01x47 - Watch This Space

[bunniefuu]

♪ Once upon a future time ♪

♪ In a place called Stardust Bay ♪

♪ Countin' down to adventure now ♪

♪ Rockets on a mission, we're on our way ♪

♪ Space Racers ♪

♪ Surfing the solar winds ♪

♪ Space Racers ♪

♪ Together the fun begins ♪

♪ Way out where the planets, moons, and stars ♪

♪ All shimmer shine ♪

♪ Havin' a great time exploring ♪

♪ Space Racers ♪

Hey, wait for me!

♪

Hey, anyone seen Eagle?

No, Coach.

It's not like him to be this late.

Okay, so remember what I told you about booster control.

I wanna see that launch, nothing more.

Ready now? Three...

Two...

One...

And...

cut your power!

[coughing] That's better.

Very good, Robyn.

Nice one, Raven.

Yeah, much cleaner, Hawk.

[coughing]

[tires squealing]

Sorry I'm late Coach, but you need to see this.

You all do.What, Eagle?

In the sky. I dunno what it is, but it's really bright.

And it's getting brighter.

I think it's an asteroid or something!

Could be coming this way!

We'd better take a look.

I can't see anything.

You sure about the coordinates?

Yes.

Nope.

I'm not gettin' anything.

You try.

But I saw something.

I know I did.

It was getting bright and brighter,

as if it was coming this way.

There's nothing there, Eagle.

You must've made a mistake.

No way!

Wait, I'll prove it, I'll take you there!

Okay, everyone,

let's use this to practice our launches

the way I showed you.

It's right over...there!

You sure you didn't imagine it, Eagle?

I once thought I saw

a giant potato in space.

It turned out to be a normal potato,

just really close up.

Hey, I know what it was.

What's that, Raven?

It was a lamo excuse

for being late to class! Ha ha ha ha!

Heh. Heh. Ohhh...

Cadets, we all make mistakes.

But I didn't...

I know I saw something.

Can we come in?

Sure.

It's okay.

We believe you.

Everyone thought I was making it up.

Of course you saw something.

We know that.

But, hey, if you didn't...

I've been thinking...

The only way they're gonna believe you

is if you can explain what happened.

But I can't.

We need to treat this

like any other mystery we investigate.

We need to make a list of possibilities,

check to see if they fit the facts,

and figure out from that list

what it was you saw.

But there was nothing.

You were there.

Yes.

But I believe you, Eagle.

And you'll still be our friend

even if you are going nuts.

Y'know, I am starting to wonder

if I imagined it all.

It is possible for a rocket's eyes to deceive him.

So you don't think I saw it either?

Everyone's eyes deceive them in a way, young Eagle.

How's that, sir?We don't "see"

so much as light brings images to our eyes.

That rock over there,

you can touch it because it's very near.

But light from stars

has to travel many, many miles

and can take many millions of years to reach us.

Really?Indeed.

So you see,

our eyes do not always tell us the whole truth.

Some of those stars may not even exist anymore.

Yet we believe we see them.

So it's like Coot said last week, sir...

the universe is constantly changing.

That is correct.

And what I saw may have changed

and no longer be there.

Reality is not always what we see, Eagle.

Now you are learning.

This is the time I saw it.

Ava, can you please magnify the view?

Ava: Zooming in on your coordinates.

Can you scan back on that a little?

Ava: Reverse scanning at minute intervals.

Ava, could you print these out, please?

I need to talk to Robyn and Hawk.

We've been investigating

some more on what you saw.

Yeah, we've come up with

some really interesting ideas,

and none of 'em

involve you going crazy.

Hawk!

Okay.

So, we think it may have been

a rocket from the school

who was practicing reverse thrusting

for his space test!

No, that couldn't have been it.

But don't worry,

I think I'm on to something.

Only I'm gonna need your help.

See?

Here there's hardly anything

visible at all.

Nothing here either.

These are from a month ago.

These must be from yesterday.

When you thought you saw something!

I did see something, Hawk.

Oh, I know.

Okay.

Now, let's work backwards.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Wait! What's this?

That light looks brighter!

Exactly! So what was it?

Could've been a satellite.

The Sun reflecting off their panels

can be really bright.

But satellites orbit pretty close to Earth.

I would've seen that.

Or a passing comet.

That could get brighter as it came nearer.

Hmm. It's a possibility.

Could've also been a controlled mining expl*si*n.

That'd flare up and look brighter.

Right! We could check Coot's records for that,

and anything else unusual.

My final idea was a Rocket

in glow-in- the-dark paint

going to a Halloween party.

Good idea, Eagle, about going to see Coot.

If anything weird happened up there,

he'll know about it.

Nope, 'fraid not.

No mining activity of any kind in that quadrant.

Coot, could it have been a comet?

They can be quite bright, can't they?

"A comet orbits the Sun.

It can be seen because it reflects light.

It's often made of ice and rock and has a tail."

Funny you should bring that up.

I've actually been working on

a prototype Comet Simulator,

so I can show you exactly what one looks like.

You see, the comet goes in here

and I dial in "Short trajectory" and...

[glass breaks]

[crash]

Heh-heh! Realistic, huh?

If that's what comets are like,

it definitely wasn't a comet.

I would've seen all the bits of broken cupboard!

Robyn: You know what this means, Eagle?

It has to be a star.

But why's a star behaving like that?

Wait! That's exactly what Headmaster Crane was saying...

stars can change.

What you saw might've been

the end of one of these changes!

Let's ask Ava.

Ava, could a star get brighter

and then fade down afterwards?

Ava: Searching my database.

Wow! So you might've seen something after all.

Ava: Some stars grow brighter

at certain points in their lifetime.

Pulsars flash all the time.

Novae can be bright for years.

But it changed just after I saw it.

Ava: In that case,

what you may have seen was a "Variable Star."

Sounds good to me!

Um, what's a variable star?

Ava: A variable star

is a star whose brightness seems to change,

often because it is swelling...

That's it! That's what I saw!

See? it's getting brighter!

Ava ...or shrinking.

That's why no one else could see it

when I tried to show them later!

'Cause it was shrinking again! Cool!

That's amazing. Thank you, guys.

I wish I'd seen it.

It looks awesome!

Ava: These are very rare occurrences.

You were very lucky, Cadet Eagle.

Lucky?

But no one believed me.

It's still not going to be easy

to convince Raven and the class...

Until they actually witness

something for themselves...

And realize that things

like that are possible.

Ava, is there any way of predicting

when the next star might change?

Ava: Negative.

There are billions of stars always changing.

Awwww.

Ava: Professor Coot recently created software

that claims to predict Supernovae.

Wait, I know this!

A "Supernova" is when a star explodes.

That's really cool.

Explodes? Yup.

So it's even brighter

than a variable star.

That's great! Let's try it, Ava!

Ava: Running software.

The next Supernova visible from Earth

will occur very soon.

In approximately thirty-six years,

three months and two days.

Ohh, you call that soon?

Ava: Stars live for billions of years.

Thirty-six years is soon.

So I have nothing to show Coach Pigeon or the class.

Ava: Unfortunately, you recently missed one.

What? You just missed a distant Supernova.

But it is already fading.

You will probably not be able to reach

a viewing position in time.

Yes, we will!

We're Space Racers!

Yeah!

Ava: Very well.

I will download the coordinates as you go.

Come on, guys, let's go!

Hawk: Come here!Robyn: Check this out!

Hey you guys, you gotta see this!

Ava, can you zoom in for us? Ava: Affirmative.

Tinting your visors to protect against excessive light.

This is awesome.

Sorry I didn't believe you.

Nope, you were right, Raven.

There wasn't anything there.Huh? Say what?

The light from stars takes so long to reach us,

that what I saw wasn't technically happening

at the moment when I thought I saw it.

Really?Yeah.

It's the same with this star.

It actually exploded a long, long time ago.

Whoa! Incredible.

But because of the distance the light has traveled, we're only seeing it now.

Thank you for this wonderful display, Eagle.

If not for your determination in investigating further

and comparing charts of the sky,

we might not have seen it.

Thank you, sir.

But it was really thanks to my friends.

I hope you have learned to believe in yourself --

and your friends, Eagle...

even if you know not always to believe your eyes.