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

• 0:00
  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
• 0:03
  that brings you the universe, one story
• 0:05
  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
• 10:28
  Daily. You can find us on all major
• 10:30
  podcast platforms and our DMs are always
• 10:32
  open for questions and future show
• 10:34
  ideas. We'll be back next time with more
• 10:36
  news from across the cosmos. Until then,
• 10:39
  keep looking up.
• 10:43
  >> Stories told
• 10:51
  stories told.