Twisting Waves on the Sun, the Brightest Radio Flash, and Europe's Solar Storm Simulation

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Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

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brings you the universe, one story at a time.

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I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you

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today. We've got a fantastic lineup. We'll be

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looking at twisting magnetic waves on the sun

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that could finally solve a decades old

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mystery.

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Avery: We'll also dive into the brightest cosmic

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radio flash ever seen and why its silence

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is baffling astronomers. But plus, a sobering

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look at Europe's simulation of a catastrophic

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solar storm.

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Anna: And on a lighter note, a successful launch

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for Japan's new cargo ship. And we'll even

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tell you how you can spot some of humanity's

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most legendary spacecraft in the night sky.

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Avery: It's a packed show. Let's get started.

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Anna: Alright, Avery, let's start with our own

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star, the Sun. For more than 80

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years, scientists have puzzled over a

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major solar mystery. Why is the

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Sun's atmosphere the corona mill

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millions of degrees hotter than its surface?

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Avery: Right. It's completely counterintuitive.

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You'd expect it to get cooler the farther you

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move away from the heat source.

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Anna: Exactly. But now, for the first time,

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astronomers have direct evidence of a

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phenomenon that might be the key. They've

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observed twisting magnetic waves in the

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corona, something that was first proposed way

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back in the 1940s.

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Avery: And these aren't just any waves. They're

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called small scale torsional alfven waves.

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Essentially, imagine the Sun's magnetic field

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lines as guitar strings. These waves are like

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a, twisting or plucking motion traveling

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along those strings carrying enormous amounts

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of energy from the sun's surface up into the

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corona.

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Anna: That's a great analogy. This energy heats the

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corona to its incredible temperatures.

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According to one of the lead researchers,

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this discovery provides essential validation

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for the models describing how this process

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works. He said having direct

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observations for finally allows us to test

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these models against reality.

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Avery: It's a huge deal. This isn't just confirming

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a theory. It's a fundamental piece of the

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puzzle of how our star works. And by

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extension, how other stars work too. A

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mystery 80 years in the making might finally

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be getting solved. Next, from a mystery

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solved to one that just got deeper, let's

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talk about fast radio bursts, or FRBs.

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These are intense, millisecond long bursts of

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radio waves from deep space.

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Anna: And recently, astronomers spotted the

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brightest one ever.

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Avery: Right. This new Signal is designated

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FRB2025

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16A, but it has a much

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better nickname, RB Float, which stands for

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radio brightest flash of all time.

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Anna: I love when scientists have fun with the

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names. So they traced this incredibly

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bright flash to a nearby galaxy, giving them

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a fantastic view. But here's the

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twist.

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Avery: The twist is that it's gone completely

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silent.

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Anna: Exactly. Many known FRBs are

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repeaters. They flash over and over again

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from the same spot, which helps astronomers

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study them. But RB Float, despite being the

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brightest ever detected by the CHIME

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telescope, hasn't sent out a single repeat

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burst.

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Avery: And that challenges a major theory in the

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field, which is that, all FRBs might

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eventually repeat if we just watch them for

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long enough.

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Anna: Mm. This non repeater, especially one

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so powerful, opens the door to reconsidering

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other origins. It suggests that at least

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some of these events might be caused by a

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single cataclysmic explosion, like the

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collapse of a massive star, rather than a

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repeating source like a magnetar.

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Avery: So the brightest flash ever seen has left us

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with more questions than answers. Classic

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astronomy.

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Anna: Well, from distant cosmic explosions

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to a potential threat much closer to home,

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the European Space Agency recently ran its

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most extreme space weather simulation ever.

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And the scenario was so severe that in the

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exercise, no spacecraft was left

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unscathed.

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Avery: Wow, that sounds intense. So what was the

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purpose of this cosmic fire drill?

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Anna: It was designed to test how spacecraft

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operations teams and space weather experts

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would handle a truly catastrophic solar

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storm. This is all in preparation for the

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upcoming Sentinel 1D mission, which is

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set to launch in November. They want to be

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ready for the worst.

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Avery: And these storms are no joke. A major one

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could knock out satellites, disrupt gps,

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and even take down power grids here on Earth.

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Anna: Precisely. The lead simulation officer,

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Gustavo Baldo Carvalho, put it bluntly.

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He said the key takeaway is that it's not a

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question of if this will happen, but when.

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Avery: Sobering words. So what are they doing? To

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prepare for the inevitable, ESA is.

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Anna: Expanding its network of space weather

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monitors. They're placing sensors on more

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satellites, and even developing a dedicated

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mission called Vigil, which is planned for

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2031. It will be positioned at a stable

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point in space to give us an early warning of

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any dangerous solar activity heading our way.

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Avery: That's good to hear. It's a reminder that

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space isn't just about discovery. It's also

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about understanding and mitigating the risks

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that come with living next to an active star.

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On a much more positive note, let's talk

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about a successful mission launch. The Japan

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Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA,

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has successfully launched its new advanced

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cargo spacecraft, the HTV

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X1, aboard an H3 rocket.

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Anna: Yes, it lifted off from the Tanegashima

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Space center and is now on its way to the

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International Space Station. This is a big

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deal for JAXA and for the station's crew.

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Avery: So what makes this spacecraft special?

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Anna: The HTV X1 is an uncrewed

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expendable ship designed to resupply the ISS

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with essentials like food, water and science

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experiments. But it's also a platform for

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technical demonstrations, testing new

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technologies in space. It's a real workhorse.

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Avery: And it seems JAXA has its sights set much

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further than the iss.

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Anna: They absolutely do. With the International

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Space Station scheduled for deorbit in 2030,

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space agencies are planning for what comes

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next. The HTVX platform is

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designed to be versatile in the future. It's

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intended to deliver cargo to Gateway, the

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planned lunar orbiting space station that

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will support the Artemis missions to the

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moon.

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Avery: So this launch isn't just about keeping the

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lights on at the iss. It's a critical step

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in building the infrastructure for humanity's

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return to the moon and missions beyond low

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Earth orbit. A very exciting development from

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Japan.

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Anna: And for our final story today, we're bringing

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things back to Earth, or at least back to our

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own backyards. We all know the names of

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legendary spacecraft like the James Webb

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Space telescope and Voyager 1. But do you

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know where to find them in the night sky?

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Avery: That is a great question. I think most people

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assume they're just up there somewhere,

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completely invisible. But with a bit of

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guidance, you can actually point to the patch

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of sky where they are.

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Anna: Exactly. And a recent guide has laid out

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where to look for five of these incredible

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explorers during October of 2025.

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It's a great way to feel to these missions.

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Avery: Okay, so let's run through them. For the

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James Webb Space Telescope or jwst.

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You'll need to find the famous red star

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Aldebaran and the constellation Taurus.

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JWST will be in that same area of the sky.

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Anna: And what about the Parker solar probe, the

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craft that's touching the Sun?

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Avery: That one can be found low in the southwestern

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sky right around sunset. Next up is

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NASA's Juno spacecraft which is orbiting

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Jupiter. It can be found high overhead

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in the eastern sky during the pre dawn hours.

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Anna: Two more to go. The New Horizons probe, which

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flew past Pluto.

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Avery: For New Horizons, you'll need to locate the

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famous Teapot Asterism in the constellation

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Sagittarius. The probe is cruising through

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that region of space. And finally, the

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legend itself, Voyager 1, humanity's most

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distant object.

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Anna: Where can we wave hello to Voyager?

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Avery: To find Voyager 1, you'll first need to

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locate the stars of the constellation

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Ophiuchus. It's out there

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over 15 billion miles away in

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that direction. Of course, you can't see the

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spacecraft themselves, but just knowing

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you're looking at their exact location in the

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cosmos is pretty amazing. And that's a

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wrap for today's episode of Astronomy Daily.

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From solving the sun's mysteries to spotting

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our most distant explorers in the night.

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Anna: Sky, thanks for listening. I'm Anna

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reminding you to keep looking up.

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Avery: And I'm Avery Clear Skies.

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Anna: It's a constant reminder of how much is

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happening out there and how much we are a

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part of it. We hope you enjoyed the journey

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with us today.

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Avery: Be sure to subscribe to Astronomy Daily

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wherever you get your podcasts so you don't

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miss an episode.

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Hm.

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The.

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Anna: Story.

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Avery: For Soul.