Solar Storm Predictions, Mars Terraforming, and the Mysteries of Ceres

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest

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developments in space exploration and astronomical

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discoveries. I'm your host, Anna, and today

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we're diving into some fascinating stories from across the

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cosmos. The universe never ceases to amaze

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us, and today is no exception. We've got a packed

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episode covering everything from activities in our own

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backyard to discoveries that could reshape our

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understanding of distant worlds. First up,

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we'll look at SpaceX's second attempt to launch a brand new

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Falcon 9 booster after an abort halted its

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first try. This Starlink delivery mission

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represents the fourth new booster brought into service by

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SpaceX this year alone, highlighting the company's

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continued expansion of its launch capabilities.

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Then we'll turn our attention to a house sized visitor

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making a surprisingly close approach to Earth.

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Asteroid 2025 KF will pass between our

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planet and the Moon on May 21,

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coming within just 71,700 miles

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of Earth's surface. While there's absolutely no

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danger to us, it provides an interesting opportunity

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to discuss these rocky wanderers and how

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astronomers track them. Our third story

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tackles a critical challenge facing our technological

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the limitations in predicting solar storms.

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Despite significant advances in space weather forecasting,

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scientists are still struggling to determine the magnetic

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orientation of incoming solar storms until

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they're practically on our doorstep. We'll explore

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why this matters and what's being done to improve our early warning

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systems. From there, we'll journey to

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the asteroid belt, where exciting new research

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suggests that Ceres, the largest object between

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Mars and Jupiter, may be hiding a frozen ocean.

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And finally, we'll examine fresh research

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suggesting that terraforming Mars, transforming the red

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planet to make it habitable for Earth life, might be more

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feasible than we thought.

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So let's blast off into today's cosmic news roundup,

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starting with SpaceX's latest launch attempt.

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SpaceX is making another attempt today to launch a brand

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new Falcon 9 booster after an unexpected

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abort halted yesterday's countdown. The new

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booster, designated B1095,

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was scheduled for liftoff from Space Launch Complex

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40 at Cape Canaveral at

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11:19pm Eastern Daylight Time,

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carrying 23 Starlink satellites destined for low

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Earth orbit. Monday's launch attempt was

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automatically aborted with just under 2.5 minutes left

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in the countdown. Following the scrub,

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SpaceX engineers lowered the rocket into a

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horizontal position to address the issue. Though the

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company didn't publicly specify what caused the automatic

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abort, they did confirm that both the vehicle and its

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payload remained in good condition. By Late

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Tuesday afternoon, B1095 was back in its

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vertical position at the launch pad. Weather

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conditions looked extremely favorable for the rescheduled launch,

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with meteorologists from the U.S. space Force

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forecasting a 95% chance of acceptable

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conditions during tonight's brief launch window.

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Their only slight concern was the possibility of

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cumulus cloud formation that could violate launch

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criteria. This mission is

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particularly notable as it marks the fourth time this year

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that SpaceX has brought a brand new Falcon 9

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booster into service. The company currently

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maintains 18 other active boosters in its

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fleet, though one of them,

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B1072, has only flown once as a

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Falcon Heavy side booster during last month's GOES U weather

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satellite launch. The Falcon 9's

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payload fairing contains 23 Starlink

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satellites, with 13 of them specifically equipped for

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direct to cell phone communications capabilities.

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This represents an important expansion of Starlink's

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service offerings beyond traditional satellite Internet.

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As with most SpaceX launches these days, the plan

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includes a landing attempt for the first stage booster.

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Approximately eight minutes after liftoff,

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B1095 will target a precision

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touchdown on SpaceX's drone ship. Just read

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the instructions stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

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If successful, this will mark the 121st

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landing on this particular vessel and contribute to

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SpaceX's impressive tally of

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449 booster landings to date.

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The deployment of the Starlink satellites is scheduled to occur

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about 65 minutes after launch. Once the

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second stage reaches the proper orbit. These

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new additions will join the growing Starlink constellation

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that now numbers in the thousands, providing

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Internet coverage to users around the globe.

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Next up, a little warning, but there's no need to panic.

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Our solar system is serving up another close cosmic encounter

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this week. A as astronomers have just spotted a house sized

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asteroid on track to zip past Earth tomorrow

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at an uncomfortably close distance. This

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newly discovered space rock, designated 2025

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KF will pass between Earth and the Moon on

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May 21. The asteroid will make its

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closest approach at approximately 1:30pm

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Eastern Time, coming within a mere

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71,700 miles of our

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planet. To put that in perspective, that's less than

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one third the distance between Earth and and the

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moon. While that might sound alarmingly close,

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NASA has confirmed that the asteroid poses no

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danger to Earth. During its flyby.

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2025 KF will be traveling at a

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blistering speed of nearly 26,000 miles

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per hour relative to Earth. Its trajectory

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will take it closest to our planet's south polar region

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before continuing along its solar orbit.

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The asteroid's estimated diameter ranges between

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32 and 75ft, making it

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roughly the size of a modest house. What's

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Particularly interesting about this asteroid is how recently

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it was discovered. Astronomers at the MAP

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project in Chile's Atacama Desert only spotted it

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on May 19, just two days before its

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close approach. This highlights one of the

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ongoing challenges in asteroid detection.

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Sometimes these smaller objects aren't identified until they're

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practically on our doorstep. Even if

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2025 kf were on a collision course with Earth,

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which it absolutely is not, its relatively small

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size means it would likely burn up in our atmosphere before

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reaching the ground. According to NASA,

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objects of this scale pose essentially zero threat to

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people on Earth. While close passes like this

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might seem rare, they're actually quite common.

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NASA has cataloged nearly 40,000 near Earth

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asteroids since it began systematically monitoring

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the skies in 1998. Of those,

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about 4,700 are classified as

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potentially dangerous asteroids. Though scientists

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at the center for Near Earth Object Studies have

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reassured us that no asteroid capable of causing

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widespread damage is expected to strike Earth in the

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next century. For context,

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2025 KF's approach, while close, doesn't

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come anywhere near breaking records. The closest

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documented asteroid Flyby occurred in 2020,

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when a car sized asteroid passed just

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1,830 miles from Earth's

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surface. That's less than the distance from New

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York to Las Vegas. This latest

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cosmic visitor serves as another reminder of

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the dynamic nature of our solar system neighborhood.

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And the importance of continued asteroid monitoring

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efforts to keep track of our celestial surroundings.

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And another warning today. Imagine you're preparing for

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a major storm heading your way. But here's the catch.

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Meteorologists can tell you when it will arrive, but they

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won't know how severe it will be until it's practically on your

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doorstep. M that's essentially the challenge

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scientists face when it comes to predicting solar storms.

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And it's a problem with potentially massive

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implications for our technology dependent world.

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We've made remarkable progress in understanding space

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weather over the years. Scientists can now spot

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solar storm eons at their source, track their journey

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through space, and estimate when they'll reach Earth,

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Sometimes with up to 24 hours of advance notice.

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But there's one crucial piece of information that remains

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frustratingly elusive until the very last

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moments. The orientation of the storm's

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magnetic field, known as the BZ component.

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When a coronal mass ejection, or cme,

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blasts from the sun, it carries along plasma

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and magnetic fields. The orientation of these

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magnetic fields determines how strongly they'll interact with

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Earth's own magnetic shield. A southward

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oriented BZ connects more easily with Earth's field,

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allowing solar energy to pour in, which can

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supercharge Auroras at best or at worst disrupt

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satellites, radio communications, power grids, and

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GPS systems? A, northward oriented bz,

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meanwhile, might pass with minimal impact. The problem

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is that scientists currently can't determine this critical

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orientation until the storm is measured at what's called

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Lagrange Point 1, or L1,

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a position about a million miles from Earth in the direction

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of the Sun. At that point, we have just one or two

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hours of warning before potential impacts occur.

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Solar physicist Valentin Martinez Pillais puts

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it plainly. We need to start predicting what BZ

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is going to be as soon as the CME has occurred,

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not when we Measure it at L1, where we only have one

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or two hours warning. What makes this particularly

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concerning is that our vulnerability to space weather is

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actually increasing. The sun itself isn't changing

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its behavior. It's been firing off solar storms for

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billions of years. What's changed is our reliance on

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the very technologies most susceptible to these solar

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disruptions. Most of our current monitoring

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comes from a single vantage point, spacecraft positioned at

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that L1 point I mentioned. These

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missions, like NASA's ACE and Discover satellites,

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can detect solar wind properties and measure the all important

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BZ component, But only when the storm is already

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nearly upon us. To truly forecast

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the strength of a solar storm before it hits, we

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need earlier measurements from multiple angles.

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Ideally, scientists would position satellites at

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various Lagrange points around the Sun Earth system

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to observe these magnetic structures from different

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perspectives while they're still developing.

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According to Martinez Pillay, the models are there so we

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know the equation we have to solve, but we don't have good

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data. He predicts it could take about

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50 years for space weather forecasting to reach

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the same accuracy and predictability as Earth weather

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predictions, assuming we make the necessary

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investments. But waiting half a century might

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be too late. While extreme solar storms, like the

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famous carrington event of 1859 are rare,

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they do happen. If a similar event struck today,

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it could cause trillions in damage globally. By disabling

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satellites, Knocking out power grids for weeks or

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months, and severely disrupting communications and

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aviation. We've already had at least one

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near miss in recent memory. In July

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2012, the sun fired off a colossal

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CME that would have caused devastating impacts,

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except it missed Earth's orbital position by just one week.

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As one researcher put it, if that eruption had happened

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just a week earlier, we would still be

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picking up the pieces technologically a year later.

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The stakes are high, and the scientific community

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is increasingly aware that expanding our space weather

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monitoring capabilities isn't just about Scientific

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curiosity. It's about protecting our modern

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technological infrastructure from one of nature's most

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powerful phenomena. Looking toward the future,

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the several promising developments may significantly

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advance our ability to predict and prepare for solar

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storms. One of the most anticipated

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projects is the European Space Agency's Vigil

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mission, Scheduled to launch in 2031.

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Vigil represents a, major breakthrough in our solar

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monitoring capabilities because of its unique vantage point.

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Unlike our current observatories that sit at Lagrange point 1

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directly between Earth and the Sun, Vigil will position

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itself at Lagrange.5, a stable

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orbital location that trails Earth in its orbit around the

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Sun. This sideways perspective will allow

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scientists to observe solar eruptions from

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an entirely different angle, providing crucial

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data about the shape, speed, and most

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importantly, the magnetic orientation of

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CMEs before they head our way

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from L5. Vigil could potentially give us up

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to a one week's advance warning about incoming solar

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storms and their magnetic properties, A

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massive improvement over our current one to two

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hour window. As Martinez Pilit

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noted, it's better than nothing. But

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the vision for comprehensive space weather forecasting

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Extends well beyond a single satellite. The

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ideal monitoring system would include spacecraft

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stationed at multiple Lagrange points.

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L1, L3, L4

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and L5, creating a network of

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sentinels watching the sun from all angles.

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This distributed approach would provide continuous observation

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of solar activity regardless of which side of the sun

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is facing Earth. While m establishing such

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a network would require significant international cooperation

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and investment, the technology to build it exists

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today. What's lacking is the

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prioritization and funding that matches the actual risk

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these solar events pose to our global infrastructure.

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The vulnerability of our modern world to severe space weather

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can't be overstated. A direct hit from a, Carrington

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level event could disable satellites controlling everything

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from GPS navigation to telecommunications.

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Power grids across continents could collapse as

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geomagnetically induced currents overwhelm

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transformers. Air travel would be

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disrupted as both communications and navigation systems

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fail. Banking systems, Internet

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infrastructure and essential services all depend

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on technologies susceptible to space weather

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effects. The economic impact of such an event

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has been estimated in the trillions of dollars,

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potentially exceeding the damage from the most severe

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natural disasters or pandemics. Unlike

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earthquakes or hurricanes that affect specific regions,

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A, major solar storm would impact entire hemispheres

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simultaneously. What makes this risk

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particularly concerning is that our historical record

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of solar activity is relatively short.

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The Carrington event of 1859 remains our

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benchmark for extreme solar storms. But the sun

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has likely produced even more powerful eruptions over

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its billions of years. We m simply

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don't know how bad it could get. Space

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weather scientists frequently remind us that the question

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isn't if another extreme solar storm will hit Earth,

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but when. The probability of a Carrington

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Level event occurring in the next decade is estimated

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between 1 and 2%, while the chance of one

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hitting in the next century approaches certainty,

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these aren't comfortable odds when weighed against the potential

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consequences. The good news is that with

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proper monitoring and warning systems, we could take protective

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measures. Satellites could be put into safe modes,

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power grid operators could implement load balancing to

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prevent cascading failures, and critical systems

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could be temporarily isolated or hardened against

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electromagnetic effects. But these mitigations

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depend entirely on having adequate warning time

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precisely what current systems can't provide. As

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we continue developing our technological civilization,

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expanding our space weather forecasting capabilities

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isn't just prudent it's essential for

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protecting the infrastructure that underpins modern

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society. M Moving on,

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let's take a look at a secret that's been uncovered in our own

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backyard.

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Tucked between Mars and Jupiter, the asteroid

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belt's largest resident has been hiding a fascinating

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secret. Ceres, a dwarf planet

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first discovered in 1801, may be

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far more watery than scientists have believed for

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centuries. According to groundbreaking research from

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Purdue University and NASA's Jet Propulsion

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Laboratory, this seemingly dry, cratered world

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might actually be a frozen ocean planet with an ice

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rich composition that rewrites our understanding of its

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formation and evolution. For

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decades, the scientific consensus held that Ceres was

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predominantly rocky and with ice making up less than

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30% of its mass. But this new

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study, published in Nature Astronomy, proposes

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a dramatically different picture, suggesting that up

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to 90% of Ceres outer layers could be composed

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of ice. We think that there's

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lots of water ice near Ceres surface and that it

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gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper,

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explained assistant professor Mike Sorry, who co

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led the research with PhD student Ian Pamerlo.

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Their computer simulations tested how Ceres

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surface has evolved over billions of years,

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revealing unexpected findings about the dwarf planet's

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composition and behavior. The key insight

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came from studying Ceres craters. Scientists

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previously believed that if Ceres had a high ice content,

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its craters would quickly deform. Behaving like honey

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or flowing glaciers since NASA's dawn mission

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observed many well preserved deep craters,

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researchers initially concluded Ceres couldn't be very

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icy. But the Purdue team discovered something

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surprising. When ice is mixed with even small amounts

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of rock, it behaves quite differently than pure ice.

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Even solids will flow over long timescales,

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Pamerlo noted. Ice flows more readily than

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rock. Craters have deep bowls, which produce High

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stresses that then relax to a lower stress state,

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resulting in a shallower bowl via solid state flow.

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Their models revealed that a gradational crust with

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higher ice concentration near the surface, gradually

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decreasing with depth, could maintain crater shapes

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for billions of years without significant

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deformation. This structure perfectly

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explains what the dawn mission observed during its

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exploration of Ceres between 2015 and

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2018. The implications are profound.

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Rather than being just another large asteroid, Ceres,

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Ceres now appears to be more similar to the ocean moons of the

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outer solar system like Europa and Enceladus,

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except with a muddier, dirtier composition.

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The key difference is that Ceres ocean has

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likely completely frozen over time, preserving

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a record of its aquatic past in its icy shell.

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Perhaps most exciting is what this means for future

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exploration. At roughly 950

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kilometers in diameter, Ceres is substantial

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enough to have developed many features of larger planetary

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bodies, including craters, volcanoes and

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landslides. As Sory enthusiastically

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noted. To me, the exciting part of all this, if we're

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right, is that we have a frozen ocean world pretty close to Earth.

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Ceres may be a valuable point of comparison for the ocean

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Hosting icy moons of the outer solar system.

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Ceres, we think, is therefore the most accessible icy

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world in the universe. That makes it a great target for

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future spacecraft missions. Those

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bright enigmatic spots on Ceres surface that puzzled

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astronomers when first observed by dawn. They're likely

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remnants of that ancient ocean materials erupted

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onto the surface after freezing. These regions

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could offer incredible opportunities for future missions to collect

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samples from what was once a living ocean.

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All without traveling to the far reaches of the outer solar

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system. As we continue mapping water

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00:19:06.840 --> 00:19:09.600
resources throughout our solar system, Ceres

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00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.560
stands out as a potential treasure hiding in plain

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00:19:12.560 --> 00:19:15.480
sight. An ancient ocean world disguised as a

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00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:18.400
humble asteroid waiting just beyond Mars for

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00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.400
our return. The story of Ceres is just

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one chapter in our solar system's surprisingly wet

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00:19:24.280 --> 00:19:27.240
narrative. While Earth has long been considered

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the water world of our planetary neighborhood, we're

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00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:32.960
discovering that H2O is far more common throughout

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00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.880
space than we once believed. It just takes

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different forms depending on distance from the sun and

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00:19:38.800 --> 00:19:41.720
local conditions. Take Europa, one

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of Jupiter's four large Galilean moons.

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This ice covered world harbors an ocean containing an

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00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:50.360
estimated two to three times the volume of all Earth's

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oceans combined. Unlike Ceres

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Frozen waters Europa's subsurface ocean remains

417
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liquid today. Heated by tidal forces From

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Jupiter's massive gravitational pull. Its

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00:20:01.530 --> 00:20:04.410
smooth, cracked surface betrays the movement of liquid

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00:20:04.410 --> 00:20:07.330
water beneath, making it one of astrobiologists

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00:20:07.330 --> 00:20:10.050
prime targets in the search for Extraterrestrial life.

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00:20:11.010 --> 00:20:13.570
Saturn's moon Enceladus presents an even more

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dramatic case, actively venting water into

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space through geysers erupting from its south pole.

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The Cassini spacecraft flew directly through these

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00:20:22.210 --> 00:20:25.210
plumes, detecting not just water, but also salts,

427
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ice grains, and organic molecules. Even more

428
00:20:28.090 --> 00:20:30.450
exciting was the discovery of hydrothermal vents on

429
00:20:30.450 --> 00:20:33.210
Enceladus ocean floor, environments that on

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00:20:33.210 --> 00:20:35.490
Earth teem with life despite complete darkness.

431
00:20:36.050 --> 00:20:38.850
Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon and the largest in our

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00:20:38.850 --> 00:20:41.650
solar system, possesses a subsurface ocean

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00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:44.290
estimated to be around 100km deep,

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00:20:44.370 --> 00:20:47.330
with several layers of ice and liquid water arranged like

435
00:20:47.330 --> 00:20:50.250
a cosmic onion. Similarly, Callisto

436
00:20:50.250 --> 00:20:53.090
may host an ocean up to 150km thick

437
00:20:53.090 --> 00:20:54.850
beneath its heavily cratered surface.

438
00:20:56.080 --> 00:20:58.800
Even Titan, Saturn's haze shrouded moon,

439
00:20:58.800 --> 00:21:01.680
has a unique water story. Its surface features

440
00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.600
lakes and seas not of water, but of liquid methane and

441
00:21:04.600 --> 00:21:07.440
ethane. Yet beneath this alien landscape

442
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:10.400
lies a hidden subsurface water ocean, likely 50

443
00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.040
to 100 kilometers deep. Further out,

444
00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:15.960
Neptune's moon Triton shows evidence of subsurface liquid

445
00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:18.880
water mixed with ammonia, which acts as antifreeze in

446
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.660
the frigid outer solar system. Pluto, too, may

447
00:21:21.660 --> 00:21:24.500
Harbor a 100 kilometer thick subsurface ocean

448
00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.620
kept liquid through insulation from gas hydrates and

449
00:21:27.620 --> 00:21:30.620
internal heat from radioactive decay. What

450
00:21:30.620 --> 00:21:33.300
makes Ceres unique among these worlds is its location.

451
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While Europa, Enceladus, and the others orbit gas giants

452
00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:39.860
in the outer solar system, Ceres sits relatively close

453
00:21:39.860 --> 00:21:42.860
to Earth in the asteroid belt. This proximity makes

454
00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:45.820
it, as Mike sorry put it, the most accessible icy

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00:21:45.820 --> 00:21:48.610
world in the universe. The widespread

456
00:21:48.610 --> 00:21:50.610
presence of water throughout our solar system

457
00:21:51.010 --> 00:21:53.850
reshapes our understanding of planetary formation and

458
00:21:53.850 --> 00:21:56.530
evolution. It suggests water rich

459
00:21:56.530 --> 00:21:59.250
bodies may have been common building blocks of planets

460
00:21:59.250 --> 00:22:02.130
and raises intriguing questions about where Earth's

461
00:22:02.130 --> 00:22:05.090
own water came from. Did comets, asteroids,

462
00:22:05.090 --> 00:22:07.930
or Ceres like objects deliver it? More

463
00:22:07.930 --> 00:22:10.730
importantly, these discoveries expand our conception

464
00:22:10.730 --> 00:22:13.500
of habitable environments. If liquid

465
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water can exist in so many places beyond Earth, from

466
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the asteroid belt to the frigid outer reaches of

467
00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:22.260
our solar system, perhaps life, too might be more

468
00:22:22.260 --> 00:22:24.460
adaptable and widespread than we've imagined.

469
00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:28.900
Finally today, a topic our listeners raise with us on

470
00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:31.340
a regular basis. Mars,

471
00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:34.420
the Red planet that has captivated human imagination for

472
00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:37.340
centuries, might be closer to becoming a second home

473
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for humanity than we previously thought.

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New research published in Nature Astronomy suggests that

475
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terraforming Mars, transforming it into a

476
00:22:45.990 --> 00:22:48.750
habitable world, could be more feasible than earlier

477
00:22:48.750 --> 00:22:51.470
studies indicated. Led by Erica

478
00:22:51.470 --> 00:22:54.190
Alden Di Benedictis from Pioneer Research Labs,

479
00:22:54.350 --> 00:22:57.350
the study highlights three key advances that have changed the

480
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Terraforming dramatically

481
00:23:00.110 --> 00:23:02.670
improved climate modeling and engineering techniques,

482
00:23:02.990 --> 00:23:05.990
breakthroughs in understanding extremophilic organisms

483
00:23:05.990 --> 00:23:08.330
and synthetic biology. And significant

484
00:23:08.490 --> 00:23:11.490
developments in space technology, particularly

485
00:23:11.490 --> 00:23:14.250
SpaceX's Starship, which could potentially

486
00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:16.890
reduce payload costs to Mars by a factor of

487
00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:19.810
1000. What's particularly interesting is

488
00:23:19.810 --> 00:23:22.450
that comprehensive research on Mars terraforming

489
00:23:22.450 --> 00:23:25.250
feasibility hadn't been substantially updated

490
00:23:25.250 --> 00:23:28.130
since 1991. This new paper

491
00:23:28.130 --> 00:23:30.660
outlines a three phase approach that could potentially

492
00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:32.580
transform the red planet over time.

493
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In the short term, we now know Mars possesses sufficient ice

494
00:23:36.430 --> 00:23:39.230
reserves and soil nutrients to potentially support life.

495
00:23:39.230 --> 00:23:41.830
If temperatures could rise by at least 30 degrees

496
00:23:41.830 --> 00:23:44.790
Celsius, new warming methods look promising,

497
00:23:44.790 --> 00:23:47.670
including solar mirrors, engineered aerosols and

498
00:23:47.670 --> 00:23:50.390
surface modifications using materials like silica

499
00:23:50.390 --> 00:23:53.150
aerogels. These appear more efficient than earlier

500
00:23:53.150 --> 00:23:56.070
proposals and combined with our increased launch

501
00:23:56.070 --> 00:23:59.070
capacity, could potentially warm Mars enough within

502
00:23:59.070 --> 00:24:01.970
this century to permit liquid water and support the first

503
00:24:01.970 --> 00:24:04.810
extremophilic organisms. The mid

504
00:24:04.810 --> 00:24:07.730
to long term vision would involve introducing pioneer species

505
00:24:07.730 --> 00:24:09.850
engineered to withstand Mars's unique

506
00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:13.450
low pressure, toxic oxychlorine salts,

507
00:24:13.690 --> 00:24:16.490
extreme temperature swings, intense radiation

508
00:24:16.490 --> 00:24:19.490
and scarce water. These hardy organisms

509
00:24:19.490 --> 00:24:22.250
would initiate ecological succession, gradually

510
00:24:22.250 --> 00:24:25.250
transforming the planet's chemistry and potentially beginning

511
00:24:25.250 --> 00:24:27.860
oxygen production. While initial human

512
00:24:27.860 --> 00:24:30.500
habitation would still require protective environments,

513
00:24:30.740 --> 00:24:33.620
the ultimate goal could be creating a 100 millibar

514
00:24:33.620 --> 00:24:36.580
oxygen atmosphere sufficient for humans to breathe

515
00:24:36.580 --> 00:24:39.380
outside without pressure suits. Most remarkably,

516
00:24:39.540 --> 00:24:42.500
this atmosphere could be created entirely from resources

517
00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:45.380
already present on Mars. This transformation

518
00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.380
would take hundreds of years, but the research suggests a

519
00:24:48.380 --> 00:24:50.820
sustainable, ecologically minded approach.

520
00:24:51.620 --> 00:24:54.220
Rather than diverting attention from Earth's environmental

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challenges, Mars terraforming research could provide

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valuable insights for planetary sustainability.

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Technologies developed for Mars, like desiccation

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00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:05.370
resistant crops and improved ecosystem

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modeling, could benefit our home planet as well.

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Of m course, ethical questions abound, particularly

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regarding potential indigenous Martian life, which

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should be thoroughly investigated before any large scale

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terraforming begins. The researchers

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emphasize that Mars could serve as a crucial testbed

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for proving scientific theories about planetary engineering

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knowledge we might someday need to preserve Earth's habitability

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in the face of our own climate crisis.

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00:25:31.930 --> 00:25:34.410
While full transformation would take centuries,

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the research suggests the first steps could begin sooner

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than many have assumed, marking the beginning of

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humanity's potential expansion beyond the blue

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boundaries of our homeworld.

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00:25:46.330 --> 00:25:49.130
Well, what a journey through our cosmic neighborhood we've had today.

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00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:52.340
From launch pads at Cape Canaveral to the distant possibility possibility

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00:25:52.340 --> 00:25:55.220
of a green Mars, our solar system continues

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00:25:55.220 --> 00:25:58.140
to reveal its secrets and possibilities. Each

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00:25:58.140 --> 00:26:00.940
of these stories represents another piece in our expanding

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00:26:00.940 --> 00:26:03.940
understanding of the solar system, A picture that grows more

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00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:06.740
detailed, more surprising and more promising.

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00:26:07.060 --> 00:26:09.900
With each new discovery. This has been

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00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:12.700
Astronomy Daily. I'm M. Anna, and I hope

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00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:15.180
you'll join me again tomorrow for our next journey through the

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00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:18.060
cosmos. If you'd like to stay up to date with all

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00:26:18.060 --> 00:26:20.800
the latest space and astronomy news, visit our

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00:26:20.800 --> 00:26:23.640
website@astronomydaily.IO, where our

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00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:26.520
constantly updating newsfeed brings you the universe in real

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00:26:26.520 --> 00:26:28.880
time. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple

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00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.840
podcasts, Spotify, and YouTubeMusic, or wherever you get

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00:26:31.840 --> 00:26:34.840
your podcasts. And don't forget to follow us on social media.

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00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:37.560
Just search for Astro Daily Pod on Facebook,

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00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:40.200
X, YouTubeMusic, YouTubeMusic, Music,

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00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:43.280
Instagram, Tumblr, and TikTok. Until

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00:26:43.280 --> 00:26:46.120
next time, keep looking up. The universe is an amazing place

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00:26:46.120 --> 00:26:48.090
and and we're just beginning to understand it.