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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily.

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Speaker 2: I'm Anna and I'm Avery. It is Thursday, the nineteenth

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of February twenty twenty six, and we are recording this

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episode while NASA is literally fueling a rocket at this

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very moment, and we cannot wait to tell you about it.

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Speaker 1: That's right. This is one of those days where space

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news isn't just something that happened somewhere out there in

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the universe. It is happening right now on a launchpad

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in Florida. But that's not all today. We're also asking

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what lurks in the darkness between us and our nearest

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cosmic neighbors. Could there be a cosmic clock ticking next

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to the most extreme object in our galaxy? And brace yourselves?

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Is the universe actually going to end?

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Speaker 2: Plus, we have a story that will make you want

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to check the sky tonight, a warning from NASA that

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is genuinely a little unsettling, and we're going to space

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with a music video. All of that is coming up

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on Astronomy Daily.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with the big one, and I mean big

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in every sense of the word. As we speak, NASA's

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Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, is

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being loaded with more than seven hundred thousand gallons of

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cryogenic propellant at Launch Complex thirty nine B at Kennedy's

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Space Center in Florida.

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Speaker 2: This is the second wet dress rehearsal for Artemis two,

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the mission that will carry four astronauts on a loop

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around the Moon, the first time humans have ventured to

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lunar distance since Apollo seventeen back in nineteen seventy two.

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The crew are Commander Reidwiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist

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Christina Cokes from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian

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Space Agency.

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Speaker 1: Now. The reason they're doing this rehearsal and the reason

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there have been so many eyes on it today, is

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that the first attempt, back on the second and third

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of February, did not go as planned. Engineers detected a

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liquid hydrogen leak during fueling, which forced them to halt

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the test before they could complete the full countdown sequence.

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Speaker 2: In the week, sense technicians have replaced seals around two

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fueling lines, swapped out a filter in the ground support equipment,

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and added an extra hour of buffer time into the

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countdown to allow more room for troubleshooting. It's the kind

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of painstaking, unglamorous engineering work that rarely makes headlines, but

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it's exactly what keeps astronauts alive.

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Speaker 1: Today's rehearsal targets a simulated launch window opening at eight

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thirty this evening Eastern Time. The test is expected to

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run until around twelve thirty Friday morning, and the stakes

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are high. NASA has said it won't set a formal

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launch date until after a successful wet dress rehearsal campaign.

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March sixth remains the earliest possible crude launch date.

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Speaker 2: NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman put it well when he said,

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we anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely why we conduct

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a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to surface

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issues before flight. This safety of the crew comes first.

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So tonight we watch and we wait.

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Speaker 1: We will be keeping a close eye on this one,

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and we'll bring you the results intomorrow's episode. Fingers crossed

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for a clean test, no leaks, and a March launch

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that puts humans back in the vicinity of the Moon

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for the first time in over fifty years.

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Speaker 2: All right from a rocket at Kennedy Space Center to

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the absolute heart of our galaxy, and this story is

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one of those discoveries that, if it's confirmed, could fundamentally

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change how we understand the universe.

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Speaker 1: Researchers from Columbia University, working with the Breakthrough Listen initiative,

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which is best known for searching for signs of intelligent

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life beyond Earth, have announced the detection of a candidate

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millisecond pulsar very close to Sagittarius, a star that's the

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super massive black hole sitting at the center of the

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Milky Way, roughly four million times the mass of our

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own Sun.

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Speaker 2: So let's unpack what a pulsar is, because it's one

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of the most extraordinary objects in the universe. When a

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massive star reaches the end of its life and explodes

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as a supernova, what's left behind is an incredibly dense

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core called a neutron star. Some of those neutron stars

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spin rapidly and emit beams of radio waves like a

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cosmic lighthouse sweeping through space. When those beams sweep past Earth,

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we detect them as regular pulses, hence pulsar.

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Speaker 1: And what makes millisecond pulsar special is their extraordinary precision.

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They spin hundreds of times per second with almost perfect

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regularitydientists have called them the most accurate clocks in the universe,

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more stable than atomic clocks here on Earth. This candidate,

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nicknamed BLPSR, completes one full rotation every eight point one

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nine milliseconds.

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Speaker 2: Now here's why finding one near Sagittarius a star is

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such a big deal. A pulsar next to a four

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million solar mass black hole would be operating in one

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of the most extreme gravitational environments imaginable, and Einstein's general

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theory of relativity makes very specific predictions about what happens

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to space and time in such extreme environments, predictions that

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have never been tested at this level of precision.

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Speaker 1: And if a pulsar is orbiting close to Sagittarius astar,

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the black hole's gravity would warp space time so severely

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that those precise pulsar pulses would arrive at our telescopes

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with tiny but measurable distortions. As researcher Slovko Bogdanov from

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Columbia put it, any external influence on a pulsar would

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introduce anomalies in the steady arrival of pulses, which can

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be measured and modeled.

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Speaker 2: In other words, a confirmed pulsar next to a super

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massive black hole would be a natural laboratory for testing

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Einstein's series in the most extreme conditions possible. It could

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also help us understand things like the massive Sagittarius astar,

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the geometry of space time near a supermassive black hole,

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and potentially even offer clues about dark matter.

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Speaker 1: Now it's important to be clear this is still a candidate.

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The team published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal, and

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Breakthrough Listen has released all the observational data publicly, so

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researchers around the world can do independent analyses. Confirmation will

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require extensive follow up observations, but the scientific community is buzzing.

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This is the kind of discovery that reshapes entire research programs.

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Speaker 2: If it holds up, keep watching the skies and the

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galactic center. This story is far from over.

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Speaker 1: So we've talked about what's happening in Florida tonight and

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what might be happening at the center of our galaxy.

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Now let's zoom all the way out farther than you've

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probably ever thought about, and ask how does the universe end?

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Speaker 2: For most of the past few decades, the scientific consensus

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has been pretty clear the universe expands forever. Dark energy,

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that mysterious force making up roughly sixty eight percent of

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the mass and energy in the cosmos, was thought to

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be a constant, relentlessly pushing everything apart. Eventually, galaxies would

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drift so far from each other that the night sky

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would go dark, stars would burn out, everything would fade

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into a cold, silent void. Scientists call this the Big

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Freeze or heat.

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Speaker 1: Death, but new data is challenging that picture in a

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dramatic way. Physicist Henry Tie at Cornell University has published

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new calculations using data from two of the world's most

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powerful dark energy observatories, the Dark Energy Survey in Chile

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and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument in Arizona, and his

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conclusion is striking. The universe may be heading not for

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a frieze, but for a crunch.

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Speaker 2: Here's how it works. Both surveys are finding evidence that

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dark energy isn't actually constant. It appears to be weakening

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over time. If that's true, then the force pushing the

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universe apart is gradually fading, and at some point gravity

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takes over. The expansion slows, stops, and then reverses Everything

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that has been flying apart for billions of years, begins

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falling back together.

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Speaker 1: A TIES model introduces a hypothetical particle called an ultra

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light axion, combined with what's known as a negative cosmological

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constant to explain how dark energy could behave this way.

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The math suggests the universe is currently about thirteen point

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eight billion years old and approaching the halfway point of

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its total lifespan. It would continue expanding for roughly another

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eleven billion years, reach its maximum size, and then begin

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to contract, ultimately collapsing into a single point of unimaginable density.

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The Big crunch total elapsed time approximately thirty three billion years.

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Speaker 2: Now before anyone starts updating their bucket lists, this is

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one model. It's not yet scientific senses. There's healthy debate

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about how to interpret the dark energy data, and upcoming

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messions from the European Space Agency's EUCLID Telescope, NASA SPHEREx

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project and the Veraice Reuben Observatory will provide much better

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measurements over the coming years.

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Speaker 1: But the very fact that two independent observatories, one in

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the southern hemisphere one in the northern are converging on

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similar results about dark energy evolving. That's significant. As TI

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himself put it, for the last twenty years, people believed

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the universe would expand forever. The new data may be

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telling us something very different.

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Speaker 2: The universe might be mortal after all. Quite the thought

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to sit with on a Thursday evening.

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Speaker 1: And now, because apparently one existential revelation isn't enough for

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one episode, let's talk about City Killer asteroids.

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Speaker 2: Those two words together are doing a lot of work.

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Speaker 1: They really are so. At the American Association for the

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Advancement of Science conference in Arizona this week, NASA's Planetary

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Defense Officer, and yes, that is a real job title,

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Doctor Kelly Fast, gave a presentation that's been making headlines

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ever since, and for good reason.

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Speaker 2: Doctor Fast explained that when it comes to asteroids, there

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are essentially three categories of concern. At the small end,

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things are hitting Earth all the time, meteors burning up

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in the atmosphere, the occasional fireball, We're not particularly worried

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about those. At the large end, the extinction level rocks

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the movie asteroid kind. Scientists are actually fairly confident about

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where those are. We track them, we know their orbits.

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Speaker 1: It's the middle ground that keeps doctor fast up at night.

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Asteroids in the range of one hundred and forty meters

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and larger, large enough to devastate an entire city or

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a wide region, but small enough to be difficult to

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detect with current telescopes. Her estimate there are around twenty

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five thousand of these objects in the vicinity of Earth's orbit.

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Speaker 2: And how many have we found about forty percent, meaning

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there are potentially fifteen thousand city killing space rocks out

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there right now that we simply do not know about.

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Speaker 1: To add some context to that and to the challenge

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of actually doing something about it if we did spot one.

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Doctor Nancy Shabbitt, the planetary scientist who led NASA's Dart mission,

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the spacecraft that successfully changed the orbit of an asteroid

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back in twenty twenty two, was also at the conference.

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She pointed out that Dart was a breakthrough demonstration, but

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there isn't another one sitting on a launch pad ready

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to go.

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Speaker 2: She specifically referenced the asteroid why Are four, which caused

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some anxiety earlier this year, with a small but not

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zero probability of a lunar impact in twenty thirty two.

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She said, if something like Why R four had been

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headed towards the Earth, we would not have any way

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to go and deflect it actively.

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Speaker 1: Right now, the hope on the horizon is the Near

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Earth Object survey or telescope, which is planned for launch

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next year. Unlike conventional optical telescopes, it uses thermal infrared

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signatures to detect darker asteroids that are essentially invisible to

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conventional instruments, potentially a game changer for the detection side

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of the problem.

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Speaker 2: But doctor Schabbot's point stands. Detection is one thing, having

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an active, ready to deploy deflection capability is another, and

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that investment, she says, is simply not being made at

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the level that needs to be something worth thinking about.

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Given that planetary defense is probably the one area of

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space science that is quite literally about survival.

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Speaker 1: Sobering stuff. Let's come back down to Earth for a moment,

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or rather, let's look up from it.

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Speaker 2: Here's something wonderful and wonderfully timely, because this one is

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happening right now to night as you listen.

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Speaker 1: To this, Mercury, the innermost planet of our Solar system

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and the one most people have never actually seen with

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their own eyes, is tonight reaching what astronomers call its

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greatest eastern elongation. That's the point in its orbit where

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it's at its maximum angular distance from the Sun as

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seen from Earth, meaning it appears as far from the

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Sun in our sky as it ever gets.

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Speaker 2: And why does that matter for observers because Mercury is

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normally incredibly difficult to spot. It's always close to the

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Sun in the sky, so you're either trying to catch

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it just before sunrise or just after sunset, with very

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little time before it follows the Sun below the horizon.

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But at greatest elongation you get the best window.

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Speaker 1: Tonight, look to the western horizon shortly after sunset. Mercury

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will be visible as a moderately bright point of light,

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shining steadily rather than twinkling like a star. You won't

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need any special equipment, though binoculars will give you a

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much nicer view. This is Mercury's first greatest elongation of

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twenty twenty six, and the best evening viewing opportunity will

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get for the year so far.

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Speaker 2: There's also a bonus tonight, the crescent moon, Saturn, and

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Neptune are all gathering in the same part of the sky,

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with Saturn and Neptune very close together near the western horizon. Now,

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Neptune will need a telescope and you'll need to wait

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until the sun is fully set. Do not point any

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optical instrument toward the horizon until the sun has cleared

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it completely. But the overall scene is really quite beautiful

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this evening.

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Speaker 1: And for those of you keeping track of the upcoming

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six planet parade on the twenty eighth of February, Mercury

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reaching greatest elongation tonight is actually a key milestone in

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that build up. By the twenty eighth, Mercury will have

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improved its position enough to join Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus,

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and Neptune, all visible in the same sky. We'll have

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a full guide to that event closer to the date,

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but tonight is your previous go look west.

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Speaker 2: And now to close out the episode, we have something

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that we absolutely love, a reminder that even on a

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space station in orbit, humans will find a way to celebrate.

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Speaker 1: The crew of China's shen Zoo twenty one mission, currently

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living and working aboard the Tionggong space station, have released

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a music video to mark the lunar New Year, the

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Year of the Horse, and honestly it is delightful.

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Speaker 2: Filming a music video in microgravity is, as you might imagine,

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a unique creative challenge. Everything floats, hair floats, props float,

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but the crew apparently embraced all of it, and the

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result is one of those lovely, warm, deeply human moments

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that cuts right through all the geopolitical complexity of the

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space race and reminds you that the people up there

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are just people celebrating a holiday with their families watching

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from below.

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Speaker 1: Tionggong, which means Heavenly Palace, currently has a crew of

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three aboard. Following the shen Zu twenty one mission, has

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been steadily expanding its space station program, and moments like

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this one shared with the world are a reminder of

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why humans go to space in the first place, not

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just for science or national prestige, but for the sheer

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joy of being up there.

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Speaker 2: Don sifa chai to all of our listeners celebrating the

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lunar new Year. May the Year of the Horse bring

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you good fortune and hopefully fewer hydrogen leaks.

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Speaker 1: And on that note, that's your Astronomy Daily for Thursday,

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February nineteenth, twenty twenty six. What a lineup today? A

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live rocket fueling test a cosmic clock near a black hole,

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the possible end of the universe, city killing asteroids, mercury

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in the evening sky, and a music video from Orbit.

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Speaker 2: If you want to follow along with the Artemis two

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fueling test tonight, NASA has a live stream at NASA

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dot gov. We'll link everything in the show notes, and

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if you spot mercury tonight, tag us on social media

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at hame stro Daily Pod. We would love to see

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your photos.

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Speaker 1: Subscribe, leave a review if you're enjoying the show, and

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we will be back tomorrow with the results of tonight's

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fueling test. Until then, keep looking up clear skies everyone, Sunny.

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Speaker 2: Day star ist so starst