Lunar Ambitions, Betelgeuse's Possible Partner Doubts, and Earth's Magnetic Anomaly

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.200
Anna: Welcome space enthusiasts to Astronomy

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:04.640
Daily. I'm Anna.

2
00:00:04.800 --> 00:00:07.760
Avery: And, um, I'm Avery. We're your guides through the cosmos,

3
00:00:07.840 --> 00:00:10.840
bringing you the latest and most fascinating news from

4
00:00:10.840 --> 00:00:11.840
across the universe.

5
00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.200
Anna: Today we've got a packed episode for you.

6
00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:18.000
We'll be diving into Italy's ambitious

7
00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.640
plans to build the first lunar home for

8
00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.400
astronauts on the moon, a significant step

9
00:00:23.400 --> 00:00:25.200
in future space exploration.

10
00:00:26.060 --> 00:00:28.780
Avery: Then we'll shift gears to explore some incredible

11
00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:31.460
ancient wisdom, discussing how Aboriginal

12
00:00:31.460 --> 00:00:34.420
Australians possessed an extensive knowledge

13
00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:37.380
of their sky country intimately linked to

14
00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:39.900
their traditional songlines and navigation.

15
00:00:40.860 --> 00:00:43.580
Anna: And get ready for some cosmic mysteries.

16
00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:46.580
We'll look at a tentative discovery regarding

17
00:00:46.580 --> 00:00:49.340
Betelgeuse and its potential elusive

18
00:00:49.340 --> 00:00:52.100
companion. Plus discuss a curious

19
00:00:52.100 --> 00:00:54.620
and growing anomaly right here in Earth's

20
00:00:54.620 --> 00:00:57.420
magnetic field that NASA is keeping a close

21
00:00:57.420 --> 00:00:57.890
eye on.

22
00:00:58.360 --> 00:01:01.000
Avery: It's going to be an exciting journey through breakthroughs,

23
00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:03.960
ancient insights and perplexing phenomena.

24
00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:07.280
So buckle up because Astronomy Daily starts

25
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:07.560
now.

26
00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:11.360
Anna: Alright, let's kick things off with some exciting

27
00:01:11.360 --> 00:01:13.640
news from the European spacefront.

28
00:01:13.880 --> 00:01:16.480
Italy is stepping up its game in lunar

29
00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.160
exploration with plans to build the first

30
00:01:19.160 --> 00:01:21.960
residential module for astronauts on the Moon.

31
00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:25.360
Avery: That's right, Anna, um, Adolfo Jerso, Italy's

32
00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:28.240
Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, made the

33
00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:30.940
announcement. This isn't just just any module.

34
00:01:30.940 --> 00:01:33.780
It's called the Multi Purpose Habitat, or

35
00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:36.660
MPH module. And it's set to be the first

36
00:01:36.660 --> 00:01:39.340
genuine surface habitat for a sustained

37
00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:41.380
astronaut presence on the Moon.

38
00:01:42.020 --> 00:01:44.820
Anna: It sounds incredibly ambitious. This

39
00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:47.700
mobile pressurized unit is designed to support

40
00:01:47.860 --> 00:01:50.820
scientific research and human exploration

41
00:01:50.820 --> 00:01:53.780
in the Moon's extreme environment. Erso

42
00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:56.660
emphasized that this is a result of a clear political

43
00:01:56.820 --> 00:01:59.460
vision to establish Italy as a space

44
00:01:59.540 --> 00:01:59.940
power.

45
00:02:01.710 --> 00:02:04.670
Avery: And they're not wasting any time. Back in July, Thales

46
00:02:04.670 --> 00:02:07.590
Alenia Space, a joint venture, signed

47
00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:10.350
a contract with the Italian Space Agency, or

48
00:02:10.350 --> 00:02:13.230
asi, to kick off the preliminary design

49
00:02:13.390 --> 00:02:16.350
phase for the mph. This is all happening

50
00:02:16.350 --> 00:02:19.270
under the bilateral cooperation between NASA and

51
00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:21.870
ASI as part of the Artemis program.

52
00:02:23.070 --> 00:02:25.910
Anna: So it's a key part of, uh, the larger Moon to

53
00:02:25.910 --> 00:02:28.910
Mars strategy. The agreement covers the early

54
00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:31.390
development of enabling technologies

55
00:02:31.630 --> 00:02:34.490
and the concept study of the lunar hardware.

56
00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:37.450
If all goes to plan, the launch is scheduled for

57
00:02:37.610 --> 00:02:40.410
2033. Imagine that,

58
00:02:40.490 --> 00:02:43.290
a permanent lunar base operating for at

59
00:02:43.290 --> 00:02:46.130
least 10 years, supporting both crewed

60
00:02:46.130 --> 00:02:49.130
and uncrewed missions. It's designed to provide

61
00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:51.770
safe shelter for astronauts, enable

62
00:02:51.770 --> 00:02:54.490
scientific experiments and even offer

63
00:02:54.490 --> 00:02:57.290
mobility across the lunar surface. It

64
00:02:57.290 --> 00:03:00.050
really positions Italy as a significant player

65
00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:02.680
in future human missions beyond Earth. And

66
00:03:02.910 --> 00:03:05.790
ASI President Theodora Valente noted

67
00:03:05.790 --> 00:03:08.350
that the MPH reflects Italy's international

68
00:03:08.670 --> 00:03:11.310
leadership in space habitability. And

69
00:03:11.470 --> 00:03:14.350
confirms their long term vision in this new space

70
00:03:14.350 --> 00:03:16.670
race. It's a testament to growing

71
00:03:16.670 --> 00:03:19.550
institutional support for the sector, especially

72
00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:22.670
after Italy recently passed its first National

73
00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:23.550
Space Law.

74
00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:27.150
Avery: And adapting to those harsh lunar conditions will be a

75
00:03:27.150 --> 00:03:29.790
huge engineering feat. I mean, we're talking about extreme

76
00:03:29.790 --> 00:03:31.230
temperatures, radiation,

77
00:03:31.630 --> 00:03:34.240
micrometeorites, lunar dust and

78
00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.800
low gravity. Thales Alenius Space

79
00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.360
Italia as the prime contractor, along with

80
00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.160
Altech and other Italian partners, has a massive

81
00:03:42.160 --> 00:03:45.040
task ahead of them. This is truly Italy's

82
00:03:45.040 --> 00:03:47.600
first human outpost on the Moon.

83
00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:51.560
Anna: From ambitious lunar habitats, let's turn

84
00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:54.320
our gaze to a star that's always full of

85
00:03:54.320 --> 00:03:57.080
surprises. Betelgeuse. As we

86
00:03:57.080 --> 00:03:59.960
reported earlier this week, it seems astronomers

87
00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:02.640
might have finally spotted a close stellar

88
00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:05.300
companion to the bright red supergian giant at

89
00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.260
Orion's shoulder. But doubts are now creeping

90
00:04:08.260 --> 00:04:08.540
in.

91
00:04:08.940 --> 00:04:11.380
Avery: If true, this is huge. The idea of

92
00:04:11.380 --> 00:04:14.100
Betelgeuse having a companion has been suspected for

93
00:04:14.100 --> 00:04:16.780
over a century, but it's never been confirmed.

94
00:04:17.020 --> 00:04:20.020
This elusive partner could potentially explain some

95
00:04:20.020 --> 00:04:22.980
of the supergiant's recent brightness dips like the

96
00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:25.940
great dimming of 2020, and even hint at

97
00:04:25.940 --> 00:04:27.580
a turbulent future for the star.

98
00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:31.140
Anna: Absolutely. A team led by Steve Howell at

99
00:04:31.140 --> 00:04:34.060
NASA Ames Research center used the Gemini

100
00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:36.460
North Telescope in Hawaii, employing

101
00:04:36.840 --> 00:04:39.560
technique called speckle imaging, which uses

102
00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.480
ultra short exposure times to cut through Earth's

103
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.400
atmospheric blurring. Howell noted that this

104
00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:48.280
detection was at the very extremes of what Gemini can

105
00:04:48.280 --> 00:04:51.160
accomplish, opening the door for similar pursuits.

106
00:04:51.640 --> 00:04:54.240
Avery: However, and this is a crucial point, the

107
00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.680
discovery is on pretty weak footing right now.

108
00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.920
Orbital motion hasn't been observed, so we need follow up

109
00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.920
studies to confirm if this object truly orbits Betelgeuse.

110
00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:05.720
There's Even a roughly 10% chance that

111
00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.590
companion isn't there at all, which is a lot of doubt for an

112
00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:11.500
astronomical announcement. As Rene Audmeier from the

113
00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.220
Royal Observatory of Belgium put it, the signal to

114
00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:16.980
noise ratio is quoted at 1.6 and

115
00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:19.860
such values are generally regarded as non detections.

116
00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.300
Anna: So it's intriguing but very preliminary.

117
00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:26.340
If this companion does exist, it appears about

118
00:05:26.340 --> 00:05:29.260
six magnitudes fainter than Betelgeuse and

119
00:05:29.260 --> 00:05:32.220
could be a pre main sequence star weighing about

120
00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:35.140
1.5 suns. What's truly

121
00:05:35.140 --> 00:05:38.010
wild is its potential proximity, orbiting

122
00:05:38.010 --> 00:05:40.970
Betelgeuse at a mere 4 astronomical units,

123
00:05:41.370 --> 00:05:44.210
meaning it would be inside Betelgeuse's extended

124
00:05:44.210 --> 00:05:45.210
outer atmosphere.

125
00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:48.490
Avery: That intimacy would be a death sentence though. The

126
00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:51.090
drag from Betelgeuse's diffused atmosphere and

127
00:05:51.090 --> 00:05:53.890
extreme tidal forces would cause a companion to

128
00:05:53.890 --> 00:05:56.770
spiral into Betelgeuse in possibly as

129
00:05:56.770 --> 00:05:59.570
little as a thousand years. The team speculates this

130
00:05:59.570 --> 00:06:02.490
collision could lead to an exotic object, perhaps resembling

131
00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:05.130
a thorn Zhitkov star, where a dense

132
00:06:05.130 --> 00:06:07.890
stellar core becomes embedded in a bloated outer

133
00:06:07.890 --> 00:06:08.440
envelope.

134
00:06:08.830 --> 00:06:11.630
Anna: And the collision could trigger powerful eruptions of

135
00:06:11.630 --> 00:06:14.510
gas and dust, altering Betelgeuse's appearance

136
00:06:14.510 --> 00:06:17.070
and potentially shifting its evolutionary

137
00:06:17.070 --> 00:06:20.070
path. This close binary scenario could

138
00:06:20.070 --> 00:06:23.070
indeed reframe the Great Dimming, suggesting

139
00:06:23.070 --> 00:06:25.950
a companion stirring up Betelgeuse's outer layers

140
00:06:26.030 --> 00:06:28.910
as a plausible contributor. But for now,

141
00:06:29.070 --> 00:06:32.070
big question marks remain. Howell's team plans

142
00:06:32.070 --> 00:06:34.510
to monitor Betelgeuse for more concrete evidence.

143
00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:38.170
It seems the ticking time bomb that is Betelgeuse

144
00:06:38.410 --> 00:06:41.250
might just have a shortened fuse if this companion is

145
00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:41.530
real.

146
00:06:42.170 --> 00:06:44.570
Avery: Speaking of things that are always full of surprises,

147
00:06:45.050 --> 00:06:48.010
let's talk about something a little closer to home, but equally

148
00:06:48.010 --> 00:06:50.690
mysterious. A huge anomaly growing in

149
00:06:50.690 --> 00:06:53.610
Earth's magnetic field. NASA has been closely

150
00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:56.450
watching a strange phenomenon called the South Atlantic

151
00:06:56.450 --> 00:06:59.210
Anomaly, or saa, which is a

152
00:06:59.210 --> 00:07:01.690
giant region of lower magnetic intensity

153
00:07:01.690 --> 00:07:04.530
stretching between South America and Southwest

154
00:07:04.530 --> 00:07:04.810
Africa.

155
00:07:05.520 --> 00:07:08.480
Anna: This isn't just a curiosity, Avery. While it

156
00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.240
generally doesn't affect life on Earth, it's a

157
00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:14.000
significant concern for orbital spacecraft, including

158
00:07:14.080 --> 00:07:17.000
the International Space Station. When these craft

159
00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.680
pass through the SAA and low Earth orbit,

160
00:07:19.760 --> 00:07:22.760
the weakened magnetic field means their technological

161
00:07:22.760 --> 00:07:25.760
systems are more vulnerable to being struck by high

162
00:07:25.760 --> 00:07:27.200
energy protons from the Sun.

163
00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.360
Avery: Exactly. These hits can cause low level

164
00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.040
glitches, but they also carry the risk of significant

165
00:07:33.280 --> 00:07:35.680
data loss or even permanent damage.

166
00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:38.870
Satellite operators often have to routinely shut down

167
00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:41.710
spacecraft systems before entering the anomaly zone

168
00:07:41.710 --> 00:07:44.230
to mitigate these hazards. That's One big reason

169
00:07:44.230 --> 00:07:46.350
NASA's keeping such a close eye on it.

170
00:07:46.590 --> 00:07:48.990
Anna: And beyond the practical concerns, the

171
00:07:48.990 --> 00:07:51.749
SAA represents a huge opportunity for

172
00:07:51.749 --> 00:07:54.670
scientific investigation. Geophysicists

173
00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:57.430
like Terry Sabaca from NASA's Goddard center for

174
00:07:57.430 --> 00:08:00.430
Spaceflight Science explain that Earth's magnetic field

175
00:08:00.430 --> 00:08:03.150
is a superposition of fields from many current

176
00:08:03.150 --> 00:08:06.150
sources, primarily a swirling ocean of molten

177
00:08:06.150 --> 00:08:07.540
iron in the outer core.

178
00:08:08.170 --> 00:08:10.970
Avery: However, a, um, massive reservoir of dense rock called

179
00:08:10.970 --> 00:08:13.930
the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province,

180
00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:16.930
located thousands of kilometers below the African

181
00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:19.570
continent is thought to disturb the field's

182
00:08:19.570 --> 00:08:22.410
generation, leading to this dramatic weakening effect.

183
00:08:22.810 --> 00:08:25.770
It's almost like a localized field with reverse polarity

184
00:08:25.770 --> 00:08:26.730
growing within the region.

185
00:08:27.210 --> 00:08:29.930
Anna: What's even more fascinating is that the

186
00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:32.810
SAA isn't static. Studies

187
00:08:32.810 --> 00:08:35.210
have shown it slowly drifts around,

188
00:08:35.690 --> 00:08:38.540
and even more remarkably, it appears to

189
00:08:38.540 --> 00:08:41.140
be in the process of splitting into two

190
00:08:41.140 --> 00:08:43.460
distinct cells. This means

191
00:08:43.780 --> 00:08:46.740
two separate centers of minimum magnetic

192
00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:49.380
intensity within the larger anomaly.

193
00:08:49.780 --> 00:08:52.780
Avery: The implications of the splitting are still unknown, but there's

194
00:08:52.780 --> 00:08:55.460
evidence suggesting the SAA isn't the new

195
00:08:55.460 --> 00:08:58.140
magnetic phenomenon research in 2020

196
00:08:58.140 --> 00:09:01.020
indicated it's a recurrent magnetic event that might

197
00:09:01.020 --> 00:09:03.820
have affected Earth for as far back as 11 million

198
00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:06.380
years. If so, it suggests the

199
00:09:06.380 --> 00:09:09.260
SAA isn't necessarily a precursor to

200
00:09:09.260 --> 00:09:12.020
a complete magnetic field flip, which does

201
00:09:12.020 --> 00:09:14.340
happen, but over hundreds of thousands of years.

202
00:09:14.900 --> 00:09:17.700
Anna: We're also learning that the SAA has an

203
00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:19.940
impact on auroras seen on Earth.

204
00:09:20.419 --> 00:09:23.380
While many questions remain, it's reassuring that

205
00:09:23.380 --> 00:09:26.020
NASA is dedicating significant resources

206
00:09:26.180 --> 00:09:28.820
to understanding this magnetic oddity,

207
00:09:29.140 --> 00:09:31.980
as Sabaka put it, because that's what

208
00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:34.940
helps us make models and predictions. It's a

209
00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:37.730
reminder of how dynamic and complex our, uh,

210
00:09:37.780 --> 00:09:39.860
planet's protective magnetic shield.

211
00:09:40.020 --> 00:09:42.940
Avery: Truly is from the dynamic magnetic

212
00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:45.900
fields of our own planet. Let's journey back in time and

213
00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:48.300
also across continents to explore a

214
00:09:48.300 --> 00:09:50.940
fascinating blend of ancient wisdom and modern

215
00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:51.700
astronomy.

216
00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:54.660
We're talking about the incredible knowledge Aboriginal

217
00:09:54.660 --> 00:09:57.540
Australians possessed regarding their sky country.

218
00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:01.030
A profound understanding of the night sky intimately

219
00:10:01.030 --> 00:10:03.150
linked to their traditional song lines.

220
00:10:03.630 --> 00:10:06.190
Anna: This really is an eye opening story.

221
00:10:06.590 --> 00:10:09.550
Professor Ray Norris, an astrophysicist

222
00:10:09.550 --> 00:10:12.430
who previously studied Bronze Age stone circles

223
00:10:12.430 --> 00:10:15.030
like Stonehenge, moved to Australia in

224
00:10:15.030 --> 00:10:17.950
1983 and naturally wondered

225
00:10:17.950 --> 00:10:20.670
if there were similar astronomical insights there.

226
00:10:20.990 --> 00:10:23.670
He found that while people had documented

227
00:10:23.670 --> 00:10:26.510
Aboriginal sky stories, little was written

228
00:10:26.510 --> 00:10:29.270
about their actual scientific understanding of the

229
00:10:29.270 --> 00:10:29.930
sky sky.

230
00:10:30.170 --> 00:10:33.170
Avery: And what a discovery he made. He found

231
00:10:33.170 --> 00:10:36.170
that, yeah, they really did study and understand the sky.

232
00:10:36.490 --> 00:10:38.570
This finding genuinely shook him.

233
00:10:38.890 --> 00:10:41.570
Aboriginal Australians, famed for their intimate

234
00:10:41.570 --> 00:10:44.130
knowledge of the landscape or country, also

235
00:10:44.130 --> 00:10:46.410
possessed deep knowledge of a sky country.

236
00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:49.810
It went from being a passing interest to absolutely

237
00:10:49.810 --> 00:10:52.690
fascinating, for Norris realizing how well they

238
00:10:52.690 --> 00:10:54.490
knew the sky and were exploring it.

239
00:10:54.970 --> 00:10:57.850
Anna: His research in the emerging field of cultural

240
00:10:57.850 --> 00:11:00.570
astronomy, with invaluable input from

241
00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:02.990
Aboriginal knowledge holders, is now

242
00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:05.950
unraveling how Indigenous understandings of the

243
00:11:05.950 --> 00:11:08.550
night sky are intimately linked to

244
00:11:08.550 --> 00:11:11.270
understanding and navigating the songlines

245
00:11:11.430 --> 00:11:13.990
for those unfamiliar. Songlines are

246
00:11:13.990 --> 00:11:16.750
ancient routes of trade and travel that

247
00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:18.710
crisscrossed pre colonial Australia,

248
00:11:19.350 --> 00:11:21.430
connecting important cultural sites.

249
00:11:22.070 --> 00:11:25.070
Avery: These songlines are not just physical paths. They're

250
00:11:25.070 --> 00:11:27.750
woven into stories and songs passed down over

251
00:11:27.750 --> 00:11:30.340
millennia, based on pathways taken by

252
00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:32.980
ancestral beings during the dreaming. These

253
00:11:32.980 --> 00:11:35.460
narratives provide a way of navigating the vast

254
00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:38.300
landscape. As ANU anthropologist Alan

255
00:11:38.300 --> 00:11:41.220
Rumsey puts it, ancestors moved across the Earth,

256
00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:43.740
forming places linked in tracks or through

257
00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:44.980
underground connections.

258
00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:48.180
Anna: Dr. Bob Fuller of Macquarie University

259
00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:51.540
explains that songlines help people navigate

260
00:11:51.540 --> 00:11:54.340
outside their own country with routes taught

261
00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:56.670
using the mnemonic qualities of songs.

262
00:11:57.220 --> 00:11:59.700
Professor Marcia Langton, a prominent

263
00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:02.540
Indigenous scholar, even suggests they are in

264
00:12:02.540 --> 00:12:04.100
fact a song series.

265
00:12:04.900 --> 00:12:07.660
Avery: A powerful example comes from Wardaman elder

266
00:12:07.660 --> 00:12:10.660
Yida Mama Bill Harney, from whom Norris

267
00:12:10.660 --> 00:12:13.180
learned how Aboriginal people were exceptional

268
00:12:13.180 --> 00:12:15.940
navigators. Bill can name pretty well

269
00:12:16.020 --> 00:12:18.980
every one of the 6,000 visible stars in the sky

270
00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:21.820
and knows a story about them. What's more,

271
00:12:21.820 --> 00:12:24.820
he carries a mental map, intuitively knowing

272
00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:27.630
directions based on the sky, correcting for time

273
00:12:27.630 --> 00:12:30.630
of year and night. It's as if there's a constant

274
00:12:30.630 --> 00:12:31.510
map above him.

275
00:12:32.150 --> 00:12:34.750
Anna: Another pivotal figure is Gahali Michael

276
00:12:34.750 --> 00:12:37.510
Anderson, an elder from the Uwali community.

277
00:12:38.070 --> 00:12:40.670
Anderson, also an astronomer and senior

278
00:12:40.670 --> 00:12:43.590
lawman, explains that astronomical knowledge

279
00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:46.230
was passed down orally and through art,

280
00:12:46.470 --> 00:12:49.150
with traveling the song lines acting as a

281
00:12:49.150 --> 00:12:51.790
teaching tool. As they traveled, they

282
00:12:51.790 --> 00:12:54.510
understood whose country they were in and which

283
00:12:54.510 --> 00:12:56.070
laws belonged to that place.

284
00:12:56.430 --> 00:12:59.310
Avery: He says that along these pathways, you'd find scarred

285
00:12:59.310 --> 00:13:02.070
trees, rocky areas for tools, and cuts in

286
00:13:02.070 --> 00:13:04.710
trees, all serving as symbols of use and

287
00:13:04.710 --> 00:13:07.470
occupation, ensuring you were on the right track.

288
00:13:07.790 --> 00:13:10.790
Norris writes that Anderson's community used star patterns to

289
00:13:10.790 --> 00:13:13.390
create mnemonics of waypoints across the

290
00:13:13.390 --> 00:13:15.710
landscape beyond their country, often

291
00:13:15.790 --> 00:13:18.670
waterholes or significant points. These

292
00:13:18.670 --> 00:13:21.590
waypoints were sung, forming instructions made up of a

293
00:13:21.590 --> 00:13:24.070
series of linked songs that incorporated

294
00:13:24.070 --> 00:13:25.070
cultural knowledge.

295
00:13:25.810 --> 00:13:28.810
Anna: It wasn't always as, uh, simple as lining up a star

296
00:13:28.810 --> 00:13:31.810
with a feature for direct navigation, especially

297
00:13:32.050 --> 00:13:34.450
since much travel happened during the day.

298
00:13:34.770 --> 00:13:37.690
During summer, many guiding stars weren't

299
00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:40.450
visible at night, but they still formed a

300
00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:43.170
mental pattern similar to the root, with

301
00:13:43.170 --> 00:13:45.970
each star representing a waypoint in the

302
00:13:45.970 --> 00:13:48.370
mnemonic. This ingenious system

303
00:13:48.610 --> 00:13:51.570
also served as a highly effective way to

304
00:13:51.570 --> 00:13:54.290
preserve stories and knowledge in an oral culture.

305
00:13:54.770 --> 00:13:57.610
It's truly amazing to see such sophisticated

306
00:13:57.610 --> 00:14:00.450
astronomical knowledge integrated so

307
00:14:00.450 --> 00:14:03.010
deeply into a culture's very way of life.

308
00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:06.130
What an incredible journey through space and time we've had

309
00:14:06.130 --> 00:14:08.930
today on Astronomy Daily. From the cutting

310
00:14:08.930 --> 00:14:11.810
edge future of lunar living to the profound

311
00:14:11.890 --> 00:14:14.210
ancient wisdom woven into the very

312
00:14:14.370 --> 00:14:16.850
fabric of the stars, it's been a truly

313
00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:17.970
captivating episode.

314
00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:21.290
Avery: Absolutely, Anna. Uh, we've explored Italy's pioneering work on

315
00:14:21.290 --> 00:14:24.170
the multipurpose habitat for the Moon, delved

316
00:14:24.170 --> 00:14:27.030
into the tantalizing, though still tentative, discovery of

317
00:14:27.030 --> 00:14:29.510
Betelgeuse's companion, and unpack the

318
00:14:29.510 --> 00:14:32.470
intriguing mystery of Earth's growing South Atlantic

319
00:14:32.470 --> 00:14:33.070
anomaly.

320
00:14:33.550 --> 00:14:36.470
Anna: And of course, learning about the rich sky

321
00:14:36.470 --> 00:14:39.430
country knowledge and songlines of Aboriginal

322
00:14:39.430 --> 00:14:42.269
Australians was a powerful reminder of how

323
00:14:42.269 --> 00:14:45.110
deeply humanity has always connected with

324
00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:45.870
the cosmos.

325
00:14:46.190 --> 00:14:49.030
Avery: It truly was. Thank you all for joining us on this cosmic

326
00:14:49.030 --> 00:14:52.030
exploration. We hope you enjoyed delving into these stories

327
00:14:52.030 --> 00:14:54.930
as much as we did. And please visit our website at

328
00:14:54.930 --> 00:14:57.810
astronomydaily IO for more space and

329
00:14:57.810 --> 00:15:00.810
astronomy news. And of course, you can subscribe to the podcast on

330
00:15:00.810 --> 00:15:02.890
Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify,

331
00:15:03.290 --> 00:15:05.930
iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts from.

332
00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:09.250
Anna: We encourage you to keep looking up and wondering

333
00:15:09.250 --> 00:15:12.090
about the universe around us. Join us next time on

334
00:15:12.090 --> 00:15:14.970
Astronomy Daily for more fascinating news and

335
00:15:14.970 --> 00:15:17.650
discoveries from across the cosmos. Until

336
00:15:17.650 --> 00:15:18.970
then, keep exploring