Cosmic Jousts, Jupiter's Giant Past, and Interstellar Microbial Mysteries

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Anna: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily. Your cosmic

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connection to the stars and beyond. I'm Anna,

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and today we're exploring some truly mind bending

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stories from across the universe. Coming up on

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today's show, we'll witness a celestial joust between

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two massive galaxies on a collision course,

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with one firing a beam of radiation through the other like a

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knight's lance. We'll also discover that

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Jupiter, the architect of our solar system, was

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once twice its current size, with a magnetic field

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50 times stronger than it is today.

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Then we'll examine the often overlooked

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challenges of interstellar travel.

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Not the rockets and propulsion systems, but the

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microscopic passengers that would need to make the journey

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with us. Plus, we'll explore one of the

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strangest planetary systems ever discovered, featuring a

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planet that orbits perpendicular to everything we thought we

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knew about orbital mechanics. And finally,

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we'll check in on Tom Cruise's ambitious plans to become the

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first actor to film a movie in actual outer space.

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It's a packed episode exploring the biggest and smallest

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wonders of our universe. So let's dive right in to today's

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Astronomy Daily.

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Astronomers have recently observed what they're describing as a

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cosmic joust. Two massive

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galaxies hurtling toward each other in deep space.

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This remarkable celestial event gives us a glimpse of a

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galactic merger as it was happening 11.4

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billion years ago, when the universe was just about one

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fifth of its current age. The observation,

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made using two powerful telescopes in Chile, the

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Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array

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and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large

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Telescope, reveals two galaxies, each

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containing roughly the same number of stars as our own

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Milky Way. But what makes this encounter

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particularly fascinating is what's happening at the heart

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of one of these galaxies. One of the galaxies

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contains a quasar, an extraordinarily

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luminous object powered by a supermassive black

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hole. As gas and other

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material fall into this cosmic monster, it heats

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up due to friction, creating a disk that emits

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extremely powerful radiation in two opposite

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directions. These are called biconical beams,

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and one of them is directly piercing through the companion

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galaxy. The researchers have likened this

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interaction to medieval knights charging toward each other in a

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joust. As astrophysicist Sergei

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Balashev from the IofA Institute in St. Petersburg

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puts it. One of them, the quasar host, emits

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a powerful beam of radiation that pierces the companion

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galaxy like a lance. This

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radiation lance is actually disrupting the

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molecular clouds in the companion galaxy, the very

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clouds that would normally give rise to new stars.

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Instead of forming stars, these clouds are being transformed

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into tiny Dense cloudlets that are too small

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to create stellar nurseries. It's effectively

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wounding its opponent by disrupting the gas structure

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necessary for star formation. The

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supermassive black hole powering this cosmic joust

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is estimated to be about 200 million times the mass of

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our sun, far larger than the one at the center of our own

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Milky Way, which is only about 4 million solar

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masses. What makes this observation

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particularly special is that it's the first

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time scientists have witnessed this kind of phenomenon,

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a, quasar's radiation directly affecting the molecular

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clouds in another galaxy. The unique

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alignment of these galaxies from our perspective on Earth

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allowed researchers to observe the radiation passing

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directly through the companion galaxy.

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According to astronomer Pasquier Notre Dame of the Paris

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Institute of Astrophysics, these two galaxies will

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eventually coalesce Into a single, larger galaxy as their

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gravitational interaction continues to. The quasar will

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gradually fade as it exhausts its available fuel.

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Most galactic mergers observed by astronomers Occurred later

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in the universe's history, making this early

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cosmic collision particularly valuable for

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understanding how galaxies evolved in the young

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universe. It's a dramatic snapshot of the

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violent processes that have shaped the cosmos since

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its earliest days, a cosmic joust that will

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ultimately end in union rather than victory for

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either contestant.

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Next, let's take a new look at one of our cosmic

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neighbors. Jupiter, the largest planet in

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our solar system, Was once even more massive and

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magnetically powerful than it is today. According

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to a groundbreaking new study published in the journal Nature

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Astronomy, Researchers from Caltech

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and the University of Michigan have determined that

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approximately 3.8 million years after the

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formation of the solar system's first solids,

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Jupiter was about twice its current size, with, a magnetic

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field 50 times stronger than what we observe

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now. This revelation comes from an ingenious

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approach that bypasses traditional uncertainties in

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planetary formation models. Rather than

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relying on assumptions about gas opacity or accretion

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rates, the researchers focused on something more

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concrete. The orbital dynamics of Jupiter's

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tiny moons Amalthea and Thebe.

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These small moons, which orbit even closer to Jupiter Than the

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Galilean moon IO, have slightly tilted

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orbits. By analyzing these orbital

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discrepancies, Constantine Batygin,

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professor of planetary science at Caltech, and

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Fred C. Adams, professor of physics and

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astronomy at the University of Michigan, were able

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to calculate Jupiter's original dimensions. Their

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findings paint a picture of a truly enormous early

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Jupiter, with a volume equivalent to over 2000

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Earths. This isn't just an interesting factoid.

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It provides critical information about a pivotal moment in our

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solar system's development. The Research

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establishes a clear snapshot of Jupiter at the

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precise moment when the surrounding solar nebula

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evaporated, effectively locking in the primordial

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architecture of our solar system. Our

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ultimate goal is to understand where we come from,

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and pinning down the early phases of planet formation

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is essential to solving the puzzle, explains

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Batygin. This brings us closer to understanding

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how not only Jupiter but the entire solar system took

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shape. What makes this research

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particularly valuable is that it provides

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independent verification of long standing planet formation

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theories, which suggest that Jupiter and other giant

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planets formed via core accretion, a process

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where a rocky and icy core rapidly gathers

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gas. These theories have been developed over decades

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by many researchers, including Caltech's Dave Stevenson.

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And this new study adds crucial specificity to our

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understanding. Understanding Jupiter's

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early evolution has broader implications for our solar

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system's development. Jupiter's gravity has

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often been called the architect of our solar system,

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playing a critical role in shaping the orbital paths of other

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planets and sculpting the disk of gas and dust

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from which they formed. As Fred Adams notes,

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it's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion

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years, enough clues remain to let us

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reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of

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its existence. While Jupiter's very first

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moments remain obscured, this research establishes what

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Batygin calls a valuable benchmark,

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a point from which scientists can more confidently reconstruct

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the evolution of our solar system, bringing us

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closer to answering fundamental questions about our cosmic

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origins and the processes that made our

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planetary neighborhood what it is today.

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Our next story today features a subject I know many of us

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wonder about. When we think about interstellar travel,

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our minds typically gravitate toward the technological

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challenges of propulsion systems and spacecraft

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design. But according to physicist and author Paul

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Davies, we're overlooking perhaps the most critical

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obstacle to human space exploration beyond our

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solar system. The complex biological

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requirements for creating a sustainable ecosystem.

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In Davies's analysis, traveling between stars

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will inevitably be a one way journey. Even

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with the most optimistic technological advances.

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This means any mission would require creating a completely

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self sustaining ecological environment. It's

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not simply about growing enough, food and generating oxygen.

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It's about replicating Earth's intricate web of life on a

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cosmic scale. The true complexity lies in the

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microbial realm. As Davies points out, almost

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all terrestrial species are microbes, bacteria,

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archaea and unicellular eukaryotes.

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And they form the foundation of Earth's biosphere.

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These microorganisms aren't merely passengers on our

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planet. They're essential components of our life support system.

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Recycling materials and exchanging genetic Components in ways

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we're only beginning to understand. Even within

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our own bodies, microbes play a crucial role.

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Your personal microbiome, the microbial inhabitants

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of your gut, lungs and other organs outnumber your

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own cells. Without them, you would die.

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So astronauts cannot journey to the stars without, at

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minimum, their own microbiomes. But it gets even

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more complicated. Microbes don't exist in isolation.

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They form vast networks of biological interactions

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that remain poorly understood. There's horizontal

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gene transfer, cell to cell signaling,

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viral interactions, and collective organization

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that creates an ecological web of staggering

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complexity. Scientists have barely begun to

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map this intricate planetary scale information flow.

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This raises what Davies calls a Noah's Ark conundrum

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with a vengeance. Which species get chosen for the

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journey? What is the minimum complexity of an

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ecosystem necessary for long term sustainability?

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At what point does removing certain microbes cause the entire

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system to collapse? The problem is that

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we simply don't know. We haven't identified the

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smallest self sustaining, purely microbial ecosystem,

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let alone which microbes are crucial for human survival in

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space. Imagine compiling a list of plants

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and animals to accompany humans on a one way

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cows, pigs, vegetables. But then consider

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how many and which microbial species these

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organisms depend on and which other microbes

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those microbes depend on. Space conditions

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add another layer of complexity. Research shows

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that bacteria can change their gene expression in zero

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gravity. Michelle Levin's experiments with

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planaria worms that had flown on the space station

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revealed that some returned with two heads instead of the

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normal one. How might other organisms change in the

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harsh environment of space? Davies

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suggests our best hope may lie not in cataloging

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genes, but in discovering the underlying principles

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governing the flow and organization of information in living

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systems, what he calls the software of

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life. If we can identify universal

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informational patterns in biology, we might create a

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transplantable ecosystem robust enough to withstand space

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conditions. Without solving these fundamental

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biological challenges, our dreams of establishing

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permanent human settlements beyond our solar system may remain

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just dreams. The tiniest

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organisms may pose the biggest obstacles to our cosmic

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ambitions.

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Next up. Today, will the cosmos ever stop surprising

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us? I hope not. In what might be the

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most unusual planetary arrangement ever discovered,

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astronomers have recently identified a system that defies

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our conventional understanding of how planets form and

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orbit. The system,

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informally known as 2M M1510,

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features what appears to be a planet tracing an orbit

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that carries it directly over the poles of two brown

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dwarfs and that are orbiting each other.

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If you're having trouble visualizing this, imagine

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two spinning tops circling each other on a table

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while a marble rolls around them in a path that goes over

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and under the table. It's a configuration that

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until now, existed only in theoretical models.

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In typical planetary systems like our own

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solar system, Planets orbit their stars in, a

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relatively flat plane that aligns with the star's equator.

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This makes sense because planets form from the same rotating

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disk of material that formed the star.

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Everything stays nice and orderly, Moving in roughly the same

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plane. But candidate planet 2m

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M1510B breaks all these rules. Its

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orbital plane appears to be perpendicular at a 90

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degree angle to the plane in which its two host

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brown dwarfs orbit each other. Brown

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dwarfs themselves are fascinating objects, Too

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massive to be considered planets, but not massive enough to

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sustain the nuclear fusion that powers stars.

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They're cosmic in betweeners, and this system has two of

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them at its center, With a third brown dwarf

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orbiting at an extreme distance. The detection

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method for this perpendicular planet Is itself

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remarkable. Most exoplanets today are found using

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the transit method, where we detect tiny dips

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in starlight as planets cross in front of their stars.

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But that wouldn't work in this unusual orbital arrangement.

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Instead, researchers used what's called the

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radial velocity method, Measuring subtle shifts

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in the brown dwarf's light spectrum Caused by the

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gravitational pull of the orbiting planet.

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More specifically, they detected how the planet

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subtly alters the 21 day mutual orbit of the

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brown dwarf pair. After extensive

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analysis, the research team concluded that only a

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polar orbiting planet could explain these perturbations.

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This discovery is significant because circumbinary planets,

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those orbiting two stars at once, Are already quite

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rare. Of the more than

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5,800 confirmed exoplanets, only

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16 are known to orbit binary systems, with Most

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discovered by NASA's now retired Kepler space

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telescope. A circumbinary planet in a polar

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orbit Takes this rarity to another level entirely.

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Scientists have previously observed debris disks and

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protoplanetary disks in polar orbits, which

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led to speculation that polar orbiting planets might exist.

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2m, um1510 appears to be

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the first confirmed case Validating these

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theoretical predictions. The international

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research team led by Thomas A. Baycroft from the University

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of Birmingham Published their findings in the journal

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Science Advances in April. With the planet

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officially entered into NASA's exoplanet archive

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on May 1st of this year. This bizarre

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system challenges our understanding of planetary

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formation and orbital dynamics,

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Suggesting that the universe has many more surprises in

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store. As we continue to explore the cosmos,

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it reminds us that nature often finds ways to create

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arrangements Far more exotic than what we might imagine.

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Finally, today, this news will horrify some and

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delight others in the realm of space

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exploration, One unlikely pioneer may soon

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make the transition from movie star to actual astronaut

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Tom Cruise, known for performing his own death defying

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stunts in the Mission Impossible franchise,

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appears to be inching closer to perhaps his most

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ambitious project yet, filming a movie

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in actual outer space. According to

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Cruise's IMDb page, an untitled

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Tom Cruise SpaceX project is currently

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listed in pre production. The tantalizing

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description states that Cruise and director Doug Liman

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plan to travel far beyond Earth to film

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the first ever Hollywood motion picture in outer

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space. While no official launch date has been

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announced, this development suggests the long rumored space

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movie may indeed be moving forward.

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The concept first gained traction back in 2020 and

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2021 following a successful SpaceX

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NASA rocket launch from Cape Canaveral.

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NASA confirmed at the time that they were in discussions with crews

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about filming a movie aboard the International Space Station,

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though updates about this potential collaboration have been

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scarce since then. Interestingly,

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during SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission in

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September 2021, the four person

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civilian crew, which included Jared Isaacman

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Mann, who would later become President Trump's pick

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to lead NASA, actually spoke with Cruise

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via a zoom call during their orbital flight.

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At that time, reports suggested Cruise was set to

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fly on a different crew Dragon Mission to film scenes

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for an upcoming movie. While Cruise would be

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the first Hollywood actor to film in space, he wouldn't be

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the first to shoot a feature film there. That

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distinction belongs to Russian actress Yulia Peresild

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and director Klim Sippenko, who traveled to the

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International space station in October 2021

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to film scenes for the Challenge, a drama about

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a surgeon sent to space to save a cosmonaut suffering from a

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heart attack. Released in 2023,

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it became the first feature length film with professional

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actors shot in space. For Cruise, who

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turned 63 this year and is fresh off the success

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of Impossible, the Final

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Reckoning, a journey to space would represent the

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ultimate frontier in his career of pushing physical

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boundaries. The actor has already hung from

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airplanes, scaled the world's tallest building,

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and performed halo jumps from extreme

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altitudes, space would certainly be the next

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logical, if extraordinarily ambitious

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step. Whether this project ultimately

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launches remains to be seen, but one thing seems

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certain. If anyone in Hollywood has the determination

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and influence to make filming in space a reality,

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it's Tom Cruise.

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And that wraps up another incredible journey through the

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cosmos on today's episode of Astronomy Daily.

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From those two galaxies engaged in a cosmic joust

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billions of years ago, to Jupiter's surprisingly

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massive past, to the complex microbial

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challenges of interstellar travel, the universe

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continues to amaze and humble us with its

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mysteries. We also explored that

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fascinating perpendicular planetary orbit in the

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2M1510 system, a

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configuration astronomers had only theorized until

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now. And of course, Tom Cruise's

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potential journey to become the first Hollywood actor to film

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in actual space certainly pushes the boundaries of

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what's possible when human ingenuity meets

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cosmic ambition. The universe is

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vast, mysterious, and full of stories waiting

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to be told. If you want to stay on top of all the

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latest developments in space and astronomy, I encourage you to visit

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our website@astronomydaily.IO where you

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00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:07.520
can sign up for our free daily newsletter. Our

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00:18:07.520 --> 00:18:10.440
site features a constantly updating newsfeed with the

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latest discoveries and breakthroughs in cosmic exploration.

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Don't forget to subscribe to Astronomy Daily on

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00:18:16.600 --> 00:18:19.520
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTubeMusic,

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00:18:19.520 --> 00:18:22.400
or wherever you get your podcasts. To ensure

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you never miss an episode, this has been Anna,

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your guide to the Cosmos, and I'll be back tomorrow with

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more fascinating stories from the final frontier.

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Until then, keep looking up.