From Titan’s Slush to Interstellar Visitors: Space News Roundup

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast


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that brings you the universe, one story


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at a time. I'm Avery.


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


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Today, we've got news of a surprising


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discovery about one of Saturn's most


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famous moons to a cosmic crash that's


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rewriting our understanding of planet


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formation. Plus, we'll be talking again


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about our interstellar visitor, a mishap


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with the Starlink satellites, and NASA's


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incredible new map of the cosmos. So,


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where are we starting, Anna? We're


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heading out to the Saturn system,


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specifically to its largest moon, Titan.


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For years, scientists have been excited


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by the theory that beneath Titan's icy


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crust lies a vast liquid water ocean,


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making it a prime candidate for


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extraterrestrial life.


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>> Right. The hidden ocean theory. It's


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been a cornerstone of astrobiology


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discussions for a while.


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>> Exactly. But a new study reanalyzing


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data from the Cassini mission is


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challenging that picture. It suggests


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Titan's interior might not be a liquid


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ocean after all. Instead, it could be a


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thick, warm, and slowly freezing slush.


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>> Slush? So, less of a swimming pool and


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more of a cosmic snow cone. What does


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that mean? Well, the data points to high


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pressure ice layers forming deep inside


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which can trap liquid. So instead of one


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big interior ocean, we might be looking


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at smaller isolated pockets of melt


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water within a mostly solid icy mantle.


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It complicates the idea of a single


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habitable environment.


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>> That's a major shift in thinking. Does


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it lower the chances of finding life


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there?


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>> It makes it more challenging. A large


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stable ocean allows for the free


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movement of nutrients and potential


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life. Small isolated pockets are less


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dynamic. It doesn't rule life out, but


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it definitely changes where and how we


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would look for it. It's a fantastic


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reminder that our assumptions are always


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being tested by new data.


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>> Absolutely. From the far reaches of the


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solar system, let's come a little closer


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to home for our next story. It involves


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SpaceX's Starling constellation, which


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had a bit of a hiccup recently.


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>> Mhm. I saw the headlines on this. What


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happened?


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>> One of their satellites experienced what


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they're calling an anomaly. It


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essentially broke apart, creating a


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small amount of trackable debris and of


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course cutting off communication with


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the satellite itself.


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>> Space debris is always a concern. Is


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this a major risk to other satellites?


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>> Fortunately, in this case, the risk is


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very low. SpaceX has confirmed that the


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satellite is in a very low orbit and is


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expected to completely de-orbit and burn


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up in Earth's atmosphere within a few


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weeks. So, it's a self-cleing problem,


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which is good news. That's a relief, but


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it does highlight the growing debate


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around these massive satellite mega


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constellations and the long-term


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sustainability of low Earth orbit. One


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anomaly is manageable, but thousands of


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satellites increase the odds of future


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problems. And the numbers are truly


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staggering. We're not talking about


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hundreds of satellites anymore, but tens


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of thousands planned for launch in the


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coming years. It raises the spectre of


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the Kesler syndrome, doesn't it? Where


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the density of objects become so high


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that collisions create a cascading chain


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reaction of debris.


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>> It absolutely does. That's the nightmare


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scenario for space agencies. A runaway


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cascade could render certain orbits


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unusable for generations. That's why


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international cooperation on space


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traffic management and debris mitigation


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is becoming so critical. It's not just


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about protecting individual assets


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anymore. It's about preserving access to


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space for everyone.


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>> Precisely. The technology is incredible,


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but the responsibility that comes with


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it is equally immense. A crucial topic


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for our times. So, it's less about a


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single failure and more about the


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cumulative risk of having so much


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hardware orbiting above us. It's a


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delicate balance between enabling global


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connectivity and creating a long-term


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environmental problem right on our


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cosmic doorstep.


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>> That's the bigger conversation for sure.


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It's a test case for how companies


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manage their orbital footprint. Speaking


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of managing space, our next topic shifts


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from the corporate to the governmental.


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Anna, you're taking us into the world of


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space policy.


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>> That's right. President Trump issued an


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executive order that significantly


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reorganized national space policy. The


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headline grabbing goals set by the order


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was a 2028 landing for astronauts on the


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moon.


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>> 2028. That's an incredibly ambitious


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timeline, even more aggressive than


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NASA's own initial plans.


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>> Extremely. The order was designed to


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accelerate things, reinforcing NASA's


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Aremis program, which is the framework


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for that lunar return. Beyond the moon


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landing, the order also called for a


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comprehensive space security strategy,


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addressing the increasing militarization


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and competition in space.


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>> That makes sense. It's about planting a


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flag, both literally on the moon and


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figuratively in terms of geopolitical


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standing. Did the order have lasting


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effects? It certainly solidified the


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Aremis program's direction and injected


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a sense of urgency. While the 2028


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timeline has since been adjusted to be


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more realistic, the core focus on a


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sustainable lunar presence and preparing


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for Mars remains central to US space


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policy. It really framed the narrative


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for this decade of space exploration.


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>> It's fascinating how policy can shape


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science on such a grand scale. And from


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grand policy to a grand cosmic mystery,


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our next story feels like a detective


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novel set in space. We're talking about


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the exoplanet FOMO B.


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>> H the zombie planet. I love this story.


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It was one of the first exoplanets to be


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directly imaged, but it behaved so


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strangely over the years.


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>> Exactly. It was dimming and had a weird


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orbit. Well, astronomers using the


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Hubble Space Telescope finally cracked


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the case. FOMO B was never a planet.


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What they had been tracking was the


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expanding cloud of debris from a massive


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cosmic crash between two large icy


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bodies.


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>> So they were literally watching the dust


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settle from a collision. That's


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incredible.


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>> It gets even better. They realized that


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they had also witnessed a second, more


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recent collision in the same system.


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This means we're getting a rare realtime


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look at how planetary systems are built


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through violent chaotic collisions.


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We're not just finding planets, we're


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watching the construction zone.


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>> It really is a construction zone, and a


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messy one at that. What kind of scale


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are we talking about for these colliding


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objects? Are these planet-sized bodies?


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>> Based on the models, they estimate the


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objects were both around 200 km in


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diameter, so large asteroids or


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protolanets. The impact would have been


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catastrophic, vaporizing them and


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creating an expanding cloud of extremely


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fine dust particles, smaller than grains


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of sand. That's what Hubble was actually


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seeing.


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>> And that dust cloud is what tricked


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everyone into thinking it was a planet


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for so long. It was bright enough to be


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seen, but as the cloud expanded and


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dispersed, the object appeared to dim


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and eventually fade away, which is not


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something a planet does.


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>> Exactly. It's a perfect example of the


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scientific process in action. An


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observation, a hypothesis, it's a


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planet, and then more observations that


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don't fit, leading to a completely new


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and even more exciting conclusion. The


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universe is full of surprises. And


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sometimes a disappearing act is more


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interesting than a discovery.


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>> That gives you such a sense of


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perspective. It's a reminder of the


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dynamic and sometimes destructive


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processes that shaped our own solar


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system billions of years ago. What a


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discovery. And speaking of things


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passing through, our next story is about


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a visitor that won't be staying,


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>> right? An interstellar traveler.


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>> Indeed, the interstellar comet Three I


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Atlas is currently making its closest


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approach to Earth. This is an object


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that was born in another solar system


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and has been traveling through the


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galaxy for millions, maybe billions of


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years before wandering into our


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neighborhood.


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>> Can we see it? Is this another naked eye


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comet opportunity? Unfortunately, no.


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It's far too faint for the naked eye or


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even backyard telescopes. But for those


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who want to follow its journey, there


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are numerous online tools and


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observatories providing tracking data


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and even live streams as it makes its


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flyby.


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>> So, we can still watch it just


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digitally. And this is a one-time show,


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right?


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>> Correct. Its trajectory is hyperbolic,


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meaning it has more than enough speed to


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escape the sun's gravity. Once it passes


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us, it's heading back out into


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interstellar space, never to return.


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It's a fleeting chance for scientists to


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study a pristine sample from another


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star system.


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>> Incredible. It's like a cosmic postcard


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from a place we'll never visit. For our


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final story, we're zooming out from a


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single object to look at the entire sky


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thanks to a new NASA mission.


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>> Mhm. This is about the Spherex


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telescope, right?


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>> That's the one. The Spherex Space


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Telescope has just completed its first


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all sky infrared map. This isn't just a


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picture. It's a map taken in 102


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different colors of infrared light.


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Think of it as giving us a new set of


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eyes to see the universe's heat


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signature in unprecedented detail.


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>> And what will scientists do with that


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data? What questions can this map help


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answer?


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>> It's going to tackle some of the biggest


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questions in cosmology. First, by


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looking at the large-scale structure of


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the universe, it will help us study the


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rapid expansion period right after the


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Big Bang. Second, it will map how


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galaxies have formed and evolved over


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cosmic time.


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>> That alone is huge.


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>> It is. And third, and perhaps most


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excitingly for many, it will map the


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distribution of water and organic


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molecules, the key ingredients for life,


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throughout our galaxy's stellar


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nurseries and planet forming discs. This


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map will be a foundational resource for


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astronomers for decades.


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>> From the origins of the universe to the


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origins of life. That's an incredible


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scope, a perfect big picture story to


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end on.


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>> And that's a wrap for today's episode.


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We've gone from a slushy moon to a


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phantom planet and all the way out to an


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interstellar visitor.


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>> Thanks for joining us on Astronomy


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Daily. You can find us on all major


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podcast platforms and our DMs are always


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open for questions and future show


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ideas. We'll be back next time with more


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news from across the cosmos. Until then,


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keep looking up.


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>> Stories told


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stories told.