:11:45.996 --> 00:12:00.136 Be a planet to me, To your mass, your every quality. There's no way to resist them. Cause 00:12:00.136 --> 00:12:03.954 you still rock my solar system. 00:12:06.986 --> 00:12:07.361 Be. 00:12:21.390 --> 00:12:28.842 Mark Burrows right here on The Children's Hour from Go, Galileo with Ode to Pluto. And 00:12:28.842 --> 00:12:36.128 I'm Katie Stone. Today on The Children's Hour, we are with Dr. Diana Dragomir. She's a professor 00:12:36.128 --> 00:12:41.481 of physics and astronomy at the University of New Mexico, and she is an exoplanetologist. 00:12:42.022 --> 00:12:47.245 Welcome to The Children's Hour, Dr. Dragomir. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. We're happy 00:12:47.245 --> 00:12:53.823 you're with us too, Dr. Dragomir. So you heard the kids talking about what they think exoplanets 00:12:53.823 --> 00:13:00.565 might be. How did we do? So I think that there were bits of the right answer in what everyone 00:13:00.565 --> 00:13:13.038 said. An exoplanet is a planet around another star or other stars. That said, if we ever 00:13:13.038 --> 00:13:22.227 detect a planet or an object as small as Pluto around another star, Are we going to call 00:13:22.227 --> 00:13:28.548 it an exoplanet or an exo-dwarf planet? We don't know yet. We haven't quite gotten there. What 00:13:28.548 --> 00:13:38.671 makes an exoplanet an exoplanet? So an exoplanet is a planet around any star except our sun. 00:13:39.431 --> 00:13:44.743 Any of the stars you see in the sky at night, if there's a planet around those stars, that's 00:13:44.743 --> 00:13:51.131 an exoplanet. From how far have we been able to find exoplanets? I will tell you that 00:13:51.131 --> 00:14:00.039 some astronomers think that we have already detected exoplanets in another galaxy. So that 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:08.005 is pretty far, but those planets, we're not all sure that we've really seen that. 00:14:08.005 --> 00:14:13.830 Sometimes you think you see a planet and it turns out it was just noise and you didn't 00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:22.885 see one. Otherwise in our own galaxy, well-- So if we are about-- the Earth is between the 00:14:22.885 --> 00:14:29.309 middle of the galaxy and kind of the edge of the galaxy where the spiral arms are, 00:14:29.309 --> 00:14:36.744 we've seen planets or have detected planets to basically like half that distance, so close 00:14:36.744 --> 00:14:45.879 to the middle of the galaxy, pretty far away. How do you detect exoplanets? Oh my gosh, 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:50.691 how much time do we have? Well, so there's a number of different methods, but I'm going 00:14:50.691 --> 00:14:56.063 to tell you about the one that I like the best. Planets move around their own stars, just like 00:14:56.063 --> 00:15:05.848 we move around sun. um And if we're looking at a planet and star system, just from 00:15:05.848 --> 00:15:11.130 the right direction, we can actually measure when the planet passes in front of the star. 00:15:11.552 --> 00:15:18.005 And what that does is that it makes the star a little bit dimmer. So if you imagine you're 00:15:18.005 --> 00:15:24.049 out at night and you're looking at a street light and a big fly or a big moss passes 00:15:24.049 --> 00:15:28.931 in front of the street light, you might not see the fly because it's really fast and it's 00:15:28.931 --> 00:15:35.065 dark out, but you might see that the light is dimming a little bit. So basically that's 00:15:35.065 --> 00:15:42.224 how we're finding exoplanets as well. We're noticing that the star is dimming. just a tiny 00:15:42.224 --> 00:15:48.698 bit because this planet has gone swoosh kind of in front of it. And from that measurement, 00:15:48.698 --> 00:15:56.803 we can tell the size of the planet. It's kind of crazy. What is the bare minimum to have 00:15:56.803 --> 00:16:02.997 a planet be a planet? Maybe are you referring to Pluto losing its planet status? Well, it 00:16:02.997 --> 00:16:07.640 was a planet, but when the state said it is not a planet anymore, and that is that. 00:16:08.034 --> 00:16:13.429 So let me start by saying that Pluto is an amazing object. It doesn't really matter what we call 00:16:13.429 --> 00:16:21.656 it. The reason, it's really just about words. And calling an object a dwarf planet, which 00:16:21.656 --> 00:16:30.434 is what Pluto is now, is not a downgrade at all. It's really just words, honestly. 00:16:30.434 --> 00:16:36.174 To me, Pluto is as interesting as any of the other planets in the solar system. What's 00:16:36.174 --> 00:16:43.757 the most interesting exoplanet you found? There are so many. Well, so I will tell you that 00:16:43.757 --> 00:16:51.321 when we started looking for planets ever since then, we've been finding a lot of planets. 00:16:51.341 --> 00:16:58.324 So basically a lot of exoplanets around other stars, right, that are much closer to their 00:16:58.324 --> 00:17:06.258 star than even Mercury is to our sun. Was that surprising? Oh yeah, that was super surprising 00:17:06.258 --> 00:17:10.518 because you know, we have eight planets in the solar system and a whole bunch of smaller, 00:17:10.518 --> 00:17:19.198 you know, dwarf planets and they're all quite far from the sun by those standards. And then 00:17:19.198 --> 00:17:25.058 a lot of the exoplanets that we are finding are actually closer to their star than even 00:17:25.058 --> 00:17:30.998 Mercury is. So they're really, really hot because they're orbiting really, really close. So one 00:17:30.998 --> 00:17:38.462 year on. One of the most interesting exoplanets like that --is what like, okay, so-- it's not 00:17:38.462 --> 00:17:47.398 365 days. It's only 17 hours long. So one year, 17 hours long. I don't think that's quite 00:17:47.398 --> 00:17:53.012 the record, but it's pretty close. So that planet is really hot. It's probably just made 00:17:53.012 --> 00:17:59.797 of lava all over. It's probably like a molten planet. The surface is evaporating. You probably 00:17:59.797 --> 00:18:05.770 can't live on it, but what is it doing there and how did it get there and that kind of 00:18:05.770 --> 00:18:11.373 stuff. I'm really almost just as interested in those questions as I am in finding life 00:18:11.373 --> 00:18:18.357 on other planets. We're talking with Dr. Diana Dragomir. She is an exoplanetologist and professor 00:18:18.357 --> 00:18:24.741 of astronomy and physics at the University of New Mexico. And let's talk about life on other 00:18:24.741 --> 00:18:34.784 planets after this. You're listening to The Children's Hour. Look into the sky Peering 00:18:34.784 --> 00:18:45.623 deep in outer space while things are flying I asteroids, meteors, comets and stars Planets 00:18:45.623 --> 00:18:57.287 and moons, red craters on Mars Springs of Saturn, Milky Ways, Bora Borealis and Solar Pays 00:18:57.287 --> 00:19:05.739 I wanna go up there, but I'm down here High above into the stratosphere. Up there like an 00:19:05.739 --> 00:19:16.823 astronaut, but I'm a kid here Hey, come dream with me I see black holes in suns, stars 00:19:16.823 --> 00:19:26.017 and gases, light years away in molecular masses, sunspots, eclipses, satellites, moons in 00:19:26.017 --> 00:19:38.652 the day, and suns at night. Duck, it's me, you shout. Hey, duck, here comes an asteroid. 00:19:38.652 --> 00:19:55.916 Duck, here comes space debris. Duck. It's towards me Yeah, but I'm down here stratosphere 00:19:55.916 --> 00:20:03.346 up there like an astronaut but I'm a kid here hey come dream with me. 00:20:07.096 --> 00:20:11.871 Thats Steve Pullara And His Cool Beans Band. You're listening to The Children's Hour where 00:20:11.871 --> 00:20:17.067 we're learning about exoplanets. You can find a learning guide and activities that go with 00:20:17.067 --> 00:20:24.265 this episode at ChildrensHour.org. You're listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public 00:20:24.265 --> 00:20:30.166 Radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is a production of The Children's Hour, 00:20:30.166 --> 00:20:37.059 Incorperated. We're a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization supported by listeners just like you. You 00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:42.151 can learn more about us at childrenshour.org. The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs 00:20:42.151 --> 00:20:46.733 supports The Children's Hour. Experience the magic of New Mexico's many cultural traditions 00:20:46.733 --> 00:20:53.004 at museums and historic sites statewide. More at nmculture.org slash traditions. Keep up 00:20:53.004 --> 00:20:57.941 with all the news of The Children's Hour by signing up for our monthly newsletter at ChildrensHour.org. 00:21:40.886 --> 00:21:41.554 Sail the 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:53.491 near and. 00:22:10.424 --> 00:22:11.445 The year has become. 00:22:19.618 --> 00:22:24.646 Into space walking soon. Floating along, singing this song 00:22:36.654 --> 00:22:37.618 It's near and far. 00:22:42.030 --> 00:22:43.058 Shatter. 00:23:29.422 --> 00:23:34.624 The Planets Song is the BeatBuds right here on The Children's Hour. We're thinking and talking 00:23:34.624 --> 00:23:41.636 about exoplanets today with Dr. Diana Dragomir. She's an exoplanetologist at the University 00:23:41.636 --> 00:23:46.508 of New Mexico in the Department of Astronomy and Physics. You can find a learning guide 00:23:46.508 --> 00:23:53.890 for this episode at childrenshour.org. Look for Exoplanets. Dr. Dragomir, before the break. 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:58.782 You were just talking about the most exciting exoplanet you found, and you're saying it's 00:23:58.782 --> 00:24:05.385 really, really close to the star compared to our planets, even closer than Mercury. And 00:24:05.385 --> 00:24:11.708 then you were talking about how this must be a very hot planet. But how can you possibly 00:24:11.708 --> 00:24:19.902 tell the temperature from here? It's just simple math. OK, moderately simple math. So. If 00:24:19.902 --> 00:24:26.066 we know how hot the star is and we know how close the planet is which we know from its 00:24:26.066 --> 00:24:32.849 orbit So how often do we see a dimming of the star which we call a transit when the planet 00:24:32.849 --> 00:24:39.393 passes in front of it? So we calculate the time between two dimmings and that must be 00:24:39.393 --> 00:24:45.216 the year of that planet So now we know the year and we know how close it is to the 00:24:45.216 --> 00:24:50.510 star and how bright the star is and we just calculate the temperature that way. Is Earth 00:24:50.510 --> 00:24:58.073 an exoplanet? No. Earth is a planet because it's orbiting the Sun rather than another star. 00:24:58.434 --> 00:25:04.246 Where does the word exoplanet come from? It comes from the word planet because these objects 00:25:04.246 --> 00:25:10.429 are like the planets in the solar system. They're round and smaller than a star. So that's why 00:25:10.429 --> 00:25:18.022 we call it planet. And the word exo means outside. So because these planets are outside the solar 00:25:18.022 --> 00:25:25.689 system, We call them exo for outside planets. Is there another planet that is out of our 00:25:25.789 --> 00:25:32.642 solar system that we can live on? Yeah, that's a good question. And in some ways, that's 00:25:32.642 --> 00:25:39.485 what a lot of people who study exoplanets are trying to find out. So it's a good question 00:25:39.485 --> 00:25:46.778 because the answer is we don't know yet. We're trying to find planets like the Earth, 00:25:46.838 --> 00:25:53.704 but part of the problem is that it's difficult to know if a planet is exactly like the Earth 00:25:53.704 --> 00:25:59.708 because we don't actually get pictures or photos of the planets. We get other kinds of information 00:25:59.708 --> 00:26:04.101 and we have to kind of, it's like a puzzle. We have to figure out from that information 00:26:04.101 --> 00:26:09.505 if the planet is the same size as the Earth, the same temperature as the Earth. Does it 00:26:09.505 --> 00:26:16.370 have an atmosphere? So it's kind of an indirect way of doing it. And so the question is, 00:26:16.430 --> 00:26:22.772 If we check enough of those answers, yes, can we say, okay, this planet we can live on? 00:26:23.212 --> 00:26:28.663 The problem is that it's really difficult to answer some of those questions. So we're getting 00:26:28.663 --> 00:26:35.975 there, but the answer is we don't know yet. So you know how when you find a planet 00:26:35.975 --> 00:26:42.997 and if you find any life on it, would you consider that still as an exoplanet? Yes, because 00:26:42.997 --> 00:26:48.203 it would still be a planet around another star. other than around a star other than our sun. 00:26:48.704 --> 00:26:55.628 So all the planets in the solar system are planets and then any planet that is orbiting, moving 00:26:55.628 --> 00:27:01.312 around any of the other stars in the sky is an exoplanet. Whether or not it has life on 00:27:01.312 --> 00:27:11.618 it. Is there any aliens on the exoplanets? That's a great question. We don't know yet. 00:27:11.618 --> 00:27:22.595 The way to find that out right now is to see if the atmospheres on those exoplanets look 00:27:22.595 --> 00:27:28.107 like the atmosphere on Earth. So that's the next step. That's what we're looking for now. 00:27:28.107 --> 00:27:35.921 And if we find something that has an atmosphere like Earth, then we can start thinking about 00:27:35.921 --> 00:27:40.886 maybe there's aliens there. But we haven't gone there yet because it's really difficult 00:27:40.886 --> 00:27:47.266 to see the atmospheres on exoplanets. What do you plan to do after you find an exoplanet 00:27:47.266 --> 00:27:53.666 that's like Earth and suitable for life? What do you plan to do? Me personally. Or like people 00:27:53.666 --> 00:28:00.306 who study exoplanets or like to move into the planet or something. I don't think we can move 00:28:00.306 --> 00:28:08.379 there. It's really too far away. It would take hundreds or thousands of years. more like thousands 00:28:08.379 --> 00:28:17.055 of years to get to even the closest planet to us. So what I will do is say yay and keep 00:28:17.055 --> 00:28:23.408 looking, see if other planets also have life. Because then we would know that life is not 00:28:23.408 --> 00:28:29.563 unique to Earth and you can have life happen on other planets as well, maybe even in different 00:28:29.563 --> 00:28:34.827 conditions, maybe without oxygen or maybe in hotter or colder conditions. So to me, that's 00:28:34.827 --> 00:28:39.873 really what's the most interesting part. I wish I could go to an exoplanet, but for now 00:28:39.873 --> 00:28:46.366 I'd rather just take care of the one we have. Would you try to contact life on that planet? 00:28:46.826 --> 00:28:54.540 If there is an intelligent life species, would you try sending a radio transmission? So first-- 00:28:54.540 --> 00:28:59.031 yeah, so that's-- I'm glad you asked the question that way because first we need to figure out 00:28:59.031 --> 00:29:07.487 whether the life that we're detecting is just like microbes. or whether it is actually intelligent 00:29:07.487 --> 00:29:14.480 advanced life like humans on earth. I guess we would probably send a signal either way 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:20.292 because you never know. Maybe microbes can be really intelligent too on another planet. So 00:29:20.292 --> 00:29:26.245 yeah, we would send a signal but probably by the time they even get it, we would no longer 00:29:26.245 --> 00:29:32.231 be around. And so it would have to be the next generation that waits for the response. So 00:29:32.231 --> 00:29:39.501 it be a pretty slow. you know, exchange, like really, really long email exchange. But I 00:29:39.501 --> 00:29:45.725 do think that that's a way to do it. What's the most recent exoplanet that you've seen and 00:29:45.725 --> 00:29:52.439 also what's the most closest one? The closest exoplanet to us is the planet around a star 00:29:52.439 --> 00:30:00.964 called Proxima Centauri C, which is pretty much the closest or second closest star to 00:30:00.964 --> 00:30:06.950 us. So if we were going to go anywhere, that's where we would go. So Proxima Centauri is the 00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:12.152 star. And then we name the planet with a little letter after the name of the star. So they 00:30:12.152 --> 00:30:17.735 don't get their own names. They just get a little letter. And then the first question, the latest 00:30:17.735 --> 00:30:24.218 exoplanet. Well, we're discovering exoplanets almost every day. But recently, there was 00:30:24.218 --> 00:30:30.090 a really cool one. And I don't remember its name because it's always like a number. 00:30:30.090 --> 00:30:36.015 But it was really cool because this time, remember how I said we don't really get photos of exoplanets? 00:30:36.436 --> 00:30:42.942 In some very special cases, we can actually photograph like the star and the planets 00:30:42.942 --> 00:30:50.468 orbiting it. So in this case, astronomers took a photo of the star and two planets orbiting 00:30:50.468 --> 00:30:55.963 that star and those two planets and well, that whole system is special because that star is 00:30:55.963 --> 00:31:02.511 very similar to our sun. So if those planets are, they're pretty big, but they might be 00:31:02.511 --> 00:31:08.326 similar to Jupiter and Saturn in the solar system, just because the stars is like the sun. 00:31:08.326 --> 00:31:13.010 So, I thought that that was pretty cool and kind of a big step forward for us. We're talking 00:31:13.010 --> 00:31:18.865 with Dr. Diana Dragomir. She's an exoplanetologist at the University of New Mexico. And we still 00:31:18.865 --> 00:31:23.498 have a few more questions for her, including how can we all jump on board and help in the 00:31:23.498 --> 00:31:29.929 discovery of exoplanets? But first, this is Stevie Q right here on The Children's Hour. 00:31:36.046 --> 00:31:45.226 The sun is a star, shinier than a new car And the planets orbit round it, just like they 00:31:45.226 --> 00:31:53.926 had found it It's a gravitational thing, like a yo-yo on a string And all the planets say 00:31:53.926 --> 00:31:54.286 they. 00:32:06.476 --> 00:32:14.845 Mercury's number one, closest to the sun. Venus is number two, the hottest planet I 00:32:14.885 --> 00:32:15.276 ever. 00:32:22.318 --> 00:32:24.946 This is known before the red planet. 00:32:42.104 --> 00:32:49.789 Number seven, that's gotta be close to heaven. Neptune's number eight, with a dark spot 00:32:49.789 --> 00:32:58.385 that's really great. Pluto's number nine, the last one in the line. And all the planets 00:32:58.385 --> 00:32:59.506 sing. 00:33:16.558 --> 00:33:24.609 The sun goes up and down and the earth spins round and round. These are a few of the things 00:33:24.609 --> 00:33:25.440 that... 00:33:28.718 --> 00:33:35.325 We're talking with Dr. Diana Dragomir, an exoplanetologist from the University of New Mexico. Find our 00:33:35.325 --> 00:33:41.951 learning guide for this episode at ChildrensHour.org. Look for exoplanets. Since light can only move 00:33:41.951 --> 00:33:48.298 so fast, how do we know if an exoplanet is still there when we discover it? That's a great question. 00:33:48.298 --> 00:33:56.070 We can actually do some calculations. Most exoplanets are there a long time, just like 00:33:56.070 --> 00:34:01.632 planets around the sun, you know, will be around for another like four or five billion years. 00:34:01.632 --> 00:34:07.865 So similarly, most exoplanets will also be around their stars for four to five billion years 00:34:08.006 --> 00:34:13.608 or longer even. But some planets, some of those planets that are really close-- or exoplanets, 00:34:13.608 --> 00:34:20.343 right,-- really close to their star, we think that in some cases they will actually spin 00:34:20.343 --> 00:34:27.377 into the star and eventually fall in. And we can calculate that. And we haven't yet found 00:34:27.377 --> 00:34:33.711 any planet that fell in that basically like it was there and then when we looked again 00:34:33.711 --> 00:34:39.428 it wasn't there anymore. But we think we found some that maybe in a thousand years or 10,000 00:34:39.428 --> 00:34:46.065 years from now, which is not that long in astronomy, might have fallen into their stars. So in 00:34:46.065 --> 00:34:51.350 10,000 years, if we look again, we may not see that planet there anymore. And usually 00:34:51.350 --> 00:34:55.483 we can predict those things. But yeah, most of them will be around for billions and billions 00:34:55.483 --> 00:35:01.087 of years. There's nothing to disturb them. How do you become an exoplanet expert and be able 00:35:01.087 --> 00:35:08.023 to learn about and find the exoplanet? To become an exoplanetologist or an astronomer. And then 00:35:08.023 --> 00:35:11.986 by the time you become an astronomer, you might decide you want to study something else. 00:35:12.390 --> 00:35:20.608 You have to go to college and you have to then go do a PhD after the first four years of 00:35:20.608 --> 00:35:29.125 college. And then there's usually some training after that. And then after all of that, 00:35:29.125 --> 00:35:37.433 usually about, --let's see, about 15,-- 12 to 15 years after you start college, you will 00:35:37.433 --> 00:35:44.070 probably become a professor. But the fun thing is that during all of that time, okay, the 00:35:44.070 --> 00:35:50.270 12 to 15 years, you can actually study exoplanets during all of that time. And once you become 00:35:50.270 --> 00:35:55.170 a professor, you actually spend less time studying them because you now have to teach. So the 00:35:55.170 --> 00:36:02.050 fun part is really going to college and the training part. How many exoplanetologists are 00:36:02.050 --> 00:36:09.362 there? Probably like 2000, something like that. A lot. There's definitely room for more. I 00:36:09.362 --> 00:36:15.907 had heard somewhere that exoplanetologists like yourself like to have help from just regular 00:36:15.907 --> 00:36:22.571 old people like us to look at these many, many photographs of the universe and try to find 00:36:22.571 --> 00:36:29.046 exoplanets. Is that true? Do you actually invite public participation? Yeah, I'm glad you asked 00:36:29.046 --> 00:36:37.482 that because just today I was responding to an email from um someone who works at Boeing. 00:36:37.482 --> 00:36:44.225 So, you know, designing airplanes, but for fun, he's helping us go through all of those 00:36:44.225 --> 00:36:50.240 images and finding exoplanets. And he just sent me one today that looks really interesting. 00:36:50.240 --> 00:36:57.446 And so, yeah, we don't have enough people to look at all of those stars, and so it'd 00:36:57.446 --> 00:37:02.850 be really nice to have extra help. Are kids allowed to help, too? I think so. I think there's 00:37:02.850 --> 00:37:09.139 some training to be done, but I don't see why not. That's so cool. Are you going to do it, 00:37:09.139 --> 00:37:15.784 Maya? I think I want my whole family to know. Well, you will have many more exoplanetologists 00:37:15.784 --> 00:37:21.449 thanks to kids hearing this and wanting to be part of this exciting research. Dr. Diana 00:37:21.449 --> 00:37:26.122 Dragomir, thank you so much for being with us on The Children's Hour. Thank you so much for 00:37:26.122 --> 00:37:28.114 having me on. It's been great. 00:37:33.294 --> 00:37:41.134 the universe is so marvelous it's startle us pardon my soliloquy though my name is Barnabas 00:37:41.134 --> 00:37:45.450 the scientist in charge of this world's search for alien life my telescopes pointed stars 00:37:45.450 --> 00:37:49.986 barely in sight. I write down how they flash cause maybe it might be a code we can grasp 00:37:49.986 --> 00:37:55.681 translating it right. My job is not a hassle Though my chance of success is low. Like a 00:37:55.681 --> 00:38:00.763 raffle. So you know I was baffled. When the elegant time capsule popped through a black 00:38:00.763 --> 00:38:06.505 hole. My heart's pumped mass of joy. As it dropped from the black void like an asteroid. Smiling 00:38:06.505 --> 00:38:13.618 so wide, losing my mind. First contact, what's that? There's music inside, huh? 00:38:30.147 --> 00:38:35.348 Yeah It took a day and a half to decode the strange math on a spacecraft. That's way fast. 00:38:35.368 --> 00:38:40.090 I got a great staff working hard. It's like payback for years spent searching stars. The 00:38:40.090 --> 00:38:44.202 message in the alien tongue was how to build a machine. In three days, it was done. I played 00:38:44.202 --> 00:38:49.135 the spun. The words called it a record player. It was the key to decoding the second lega. 00:38:49.175 --> 00:38:54.777 A message made a sound on a round disk. Interboundless depths of space, we found this gold record 00:38:54.777 --> 00:39:00.490 from an ancient civilization from an alien called Carl Sagan. We learned how the language works. 00:39:00.560 --> 00:39:05.297 It was music and words from a place called planet Earth We're skilled so great we couldn't 00:39:05.297 --> 00:39:09.714 match it Till we figured out the records better but you scratch it. 00:39:23.127 --> 00:39:23.486 Ya. 00:39:29.464 --> 00:39:30.290 Turn it up! 00:39:48.726 --> 00:39:53.426 You're listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. We'll right back. 00:39:57.496 --> 00:40:03.039 The Children's Hour is making weekly learning guides for every episode thanks to the support of 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:09.574 the Albuquerque Community Foundation. You can support this effort too. Go to childrenshour.org 00:40:09.574 --> 00:40:15.437 and click donate and find our learning guides under our podcast menu. Support for The Children's 00:40:15.437 --> 00:40:20.440 Hour provided by New Mexico Arts, a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs 00:40:20.560 --> 00:40:25.697 and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for The Children's Hour provided by 00:40:25.697 --> 00:40:33.046 the City of Albuquerque Cultural Services Department and the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund. The 00:40:33.046 --> 00:40:38.083 Children's Hour is an educational non-profit and you can donate your unwanted vehicle to 00:40:38.083 --> 00:40:42.098 The Children's Hour. Learn more at ChildrensHour.org. 00:40:45.438 --> 00:40:50.478 The Children's Hour shorts have dropped. We made short segments from our shows for educators 00:40:50.478 --> 00:40:54.818 to make the most out of our learning guides and activities. Season 1 of The Children's 00:40:54.818 --> 00:41:02.056 Hour shorts is at childrenshour.org. Look for the shorts! You're listening to The Children's 00:41:02.056 --> 00:41:10.706 Hour and today we're learning about exoplanets. This is The Nirks. 00:41:14.900 --> 00:41:22.672 Solar systems to explore and we should go different stars that have their own planets and their 00:41:22.672 --> 00:41:31.325 own solar systems would you like to go with me and see if we can meet some? the closest 00:41:31.325 --> 00:41:40.798 star to your Sun is Proxima Centauri. I'm an exoplanet that orbits it named Proxima Centauri 00:41:40.830 --> 00:41:50.409 b In a triple star system with stars Alpha Centauri A and B. I'm in a habitable zone Which means 00:41:50.409 --> 00:42:01.934 there could be life on 51 Pesos IV, also known as to medium. I was the first exoplanet found 00:42:01.934 --> 00:42:08.720 orbiting a star much like your son. I'm about half the mass of Jupiter, but with a larger 00:42:08.720 --> 00:42:17.185 diameter. My orbit takes only about four days because I'm very close to my star. Let's go 00:42:17.185 --> 00:42:26.119 meet an exoplanet. They orbit other stars. Some are very similar, some very different 00:42:26.119 --> 00:42:34.732 from ours. Strange and mystical worlds with wonders beyond imagination. Let's go find 00:42:34.732 --> 00:42:43.546 some exoplanets and see if we can meet them. 16 be also known unofficially as Cap Do-Mean. 00:42:43.546 --> 00:42:49.726 Like in Star Wars, a planet that orbits not one but two stars. My orbit is circumbinary. 00:42:49.726 --> 00:43:00.017 That means I travel around both stars instead of only one. see two sunsets on me when the 00:43:00.017 --> 00:43:10.295 day is done. My name is Methuselah, one of the oldest planets known yet. I'm about 12.7 billion 00:43:10.295 --> 00:43:17.181 years old, almost three times older than your planet. I have a circum-binary orbit around 00:43:17.181 --> 00:43:27.035 two burnt-out stars, a very old white dwarf star and a neutron star out star. The exoplanet 00:43:27.115 --> 00:43:38.366 J1407b. Also known as Super Saturn, but Saturn's got nothing on me. I have one of the largest 00:43:38.366 --> 00:43:45.993 North Ring systems found in the galaxy. About 200 times as large as Saturn's. I'm the new 00:43:45.993 --> 00:43:56.191 Lord of the Ring. Let's go meet an exoplanet, they orbit other stars. Some are very similar, 00:43:56.251 --> 00:44:04.496 some very different from ours. Strange and mystical worlds with wonders beyond imagination. 00:44:04.496 --> 00:44:13.791 Let's go find some exoplanets and see if we can meet them. An exotic exoplanet, I'm hat 00:44:13.791 --> 00:44:22.775 P7b. I have very different weather from yours, especially when it rains on me. Instead of 00:44:22.775 --> 00:44:29.785 raindrops you would see, showers of sapphires and rubies. I have clouds of corundum that 00:44:29.785 --> 00:44:37.385 could make those jewel scientists believe. I'm exoplanet wasp-twelve-me, and I'm a very 00:44:37.385 --> 00:44:43.749 strange sight to see. I'm all stretched out like a football, because my star is pulling 00:44:43.749 --> 00:44:50.926 on me. That's because I'm so close to my star, it takes just over one day to orbit. I'm one 00:44:50.926 --> 00:45:02.001 I eat up light, I absorb it. Let's go meet an exoplanet, they orbit other stars 00:45:02.001 --> 00:45:10.514 Some are very similar, some very different from ours. Strange and mystical worlds with wonders 00:45:10.514 --> 00:45:21.917 beyond imagination Let's go find some exoplanets and see if we can meet them T-O-I-700-D and 00:45:21.917 --> 00:45:29.418 I'm an exciting discovery! I'm in the habitable zone of my star, which means there could be 00:45:29.418 --> 00:45:30.610 life on me! 00:45:35.028 --> 00:45:42.784 similar they say I could have oceans and land and friends for you to meet someday when my 00:45:42.784 --> 00:45:50.461 star expanded to a red giant it almost vaporized me a sub dwarf star now I'm much closer to 00:45:50.461 --> 00:45:56.576 my star than other planets would dare to be I'm super fast a less than six hour orbit 00:45:56.576 --> 00:46:04.160 I'm so close that it's fun hotter than HAT and Kepler-70b and I'm hotter than your sun. 00:46:04.160 --> 00:46:12.764 My name is Trappist the Star, I have seven planets of my own. All unique and special, 00:46:12.764 --> 00:46:21.627 including three in the habitable zone. Their current names are Trappist, B-C-D-E-F-G-H. 00:46:21.627 --> 00:46:28.536 Together we have one of the most exciting solar systems discovered to this day. Nelly. You've 00:46:28.536 --> 00:46:37.491 met some exoplanets, they orbit other stars In their very own solar systems far outside 00:46:37.491 --> 00:46:47.196 of ours. Strange and mystical worlds with wonders beyond imagination. Keep looking at the stars 00:46:47.196 --> 00:47:01.502 and maybe you'll discover one you. That was The Nirks from their musical released in 2020 00:47:01.502 --> 00:47:11.018 called Meet the Exoplanets. And before the break, you heard Secret Agent 23 Skidoo. 00:47:14.114 --> 00:47:19.386 You're listening to The Children's Hour. I'm Katie Stone. We're learning about exoplanets 00:47:19.386 --> 00:47:27.360 today on the show. These are planets that orbit stars outside our own solar system. It's 00:47:27.360 --> 00:47:33.913 only very recently in astronomy that exoplanets have even been able to be detected, with the 00:47:33.913 --> 00:47:40.086 first being spotted in the early 1990s by a team of scientists using images from the Hubble 00:47:40.086 --> 00:47:46.422 telescope. which orbits around the Earth above the distortion of our atmosphere. Since then, 00:47:46.682 --> 00:47:52.102 thanks to having telescopes on spaceships and other satellites that allow us to see clearly, 00:47:52.822 --> 00:48:03.022 scientists have discovered nearly 6,300 confirmed exoplanets. But very recently, a group of scientists 00:48:03.022 --> 00:48:10.735 think that they have discovered more than 10,000 new exoplanets. These astronomers are using 00:48:10.735 --> 00:48:18.462 the images captured by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, also called TESS, which 00:48:18.462 --> 00:48:25.729 is orbiting the Earth and operates four cameras. As our guest Dr. Diana Dragomir explained, 00:48:25.729 --> 00:48:32.365 exoplanets are discovered by using photos of space over time. These photos will see when 00:48:32.365 --> 00:48:38.722 a transit of a planet is happening across the face of its star. A transit is when the planet 00:48:38.722 --> 00:48:45.456 passes between the star and our view of the star, so scientists will see the star slightly 00:48:45.456 --> 00:48:48.202 obscured by the planet on its orbit around it. 00:48:52.290 --> 00:49:00.296 NASA estimates that there are at least 100 billion planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. And 00:49:00.376 --> 00:49:08.381 of those, they suspect over 300 million of them could be habitable by humans. That means 00:49:08.461 --> 00:49:14.786 we might be able to live on them. Even still, we need to take care of this planet that we 00:49:14.786 --> 00:49:21.378 live on today. You can find out a lot about exoplanets and how you can join the hunt. by 00:49:21.378 --> 00:49:29.021 going to ChildrensHour.org and find the Exoplanet episode. There we've posted lots of links, 00:49:29.021 --> 00:49:35.863 including one to NASA's exoplanet site. It may not be realistic to go visit an exoplanet, 00:49:35.863 --> 00:49:42.496 but it is realistic to find one. Maybe you'll join the search and find one yourself. 00:49:46.040 --> 00:49:50.735 The learning guide and activities for this episode as well as links to NASA's exoplanet site are 00:49:50.735 --> 00:49:54.178 at childrenshour.org. Just look for exoplanets. 00:49:57.484 --> 00:50:00.897 This is Charity and the JAMband, right here on The Children's Hour. 00:51:12.492 --> 00:51:12.840 I'm 00:51:20.142 --> 00:51:21.654 Stardust we. 00:51:31.822 --> 00:51:36.517 Congratulations, on just this moment. 00:51:52.494 --> 00:51:54.834 Singing love songs to the. 00:51:59.722 --> 00:52:09.144 We are shiny, we are huge, we are tiny, we are ancient, we are new. 00:52:15.576 --> 00:52:16.286 We are. 00:52:20.074 --> 00:52:23.794 We are. 00:52:27.820 --> 00:52:30.241 Stardust, we are gold. 00:53:58.178 --> 00:54:03.471 You've been listening to the Children's Hour show on exoplanets. You can find so much more 00:54:03.471 --> 00:54:10.585 information at childrenshour.org. Look for exoplanets. I'm Katie Stone and we just have time for one 00:54:10.585 --> 00:54:17.079 more. This is Michael Franti. We'll catch you next time. If I could see Earth from outer 00:54:17.079 --> 00:54:23.153 space, all of the stars, through the human race, through all of the people and the streets 00:54:23.153 --> 00:54:30.417 that I once knew. If I could see Earth from outer space. Through all of the stars to the 00:54:30.417 --> 00:54:36.434 human race. No matter where I go I still come back to you. 00:54:39.946 --> 00:54:42.194 So high, so high 00:54:48.782 --> 00:54:53.522 see people in the cities, in the villages and squares. Selling in the marketplaces, dancing 00:54:53.522 --> 00:54:58.562 everywhere. Would I see ladies in the beauty parlor doing hair? And teenage soldiers with 00:54:58.562 --> 00:55:03.022 their guns up in the air. Would I see a hit list of the species that are gone? Or would 00:55:03.022 --> 00:55:08.062 I be a witness to the world dropping bombs? Would I see the rainforests, Amazon down? Or 00:55:08.062 --> 00:55:13.602 would the whole world sing one song? If I could see Earth from outer space, through all of 00:55:13.602 --> 00:55:25.657 the stars, through the human race. We go from outer space, through all of the stars to the 00:55:25.690 --> 00:55:25.938 image. 00:55:34.200 --> 00:55:35.954 still come back to you 00:55:56.718 --> 00:55:57.330 I've been 00:56:17.646 --> 00:56:23.846 from outer space, through all of the stars to the human race, through all of the people and 00:56:23.846 --> 00:56:31.066 the streets that I once knew. If I could see Earth from outer space, through all of the 00:56:31.066 --> 00:56:36.926 stars to the human race, no matter where I go, I'll still come back to you. 00:56:39.950 --> 00:56:42.706 I still come back to you 00:57:07.256 --> 00:57:13.415 from outer space. Through all of the stars to the human race. Through all of the people and 00:57:13.415 --> 00:57:23.338 the streets that I once knew. from outer space, all of the stars to the human race. No matter 00:57:23.338 --> 00:57:26.658 where I go, I still come back to you. 00:57:58.776 --> 00:58:04.288 The Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico non-profit. 00:58:04.328 --> 00:58:10.991 You can find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at ChildrensHour.org. 00:58:10.991 --> 00:58:17.103 Today's episode was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with production help from 00:58:17.103 --> 00:58:23.276 Sarah Gabrielli, McKenzie Graunke, and Thaniel Lentz. Our learning guides are written by 00:58:23.276 --> 00:58:33.276 Amber Scheele. You can find this one at ChildrensHour.org. Look for Exoplanets 00:58:33.300 --> 00:58:36.300 Find our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or go to our patreon.com slash The Children's Hour. 00:58:36.324 --> 00:58:41.324 Or ask your smart speaker to play The Children's Hour podcast. 00:58:41.348 --> 00:58:44.348 Our theme music was written by C.K. Barlow. 00:58:44.372 --> 00:58:50.372 The Children's Hour is distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio network. 00:58:50.396 --> 00:58:57.396 Thanks for listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. © 2026 The Children’s Hour Inc. All Rights Reserved.