Galactic Maps, Colour-Changing Spacesuits, and the Moon's Hidden Resources

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Avery: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

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source for the latest news from across the

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cosmos. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.

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Today we're covering everything from a new

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galactic map to the future of spacesuits.

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Avery: That's right. We'll be looking at how Earth

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might be making the Moon more habitable,

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checking in on a very busy month for the

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International Space Station, and Even

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touching on SpaceX's plans to go public.

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So let's get started.

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Anna: Our first story takes us to the very heart

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part of our own galaxy. NASA has announced

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a groundbreaking new survey using its

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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

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The goal is to create an unprecedented map of

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the Milky Way.

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Avery: And this isn't just any map. The Roman

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telescope will be surveying the galaxy in

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infrared light. For our listeners, that means

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it can peer through the dense clouds of

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cosmic dust that normally block our view of

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the galactic center.

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Anna: Exactly. It's like having a new pair of

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glasses that can see through fog. Scientists

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expect to reveal tens of billions of stars

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and uncover hidden galactic structures we've

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never seen before.

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Avery: Tens of billions. The scale is

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just staggering. What are they hoping to

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learn from all this new data?

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Anna: The applications are vast. They'll be able to

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study star formation and evolution in

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incredible detail. But what I find really

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exciting is the potential to find stellar

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embers like white dwarfs and neutron

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stars through a technique called

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microlensing.

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Avery: Right where the gravity of a closer object

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magnifies the light from a more distant one.

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This new survey, covering nearly 700

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square degrees of the sky, is going to be a

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treasure trove for decades to come.

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Anna: It certainly will be now.

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From the galactic scale to the very personal,

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our next story is about protecting the

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astronauts who venture into space. Avery,

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tell us about these color changing

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spacesuits.

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Avery: This sounds like something straight out of

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science fiction. Scientists in Scotland are

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developing a fabric treated with a special

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kind of bacteria. The amazing part is that

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these bacteria actually change color when

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they're exposed to radiation.

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Anna: So the spacesuit itself would act as a

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radiation detector.

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Avery: Precisely. The project is called Pigmented

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Space Pioneers. And the idea is to provide a

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clear visual indicator of an astronaut's

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radiation exposure in real time.

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Anna: That's incredibly important. We know that

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long term radiation exposure is a major

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health risk for astronauts, increasing the

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chances of developing cancer. This could be a

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simple but effective way to help them monitor

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and mitigate that risk. Mm

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Avery: And it's not just the lab concept anymore.

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They're actually preparing a sample of this

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fabric to be tested in Space. It will be

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flown on a small satellite to see how it

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holds up in the real environment. A very

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creative solution to a serious problem.

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Anna: Absolutely.

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Speaking of environments in space, our next

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piece of news. Questions are long held

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assumptions about the Moon. A new study

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suggests it might be more habitable than we

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thought, thanks to a surprising source.

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Our own planet.

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Avery: How is that possible? Is Earth somehow

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seeding the Moon?

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Anna: In a way, yes. The study from the University

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of Rochester proposes that Earth's

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magnetosphere has been enriching the lunar

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soil with life sustaining substances for

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billions of years.

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Avery: Okay, I'm intrigued. What's the mechanism

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here?

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Anna: It's all about our planet's magnetic field.

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As particles escape the upper layers of our

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atmosphere, the magnetosphere guides them.

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When the Moon passes through Earth's

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magnetotail, the part of the magnetic field

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stretched out by the solar wind, these

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particles can rain down onto the lunar

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surface.

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Avery: And we're talking about important particles,

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right? Like water and nitrogen.

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Anna: That's right. These are crucial volatiles.

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The study suggests that the lunar poles in

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particular could have accumulated significant

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amounts of these substances over eons.

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This could mean the Moon has far more

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resources for things like water and air

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than we previously estimated.

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Avery: Which would be a massive boost for any plans

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for long term human missions or even a

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permanent base. Less to carry, more to

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find when you get there. A fascinating

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connection between Earth and its satellite.

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Anna: Indeed.

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Now let's move from a potential future

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outpost to our current one, the

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International Space Station. Avery. It

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seems they had a remarkably busy November.

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Avery: Extremely busy. The ISS hit two

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major milestones last month. First, for

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the first time in its 27 year history, all

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eight of its docking ports were occupied

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simultaneously. Think of it as a completely

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full parking garage and orbit.

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Anna: Wow, that's a lot of traffic. What was the

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other milestone?

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Avery: The station also officially celebrated

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25 years of continuous human presence

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in space. A quarter of a century with people

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living and working in space nonstop.

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It's an incredible achievement for

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international cooperation.

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Anna: It really is. And it wasn't just about

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anniversaries. The month was packed with

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activity, including crew rotations with the

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arrival of Soyuz MS.28 and

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several cargo resupply missions to keep the

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station stocked.

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Avery: Right. And of course, the science never

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stops. The crew conducted numerous

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experiments focusing on everything from

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cardiovascular health and the effects of

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microgravity on stem cell development to

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testing new life support systems. Just

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another month at the office for the ISS crew.

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Anna: A very busy office.

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Okay, shifting gears from public space

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efforts to the private sector, There are some

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big murmurs coming from SpaceX

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that's putting it mildly.

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Avery: According to several media reports, SpaceX is

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considering going public with an IPO, an

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initial public offering possibly as early as

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2026.

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Anna: And the numbers being discussed are

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astronomical, even for a space company.

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The potential valuation is pegged at around

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$1.5 trillion.

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Avery: That would make it one of the most valuable

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companies in the world. The big question is

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why now? What would they use that massive

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influx of capital for?

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Anna: Well, the speculation points to a truly

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ambitious long term vision. The funds

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could be aimed at building out a network of,

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space based data centers. The idea is

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to support the rapidly growing artificial

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intelligence industry, which requires immense

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computational power.

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Avery: Data centers in orbit, That's a new one.

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It ties into an even grander vision we've

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heard about before, right?

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Anna: Mm It seems to be part of a roadmap that

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could eventually involve building factories

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on the Moon. It's a huge leap, but

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it shows the scale of ambition in the private

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space industry right now.

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Avery: Definitely one to watch.

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For our final story today, we're going from

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high finance back to pure science with a look

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at an interstellar visitor. Anna, tell us

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about Comet 3i Atlas.

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Anna: This is a really neat observation from the

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European Space Agency's XMM M M

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Newton Observatory. This telescope

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doesn't see invisible light, but in X rays.

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And it has managed to capture an image of the

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interstellar comet 3i ATLAS

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glowing in x ray light.

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Avery: How does a comet produce X rays? I thought

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they just reflected sunlight.

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Anna: It's a process called charge exchange.

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As the comet gets closer to the sun, it

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releases gases. When particles from the

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solar wind, which are highly charged,

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smash into these neutral gas molecules,

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they exchange electrons and this

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interaction emits an X ray photon.

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Avery: ah, okay. So observing an X ray gives

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scientists a different kind of information

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than a regular telescope would.

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Anna: A, very useful kind. This technique is

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particularly good at detecting certain gases

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like hydrogen and nitrogen, which can be

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very difficult to spot with other telescopes.

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So by analyzing the X ray signature,

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scientists can get a much clearer picture of

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what the comet is made of.

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Avery: And since this is an interstellar comet, that

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composition tells us something about the

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chemistry of the distant star system.

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Anna: It came from a little postcard from another

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part of the galaxy.

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Avery: And that brings us to the end of our space

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and astronomy news roundup for today. From a

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new map of our home galaxy and bacteria

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infused spacesuits to a more resourceful

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moon and a record breaking month on the iss,

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it's been another busy day in space and

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astronomy.

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Anna: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of

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Astronomy Daily. Thanks so much for tuning

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in.

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Avery: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your

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podcasts so you don't miss an episode, and to

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visit our website@astronomydaily.IO.

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until next time, I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Clear Skies.

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The stories.

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Were told.