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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and

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astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today we've got

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an exciting lineup of stories for you. We'll be covering

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everything from mission updates and space station developments to groundbreaking

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astronomical discoveries. Coming up, we'll look at the latest in

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commercial space ventures, hear about record breaking space walks, and

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explore some fascinating new findings near the center of our galaxy.

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Stay tuned as we journey through today's biggest space in

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astronomy headlines. In a setback for Japan's commercial space industry,

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startup company space one has experienced their second unsuccessful rocket

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launch attempt. The company's Kairos number two rocket and eighteen

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meter long solid fuel vehicle lifted off from Spaceport Key

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in Kushimoto, the country's only commercial spaceport. While the initial

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stage of the launch went according to plan with successful

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separation of the first stage and payload faring, the company

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was forced to abort the mission approximately twenty minutes after liftoff.

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This launch carried significant importance, with five satellites on board

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from various entities, including the Taiwan Space Agency and Japanese

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firms Space Cubics and Tarra Space. The mission had already

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faced delays, being postponed twice due to strong winds before

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Wednesday's attempt. This marked Space one's second launch failure, following

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their first attempt in March, where the rocket exploded shortly

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after liftoff due to incorrect propulsion calculations. Founded in twenty

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eighteen by Cannon Electronics and IHI Aerospace, space one aims

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to revolutionize space delivery services by offering cost effective and

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regular rocket launches. The company has ambitious plans, targeting and

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impressive thirty launches per year by the twenty thirties. These

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setbacks come at a crucial time when global demand for

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satellite deployment is growing rapidly. Space One's goal of becoming

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the first private Japanese company to successfully place satellites into

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orbit remains unfulfilled, but their continued efforts reflect Japan's broader

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aspirations to establish a stronger presence in the commercial space sector.

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Now an update on Butch and Sunny, who you may

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remember are stuck on the International Space Station. It appears

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they'll now be there a little longer. The two NASA

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astronauts who expected to spend just over a week in

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space are now facing an unprecedented mission extension that will

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keep them aboard the International Space Station until the northern spring.

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Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who launched on Boeing's first

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crude Starliner mission last June, have seen their original eight

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day mission stretch into what will become a ten month

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stay in orbit. The extended stay comes after NASA made

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the decision to return Boeing's Starliner capsule empty in September,

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requiring the astronauts to remain on station. Now, their return

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has been pushed back even further due to delays in

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launching their replacements. The next crew, originally scheduled for a

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February launch on a SpaceX capsule, won't lift off until

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late March at the earliest. NASA considered using a different

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SpaceX capsule to maintain the original schedule, They ultimately decided

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waiting for the new capsule was the best option. The

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Space agency prefers to have overlapping crews on the station

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to ensure smooth transitions between missions. Though most space station

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stays typically last about six months, with some extending to

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a full year, this unexpected extension highlights the complex logistics

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of crew scheduling in space operations. For Wilmore and Williams,

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what started as a brief test flight has transformed into

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one of the longer stays aboard the orbital outpost. Their

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experience demonstrates the flexibility required of astronauts, who must be

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prepared to adapt their missions as circumstances change. When they

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finally return to Earth in late March or April, they'll

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have spent nearly a year contributing to the continuous human

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presence in low Earth orbit. Speaking of exceptional feats in space.

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In a remarkable achievement for China's space program, two astron

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the Shenzho nineteen mission, have set a new record for

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spacewalk duration. Commander Kai Shuja and crewmates Songling Dong spent

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an impressive nine hours and six minutes working outside the

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Tiangong Space Station, surpassing the previous record of eight hours

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and fifty six minutes set by NASA astronauts in two

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thousand and one. The spacewalk began when commander Kai, wearing

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a red marked Facian space suit, exited the Weentian Experiment

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module using the station's robotic arm for support. He gathered

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necessary equipment, while song Ling Dong, in a blue marked suit,

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joined him about an hour and a half later. Their

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third crewmate, Wanghause, provided essential support from inside the station's

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Tianhi module. During their extended time outside, the astronauts installed

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protective devices designed to shield the station's thermal control equipment

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from space debris. They also conducted inspections and maintenance on

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external equipment. This marks the seventeenth spacewalk at the Tiangong station,

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and the first for the current Schenzo nineteen mission, which

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began in October. What makes this achievement particularly noteworthy is

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that the Facian space suits used by the Chinese astronauts

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were originally designed for eight hour operations. The successful completion

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of this longer duration spacewalk demonstrates both the suit's capabilities

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and the astronauts endurance. The crew will continue their six

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month mission aboard Changong, conducting numerous scientific experiments and additional

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spacewalks as part of China's expanding presence in space. Next

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up a philosophical problem not many have considered adventure. Should

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we be viewing the remains of our Mars missions? As

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space junk that's cluttering up the Red planet, or as

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precious artifacts documenting humanity's first steps into planetary exploration. That's

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the fascinating question being raised by University of Kansas anthropologist

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Justin Holcombe and his colleagues in a compelling new study

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published in Nature Astronomy. These researchers argue that everything from

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crash Soviet probes to NASA's retired rovers represents something far

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more significant than debris. They're the archaeological evidence of humanity's

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first attempts to explore another world. Think of them as

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the Martian equivalent of ancient tools that help us track

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human migration across Earth. The Mars two Probes crash site

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from nineteen seventy one marks the very first time our

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species left a lasting mark on another planet's surface. The

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preservation of these sites is becoming increasingly urgent as we

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plan more missions to Mars. Just as archaeologists carefully preserve

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ancient settlements on Earth, these researchers say we need protocols

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to protect these historic locations from disturbance by future missions.

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Some artifacts are already facing natural threats. Martian dust storms

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and shifting sands are gradually burying sites like the Spirit Rover.

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The team is calling for a comprehensive system to catalog

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everything we've left on Mars, from major spacecraft down to

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smaller ice like broken rover parts and the remnants of

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the first helicopter flight on another planet. They argue that

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each piece tells part of the story of our species

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expansion into the Solar System, making them as historically significant

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as the first stone tools found in Africa or the

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earliest artifacts of human settlement in the Americas. We're not

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just exploring Mars. We're creating an archaeological record that future

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generations will study to understand how humanity took its first

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tentative steps onto another world. As we continue to expand

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our presence on Mars, preserving these early artifacts becomes crucial

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for maintaining this incredible chronicle of human achievement. Meanwhile, back

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here on Earth, exciting developments are coming from NASA's commercial

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space station program, with the Starlab Space station project hitting

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four major milestones in its development. These achievements are crucial

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steps toward establishing a new presence in low Earth orbit

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as we look beyond the International Space Station's life lifetime.

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The station's unique design calls for a single launch deployment

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featuring a large habitation and laboratory module paired with a

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smaller service module for power and propulsion. Earlier this year,

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Starlab Space conducted a detailed preliminary review of their structural

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test article, essentially a full scale engineering model of the

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habitat module where future astronauts will live and work. They've

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also completed crucial testing protocols, including rigorous welding inspections, pressure

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testing beyond normal operational limits, and evaluations of how the

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structure handles various loads. These tests are absolutely vital for

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ensuring Crewe safety and station longevity in the harsh environment

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of space. The team has successfully completed both integration operations

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and systems integration reviews, making sure all the station's complex

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systems work together seamlessly. They're now preparing for additional design

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and safety reviews before year's end, focusing on making sure

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the state meets all human spaceflight requirements while maintaining acceptable

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risk levels. This progress is part of NASA's broader strategy

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to support multiple commercial space stations through various partnerships. Once

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these stations are operational, NASA plans to be just one

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of many customers using these orbital facilities, creating a truly

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commercial marketplace in low Earth orbit. It's an exciting shift

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that builds on decades of space station experience while opening

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up new possibilities for scientific research and commercial activities in space. Finally, today,

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in a remarkable discovery that's challenging what we thought possible,

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astronomers have found a binary star system incredibly close to

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the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy.

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This pair of stars, name D nine, is somehow maintaining

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its orbital dance despite being in one of the most

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extreme environments imaginable. Previously, scientists believed that the immense gravitational

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forces near Sagittarius, a star our galaxy's central black hole,

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would make it impossible for binary stars to exist there.

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But this discovery is proving that black holes might not

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be quite as destructive as we once thought. The binary

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system is relatively young, only about two point seven million

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years old, and is surrounded by gas and dust, typical

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signs of a newly formed stellar system. While the stars

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are managing to orbit each other for now, their future

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isn't exactly bright. The black hole's powerful gravity is expected

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to force them to merge into a single star in

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about a million years, making this discovery even more precious

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due to its limited window of existence. The team found

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this binary system while studying what's known as the S cluster,

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a group of stars orbiting close to Sagittarius, a star.

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Using the very large telescope, they noticed that one object,

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previously thought to be a single star, was showing unusual

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variations in its speed. These variations only made sense if

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they were looking at two stars orbiting each other. This

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discovery could help explain other mysterious objects in the same region,

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known as gas objects, which might be either merged binary

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stars or binary systems that haven't merged yet. Even more excitingly,

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the presence of this young binary system suggests that planets

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might also be able to form in this extreme environment.

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It seems that when it comes to the center of

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our galaxy, we still have much to learn about what's possible.

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Well that's all for today's edition of Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna,

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and I want to thank you for joining me for

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another fascinating journey through space news and discoveries. If you'd

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like to stay connected with all things space and Astronomy.

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Head over to Astronomy Daily dot io, where you can

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listen to all our episodes, keep up with the latest

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space news on our constantly updating news feed, and sign

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up for our free daily newsletter. Don't forget to follow

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Daily Pod on Facebook, x YouTube, Tumbler, and TikTok. Until tomorrow,

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keep looking up and stay curious about our amazing universe. Stars.

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Ston is the Soul, Stoll is the Soul.