Wheelchair Astronaut, Cosmic Fireworks, and the Race to Mine the Moon

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source


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for the latest news from across the


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cosmos. I'm Avery.


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


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today, Avery. We're talking about


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everything from the first wheelchair


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user heading to space to a star system


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that's getting ready to put on a


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celestial fireworks show.


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>> Absolutely. We'll also be diving into a


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new survey of our galactic neighbors, a


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surprising discovery about the sun, the


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new race to mine the moon, and the


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incredible tech being built to study the


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planet right next door. Let's get


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started. First up, a truly historic


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mission from Blue Origin. They're


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targeting December 18th for their NS-37


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mission, and it's a huge step forward


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for accessibility in space.


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>> It really is. On board the new Shepard


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vehicle will be Michaela Bentthouse, an


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aerospace engineer at the European Space


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Agency who is set to become the first


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wheelchair user to fly to space.


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>> That's just fantastic. And she's not


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just a passenger. She's an aerospace


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engineer herself. That adds another


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layer to this.


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>> Exactly. It's not just about tourism.


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It's about opening up the field of space


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exploration to talented professionals


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who might have been excluded in the


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past. It's a suborbital flight lasting


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about 10 minutes, but it sends a


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powerful message that space is for


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everyone.


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>> It really challenges the old right stuff


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astronaut mold. And she'll be joined by


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a pretty interesting crew, including


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investors and even a former top engineer


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from SpaceX, Hans Coningsman. And it's


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not just a symbolic gesture. The


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engineering that goes into making a


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spacecraft accessible for someone with


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different physical needs is non-trivial.


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It forces designers to rethink


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everything from seating and restraints


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to how crew members interact with the


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cabin in microgravity. These are


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solutions that could benefit all future


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astronauts.


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>> Mhm. A diverse group for a landmark


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flight. We wish the entire NS37 crew a


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safe and incredible journey. All right,


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let's shift our focus from low Earth


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orbit to our nearest galactic neighbors,


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the Magelenic clouds. A major new survey


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is about to give us an unprecedented


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look at these satellite galaxies.


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>> Ah, yes, the large and small mellic


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clouds. For listeners in the northern


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hemisphere, they might not be familiar,


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but they're a stunning site from


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southern latitudes. So, what's this new


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survey, the 101 MC all about?


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>> The key is the technology. It's a 5-year


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survey using the foremost instrument on


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the Vista telescope in Chile. Now past


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surveys have given us beautiful images


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which is called photometry measuring


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brightness and position. This one is all


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about spectroscopy.


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>> Right? So spectroscopy breaks down the


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star light into its component


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wavelengths like a fingerprint. What can


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that fingerprint tell us?


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>> It tells us so much more. We can learn a


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stars chemical composition, its


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temperature, how fast it's moving toward


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or away from us, and even how quickly


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it's spinning by gathering spectra for


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about half a million stars. This survey


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will create a detailed 3D map of the


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cloud's chemistry and motion.


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>> And that helps us understand how they're


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interacting with our Milky Way. Right.


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I've read about the Magelenic Stream,


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that huge river of gas being pulled from


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the clouds by our galaxy's gravity.


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>> Precisely. This data led by Dr. Laura


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Cullinine's group will give us the


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missing link to model that interaction


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accurately. It will help us piece


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together the history of this cosmic


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dance and predict the ultimate fate of


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these two small galaxies.


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>> So, this isn't just about taking a


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picture. It's about conducting a census,


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a cosmic demographic survey. Are we


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looking at a timeline of years or


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decades before we can start drawing


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major conclusions from this data? The


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survey itself runs for 5 years, but


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initial data releases will likely happen


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along the way. The full impact will


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unfold over the next decade as theorists


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use this incredibly rich data set to


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refine their models of galaxy formation


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and evolution. It's a foundational


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project.


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>> From a cosmic dance to a cosmic U-turn,


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NASA's Parker Solar Probe has captured


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some incredible footage from its journey


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to touch the sun.


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>> This is genuinely surprising. During its


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closest approach, the probe observed a


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coronal mass ejection or CME. This is a


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massive eruption of solar material and


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magnetic fields from the sun.


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>> Mhm. And we usually think of CMEs as a


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one-way street blasting out into space.


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If they're aimed at Earth, they can


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cause geomagnetic storms and the aurora.


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>> That's the conventional picture. But


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Parker's images clearly show that not


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all the material escapes. A significant


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portion actually slows down, reverses


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course, and falls back toward the sun in


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these elongated blobs, which scientists


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are calling inflows.


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>> So, the sun is recycling its own


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magnetic fields. What does that mean for


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us? Does this change how we predict


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space weather?


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>> It could. Understanding this recycling


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process gives us a more complete model


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of the sun's magnetic activity. Better


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models mean better forecasts, which is


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vital for protecting our satellites,


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power grids, and astronauts from the


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most intense solar storms. This is the


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first time we've seen it so clearly, and


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it's a huge new piece of the solar


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puzzle.


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>> Okay. From solar physics to lunar


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politics, Anna, there's a new space race


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underway. But it's not about planting


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flags. It's about mining the moon.


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>> That's right. The ambition has moved


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from exploration to exploitation. We


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have nations and a growing number of


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private companies like Interoon and


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Astrobotic actively developing


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technologies to extract lunar resources.


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And the resources thereafter are


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incredibly valuable for future space


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travel. You have water ice which can be


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turned into rocket fuel and helium 3 for


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potential fusion reactors.


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>> The potential is enormous. The moon


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could become a critical staging post for


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the rest of the solar system. But this


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gold rush mentality is raising serious


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concerns. We're talking about the risk


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of environmental damage to a pristine


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world and the potential for geopolitical


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conflict over the most resourcerich


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areas.


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>> And we don't really have any rules for


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this, do we? The Outer Space Treaty of


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1967 feels completely outdated.


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>> It's woefully insufficient. It says no


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nation can own the moon, but it's silent


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on whether a private company can own the


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resources it extracts. It's a huge legal


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vacuum. International bodies are trying


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to hash out new agreements like the


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Aremis Accords, but there's no global


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consensus yet.


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>> And that lack of consensus is the real


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danger. Without clear, internationally


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agreed upon rules, you risk a first


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come, first serve situation that could


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lead to disputes and even sabotage.


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Establishing a framework for peaceful,


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sustainable resource use is as critical


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as developing the technology to get


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there.


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>> Let's wish the policy makers well then.


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>> Indeed, we're essentially heading into a


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wild west scenario on the moon. This is


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a story we will definitely be following


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closely.


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>> Let's turn our gaze now to a different


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kind of cosmic event on the horizon.


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There's a star system called V Sagitta


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that astronomers are watching very, very


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closely. Right. This is a future


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headliner. So, V Sagitta is a binary


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system. Two stars orbiting each other.


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What makes this pair so special? It's


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what they call a cataclysmic variable.


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One star is a white dwarf, the


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incredibly dense collapsed core of a


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dead star. It's pulling in a stream of


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gas from its larger companion star, and


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it's doing so at an unprecedented


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accelerating rate. And when that stolen


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gas builds up on the surface of the


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super dense white dwarf, boom,


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>> boom is right. The immense pressure and


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temperature will ignite a runaway


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thermonuclear reaction, a nova.


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Astronomers predict this will happen in


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the coming years. And when it does, the


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system will brighten so dramatically it


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will likely be one of the brightest


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stars in our night sky, easily visible


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to the naked eye.


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>> That's incredible. But that's not even


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the grand finale, is it? Not at all.


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This process is causing the two stars to


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spiral closer and closer together.


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Eventually, they will collide and merge,


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triggering a full-blown supernova. The


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resulting explosion will be so


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mindbogglingly bright, it might even be


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visible during the daytime, an amazing,


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if violent, astronomical event in the


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making.


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>> Do we have a more precise prediction


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than in the coming years? Is this


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something we might see in our lifetimes?


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The models based on decades of


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observation of its accelerating orbital


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decay point to a date around 2083, plus


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or minus a decade. So yes, it's very


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likely to happen within the lifetime of


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many people listening today. It's a rare


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chance to watch a celestial forecast


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come true. For our final story, we're


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going from a system far away to the one


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right next door. We're talking about


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Proxima Centauri and its famous


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exoplanet Proxima B. That's right.


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Proxima B is our nearest exoplanet


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neighbor, which makes it a tantalizing


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target. But studying it is one of the


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greatest technical challenges in


00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:24.310
astronomy. The planet is completely lost


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in the glare of its host star.


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>> How bad is the glare?


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>> The star Proxima Centauri is about 10


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million times brighter than the light


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reflected by the planet. It's like


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trying to see a speck of dust on a flood


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light from a mile away. But a new


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instrument called Restredo is being


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built to do just that.


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>> Okay. So, how does Restredo pull off


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this magic trick?


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>> It's a combination of technologies. It's


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a spectrograph that will be installed on


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the very large telescope in Chile.


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First, it uses a coronagraph,


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essentially a tiny precise mask to


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physically block the light from the


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star. Then it uses a system of extreme


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adaptive optics with deformable mirrors


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to cancel out the blurring effect of


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Earth's atmosphere.


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>> And once the stars light is suppressed,


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what's the ultimate goal?


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>> The goal is to collect the faint light


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that has passed through or been


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reflected by the planet's atmosphere. By


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analyzing that light, Restredo can


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search for the chemical fingerprints of


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gases like oxygen, methane, or water


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vapor, potential bio signatures. It's


00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:30.310
one of our best chances yet to find out


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if the closest world beyond our solar


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system has an atmosphere and perhaps one


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that could support life.


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>> And that's a wrap on today's top


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stories. From new frontiers in human


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space flight to the cutting edge of


00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.590
exoplanet research, the universe never


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fails to amaze.


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>> It certainly doesn't. Thanks for tuning


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in to Astronomy Daily. Join us next time


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as we continue to explore the final


00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:54.389
frontier.


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>> Until then, keep looking up. Astronomy


00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.190
day.


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The stories been told.


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Stories to tell.