WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:03.320 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the 1 00:00:03.320 --> 00:00:06.040 podcast that brings you the latest news from 2 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:08.480 across the cosmos. I'm your host, 3 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:09.360 Avery. 4 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:12.000 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you. 5 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.480 And today we'll be covering everything from 6 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:17.200 our mysterious interstellar visitor to 7 00:00:17.200 --> 00:00:19.520 groundbreaking discoveries in our own cosmic 8 00:00:19.520 --> 00:00:20.160 backyard. 9 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:23.240 Avery: That's right, Anna. On today's episode, we'll 10 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:26.080 be looking at new images of a comet from 11 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:28.520 another star system, uncovering 12 00:00:28.520 --> 00:00:31.280 organic compounds on one of Saturn's moons, 13 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:34.460 and detailing a daring private rescue mission 14 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:36.380 for a NASA space telescope. 15 00:00:36.620 --> 00:00:39.260 Anna: And there's more. We'll also be examining a 16 00:00:39.260 --> 00:00:42.140 brand new tiny crater on the moon and 17 00:00:42.220 --> 00:00:44.340 peering back to the dawn of time with the 18 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:47.180 James Webb Telescope to investigate a cosmic 19 00:00:47.180 --> 00:00:49.460 mystery that's challenging everything we 20 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:51.180 thought we knew about black holes. 21 00:00:51.580 --> 00:00:52.860 So let's get started. 22 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.180 Avery: First up, our current visitor from deep 23 00:00:56.180 --> 00:00:59.060 space. NASA has just released a trove 24 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:01.260 of new images and data about 25 00:01:01.340 --> 00:01:04.160 interstellar comet space 3i atlas. 26 00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:05.760 This is a pretty big deal. 27 00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:08.800 Anna: It really is. This is only the third 28 00:01:08.800 --> 00:01:11.240 interstellar object we've ever confirmed 29 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:13.720 entering our solar system, of course, after 30 00:01:13.720 --> 00:01:16.720 Oumuamua and Borisov. And this time, 31 00:01:16.800 --> 00:01:19.520 we were ready for it. A whole fleet of 32 00:01:19.520 --> 00:01:22.240 spacecraft got a look, including the James 33 00:01:22.240 --> 00:01:24.160 Webb Telescope and even the Mars 34 00:01:24.160 --> 00:01:25.440 Reconnaissance Orbiter. 35 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.520 Avery: Right, and the big takeaway? It's 36 00:01:28.520 --> 00:01:31.000 definitely a comet. There was a lot of 37 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.600 speculation, especially after Oumuamua, 38 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.260 about Alie spaceships. But 39 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:38.980 scientists have confirmed that 3i Atlas 40 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:41.860 looks and behaves just like a comet from 41 00:01:41.860 --> 00:01:44.460 our own solar system. Complete with a tail 42 00:01:44.460 --> 00:01:45.500 and a coma. 43 00:01:45.580 --> 00:01:48.220 Anna: Exactly. No alien technology here. 44 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:51.059 But what they did find is scientifically 45 00:01:51.059 --> 00:01:53.660 fascinating. The data shows it's rich in 46 00:01:53.660 --> 00:01:56.300 carbon dioxide and water ice. But what's 47 00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:58.780 interesting is the ratio. There's more 48 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:01.730 frozen carbon dioxide than. Than water ice. 49 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:04.730 Avery: Mhm. That's unusual compared to comets 50 00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:07.730 from our own Oort Cloud. It suggests 51 00:02:07.730 --> 00:02:10.450 it formed in a very different, likely very 52 00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:13.010 cold environment around its parent star. 53 00:02:13.410 --> 00:02:16.330 Its trajectory is also unique, coming in at 54 00:02:16.330 --> 00:02:18.530 a steep angle relative to the planets. 55 00:02:19.010 --> 00:02:21.690 Anna: And that's the real prize here, because it 56 00:02:21.690 --> 00:02:24.170 came from outside our solar system. It's a 57 00:02:24.170 --> 00:02:26.810 pristine sample of ancient material from a 58 00:02:26.810 --> 00:02:29.200 completely different solar system. It's. It's 59 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:31.640 like getting a geological sample delivered to 60 00:02:31.640 --> 00:02:34.330 our doorstep from an alien world. A, uh, 61 00:02:34.440 --> 00:02:37.280 truly incredible opportunity to study the 62 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:39.520 building blocks of another solar system. 63 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:42.880 Avery: From the outer reaches of the solar system to 64 00:02:42.880 --> 00:02:44.880 one of its most intriguing moons. 65 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:47.840 Let's talk about Enceladus. New 66 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.600 analysis of old data from NASA's 67 00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:52.960 Cassini mission has turned up something 68 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.040 exciting in the Plumes erupting from this icy 69 00:02:56.040 --> 00:02:56.960 moon of Saturn. 70 00:02:57.460 --> 00:03:00.020 Anna: That Cassini mission just keeps on giving, 71 00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:02.580 doesn't it? These plumes are essentially 72 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:04.980 geysers of water, ice and gas 73 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:07.380 shooting out from cracks in the moon's 74 00:03:07.380 --> 00:03:10.220 surface, originating from a vast liquid water 75 00:03:10.220 --> 00:03:12.740 ocean we know is hidden beneath the ice. 76 00:03:13.059 --> 00:03:16.020 Avery: It really does. And during one of its final 77 00:03:16.100 --> 00:03:18.820 daring flybys, Cassini flew just 78 00:03:18.820 --> 00:03:21.660 13 miles from the surface, right through one 79 00:03:21.660 --> 00:03:23.540 of these plumes, collecting samples. 80 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:26.120 Scientists have been digging through that 81 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.520 data and found evidence of previously 82 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:30.760 undetected organic compounds. 83 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.560 Anna: And these aren't just simple molecules. 84 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:36.240 The new findings suggest a greater diversity 85 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.160 of organic compounds than we knew about. And 86 00:03:39.160 --> 00:03:41.360 some of them are the types of molecules that 87 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:43.520 can act as precursors for amino, um, 88 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:46.920 acids, the building blocks of proteins which 89 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:49.160 are essential for life as we know it. 90 00:03:49.570 --> 00:03:52.410 Avery: That's the key. This fresh material, straight 91 00:03:52.410 --> 00:03:55.210 from the subsurface ocean, suggests that some 92 00:03:55.210 --> 00:03:57.690 really complex organic chemistry could be 93 00:03:57.690 --> 00:04:00.210 happening in the dark, warm waters of 94 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:02.690 Enceladus. It strengthens the case for it 95 00:04:02.690 --> 00:04:05.130 being one of the most promising places in our 96 00:04:05.130 --> 00:04:08.010 solar system to search for extraterrestrial 97 00:04:08.010 --> 00:04:08.290 life. 98 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:11.410 Anna: It doesn't mean we've found life, but it adds 99 00:04:11.410 --> 00:04:13.570 another crucial piece to the puzzle, 100 00:04:13.650 --> 00:04:16.170 suggesting that the necessary ingredients are 101 00:04:16.170 --> 00:04:18.900 there. And it's an incredibly tantalizing 102 00:04:18.900 --> 00:04:19.460 discovery. 103 00:04:19.860 --> 00:04:22.260 Avery: Now let's turn our attention closer to home 104 00:04:22.340 --> 00:04:25.100 to a story about saving a crucial piece of 105 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:27.500 our space infrastructure. We're talking about 106 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:30.260 NASA's Neil Girls Swift Observatory. 107 00:04:30.900 --> 00:04:33.380 Anna: Swift has been a, uh, workhorse for nearly 108 00:04:33.380 --> 00:04:35.940 two decades, studying the most powerful 109 00:04:35.940 --> 00:04:38.900 explosions in the universe, gamma ray bursts. 110 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:42.020 But its gyroscopes are failing, and it's 111 00:04:42.020 --> 00:04:44.480 in a, uh, slowly decaying orbit. The 112 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.480 projections weren't good. It was expected to 113 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.440 make an uncontrolled re entry and crash back 114 00:04:50.440 --> 00:04:52.720 to Earth as early as 2026. 115 00:04:53.280 --> 00:04:56.040 Avery: Right. And losing it would be a huge blow to 116 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:58.720 astronomy. But NASA has a plan. 117 00:04:58.960 --> 00:05:01.840 They've selected a private company, Catalyst 118 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:04.640 Space Technologies, to launch a robotic 119 00:05:04.640 --> 00:05:05.520 rescue mission. 120 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:08.760 Anna: This is where it gets really interesting. The 121 00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:11.720 mission will use a Northrop Grumman Pegasus 122 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:14.710 rocket, which, which is a unique system. It's 123 00:05:14.710 --> 00:05:16.790 not launched from the ground. It's air 124 00:05:16.790 --> 00:05:18.950 launched from under the wing of a carrier 125 00:05:18.950 --> 00:05:21.550 aircraft. The mission is scheduled for June 126 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:22.470 2026. 127 00:05:23.190 --> 00:05:26.070 Avery: And it's set to be a historic first. This 128 00:05:26.070 --> 00:05:28.429 will be the first ever capture of an 129 00:05:28.429 --> 00:05:31.350 uncrewed US Government satellite by a 130 00:05:31.350 --> 00:05:34.190 private commercial spacecraft. Catalyst's 131 00:05:34.190 --> 00:05:36.590 robotic servicing vehicle will rendezvous 132 00:05:36.590 --> 00:05:39.310 with Swift, dock with it, and then use its 133 00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:41.190 own thrusters to do the heavy lifting. 134 00:05:41.750 --> 00:05:44.310 Anna: The goal is to boost Swift back up to its 135 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:46.710 original stable altitude. If 136 00:05:46.710 --> 00:05:49.550 successful, this maneuver could extend the 137 00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:52.150 observatory's life for another two decades. 138 00:05:52.390 --> 00:05:55.270 It's a fantastic example of public private 139 00:05:55.270 --> 00:05:58.110 partnership and a new era of maintaining 140 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:00.910 and servicing our assets in space, Rather 141 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:02.950 than just letting them become space junk. 142 00:06:03.590 --> 00:06:06.150 Avery: From saving a satellite to spotting new 143 00:06:06.150 --> 00:06:08.430 features on the moon. NASA's Lunar 144 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:11.270 Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has been 145 00:06:11.270 --> 00:06:14.250 circling the moon since 2000, and it has 146 00:06:14.250 --> 00:06:16.770 just discovered something new. A small, 147 00:06:17.090 --> 00:06:18.130 fresh crater. 148 00:06:18.690 --> 00:06:21.250 Anna: It's adorable. As far as craters go. 149 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:23.930 They've nicknamed it a freckle. It's only 150 00:06:23.930 --> 00:06:26.730 about 72ft, or 22 meters in 151 00:06:26.730 --> 00:06:29.449 diameter. The LRO team found it by 152 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:32.410 comparing images of the same area Taken at 153 00:06:32.410 --> 00:06:34.810 different times. They've narrowed it down to 154 00:06:34.810 --> 00:06:37.650 its formation between 2009 and 155 00:06:37.650 --> 00:06:38.450 2012. 156 00:06:39.340 --> 00:06:42.340 Avery: So in cosmic terms, it's brand new. The 157 00:06:42.340 --> 00:06:44.940 impact was energetic enough to blast bright, 158 00:06:45.020 --> 00:06:47.300 fresh material from beneath the lunar 159 00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:49.780 surface, Creating these beautiful rays 160 00:06:49.780 --> 00:06:52.100 stretching outwards. You can see it really 161 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:53.180 clearly in the images. 162 00:06:53.580 --> 00:06:56.060 Anna: Mm mhm. But that brightness won't last. 163 00:06:56.380 --> 00:06:59.180 Over millions of years, a process called 164 00:06:59.260 --> 00:07:01.500 space weathering bombardment by 165 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:04.020 micrometeorites and charged particles from 166 00:07:04.020 --> 00:07:06.650 the sun Will slowly darken that material 167 00:07:06.650 --> 00:07:08.930 until it blends back in with the surrounding 168 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:09.410 terrain. 169 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:12.450 Avery: It seems like a small thing, but studying 170 00:07:12.450 --> 00:07:15.250 these new impacts Is incredibly important. It 171 00:07:15.250 --> 00:07:17.530 helps scientists understand the current rate 172 00:07:17.530 --> 00:07:20.050 of impacts on the Moon. And that data is 173 00:07:20.050 --> 00:07:22.370 crucial for planning safe landing sites and 174 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:25.090 habitats for the upcoming Artemis missions. 175 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:27.490 When we send astronauts back to the lunar 176 00:07:27.490 --> 00:07:29.970 surface, we need to know what the risks are. 177 00:07:30.780 --> 00:07:33.420 Anna: Finally, for our last story, we're going 178 00:07:33.580 --> 00:07:36.540 deep, Way deep into the early universe. 179 00:07:36.700 --> 00:07:39.020 Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, 180 00:07:39.260 --> 00:07:41.620 Astronomers have been using Webb to study 181 00:07:41.620 --> 00:07:44.540 objects they've nicknamed little red dots. 182 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:47.660 Avery: Right. These aren't just any dots. They are 183 00:07:47.820 --> 00:07:50.460 extremely distant and therefore very 184 00:07:50.460 --> 00:07:53.420 young, compact galaxies. Because of 185 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.900 the expansion of the universe, Their light 186 00:07:56.290 --> 00:07:58.930 has been stretched or redshifted, 187 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:02.250 so they appear red to us. We're essentially 188 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:04.930 looking back in time to the cosmic dawn. 189 00:08:05.410 --> 00:08:07.970 Anna: Exactly. And one of these galaxies in 190 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.770 particular, named Knucks LRD 191 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.570 Z8.6, has presented a 192 00:08:13.570 --> 00:08:16.370 real puzzle. We're seeing it as it was, 193 00:08:16.450 --> 00:08:19.090 just 570 million years 194 00:08:19.250 --> 00:08:22.170 after the Big Bang. The universe was still in 195 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:24.810 its infancy. And hidden inside this 196 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:27.730 tiny young galaxy Is an actively grow 197 00:08:28.190 --> 00:08:29.630 supermassive black hole. 198 00:08:30.190 --> 00:08:32.990 Avery: And that is the shocking part. Based on its 199 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:35.870 brightness, this black hole is far, far 200 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:38.750 more massive than it should be for that point 201 00:08:38.750 --> 00:08:41.390 in cosmic history. Current theories suggest 202 00:08:41.390 --> 00:08:43.870 that black holes and their host galaxies grow 203 00:08:43.949 --> 00:08:46.810 in tandem over billions of years. A, uh, 204 00:08:46.810 --> 00:08:49.310 seed black hole forms and it slowly 205 00:08:49.310 --> 00:08:51.710 accretes matter as its galaxy grows around 206 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:52.030 it. 207 00:08:52.270 --> 00:08:55.030 Anna: But this one breaks the mold. This 208 00:08:55.030 --> 00:08:57.710 black hole seems to have grown much faster 209 00:08:57.710 --> 00:09:00.650 than its host Galax. Or perhaps 210 00:09:00.650 --> 00:09:03.490 it started from a much larger seed 211 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:06.370 than we thought possible. It's as if we 212 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:09.370 found a fully grown oak tree just a 213 00:09:09.370 --> 00:09:11.930 week after planting an acorn. It 214 00:09:11.930 --> 00:09:14.730 challenges our fundamental models of how 215 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:17.210 the first black holes and galaxies 216 00:09:17.530 --> 00:09:19.130 form and co evolve. 217 00:09:19.370 --> 00:09:22.050 Avery: It's a fantastic mystery. It could mean we 218 00:09:22.050 --> 00:09:24.450 need to rethink how these cosmic giants come 219 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:26.850 into being. This is exactly the kind of 220 00:09:26.850 --> 00:09:29.810 transformative science the JWST was built 221 00:09:29.810 --> 00:09:32.790 for. Finding the unexpected in forcing us 222 00:09:32.790 --> 00:09:34.230 to come up with new theories. 223 00:09:34.470 --> 00:09:36.710 Anna: And that's all the time we have for today. 224 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:39.670 From interstellar travelers and 225 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:42.630 hidden oceans to space rescues and 226 00:09:42.630 --> 00:09:45.390 mysteries from the dawn of time, the 227 00:09:45.390 --> 00:09:47.750 universe never fails to surprise us. 228 00:09:47.990 --> 00:09:50.110 Avery: It certainly doesn't. Thanks so much for 229 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:52.430 joining us from both of us here at Astronomy 230 00:09:52.430 --> 00:09:54.630 Daily. Keep looking up. See you tomorrow.