Anna: Welcome to ASTRONOMY Daily, your source for
the latest news and discoveries in space
exploration. I'm your host, Anna. And
today we have a packed episode covering
exciting developments from NASA's Curiosity
rover on Mars, recent rocket launches,
stunning observations from the Webb Space
Telescope, a terrifying cosmic scenario
involving black holes, and updates on NASA's
Artemis program. So let's get into
it. NASA's Curiosity
rover has made a groundbreaking discovery on
Mars that's sending ripples of excitement
through the scientific community. Researchers
analyzing pulverized rock samples inside the
rover's onboard laboratory have detected the
largest organic compounds found on the Red
Planet to date. The findings, published in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, reveal that Curiosity sample
analysis at Mars Minilab identified
three significant organic
decane, undecane, and
dodecane. These aren't just any compounds.
They contain 10, 11, and 12 carbon atoms,
respectively, making them substantially more
complex than previous organic molecules
discovered on Mars. Scientists believe
these compounds are fragments of fatty acids
that were preserved in the Martian rock
samples. This is particularly significant
because on Earth, fatty acids are among the
fundamental chemical building blocks of life.
They're essential components in cell
membranes and serve various biological
functions in living organisms. While the
discovery doesn't prove the existence of past
or present life on Mars, it does suggest that
organic chemistry on the Red Planet may have
advanced further than previously observed.
The size and complexity of these molecules
indicate that Mars may have once had
conditions suitable for the kind of prebiotic
chemistry that could potentially lead to
life. What makes this discovery even more
remarkable is that it demonstrates these
complex organic compounds can survive Mars
harsh surface conditions. The planet's
surface is constantly bombarded with
radiation and oxidizing chemicals that would
typically destroy such delicate organic
molecules over time. The fact that
Curiosity found them intact suggests that if
biosignatures ever existed on Mars, they
might still be detectable today. This
discovery is particularly exciting because
fatty acids are fundamental chemical building
blocks of life as we know it on Earth. In
living organisms, these compounds play
crucial roles in forming cell membranes, the
protective barriers that separate cellular
contents from the external environment, as
well as storing energy and facilitating other
essential biological processes.
As Caroline Freycinet from the French
national center for Scientific Research put
it, our study proves that even today,
by analyzing Mars samples, we could detect
chemical signatures of past life if it ever
existed on Mars. That's a profound
statement about our increasing ability to
address one of humanity's most fundamental
questions. Are we alone in the universe?
Turning our telescopes skyward now, this has
been an exceptionally busy week for orbital
launches around the world. SpaceX kicked off
the action with a classified mission on
Monday, continuing their breakneck pace of
operations for 2025. The
European Space industry is making history
this week with Isar Aerospace attempting the
first orbital launch of a European rocket
from continental Europe. After a scrub on
Monday due to unfavorable winds, their
Spectrum rocket is now positioned to make the
inaugural orbital launch from Norway's
andoya spaceport. This two stage vehicle
stands 28 meters tall with a 2 meter
diameter and can deliver up to 1000
kg to low earth orbit. What makes
Spectrum particularly notable is its
propulsion system 9.3D printed
Aquila engines on the first stage, burning
liquid propane and oxygen, offering what the
company calls the highest density specific
impulse of all carbon fuels.
Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace is preparing for
the sixth launch of its Alpha rocket from
Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
This message in a booster mission will carry
a technology demonstrator for Lockheed
Martin's LM400 satellite
bus. The launch marks the first of up to
25 flights for Lockheed Martin as part of a
multi launch agreement spanning the next five
years. Not to be outdone, Rocket
Lab is on track for its third electron launch
in just two weeks, a remarkable achievement
in rapid launch cadence. Their mission,
colorfully named Finding Hot Wildfires near
you, will deploy eight satellites for Aurora
Tech's Thermal Imaging Constellation, which
monitors wildfires globally to support faster
response times for protecting forests,
communities and critical infrastructure.
With four worldwide orbital launch attempts
scheduled for Wednesday alone, including a
Changjang 3B E launch from China carrying an
unknown payload, and three SpaceX Starlink
missions planned for the week, we're
witnessing a truly unprecedented era in space
access and utilization. SpaceX continues
to redefine what's possible in the commercial
space industry, shattering records left and
right in 2025. Just last week they
achieved a remarkable feat when Booster
B1088 set a new first
stage turnaround record of just over nine
days during the NR OL57 mission from
Vandenberg. This dramatically improves on
their previous record of 14 days, showcasing
the company's rapidly advancing reusability
capabilities. The records don't stop there
at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral
Space Force Station. SpaceX established an
impressive pad turnaround milestone on March
15. The Starlink Group 1216
mission launched just 2 days, 8 hours,
59 minutes and 40 seconds after the previous
Starlink mission from the same pad, slashing
nearly six hours off their previous record.
Perhaps most impressively, this launch marked
SpaceX's third mission in a mere 12.5
hours following the Crew 10 and Transporter
13 missions. While SpaceX has
slightly revised its annual launch target
from 180 to 170 missions,
due to some challenges with booster recovery
and increased refurbishment times, they're
still on an extraordinary trajectory.
They've already completed 38 launches across
their fleet in just the first quarter of
2025, putting them well ahead of pace
to exceed their revised goal. This
relentless cadence is transforming our access
to space. With Falcon 9 now firmly
established as the workhorse of the
commercial launch industry, SpaceX is
demonstrating that rapid, reliable and
reusable space transportation isn't just a
futuristic concept, it's today's reality.
The implications for satellite deployment,
space station resupply, and potentially even
human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit are
profound as launch constraints continue to
fall. Lets get a
JWST update.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has gifted
us with another breathtaking image that's
forcing astronomers to rethink what they
thought they knew about a cosmic phenomenon.
What was once dramatically dubbed the cosmic
tornado by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
back in 2006 has been revealed to be
something even more a chance alignment
of two completely unrelated objects separated
by unfathomable distances. The
web's extraordinary resolution shows that
what we're actually seeing is Herbig Haro
49/50. A uh, frothy looking
outflow from a nearby young star perfectly
aligned with a colorful spiral galaxy
located hundreds of millions of light years
in the background. It's like capturing a
photograph of a leaf blowing in the
wind that just happens to perfectly frame
a distant mountain peak. This composite
image combines data from Webb's near infrared
camera and mid infrared instrument, providing
unprecedented detail of this dynamic region.
The arc shaped features in the outflow point
back to their source, likely a Protostar
known as Cederblad110
IRS4, a young object only
tens of thousands to a million years old
that's still gaining mass. What makes this
discovery particularly striking is is how it
illustrates the three dimensional nature of
our universe projected onto the two
dimensional plane of the night sky. When we
observe space, objects that appear to be
interacting might actually have no
relationship whatsoever. Separated by vast
cosmic distances,
HH4950 is relatively close to
us, residing in the Chamalion 1 cloud
complex just 625 light years away,
practically in our cosmic backyard.
Meanwhile, the spiral galaxy that appears to
be at the tip of this outflow is incredibly
distant, with no physical connection to the
nearby stellar jet. Over thousands of
years, as the edge of HH
4950 continues to move outward,
it will eventually appear to cover up the
distant galaxy entirely, further changing
this chance cosmic alignment. Herbig haro
objects like HH4950 are among
the most dynamic and visually striking
phenomena in star formation. These glowing
nebulae form when newborn stars eject high
velocity jets of gas that collide violently
with the surrounding interstellar medium. The
process is rather dramatic as a young star
forms from a collapsing cloud of gas and
dust. Not all material falls directly onto
the protostar. Instead, some gets channeled
into these powerful, focused jets that blast
outward from the star's poles at astonishing
speeds, often hundreds of miles per second.
When these jets slam into the relatively calm
gas around them, they create shock fronts
similar to sonic booms in Earth's atmosphere.
These shock waves compress and heat the gas
to thousands of degrees, causing it to glow
brightly across multiple wavelengths. As
the superheated gas gradually cools, it emits
light that we can detect in both visible and
infrared spectrums, creating the distinctive
glowing features we observe. What makes
Webb's observations particularly valuable is
the telescope's unparalleled infrared
sensitivity and resolution. Previous
observations couldn't capture the intricate
details we're now seeing. Webb can clearly
trace the location of glowing hydrogen
molecules, carbon monoxide, and
energized dust grains as the
protostellar jet impacts the surrounding
region. These fine scale
observations allow astronomers to model the
properties of the jet with unprecedented
accuracy.
In a concerning discovery, astronomers have
detected an erupting supermassive black hole
producing enormous jets bursting from a
spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way. The
galaxy known as J2
3450449 is three times the size
of our galaxy and located
947 million light years away.
Yet it's causing quite a stir in the
astronomical community due to its unusual
characteristics. What's particularly alarming
about this finding is the scale of these
jets. They stretch an astonishing 6 million
light years in length. To put that in
perspective, our entire Milky Way galaxy is
roughly 100,000 light years across,
making these jets 60 times longer than our
galaxy's diameter. While larger jets
have been observed in the past, including one
named Porphyrion stretching 23 million
light years. Such massive emissions have
typically been associated with elliptical
galaxies, not spiral ones like
J2300450449
and our own Milky Way. Perhaps even more
puzzling is the fact that
J23450449
appears remarkably tranquil despite housing
one of the most violent supermassive black
holes ever seen in a spiral galaxy.
The Galaxy has somehow managed to maintain
its spiral structure, including its
distinctive arms, bright nuclear bar of
stars, and stellar ring. This
directly contradicts previous scientific
models which predicted that such powerful
jets would tear apart the structure of a
spiral galaxy. Adding to this cosmic
mystery, J2345
0449 contains 10 times
more dark matter than than our Milky Way and
is surrounded by a huge halo of superheated
gas. In most galaxies, this gas would be
cooling and condensing to form new stars.
However, in J2345
0449, the Central Black hole
acts as a cosmic furnace, heating this gas
halo and preventing star formation while
producing intense X ray emissions, as
one scientist involved in the study put it.
This discovery forces us to rethink our
understanding of galactic evolution and how
supermassive black holes grow and shape their
environments. It raises profound questions
about what this might mean for the future of
galaxies like our own Milky Way. This
discovery raises a chilling question that has
astronomers concerned. Could Sagittarius
A, the supermassive black hole lurking
at the center of our own Milky Way,
experience a similar eruption? The
possibility is both fascinating and
terrifying. While Sagittarius
A is significantly smaller than the black
hole in J2345
0449, just 4.3
million solar masses compared to the distant
galaxy's estimated 1.4 billion solar
masses, size isn't the only factor
determining a black hole's activity.
Currently, our galactic center's black hole
is remarkably quiet. If Sagittarius
A were a human, astronomers estimate it would
be as if it sustained itself on a single
grain of rice every million years. That's an
extraordinarily modest diet for such a
massive cosmic object. But this peaceful
state could change dramatically and with
little warning. If Sagittarius A
star were to capture a large gas cloud or
even an entire staran event astronomers call
a tidal disruption event. It would suddenly
have an abundance of material to feed on. As
this stellar material falls toward the black
hole, it would form a rapidly spinning
accretion disk, and some of this energy would
be channeled into powerful jets erupting from
the black hole's poles. The consequences
of such an eruption would depend largely on
the jets orientation and strength. If one
of these jets, originating from 27,000
light years away at our galactic center,
happened to point directly at our solar
system, the results could be catastrophic.
The high energy particles and radiation
within such jets have the potential to strip
away planetary atmospheres, including
Earth's. The intense radiation could damage
DNA in living organisms, dramatically
increasing mutation rates across all life
forms on our planet. In a worst case
scenario where Earth takes a direct hit from
such a jet, the high energy particles could
severely degrade our protective ozone layer,
potentially triggering a mass extinction
event similar to those seen in Earth's
geological record.
On a more hopeful note, NASA continues to
make progress on its Artemis 2 mission, which
will be the first crewed flight of the
Artemis program since its inception.
Late Saturday night, technicians at Kennedy
Space center in Florida reached a significant
milestone when they successfully moved the
core stage for NASA's second Space Launch
System rocket into position between the
vehicle's two solid fueled boosters.
Working inside the iconic vehicle assembly
building, which stands an impressive 52
stories tall, ground teams used heavy
duty cranes to first lift the butterscotch
orange core stage from its cradle. The
operation required meticulous precision as
the cranes rotated the massive structure
vertically before disconnecting one of the
cranes from the bottom of the rocket. The
Boeing built core stage is truly a
marvel of engineering. Weighing
approximately 94 tons and measuring about
212ft tall, this massive
component will contain 730,000
gallons of cryogenic propellant when the
rocket lifts off. It represents the single
largest element for the Artemis 2 mission.
Once positioned, teams connected the core
stage to each booster at forward and aft load
bearing attach points. The next steps in the
assembly process will include stacking a cone
shaped adapter on top of the core stage,
followed by the rocket's upper stage, another
adapter ring, and finally the Orion
spacecraft that will house the four person
crew during their journey. This mission
represents humanity's return to deep space
exploration as Artemis 2 will ferry four
astronauts around the far side of the moon.
If all continues according to plan, this
historic flight could launch as soon as next
year, marking the first time humans have
ventured beyond low Earth orbit since the
Apollo era ended over 50 years ago.
Despite being years behind schedule, the
Artemis program continues to gain momentum.
NASA has achieved several important
milestones recently, including the
installation of the Orion spacecraft's solar
panels and completing the crucial closeouts
of its service module with aerodynamic panels
that will jettison during launch. A
few months ago, there was serious speculation
that NASA's Space Launch System might face
cancellation due to its high costs and
delays. However, this possibility
seems increasingly unlikely as alternative
heavy lift vehicles aren't ready for human
spaceflight. Both SpaceX's Starship and
Blue Origin's New Glenn, while promising, are
still years away from being certified for
crewed missions. Starship, though holding
enormous long term potential to be cheaper
and more capable than SLS has faced recent
setbacks with back to back failures early
this year. The vehicle needs to demonstrate
reliable recovery, reuse and in orbit
refueling before it can be considered for
human missions. Similarly, Blue
Origin's New Glenn had a successful debut
flight in January, but its development
timeline suggests it won't be ready for
crewed flights anytime soon. These
circumstances have created a situation where,
despite its delays and budget overruns, the
Space Launch System remains NASA's only
viable option for sending humans beyond Earth
orbit in the near term. This practical
reality, combined with the progress being
made on hardware assembly, makes it
increasingly likely that NASA will proceed
with Artemis 2 as planned, marking humanity's
long awaited return to deep space exploration
that wraps up today's episode of Astronomy
Daily.
What an incredible journey through our cosmic
neighborhood we've had today. From the
tantalizing discovery of complex organic
molecules on Mars, to that could point to
ancient life, to the terrifying potential of
galactic scale black hole eruptions, to
the steady progress of humanity's return to
the moon, the universe continues to both
inspire and humble us. I'm
Anna and I've been your host for Astronomy
Daily. If you enjoyed today's episode, you
can listen to all our back episodes at
astronomydaily, IO where we maintain a
complete archive of our broadcasts. And don't
forget to connect with us on social media.
Just search for Astro Daily Pod on Facebook,
X, YouTubeMusic, YouTubeMusic, Music,
Instagram and TikTok. Thanks for joining me
on this cosmic journey. I'll see you again
tomorrow as we continue to explore the
wonders of our universe together. In the
meantime, keep looking up.