Cosmic Chronicles: SphereX’s Sky Mapping, Lunar Trailblazer’s Silent Struggles

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your cosmic


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connection to the latest happenings


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beyond our atmosphere. I'm Anna, and


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today we're exploring a fascinating


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array of space discoveries and


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developments that remind us just how


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dynamic our universe truly is. In


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today's stellar lineup, we'll dive into


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NASA's Spherex Space Telescope, which


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has just begun its ambitious mission to


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map the entire sky in unprecedented


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detail. We'll also check in on the


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ongoing efforts to revive the silent


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lunar trailblazer orbiter that went


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quiet shortly after launch. Then we'll


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explore a truly mind-bending discovery,


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an enormous ring of galaxies that's


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challenging our fundamental


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understanding of the universe's


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structure. If that wasn't enough cosmic


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intrigue, we'll track a piece of space


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history as a Soviet era Venus probe from


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the 1970s makes an unplanned return to


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Earth after more than 5 decades in


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orbit.


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And finally, we might be getting closer


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to answering one of our solar systems


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biggest mysteries. Is there a ninth


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planet lurking in the distant reaches


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beyond Neptune? Researchers have


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uncovered compelling evidence in decades


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old data that could point to this


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elusive world. So, strap in for a


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journey across the cosmos as we explore


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these fascinating developments together.


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We'll kick things off with a story


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update. After weeks of preparation and


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testing, NASA's Spherex Space Telescope


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has officially begun its scientific


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mission, marking an exciting new chapter


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in our exploration of the


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cosmos. Launched on March 11th, the


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observatory has spent the last 6 weeks


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undergoing rigorous checkouts and


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calibrations to ensure everything is


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functioning properly. Now, it's ready to


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create something truly remarkable, a


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complete map of the entire sky. What


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makes Spherex special isn't just that


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it's mapping the sky. Other telescopes


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have done that before, but rather how


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it's doing it. The observatory is


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capturing roughly


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3,600 unique images every single day,


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observing in 102 different wavelengths


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or colors of infrared light that are


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invisible to the human eye. This


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spectroscopic approach will give


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astronomers unprecedented insights into


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the universe around us. From its orbit


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around Earth, Spherex looks outward into


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space, constantly shifting its view. The


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spacecraft completes more than 14 orbits


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per day, passing over the poles in a


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north to south pattern. Each day, it


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photographs one circular strip of the


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sky. As Earth moves around the sun over


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the course of 6 months, Spherex's field


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of view gradually shifts until it has


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observed in every direction. The


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mission's primary goal is ambitious to


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help answer fundamental questions about


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the origins of our universe. By mapping


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the positions of hundreds of millions of


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galaxies in three dimensions, Spherex


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will search for clues about cosmic


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inflation, that mindbending moment in


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the first fraction of a second after the


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big bang when the universe expanded a


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trillion trillionfold.


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Jim Fansen, the mission's project


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manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion


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Laboratory, noted the beautiful symmetry


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in this approach, saying, "We're going


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to study what happened on the smallest


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size scales in the universe's earliest


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moments by looking at the modern


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universe on the largest


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scales." The telescope doesn't use


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moving mirrors or detectors like some


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other observatories. Instead, the entire


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spacecraft shifts position using


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reaction wheels that spin inside it to


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control its orientation. When it takes a


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picture, the light is captured by six


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detectors, each producing a unique image


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at different wavelengths. These groups


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of six images are called an exposure.


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And Spherex takes about 600 exposures


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daily. Over its 2-year primary mission,


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the telescope will create four complete


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maps of the sky. But Spherex isn't just


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looking for clues about the universe's


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beginnings. It's also searching for the


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building blocks of life. The observatory


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will examine interstellar clouds within


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our own galaxy, making over 9 million


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observations to map water and other key


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ingredients for life. This could help


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scientists understand how compounds


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essential to life on Earth formed and


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evolved throughout the cosmos. Jaime


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Bach, the mission's principal


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investigator, expressed excitement about


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the telescope's performance, saying,


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"The performance of the instrument is as


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good as we hoped." That means we're


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going to be able to do all the amazing


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science we planned on and perhaps even


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get some unexpected


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discoveries. After 12 years of planning


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and development, Spherex is now


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operational and beginning to unravel


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some of our universe's greatest


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mysteries, one infrared image at a


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time. Next, let's pay a visit to NASA's


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Never Say Die department. I made that


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up. However, NASA is still holding out


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hope for its lunar trailblazer


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spacecraft, which went silent just one


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day after its February 26th launch


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aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Despite


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more than 2 months of silence, mission


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controllers haven't given up on the 94


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million dollar lunar orbiter. The


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situation became concerning shortly


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after launch when the mission team


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determined that the 440lb spacecraft was


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spinning slowly and running dangerously


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low on power. The probe couldn't


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properly orient itself to harvest enough


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sunlight with its solar panels,


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preventing it from charging its


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batteries as planned. Now, engineers see


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a potential window of opportunity.


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According to NASA's latest update,


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modeling indicates that lighting


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conditions from May through mid June


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could be favorable enough to provide


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sufficient sunlight on the spacecraft's


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solar panels. This might recharge the


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batteries to operational levels and


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potentially allow ground controllers to


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regain command of the vehicle.


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There's cautious optimism that if


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contact can be reestablished, the


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mission might still be salvageable. NASA


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officials stated that if they can


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command the spacecraft again, and if the


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propulsion system remains functional


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after thawing and the scientific


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instruments are still operable, they may


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be able to guide Lunar Trailblazer into


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its intended elliptical orbit around the


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moon. The mission team has been able to


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track lunar trailblazers precise


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position using groundbased equipment,


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which has been crucial in planning


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recovery efforts. If they do reestablish


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contact, NASA will conduct a thorough


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review to determine whether the mission


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can proceed or should be terminated.


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However, if no signal is received by the


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end of this favorable period in mid


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June, the agency will begin procedures


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to officially close out the mission.


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Lunar Trailblazer was designed with an


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important scientific purpose, mapping


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the moon's water stores from lunar


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orbit. This information is considered


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vital for NASA's Aremis program, which


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aims to establish one or more bases near


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the moon's south pole, an area believed


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to contain significant deposits of water


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ice. Understanding the distribution and


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accessibility of these water resources


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could prove crucial for sustained human


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presence on the lunar surface.


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Interestingly, Lunar Trailblazer wasn't


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the only spacecraft on that February


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launch to encounter difficulties. It


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shared its ride to space with Athena,


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the second moon lander built by


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Houston-based company Intuitive


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Machines. While Athena did successfully


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reach the lunar surface on March 6th, it


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toppled over shortly after touchdown


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near the moon's south pole, cutting


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short its planned 10-day mission. The


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coming weeks will be critical for Lunar


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Trailblazer as engineers watch closely


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for any signs of life from the silent


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spacecraft, hoping that the changing


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solar conditions might just provide


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enough power to bring it back from the


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brink. Next on today's story rundown, a


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startling discovery in the depths of


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space is challenging our fundamental


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understanding of the universe.


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Astronomers have identified a colossal


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structure dubbed the Big Ring. An almost


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perfect ring of galaxies measuring an


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astonishing 1.3 billion lightyear in


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diameter. This enormous cosmic formation


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appears in light that has traveled 6.9


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billion years to reach our telescopes,


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meaning we're seeing it as it existed


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when the universe was roughly half its


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current age. What makes this discovery


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so remarkable is that it simply


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shouldn't exist according to our current


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cosmological models. The standard model


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of cosmology is built upon what's called


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the cosmological principle. The idea


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that on a large enough scale, matter


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should be evenly distributed throughout


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the universe. Theoretical calculations


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suggest structures shouldn't exceed


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about 1.2 billion lightyear in size.


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Yet, the big ring dramatically exceeds


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this limit. The discovery was led by


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astronomer Alexia Lopez of the


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University of Central Lancaster and


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presented at a recent American


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Astronomical Society meeting. Even more


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intriguing is that this isn't the first


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mega structure Lopez and her team have


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found in this region. In 2021, they


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announced the discovery of the giant ark


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in the same area of sky and at the same


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cosmic distance. That structure was


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nearly three times larger than the


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theoretical size limit. Neither of these


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two ultra-large structures is easy to


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explain in our current understanding of


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the universe, Lopez explained. And their


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ultra-large sizes, distinctive shapes,


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and cosmological proximity must surely


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be telling us something


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important. Upon closer inspection,


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researchers determined that the big ring


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isn't actually a perfect circle, but


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more of a corkcrew shape that appears


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ring-like from our vantage point. This


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rules out the possibility that it's a


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baron acoustic oscillation. circular


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arrangements of galaxies formed by


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acoustic waves in the early universe


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which typically measure around 1 billion


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lightyears


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across. The presence of these enormous


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structures raises fascinating


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possibilities. Some astronomers suggest


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they could be evidence supporting


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alternative cosmological theories such


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as Roger Penrose's conformal cyclic


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cosmology which proposes the universe


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goes through endless big bang expansion


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cycles. Another possibility is that they


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represent cosmic strings, theoretical


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defects in the fabric of spaceime that


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formed as the universe expanded in its


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earliest moments. Finding multiple


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ultra-large structures in close


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proximity also presents a statistical


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anomaly. As Lopez noted, we could expect


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maybe one exceedingly large structure in


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all our observable universe. Yet, the


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big ring and the giant ark are two huge


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structures and are even cosmological


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neighbors.


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This discovery adds to a growing list of


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observations that don't neatly fit


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within our current understanding of the


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universe. The best path forward may


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involve finding more such arrangements


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scattered throughout the cosmos,


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potentially hiding in plain sight in our


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astronomical data. Whatever the big ring


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ultimately proves to be, it serves as a


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humbling reminder that the universe


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remains full of mysteries, even in its


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largest and most fundamental structures.


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A relic from the space race era is about


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to make an unexpected return to Earth.


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Cosmos


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482, a Soviet spacecraft originally


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designed to explore Venus back in 1972,


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is now on track for an uncontrolled


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re-entry into Earth's atmosphere around


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May 10th. This half-tonon piece of space


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history never fulfilled its intended


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mission due to a rocket malfunction that


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left it stranded in Earth orbit instead


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of heading toward our neighboring


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planet. For over five decades, 53 years


00:11:18.959 --> 00:11:21.430
to be precise, this abandoned spacecraft


00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.350
has been silently circling our world in


00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.110
a highly elliptical orbit that has


00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.590
gradually degraded over time. Dutch


00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.670
scientist Marco Langbrook, who's been


00:11:29.680 --> 00:11:31.590
tracking the object, predicts it will


00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.389
come plummeting down at approximately


00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.790
150 mph if it remains intact during


00:11:37.800 --> 00:11:39.990
re-entry. What makes the situation


00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.910
particularly interesting is the


00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:45.190
spacecraft's specialized design. Cosmos


00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.350
482 was built to withstand the


00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.750
incredibly harsh conditions of Venus's


00:11:49.760 --> 00:11:51.910
atmosphere, which is much thicker than


00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:54.790
Earth's and filled with carbon dioxide.


00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:56.949
This robust construction means there's a


00:11:56.959 --> 00:11:58.870
significant possibility that the


00:11:58.880 --> 00:12:00.870
spacecraft could survive its fiery


00:12:00.880 --> 00:12:03.190
descent through our atmosphere rather


00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:05.190
than burning up as most space debris


00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.430
does. The surviving component is


00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:09.030
believed to be the landing capsule


00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:11.910
itself, a spherical object roughly 3 ft


00:12:11.920 --> 00:12:14.710
in diameter, weighing about 1,000 lb or


00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.990
nearly 500 kg. Although experts doubt


00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.750
that its parachute system would still


00:12:19.760 --> 00:12:21.430
function after so many years in the


00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:23.750
harsh environment of space, the heat


00:12:23.760 --> 00:12:25.509
shield might remain effective enough to


00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.389
protect the craft during re-entry.


00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.069
Jonathan McDow from the Harvard


00:12:30.079 --> 00:12:32.389
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics


00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.990
noted that it would actually be better


00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.389
if the heat shield fails, causing the


00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:38.069
spacecraft to burn up during its


00:12:38.079 --> 00:12:41.030
atmospheric dive. Otherwise, we could


00:12:41.040 --> 00:12:43.269
have a halfton metal object falling from


00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:44.110
the


00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.949
sky. While this sounds alarming,


00:12:46.959 --> 00:12:49.030
Langbrook emphasizes that the risk to


00:12:49.040 --> 00:12:51.350
people on Earth is relatively small,


00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.269
comparable to that of a random meteorite


00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.069
fall, several of which occur each year.


00:12:56.079 --> 00:12:57.430
The spacecraft could potentially


00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.069
re-enter anywhere between 51.7 degrees


00:13:00.079 --> 00:13:02.629
north and south latitude, encompassing a


00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:04.870
vast area from as far north as London


00:13:04.880 --> 00:13:06.870
and Edmonton down to near South


00:13:06.880 --> 00:13:09.910
America's Cape Horn. Given that most of


00:13:09.920 --> 00:13:12.230
our planet is covered by water, the odds


00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:14.750
favor an ocean splashdown rather than


00:13:14.760 --> 00:13:17.190
landfall. However, the exact location


00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.670
remains unpredictable at this time. This


00:13:19.680 --> 00:13:21.269
event adds to a growing list of


00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.750
uncontrolled re-entries in recent years,


00:13:23.760 --> 00:13:25.910
including a Chinese booster rocket in


00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:28.990
2022 and the Tiangong 1 space station in


00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.590
2018, both of which fortunately ended


00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:32.829
without


00:13:32.839 --> 00:13:35.030
incident. And to wrap up today's


00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:37.269
stories, could we be about to solve a


00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:40.069
major space mystery? In what could be


00:13:40.079 --> 00:13:41.910
the most significant development in our


00:13:41.920 --> 00:13:44.710
solar systems outer reaches in decades?


00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:46.629
Astronomers have uncovered compelling


00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:48.470
evidence for the long hypothesized


00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.430
planet 9 by examining infrared surveys


00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.389
conducted 23 years apart. This potential


00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.710
new member of our planetary family has


00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.710
been hiding in plain sight, buried


00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:00.550
within archival data from two different


00:14:00.560 --> 00:14:03.350
space telescopes. The detective work was


00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:05.910
led by astronomer Terry Longfan of


00:14:05.920 --> 00:14:08.870
Taiwan's National Sing Hua University


00:14:08.880 --> 00:14:10.949
who devised an ingenious method to hunt


00:14:10.959 --> 00:14:13.269
for the elusive planet. The team


00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.350
compared infrared images from NASA's


00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.870
IRAS satellite, which operated in 1983,


00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:21.670
with those from JAX's Accari spacecraft,


00:14:21.680 --> 00:14:24.590
which collected data between 2006 and


00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.949
2011. They were searching for objects


00:14:26.959 --> 00:14:28.790
that appeared in one position in the


00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:31.030
1983 data and had moved by the time


00:14:31.040 --> 00:14:34.230
Accari looked at the same region of sky.


00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:35.990
What makes this discovery particularly


00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.230
credible is that they found an object


00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.230
that moved exactly the distance that


00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:42.230
would be expected for a large planet in


00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.790
a distant orbit over that time period.


00:14:44.800 --> 00:14:47.030
The object appears in the IRAS imagery


00:14:47.040 --> 00:14:49.990
and then shows up again in Aari's data


00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.269
approximately 47.4 arc minutes away,


00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.590
consistent with the slow movement of an


00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:58.310
extremely distant planet. To rule out


00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.710
false positives, fans team carefully


00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.110
accounted for parallax effects caused by


00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.110
Earth's movement around the sun and


00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.910
eliminated fastmoving nearby objects by


00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:10.189
examining hourly changes in


00:15:10.199 --> 00:15:12.949
position. Their meticulous approach has


00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:14.710
yielded what appears to be the most


00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.829
promising Planet 9 candidate to date.


00:15:17.839 --> 00:15:19.750
Based on the object's brightness in both


00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:22.389
infrared surveys, researchers estimate


00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.269
it would be more massive than


00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:26.710
Neptune, significantly larger than the


00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:28.629
super Earth-sized body they initially


00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.350
expected to find. This came as a


00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.750
surprise as previous surveys had already


00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:36.870
ruled out the possibility of Jupiter or


00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:39.590
Saturnized planets at these distances.


00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.590
If confirmed, this object would


00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.990
currently be located approximately 700


00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.710
astronomical units from the sun. That's


00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.710
700 times farther than Earth's distance


00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.189
from our star or about 65 billion miles


00:15:51.199 --> 00:15:53.509
away. Its orbit appears highly


00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.509
eccentric, potentially bringing it as


00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:00.069
close as 280 AU and as far as 1,120 AU


00:16:00.079 --> 00:16:02.870
from the sun. The mystery of how such a


00:16:02.880 --> 00:16:04.790
massive planet ended up in this remote


00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:07.269
region remains. Fans suggest two


00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.509
possibilities. Either it formed closer


00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:11.670
to the sun near where our known giant


00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:13.430
planets developed and was later


00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.829
gravitationally scattered outward, or it


00:16:15.839 --> 00:16:17.910
was a rogue planet captured by our sun's


00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:19.670
gravity during the early days of the


00:16:19.680 --> 00:16:22.310
solar system. While this isn't the first


00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.470
potential planet 9 candidate astronomer


00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.389
Michael Rowan Robinson found a different


00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:30.069
object in the IRAS data in 2021, fans


00:16:30.079 --> 00:16:31.910
discovery holds more weight because it


00:16:31.920 --> 00:16:33.990
appears in two separate data sets taken


00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.629
decades apart. Definitive confirmation


00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.710
will require detecting the object in


00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.870
current observations. With advanced


00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:42.389
instruments like the soon-to-launch


00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:44.710
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the


00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.949
Vera C. Ruben Observatory, and the


00:16:46.959 --> 00:16:49.350
already operational dark energy camera,


00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.269
astronomers now have a specific target


00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.269
to investigate. After years of


00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.189
theoretical debate about Planet 9's


00:16:55.199 --> 00:16:57.430
existence, we may finally be on the


00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.430
verge of officially welcoming the newest


00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:03.110
member of our solar system family.


00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:04.630
That wraps up today's journey through


00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.110
our fascinating cosmos. From NASA's


00:17:07.120 --> 00:17:08.789
Spherex telescope beginning its


00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.350
ambitious all sky mapping mission to the


00:17:11.360 --> 00:17:13.110
potential discovery of the elusive


00:17:13.120 --> 00:17:16.390
planet 9 hiding in decades old data, the


00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.230
universe continues to surprise and


00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.390
challenge us. We've explored the


00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.069
mysterious big ring structure that


00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.029
defies our cosmological models, NASA's


00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.029
ongoing efforts to revive the silent


00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:29.270
lunar trailblazer, and even tracked a


00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:31.430
Soviet era Venus probe making its way


00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.390
back to Earth after 53 years in orbit.


00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:36.310
I'm your host, Anna, and I want to thank


00:17:36.320 --> 00:17:38.310
you for spending time with me today


00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:40.789
exploring these cosmic wonders. The


00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:42.870
universe is vast and full of mysteries


00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.870
waiting to be unraveled, and we'll


00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.549
continue bringing them to you right here


00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:50.270
on Astronomy Daily. Visit our website at


00:17:50.280 --> 00:17:52.070
astronomydaily.io where you can catch up


00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:53.830
on all the latest space and astronomy


00:17:53.840 --> 00:17:56.150
news with our constantly updating news


00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:57.990
feed and listen to all our back


00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.390
episodes. You can also find us on social


00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:02.789
media by searching for Astro Daily Pod


00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:06.230
on Facebook X YouTube, YouTube Music,


00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.350
Tumblr, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Remember


00:18:09.360 --> 00:18:11.350
that the same curiosity that drives


00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:13.270
astronomers to search the cosmos is


00:18:13.280 --> 00:18:15.669
within all of us. So until our next


00:18:15.679 --> 00:18:17.990
cosmic conversation, keep wondering,


00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.230
keep questioning, and most importantly,


00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.390
keep looking up.


00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:26.840
Day stories told.


00:18:26.850 --> 00:18:41.239
[Music]