Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and
astronomy news. I'm Anna, and we've got a packed show
for you today, filled with some incredible developments in the
world of space exploration and astronomy. We'll be diving into
SpaceX's latest preparations for their next Starship test flight, which
promises to push the boundaries of what's possible with the
world's largest rocket. We'll also check in on NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory as it faces challenges from the Los Angeles wildfires.
And I'll tell you about a special opportunity to see
Mars at its brightest this weekend. Plus, we've got fascinating
stories about the world's first wooden satellite just deployed from
the International Space Station and a rare double flash event
observed from a super massive black hole that's got astronomers excited.
Let's get started. SpaceX has just reached another milestone in
their ambitious Starship program, successfully stacking their next vehicle for
Flight seven at their Starbase facility in South Texas. The
fully assembled Pocket now stands an impressive four hundred feet tall,
maintaining its status as the largest and most powerful launch
vehicle ever built. This upcoming mission, scheduled for Monday at
five pm Eastern Time, isn't just another test flight. It
represents a significant leap forward in Starship's development. The new
vehicle features several crucial upgrades, including improvements to its flight computer,
avionic systems, and heat shield design. One particularly interesting modification
is the repositioning of the forward flaps, which have been
moved away from the heat shield to better handle the
intense temperatures during re entry. For the first time, SpaceX
will attempt to deploy simulated Starlink satellites during the sixty
six minute flight, marking an important step towards Starship's operational capabilities.
They're also breaking new ground by reusing an engine on
the Super Heavy Booster, the massive first stage powered by
thirty three Raptor engines. Perhaps most exciting is the planned
recovery attempt of the Super Heavy Booster. If conditions are right,
SpaceX will try to catch the massive rocket using the
launch tower's mechanical arms nicknamed the chopsticks. While they've demonstrated
this capability before, during flight five, they're taking no chances.
The catch will only proceed if all safety criteria are met. Otherwise,
the booster will make a controlled splash down in the
Gulf of Mexico. This mission could be the first of
up to twenty five Starship launches planned for this year,
showcasing SpaceX's accelerating pace of development. These tests are crucial
not just for SpaceX's Mars ambitions, but also for NASA's
Artemis program, as Starship has been selected to land astronauts
on the lunar surface in twenty twenty seven. Next up,
an update for you concerning the wildfires around Los Angeles.
In some concerning news from California, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
has found itself uncomfortably close to the raging eaten fire
that's been devastatdating neighborhoods north of Los Angeles. Thanks to
the incredible efforts of firefighters, JPL itself remains untouched by
the flames, but the impact on the JPL community has
been severe. More than one hundred and fifty JPL employees
have lost their homes completely in this disaster, with many
more being forced to evacuate. The facility, which serves as
NASA's primary center for planetary exploration and manages crucial missions
like the perseverance and curiosity. Mars Rovers has had to
temporarily close its doors. All but essential personnel have been
ordered to work remotely through at least January seventeenth. The
Eton Fire has already consumed around fourteen thousand acres of
land and is currently only three percent contained. It's just
one of several fires causing havoc in the Los Angeles area,
with the Palisades Fire on the western side of the
city having burned through more than twenty thousand acres and
showing similar resistance to containment efforts. This situation highlights a
growing challenge for major scientific facilities in areas prone to
natural disasters. JPL's location at the foot of the San
Gabriel Mountains, while ideal for many aspects of its operations,
places it in a vulnerable position during California's increasingly severe
fire seasons. Despite these challenges, the laboratory's essential operations continue
demonstrating the resilience of our space exploration infrastructure even in
the face of natural disasters. The dedication of first responders
has been crucial in protecting this vital facility, which plays
such an important role in our ongoing exploration of the
solar system. While the laboratory itself remains safe, the human
impact on the JPL community serves as a sobering reminder
of the increasing challenges posed by natural disasters to our
scientific institutions. Stargazers, you're in for a treat this weekend,
as Mars is about to put on its most spectacular
show of the year. This Sunday, January twelfth, the red
planet will make its closest approach to Earth, and event
astronomers call perigy. During this cosmic close up, Mars will
appear larger and brighter in our night sky than at
any other time in twenty twenty four. If you're planning
to catch this celestial spectacle, the best viewing time will
be around midnight, when Mars reaches its highest point in
the southern sky. The planet will be visible for most
of the night, first appearing in the northeastern sky during
early evening and remaining observable until dawn begins to break
the next morning. During this close approach, Mars will come
within just zero point sixty four astronomical units of Earth
that's about fifty nine point five million miles. While this
might sound like quite a distance, it's actually quite close
in astronomical terms. For perspective, Mars usually orbits at an
average distance of one point five astronomical units from the
Sun and can be as far as two point six
units from Earth at its most distant point. This weekend's
close encounter is particularly special as it coincides with Mars's
opposition on January sixteenth, when Earth will be directly between
Mars and the Sun. This alignment means the Sun's full
glare will illuminate the Martian surface as seen from Earth,
making it an ideal time for observation. While Mars will
be noticeably brighter than usual with a magnitude of dash
one dot four comma, don't expect to see any surface
details with your naked eye. It will still appear as
a bright, reddish point of light in the sky. However,
if you have access to binoculars or a telescope, this
is an excellent opportunity to try spotting some of the
red planet's famous surface features. This is the closest Mars
has been to Earth since twenty twenty two, so make
sure to take advantage of this rare viewing opportunity the
next time Mars will appear this large and brighten our
skies won't be for quite some time, making this weekend
a must watch event for astronomy enthusiasts. In a groundbreaking
development for sustainable space technology, the world's first wooden satellite
has been successfully deployed from the International Space Station. This
innovative spacecraft, named Lignosat, represents a fascinating experiment in using
renewable materials for space exploration. Developed through a collaboration between
Kyoto University and Japanese wood processing company Sumitomo Forestry, this
tiny cube satellite measures just four inches on each side
and is constructed primarily from magnolia wood. Over the next
six months, it will put this natural material to the
ultimate test in the harsh conditions of Earth orbit. The
extreme environment of space presents some remarkable challenges for any material.
During each ninety minute orbit, the satellite will experience dramatic
temperature swings from a scorching two hundred and fifty degrees
fahrenheit when facing the Sun to a frigid minus two
hundred and fifty degrees in Earth's shadow. Add to that
the constant bombardment of charged particles from solar wind, and
you've got quite the endureance test for our wooden pioneer.
But why would well, it turns out this isn't just
about proving we can build satellites from trees. There's a
serious environmental concern driving this innovation. Traditional satellites built primarily
from aluminum alloys create potentially harmful metallic dust when they
burn up during re entry. This debris can linger in
our upper atmosphere, potentially affecting our climate. Wood being a
natural material, could offer a more environmentally friendly alternative that
simply burns away cleanly. The mission will carefully monitor how
the wooden structure holds up against these space hazards, including
whether Earth's magnetic field can penetrate the wooden body and
interfere with its operations. If successful, this experiment could pave
the way for a new generation of environmentally conscious satellites,
potentially transforming how we approach spacecraft construction in an era
of increasing orbital traffic. The timing couldn't be more crucial,
as research suggests that the growing number of satellites in
orbit could lead to concerning levels of aluminum oxide and
other potentially harmful compounds in our upper atmosphere. This wooden
satellite might just represent our first step toward a more
sustainable future in space. Seems like a day doesn't go
by without a black hole story, and today is no exception.
Astronomers have recently witnessed a fascinating cosmic spectacle, a supermassive
black hole that appears to be having seconds of its
stellar meal. This rare event, known as ss N twenty
two CI, has displayed two distinct flares of light as
it consumes its unfortunate victim, located about four hundred eight
million light years away from Earth. What makes this double
flash event particularly intriguing is how normal it appears compared
to other similar phenomena. The black hole at the center
of this cosmic feast weighs in at around three million
times the mass of our Sun, making it comparable to
our own galaxies central black hole, Sagittarius Ace star, the
unfortunate star being consumed, appears to be similar in size
to our Sun. The current theory suggests this unusual double
flare might be the result of what astronomers call a
Hill's capture picture. This a pair of binary stars wandering
too close to the black hole as they approach the
immense gravitational forces separate the pair, flinging one star away
to freedom, while the other becomes trapped in an elliptical
orbit around the black hole like a cosmic dance partner
it can escape. Each time this trap star swings close
to the black hole, it undergoes partial destruction in a
process colorfully known as spaghettification. The star gets stretched and squeezed,
losing some of its material to the black hole's accretion disk,
creating these brilliant flares we observe. The consistency between the
two flares, separated by seven hundred and twenty days, suggests
we're watching the same star being repeatedly torn apart. The
best part, astronomers believe they know when the next act
of this cosmic drama might have. If their calculations are correct,
we should see a third flare in early twenty twenty six.
This predictability is incredibly rare and valuable, giving scientists an
unprecedented opportunity to prepare their observations in advance, rather than
catching these events by chance. This celestial performance isn't just spectacular.
It's helping us understand how super massive black holes interact
with stars, and providing new insights into these mysterious cosmic giants,
and who knows when twenty twenty six rolls around, this
persistent Stellar survivor might have even more surprises in store
for us. Well, that's all for today's episode of Astronomy Daily.
I'm Anna, and I want to thank you for joining
me on this journey through the latest developments in space
and astronomy news. Whether it's massive rockets being stacked, wooden
satellites orbiting Earth, or black holes putting on light shows,
there's never a dull moment in space exploration, and we're
here every day to bring you these fascinating stories. If
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I'll see you Monday with more amazing stories from the Cosmos.
Sunday Star Star s