From Paraplegic Astronauts to a Lemon-Shaped World: Your Daily Space Update

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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the podcast that brings you the


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universe, one story at a time. I'm


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Avery.


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


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Today, we've got a great lineup from a


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historic first for accessibility in


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space to a bizarre lemonshaped planet


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orbiting a dead star.


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>> Plus, we'll be looking at how NASA is


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getting an unprecedented new view of the


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sun and how future astronauts might


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build landing pads on the moon itself.


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It's a packed show.


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>> It certainly is. Let's get right to it.


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First up, a truly inspiring story of


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breaking barriers. German engineer


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Michaela Bentouse just became the first


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paraplegic person and the first


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wheelchair user to fly to space.


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>> Wow, that's incredible. This was with


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Blue Origin, right?


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>> That's right. On their New Shepard


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rocket for a 10-minute suborbital


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flight. What's really fascinating is how


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few adjustments were needed. The capsule


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was apparently designed with a high


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degree of accessibility from the start.


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>> That's the key, isn't it? Proactive


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design rather than reactive


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accommodation. It shows that space


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doesn't have to be the exclusive domain


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of a select few.


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>> Exactly. Bent house herself said she


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wants to be a role model, showing that


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physical limitations shouldn't prevent


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people from pursuing their dreams. It's


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a huge step forward for making space


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truly for everyone.


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>> Absolutely. A fantastic piece of good


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news to start the day. All right, from


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human space flight, let's turn our


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attention to our own star. NASA's Punch


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mission is giving us a view of the sun.


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That's well, it's completely new.


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>> Punch, that stands for polarimeter to


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unify the corona and heliosphere. And


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what it's doing is pretty revolutionary.


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>> It is. Instead of just looking at the


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corona, Punch is watching the solar


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wind, the stream of particles flowing


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out from the sun as it expands and fills


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the solar system. It's using a


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constellation of four small spacecraft.


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>> Mhm. Like a wide angle lens for the


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solar system.


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>> Exactly. They fly in formation and


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together their cameras capture this


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continuous panoramic view of the


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material as it flows past Earth. For the


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first time, we can see the entire


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process from the corona to a full


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astronomical unit away, which is Earth's


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distance from the sun.


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>> And this is crucial for understanding


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space weather. Things like coronal mass


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ejections or CMEs are massive eruptions


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of plasma that can disrupt satellites


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and power grids here on Earth.


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>> Right before Punch, we'd see a CME leave


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the sun and then we'd have to wait for


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it to hit a satellite near Earth to know


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its structure. Now we can track its


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entire journey.


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>> So it gives us a much better ability to


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forecast the impact of space weather.


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It's moving from seeing the cannon fire


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to actually tracking the cannonball


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through the air.


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>> That's a perfect analogy. It's a


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gamecher for protecting our technology


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both in orbit and on the ground.


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>> And the way it achieves this is so


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clever. The four satellites are


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essentially imaging polarized light. The


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sunlight scatters off the electrons in


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the solar wind. And by measuring the


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polarization, they can build a 3D


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picture of its structure and density.


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>> It's like giving us 3D glasses to see


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the invisible solar wind. And because


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the four satellites are in different


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positions, they can combine their views


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to get a truly global perspective that a


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single spacecraft just couldn't achieve.


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>> Exactly. It's a leap from a single


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snapshot to a continuous systemwide


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movie. This kind of data will be


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invaluable not just for Earth, but for


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planning future robotic and crude


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missions throughout the solar system,


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protecting them from solar outbursts.


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Speaking of ambitious missions, our next


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story takes us to the moon where


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engineers are tackling a very dusty


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problem. How to build a launchpad that


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can be used over and over again.


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>> Right? Because rocket exhaust is


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incredibly powerful. And on the moon


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with its lower gravity and lack of


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atmosphere, it would just blast lunar


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dust or regalith everywhere at high


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speeds.


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>> Exactly. That dust is sharp and abrasive


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and it could damage the lander itself or


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any nearby habitats or equipment. So a


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new paper is looking at how to solve


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this using the regalith itself,


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>> using the local materials in sichu


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resource utilization. That's the holy


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grail for sustainable space exploration.


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It is. The idea is to essentially melt


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the regalith into a solid, durable


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surface, a process calledining. They're


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thinking of using microwaves or lasers


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delivered by robotic builders to create


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these launch pads.


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>> So, you send robots ahead to pave a


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landing zone for you. That sounds very


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sci-fi.


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>> It does, but it's a very practical


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challenge. The launchpad needs to


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withstand incredible temperature swings


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and the stress of repeated launches. The


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engineers are planning tests to see how


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the centered regalith holds up under


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simulated rocket plume conditions.


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>> And I imagine maintenance is a big


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issue, too. If a pad gets cracked, you


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can't just send out a construction crew


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easily.


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>> That's a huge part of it. The plan would


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have to include robotic systems, not


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just for building the pads, but for


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inspecting and repairing them as well.


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It's a foundational piece of the puzzle


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for a permanent human presence on the


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moon.


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>> It's fascinating to think about the


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logistics. Are we talking about paving


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an entire spaceport or just a small


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landing circle?


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>> Initially, just a hardened pad about 50


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meters in diameter to mitigate the dust


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problem. But the research paper suggests


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that this technology is scalable. If you


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can build one pad, you can link them


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together over time to create taxiways


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and larger operational areas.


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>> And what about the energy source?


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Sensoring regalith with lasers or


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microwaves sounds incredibly power


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inensive. That's a major challenge on


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the moon.


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>> It is. The leading concepts involve


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leveraging solar power with large


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deployable arrays, potentially charging


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batteries during the long lunar day to


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power construction activities. It's a


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classic chicken and egg problem. You


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need infrastructure to build


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infrastructure. This is step one. Well,


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from building on our moon to exploring


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truly bizarre worlds far beyond it,


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astronomers using the James Webb Space


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Telescope have found something that,


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well, it looks like it belongs in a


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different universe.


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>> I think I know which one you're talking


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about. Is this the lemon-shaped planet?


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>> The one and only. Its official name is


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PSRJ2322-2652b,


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but lemonshaped planet is much easier to


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remember. And the name is literal. It's


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being tidily distorted into an oblong


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shape by the immense gravity of the star


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it orbits.


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>> And that star isn't a normal star,


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right? It's a pulsar, a super dense,


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rapidly spinning remnant of a massive


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star that went supernova.


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>> Precisely. The gravity is so intense,


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it's literally stretching the planet.


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But that's not even the weirdest part.


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Its atmosphere is unlike anything we've


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seen. It's extremely rich in carbon. So,


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not a water world, but a carbon world.


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What does that even mean for its


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appearance?


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>> The model suggests it could have clouds


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of soot and an atmosphere thick with


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hydrocarbons. It's a completely alien


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environment that really challenges our


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understanding of how planets can form


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and what they can be made of, especially


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around such an extreme object like a


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pulsar.


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>> It really is. And it raises the question


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of how it even survived. The supernova


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that created the pulsar should have


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completely obliterated any nearby


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planets.


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>> There are a couple of theories. One is


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that it's a second generation planet


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formed from the debris disc left over


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after the supernova. The carbonri


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composition might support that idea.


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>> Or it could have been a captured rogue


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planet that wandered too close to the


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pulsar long after the explosion. But


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getting into such a tight orbit without


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being torn apart is a tricky


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gravitational dance.


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>> Either way, it's a testament to the


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universe's ability to create stability


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in the most chaotic of environments. A


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warped, sy lemon-shaped world, calmly


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orbiting one of the most violent objects


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we know of. It's poetic in a strange


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way.


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>> Incredible. Every time we think we have


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a handle on the types of planets out


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there, JWST finds another one to break


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all the rules. Okay, let's bring it back


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to our own solar system for our last big


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story today. Over to the red planet.


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NASA's Perseverance rover has been


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getting an uplose look at some


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fascinating features on the Martian


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surface. Mega ripples.


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>> These aren't like the little ripples you


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see in sand at the beach, are they?


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>> Not at all. These are huge. up to 2 m


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tall. They're formed by wind, just like


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dunes on Earth, but their size and shape


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give us vital clues about Mars' more


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recent climate history and wind


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patterns.


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>> So, by studying them, we can learn about


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the Martian weather today and in the


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notsodistant past.


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>> That's the idea. The rover has been


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examining a field of them, nicknamed


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Honey Guide. By analyzing the grain size


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and structure, scientists can figure out


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the wind speeds needed to build them. It


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helps paint a picture of Mars as a


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dynamic, active world, not just a static


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one.


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>> It's amazing how much geology can tell


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us about a planet's atmosphere.


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>> Right. But for now, from accessible


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space flight to alien worlds, it's been


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quite a day in astronomy.


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>> It certainly has. And that's all the


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time we have for this episode of


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Astronomy Daily. We hope you've enjoyed


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this tour of the latest cosmic


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happenings.


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>> We always appreciate you joining us. Be


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sure to subscribe wherever you get your


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podcast so you don't miss an episode.


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Until next time, I'm Avery


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>> and I'm Anna. Keep looking up. Astronomy


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day.


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Stories told.


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story for told.