Lightning on Mars, New Cosmic Objects, and the Future of European Spaceflight

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast that brings you the universe, one

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story at a time. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Um, it's great to have you with

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us. We've got news stretching from the rusty

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soil of Mars all the way to the deepest

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reaches of cosmic time.

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Avery: That's right, we'll be talking about possible

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lightning on Mars. A new crew arriving at the

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space station. Europe's next gen reusable

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spacecraft. A potential new kind of

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cosmic monster. And we'll finally get

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an answer to what drives the furious winds

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of Venus.

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Anna: So let's get started. Our first story takes

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us to the Red Planet, where an old question

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might have a shocking new answer.

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Avery: Do tell, Avery.

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Anna: For decades, scientists have wondered if

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lightning could occur on Mars. Well, it

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seems NASA's Perseverance rover may have

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finally captured the first direct evidence.

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Avery: Wow. Really? After all this time? How did it

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detect it? Was it a flash of light?

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Anna: Not visually, but audibly. The rover's

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super sensitive microphone, part of the

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Supercam instrument, recorded crackling

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sounds, faint pops and crackles that

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are distinct from the usual Martian wind.

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Avery: It heard lightning. That's incredible.

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So what's causing these electrical

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discharges?

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Anna: Scientists believe the primary suspect is the

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planet's infamous dust storms. The friction

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between dust particles as they're whipped

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around by the wind can build up a significant

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static charge. Just like shuffling your feet

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on a carpet.

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Avery: Right, and eventually that charge has to go

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somewhere, resulting in a spark.

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Anna: Exactly. A miniature Martian lightning

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bolt. While the energy is likely much lower

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than a typical terrestrial thunderstorm, it

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proves that Mars's atmosphere is more

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electrically active than we ever knew.

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Avery: So Mars has more dynamic and complex weather

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than we previously thought. This just makes

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me even more excited for future crewed

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missions. There's still so much to discover.

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Anna: I think you'll find you're not the only one

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waiting for that step.

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Avery: Speaking of space travel, let's turn our

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attention a little closer to home. On, um,

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Thanksgiving Day, a crew of three

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successfully launched to the International

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Space Station aboard a Soyuz rocket.

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Anna: That's right. The crew consists of one NASA

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astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts. It's

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a powerful symbol of continued international

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cooperation in space, even during complicated

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times here on Earth.

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Avery: Absolutely. The space station has always been

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a beacon for that kind of partnership. What's

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on the agenda for their mission?

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Anna: It's going to be a busy stay. They're

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scheduled for an eight month mission, during

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which they'll oversee a whole range of

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scientific experiments. These experiments

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cover everything from human biology and

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microgravity to material science and

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earth observation.

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Avery: And I imagine a lot of maintenance work too,

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keeping the 20 plus year old station in good

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shape.

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Anna: Of course, there's always something to fix or

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upgrade. They'll also be preparing the

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station for the arrival of new commercial

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modules and supporting spacewalks for

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hardware installation. It's a critical job to

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keep our outpost in orbit running smoothly.

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Avery: Well, we wish them, uh, a safe and productive

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mission up there.

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Anna: From the present of spaceflight to its

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future. The European Space Agency, or

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esa, has just announced a target date for a

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very exciting project. The inaugural flight

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of its state Space Rider vehicle is now set

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for 2028.

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Avery: Space Rider, that's ESA's reusable space

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plane, right? What makes it different from

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other spacecraft out there?

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Anna: Think of it as an uncrewed robotic space

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laboratory. It's designed to launch on a

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Vega C rocket, deploy a multi purpose

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cargo bay into orbit, and stay there for up

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to two months, conducting experiments

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automatically.

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Avery: So it's essentially a free flying science

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platform.

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Anna: Exactly, and here's the key part.

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After its mission is complete, it will re

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enter the Earth's atmosphere and land on a

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Runway just like an airplane. The vehicle and

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its payloads can then be recovered,

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refurbished and flown again.

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Avery: That's a huge step for Europe. Reusability

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is the name of the game for making access to

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space more affordable and sustainable. Having

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their own reusable vehicle opens up a lot of

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possibilities for science and technology

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development.

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Anna: It really does. It will give European

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scientists and companies a routine way to run

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experiments in microgravity and bring them

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back to Earth for analysis without relying on

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other launch providers. 2028 will be

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a year to watch.

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Avery: All right, now let's journey from low Earth

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orbit out to the edge of the observable

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universe. The James Webb Space Telescope has

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found something peculiar. And it might be

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a new class of object we've never seen

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before.

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Anna: This is one of those stories that really

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stretches the imagination. In some of its

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deepest images of the early universe, Webb

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spotted a series of tiny, extremely red

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dots.

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Avery: Okay, tiny red dots in deep space,

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that could be a lot of things. What's the

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theory?

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Anna: Well, after ruling out more conventional

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explanations like distant red galaxies,

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a team of astrophysicists has proposed a

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wild new idea. They think these could be

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a new kind of cosmic monster.

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Whoa. They're calling them black hole

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stars. The idea is that, uh, at the core of

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each of these objects is a supermassive

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black hole, but it's surrounded by an

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incredibly dense, massive shell of gas

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that it's feeding on.

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Avery: So it would look like a giant puffy star from

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the outside, but it's really a black hole in

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disguise.

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Anna: That's the essence of it. This shell of gas

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is so thick that it traps the light from the

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accreting, uh, material, making the object

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appear as a single redd point of light

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rather than a blazing quasar, which is what

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we'd normally expect to see.

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Avery: That would be a game changer for

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understanding how the very first

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supermassive black holes grew so big

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so fast in the early universe.

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Anna: It certainly would. If this hypothesis holds

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up, it means there could be a hidden

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population of these growing black holes

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that we've been completely missing until now.

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It's a testament to how JWST

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isn't just seeing farther, it's seeing,

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seeing things in a whole new way.

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Avery: It really does make you wonder what else is

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out there that we know nothing about. But

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let's hope it's not a case of ignorance is

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bliss.

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Anna: Ya betcha.

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Okay, for our final story, we come back

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to our own solar system, to Earth's evil

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twin sister planet, Venus. We're talking

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about its hellish atmosphere and the

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extreme winds that whip around the planet.

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Avery: Ah, uh, Venusian super rotation.

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This has been a huge puzzle for decades. The

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entire atmosphere rotates around the planet

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60 times faster than the planet itself

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spins.

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Anna: How is that even possible

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exactly? The mechanics have been a

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mystery, but new research is pointing to a

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key driver. A massive atmospheric

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tide fueled by the heat of the Sun.

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Avery: An, um, atmospheric tide like the ocean.

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Anna: Tides on Earth, Similar in principle, but

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driven by heat, not gravity. The

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sun intensely heats the dense atmosphere on

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the day side of Venus. This creates a

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huge planet wide thermal wave. As

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Venus slowly rotates, this wave of hot

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expanding gas travels around the planet,

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pushing the atmosphere and maintaining those

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incredible wind speeds.

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Avery: So the daily cycle of heating and cooling

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from the sun is constantly pumping energy

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into the atmosphere, keeping it spinning like

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a top.

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Anna: That's a perfect analogy. Previous theories

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focused on other factors, but this research

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suggests this daily thermal tide is a

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major contributor, if not the primary one.

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It's a huge step forward in understanding the

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climate of not just Venus, but potentially

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of tidally locked exoplanets around other

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stars.

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Avery: And that's all the time we have for today.

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From the crackle of Martian lightning to the

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roar of Venusian winds and the

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silent mysteries of the Eurelli universe, it'

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been another incredible time in

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astronomy.

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Anna: It certainly has. Thank you for joining us,

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uh, on Astronomy Daily. We hope you'll

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subscribe and join us again next time as we

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continue to explore the cosmos. You'll

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find us on all podcast platforms, or

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simply visit our website at astronomydaily

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IO for details. Plus, you can catch up on

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all the latest space news by checking out our

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constantly updating news feedback.

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Avery: Um, until tomorrow then, this has been.

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Anna: Avery and Anna wishing

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you Clear Sky.