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Anna: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm

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your host, Anna. Uh, get ready to dive into

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the latest cosmic happenings. Today we're

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exploring how astronomers have located the

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universe's missing matter. We'll also discuss

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an intriguing theory about the Big Bang

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originating from a black hole and how

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artificial solar eclipses are helping

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scientists study the sun. Plus, we've got

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updates on the Axiom mission delay, the

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Project Kuiper launch, and a roundup of

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upcoming launches from around the globe. So

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buckle up. It's going to be an exciting

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journey through space news.

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let's get started with a big story. One of

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the universe's biggest mysteries seems to

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have been solved. That is, where's all the

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missing ordinary matter? Astronomers using

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fast radio bursts, those brief intense

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flashes of radio waves from distant galaxies

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have managed to map out where about three

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quarters of the universe's normal matter has

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been hiding. And guess what? It's

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floating in the vast spaces between galaxies,

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forming like an invisible cosmic web.

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This is a pretty big deal because it's the

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first time scientists have actually created a

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detailed census of where all the universe's

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ordinary matter is located. These fast

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radio bursts act kinda like cosmic

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flashlights. You see, different wavelengths

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of radio waves travel at slightly different

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speeds through ionised gas. So by measuring

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how much each burst slowed down, scientists

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could calculate the total amount of matter

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the signal encountered. One cool finding

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is this cosmic thermostat effect, where

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supermassive black holes and exploding stars

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blast gas out of galaxies, preventing them

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from accumulating too much matter. This

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research also gives us an independent

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measurement of the universe's ordinary matter

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content, which agrees with predictions from

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the cosmic microwave background and Big Bang

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nucleosynthesis. All in all, it's a

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major step forward in understanding the

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structure and composition of the universe.

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Okay, next up, we're diving into some mind

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bending stuff about the Big Bang. There's

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a new theory floating around that suggests

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the Big Bang wasn't actually the beginning of

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everything, but rather the result of a

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gravitational collapse inside a massive black

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hole. Get your head around that one. Now,

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the standard model of cosmology, which is

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based on the Big Bang and cosmic inflation,

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has been pretty successful. But it does leave

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some questions unanswered. For example, the

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Big Bang model starts with a singularity,

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which is basically a point of infinite

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density where the laws of physics break down.

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And to explain the universe's large scale

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structure, physicists came up with cosmic

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inflation, which is this idea that the early

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universe rapidly expanded. And let's not

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forget dark energy, which is Supposed to

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explain the accelerating expansion we see

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today. So this new model, it kind

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of looks inward instead of outward. Instead

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of starting with an expanding universe, it

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considers what happens when a really dense

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collection of matter collapses under gravity.

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Think about stars collapsing into black

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holes. The math shows that as we approach

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a potential singularity, the size of the

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universe changes. And this collapsing cloud

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of matter can actually bounce, Rebounding

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outward into a new expanse expanding phase.

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And get this, this bounce naturally produces

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those two phases of accelerated expansion,

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inflation and dark energy. One of the

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cool things about this model is that it makes

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testable predictions. It predicts a

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small but non zero amount of positive

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spatial curvature, Meaning the universe isn't

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exactly flat, but slightly curved. So if

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future observations confirm this, it could be

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a hint that our universe really did emerge

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from a bounce inside a black hole. Spooky,

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right?

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And now let's talk about artificial solar

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eclipses. The European Space Agency, or

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esa, has been pulling off some pretty cool

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stuff with its Proba 3 mission. They've

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managed to create the first artificial solar

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eclipses Using two satellites flying in

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really precise formation. We're talking about

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satellites that are flying just 492ft

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apart from with their positioning accurate to

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within a millimetre. That's like the

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thickness of your fingernail. One satellite

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blocks the sun just like the moon does during

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a natural solar eclipse, While the other one

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aims its telescope at the corona, which is

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the sun's outer atmosphere. This is a

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total game changer for scientists because it

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lets them study the corona for hours on end.

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The longest eclipse they've managed so far

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lasted five hours, and they're hoping to get

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up to six hours Once they start doing

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scientific observations in July. What's super

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cool is that these artificial eclipses give

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scientists a much better view of the corona

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without needing any special image processing.

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They're anticipating producing about two

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solar eclipses per week, which will give them

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over a thousand hours of totality during the

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mission. That's way more than what you get

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from natural solar eclipses. And

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because the sun blocking disc and the

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telescope are on two different satellites, it

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gives scientists a better look at the part of

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the corona that's closest to the sun.

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Alright, next up, a quick update regarding

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the Axiom Space Axe 4 mission to the

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International Space Station. NASA says the

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private astronaut mission could launch to the

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ISS as soon as June 19th as it works

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to understand an air leak on M, the Russian

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segment of the station. Though Roscosmos has

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claimed the leak is fixed, Fingers crossed,

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they finally get going. This time. I'LL keep

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you informed.

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Now, turning our attention back to Earth, or

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rather low Earth orbit. Amazon's second

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Project Kuiper launch has been delayed again.

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Yeah, the launch, which was set to happen

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from the Florida coast, had to be postponed

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because of an engineering observation of an

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elevated purge temperature within the booster

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engine. So the Atlas V rocket

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was supposed to carry 27 satellites into

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orbit, which would bring Amazon's total

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constellation size to 54 satellites.

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The goal of the mission is to provide fast,

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reliable Internet to customers all around the

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world. So it looks like we'll have to wait a

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little bit longer to see these satellites

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join the Kuiper constellation.

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Okay, next up, let's dive into this massive

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Launch Roundup from NASASpaceflight.com

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We've got a whole bunch of launches scheduled

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from all over the globe this week. First up,

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SpaceX is planning five Falcon 9 missions.

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Yes, five, that includes a rideshare. And the

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Axiom Mission 4 crewed mission, hopefully,

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which has, as I reported earlier, been

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delayed a few times. Now, there's Also the

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Angara A5 rocket launch from Russia. And

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get this, the last ever flight of Japan's H2A

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rocket is also on the schedule. I know. End

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of an era, right? Plus, we have a Chinese

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launch and a Blue Origin crewed suborbital

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launch to look forward to. In a June

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14 statement, NASA said it is working with

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axiom space and SpaceX on reviewing launch

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opportunities for the AXE 4 mission, with the

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earliest such opportunity on June 19th.

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So let's break it down a bit. A couple of the

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Falcon 9 launches are set to take off from

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Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,

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while the other three are launching from

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Florida. The New Shepard launch, which is,

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you know, the one with the crew, is going to

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be flying from West Texas. And that

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Angara launch, well, it's carrying an

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unknown payload from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome

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in Russia. Super Mysterious

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Rocket Lab also announced an electron launch

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from New Zealand. And the ULA

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K02 mission is scheduled as well. It's going

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to be a Busy week. The H2A

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that's launching the GOSAT GW Earth

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Observation Satellite. It's designed to

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monitor greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide

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and methane and. And to measure the total

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amount of Earth's water, too. It's kind of

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sad to see it go, but the H3 family is taking

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over. So onward and upward, right M.

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And that's a wrap for today's Space News on

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Astronomy Daily. Thanks so much for tuning

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in. I'm Anna and it's been a blast, bringing

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you all the latest space and astronomy news.

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If you want to keep up with everything that's

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happening beyond our world, make sure to

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visit our website at astronomydaily IO.

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There you can sign up for our free daily

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newsletter and catch up on all the breaking

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stories with our constantly updating

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That way you'll never miss an episode. Clear

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skies, everyone. And remember to keep looking

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up. I'm out of here. See you next time.