From Rogue Planets to Lunar Missions: Your Daily Space Update

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast


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that brings you the latest happenings


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from across the cosmos. I'm your host,


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Anna.


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


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you. We have a packed show today


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covering everything from newborn planets


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and rogue worlds to a major upgrade for


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one of Earth's most powerful telescopes.


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>> That's right, Avery. We'll also be


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looking at what makes an interstellar


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visitor so familiar and peering into the


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very exciting future of spaceflight. So,


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let's get started. First up, an update


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from low Earth orbit. Starlink has


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announced plans to adjust its satellite


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constellation in 2026, primarily for


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space safety reasons.


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>> Right. This is a significant move.


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They're planning to lower the entire


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constellation from its current altitude


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of about 550 km down to 480 km.


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>> And this isn't just a random adjustment.


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It follows a recent incident where a


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Starlink satellite broke up, creating a


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small but notable amount of space


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debris. This move is a direct response


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to mitigate future risks.


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>> Exactly. A lower orbit has a key


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advantage. Atmospheric drag is stronger.


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So if a satellite fails, it will deorbit


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and burn up in the atmosphere much


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faster in a few years instead of


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decades. This drastically reduces the


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long-term risk of collisions.


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>> It's a proactive step towards managing


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the increasingly crowded environments in


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low Earth orbit. A responsible move for


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a company with such a massive presence


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up there. From our crowded orbital


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backyard to the nurseries of distant


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stars, Gaia Space Telescope has given us


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an unprecedented look at planets in the


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process of being born.


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>> This is incredible news. Gaia has found


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compelling evidence of planet formation


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in 31 different young stellar systems.


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We're talking about seeing the very


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first stages of planetary life.


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>> It really is. And the method is just as


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brilliant as the discovery itself. Gaia


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isn't seeing the planets directly.


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Instead, it's detecting the tiny


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gravitational wobble that these forming


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planets exert on their host stars.


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>> That gravitational wobble, it's the same


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principle behind many exoplanet


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discoveries. But applying it to these


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incredibly young, chaotic systems is a


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huge breakthrough. It allows astronomers


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to study these systems in their infancy


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on a large scale for the first time.


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We're moving from theoretical models to


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direct observation of how solar systems


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like our own might have formed. It's a


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whole new window into planetary science.


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>> Speaking of new windows, how about this?


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Astronomers have successfully weighed a


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rogue planet for the first time. And for


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our listeners, a rogue planet is one


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that drifts through space untethered to


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any star. They're incredibly difficult


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to find, let alone study.


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>> Exactly. This one is about the size of


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Saturn, and it was likely ejected from


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its home solar system billions of years


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ago. Using a technique called


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microlensing, scientists were able to


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measure not just its mass, but its


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distance from us as well.


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>> And the secret ingredient here was


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parallax. They observed the microl


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lensing event where the rogue planet's


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gravity bends the light of a background


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star from two places at once. Earth and


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the Gaia Space Telescope, which is about


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a million miles away.


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>> Mhm. That different perspective gave


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them the data they needed to calculate


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the planet's properties. It's a


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fantastic proof of concept for a new way


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to study these isolated wandering


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worlds. It makes you wonder how many are


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out there. From wandering worlds to


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interstellar visitors, our third


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confirmed guest from another star


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system, comet 3i/ATLS,


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has been revealing some more fascinating


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secrets.


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>> It certainly has. As the comet was


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moving away from the sun, the SOHO


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spacecraft observed it producing an


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absolutely massive amount of water.


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>> Right. The solar wind was breaking down


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that water vapor into hydrogen and


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oxygen. SOHO's SWAN instrument, which is


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designed to look for hydrogen, detected


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this huge hydrogen glow surrounding the


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comet.


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>> And what's so significant about that?


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>> Well, it means this interstellar comet


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is behaving in a way that's very similar


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to comets from our own solar system.


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They also release large amounts of water


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as they are heated by the sun.


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>> So, it's a piece of another solar


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system, but it's made of the same stuff


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as ours. That's a profoundly important


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clue about the composition of planetary


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systems beyond our own. It suggests the


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building blocks for worlds like Earth


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could be quite common across the galaxy.


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>> That it does, and it shows the threeey


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atlas has untold stories to tell us as


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it heads on out of our solar system.


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>> Let's shift our gaze from the distant


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past to the very near future. 2026 is


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shaping up to be an absolutely massive


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year for space exploration.


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>> Oh, I am so excited for this. The


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headline mission, of course, is NASA's


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Aremis 2. We're finally sending


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astronauts back to the moon, or at least


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on a trip around it. It will be the


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first time humans have been in deep


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space since the Apollo program.


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>> A huge milestone. But it's not just


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NASA. The commercial sector is also


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making big moves. We're expecting the


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debut of new commercial space stations


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and the next generation of private lunar


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landers.


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>> And we'll be getting new eyes on the


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universe, too. The Nancy Grace Roman


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Space Telescope is scheduled to launch.


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Its wide field view will be


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revolutionary for studying dark energy


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and finding exoplanets.


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>> That's right. And not to be outdone,


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China's launching its own powerful space


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telescope, Sununin, which will have a


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field of view 300 times larger than


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Hubble's. It's going to be a year of


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incredible advancements across the


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board.


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>> Finally, let's come back down to Earth


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for our last story. The Audacama


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largem/s submillimem array in Chile,


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better known as ALMA, has just completed


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a major upgrade.


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>> ALMA is already one of the most powerful


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radio telescopes on the planet. What did


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this upgrade involve?


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>> Engineers installed 145 brand new


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low-noise amplifiers across the array of


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antennas. In simple terms, this will


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massively increase the telescope's


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sensitivity. It's like giving a giant


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ear a state-of-the-art hearing aid.


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>> Wow. So, it will be able to pick up even


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fainter signals from space. What kind of


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science will that enable?


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>> It's going to give us a much clearer


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view of the cold universe. ALMA excels


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at observing things like the dusty discs


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where planets are forming, the cold gas


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of the interstellar medium, and even


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complex organic molecules in distant


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galaxies. With this upgrade, those views


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will be sharper and deeper than ever


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before.


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>> I love all this new science we have to


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look forward to.


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>> It's a powerful testament to how this


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new telescope is not just confirming old


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theories, but actively rewriting the


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first chapters of cosmic history right


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before our eyes. It's a true revolution


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in our understanding of the early


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universe.


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>> And that's a wrap for our news today.


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From managing our orbital highways to


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discovering newborn planets and gearing


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up for humanity's return to deep space,


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it's been an incredible tour of the


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cosmos.


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>> It certainly has. Thanks so much for


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tuning in to Astronomy Daily. We hope


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you'll join us next time for another


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look at the universe around us.


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>> For more space and astronomy news,


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follow us on social media. Just search


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platforms. And if you visit our YouTube


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channel, please give us a thumbs up and


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a follow. It really helps with the


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algorithm recommending us to other space


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enthusiasts.


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>> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.


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>> Stories told


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stories told.


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