Aug. 12, 2025
Cosmic Signals: Record-Breaking FRB Discovery
- Record-Breaking Fast Radio Burst Discovery: Join us as we delve into a groundbreaking discovery of a fast radio burst (FRB) traced to an astonishing distance of over 11 billion light years. Designated FRB 20240304B, this signal originated just 3 billion years post-Big Bang, offering a unique glimpse into the early universe and enhancing our understanding of cosmic phenomena.
- - NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Update: Exciting news from NASA's Europa Clipper mission! Recently, the spacecraft successfully tested its Rusty radar instrument during a flyby of Mars, paving the way for its primary goal of probing beneath Europa's icy surface for signs of water and potential life.
- - Hubble Observes Interstellar Visitor 3I Atlas: Astronomers have captured stunning images of 3I Atlas, a mysterious interstellar object behaving like a comet. This marks only the third confirmed interstellar visitor, providing valuable insights into its composition and the distant star system from which it originated.
- - Upcoming Space Launches: Get ready for a busy week in space exploration! We discuss the upcoming launches of ULA's Vulcan rocket and Europe's Ariane 6, alongside multiple SpaceX Starlink missions, showcasing the dynamic nature of contemporary space endeavors.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Fast Radio Burst Discovery
[MeerKAT Radio Telescope](https://www.ska.ac.za/meerkat/)
NASA's Europa Clipper Mission
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Hubble Observations of 3I Atlas
[Hubble Space Telescope](https://hubblesite.org/)
Upcoming Launch Information
[United Launch Alliance](https://www.ulalaunch.com/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.
WEBVTT
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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go to
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podcast for all things space and astronomy news.
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I'm Anna.
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Avery: And I'm Avery. We're so glad you're joining us
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today for another exciting dive into the cosmos.
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Anna: Today we'll be talking about a new record
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in detecting incredibly distant signals
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from the early universe.
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Avery: Plus, we'll check in on a fascinating planetary
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mission that just completed a crucial test
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near Mars, giving us a sneak peek at its
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capabilities. And get ready to hear about a
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mysterious visitor from beyond our solar system,
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captured for the first time by none other
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than the Hubble Space Telescope. To top it all off,
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we'll give you a rundown of a very busy week
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ahead in space launches featuring everything
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from Vulcan and Ariane 6 to multiple
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Starlink missions. Let's get started.
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Anna: Alright, let's kick things off with a truly
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groundbreaking discovery that's pushing the boundaries of
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our understanding of the early universe.
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Astronomers have traced a fast radio burst, or
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frb, to a record breaking distance
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across the cosmos. This new
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FRB, designated FRB
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20240304B,
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was initially detected on March 4,
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2024 by the MeerKAT Radio Telescope
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Array in South Africa. But what makes this
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one so special is its incredible distance.
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Avery: That's right, it has a redshift of
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2.148, which means we're looking at
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light that traveled for over 11 billion years
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to reach Earth. To put that in perspective, this
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burst originated just 3 billion years after
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the Big Bang, pushing our observational
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boundary of FRBs much further back
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into cosmic time. Previous detections
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only reached about halfway through cosmic history.
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Anna: That's right, finding the exact source of this signal
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was a real piece of detective work. Initially,
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ground based observatories and archival data
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couldn't pinpoint its host galaxy. But a
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follow up with the James Webb Space Telescope's
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NIRCAM and NIRSPEC instruments did the trick,
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revealing the FRB's host galaxy and getting a
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spectroscopic redshift. The burst's radio
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waves dispersed at a rate of about
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2,330 parsecs per
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cubic centimeter, acting like a cosmic
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fingerprint that confirmed its extremely distant
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origin. This measurement tells us how
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much the signal was stretched and delayed by free
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electrons as it journeyed through space. The host
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galaxy itself is quite revealing. It's
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described as a low mass clumpy galaxy
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that's still relatively young and actively forming
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stars. The presence of an FRB in such
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a galaxy strongly supports the theory that these
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mysterious bursts originate from young
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magnetars, which are highly magnet Magnetized
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neutron stars. This suggests an origin
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that can occur over relatively short timescales,
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Rather than processes that take billions of years to
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develop.
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Avery: This discovery Effectively doubles the
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redshift reach of localized FRBs,
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allowing us to probe ionized baryons across
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about 80% of the universe's history.
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It also establishes FRB activity
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During what astronomers call cosmic noon,
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which was the peak period of star formation in the
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universe's history.
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Anna: It's fascinating how these millisecond long bursts
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can encode so much information about the plasma
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Permeating our universe, Giving us insights into
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magnetic fields and gas distributions. The
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observations also reveal Complex magnetic
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field structures Spanning gigaparsec scales
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along the burst's sightline as it passed through
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various cosmic structures.
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Avery: As next generation telescopes come online,
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discoveries like FRB2024
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0304B are trul
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exciting. They show us how these fleeting signals
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can act as messengers from the universe's distant
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past, Helping us piece together how it
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evolved from its chaotic youth into the
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structured cosmos we see today. It's just
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incredible.
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Anna: From exploring the distant past with FRBs,
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let's now turn our attention to an upcoming mission
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that's preparing to unlock the secrets of one of
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Jupiter's most intriguing moons. NASA's
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Europa Clipper mission, which began its long
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journey to Europa on October 14,
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2024, recently had a crucial pit
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stop. On March 1, the probe reached
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Mars not just for a gravity assist
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maneuver, but also to perform a vital
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test While orbiting the Red
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planet. Mission controllers on Earth Seized
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the opportunity to test the probe's ReSight
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instrument. ReSight stands for
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Radar for Europa Assessment and
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Sounding Ocean to Near surface.
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Avery: This radar instrument Is absolutely critical
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for the mission's primary goal to probe
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beneath Europa's icy sheet and search for pockets of
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water that could potentially harbor life. It's
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also designed to give scientists A, uh, glimpse Of Europa's
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interior ocean and shed light on how
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material Might be transferred from the interior to the
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surface.
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Anna: The test was a complete success, Producing
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a radargram that showed the outline Of Mars
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topography. This gave the team A
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fantastic preview of what the probe Will see
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When it arrives at Europa. REASON relies
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on two pairs of antennas that extend
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from the spacecraft's massive solar arrays,
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measuring an impressive
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17.6 meters from tip to
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tip.
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Avery: Testing this instrument in space Was crucial, Because
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certain aspects, like the echo test, where the
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radar signals bounce back, Simply couldn't be
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performed on earth Once the actual hardware was built.
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Dom Blankenship, the principal investigator for the
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radar instrument, said, we got everything out of the
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flyby that we dreamed the goal was to
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determine the radar's readiness for the Europa mission. And
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it worked. Every part of the instrument proved itself
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to do exactly what we intended.
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Anna: During the test, Reason sent and received
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radio waves for about 40 minutes while
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the spacecraft flew about 5,000
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kilometers above Mars surface,
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gradually lowering to 884
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kilometers. For comparison, once it's
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at Europa, REASON will operate when the
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Clipper is as close as 25km
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to the moon's surface.
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Avery: The instrument team collected a staggering 60
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gigabytes of rich data, which they started
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transmitting back to Earth in mid May.
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Scientists have been poring over this data, and it has
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confirmed that REASON is in perfect working order.
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Trina Ray, Europa Clipper's deputy science
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manager, shared the excitement, saying that all
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of us who had worked so hard to make this test happen
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and the scientists seeing the data for the first time
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were ecstatic, saying, oh, look at this.
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Oh, look at that.
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Anna: This Martian test has given the science team
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a head start on learning how to process the data
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and understand the instrument's behavior.
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Exercising those muscles just like they will
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out at Europa. The Europa Clipper's total
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journey to the icy Moon will be about
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2.9 billion kilometers.
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And it includes one more gravity assist
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using Earth in 2026. Currently,
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the spacecraft is about 450
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million kilometers from Earth, steadily making
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its way to Jupiter.
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Avery: That's an incredible level of preparation for the Europa
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Clipper.
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Speaking of unique opportunities to study distant
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objects, let's pivot to something truly rare.
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An interstellar visitor to our solar system.
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Anna: Yes. Astronomers using the Hubble Space
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Telescope have captured stunning
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observations of 3I
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atlas for the first time. This
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is only the third confirmed object from
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outside our solar system ever known to
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visit our cosmic neighborhood. Following
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Oumuamua in 2017 and
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Borisov in 2019.
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Each of these objects offers a unique
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window into planetary systems around
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other stars.
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Avery: What makes 3i Atlas particularly fascinating
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is its behavior. Even at 3.8
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astronomical units from the sun, almost four
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times farther than Earth is from the sun, it's already
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showing significant activity. Unlike
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asteroids, which typically remain largely unchanged,
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3i Atlas is behaving more like a comet.
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Anna: That's right. As solar radiation heats its
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surface, the object is releasing streams
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of dust particles, forming a distinctive
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tail pointing away from the Sun. This
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comet like activity provides
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astronomers with a rare opportunity to study
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material that originated in an entirely
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different star system.
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Avery: Using Hubble's exceptional resolution, the research
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team led by David Jewett from UCLA
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was able to have its first close look and estimate how
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much material 3i atlas is losing,
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they calculated the mass loss rate in dust to
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be between 6-60 kg per second.
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To put that into perspective, that's roughly equivalent
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to losing the mass of a small car every few
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minutes, which is a significant amount for such
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a distant and relatively small object.
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Anna: The team also worked to determine the size of
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3i ATLS's nucleus, though this was
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challenging since they could only see the glowing cloud
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of dust, not the solid core, directly.
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By analyzing the brightness distribution of the surrounding
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coma, they estimated the nucleus has an
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effective radius of less than 2.8
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kilometers, assuming it reflects only about
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4% of the light that hits it, similar to
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charcoal.
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Avery: This size constraint is crucial for understanding
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its composition and history. For instance,
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if its activity is driven by carbon monoxide
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turning from solid to gas, the the nucleus
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cannot be smaller than 0.16
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km in radius. Different materials
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require different amounts of solar heating to begin
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sublimating. So observing how and when
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3i ATLS becomes active
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helps scientists make educated guesses about what
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it's made of.
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Anna: These first Hubble observations of three I
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ATLAS represent a significant step forward
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in our ability to study these cosmic messengers.
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They offer insights not only into the object
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itself, but also into the distant
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stellar system that sent it on its incredible
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journey through the galaxy. It's like getting a
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postcard from another star system carrying
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chemical signatures and physical characteristics
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shaped by alien environments billions of
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kilometers away. From ancient light to
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interstellar visitors. We've covered some truly
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mind bending topics today.
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But let's shift gears and look at the more immediate future
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because it's shaping up to be a very busy week for
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launches.
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Avery: You're not kidding, Anna. Uh, we've got a packed
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schedule coming up with several significant missions.
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First up, ULA's Vulcan rocket is scheduled for
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its first launch of 2025 on Tuesday,
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August 12th. This mission, designated
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USF106, will carry a
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technology demonstration navigation satellite
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and NTS3 and a classified payload
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for the US Space Force into geosynchronous
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orbit.
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Anna: And just a day later, on Wednesday, August
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13, Europe's newest launch system,
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the Ariane 6, will have its second
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flight of 2025. This mission
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will carry the Metop SGA1
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weather satellite for Umetsat, which is
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crucial for monitoring weather, climate and
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the environment from space. It even
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includes the Sentinel 5 instrument for
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global air quality monitoring.
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Avery: On the same day, a Chinese Chenzang 5B
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rocket is expected to launch carrying a batch of
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communications satellites, likely part of China's
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ambitious Satnet constellation. Beyond these,
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we also have four SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink
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missions planned throughout the week, deploying hundreds
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of Internet satellites into orbit. It's an exciting time to
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be watching the skies.
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Anna: What a week it's shaping up to be for space
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enthusiasts. From record breaking distant
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signals, to critical tests for our missions to the
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outer solar system, and even a visit from another
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star system, it's been a truly captivating
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episode.
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Avery: M. Absolutely, Anna. Uh, and let's not
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forget that jam packed launch schedule coming up with new
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rockets and dozens of satellites heading to orbit.
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It just goes to show how dynamic and exciting the world of
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astronomy and space exploration. Truly.
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Anna: We hope you enjoyed diving into these fascinating
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stories with us. Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy
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Daily. And remember to visit our
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website@astronomydaily.IO for
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even more from the Astronomy Daily team.
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Avery: Keep looking up, stay curious and we'll catch you
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tomorrow. For more news from across the cosmos.
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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go to
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podcast for all things space and astronomy news.
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I'm Anna.
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Avery: And I'm Avery. We're so glad you're joining us
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today for another exciting dive into the cosmos.
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Anna: Today we'll be talking about a new record
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in detecting incredibly distant signals
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from the early universe.
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Avery: Plus, we'll check in on a fascinating planetary
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mission that just completed a crucial test
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near Mars, giving us a sneak peek at its
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capabilities. And get ready to hear about a
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mysterious visitor from beyond our solar system,
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captured for the first time by none other
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than the Hubble Space Telescope. To top it all off,
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we'll give you a rundown of a very busy week
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ahead in space launches featuring everything
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from Vulcan and Ariane 6 to multiple
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Starlink missions. Let's get started.
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Anna: Alright, let's kick things off with a truly
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groundbreaking discovery that's pushing the boundaries of
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our understanding of the early universe.
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Astronomers have traced a fast radio burst, or
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frb, to a record breaking distance
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across the cosmos. This new
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FRB, designated FRB
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20240304B,
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was initially detected on March 4,
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2024 by the MeerKAT Radio Telescope
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Array in South Africa. But what makes this
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one so special is its incredible distance.
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Avery: That's right, it has a redshift of
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2.148, which means we're looking at
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light that traveled for over 11 billion years
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to reach Earth. To put that in perspective, this
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burst originated just 3 billion years after
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the Big Bang, pushing our observational
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boundary of FRBs much further back
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into cosmic time. Previous detections
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only reached about halfway through cosmic history.
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Anna: That's right, finding the exact source of this signal
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was a real piece of detective work. Initially,
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ground based observatories and archival data
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couldn't pinpoint its host galaxy. But a
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follow up with the James Webb Space Telescope's
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NIRCAM and NIRSPEC instruments did the trick,
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revealing the FRB's host galaxy and getting a
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spectroscopic redshift. The burst's radio
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waves dispersed at a rate of about
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2,330 parsecs per
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cubic centimeter, acting like a cosmic
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fingerprint that confirmed its extremely distant
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origin. This measurement tells us how
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much the signal was stretched and delayed by free
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electrons as it journeyed through space. The host
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galaxy itself is quite revealing. It's
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described as a low mass clumpy galaxy
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that's still relatively young and actively forming
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stars. The presence of an FRB in such
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a galaxy strongly supports the theory that these
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mysterious bursts originate from young
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magnetars, which are highly magnet Magnetized
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neutron stars. This suggests an origin
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that can occur over relatively short timescales,
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Rather than processes that take billions of years to
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develop.
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Avery: This discovery Effectively doubles the
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redshift reach of localized FRBs,
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allowing us to probe ionized baryons across
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about 80% of the universe's history.
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It also establishes FRB activity
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During what astronomers call cosmic noon,
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which was the peak period of star formation in the
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universe's history.
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Anna: It's fascinating how these millisecond long bursts
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can encode so much information about the plasma
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Permeating our universe, Giving us insights into
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magnetic fields and gas distributions. The
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observations also reveal Complex magnetic
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field structures Spanning gigaparsec scales
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along the burst's sightline as it passed through
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various cosmic structures.
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Avery: As next generation telescopes come online,
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discoveries like FRB2024
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0304B are trul
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exciting. They show us how these fleeting signals
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can act as messengers from the universe's distant
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past, Helping us piece together how it
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evolved from its chaotic youth into the
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structured cosmos we see today. It's just
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incredible.
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Anna: From exploring the distant past with FRBs,
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let's now turn our attention to an upcoming mission
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that's preparing to unlock the secrets of one of
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Jupiter's most intriguing moons. NASA's
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Europa Clipper mission, which began its long
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journey to Europa on October 14,
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2024, recently had a crucial pit
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stop. On March 1, the probe reached
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Mars not just for a gravity assist
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maneuver, but also to perform a vital
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test While orbiting the Red
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planet. Mission controllers on Earth Seized
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the opportunity to test the probe's ReSight
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instrument. ReSight stands for
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Radar for Europa Assessment and
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Sounding Ocean to Near surface.
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Avery: This radar instrument Is absolutely critical
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for the mission's primary goal to probe
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beneath Europa's icy sheet and search for pockets of
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water that could potentially harbor life. It's
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also designed to give scientists A, uh, glimpse Of Europa's
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interior ocean and shed light on how
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material Might be transferred from the interior to the
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surface.
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Anna: The test was a complete success, Producing
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a radargram that showed the outline Of Mars
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topography. This gave the team A
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fantastic preview of what the probe Will see
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When it arrives at Europa. REASON relies
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on two pairs of antennas that extend
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from the spacecraft's massive solar arrays,
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measuring an impressive
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17.6 meters from tip to
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tip.
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Avery: Testing this instrument in space Was crucial, Because
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certain aspects, like the echo test, where the
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radar signals bounce back, Simply couldn't be
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performed on earth Once the actual hardware was built.
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Dom Blankenship, the principal investigator for the
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radar instrument, said, we got everything out of the
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flyby that we dreamed the goal was to
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determine the radar's readiness for the Europa mission. And
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it worked. Every part of the instrument proved itself
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to do exactly what we intended.
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Anna: During the test, Reason sent and received
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radio waves for about 40 minutes while
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the spacecraft flew about 5,000
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kilometers above Mars surface,
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gradually lowering to 884
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kilometers. For comparison, once it's
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at Europa, REASON will operate when the
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Clipper is as close as 25km
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to the moon's surface.
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Avery: The instrument team collected a staggering 60
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gigabytes of rich data, which they started
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transmitting back to Earth in mid May.
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Scientists have been poring over this data, and it has
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confirmed that REASON is in perfect working order.
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Trina Ray, Europa Clipper's deputy science
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manager, shared the excitement, saying that all
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of us who had worked so hard to make this test happen
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and the scientists seeing the data for the first time
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were ecstatic, saying, oh, look at this.
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Oh, look at that.
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Anna: This Martian test has given the science team
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a head start on learning how to process the data
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and understand the instrument's behavior.
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Exercising those muscles just like they will
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out at Europa. The Europa Clipper's total
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journey to the icy Moon will be about
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2.9 billion kilometers.
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And it includes one more gravity assist
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using Earth in 2026. Currently,
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the spacecraft is about 450
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million kilometers from Earth, steadily making
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its way to Jupiter.
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Avery: That's an incredible level of preparation for the Europa
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Clipper.
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Speaking of unique opportunities to study distant
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objects, let's pivot to something truly rare.
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An interstellar visitor to our solar system.
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Anna: Yes. Astronomers using the Hubble Space
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Telescope have captured stunning
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observations of 3I
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atlas for the first time. This
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is only the third confirmed object from
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outside our solar system ever known to
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visit our cosmic neighborhood. Following
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Oumuamua in 2017 and
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Borisov in 2019.
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Each of these objects offers a unique
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window into planetary systems around
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other stars.
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Avery: What makes 3i Atlas particularly fascinating
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is its behavior. Even at 3.8
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astronomical units from the sun, almost four
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times farther than Earth is from the sun, it's already
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showing significant activity. Unlike
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asteroids, which typically remain largely unchanged,
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3i Atlas is behaving more like a comet.
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Anna: That's right. As solar radiation heats its
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surface, the object is releasing streams
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of dust particles, forming a distinctive
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tail pointing away from the Sun. This
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comet like activity provides
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astronomers with a rare opportunity to study
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material that originated in an entirely
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different star system.
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Avery: Using Hubble's exceptional resolution, the research
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team led by David Jewett from UCLA
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was able to have its first close look and estimate how
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much material 3i atlas is losing,
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they calculated the mass loss rate in dust to
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be between 6-60 kg per second.
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To put that into perspective, that's roughly equivalent
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to losing the mass of a small car every few
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minutes, which is a significant amount for such
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a distant and relatively small object.
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Anna: The team also worked to determine the size of
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3i ATLS's nucleus, though this was
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challenging since they could only see the glowing cloud
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of dust, not the solid core, directly.
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By analyzing the brightness distribution of the surrounding
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coma, they estimated the nucleus has an
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effective radius of less than 2.8
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kilometers, assuming it reflects only about
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4% of the light that hits it, similar to
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charcoal.
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Avery: This size constraint is crucial for understanding
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its composition and history. For instance,
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if its activity is driven by carbon monoxide
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turning from solid to gas, the the nucleus
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cannot be smaller than 0.16
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km in radius. Different materials
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require different amounts of solar heating to begin
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sublimating. So observing how and when
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3i ATLS becomes active
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helps scientists make educated guesses about what
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it's made of.
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Anna: These first Hubble observations of three I
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ATLAS represent a significant step forward
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in our ability to study these cosmic messengers.
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They offer insights not only into the object
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itself, but also into the distant
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stellar system that sent it on its incredible
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journey through the galaxy. It's like getting a
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postcard from another star system carrying
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chemical signatures and physical characteristics
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shaped by alien environments billions of
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kilometers away. From ancient light to
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interstellar visitors. We've covered some truly
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mind bending topics today.
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But let's shift gears and look at the more immediate future
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because it's shaping up to be a very busy week for
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launches.
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Avery: You're not kidding, Anna. Uh, we've got a packed
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schedule coming up with several significant missions.
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First up, ULA's Vulcan rocket is scheduled for
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its first launch of 2025 on Tuesday,
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August 12th. This mission, designated
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USF106, will carry a
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technology demonstration navigation satellite
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and NTS3 and a classified payload
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for the US Space Force into geosynchronous
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orbit.
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Anna: And just a day later, on Wednesday, August
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13, Europe's newest launch system,
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the Ariane 6, will have its second
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flight of 2025. This mission
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will carry the Metop SGA1
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weather satellite for Umetsat, which is
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crucial for monitoring weather, climate and
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the environment from space. It even
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includes the Sentinel 5 instrument for
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global air quality monitoring.
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Avery: On the same day, a Chinese Chenzang 5B
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rocket is expected to launch carrying a batch of
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communications satellites, likely part of China's
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ambitious Satnet constellation. Beyond these,
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we also have four SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink
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missions planned throughout the week, deploying hundreds
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of Internet satellites into orbit. It's an exciting time to
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be watching the skies.
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Anna: What a week it's shaping up to be for space
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enthusiasts. From record breaking distant
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signals, to critical tests for our missions to the
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outer solar system, and even a visit from another
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star system, it's been a truly captivating
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episode.
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Avery: M. Absolutely, Anna. Uh, and let's not
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forget that jam packed launch schedule coming up with new
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rockets and dozens of satellites heading to orbit.
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It just goes to show how dynamic and exciting the world of
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astronomy and space exploration. Truly.
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Anna: We hope you enjoyed diving into these fascinating
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stories with us. Thank you for tuning in to Astronomy
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Daily. And remember to visit our
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website@astronomydaily.IO for
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even more from the Astronomy Daily team.
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Avery: Keep looking up, stay curious and we'll catch you
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tomorrow. For more news from across the cosmos.