Starship's Next Flight, Pulsar Secrets Unlocked, and the Birth of a New Solar System

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of the

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latest cosmic happenings. I'm Anna and I'm

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thrilled to guide you through today's fascinating discoveries.

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We've got an exciting lineup for you. First, we'll

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dive into the highly anticipated next flight of

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SpaceX's Starship, the colossal rocket making

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headlines. Then we'll explore the astonishing

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secrets unveiled about a powerful rapidly spinning

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neutron star thanks to new X ray observations.

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Get ready for a cosmic first as we hear about astronomers

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witnessing a solar system being born right before their eyes.

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And finally, we'll talk about the multi million dollar

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auction of the largest Mars meteorite ever found on

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Earth that I reported on yesterday. We have the

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auction results. Stay with us for all these stories and more.

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Let's kick things off with some exciting news from SpaceX

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as Elon Musk has announced that the next starship

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flight, the 10th test flight of this colossal

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rocket, is expected to launch in about three weeks.

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If all goes according to plan, this will be the

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fourth launch for starship this year. And it's a

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big deal because Starship is designed to be the

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biggest and most powerful rocket ever built,

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with both its super heavy booster and ship

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upper stage intended for full and rapid reusability.

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Now, Getting to Flight 10 has been a bit of a bumpy ride.

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The ship upper stage that was originally slated for this mission

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actually exploded on a Test stand at SpaceX's

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Starbase site in South Texas back in June

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during preparations for a common pre launch engine

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trial. SpaceX quickly pinpointed the likely

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a failure of a pressurised nitrogen tank in the

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ship's nosecone area. The team is now working

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diligently to get a different ship vehicle ready for this

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upcoming Flight 10. It's no secret that

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the ship upper stage has faced some challenges in recent

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flights since SpaceX unfortunately lost the ship

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vehicle on flights 7, 8 and 9, which

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launched in January, March and May of this year respectively.

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For example, on Flight 8, which launched back in

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March, the 171 foot tall ship

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upper stage was intended to deploy dummy Starlink

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satellites and then perform a controlled splashdown

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in the Indian Ocean. However, several

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of ship's six Raptor engines conked out towards

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the end of its ascent burn, causing the vehicle to

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tumble and SpaceX lost contact about nine

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minutes into the flight. It presumably detonated

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high in the sky shortly after. This

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mirrored what happened on Flight 7, where the ship was

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also lost at a similar point in the mission. The

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anomaly on Flight 7 was later traced to a

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harmonic response that was several times

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stronger in flight than observed during testing, leading

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to increased stress on propulsion system hardware,

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propellant leaks and sustained fires.

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For Flight 8, SpaceX had already taken steps to

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minimise the chances of recurrence, including a longer

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static fire test and hardware changes.

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In contrast to the ship, the super heavy booster

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has shown a more consistent performance. On

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Flight 7 and Flight 8, the booster successfully

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returned to Starbase and was spectacularly caught

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by the launch tower's chopstick arms.

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This was a jaw dropping demonstration of a technique that

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SpaceX is refining. Flight 9

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even featured the first ever reuse of a super heavy

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booster, putting the Flight 7 booster back into action.

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Though on Flight 9, SpaceX didn't attempt to catch the

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booster again. It broke apart over the Gulf of Mexico

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shortly after initiating a landing burn. Over

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the long haul, SpaceX plans to employ this

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chopstick recovery strategy for both super

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Heavy and ship. This approach is key to

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making the reuse of each stage more efficient, with

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the ambitious goal of flying Starship multiple times

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per day. The ultimate vision, as

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articulated by Elon Musk, is that Starship's

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combination of immense power and full reusability

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will make Mars settlement economically feasible.

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The company has been steadily increasing its flight cadence,

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having flown in a fully stacked configuration for the

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first time in April of 2023,

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followed by another two flights in 2024

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and already four so far this year. We should

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expect another significant boost in cadence, as

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SpaceX has already requested approval for an

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astounding 25 Starship launches from Starbase this

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year, so some quick turnarounds may be required if they

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wish to still reach that goal. And as of next

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year, SpaceX are looking to complete some

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120 launches a year. It's so

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certainly a dynamic time in the world of space exploration,

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and we'll keep a close eye on Starship's next giant

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leap.

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Next up, we're diving into a groundbreaking discovery about a

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powerful, rapidly spinning neutron star

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known as PSR J1023

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0038, or

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J1023 for short.

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Astronomers have uncovered a major secret about this

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pulsar, revealing that the radiation it emits

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is primarily driven by the impact of its

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intense particle winds, rather than the

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material it strips away from its companion star.

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This is a significant finding that sheds new light on

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these fascinating cosmic objects.

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J1023 is truly a marvel.

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Located about 4,500 light years from Earth,

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it's part of a binary system where a dead star or

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neutron star spins an astounding

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600 times per second while circling a low

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mass companion star that it feeds upon. Its

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rapid rotation categorises it as a millisecond

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pulsar. What makes J1023

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even more special is its status as a

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transitional millisecond pulsar, a rare

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subclass because it clearly shifts between an active

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state, where it's accreting material and blasting out

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radiation, and a more dormant state where it behaves

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like a standard pulsar emitting radio waves.

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This makes J1023 an invaluable

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cosmic laboratory for scientists.

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Traditionally, when a neutron star feeds on its companion,

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the stripped matter forms an accretion disc that

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swirls around the dead star, gradually feeding

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it while emitting powerful radiation across the

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electromagnetic spectrum. However,

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this new research tells a different story for

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J1023. The team used an

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impressive array of instruments for this study. NASA's

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Imaging X Ray Polarimetry Explorer, known as

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IXP, along with the European Southern

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Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile and the

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Carl G Jansky Very Large Array in New

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Mexico. This was the first survey of a

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binary X ray source observed across the X ray,

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optical and radio bands of the electromagnetic

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spectrum, allowing them to precisely determine

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the polarisation of the radiation coming from this

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pulsar. What they found

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was particularly exciting. Ixpe

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observed that a remarkable 12% of the x rays from

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J1023 were polarised, which

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is the highest level of polarisation ever seen from such a

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binary star system. While the radio waves

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and optical light emissions showed lower

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polarizations of 2% and 1% respectively,

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the optical polarisation was oriented in the same

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direction as the X ray polarisation.

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This alignment strongly suggests a, uh, common mechanism behind

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both phenomena. These findings confirm an

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earlier theory. The observed polarised emissions

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from binary systems like J1023

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are generated when the pulsar's powerful winds.

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Streams of high energy charged particles flowing from the

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dead star strike the matter in the surrounding accretion, uh,

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discs. This observation, though

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extremely challenging due to the low intensity of the X

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ray flux, was made possible by

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IXPE's exceptional sensitivity. This

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research could finally help scientists unlock the secrets of

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what truly powers pulsars, offering us a

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clearer picture of these incredible objects

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moving from distant pulsars.

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Let's turn our attention to something incredibly

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exciting that brings us closer to understanding our

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own origins. For the first time ever,

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scientists have witnessed the very earliest stages of

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planet formation around a baby star roughly

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1,300 light years away. This

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groundbreaking discovery means astronomers actually

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watched hot minerals crystallise into solid particles,

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effectively catching a planetary system at the precise, um,

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moment when planets begin to take shape. It's like

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having a cosmic time machine, offering an

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unprecedented glimpse into the birth of our own solar

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system. This breakthrough came from studying a young

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star named Hops315, which is

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encircled by a swirling disc of gas and dust called a

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protoplanetary disc. Using the

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incredible power of the James Webb Space Telescope and the

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Atacama Large Millimetre Array, or ALMA,

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astronomers detected silicon monoxide, or

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SiO, as it transitioned from gas into

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solid crystalline minerals. This is considered the

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absolutely crucial first step in planet formation.

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Melissa McClure, the lead author from Leiden University of

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highlighted the significance, stating that for the first time

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they've identified the earliest moment when planet

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formation is initiated around a star other than

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our Sun. This finding provides an

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unparalleled window into how rocky planets like Earth

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actually come into existence. It's

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fascinating to consider that in our own solar system,

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similar crystalline minerals are found trapped in ancient

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meteorites, primordial rocks that scientists used

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to date the beginning of our solar system. These

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meteorites contain the very same silicon monoxide

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compounds now being observed around hops

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315, albeit in their fully solidified

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state. Merrill Van't Hoff from Purdue University

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eloquently described their discovery as a

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picture of the baby solar system, noting that we

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are truly seeing a system that looks like what

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our solar system looked like when it was just beginning

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to form. The research team

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pinpointed that this mineral formation is occurring

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in a region equivalent to the location of our own asteroid

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asteroid belt around the sun. This isn't a

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coincidence. It's exactly where astronomers would

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expect to find the building blocks of rocky

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planets. The process itself is quite elegant.

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Close to young stars, the intense heat keeps silicon

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monoxide in a gaseous state. But as temperatures drop

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with increasing distance from the star, this gas starts

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to condense into solid crystals. These tiny

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particles then begin to stick together, gradually

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growing larger, until they form kilometre sized

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planetesimals, which are essentially the

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seeds that will eventually become full fledged planets.

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Edwin Bergen, a UH co author from the University of

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Michigan, emphasised that this process has never

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been seen before in a protoplanetary disc

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or anywhere else outside of our solar system.

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The detection required the combined might of two of

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astronomy's most powerful tools. The James Webb

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Space Telescope initially identified the chemical

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signatures of these crystalline minerals and then

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ALMA precisely pinpointed their exact

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location within the protoplanetary disc,

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revealing that they were forming in a narrow ring

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around the star. The observations not only

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showed gaseous silicon monoxide actively

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condensing into solid particles, but also revealed

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carbon monoxide streaming away from the star in a

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butterfly shaped wind, while silicon monoxide

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jets beamed outward in narrow streams.

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This discovery transforms HOPS 315 into

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a natural laboratory for studying planetary formation.

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Logan Francis, a UH postdoctoral researcher at

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Leiden University, pointed out that they are literally seeing

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these minerals at the same location in this extrasolar

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system as where we find them in asteroids in our own

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solar system. The findings strongly suggest

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that planet formation follows universal patterns across

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the galaxy. The same physical processes that

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created Earth and other rocky planets in our solar

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system are actively occurring around distant

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stars, providing astronomers with living examples

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of planetary birth. This opens up exciting

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new possibilities for understanding how common Earth like

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planets might be throughout the universe, all while

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offering direct observational evidence of the processes

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that shaped our cosmic neighbourhood 4.6 billion

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years ago.

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From the birth of solar systems to more tangible relics,

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let's talk about something incredibly rare that just changed

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hands for a hefty sum. As I

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reported yesterday, the largest Mars meteorite

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ever found on Earth was auctioned off at Sotheby's in New

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York city. This jagged 54

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pound chunk of the red planet formerly known as

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NWA 16788 sold

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for an astonishing $4.3 million.

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Interestingly, the bidding war wasn't quite as fervent as some expected,

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even though its starting price was already set at $2

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million. Still, the final sale price

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surpassed the initial maximum estimate of $4

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million, with extra fees pushing the total lot price

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to around $5.3 million. Cassandra

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Hatton, the vice chairman of science and natural history

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at Sotheby's, highlighted that NWA

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16788 isn't just notable for its

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size, being about 70% larger than the

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next biggest Mars meteorite on Earth, but also

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for its appearance. She noted that it

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literally looks just like the surface of the Red

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Planet, distinguishing it from smaller, less striking

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Martian meteorites that often sell for tens of

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thousands. The identity of the new

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owner of this unique piece of Mars remains private,

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as buyers often choose to stay anonymous for various

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reasons, including safety or a desire to be

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an anonymous donor to a museum. This

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Mars rock was just one of many rare items sold at the

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auction, which also included a juvenile

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ceratosaurus skeleton for $26 million

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and a Tyrannosaurus rex foot for 1.4

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million. The auctioning of scientific objects

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often sparks debate. While some argue such

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items should be freely donated to scientific laboratories

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or public spaces, Hatton suggests that attaching

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monetary value can incentivize collectors to properly care

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for them perhaps even better than underfunded

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museums. She also points out that many collectors

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do end up donating their purchases or allowing them to be

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displayed, sometimes even providing additional funds

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for the institution to care for the objects or support

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postdoctoral researchers to

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verify its authenticity. A small piece of

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NWA 16788

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was indeed broken off and sent to a lab for

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analysis, with the findings published in the

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Meteoritical Bulletin making data available

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for scientists.

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And that brings us to the end of another fascinating

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episode of Astronomy Daily. Thank you

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for tuning in. Don't forget to visit our website,

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astronomydaily IO where you can catch

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up on all the latest space and astronomy news with our

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constantly updating news feedback. And if you're a

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completionist, you can listen to all our back episodes.

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Let me know if you do and I'll give you a shout out here on the show.

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You can also subscribe to Astronomy Daily on Apple

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Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,

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or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back

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tomorrow with more cosmic updates. Until

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then, this is Anna signing off and reminding you to keep

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looking up.