Avery: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your
source for the latest news from across the
cosmos. I'm Avery.
Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.
Today we're covering everything from a new
galactic map to the future of spacesuits.
Avery: That's right. We'll be looking at how Earth
might be making the Moon more habitable,
checking in on a very busy month for the
International Space Station, and Even
touching on SpaceX's plans to go public.
So let's get started.
Anna: Our first story takes us to the very heart
part of our own galaxy. NASA has announced
a groundbreaking new survey using its
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
The goal is to create an unprecedented map of
the Milky Way.
Avery: And this isn't just any map. The Roman
telescope will be surveying the galaxy in
infrared light. For our listeners, that means
it can peer through the dense clouds of
cosmic dust that normally block our view of
the galactic center.
Anna: Exactly. It's like having a new pair of
glasses that can see through fog. Scientists
expect to reveal tens of billions of stars
and uncover hidden galactic structures we've
never seen before.
Avery: Tens of billions. The scale is
just staggering. What are they hoping to
learn from all this new data?
Anna: The applications are vast. They'll be able to
study star formation and evolution in
incredible detail. But what I find really
exciting is the potential to find stellar
embers like white dwarfs and neutron
stars through a technique called
microlensing.
Avery: Right where the gravity of a closer object
magnifies the light from a more distant one.
This new survey, covering nearly 700
square degrees of the sky, is going to be a
treasure trove for decades to come.
Anna: It certainly will be now.
From the galactic scale to the very personal,
our next story is about protecting the
astronauts who venture into space. Avery,
tell us about these color changing
spacesuits.
Avery: This sounds like something straight out of
science fiction. Scientists in Scotland are
developing a fabric treated with a special
kind of bacteria. The amazing part is that
these bacteria actually change color when
they're exposed to radiation.
Anna: So the spacesuit itself would act as a
radiation detector.
Avery: Precisely. The project is called Pigmented
Space Pioneers. And the idea is to provide a
clear visual indicator of an astronaut's
radiation exposure in real time.
Anna: That's incredibly important. We know that
long term radiation exposure is a major
health risk for astronauts, increasing the
chances of developing cancer. This could be a
simple but effective way to help them monitor
and mitigate that risk. Mm
Avery: And it's not just the lab concept anymore.
They're actually preparing a sample of this
fabric to be tested in Space. It will be
flown on a small satellite to see how it
holds up in the real environment. A very
creative solution to a serious problem.
Anna: Absolutely.
Speaking of environments in space, our next
piece of news. Questions are long held
assumptions about the Moon. A new study
suggests it might be more habitable than we
thought, thanks to a surprising source.
Our own planet.
Avery: How is that possible? Is Earth somehow
seeding the Moon?
Anna: In a way, yes. The study from the University
of Rochester proposes that Earth's
magnetosphere has been enriching the lunar
soil with life sustaining substances for
billions of years.
Avery: Okay, I'm intrigued. What's the mechanism
here?
Anna: It's all about our planet's magnetic field.
As particles escape the upper layers of our
atmosphere, the magnetosphere guides them.
When the Moon passes through Earth's
magnetotail, the part of the magnetic field
stretched out by the solar wind, these
particles can rain down onto the lunar
surface.
Avery: And we're talking about important particles,
right? Like water and nitrogen.
Anna: That's right. These are crucial volatiles.
The study suggests that the lunar poles in
particular could have accumulated significant
amounts of these substances over eons.
This could mean the Moon has far more
resources for things like water and air
than we previously estimated.
Avery: Which would be a massive boost for any plans
for long term human missions or even a
permanent base. Less to carry, more to
find when you get there. A fascinating
connection between Earth and its satellite.
Anna: Indeed.
Now let's move from a potential future
outpost to our current one, the
International Space Station. Avery. It
seems they had a remarkably busy November.
Avery: Extremely busy. The ISS hit two
major milestones last month. First, for
the first time in its 27 year history, all
eight of its docking ports were occupied
simultaneously. Think of it as a completely
full parking garage and orbit.
Anna: Wow, that's a lot of traffic. What was the
other milestone?
Avery: The station also officially celebrated
25 years of continuous human presence
in space. A quarter of a century with people
living and working in space nonstop.
It's an incredible achievement for
international cooperation.
Anna: It really is. And it wasn't just about
anniversaries. The month was packed with
activity, including crew rotations with the
arrival of Soyuz MS.28 and
several cargo resupply missions to keep the
station stocked.
Avery: Right. And of course, the science never
stops. The crew conducted numerous
experiments focusing on everything from
cardiovascular health and the effects of
microgravity on stem cell development to
testing new life support systems. Just
another month at the office for the ISS crew.
Anna: A very busy office.
Okay, shifting gears from public space
efforts to the private sector, There are some
big murmurs coming from SpaceX
that's putting it mildly.
Avery: According to several media reports, SpaceX is
considering going public with an IPO, an
initial public offering possibly as early as
2026.
Anna: And the numbers being discussed are
astronomical, even for a space company.
The potential valuation is pegged at around
$1.5 trillion.
Avery: That would make it one of the most valuable
companies in the world. The big question is
why now? What would they use that massive
influx of capital for?
Anna: Well, the speculation points to a truly
ambitious long term vision. The funds
could be aimed at building out a network of,
space based data centers. The idea is
to support the rapidly growing artificial
intelligence industry, which requires immense
computational power.
Avery: Data centers in orbit, That's a new one.
It ties into an even grander vision we've
heard about before, right?
Anna: Mm It seems to be part of a roadmap that
could eventually involve building factories
on the Moon. It's a huge leap, but
it shows the scale of ambition in the private
space industry right now.
Avery: Definitely one to watch.
For our final story today, we're going from
high finance back to pure science with a look
at an interstellar visitor. Anna, tell us
about Comet 3i Atlas.
Anna: This is a really neat observation from the
European Space Agency's XMM M M
Newton Observatory. This telescope
doesn't see invisible light, but in X rays.
And it has managed to capture an image of the
interstellar comet 3i ATLAS
glowing in x ray light.
Avery: How does a comet produce X rays? I thought
they just reflected sunlight.
Anna: It's a process called charge exchange.
As the comet gets closer to the sun, it
releases gases. When particles from the
solar wind, which are highly charged,
smash into these neutral gas molecules,
they exchange electrons and this
interaction emits an X ray photon.
Avery: ah, okay. So observing an X ray gives
scientists a different kind of information
than a regular telescope would.
Anna: A, very useful kind. This technique is
particularly good at detecting certain gases
like hydrogen and nitrogen, which can be
very difficult to spot with other telescopes.
So by analyzing the X ray signature,
scientists can get a much clearer picture of
what the comet is made of.
Avery: And since this is an interstellar comet, that
composition tells us something about the
chemistry of the distant star system.
Anna: It came from a little postcard from another
part of the galaxy.
Avery: And that brings us to the end of our space
and astronomy news roundup for today. From a
new map of our home galaxy and bacteria
infused spacesuits to a more resourceful
moon and a record breaking month on the iss,
it's been another busy day in space and
astronomy.
Anna: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of
Astronomy Daily. Thanks so much for tuning
in.
Avery: Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your
podcasts so you don't miss an episode, and to
visit our website@astronomydaily.IO.
until next time, I'm Avery.
Anna: And I'm Anna. Clear Skies.
The stories.
Were told.