Tonight's sky is putting on a show — and we've got all the science to go with it! In this episode, Anna and Avery cover six incredible stories: a Blood Moon total lunar eclipse happening tonight, a revolutionary new telescope issuing 800,000 cosmic alerts in a single night, the violent origin story of Saturn's rings and its moon Titan, new research revealing Earth's magnetic poles can take 70,000 years to reverse, the James Webb Space Telescope mapping Uranus in 3D, and a wild — and cautionary — tale about the legal status of Apollo moon rocks. STORIES THIS EPISODE 1. 🌕 Blood Moon Tonight — Total Lunar Eclipse March 2/3 A total lunar eclipse turns the Moon blood red tonight, visible from North America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Totality begins at 6:04 a.m. ET and lasts 59 minutes — the last blood moon until 2028. We explain why the Moon turns red and how to catch the rare 'selenelion' phenomenon. 2. 🔭 Vera Rubin Observatory — 800,000 Alerts in One Night The Vera Rubin Observatory — home to the world's largest digital camera at 3.2 gigapixels — issued 800,000 alerts to astronomers in a single night on February 24. At full capacity it could generate 7 million alerts nightly, revolutionising real-time astronomy. 3. 🪐 Titan & Saturn's Rings — Born from One Catastrophic Collision New research suggests Saturn's largest moon, Titan, formed from a colossal collision between two older moons hundreds of millions of years ago — and that same impact created Saturn's iconic rings. One event, two iconic solar system features. 4. 🌍 Earth's Magnetic Poles — 70,000 Years to Flip Scientists analysing 40-million-year-old deep-sea sediment cores have found evidence of a geomagnetic reversal that lasted 70,000 years — far longer than the 10,000-year benchmark. During that time, Earth's weakened magnetic field would have exposed the planet to significantly higher cosmic radiation. 5. ⭐ Webb Maps Uranus in 3D — Wild Auroras Revealed The James Webb Space Telescope has produced the first 3D map of Uranus's upper atmosphere using its Near Infrared Spectrometer, revealing complex auroras unlike anything seen before and mapping the structure of its ionosphere in unprecedented detail. 6. 🌑 Moon Rocks & the Law — Don't Even Think About It! Apollo moon rocks are US federal property — and buying, selling or owning them is a serious federal crime. We tell the extraordinary story of the 2002 NASA intern heist, and explain the one legal way you can own a piece of the Moon. USEFUL LINKS • Eclipse times for your location: timeanddate.com/eclipse (https://timeanddate.com/eclipse) • Vera Rubin Observatory: rubinobservatory.org • NASA Lunar Sample Laboratory: curator.jsc.nasa.gov • Astronomy Daily website: astronomydaily.io • Follow us on social: @AstroDailyPod
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hey stargazers, quick question. Are you
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 near a window right now? Because if
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 you're in North America, Australia, New
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 Zealand, or across Asia, tonight the
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 moon is about to do something
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 extraordinary. We're talking full blood
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 red total lunar eclipse. And it peaks in
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 the early hours of March 3rd. We'll have
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 everything you need to know to catch it.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 Tonight on Astronomy Daily, season 5,
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 episode 52. Blood moons, cosmic
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 detectives, ancient magnetic mysteries,
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 and a heist story that will make you
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 question whether some space fans have
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 gone just a little bit too far.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 >> I'm already intrigued and slightly
00:00:41 --> 00:00:42 nervous.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 >> You should be. Stay with us. Welcome to
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 everything happening in space and across
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 the universe. I'm Anna.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 >> And I'm Avery. Great to have you with us
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 on this Monday, March 2nd. And what a
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 show we have lined up today.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 >> We really do. Six stories today covering
00:01:01 --> 00:01:02 everything from what's happening in
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 tonight's sky to a telescope that
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 generated almost a million alerts in a
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 single night to some genuinely wild new
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 science about Saturn, our planet's
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 magnetic poles. And I promise you, the
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 last story is going to make you laugh.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 >> It really is. But let's kick things off
00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 with the story that's literally
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 happening right now as our listeners are
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 tuning in. The blood moon.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:27 >> Let's get into it then.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 >> So tonight, or rather in the very early
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 hours of tomorrow morning, depending on
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 where you are, the moon is going to turn
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 a deep dramatic red. This is a total
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 lunar eclipse and it's one of the most
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 visually spectacular events in astronomy
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 that requires absolutely zero equipment
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 to enjoy. And the timing is remarkable
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 for our listeners in Australia and New
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Zealand. You're actually in one of the
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 best seats on Earth for this one. The
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 eclipse is visible in its entirety from
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 the western part of North America right
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 across the Pacific through Oceanania and
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 then across Asia. For our friends in the
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 eastern US and Europe, you'll catch part
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 of it, but the moon will be low on the
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 horizon or setting as totality peaks.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 So, get to a good vantage point.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 >> Right. So, here are the key times to
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 know. The partial phase begins at 4:50
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 Eastern time. That's 1:50 Pacific.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 Totality, the moment the moon is fully
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 in Earth's shadow and turns that deep,
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 dramatic red, begins at 6:04 Eastern.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 And totality lasts for 59 minutes,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 almost a full hour of blood moon.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 >> Now, why red? It's such a beautiful
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 phenomenon. During a total lunar
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 eclipse, the moon passes completely into
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 Earth's shadow, but Earth's atmosphere
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 acts like a giant lens, bending and
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 filtering sunlight around the edges of
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 our planet and casting it onto the
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 moon's surface. The atmosphere strips
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 out the blue wavelengths and lets the
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 reds and oranges through, which is the
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 same reason our sunrises and sunsets
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 look the way they do. So, in a very
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 poetic sense, what you're seeing on the
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 moon is the light of every sunrise and
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 every sunset on Earth all at once.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 >> That is genuinely beautiful. And there's
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 a rare atmospheric bonus tonight. For a
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 brief window, some lucky observers on
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 the east coast of North America and
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 parts of Europe may witness what's
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 called a selenon. That's where the
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 totally eclipse red moon and the rising
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 sun are both above the horizon at the
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 same time, which geometrically shouldn't
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 really be possible, but atmospheric
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 refraction bends both the sun and moon's
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 light just enough to make it happen.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 It's been called seeing the impossible.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 Both the eclipse and the sunrise
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 simultaneously. And one more thing worth
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 noting for our long-term listeners, this
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 is the last total lunar eclipse until
00:03:55 --> 00:03:59 late 2028. So if you have any chance at
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 all of getting outside tonight, set that
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 alarm. This is not one to sleep through.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:05 We'll have links in the show notes to
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 exact times for your location.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 >> As they say in the trades, not to be
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 missed.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:15 >> Okay, story two. And this is a genuinely
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 landmark moment in the history of
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 astronomy. The Vera Rubin Observatory in
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 Chile, which we've been eagerly waiting
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 for, has just made its opening statement
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 to the universe, and it is
00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 extraordinary.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 >> 800
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 alerts in a single night.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 >> 800.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 On February 24th, the Vera Rubin
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 Observatory, which houses the largest
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 digital camera ever built, a
00:04:43 --> 00:04:47 jaw-dropping 3.2 2 gigapixels issued
00:04:48 --> 00:04:49 800
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 alerts to astronomers worldwide in just
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 one night of observation. These are
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 realtime notifications about everything
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 changing in the sky. Stars brightening
00:05:00 --> 00:05:04 or dimming, objects moving, flashes of
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 light from supernova, asteroids on the
00:05:06 --> 00:05:07 move.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 >> And to be clear, this is just the
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 beginning. At full operating capacity,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 Reuben is expected to produce up to 7
00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 million alerts every single night. 7
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 million. The scale of this is almost
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 incomprehensible.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 What makes this so revolutionary is the
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 speed. Reuben captures a new region of
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 the sky every 40 seconds, then
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 immediately sends that data to a
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 processing facility in California, where
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 an automated system compares it to
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 previous images of the same region. Any
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 change, any change at all triggers an
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 alert that goes out to astronomers
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 worldwide who can then point other
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 telescopes at the event before it fades.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 Scientists say this could be
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 transformative for catching supernova
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 before they reach their peak brightness.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:57 Spotting asteroids that could be a
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 threat to Earth. And here's a fun one.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 Finding many more interstellar visitors
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 like comet 3i ATLS as they enter our
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 solar system. Because with Reuben
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 watching the whole sky every 40 seconds,
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 there's nowhere to hide.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 >> One of the team described it perfectly.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 They said the scale and speed of the
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 alerts are unprecedented. After years of
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 building and testing, they can now say
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 within minutes of each image, "Here's
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 everything. Go." Astronomy has entered a
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 new era of realtime discovery. And we
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 are here for it.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 >> Story three, and this one completely
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 rewrites the origin story of two of the
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 most iconic things in our solar system,
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 Saturn's rings and its largest moon,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 Titan. I love this story because it's
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 one of those discoveries where
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 scientists basically went, "Wait, what
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 if these two mysteries have the same
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 answer?"
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 >> Exactly. For years, astronomers have had
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 two nagging questions. One, how did
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 Saturn's rings form? They're remarkably
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 young, much younger than Saturn itself,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 which has always been puzzling. Two, how
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 did Titan end up so different from all
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 of Saturn's other moons? It's enormous.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 It has a thick atmosphere. It has liquid
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 methane lakes. It's basically a world
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 unto itself.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 >> And now, new research suggests both
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 mysteries have the same catastrophic
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 answer. Around hundreds of millions of
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 years ago, two of Saturn's older moons
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 smashed into each other in a colossal
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 collision. The force of that impact was
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 so extreme that it didn't just destroy
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 those moons. It created something new.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 The debris from the collision coalesed
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 to form Titan. And the material flung
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 outward by the blast, the icy fragments
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 scattered into Saturn's orbit became the
00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 rings.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 >> One cataclysmic event, two of the most
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 fascinating structures in the solar
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 system. It's the cosmic equivalent of a
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 car crash that somehow produces both a
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 city and a motorway.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 >> What I love about this is that it also
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 explains Titan's composition. Because if
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 Titan formed from the collision of two
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 older moons, it would have absorbed a
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 complex mix of materials, which could
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 explain its extraordinarily rich
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 chemistry and possibly even its
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 potential to harbor the building blocks
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 of life in those methane seas.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 >> Saturn still full of surprises even
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 after all this time.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 >> Okay, story four. This one involves
00:08:29 --> 00:08:32 ancient seafloor sediments, a decadesl
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 long scientific mystery, and the
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 uncomfortable possibility that our
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 magnetic shield can fail for far longer
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 than we thought.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:45 >> Oh, good. I love a comfortable Monday.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 >> So, here's the background. Earth's
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 magnetic field, the invisible force
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 field that protects us from harmful
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 solar radiation and cosmic rays, isn't
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 permanent. Roughly every few hundred
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 years it weakens, becomes chaotic, and
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 eventually reverses direction entirely.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 North becomes south, south becomes
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 north. Scientists call this a
00:09:08 --> 00:09:12 geomagnetic reversal. And until now, the
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 assumption was that these reversals
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 happen relatively quickly in geological
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 terms, within about 10 years.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 >> But new research has just blown that
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 assumption out of the water. Scientists
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 analyzing deep sea sediment cores
00:09:27 --> 00:09:28 drilled from the North Atlantic,
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 sediments laid down during the Eocosene
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 epic around 40 million years ago, have
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 found evidence of a geomagnetic reversal
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 that took not 10 years, but
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 approximately 70 years, 7 times
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 longer than the accepted benchmark.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 During that entire stretch, Earth's
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 magnetic field was significantly
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 weakened. And the implications of that
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 are significant, right? Because a
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 weakened magnetic field means more
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 cosmic radiation reaching the surface.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 >> Exactly. The lead researcher described
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 it clearly. When the magnetic field
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 weakens, more solar radiation reaches
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 the planet, which can affect organisms
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 ability to navigate, potentially drive
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 higher rates of genetic mutation, and
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 could even cause measurable atmospheric
00:10:15 --> 00:10:19 erosion for 70 years. That's long
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 enough to have real evolutionary
00:10:21 --> 00:10:22 consequences.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 >> Though, it's worth saying these
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 reversals happen over geological time
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 scales. There's no imminent reversal on
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 the horizon in any human time frame. But
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 what this research does is force us to
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 rethink what we thought we knew about
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 one of Earth's most fundamental systems.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 The magnetic field isn't as predictable
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 or as consistent as we assumed.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 >> The beautiful detail is how they found
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 it. Those tiny magnetic minerals
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 preserved in slowly accumulating deep
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 sea sediments, essentially recording the
00:10:52 --> 00:10:54 direction of Earth's field like a
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 billion-year magnetic diary. Geology is
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 endlessly fascinating.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 >> Story five, and we're back to some
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 extraordinary telescope science. This
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 time, the James Web telescope has done
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 something genuinely unprecedented with
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 our most mysterious planet, Uranus. Core
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 Uranus, always the overlooked one.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 >> Not anymore. An international team of
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 astronomers have used Web's near
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 infrared spectrometer to map the upper
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 atmosphere of Uranus in three
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 dimensions. The first time this has ever
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 been done for the planet. And what they
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 found is extraordinary.
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 >> So Uranus is already a deeply strange
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 world. It orbits on its side with an
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 axial tilt of almost 98°,
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 meaning its poles point roughly towards
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 the sun. That extreme tilt gives it the
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 most dramatic seasons of any planet in
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 the solar system. And now, web has given
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 us the first detailed vertical map of
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 its ionosphere, its uppermost layer of
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 its atmosphere, revealing its structure
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 in unprecedented detail.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 >> And the auroras are remarkable. Unlike
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 Earth's auroras, which form in rings
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 around the poles, Uranus's auroras are
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 far more complex and widespread, a
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 reflection of its unusual magnetic
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 field, which is tilted at a completely
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 different angle to its rotation axis.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 Web's infrared vision allowed scientists
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 to detect these faint auroral displays
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 that have never been seen in this kind
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 of detail before. What makes this
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 particularly valuable is that Uranus is
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 a candidate target for a future
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 dedicated NASA mission, the Uranus
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 Orbiter and Probe, which has been
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 recommended as a top priority by
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 planetary scientists. Every new
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 discovery like this helps build the
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 scientific case for why going there
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 would be so worthwhile. And yet another
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 example of web completely delivering on
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 its promise, seeing the universe and
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 even our own solar system in ways that
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 simply weren't possible before. And
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 finally, our community service
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 announcement of the day. Because if
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 you've ever browsed eBay late at night
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 and thought to yourself, "Ooh, I wonder
00:13:03 --> 00:13:06 if I could get my hands on some actual
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 Apollo moon rock." Please listen
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 carefully.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 >> This is a public safety message. It
00:13:12 --> 00:13:16 really is. So, here's the deal. NASA
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 brought back 842
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 lbs of lunar material during the six
00:13:21 --> 00:13:25 Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:29 Moon rocks, core samples, dust, pebbles,
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 all of it is the property of the United
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 States federal government, not NASA's
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 property, the governments. And it is
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 absolutely unambiguously
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 completely illegal to buy, sell, trade,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 or privately own any of it. Even the
00:13:46 --> 00:13:49 astronauts themselves cannot keep a
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 single grain,
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 >> which you'd think would be enough of a
00:13:52 --> 00:13:53 deterrent. And yet
00:13:53 --> 00:13:58 >> and yet in 2002, three NASA interns,
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 three decided to attempt one of
00:14:00 --> 00:14:04 history's most audacious heists using
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 tampered cameras, neoprene bodysuits,
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 and their own NASA access badges. They
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 broke into a safe at Johnson Space
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 Center and walked out with 17 pounds of
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 moon rocks worth an estimated $21
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 million. At which point they presumably
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 thought, "Now what?"
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 >> Exactly. Because selling stolen moon
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 rocks turns out to be surprisingly
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 difficult. Their solution, post them on
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 the website of the Minology Club of
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 Antworp, which understandably caught the
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 attention of the FBI, who sent
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 undercover agents posing as interested
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 buyers. They were arrested at a hotel in
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 Orlando with the moon rocks and the ring
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 leader received an 8-year prison
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 sentence.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 >> The Minology Club of Antworp as a fence
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 for stolen moon rocks.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 >> I know, I know. Now, there is one nuance
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 worth knowing. Lunar meteorites, rocks
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 that have naturally fallen to Earth from
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 the moon after being blasted off by
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 ancient impacts, are a completely
00:15:05 --> 00:15:08 different story. Those can be legally
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 collected, bought, and sold because they
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 arrived here naturally and weren't
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 brought back by government astronauts.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 Though, if you want a piece of the moon
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 on your shelf, that's actually the
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 legitimate route.
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 >> And considerably less likely to result
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 in a federal prison sentence.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 >> Considerably. The key message, if
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 someone offers you Apollo moon rocks,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 walk away very quickly.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 >> What a show today. A blood moon, a
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 telescope seeing everything, the violent
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 birth of Titan, our magnetic fields,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:43 ancient secrets, Uranus and glorious 3D,
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 and a reminder that the law applies in
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 space adjacent context, too.
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 >> Thanks so much for spending part of your
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 Monday with us. And seriously, if you
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 can get outside and look up tonight,
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 that blood moon is not going to wait.
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 It's the last one until 2028. Links to
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 eclipse times for your location are in
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 the show notes. You can find us at
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 astronomyaily.io
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 and on socials at astroailyaily pod. If
00:16:08 --> 00:16:10 you enjoyed today's episode, a review or
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 share goes such a long way. It really
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 helps new listeners find us.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 >> We'll be back tomorrow with more from
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 the universe. Until then, keep looking
00:16:19 --> 00:16:30 up.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:34 Stories told.