The video discusses the concept of Yin and Yang, a traditional symbol in Chinese philosophy, which represents opposites in harmony. The video also delves into the history of the Yin Yang symbol, stating that its first use was as a shield pattern by the ancient Romans, seven hundred years before its first known use in China. A connection between the two has yet to be found.
The video then explores the concept of brightness in the universe, discussing apparent magnitude, which refers to how bright an object appears to us from Earth, and absolute magnitude, which is a measure of how bright an object is if we were to look at it from the same distance across the universe. The video explains that absolute magnitude is a more accurate measure of brightness.
The video then discusses the most brilliant object in the universe, stating that supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts are the brightest electromagnetic events known. The video mentions a potential future gamma-ray burst, WR104, which could cause a significant amount of harm if it were to strike Earth.
The video also discusses black holes, stating that they are the darkest things in the universe but are not truly dark because they interact with light. The video explains that the intense energies created by black holes in the process of eating stars are anything but dark and can result in a quasar, which shines thousands of times more brightly than even the brightest stars.
The video concludes by discussing the potential for quasars to be born, stating that the Andromeda Galaxy is headed towards our galaxy, the Milky Way, in 3 to 5 billion years and could potentially cause a quasar to be born in our galactic backyard. The video also highlights the paradox that the brightest things in the universe, quasars, are caused by the darkest things in the universe - black holes.
1. The Yin Yang symbol, also known as a taijitu, is a diagram of the supreme ultimate, representing the principle of Yin and yang, opposites existing in harmony. This principle is associated with ancient Chinese philosophy.
2. The Yin Yang symbol has been used for over seven hundred years by the ancient Romans before its first known use in China.
3. The brightest object in the universe is determined by its apparent magnitude, which refers to how bright an object appears to us from Earth.
4. Appearing magnitude depends on Earth-centric factors like the object's proximity to our planet. Magnitudes are logarithmic and a smaller number means greater brightness.
5. The brightness of an object is measured by its absolute magnitude, which is a measure of how bright things would be if we looked at them from the same distance.
6. A 100-watt light bulb placed closer than 8 centimeters from your eye would appear brighter than the Sun in the sky.
7. If you could see the Sun and the bulb from the same distance, the Sun would be a septillion times brighter.
8. The Sun shines punily compared to the rest of the cosmos.
9. The most massive star ever found, R136a1, is 256 times more massive than our Sun. It is also the brightest.
10. Absolute magnitudes are lower for brighter objects. R136a1 has an absolute magnitude of -12.6, which means it is 8.7 million times brighter than our Sun.
11. When a giant star dies, it explodes violently in what is known as a supernova or hypernova. These events can eject terrifying flashes of radiation known as gamma ray bursts.
12. A typical gamma-ray burst releases as much energy in a few seconds as our Sun will release altogether in its entire 10 billion year lifetime.
13. If WR104, a gamma-ray burst future candidate, directly struck Earth with such a beam for only 10 seconds, it could deplete 25% of our ozone layer and lead to mass extinction and starvation.
14. The largest thermonuclear bomb ever detonated didn't do anything close to that and it was exploded right here, in our atmosphere.
15. Black holes, however, do interact with light; reflecting so little that they don't let any escape, at least not in a form resembling the way it came in.
16. The intense energies created by black holes in the process of eating things like stars are anything but dark. Gas and debris from the stars they eat swirl into a cosmic gallows known as accretion discs.
17. In the disc, debris spins at unfathomable speeds, pulled around by a black hole billions of times more massive than our Sun.
18. The disk does glow brightly, so brightly it has its own name. A quasar.
19. Quasars shine thousands of times more brightly than even the brightest stars.
20. The first identified quasar, 3C 273, has an absolute magnitude of -26.7, making it four trillion times brighter than our Sun.
21. Quasars exist in the centers of galaxies that are larger than them in area, but are, nonetheless, drowned out by their light.
22. Active galactic nuclei are the bulk of their energy spewing forth in the form of a powerful radiation jet.
23. Quasars are some of the most ancient things in our universe. If you could teleport instantaneously to one right now faster than light, it would most likely no longer be burning.
24. Quasars can still be born. They can even be born right here, in fact.
25. In 3 to 5 billion years, the Andromeda Galaxy is headed our way. In 3 to 5 billion years it will collide with our own galaxy, the Milky Way. And the collision could reignite a quasar right here, in our galactic backyard.
26. Artist Thierry Cohen mocked up what big cities would look like if all their lights were off and the sky above them could be seen fully.
27. At night, artificial lights allow us to see what's around us but we lose what's above us. The brightest places have the dark