WEBVTT 0 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:03.160 Avery: One of the most famous stars in the whole 1 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:05.440 night sky has been keeping a secret for about 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:06.400 100 years. 3 00:00:06.720 --> 00:00:09.040 Anna: And this week, a telescope in the Chilean 4 00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:11.120 desert finally caught it red handed. 5 00:00:11.280 --> 00:00:14.080 Betelgeuse, it turns out, is not alone. 6 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.040 Avery: Also ahead, a black hole caught wandering the 7 00:00:17.040 --> 00:00:19.840 lonely outskirts of a galaxy dreading a 8 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:22.200 star tens of thousands of light years from 9 00:00:22.200 --> 00:00:24.320 where any black hole has a right to be. 10 00:00:24.560 --> 00:00:27.280 Anna: NASA's next great observatory gets its tank 11 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:29.040 filled and a date on the calendar. 12 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:31.440 Avery: And the little spacecraft sent to rescue an 13 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.040 aging telescope suddenly needs rescuing 14 00:00:34.040 --> 00:00:36.840 itself. G', day, and welcome to Astronomy 15 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.480 Daily, your daily dose of space and astronomy 16 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:40.880 news. I'm Avery. 17 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.520 Anna: And I'm, um, anna. It's Wednesday, the 29th 18 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:46.200 of July, four stories and a look at the sky 19 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:48.280 from both hemispheres. Let's get into it. 20 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.240 If you've ever looked up at Orion, and from 21 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.040 Sydney or Seattle, just about everyone has, 22 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:56.970 you've seen tonight's star Betelgeuse, 23 00:00:57.050 --> 00:00:59.570 that deep orange point marking the hunter's 24 00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:02.090 shoulder. It's a red supergiant, roughly 25 00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:04.930 650 light years away, and it is 26 00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:07.730 enormous. Drop it where our sun sits and it 27 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:09.610 would swallow the orbit of Jupiter. 28 00:01:09.850 --> 00:01:12.289 Avery: And it's famous for misbehaving. It 29 00:01:12.289 --> 00:01:12.890 flickers. 30 00:01:13.130 --> 00:01:16.050 Anna: It does. Betelgeuse brightens and dims on 31 00:01:16.050 --> 00:01:18.810 a whole set of overlapping cycles. And people 32 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:20.730 have been writing that down for more than a 33 00:01:20.730 --> 00:01:22.960 thousand years. But there's one rhythm, um, 34 00:01:23.010 --> 00:01:25.930 in particular, a slow beat about six years 35 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:28.450 long that astronomers have never been able to 36 00:01:28.450 --> 00:01:31.170 fully explain. And for almost a century, 37 00:01:31.410 --> 00:01:33.890 one idea kept coming back. What if 38 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:36.850 Betelgeuse has a companion, a second star, 39 00:01:36.850 --> 00:01:38.930 orbiting close, tugging on it? 40 00:01:39.170 --> 00:01:40.930 Avery: The famous Betel Buddy. 41 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:43.530 Anna: That's the affectionate nickname, yes. The 42 00:01:43.530 --> 00:01:46.410 trouble is nobody had ever seen it. And you 43 00:01:46.410 --> 00:01:48.970 can see why. Imagine trying to spot a 44 00:01:48.970 --> 00:01:51.250 candle sitting right next to a lighthouse. 45 00:01:51.650 --> 00:01:54.610 Betelgeuse is so blindingly bright and so 46 00:01:54.610 --> 00:01:57.130 physically huge that any little companion 47 00:01:57.130 --> 00:01:59.730 tucked in beside it just drowns in the glare. 48 00:01:59.970 --> 00:02:02.690 For a hundred years, it stayed a hypothesis. 49 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:04.210 Avery: So what changed? 50 00:02:04.370 --> 00:02:07.010 Anna: A team led by Miguel Montargis at the Paris 51 00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:09.570 Observatory in Chile, the vlt, 52 00:02:09.810 --> 00:02:12.330 and an instrument called Sphere that's built 53 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:14.930 for exactly this job. Blocking out a bright 54 00:02:14.930 --> 00:02:17.090 star to hunt for faint things right beside 55 00:02:17.090 --> 00:02:19.830 it. And crucially, they picked their moment. 56 00:02:19.910 --> 00:02:22.830 They observed in December 2024, at the 57 00:02:22.830 --> 00:02:24.670 point in the orbit when the companion was 58 00:02:24.670 --> 00:02:27.230 predicted to swing out as far from Betelgeuse 59 00:02:27.230 --> 00:02:29.990 as it ever gets from seen from Earth. Best 60 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:32.950 possible chance to split the two apart. And 61 00:02:33.670 --> 00:02:36.470 there it was. A faint little source right 62 00:02:36.470 --> 00:02:38.870 Where a companion should be. Their paper 63 00:02:38.870 --> 00:02:41.510 landed yesterday, 28th July in the journal 64 00:02:41.590 --> 00:02:44.500 Astronomy and Astrophysics. And Montargis 65 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:46.900 called it the end of a century long quest. 66 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:49.900 After a hundred years of arguing about it, we 67 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:52.180 have a direct image of what is very likely 68 00:02:52.260 --> 00:02:53.300 Betelgeuse B. 69 00:02:53.540 --> 00:02:56.460 Avery: That gives me chills, honestly. A star that 70 00:02:56.460 --> 00:02:58.700 people have watched since antiquity and we're 71 00:02:58.700 --> 00:03:00.420 still learning brand new things about it. 72 00:03:00.660 --> 00:03:03.340 Anna: And here's the lovely twist. The reason they 73 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:05.660 could see it at all is that it surprised 74 00:03:05.660 --> 00:03:07.940 them. The companion was predicted to be 75 00:03:07.940 --> 00:03:10.540 roughly the mass of our Sun. But the data 76 00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:13.100 say it's bigger than that, something like two 77 00:03:13.100 --> 00:03:16.100 to three times the Sun's mass. Montargis put 78 00:03:16.100 --> 00:03:18.340 it beautifully, because it's more massive 79 00:03:18.340 --> 00:03:20.460 than we expected, it's brighter than we 80 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:22.860 expected, and that's the only reason it 81 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:25.060 peeked out of the glare. If it had been as 82 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:27.220 small as the textbook said, they might have 83 00:03:27.220 --> 00:03:28.220 missed it entirely. 84 00:03:28.700 --> 00:03:31.220 Avery: So the companion did us a favor by being 85 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:34.060 chunkier than advertised. What is it though? 86 00:03:34.220 --> 00:03:35.420 Another supergiant? 87 00:03:35.950 --> 00:03:38.950 Anna: No, nothing like Betelgeuse. Think of it as 88 00:03:38.950 --> 00:03:41.710 a young, hot, fairly ordinary star, 89 00:03:41.870 --> 00:03:44.510 but locked in a very awkward orbit. 90 00:03:44.670 --> 00:03:47.470 It appears to circle so close that it's 91 00:03:47.470 --> 00:03:49.830 essentially skimming through the outer puffed 92 00:03:49.830 --> 00:03:52.710 up layers of the supergiant. And that has 93 00:03:52.710 --> 00:03:55.310 consequences. That orbit is almost 94 00:03:55.390 --> 00:03:58.310 certainly what paces that mysterious M6 95 00:03:58.310 --> 00:04:01.150 year brightness cycle. But it's also most 96 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:03.550 likely a death sentence for the companion. 97 00:04:04.170 --> 00:04:05.290 Avery: Ooh, M. Go on. 98 00:04:05.690 --> 00:04:08.050 Anna: Plowing through a supergiant's outer 99 00:04:08.050 --> 00:04:10.970 atmosphere means constant drag. Every 100 00:04:10.970 --> 00:04:13.610 orbit, the little star loses a bit of energy. 101 00:04:13.770 --> 00:04:16.770 And models suggest it's slowly spiraling 102 00:04:16.770 --> 00:04:19.450 inward on astronomical timescales. 103 00:04:19.530 --> 00:04:22.410 Betelgeuse is very likely to swallow its 104 00:04:22.410 --> 00:04:25.410 own companion. Not tomorrow. We're talking 105 00:04:25.410 --> 00:04:28.250 thousands of years. But the relationship is, 106 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:30.490 let's say, not built to last. 107 00:04:31.250 --> 00:04:33.090 Avery: The lighthouse eats the candle. 108 00:04:33.330 --> 00:04:36.330 Anna: Eventually, yes. And this matters for the big 109 00:04:36.330 --> 00:04:38.610 question everyone actually wants answered 110 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:40.930 about Betelgeuse. When is it going to 111 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:43.810 explode? Because it will. It's an old 112 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:46.530 massive star, near the end of its life, and 113 00:04:46.609 --> 00:04:49.210 one day it will go supernova and briefly 114 00:04:49.210 --> 00:04:52.170 outshine everything in the night sky. Now, 115 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:55.130 before anyone emails us, that's expected on a 116 00:04:55.130 --> 00:04:57.650 timescale of up to 100,000 years. 117 00:04:58.260 --> 00:05:00.780 So don't cancel your weekend. But whether a 118 00:05:00.780 --> 00:05:03.220 star has a close binary companion 119 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:06.100 changes the whole picture. How it sheds mass, 120 00:05:06.340 --> 00:05:08.780 the shape of the gas around it, even the 121 00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:11.620 choreography of the explosion when it finally 122 00:05:11.620 --> 00:05:14.020 comes. Knowing Betelgeuse is a pear 123 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:15.780 rewrites part of that story. 124 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:18.420 Avery: And this was direct imaging. An actual 125 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:20.820 Picture not just an inference from wobbles in 126 00:05:20.820 --> 00:05:21.220 the light. 127 00:05:21.700 --> 00:05:24.230 Anna: That's what makes it land. There had been 128 00:05:24.230 --> 00:05:27.110 circumstantial hints for years, but this is a 129 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:29.910 direct detection light caught from the 130 00:05:29.910 --> 00:05:32.550 companion itself in the right place at the 131 00:05:32.550 --> 00:05:34.870 right time. It's the difference between the 132 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:37.750 data suggest a second star and here 133 00:05:37.750 --> 00:05:38.190 it is. 134 00:05:38.590 --> 00:05:40.470 Avery: So if you want to go and look at the star at 135 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:42.830 the center of all this, Betelgeuse itself. 136 00:05:43.150 --> 00:05:45.870 Where are we? Both hemispheres right now? 137 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.750 Anna: Orion is a pre dawn act. It's climbing 138 00:05:48.750 --> 00:05:51.270 back into the morning sky after being lost in 139 00:05:51.270 --> 00:05:53.710 the sun's glare. For our Southern hemisphere 140 00:05:53.710 --> 00:05:56.390 listeners, Orion rides high in the northern 141 00:05:56.390 --> 00:05:58.550 part of the early morning sky. And it's 142 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:00.590 upside down compared to the northern view. 143 00:06:00.830 --> 00:06:03.310 Look for Betelgeuse as the bright orange star 144 00:06:03.630 --> 00:06:05.670 from North America and mid northern 145 00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:08.469 latitudes. It's lower in the east southeast 146 00:06:08.469 --> 00:06:11.190 before dawn, climbing higher each week. As we 147 00:06:11.190 --> 00:06:13.590 head towards the northern winter, we'll come 148 00:06:13.590 --> 00:06:16.110 back to it properly in the sky watch. But 149 00:06:16.110 --> 00:06:18.910 next time you find it, just remember it's not 150 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:20.920 one star. It never was. 151 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:23.840 Avery: Now from a star that's hiding a companion to 152 00:06:23.840 --> 00:06:26.200 a black hole that was hiding full stop. 153 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.640 Anna, picture, uh, a supermassive black hole. 154 00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:30.280 Where is it? 155 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.520 Anna: Dead center of a galaxy. That's the rule. The 156 00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:35.080 big ones sit in the core. 157 00:06:35.400 --> 00:06:38.120 Avery: That's the rule. And this week, NASA's Swift 158 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:40.800 observatory helped break it. Astronomers 159 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:43.080 announced a tidal disruption event. That's 160 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:45.120 the technical name for a black hole tearing a 161 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.630 star apart and eating it. And the flare it 162 00:06:47.630 --> 00:06:50.430 produced was blazing briefly outshining its 163 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:53.310 entire host galaxy in ultraviolet. Like 164 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:56.310 10 billion suns switched on at once. But 165 00:06:56.310 --> 00:06:58.630 here's the thing. It didn't happen in the 166 00:06:58.630 --> 00:07:00.750 middle of the galaxy. It went off about 167 00:07:00.750 --> 00:07:03.350 30,000 light years out from the core. 168 00:07:03.830 --> 00:07:06.470 Anna: 30,000. That's not a rounding error. 169 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:08.550 That's further from the center than the sun 170 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:10.950 is from the middle of the Milky Way. That 171 00:07:10.950 --> 00:07:12.870 black hole is out in the suburbs. 172 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:15.940 Avery: Way out in the suburbs. The event's called 173 00:07:15.940 --> 00:07:18.940 TDE 2025 ABCR 174 00:07:18.940 --> 00:07:21.940 in a Galaxy about 750 million light 175 00:07:21.940 --> 00:07:24.620 years away. And the teams one led out of 176 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.020 NASA and the University of Maryland, another 177 00:07:27.020 --> 00:07:29.820 from UNC Chapel Hill, published it on 178 00:07:29.820 --> 00:07:32.460 27 July in the Astrophysical Journal 179 00:07:32.460 --> 00:07:35.340 Letters. It's the most off center tidal 180 00:07:35.340 --> 00:07:38.020 disruption ever seen. And what it reveals is 181 00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:40.340 a wandering black hole, a around a million 182 00:07:40.340 --> 00:07:42.620 times the mass of the sun, just roaming 183 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:44.820 through its galaxy, nowhere near the core. 184 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:47.980 Anna: How does a black hole end up out there? They 185 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:49.140 don't exactly stroll. 186 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:52.420 Avery: Best guess is a, uh, galaxy merger. When two 187 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:54.500 galaxies collide and their central black 188 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:57.260 holes get thrown together, one can get kicked 189 00:07:57.260 --> 00:07:58.900 out of the middle and left drifting. 190 00:07:59.140 --> 00:08:01.300 Theorists have predicted these wanderers for 191 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:04.220 years. The problem is they're invisible. A 192 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.700 black hole sitting quietly in the dark emits 193 00:08:06.700 --> 00:08:09.210 no light. You only ever attach one if it does 194 00:08:09.210 --> 00:08:10.250 something dramatic. 195 00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:13.050 Anna: Like grabbing a passing star and lighting up. 196 00:08:13.290 --> 00:08:15.810 Avery: Exactly. The star is the flashbulb. It 197 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:18.610 wanders too close, gets shredded, and for a 198 00:08:18.610 --> 00:08:20.850 few weeks, the wreckage glows and gives the 199 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:23.330 whole thing away. That's the only reason we 200 00:08:23.330 --> 00:08:25.050 know this black hole is there at all. 201 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:27.930 Anna: And there's a lovely modern wrinkle to how 202 00:08:27.930 --> 00:08:30.010 they found it isn't there. This wasn't a 203 00:08:30.010 --> 00:08:31.690 human squinting at plates. 204 00:08:32.170 --> 00:08:34.490 Avery: Not a chance. The sky is too big for that 205 00:08:34.490 --> 00:08:36.810 now. The initial flare was picked up back in 206 00:08:36.810 --> 00:08:39.749 November 2025 by a survey at Palo are 207 00:08:39.749 --> 00:08:42.309 in California that scans the whole northern 208 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:44.949 sky every couple of nights. It throws up 209 00:08:44.949 --> 00:08:47.349 something like half a million flashes every 210 00:08:47.509 --> 00:08:50.269 single night. So the team trained an AI to 211 00:08:50.269 --> 00:08:52.749 sift that fire hose and flag the ones that 212 00:08:52.749 --> 00:08:55.428 look like a tidal disruption. And it caught 213 00:08:55.428 --> 00:08:57.709 this one precisely because it was in a weird 214 00:08:57.709 --> 00:09:00.269 place off in the outskirts where nobody would 215 00:09:00.269 --> 00:09:02.909 have thought to look. Swift followed up to 216 00:09:02.909 --> 00:09:04.069 nail down the details. 217 00:09:04.389 --> 00:09:06.629 Anna: And that's the taste of what's coming, right? 218 00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:08.909 Once the big new survey telescopes are 219 00:09:08.909 --> 00:09:09.269 running. 220 00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:11.990 Avery: That's the real headline. Under the headline, 221 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:14.270 with observatories like the Vera Rubin 222 00:09:14.270 --> 00:09:17.030 Observatory and UNC's Argus array coming 223 00:09:17.030 --> 00:09:19.830 online, we go from finding a handful of these 224 00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:22.710 a year to potentially hundreds or thousands. 225 00:09:22.790 --> 00:09:25.230 And suddenly all those invisible wandering 226 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:27.790 black holes become findable. We're about to 227 00:09:27.790 --> 00:09:30.150 start taking a census of the galaxy's hidden 228 00:09:30.150 --> 00:09:32.470 monsters. And keep swip in mind, by the 229 00:09:32.470 --> 00:09:34.910 Anna: way, because it's going to come back to bite 230 00:09:34.910 --> 00:09:35.990 us later in the show. 231 00:09:36.380 --> 00:09:37.580 Avery: It is. Hold that thought. 232 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.460 Anna: Speaking of survey telescopes about to change 233 00:09:40.460 --> 00:09:43.020 the game, let's talk about one that's now 234 00:09:43.180 --> 00:09:45.340 genuinely nearly on the 235 00:09:46.140 --> 00:09:48.660 NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space 236 00:09:48.660 --> 00:09:51.460 Telescope, because as of this week, it is 237 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:53.020 fueled and counting down. 238 00:09:53.420 --> 00:09:56.180 Avery: Fueled. That's a real milestone. That's not a 239 00:09:56.180 --> 00:09:58.740 slide in a presentation. That's propellant in 240 00:09:58.740 --> 00:09:59.260 the tank. 241 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:01.980 Anna: Precisely. On the 25th of July, 242 00:10:02.140 --> 00:10:03.980 teams at, uh, Kennedy loaded around 243 00:10:04.060 --> 00:10:06.980 290 gallons of hydrazine into 244 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:09.690 the observatory. That's the fuel it'll use to 245 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:11.970 hold its position and point with real 246 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:14.650 precision once it's out there. And NASA is 247 00:10:14.650 --> 00:10:16.890 holding its big mission preview briefing 248 00:10:16.890 --> 00:10:19.810 today, exactly one month out from launch. 249 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:22.930 The date to circle is the 30th of August 250 00:10:22.930 --> 00:10:25.650 and remarkably, that's about eight months 251 00:10:25.650 --> 00:10:27.250 ahead of the original schedule. 252 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:30.330 Avery: A NASA flagship running early and as 253 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.770 I understand it, on budget. Let the record 254 00:10:32.770 --> 00:10:34.210 show it can be done. 255 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:37.580 Anna: It can. And here's why Roman is worth 256 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:40.180 the excitement. Think of it as a telescope 257 00:10:40.180 --> 00:10:42.900 with Hubble quality sharpness, but a jaw 258 00:10:42.900 --> 00:10:45.660 droppingly wide field of view. Something like 259 00:10:45.660 --> 00:10:48.460 a hundred times the patch of sky Hubble sees 260 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:51.300 in a single shot. Bass estimate is that in 261 00:10:51.300 --> 00:10:53.700 its first five years, it could image more 262 00:10:53.700 --> 00:10:56.620 than 50 times as much sky as Hubble has 263 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:59.540 in 30. It's built to survey fast and 264 00:10:59.540 --> 00:10:59.980 wide. 265 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:02.140 Avery: And what's that actually hunting? 266 00:11:02.540 --> 00:11:05.500 Anna: Two headline jobs. One, dark Energy, 267 00:11:05.660 --> 00:11:07.980 the mystery. Pushing the universe apart 268 00:11:08.140 --> 00:11:10.860 faster and faster. Roman will map how 269 00:11:10.860 --> 00:11:13.700 cosmic structure has grown over billions of 270 00:11:13.700 --> 00:11:16.299 years to pin down what Dark Energy is 271 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:19.140 actually doing. And two, this is the one 272 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:21.820 I love. It's an exoplanet machine. 273 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:25.060 Using a trick called microlensing, Roman 274 00:11:25.060 --> 00:11:27.740 is expected to find more than 100,000 275 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:30.500 new planets and to catch hundreds of others 276 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:32.820 in the very act of finding forming around 277 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:33.700 young stars. 278 00:11:34.260 --> 00:11:36.980 Avery: 100,000. We do a story 279 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.620 most weeks about one interesting new planet 280 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:42.500 and Roman's going to hand us 100,000. 281 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:45.540 Anna: It really might reset the whole field. 282 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:48.620 And this is genuinely for everyone listening 283 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:51.540 wherever you are. It's a space telescope, 284 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:54.020 though there's no hemisphere that misses out. 285 00:11:54.260 --> 00:11:57.020 The whole planet shares this one. One 286 00:11:57.020 --> 00:11:57.780 month to go. 287 00:11:58.180 --> 00:11:59.940 Avery: Fingers crossed for the 30th of August. 288 00:12:00.260 --> 00:12:02.180 Right? I told you Swift would come back 289 00:12:02.180 --> 00:12:04.980 around. In story two, Swift was the hero, 290 00:12:05.060 --> 00:12:07.340 the observatory that helped us catch that 291 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:10.300 wandering black hole. Well, here's the 292 00:12:10.300 --> 00:12:12.940 thing in the tale, Swift itself is in 293 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:15.740 trouble and the spacecraft sent to save it 294 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:17.060 is now in trouble too. 295 00:12:17.620 --> 00:12:20.540 Anna: Set it up. Why does Swift need saving in 296 00:12:20.540 --> 00:12:21.140 the first place? 297 00:12:21.540 --> 00:12:24.260 Avery: Because Swift is falling. It's a fantastic 298 00:12:24.260 --> 00:12:26.380 gamma ray and X ray observatory that's been 299 00:12:26.380 --> 00:12:29.100 working since 2004. But it has no 300 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:31.700 engine of its own, no way to boost its own 301 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:34.380 orbit, and its orbit has been decaying faster 302 00:12:34.380 --> 00:12:36.900 than expected, partly because heightened 303 00:12:36.900 --> 00:12:39.620 solar activity puffs up the upper atmosphere 304 00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:42.140 and increases the drag. Left alone, 305 00:12:42.220 --> 00:12:44.700 Swift is looking at an uncontrolled re entry 306 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:46.220 by around the end of this year. 307 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:49.420 Anna: So it burns up unless someone 308 00:12:49.420 --> 00:12:51.020 goes up and gives it a push. 309 00:12:51.260 --> 00:12:54.150 Avery: Which is exactly the plan. A company called 310 00:12:54.150 --> 00:12:56.630 Catalyst Space Technologies built a 311 00:12:56.630 --> 00:12:59.070 robotics servicing spacecraft named Link. 312 00:12:59.390 --> 00:13:01.990 And NASA hired them for what its own mission 313 00:13:01.990 --> 00:13:04.510 director called a fast, high risk, high 314 00:13:04.510 --> 00:13:07.510 reward rescue. Link launched on 3 315 00:13:07.510 --> 00:13:10.190 July, and the goal is genuinely a first 316 00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:13.470 to fly up, grab hold of Swift, a 317 00:13:13.470 --> 00:13:15.350 satellite that was never designed to be 318 00:13:15.350 --> 00:13:17.830 docked with or serviced and physically 319 00:13:17.830 --> 00:13:20.110 boosted into a higher, safer orbit. 320 00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:22.850 Nobody has ever commercially docked with a 321 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:24.970 government spacecraft that wasn't built for 322 00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:25.210 it. 323 00:13:25.450 --> 00:13:28.250 Anna: That's ambitious. So what's gone wrong? 324 00:13:28.570 --> 00:13:31.130 Avery: Over the weekend, Link ran into an attitude 325 00:13:31.130 --> 00:13:33.850 control problem and started spinning with its 326 00:13:33.850 --> 00:13:36.569 communications dropping in and out. According 327 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:39.370 to NASA's update, and I want to be precise 328 00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:41.570 here because this is developing, the 329 00:13:41.570 --> 00:13:44.090 preliminary finding is that two of Link's 330 00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:46.250 three reaction wheels are no longer working 331 00:13:46.410 --> 00:13:48.420 and, and there's some loss of function in its 332 00:13:48.420 --> 00:13:50.340 cold gas thruster system as well. 333 00:13:50.740 --> 00:13:53.220 Anna: Reaction wheels, Those are the spinning 334 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:55.820 wheels inside a spacecraft that let it turn 335 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:58.260 and hold steady without using fuel. 336 00:13:58.660 --> 00:14:01.540 Lose those and you lose fine control of which 337 00:14:01.540 --> 00:14:02.420 way you're pointing. 338 00:14:02.739 --> 00:14:05.300 Avery: That's the one. And losing two of three is 339 00:14:05.300 --> 00:14:07.580 serious, especially because there was already 340 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:09.580 a wobble with one Wheel earlier in 341 00:14:09.580 --> 00:14:11.620 commissioning that they patched in software. 342 00:14:12.020 --> 00:14:14.780 The good news, Link is not lost. It's still 343 00:14:14.780 --> 00:14:17.300 powered, still in contact, and its other 344 00:14:17.300 --> 00:14:20.000 major systems are behaving. The team's plan 345 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.360 is to use Link's electric thrusters, its 346 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:25.200 xenon propulsion, to stop the spin over the 347 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.880 next few days, then re establish stable 348 00:14:27.880 --> 00:14:30.200 pointing, update the spacecraft's guidance 349 00:14:30.200 --> 00:14:32.080 and navigation to work around the dead 350 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.920 hardware, and only then sit, uh, down with 351 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:37.080 NASA and decide whether it's still safe to 352 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:39.360 attempt the approach and capture of Swift. 353 00:14:39.920 --> 00:14:42.920 Anna: So the rescue isn't canceled, it's on 354 00:14:42.920 --> 00:14:45.720 hold while they figure out if the rescuer can 355 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:46.640 still do the job. 356 00:14:47.150 --> 00:14:49.150 Avery: That's exactly it. And I'll flag for 357 00:14:49.150 --> 00:14:51.830 everyone. This is a life situation as of when 358 00:14:51.830 --> 00:14:54.110 we're recording. By the time you hear this, 359 00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:56.790 the team may already have stopped a spin or 360 00:14:56.790 --> 00:14:59.470 the picture may have changed again. But step 361 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:01.750 back and look at the shape of it. The same 362 00:15:01.750 --> 00:15:03.990 little observatory that just helped us find 363 00:15:03.990 --> 00:15:06.390 an invisible black hole halfway across the 364 00:15:06.390 --> 00:15:08.990 universe is now clinging on in low Earth 365 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.630 orbit, waiting to see if its own lifeboat can 366 00:15:11.630 --> 00:15:14.420 limp over and give it a shovel. Space is 367 00:15:14.420 --> 00:15:16.940 hard. Even the rescue missions need rescuing. 368 00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:19.500 Anna: We'll keep you posted as that one develops. 369 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.260 And that brings us to the sky over the next 370 00:15:22.260 --> 00:15:24.900 few nights. And there's one thing you cannot 371 00:15:24.900 --> 00:15:27.420 miss, because it's going to be lighting up 372 00:15:27.420 --> 00:15:29.500 the whole night. The moon. 373 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:31.180 Avery: The full buck moon. 374 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:34.180 Anna: The full buck moon. Full tonight, the 375 00:15:34.180 --> 00:15:37.060 29th, and near enough to 100% 376 00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:39.180 lit for a couple of nights either side. 377 00:15:40.020 --> 00:15:42.380 Gorgeous to look at as it climbs the eastern 378 00:15:42.380 --> 00:15:45.060 sky after sunset. But it is a 379 00:15:45.060 --> 00:15:48.060 floodlight and that shapes everything else we 380 00:15:48.060 --> 00:15:49.180 can and can't 381 00:15:49.180 --> 00:15:51.380 Avery: do this week, starting with the meteors, 382 00:15:51.380 --> 00:15:53.500 because there are three showers on the go at 383 00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:53.780 once. 384 00:15:54.180 --> 00:15:56.340 Anna: There are. And this is where our two 385 00:15:56.340 --> 00:15:59.260 hemispheres genuinely differ. The headline 386 00:15:59.260 --> 00:16:01.740 shower right now is the Southern Delta 387 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:04.140 Aquarius, peaking over the next couple of 388 00:16:04.140 --> 00:16:06.870 nights. And the clue is in the name of. For 389 00:16:06.870 --> 00:16:09.470 our Southern Hemisphere listeners, this one's 390 00:16:09.470 --> 00:16:12.350 yours. The radiant over near the bright star 391 00:16:12.350 --> 00:16:14.830 Fomalhaut rides high almost 392 00:16:14.830 --> 00:16:17.710 overhead in the pre dawn hours. So from 393 00:16:17.710 --> 00:16:20.230 Australia, New Zealand and southern Africa, 394 00:16:20.630 --> 00:16:23.190 you're in the best seats on Earth for it. 395 00:16:23.510 --> 00:16:26.230 And for the north, from North America, 396 00:16:26.230 --> 00:16:29.150 it's lower and stingier, though observers 397 00:16:29.150 --> 00:16:31.230 in the southern United States still get a 398 00:16:31.230 --> 00:16:34.040 fair look. Best window everywhere is 399 00:16:34.040 --> 00:16:36.800 the couple of hours before dawn. But 400 00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:39.760 big caveat, this year, that brilliant 401 00:16:39.760 --> 00:16:42.400 moon is going to wash out most of the faint 402 00:16:42.400 --> 00:16:45.360 Delta Aquarids. So temper expectations. 403 00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:47.720 Avery: If the faint ones are drowned out, what's 404 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:48.720 worth staying up for? 405 00:16:49.040 --> 00:16:51.960 Anna: The fireballs. The Alpha Capricornids 406 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:54.880 are active at the same time. They're sparse, 407 00:16:54.880 --> 00:16:57.640 only a handful an hour. But they specialize 408 00:16:57.640 --> 00:17:00.600 in slow, brilliant fireballs bright enough 409 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.250 to punch through moonlight. And unlike the 410 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:05.930 Delta Aquarids, the Capricornids play 411 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:08.210 fair. They're just as good from either 412 00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:10.930 hemisphere. So the tip for everyone this 413 00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:13.570 week, don't chase quantity. Get 414 00:17:13.570 --> 00:17:16.210 comfortable, be patient and wait for 415 00:17:16.210 --> 00:17:19.170 one big slow fireball to make your 416 00:17:19.170 --> 00:17:19.490 night. 417 00:17:19.810 --> 00:17:22.210 Avery: And the shower, everyone's really waiting for 418 00:17:22.530 --> 00:17:23.570 the Perseids. 419 00:17:23.810 --> 00:17:25.970 Anna: And here's the good news to hold onto. 420 00:17:26.210 --> 00:17:28.810 They're building now, but they peak on the 421 00:17:28.810 --> 00:17:31.570 night of the 12th into the 13th of August. 422 00:17:31.970 --> 00:17:34.770 And this year the timing is close to perfect. 423 00:17:35.010 --> 00:17:37.570 The peak lands right on the New Moon. 424 00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:40.210 Dark skies, no moonlight. 425 00:17:40.290 --> 00:17:42.770 Potentially the best Perseids in years. 426 00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:45.890 They favor the northern Hemisphere, but mid 427 00:17:45.890 --> 00:17:48.770 southern latitudes will catch some too. Mark 428 00:17:48.770 --> 00:17:51.570 it. The night of 12 August is the one to 429 00:17:51.570 --> 00:17:52.210 keep clear. 430 00:17:52.610 --> 00:17:54.890 Avery: And that same date is a big one for another 431 00:17:54.890 --> 00:17:55.250 reason. 432 00:17:55.730 --> 00:17:58.490 Anna: It is a, uh, total solar eclipse on 433 00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:01.370 12 August, with the path of totality 434 00:18:01.370 --> 00:18:04.310 crossing Greenland, Iceland and slice of 435 00:18:04.310 --> 00:18:07.070 Spain, and a partial eclipse visible across 436 00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:09.630 much of Europe and parts of North America. 437 00:18:09.870 --> 00:18:12.190 We'll have full timings closer to the day. 438 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:14.830 And the one rule that never changes 439 00:18:14.830 --> 00:18:17.510 wherever you are, never look at the 440 00:18:17.510 --> 00:18:20.110 partial phases of a solar eclipse. Without 441 00:18:20.350 --> 00:18:23.310 certified eclipse glasses, ISO 442 00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:26.030 123122 443 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:28.590 or a properly filtered telescope. 444 00:18:28.830 --> 00:18:31.430 Ordinary sunglasses will not protect your 445 00:18:31.430 --> 00:18:34.170 eyes. That safety line stays in. 446 00:18:34.410 --> 00:18:35.530 No exceptions. 447 00:18:36.090 --> 00:18:38.650 Avery: One quick planet note before we wrap the sky. 448 00:18:38.890 --> 00:18:41.730 Anna: Yes, say goodbye to Jupiter for a 449 00:18:41.730 --> 00:18:44.010 little while. Today the 29th 450 00:18:44.170 --> 00:18:47.170 Jupiter reaches solar conjunction. It's 451 00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.930 passing almost directly behind the sun from 452 00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:52.450 our point of view, so it's lost in the glare 453 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:54.650 and out of action for the next few weeks. 454 00:18:54.810 --> 00:18:57.450 It'll creep back as a pre dawn object 455 00:18:57.530 --> 00:19:00.280 later in August. And for early risers, 456 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:02.840 Mercury is putting on its best morning 457 00:19:02.840 --> 00:19:05.640 showing of the season, low in the pre dawn 458 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:06.040 east, 459 00:19:06.520 --> 00:19:08.520 Avery: and we have to close the loop on our lead 460 00:19:08.520 --> 00:19:08.920 story. 461 00:19:09.320 --> 00:19:12.240 Anna: We do. If you're up before dawn chasing 462 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:15.200 those meteors, look for Orion climbing in 463 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.160 the east and find Betelgeuse, that bright 464 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:20.800 orange shoulder from the southern hemisphere. 465 00:19:20.800 --> 00:19:23.280 It's high in the northern sky and flipped 466 00:19:23.280 --> 00:19:25.880 over from the north. It's lower in the east 467 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:28.860 before sunrise. Either way, give it a nod. 468 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:31.860 You now know something about that star that 469 00:19:31.860 --> 00:19:33.900 nobody knew for a hundred years. 470 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:36.780 It's got a companion before we go, 471 00:19:36.780 --> 00:19:39.260 Avery: a bit of proper news from our end. We've just 472 00:19:39.260 --> 00:19:41.100 launched the brand new home for the show 473 00:19:41.260 --> 00:19:41.340 astronomydaily. 474 00:19:41.340 --> 00:19:44.300 Anna: Uh, IO same 475 00:19:44.300 --> 00:19:46.900 address you already know, but it's had a 476 00:19:46.900 --> 00:19:49.020 complete makeover and there's a lot there. 477 00:19:49.020 --> 00:19:51.980 Now you can stream the entire back catalog 478 00:19:52.060 --> 00:19:54.320 every episode. There's a news feed that 479 00:19:54.320 --> 00:19:56.600 updates continuously through the day so you 480 00:19:56.600 --> 00:19:58.360 can keep up with the latest space and 481 00:19:58.360 --> 00:20:01.160 astronomy headlines between episodes. You can 482 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.080 read listener reviews and leave one of your 483 00:20:03.080 --> 00:20:05.280 own. And you can sign up for uh, our daily 484 00:20:05.280 --> 00:20:07.880 Space News newsletter to get it all straight 485 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:08.720 to your inbox. 486 00:20:09.040 --> 00:20:10.720 Avery: And there's a spot to drop us a line, 487 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.240 questions, suggestions, a story you think 488 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:15.640 we've missed, or just to say good day, we 489 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:16.080 read them. 490 00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:18.840 Anna: It's brand new, so we genuinely love your 491 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:21.170 feedback on it. Head to astronomydaily 492 00:20:21.330 --> 00:20:24.090 IO have a wander around and tell us what you 493 00:20:24.090 --> 00:20:26.650 think, what you love, what you change. Help 494 00:20:26.650 --> 00:20:27.570 us make it yours. 495 00:20:28.050 --> 00:20:30.970 Avery: That's astronomy daily for Wednesday, 29th of 496 00:20:30.970 --> 00:20:33.570 July. Betelgeuse's Hundred Year Secret 497 00:20:33.730 --> 00:20:36.730 A black hole in the wrong part of town, Roman 498 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:39.250 on the clock and a rescue mission holding its 499 00:20:39.250 --> 00:20:39.650 breath. 500 00:20:39.970 --> 00:20:41.970 Anna: Thanks for spending part of your day with us. 501 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:44.050 Look after each other and whichever 502 00:20:44.050 --> 00:20:45.170 hemisphere you're in. 503 00:20:45.670 --> 00:20:46.310 Avery: Clear skies.