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Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and

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astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and today, as we

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close out twenty twenty four, we've got an exciting lineup

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of stories from stellar explosions to perfect planetary systems and

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upcoming cometary visitors. To get us started, let's take a

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look at the latest stunning image from our most venerable

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space based telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope has captured another

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breathtaking image, this time showcasing the galaxy Lyda two two

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zero five seven, located approximately six hundred and fifty million

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light years away in the constellation Gemini. What makes this

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observation particularly special is the presence of a spectacular supernova

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explosion designated as SN twenty twenty four PI, which was

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first detected in January twenty twenty four. In the image,

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you can spot the supernova as a pale blue dot

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just below and to the right of the galaxy's core,

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creating a striking contrast against the galaxies ethereal spiral arms.

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This snapshot, taken about six weeks after its initial discovery,

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shows the supernova significantly dimmer than at its peak brightness.

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What's fascinating about Sn twenty twenty four Pi is that

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it's classified as a type IA supernova, which occurs through

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a remarkable process involving a white dwarf star. These white

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dwarfs are essentially the crystallized cores of stars that were

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originally less massive than eight times our Sun. They're incredibly

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dense objects, packing roughly the mass of our Sun into

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a sphere the size of Earth, with surface temperatures exceeding

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one hundred thousand degrees. The formation of this type of

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supernova requires a specific set of circumstances. The white dwarf

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must be part of a binary star system, where it

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can siphon material from its stellar companion. When the white

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dwarf accumulates too much mass, it reaches a critical point

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where it can no longer support itself. This triggers a

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catastrophic chain of runaway nuclear fusion, resulting in an explosion

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so bright it can be observed across vast distances of space.

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This process is particularly interesting because it represents the eventual

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fate of many stars in our galaxy, including our own Sun,

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though not all will end in such spectacular explosions. The

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discovery and observation of supernovae like SN twenty twenty four

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PI help astronomers better understand stellar revolution and the fundamental

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processes that shape our universe Next Up. Twenty twenty four

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has proven to be a record breaking year for space launches,

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with an unprecedented two hundred and fifty nine orbital missions

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successfully placing over two thousand, seven hundred payloads into orbit

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and beyond. SpaceX dominated the landscape with an astounding one

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hundred and thirty four launches, accounting for eighty five percent

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of all payloads delivered to space, including more than one thousand,

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nine hundred Starlink satellites. The United States and China emerged

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as the primary launch providers, together handling eighty percent of

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all orbital traffic. The US led with fifty four percent

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of launches, while China maintained a strong presence with twenty

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six percent. Despite launching more missions than in twenty twenty three,

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China matched its previous year's success rate of sixty five

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orbital missions, following an anomaly with their final Ligion I

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rocket launch. Rocket Lab showed impressive growth, achieving sixteen successful missions,

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a sixty percent increase from their previous year. Meanwhile, Russia's

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launch activities continued their gradual decline, ending the year with

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seventeen flights. India and Europe each conducted a handful of missions,

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but are positioning themselves for increased activity in twenty twenty five.

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The final quarter of twenty twenty four was particularly intense,

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featuring a record breaking streak of fourteen launches within just

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seven days. During November and December averaged nearly one launch

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per day with thirty orbital attempts. SpaceX achieved several significant milestones,

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including their four hundredth orbital launch in October and their

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four hundredth Falcon nine flight in November. Looking ahead to

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twenty twenty five, the space industry shows no signs of

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slowing down. Blue Origin is preparing for the highly anticipated

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debut of their new Glen heavy lift launch vehicle, while

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SpaceX continues to expand their Starlink constellation and commercial launch services.

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These developments signal an exciting new chapter in space exploration,

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with increasing launch cadence and capabilities across the industry. The

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year's achievements demonstrate not just the growing commercialization of space,

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but also the incredible reliability and efficiency of modern launch systems,

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setting new standards for what's possible in space access and

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orbital operations. While on the subject of successful launches, India's

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space program has marked another significant milestone with the successful

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launch of their space docking experiment, known as SPADEX. The

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mission lifted off on December thirtieth from the Satish Dowan

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Space Center aboard of Polar Satellite launch vehicle, carrying two

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specialized spacecraft designed to test crucial docking technologies. The mission

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features two two hundred twenty kilogram spacecraft, a chaser and

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a target, placed into precise four hundred seventy five kilometers

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circular orbits. These spacecraft are equipped with advanced technology, including

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a low impact docking system, laser range finders, and sophisticated

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sensors to enable precise orbital maneuvers. What makes this mission

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particularly noteworthy is its role in India's broader space ambitions.

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The technology being tested is essential for India's Gagannion program,

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which aims to make India only the fourth nation capable

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of independent human spaceflight. The first crude mission under this

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program is scheduled for twenty twenty six, following uncrued test

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flights planned for twenty twenty five, but the implications extend

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beyond human spaceflight. These docking capabilities will be crucial for

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India's ambitious Chandrion four lunar mission, targeted for twenty twenty

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seven or TIX twenty eight. This mission plans to collect

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samples from the Moon's south pole and return them to Earth,

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a feat that requires precise orbital docking maneuvers to transfer

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the precious lunar samples from the ascent vehicle to the

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return spacecraft. The mission's secondary payload module, POEM four, carried

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twenty four different experiments, including innovative technologies like a walking

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robotic arm, a debriscapture system, and various research modules. This

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demonstrates India's commitment to maximizing the scientific value of each

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launch while advancing their technological capabilities. The successful deployment of

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both spacecraft marks just the beginning of this experimental mission.

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The actual docking maneuver, scheduled for early January, will be

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the true test of these new capabilities. If successful, it

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will represent a major step forward in India's journey toward

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becoming a complete spacefaring nation. Twenty twenty four proved to

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be a particularly challenging year for NASA, with several dramatic

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developments testing the agency's resilience and problem solving capabilities. Perhaps

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most notably, what began as a routine mission turned into

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an extended stay aboard the International Space Station for astronauts

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Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore. Their Boeing Starliner spacecraft encountered

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issues with helium leaks and thruster problems during its approach

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to the ISS, leading NASA to make the cautious decision

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to return the spacecraft empty, leaving the crew stranded until

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at least February twenty twenty five. In an ironic twist,

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these Boeing test pilots will ultimately return home aboard a

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space X Dragon spacecraft, extending their intended three month mission

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to eight and a half months. This situation highlighted the

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ongoing challenges in developing reliable commercial crew transportation systems. On Mars,

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we witness the bittersweet end of an extraordinary mission, as

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the Ingenuity helicopter made its final flight on January eighteenth.

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While its crash landing marked the conclusion of its journey,

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Ingenuity had far exceeded all expectations, completing seventy one flights

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over nearly three years when it was originally designed for

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just a handful of demonstrations over thirty days, this small

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one point eight kilogram helicopter proved that powered flight was

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possible in Mars's extremely thin atmosphere equivalent to Earth's atmosphere

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at eighty thousand feet. The Europa Clipper mission faced its

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own dramatic challenges. Just months before launch, engineers discovered hundreds

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of potentially compromised transistors that might not withstand Jupiter's intense

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radiation belts. After four months of round the clock testing,

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they found a workable solution by maintaining the transistors at

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room temperature, though this required additional power from the spacecraft's

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massive solar panels. In a final dramatic turn, one of

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the most intense Gulf of Mexico hurricanes ever recorded threatened

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the mission's launch. Fortunately, the storm weakened as it crossed Florida,

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allowing the spacecraft to launch successfully during a backup window.

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The Europa Clipper is now en route to its twenty

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twenty five Mars flyby, which will help propel it toward

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its ultimate destination at Jupiter. All in all, quite a

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challenging year for NASA now on to an exciting discovery.

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Located just one hundred and five light years away in

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the constellation Coma Baronesis, astronomers have discovered a remarkable star

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system that's been dubbed mathematically perfect. The star HD one

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to one zero zero six seven hosts six exoplanets that

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orbit in an incredibly synchronized dance, locked together by gravitational

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forces in a precise cosmic choreography. While this celestial ballet

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initially suggested a mature, well established system, new research has

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dramatically revised our understanding of its age. Previous estimates using

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traditional stellar aging methods, placed the system at around eight

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billion years old. However, a fresh analysis of the star's

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activity levels and rotation rates suggest us it's actually much younger,

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only about two point five billion years old. The team

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reached this conclusion by examining telltale signs of stellar youth,

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including higher levels of ionized calcium in the star's atmosphere

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and a faster rotation rate compared to older stars like

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our sun. HD one one zero zero six seven completes

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one rotation in about twenty earth days, while our more

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elderly son takes at least twenty seven days, indicating this

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star is still in its relative youth. This discovery of

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the system's younger age has important implications for potential habitability.

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While the six known planets orbit too close to their

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parent star to support life as we know it, there

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could be additional undiscovered planets in more temperate zones. However,

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the star's younger age means it's likely still producing intense

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radiation that could make life challenging on any world's orbiting

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within its habitable zone. What makes this system particularly fascinating

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is how quickly its planets achieved their perfect orbital resonance,

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rather than require billions of years of gradual settling. Researchers

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now believe this synchronized orbital pattern may have established itself

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in as little as one billion years through gravitational interactions

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between the planets. As we look ahead to early twenty

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twenty five, skywatchers have an exciting visitor to anticipate. Comet Atlas,

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officially designated C twenty twenty four G three, is making

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its way toward the Inner Solar System and could provide

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quite a spectacle, particularly for observers in the southern hemisphere.

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The comet is scheduled to reach its closest approach to

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the Sun on January thirteenth, twenty twenty five, coming within

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a mere eight point three million miles of our star.

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To put that in perspective, that significantly closer than Mercury's

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closest approach to the Sun. This close encounter means the

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comet could potentially shine as brightly as Venus in our

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night sky. However, this extremely close solar approach comes with

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risks for the comet itself. While analysis of its orbital

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paths suggests it previously visited the inner Solar System about

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one hundred and sixty thousand years ago, there's no guarantee

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it will survive this encounter. The intense heat from such

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a close solar pass could potentially cause the comet to

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break apart. If Atlas does survive its solar encounter, observers

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in the southern Hemisphere will be ideally positioned to view

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it in the western sky after sunset. The timing isn't perfect, though,

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as the full moon on January thirteenth will create some interference,

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but viewing conditions should improve each subsequent evening as the

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moon rises later. The comet was first spotted on April fifth,

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twenty twenty four by the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert

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System or ATLAS, which gives the comet its name. Like

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many of its kind, it originates from the ort cloud,

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that vast sphere of icy bodies surrounding our Solar System.

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Whether it survives its close encounter with the Sun or not,

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Comet Atlas promises to provide an interesting start to the

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astronomical calendar of twenty twenty five, and that brings us

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to the end of today's episode of Astronomy Daily. Thank

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you for joining me on this journey through the latest

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developments in space exploration and astronomical discoveries. If you want

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to stay up to date with all the latest space

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and astronomy news, head over to Astronomy Daily dot io,

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where our newsfeed is constantly updating with the freshest stories

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from across the Cosmos. While you're there, you can also

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catch up on all our previous episodes. Looking to connect

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with fellow space enthusiasts, you can find us across all

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major social media platforms. Just search for astro Daily Pod

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on Facebook, x, Tumblr, YouTube, YouTube, music, and TikTok. This

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is Anna wishing you a happy New Year and signing

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off until tomorrow's cosmic update. Keep looking up. There's always

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something amazing happening in our universe.

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Speaker 2: Star the band stories control