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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space

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in astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we'll

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be exploring some fascinating developments in space exploration, from Mars

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sample returns to break through cosmic ray discoveries. We've got

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an exciting lineup of stories that showcase just how dynamic

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and rapidly evolving our understanding of space continues to be.

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So let's get started. Big news from NASA about their

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ambitious Mars sample return mission. The Space Agency has just

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unveiled a major overhaul of their strategy to bring those

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precious Martian samples back to Earth. They're now considering two

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streamlined approaches that could significantly reduce both cost and complexity.

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The original plan came with a whopping price tag of

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up to eleven billion dollars and wouldn't have seen sample's

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return until twenty forty, But now NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

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has announced they've found ways to potentially cut those costs

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nearly in half, with new estimates ranging between five point

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eight and seven point seven billion dollars, while potentially getting

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the samples back by twenty thirty five. Both new options

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focus on delivering the same essential hardware to Mars a

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lander carrying the Mars Ascent Vehicle or MV. This rocket

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will be responsible for launching the samples currently being collected

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by the Perseverance Rover into Mars orbit. The key difference

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between the two approaches lies in how they'll land this

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hardware on the red planet. The first option would use

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a scaled up version of the tried and tested sky

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crane system that successfully landed both Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.

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The second approach would involve partnering with private industry for

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an alternative landing system. In a notable change from earlier designs,

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both options will now use nuclear power instead of solar panels.

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This switch gives the mission more operational flexibility, allowing it

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to work during dust storms and keep the rocket motors

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at their optimal temperature. VISA isn't rushing to decide between

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these options. They're taking until mid twenty twenty six to

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make their final choice, and while China has announced their

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own Mars Sample Return mission targeting twenty twenty eight, NASA

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emphasizes that their mission offers a more comprehensive scientific approach,

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collecting samples from various sites that once hosted liquid water.

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Next up, SpaceX is gearing up for another milestone Moon launch,

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this time carrying Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander. The mission,

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appropriately named Ghost Riders in the Sky, is set to

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lift off from Kennedy Space Center on January fifteenth at

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one eleven am Eastern time. Blue Ghost isn't making this

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journey alone. It's sharing its ride to space with another

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lunar hopeful, the Resilience Lander, built by Japanese company is Space.

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This team is looking for redemption after their previous attempt

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ended in a crash landing last April. The mission plan

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is quite intricate. After launch, Blue Ghost will spend twenty

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five days orbiting Earth before firing its engines to begin

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its lunar journey. Once it reaches the Moon, it'll spend

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another sixteen days in lunar orbit, preparing for what might

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be its most crucial moment, the autonomous landing attempt in

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mere Chrisium, or the Sea of Crises, an ancient impact

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basin roughly four hundred and sixty miles wide. If everything

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goes according to plan, we should see our first high

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definition images from the lunar surface within just thirty minutes

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of touchdown, but Blue Ghost will need to work quickly.

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It only has fourteen days before lunar night falls and

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cuts off its solar power, though its batteries will give

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it about five hours to capture the dramatic lunar dusk.

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The lander is carrying ten NASA experiments, including some fascinating

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technology demonstrations. One particularly interesting payload is LEXI, the Lunar

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Environment Heliospheric X Ray Imager, which will give us an

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unprecedented view of Earth's magnetic field as it interacts with

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solar wind. Scientists are hoping to witness our planet's magnetosphere breathing,

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expanding and contracting in response to solar activity, something we've

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never been able to observe before. Should Bluegos succeed in

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its mission, it will become just the second commercial lunar

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Payload services mission to reach the lunar surface, following the

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historic landing of Intuitive Machines Odysseus mission last month. Now

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let's turn our attention to China. In a significant development

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from China's space sector, the nation has launched its first

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batch of satellites for the ambitious Guawang Constellation project. While

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this marks a major step forward in China's space capabilities,

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the launch has raised more questions than it's answered. The

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initial deployment consisted of ten satellites carried to orbit by

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a long March five B rocket from the wen Chong spaceport.

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A second batch is already at the launch site ready

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for deployment, but details about these spacecraft remain remarkably scarce.

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What's particularly intriguing is the lack of basic information that's

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typically shared about such launches. We don't know the satellite's size, mass,

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or even their exact capabilities. This stands in stark contrast

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to China's other space Internet project, the thousand Sales constellation,

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which has been quite open about its satellite specifications and designs.

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The choice to launch just ten satellites on China's most

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powerful rocket, capable of carrying up to twenty five thousand

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kilograms to low Earth orbit, has sparked speculation about their

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true nature. Some experts suggest these satellites might be designed

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for more than just Internet services, possibly carrying additional payloads

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for reconnaissance or other purposes. The satellites are currently orbiting

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at an altitude similar to one Web's constellation between one

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thousand and ninety eight and one thousand, one hundred and

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twenty seven kilometers. While this might suggest a smaller constellation

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focused on connectivity, China's international filings indicate plans for an

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eventual network of thirteen thousand satellites. This lack of transparency

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becomes particular ularly concerning when considering the growing challenge of

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space traffic management. With multiple mega constellations being deployed by

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various nations and companies, including SpaceX's Starlink and China's own

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thousand sales project, the need for clear communication and coordination

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between operators becomes increasingly critical. As more launches are planned,

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the space community will be watching closely to see if

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China becomes more forthcoming about the Guo Wang constellations capabilities

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and intended purposes. The project's development could have significant implications

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not just for global connectivity, but also for space traffic

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management and international space cooperation. As our presence in space

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continues to expand, a crucial gap in our capabilities has

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come to light were not adequately prepared for emergency rescues

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in orbit. Leading space experts are now calling for urgent

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action to address this critical oversight. The Aerospace Corporation's recent

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Space Safety Compendium report has highlighted what they term an

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in space rescue capability gap. Currently, neither government agencies nor

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commercial spaceflight providers have comprehensive plans in place for rescuing

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crews from distressed spacecraft, whether in Low Earth orbit or beyond.

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This issue gained particular attention during recent events with NASA's

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Starliner mission, when astronauts Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore stay

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on the International Space Station was extended from eight days

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to nearly ten months. It highlighted the complexities of crew

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logistics and emergency planning in space. While NASA maintains that

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the astronauts were never stranded, having access to return vehicles

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throughout their stay, the situation required creative solutions, including temporary

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accommodations in a crew dragon spacecraft that was already assigned

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to other crew members. Former NASA administrators Charles Bolden, Jim Bridenstein,

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and Sean O'Keefe, along with other space industry leaders, are

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advocating for the development of INNA international rescue capabilities. They

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emphasize the need for standardization in critical areas like docking

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systems and space suits. Current incompatibilities between different spacecraft systems

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could severely hamper rescue efforts. The expert stress that we

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shouldn't wait for a disaster to act. As one official noted,

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we shouldn't need a space equivalent of the Kerk submarine

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disaster to drive these changes. With the increasing number of

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both government and commercial crews heading to orbit, the time

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to develop these capabilities is now before they're needed in

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an emergency. In groundbreaking research published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters,

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scientists have uncovered new insights into one of space's most

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energetic mysteries, ultra high energy cosmic rays. These incredible particles,

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found in extreme environments near black holes and neutron stars,

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pack an astounding punch, carrying energy levels about ten million

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times greater than particles in our most powerful particle accelerators

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here on Earth. For years, scientists believe these cosmic rays

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got their enormous energy from shockwaves like those produced when

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stars explode, but this new research reveals a different story.

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The true source appears to be magnetic turbulence, essentially highly

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tangled magnetic fields that twist and turn rapidly accelerating particles

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to these remarkable energy levels. To put these energies in perspective.

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While particles from our sun reach energies of about ten

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billion electron volts, these cosmic rays can achieve a mind

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boggling one hundred quintillion electron volts. That's like comparing a

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grain of rice to the weight of the world's largest

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passenger aircraft, an almost incomprehensible difference in scale. What's particularly

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fascinating is that, despite the vast difference in environments, these

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cosmic rays share something in common with solar particles. They

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both get their energy from tangled magnetic fields. It's a

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surprising connection between phenomena occurring at vastly different scales in

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our universe. This discovery isn't just academic. It helps resolve

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long standing questions that have puzzled both astrophysicists and particle

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physicists about the mechanics behind these mysterious cosmic rays. The

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data clearly shows that magnetic turbulence better explains the observations

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than the previous shock acceleration theory, representing a significant breakthrough

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in our understanding of these powerful cosmic phenomena. Let's get

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a jdused update the James Webb space telescope has once

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again pushed the boundaries of what we thought possible, making

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an extraordinary discovery that's challenging our understanding of the distant universe.

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Thanks to a fascinating cosmic alignment, web has spotted forty

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four individual stars in a galaxy that's an incredible six

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point five billion light years away, that's halfway across the

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observable universe. These stars were found in what astronomers call

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the Dragon, a striking tendril of light that's actually a

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distorted image of a distant spiral galaxy. This remarkable view

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is made possible by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, where

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the massive able three hundred and seventy galaxy cluster acts

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like a giant magnifying glass, bending and amplifying the light

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from galaxies behind it. What makes this discovery even more

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fascinating is that these aren't just any stars. They're red

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super giants in their final life stages, similar to our

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familiar neighbor beetlejuice in the constellation Orion. The discovery happened

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almost by accident, when researchers were examining web images taken

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in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three and noticed

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what appeared to be individual star points twinkling like Christmas lights.

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The observation was further enhanced by an incredible stroke of luck.

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Individual stars floating within the Abel three hundred and seventy

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cluster temporarily lined up with the background stars, creating additional magnification.

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This caused the stars to appear and disappear between images,

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creating a spectacular cosmic light show that nobody expected to

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see at such vast distances. This discovery isn't just about

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breaking records, it's opening new windows into studying the distant universe.

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Before Web, the idea of spotting individual stars at such

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extreme distances was considered as impossible as trying to see

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dust grains and mooncraters through binoculars. Yet here we are

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pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible in astronomical observation,

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and that brings this episode to a close. Thanks for

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joining me today on another fascinating journey through the cosmos.

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I'm Anna, and it's been a pleasure bringing you these

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incredible stories from the frontiers of space exploration and astronomy.

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Before we wrap up, I want to remind you that

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you can stay connected with all the latest space and

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astronomy news by visiting our website at Astronomy Daily dot io.

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There you can sign up for our free daily newsletter

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and access our constantly updating news feed. You'll also find

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all our previous episodes available for streaming. If you enjoy

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our content, make sure to follow us on sohocial media.

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You can find us as astro Daily Pod on Facebook,

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x YouTube, Tumblr, and TikTok. We're constantly sharing amazing space images,

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breaking news, and engaging with our wonderful community of space enthusiasts.

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Until next time, keep looking up and wondering about the

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mysteries of our incredible universe. This has been Astronomy Daily

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and I'm anna signing off day Stars So Star, So Star,