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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

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source for the latest news from across the

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cosmos. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to have you with us.

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Today we say goodbye to our interstellar

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visitor and look to the future of life in

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orbit.

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Avery: That's right. We'll be talking about a

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comment from another solar system that just

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made its closest approach to Earth. And we'll

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check in on the Parker solar probe as it once

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again braves the Sun's fiery atmosphere.

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Plus, a fun story about how you could have

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helped design a mascot for the next mission

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to the Moon.

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Anna: And later in the show, we'll dive into a

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cosmic mystery involving incredibly powerful

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blue explosions, a building sized

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asteroid with a small chance of hitting the

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Moon, and Russia's surprising new plans for

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its future in space after the International

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Space Station.

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So let's get started.

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Avery: First up, a, visitor from very, very

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far away. On Friday, December

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19, interstellar comet

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3I Atlas made

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its closest approach to our planet.

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Anna: It came within 168 million

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miles of Earth. Now that it's passed us, it

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will begin its long journey back out of our

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solar system, continuing its voyage through

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the Milky Way.

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Avery: And, this isn't just any comet. It's only the

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third object we've ever detected passing

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through our solar system. That originated

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from interstellar space.

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Anna: Exactly. It was first spotted by NASA's

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Atlas system on July 1, 2025.

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By analyzing its trajectory, scientists

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determined it didn't come from around here.

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In fact, its path suggests it comes from a

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region of our galaxy that might be up to 7

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billion years old.

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Avery: 7 billion years. That means this little icy

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wanderer is significantly older than our own

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4.6 billion year old solar system.

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It's like a relic from a completely different

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time and place.

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Anna: Mm. A true cosmic fossil. And it

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gave scientists a bit of a surprise. As it

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made its closest approach to the sun, the

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comet brightened much more than expected. And

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the reason for that extra glow is still a

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mystery. It's a fascinating puzzle for

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scientists to analyze as they gather the data

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from its Flyby. So farewell, 3i

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Atlas. You put on quite a show for us.

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Avery: Speaking of getting close to the Sun, NASA's

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Parker Solar Probe has been doing just that

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again.

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Anna: That's right. On December 13, the probe

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completed its 26th close approach, or

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perihelion. And it wasn't just another

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flyby. It matched its own incredible

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records.

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Avery: And what records they are, it flew just

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3.8 million miles from the solar surface.

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To put that in perspective, earth is about

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93 million miles away. And its

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speed, a, blistering 430,000

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miles per hour.

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Anna: It's almost impossible to comprehend that

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velocity. During this close approach, the

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spacecraft was completely out of contact with

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Earth, operating fully autonomously as its

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instruments gathered data from right inside

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the sun's atmosphere. The corona

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Avery: And the timing is perfect. This is all

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happening while the sun is in a very active

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phase of its 11 year cycle.

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Anna: That's the key. These observations are

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critical for helping us understand our star

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and the space weather events it produces,

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like solar flares and coronal mass ejection.

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That data is vital for protecting our

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astronauts and technology both in orbit

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and here on Earth.

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Avery: Alright. From the intense heat of the sun to

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something a little more whimsical, NASA

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recently gave the public a very unique

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opportunity. The chance to design a mascot

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for the Artemis 2 mission.

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Anna: This is such a great story. In collaboration

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with the platform Freelancer, NASA held a

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contest for a zero gravity indicator. These

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are small, usually plush items that the crew

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takes with them when they start to fly

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afloat. It's a simple visual cue that they've

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reached the microgravity of space.

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Avery: Right. It's a long standing tradition in

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human spaceflight, but this is the very first

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time the public has been invited to create

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the crew's mascot. Artemis 2 is the

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mission that will send four astronauts on a

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trip around the moon in early 2026. So

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this is a historic flight.

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Anna: The response was overwhelming. The

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contest received thousands of submissions

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from over 50 countries. They've now

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narrowed it down to 25 finalists and the

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winning will be fabricated by NASA's own

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thermal blanket Lab and will fly with the

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astronauts on their journey.

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Avery: I love that we won't know the winner until

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closer to the launch date, but it's fantastic

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to see this level of public engagement with

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such a landmark mission. It really connects

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people to the adventure of space exploration.

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Anna: Now for a deep space mystery. For years,

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astronomers have been puzzled by extremely

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powerful and bright blue cosmic

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explosions. They're called luminous fast

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blue optical Transients, or L

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LFBOTs for short. And we may

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finally know what causes them.

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Avery: Lfbots. The name itself is a

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mouthful. What's the leading theory here?

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Anna: Well, a, recently detected signal designated

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at 2024wpp

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has provided a major clue. It suggests

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that LFBOTs are the result of an

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extreme version of something called a tidal

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disruption event, or tde.

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Avery: That's when a black hole tears a star apart,

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right?

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Anna: Exactly. But in this case, we're talking

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about a black hole with a mass up to 100

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times that of our sun, completely shredding

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its companion star in a matter of days.

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This particular event at

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2024wpp emitted

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about 100 times more energy than an

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average supernova explosion.

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Avery: Wow. So what makes it so much more powerful

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than a typical tde?

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Anna: The theory is that this wasn't just a one

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time. The black hole was likely

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parasitically feeding from its companion star

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for a long time, which created a huge

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shell of material around the pair. When

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the star finally spiraled close enough to be

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completely shredded, the new stellar

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material slammed into that pre existing

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shell. That massive collision is what

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generated the immense light and energy that

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we observe as an lfbot. Yes.

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Avery: So it's a cosmic two punch knockout. The star

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gets torn apart and then its remains crash

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into a wall of its own lost material. That's

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an incredible level of cosmic violence.

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Anna: It certainly is now bringing the

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cosmic violence a little closer to home.

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Let's talk about an asteroid named 2024

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yr. 4.

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Avery: Right. This is a building size asteroid

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roughly 60 meters wide. And scientists have

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calculated that there is about a 4% chance

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that it will hit the moon in the year 2032.

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Anna: A 4% chance isn't huge, but it's

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certainly not zero. And the potential

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consequences are significant. If it does

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hit the moon, the impact could release energy

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equivalent to 400 times the Hiroshima

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bomb.

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Avery: And it gets a bit more concerning. There's

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also a 1% chance that the impact could

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scatter meteorites into near Earth space.

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That debris cloud could pose a real threat to

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our satellites and any astronauts in orbit.

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Anna: So what can be done? Is there a plan to

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deflect it?

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Avery: At the moment a deflection mission is

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impractical. However, some options like

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intentionally breaking it up into smaller,

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less harmful pieces are being considered.

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The most immediate step is to gather more

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data.

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Anna: and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope might

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give us the clear view we need. There's a

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potential observation window in February

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2026 that could help scientists

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refine the asteroid's orbit and get a much

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better handle on the actual odds of a L

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impact.

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Avery: For our final story today, we're looking at a

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major shift in the future of human

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spaceflight. Russia has significantly altered

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its plans for what comes after the

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International Space Station.

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Anna: That's right. The original plan was to build

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an entirely new station, the Russian

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Orbital Station or ros. But now

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the plan has changed. The core of this new

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station will actually be the old Russian

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segment of the issuance.

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Avery: So in 2030 when the US segment of the ISS

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is scheduled to be deorbited and burned up in

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the atmosphere, the Russian segment will just

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detach and become its own station.

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Anna: Essentially, yes, this decision is

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widely seen as a money saving move for

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Russia's war strapped economy. However,

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it means their new national space station

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will be based on modules that are already

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over 30 years old.

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Avery: That raises some pretty serious concerns.

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Using hardware that old brings up major

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questions about safety, long term maintenance

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and the station's future scientific

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capabilities.

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Anna: It does. And it places Russia's program

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in stark contrast with other nations. At

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a time when China is operating its new

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Tiangong space station and India is

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developing its own, Russia is choosing to

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repurpose aging infrastructure. It's a

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significant moment that could reshape the

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geopolitical landscape of human activity in

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low Earth orbit.

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Avery: And that is all the time we have for today.

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From interstellar visitors to the shifting

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future of space stations, it's been another

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busy day in the world of astronomy.

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Anna: We hope you enjoyed our tour of the latest

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headlines from the cosmos.

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Avery: Thank you for tuning in to ASTRONOMY Daily.

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I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. We'll be back on Monday with

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more updates. Until then, keep looking up.

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Avery: The world.