Black Hole Families, Young Astronomer, and Europe's Lunar Ambitions

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast that brings you the universe one

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story at a time. I'm avery. Give us 10

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minutes and we'll give you the universe.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. it's great to be with you.

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We've got another busy show today, Avery,

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with stories ranging from the cosmic echoes

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of colliding black holes to some

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incredible homegrown discoveries.

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Avery: Absolutely. We'll be mapping the largest

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structures in the universe, spying on a

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visitor from another star system, and

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checking out Europe's ambitious new plans for

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land landing on the Moon. So let's get right

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to it.

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Our first story is a mindbender. Astronomers

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have found evidence of second generation

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black holes.

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Anna: Right. And this is a huge deal. The idea

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of a hierarchical merger m where black holes

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that are themselves the result of a previous

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merger, then go on to merge again,

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has been a theory for a while, but now the

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LIGO Virgo Kagra collaboration

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seems to have found the first direct

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evidence.

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Avery: So it's like black hole parents creating a

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new, bigger black hole child.

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Anna: Exactly. They detected two new

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gravitational wave events. GW

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241011 and GW

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2411 10. Both showed

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some very strange features that you wouldn't

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expect from first generation black holes

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formed from collapsing stars. Strange in what

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way? Well, for one event, one of the black

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holes was spinning incredibly fast.

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Faster than is typically thought possible for

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a black hole born from a single star. A

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violent merger, however, could spin a black

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hole up to that kind of speed.

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Avery: Okay, that makes sense. A, cosmic collision

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giving it an extra push. What about the other

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event?

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Anna: This one is even wilder. In the

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GW24 1110 event,

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the larger black hole was spinning in the

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opposite direction to its orbit around the

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smaller black hole.

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Avery: Wait, spinning backwards? How does that even

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happen?

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Anna: It's the first time we've ever observed

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something like that. The thinking is that

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this kind of bizarre anti aligned

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spin is a potential signature of a second

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generation merger. The chaotic dynamics of a

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previous collision could have flipped it

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around. It's like finding a planet that spins

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in the opposite direction of its orbit around

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its star. It tells you something dramatic

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happened in its past.

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Avery: Wow. So these gravitational wave detectors

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aren't just hearing collisions. They're

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starting to uncover the life stories of black

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holes. That's incredible.

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Anna: It really is. And the implications are

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profound for understanding the cosmic

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landscape. If hierarchical mergers are

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common, it could be the primary mechanism for

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creating the supermassive black holes we see

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at the centers of galaxies. It's a key puzzle

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piece we might have just found connecting the

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smallest stellar mass black holes to the

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largest behemoths in the universe.

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Avery: So this isn't just about individual black

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holes, but about the grand architecture of

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galaxy formation itself. It changes our

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models for how galaxies evolve over billions

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of years. It's amazing how these tiny

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fleeting ripples in spacetime can tell us so

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much about cosmic history.

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Anna: It really is. And from the

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unbelievably massive, we're going to

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something a bit closer to home. And a

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discovery that is just as inspiring.

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It involves a very young astronomer from

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Ontario, Canada.

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Avery: I, love these stories. Tell me more.

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Anna: Siddharth Patel, who was just 12 years

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old, has discovered two possible new

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asteroids. They've been designated

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2024 RX69 and

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2024 RH39.

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Avery: 12 years old. That's amazing.

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How did he do it? You need some serious

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equipment for that, right?

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Anna: He did it through a citizen science program

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called the International Astronomical Search

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Collaboration. They provide real astronom

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astronomical data to people around the world

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to analyze. Sidehearth was poring over

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images from their telescopes when he spotted

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these two objects moving against the

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background stars.

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Avery: That's the best part of citizen science. It

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opens up real research to anyone with passion

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and a keen eye. And clearly Siddharth has

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both.

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Anna: He definitely does. Apparently he's already

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an award winning astrophotographer and dreams

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of becoming an astronaut. Now the discoveries

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are still preliminary. It could take years of

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follow up observations to confirm them and

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officially add them to our solar systems

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catalog.

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Avery: Still, to make a potential discovery like

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that, at 12, he's already contributing to the

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field. What a future he has ahead of him.

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It's a great reminder that you don't need a

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PhD to make a difference in astronomy.

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Anna: Absolutely.

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Avery: Alright, let's zoom back out. Way out.

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From spotting tiny asteroids to mapping the

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largest objects in the entire universe,

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A team led by University of Chicago

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scientists has been cataloging galaxy galaxy

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clusters.

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Anna: And these aren't just any objects. Galaxy

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clusters are the most massive gravitationally

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bound structures we know of. They can contain

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hundreds or even thousands of galaxies,

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all held together by an immense amount of

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dark matter.

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Avery: Right. So by mapping where they are and how

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they're distributed, you're essentially

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mapping the invisible skeleton of the

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universe. The team used data from the Dark

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Energy survey to do this. And the big

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question is, what does this map tell us about

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dark matter and dark energy?

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Anna: Well, this is the exciting part. Their

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findings aligned almost perfectly with our

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current standard model of the universe, the

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Lambda CDM model. This model predicts

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how structures should form and grow over

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cosmic time, Driven by the pull of dark

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matter and the push of dark energy.

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Avery: So no new physics needed just yet. Sometimes

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confirming the current theory is just as

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important as breaking it.

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Anna: Exactly. There have been some tensions in

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recent years between different types of

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cosmic measurements. Some studies hinted that

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the universe might be a little less clumpy

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Than lambda CDM predicts. But this new

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independent analysis of galaxy clusters shows

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that, no, the clumpiness is just right.

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Avery: That's a huge relief for cosmologists. I bet

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it means the model holds up. And I see they

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mentioned that future telescopes like the

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Rubin Observatory and the Nancy Grace Roman

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Space Telescope Will be able to take the this

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kind of mapping to the next level.

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Anna: They will. They'll survey the sky wider and

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deeper, Giving us an even more precise map

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and a stricter test of our cosmic model. It's

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a foundational piece of work for

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understanding our universe's evolution.

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Avery: Fantastic.

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Okay, from the cosmic web, let's turn

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our gaze To a solo traveler passing through

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our neighborhood. Let's get an update on a

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visitor from very, very far away.

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Anna: You must be talking about the interstellar

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comet 3I ATLAS. It's only

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the third interstellar object ever detected,

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and it's currently reaching its perihelion,

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which is its closest point to our sun.

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Avery: Interstellar objects, are always exciting. A

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real piece of another solar system right here

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for us to study. I know there was some online

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hype about it. Is it living up to that?

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Anna: Well, it's not an alien spaceship, if that's

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what you mean. The observations show it

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displaying very typical comet features, A

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fuzzy coma of G gas and a dust tail,

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both created as the sun's heat vaporizes its

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ice. Scientifically, though, it's incredibly

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interesting.

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Avery: Of course, every photon we collect from it

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tells us something about the chemistry of the

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protoplanetary disk it came from. Wherever

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that was. Are professional observatories

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getting a look at?

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Anna: Yes, many are. Even the European Space

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Agency's juice mission, which is on its way

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to Jupiter, is planning to observe it from

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its unique vantage point in space. The but

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what's really cool is that amateur

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astronomers are getting great views, too. It

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will be visible to backyard telescopes for

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the next few months as it heads back out of

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our solar system, never to return.

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Avery: A fleeting glimpse of a traveler from the

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stars. It's a great opportunity for anyone

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with a telescope to see something truly

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unique.

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Anna: It really is.

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Avery: All right, for our final story, we're looking

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to the future of lunar exploration.

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The European Space Agency, or

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esa, has just unveiled its brand new

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lunar lander and it's called Argonaut.

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Anna: This looks impressive. It's designed as a

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versatile cargo vehicle capable of delivering

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up to 1.6 tons to the Moon's

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surface. That's a significant payload.

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Avery: It is. It's all part of ESA's push for a

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sustainable and importantly, an

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independent European presence on the moon.

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But there's one feature they're highlighting

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that really stands out.

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Anna: Let me guess. Its ability to survive the

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lunar night.

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Avery: You got it. That's the killer. The lunar

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night lasts for two Earth weeks and

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temperatures can plummet to extremes. Keeping

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electronics and systems from freezing solid

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is one of the biggest challenges of long term

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lunar missions. Argonaut is being designed

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specifically to withstand that deep cold.

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Anna: And how are they testing that? It's not like

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you can just stick it in a freezer, right?

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Avery: ESA is using a cutting edge simulation

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facility in Germany called Luna. They

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can recreate the vacuum, extreme

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temperatures, and even the abrasive lunar

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dust to put the technology through its paces

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right here on Earth before sending it a

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quarter of a mile away.

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Anna: And the goal isn't just to land and survive.

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Argonaut is designed as a versatile

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workhorse for the Artemis program and beyond.

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It could deploy complex scientific

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instruments, release rovers to explore

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permanently shadowed craters, or even deliver

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the foundational elements for a future lunar

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base. It's a key logistical step in moving

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from temporary visits to a sustained long

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term scientific presence.

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Avery: A versatile lunar delivery truck,

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essentially. That really does change the

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game. It makes the idea of a permanent human

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presence on the moon feel much more

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tangible, much less like science fiction.

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This is the kind of hardware that builds a

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future.

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Anna: That's smart engineering. It seems like the

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new moon rush is really heating up. And it's

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fantastic to see Europe making such a serious

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and capable contribution with landers like

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Argonaut. It's not just about flags and

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footprints anymore. It's about building

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sustainable infrastructure.

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Avery: Couldn't agree more. It's an exciting time

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for lunar science. And that brings us to the

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end of our news roundup for today. From

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second generation black holes to a 12 year

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old asteroid hunter, it's been another

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incredible day in astronomy.

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Anna: It certainly has. The universe never fails to

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surprise and inspire. Thanks for joining us

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on Astronomy Daily. Be sure to subscribe

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wherever you get your podcasts so you don't

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miss an episode.

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Avery: Until next time, keep looking up. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Clear skies.