Episode 12: The Light Fantastic

A question from a listener leads us into some very tall weeds as we ponder the nature of light: what is it, exactly? It is a wave? Or a particle? Or, somehow, both at once? And photons, the massless particles that apparently make up all light: if they've got no mass, how can they be affected by gravity — like around a black hole, for example? Oh, it's all very tricky stuff, but we have lots of fun unpacking it all. Because in the end, you can't do much astronomy without light, so it's best to understand it properly, really.

SHOW NOTES

Syzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.

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Emily at the University of York: www.york.ac.uk/physics/people/brunsden/
Chris online: kipstewart.com 

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Some of the things we talk about in this episode:

Chris Stewart