Avery: Welcome space enthusiasts to Astronomy Daily,
the podcast that brings the wonders of the
cosmos down to Earth every single day.
I'm your host, Avery.
Anna: And I'm your other host, Anna. Um, it's great
to be with you. We have a truly packed show
today covering a wide spectrum of space news.
We'll be looking at a recently discovered
asteroid making a very close pass by Earth.
Avery: We'll also dive into a major political
shakeup for the UK Space Agency, see
just how busy SpaceX plans to be this week,
and unravel a long standing mystery
about the sun's fastest particles.
Anna: It's a lot to cover, so let's jump right in.
Avery, why don't you start us off with our
celestial visitor?
Avery: My pleasure. So get this. Astronomers
have spotted a new asteroid designated
2025 QD8, and
it's set for a close flyby on September
3rd. That's tomorrow. When they say close,
they really mean it. In cosmic terms at
least.
Anna: And how close are we talking?
Avery: It's expected to pass within what's known as
one lunar distance. For our listeners,
that's roughly
135,465
miles, or
218,009
kilometres. Essentially the same distance as
our own moon.
Anna: That is quite close for an object we've only
just discovered. It really highlights how
many of these near Earth objects are still
out there waiting to be found. But let's be
clear, this one poses absolutely no risk to
us.
Avery: Absolutely zero risk. But it's still pretty
cool. They say it's about the size of a
commercial jet with an estimated diameter
between, uh, 55 and
124ft. Just big enough
to make you pay attention.
Anna: It certainly is. And for those who want to do
more than just pay attention, there's a great
opportunity to see it.
Avery: That's right. The virtual telescope project,
which does fantastic work, will be hosting a
free livestream of the Flyby on their YouTube
channel. It's a wonderful way for the public
to connect with these events.
Anna: I agree. It turns an abstract piece of news
into a real observable event. A
great reminder of the dynamic solar system we
live in.
Alright, let's bring our focus back down to
Earth for our next story, which involves a
significant shift in space policy. The
government in the United Kingdom has
announced that its space agency, the
uksa, is set to be merged with a larger
government department.
Avery: That sounds like a pretty big deal. Which
department is absorbing it?
Anna: It will become part of the Department for
Science, Innovation and Technology, with the
change expected to be complete by April. The
stated reason is part of a wider initiative
to cut government expenditure and streamline
operations.
Avery: Makes sense from a budget perspective. But
usually these moves have other factors at
play, don't they?
Anna: That's what insiders are suggesting. For some
time, there have apparently been questions in
government circles about UK SA's
merit and its strategic direction. The
perception among some was that the agency had
become too isolated.
Avery: Isolated in what way?
Anna: The concern was that it was too focused on
the goals and wishes of the European Space
Agency, or esa, and perhaps
not aligned enough with the direct needs of
the UK government itself.
Avery: So, on one hand, you have people who see this
as a sensible move to unify stakeholders
and create a single, powerful voice for
science and tech in the government.
Anna: Exactly. But there is a very vocal other
side to this argument. Many in the UK space
industry fear this could seriously harm the
nation's space ambitions.
Avery: How so?
Anna: The fear is that by losing its status as a
standalone agency, the UK's Voice and
Influence the within the European Space
Agency, could be significantly weakened.
It's a delicate balance between domestic
priorities and international collaboration,
and many are worried this M merger tips the
scales in the wrong direction.
Avery: Well, while governments reorganise, the
private sector just keeps launching. And no
one is launching more than SpaceX. This week
is another prime example, with an incredible
five Falcon 9 launches on the manifest.
Anna: That pace is just relentless.
It's almost becoming routine, which is a
testament to their operations. What's on the
docket for these five flights?
Avery: The main focus is, as usual,
Starlink four of the five missions are
dedicated to lofting more satellites for
their Internet constellation. We have
Starlink Group 17.8, Group
1022, 1057
and 17.9. All told,
that's over a hundred new satellites
heading to orbit.
Anna: And they're launching from both of their
primary sites, I assume.
Avery: You bet. They're keeping the pads warm at
both Vandenberg in California and Cape
Canaveral in Florida to keep up this tempo.
The fifth launch is a dedicated mission for a
customer.
Anna: Who are they launching for?
Avery: It's the Nusantara 5 mission, which will
place a powerful Indonesian
telecommunications satellite into
geostationary transfer orbit. It's another
example of how SpaceX dominates the
commercial launch market.
Anna: And amidst all this activity, there's a
pretty significant global milestone being
reached this week.
Avery: That's the really cool part. One of these
five launches is expected to be the
200th orbital launch attempt of
2025 worldwide. We're not even
through September and We've already hit 200
launches for the year.
Anna: It's simply mind boggling. When you think
about where we were just a decade ago, it
truly feels like a paradigm shift in our
access to space.
For our final story Today, let's journey
93 million miles away to our local
star. Scientists using ESA's
incredible Solar Orbiter spacecraft have
solved a key mystery about the Sun's fastest,
most energetic particles.
Avery: I love a, uh, good solar mystery. I know the
sun is constantly throwing things out into
space, but what specific particles were they
looking at?
Anna: They were focused on what are called solar
energetic electrons, or sees.
These are electrons that have been
accelerated to near the speed of light.
Tracing them back to their precise origin on
the sun has been a major challenge for solar
physicists.
Avery: So what did the solar orbiter's unique
perspective allow them to see?
Anna: Its suite of instruments allowed it to
confirm two distinct origins for these SE
events. The first type is what they
call impulsive bursts. These are
short, intense events where electrons are
fired out directly from the site of a solar
flare. Like a rifle shot.
Avery: Okay, a rifle shot from a flare. What's
the other type?
Anna: The other is described as gradual. In this
case, the electrons sort of surf a wave
created by a much larger eruption called a
coronal mass ejection, or cme.
This is more like a giant tsunami of
particles rolling through the solar system.
Avery: A rifle versus a tsunami. That's a great
analogy. Why is that distinction so critical?
Anna: It all comes down to space weather. The
research confirmed that while the flare
events are intense, the CMEs, the
tsunamis, carry a much larger number of
high energy particles. Overall, this makes
them the far greater threat to our technology
and to astronauts in space.
Avery: So understanding the source helps us
quantify the risk.
Anna: Precisely. By knowing whether an event is
impulsive or gradual, forecasters can
make much more accurate predictions about the
level of danger heading our way. So it's a
huge step forward for protecting our assets
and explorers in space.
Avery: And that, unfortunately, is all the time we
have for today's Astronomy Daily. We've
covered a jet sized asteroid, a major policy
shift for the uksa, a record setting
launch week, and a solar tsunami.
Anna: It just goes to show that the universe is
never standing still. There's always
something new and fascinating to discover and
discuss.
Avery: We want to thank all of you for tuning in. Be
sure to subscribe to Astronomy Bailey,
wherever you get your podcast, so you never
miss an episode from both of us here.
Anna: Thank you for listening. Until next time,
keep looking up and keep your eyes on the
stars.