July 19, 2025

Making Water on the Moon, The Hubble Bubble Hypothesis, and Neptune's Unique Orbital Partner

Making Water on the Moon, The Hubble Bubble Hypothesis, and Neptune's Unique Orbital Partner
  • Revolutionising Lunar Exploration: Discover the groundbreaking research from a team of Chinese scientists who are developing innovative technology to produce water, oxygen, and fuel directly from lunar soil. This game-changing approach could significantly reduce the costs of transporting resources from Earth, making sustainable lunar habitats a reality. With the potential to utilise the Moon's own resources, this closed-loop system could transform our future in space.
  • - The Hubble Bubble Theory: Delve into the intriguing new theory suggesting our Milky Way galaxy might be suspended within a vast cosmic void, dubbed the Hubble Bubble. This concept could provide solutions to the ongoing Hubble Tension, offering fresh insights into the universe's expansion and our cosmic neighbourhood.
  • - A Cosmic Dance with Neptune: Learn about the newly discovered trans-neptunian object, 2020 VN40, which exhibits a unique orbital rhythm, completing one orbit for every ten of Neptune's. This fascinating discovery sheds light on the dynamics of distant solar system bodies and hints at the complexities of our solar system's evolution.
  • - Catching the Southern Delta Aquariad Meteor Shower: Prepare for the upcoming Southern Delta Aquariad meteor shower peaking on July 29. We provide tips on how to maximise your viewing experience, including the best times and locations to spot these shooting stars as Earth passes through the debris trail of comet 96P/Machholz.
  • For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
  • Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
✍️ Episode References
Lunar Resource Utilisation
[Chinese University of Hong Kong](https://www.cuhk.edu.hk)
Hubble Bubble Theory
[Royal Astronomical Society](https://ras.ac.uk)
Trans-Neptunian Object Discovery
[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu)
Southern Delta Aquariad Meteor Shower
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.
WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.920
Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of

1
00:00:02.920 --> 00:00:05.520
cosmic curiosities and stellar stories.

2
00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:08.680
I'm your host, Anna, and I'm thrilled to have you join us for

3
00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:10.880
another exciting journey through the universe.

4
00:00:11.520 --> 00:00:13.960
Today, we're diving into some fascinating

5
00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.960
breakthroughs. We'll explore how new technology might allow

6
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.360
us to make water and fuel right on the moon,

7
00:00:19.680 --> 00:00:22.320
potentially changing the future of lunar exploration.

8
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.800
We'll also ponder an intriguing theory that suggests our

9
00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.800
entire galaxy might be floating inside a massive

10
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.680
cosmic void. A Hubble bubble, if you.

11
00:00:32.220 --> 00:00:34.780
Which could reshape our understanding of the universe's

12
00:00:34.780 --> 00:00:37.340
expansion. And for those who love to look up,

13
00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:40.580
we'll guide you on how to best catch an upcoming celestial

14
00:00:40.580 --> 00:00:43.220
spectacle. The Southern Delta Aquarian meteor

15
00:00:43.220 --> 00:00:46.100
shower. Plus, we've got a quirky tale about a newly

16
00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:48.740
discovered space rock doing a strange orbital dance with

17
00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:51.540
Neptune. So buckle up because there's a lot to

18
00:00:51.540 --> 00:00:52.940
unpack in today's episode.

19
00:00:54.220 --> 00:00:57.060
First up, let's talk about something that could truly

20
00:00:57.060 --> 00:00:59.100
revolutionise our future in space.

21
00:00:59.900 --> 00:01:02.580
Making essential resources directly on the

22
00:01:02.580 --> 00:01:05.220
moon. Imagine if astronauts didn't have to

23
00:01:05.220 --> 00:01:07.980
haul every drop of water or every breath of

24
00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:10.580
oxygen from Earth. Well, a team of

25
00:01:10.580 --> 00:01:13.140
researchers from China is working to make that a reality,

26
00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.900
developing a new technology that they say could produce water,

27
00:01:16.300 --> 00:01:18.780
oxygen and even fuel from lunar soil.

28
00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.340
This is a game changer because shipping just one litre of water to

29
00:01:22.340 --> 00:01:24.500
the moon currently costs a staggering

30
00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.400
33,000 Australian dollars, which is roughly

31
00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.080
US$22,000. So

32
00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:33.160
finding ways to use the moon's own resources will be

33
00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:35.960
absolutely critical if humanity is going to

34
00:01:35.960 --> 00:01:38.800
return there and establish temporary or even long term

35
00:01:38.800 --> 00:01:41.680
habitats. The new approach uses what's called

36
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.600
photothermal technology, detailed in a paper published

37
00:01:44.600 --> 00:01:47.320
in the journal Joule. Lunar soil isn't just

38
00:01:47.320 --> 00:01:50.200
inert dust. It actually holds stores of carbon dioxide

39
00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.920
and water, along with other minerals that could be incredibly

40
00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.910
useful for space mission crews. The real puzzle has

41
00:01:55.910 --> 00:01:58.910
always been how to extract these molecules efficiently on the

42
00:01:58.910 --> 00:02:01.910
moon's surface. As co author Lu Wang from the

43
00:02:01.910 --> 00:02:04.910
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, put it,

44
00:02:04.910 --> 00:02:07.590
they never fully imagined the magic that the lunar

45
00:02:07.590 --> 00:02:10.230
soil possessed. Wang's team had

46
00:02:10.230 --> 00:02:13.070
previously analysed lunar soil samples brought back by

47
00:02:13.070 --> 00:02:16.070
China's Chang's five spacecraft, discovering

48
00:02:16.070 --> 00:02:18.430
that moon dust indeed contains many useful

49
00:02:18.430 --> 00:02:21.390
compounds. Their latest research builds on this,

50
00:02:21.940 --> 00:02:24.660
showing it's possible to extract water from lunar soil.

51
00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:27.780
But it gets even more exciting. They can then use

52
00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:30.260
that extracted water and the carbon dioxide

53
00:02:30.420 --> 00:02:32.900
exhaled by astronauts to produce

54
00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:35.820
hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide. These

55
00:02:35.820 --> 00:02:38.820
products in turn can be used to create fuel and

56
00:02:38.820 --> 00:02:41.740
breathable oxygen. All that's needed

57
00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.100
to power this remarkable process is the

58
00:02:44.100 --> 00:02:47.020
photothermal technology, which efficiently

59
00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:50.020
converts sun sunlight into heat. The team

60
00:02:50.020 --> 00:02:52.820
was particularly surprised by the tangible success

61
00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:55.820
of this integrated method. They found

62
00:02:55.820 --> 00:02:58.660
that combining lunar water extraction with

63
00:02:58.660 --> 00:03:01.660
photothermal carbon dioxide catalysis could

64
00:03:01.660 --> 00:03:04.100
significantly enhance energy utilisation

65
00:03:04.420 --> 00:03:07.420
and reduce the cost and complexity of developing the

66
00:03:07.420 --> 00:03:10.420
necessary infrastructure on the Moon. It's a truly

67
00:03:10.420 --> 00:03:13.420
ingenious closed loop system. Now, while these lab

68
00:03:13.420 --> 00:03:16.370
experiments are a huge step forward, the researchers

69
00:03:16.370 --> 00:03:18.890
are also very realistic about the challenges ahead.

70
00:03:19.370 --> 00:03:22.330
They remind us that the Moon's extreme environment

71
00:03:22.650 --> 00:03:25.330
poses unique hurdles for implementing this

72
00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:28.090
technology. We're talking about drastic

73
00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:31.050
temperature fluctuations, an ultra high vacuum,

74
00:03:31.130 --> 00:03:33.690
intense solar radiation and low gravity.

75
00:03:34.010 --> 00:03:36.570
All of these factors complicate things considerably.

76
00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:40.050
Furthermore, lunar soil doesn't have a uniform composition

77
00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:42.800
across the Moon's surface. Some areas will

78
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.560
naturally be richer in resources than others. And

79
00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.200
even with this innovative system, the carbon

80
00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:51.160
dioxide exhaled by astronauts might not be enough to

81
00:03:51.160 --> 00:03:54.000
meet all the water, fuel and oxygen needs for a larger

82
00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.880
base. Overcoming these technical hurdles,

83
00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:59.840
along with the significant development, deployment and

84
00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:02.480
operational costs, will be crucial to making sustainable

85
00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:05.240
lunar resource utilisation and space exploration a

86
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.850
widespread reality. But but it's certainly a very

87
00:04:07.850 --> 00:04:10.530
promising start from the

88
00:04:10.530 --> 00:04:12.970
possibility of making our own resources on the Moon.

89
00:04:13.290 --> 00:04:15.610
Let's zoom out to a much grander scale.

90
00:04:15.930 --> 00:04:18.930
Remember how they were theorising that we might be living inside a

91
00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:21.530
black hole? Well, we have a new theory to ponder

92
00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:24.850
with an intriguing Are we here on

93
00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.690
Earth and our entire Milky Way galaxy actually

94
00:04:27.770 --> 00:04:30.010
trapped inside a giant cosmic void?

95
00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:33.450
This fascinating theory, based on echoes from the Big Bang,

96
00:04:33.850 --> 00:04:36.850
suggests exactly that. Researchers presenting at

97
00:04:36.850 --> 00:04:39.690
the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy

98
00:04:39.690 --> 00:04:42.610
meeting unveiled fresh evidence that our galaxy

99
00:04:42.610 --> 00:04:45.530
is suspended within a region of space that is

100
00:04:45.530 --> 00:04:48.490
less dense than the cosmic average. This

101
00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:51.290
vast 2 billion light year expanse has been

102
00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:54.290
dubbed the Hubble Bubble and it's estimated to be about

103
00:04:54.290 --> 00:04:57.130
20% less dense than the average matter density across

104
00:04:57.130 --> 00:05:00.110
the universe. If this idea holds true, it

105
00:05:00.260 --> 00:05:03.260
it could provide a much needed solution to a persistent mystery in

106
00:05:03.260 --> 00:05:05.700
cosmology known as the Hubble Tension.

107
00:05:06.260 --> 00:05:08.940
This tension arises from conflicting measurements of the

108
00:05:08.940 --> 00:05:11.740
universe's expansion rate, which also impacts our

109
00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:14.420
understanding of its true age. One

110
00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:17.380
method based on analysing the cosmic microwave

111
00:05:17.380 --> 00:05:20.220
backgroundessentially. Cosmic fossils from the

112
00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:23.220
universe's first light suggests an expansion rate

113
00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:26.180
of 67 kilometres per second per megaparsec.

114
00:05:27.140 --> 00:05:29.940
However, a second method which measures distances using

115
00:05:29.940 --> 00:05:32.580
Type Ia supernovas and variable stars

116
00:05:32.900 --> 00:05:35.020
indicates a higher expansion rate of

117
00:05:35.020 --> 00:05:37.180
73.2 kilometres per second per

118
00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:40.180
megaparsec. That's a noticeable discrepancy

119
00:05:40.580 --> 00:05:43.580
The Hubble bubble theory posits that if the Milky

120
00:05:43.580 --> 00:05:46.500
Way is indeed situated within such a less dense

121
00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:49.380
region, then the local expansion inside this

122
00:05:49.380 --> 00:05:52.060
void would naturally appear faster than in the

123
00:05:52.060 --> 00:05:54.340
denser, more distant parts of the cosmos.

124
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.360
Indranil Banik, the study's lead author, explained that

125
00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.240
a large local void would cause matter to be pulled by

126
00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:04.080
gravity towards its higher density exterior, making

127
00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:06.840
the void emptier over time. This effect would

128
00:06:06.840 --> 00:06:09.680
accelerate local expansion. For this theory to

129
00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.600
work, our galaxy would need to be located quite close to

130
00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:15.440
the centre of this low density Hubble bubble.

131
00:06:16.080 --> 00:06:19.080
Bannock and his team used data from baryon

132
00:06:19.080 --> 00:06:22.000
acoustic oscillations, the sounds of the Big Bang,

133
00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:25.040
to support previous research from the 1990s

134
00:06:25.200 --> 00:06:27.800
that had already noted fewer galaxies in our local

135
00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.760
universe than expected. These ancient sound

136
00:06:30.760 --> 00:06:33.520
waves, frozen in place when the universe cooled,

137
00:06:33.760 --> 00:06:36.200
act like a standard ruler that allows

138
00:06:36.200 --> 00:06:38.640
astronomers to chart cosmic expansion history.

139
00:06:39.760 --> 00:06:42.480
What's truly striking is that their research found it's

140
00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.320
100 times more likely that we live in a cosmic

141
00:06:45.320 --> 00:06:47.930
void than than in a region of average density.

142
00:06:48.490 --> 00:06:51.090
This suggests we might be in a very unique cosmic

143
00:06:51.090 --> 00:06:53.930
neighbourhood. The next steps for Banik and his team

144
00:06:54.090 --> 00:06:56.970
will involve comparing their void model to

145
00:06:56.970 --> 00:06:59.690
other cosmological models and exploring

146
00:06:59.690 --> 00:07:02.570
potential adjustments to the standard model of

147
00:07:02.570 --> 00:07:05.490
cosmology. It's, uh, a truly mind

148
00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:08.330
bending concept that could redefine our place

149
00:07:08.330 --> 00:07:11.170
in the universe from the

150
00:07:11.170 --> 00:07:13.930
vastness of the cosmos and potential cosmic voids.

151
00:07:14.010 --> 00:07:16.860
Let's bring our focus a little closer to home. Though

152
00:07:16.860 --> 00:07:18.780
still quite far out in our own solar system,

153
00:07:19.660 --> 00:07:22.540
astronomers have recently made an incredibly intriguing

154
00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:25.340
discovery. A peculiar space rock at the very

155
00:07:25.340 --> 00:07:28.260
edge of our solar system is locked in a fascinating

156
00:07:28.260 --> 00:07:31.140
rhythmic dance with Neptune. This Object,

157
00:07:31.140 --> 00:07:33.980
officially designated 2020 VN40,

158
00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:37.500
belongs to a group of distant solar system bodies known as

159
00:07:37.500 --> 00:07:40.300
Trans neptunian objects, or TNOs.

160
00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:43.780
What makes 2020 VN40 so special

161
00:07:43.780 --> 00:07:46.740
is that it's the very first object ever found that orbits

162
00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:49.300
the sun exactly once for every 10 orbits

163
00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:52.020
Neptune completes. Considering that one

164
00:07:52.020 --> 00:07:54.260
Neptunian year stretches across a remarkable

165
00:07:54.260 --> 00:07:56.660
164.8 Earth years,

166
00:07:57.140 --> 00:07:59.780
this means 2020 VN40

167
00:08:00.100 --> 00:08:02.420
has an incredibly long year, lasting

168
00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.180
approximately 1,648 Earth

169
00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:07.780
years, or nearly 20,000 Earth months.

170
00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:11.460
Researchers believe this slow ponderous orbital

171
00:08:11.460 --> 00:08:14.260
dance with Neptune might have begun when the ice

172
00:08:14.260 --> 00:08:16.580
giant's gravity temporarily snared it.

173
00:08:17.400 --> 00:08:20.320
This discovery is a significant step in understanding the

174
00:08:20.320 --> 00:08:23.080
dynamics of objects at the solar system's fringe.

175
00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.560
As Rosemary pike from the Centre for Astrophysics at

176
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.320
Harvard and Smithsonian noted, it shows that

177
00:08:29.320 --> 00:08:31.800
Even very distant regions influenced by

178
00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.600
Neptune can contain objects. And it

179
00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:37.000
gives us new clues about how the solar system

180
00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:39.880
evolved. The unique orbital rhythm

181
00:08:39.880 --> 00:08:42.360
of 2020 VN40 was

182
00:08:42.360 --> 00:08:45.160
unearthed from data collected by the Large Inclination

183
00:08:45.160 --> 00:08:47.650
distant objects, or LIDO survey.

184
00:08:47.890 --> 00:08:50.770
This survey specifically hunts for TNOs with orbits

185
00:08:50.770 --> 00:08:53.730
that carry them far above and below the main orbital plane of

186
00:08:53.730 --> 00:08:56.410
Earth around the Sun. Exploring previously

187
00:08:56.410 --> 00:08:59.330
uncharted areas of our solar system, what

188
00:08:59.330 --> 00:09:02.250
truly sets 2020 VN4.0 apart is

189
00:09:02.250 --> 00:09:04.770
its unusual perihelion alignment with

190
00:09:04.770 --> 00:09:07.690
Neptune. Most other bodies in rhythmic

191
00:09:07.690 --> 00:09:10.490
alignment with Neptune make their closest approaches to the

192
00:09:10.490 --> 00:09:13.420
sun when Neptune is at its farthest. But

193
00:09:13.420 --> 00:09:16.140
2020 VN4.0 defies this trend,

194
00:09:16.300 --> 00:09:18.820
reaching its perihelion when Neptune is also

195
00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:21.740
relatively close to the Sun. While this might

196
00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:24.712
sound like they're side by side, 2020

197
00:09:24.928 --> 00:09:27.860
VN4.0's highly tilted path means it's

198
00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:30.860
actually far below the solar system's plane during this alignment.

199
00:09:31.180 --> 00:09:34.180
This new motion, as Ruth Murray Clay from the

200
00:09:34.180 --> 00:09:36.620
University of California, Santa Cruz described it,

201
00:09:37.020 --> 00:09:39.940
is like finding a hidden rhythm in a song we

202
00:09:39.940 --> 00:09:42.820
thought we knew. It suggests that objects with highly

203
00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:45.710
tilted orbits can adopt novel and unexpected types of, um,

204
00:09:45.780 --> 00:09:48.780
movement, revealing more complexity in our solar system

205
00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.860
than previously imagined. The hunt is now

206
00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:54.620
on for more bodies like 2020 VN4.0,

207
00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:57.740
with the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory poised to play a

208
00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:00.700
crucial role in this exciting investigation. This

209
00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.580
discovery truly opens a new window into the solar system's

210
00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:06.540
past. And now for something you can

211
00:10:06.540 --> 00:10:08.540
enjoy right here on Earth, if you know where to look.

212
00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.360
The 2025 Southern Delta Aquariad meteor

213
00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:15.160
shower is upon us, with its peak expected on

214
00:10:15.160 --> 00:10:17.840
July 29. This annual shower is

215
00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.680
active from July 18 to August 12 as

216
00:10:20.680 --> 00:10:23.280
our planet drifts through an ancient trail of debris.

217
00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.360
This debris is thought to have been shed by a 4 mile

218
00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:29.120
wide comet named 96PMachholz.

219
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.200
When these tiny particles hit Earth's atmosphere, the

220
00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:34.960
friction makes them ignite, creating those beautiful

221
00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.940
streaks of light we call shooting stars. The shower

222
00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:40.900
is at its strongest in the week around its July 29

223
00:10:40.900 --> 00:10:43.700
peak, when you might spot up to eight faint

224
00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:46.580
meteors per hour. These shooting stars will

225
00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.380
appear to emanate from a specific patch of sky known as a

226
00:10:49.380 --> 00:10:51.980
radiant within the constellation Aquarius,

227
00:10:52.300 --> 00:10:55.260
very close to the bright star Delta Aquarii, which

228
00:10:55.260 --> 00:10:58.100
gives the shower its name. For the best

229
00:10:58.100 --> 00:11:00.900
chance to spot a southern Delta Aquariad, aim for the

230
00:11:00.900 --> 00:11:03.820
early morning hours in the week surrounding July 29th.

231
00:11:04.690 --> 00:11:07.290
During this time, the radiant will be highest in the southern

232
00:11:07.290 --> 00:11:10.210
sky, and the waxing crescent Moon will be well below

233
00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:12.970
the horizon, ensuring a dark canvas for your

234
00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:15.650
meteor hunt. As its name suggests,

235
00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:18.650
this shower is most visible to stargazers in the southern

236
00:11:18.650 --> 00:11:21.530
hemisphere, where the radiant will be higher in the post

237
00:11:21.530 --> 00:11:24.330
sunset sky. However, don't despair if

238
00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:27.130
you're north of the equator, the shower will still be

239
00:11:27.130 --> 00:11:30.130
visible just at a slightly lower hourly rate.

240
00:11:31.110 --> 00:11:33.710
To maximise your chances, first locate the bright star

241
00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:36.670
Delta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius

242
00:11:36.670 --> 00:11:39.630
above the southern horizon, or use a stargazing

243
00:11:39.630 --> 00:11:42.350
app to guide you. Then find a patch of

244
00:11:42.350 --> 00:11:44.950
sky about 40 degrees away from this radiant

245
00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:48.110
in the direction directly above your head. As

246
00:11:48.110 --> 00:11:51.070
a handy guide, the width of your outstretched fist, from

247
00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:53.870
your thumb to the outside of your little finger, covers about

248
00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:55.510
10 degrees in the night sky.

249
00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.400
Meteors seen further from the radiant wheel often have

250
00:11:59.400 --> 00:12:01.520
longer trails, making them easier to spot.

251
00:12:02.400 --> 00:12:05.200
You'll also have a much better chance if you head away from

252
00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.160
city lights and give your eyes about 30 minutes to

253
00:12:08.160 --> 00:12:11.000
fully adapt to the darkness. After that,

254
00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.760
simply lie back, perhaps in a comfortable deck

255
00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:16.160
chair, and lose yourself in the night sky.

256
00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:19.720
Keep an eye out for bright meteors streaking across the sky from

257
00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:22.580
the north too. If you see one, you might

258
00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:25.460
have spotted a member of the Perseid meteor shower, which

259
00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:27.180
is also active since mid July.

260
00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:30.500
Happy stargazing? And that

261
00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:33.300
brings us to the end of another fascinating journey through the

262
00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.260
cosmos. Today we've explored the innovative

263
00:12:36.260 --> 00:12:38.980
possibilities of extracting water and fuel from

264
00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:41.780
lunar soil, pondered whether our Milky Way

265
00:12:41.780 --> 00:12:44.780
galaxy is truly nestled within a vast cosmic

266
00:12:44.780 --> 00:12:47.500
void, and discovered a new, intriguing

267
00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:49.980
dance partner for Neptune in the outer solar system.

268
00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.390
And of course, we learned how to catch a glimpse of the beautiful

269
00:12:53.390 --> 00:12:55.750
southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower.

270
00:12:56.390 --> 00:12:59.110
Thank you for joining me, Anna, on Astronomy Daily.

271
00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:03.030
Don't forget, you can dive deeper into all the latest space

272
00:13:03.030 --> 00:13:04.710
and astronomy news by visiting our

273
00:13:04.710 --> 00:13:07.590
website@astronomydaily.IO. there

274
00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:10.430
you can sign up for our free daily newsletter and keep up to

275
00:13:10.430 --> 00:13:13.390
date with our constantly updating news feed. Be sure

276
00:13:13.390 --> 00:13:16.130
to subscribe to Astronomy Daily on Apple Podcasts,

277
00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.000
Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your

278
00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.560
podcasts so you never miss an episode.

279
00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:24.280
Until next time, keep looking up.