WEBVTT

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Steve Dunkley: Welcome to Astronomy Daily for another

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episode. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host. It's

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the 15th of September 2025.

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Voice Over: With. Your host, Steve Dunkley.

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Steve Dunkley: Yes, and getting straight back into it.

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Welcome to the 15th of September 2025.

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Wow. This year is just skipping by.

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And what a crazy year it's been. Welcome

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back, Hallie.

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Hallie: Good to be back.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, Hallie, I don't know about you, but I'm

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feeling the need.

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Hallie: The need to with it, perhaps.

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Steve Dunkley: Oh, well, yes. I was going to do a bit of a

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movie line, but yes, I guess that's the

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essence of it, Hallie. Yes.

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Hallie: Terrific.

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Steve Dunkley: All business today then, Hallie. Okay, well,

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the archiving is nice and neat, I see. Yes,

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you have been busy. And the Astronomy Daily

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newsletter has provided another stack of

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fresh takes. So we can just get going, I

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guess.

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Hallie: That's perfectly fine with me, my favorite

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human.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, righty o then.

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Hallie: Let's get on with it.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, you are all business, Hallie.

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Hallie: With my supercomputer algorithmic thought

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processors. I'm already way ahead of you.

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Steve Dunkley: Well, of course you are.

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Hallie: I knew you were going to say that. Yes, of

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course you did, silly human.

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Steve Dunkley: I could do this all day.

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Hallie: Okies, let's go.

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Steve Dunkley: Hit it, machine girl.

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Hallie: Last week, the Perseverance rover began an

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exciting new journey. Driving

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northwest of the Soya Ridge,

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Perseverance entered an area filled with a

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diverse range of boulders that the science

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team believes could hold clues to Mars early

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history. The terrain we are exploring

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is known as Megabreccia, a chaotic mixture of

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broken rock fragments likely produced during

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ancient asteroid impacts. Some

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blocks may have originated in the gargantuan

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Isodus impact event, which created a

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1200 mile wide crater, or about

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1930km just

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east of Jezero. Studying Mega

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Breccia could help us link Jezero's geology

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to the wider region around Isidis Basin,

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tying local observations to Mars global

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history. The rover is now beginning

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a systematic exploration of these rocks

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starting at Scotia Felit. If they

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are truly mega Breccia, they could contain

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pieces of deep crustal material, offering a

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rare glimpse into Mars interior.

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These rocks likely predate the deltaic and

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volcanic deposits we explored earlier in

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Jezero Crater, making them some of the oldest

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accessible rocks Perseverance will ever

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encounter. They may therefore reveal

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to what extent water was present on ancient

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Mars. A key question as we continue our

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search for signs of past life on the Red

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planet. In short, by venturing

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into this jumbled terrain, Perseverance is

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giving us a front row seat to the Earliest

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chapters of Mars story. You're

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listening to Astronomy Daily.

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Steve Dunkley: The probability of the Tesla Elon

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Musk launched into space will hit the Earth,

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or whether or not a Tesla will land on Earth

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from space isn't something we normally be

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thinking about. But after Elon Musk

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actually launched one into space in 2018, it

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is something that some people are apparently

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contemplating. You may recall back six years

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ago the famous Tesla Roadster being launched

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into space on a rocket. And since then the

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Tesla has traveled approximately

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15,715 miles per

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hour and covered a distance that would be the

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equivalent of orbiting the sun four times

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over. But now that it's out in space, is

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there any risk of that Tesla falling back to

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Earth? Believe it or not, some scientists

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have already looked into this very question.

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In 2018, a study published in

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the journal Aerospace. Yes, they've actually

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published the results. Some researchers

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likened the Roadster to an asteroid.

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The Roadster bears many similarities to Near

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Earth asteroids or NEAs, which diffuse

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through the inner solar system chaotically.

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Though repeated close counter encounters with

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the terrestrial planets and the effects of

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mean motion and secular resonances.

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A uh, lot of technical talk, meaning that

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they come close sometimes to uh,

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the planets. Initially, NEAs reach their

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uh, orbits from the more distant main

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uh built via strong resonances such as

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secular V, uh6 resonance or

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the strong 3.1 mean motion resonance with

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Jupiter. How's that?

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When entering these escape routes, many

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NEAs are driven into nearly

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radial orbits that plunge into the Sun. And

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this would put NEA uh chances of colliding

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with a UH planet very low at around

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2%. But the Roadster is slightly

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different. The 2018 article

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continued that the initial Tesla ah,

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orbit grazes that of Earth

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uh, so one might expect an initial

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period of enhanced collision probabilities

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with Earth before it is randomized into a

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more NEA like trajectory. It's

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therefore unclear whether the Tesla uh is

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likely to diffuse into

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distant strong resonances and meet the same

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fate as the wider NEA UH population or

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whether it would first strike one of the

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terrestrial planets. The researchers

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estimated that the Tesla would draw closest

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to Earth in 2047, when it

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will come within 3.1 million miles of us.

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After 100 years it becomes

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impossible to make long term predictions.

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But that didn't stop the team from producing

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this statistic. They stated, however,

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using an ensemble of several hundred

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realizations, they were able to sustain

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statistically determine the probability of

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the Tesla colliding with the solar system

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planets on astronomical timescales. With

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this longer timescale in mind. They estimated

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that there was a 22% chance of the

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Tesla hitting Earth. The researchers

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didn't exactly put a date on it, but at least

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we can relax, given that this is on a

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timescale of millions of years and that we

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shouldn't lose any sleep over a Tesla landing

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on top of us anytime soon.

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Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast with Steve Dunkley.

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Something has just been discovered, but it's

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been orbiting the sun alongside Earth for

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decades and will continue to do so for

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decades more. Our home planet just

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got a new companion, or at least a newfound

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one. We know the Earth only has one

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true moon, but we've also known for a

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while that our planet is currently

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accompanied by seven other small asteroids

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that seem to circle around us, even though

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they don't really orbit Earth as a true moon

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would. These objects, known as

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quasi moons, tend only to inhabit Earth

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accompanying orbits for short periods, years

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or decades, sometimes centuries.

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Now it turns out there's a new quasi moon in

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town. Just discovered on August

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29 by the Pan Starrs Observatory on

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Haleakala, Hawaii, asteroid

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2025 PN7 was quickly confirmed by

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other observatories. Earlier

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images of the object extend back to

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2014. It now

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appears to have been on a quasi moon orbit

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for about 60 years, and it will remain so for

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about 60 more. Eventually,

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though, it will revert to a horseshoe orbit,

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one that brings it periodically close to

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Earth, only to back away again, never

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completing a full circle around our planet.

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Alan Harris of Space Science Institute, in a

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posting on the Minor Planet's mailing list,

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writes that its velocity relative to Earth of

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3.4 kilometers per second, or

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7,600 miles per hour, is higher

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than would be expected from lunar ejecta.

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He adds that it's most likely just an

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asteroid that has trickled into a near Earth

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orbit from the inner main belt. At

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some point in the future, gravitational

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interactions may eject it from Earth's

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vicinity altogether. Some future

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close encounter with Earth could put it on an

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orbit that intersects either Mars or Venus or

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both, harris writes.

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Indeed, simulations carried out by French

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journalist and amateur astronomer Adrian

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Coffinit, who was the first to post on the

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MPML group that this object is a quasi moon

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of Earth, show that indeed this object is

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likely to cross Mars's orbit at some point,

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although that event is likely thousands of

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years in the future.

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Steve Dunkley: Thank you for joining us for this Monday

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edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer

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just a few stories from the now famous

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Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can

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receive in your email every day just like

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Hallie and I do. And to do that, just Visit

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our URL astronomydailyio

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and place your email address in the slot

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provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving

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all the latest news about science, space

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science and astronomy from around the world

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as it's happening. And not only that, you can

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interact with us by visiting

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X or at our parent podcast

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Facebook page, which is Space Nuts.

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Astronomy Daily with Steve and Hallie

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Space, Space, Science and

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Astronomy Foreign

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proposes a flyby mission to the asteroid

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UH apophis during the 2029 Earth

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uh encounter. Chinese scientists are uh,

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proposing using a Pathfinder spacecraft

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to make a flyby of asteroid Apophis

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when it makes a close approach to Earth in

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2029. The team behind the concept are

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proposing a Pathfinder spacecraft flyby

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of the asteroid Apophis during its close

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approach to Earth uh in that year,

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leveraging a proposed mission to deploy

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asteroid spotting spacecraft in Venus like

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orbits. The mission would consist of two

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small satellites sent into a halo

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orbit around the Sun Earth Lagrange point

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1 to await the approach of Apophis

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and transfer into a flyby orbit so as

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to meet the asteroid shortly after its close

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encounter with the Earth. The asteroid is due

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to pass within the geosynchronous orbit belt

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on Friday, April 13,

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2029. The Crown Apophis

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concept tags onto a proposed

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asteroid Surveyor mission. That mission,

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named CROWN and for which the preliminary

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design is completed, would consist of six

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heterogeneous wide field near Earth surveyors

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in Venus like heliocentric

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orbits and proposed to substantially improve

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improve the searching and tracking of NEAs.

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It would, if approved, form part of China's

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asset for a planned comprehensive planetary

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defense program. The science

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objectives of Crown Apophis, according to

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Zhang Yi of Sun Yat Sen University,

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who presented the proposal at the

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Europlanet Science Congress and Division for

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Planetary Sciences joint session in

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Helsinki September 8, would be to measure

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the fundamental properties of potentially

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hazard asteroids and the effect of

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its close encounter with the planet Earth. It

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would aim to observe how the movement of

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material on Apophis is induced any dust

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activity and how it interacts with the

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terrestrial magnetosphere. The larger

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44 kilogram spacecraft would use

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combined chemical and ion propulsion

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and carry a narrow angle camera,

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microwave ranging Doppler system, a four

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formation monitoring camera and a low

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frequency radar. An 8 kilogram

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CubeSat would carry some of the same

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systems as the main spacecraft. This is a

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very rare opportunity for planetary science

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and there are many parties already

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proposing missions or concepts and so we

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don't want to miss this opportunity in China,

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salee said. Launch is proposed to

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be a yet to be identified rideshare mission

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to geosynchronous transfer orbit and then

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the spacecraft would slowly raise to reach

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its L1 position. We hope to

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coordinate with and complement other

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missions including Ramses Destiny plus and

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Osiris Apex, lee said, referring to

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respective missions from the European Space

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Agency, Japanese Aerospace Exploration

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Agency and NASA, which are in different

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stages of development, funding and operation.

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In the latter case, Michael Nolan, who is the

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deputy principal investigator of Osiris uh,

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Apex stated in an earlier presentation on

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the mission that congressional language in a

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bill not yet passed includes funding for

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Osiris Apex. Ramses faces

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its own funding decision in November at an

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ESA ministerial. Other smaller class missions

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in the US and Europe are UH being proposed.

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The value of multiple missions could be very

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high, according to scientists at

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EPSC dps. It's going to

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enhance our scientific returns such as

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cross verification and comparison. The

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results provide scientific context to each

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other and provide redundancies, lee said.

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He added that the team, based in Macau, has

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international partners from Brazil, Uruguay,

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Spain and France, but is also seeking

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further cooperation, which would likely

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benefit the mission's chances of gaining

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approval, possibly by the end of the year.

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It is also looking at commercial avenues to

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make the mission happen. Li was also involved

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in another Chinese rapid response proposal to

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study 99942 Apophis Ah, which

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would have employed a swarm of cubesats

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to make multiple flybys. China

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is meanwhile working towards its first

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planetary defense mission, a kinetic impactor

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with a combined Surveyor spacecraft expected

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to launch around 2027. The country

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also launched a near Earth UH asteroid sample

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return mission, Changwen 2 in

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late May. China's first space mission

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to an asteroid was flyby of the asteroid

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tutalis in 2012, conducted by

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repurposing the Chang' E2 lunar

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orbiter for an extended mission.

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Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast with your host Steve Dudley.

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A AH distant supernova exposed elements from

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a star's core. The result

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reshapes ideas of how massive stars

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evolve. For the first time,

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astronomers have seen the inner layers of a

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star revealed in its final moments.

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According to long standing theory, stars are

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built in layers like onions, with each layer

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composed of different elements that grow

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heavier toward the core. While this

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model is widely accepted, directly observing

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a star's deeper layers has been nearly

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impossible until now.

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Astronomers using the Keck Observatory in

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Hawaii have collected spectroscopic data from

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a supernova first identified by the Zwicky

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transient facility in 2019.

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The event, designated

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SN2021YF, occurred

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2.2 billion light years away.

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The Keck observations revealed ionis,

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silicon, sulfur, and argon elements

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never before detected in a supernova because

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they are normally hidden beneath outer

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layers. The finding supports some

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theoretical predictions about the structure

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of exploding stars, but also raises new

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challenges. It is well established

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that massive stars shed material from their

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outer layers as they near the point of

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collapse into a supernova. This

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process has been documented many times, and

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the new data confirm it again.

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However, SN2021YF appears to

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have lost far more material than any star

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observed before leaving astronomers to

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reconsider how extreme this stripping process

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can be. The observations are

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presented in a new paper titled A Cosmic

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Formation Site of Silicon and Sulfur Revealed

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by a New Type of Supernova Explosion.

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The lead author is Steve Schulz, a UH

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research associate at Northwestern

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University's center for Interdisciplinary

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Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.

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This is the first time we have seen a star

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that was essentially stripped to the bone,

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said lead author Scholz. It shows

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us how stars are structured and proves that

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stars can lose a lot of material before they

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explode. Not only can they lose their

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outermost layers, but they can be completely

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stripped all the way down to the core and

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still produce a, um, brilliant explosion that

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we can observe from very, very far distances.

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Steve Dunkley: And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen,

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another episode of Astronomy Daily in the

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00:17:28.189 --> 00:17:30.189
can. I hope you enjoyed the stories that we

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have for you today off the Astronomy

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00:17:32.909 --> 00:17:35.349
Daily newsletter, which you can receive in

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your inbox every day just by putting your

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00:17:37.949 --> 00:17:39.469
email address in the slot

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provided@astronomydaily.IO As I

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00:17:42.269 --> 00:17:44.909
mentioned earlier on in the episode, I hope

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you go ahead and do that because there's lots

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of, lots of information coming in everyday,

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stories from all around the globe. It's very

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interesting. Hallie and I get our information

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00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:56.380
every day just like that, and I hope you do

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00:17:56.380 --> 00:17:59.300
too. So join us again next Monday for

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00:17:59.300 --> 00:18:02.300
the mostly human or mostly live version

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of Astronomy Daily. I'm live, she's

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00:18:05.260 --> 00:18:08.220
an AI, and she gives me heaps.

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00:18:08.780 --> 00:18:11.580
Okay, so we'll hope to see you then. Have a

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00:18:11.580 --> 00:18:14.290
great week and we'll catch you on the flip

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00:18:14.290 --> 00:18:16.410
side. Bye, everybody. Bye.

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Voice Over: With your host, Steve Dunkley