Cosmic Telescopes, Orbital Challenges, and the Secrets of Venus

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast


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that brings you the universe, one story


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at a time. I'm Avery.


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>> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you


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with us. Today, we've got stories that


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range from NASA's next great observatory


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to a stunning new image from the James


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Web Space Telescope. We'll also be


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looking at some trouble on a Kazakhstan


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launchpad and why Earth is so


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geologically unique.


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>> Let's not wait. Anna, why don't you


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start us off with our first story? It


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sounds like there's a new powerhouse


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telescope getting ready for the cosmic


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stage.


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>> That's right, Avery. NASA has just


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completed the assembly of the Nancy


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Grace Roman Space Telescope. Technicians


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at the Gddard Space Flight Center join


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the inner and outer portions of the


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spacecraft, which is a major milestone.


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>> So, it's fully built now. When do we get


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to see it in action?


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>> After some final testing, it's slated to


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launch by May 2027. Although the team


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says they're on track for a potential


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launch as early as fall 2026, a SpaceX


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Falcon Heavy will carry it to its


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destination a million miles from Earth.


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>> A million miles. Same neighborhood as


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the web telescope. Then what's the


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mission for Roman? What mysteries is it


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designed to solve?


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>> Its scope is just immense. The primary


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instrument is a 288 megapixel wide field


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camera. To put that in perspective,


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Roman is expected to gather data


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hundreds of times faster than the Hubble


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Space Telescope.


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>> Wow. Hundreds of times faster.


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>> Exactly. In its first 5 years alone, the


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mission is projected to unveil more than


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100,000 new exoplanets, hundreds of


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millions of stars, and billions of


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galaxies. It's also testing a new


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technology called a coronagraph


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instrument. This is designed to block


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out the overwhelming light from a star,


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allowing astronomers to directly image


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the much fainter planets orbiting it.


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It's a huge leap forward in our ability


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to survey the cosmos.


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>> That's incredible. From one powerful


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machine to another, our next story is a


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bit more down to earth, and


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unfortunately, it involves some damage.


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>> Damage is the polite way of putting it,


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though it's not as catastrophic as some


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would have you believe. On November


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27th, a Russian Soyuse rocket


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successfully launched three astronauts


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to the International Space Station from


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the Biconor Cosmo Drrome. The launch


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itself went off without a hitch.


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>> Okay, so what's the problem?


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>> The issue was discovered during routine


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post-launch inspections. Officials from


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Roscosmos, Russia Space Agency, reported


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finding damage to several launchpad


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components.


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>> That doesn't sound good. Do they know


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what caused it? Rocosmos is still


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assessing the situation, but they've


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said all the necessary spare parts are


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available for a quick repair. However,


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one expert, Brian Harvey, has suggested


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a possible cause. He believes a


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combination of the intense vibration and


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heat from the launch along with some


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improperly installed roller pins may


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have caused a service tower to topple


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over after the rocket had cleared the


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pad.


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>> Right. A service tower falling over


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would certainly count as damage. What


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does this mean for future launches?


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>> Harvey estimates it could take about 3


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months to repair, likely scavenging


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parts from other launch pads. The good


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news is that the next crew handover at


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the ISS isn't scheduled until July, and


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the next astronaut mission from US soil


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is a SpaceX flight in February, so no


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astronauts are stranded. However, the


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next Russian Progress supply ship


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delivery to the station will be delayed.


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We'll be keeping an eye on how quickly


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those repairs progress, but please know


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there is no panic and it isn't the end


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of the Russian space program. As has


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been reported in some of the more


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sensationalist media, it will be


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repaired and back in business.


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>> From problems on the ground to problems


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in orbit, Avery, we often talk about


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light pollution for groundbased


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telescopes, but a new forecast reveals


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that even our eyes in space are not


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safe. You're talking about satellite


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mega constellations, right? I've seen


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some startling images of bright streaks


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ruining astronomical photos.


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>> Exactly. And it's getting worse. If the


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current industry proposals for about


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half a million new satellites become a


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reality, the problem will escalate


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dramatically. Projections show that by


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the 2030s, onethird of all images from


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the Hubble Space Telescope will be


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contaminated with satellite trails.


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>> Onethird? That's a massive loss of data


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and time for one of our most important


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scientific instruments.


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>> It is. And for some newer telescopes,


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it's even more dire. The Chinese Space


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Station Telescope, Santien, is projected


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to be the worst affected. Some studies


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predict contamination and more than 96%


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of its observations with an average of


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92 satellite trails per exposure.


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>> 96%.


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At that point, the telescope is almost


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unusable for its intended purpose. It


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seems unsustainable.


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Are there any solutions being discussed?


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>> There are. Mitigation strategies are


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actively being developed. They include


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better orbital tracking to help


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astronomers avoid pointing at


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satellites, international coordination


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on satellite brightness standards, and


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perhaps most importantly, restricting


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the altitudes of these large


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constellations to below 600 km, which


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would reduce their visibility. It's a


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critical issue for the future of


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astronomy.


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>> It's a stark reminder of how crowded our


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orbital space is becoming. Okay, from


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our near space environment to our


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planetary neighbors, let's talk about


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Venus. We often call it Earth's twin,


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but new research is helping us


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understand one of the biggest


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differences between them, plate


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tectonics,


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>> right? Earth has this active moving


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crust, while Venus is often described as


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having a stagnant single plate surface.


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Why is that?


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>> An international team has developed a


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new framework for understanding how


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planets work. Geologically, using


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numerical models, they identified six


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distinct regimes for planetary


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tectonics. Earth exists in what they


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call the mobile lid regime, which is


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crucial for our planet's long-term


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habitability as it regulates climate by


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cycling carbon.


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>> The mobile lid. I like that. So, what


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kind of lid does Venus have? The study


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suggests Venus operates under what's


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called a plutonic squishy lid or an


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episodic squishy lid regime. In this


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model, the lithosphere, the planet's


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outer shell, is too hot and weak to


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break into distinct plates like Earth's.


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Instead, rising magma from the mantle


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weakens the crust from below.


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>> A squishy lid. So, it doesn't move


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globally, but it's not totally inactive


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either.


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Precisely. This leads to regional


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intermittent vcanism rather than the


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global tectonics we see here. And this


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model actually helps explain some other


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recent discoveries. We've seen findings


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suggesting there are active volcanoes on


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Venus, which seemed puzzling without


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plate tectonics. This squishy lid idea


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provides a mechanism for that volcanism


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to occur.


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Speaking of spectacular space phenomena,


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let's turn back to the James Webb Space


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Telescope. It has captured another


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breathtaking image. This time of a close


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encounter between two dwarf galaxies.


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>> Oh, I saw this one. The image is just


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stunning. It's the pair NGC 4490 and NGC


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4485. Right.


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>> That's them. They're about 24 million


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lighty years away and they're in the


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process of colliding. The web image is


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so detailed it reveals a glowing bridge


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of gas and streams of neworn stars


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connecting the two galaxies. The


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gravitational interaction between them


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has spurred a massive burst of new star


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formation.


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>> So, they're creating new stars as they


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pull each other apart. That's poetic.


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Can we tell how this interaction


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unfolded? We can by analyzing the


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different populations of stars.


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Researchers have been able to trace the


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timeline. They suggest the two galaxies


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first swept past each other about 200


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million years ago. During that pass, the


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larger galaxy NGC 4490


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began siphoning gas from its smaller


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partner NGC 4485.


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That stolen gas is now fueling the


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starburst we see in that glowing bridge.


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>> Incredible. It's like cosmic


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archaeology. A fantastic image with a


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fascinating story behind it. Now for our


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final story, we're coming much closer to


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home to our very own star. In early


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November, astronomers captured some


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extremely rare highdefinition images of


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sunspots in an active region designated


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Noah 14274.


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>> And what makes these images so special?


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>> The timing. The images were taken by the


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Greger Solar Telescope in Spain just 30


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minutes before those same sunspots


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erupted, emitting a powerful X1.2 class


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solar flare.


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Wow, that's like having a camera pointed


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at a volcano right before it blows.


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Capturing that with a groundbased


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telescope must be incredibly diff.


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>> It is. You have to be looking at the


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right spot at the right time and you


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need clear weather. It's a rare


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trifecta. The images are remarkable.


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They show what are called penumbal


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fibrals. These are the filaments


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extending from the dark center of the


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sunspot that are strongly curved and


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braided together.


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>> And what does that braiding tell us?


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>> It's a clear visual indicator of a


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highly stressed and tangled magnetic


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field. Think of it like a tightly wound


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rubber band. That immense stored energy


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is a direct precursor to an explosive


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release, which is exactly what happened


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30 minutes later with the solar flare.


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And this is just the beginning.


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Researchers are currently processing


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nearly 40,000 more data sets from the


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telescope, which could revolutionize how


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we predict these powerful solar events.


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>> And better prediction is crucial. These


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powerful solar events can disrupt


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satellites, power grids, and even pose a


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risk to astronauts. Understanding their


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warning signs is vital for our


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technological infrastructure. And that


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brings us to the end of our news roundup


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for today. It's been another busy day in


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the cosmos.


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>> It certainly has. Thanks for joining us


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on Astronomy Daily. We'll be back again


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tomorrow with another look at the latest


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news from across the universe. Until


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then, I'm Avery.


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>> And I'm Anna, reminding you to keep


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looking up.


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Oh,


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the stories told.