De inspiratie voor deze aflevering kwam in de vorm van een artikel in het NRC Handelsblad van afgelopen zaterdag met de titel "Fysici proberen Schrödingers kat steeds groter te maken" van Dorine Schenk.

Fysici proberen Schrödingers kat steeds groter te maken (achter NRC paywall):

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/03/18/fysici-proberen-schrodingers-kat-steeds-groter-te-maken-a4922868

Probing quantum mechanics with nanoparticle matter-wave interferometry:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09917-9

Unified dynamics for microscopic and macroscopic systems:

http://www.psiquadrat.de/downloads/grw86.pdf

On Gravity's Role in Quantum State Reduction:

https://scispace.com/pdf/on-gravity-s-role-in-quantum-state-reduction-w8isgb2we7.pdf

Quantum random Python module:

https://github.com/sbalian/quantum-random

ANU QRNG:

https://qrng.anu.edu.au/

De Zimmerman en Space podcast is gelicenseerd onder een Creative Commons CC0 1.0 licentie.

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0

Op 11 maart van dit jaar verscheen er een artikel in The Astrophysical Journal Letters met de titel "Gaia-GIC-1: An Evolving Catastrophic Planetesimal Collision Candidate". In deze aflevering van de Zimmerman en Space podcast kijken we samen wat dit nou weer te betekenen heeft.

'Completely bonkers': Astronomers find evidence of a cataclysmic collision between exoplanets:

https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/completely-bonkers-astronomers-find-evidence-of-a-cataclysmic-collision-between-planets

Gaia-GIC-1: An Evolving Catastrophic Planetesimal Collision Candidate:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae3ddc

Gaia20ehk:

https://gsaweb.ast.cam.ac.uk/alerts/alert/Gaia20ehk/

WISE ruimtetelescoop:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/wide-field-infrared-survey-explorer-wise/

Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Trailing Debris:

https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/suspected-asteroid-collision-leaves-odd-x-pattern-of-trailing-debris/

De Zimmerman en Space podcast is gelicenseerd onder een Creative Commons CC0 1.0 licentie.

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0

Naar aanleiding van een aantal vragen van luisteraar Bas, kijken we in deze ietwat lange aflevering naar hoe planeten rond sterren cirkelen.

The mass-period distribution of close-in exoplanets:

https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2011/04/aa15774-10/aa15774-10.html

Halting Planet Migration In The Evacuated Centers Of Protoplanetary Disks:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/342370/pdf

Orbital migration of the planetary companion of 51 Pegasi to its present location:

https://pages.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/reprints/lin_nature380,606.pdf

Connecting the dots II: Phase changes in the climate dynamics of tidally locked terrestrial exoplanets:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1508.00419

The climate and habitability of planets with eternal day and night sides:

https://serious-science.org/the-climate-and-habitability-of-planets-with-eternal-day-and-night-sides-5289

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.ticker as ticker

a = 1.0 # semi-major axis (AU)
M2 = 1.0 # mass of the central body

# M1: mass of the orbiting body, from 0 to 1
M1 = np.linspace(0, 1, 500)

# Newton's law
T = np.sqrt(a**3 / (M1 + M2))

fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(9, 5.5))
fig.patch.set_facecolor("#0d1117")
ax.set_facecolor("#0d1117")

# Gradient-ish line via a LineCollection
from matplotlib.collections import LineCollection
points = np.array([M1, T]).T.reshape(-1, 1, 2)
segments = np.concatenate([points[:-1], points[1:]], axis=1)
norm = plt.Normalize(T.min(), T.max())
lc = LineCollection(segments, cmap="cool", norm=norm, linewidth=2.5, zorder=3)
lc.set_array(T)
ax.add_collection(lc)

ax.scatter([0], [np.sqrt(a**3 / M2)], color="#ff6b9d", s=70, zorder=5,
label=f"Test-particle limit (M₁→0, T={np.sqrt(a**3/M2):.3f} yr)")

T_eq = np.sqrt(a**3 / (M2 + M2))
ax.scatter([M2], [T_eq], color="#ffd166", s=70, zorder=5,
label=f"Equal masses (M₁=M₂={M2}, T={T_eq:.3f} yr)")

for spine in ax.spines.values():
spine.set_edgecolor("#30363d")

ax.tick_params(colors="#8b949e", labelsize=10)
ax.xaxis.label.set_color("#c9d1d9")
ax.yaxis.label.set_color("#c9d1d9")

ax.set_xlabel("M₁ — Mass of orbiting body (M☉)", fontsize=12, labelpad=10)
ax.set_ylabel("Orbital Period T (years)", fontsize=12, labelpad=10)
ax.set_title("Orbital Period vs. Mass of Orbiting Body\n"
r"$T = \sqrt{\,a^3\,/\,(M_1+M_2)\,}$"
f" [a = {a} AU, M₂ = {M2} M☉]",
color="#e6edf3", fontsize=13, pad=14)

ax.set_xlim(-0.01, 1.01)
ax.set_ylim(T.min() * 0.97, T.max() * 1.03)

ax.grid(color="#21262d", linestyle="--", linewidth=0.7, zorder=0)
ax.legend(facecolor="#161b22", edgecolor="#30363d",
labelcolor="#c9d1d9", fontsize=10, loc="upper right")

plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()

De Zimmerman en Space podcast is gelicenseerd onder een Creative Commons CC0 1.0 licentie.

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0