Speaker 1: Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos
Speaker 1: with our soothing Bedtime Astronomy podcast. Each episode offers a
Speaker 1: gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for
Speaker 1: unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries
Speaker 1: of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful
Speaker 1: slumber under the night sky. This week in Astronomy, Venus Crust,
Speaker 1: Hidden rogue Planets, and Logo Mission. Venus crust may be
Speaker 1: active without plate tectonics. New research into the geology of
Speaker 1: Venus has revealed surprising insights into how the planet's crust
Speaker 1: behaves and evolves, offering a fresh perspective on the internal
Speaker 1: dynamics of Earth's closest planetary neighbor. Traditionally, scientists believe that
Speaker 1: Venus's crust should grow increasingly thicker over time. This expectation
Speaker 1: was based on the long held view that Venus, unlike Earth,
Speaker 1: lacks the geological mechanisms like plate tectonics that recycle crustal
Speaker 1: material back into the planet's interior. On Earth, large plates
Speaker 1: of the rocky outer shell shift slowly, colliding and sliding
Speaker 1: past one another in a complex dance known as plate tectonics.
Speaker 1: When two of these plates meet, the denser one is
Speaker 1: often forced downward into the mantle in a process known
Speaker 1: as subduction. As the subducting plate sinks, it experiences intense
Speaker 1: heat and pressure, undergoing metamorphism changes in mineral structure and composition.
Speaker 1: This not only reshapes the crust, but also fuels volcanic
Speaker 1: activity and helps regulate the planet's crustal thickness. Venus, in contrast,
Speaker 1: does not exhibit clear signs of plate tectonics. Its surface
Speaker 1: appears to be a single continuous shell, without the massive
Speaker 1: moving plates seen on Earth. However, recent modeling by researchers,
Speaker 1: including those at NASA's Johnson's Space Center, has challenged the
Speaker 1: notion that Venus's crust remains stagnant and endlessly thickens. According
Speaker 1: to the study published in Nature Communications, the average thickness
Speaker 1: of Venus's crust is around twenty five miles forty kilometers,
Speaker 1: and in some areas it reaches no more than forty
Speaker 1: miles sixty five kilometers. This finding is unexpectedly thin, especially
Speaker 1: considering venuses intense surface temperatures and pressure. The miles suggest
Speaker 1: a mechanism that despite the absence of tectonic plates still
Speaker 1: causes the crust to undergo metamorphism. As the crust accumulates
Speaker 1: in thickens, the lower layers eventually reach a density so
Speaker 1: high that they either sink into the mantle or become
Speaker 1: hot enough to melt. This process mimics aspects of subduction
Speaker 1: in that it allows surface material to return to the
Speaker 1: planet's interior. Such recycling of crustal material plays a cross
Speaker 1: crucial role in driving volcanic activity on Venus. When dense
Speaker 1: rocks from the bottom of the crust either detach or melt,
Speaker 1: they release water and other elements back into the interior.
Speaker 1: These components can lower the melting point of mantle rocks,
Speaker 1: encouraging magma formation and possibly triggering volcanic eruptions. This discovery
Speaker 1: introduces a new way of understanding how Venus might remain
Speaker 1: geologically active without Earth like plate tectonics. It shifts the
Speaker 1: focus from traditional tectonic mechanisms to density driven processes that
Speaker 1: still lead to metamorphism and crustal recycling. Understanding these internal
Speaker 1: processes is vital to grasping the larger picture of Venus's
Speaker 1: geological and atmospheric evolution. The interaction between the crust, interior,
Speaker 1: and atmosphere of the planet likely shapes not just surface features,
Speaker 1: but also atmospheric chemistry and climate. Researchers are now looking
Speaker 1: to future missions to get other direct evidence of these processes.
Speaker 1: NASA's upcoming Da Vinci and Veritas missions, along with the
Speaker 1: European Space Agencies and Vision mission, aim to explore Venus's
Speaker 1: surface and atmosphere in unprecedented detail. These missions are expected
Speaker 1: to provide crucial data that could validate or refine the
Speaker 1: current models, offering a clearer view of the planet's active geology.
Speaker 1: There remains much to learn about Venus, particularly its volcanic activity.
Speaker 1: While current models and studies point to significant volcanism, the
Speaker 1: actual extent of this activity is still uncertain. Only with
Speaker 1: more direct data will scientists be able to determine the
Speaker 1: true nature of the geological forces at work beneath the
Speaker 1: planet's thick, cloud covered surface. This new research has opened
Speaker 1: the door to a deeper understanding of Venus, suggesting that
Speaker 1: even in the absence of familiar earthlike plate tectonics, the
Speaker 1: planet may possess its own unique and dynamic system. Internal
Speaker 1: renewal Roman telescopes set to uncover hidden rogue planets. Over
Speaker 1: the past decade, astronomers have grown increasingly fascinated by rogue planets,
Speaker 1: worlds that drift through the galaxy untethered to any star.
Speaker 1: Unlike Earth or Jupiter, which orbit the Sun, these planets
Speaker 1: wander the vast darkness of space alone. Their very existence
Speaker 1: raises fundamental questions about how planetary systems evolve and what
Speaker 1: kinds of forces shape their fates. The upcoming Nancy Grace
Speaker 1: Roman Space Telescope is poised to dramatically advance our knowledge
Speaker 1: in this area. While detecting rogue planets is notoriously difficult
Speaker 1: due to their lack of illumination, Roman is uniquely equipped
Speaker 1: to reveal them in large numbers and provide insight into
Speaker 1: how they form, what they're made of, and how common
Speaker 1: they might be throughout the Milky Way. A recent scientific
Speaker 1: paper delves into how Roman will contribute to the study
Speaker 1: of these mysterious wanderers. Central to the paper is the
Speaker 1: concept of the free floating planet mass function, which is
Speaker 1: a statistical tool used to understand the distribution of masses
Speaker 1: among rogue planets in the galaxy. This idea parallels the
Speaker 1: better known planetary mass function that describes the distribution of
Speaker 1: planet sizes around stars. By applying a similar approach to
Speaker 1: rogue planets, researchers hope to determine how many of these
Speaker 1: objects exist, what sizes they come in, and how their
Speaker 1: population compares to that of planets that remain in orbit
Speaker 1: around their parent stars. What makes ROMAN particularly powerful in
Speaker 1: this mission is its potential to detect not just large
Speaker 1: Jupiter sized rogues, but also smaller Earth sized or even
Speaker 1: sub Earth mass planets that have previously been invisible to astronomers.
Speaker 1: This capability would vastly expand the known population of free
Speaker 1: floating planets, offering a more complete picture of their abundance
Speaker 1: and characteristics. Scientists are a specially interested in understanding how
Speaker 1: these planets were ejected from their original systems. Planetary formation
Speaker 1: is a chaotic process. Protoplanets are jostled around by gravitational
Speaker 1: forces in young planetary systems, and sometimes the interactions are
Speaker 1: violent enough to fling planets into deep space. Roman could
Speaker 1: offer clues about how often this happens and under what conditions,
Speaker 1: Particularly by comparing the frequency in massive ejected worlds. Theorists
Speaker 1: estimate that rogue planets might outnumber those bound to stars,
Speaker 1: potentially numbering in the billions across the Milky Way. If
Speaker 1: that's the case, the galaxy could be teeming with icy,
Speaker 1: lonely planets wandering in darkness. These worlds, lacking the warmth
Speaker 1: of a nearby star, are thought to be frozen and inhospitable. Nevertheless,
Speaker 1: their presence is critical to our understanding of how planets
Speaker 1: form and what happens when those processes go awry. The
Speaker 1: challenge is that rogue plantanets are very difficult to detect,
Speaker 1: especially the smaller ones. Without the light of apparent star
Speaker 1: reflecting off them, they blend into the blackness of space.
Speaker 1: One of the most effective techniques available today is microlensing,
Speaker 1: where the gravity of a rogue planet passing in front
Speaker 1: of a distant star bends the star's light in a
Speaker 1: detectable way. This fleeting alignment causes a temporary brightening or
Speaker 1: wobble in the star's light, revealing the presence of the
Speaker 1: otherwise invisible planet. Roman's design includes a powerful microlensing survey
Speaker 1: called the Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey. This survey will
Speaker 1: repeatedly monitor dense star fields toward the center of the
Speaker 1: galaxy to detect microlensing events, potentially uncovering hundreds or even
Speaker 1: thousands of free floating planets. With this rich data set,
Speaker 1: scientists hope to build a statistical map of rogue planet masses, distances,
Speaker 1: and frequencies across the Milky Way. ROMAN will be especially
Speaker 1: valuable in identifying low mass planets that current telescopes are
Speaker 1: too limited to find. These smaller planets are particularly important
Speaker 1: because they help paint a fuller picture of planet formation
Speaker 1: and ejection. Their small size means they could be easily
Speaker 1: displaced by gravitational interactions, unlike more massive planets that would
Speaker 1: require much stronger forces to be ejected. Finding larger roque
Speaker 1: planets will also help reveal what sort of dynamic upheavals
Speaker 1: are powerful enough to expel them from their star systems.
Speaker 1: In addition to microlensing, ROMAN will use another method called
Speaker 1: the transit method in its broader exoplanet search. This involves
Speaker 1: detecting dips in the brightness of a star when a
Speaker 1: planet crosses in front of it. While this technique is
Speaker 1: generally more useful for planets orbiting stars, it will complement
Speaker 1: microlensing data to improve our overall understanding of planet populations.
Speaker 1: In the galaxy. Together, these method bids will allow ROMAN
Speaker 1: to detect both bound and unbound planets, offering a uniquely
Speaker 1: comprehensive view. Although the Roman Space Telescope is still awaiting launch,
Speaker 1: its capabilities are already exciting astronomers who believe it will
Speaker 1: fundamentally reshape our knowledge of the galaxy's hidden inhabitants. Its
Speaker 1: ability to find and study rogue planets, especially those of
Speaker 1: low mass, will allow scientists to explore questions that have
Speaker 1: remained unanswered for decades. How common are rogue planets, what
Speaker 1: processes lead to their formation and ejection, and could they
Speaker 1: hold any surprises about the range and diversity of planets
Speaker 1: that exist in the universe. By filling in these blanks,
Speaker 1: Roman will not only deepen our understanding of planetary science,
Speaker 1: but also offer a new perspective on the dynamic and
Speaker 1: often chaotic nature of planet formation across the cosmos. Uncovering
Speaker 1: the Moon's hidden history with LUGO, Some areas of the
Speaker 1: Moon have captured more scientific attention than others, especially as
Speaker 1: we look ahead to a future where humans may live
Speaker 1: and work on its surface. Yet there remain many mysteries
Speaker 1: hidden within the lunar landscape, particularly in lesser known features
Speaker 1: like the irregular mare patches or imps. These formations are
Speaker 1: scattered across the Moon and pose questions that science has
Speaker 1: yet to answer, especially concerning their origins and what they
Speaker 1: might reveal about the Moon's complex geological past. While traditional
Speaker 1: missions have helped build a foundational understanding of the Moon's topography,
Speaker 1: a new proposed mission, known as the Lunar Geology Orbiter
Speaker 1: or LUGO, aims to delve deeper into these puzzles and
Speaker 1: potentially shape the future of lunar exploration. LUGO is designed
Speaker 1: to closely examine both the enigmatic imps and the equally
Speaker 1: mysterious lava tubes, which some scientists believe could be prime
Speaker 1: locations for future human habitats. Imps are especially intriguing because
Speaker 1: they represent volcanic landforms that are unlike most others on
Speaker 1: the Moon. They typically appear as topographical depressions, often several
Speaker 1: kilometers wide, and feature a combination of smooth mounds and rugged,
Speaker 1: block filled floors. These patches are notable for having significantly
Speaker 1: fewer impact craters compared to the surrounding terrain, which raises
Speaker 1: important questions about their age. Are they remnants from the
Speaker 1: Moon's distant volcanic history, or are they younger than previously believed,
Speaker 1: formed by processes we don't yet fully understand. Answering such
Speaker 1: questions is a core goal of the LUGO mission. Alongside IMPS,
Speaker 1: LUGO will focus heavily on lunar lava tubes, underground tunnels
Speaker 1: formed by ancient volcanic activity. These structures could offer natural
Speaker 1: protection against radiation and extreme temperatures, making them ideal candidates
Speaker 1: for the site of future lunar bases. However, estimates of
Speaker 1: their depth, width, and overall stability very widely, and current
Speaker 1: data is far from conclusive. That's where LUGO comes in.
Speaker 1: With its planned suite of four highly specialized instruments, the
Speaker 1: orbiter promises to gather unprecedented information about the Moon's subsurface
Speaker 1: in surface features. Central to this suite is a ground
Speaker 1: penetrating radar, which will allow scientists to peer beneath the
Speaker 1: lunar's surface and observe the structures hidden below. For IMPS,
Speaker 1: this radar could map the boundary between the surface regolith
Speaker 1: and the bedrock, revealing the underground architecture of these mysterious patches.
Speaker 1: When aimed at lava tubes. The radar would detect subtle
Speaker 1: differences in underground materials and cavities, effectively sketching out a
Speaker 1: subterranean map that has never before been possible on the Moon.
Speaker 1: Complementing this instrument will be a hyper spectral camera that
Speaker 1: collects data related to the age and composition of the
Speaker 1: lunar soil. By analyzing reflected light at many wavelengths, this
Speaker 1: camera can help determine not just what materials make up
Speaker 1: the regolith in and around imps and lava tubes, but
Speaker 1: also when those materials may have been deposited or formed.
Speaker 1: This information will be crucial for understanding how these formations
Speaker 1: evolved over time. To further enhance the mission's observational power,
Speaker 1: LOGO will also carry a narrow angle camera and alid
Speaker 1: our sensor. These two devices will work together to produce
Speaker 1: highly detailed topographical maps of the Moon's surface. The narrow
Speaker 1: angle camera, in particular, is capable of capturing very high
Speaker 1: resolution imagery, which can aid in determining the morphology and
Speaker 1: possible formation history of the imps and lava tubes. With
Speaker 1: these tools, LOGO will conduct multiple orbital passes over the
Speaker 1: six largest known imps, each spanning more than a kilometer
Speaker 1: in diameter. Smaller imps, additional LI tubes, and other unique
Speaker 1: geological features like lunar domes and floor fractured craters will
Speaker 1: also be observed as secondary objectives. LUGO will not operate
Speaker 1: in isolation. Its goals are designed to align with and
Speaker 1: enhance other upcoming missions. For instance, NASA's Dimple Lander is
Speaker 1: expected to analyze the age of lunar regalith through radioisotopic
Speaker 1: measurements taken at its landing site. The European Space Agency
Speaker 1: is planning a mission called Lunar Leper, set to launch
Speaker 1: around twenty thirty, which will carry a ground penetrating radar
Speaker 1: of its own, though its surface based design means it
Speaker 1: won't have the broad observational capacity of an orbiter like LUGO. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the Trailblazer mission, another orbital project, could help refine the
Speaker 1: spectroscopic analysis techniques that LUGO will rely on. While LUGO
Speaker 1: remains in the proposal phase and awaits funding approval, its
Speaker 1: potential scientific return is immense. If launched, it could revolutionize
Speaker 1: our understanding of lunar geology, providing high resolution data that
Speaker 1: fills gaps in our knowledge and potentially guiding decisions about
Speaker 1: where to establish permanent human settlements on the Moon. The
Speaker 1: kind of insight it offers would go far beyond what
Speaker 1: current instruments can achieve, particularly in decoding the mysterious histories
Speaker 1: of imps and assessing the practical value of lava tubes.
Speaker 1: In the long view, the success of LOGO could very
Speaker 1: well influence the way humanity explores and inhabits the Moon,
Speaker 1: and the people who eventually live in lunar habitats may
Speaker 1: owe much to the discoveries it makes. The US becom