>> Stephen: BACK, EVERYBODY. WE'RE HERE WITH OUR FRIEND NEIL
DEGRASSE TYSON. LET'S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING
SMALLER IN A WAY BUT IN SORT OF MENTALLY, ANOTHER THING THAT
WILL KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT AND KIND OF MAKE YOUR BRAIN EXPLODE
IS-- >> YOU KNOW, I'M SCARED WHEN YOU
PULL STUFF OUT. >> Stephen: LIKE THIS? YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS. >> OH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. >> Stephen: SO RECENTLY INTO
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, ABOVE THE-- WHAT'S IT CALLED, THE PLANE OF
THE ECLIPTIC? >> SURE. >> Stephen: WHERE THE PLANETS
GO AROUND FROM ABOVE OR BELOW, OR WHATEVER, OFF THE AXIS OF
WHERE THE PLANETS GO AROUND. >> PLANETS DO THIS AROUND THE
SUN. >> Stephen: THIS CAME FROM
DEEP SPACE. >> FIRST TIME EVER AN OBJECT
FROM INTERSTELLAR SPACE HAS BEEN OBSERVED TO VISIT OUR SOLAR
SYSTEM. >> Stephen: NOW, THIS THING'S
GOT TO BE LIKE A SHIP, RIGHT? THAT LOOKS TOO MUCH LIKE A
SPACESHIP. >> THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPH. >> Stephen: WHAT? >> THIS IS AN ARTIST'S
RENDERING. WE KNOW IT'S ELONGATED-- I DON'T
BELIEVE-- <i>( LAUGHTER )
JUST --</i> >> Stephen: YOU DON'T GET TO
TAKE-- WHAT ABOUT THAT ONE RIGHT THERE? YOU HOLD IT WHATEVER--
>> YOU GOT PEOPLE. YOU GOT PEOPLE --
>> Stephen: I GOT PEOPLE. LOOK AT THAT BUT IT LOOKED LIKE
THAT. >> NO. >> Stephen: IT WAS ELONGATED. >> CIGARS DON'T COME JOURNEYING
INTO SOLAR SYSTEM S. >> Stephen: WHICH IS WHY IT
HAS TO BE AN ALIEN SPACESHIP. >> SO, SO--<i>
( LAUGHTER )</i> >> Stephen: YEAH? >> ASTEROIDS WE KNOW, MANY OF
THEM, IN NOT MOST OF THEM ARE LOOSELY HELD TOGETHER RUBBLE
PILES, AND IF THEY COME NEAR GRAVITATIONAL SOURCES, TIDAL
FORCES CAN STRETCH THEM SO THEY BECOME A STREAM OF PART NELS
RATHER THAN ONE SOLID MASS. >> Stephen: THIS IS NOT SOLID? >> IT IS LIKELY NOT SOLID. >> Stephen: WHAT IS IT? >> BUT THE SIGNAL WE GET FROM IT
IS ELONGATED, BUT IT'S PROBABLY A RUBBLE PILE STRETCHED INTO
THAT SHAPE. BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET THAT BY
NATURE. YOU DON'T GET THAT. >> Stephen: YEAH, THAT'S WHY
IT'S MANMADE. >> ALIEN. >> Stephen: ALIEN MADE. >> YOU WANT THAT TO BE ALIENS. FESS UP-- YOU WANT THAT TO BE
ALIENS. >> Stephen, OF COURSE, I WANT
THAT TO BE ALIENS! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS
QUESTION THAT I'VE NEVER FINISHED. <i>( LAUGHTER )
>> HERE'S THE PROBLEM-- HERE'S</i> THE PROBLEM, THIS THING CAME IN
MOVING FAST. >> Stephen: YEAH. >> IT HAS ESCAPE VELOCITY,
HYPERBOLIC ORBIT, HYPERBOLIC TRAJECTORY, WE SAY "HYPER." IT'S GOT MORE ENERGY. >> Stephen: THAN A BOLIC. >> IT'S PARABOLIC, FOR EXAMPLE. SO, SO, THE REASON WHY IT'S
PROBABLY NOT ALIEN ALIENS IS ITS TRAJECTORY AROUND THE SUN WAS
COMPLETELY DETERMINED BY GRAVITATIONAL FORCES. >> Stephen: HOW DO YOU KNOW? >> BECAUSE BEE KNOW. WE CALCULATE THIS. THERE ARE LAWS OF GRAVITY, LAWS
OF PHYSICS. >> Stephen: LOOK, SEE THIS,
SEE THAT? THAT TRAJECTORY WAS COMPLETELY
CONTROLLED BY GRAVITATIONAL FORCES AFTER IT REACHED ITS PEAK
UP HERE AND CAME BACK DOWN, AND YET A THINKING CREATURE STARTED
THE PROCESS, OKAY. IT DOESN'T MEAN-- IF THIS CAME
IN AND YOU GO, "OH, GRAVITY DID THAT." BUT SOMEBODY MADE IT GO TO HERE. CHECKMATE! <i>( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
PARABOLIC!</i> PARA-BOLLIC GLIEWD #. >> Audience: STEPHEN! STEPHEN STEPHEN! STEPHEN! STEPHEN! <i>( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
>> Stephen: THAT, MY FRIEND,</i> IS CALLED A TASTE OF YOUR OWN
MEDICINE. >> ALL I'M SAYING IS IF IT'S
ONLY MOVING BY THE FORCE OF GRAVITY, THEN IT'S NOT-- WE
PRESUME IT DOESN'T HAVE, LIKE, ROCKETS AND THINGS. IF THIS WERE ALIENS. >> Stephen: YEAH. >> IN SOME KIND OF ADVANCED SHIP
IT WOULD BE MAWFERG, DOING INTERESTING THING. >> Stephen: MAYBE IT
MANEUVERED ON ITS WAY IN, A PASS AROUND THE SUN, THE WAY THEY USE
SATELLITES TO GO AROUND THE BACK OF A PLAN TOTE WHIP THEM AROUND
OUTER SPACE. >> IT'S CALLED THE SLINGSHOT
EFFECT. >> Stephen: YOU DON'T HAVE TO
TELL ME. >> SO, MAYBE THE ALIENS SHUT OFF
THEIR ENGINES TO MASQUERADE AS A COSMIC OBJECT TO GET A SLINGSHOT
EFFECT AROUND OUR STAR. >> Stephen: MAYBE WE CAN'T
PERCEIVE WHAT THEIR ENGINES ARE AND THEY HAVE A MODE--
>> I CAN JUST TELL YOU THEY'RE OFF. <i>( LAUGHTER )
WHATEVER THEY ARE, THEY'RE OFF,</i> BECAUSE IT'S-- BECAUSE A TENNIS
BALL WOULD HAVE THAT TRAJECTORY MOVING AT THAT SPEED. THAT'S ALL. >> Stephen: IS THERE ANY
CHANCE? >> NOT --
>> Stephen: THAT THAT'S A TENNIS BALL? >> NO. <i>( LAUGHTER )
NO, AND BY THE WAY, BIG NEWS WAS</i> THAT THE PENTAGON, WAS TRACKING
UFOs. >> Stephen: RIGHT, WE SAW THE
FOOTAGE. THEY RELEASED THE FOOTAGE FROM
LIKE, F-18 FIGHTER PILOTS ON THEIR SCOPE, TABLET-SHAPED
THING, ACCEL RATHE, STOPPING, ACCEL RATHE IN THINGS THEY CAN'T
EXPLAIN. >> THAT HAS A WAY BETTER CHANCE
OF BEING ALIENS THAN THIS. THOSE OBJECTS WERE DOING THINGS
THAT WERE NOT DPRAFITATIONAL. >> Stephen: DO YOU THINK
THEY'VE GOT SOMETHING THERE? >> I DON'T KNOW. HENCE THE "U" IN UFO. >> Stephen: I'M WITH YOU. I'M ON BOARD. >> ARE YOU GOING TO SAY-- ARE
YOU GOING TO SAY-- THIS IS A UFO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS,
THEREFORE, IT'S INTELLIGENT ALIENS FROM OUTER SPACE. YOU SAID YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT
IS. YOU CAN'T BE CERTAIN OF
ANYTHING. >> Stephen: I'M HOPING. >> I'M HOPING, TOO. I WANT TO MEET THE ALIENS. BY THE WAY, IF YOU EVER MEET THE
ALIENS, THEY TAKE YOU ON BOARD, FIRST, TAKE SOME PHOTOS, FIRST. SECOND, WHEN THEY DO THE SEX
EXPERIMENTS ON YOU, OKAY-- <i>( LAUGHTER ).</i> >> HERE'S WHAT YOU DO--<i>
( LAUGHTER )</i> THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. WE ALL KNOW THAT. >> Stephen: DON'T YOU HAVE TO
CHECK A BOX TO, LIKE, OPT IN TO THAT. >> HERE'S WHAT YOU DO, HERE'S
WHAT YOU DO-- TELL THE ALIEN-- SAY, "OH, LOOK OVER THERE," AND
QUICKLY SNATCH SOMETHING OFF THE SHELF LEAK AN ASH TRAY OR
SOMETHING AND PUT IT IN YOUR POCKET AND LAY BACK ON THE SLAB. THEN WHEN THEY LET GO OF YOU,
YOU HAVE SOMETHING OF ALIEN MANUFACTURE. >> Stephen: SO IN THIS
SCENARIO, THE ALIENS SMOKE? >> YES. >> Stephen: IF I SEE THEM, I
WILL GIVE THEM THIS, WHICH IS YOUR BOOK "NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON,
ASTROPHYSICS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY." A "NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSALER FOR
34 WEEKS. >> CRAZY, CRAZY. >> Stephen: EXTRAORDINARY. >> I'M DELIGHTED APPETITE IS OUT
THERE. MAYBE IT OPPOSE DOORS FOR MANY
MORE SCIENCE BOOKS TO APPEAR THERE. >> Stephen: DO YOU HAVE A
FAVORITE THING? >> OH! MAY I? >> Stephen: IT'S YOUR BOOK,
MAN. IT'S YOUR BOOK. >> OH, MAY I? >> Stephen: SURE. >> SO REFLECTIONS ON THE COSMIC
PERSPECTIVE. THE WORDS I'M ABOUT TO READ ARE
NOT MINE. THEY'RE BY JAMES FERGUSON, A
PHYSICIST FROM THE 1700s. IF I MAY. >> Stephen: YOU MAY. <i>( LAUGHTER )
>> Stephen: OKAY.</i> >> FIMAY. >> Stephen: I'LL GET YOU A
GLASS OF MEADE. >> JAMES FERGUSON, 1757. "OF ALL THE SCIENCES CULTIVATED
BY MANKIND, ASTRONOMY IS ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE AND
UNDOUBTEDLY IS THE MOST SUBLIME, THE MOST INTERESTING, AND THE
MOST USEFUL, FOR BY KNOWLEDGE DERIVED FROM THIS SCIENCE, NOT
ONLY THE BULK OF THE EARTH IS DISCOVERED, BUT OUR VERY
FACULTIES ARE ENLARGE WITH THE GRANDEUR OF THE IDEAS IT
CONVEYS. OUR MINDS EXALTED ABOVE THEIR
LOW, CONTRACTED PREJUDICES." <i>( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
♪ ♪ ♪</i> >> Stephen: 34 WEEKS. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU FOR 10. LET'S MAKE IT AN EVEN TWO
DIGITS. >> OKAY. >> Stephen: "ASTROPHYSICS FOR
PEOPLE IN A HURRY" IS AVAILABLE NOW, AND "STAR TALK" IS ON
NAT- GEO SUNDAYS.
