Europe's Space Shield, Elon vs. NASA, and the Quirky Giants of Astronomy

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Anna: Hey there, space enthusiasts. Welcome to

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Astronomy Daily, your cosmic catch up for the

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latest in space and astronomy News. Give us

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10 minutes and we'll give you the universe.

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I'm Anna, and I've got my coffee ready. How

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about you?

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Avery: Yo, Anna. Uh, I'm Avery, and my mug's

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steaming. M too.

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It's October 22, 2025, and we've

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got a stellar lineup Today. We're diving into

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five out of this world stories. Europe's bold

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new Space Shield initiative. Some spicy drama

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between Elon Musk and NASA over the moon.

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Quirky giant planets rewriting astronomy

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textbooks, an interstellar comet ready to

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sprinkle NASA's Jupiter probe with cosmic

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dust. And a sneaky asteroid playing hide and

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seek in the sun's glare. Buckle up.

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Anna: Oh, yeah, Avery. It's like the universe is

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serving us a full buffet of news today. Let's

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get straight into our first story.

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Avery: Right, right.

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Let's kick things off with Europe's big move.

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The EU is rolling out the European Space

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Shield initiative in Q2 2026,

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part of their Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030.

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This is all about protecting space assets.

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Think satellites for navigation, Earth

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observation, and secure comms from growing

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threats. Anna, what's the vibe here?

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Anna: It's like Europe saying we're not messing

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around. They're pumping euro 800 billion

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into the rearm Europe program to boost

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defense, and this space shield is a

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cornerstone. It's about building tools to

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spot threats in real time, counter stuff like

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jamming or spoofing, and even do cool in

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space ops like satellite servicing. There

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released a white paper on European defense

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readiness in March this year, laying it all

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out.

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Avery: That's a hefty budget. This is one of four

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big initiatives alongside drone defense,

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eastern flank watch, and airshield

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space and air shields drop in quarter two,

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2026 after the others in quarter one.

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No word yet on who's joining or what

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companies are involved, but Europe's clearly

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leveling up its space game. Kaya Kallas,

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the EU high rep, put it to

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defend ourselves in space, we are now

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developing a new European Space shield.

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Anna: Love that quote. She's all about real time

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threat awareness, quick response and

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teamwork. And Commissioner Andreas Kabilius

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nailed it, too. There can be no defense

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without space, and there is no space without

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industry. It's like space is the

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backbone of modern security.

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Avery: Totally. This could really unify Europe

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against threats like anti satellite weapons

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or cyberattacks in orbit. With space getting

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more crowded and contested, it's a power

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move. Anna, uh, do you Think this could spark

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similar programs globally?

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Anna: Oh, for sure. It might nudge the US or others

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to team up or step up.

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Okay, let's pivot to some juicy drama.

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Tensions are flaring between Elon Musk and

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NASA over the Artemis moon missions. Avery,

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spill the tea.

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Avery: Oh, uh, it's piping hot.

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NASA's acting administrator, Sean

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Duffy, who's also the US transportation

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secretary, went on Fox News and

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said SpaceX's Starship delays are

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holding up Artemis 3 now pushed

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to mid-2027. He's like,

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love SpaceX, but we're in a race with China

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for the moon by 2030, so we're

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opening bids to other companies like Blue

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Origin. Musk clapped back on X,

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calling Duffy Sean dummy and accusing

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him of trying to kill NASA. Bold

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move, Elon.

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Anna: Whoa, that's some spicy shade. Duffy's

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pushing for the best players to get us to the

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moon first. But there's also NASA

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leadership drama. Duffy might stay. Or

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Jared Isaacman, a Musk buddy, could be back

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in the running after bowing out earlier.

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What's the deal with starship?

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Avery: Starship's the planned lunar lander, but it's

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super complex and delays keep piling up.

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No specifics on what's tripping them up, but

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it's critical to fix this. Could

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diversify NASA's roster, maybe speed things

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up to outpace China. But Musk's not

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happy. It's like a space soap opera.

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Science, politics and eagles colliding.

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Anna: Totally. It's a reminder that getting to the

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moon isn't just rockets. It's people and

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power plays. Will this light a fire under

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SpaceX or just make things messier?

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Alright, let's zoom out to something wilder.

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Giant planets. So weird they're rewriting the

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rules. Talk to me about these eccentric warm

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Jupiters, Avery.

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Avery: These are gas giants with wonky stretched out

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orbits. Nothing like our neat solar system.

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A team at Northern Arizona University backed

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by the NSF through M 2028, is diving into

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why warm Jupiters are like hot

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Jupiters, but orbit farther out. And get

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this. They're almost always aligned with

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their star's equator. Especially the quirkier

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their orbit. No model saw that coming.

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Anna: That's wild. Researcher Daniel

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Munoz said the variability of extrasolar

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planets is just enormous. We're very

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interested in seeing how the solar system

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forms in context. They're using NASA's TESS

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satellite to collect data. Theories. Maybe

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companion planets, birth nebulae. Or get

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this. Waves inside the star, messing with

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orbits.

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Avery: Munoz is all in on the star waves idea.

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Stars acting like fluid, creating Internal

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waves that align planets. He's throwing

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computers, math and wild creativity at it,

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Even hiring a grad student to help his words.

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We don't have a model that predicted this, so

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we're gonna go crazy and dive into the most

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creative ways we can think about this

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problem.

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Anna: That's the spirit of science. This could show

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if our solar system is typical or a, uh,

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cosmic oddball reshaping how we think planets

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form everywhere. Avery, what's the coolest

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part for you?

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Avery: Stars tweaking orbits like cosmic DJs.

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Mind blown.

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Next up, an update on Interstellar Comet

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3I Atlas, which just might shower

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NASA's Europa Cl with charged particles,

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giving us a taste of alien material.

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Anna: Okay, this is so cool. This comet from

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another star system has its ion tail

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predicted to cross Europa clipper's path

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between October 30 to November 6.

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It's harmless, but a science jackpot.

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Researchers Samuel Grant and Geraint Jones

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used tail catcher software to call it. Comets

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have dust tails trailing behind and ion tails

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pushed by solar wind, always pointing away

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from the Sun.

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Avery: That eye entails a time capsule from billions

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of years ago from another star's nursery. As

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3i Atlas hits perihelion on October

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29, 126 million miles from the Sun.

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It's got Vaisti Europa Clipper chilling

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186 million miles out after a Mars

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flyby and could snag ions zooming at

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hundreds of miles per second.

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Anna: The trick is detecting heavier water group

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ions versus solar wind, protons and helium,

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plus spotting flow slowdowns. But a US

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Government shutdown could have turned

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instruments off, and it needs strong solar

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wind. Grant said we have virtually no data on

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the interior of interstellar comets. Sampling

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the tail is the closest we can get to a

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direct sample.

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Avery: If it worked, we're comparing alien comets to

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ours. Tail catchers legit nailed

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it with Solar Orbiter in 2020. This

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could prep us for ESA's 2029

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Comet Interceptor. It's like getting a

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postcard from another star system without

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leaving the solar system.

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Anna: So clever how missions snag bonus science.

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Okay, last up today, asteroid 2025

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SC79 hiding in the Sun's glare and way too

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close for comfort.

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Avery: Found by Scott Shepard on September 27th with

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the Blanco telescope. Confirmed by Gemini and

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Magellan is the 39th Atira asteroid

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orbiting entirely inside Earth's and only the

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second fully inside Venus's. Dipping past

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Mercury with a 128 day period.

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The third shortest known.

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Anna: It's 700 meters wide. Not dinosaur killer

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big, but bad enough for continental chaos and

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billions at risk. Atiras, uh, are sneaky.

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Only visible in twilight due to sun glare.

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Its origins maybe knocked from the main belt.

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Captured closer, its heat tolerance sparks

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questions about what it's made of. More data

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when it pops back into view.

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Avery: Shepherd's warning was chilling. The most

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dangerous asteroids are the most difficult to

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detect. If these twilight asteroids approach

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Earth, they could pose serious impact

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hazards. It's a wake up call for better

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detection tech and a nod to our wild

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early solar system.

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Anna: Yeah, it's humbling. We're just a speck in a

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cosmic shooting gallery. We need those

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planetary defense upgrades asap.

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Avery: No kidding.

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Well, that's our cosmic tour for today. From

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shields in orbit to asteroids playing peek a

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booze. Never a dull moment out there.

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Anna: Thanks for hanging out with us on Astronomy

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Daily, folks. I'm Anna, and my coffee's gone

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cold, but my love for space is still red

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hot.

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Avery: I'm Avery, and I'm already hyped for

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tomorrow's news. Catch you then. Clear skies

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and keep looking up.