WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:03.120 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily 1 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:05.760 briefing from the edge of the cosmos. I'm 2 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:06.320 Anna. 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.160 Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. It is Tuesday, the 26th 4 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:11.760 of May, 2026, and we have an 5 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:13.120 enormous show for you today. 6 00:00:13.440 --> 00:00:16.080 Anna: NASA is literally, as we record this, 7 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.040 preparing to unveil the most ambitious lunar 8 00:00:19.040 --> 00:00:21.960 plan in a generation. We're talking about a 9 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:23.440 permanent moon base. 10 00:00:23.840 --> 00:00:26.560 Avery: Starship V3 made its dramatic debut. 11 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:29.320 A Soviet rover that vanished nearly 40 years 12 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.160 ago has quietly come back to life. And 13 00:00:32.160 --> 00:00:34.560 the James Webb Space Telescope has pulled off 14 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.040 something no telescope has ever done before. 15 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.240 Anna: Plus, a supernova mystery that took 20 16 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:43.240 years to crack. And a finding about rocky 17 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:45.840 planets across the galaxy that could reshape 18 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:47.840 how we think about worlds like our own. 19 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:49.040 Avery: Let's get into it. 20 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:51.840 Anna: Our lead story today is one for the history 21 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.680 books. And uniquely, it is unfolding right 22 00:00:54.680 --> 00:00:57.400 now as we speak, as we record this 23 00:00:57.400 --> 00:01:00.320 episode. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman 24 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.680 is preparing to take the podium at NASA 25 00:01:02.680 --> 00:01:04.540 headquarters in Washington, Washington, D.C. 26 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:07.780 for a 2pm Eastern press conference that could 27 00:01:07.780 --> 00:01:10.260 define the next decade of human space 28 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:10.940 exploration. 29 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:14.260 Avery: The headline is NASA is announcing 30 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:17.060 a permanent moon base. A real one, not a 31 00:01:17.060 --> 00:01:19.940 visiting program, not flags and footprints. A 32 00:01:19.940 --> 00:01:22.300 sustained human outpost at the lunar South 33 00:01:22.300 --> 00:01:24.940 Pole with a target date of 2036. 34 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:28.180 Anna: What we know going in is significant. The 35 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:30.580 program carries a price tag in the region of 36 00:01:30.580 --> 00:01:33.100 $30 billion across a seven year 37 00:01:33.100 --> 00:01:35.790 foundational phase. It centers on the lunar 38 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:38.030 south pole, chosen because that region 39 00:01:38.030 --> 00:01:40.550 contains water ice in permanently shadowed 40 00:01:40.550 --> 00:01:42.950 craters, which NASA plans to convert into 41 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:45.630 rocket fuel, oxygen and life support systems. 42 00:01:45.870 --> 00:01:48.550 Avery: Critically, this plan effectively retires the 43 00:01:48.550 --> 00:01:51.190 Gateway concept, the proposed orbiting lunar 44 00:01:51.190 --> 00:01:52.870 space station that's been on the drawing 45 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:55.230 board for years. The thinking is that the 46 00:01:55.230 --> 00:01:57.230 resources and launch cadence needed for 47 00:01:57.230 --> 00:01:59.430 Gateway are better directed toward getting 48 00:01:59.430 --> 00:02:01.950 people on the surface and keeping them there. 49 00:02:02.440 --> 00:02:04.920 Anna: Nuclear power is central to the architecture. 50 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:07.640 Both the base itself and potential future 51 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:10.200 Mars missions are expected to rely on 52 00:02:10.200 --> 00:02:12.720 nuclear, uh, electric systems, a choice the 53 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:15.280 Planetary Society has flagged as potentially 54 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.560 transformative for deep space operations. 55 00:02:18.040 --> 00:02:20.600 As Casey Dreher put it, nuclear propulsion 56 00:02:20.600 --> 00:02:23.120 could open up huge opportunities for energy 57 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.840 use in various science missions and crewed 58 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:27.240 missions around the solar system. 59 00:02:27.970 --> 00:02:30.690 Avery: Phase one alone calls for approximately 22 60 00:02:30.690 --> 00:02:32.890 launches to the Moon, including the Artemis 61 00:02:32.890 --> 00:02:35.250 IV crewed landing by 2028. 62 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:37.850 Those early flights will serve as the proving 63 00:02:37.850 --> 00:02:39.890 ground. If they go smoothly, the program 64 00:02:39.890 --> 00:02:42.290 earns its next phase. If there are hiccups, 65 00:02:42.290 --> 00:02:43.490 the timeline shifts. 66 00:02:43.809 --> 00:02:46.130 Anna: Commercial partners will play a major role, 67 00:02:46.370 --> 00:02:48.970 supplying rovers, habitat modules and 68 00:02:48.970 --> 00:02:50.770 surface logistics. International 69 00:02:51.010 --> 00:02:53.610 collaboration is also baked in, though the 70 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:55.970 competitive context is hard to ignore. 71 00:02:56.490 --> 00:02:58.330 China has announced its own international 72 00:02:58.490 --> 00:03:00.850 lunar research program targeting the 2000 and 73 00:03:00.850 --> 00:03:03.850 30s, and multiple nations now have advanced 74 00:03:03.850 --> 00:03:04.890 lunar capabilities. 75 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:07.530 Avery: NASA's framing going into today's briefing 76 00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:10.170 has been unambiguous. As Isaacman put it in 77 00:03:10.170 --> 00:03:13.050 the lead up, this time the goal is not flags 78 00:03:13.050 --> 00:03:15.610 and footprints. This time the goal is to 79 00:03:15.610 --> 00:03:15.930 stay. 80 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:18.810 Anna: By the time our listeners hear this episode, 81 00:03:18.890 --> 00:03:21.650 those full details will be public. We'll have 82 00:03:21.650 --> 00:03:24.130 complete coverage in tomorrow's edition. But 83 00:03:24.130 --> 00:03:27.060 what a moment to be covering space news. The 84 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:29.780 moon isn't a destination anymore, it's 85 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:32.580 Avery: becoming an address staying with big space 86 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:32.940 news. 87 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:35.660 And this one delivered drama in Spades. 88 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:38.860 On Friday 22 May 2026, 89 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:42.100 SpaceX launched Starship V3 for the very 90 00:03:42.100 --> 00:03:44.700 first time. Flight 12, the most 91 00:03:44.700 --> 00:03:47.500 powerful and most sophisticated rocket ever 92 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:49.940 built, now in its third generation 93 00:03:49.940 --> 00:03:50.620 configuration. 94 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:54.060 Anna: And it did not disappoint, though perhaps not 95 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:56.460 entirely in the way SpaceX had planned. 96 00:03:56.890 --> 00:03:58.490 Let's walk through what happened, because 97 00:03:58.490 --> 00:04:01.370 this is a story with multiple chapters. The 98 00:04:01.370 --> 00:04:04.090 launch came from brand new Pad 2 at uh, 99 00:04:04.250 --> 00:04:07.050 Starbase Texas, itself a uh first. 100 00:04:07.450 --> 00:04:10.370 After two scrubbed attempts, one foiled by 101 00:04:10.370 --> 00:04:13.170 a hydraulic pin issue literally in 102 00:04:13.170 --> 00:04:16.050 the final minutes of the countdown, Starship 103 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:18.570 lifted off at 6:33pm 104 00:04:18.570 --> 00:04:21.410 Eastern on Friday. All 33 105 00:04:21.410 --> 00:04:24.170 Raptor engines on the super heavy booster 106 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:25.210 lit cleanly. 107 00:04:25.790 --> 00:04:28.590 Avery: The ascent looked textbook right up until 108 00:04:28.590 --> 00:04:31.390 approximately one minute and 42 seconds into 109 00:04:31.390 --> 00:04:34.230 the flight, when one of the six vacuum Raptor 110 00:04:34.230 --> 00:04:36.670 engines on the ship upper stage shut down. 111 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:39.590 Now, in most rocket programs, that's a 112 00:04:39.590 --> 00:04:40.590 mission ending event. 113 00:04:41.390 --> 00:04:44.230 Anna: Not here. Starship's flight computer 114 00:04:44.230 --> 00:04:46.550 detected the shutdown, instantly 115 00:04:46.550 --> 00:04:48.830 redistributed the burn load across the 116 00:04:48.830 --> 00:04:51.550 remaining five engines, extending their 117 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.250 burn durations to compensate. The vehicle 118 00:04:54.250 --> 00:04:56.730 stayed on trajectory Face X 119 00:04:56.730 --> 00:04:58.970 spokesperson Dan Hewitt on the live 120 00:04:58.970 --> 00:05:01.690 commentary put it this way, the flight was 121 00:05:01.690 --> 00:05:04.410 within analyzed bounds even if it wasn't 122 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:05.410 fully nominal. 123 00:05:05.810 --> 00:05:08.370 Avery: Ship 39 reached space deployed 124 00:05:08.370 --> 00:05:10.770 22 dummy Starlink satellites, 125 00:05:11.010 --> 00:05:13.450 including two specially equipped with cameras 126 00:05:13.450 --> 00:05:16.010 that captured stunning imagery of Starship in 127 00:05:16.010 --> 00:05:18.690 orbit, and then executed a controlled 128 00:05:18.690 --> 00:05:21.130 atmospheric re entry, splashing down in the 129 00:05:21.130 --> 00:05:23.950 Indian Ocean as planned. Elon Musk called 130 00:05:23.950 --> 00:05:26.470 it epic and a goal for humanity. 131 00:05:26.950 --> 00:05:29.910 Anna: NASA Administrator Isaacman, who was watching 132 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:32.550 in person at Starbase, wrote on X 133 00:05:32.870 --> 00:05:35.510 One step closer to the moon, one step 134 00:05:35.510 --> 00:05:38.430 closer to Mars. Given that Starship 135 00:05:38.430 --> 00:05:40.910 is the intended vehicle for the Artemis 136 00:05:40.910 --> 00:05:43.870 crewed lunar landing, that's not a casual 137 00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:44.630 observation. 138 00:05:45.190 --> 00:05:47.830 Avery: Now, the super heavy booster did not have 139 00:05:47.830 --> 00:05:50.680 such a clean ending. Multiple engines failed 140 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:53.000 during the boostback burn, the stage went off 141 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:55.560 normal and it came down hard in the Gulf of 142 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:57.760 Mexico. Rather than completing a soft 143 00:05:57.760 --> 00:06:00.720 splashdown. The FAA has opened the review 144 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:03.320 as a standard after any anomaly over 145 00:06:03.320 --> 00:06:04.480 navigable waters. 146 00:06:05.039 --> 00:06:07.960 Anna: SpaceX had planned a splashdown rather than a 147 00:06:07.960 --> 00:06:10.560 tower catch on this first V3 flight, 148 00:06:10.880 --> 00:06:13.720 so losing the booster was within acceptable 149 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:16.310 test parameters. The company has formally 150 00:06:16.310 --> 00:06:18.790 declared most of its pre planned test 151 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:20.630 objectives as completed. 152 00:06:20.950 --> 00:06:23.870 Avery: The V3 design brings significant upgrades 153 00:06:23.870 --> 00:06:26.510 over previous iterations larger propellant 154 00:06:26.510 --> 00:06:29.430 capacity, simplified aft sections, new 155 00:06:29.430 --> 00:06:31.710 Raptor 3 engines with higher thrust and 156 00:06:31.710 --> 00:06:34.430 reduced complexity and ground infrastructure 157 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:36.630 at uh Pad 2. Designed for a much higher 158 00:06:36.630 --> 00:06:39.470 launch cadence, this flight was about proving 159 00:06:39.470 --> 00:06:41.110 those systems in the real environment. 160 00:06:42.080 --> 00:06:44.720 Anna: It proved quite a lot. Flight 13 161 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.800 will be very interesting indeed. 162 00:06:47.440 --> 00:06:50.280 Avery: Now to a piece of science that genuinely made 163 00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:53.000 us sit back and marvel. The James Webb 164 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.720 Telescope has done something no telescope has 165 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.600 ever managed before. It has watched a daily 166 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:01.200 weather cycle unfold on a planet in another 167 00:07:01.200 --> 00:07:02.000 star system. 168 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.880 Anna: The planet in question is WASP 169 00:07:04.960 --> 00:07:07.600 94ab, a hot Jupiter 170 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.680 about 690 light years from Earth in 171 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:13.510 the constellation Microscopium. It's a 172 00:07:13.510 --> 00:07:16.470 gas giant 1.7 times larger 173 00:07:16.470 --> 00:07:19.390 than Jupiter, orbiting its star every four 174 00:07:19.390 --> 00:07:22.030 days at a distance of roughly 8 million 175 00:07:22.190 --> 00:07:24.990 kilometers. Temperatures on its dayside 176 00:07:25.070 --> 00:07:27.790 exceed 1200 degrees Celsius, 177 00:07:28.030 --> 00:07:30.990 and it is tidally locked, meaning one face 178 00:07:31.070 --> 00:07:33.550 always points toward its star, the other 179 00:07:33.630 --> 00:07:34.830 always faces away. 180 00:07:35.390 --> 00:07:38.190 Avery: The research team led by Sagnik Mukherjee, 181 00:07:38.270 --> 00:07:40.870 a postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State 182 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:43.350 University who began this work as a PhD 183 00:07:43.350 --> 00:07:46.210 student at UH UC Santa Cruz, used Webb's 184 00:07:46.210 --> 00:07:48.930 Nirri M Instrument and a technique 185 00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:51.690 called transit spectroscopy to observe the 186 00:07:51.690 --> 00:07:53.650 planet as it crossed in front of its host 187 00:07:53.650 --> 00:07:54.010 star. 188 00:07:54.570 --> 00:07:57.410 Anna: And what they found was extraordinary. The 189 00:07:57.410 --> 00:08:00.130 leading edge of the planet, the side rotating 190 00:08:00.130 --> 00:08:02.810 from night into day. The planetary morning 191 00:08:03.130 --> 00:08:05.650 was blanketed with thick clouds made of 192 00:08:05.650 --> 00:08:08.330 magnesium silicate. Sand clouds, 193 00:08:08.330 --> 00:08:11.290 essentially the same mineral found in talc 194 00:08:11.290 --> 00:08:14.250 and ordinary rocks on Earth, vaporized and 195 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:16.650 condensed high in an alien atmospher. 196 00:08:17.430 --> 00:08:19.430 Avery: But by the time the trailing edge, the 197 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:22.070 evening side, came into view, those clouds 198 00:08:22.070 --> 00:08:24.630 had completely disappeared. A cloudy 199 00:08:24.630 --> 00:08:27.390 dawn, a clear dusk. A weather cycle 200 00:08:27.390 --> 00:08:29.790 repeating every four days with the planet's 201 00:08:29.790 --> 00:08:30.230 orbit. 202 00:08:30.630 --> 00:08:33.470 Anna: Co author David Singh of John Hopkins 203 00:08:33.470 --> 00:08:35.830 University captured the significance 204 00:08:35.910 --> 00:08:38.830 beautifully. He said, I've been looking at 205 00:08:38.830 --> 00:08:41.670 exoplanets for 20 years, and general 206 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:44.230 cloudiness has been a thorn in our side. 207 00:08:44.780 --> 00:08:47.260 We've known for quite a while that clouds are 208 00:08:47.260 --> 00:08:50.260 pervasive on hot Jupiter planets, which is 209 00:08:50.260 --> 00:08:52.780 annoying because it's like trying to look at 210 00:08:52.780 --> 00:08:54.860 the planet through a foggy window. 211 00:08:55.420 --> 00:08:57.860 Avery: Webb's ability to separate the morning and 212 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:00.260 evening limbs of the planet something the 213 00:09:00.260 --> 00:09:02.860 Hubble Space Telescope simply cannot do 214 00:09:03.180 --> 00:09:05.780 gave researchers their clearest view yet of 215 00:09:05.780 --> 00:09:08.460 the atmosphere itself. And what they found 216 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:09.660 there was a surprise. 217 00:09:10.310 --> 00:09:13.230 Wasp94ab is far more Jupiter 218 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:15.990 like in composition than a decade of Hubble 219 00:09:15.990 --> 00:09:17.190 data had suggested. 220 00:09:17.670 --> 00:09:20.070 Anna: Previous measurements had indicated the 221 00:09:20.070 --> 00:09:23.030 planet had hundreds of times more oxygen and 222 00:09:23.030 --> 00:09:25.710 carbon than Jupiter. The new cloud 223 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:28.310 corrected analysis brings that down to 224 00:09:28.310 --> 00:09:31.110 roughly five times a full order 225 00:09:31.110 --> 00:09:33.950 of magnitude correction and a reminder 226 00:09:33.950 --> 00:09:36.790 that unresolved clouds can seriously 227 00:09:36.790 --> 00:09:39.230 skew our picture of what other worlds are 228 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:39.670 made of. 229 00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:42.990 Avery: The team didn't stop at WASP 94ab. 230 00:09:43.390 --> 00:09:45.790 They found the same cloud cycle pattern on 231 00:09:45.790 --> 00:09:48.750 two other hot jupiters, WASP 39b 232 00:09:48.830 --> 00:09:51.830 and WASP 17b, suggesting this 233 00:09:51.830 --> 00:09:54.790 isn't an anomaly, but a recurring feature of 234 00:09:54.790 --> 00:09:56.910 how hot Jupiter atmospheres behave. 235 00:09:57.550 --> 00:10:00.510 Anna: Researchers now plan to extend the survey to 236 00:10:00.510 --> 00:10:02.990 planets on highly eccentric orbits. 237 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.710 Worlds that experience dramatic temperature 238 00:10:05.710 --> 00:10:08.510 swings where even more extreme weather 239 00:10:08.510 --> 00:10:10.670 patterns may be waiting to be discovered. 240 00:10:11.390 --> 00:10:14.070 Avery: Weather forecasts for alien worlds we are 241 00:10:14.070 --> 00:10:15.710 living in remackable times. 242 00:10:16.270 --> 00:10:19.110 Anna: For nearly 20 years, astronomers have 243 00:10:19.110 --> 00:10:21.950 been puzzled by a class of stellar explosions 244 00:10:22.190 --> 00:10:24.830 so bright they break the rules. Super 245 00:10:24.830 --> 00:10:27.550 luminous supernovae. Stellar deaths that 246 00:10:27.550 --> 00:10:30.550 produce 10 times or more the visible light of 247 00:10:30.550 --> 00:10:33.390 an ordinary supernova up to a hundred 248 00:10:33.470 --> 00:10:36.110 times brighter in some cases. The question 249 00:10:36.190 --> 00:10:38.990 has always been what is powering them 250 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:40.090 now? 251 00:10:40.170 --> 00:10:42.970 Avery: Data from NASA's Fermi Gamma Race telescope 252 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:45.890 has delivered the first definitive answer and 253 00:10:45.890 --> 00:10:48.370 it involves one of the most extreme objects 254 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:49.450 in the known universe. 255 00:10:49.930 --> 00:10:52.754 Anna: The story centers on SN2017 256 00:10:53.026 --> 00:10:55.570 EGM, first spotted by 257 00:10:55.570 --> 00:10:58.490 ESA's Gaia mission back in May 2017. 258 00:10:59.130 --> 00:11:01.880 An international team led by Fabio Acero uh 259 00:11:02.410 --> 00:11:04.890 at the French national center for Scientific 260 00:11:04.890 --> 00:11:07.630 Research has now confirmed that Fermi 261 00:11:07.630 --> 00:11:10.470 detected gamma rays the most energetic 262 00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:12.550 form of light coming from this event. 263 00:11:13.270 --> 00:11:16.150 Avery: That confirmation matters enormously because 264 00:11:16.150 --> 00:11:18.670 gamma rays carry the fingerprint of what's 265 00:11:18.670 --> 00:11:20.550 actually happening at the core of the 266 00:11:20.550 --> 00:11:23.510 explosion. And what Fermi's data reveals is 267 00:11:23.510 --> 00:11:26.510 a magnetar a neutron star born in the 268 00:11:26.510 --> 00:11:28.630 same stellar collapse that triggered the 269 00:11:28.630 --> 00:11:29.430 supernova. 270 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:31.830 Anna: To understand why that's significant, 271 00:11:32.390 --> 00:11:35.340 consider what a magnetar is. When a 272 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:37.860 star many times the mass of our sun 273 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.820 exhausts its fuel and collapses, its 274 00:11:40.820 --> 00:11:43.540 core can compress into a neutron star 275 00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:46.700 roughly the size of a city. Magnetars 276 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:49.180 are the most extreme version of those 277 00:11:49.180 --> 00:11:51.940 objects, spinning hundreds of times per 278 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.660 second, generating magnetic fields a 279 00:11:54.660 --> 00:11:56.820 thousand times stronger than those of 280 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:59.260 ordinary neutron stars the most 281 00:11:59.260 --> 00:12:01.780 powerful magnetic objects in the known 282 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:02.500 universe. 283 00:12:03.160 --> 00:12:05.600 Avery: The model works like the newborn 284 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:08.360 magnetar's furious rotation generates an 285 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.840 outflow of electrons and positrons, 286 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.880 matter and antimatter particles that forms a 287 00:12:13.880 --> 00:12:16.800 vast cloud of energetic particles. That 288 00:12:16.800 --> 00:12:19.520 cloud pumps energy back into the expanding 289 00:12:19.520 --> 00:12:22.240 shell of stellar material, supercharging the 290 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.120 explosion and making it shine far brighter 291 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.000 than any ordinary supernova. 292 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:30.320 Anna: The team compared optical and gamma ray data 293 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.080 from SN2017 EGM 294 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.860 against theoretical mod models of exactly 295 00:12:35.860 --> 00:12:38.660 this process, and the match was compelling. 296 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:41.580 As Fabio Acero put it, for nearly 297 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:44.420 20 years, astronomers have searched Fermi 298 00:12:44.420 --> 00:12:47.300 data for gamma ray signals from thousands of 299 00:12:47.300 --> 00:12:50.140 supernovae. And while a few intriguing 300 00:12:50.140 --> 00:12:52.460 hints have been reported, none were 301 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:54.020 definitive until now. 302 00:12:54.580 --> 00:12:56.980 Avery: This is a genuine first, a direct 303 00:12:57.140 --> 00:12:59.700 observational window into the engine driving 304 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:02.220 the most powerful stellar explosions in the 305 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:02.740 cosmos, 306 00:13:03.400 --> 00:13:05.720 Anna: and it opens a new avenue for future 307 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.440 research. The team has assessed how the 308 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:10.760 upcoming Tarenkov Telescope Array 309 00:13:10.760 --> 00:13:13.560 Observatory, a UH next generation ground 310 00:13:13.560 --> 00:13:16.550 based gamma ray facility, will perform at UH 311 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:19.560 detecting similar events. The era of 312 00:13:19.560 --> 00:13:22.280 magnetor forensics is just beginning. 313 00:13:22.680 --> 00:13:24.920 Avery: A mystery that's been open since the early 314 00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:27.800 2000s finally cracked. And the answer 315 00:13:27.800 --> 00:13:30.120 is a star corpse the size of a city 316 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:32.680 spinning like a cosmic dynamo. 317 00:13:33.310 --> 00:13:36.070 Anna: Here's a finding that quietly challenges one 318 00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:38.430 of our most fundamental assumptions about 319 00:13:38.430 --> 00:13:41.430 what planets are made of. And it matters a 320 00:13:41.430 --> 00:13:43.230 great deal for how we think about 321 00:13:43.310 --> 00:13:45.790 habitability beyond our solar system. 322 00:13:46.270 --> 00:13:48.590 Avery: A new paper submitted to the Astrophysical 323 00:13:48.590 --> 00:13:50.710 Journal proposes that the structure we take 324 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:53.390 for granted here on Earth a dense metallic 325 00:13:53.390 --> 00:13:55.910 core surrounded by a silicate mantle topped 326 00:13:55.910 --> 00:13:58.830 by a thin crust may be the exception rather 327 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.190 than the rule for rocky planets across the 328 00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:01.710 galaxy. 329 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.920 Anna: For decades, planetary scientists have used 330 00:14:04.920 --> 00:14:07.880 our solar system as the template. Earth has 331 00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:10.720 a metallic core. Mars has one. Mercury, 332 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.160 though radically oversized relative to the 333 00:14:13.160 --> 00:14:15.920 rest of the planet, has one. The assumption, 334 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.560 largely unchallenged, was that rocky 335 00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:21.560 planets formed this way. Heavy metals sank 336 00:14:21.560 --> 00:14:23.880 to the center during the molten phase early 337 00:14:23.880 --> 00:14:26.440 in planetary history, creating the 338 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:28.160 familiar layered structure. 339 00:14:28.650 --> 00:14:30.610 Avery: But when you look at the full range of rocky 340 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:33.090 planets now cataloged and we have confirmed 341 00:14:33.090 --> 00:14:35.850 over 6,000 exoplanets as of this year, 342 00:14:36.010 --> 00:14:38.770 with many hundreds in the rocky category. The 343 00:14:38.770 --> 00:14:40.970 diversity of compositions is striking. 344 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:43.610 Rocky planets form in vastly different 345 00:14:43.610 --> 00:14:46.250 stellar environments with different ratios of 346 00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:48.810 iron, silicate and other materials depending 347 00:14:48.810 --> 00:14:50.810 on the chemistry of their parent nebula. 348 00:14:50.970 --> 00:14:53.690 Anna: The researchers argue that many of the most 349 00:14:53.690 --> 00:14:56.570 common rocky planets in the galaxy, so 350 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:59.130 called super Earths and sub Neptunes, 351 00:14:59.290 --> 00:15:01.990 may have form in conditions where metallic 352 00:15:01.990 --> 00:15:04.910 core formation simply didn't occur in the 353 00:15:04.910 --> 00:15:07.550 same way or at all. Without that 354 00:15:07.550 --> 00:15:10.470 dense metallic core, you don't get a global 355 00:15:10.550 --> 00:15:13.430 magnetic field generated by a dynamo effect. 356 00:15:13.990 --> 00:15:16.150 Avery: And that has profound implications for 357 00:15:16.150 --> 00:15:19.110 habitability. Earth's magnetic field shields 358 00:15:19.110 --> 00:15:21.470 our surface from the solar wind. Without it, 359 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:23.630 our atmosphere would gradually be stripped 360 00:15:23.630 --> 00:15:26.550 away over geological timescales Mars 361 00:15:26.550 --> 00:15:28.870 lost most of its magnetic field billions of 362 00:15:28.870 --> 00:15:30.430 years ago. And look at it now. 363 00:15:30.750 --> 00:15:33.630 Anna: If the majority of rocky planets across the 364 00:15:33.630 --> 00:15:36.350 galaxy lack that protective magnetic 365 00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:39.030 shielding, the calculus for finding life 366 00:15:39.030 --> 00:15:41.390 friendly worlds changes considerably. 367 00:15:41.869 --> 00:15:44.790 Avery: It's a sobering and fascinating paper and 368 00:15:44.790 --> 00:15:47.270 a reminder that our solar system, for all its 369 00:15:47.270 --> 00:15:49.950 familiarity, may be showing us a rather 370 00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:52.270 unusual version of what planets typically 371 00:15:52.270 --> 00:15:52.830 look like. 372 00:15:53.420 --> 00:15:55.900 Anna: We're closing tonight with a story that has 373 00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:58.510 everything Cold War history, a, uh, 374 00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:01.020 decades long mystery, a surprising 375 00:16:01.180 --> 00:16:04.140 rediscovery, and a laser beam fired 376 00:16:04.140 --> 00:16:06.860 from New Mexico to a hillside on the moon. 377 00:16:07.260 --> 00:16:09.740 Avery: Pass your minds back to November 1970. 378 00:16:10.060 --> 00:16:13.060 The Soviet Union lands Luna 17 on the 379 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:15.420 Moon's sea of rains. Mada imbrium. 380 00:16:15.900 --> 00:16:18.620 Out rolls Lunohod 1, a bathtub 381 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.060 shaped eight wheeled Rover bristling with 382 00:16:21.060 --> 00:16:23.570 scientific instruments. The world's first 383 00:16:23.570 --> 00:16:25.770 remote controlled vehicle to operate on 384 00:16:25.770 --> 00:16:26.490 another world. 385 00:16:26.890 --> 00:16:29.370 Anna: It was designed for a relatively short 386 00:16:29.370 --> 00:16:31.850 mission. Instead, it kept going, 387 00:16:32.170 --> 00:16:35.130 surviving 11 lunar day night cycles, 388 00:16:35.290 --> 00:16:38.130 traversing roughly 10.5 kilometers of 389 00:16:38.130 --> 00:16:41.050 the lunar surface, sending back thousands of 390 00:16:41.050 --> 00:16:43.690 photographs and mountains of scientific data. 391 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:46.650 Then, in the autumn of 1971, 392 00:16:46.890 --> 00:16:49.050 contact ceased. Mission over. 393 00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:52.370 Avery: But here's the thing. Mounted on Lunohod 1 394 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:55.050 was a French built laser retroreflector, 395 00:16:55.130 --> 00:16:57.770 a passive optical device that requires no 396 00:16:57.770 --> 00:17:00.730 power whatsoever. Its only job is to bounce 397 00:17:00.730 --> 00:17:02.890 laser light back toward wherever it came 398 00:17:02.890 --> 00:17:05.530 from. And that device was still there, 399 00:17:05.770 --> 00:17:07.770 perfectly intact, waiting. 400 00:17:08.170 --> 00:17:10.970 Anna: The problem was that no one knew precisely 401 00:17:10.970 --> 00:17:13.610 where Lunokhod 1 had ended its journey. 402 00:17:14.030 --> 00:17:16.190 The rover had moved across the surface during 403 00:17:16.190 --> 00:17:18.470 its mission, and without high resolution 404 00:17:18.470 --> 00:17:21.030 orbital imagery, pinpointing its final 405 00:17:21.030 --> 00:17:23.350 resting place to the precision needed for 406 00:17:23.350 --> 00:17:26.190 laser ranging was impossible. For 407 00:17:26.190 --> 00:17:28.830 nearly 38 years, it sat there, 408 00:17:29.070 --> 00:17:30.830 silent, invisible, 409 00:17:31.310 --> 00:17:34.030 scientifically tantalizingly out of reach. 410 00:17:34.510 --> 00:17:37.310 Avery: Then, in 2010, um, everything changed. 411 00:17:37.710 --> 00:17:40.350 NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter sent back 412 00:17:40.350 --> 00:17:43.270 high resolution imagery of Mare Imbrium, and 413 00:17:43.270 --> 00:17:46.060 researchers spotted it, the rover and its 414 00:17:46.060 --> 00:17:48.820 landing platform still sitting exactly where 415 00:17:48.820 --> 00:17:49.580 they'd been left. 416 00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:52.420 Anna: With updated coordinates in hand, a team from 417 00:17:52.420 --> 00:17:55.340 the Apache Point Observatory lunar laser 418 00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:58.140 ranging operation in New Mexico. The 419 00:17:58.140 --> 00:18:00.980 Apollo project fired laser pulses at 420 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.940 the site in April 2010. And Lunokhod 421 00:18:03.940 --> 00:18:06.940 1 fired back, not metaphorically. 422 00:18:07.340 --> 00:18:09.980 Avery: The retroreflector returned approximately 423 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:11.980 2,000 photons per shot, 424 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.120 roughly four times stronger than the returns 425 00:18:15.120 --> 00:18:17.920 from Lunokhod 2, and stronger than expected 426 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.440 from a reflector that had spent nearly four 427 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:22.400 decades exposed to the lunar environment. 428 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.440 Anna: The location turns out to be scientifically 429 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.680 valuable in ways researchers hadn't 430 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.680 anticipated. Lunokhod 1 sits closer 431 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:32.920 to the lunar limb than any of the Apollo 432 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.360 reflectors, a position that improves 433 00:18:35.360 --> 00:18:37.720 measurements of the lunar librations, the 434 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.480 subtle wobbles in its rotation, which in 435 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.040 turn help refine models of the lunar 436 00:18:43.040 --> 00:18:43.600 interior. 437 00:18:44.190 --> 00:18:45.950 Avery: And there's a puzzle that the recovered 438 00:18:45.950 --> 00:18:48.630 reflector is helping solve. Near Full 439 00:18:48.630 --> 00:18:51.070 Moon, the strength of laser returns from all 440 00:18:51.070 --> 00:18:54.070 reflectors drops by a factor of 10. No 441 00:18:54.070 --> 00:18:56.630 one fully understands why Lunokhod 442 00:18:56.630 --> 00:18:59.310 1's strong returns from a different geometry 443 00:18:59.310 --> 00:19:00.750 are providing new clues. 444 00:19:01.230 --> 00:19:04.030 Anna: Long term laser ranging, now including this 445 00:19:04.030 --> 00:19:06.870 recovered Cold War relic, has given us some 446 00:19:06.870 --> 00:19:09.350 of our most precise measurements of how the 447 00:19:09.350 --> 00:19:11.950 Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth, 448 00:19:12.290 --> 00:19:15.140 uh, at about 3.8 centimeters per year, 449 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:17.300 and has contributed evidence for the 450 00:19:17.300 --> 00:19:19.700 existence of a fluid lunar core. 451 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:21.900 Avery: A rover that fell silent in 452 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:24.580 1971, rediscovered from 453 00:19:24.580 --> 00:19:27.300 orbit, resurrected by a laser pulse, 454 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:29.780 and still contributing to science today. 455 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.300 Sometimes the best stories don't end, they 456 00:19:33.300 --> 00:19:34.820 just go quiet for a while. 457 00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:37.700 Anna: And that wraps up Astronomy daily for 458 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:40.580 Tuesday, 26 May 2026 459 00:19:41.080 --> 00:19:43.400 from a moon base that could redefine human 460 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:45.800 civilization to a Soviet rover 461 00:19:45.800 --> 00:19:47.800 whispering back from the lunar surface. 462 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:50.480 What a day to be paying attention to the 463 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.080 cosmos. 464 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:53.640 Avery: If today's episode sparked something for you, 465 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:56.560 please subscribe, leave a review and share us 466 00:19:56.560 --> 00:19:58.520 with someone who needs more space in their 467 00:19:58.520 --> 00:20:01.200 life. You'll find full show notes, links to 468 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.480 all our sources, and our blog post at 469 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:06.280 astronomydaily IO Find us on 470 00:20:06.280 --> 00:20:06.920 social media. 471 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:09.800 Anna: We're astrodaily Pod across x, 472 00:20:10.040 --> 00:20:12.040 Instagram, TikTok and Tumblr. 473 00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:13.760 Avery: For Anna, I'm Avery. 474 00:20:13.760 --> 00:20:16.440 Anna: Keep looking up Astronomy Daily Every 475 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:18.720 day from every corner of the universe, 476 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:39.120 Avery: We're told 477 00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:42.340 m.