Cygnus XL Debut, Eclipse Wonders, and the Secrets of Makemake

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. Your go

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to source for the latest developments in

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space exploration and astronomical

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discoveries. I'm Anna and I'm

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here with my co host Avery to bring

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you today's most exciting space news.

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From cargo deliveries to the International

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Space Station, to mysterious

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exoplanets and upcoming

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eclipses, we've got a fantastic

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lineup of stories that showcase just how

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dynamic and fascinating our

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universe continues to be.

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Avery: That's right, Anna.

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Uh, we're starting today with an update and some

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fantastic news from the International Space

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Station where a brand new type of cargo

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spacecraft has finally arrived.

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Northrop Grumman's debut Cygnus XL

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freighter successfully reached the ISS on

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September 18, marking a significant

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milestone in commercial space transportation.

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This wasn't just any ordinary delivery. It was

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the first first mission of their new jumbo sized

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cargo vessel and it went remarkably well despite a

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small hiccup along the way. What makes this

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particularly exciting is that this represents

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a major evolution in Northrop Grumman's capabilities.

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The original Cygnus spacecraft has been reliably

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servicing the ISS since 2013, but this

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new XL Ariant is a game changer. With

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enhanced capacity and improved systems.

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Anna: The arrival was quite the spectacle.

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NASA astronaut Jonny Kim used the

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station's Kaned 2 robotic arm

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to grapple the Cygnus spacecraft at

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exactly 7:24am um, Eastern

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Time while the station was passing

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260 miles above the

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Democratic Republic of Congo. There was

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actually a one day delay due to some

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thruster issues, but the team worked through those

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challenges beautifully. What makes this

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mission so special is the spacecraft's

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enhanced capacity. This new Cygnus

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XL can carry approximately

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11,000 pounds of cargo compared

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to the previous model's 8,500

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pounds. That's a substantial increase in

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delivery capability. The technical

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improvements include an enlarged service

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module with better solar array

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efficiency and upgraded thrusters for

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improved maneuverability, making this a

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significant upgrade over previous Cygnus

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missions.

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Avery: And the timing couldn't be better. This is actually

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the first Cygnus delivery in over a year,

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so the crew was probably pretty excited to receive their

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supplies. The spacecraft launched on

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September 14th aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9

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rocket from Cape Canaveral and it's been named

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the SS William Willie McCool in honor

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of the Columbia crew member. The cargo manifest

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is particularly interesting from a scientific perspective.

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They're carrying materials for semiconductor crystal

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experiments, equipment for cryogenic fuel tank

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improvements, a, uh, UV light system for microbial

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control, and supplies for pharmaceutical crystal

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production research. The spacecraft is scheduled to remain

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docked until March 2026, giving

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researchers plenty of time to conduct their experiments.

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Anna: Speaking of celestial events, let's

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shift our focus from human made

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spacecraft to a natural

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astronomical phenomenon that's happening this

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weekend. A partial solar eclipse is

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set to occur on Sunday and Monday,

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September 22nd,

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though unfortunately, most of our listeners

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won't be able to see it directly. The

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eclipse will be visible from eastern Australia,

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New Zealand and Antarctica, with the

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Moon's Shadow passing about

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250 miles over the South Pole.

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The entire event will last four hours

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and 24 minutes, making it a

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relatively lengthy eclipse experience for

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those in the viewing zone.

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Avery: The eclipse coverage varies significantly

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depending on location. Sydney will

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only see about 2% of the sun

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eclipsed, while Hobart in Tasmania

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gets a slightly better view at 4%.

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The real winner is McMurdo M Station in

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Antarctica, where observers will witness

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68% of the sun being blocked

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by the Moon. But here's the most interesting

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viewing Southern New Zealand

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will experience what astronomers are calling a

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shark fin eclipse at sunrise. With

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about 20% coverage. It's

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fascinating how the geometry works out differently

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for each location. This eclipse is actually

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number seven in a series of 71

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eclipses called Saros series

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154. For those already planning

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ahead, the next total solar eclipse will

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occur on August 12, 2026,

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crossing Iceland and northern Spain.

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For scientists at McMurdo Station, this eclipse

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provides valuable research opportunities to

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study how partial solar blocking affects

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atmospheric conditions in one of Earth's most

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extreme environments.

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Now, uh, let's talk about a technology demonstration that's

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been quietly making history in deep space.

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NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications

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Experiment aboard this Psyche spacecraft has just

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concluded after nearly two years of operation.

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And the results have exceeded all expectations.

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This laser communication system has been beaming data back

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to Earth from incredible distances,

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proving that high speed communications across the solar system

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are not just possible, but practical. The

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mission just completed its 65th and final

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pass, transmitting laser signals from

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218 million miles away.

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That's comparable to the distance between Earth and Mars at

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certain points in their orbits. The performance numbers are

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absolutely staggering. Back in December

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2023, when Psyche was 19 million

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mil miles from Earth, the system successfully

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streamed ultra high definition video at

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267 Mbps.

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Think about that for a moment. That's faster than many home

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Internet connections. But the data was traveling

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across millions of miles of empty space.

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Using nothing but focused laser light,

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the system set its distance record in December

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2024, successfully downlinking

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data from 3,307 million

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miles away over the entire mission

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duration they received a total of

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13.6 terabits of data.

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The ground based infrastructure is equally impressive.

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They use a 3 kilowatt uplink laser at

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JPL's Table Mountain facility and receive

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the signals using the 200 inch telescope at

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Palomar Observatory. This technology could

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revolutionize communications for future Mars

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missions and deep space exploration.

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NASA is already planning to implement this technology on

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upcoming Mars missions, potentially enabling

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high definition video calls with Earth instead

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of the delayed low quality communications we're used to

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today.

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Anna: Let's venture beyond our solar system now to discuss

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a fascinating mystery involving

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exoplanets. Astronomers have launched a

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new program called Atreides to study what

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they call the Neptunian Desert. A, uh,

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puzzling absence of planets about 20

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times Earth's mass that orbit very to their

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stars. You'd expect to find planets of this

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size in close orbits, but they're

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surprisingly rare and scientists want to

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understand why. The first system they're

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studying is called TOI421,

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located 224 light years away.

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And it's already providing some intriguing clues about

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planetary formation and evolution.

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Avery: TOI421 is particularly interesting

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because it has two planets with misaligned orbits,

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which suggests their evolution was quite chaotic.

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TOI421B has about seven times

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Earth's mass and orbits at, uh, just 6% of

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the Earth's sun distance. That's incredibly close

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to its star. TOI 421c

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is even more massive at 14 times Earth's

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mass and orbits at 12% of the Earth's

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sun distance. The fact that their orbits are

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misaligned is telling astronomers a story about

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violent planetary migration. Instead of

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gently spiraling inward over millions of years,

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these planets likely experience what scientists call

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high eccentricity migration, essentially being

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flung around by gravitational interactions before

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settling into their current orbits.

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Understanding this process could help explain why hot

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Neptune sized planets are so rare and give us

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insights into how planetary systems form and

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evolve. The Atreides program uses

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advanced telescopes and space based observations

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to measure not just planetary size and mass,

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but also atmospheric composition and ocean

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orbital dynamics with unprecedented precision,

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helping astronomers understand the complex

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gravitational processes that shape these systems

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over millions of years.

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Anna: For our final story today, let's journey to

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the outer reaches of our own solar system, where

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the James Webb Space Telescope has made a

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remarkable discovery. Webb has

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detected methane gas on Makemake,

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a distant dwarf planet, making it only the

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second trans Neptunian object after

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Pluto where gas has been.

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Makemake is about 890 miles across,

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roughly 2/3 the size of Pluto. And this

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detection suggests it's far more dynamic

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than previously thought. The methane was

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identified through what scientists call solar

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excited fluorescence, where sunlight causes

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the methane molecules to emit detectable signals.

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Avery: This discovery opens up fascinating possibilities

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about what's happening on Makemake's surface.

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The methane could indicate the presence of a thin

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atmosphere, or it might suggest active

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sublimation processes where ice turns

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directly into gas or even

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cryovolcanic activity, essentially ice

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volcanoes. If Makemake does have an

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atmosphere, it would be incredibly tenuous,

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with temperatures around 40 Kelvin, that's

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minus 233 degrees Celsius

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and atmospheric pressure about a hundred billion

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times weaker than Earth's, making it a million

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times more tenuous than even Pluto's thin

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atmosphere. But the very fact that we can detect

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this gas shows that Makemake isn't just

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an inactive chunk of rock and ice floating in the

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outer solar system. It's a dynamic world with

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ongoing geological or atmospheric

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processes. This challenges our understanding

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of what makes a world active in the outer solar system.

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And scientists are planning follow up observations to

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determine whether the methane represents seasonal

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effects or more fundamental geological activity.

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Anna: You know, Avery, when we look at all these stories together,

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what really strikes me is how they represent different

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scales of human achievement and cosmic

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discovery. We've got practical successes like

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cargo delivery to the iss, incredible

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technological leaps like laser communications that will

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enable future exploration, and we're pushing the

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boundaries of knowledge by studying distant worlds and

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exoplanets that expand our understanding of

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planetary formation.

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Avery: Absolutely, Anna. Uh, and what I find particularly

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exciting is how these technologies and discoveries

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build on each other. The same infrared detection

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capabilities that let us find methane on

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MakeMake are helping us characterize

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exoplanet atmospheres. The laser communication

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systems being proven on the Psyche mission will

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eventually enable high bandwidth data transmission from

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Mars. Even the enhanced cargo capabilities of

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the Cygnus XL are enabling the kinds of

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experiments that will prepare us for establishing

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permanent research stations throughout the solar system.

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Anna: And that wraps up today's episode of Astronomy

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Daily. From the successful arrival of the new

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Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft at the International

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Space Station to the mysterious dynamics of

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distant dwarf planets, it's been another

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incredible day in space exploration and

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astronomical discovery news.

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Avery: Thanks for joining us today, everyone. I'm Avery

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along with Anna, reminding you to keep looking up and

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stay curious about the amazing universe around us.

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We'll be back tomorrow with more exciting space news

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and discoveries. Until then, clear

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skies.