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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go to podcast for the

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latest news and discoveries in space and astronomy. I'm your

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host Anna. Today we have some exciting stories lined up

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for you. We'll dive into new research on our Moon's atmosphere,

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revealing the powerful effects of meteorite impacts. Next, we'll explore

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why detecting signs of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations known as techno signatures,

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is more challenging than we might think. Finally, we'll uncover

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recent findings about potential dark matter objects in space, discovered

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using pulsars. So sit back, relax, and let's embark on

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this cosmic journey together. NASA astronauts from the Apollo missions

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uncovered a fascinating aspect of the Moon that was previously unknown.

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It has an atmosphere, although it's incredibly thin, so much

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so that it's technically classified as an exosphere. But what

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drives this tenuous lunar atmosphere. Recent research is pointing to

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meteorite impacts as primary cause. When meteorites, whether large or small,

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collide with the Moon's surface, they generate extremely high temperatures

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ranging from two thousand to six thousand degrees celsius. This

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intense heat is enough to melt and vaporize the lunar rocks,

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releasing atoms into the atmosphere. This process is somewhat similar

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to how water vaporizes when it's heated here on Earth.

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To get a better understanding, NASA sent the Lunar Atmosphere

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and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADY, to orbit the Moon.

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Back in twenty thirteen. Lay D confirmed that two main

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processes are at work, meteorite impacts and something known as

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solar wind sputtering. Solar winds, which are streams of charged

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particles from the Sun, transfer energy to atoms on the

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Moon's surface, causing them to be ejected into the atmosphere. However,

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recent studies have shown that meteorite impacts account for more

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than seventy percent of the lunar atmosphere's composition, while solar

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wind sputtering contributes less than thirty percent. The The Moon

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has been bombarded by meteorites throughout its history. Early on,

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these impacts led to the formation of the large craters

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we can see on its surface today. More recently, smaller impacts,

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including micrometeorites, continue to shower the Moon, replenishing its atmosphere.

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Some of the atoms released by these impacts escape into space,

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but many remain suspended above the lunar surface. Interestingly, this

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thin lunar atmosphere mainly contains elements like argon, helium, and neon,

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along with traces of potassium and rubidium. Unlike Earth's atmosphere,

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which extends to approximately six thou two hundred miles above

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the surface, the Moon's atmosphere only reaches about sixty two

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miles high. Researchers use lunar soil or regolith as a

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proxy to study the atoms in the lunar atmosphere. By

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examining the ratios of different isotopes of potassium and rubidium

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in the soil with a mass spectrometer, they were able

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to trace the sources of these atoms and determine their

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contributions to the atmosphere. These isotopes act as historical records,

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preserving the imprints of the processes that have shaped the

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Moon's atmosphere since its formation. Despite all the data collected

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over the years, many questions about the lunar atmosphere remain unanswered.

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Advances in technology, especially in the precision of mass spectrometers,

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are enabling scientists to gain new insights. As planetary scientist

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Nicolene from MIT explained, when Apollo samples were returned from

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the Moon in the nineteen seventies, the isotopic compositions of

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potassium and rubidium in lunar soils were measured, but no

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differences were observed. Today's mass spectrometers offer much greater precision.

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This research not only sheds light on the processes shaping

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the Moon's atmosphere, but also helps us understand the broader

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dynamics at play on other celestial bodies. As we continue

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to study the Moon, each new discovery adds another piece

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to the puzzle of our cosmic neighborhood. NASA scientists have

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been delving into the intriguing question of why we might

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not be able to detect advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, also known

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as techno signatures. One prevailing theory suggests that these civilizations

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may have relatively modest energy requirements, which means they wouldn't

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necessarily need to construct vast, detectable stellar energy structures like

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enormous solar panel arrays that cover their planet's surface or

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giant orbiting megastructures to harvest energy from their star. Let's imagine,

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for instance, an advanced alien civilization running on sustainable energy,

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much like the direction we're headed here on Earth. NASA

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researchers pointed out that even if humanity's population were to

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stabilize at thirty billion, with a high standard of living

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relying solely on solar energy, that would still only require

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a fraction about eight point nine percent of Earth's land

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to be covered with solar panels. It's a perspective that

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could explain why our telescopes haven't picked up on any

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massive nat energy structures in space. Doctor Ravi Kopporapu from

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who led the study, explained

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that their simulations show civilizations might not need galaxy spanning

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energy solutions. If they achieve a sustainable balance of population

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and energy use, they might not feel any urgent drive

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to expand across the galaxy. Instead, they could be content

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thriving within their own stellar system or just reaching out

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to a few neighboring stars. Additionally, our current technological understanding

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might not yet offer the complete picture of what advanced

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extraterrestrial tech looks like. Take, for example, huge stellar energy

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harvesting structures often depicted in science fiction. These could be

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obsolete for an advanced civilization that has access to other

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space efficient power sources like nuclear fusion. Doctor Vincent Kaufman,

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one of the co authors of the study, noted that

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a society capable of deploying massive megastructures would likely have

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already developed more advance its power generation techniques that are

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beyond our current grasp. To put this theory to the test,

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the team used computer models and satellite data to simulate

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how an earthlike planet with different levels of solar panel

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coverage might appear using an advanced telescope such as the

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proposed NASA Habitable World's Observatory. The results showed that detecting

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solar panels on a distant exoplanet, even those covering a

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significant portion of it, would demand hundreds of hours of

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observing time with this kind of telescope. This highlights just

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how challenging it is to identify these subtle technosignatures. This

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research carries significant implications for the Fermi paradox, which asks why,

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with our galaxies age and vastness, we haven't yet observed

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evidence of alien civilizations. One reason might be that these

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civilizations achieve a sustainable small scale energy balance and thus

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remain largely undetectable with our current methodologies. Furthermore, the researchers

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hypothesized that if extraterrestrial civilizations are similar to us in

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their reliance on silicon for solar panels, it would make

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detection easier since silicon is efficient and relatively abundant. However,

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if they utilize more advanced or alternate energy sources, the

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task becomes even more challenging. Ultimately, the study provides a

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thought provoking reminder of the limits of our current technology

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and understanding when it comes to finding signs of extraterrestrial life.

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It's fascinating to consider that the very reason we might

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not be able to detect these civilizations is because they

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have already solved some of the sustainability challenges we are

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only beginning to address. This exploration into technos signatures pushes

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the boundaries of how we think about and search for

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life beyond our planet, making the quest all the more exciting.

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Recent research has brought exciting news in our quest to

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understand dark matter, something that has intrigued astronomers for decades.

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The study involves pulsars, which are neutron stars known for

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emitting regular beams of radio waves. These pulsars act like

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cosmic lighthouses, regularly sweeping their beams through space. By leveraging

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the precision of their timing, scientists have detected potential dark

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matter objects. Pulsars are sometimes referred to as the universe's

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timekeepers because of their incredibly consistent and predictable emissions. This

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quality makes them perfect candidates for detecting variations caused by

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external influences such as unseen masses, including dark matter. So

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here's where it gets fascinating. Professor John LESCo of the

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University of Notre Dame studied data from the Park's Pulsar

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Timing Array Survey, which includes precise measurements from several radio

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telescopes around the world. By doing so, he found variations

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and delays in pulsor signal timings that suggest the presence

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of dark matter. What does this mean, Well, gravity has

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been known to slow down light for over a century,

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but applying this concept to pulsar timing is a novel approach.

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According to Professor Losseco, these variations indicate that the radio

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beams are traveling around something massive but invisible, likely dark matter.

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By measuring the delays in the arrival times of these

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radio pulses, which usually clock in with nanosecond accuracy. He

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was able to pinpoint around a dozen incidents where dark

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matter seems to have influenced the pulsar signals. But let's

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get into the specifics. When a mass as significant as

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the Sun interacts with these radio beams, it can cause

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a delay of about ten microseconds in their arrival times. Remember,

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the data professor Losseco analyzed had a resolution at the

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nanosecond level, which is ten thousand times smaller. One of

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his findings even points to a distortion equivalent to about

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twenty percent of the Sun's mass. This research doesn't just

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add to our understanding of dark matter, it also improves

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pulser timing data, which has broader astronomical applications. Pulser timing

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arrays like the one used in this study are also

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looking for evidence of low frequency gravitational waves. Dark matter

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objects add what we call noise to the data, so

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identifying and removing their influence can make other astronomical observations

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more accurate and reliable. What's particularly exciting is that this

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refined pulsar data can be used to hunt for other

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phenomena in the universe. By better understanding and accounting for

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the influence of dark matter, astronomers can clean up the data,

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enhancing its precision and perhaps leading to more groundbreaking discoveries.

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The true nature of dark matter remains one of the

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most intriguing mysteries in modern astrophysics. This research by Professor

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Losseco adds a significant piece to the puzzle, shedding light

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on its distribution in our galaxy and potentially helping to

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decipher what it is. That wraps up today's episode of

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Astronomy Daily, I've been your host Anna. If you enjoyed

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today's show, to visit our website at Astronomy Daily dot io.

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Until next time, keep looking.

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Speaker 2: Up Sunday Stars Stars

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Speaker 1: Star