Cygnus Setbacks, Black Hole Mysteries, and the Asteroid Showdown of 2029

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna, and

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I'm here with my co host, Avery, to bring you the

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latest and most fascinating news from across

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the cosmos.

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Avery: Hey, everyone. Avery here and. Wow, Ana,

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um, do we have some incredible stories for you today.

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From spacecraft having technical hiccups to

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black holes completely flipping their magnetic

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fields, this has been an absolutely wild week

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in space.

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Anna: It really has been. Plus, we're talking about

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ancient comet impacts that may have

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changed human history and an

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asteroid that's going to give us the show of a lifetime

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in 2029.

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But let's start with something happening right now in

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orbit.

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Avery: Right, so Northrop Grumman's new Cygnus

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XL spacecraft is having some propulsion troubles.

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This was supposed to be its debut mission, and it's a big

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deal because this thing can carry 33%

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more cargo than the standard Cygnus.

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Anna: We're talking over 11,000 pounds of supplies.

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That's a significant upgrade in capacity. But

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during the orbit raising burns, you know, the

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maneuvers to get it to the right altitude to meet the International

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Space Station. Something went wrong with the

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propulsion system.

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Avery: And this pushed back the planned Wednesday docking.

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NASA astronauts Johnny Kim and Zena Cardman

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were all set to capture it with the Can Atom two.

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I, uh, have to imagine there's some disappointment up there. They've been preparing

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for this.

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Anna: Absolutely. And this comes after we've had

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previous Cygnus damage incidents. So cargo

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resupply to the ISS has been a real challenge

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lately. The crew up there depends on these regular

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deliveries for everything from scientific equipment

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to basic supplies.

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Avery: The technical details are quite interesting here,

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Avery. The Cygnus XL uses a new

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service module design that's significantly larger

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than the standard version. It's powered by enhanced

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Antares engines and was specifically

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designed to handle heavier payloads for NASA's

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Commercial Resupply Services program.

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Anna: And what's really crucial here is that this isn't just about

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delaying one delivery. The ISS operates

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on a tight logistics schedule with multiple international

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partners coordinating everything from crew

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rotations to scientific experiments.

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When something like this happens, it creates a domino effect

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that can impact research timelines for months.

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It really highlights how complex these missions are.

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I mean, you've got to get the timing perfect, the trajectory

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perfect, and every system has to work

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flawlessly. We when you're dealing with spacecraft moving

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at 17,500 miles per hour,

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there's no room for error.

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Avery: Speaking of things that seem impossible, let's

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talk about something that happened 55 million

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light years away that's completely baffled

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scientists. The Event Horizon Telescope has

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been monitoring M M87 star, that

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supermassive black hole we first photographed back in

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2019.

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Anna: Oh, this is incredible. So they've been watching this

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black hole from 2017 to 2021.

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And in that the magnetic field polarization

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around it completely reversed direction. The

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researchers are calling this totally unexpected.

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Avery: We're talking about a black hole that's six and a

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half billion times the mass of our sun,

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that's almost incomprehensibly massive.

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And somehow, over just four years, its

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entire magnetic field structure flipped.

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Anna: What's even more amazing is that they also captured

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images of the base of the particle jet for the first time.

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You know, that stream of matter and energy that gets shot out

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from near the black hole hole at nearly the speed of light. This

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is groundbreaking observational astronomy.

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Avery: What's fascinating is how this discovery relates to the

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broader physics of accretion disks. The

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magnetic fields around black holes are generated by the

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swirling matter in the accretion disk. That

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superheated material spiraling into the black

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hole. For the entire field structure

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to flip means something fundamental

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changed in that disk's behavior. And the implications go

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beyond just M87. It could help us

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understand how supermassive black holes influence

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galaxy formation and evolution. These

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magnetic field changes affect the jets, which in turn

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influence star formation rates across entire

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galaxies. We're talking about cosmic

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processes that shape the universe on, uh, the largest

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scales imaginable.

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Anna: And it's challenging our current models of black

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hole physics. I mean, we thought we understood how

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these magnetic fields behaved around black holes,

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but clearly there's still so much we don't know.

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It makes you wonder what other surprises are waiting out

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there.

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Avery: It really does. Now let's shift from the

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cosmic scale to something much closer to home.

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But equally fascinating, there's new evidence

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supporting a really controversial theory about what

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happened to early human civilizations

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12,000 years ago.

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Anna: The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.

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Researchers have found shocked quartz at three

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different Clovis culture archaeological sites.

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Murray Springs in Arizona, Blackwater Draw

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in New Mexico, and Arlington Canyon

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in California.

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Avery: And shocked quartz is key here, Anna. Ah, this stuff

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only forms under extreme pressure and heat. We're

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talking about conditions similar to nuclear explosions or

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massive impact craters. It's not something you

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find lying around naturally.

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Anna: The theory suggests that an exploding comet

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12,000 years ago triggered this abrupt

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cooling period called the Younger Dryas. And this

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wasn't just a climate event. It may have caused the

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extinction of megafauna like we' mammoths

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and contributed to the collapse of the Clovis culture.

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Avery: It's fascinating to think that a cosmic event could have

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such profound effects on early human civilization.

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I mean, we're talking about a period when humans were just

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developing agriculture and settling into more permanent

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communities.

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Anna: Exactly. And finding this shocked quartz

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at multiple sites really strengthens the case.

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This has been a controversial hypothesis for years,

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but the physical evidence is mounting. It

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shows how vulnerable we are to cosmic events,

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even to today.

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Avery: Speaking of cosmic impacts and their effects, we should

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talk about something exciting happening in exoplanet research.

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The James Webb Telescope has been making incredible

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discoveries about planetary atmospheres. And there's one

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recent finding that's particularly intriguing.

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Anna: You're talking about WASP 96B, aren't

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you? The Webb telescope has been analyzing its

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atmosphere in unprecedented detail. And what they

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found is revolutionizing our understanding of how

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water vapor and clouds behave on

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exoplanets. This hot gas giant

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about 1100 light years away is giving us

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insights that could apply to thousands of other worlds.

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Avery: Exactly. What's remarkable is that Webb can

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detect individual molecules in the planet's atmosphere

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as it transits in front of its star. We're seeing

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clear signatures of water vapor, along with evidence of

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clouds and haze. But here's the kicker. The

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atmospheric composition is nothing like what our current

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models predicted for planets like this.

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Anna: This is why Webb is such a game changer.

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Each exoplanet atmosphere it analyzes is

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like open chapter in planetary science.

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And as we build this database of atmospheric

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compositions across different types of worlds,

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we're getting closer to answering that fundamental question.

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What makes a planet capable of supporting life as

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we know it?

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Avery: Which brings us perfectly to our next story.

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Apophis, the so called God of chaos

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asteroid. Now, before anyone panics,

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this is a completely safe passage, but it's going to.

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Anna: Be absolutely Spectacular on

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Friday, April 13, 2029. And

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yes, that is Friday the 13th. This

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340 meter asteroid will pass

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closer to Earth than our geosynchronous satellites.

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We're talking about just 5.9 Earth radii

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away.

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Avery: The timing couldn't be more perfect for a

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dramatic effect, right? Friday the

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13th and an asteroid called the God of

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Chaos. But here's what's really exciting.

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Up to 2 billion people might be able to see

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this with the naked eye. That's four times more

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people than watched Neil Armstrong step onto the moon.

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Anna: And this kind of close approach only

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happens once every 7,500 years.

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So this is truly a, uh, once in multiple lifetimes

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event. The scientific community is

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incredibly excited. Europe's planning the

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Ramses mission. Japan has destiny

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plus And NASA is sending Osiris

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apex.

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Avery: It's going to be an unprecedented scientific

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opportunity. We'll be able to study how Earth's

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gravity affects the asteroid's rotation,

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surface and internal structure. Plus

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imagine the photos and videos we'll get as it streaks

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across the sky.

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Anna: The scientific planning for this event has been in the works

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for years, Avery. The Ramses mission from

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ESA will actually arrive at apophis

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before the 29 encounter to study it in

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its natural state. Then they'll observe in real

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time how Earth's gravitational field changes

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the asteroid's shape, spin and surface

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features.

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Avery: And NASA's OSIRIS APEX mission is equally

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exciting. This is actually the same

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spacecraft that visited astronaut Asteroid Bennu and

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collected samples. It's being repurposed to study

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Apophis, and it'll use its thrusters to

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kick up material from the surface so we can analyze the

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asteroid's composition in detail. We're

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essentially getting a free asteroid sample return

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mission.

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Anna: I can only imagine the social media

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explosion that's going to happen that day.

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Two billion people all looking up

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at the same time, watching the same

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cosmic visitor. It's going to be

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incredible.

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You know, while we're talking about future cosmic events,

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Avery, we should mention some significant

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developments in lunar science.

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NASA's recent analysis of data from the Lunar

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Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed something

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fascinating about the Moon's south polar region.

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There may be significantly more water ice trapped

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in permanently shadowed craters than we previously

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thought.

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Avery: This is huge for the Artemis program. Anna. Uh, the

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presence of water ice isn't just scientifically interesting,

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it's potentially mission critical for long term lunar

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habitation. We're talking about a resource that could

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be converted into drinking water, oxygen for

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breathing, and even rocket fuel for future Mars

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missions. The Moon could literally become a

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refueling station for deeper space exploration.

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Now, before we wrap up, we've got a couple of quick

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bonus stories that I think our listeners will love.

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There'll be this amazing triple conjunction on

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September 19th where Venus Regulus

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and a crescent Moon will form what looks like a

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smiley face in the dawn sky.

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Anna: Oh, that should be adorable. And there will

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be rare occultations happening too.

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Sometimes the universe just seems to have a sense of humor about these

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alignments.

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Avery: And speaking of surprises, there was an unexpected

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aurora storm caused by something called a positive

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polarity island in a coronal hole.

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It created a G3 geomagnetic storm

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that was visible as far south as Texas.

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Anna: People in Texas seeing the northern lights,

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that's just wild. It really shows how

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dynamic and unpredictable our sun can be.

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These space weather events are becoming more important to

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track as we become more dependent on satellite

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technology.

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Avery: Absolutely.

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Well, that wraps up another incredible day in Astronomy

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News. From spacecraft delays and

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magnetic field reversals to ancient

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impacts and future asteroid encounters, the

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universe never stops surprising us.

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Anna: It really doesn't. Thanks to all our

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listeners for joining us on Astronomy Daily. Keep looking

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up, stay curious, and we'll see you next time with

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more amazing stories from across the cosmos.

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Avery: Until next time, this is Anna and Avery signing off.

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Clear skies, everyone.