4.7 • 6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2025
⏱️ 14 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Hello there, shortwaivers. Emily Kwong here with a quick word before the show. |
| 0:04.6 | So this week is Giving Tuesday. That is the global day of generosity that NPR celebrates every year, |
| 0:10.5 | but this year is different. Because it is the first time in 50 years that NPR is operating without federal funding. |
| 0:18.5 | That is a huge deal and a big challenge. But it is one that we can take |
| 0:24.2 | on together. As shortwave, we bring you science coverage that is fun, human, that introduces you |
| 0:30.5 | to new ideas, amazing discoveries, and everyday mysteries. That helps you feel a little more |
| 0:35.8 | connected to this planet and the people we share it with. |
| 0:39.6 | We know all of this matters to you, and that is why some of you have already stepped up to share in |
| 0:45.2 | the cost of bringing you shortwave each week. Like Gloria, a listener in Texas who says, |
| 0:50.5 | I would be less informed, thoughtful, and interesting without fresh air, through line, |
| 0:56.1 | shortwave, and up first. I love these programs, and I hope they continue. We are so grateful |
| 1:01.4 | to listeners like Gloria who have stepped up to support NPR this year. You can join them. Sign up for |
| 1:08.2 | NPR Plus and Mark Giving Tuesday. This is a simple recurring donation that gets |
| 1:14.0 | you perks to NPR's podcasts. Join at plus.npr.org. Thanks again for your support. Here's the show. |
| 1:22.5 | You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. |
| 1:28.6 | Hey, shortwavers, Emily Kwong here with my favorite astrophysicist. You know her, you love her, |
| 1:35.1 | you hear her a lot. Her name is Regina Barber. Oh, Emily, thank you for reading that so well. |
| 1:40.3 | I wrote that for you. Oh my God. Nope, help me. Gina, you are here to tell us about Three-Eye Atlas. Yes. I keep hearing about this comment, but why are people so obsessed? So, M, this comet isn't from here. Like, she doesn't even go here. Okay, that's my mean girl's reference. Do you like it? I do. Okay. So it's a piece of ice and gas and rock like most |
| 2:03.2 | comets are, but it's from another solar system. It's interstellar. But we know it's from our own galaxy. |
| 2:08.5 | We know it was created around another store, not our son. And we get to see it once and then never again. |
| 2:14.4 | So wait, it's not like Haley's comet, which comes what every 70 something years? 76 years, yeah. This is just one and done. Yeah. How do we even know it's a comet? Yeah. And not like an asteroid. Yeah. So astronomers have been studying 3i Atlas since July of this year. We know it's a comet because it has this icy nucleus. It has a bright cloud of gas and dust. Astronomers can see this through their telescopes. They also see that it has a tiny tail. And most comets we see from Earth, they orbit our sun. And they're made during the formation of our solar system. But this one, this comet, 3A Atlas, it came from somewhere else. It's going to come in, then it's going to leave. And she'll scream, get in loser. We're going shopping on the way by. Yes. Okay. So why are |
| 2:57.0 | astronomers so invested in studying her? Because 3A Atlas tells us something about planets around |
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