Things You Thought You Knew - The Ancient Planets

Summary

StarTalk Radio - Episode Summary: "Things You Thought You Knew - The Ancient Planets"

Podcast Information:

• Title: StarTalk Radio
• Host: Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Co-Host: Chuck Nice
• Episode: Things You Thought You Knew - The Ancient Planets
• Release Date: November 12, 2024
• Description: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his co-host Chuck Nice delve into the fascinating world of astronomy, blending science with pop culture to unpack the mysteries of the universe.

---

1. The Sun’s Diameter and Photosphere Explained

Timestamps: 01:14 – 09:24

Discussion Highlights:

• Understanding the Sun and Earth’s Dimensions:

  • Neil deGrasse Tyson begins by contrasting the diameters of the Earth and the Sun. "The diameter of the Earth is about 8,000 miles" (01:57), while the Sun's diameter is approximately 800,000 miles (09:13).
  • Chuck Nice humorously remarks on the simplicity of these facts, setting a lighthearted tone for the discussion.

• The Photosphere and Plasma Edges:

  • The conversation delves into the Sun's photosphere—the visible “surface” where photons escape into space. Neil explains, "The photosphere is a layer of the sun's atmosphere, which is the last point of contact with the photon trying to get out of the sun" (05:14).
  • Chuck questions how a gaseous body like the Sun can have a sharp edge, leading Neil to clarify the nature of plasma and atmospheric layers.

• Visual Perception vs. Physical Reality:

  • Neil emphasizes our "visible light bias," noting that the Sun's diameter appears different when observed in various wavelengths, such as X-rays. "If you look at the sun in X-rays... you see a different diameter" (06:03).

Notable Quotes:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "When you look up a numerical answer to a question... depending on what it's answering, the question might not have an actual answer. We just have to sort of set the rule." (03:36)
• Chuck Nice: "That's, you know, you need the high frequency, right?" (03:38)

---

2. The Intricacies of Leap Days and Calendar Systems

Timestamps: 14:34 – 25:24

Discussion Highlights:

• Why We Have Leap Days:

  • Neil introduces the topic of leap days, questioning the arbitrary nature of February 29th. "People seem to be mystified by it... it seems very arbitrary" (15:01).
  • The co-hosts explore Earth's rotation and revolution, explaining that a solar year is approximately 365 days and 6 hours (16:00). This discrepancy necessitates the addition of a leap day every four years.

• Historical Evolution of Calendars:

  • The conversation traces the development from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Neil explains how Pope Gregory XIII corrected the Julian calendar's drift by eliminating 10 days in October 1582 to realign the vernal equinox to March 21st (22:28).
  • Chuck humorously imagines the chaos of suddenly missing days: "October Dominus is Spitter 2. Half the month is gone" (23:09).

• Complexities in Modern Calendar Adjustments:

  • They discuss the further refinement of leap year rules, such as skipping leap days on century years not divisible by 400. "The leap day is a century year divisible by 400, right? No, no, rare. That leap day is." (24:33).

Notable Quotes:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "So if we're about 8,000 miles across, right. If you look up the diameter of the sun, it'll give you something like 864,000 miles." (09:13)
• Chuck Nice: "We were the Wanderer all along." (36:15)

---

3. The Origins of the Days of the Week and Their Planetary Connections

Timestamps: 28:39 – 37:27

Discussion Highlights:

• Ancient Planetary Names:

  • Neil and Chuck embark on an exploration of how the seven days of the week are named after the seven ancient planets. They note that "each day of the week is named for one of those seven planets" (30:52).

• Norse and Roman Influences:

  • The hosts connect each day to its corresponding celestial body and mythological figure:
    • Sunday: Named after the Sun. "Sunday is named after Sunday. The sun." (30:52)
    • Monday: Named after the Moon. "Guess what moon day was named after." (31:34)
    • Tuesday: Named after Mars (Tiw/Tuous in Norse mythology). "Tews will come kick your ass." (32:16)
    • Wednesday: Named after Mercury (Woden in Norse). "Wednesday is Wednesday." (32:09)
    • Thursday: Named after Jupiter (Thor in Norse). "Thor's day." (33:49)
    • Friday: Named after Venus (Frigga in Norse). "Frigga has less sort of poetry for that than I think. Venus." (34:58)
    • Saturday: Named after Saturn. "Saturday. Saturn." (31:27)

• Impact of Copernicus and Planetary Classification:

  • They discuss the shift in planet classification post-Copernicus, reducing the number from seven to five by excluding the Sun and Moon. "We went from seven to five, back up to six." (35:58)
  • Chuck humorously imagines additional planets being added, such as "Planet George" named after King George, highlighting the complexities and cultural influences on planetary naming (36:53).

Notable Quotes:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "That's, you know, you need the high frequency, right?" (03:38)
• Chuck Nice: "I'm thinking about that." (16:48)
• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "So the Seven planets. Correct." (35:51)

---

4. Reflections on Human Perception and Cosmic Scale

Timestamps: 25:24 – 37:27

Discussion Highlights:

• Birthday Celebrations and Orbital Mechanics:

  • Neil muses on the arbitrary nature of celebrating birthdays based on calendar dates rather than precise orbital positions. "Celebrate that moment every year" (25:56).

• Synchronization of Time Zones and Global Celebrations:

  • They touch upon the complexity of global time zones in celebrating events like the New Year. "There's nothing magical about them. We're not all celebrating the new year. Correct." (26:11).

• Cultural and Scientific Intersections:

  • The episode highlights how cultural practices, such as naming days after celestial bodies, are deeply intertwined with scientific understanding and historical contexts.

Notable Quotes:

• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "If you are born on a leap day... the real way to do birthdays is to know exactly where Earth is in its orbit." (25:24)
• Chuck Nice: "That leap day is a century year divisible by 400, right? No, no, rare. That leap day is." (24:33)

---

5. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Timestamps: 37:27 – 38:45

Discussion Highlights:

• Recap of Planetary History:

  • Neil summarizes the historical journey of how planets were perceived and classified, emphasizing the dynamic nature of astronomical science and human understanding.

• Closing Remarks:

  • The hosts reiterate the importance of continuous exploration and questioning of established knowledge. Neil concludes with, "There's a lot out there that needs explaining. All right. As always, keep looking up." (37:34).

Notable Quotes:

• Chuck Nice: "We haven't talked about planets in a long time. This is true, right?" (28:39)
• Neil deGrasse Tyson: "This has been StarTalk. Yet another explainer." (37:26)

---

Key Insights and Takeaways:

1. Scientific Precision vs. Human Perception: The episode underscores the difference between scientifically accurate measurements and human perceptions influenced by observational biases, such as visible light’s limitations.

2. Historical Evolution of Timekeeping: The discussion on leap days reveals the intricate balance between astronomical phenomena and human-made systems like calendars, highlighting the ongoing efforts to synchronize the two.

3. Cultural Influence on Astronomy: The naming of days after ancient planets demonstrates how mythology and culture have historically shaped our understanding and categorization of celestial bodies.

4. Dynamic Nature of Astronomy: The episode illustrates how astronomical classifications have evolved over time, particularly post-Copernicus, reflecting the dynamic and ever-progressing nature of the field.

5. Interconnection Between Science and Daily Life: From leap days to the names of the week, the conversation emphasizes that astronomy and scientific principles are deeply woven into the fabric of everyday human experiences.

---

Final Note: "Things You Thought You Knew - The Ancient Planets" delves into the intersections of astronomy, history, and culture, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of how ancient perceptions and modern science intertwine to shape our knowledge of the universe. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice deliver complex concepts with humor and clarity, making this episode both educational and entertaining.

Stay Curious and Keep Looking Up!

Transcript

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[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

This is Star a things you thought you knew edition. Of course. I got Chuck Nice with me. Chuck.

[Chuck Nice]

That's right. And I don't think I know anything. That's why I'm.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That makes you a perfect co host. That's it for this, for this excursion.

[Chuck Nice]

I'm happy to be here. All right, you're knowing a thing.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Let's get this party started. Welcome to startalk, your place in the universe where science and pop culture collide. StarTalk begins right now. Chuck out. Another explainer.

[Chuck Nice]

Awesome.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The diameter of the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay, this sounds boring.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The diameter of the earth is about 8,000 miles.

[Chuck Nice]

Thank you. And that's it. Did not know that. So I'm already good.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's about 8,000 miles.

[Chuck Nice]

About 8,000 miles.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. And from that you can know their circumference if you remembered PI. Okay. Where circumference equals PI times the diameter.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And how much is PI?

[Chuck Nice]

3.14 of something. Something.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Exactly. So a little over three.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So you multiply 8,000 miles times three and a little bit. You get at least 24,000 miles around and some change. It's about 25,000 mile circumference.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, fine. And I think we did on a separate explainer that the diameter of Earth pole to pole is less than the diameter of Earth in the equator at the equator. We talked about that. Earth is slightly flat.

[Chuck Nice]

Oblate spheroid.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's what an oblate spheroid is. You're flattened top to bottom.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The sun is also shorter top to bottom than across its equator.

[Chuck Nice]

Interesting.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Not by much, but it's measurable. Okay. So when someone asks what's the diameter of the sun. What answer are you going to give them? Are you going to give them pole to pole? You going to give them across the diameter? You going to take the average of those two? I just want you to appreciate that when you look up a numerical answer to a question, right. Depending on what it's answering, the question might not have an actual answer. We just have to sort of set the rule. The diameters are gonna be across the equator for everybody.

[Chuck Nice]

What's the diameter?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Oh, that's, you know, you need the high frequency, right?

[Chuck Nice]

You need, you know, that lets them know that it's not exact.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So. So now you say. All right, let's say we do equator. Now you look up at the sun with filters. Then you see this sharp edge. All right, the edge of the sun has an edge. Okay, but wait. Uh. Oh, the sun is made of what, plasma. Plasma is gas, Basically, yes. Okay. Plasma, gas. When's the last time you saw gas have a sharp edge to it?

[Chuck Nice]

That would be my uncle Darryl.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

When that smell moves across the room, it has sharp edge.

[Chuck Nice]

Sharp edge.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

You either in it or out, man.

[Chuck Nice]

You know, it's time to go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. The spherical ball, that is the sun, right? Oblate spheroid. That is the sun. We speak of an edge, but that's an edge made of gas.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

How do you even have that? That's my point.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's like Earth's atmosphere, right? Where's the edge of Earth's atmosphere? No, there is no edge. It's gas that becomes sort of thinner and thinner.

[Chuck Nice]

You know, you reached it when you're like.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So when we see the sharp edge of the sun. In practice, we were referring to what's called the photosphere. Ooh. The photosphere is a layer of the sun's atmosphere, which is the last point of contact with the photon trying to get out of the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. And now the photon can move at the speed of light in a straight line. Until that point, it was bouncing back and forth among other molecules and other atoms and other particles. By the way, had that photon been moving in straight lines, you'd be able to see deep inside the sun. Oh, that's what light moving in straight lines means, right?

[Chuck Nice]

Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Why is a window transparent to you? Because the light moved in a straight line through the window.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

But then I smoked the window. You know, what do you do when you frost the. I frost the window.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And now the light. I can't get through. I gotta jiggle a little bit. I'll still come through But I'm not in a straight line.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

You cannot see through the window.

[Chuck Nice]

No. Yeah. The window's lit up, but you can't see what's on the other side.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The lights come, but it's not a straight line.

[Chuck Nice]

It's not a straight line.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. All right. So the photon gets to this place, an edge where it can now escape for free. There's not enough above it to keep bouncing around.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That edge is the photosphere. And that is our definition of the edge of the sun. That's only using visible light.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, God.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

I knew there had to be a twist to this.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So we are visible light biased.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

I don't mind that. But don't declare that this be the diameter of the sun. If the diameter of the sun is simply what your own damn eyeball can see.

[Chuck Nice]

Right. Oh, my.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. So if you look at the sun in X rays. Okay. It has a different diameter.

[Chuck Nice]

Really?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

X ray photons are coming from a different place. Okay. A different surface. So we are biased. And I think we need the occasional reminder that we are eyeball biased. Diameter of the sun is where the visible light comes from. And specifically, yellow light, right in the middle of the spectrum. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. Right in the middle. Let me keep going.

[Chuck Nice]

Go ahead.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There's a layer of sun's atmosphere on top of that.

[Chuck Nice]

On top of this photosphere.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes. You know what that's called?

[Chuck Nice]

Mm. Mm.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The corona.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's part of the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

That's part of the sun.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Why is your diameter not including that?

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's part of the sun. The corona, depending on where the sun is in its cycle, could be really big or really small. So that changes on an 11 year cycle. But wait, the sun has a magnetic field that extends beyond the corona, right? That's called the magnetosphere. Shouldn't that be part of the diameter of the sun?

[Chuck Nice]

It's part of it.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's part of the Son.

[Chuck Nice]

It's part of it.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. All I'm saying is, if you seek the truth, my son, be aware that the truth has many faces. One face may deceive you into thinking that it is the face of the answer to that question. Let you not be blinded by how authentic its truth may seem, because others will be speaking their truth quietly and clearly. And you must listen to them as well.

[Chuck Nice]

Do I have to snatch a pebble from your hand now?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Go away. Snatch the pebble from my hand?

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly. Wow. You got some quick reflexes, man.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right, you can do it.

[Chuck Nice]

You do it. Oh, snap. You have some really, like, uncannily fast reflexes like there shouldn't be.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Whoa. You are not ready, my son. Come back another time. Okay. One last fun fact about the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. If we're about 8,000 miles across, right. If you look up the diameter of the sun, it'll give you something like 864,000 miles. Something like that.

[Chuck Nice]

Jesus.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. All right, so now let's round that down just so the numbers come out fun. So that call it 800,000 miles across.

[Chuck Nice]

100 times bigger.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's 100 times 100 times 100 times across.

[Chuck Nice]

Across.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So you can take Earth 100 and position it 100 times back to back, belly to belly, and you'll span the width of the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

Wow.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, 100 times. Now, by the way, that's about the size of sunspots. So the sun has blemishes larger than Earth. The Earth. Just so you know. All right, so now if it's a hundred times across, that means it's also a hundred times deep.

[Chuck Nice]

Deep. Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It would be 100 times top to bottom. So how many Earths could fit into a hollow sun? Four into the sun, four into the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

That's 100 times 100 times 100.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Give me what that number is.

[Chuck Nice]

A hundred cubed.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Thank you for that precise response. 100 times 100 is 10,000.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And 100 times 10,000 million. And then if that's it, I did it three times already. Okay, 3 million. So if the sun were hollow, you could pour a million Earths into it.

[Chuck Nice]

Wow.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And still have room left over.

[Chuck Nice]

Damn.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yep. Yet for millennia, people were walking around saying the sun and the moon were like the same thing on the sky and we are the center of the universe. If you read Genesis literally, the Earth was created before the sun and the moon. And when we came to these realizations over the millennia, over the centuries, it was like, no, we're not making Earth first and then assembling something a million times larger and have it orbit the Earth.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That ain't how the universe works.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah, it doesn't. Doesn't.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, we're not that special.

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[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

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[Chuck Nice]

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[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So, Chuck.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Did we ever have a conversation about leap days? I have a vague memory, but maybe it just slipped into other explainers.

[Chuck Nice]

I was going to say we've discussed it, but not specifically on its own terms. It's not like. Son, I'd like to talk to you about leap days. Oh, no. Come on.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The time has come. You're old enough.

[Chuck Nice]

You're old enough now to know about leap days.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

People seem to Be mystified by it.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The day just shows up in the calendar because.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And it seems very arbitrary. It seems does feel arbitrary. Like some High Council decided that February needed a day.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So it's very simple. So here's Earth tipped on its axis, spinning. So the time it takes Earth to spin once on its axis. What do we call that?

[Chuck Nice]

A day.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

A day. Are you sure?

[Chuck Nice]

Well, it should be.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Should be. Why not?

[Chuck Nice]

I mean, why not?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, that's a day.

[Chuck Nice]

That's a day.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. So now Earth also goes around the sun, Right. How long does that take?

[Chuck Nice]

That's about a year.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

About. It takes exactly a year.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Exactly a year.

[Chuck Nice]

All right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's the definition of a year.

[Chuck Nice]

Of a year.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

We made a trip around the sun.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There's no law in the heavens that requires the rotation of the Earth.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

To divide evenly into the time it takes, Earth goes around the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

That's true. Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

They're totally unrelated phenomena.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So we count days by rotation of the Earth.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

We count years by revolution around the sun. And it turns out a year lasts 365 of these things plus one fourth of a turn.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

A quarter turn, it's 365 days and six hours. Six is a fourth of 24 hours. Okay.

[OnDeck Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's how long it takes Earth to go around the sun. What are you gonna. It's too much.

[Chuck Nice]

That's too much.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So what are you gonna do with the six hours?

[Chuck Nice]

Right. It's too much.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. By the way, it's six hours this year and then the next year it's six hours added to the previous six hours.

[Chuck Nice]

You got 12 hours. You don't know what to do with it.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. So to half a day, are you going to celebrate the new year on a moving six hour platform?

[Chuck Nice]

I'm thinking about that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, no. It's interesting.

[Chuck Nice]

I'm kind of thinking about that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. You don't celebrate at midnight. You celebrate at six in the morning.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh no, forget it. Then again, that depends. That's a hell of a party. That's a hell of a party, man. You know what I mean?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So, so the first of those years you celebrate at 6:00am Next year, 12:00am this is on the 366th day. Right. And the next year would be like 6:00pm, right. All right. And then the next year back at midnight. Yeah. Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

I'm just saying that'd be kind of a. That'd be kind of cool.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It'd be kind of dope.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah, that would be kind of Dope. Just like. Yeah. What time is new year this year?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. In order to not have to do that.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Let's go back to ancient Rome in the Julian calendar, they figured this out, of course, and they said, let's pocket those six hours. Don't tell anybody.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. And we just celebrate the new year six hours early. But nobody knows.

[Chuck Nice]

But nobody knows.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's just a complete day. You do it at midnight, we're good to go.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. You pocket that.

[Chuck Nice]

There you go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Next year goes by.

[Chuck Nice]

Sounds so much like the Roman Senate.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So you've got the first year goes by, you pocket the six hours.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Second year goes by, pocket the six.

[Chuck Nice]

Hours, pocket another six.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Third pocket the six. We're up to six, 12, 18 hours.

[Chuck Nice]

The pockets are getting full.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The fourth year comes around, you don't pocket that because now you got a full 24 hours. You put the day back in the calendar.

[Chuck Nice]

Boom, there you go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There it is.

[Chuck Nice]

Look at that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The leap day.

[Chuck Nice]

Empty your pockets on that day.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Every four years, you throw in a leap day and you give it to the neediest month. Right, okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

I mean, why not?

[Chuck Nice]

Right? Which, of course, is Black History Month. That's the needy.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

I think in ancient Rome, it wasn't Black History Month yet.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, yeah, I'm sure it was.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It was Slave History Month.

[Chuck Nice]

Right, right. For all everybody. Because I don't care who you were in Rome, you was a slave. You know what I mean? Like, wait a minute, man. Is that a white slave over there? Hey, brother, this is Rome.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So there you have it. That is the fundamental origin of a leap day.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

But here's what happened, okay? It turns out it takes a little less than 365 days and 6 hours to go around the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, God.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's not an exact six hours, of course.

[Chuck Nice]

Well, it couldn't be right, because that would make too much sense.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's a right that would make.

[Chuck Nice]

That would be too easy.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That even. That would be technically evenly divisible by, like a whole number of hours.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's a little bit less. Romans didn't know this, Right? Of course they didn't know this.

[Chuck Nice]

Well, can you blame us? We're using sundials, sir. Oh, you and your fancy astrophysical atomic clocks.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

What happened then? Over the centuries, there were days accumulating that were not accounted for.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, they lost days.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, no, no. They would. Yeah, yeah. The days that should have been reckoned. Reckoned and were not.

[Chuck Nice]

And they were not.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay? So, all right, so the consequence of this is that Key moments in the calendar related to, like, the universe end up shifting. So the first day of spring, the vernal equinox, March 21st.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Over the centuries became March 20th, and then March 19th, and then March 18th, March 17th, March 16th, March 15th. And they were just living with it. Not figure what. What is happening in the spring, Guys, Spring is.

[Chuck Nice]

Spring is just sprung all over the place. We can't have spring sprung in February.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. It was marching its way early in the calendar, century by century.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. This was a concern. Why? Because the Julian calendar, with its rules for Easter. Easter. Because Christianity was now in charge. So Easter, the definition was Easter is the first Sunday right after the vernal equinox.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Pope Gregory, we're now in, like, the late 16th century. So 1580s Pope Gregory notices that Easter is moving with the equinox because it was defined by the equinox.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And there was a risk that Easter would land on Passover.

[Chuck Nice]

Ooh, we can't have that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Can't have that.

[Chuck Nice]

Well, you know, you can't have that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It was hard enough to get people might have otherwise been Jewish to be Christian.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes, exactly. Your Eminence, I believe the Jews have a plot to ruin Easter.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. So you can't have that. Plus, think of what effort it took to call Sunday the Sabbath. He's noticing this and said, we've got to fix this. So he gets his smartest folks in his contingent.

[Chuck Nice]

Wait, the Pope has scientists? Yes. Get out.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes. Serious, serious, Highly educated scientists. Okay. Popes, to this day. There's a Vatican observatory. Did you know that?

[Chuck Nice]

I did not know that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes. The Popes. And who are they? They are the Jesuits. The Jesuits are the academic order among the orders of Christianity, of Catholicism.

[Chuck Nice]

Catholicism.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Jesuit priests.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes. And so they founded many of the Catholic universities that persist to this day.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. For example, okay. He tasks them to say, fix this. They study the movement of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. And they say, we have not been properly reckoning leap days. And they conclude extra leap day had accumulated every hundred years. Okay, okay. That's too many. And that was not reckoned. And that shifts the vernal equinox backwards in the calendar.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. In order to fix this, they said, all right, let's jumpstart it. Put the equinox back on March 21st. Gotta put it back there.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's where it belongs.

[Chuck Nice]

And what you do with autumn days.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. By then, it was on March 10th.

[Chuck Nice]

Wow.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. So in October 1582. October.

[Chuck Nice]

Now October. Okay, okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

They're saying time to jumpstart the system.

[Chuck Nice]

All right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So they took 10 days out of October. Look, dude, you're the Pope. You have the power to do this.

[Chuck Nice]

I'm gonna say that's too much power for one man to have. Just like, guess what?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

October.

[Chuck Nice]

You just got cut.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

I'm sure the Pope sounded exactly like that. Like, angry black man.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah. Guess what? October Dominus is Spitter 2. Half the month is gone.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

A third of the month is gone.

[Chuck Nice]

And you know why? Cause that's when we owe rent.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So they took 10 days out of October.

[Chuck Nice]

Dang.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So October, like 15th followed October 4th. Okay, did I get my numbers right there or something like that?

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And you have to like. I don't know if that was the invention of amortization, but how do you decide what rent to pay?

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

You have to sort of get the fraction of the month. Divide exactly. Multiply by your rent by the fraction and that's what you pay. Okay? We still stay with the four year rule. Except every hundred years, which is still divisible by four, right? 100 is divisible by four. Every hundred years we take out the leap day that would otherwise be there.

[Chuck Nice]

There you go. Now we're balancing out.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

We're balancing out. Nice. Okay, nice. However, okay, the Jesuits were badass all said that under corrects it. That under corrects it by a little bit. Okay?

[Chuck Nice]

I gotta tell you, this moving New Year's Eve thing is looking real good right now.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So if you look at the under correction now, it's gonna happen on an even longer time scale. So what you find out is at what rate have you undercorrected it? Every 400 years, you gotta put a leap day back in.

[Chuck Nice]

Back in.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Because a 400 years is still on 100 year cycle, right? But every four, you got to put it back in.

[Chuck Nice]

Now, who is alive to remember to do this?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's what I'm saying.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So this was the amazing fact about the year 2000.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

If you didn't know what I just told you, you say, well, of course it's a leap day. It's divisible by four, right? No, no, rare. That leap day is. It's a century year divisible by 400, right? That gets a leap day. 1900 didn't have a leap day. 1800 didn't have a leap day. 1700 didn't have a leap day.

[Chuck Nice]

So no day put in.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, 1600 did. Because that was right after.

[Chuck Nice]

1582 is when it happened.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Exactly.

[Chuck Nice]

So 1600 still got the leap day put in.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Behold the Gregorian calendar.

[Chuck Nice]

Look at that. What a mess.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, wait, wait. The Jesuit priests figured that out without a telescope.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, that's amazing.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Telescope was not yet invented.

[Chuck Nice]

So they just looked up at the night sky. Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And made measurements.

[Chuck Nice]

And made measurements.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes.

[Chuck Nice]

Wow. Now that's impressive.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There you go.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So the leap day simply makes up for the fact that we don't count years by whole numbers of days. And we gotta throw in a day every four years. And not every hundred years, but then back again every 400 years. Now, if you're born on a leap day.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, too bad. You got screwed.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, so the real way to do birthdays is to know exactly where Earth is in its orbit. Right. And celebrate that moment every year.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, there you go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And then you don't have to worry about what they call the day, what day of the week, what day of the month. It's the orbital time. How do you count in time around the sun?

[Chuck Nice]

And that's your birthday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's your birthday. And what also is weird is how precise we count the new year.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Let's go into Times Square or wherever and you see the countdown clock.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. And then it hits midnight, but. Excuse me, it hits midnight. For your time zone.

[Chuck Nice]

For your time zone.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There's 24 time zones.

[Chuck Nice]

Exactly.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. But 24 slices of the Earth. All right, so. And then they celebrate it. And they celebrate it. There's nothing magical about them.

[Chuck Nice]

We're not all celebrating the new year. Correct.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right.

[Chuck Nice]

You're celebrating the new year where you.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Are where you are.

[Chuck Nice]

And that's it.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right. By an agreed upon calendric system. Exactly the timeframe.

[Chuck Nice]

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[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Good Burger. So, Jack.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

We haven't talked about planets in a long time. This is true, right? I think we're overdue throwing a little extra planet pop culture. Can you recite the planets in order?

[Chuck Nice]

In order? You mean like coming from Mercury?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Right. And then Venus, Earth.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Right.

[Chuck Nice]

And then Mars going out after that. That's a big one. That's Jupiter. And then you got Neptune behind Jupiter.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, you got.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

How are you going to leave out Saturn?

[Chuck Nice]

Saturn. God voice. Saturn, Neptune. And then, you know, Uranus. Right, Uranus, Neptune.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Sorry.

[Chuck Nice]

And then.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, no, we're done.

[Chuck Nice]

Uranus, Neptune, and then we're done.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The planet count over the years has fluctuated.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

To the ancients, there were seven planets. I will recite them for you.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Mercury.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Saturn, the sun.

[Chuck Nice]

What?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And the moon.

[Chuck Nice]

All right, now I could see the moon being considered a planet because, you.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Know, it's like the definition of planet has changed.

[Chuck Nice]

I could.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

In the day, planet was anything that moved against the background sky.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. So all the other stars are staying kind of where they are.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Correct. And then these little stars, fixed stars.

[Chuck Nice]

Then you got these little bodies that just kind of size didn't matter. Wander along.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Size didn, didn't matter. Brightness didn't matter. Did you move, did you move against the background stars? So any satellite, the Greek word for wanderer, because these are things that wandered among the background stars is planitas.

[Chuck Nice]

Planitas.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yes.

[Chuck Nice]

That's very romantic.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's where we get the word planet from. And the fact that they use the word wander is evidence they had no clue what was going on.

[Chuck Nice]

Right. Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, so seven planets. It is not an accident that there's seven days a week, okay? Each day of the week is named for one of those seven planets.

[Chuck Nice]

Sunday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That's exactly Sunday.

[Chuck Nice]

Sunday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Sunday. Sunday. Sunday is named after Sunday. The sun.

[Chuck Nice]

The sun.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Sabido y Dante.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, sabido is different. You did that. That's Spanish.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. Sabido is Sabbath.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, okay. So it has nothing to do with the plans?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

No, I'm talking about English, dude. Yeah.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. Okay. So Saturday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. Sunday.

[Chuck Nice]

It's gotta be Saturn.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Saturn.

[Chuck Nice]

Saturn.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Sunday's the sun. And how about Moon day?

[Chuck Nice]

Well, there you go. Moon day. Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Guess what moon day was named after.

[Chuck Nice]

But now that works in Spanish because it's Lunes. L. All right, now what do you do with Tuesday? Now where you gonna get a planet? Now? Now. Okay, now you gotta do something impressive. Cause you gotta come up with a planet for Tuesday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

I will. Okay. Planet Mars.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. Okay. Why are you trolling me? Okay. All right. So watch.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Watch.

[Chuck Nice]

You just.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. Okay, so let's go back to the Romance languages. Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

What do they call Tuesday in the Romance language?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. Lunas. Martes. I know it in Spanish. Martes. It's Mars. Mars. Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. All right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

There you go.

[Chuck Nice]

That's cool.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So Tuesday. Well, Tuesday doesn't sound like Mars, but there is a Norse God called Tews.

[Chuck Nice]

Twos.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Tews. Yes. And this is a God of war.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay. It's kind of a wimpy name for the God of war. Stand down or Teus.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Twos will come kick you.

[Chuck Nice]

Will come for you. Okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

He'll come kick your ass. So we now have Norse mythology joining in on this naming scheme.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay. But they have corresponding planets is all I'm saying.

[Chuck Nice]

Gotcha.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So what's next? That's Tuesday. Wednesday. Okay, so what's Wednesday in Spanish?

[Chuck Nice]

Mercoles.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Mercoles, Right. Which would be Mercury.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So Mercury is. Oh, where?

[Chuck Nice]

There you go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Mercury is the God of. What? What's he good at?

[Chuck Nice]

He was a postman.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

He was moving fast.

[Chuck Nice]

That's right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

He was moving fast. And Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. And when you're that close, you move fast so you don't fall in. So Mercury's the fastest moving planet. And the Romans knew this, the Greeks knew this. So Mercolis. Mercury. But for us, it's Wednesday.

[Chuck Nice]

Wednesday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So Wednesday.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Woden.

[Chuck Nice]

Woden.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Woden's day. Woden's day.

[Chuck Nice]

Yeah.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. And so he's the closest Norse God as a counterpart to Mercury. Okay, okay. So Mercury was a messenger God. Woden had some other features about him. Yeah, but it included serving as a. As a traveler, back and forth to hell. Whatever they called hell.

[Chuck Nice]

Thursday.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

We all know who that's named after.

[Chuck Nice]

What?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Thursday.

[Chuck Nice]

Thor.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Thor.

[Chuck Nice]

Thor. Thor.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's Thor's day.

[Chuck Nice]

Thor's day.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Thor. Thor wields what?

[Chuck Nice]

The hammer?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Well, the hammer and lightning. Lightning, Right. Okay. Who in Greek mythology wields lightning? Well, Greek and Roman. Okay. Jupiter. Jupiter.

[Chuck Nice]

Wow.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So what do we have in the romance languages? What do we call Thursday?

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, wait, I don't. I don't know.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Lunas marthes. Miraculous jueves. Okay, so it gives the j. It's Jupiter.

[Chuck Nice]

Right. In French.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Judy.

[Chuck Nice]

Judy.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Oh, you put the hand in the. So there you get Jupiter, the corresponding God to Thor.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay, that makes sense.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. And what are we left with? Friday.

[Chuck Nice]

Friday. And that's the last day.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

It's Friday.

[Chuck Nice]

Last day out of seven, Saturn was Saturn.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay, so Friday. What's that in romance languages?

[Chuck Nice]

In Spanish, I know, it's viernes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Viernes. Okay. At Venus. Venus. Name for Venus, the goddess of love. Love and beauty and all that. But we've once again drawn from the Norse traditions there. So it's Frigga.

[Chuck Nice]

Frigga.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Frigga is the goddess of beauty.

[Chuck Nice]

I didn't know that.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Norse legend.

[Chuck Nice]

A Norse legend sounds like a member of Wu Tang. But Frigga. Jigga.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Frigga. Yeah, Frigga. Jigga. Jza.

[Chuck Nice]

Jza.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So Frigga has less sort of poetry for that than I think. Venus.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes. Venus. Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Venus and beauty go together.

[Chuck Nice]

Right?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Yeah.

[Chuck Nice]

Nobody wrote a song about. Nobody wrote a song about freedom.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So we have this amalgam of words that track those seven days of the week.

[Chuck Nice]

Okay?

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And we borrowed from Norse. We have Latin. And some of that Latin we would see in the Romance languages.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And so.

[Chuck Nice]

But they all track back to the seven planets.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Seven. The seven planets. Correct.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Seven planets.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And so here's what goes on. We have the seven planets. And Copernicus comes along.

[Chuck Nice]

Yes.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Mid 1500s.

[Chuck Nice]

And he says, you people are dumbasses. Because the sun is not a planet.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

We lose the sun and the moon in the planet count. That takes it down to five. But we gain. What?

[Chuck Nice]

Wait, you're losing me.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Before Copernicus, we had seven planets, right? All of them moved against the background stars. After Copernicus, we have five. We have five. Cause we lost the sun and the moon.

[Chuck Nice]

Sun and the moon.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Okay.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

But we gain one.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, us. Yes, exactly. Well, of course, that Makes sense. We gain one, but only to find that we were the Wanderer all along.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

So we went from seven to five, back up to six.

[Chuck Nice]

Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

And there it would remain until William Herschel discovers planet Planet George.

[Chuck Nice]

Planet George, Yeah. Right.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Named it after King George.

[Chuck Nice]

King George.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

The George of the American Revolution George.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, okay.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

That. They were contemporaries. Yeah, Right. Yeah. And the rest of the world was gonna have none of that, I'm sure. Yeah. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and George. Yeah, we don't play that.

[Chuck Nice]

Oh, my God. I wish we had kept that. Planet George. Planet George.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

But that's a whole other conversation. Other naming schemes. But I just wanted to catch you up on the days of the week. There you go.

[Chuck Nice]

That was awesome.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Days of the week Explainer.

[Chuck Nice]

There you go.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right.

[Chuck Nice]

Seven planets.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

This has been Startalk. Yet another explainer. There's a lot out there that needs explaining.

[Chuck Nice]

That's. I love every minute of it.

[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

All right. As always, keep looking up.

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[Neil deGrasse Tyson]

Good Burger.

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