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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast that brings you the biggest news from

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across the cosmos. I'm your host, Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. Uh, it's great to have you with

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us. We have a packed show for you today

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covering everything from new hardware heading

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to the International Space Station to a deep

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dive into the sun's explosive behaviour.

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We'll also be looking at colliding galaxies

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that offer a sneak peek into the Milky Way's

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distant future. And a surprising

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discovery from the James Webb Space Telescope

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that could change how we think about the dawn

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of the universe. So let's get started.

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First up, let's talk about the lifeline to

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our outpost in orbit, the International Space

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Station. It looks like Japan's space agency

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JAXA is preparing a major upgrade

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for its cargo delivery service.

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Avery: That's right. JAXA has announced that its new

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resupply vehicle, the HTV X, is

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scheduled to make its inaugural flight to the

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ISS this October. This is a big deal.

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For years they used the reliable Konotori or

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White Stork vehicles. The HTV X is

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its successor and it comes with some serious

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improvements. What kind of improvements are

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we talking about? The Konotori was already a

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very capable craft.

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Anna: It was, but space logistics are always

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about efficiency. The HTV X can

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carry more cargo, about 4 metric tonnes of

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pressurised supplies. It also features a

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larger side hatch which is a game changer for

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loading last minute time sensitive cargo

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like fresh or critical science experiments

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just before launch.

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Avery: That late loading capability is something I

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know station managers have wanted for a long

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time. It adds a lot of flexibility. And

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I understand this new vehicle will be

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launched on Japan's new flagship rocket, the

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H AH3.

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Anna: Exactly. This first HTVX mission

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will be the third flight of the H3 rocket.

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It really showcases Jax's next generation of

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spaceflight hardware. The mission plan is for

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the HTVX to spend about 45 days

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docked at the station delivering supplies and

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experiments before it's loaded with trash and

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undocks for a destructive re entry over the

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Pacific Ocean, a crucial role in keeping the

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ISS running. It's a great example of

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the international collaboration that makes

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the station possible.

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Okay, from low Earth orbit, let's travel

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towards the centre of our solar system.

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What's the latest news from our star, the

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sun? This is a fantastic story.

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the fastest

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object ever built by humans, has just

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confirmed a 70 year old theory about how the

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sun unleashes its energy. We are talking

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about a phenomenon called magnetic

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reconnection.

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Avery: Magnetic reconnection for our,

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uh, listeners. Can you break down what that

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means? It sounds complex.

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Anna: Think of it like stretching a bunch of rubber

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bands. The sun's surface is a chaotic

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mess of powerful magnetic field lines.

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Sometimes these lines which point in opposite

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directions, get pushed together. They stretch

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and strain and eventually they snap

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and reconnect in a new configuration.

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Avery: And um, just like a snapping rubber band,

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that process must release a tremendous.

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Anna: Amount of energy, an unbelievable

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amount. This process is the engine behind

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some of the most violent events in the solar

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system. Like solar flares and coronal mass

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ejections, these events create what we

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call space weather, which can send streams

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of charged particles hurtling towards Earth.

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Avery: So how did the Parker Solar Probe confirm

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this? Scientists have suspected this was

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happening for decades.

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Anna: By doing something no other spacecraft could.

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It flew right through the heart of one of

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these events. On its eighth flyby of the sun,

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its instruments detected the telltale signs

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of reconnection happening in the solar wind.

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It measured the magnetic field's flipping

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direction and clocked particles being

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accelerated to incredible speeds,

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providing the first ever direct in place

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evidence.

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Avery: So it was basically flying through a solar

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explosion. That sounds incredibly dangerous.

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How did the probe even survive that? Well,

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it's an absolute triumph of engineering,

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Anna. Uh, the probe is protected by a

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revolutionary heat shield, officially named

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the Thermal protection system, or TPS.

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This shield is about 8ft in diameter, but

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only 4.5 inches thick. And it's

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made of a reinforced carbon carbon composite,

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A material designed to be both lightweight

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and incredibly heat resistant. On its

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sun facing side, it has to withstand

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temperatures that can reach nearly 2,500

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degrees Fahrenheit. Hot enough to melt steel.

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But the truly incredible part is its

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efficiency. While the front of the shield is

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scorching hot, the instruments just a few

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feet behind it are kept at a comfortable room

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temperature around a balmy 85 degrees

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Fahrenheit.

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Anna: That is truly remarkable. It's one thing to

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have a theory, but to actually fly a probe

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through the event as it's happening is

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another level of confirmation. And uh, this

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has practical implications for us here on

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Earth, doesn't it?

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Avery: Absolutely. Better understanding the

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fundamental physics of space weather helps us

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improve our forecasts. Severe space

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weather can disrupt our GPS and

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communications satellites, damage power

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grids on the ground and pose risk to

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astronauts in space. Confirming this theory

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is a huge step toward predicting these

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events more accurately.

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Anna: Amazing work from the Parker Solar Probe

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team. Alright, from the drama in our

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own solar system, let's look much,

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much further afield. We have a story about

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colliding Galaxies that acts as a sort of

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crystal ball for our own Milky Way.

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Avery: This is a glimpse into our very, very

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distant future. Astronomers have been

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observing two colliding galaxies known

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as NGC 5713 and

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NGC 5719.

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As these two massive systems merge, their

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gravitational forces are tearing long

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streams of stars and gas away from them,

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creating what are called tidal tails.

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Anna: And this is relevant to us because our own

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Milky Way galaxy is on a collision course

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with our nearest large neighbourhood, the

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Andromeda Galaxy.

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Avery: It is, but don't panic. It's not expected

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to happen for another four and a half billion

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years. By studying systems like NGC

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5713 and NGC

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5719, we get a preview of what

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that cosmic smash up might look like. But

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there's another fascinating piece to this

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puzzle.

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Anna: Oh, uh, what's that?

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Avery: It might help solve a major headache in

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cosmology known as the dwarf

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satellite galaxy problem. The standard

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model of cosmology, our best theory for how

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the universe works, predicts that large

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galaxies like the Milky Way should be

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surrounded by many more small dwarf

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satellite galaxies than we actually

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observe. There's a mismatch.

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Anna: So there are, uh, missing galaxies.

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Theoretically, how does this observation

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help?

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Avery: Well, observations of these colliding

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galaxies show that the clumps of gas and

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dust within those tidal tails

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actually collapse under their own gravity to

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form new small dwarf galaxies.

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These are called tidal dwarf galaxies.

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The idea is that these collisions could be a

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factory for creating the missing

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satellites.

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Anna: So the dwarf galaxies aren't missing, they

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just haven't been formed yet. Or maybe

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they were formed in past collisions and we

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just haven't been able to identify them as

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such.

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Avery: Precisely. It suggests that galactic

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collisions are a key part of the cosmic

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ecosystem, recycling material to build

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new structures. So this one observation

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gives us a window into our future

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and a potential solution to a long standing

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cosmological puzzle. It's a beautiful piece

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of science.

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Anna: It certainly is.

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And for our final story, we're going from the

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distant future to the very, very

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distant past. The James Webb Space Telescope

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has once again delivered a finding that is

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making astronomers scratch their heads. This

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time about the chemical makeup of one of the

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earliest known galaxies.

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Avery: Yeah, this is a, uh, mind bender. Using both

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JWST and the ALMA Radio

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Telescope Array in Chile, an international

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team studied a galaxy called Jades

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GS z11O. The light from

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this galaxy has travelled for so long to

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reach us that we are seeing it as it was,

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just 400 million years

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after the Big Bang. That's the cosmic

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equivalent of a newborn baby.

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Anna: Incredible. And what was so surprising about

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this infant galaxy?

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Avery: It was surprisingly rich in oxygen.

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Now, in cosmic terms, elements heavier than

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hydrogen and helium are called metals.

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Oxygen is one of them. These elements are

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forged inside stars and scattered into space

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when those stars die. The early universe

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was almost exclusively hydrogen and helium.

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Anna: So to find a lot of oxygen so early

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on means that there must have been at least

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one full generation of massive stars that had

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already formed, lived their entire lives, and

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exploded to enrich the galaxy with these

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heavier elements. And that all had to happen

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within the first 400 million years.

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Avery: That's the issue. It pushes the timeline.

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It suggests that the first stars might have

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formed even earlier than we thought, or that

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they were exceptionally massive and burned

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through their fuel incredibly quickly, ceding

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the cosmos with heavy elements at a furious

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pace. Our current models of early galaxy

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formation might need some serious revision.

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Anna: And there's an even bigger implication here,

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isn't there? When we talk about oxygen,

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we often think about its role in biology.

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Avery: That's the most exciting part. For life as

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we know it, elements like oxygen and carbon

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are essential building blocks. The prevailing

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thought was that the universe had to be quite

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old before enough of these elements were

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available to make life possible. This

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discovery suggests that the necessary

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chemical ingredients for life might have been

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present much, much earlier in the universe's

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history than we ever imagined.

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Anna: It doesn't mean life existed then, of course,

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but it slightly opens the door to the

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possibility that the conditions for it could

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have emerged sooner. What an incredible

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discovery. From space station logistics

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to the origins of the elements needed for

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life, we've really covered some ground today.

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Avery: We certainly have. And that's all the time we

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have for this episode of Astronomy Daily. We

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hope you've enjoyed this journey through the

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latest cosmic news.

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Anna: Thank you for listening. You can find more

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information on all the stories we discussed

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on our website,

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astronomydaily.IO Join

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us next time as we continue to explore the

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universe together.

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Avery: Until then, keep looking up