From SpaceX Records to Lunar Gold Rush: Your Daily Space Update

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast


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[music] that brings you the universe,


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one story 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'll be looking at


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SpaceX's [music]


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absolutely staggering launch record, a


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real life tractor [music] beam for


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cleaning up space junk, and the latest


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search for alien signals. [music] Plus,


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we'll dive into the new gold rush, or


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maybe water rush on the moon, tell


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[music] you what to look for in the


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night sky, and solve the celestial


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mystery nearly a thousand years in the


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making. Let's get started with our top


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story, [music]


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>> and it's a big one. SpaceX has once


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again completely shattered their own


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launch record. In 2025, the company


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successfully completed


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165 orbital flight.


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>> Wow.


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165. That averages out to a launch every


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2.2 days. That pace is just incredible.


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>> It really is. And the workhorse behind


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this feat was the Falcon 9 rocket, which


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handled almost all of those missions. To


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put it in perspective, this number


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represents a huge increase over their


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previous years and absolutely dominates


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the global launch landscape.


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>> Right. And I'm guessing a huge chunk of


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those launches were for their own


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project.


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>> Exactly. The vast majority were


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dedicated to building out the Starlink


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internet constellation. But it wasn't


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just about the Falcon 9. The company


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also made significant strides with its


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next generation Starship vehicle,


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completing several successful test


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flights that bring a fully reusable


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heavy lift rocket closer to reality.


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>> It's clear they're not just leading,


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they're creating a whole new league. But


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all those satellites do bring up the


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ever growing issue of space junk. And it


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seems like every week we have some new


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idea on how to deal with it. Well,


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here's a novel new one. Some scientists


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are turning to science fiction for a


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solution.


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>> That's right. Researchers at the


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University of Colorado Boulder are


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developing what they're calling a


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tractor beam to help clean up orbital


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debris.


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>> A tractor beam like in Star Trek.


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>> That's the inspiration. But the physics


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is very real. It's a non-cont system. It


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would use a focused electrostatic beam


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to attract and move pieces of space junk


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without ever physically touching them.


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>> And that's the key part, isn't it? The


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non-cont aspect. Using nets or harpoons


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to grab debris runs the risk of hitting


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it wrong and accidentally creating even


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smaller, harder to track pieces of junk.


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Precisely, this electrostatic method


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would gently pull the object, allowing a


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cleanup satellite to guide it into a


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decaying orbit where it can safely burn


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up in the atmosphere. The concept is


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currently being tested in labs. But it's


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a very promising approach to a serious


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problem.


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>> It's great to see that kind of


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innovative thinking. From cleaning up


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our orbital neighborhood to looking for


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signs of other civilizations out there,


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our next story takes us far beyond


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Earth's orbit to our recent interstellar


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visitor.


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>> Yes, astronomers conducted a highly


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sensitive radio search on three Atlas as


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it traveled through our neighborhood.


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This was an interstellar object, meaning


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it originated from outside our solar


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system and was just passing through. The


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team was looking for what are called


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techno signatures.


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>> Basically, signals that would indicate


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the presence of alien technology, a


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transmission, a beacon, anything that


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isn't produced by natural cosmic


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phenomena. So, what did they find?


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>> Well, after sifting through the data,


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and despite a few initial candidate


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signals that caused some excitement, all


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of them were eventually determined to be


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false positives, human generated


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interference from Earth. So, no alien


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transmissions were found.


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>> Ah, I have a shame.


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>> It might seem so, but the project was


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far from a failure. The search was


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actually the most sensitive of its kind


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ever conducted on an interstellar


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object. It sets a new standard and a


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powerful new benchmark for how to


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conduct these searches in the future


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when the next interstellar visitor comes


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calling.


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>> That makes sense. We learn and refine


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the process with each attempt. And while


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we're searching the far reaches of space


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for others, there's a new kind of space


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race heating up much, much closer to


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home.


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>> That's right, Avery. There's a growing


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and increasingly urgent international


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race to mine the moon. Various countries


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and private companies are actively


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developing the technology needed to


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extract valuable lunar resources.


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>> And we're not just talking about rocks.


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The big prizes are resources like water


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ice, which is critical for life support


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and can be broken down into hydrogen and


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oxygen for rocket fuel, and an isotope


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called helium 3, which is rare on Earth,


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but could be a fuel for future fusion


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reactors.


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>> Mhm. And the list of players is growing.


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We have space agencies and companies


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from the US, China, Australia, Japan,


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and Europe all working on lunar


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excavation and resource extraction


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technologies. But there's a major


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hurdle, and it's not a technical one.


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>> Exactly. The International Legal


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Framework for this is dangerously


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outdated. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967


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forbids any nation from claiming


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sovereignty over a celestial body, but


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it's completely silent on the issue of


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commercial resource extraction.


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>> So, it's a bit like the Wild West on the


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final frontier. There are urgent calls


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from legal experts and diplomats to


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establish clear modern international


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rules to prevent conflict and ensure


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that lunar mining is done responsibly


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and sustainably.


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>> It's a conversation that needs to happen


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quickly. Well, while nations plan their


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lunar futures, the rest of us can look


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up and enjoy some amazing celestial


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events right from our own backyards.


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Avery, what should we be looking for in


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the night sky? There's plenty to see as


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we head into the new year, particularly


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for our northern hemisphere listeners.


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For starters, on January 1st, the


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brightest star in our night sky, Sirius,


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will be at its highest point in the sky


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around midnight, making it a brilliant


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sight.


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>> And what about the moon?


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>> We'll have three full moons before the


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spring equinox. And the third one on


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March 3rd is special. It will feature a


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total lunar eclipse, which will be at


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least partially visible across most of


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the United States. So, mark your


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calendars for that. Ooh, I will. Any


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planets putting on a show?


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>> Absolutely. The giant of our solar


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system, Jupiter, is at opposition. That


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means Earth is passing directly between


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Jupiter and the sun. So, the planet will


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be visible all night long and at its


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brightest for the year. And for the


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early evening sky watchers, Venus is


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making its return as the brilliant


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evening star.


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>> Wonderful. Plenty to look forward to.


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It's amazing to look up and see these


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events happening now. But our final


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story today, Avery, is about solving a


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cosmic mystery that's almost a thousand


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years old.


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>> That's right. Astronomers believe they


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finally figured out the puzzle of a


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supernova remnant known as PA30.


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Historical records from Chinese and


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Japanese astronomers in the year 1181


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noted a new guest star in the sky that


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was visible for 6 months. Scientists


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have long suspected PA30 was the


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leftover cloud from that event.


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>> And now they know what caused it. It


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turns out this was an extremely rare


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type of stellar explosion. What they


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call a failed type 1 AX supernova.


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>> A failed supernova. So the star didn't


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completely blow itself to bits.


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>> Exactly. The explosion wasn't powerful


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enough to completely obliterate the


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star. Instead, a surviving white dwarf


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star was left behind at the center of


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the remnant. And this survivor is doing


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something incredible.


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>> Mhm. And that explains the remnant's


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weird shape, right? Most supernova


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remnants are chaotic, messy clouds of


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gas and dust. Pay 30 is different. It


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has these strange, almost straight


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filaments. That's the key. The surviving


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white dwarf at the center is emitting an


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extremely fast stellar wind. Material


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flowing outwards at thousands of


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kilometers per second. It's this


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incredibly fast, powerful wind that is


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shaping the nebula creating those unique


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straight line filaments. It's a


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fantastic piece of cosmic detective


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work.


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>> And that's a wrap on another starstudded


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collection of stories for today. From


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record-breaking launches to


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thousand-year-old stellar mysteries, the


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universe never fails to fascinate.


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>> It certainly doesn't. A huge thank you


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to all of you for tuning in to Astronomy


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Daily. We hope you'll join us again next


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time for another journey through the


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cosmos. And we hope you'll visit our


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website at astronomydaily.io


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for even more space news and our full


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catalog of back episodes.


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>> Until tomorrow, this has been Avery


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>> and Anna reminding you to always keep


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looking up. Astronomy [music] Day.


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Stories we told.