01x02 - How We Found Your Sun/Tree House Observatory

[bunniefuu]

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ He'll rocket to fame ♪

♪ When he arrived, he created a buzz ♪

♪ 'Cause there was no house ♪

♪ And then there was, he said ♪

- ♪ People of Earth! You ain't seen nothing yet! ♪

♪ I'm from Bortron , and my name is Jet! ♪

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

♪ That's his name ♪

♪ He looks like us ♪

♪ But he isn't the same ♪

- ♪ I'm a space tripper and a galaxy crosser ♪

♪ My parents brought me here in a flying saucer ♪

- ♪ And just to prove it was a fact ♪

♪ He flew them out to space and back ♪

♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[spaceship whirring]

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

- ♪ He showed up, and now it's a blast ♪

♪ Looks like the future really got here fast ♪

- ♪ Nice to meet you, human race ♪

♪ Tell me all about the place ♪

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

all: Ready! Jet! Go!

- [sighs] I love it here.

These Earth trees of yours are huge!

Where I come from, nothing grows this tall.

And I've seen a lot of planets.

- So tell us more about how you found our planet, Jet.

- Well, my mom and dad are, um, how would you say--

they write true stories

about traveling and exploring around the galaxy.

- They're galactic travel writers?

- Exactly!

And we were flying across this part of the galaxy,

looking for nice, life-friendly planets to visit

and write more stories about.

And way out in the middle of nowhere,

we picked up this primitive radio signal from Earth

that had been traveling across space,

so we figured you'd still be here.

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

- It was a song...

and a catchy one!

We knew that whoever was out there

at the other end of the signal

would be life-friendly

and have a good sense of rhythm.

So we followed the radio signal.

- Cool. What a great story.

- Yep. That's how we found your star,

the Sun!

- What?

The Sun isn't a star. It's a sun.

- Oh, it's a star, Mindy, a nice bright one.

- Well, it doesn't look like a star.

The Sun's too big to be a star.

- Hmm, I guess it depends on your perspective.

- What's a "respective" mean?

- Perspective means

where you are when you look at something.

Get it? - Got it.

- See, standing here on Earth,

your Sun looks like a sun.

- Mm-hmm.

- But way out in space,

it looks just like another star.

- Right.

- If we were as close to those stars

as we are to your Sun,

they'd look just as big and bright.

- Got it. - And that is perspective.

- Yes. It's all respective.

Could you explain it one more time?

- [chuckles] Tell you what.

I could ask my parents if we can go out

and take a closer look at the Sun.

- But, Jet, the Sun's already set.

- Oh, your Sun may have set,

but we can still see it from a different perspective.

We can go up and look at it.

I'll drive. Come on; hop in!

- You mean go up, as in up into space?

Now?

- You bet. In an Earth minute!

- Uh, let me see if I can fit that into my schedule.

- [laughs] - Well, I can't go.

My mom says I can't go any farther than Jet's yard.

- Don't worry, Mindy.

We'll go check out the Sun,

and I'll tell you all about it when we get back.

- Okay. Be sure to tell me everything,

like how hot it is and how yellow it is.

- We will.

- And remember, do not look right at the Sun.

My mom says it'll hurt your eyes.

- Yeah, I know. That's why I'm bringing these.

- Thanks for the reminder, Mindy.

Hop in, kids.

- Sunspot! Car trip!

[fanfare plays]

- Bye!

- Ready?

- Okay, we're going into outer space.

This time, I'll at least do a countdown.

, --

- ♪ , , , , ♪

♪ Doors are shut, engines on ♪

♪ Everybody in their place? ♪

♪ Let's go into outer space! ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

[Sean screaming]

[spaceship whirring]

- There it is, your Sun.

- Wow, it's more orange and yellow than I thought.

- [laughs] That was quick.

- Good. So we're done?

- Hardly.

I think we could use a little more

of that perspective that Jet was talking about.

- No, really, I think I'm good.

- Mom, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

- I'm thinking we go take a closer look at the Sun.

- I knew that's what you were thinking.

- That's why we came up here, right?

- Yes, let's go!

both: Excelsior!

[jet engines whooshing]

- Well, it's hot, and it looks so much bigger up close.

- Wow. Zero gravity is amazing!

Come on, Sean. Float with us.

- Nah, thanks. I'm fine over here.

- All right, this is close enough.

We don't want to melt the wagon.

- Not looking at the Sun from up close

is even better than not looking at it from Earth.

- Don't worry, Sean.

These special Bortronian windows

adjust to the bright light of the Sun.

- [chuckles nervously]

Just as long as we don't melt, right?

- You know, all this talk of melting

reminds me of the legend of Icarus.

- Icarus? Who's that?

- Oh, he's a character in a Greek myth

who made wings out of feathers

to fly across the ocean to his home.

- Did he get there?

- Nope, he flew too close to the Sun,

and the wax that held his feathers to his wings melted,

and he fell back to Earth.

- So that didn't go so well.

Thanks for the story, Sydney.

- But it's just a made-up story.

- I love your Earth stories, Sydney.

- We have lots of stories like that about the Sun.

- No wonder. It's amazing!

And "Sun" is such a great Earth word.

Why do you call it that?

- I...don't really know.

- Actually, on Earth, scientists also call it "Sol."

You know, like "solar system."

- "Sol." That's a great word too!

I wonder what we Bortronians call it.

[gasps] Let's ask Face.

- Face , ready to assist you.

Hello, Jet.

- Hey, Face!

We were wondering what this star is called on Bortron .

- Hmm, you mean this hot and orangey-yellow one

right in front of us?

Let's consult the galactic map.

- Okay, let's find your neighborhood.

- Ah! There it is.

On Bortron , the Earth's sun is called Ignatz .

all: Wow!

- So where's your star, Jet?

- Right...there. Bortron.

- Oh, is that Bortron's solar system?

- Yup, and there's Bortron .

- So from this perspective, our star, Bortron,

is not that far from your star, the Sun--

only a few hundred light-years.

- So we're practically neighbors in the Milky Way galaxy.

- The Milky Way galaxy?

- Well, yeah, that's what we call it.

- Milky Way.

[all laughing]

- The Milky Way?

You mean like that Earth drink, milk,

that comes from--

[cow moos]

Milky Way. What a great name.

That is so Earth.

- Well, I think it's called that 'cause all the stars

look kind of like milk spilled across the sky.

- I can't wait to add that

to my travel report about Earth.

- Hey, Face, thanks for showing us

all the stars in the Milky Way.

This star, though, the Sun, is really bright and beautiful.

- I agree, Jet. Our sun is awesome.

- And hot.

So maybe we should get back to Earth before we melt.

Remember that Icarus guy?

- Oh, no one's gonna melt, Sean.

Buckle up, everybody. It's back to Earth.

- I never unbuckled, so I'm good.

[jet engines whooshing]

♪ Planet one is Mercury ♪

- ♪ It's tiny and it's spinny ♪

- ♪ Planet two is Venus ♪

- ♪ It's bright and superheaty ♪

- ♪ Planet three is Earth ♪

Hey, wait. Mrs. Propulsion?

- Please. Call me Celery.

- Um, Celery, we just passed the Earth.

- We sure did.

I just got a great idea.

Since we're talking about the idea of perspective...

- I'm not sure I like where this is going.

- Yeah, I was thinking

I should take you kids out to Neptune

so you can see what your Sun looks like

from a different perspective.

You'll see when it's so far away,

it's just like another star.

- Neptune?

The last planet in the solar system?

You're kidding. - Don't worry, Sean.

We'll be there in a couple minutes.

Meanwhile, relax, like Sunspot.

Wait. Where's Sunspot?

- [gasps]

- Sunspot, stop clowning around and buckle up!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Wow! - Cool!

- So cool.

- Breathe, Sean. Breathe.

It's all excellent training

for when you're an astronaut someday.

[jet engines whooshing]

- Okay, everyone, there's Neptune.

This is far enough.

Now take a look back where we came from.

Can anyone even find our Sun?

[together] That one?

- It's so small.

- Yup, that's perspective!

This is what it looked like when we first found it.

Ignatz , Sol, the Sun.

What a fantastic star!

- Whew!

Okay, I think I'm full up on perspective.

- Maybe we should get back to Earth...

for Sean.

- It's probably dinnertime anyway.

I wonder what Carrot's cooked up.

- Hmm.

Dad was thinking of making falafel

just because he loved the way the Earth word sounds.

[together] Falafel!

[laughter]

- Falafel! I do see the humor in it.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

- Okay, now I'm hungry. Let's hit it, Mom!

all: Ready! Jet! Go!

- Whoo-hoo! - Yeah!

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[brakes screech]

- Earth, sweet Earth!

[spitting]

Ugh. Yuck, it tastes like dirt.

- Sydney!

Did you go up and look at the Sun

and see the perspective, like Jet said?

- Yes, and it's true. The Sun is a star.

And we learned that if you get far enough away from it,

it's just like the other stars in the sky.

The difference is, Earth is really close to our Sun.

- Really close?

- Well, million miles close.

- Exactly. See?

It's all about perspective.

- Ooh, a picture? Thanks!

Okay, now I've got perspective.

It looks big when you're close

and small when you're far away.

- Yeah, you got it, Mindy!

- Falafel?

- Agh! Too close, Dad.

[sniffs] Hmm, but that falafel smells delicious.

- Yeah, doesn't it?

Plus, "falafel" is such a funny Earth word.

- Whoo-hoo! - Let's eat.

[all exclaiming]

- Did you ever wonder what it would be like

if you could see in the dark?

Hi, I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer,

and with this infrared camera, you can.

Well, what is infrared?

Infrared is a type of light,

just like the visible light that your eyes can see.

Except when we look at things with infrared light,

we're actually seeing their heat.

Astronomers love infrared light,

because it lets us see the universe in a whole new way.

Allow me to demonstrate.

With visible light,

if I hold up this black, plastic garbage bag,

you can't see me, and I can't see you.

But infrared light goes right through it.

In the same way, astronomers can use infrared light

to see right through dust.

For example, we can use it to look at stars

that are just beginning to form

in the centers of very dense dust clouds.

But infrared light has its limits.

You can't use it for everything.

For example, I can see right through

this piece of clear plastic with my eyes,

but infrared light is completely blocked by it.

We can also use infrared light

to tell the temperatures of things...

like these two cups.

With visible light, these two cups look exactly the same.

But with infrared light,

you can tell that this one has cold water in it

and this one has hot water.

So the next time you go out at night

and look up at the dark sky, just remember:

if you could see in infrared,

you'd be seeing things in a whole new light.

- Wow!

There are so many birds out today!

- Yeah. Earth birds are amazing.

- Look at that one.

- Whoa, a bird that's blue?

And there's one that's black and white!

Ha, what's next?

A bird that's the same color as a banana?

- Uh, Jet? Look!

- A banana-colored bird! Cool!

Earth is so weird and colorful.

And it's so much greener than Bortron ,

with the coolest trees ever!

They're so big and tall and--

Wait. What's going on there?

What kind of a tree has

such straight, even parts growing in it?

- No, Jet, that's not the tree.

- That's the floor of an old tree house.

- Wait, what?

A tree house?

Why would you put a house in a tree?

- Birds build their houses in trees.

- Oh, yeah!

[bird chirping]

- And sometimes kids like to make a little building

up in a tree, kind of a secret clubhouse.

- Yeah, a place to play with friends.

And if you helped make it,

then you could feel really proud.

- Oh, fascinating! That is so Earth.

Let's make one.

One Earth house tree coming right up!

- Great idea!

We can just fix up that tree house.

I love building things.

- Me too! - Me three!

[Sunspot whistles]

- Sunspot four!

- I don't think it'll be hard

to fix that tree house up.

- Really?

'Cause I think it'll take a lot of work.

And some walls. And a roof.

- Great!

So we can get it done fast, probably before snack time!

Like you Earthies say, easy-peasy.

- Oh, think how great it would be

to have our own tree house.

It could be a clubhouse and a science laboratory.

We can have space-themed parties!

And I can draw and write comic books up there!

Whoo-hoo!

- It can be all that? Wow!

Now I can imagine a really amazing tree house.

- Do you really think we can rebuild it?

- Of course we can, Sean.

There's no "can't" on Bortron .

- But I'm not sure.

- And there's no "I'm not sure"

on Bortron .

- Is there "what happens if" on Bortron ?

- Hmm, not that I know of.

But there is...

excelsior!

- Uh, what does that mean?

- That means "onward and upward" in Latin,

one of your ancient Earth languages.

- Oh.

[fanfare plays]

[laughs] Well, Sunspot is definitely ready.

Come on up, Sean.

Let's fix up this tree house.

- Um, guys, don't you think we should have a plan?

- I have the perfect plan...

that I'm coming up with right now.

[lively music]

[banging, clattering, and squeaking noises]

♪ ♪

[whistle blows]

♪ ♪

- Perfect. We're done!

- Um, one little problem.

We forgot to make a door.

- [laughs] Oh, right.

One Earth door coming right up!

[warbling noise]

- I guess we could also use a roof.

- Good idea. But what kind?

- How about that kind?

That's the roof of the observatory.

- The ob-what-atory?

- An observatory is a special building

with a domed roof that can open

so the scientists can watch the sky at night.

- And stars and planets.

They can observe outer space.

"Observe" means "look at."

- Observe and watch outer space?

My favorite thing...

besides eating, being in outer space,

building things, counting backwards, singing,

having big ideas, and thumb-wrestling Sunspot.

- I have a big idea.

What if we make our own observatory right here,

with a domed roof?

- Bam! Let's do it!

- Our very own observatory would be a dream come true.

I love looking at the night sky.

- Um, yeah, but about us making our own dome...

- You're right!

It is time to make a domed roof for our own observatory.

And you're just the one to help me do it.

♪ ♪

all: Yeah!

- I can't believe we built a domed roof all by ourselves.

- All we need is a telescope,

and we'll have our own observatory.

- [laughs] Telescope?

What a funny Earth word.

[laughs]

Wait, what's a telescope?

- A telescope is a device that lets you see things

that are really far away

as if they were right in front of your face.

- We totally need one of those.

- Hey, should we make our own?

- Whoo-hoo!

Wait, wait. Make our own telescope?

But we'd need all kinds of things that we don't have.

Cardboard tubes, some kind of glass lenses...

- Easy!

I've got piles of that stuff in my garage.

- But-- - Yup, lenses too.

Hmm. Let's see here.

Oh, okay. Um, tubes, yup.

Tape and, uh...

ha-ha, Bortronian lenses!

There.

I think that's all we need for our telescope.

So let's get started!

- I think we need a plan.

We should use the scientific method, guys.

- We could also use the Jet method.

[upbeat music and wacky construction noises]

♪ ♪

Ta-da!

Here it is, our telescope,

with some things added to make it even better.

- Wow, amazing. Let's take a look.

Uh, problem, Jet.

I see my own eye, and I smell something...

really good.

- This telescope can also make yummy, doughy things

shaped like small Earth rocks.

[ding!]

- Mmm. - Mmm.

- Jet, you made a bread machine.

And it makes really yummy rolls.

- But we didn't make a telescope for our observatory.

- Mm-hmm... hot, delicious failure.

You know what this failure makes me want to do?

- Uh, use the scientific method?

- Yup, it makes me want to sing!

both: Sing?

- ♪ If you try and you make a mess ♪

♪ Who cares if it's not a success? ♪

♪ Try again, don't give up hope ♪

♪ Sooner or later, you'll make a telescope ♪

- Um, Jet? That's a soccer ball.

[crash]

- Hmm, what we need is some sort of plan

or process or--

- Or method?

- Huh? Oh, yeah!

Why don't we use the scientific method?

- Yeah!

Wait, what exactly is this scientific method, again?

- [clears throat]

all: One! - ♪ Ask a question ♪

all: ♪ Based on observations ♪

Two! - ♪ Make a prediction ♪

all: ♪ That's your hypothesis ♪

Three! - ♪ Experiment ♪

all: ♪ Test your hypothesis! ♪

Four! - ♪ Observe what happens ♪

all: ♪ And gather information ♪

Five! - ♪ Draw conclusions ♪

all: ♪ About what you discovered ♪

Six! - ♪ Share your findings ♪

all: ♪ Get the word to others ♪

♪ The scientific method ♪

♪ It's the scientific method ♪

♪ Yeah! ♪

♪ ♪

- We did it! We built our own telescope.

- Using the scientific method.

- Our hypothesis was right.

- Here's some results to share: this is awesome.

We'll be able to see so many stars and planets!

Let's go try it out!

- Hey, guys, look what Sunspot gave me.

And these rolls are really yummy.

- Thanks, Mindy. They were one of our failures.

- Mmm! Yummy, yummy failure.

Hey, I heard you're building a tree house.

- Yeah, we did. It's got a domed roof.

- My mom says if I stay with you guys,

I can see the tree house too.

Ooh, and you have a telescope?

- Yeah, it's for our tree house observatory.

- Observa-what?

- Come on. We'll show you.

- Sunspot! Come on!

- We finished right on time. Look!

- Stars, stars everywhere.

- There must be a million or even a hundred!

- And they look better when we look at them

through our telescope.

- In our own tree house observatory we built.

- And we did it in one Earth day.

Boy, I love trying and failing and trying even more.

all: Excelsior!

- Hmm?

- It means "onwards and upwards."

- Oh.

- Okay, who wants to look at Venus?

First I'll find it.

[screams]

A huge, yellow Earth monster!

- What? Let me see.

[both laugh]

Jet, silly, that's not a monster.

That's just a yellow bird.

- It's called a yellow warbler.

- I was going to say that.

- Wow, Earth--

almost as fascinating as outer space.

Okay, ladies, gentlemen, and Bortronian pets,

I give you...

[imitates drumroll]

Venus!

[sighs happily]

Is there anything better than the night sky?

- Nope, there really isn't.

- Hi, I'm astronomer Amy Mainzer.

Some of the best tools that you have to observe the night sky

are your eyes.

You might see as many as a couple thousand stars.

Astronomers like me want to find more stars,

and we want to learn more about them.

So to do that, we need bigger eyeballs.

This is the Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory.

And it's a huge telescope.

It's a really giant eyeball.

This is Dr. Mark Rafalski,

and he's an astronomer working here at Palomar Observatory.

What's it like to use this telescope?

- It's truly awe-inspiring.

It's one of the largest telescopes in the world,

and we make amazing discoveries with it.

- What are some of the basic parts?

I mean, I see here this big stocky-looking thing,

and we've got another tubey-looking thing.

- There's a primary mirror.

This is what does all the light collecting.

This is a -inch mirror.

This is why it's called a -inch.

- inches of mirror.

inches is bigger than two big school desks combined.

- And then in addition to the primary mirror,

you have a secondary.

So the light comes in, and it bounces off the primary,

and then comes up, hits a much smaller mirror,

and then comes down to your instrument.

- So the light from the stars

comes all the way down and hits this mirror,

and then it goes up to that one, right,

and goes back down all the way down again--

- To those boxes.

- And inside those boxes are cameras,

the eyes of the telescope.

- We've been doing science with this telescope for years,

and we're still making groundbreaking discoveries.

- And with an eyeball that big,

I can't wait to see what we discover next.

Good luck making your own groundbreaking discoveries

with the Hale telescope.

- ♪ Jet Propulsion ♪

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

- Jet Propulsion! - Jet Propulsion!

- Jet Propulsion!

[together] Ready! Jet! Go!