What the Heck Is This Planet?

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Language: en

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,


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your daily guide to the universe. I'm


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Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. It is Tuesday, the 3rd of


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March, 2026, and we are season 5,


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episode 53. Anna, quite a lineup today.


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>> We really do have something for


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everyone. We've got an update to that


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major shakeup at NASA, the kind that has


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the whole space community talking.


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>> We've got a planet shaped like a lemon.


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That's not a metaphor. It is literally


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shaped like a lemon. There is a new


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approach to one of the biggest unsolved


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mysteries in all of physics.


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>> A space probe has snapped its first


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close-up of an interstellar comet. And


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we've got your global launch roundup,


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including a big one from Japan making


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its third attempt.


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>> And China is about to debut a new


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reusable rocket that could shake up the


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commercial launch industry. Avery, where


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do we start?


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>> Let's start at the top with NASA and a


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decision that's rewriting the Aremis


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playbook. So Avery, when NASA


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administrator Jared Isaacman stood up at


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Kennedy Space Center just days ago and


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said Artemis 3 will not be landing on


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the moon, it was a significant moment.


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>> It really was. To understand why, a


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quick bit of context. Artemis 3 was


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meant to be humanity's first crude lunar


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landing since Apollo 17 back in 1972.


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That's over 50 years, a very long time


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to wait.


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>> And now it's not happening. Instead, the


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mission, now targeting a launch sometime


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in mid 2027, has been completely


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redesigned. It will stay in low Earth


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orbit and focus on testing docking


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procedures between NASA's Orion capsule


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and the commercial lunar landers.


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>> And that's where it gets really


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interesting because those landers are


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SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origins Blue


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Moon. And NASA is now openly keeping


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both of them in the running rather than


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committing exclusively to Starship.


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Isaacman was quite candid about why. He


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compared the current Artemis cadence to


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Apollo and found it wanting. Apollo was


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launching missions every four to 5


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months. Artemis has been going every


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couple of years, which means the agency


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loses what he called muscle memory


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between flights. Engineers leave.


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Procedures get rusty.


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>> And Starship, despite 11 test flights,


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has yet to reach Earth orbit. It's still


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technically a suborbital vehicle. And


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the list of milestones it needs to hit


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before it could put astronauts on the


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moon, orbital refueling, rendevous and


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docking an uncrrewed lunar landing is


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still very long.


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>> So the plan now is Artemis 3 in low


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Earth orbit to test systems, then


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Artemis 4 as the first real moon landing


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targeting 2028. And NASA is even talking


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about two moon landing missions in 2028


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if they can get the launch cadence up.


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Ambitious,


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>> very. And in the meantime, Artemis 2,


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the crude flyby around the moon with no


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landing, is still on track for an April


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launch after being rolled back to the


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vehicle assembly building for repairs to


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a helium flow issue.


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>> A lot happening on the Aremis front. We


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will absolutely keep you updated. Now,


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let's go somewhere much, much further


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away. 750 lightyear, in fact.


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>> This one genuinely made me do a double


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take when I read it. Scientists using


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the James Webb Space Telescope have


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found an exoplanet unlike anything ever


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studied, and they are baffled.


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>> So, let's set the scene. The planet is


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called PSRJ2322-2650b.


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It's about the mass of Jupiter, and it


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orbits its star at a distance of just 1


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million miles. For comparison, Earth


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orbits the sun at about 100 million


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miles. This planet is 100th of that


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distance away.


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>> One complete orbit, one full year for


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this planet, takes just 7.8 hours.


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>> And its star is not a normal star. It's


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a pulsar, a rapidly spinning neutron


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star. The collapsed core of a long,


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dead, massive star containing the mass


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of our entire sun packed into something


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the size of a city. And the gravity from


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that pulsar is so extreme that it's


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literally stretching the planet. Instead


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of being roughly spherical like Earth or


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Jupiter, the gravitational tidal forces


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are pulling it into an elongated shape


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like a lemon or an American football if


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you prefer. The lead researcher, Michael


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Zang, from the University of Chicago,


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described it as the stretchiest planet


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we've confirmed the stretchiness of,


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which is a sentence I never expected to


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hear in astronomy.


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>> But the shape is almost the least weird


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thing about it. When web turned its


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infrared instruments on this world, the


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atmosphere came back completely wrong.


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Instead of water, methane, carbon


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dioxide, the things you'd normally


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expect on a gas giant, it's almost


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entirely helium and carbon.


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>> Carbon compounds called C2 and C3,


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specifically molecular carbon. And


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because the pressure inside the planet


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is enormous, scientists think that


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carbon could actually be crystallizing


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in the deep interior, forming diamonds.


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The surface temperature is around 3700°


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F, by the way, which is four times


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hotter than Venus. So, it's a


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lemon-shaped diamond cord 3700°


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mystery world orbiting a zombie star


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every 8 hours. And nobody can explain


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how it formed. Zang said the carbon


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composition rules out every known


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formation mechanism. It's part of what's


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called a black widow system, where the


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pulsar is slowly evaporating its


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companion. But even that doesn't fully


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explain what Webb is seeing.


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>> The team is seriously entertaining the


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idea that this might be an entirely new


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class of cosmic object. Not quite a


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planet, not quite a stellar remnant,


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something in between with no name yet.


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>> Only Web could have found this. The


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pulsar emits mostly gamma rays which are


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invisible to infrared instruments. So


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Web could study the planet without the


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star drowning it out. A pristine


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spectrum. The researchers called it a


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perfect observational setup. Remarkable


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stuff. From the inexplicable to the


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cosmological, what's next?


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>> So, the Hubble tension. If you've been


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listening to astronomy daily for any


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length of time, you've heard us mention


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this, but let's quickly recap why it


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matters so much.


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>> The Hubble constant is a measure of how


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fast the universe is expanding.


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Different methods of measuring it


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produce different answers. Not wildly


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different. We're talking about a 10%


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gap, but in cosmology, that gap is


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enormous. If the universe's expansion


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rate isn't consistent, something in our


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fundamental model of physics is wrong.


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>> And now, a team from the University of


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Illinois and the University of Chicago


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thinks they may have found a new tool


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that could finally help resolve it. They


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call it the stochastic siren method.


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>> And it works like this. Every time two


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black holes spiral together and collide


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somewhere in the universe, which is


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happening constantly across billions of


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galaxies, they release gravitational


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waves, ripples in the fabric of spaceime


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itself. Most of these events are too


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distant and too faint for us to detect


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individually.


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>> But together, all those undetected


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collisions create a background humle


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gravitational wave signal washing


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through everything all the time. And the


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team realized that by looking for or in


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this case not finding that background


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signal in existing data from the LIGO,


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Virgo and Cogra detectors, they could


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actually constrain the Hubble constant.


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Even the non detection is informative.


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If certain expansion rates were correct,


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you'd expect to see a background signal


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by now. You don't. So those slower


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expansion scenarios can be ruled out.


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Combined with existing measurements from


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individual black hole mergers, the team


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produced a new, more precise estimate of


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the expansion rate, one that sets right


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in the contested zone where the Hubble


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tension actually bites.


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>> The research is published in Physical


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Review Letters. Daniel Holtz from


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Chicago put it well, saying, "It's not


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every day you come up with an entirely


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new tool for cosmology." And as


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gravitational wave detectors become more


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sensitive over the next decade, this


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method will only get sharper.


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>> The gravitational wave background itself


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is expected to be directly detected


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within about 6 years. When that happens,


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this technique becomes even more


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powerful. We might actually be within


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reach of solving one of the deepest


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puzzles in physics. Exciting times. From


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the vast and theoretical to the


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relatively local, we had a visitor in


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our solar system and we've got a new


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photo.


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>> So, three/Atlas has been quite the


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recurring character on the show and with


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good reason. This is only the third


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confirmed interstellar object ever


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detected passing through our solar


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system. And it's by far the most studied


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because we had more warning than with


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the previous two. And now, issa's Juice


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spacecraft, the Jupiter Icy Moons


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Explorer, currently in route to Jupiter,


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has captured its first detailed image of


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the comet. And what it's showing is a


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bright glowing coma surrounding the


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nucleus with a sweeping tail already


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developing. Juice was actually well


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positioned to get an early look at this


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object, which makes it a brilliant


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opportunistic observation. The


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spacecraft was designed to study


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Jupiter's moons, but its cameras are


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perfectly capable of turning onto a


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bright comet.


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>> What makes Three Atlas so scientifically


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exciting is what it can tell us about


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chemistry beyond our solar system.


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Interstellar objects carry the


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fingerprints of wherever they formed.


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Previous NASA observations already


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revealed the coma and a flare up as it


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was heading outward, and the composition


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data has been trickling in. And now we


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have Juice's optical imagery to add to


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that picture. Every instrument, every


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telescope, every spacecraft that can


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contribute data is doing so. This is


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coordinated solar system science at its


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best.


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>> 3IE Atlas is now heading back out into


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the solar system, so the window for


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observations is narrowing, but the data


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already collected will be keeping


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researchers busy for years. Now, let's


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check in on what's flying this week. It


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is a busy week at launch sites around


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the globe. Five missions on the schedule


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and there are some real standout moments


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to watch for. The international


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highlight is Japan. Space 1, a


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commercial startup backed by Canon


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Electronics and IHI Aerospace is


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attempting its third launch of the


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Chyros rocket from Spaceport Key on the


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Key Peninsula. The window opens


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Wednesday the 4th of March.


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>> Now, the first two Chyros flights did


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not go well. Flight one in March 2024


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was terminated by the autonomous flight


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termination system due to first stage


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underperformance. Flight two in December


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2024 was lost because a sensor failure


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caused loss of control during the first


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stage burn.


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>> Third time lucky hopefully. This flight


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is targeting suns synchronous orbit and


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is carrying five small payloads from a


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range of customers including satellites


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from Taiwan and a micro satellite from a


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Japanese high school. Lovely to see that


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kind of diversity.


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>> On the SpaceX side, there are four


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Falcon 9 missions this week launching


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from both Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg.


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The standout is a Vandenberg launch on


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Wednesday where booster B1071 will be


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flying for its 32nd mission. And that


00:11:53.040 --> 00:11:56.069
landing will mark SpaceX's 600th Falcon


00:11:56.079 --> 00:11:59.190
booster recovery attempt. 600.


00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.670
>> The numbers just keep getting bigger and


00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:03.990
more mind-boggling. A booster that's


00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.590
flown 32 times is extraordinary by any


00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:10.150
standard. This week's Falcon 9 missions


00:12:10.160 --> 00:12:13.110
will also push SpaceX to its 30th launch


00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.910
of 2026. Overall, the cadence is


00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:17.110
relentless.


00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.030
>> And we're watching the Chyros launch


00:12:19.040 --> 00:12:21.670
particularly closely. Japan's commercial


00:12:21.680 --> 00:12:23.670
launch sector has been growing and the


00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:25.590
successful Chyros flight would be a


00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:27.509
significant milestone for the country's


00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:30.310
private space industry. Fingers crossed.


00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.710
Now, speaking of new rockets,


00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.430
>> and we close today's episode with a look


00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.150
further ahead to the end of March when


00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:40.470
China's commercial space sector is about


00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:44.310
to make a significant move. CAS Space, a


00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:45.990
commercial offshoot of the Chinese


00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.470
Academy of Sciences, is preparing to


00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.910
debut its new Kinetic 2 rocket. Launch


00:12:51.920 --> 00:12:54.230
is targeted for late March from the Geio


00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.389
Quan satellite launch center out in the


00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.590
Gobi Desert.


00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.269
>> The Kinetic 2 is a 53 m tall rocket


00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.790
powered by three YF102 engines running


00:13:04.800 --> 00:13:07.910
on kerosene and liquid oxygen, a similar


00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:10.150
propellant combination to SpaceX's


00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:13.190
Falcon 9. And like Falcon 9, it's


00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:15.110
designed to be reusable.


00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.990
>> It can carry up to 12,000 kg to low


00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.829
Earth orbit or around 7,800 kg to a 500


00:13:21.839 --> 00:13:24.629
km suns synchronous orbit. That's a


00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.790
meaningful capability. It puts it in a


00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:28.870
similar class to Falcon 9 in terms of


00:13:28.880 --> 00:13:29.910
payload.


00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:32.389
>> For its debut mission, it's carrying the


00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.110
Ching Xiao 1, a prototype cargo


00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:37.110
spacecraft designed to eventually


00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:40.150
resupply China's Tangong space station.


00:13:40.160 --> 00:13:42.310
Think of it as China's equivalent of


00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.629
testing a Dragon capsule, a first step


00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.110
toward a regular, affordable resupply


00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.389
system. And Caspay has ambitious plans.


00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.550
They're aiming for at least four Kinetic


00:13:52.560 --> 00:13:55.829
2 launches in 2026 alone, including


00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:58.310
missions to deploy satellites into mega


00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.870
constellations, directly competing with


00:14:00.880 --> 00:14:03.430
Starlink in the global broadband market.


00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.990
It's worth noting that CAS Space's


00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.629
smaller solid fuel rocket, the Kinetic


00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:11.509
1, has already flown 11 successful


00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.829
missions and has eight more planned for


00:14:13.839 --> 00:14:16.150
this year. So, this is not a firsttime


00:14:16.160 --> 00:14:17.910
player. They have operational


00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:20.389
experience. The broader picture is that


00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:22.790
the global commercial launch industry is


00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:24.949
genuinely becoming competitive in a way


00:14:24.959 --> 00:14:28.069
it never was before. SpaceX still leads,


00:14:28.079 --> 00:14:30.150
but you now have serious players from


00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:33.350
China, Japan, Europe, and beyond, all


00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.150
developing capable, affordable rockets.


00:14:36.160 --> 00:14:38.069
It's a fascinating time to be watching


00:14:38.079 --> 00:14:41.269
this space. Pun absolutely intended.


00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:43.990
>> And on that note, it's time to wrap up


00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:45.750
episode 53.


00:14:45.760 --> 00:14:47.350
>> Really already?


00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.389
>> Yes. That is a wrap on Astronomy Daily


00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.590
season 5, episode 53. What a week it's


00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:55.910
shaping up to be. From NASA's lunar


00:14:55.920 --> 00:14:58.470
reset to lemon planets to cosmic


00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:01.269
background hums to a brand new reusable


00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:02.949
rocket on the launchpad.


00:15:02.959 --> 00:15:04.870
>> If you've enjoyed today's episode, we


00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:06.550
would love it if you leave us a review


00:15:06.560 --> 00:15:08.550
wherever you listen. It really does make


00:15:08.560 --> 00:15:10.230
a difference in helping new listeners


00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:11.350
find the show.


00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.430
>> You can find full show notes, blog


00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:17.110
posts, and more over at astronomyaily.io


00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.269
and follow us on social media at


00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.389
astroaily pod for daily space updates.


00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.710
Until next time, keep looking up. The


00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.350
universe has no shortage of surprises.


00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.310
>> Clear skies, everyone. Goodbye.


00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:32.550
>> Day


00:15:32.560 --> 00:15:36.360
stories told.