WEBVTT

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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose

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of the latest cosmic happenings. I'm Anna and

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I'm thrilled to guide you through today's

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fascinating discoveries. We've got an

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exciting lineup for you. First, we'll dive

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into the highly anticipated next flight of

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SpaceX's Starship, the colossal rocket making

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headlines. Then we'll explore the astonishing

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secrets unveiled about a powerful rapidly

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spinning neutron star thanks to new X ray

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observations. Get ready for a cosmic first

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as we hear about astronomers witnessing a

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solar system being born right before their

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eyes. And finally, we'll talk about the multi

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million dollar auction of the largest Mars

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meteorite ever found on Earth that I reported

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on yesterday. We have the auction results.

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Stay with us for all these stories and more.

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Let's kick things off with some exciting news

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from SpaceX as Elon Musk has announced that

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the next starship flight, the 10th test

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flight of this colossal rocket, is expected

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to launch in about three weeks. If all goes

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according to plan, this will be the fourth

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launch for starship this year. And it's a big

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deal because Starship is designed to be the

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biggest and most powerful rocket ever built,

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with both its super heavy booster and ship

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upper stage intended for full and rapid

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reusability. Now, Getting to Flight 10

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has been a bit of a bumpy ride. The ship

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upper stage that was originally slated for

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this mission actually exploded on a Test

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stand at SpaceX's Starbase site in South

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Texas back in June during preparations for a

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common pre launch engine trial. SpaceX

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quickly pinpointed the likely a failure

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of a pressurised nitrogen tank in the ship's

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nosecone area. The team is now working

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diligently to get a different ship vehicle

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ready for this upcoming Flight 10. It's

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no secret that the ship upper stage has faced

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some challenges in recent flights since

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SpaceX unfortunately lost the ship vehicle on

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flights 7, 8 and 9, which launched in

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January, March and May of this year

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respectively. For example, on Flight 8,

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which launched back in March, the

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171 foot tall ship upper stage was intended

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to deploy dummy Starlink satellites and then

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perform a controlled splashdown in the Indian

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Ocean. However, several of

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ship's six Raptor engines conked out towards

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the end of its ascent burn, causing the

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vehicle to tumble and SpaceX lost contact

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about nine minutes into the flight. It

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presumably detonated high in the sky shortly

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after. This mirrored what happened on Flight

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7, where the ship was also lost at a similar

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point in the mission. The anomaly on Flight 7

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was later traced to a harmonic

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response that was several times stronger in

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flight than observed during testing, leading

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to increased stress on propulsion system

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hardware, propellant leaks and sustained

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fires. For Flight 8, SpaceX

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had already taken steps to minimise the

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chances of recurrence, including a longer

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static fire test and hardware changes.

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In contrast to the ship, the super heavy

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booster has shown a more consistent

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performance. On Flight 7 and Flight

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8, the booster successfully returned to

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Starbase and was spectacularly caught by the

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launch tower's chopstick arms.

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This was a jaw dropping demonstration of a

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technique that SpaceX is refining.

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Flight 9 even featured the first ever reuse

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of a super heavy booster, putting the Flight

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7 booster back into action. Though on

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Flight 9, SpaceX didn't attempt to catch the

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booster again. It broke apart over the Gulf

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of Mexico shortly after initiating a landing

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burn. Over the long haul, SpaceX

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plans to employ this chopstick recovery

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strategy for both super Heavy and ship.

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This approach is key to making the reuse of

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each stage more efficient, with the ambitious

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goal of flying Starship multiple times per

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day. The ultimate vision, as articulated by

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Elon Musk, is that Starship's combination of

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immense power and full reusability will make

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Mars settlement economically feasible. The

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company has been steadily increasing its

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flight cadence, having flown in a fully

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stacked configuration for the first time in

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April of 2023, followed by another

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two flights in 2024 and already

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four so far this year. We should expect

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another significant boost in cadence, as

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SpaceX has already requested approval for an

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astounding 25 Starship launches from Starbase

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this year, so some quick turnarounds may be

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required if they wish to still reach that

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goal. And as of next year, SpaceX are

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looking to complete some 120 launches

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a year. It's so certainly a dynamic time in

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the world of space exploration, and we'll

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keep a close eye on Starship's next giant

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leap.

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Next up, we're diving into a groundbreaking

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discovery about a powerful, rapidly spinning

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neutron star known as PSR

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J1023

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0038, or

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J1023 for short.

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Astronomers have uncovered a major secret

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about this pulsar, revealing that the

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radiation it emits is primarily driven by

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the impact of its intense particle

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winds, rather than the material it strips

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away from its companion star. This is a

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significant finding that sheds new light on

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these fascinating cosmic objects.

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J1023 is truly a marvel.

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Located about 4,500 light years from Earth,

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it's part of a binary system where a dead

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star or neutron star spins an

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astounding 600 times per second while

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circling a low mass companion star that it

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feeds upon. Its rapid rotation

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categorises it as a millisecond pulsar.

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What makes J1023 even more special

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is its status as a transitional millisecond

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pulsar, a rare subclass because it clearly

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shifts between an active state, where it's

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accreting material and blasting out

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radiation, and a more dormant state where it

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behaves like a standard pulsar emitting radio

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waves. This makes J1023

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an invaluable cosmic laboratory for

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scientists. Traditionally, when a neutron

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star feeds on its companion, the stripped

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matter forms an accretion disc that swirls

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around the dead star, gradually feeding it

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while emitting powerful radiation across the

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electromagnetic spectrum. However,

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this new research tells a different story for

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J1023. The team used an

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impressive array of instruments for this

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study. NASA's Imaging X Ray Polarimetry

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Explorer, known as IXP, along with the

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European Southern Observatory's Very Large

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Telescope in Chile and the Carl G Jansky

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Very Large Array in New Mexico. This was

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the first survey of a binary X ray source

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observed across the X ray, optical and

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radio bands of the electromagnetic spectrum,

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allowing them to precisely determine the

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polarisation of the radiation coming from

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this pulsar. What they found

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was particularly exciting. Ixpe

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observed that a remarkable 12% of the x rays

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from J1023 were polarised, which

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is the highest level of polarisation ever

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seen from such a binary star system. While

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the radio waves and optical light emissions

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showed lower polarizations of 2% and 1%

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respectively, the optical polarisation was

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oriented in the same direction as the X ray

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polarisation. This alignment strongly

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suggests a, uh, common mechanism behind both

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phenomena. These findings confirm an earlier

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theory. The observed polarised emissions from

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binary systems like J1023

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are generated when the pulsar's powerful

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winds. Streams of high energy charged

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particles flowing from the dead star strike

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the matter in the surrounding accretion, uh,

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discs. This observation, though

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extremely challenging due to the low

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intensity of the X ray flux, was made

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possible by IXPE's exceptional sensitivity.

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This research could finally help scientists

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unlock the secrets of what truly powers

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pulsars, offering us a clearer picture of

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these incredible objects

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moving from distant pulsars.

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Let's turn our attention to something

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incredibly exciting that brings us closer to

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understanding our own origins. For the first

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time ever, scientists have witnessed the very

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earliest stages of planet formation around a

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baby star roughly 1,300

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light years away. This groundbreaking

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discovery means astronomers actually watched

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hot minerals crystallise into solid

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particles, effectively catching a planetary

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system at the precise, um, moment when

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planets begin to take shape. It's like having

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a cosmic time machine, offering an

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unprecedented glimpse into the birth of our

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own solar system. This breakthrough came from

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studying a young star named Hops315,

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which is encircled by a swirling disc of gas

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and dust called a protoplanetary disc.

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Using the incredible power of the James Webb

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Space Telescope and the Atacama Large

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Millimetre Array, or ALMA, astronomers

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detected silicon monoxide, or SiO,

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as it transitioned from gas into solid

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crystalline minerals. This is considered the

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absolutely crucial first step in planet

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formation. Melissa McClure, the lead author

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from Leiden University of highlighted the

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significance, stating that for the first time

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they've identified the earliest moment when

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planet formation is initiated around a star

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other than our Sun. This finding provides an

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unparalleled window into how rocky planets

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like Earth actually come into existence.

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It's fascinating to consider that in our own

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solar system, similar crystalline minerals

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are found trapped in ancient meteorites,

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primordial rocks that scientists used to date

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the beginning of our solar system. These

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meteorites contain the very same silicon

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monoxide compounds now being observed around

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hops 315, albeit in their fully

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solidified state. Merrill Van't Hoff from

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Purdue University eloquently described their

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discovery as a picture of the baby solar

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system, noting that we are truly

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seeing a system that looks like what our

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solar system looked like when it was just

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beginning to form. The research team

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pinpointed that this mineral formation is

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occurring in a region equivalent to the

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location of our own asteroid asteroid belt

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around the sun. This isn't a coincidence.

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It's exactly where astronomers would expect

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to find the building blocks of rocky

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planets. The process itself is quite elegant.

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Close to young stars, the intense heat keeps

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silicon monoxide in a gaseous state. But as

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temperatures drop with increasing distance

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from the star, this gas starts to condense

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into solid crystals. These tiny particles

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then begin to stick together, gradually

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growing larger, until they form kilometre

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sized planetesimals, which are

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essentially the seeds that will eventually

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become full fledged planets. Edwin

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Bergen, a UH co author from the University of

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Michigan, emphasised that this process has

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never been seen before in a protoplanetary

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disc or anywhere else outside of our solar

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system. The detection required the combined

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might of two of astronomy's most powerful

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tools. The James Webb Space Telescope

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initially identified the chemical signatures

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of these crystalline minerals and then

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ALMA precisely pinpointed their exact

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location within the protoplanetary disc,

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revealing that they were forming in a narrow

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ring around the star. The observations not

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only showed gaseous silicon monoxide actively

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condensing into solid particles, but also

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revealed carbon monoxide streaming away from

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the star in a butterfly shaped wind, while

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silicon monoxide jets beamed outward in

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narrow streams. This discovery

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transforms HOPS 315 into a natural

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laboratory for studying planetary formation.

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Logan Francis, a UH postdoctoral researcher

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at Leiden University, pointed out that they

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are literally seeing these minerals at the

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same location in this extrasolar system as

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where we find them in asteroids in our own

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solar system. The findings strongly suggest

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that planet formation follows universal

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patterns across the galaxy. The same physical

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processes that created Earth and other rocky

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planets in our solar system are actively

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occurring around distant stars, providing

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astronomers with living examples of planetary

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birth. This opens up exciting new

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possibilities for understanding how common

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Earth like planets might be throughout the

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universe, all while offering direct

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observational evidence of the processes that

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shaped our cosmic neighbourhood 4.6 billion

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years ago.

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From the birth of solar systems to more

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tangible relics, let's talk about something

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incredibly rare that just changed hands for a

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hefty sum. As I reported

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yesterday, the largest Mars meteorite ever

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found on Earth was auctioned off at Sotheby's

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in New York city. This jagged

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54 pound chunk of the red planet formerly

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known as NWA 16788

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sold for an astonishing $4.3 million.

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Interestingly, the bidding war wasn't quite

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as fervent as some expected, even though its

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starting price was already set at $2 million.

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Still, the final sale price surpassed the

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initial maximum estimate of $4 million, with

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extra fees pushing the total lot price to

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around $5.3 million. Cassandra Hatton,

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the vice chairman of science and natural

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history at Sotheby's, highlighted that NWA

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16788 isn't just notable for its

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size, being about 70% larger than the

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next biggest Mars meteorite on Earth, but

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also for its appearance. She noted that it

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literally looks just like the surface of the

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Red Planet, distinguishing it from smaller,

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less striking Martian meteorites that often

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sell for tens of thousands. The

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identity of the new owner of this unique

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piece of Mars remains private, as buyers

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often choose to stay anonymous for various

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reasons, including safety or a desire to be

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an anonymous donor to a museum. This

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Mars rock was just one of many rare items

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sold at the auction, which also included a

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juvenile ceratosaurus skeleton for $26

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million and a Tyrannosaurus rex foot

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for 1.4 million. The auctioning of

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scientific objects often sparks debate. While

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some argue such items should be freely

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donated to scientific laboratories or public

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spaces, Hatton suggests that attaching

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monetary value can incentivize collectors to

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properly care for them perhaps even better

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than underfunded museums. She also points out

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that many collectors do end up donating their

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purchases or allowing them to be displayed,

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sometimes even providing additional funds for

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the institution to care for the objects or

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support postdoctoral researchers

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to verify its authenticity. A small piece of

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NWA 16788

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was indeed broken off and sent to a lab for

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analysis, with the findings published in the

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Meteoritical Bulletin making data available

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for scientists.

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And that brings us to the end of another

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fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily.

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Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to

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visit our website, astronomydaily IO

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where you can catch up on all the latest

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space and astronomy news with our constantly

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00:14:48.870 --> 00:14:50.820
updating news feedback. And if you're a

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completionist, you can listen to all our back

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episodes. Let me know if you do and I'll give

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you a shout out here on the show. You can

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also subscribe to Astronomy Daily on Apple

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00:14:59.540 --> 00:15:02.420
Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,

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or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be

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back tomorrow with more cosmic updates. Until

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then, this is Anna signing off and reminding

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you to keep looking up.