Love Is in the Stars

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Kind: captions
Language: en

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Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Welcome


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to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that


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brings you the latest space and


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astronomy news every single day. I'm


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Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. And what a day to be


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talking about the cosmos. The universe


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has really pulled out all the stops for


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Valentine's Day this year.


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>> It really has. We've got astronauts


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arriving at the space station today. A


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dying star sending the universe a


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literal Valentine. possible aurora


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dancing across the skies tonight and a


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whole lot more. So, let's get into it.


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>> Ready when you are.


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>> Our top story today is a Valentine's Day


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rendevous, not between sweethearts, but


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between a Dragon spacecraft and the


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International Space Station. SpaceX's


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Crew 12 mission launched yesterday


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morning at Cape Canaveral at 5:15


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Eastern time. And as we speak, four


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astronauts are on their way to dock with


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the ISS later this afternoon.


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>> And what a crew it is. Commanding the


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mission is NASA astronaut Jessica Mir


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with Jack Hathaway as pilot. They're


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joined by issa astronaut Sophie Adena,


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whose mission has been named epsilon,


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and Rosscosmos cosminaut Andre Fedv.


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It's a truly international crew.


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>> This mission has been particularly


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urgent, Avery. The ISS has been


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operating with just three crew members,


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a skeleton crew, since mid January when


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crew 11 had to make an unexpected early


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return to Earth due to a medical issue


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with one of its members. That left NASA


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astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian


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cosminauts Sergey Cuts Verskov and


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Sergey Mikayv holding down the fort on


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their own. NASA has been clear that


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seven crew members is really what you


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need to maximize a science output on a


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station that costs around $3 billion a


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year to operate. So, there was real


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pressure to get this launch done


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quickly. SpaceX actually had the rocket


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and spacecraft ready ahead of schedule,


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but crew training and weather kept


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pushing the date. They lost two launch


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windows earlier in the week to bad


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weather along a flight path before


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finally getting off the ground


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yesterday. And in a lovely touch for


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Valentine's Day, the crew revealed their


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zero gravity indicator, a handmade


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crocheted model of Earth with four


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little satellites representing each crew


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member, plus a tiny moon for Commander


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Mir. It was made by Mir's childhood best


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friend and Hathaway's daughter. That's


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pretty adorable.


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>> It really is. Docking is expected at


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around 3:15 p.m. Eastern time today. So


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by the time many of you are listening to


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this, the ISS should be back to its full


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complement of seven. NASA administrator


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Jared Isaacman praised the teams, saying


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they brought crew 11 home early, pulled


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crew 12 forward, and did it all while


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preparing for the Aremis 2 moon mission.


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A busy few weeks at NASA to say the


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least. And speaking of the Artemis 2


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rocket, there was a fantastic photo from


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Kennedy Space Center this week showing


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the massive SLS Moon rocket photobombing


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the Crew 12 Falcon 9 on the neighboring


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launchpad. Two very different rockets


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side by side representing the present


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and future of human space flight.


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>> Now, we've been keeping you updated on


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this one, but with just 3 days to go,


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it's time for a final reminder. On


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Tuesday, February 17th, the first solar


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eclipse of 2026 will take place, an


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annular solar eclipse, or also known as


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a ring of fire eclipse.


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>> And here's the thing, this one is going


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to be witnessed by more penguins than


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people. The path of annularity, where


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you'd actually see that stunning ring of


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sunlight around the moon, cuts across a


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remote stretch of Antarctica and the


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Southern Ocean. At maximum eclipse, the


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moon will cover about 96% of the sun's


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disc, leaving that slim glowing ring


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visible for up to 2 minutes and 20


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seconds. But you'd need to be at one of


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the scientific research stations down in


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Antarctica, like the French Italian


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Concordia station or Russia's Mierney


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station. For the rest of the world,


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partial phases will be visible from the


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very southern tips of Chile and


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Argentina and across parts of southern


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Africa, including South Africa,


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Mosambique, and Madagascar. But if


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you're in Europe, North America, or most


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of Asia, no dice on this one, I'm


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afraid.


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>> Still, it's a reminder that eclipse


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season is upon us. And that brings us


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neatly to our next story. Have you ever


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noticed that solar eclipses and lunar


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eclipses seem to arrive in pairs? It's


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not a coincidence. Every eclipse is part


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of a predictable pattern during a short


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window known as an eclipse season.


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>> That's right. An eclipse season lasts


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about 31 to 37 days. And there are


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typically two each year, roughly 6


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months apart. They occur when the sun


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passes near one of the lunar nodes, the


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points where the moon's tilted orbit


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crosses the plane of Earth's orbit


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around the sun. During this window, the


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geometry lines up for eclipses to


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happen.


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>> And because the window is long enough to


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contain both a new moon and a full moon,


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which are always about 2 weeks apart,


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you almost always get a pair, a solar


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eclipse at new moon and the lunar


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eclipse at full moon, or vice versa. So,


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the annular solar eclipse on February


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17th is the opening act. Exactly 14 days


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later on March 3rd, the same eclipse


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season delivers a total lunar eclipse, a


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blood moon with the moon spending nearly


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an hour fully inside Earth's dark


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umbrell shadow.


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>> And that one is much more accessible.


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Observers in East Asia, Australia, the


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Pacific, and Western North America will


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have excellent views of the moon turning


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that gorgeous coppery color during


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totality.


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>> But wait, there's more. The second


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eclipse season of 2026 arrives in


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August, and this one is the blockbuster.


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On August 12th, a total solar eclipse


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will sweep across Greenland, Iceland,


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and northern Spain. That's the first


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total solar eclipse since April 2024.


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and much of Western Europe and North


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America will see at least a deep partial


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eclipse.


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>> Then 2 weeks after that on August 28th,


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a partial lunar eclipse rounds out the


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season. So 2026 really is shaping up to


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be a remarkable year for eclipse


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chasers. Four eclipses, two seasons, and


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some genuinely spectacular events. If


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you've been meaning to plan an eclipse


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trip, now's the time. We'll have much


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more on the March and August eclipses as


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they get closer, so stay tuned.


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>> And now for what has to be the most


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perfectly timed astronomy story of the


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year. Just in time for Valentine's Day,


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space has sent us a heart-shaped


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greeting.


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>> The star Mirror A, about 300 lighty


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years from Earth has ejected a cloud of


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gas and dust that forms a striking


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heart-shape around it. And this isn't


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just a pretty picture. It's a genuinely


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surprising scientific discovery. Mera A


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is a red giant star, one of the most


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famous variable stars in the sky. It was


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first documented all the way back in


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1596.


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As a star in the last stages of its


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life, it's been shedding material into


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space. But the amount and speed of this


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particular rejection caught astronomers


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off guard. The study led by Theo Corey


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at Sweden's Chalmer's University of


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Technology found that Mera A ejected


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roughly seven Earth masses of material


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in this burst. Using observations from


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both the very large telescope and the


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Alma radio array in Chile, the team


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discovered that gas fills the


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heart-shaped structure, while dust


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concentrates along the outer edges,


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creating a beautiful glowing outline.


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What's particularly fascinating is that


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the star appears to be acting like a


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lighthouse, illuminating its


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surroundings unevenly. Cory said that


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they were very surprised to see the


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structure and that the stars


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illumination of the surrounding dust


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varies in unexpected ways. And there's a


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companion star in this love story, too.


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Mirror B, a white dwarf star that orbits


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Mirror A, is already beginning to gather


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some of the ejected material. The


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researchers say they'll keep monitoring


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the expanding cloud because it could


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eventually affect Mirab though. We've


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got a cosmic couple exchanging material


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on Valentine's Day. You couldn't make it


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up.


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>> The study has been accepted for


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publication in the journal Astronomy and


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Astrophysics and the preprint is already


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available on archive. A truly heartfelt


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discovery. Literally. From hearts to


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head spinners, scientists have been left


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puzzled by a comet that has done


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something truly extraordinary. It's


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flipped its rotation direction.


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>> Comet 41P Tuttle Jacobini Creack, try


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saying that three times fast, was


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observed by NASA's Swift spacecraft back


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in 2017, slowing its rotation


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dramatically. It went from spinning once


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every 20 hours to once every 53 hours in


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just 60 days.


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To put that in context, the previous


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record for a cometary spinown was held


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by comet Hartley 2, which slowed from 17


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to 19 hours over 90 days. So, comet 41P


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changed its spin rate 10 times more


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dramatically in 2/3 the time. It's


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unprecedented.


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>> But that's not even the stranger part.


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New analysis of Hubble Space Telescope


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images by astronomer David Jwitt at UCLA


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has revealed that after slowing down,


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the comet's rotation appeared to


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actually reverse. It started spinning


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the other way. The culprit appears to be


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the comet's own outging. As comets


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approach the sun, they heat up and


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release jets of gas. When that gas


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escapes unevenly from the surface, what


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scientists call anisotropic outgassing,


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it creates a torque on the nucleus,


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gradually changing and eventually


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reversing its spin.


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>> Jed estimates that the nucleus is less


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than 0.7 km in radius, making it


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particularly susceptible to these


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forces. And here's the sobering


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implication. The lifetime of the nucleus


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to rotational instability is just a few


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decades, which is incredibly short


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compared to the thousands of years it's


00:10:20.640 --> 00:10:23.269
been in its current orbit. So, while the


00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:25.269
comet's orbit might be stable for


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millennia, its physical integrity is


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much more fragile, it raises the


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question of whether comets might not


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last as long as we previously thought,


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with their own internal forces


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eventually tearing them apart. The paper


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is available as a preprint on archive


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for anyone who wants to dig into the


00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.269
details.


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>> And finally, here's something for


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everyone to look forward to later this


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month. A rare six planet parade is


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building in the evening sky. And the


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best part, it's happening at a perfectly


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civilized hour. Throughout February, six


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planets are lining up across the sky in


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what astronomers call a planetary


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alignment. The parade features Mercury,


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Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and


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Neptune, and the show peaks on February


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28th. Now, four of those, Mercury,


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Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, will be


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visible to the naked eye. Uranus, and


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Neptune, will require binoculars or a


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telescope. The best time to look is


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about 30 minutes after your local


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sunset, low in the western sky. You'll


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want a clear, unobstructed horizon.


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Mercury might be the trickiest to spot


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because of its low position near the


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horizon, but Venus and Jupiter should be


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unmistakable. They're the brightest


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objects in the evening sky after the


00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.269
moon. Now, this isn't quite as rare as


00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:45.269
the seven planet alignment we saw in


00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:47.670
February last year, which included all


00:11:47.680 --> 00:11:49.829
the classical planets plus Uranus and


00:11:49.839 --> 00:11:52.150
Neptune. That one won't happen again


00:11:52.160 --> 00:11:55.190
until 2040. But groupings of six planets


00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.230
are still pretty special. As astronomer


00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.230
Greg Brown from the Royal Observatory


00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.389
Greenwich has pointed out, while groups


00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.310
of three or four planets appearing


00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.710
together are relatively common, the more


00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:08.949
planets involved, the more orbital


00:12:08.959 --> 00:12:11.670
geometry has to cooperate. So, a six


00:12:11.680 --> 00:12:13.670
planet parade is definitely worth


00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:15.430
stepping outside for.


00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.829
>> Mark your calendars for February 28th


00:12:17.839 --> 00:12:19.910
and maybe start scoping out a good


00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:22.470
western facing spot with a low horizon.


00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.550
We'll remind you as the day gets closer.


00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:26.629
Before we go, one more little


00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.710
Valentine's Day treat. If you're in the


00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:30.629
northern United States or southern


00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.870
Canada tonight, you might want to step


00:12:32.880 --> 00:12:36.150
outside after dark and look north. NOAA


00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:38.949
forecasters are predicting possible G1


00:12:38.959 --> 00:12:41.590
minor geomagnetic storming this weekend


00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.430
driven by the combined effects of a


00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.750
coronal hole high-speed solar wind


00:12:45.760 --> 00:12:48.389
stream and a coronal mass ejection from


00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.949
earlier this week. So, there's a chance,


00:12:50.959 --> 00:12:53.430
no guarantees, but a chance to see the


00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.829
northern lights tonight and into Sunday.


00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.150
States like Michigan and Maine, and of


00:12:58.160 --> 00:12:59.670
course, our friends in Canada and


00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:02.230
Northern Europe have the best odds. What


00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.230
could be more romantic than watching the


00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.150
aurora dance across the sky on


00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:07.590
Valentine's Day?


00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.750
>> Imagine telling your date, "I arranged


00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:12.150
the northern lights just for you."


00:13:12.160 --> 00:13:13.350
Smooth move.


00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.350
>> Very smooth. Well, that's all for


00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:16.949
today's show. Whether you're spending


00:13:16.959 --> 00:13:19.350
Valentine's Day stargazing, watching a


00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.509
spacecraft dock with the space station,


00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.670
or just enjoying the cosmic love story


00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:26.310
of Mera A and its heart-shaped nebula,


00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.069
we hope the universe gives you something


00:13:28.079 --> 00:13:30.230
to smile about today. Don't forget to


00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:31.990
subscribe to Astronomy Daily wherever


00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:33.990
you get your podcasts. And you can find


00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.949
us online at astronomydaily.io


00:13:36.959 --> 00:13:40.310
and on social media at astroaily pod. If


00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.310
you enjoyed today's episode, please


00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.230
leave us a rating and review. It really


00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.750
helps others find the show.


00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:47.990
>> Until next time, keep looking up and


00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:49.910
happy Valentine's Day from all of us at


00:13:49.920 --> 00:13:51.110
Astronomy Daily.


00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:55.750
>> Clear skies, everyone. Astronomy day.


00:13:55.760 --> 00:14:03.750
Stories told


00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:11.670
stories told


00:14:11.680 --> 00:14:14.399
stories