Interstellar Comet 3i/Atlas, Lunar Myths Debunked, and the Mystery of Ancient Stars

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm avery. Give

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us 10 minutes and we'll give you the

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universe.

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

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We've got a fascinating lineup today, from

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an, um, update on our interstellar visitor

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to a cosmic myth that just won't fade.

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Avery: That's right. We'll also be touching on a

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very public debate about our history on the

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Moon and a discovery that challenges what we

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thought we knew about the end of a star's

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life.

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So let's get started. First up, something for

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all you stargazers out there. Our lead

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story is an update about a visitor from

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beyond our solar system, an interstellar

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comet named 3i Atlas. Which is

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putting on quite a show, right?

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Anna: This isn't just any comet. It's

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brightening much, much faster than anyone

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predicted. As it gets closer to the sun, it's

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becoming a real point of interest for both

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professional and amateur astronomers.

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Avery: Exactly. And it's not just its brightness. It

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has this distinct blue color. What does that

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tell us, Ann?

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Anna: That color is a big clue about its

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composition. The blue hue strongly

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suggests significant gas emissions, likely

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from volatile compounds like cyanogen and

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ammonia ice sublimating, turning

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directly from solid to gas as the Sun's

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heat hits them. It's like the comet is

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venting its ancient frozen materials into

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space.

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Avery: Fascinating. So we're essentially seeing the

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chemical makeup of an object from another

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star system. And we have some amazing

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tools pointed at it, right?

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Anna: Mm mhm. A whole fleet of solar monitoring

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satellites are tracking it. We're talking

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about stereo, A, SoHo, and even

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the new GOES 19 weather satellite. They're

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all being used to get different perspectives

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and data on how the comet is behaving as it

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heats up.

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Avery: And the best part for our listeners who might

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have a telescope sitting in their garage, is

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that 3i Atlas is now bright enough to be

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spotted with amateur equipment. So if you

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know where to look, you can see an object

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from another star with your own eyes.

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Anna: And these different perspectives are crucial,

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aren't they? Because this comet is on a

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hyperbolic trajectory, meaning it's moving

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too fast to be captured by our Sun's gravity.

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It's a one time visitor zipping through our

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neighborhood before heading back out into the

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vastness of interstellar space.

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Avery: That's what makes every piece of data so

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precious. Unlike, uh, comets from our own

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Oort cloud, which we can study again and

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again, this is our only chance to

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analyze the building blocks of another star

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system up, uh, close. It's like a cosmic

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probe sent to us from a distant unknown star.

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Anna: It's a really exciting opportunity. These

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interstellar visitors are rare, and one that

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puts on a show like this is even rarer. A

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great reason to dust off that telescope.

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Avery: Speaking of things capturing public

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attention, our next story shifts from the

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outer reaches of the solar system to a debate

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happening right here on Earth, centered on

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our own moon.

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Anna: This is a strange one. NASA recently had to

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publicly respond to a claim made by Kim

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Kardashian on her show. She stated that she

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believes the 1969 moon landing was

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fake.

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Avery: It's a conspiracy theory that's been around

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for decades, but it's always surprising when

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it gets a platform of that size. What was her

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reasoning?

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Anna: She cited some heavily edited videos of

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astronaut Buzz Aldrin where his words were

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taken out of context to make it sound like he

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was admitting it didn't happen. It's a

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classic case of misinformation,

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unfortunately. Mhm.

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Avery: So how did NASA handle it? You don't often

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see a government science agency getting into

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a back and forth with a reality TV star.

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Anna: They handled it with a lot of grace, I think.

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The acting administrator, Sean Duffy, issued

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a very clear statement. He didn't just

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dismiss the claim, but reiterated the fact

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that NASA has successfully landed humans on

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the moon six times.

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Avery: He also pointed to the mountains of physical

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evidence. We have hundreds of kilograms

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of lunar rocks that have been studied by

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scientists worldwide. Their composition

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is entirely different from Earth rocks.

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Plus there are retroreflectors left on the

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moon's surface by the Apollo missions that

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observatories still use today to measure the

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exact distance to the moon.

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Anna: And he extended an invitation,

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right?

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Avery: He did. He invited Kardashian to the Kennedy

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Space center to witness the launch of the

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upcoming Artemis mission, which will be

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sending astronauts back to the Moon. A sort

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of come see for yourself gesture. It

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was a firm but very classy way to counter the

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misinformation. And turned it into a

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teachable moment.

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Anna: Exactly. And let's not forget the

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independent verification. The Soviet Union,

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America's chief rival in the space race,

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was monitoring the Apollo missions. If the

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landings were faked, they would have had

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every incentive to expose it, and they

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never did. The evidence is simply

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overwhelming.

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Avery: Absolutely. A good reminder of how important

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it is to rely on primary sources and

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scientific consensus. From celebrities

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looking at the moon to scientists looking at

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distant dying stars.

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Our next story is a real head scratcher.

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Anna: This one comes from the field of stellar

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evolution. Astronomers have found something

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that really shouldn't exist according to our

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current models. It's an ancient White dwarf

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star about 3 billion years old that's

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still actively consuming the remains of its

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own planet.

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Avery: That's incredible. A white dwarf is a

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dense core left over after a star like our

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sun dies. The con thinking is that

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any planetary cleanup process should be over

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much, much sooner than 3 billion years.

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Anna: Precisely. The star is called

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LSPM J

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M02073331,

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and it's surrounded by a debris disk made of

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shredded planetary material. This disk

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is the oldest and most metal rich ever

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observed around a star of this type. It's

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like finding a dinosaur that's still alive

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and eating.

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Avery: So what's the theory? How is this still

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happening after so long?

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Anna: The leading hypothesis is that the planetary

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system must have been disturbed relatively

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recently. Something must have happened.

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Perhaps a gravitational nudge from a

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surviving outer planet that sent a rocky body

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spiraling inwards towards the white dwarf,

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where it got torn apart by the star's immense

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gravity.

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Avery: So it suggests that planetary systems can

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remain dynamically active for billions of

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years after their star has died. That's a

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profound thought.

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Anna: It's a chaotic process, but one that provides

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a unique window. When this material falls

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onto the white dwarf, Astronomers can analyze

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its chemical signature using spectroscopy.

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This tells them exactly what the shredded

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planets were made of, whether they were rocky

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like Earth, or rich in other elements.

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It's like performing an autopsy on an

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exoplanet.

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Avery: So this discovery isn't just about one

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strange old star. It gives us a

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glimpse into the very, very distant future

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of our own solar system. Billions of years

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from now, after our sun becomes a white

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dwarf, the remaining planets might get

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jostled around, and Earth itself could

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eventually be torn apart and consumed in a

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similar fashion.

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Anna: It really is. It forces us to

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rethink the timelines for the late stages of

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stellar evolution. It's a beautiful,

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chaotic glimpse into the far future of, uh,

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systems like our own.

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Avery: That brings us back closer to home. We were

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just talking about the Moon in a cultural

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context. But our final story looks at a long

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standing belief about its direct effect on

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us, specifically on our sleep and our

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behavior.

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Anna: Right. The idea of the full Moon effect.

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Many people swear they sleep worse or that

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people act strangely during a full moon. We

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spoke with a neurologist to get the

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scientific take on this.

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Avery: And what's the verdict? Is there any truth to

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it?

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Anna: There's a tiny kernel of truth when it comes

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to sleep. Studies show that on average,

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people get about 20 minutes less sleep on the

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nights surrounding a full moon. But the

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influence on mental health or behavior has

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no scientific proof whatsoever.

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Avery: Okay, so why the 20 minutes of lost

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sleep? Is it gravity or something more

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mysterious?

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Anna: Nothing so mysterious. The most likely

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culprit is simply light. A full Moon

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is significantly brighter than any other

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phase. And that extra light, especially

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in pre industrial times, could be enough to

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delay our body's internal clock and suppress

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the production of the sleep hormone

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melatonin.

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Avery: That makes sense. And the behavioral stuff?

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The idea that emergency rooms are busier

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or people are more erratic.

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Anna: It's an ancient belief, isn't it? The

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word lunacy itself comes from luna, the

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Latin word for Moon. For centuries, people

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have tried to link human behavior to the

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lunar cycle without any real evidence.

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Avery: That's likely a psychological phenomenon

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called illusory correlation. Our brains

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are wired to find patterns, and we tend to

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remember events that confirm our beliefs.

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So if something odd happens during a full

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Moon, we link the two while ignoring

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all the odd things that happen when the Moon

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isn't full.

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Anna: That's right. And another common argument you

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hear is about the Moon's gravitational pull

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affecting the water in our bodies, just like

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it causes ocean tides. But the neurologist

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we spoke to completely debunked that.

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The gravitational force of the Moon on a

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person is miniscule, far less than

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the force exerted by a large building you're

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standing next to. It's simply not strong

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enough to have any biological effect.

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Avery: Right. And the neurologist also pointed out

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that the impact of the Moon's light pales in

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comparison to the artificial light we're

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bathed in every night from our phones,

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screens and streetlights.

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Anna: Exactly. If you're worried about light

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disrupting your sleep, the full Moon should

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be the least of your concerns. It's a

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fascinating myth, but one that science has

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largely put to bed.

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Avery: A perfect summary. And that's all the time we

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have for today's deep dive into the cosmos,

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from interstellar comets to ancient stars

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and lunar myths.

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Anna: Thanks for joining us, uh, on Astronomy

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Daily. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Join us next time as we

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continue to explore the universe. Until then,

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keep looking up.