Exciting Signs of Life Beyond Earth

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Language: en

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welcome to Astronomy Daily your cosmic


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connection to the stars and beyond i'm


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Anna and today we have an absolutely


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stellar lineup of space news that you


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won't want to miss we're diving into


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what scientists are calling the


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strongest evidence yet for life beyond


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our solar system a discovery that could


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fundamentally change our understanding


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of our place in the universe


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we'll also explore why the Bahamas has


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suspended SpaceX landings and take you


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on a journey to a newly discovered


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planet that orbits two stars in a


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configuration previously only seen in


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science fiction plus does the entire


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universe rotate a new theory suggests it


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might and this could solve one of


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astronomy's biggest puzzles and finally


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we may have cracked the six decade


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mystery of where the most powerful


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particles in space come from so strap in


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as we journey through today's cosmic


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headlines and explore the wonders


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waiting for us among the stars let's get


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started in what might be the most


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exciting astronomical discovery in


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recent years scientists are reporting


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what they describe as the strongest


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evidence yet for extraterrestrial life


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beyond our solar system a team of


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astrophysicists led by Professor Niku


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Madu Sudan from the University of


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Cambridge has made observations using


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the James Webb Space Telescope that


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could bring us closer to answering


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humanity's age-old question are we alone


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in the universe the observations focus


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on a planet called


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K28b which is located 124 lighty years


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away from Earth in the LEO constellation


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this planet is significantly larger than


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Earth nearly nine times as massive and


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2.6 times the size and orbits in what


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scientists call the habitable zone of


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its star a cool red dwarf that's less


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than half the size of our sun what's


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truly remarkable about these findings is


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the detection of two chemical compounds


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in the planet's atmosphere dimethyl


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sulfide or DMS and dimethyl dissulfide


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or DMDS what makes these chemicals so


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significant is that on Earth they're


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primarily produced by marine phytolanton


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microscopic marine algae in other words


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they're biological in origin professor


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Madus Sudan describes this as


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potentially a tipping point in our


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search for extraterrestrial life telling


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reporters "Decades from now we may look


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back at this point in time and recognize


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it was when the living universe came


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within reach." The scientific team is


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being appropriately cautious however the


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findings published in the astrophysical


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journal Letters report the signals with


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what's called three sigma significance


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meaning there's about a 0.3% probability


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they occurred by chance while impressive


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this falls short of the gold standard


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for discoveries in physics there are


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also important questions about whether


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K218b's overall conditions are favorable


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to life the Cambridge team suggests the


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planet could be covered by a vast deep


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ocean potentially making it the most


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habitable known world beyond our solar


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system but other scientists dispute this


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interpretation suggesting it might be a


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gas planet or have oceans made of magma


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rather than water dr norahani a chemist


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at the University of Burn who wasn't


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involved in the study points out that


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there might be alternative explanations


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for the presence of these chemicals life


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is one of the options but it's one among


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many she notes adding that we would need


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to rule out all other possibilities


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before claiming definitive evidence of


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life dr joe Barstow from the Open


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University shares this skepticism saying


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her skepticism dial for any claim


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relating to evidence of life is


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permanently turned up to 11 she


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clarifies that this isn't because she


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doubts extraterrestrial life exists but


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because such a profound discovery


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requires an extraordinarily high burden


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of proof at 124 light years away we


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won't be sending probes to K28b anytime


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soon to confirm these findings but as


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Professor Madhusan points out astronomy


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has never been about physically visiting


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distant objects we're trying to


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establish if the laws of biology are


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universal in nature he explains i don't


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see it as we have to go and swim in the


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water to catch the fish if confirmed


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this discovery would represent a


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monumental shift in our understanding of


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life in the


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cosmos even as a tenative finding it


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provides compelling evidence that the


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chemical signatures of life may be


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detectable on distant worlds opening new


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frontiers in our search for


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extraterrestrial neighbors in this vast


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universe


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next up today some not so good news for


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SpaceX the Bahamas government has


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announced a significant suspension of


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all SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket landings in


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the country pending a comprehensive


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environmental assessment according to


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Bahamian Director of Communications


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Latry Raming no further clearances will


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be granted until a full environmental


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assessment is reviewed this decision


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marks a sudden halt to what had been an


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expanding relationship between the


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Caribbean nation and Elon Musk's private


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space company just two months ago in


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February the Bohemian government had


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approved 19 more landings throughout


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2025 all subject to regulatory approval


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now those plans have been put on


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indefinite hold the suspension follows a


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concerning incident last month when a


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SpaceX Starship spacecraft exploded in


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space minutes after lifting off from


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Texas social media videos captured fiery


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debris streaking through the skies near


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South Florida and the Bahamas after the


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spacecraft broke up in space according


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to Bahamian officials debris from the


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spacecraft fell into the country's


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airspace though they stated the debris


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contained no toxic materials and wasn't


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expected to significantly impact marine


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life or water quality it's important to


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note that while this suspension directly


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affects the Falcon 9 landing program the


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incident that prompted the review


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involved SpaceX's larger Starship


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vehicle the Starship program is separate


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from the Falcon 9 operations that had


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been taking place in Bohemian territory


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this development highlights the growing


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complexity of managing space operations


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as private companies like SpaceX


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dramatically increase the frequency of


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launches and landings the Bahamas with


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its proximity to US launch sites and


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relatively sparse population had emerged


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as an attractive location for SpaceX's


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expanding operations for SpaceX this


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suspension creates a significant


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logistical challenge the company has


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been working to increase its launch


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cadence and relies on successful rocket


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recovery to maintain its reusable rocket


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business model finding alternative


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landing sites or adjusting mission


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profiles could impact the company's


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launch schedule and costs the incident


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also draws attention to broader concerns


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about space debris and environmental


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impacts as space activities increase


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globally while space agencies and


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companies have long addressed the issue


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of orbital debris the potential for


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launch failures to affect territories


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beneath flight paths is becoming a more


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pressing regulatory concern as space


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activities continue to grow and


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diversify countries like the Bahamas are


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establishing their own regulatory


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frameworks to balance economic


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opportunities with environmental


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protection and safety concerns


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this incident may well serve as an


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important precedent for how nations


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handle the complex relationship between


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commercial space operations and their


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own sovereign


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interests if you're a fan of Star Wars


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this next story is for you you're


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probably familiar with the iconic double


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sunset seen from the planet Tatooine


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while that seemed like pure science


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fiction astronomers have actually


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discovered several planets orbiting


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binary star systems over the years but


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now they found something truly


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unprecedented that pushes our


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understanding of planetary systems even


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further a team led by Thomas Befra a PhD


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student at the University of Birmingham


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has discovered an exoplanet with a


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configuration never seen before this


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planet named


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2M1510ABB orbits not just any binary


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star system but a pair of brown dwarfs


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objects that are larger than gas giant


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planets but too small to be proper stars


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what makes this discovery particularly


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remarkable is the planet's orbit unlike


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previously discovered planets around


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binary stars that typically orbit in


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roughly the same plane as their host


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stars this planet follows a path that's


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perpendicular at a right angle to the


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orbit of its two host stars i am


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particularly excited to be involved in


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detecting credible evidence that this


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configuration exists said Beraftoft


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about the discovery published in Science


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Advances his colleague Professor Amorei


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Trio added that a planet orbiting not


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just a binary but a binary brown dwarf


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as well as being on a polar orbit is


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rather incredible and exciting the


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discovery was actually serendipitous the


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team wasn't specifically looking for


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such a planet when they made their


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observations using the ultraviolet and


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visual aell spectrograph instrument on


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the European Southern Observatory's Very


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Large Telescope in Chile they were


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actually studying the brown dwarf pair


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known as


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2M1510 which is only the second pair of


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eclipsing brown dwarfs ever discovered


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while observing the orbital path of the


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two brown dwarfs the astronomers noticed


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something unusual the stars were being


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pushed and pulled in ways that couldn't


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be explained by their interaction alone


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after reviewing all possible scenarios


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they concluded that the only explanation


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consistent with their data was the


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presence of a planet orbiting on a polar


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axis this discovery is significant


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because while theoretical models had


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suggested such configurations were


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stable and planet forming discs on polar


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orbits around stellar pairs had been


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detected we lacked concrete evidence


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that planets could actually form and


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persist in such arrangements it opens up


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new possibilities for understanding the


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diversity of planetary systems and


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challenges conventional theories about


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how planets form as Professor Trio noted


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the discovery was serendipitous in the


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sense that our observations were not


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collected to seek such a planet or


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orbital configuration as such it is a


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big surprise overall I think this shows


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to us astronomers but also to the public


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at large what is possible in the


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fascinating universe we inhabit


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while we're reporting on surprising


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discoveries what if everything in the


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universe is spinning not just galaxies


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and planets but the entire cosmos


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itself a groundbreaking new study


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published in monthly notices of the


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Royal Astronomical Society suggests this


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might actually be the case researchers


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including Istvan Saputi from the


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University of Hawaii Institute for


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Astronomy have proposed that the


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universe may indeed rotate just


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extremely slowly how slowly they


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estimate it might complete a single


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rotation once every 500 billion years


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which would be far too gradual for us to


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easily detect this seemingly simple idea


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could help resolve one of astronomy's


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most persistent puzzles the Hubble


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tension this problem emerges from the


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fact that we have two different methods


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of measuring how fast the universe is


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expanding and frustratingly they give us


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different answers one method examines


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distant exploding stars or supernovi to


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measure the expansion rate over the past


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few billion years the other technique


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analyzes the cosmic microwave background


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radiation essentially the afterlow of


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the big bang to determine how fast the


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very early universe was expanding some


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13 billion years ago the discrepancy


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between these two measurements has left


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astronomers scratching their heads for


00:11:34.680 --> 00:11:37.269
years saputi's team took a novel


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approach they developed a mathematical


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model of the universe following standard


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cosmological rules but with one key


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difference they added a tiny amount of


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rotation as Saputi explains much to our


00:11:50.079 --> 00:11:51.910
surprise we found that our model with


00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:53.829
rotation resolves the paradox without


00:11:53.839 --> 00:11:55.870
contradicting current astronomical


00:11:55.880 --> 00:11:58.230
measurements the idea draws inspiration


00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.389
from the Greek philosopher Heracitis of


00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.430
Ephesus who famously said "Panta Ray


00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.310
everything moves." Saput's team thought


00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:07.150
perhaps


00:12:07.160 --> 00:12:09.750
pantaiklutai everything turns might also


00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:12.310
be true what's particularly compelling


00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.310
about this theory is that it doesn't


00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.949
violate any known laws of physics it


00:12:16.959 --> 00:12:19.829
simply introduces a subtle cosmic spin


00:12:19.839 --> 00:12:22.629
that affects how space expands over time


00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.230
in a way that could explain our


00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.470
conflicting measurements


00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.710
the next steps for researchers will be


00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:31.190
to develop a full computer model based


00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.590
on this theory and identify ways to


00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.350
detect signs of this slow cosmic


00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:39.110
rotation if confirmed this could


00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.790
fundamentally change our understanding


00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:43.110
of the universe and how it has evolved


00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:44.750
since the Big


00:12:44.760 --> 00:12:47.110
Bang we're on a bit of a roll today with


00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:49.269
new discoveries so let's throw one more


00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.230
into the mix after six decades of


00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:54.550
mystery scientists may have finally


00:12:54.560 --> 00:12:56.310
solved one of the universe's most


00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.870
perplexing riddles the origin of ultra


00:12:58.880 --> 00:13:01.389
high energy cosmic rays or


00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:03.829
U-HCRs these extraordinary particles


00:13:03.839 --> 00:13:06.550
which were first discovered in the 1960s


00:13:06.560 --> 00:13:08.310
pack energies more than a million times


00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:09.750
greater than what our most powerful


00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:11.629
particle accelerators on Earth can


00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.310
produce until now their source has


00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:16.629
remained elusive physicist Glennice


00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.389
Ferrar from New York University has


00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:19.990
published a groundbreaking paper in


00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.670
Physical Review Letters that offers a


00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:24.230
compelling explanation her research


00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:25.990
suggests these incredibly energetic


00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.069
particles are created during the violent


00:13:28.079 --> 00:13:30.870
merger of binary neutron stars when two


00:13:30.880 --> 00:13:32.790
of these ultra dense stellar remnants


00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:35.590
collide according to Ferrar's model the


00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.509
turbulent magnetic fields generated


00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.590
during these catastrophic mergers


00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:41.350
provide the perfect environment for


00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.350
accelerating particles to these


00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.509
mind-boggling energies


00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.230
after six decades of effort the origin


00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:49.990
of the mysterious highest energy


00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.389
particles in the universe may finally


00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.590
have been identified


00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:56.629
ferrares what makes this theory


00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:58.150
particularly elegant is that it


00:13:58.160 --> 00:14:00.150
addresses several long-standing puzzles


00:14:00.160 --> 00:14:03.430
about U-HRs at once it explains the


00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.590
tight correlation between a cosmic rays


00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.629
energy and its electric charge a feature


00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.389
that previous theories struggled to


00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:12.710
account for it also provides a framework


00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.470
for understanding the extraordinary


00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.870
energy of the highest energy cosmic rays


00:14:16.880 --> 00:14:19.269
that have been detected in rare events


00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.949
the theory suggests these particles


00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:23.269
originate as rare R process elements


00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.509
like xenon and torium which are


00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.230
synthesized during neutron star mergers


00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:29.990
these same mergers also produce


00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.230
gravitational waves which we've already


00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.069
detected through facilities like LIGO


00:14:34.079 --> 00:14:36.629
and Virgo this connection provides a


00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.670
clear path for experimental validation


00:14:39.680 --> 00:14:41.590
scientists can now look for correlations


00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.829
between gravitational wave detections


00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:45.750
and the arrival of ultra high energy


00:14:45.760 --> 00:14:49.110
cosmic rays they can also analyze UHCR


00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.189
data for the chemical signatures of


00:14:51.199 --> 00:14:52.829
these R process


00:14:52.839 --> 00:14:55.910
elements if confirmed Ferrar's work


00:14:55.920 --> 00:14:57.910
represents a major advancement in our


00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:00.629
understanding of both cosmic rays and


00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.710
neutron star mergers it gives


00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.870
astronomers and physicists a new lens


00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:06.310
through which to study some of the


00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.509
universe's most energetic and violent


00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.790
phenomena potentially opening windows


00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:12.550
into fundamental physics that we simply


00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:15.629
cannot replicate in laboratories on


00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.550
Earth well that's all for today's Cosmic


00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:20.470
Journey thank you for joining me on


00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.829
Astronomy Daily i'm Anna your host and


00:15:23.839 --> 00:15:25.189
I've been delighted to share these


00:15:25.199 --> 00:15:26.870
fascinating developments from across our


00:15:26.880 --> 00:15:29.030
universe with you if you're hungry for


00:15:29.040 --> 00:15:31.430
more space news and insights I invite


00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:33.389
you to visit our website at


00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:35.269
astronomydaily.io where you'll find


00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.670
everything related to our show we offer


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you're curious about potential alien


00:16:03.920 --> 00:16:06.069
life on distant planets the latest in


00:16:06.079 --> 00:16:08.069
space exploration challenges or


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breakthrough discoveries in astrophysics


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we'll continue bringing the wonders of


00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.710
the cosmos directly to you until next


00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.629
time keep looking up and wondering about


00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:29.189
our extraordinary universe


00:16:29.199 --> 00:16:31.710
the stories


00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:36.350
[Music]


00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:40.079
told stories