Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily.
Speaker 2: I'm Anna, and we have a great lineup of space
Speaker 2: discoveries and developments to share with you today. From ancient
Speaker 2: lunar canyons formed by catastrophic impacts, to spectacular galactic collisions
Speaker 2: creating cosmic ripples, and groundbreaking missions exploring our Solar System,
Speaker 2: we'll journey through some of the most fascinating recent developments
Speaker 2: in space exploration and astronomy. Our stories today will take
Speaker 2: us from the Moon's mysterious south pole to the far
Speaker 2: reaches of space, where the spectacular Bull's Eye Galaxy shows
Speaker 2: us the aftermath of an incredible cosmic collision.
Speaker 1: We'll also check in on several exciting space.
Speaker 2: Missions, including Blue Origin's latest achievement and NASA's ongoing explorations
Speaker 2: of our cosmic neighborhood.
Speaker 1: A lot to cover, so let's kick things off with
Speaker 1: our own moon.
Speaker 2: A fascinating new study has revealed the dramatic origin story
Speaker 2: of two enormous canyons near the Moon's south pole. These
Speaker 2: massive structures, known as Vallis Schrodinger and Vallas Plank, were
Speaker 2: carved out in less than ten minutes by an extraordinary
Speaker 2: cosmic event that occurred three zero point eight billion years ago,
Speaker 2: according to research published in Nature Communications, it all began
Speaker 2: with a massive impact near the lunar south pole. This
Speaker 2: collision sent a curtain of rock flying away from the
Speaker 2: impact site, and when these rocks came crashing back down,
Speaker 2: they struck the lunar surface with devastating force. The energy
Speaker 2: released was truly astronomical, about one hundred and thirty times
Speaker 2: greater than Earth's entire nuclear weapons inventory. These falling rocks
Speaker 2: created what planetary geologist David Kring describes as a staccato
Speaker 2: like series of impacts bang bang, bang, that carved out
Speaker 2: two incredible canyons. To put their size in perspective, While
Speaker 2: the Grand Canyon reaches depths of one point nine kilometers,
Speaker 2: these lunar canyons plunge as deep as three point five
Speaker 2: kilometers into the Moon's surface. They stretch for about two
Speaker 2: hundred and seventy and two hundred and eighty kilometers in length,
Speaker 2: cutting straight lines across the lunar landscape. What makes this
Speaker 2: discovery particularly significant for future lunar exploration is its location.
Speaker 2: The impact site lies about one hundred and twenty five
Speaker 2: kilometers from where NASA's Artemis astronauts plan to land. Initially,
Speaker 2: scientists worried that the impact might have buried some of
Speaker 2: the Moon's oldest rocks, potentially dating back to its formation
Speaker 2: four billion years ago, under debris. However, the team's analysis
Speaker 2: revealed some good news. The impact appears to have thrown
Speaker 2: material primarily northward, away from the planned exploration zone. This
Speaker 2: means that when astronauts arrive, they should still have access
Speaker 2: to these ancient rocks, offering an unprecedented opportunity to study
Speaker 2: the earliest chapter of the Earth Moon System's history. If
Speaker 2: we could stand on the lunar surface today, we'd be
Speaker 2: looking at what Kring calls one of the most dramatic
Speaker 2: landscapes in our cosmic neighborhood, a testament to the Moon's
Speaker 2: violent past, and a window into the powerful forces that
Speaker 2: shaped our Solar system. And some good news today. Blue
Speaker 2: Origin has just achieved a significant milestone in space research
Speaker 2: with their latest New Shepherd launch from their West Texas facility.
Speaker 2: The mission, designated n S twenty nine, wasn't just another
Speaker 2: routine flight. It marked the company's first successful attempt at
Speaker 2: simulating lunar gravity conditions in space. The launch saw New
Speaker 2: Shepherd reach an impressive altitude of one hundred and five
Speaker 2: kilometers above sea level. What made this flight unique was
Speaker 2: what happened after the capsule separated from its booster. Using
Speaker 2: reaction control thrusters, the capsule was commanded to spin at
Speaker 2: eleven revolutions per minute, creating lunar gravity conditions inside for
Speaker 2: approximately two minutes. This capability represents a major breakthrough for
Speaker 2: lunar research. As phil Joyce, Blue Origin, Senior vice president
Speaker 2: for New Shepherd, explained, it provides researchers with an invaluable
Speaker 2: opportunity to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the
Speaker 2: cost of actual Moon missions. Scientists can now rapidly iterate
Speaker 2: and test their experiments in lunar like conditions, dramatically accelerating
Speaker 2: the development process. The mission carried twenty nine different payloads,
Speaker 2: with seventeen of them provided by NASA through their Flight
Speaker 2: Opportunities program. These experiments covered crucial areas for future lunar exploration,
Speaker 2: including resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, and various
Speaker 2: spacecraft technologies. One payload was even mounted on the exterior
Speaker 2: of the booster to test its response to space conditions.
Speaker 2: While there was a minor issue with one of the
Speaker 2: three parachutes during descent, The capsule landed safely, as it's
Speaker 2: designed to operate with just two parachutes. The successful completion
Speaker 2: of this mission opens up exciting new possibilities for lunar
Speaker 2: research and development, providing a crucial stepping stone towards sustainable
Speaker 2: lunar exploration and establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon.
Speaker 2: The achievement marks a significant advancement in our ability to
Speaker 2: prepare for future lunar missions, offering researchers a reliable platform
Speaker 2: to test and refine their technologies before deploying them on
Speaker 2: the Moon itself. Next up today, talk about a cosmic bullseye.
Speaker 2: The Hubble Space telescope has captured something truly remarkable, a
Speaker 2: galaxy sporting not one, not two, but nine distinct ring
Speaker 2: shaped ripples in its structure. This extraordinary cosmic object, formerly
Speaker 2: known as LEDA one three one three, four two four,
Speaker 2: but nicknamed the Bullseye galaxy, lies about five hundred sixty
Speaker 2: seven million light years away in the constellation Pisces. This
Speaker 2: discovery was completely serendipitous. Yale University researcher Imad Pasha spotted
Speaker 2: these unusual rings while reviewing a ground based imaging survey,
Speaker 2: and the finding immediately demanded closer investigation. When the team
Speaker 2: took a closer look using Hubble's Advanced Camera for surveys,
Speaker 2: they were able to spot eight distinct rings, with a
Speaker 2: ninth ring identified using data from the Kech Observatory in Hawaii.
Speaker 2: What caused this remarkable pattern, Well, imagine throwing a rock
Speaker 2: into a pond. That's essentially what happened here. On a
Speaker 2: galactic scale, a smaller blue dwarf galaxy plunged right through
Speaker 2: the heart of the larger galaxy about fifty million years ago,
Speaker 2: creating these spectacular ripples in space. Even now, though the
Speaker 2: galaxies are separated by one hundred thirty thousand light years,
Speaker 2: they remain connected by a thin trail of gas. The
Speaker 2: Bullseye galaxy itself is quite a sizable target, spanning about
Speaker 2: two hundred fifty thousand light years. That's two and a
Speaker 2: half times wider than our Milky Way. The impact event
Speaker 2: caused galactic material to move both inward and outward, triggering
Speaker 2: multiple waves of star formation along these ripples, creating exactly
Speaker 2: the pattern that theoretical models had predicted.
Speaker 1: What makes this discovery.
Speaker 2: Particularly exciting is that it's the first time we've seen
Speaker 2: so many rings in a single galaxy. Previous observations of
Speaker 2: similar galactic collisions only showed two or three rings at most.
Speaker 2: The timing of this observation is particularly fortunate, as there's
Speaker 2: only a brief window after such an impact when a
Speaker 2: galaxy would display so many distinct rings. This remarkable observation
Speaker 2: not only confirms long standing theoretical predictions about galactic collisions,
Speaker 2: but also gives us a preview of what might happen
Speaker 2: when galaxies merge, something our own Milky Way will experience
Speaker 2: billions of years from now when it collides with the
Speaker 2: Andromeda galaxy, though that encounter is expected to be far
Speaker 2: more complex than this relatively straightforward cosmic bulls eye shot.
Speaker 2: In more Moon news, an exciting new mission is preparing
Speaker 2: to head to the Moon as SpaceX readies the launch
Speaker 2: of the Lunar Trailblazer orbiter scheduled for February twenty sixth
Speaker 2: from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This university led mission has
Speaker 2: a fascinating objective to pinpoint the locations of ice and
Speaker 2: liquid water trapped within lunar rocks. The spacecraft, weighing about
Speaker 2: four hundred and forty pounds, has been built by Lockheed
Speaker 2: Martin using their innovative Curio platform, a new small sat
Speaker 2: Archett texture designed to make deep space exploration more cost efficient.
Speaker 1: The probe comes.
Speaker 2: Equipped with two deployable solar arrays and carries two primary
Speaker 2: scientific instruments, the High Resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper
Speaker 2: from JPL and the Lunar Thermal Mapper from the University
Speaker 2: of Oxford. What makes this mission particularly interesting is its
Speaker 2: planned observation strategy. The Lunar Trailblazer will peer into permanently
Speaker 2: shadowed regions of the Moon, searching for microcold traps smaller
Speaker 2: than a football field. It will also collect measurements at
Speaker 2: various times of day over sunlit regions to understand how
Speaker 2: water signatures might change as surface temperatures fluctuate by hundreds
Speaker 2: of degrees during a lunar day. Following its launch aboard
Speaker 2: the Falcon nine, where it will share the ride with
Speaker 2: intuitive machines athena lunar lander, the spacecraft will take between
Speaker 2: four to seven months to reach lunar orbit. Once there,
Speaker 2: its plan to operate for at least a year systematically
Speaker 2: mapping and studying the Moon's water distribution. This mission represents
Speaker 2: an important step in understanding how water works on the Moon,
Speaker 2: knowledge that could prove crucial for future lunar exploration and
Speaker 2: potential human settlement. After completing its scientific mission, the spacecraft
Speaker 2: will conclude its journey with a planned impact on the
Speaker 2: lunar surface, a process officially termed as surface disposal. The
Speaker 2: Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for
Speaker 2: Planetary Exploration program, and in a unique educational component, it
Speaker 2: will be operated by students from both Caltech and Pasadena
Speaker 2: City College at the Caltech based Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.
Speaker 2: NASA's Europa Clipper mission has hid an early milestone on
Speaker 2: its ambitious journey to Jupiter's icy Moon, Europa marking progress
Speaker 2: just three months after its launch from Kennedy Space Center.
Speaker 2: While the spacecraft still has an incredible one point six
Speaker 2: billion miles ahead of it before reaching Jupiter's orbit in
Speaker 2: twenty thirty, it's already providing valuable data from its current
Speaker 2: position fifty three million miles from Earth. The mission team
Speaker 2: recently received the spacecraft's first images of deep space, captured
Speaker 2: by its star treker cameras. These specialized imagers act like
Speaker 2: a celestial compass, helping mission controllers precisely determine the spacecraft's orientation,
Speaker 2: crucial for keeping its communication antennas pointed toward Earth. The
Speaker 2: captured starfield shows tiny pinpricks of light from stars between
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty to three hundred light years away,
Speaker 2: including bright stars from the constellation Corvus. The spacecraft is
Speaker 2: currently racing through space at an astonishing seventeen miles per
Speaker 2: second relative to the Sun and is approaching its first
Speaker 2: major navigational milestone, a Mars flyby scheduled for March first.
Speaker 2: This carefully planned maneuver will use the red planet's gravity
Speaker 2: to give the spacecraft an additional boost on its long
Speaker 2: journey to the Jupiter System. Once it reaches its destination, Europa,
Speaker 2: Clipper will conduct forty nine close flybys of Europa using
Speaker 2: its of nine scientific instruments to study the Moon's composition, geology,
Speaker 2: and the mysterious ocean that lies beneath its icy crust.
Speaker 2: This comprehensive investigation will help scientists determine whether Europa's subsurface
Speaker 2: ocean might harbor conditions suitable for life. The successful checkout
Speaker 2: of the Star Trekers represents an important early step in
Speaker 2: ensuring all systems are functioning as intended after launch, While
Speaker 2: the spacecraft's main science cameras remain safely behind their protective
Speaker 2: covers for at least the next three years. These engineering
Speaker 2: milestones are building confidence in the mission's ability to accomplish
Speaker 2: its ambitious scientific goals when it finally arrives at Jupiter's
Speaker 2: intriguing icy moon. Have you ever thought about this? A
Speaker 2: fascinating new study is asking a compelling question, if there
Speaker 2: are alien civilizations out there with technology similar to ours,
Speaker 2: how far away could they detect signs of Earth's existence.
Speaker 2: This research, led by Sophia's Shake from the Seti Institute,
Speaker 2: takes a unique approach by examining our own technological footprint
Speaker 2: from an outsider's perspective. Instead of speculating about advanced alien civilizations,
Speaker 2: the team focused on what an alien civilization with Earth
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four level technology could detect. They analyzed various
Speaker 2: technosignatures were currently producing, from radio transmissions to satellite signals,
Speaker 2: and even city lights and atmospheric pollution. The results paint
Speaker 2: an interesting picture of our cosmic visibility. Our most detectable
Speaker 2: signature comes from our planetary radar systems like the former
Speaker 2: Araxibo observatory, which could be spotted from up to twelve
Speaker 2: thousand light years away. That's roughly the distance to the
Speaker 2: Tadpole nebula, quite a considerable reach into our galaxy. The
Speaker 2: next most visible signs would be signals from NASA's Deep
Speaker 2: Space Network, detectable from about one hundred light years away,
Speaker 2: But most of our technological signatures, including our LTE signals,
Speaker 2: atmospheric pollution, and laser emissions, would only be detectable from
Speaker 2: within about four light years, approximately the distance to our
Speaker 2: nearest stellar neighbor Proximus Andry. What's particularly intriguing is how
Speaker 2: these findings might inform our own search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Speaker 2: The research suggests that, despite ongoing debates in the SETI community,
Speaker 2: focusing on radio waves remains our best bet for detecting
Speaker 2: other civilizations, as they outperform other technos signatures by a
Speaker 2: factor of a thousand in terms of detection distance. The
Speaker 2: study also raises thought provoking questions about how we're presenting
Speaker 2: ourselves to the cosmos. Our technological signatures could tell potential
Speaker 2: observers quite a bit about our society, from how we
Speaker 2: organize ourselves to our relationship with our environment. It's a
Speaker 2: cosmic mirror that reflects not just our technological capabilities, but
Speaker 2: also who we are as a civilization. That brings us
Speaker 2: to the end of another fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily,
Speaker 2: I'm anna and I hope you've enjoyed exploring these incredible
Speaker 2: stories from across the cosmos me today. From ancient lunar
Speaker 2: canyons to rippling galaxy collisions, and from water hunting spacecraft
Speaker 2: to our own cosmic detectability. It's been quite a journey
Speaker 2: through space and science. If you want to stay up
Speaker 2: to date with all the latest developments in space and astronomy,
Speaker 2: head over to Astronomy Daily dot io. There you can
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Speaker 2: We're sharing amazing space images and breaking news content every day.
Speaker 2: Until next time, Keep looking up and wondering about the
Speaker 2: mysteries of our universe. This has been anna with Astronomy, Dailyday.
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