The Daily Space: Recent Episodes
Dr. Pamela Gay, Beth Johnson, & Annie Wilson
Get your daily dose of all that's new in space and astronomy. The sky is not the limit, as we bring you a fast-paced roundup of launches, landings, and everyday discoveries. The Daily Space is brought to you by the team behind CosmoQuest at the Planetary Science Institute, and features hosts Dr. Pamela L. Gay, Beth Johnson, & Annie Wilson. Daily Space is supported through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/CosmoQuestX.
Science comes from many corners, and there is a need for both 600-m radio telescopes made on a great plain (Like the RATAN-600) and 60cm radio dishes built in a living room. In this After Hours, we talk with ASU professor Danny Jacobs about how he engages students of all kinds in space sciences through educational tools like the cardboard radio telescope (https://astrochart.github.io), and in space telescope operations with the SPARCS small sat (https://sparcs.asu.edu/)
On July 20, the world celebrates International Moon Day. This UN designated holiday marks the anniversary of humanity's first landing on the Moon. The Apollo 11 landing in 1969 is now only a distant memory or a date from history for most people, but it is worth thinking about as the world prepares to return humans to the Moon in the coming decade. Joining us to discuss International Moon Day is Dr. Jekan Thanga, the head of the Space TREx Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Come learn how his interdiciplinary team is taking a page from the past as we plan for a Lunar future.
Our solar system readily provides us with free samples of other worlds in the form of meteorites. The trick comes in first recognizing them, and then in understanding what science is locked in their minerals. One major center for collecting and studying these space rocks is Arizona State University's Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies which houses the Carleton B Moore Meteorite Collection. Join us as we discuss the collection with Director Rhonda Stroud.
The physics behind modern spaceflight explores everything from aerodynamics to thermodynamics with a lot of kinematics playing a role along the way. We welcome on guest Trisha Muro to discuss her new book, "It's (Just) Rocket Science", which explores how we can learn physics through spaceflight missions.
How is this the last episode of the season? July snuck up on us. We'll be back Sept 2 with Season 5! For now, we've got astronomers asking questions; questions like "Did you eat a planet?" and "How did you get there?" Expect the unexpected with a side of rockets.
In this episode we look at the hidden and unexpected geology that may lurk beneath East Antarctica's ice sheet, evidence of past worlds and lost moons that may once have populated our solar system, and evidence of a past Supernova that today may be showering the Earth with material.
Join Pamela for an hour that looks at science and society as she talks with author and cosmologist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. In her new book, "The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, & the Cosmic Dream Boogie" Prescod-Weinstein weaves scientific and lyrical understandings of cosmology, bringing together the language of elders with the math of modern computational models. This combination puts our human state in a greater perspective of time and space that looks beyond western textbooks (Oh, and there is a lot of Star Trek referenced in there too!)
In this episode, we look at the SpaceX SEC initial filing and put its facts and figures in context and ask, can they do it? And can the Earth survive if they succeed?
In this episode, we're going to look at Psyche's success at Mars, the cool 3I-ATLAS science coming from Europa Clipper and JUICE en route to the Jupiter system:, and we also look at JWST's efforts to study exoplanetary atmospheres and the weird weather of other worlds.
Trisha Epp joins us to talking about NASA's collaboration with Freelancer, and how Innovation is now getting crowdsourced. Join in to learn how to launch your own Moonshot! Guest Trisha Epp is a Physicist, Philosopher, and Futurist with a Masters in Geophysics from CalTech and a duel bachelors in physics and philosphy from the University of British Columbia. Since 2023, she's been the Director of Innovation for Freelancer.com's "NASA Tournament Lab". This crowdsourcing innovative invites the public to help solve global problems ranging from maternal morbidity to risk prediction.
Pamela is on the road in this episode as we look at how (and why) astronomers keep finding the improbable, follow the evidence to possible sources of little red dots, study the power of big star clusters to move gas, and examine the merger history of little black holes into bigger ones.
In today's episode, we look at the Voyager mission's exploration beyond our solar system, the organics Mars Curiosity Rover has discovered, the distribution of planets uncovered by the TESS mission, and how JWST measured the surface of a rocky world 50 light years away!
In this episode, we're going to be looking back in time at how Dark Matter may have influenced the formation of Supermassive Blackholes, newly catalogued remnants of left over hydrogen, an ancient star found as part of a class observing project, and tales from the launch pad.
As commercial space becomes a more and more mature industry, we're seeing new needs emerge. Front and the center is the need for someone - or some company - to make it easy for folks in need of a launch to find the right ride share for their satellite, no matter how small. Enter ExoLaunch. In this episode we talk with ExoLaunch CEO Robert Sproles about what their company is accomplishing as the shipping company to the stars (or at least Earth Orbit).
This week, in the first of our new shorter and more frequent episodes, we are going to take a look at the interplay of plate tectonics, geology, climate, and life. Specifically, we're looking at the interplay between super volcanoes and us! Did you know Naples is on a supervolcano? Also, in this episode: human sperm get lost in space.
Once again, we're going to attempt to get you up to date with what is going down at NASA. In addition to NASA updates, we have stories of science that comes in twos. From 2 planets forming in a disk to 2 stars coming together to shine brightly, to two asteroids that together orbit the Sun a bit faster, to two planets that collided, … it is a week for pairs.
In this special episode, funded by the National Science Foundation, we're taking a break from the headlines to share the background story of comets. Today, we'll focus on the origin of comets and their basic anatomy, and in future episodes, we'll dive deep into how comets are discovered, what we can learn from them, and how they can literally and figuratively impact our world.
This episode went through a lot of rewrites as breaking news kept breaking our hearts. Artemis is still on, but there are delays and cancellations. Before we face that, let's look at some pretty pictures and remember the universe is pretty even when our Earthly-timeline is not.
The glaciers are melting, the volcanoes are erupting, and earthquakes are shaking things up. Let's discuss.
In this episode, we take a closer look at how the increasing number of rockets and satellites going up mean there is also an unfortunate increase in the space junk coming down. We also cover dramatic weather, stars dying and disappearing, and update you on Maven and Paranal Observatory.
In this episode we look at highlights from the latest American Astronomical Society Meeting. An accidental theme came out: with each new telescope and each improved instrument we can look more closely at our universe - we can and do learn more and understand more even about the things we thought we knew best. In this episode, Rubin Observatory brings rapidly rotating asteroids, and JWST peers at objects thriving in the first 2 billion years of our universe. Observatory after observatory brings us new science.
In this episode, we're pleased to say we get to focus on science, as we bring you hot Jupiters, a tear-drop shaped Jupiter massed… something…? - and news of objects getting torn apart and other objects getting merged together as our universe lights up our night.
In this week's episode, we look at planets younger than fossils, celebrate relativity repeatedly working as expected, and peer at previously only theorized 1st generation stars using JWST. We celebrate the completion of the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, and look in on all the recent launches. All this and more is coming to you right here, and right now.
The world we live on today has undergone dramatic change since it first formed, and time hasn't necessarily been kind. Earth has gained some weight (and a Moon) after a chance collision. A leaky gut led to some confusing internal structures. Here on the surface, mountains keep finding new ways to pop off and destroy surroundings. But scientists are helping us understand all these factors. Learn how in this episode of EVSN, and also hear about our latest tales from the launch pad.
We live on an ever-changing world, and by studying the past, we can better understand our potential futures. In this episode, we follow the water and look at how past periods of glacial melt changed water levels, look into the water and see how pond and sea life add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and reflect on a glacier that shrank by 24 km in just 2 years. Oh, and there are also tales from the launch pad!
In this episode, we look at some of our latest discoveries about the formation of star systems, including planets and moons, and the growth of black holes. We also take a closer look at our brightening skies, and the missions set to make things worse. We also cover the latest tales from the launch pad.
The universe is hard enough to figure out without one kind of object dressing up as another, but - just in time for Halloween - researchers have figured out that the Little Red Dot in the early universe just might be massive black holes surrounded in a costume of glowing red gas. Also in this episode, Hyabusa2's amusingly tiny destination, a white dwarf star eating what may be an icy dwarf planet, and tales from the launch pad.
In this week’s episode, we tell the story of a Giant Blue Star that made the terrible, terrible mistake of trying to nibble on its more evolved sibling; it’s black hole of a sibling. Folks, don’t eat the dark holes in spacetime. We also look at this week’s news, including lumpy planets, forming planets, asteroids getting up close and personal, and how Leopard spots are in style for life hunting Mars Scientists. We also have tales from the launch pad.
In this week's episode, we take a look at the impact SpaceX launches from the Space Coast will have on their competitors and those living, working, and going to school near Kennedy and Cape Canaveral. We also look at a bunch of new science discoveries, including the origins of Ryugu & Bennu, the solar system shocked itself, a new supernova that blew off an unusual number of layers before exploding, and quick updates on Psyche, Juno, JUICE, and the number of moons orbiting Uranus.
In this week's episode we take a look at all the news our outer solar system has to offer. From newly discovered outer solar system objects to intersteller comet I3/Atlas to the Peried Meteor shower, we have icy objects and absolutely no aliens (It's never aliens #IYKYK).
In this special episode we look at how volunteers throughout history have aided in scientific explorations and tell you how you can get involved with our latest community science projects.
Join us as we look at two parallel stories - the development of the Vera Rubin Observatory and the SpaceX Starship rocket. Both projects are 20 years in the making, and both were supposed to start work in 2019. Both hit new milestones in June, and it's time to review their very different progress. Also included in this episode: Tales from the launch pad.
In this episode we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Fermi Paradox by looking at a bunch of science capable of preventing and destroying civilizations. We also review our latest not-so-great attempts to land on the moon and launch a rocket that (if it worked) could carry us to Mars.
This week, we take a closer look at the weirdly twisty search for a possible planet in our outer solar system. We'll also take in the happy science of aurorae here, at Jupiter, and over Neptune, as well as a bunch of weird discoveries that has some people screaming "It's Aliens!" (it's not aliens).
In this week’s closer look we are going to look at the earth-facing missions that are getting dragged down by our atmosphere and will be forcibly retired by physics in the next few years, again with no replacements in the works. These missions allow us to do long term monitoring of our planet, its atmosphere, and the variables that help us understand everything from weather to climate change. We also look at cool new exoplanet discoveries, the beautiful death of a star, and tales from the launch pad.
This week we look at how the elimination of science programs, projects, datasets, and funding may be shaping into an extinction-level event for US Space-related sciences. Come cry with us.
Let's take a fast-paced journey through all that's new in space and astronomy, including dark energy news, the death of supersymmetry, a closer look at remoting sensing in Earth science, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey through all that's new in space and astronomy, including new results from Perseverance Rover, Venusian Volcanism, Mars Sample Return (or not), Intuitive Machines' failure to land upright, Firefly Aerospace's amazing success with Blue Ghost, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including DESI takes a census of central blackholes, star formation in clusters, and updates on Europa Clipper, along with a deep dive into Mars science, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including a potentially killer asteroid, a new look at the history of Earth's water, and a mini-quasi-moon, along with a deep dive into climate change, and tales from the launch pad.
It's the kind of week where we feel the need to put joy into the world, and we've made the decision to just find stories to bring a smile and share them with you. And also rockets, we're bringing you all the rocket news.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru new discoveries planetary science and Cosmology. We look at Dark Comets, Io's gooey mantle, the colonization of a Ryugu sample by Earth bacteria, galaxies growing too fast too early, and more. As always, we'll also bring you tales from the launch pad.
From baby planets to ancient black holes, let's look at the week's space news, including the discovery of a planet around a still-forming star, our Sun's massive outbursts as measured by tree rings, a new catalog of white dwarfs in binary systems, and a deep dive into the possibility that black holes create dark energy. As always, we'll also bring you tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru new discoveries in past planetary destruction. From fire to ice, let's look at snowball Earth, melting permafrost, volcanoes short and long, and more. As always, we'll also bring you tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including the first results from Euclid, Roman and Rubin get ready to search for Dark Energy, a deep dive into the effects of rockets and satellites on our atmosphere, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including microscopic black holes trying to be dark matter, massive black holes firing off jets, a deep dive into Hera and Clippers journey to look at other worlds, and tales from the launch pad.
This week we’re doing something we’ve never done before; we’re dedicating the majority of the show to a single story: SpaceX’s recurring failure to follow the rules, regulations, and norms of international spaceflight. We have the receipts, and we hope that you will hear us out before you hit that comment button.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including volcanic glass beads, dino prints that span the ocean, a deep dive into asteroid exploration, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including new info on the origins of the Dino Killing asteroid, a star being nommed by a star, a deep dive into Mars exploration, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including Hubble, Chandra, and VIPER face cuts/cancellations, weird exoplanet orbits, Roman gains an instrument, and tales from the launch pad.
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including how Jupiter's Great Red Spot went missing, Io's Lava Lake, Titan's coastal erosion, and this week's tales from the launch pad. We also take a close look at the discovery of the first intermediate-mass black hole in the Omega Centauri globular cluster
Let's take a fast-paced journey thru all that's new in space and astronomy, including Mars Perseverance Rover fords an ancient river, black holes sometimes form like baby stars, and this week's tales from the launch pad. We also look in detail at how JWST images reveal star formation in never-before-seen details.
This week… there was a far too much news problem. We saw the last flight of Virgin Galactic’s Unity suborbital spacecraft, the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule to the ISS, a more successful launch test of SpaceX’s massive starship, the successful landing, loading, and liftoff of Chang’e 6 at the Moon, and… the beginning of the end for the HST as it shifted into single gyro operations.
In this episode, we bring you stories on how JWST - Not LIGO and Virgo - spotted the most distant Black Hole merge to date, why the search for life on other worlds gets more challenging the more we look, and we take a deep dive into the things we’re doing that cause and relieve climate change.
In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at Sunspot complex 3664 and the beautiful chaos that it’s been creating. And because we’re in a planetary science kind of mood, we’re also looking at stories related to observing weather on alien worlds, the history of Mars Climate, and even how solar storms might affect that particular Red Planet.
In February, on the closest approach, NASA's Juno spacecraft was within 930 miles of the closest moon Io’s surface. Since then, Juno’s orbit has been shrinking, bringing the mission closer to Jupiter and away from the circling Galilean moons. Io and Juno have parted ways, and Juno is now snuggling down into tighter orbits around her Jupiter.
As scientists discover and explore the atmospheres of more and more planets orbiting stars other than our Sun, we are learning that if you can imagine it, it probably exists. In a new paper discussing the planet WASP-76b, researchers describe what appears to be a giant rainbow in the atmosphere of another world... a circular rainbow... and it's not caused by refracted starlight!
This week’s episode is brought to you by last week’s terrible weather. While experiencing hail and thunder IRL, we also saw press release after press release and article after article discussing climate change. This one-two punch of new science and the need for a new roof means we will touch on climate change in our closer look this week. We apologize in advance; it’s not pretty out there -- unless you like storm chasing, then it’s kind of the stuff of dreams at the moment.
One of our recurring topics is “Planet formation is not well understood,” and a trio of new papers is making it clear why planet formation continues to... not be well understood. Put simply: the universe likes to create more diverse solar systems than an entire planet’s worth of sci-fi writers can imagine.
Earlier in March, Congress voted into place the FY2024 budgets for multiple agencies, including NASA. The agency is being asked for an overall 2% cut. Combined with inflation rates over 3%, we are looking at a fairly significant cut to the U.S. budget for space science. Dr. Pamela Gay breaks down what these cuts will affect, including people and missions, as we move forward with this already stressful fiscal year. (This episode was recorded on March 14, 2024)
As you know, our team loves volcanoes, and since we’ve been focused on Iceland for months, we brought in Dr. Melissa Scruggs (aka VolcanoDoc on Twitch) for a chat about Grindavik and all things volcanic in Iceland.
It is possible to buy stickers, sweatshirts, mugs, and other stuff and things emblazoned with the simple phrase, “We are star stuff”. This phrase was popularized by Carl Sagan, and it serves as a gentle reminder that all the complex atoms - by which I mean most everything heavier than helium - found their start either in the nuclear core of a star or in the nuclear explosions of a dying star or stars. But, as with so many things, the truth is much more complicated than the meme.
One of the unexpected realities of JWST is the discovery that we have really been asking the wrong questions in many astronomy areas. For instance: we generally asked how supermassive black holes and galaxies formed, with a basic assumption that these things happened in some interrelated process. We thought stellar mass black holes came from stars and that there might have been tiny primordial black holes that evaporated away, but that was it. Closed case. Black holes formed with all the normal structures we experience today. Except that now, JWST’s observations require us to find a way to accelerate the formation of those structures, and one way to do that is to seed the universe with black holes.
Every time I get the digital “why can’t you scientists just look at the data” lecture, I wonder what people think scientists do. All we do is look at data, and when that data tells us our understanding of the universe is wrong, we’re pretty good at accepting the data and throwing out our false understandings… even when the data makes our life a whole lot harder. Such is the case with the accelerating rate of expansion of the Universe...
Robots on Mars have a long history of exceeding all possible expectations. From Spirit and Opportunity lasting far beyond their planned 90-day missions to Ingenuity lasting 72 flights out of a planned five, these craft have become so beloved that we mourn their missions ending. Today, while we recognize NASA's Day of Remembrance, we also celebrate all the Mars missions that have done more than expected.
If you take a compass and follow its pointy little needle, you will end up in Northern Canada but not at the North Pole. If you have a boat, you'll end up on Ellesmere Island wondering where Santa is hiding. The fact that the rotational north pole of the Earth and the magnetic pole of the Earth don’t align means that if you want to actually get to the Earth’s rotational North Pole - the one the pole sticks out of on your globe - you have to look up corrections online and veer a little bit in whatever direction the correction happens to be at the moment. And if you are catching this show sometime far, far in the future, then Ellesmere Island that is true in early 2024 is likely no longer true.
From October 25, 2023: Around our parent collaboration, CosmoQuest, Halloween is, hands-down, the most beloved season of the year. Costumes are worn. Yards are decorated. We are here for all the strangers that knock on our door - the weirdos, the witches, and the oh-so-many werewolves - and there will be as much candy as we can afford given out. We know we are not the only ones. With about a week to go, we know that any day now, NASA, ESA, ESO, and others will begin releasing their spooky season images. There will be nebulae cropped with the contrast adjusted just so to reveal witches' hats, and others rotated to reveal ghosts and maybe - I can hope - a goblin or two.
In this episode, we look at what tree rings can teach us about past earthquakes, and how well machine learning can identify life, like trees, from carbon-rich materials that were never alive to distant galaxies and spinning black holes. We even take a deep dive into anti-matter, but not a literal deep dive… just a conceptual deep dive.
As the Thanksgiving leftovers reach the stage of possibly gaining intelligence in the back of our refrigerators, we’re going to take a look at the origins of life, how we might find simple life on icy moons, and even how we can practice learning to communicate with other civilizations by chatting up a humpback whale.
When we headed into recording this episode, I didn’t know if there would be a government shutdown or not, and I have to admit, on Saturday, September 30, I spent more than a few hours binge-watching TV shows while frequently updating my news feeds. This episode would have looked very different with a shutdown. Since we got a budget, today’s episode focuses on science. In the first segment, I get to talk about something I never thought I’d even read about -- the effects of spawning anchovies on energy dissipation in the ocean. Along with that fishy story, we have news from the Mars rovers, pretty images, and information on watching the October 14th annular eclipse. (This episode was originally released on October 4, 2023.)
Researchers currently think solar maximum - when the Sun is most active - will occur sometime in late 2024 to early 2025. With this cycle, we will experience just what a good blast of solar radiation can do to the small sats, CanSats, and other satellites in low-earth orbit. If history is to be listened to, it’s only a matter of time before a solar event wreaks havoc on satellites and our ground-based society.
We keep tweaking our format a little bit every episode, trying to find the right mix for YouTube, podcasts, and now, short-form video. We think we the setup is on the mark now and thank you for your patience as we made adjustments. Soon, we will have content to share on TikTok and Reels. For now, enjoy this week's deep dive into planetary formation and all the ways scientists have tried to explain stellar systems. (This episode was originally released in video format on December 1, 2023.)
There are some news cycles that are just plain weird, and this news cycle tried really, really hard to be one of them. Headlines last week highlighted that JWST observed methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet, which is entirely true. This headline was followed by stories that the reason could be aliens… and there is not enough data to be aliens. We want there to be definitive signs of life on other worlds. We want to know that life is common. We want the universe to thrive with societies capable of art, exploration, empathy, and science. We want our universe to not be a tremendous waste of space. And it is really frustrating to see these stories that inevitably imply that researchers are trying to cover up the truth. We’re not; we’re impatiently waiting for there to be enough evidence that we can say, yes, there is life out there among the stars. And that evidence isn’t here. (This episode was originally released on YouTube September 27, 2023.)
Dr. Pamela is big on volcanoes, and she hoped we’d have an awesome new eruption to report, but we don't. There is, however, still a lot of news this week that doesn’t include an Iceland eruption. Instead, the news includes the first images from a new spacecraft, updates on Lucy’s discovery of a contact binary, and more on the OSIRIS-REx sample return. (This episode was originally released in video format on November 24, 2023.)
In this week's episode, we look at the upcoming solar maximum, how solar activity affects Neptune, the robotic invasion fleet on Mars, and how some of the weirdest star systems in reality have been able to form. In our closer look, we fail to see dark matter - like everyone - but observe its gravitational impact on light from objects we can see. (This episode was originally released on YouTube September 13, 2023.)
This episode reminds you to look up, look out, and reflect on what we see around us. Stories cover a weird white dwarf that is doing things our Sun may do billions of years from now, how satellite images can now be used to measure river flows here and on Mars, and Titan, as well as the emerging field of planetary geoarcheology, that will help us understand just how long it will take for Mars rovers to become buried relics. And also climate change. Buckle up, the news isn't good. (This episode was originally released on YouTube August 9, 2023.)
According to satellite cataloger Jonathan McDowell, there are now 18 satellite constellations, like Starlink, being planned. These constellations will contain 543,811 satellites. This is a whole lot of missions to try and keep from colliding and all it takes is one particularly bad collision to transform the more than half-million objects from useful technologies to a shield of shrapnel that protects our universe from us by trapping us here. In our closer look today, we are going to look at early warning systems that are being developed, and how future - more highly mobile satellites, can both do good and create chaos. (This episode was originally released on YouTube July 29, 2023.)
In today’s episode, we’re going to look at everything from how past Earth couldn’t support photosynthesis because the days were just too short, to current Earth letting us get hit by more Cosmic Rays prior to Earthquakes going off, and to supernovae threatening our world while alien stars eat other planets. Science, sometimes, is just kind of violent. (This episode was originally released on YouTube July 8, 2023.)
Each week, when we set off to do this show, we start with one core idea: We want to tell you what is new in space and astronomy… and remember Earth is a planet too. When we select stories, we try to find the ones we’re excited to talk about over coffee, or the ones we know we will be sharing randomly with strangers who make the mistake of asking, “What do astronomers do?” We are here, week after week, to inflict space on others, and we hope that when we do you will return the favor and inflict this show on others. (This episode was originally released on YouTube June 24, 2023.)
In this episode, we need to take one of our periodic looks at our planet's science and understand what it means to life as we know it. But we will only look at Earth for the first two segments. Then we’re going to race away to enjoy an interview by Beth Johnson with Dr. Kat Volk about the icy Trans-Neptunian Objects that fill the spaces around Neptune and beyond Pluto. In our final segment, we look at all the amazing - and in one case alarming - launch attempts of the past two weeks. (This episode was originally released on YouTube June 3, 2023.)
Space science isn’t where the money is… at least not yet. Astronomy and planetary science in the U.S. are funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, and a variety of smaller foundations and extremely wealthy individuals. And this means that sometimes science can only advance at the speed Congress is willing to budget. The U.S. is in a new space race with China, and our ability to remain competitive in low-earth orbit is now an economic issue, with communications and imaging satellites powering multiple sectors. If a multi-year authorization is passed, there is hope folks will be able to dream, focus on research, and maybe, just maybe, spend less time asking for money. (This episode was originally released on YouTube May 20, 2023.)
In this episode, we’re going to look at how we now work to understand the history of life - including human life - on Earth by studying the geology of our planet, and we’re going to take those lessons learned and apply them to Mars, and exoplanets beyond our solar system. (This episode was originally released on YouTube May 13, 2023.)
In this episode, we’re going to be talking more about meteors - including the source of the Geminids meteor shower, asteroid Phaethon - as well as hot planets, hungry black holes, and how we’re working to uncover the identity of dark matter. (This episode was originally released on YouTube May 6, 2023.)
While we could spend an entire episode on Earth, there is just too much going on in the universe to linger anywhere too long. From our world, we journey out to look at the super massive black hole in the core of M87, and then Beth Johnson will join us with an interview of the SETI Institute’s Dr Chenoa Tremblay and how radio astronomers are one step closer to simultaneously looking for life and doing science with the very large array. This interview highlights how advances in signal detection and processing will now allow researchers to both study the science of distant stars and look for potential signals of alien civilizations. (This episode was originally released on YouTube April 29, 2023.)
This episode features the kind of news week where we looked at the April 20th eclipse in the South Pacific and decided it just wasn’t a huge priority. Between watching Starship's “will it won’t it” launch attempts and getting news of discoveries in cosmology and new software in planetary science… and the discovery of a totally weird rock formation on Mars… there is a lot going on out there. We’ll have a total eclipse on April 8, 2024. With that event occurring in less than a year, now is the time to start planning your travel if you want to see a transformative celestial experience. (This episode was originally released on YouTube April 22, 2023.)
For decades now, our planetary science news cycles have been dominated by Mars. Mars is relatively close, and we have a lot of experience landing there and science goals to pursue. But it has left our other closest neighbor, Venus, off the mission list. That is, until 2021, when NASA and the European Space Agency announced three separate but complimentary missions to that hellscape world. And now, one of those missions - VERITAS - is threatened to be completely mothballed before even really beginning. Later on in the show, Beth Johnson will interview deputy principal investigator, Darby Dyar, about why VERITAS is suddenly on the chopping block, what this means for planetary exploration, and how the public can help change NASA’s mind. (This episode was originally released on YouTube April 15, 2023.)
Humans are the ultimate pattern matchers - at least for now. I have to admit I’m looking forward to the day I can give some new AI a set of images and ask it to tell me what animals it can find among the nebulae. The software isn’t there yet… But we’re also going to take a closer look at how art and AI look at space. And also science: From looking at active volcanism on Venus to eruptions on the Sun to rotating black hole jets and more, we take you on a journey through all that is new in space and astronomy.
Right now, humans are tantalizingly close to being able to search for life on other worlds where it is reasonable to think life could exist. We can’t do it yet - at least not in a way that would be safe for any potential life, but this is a long game, and as we’ll discuss in this episode, the technologies we need are being actively developed and tested on Earth, and the missions we need to find the best places to search are either already out there doing their job, or preparing to launch. This could happen, provided nothing happens to prevent us from getting off the planet… (This episode originally aired on television March 25, 2023.)
A new asteroid has been discovered with an orbit that crosses our own planet’s orbit. In general, this object and Earth are very good and not trying to occupy the same space at the same time, and we’ve managed to coexist for a fair amount of time. We are going to have a close approach, however, in 2046, and for the first time in a long time, the potentially dangerous asteroids list actually gave us something to worry about. (This episode originally aired on television March 18, 2023.)
In general, the kind of year we’ll experience gets its label at the end of the year. 2005 was the year of the never-ending hurricane season. 2017 was the year we experienced an eclipse and lost Cassini. 2020 was the year satellite constellations went from a handful to hundreds of spacecraft. 2022 was the year of Mars exploration with Curiosity, Percy, Ginny, Insight, and Tianwen-1. Each year gets to define itself, and it is up to us to fight or embrace what that year brings us. This year, 2023, is still young, but I’m going to guess that come January 2024, this will be the year of Io. (This episode originally aired on television March 11, 2023)
OK so this is actually episode six, but our producer Ally numbered the episodes weird and we got mixed up. This week, thanks to the support of so many, we’re going to be looking at earthquakes, early results from JWST, spherical novae, the Dark Side of the Moon, and a whole lot more. (This episode originally aired on television March 4, 2023)
In this show, we’ll go through more than 20 studies and observations ranging from planetary climates to galaxy mergers, and we’ll take a closer look at how Artificial Intelligence is being asked to play a role in every area of this research. And we’ll ask, “Is this how we get Cylons?” (This episode originally aired on television February 18, 2023)
We live at a time when technological advances are allowing us to explore ideas faster than ever before. So today, we bring you lab results on ice that affect how we see the outer solar system, and observations of galaxies that affect our understanding of the universe’s formation. We go from things smaller than a proton – which we just learned is 0.73 femtometers across -- to galaxy clusters 10s of millions of lightyears across. It’s all tied together, and we’ll tell you how. (This episode originally aired on television February 11, 2023)Pamela L Gay
In this episode, we discuss one mass extinction, three stories with volcanoes, star formation, galaxy dissolution, and space mission synchronized observing. We also take a closer look at dark energy and dark matter and how giant galaxies in the early universe seem to indicate we may know even less than we thought. And rockets. There are always more rockets thanks to SpaceX. (This episode originally aired on television February 4, 2023)
This episode has a little bit of everything as we bring you results from astronomers, geoscientists, climate scientists, imaging scientists, glaciologists, meteorologists, planetary scientists, engineers, and even bioarchaeologists. This diversity of research allows us to better understand our world and beyond. In our first segment, we look at how our ecosystem and past cultures rebounded after prior naturally occurring climate events. It's unclear if this research will help us better recover from the climate change we're currently facing, but maybe it will give us hope. From our world, we travel outward, looking at the meteorology of Mars, future technology for space exploration, and the star catalogs that will help us define our place in space. (This episode originally aired on television January 28, 2023)
Hello and welcome! This show - Escape Velocity Space News - is new, and we’re so glad that you’re here with us, right from the beginning. Dr. Pamela Gay, along with a great production team, is here to put science in your brain. In this episode, we’re going to bring you the best of what’s been discovered and dive deep into the hottest topic of the week - the infrared universe. From stunning images from the JWST to better-resolved star formation seen by ESO’s VLT, this redder-than-red color of light has been all the rage in this season’s best science papers. Also joining us is aerospace journalist Erik Madaus, who brings us a rundown of last year's best launches and the stats for what was a truly bizarre launch year for the European Space Agency and an amazing year for SpaceX. We bring you all of this and more, right here on Escape Velocity Space News. (This episode was originally recorded for television on January 21, 2023)
Audition Template: 1 Mono Host track (with Speech Volume Leveler), 1 Mono Interview track (with Speech Volume Leveler), 1 Stereo Sound FX with effects, 1 Stereo Music Bed track. 44.1k, 16 bit, Stereo Master.
A trio of asteroid-related stories crossed our emails this week: Bennu’s sample is on schedule for next year’s return, researchers have developed a tool to measure an asteroid’s density distribution, and 3200 Phaeton’s rotational period has accelerated. Plus, JWST’s new Pillars of Creation image, and this week in rocket history, we look back at Venera 4.
Space is hard, and some days, getting rockets to work doesn’t go as well as expected. An Epsilon rocket launched by JAXA and carrying eight payloads including RAISE 3 was lost when mission control triggered the flight termination system due to an attitude issue. Plus, stars blowing dust rings, stars exploding, asteroids getting hit with spacecraft, and Europa’s geysers may not come from the subsurface ocean.
Space is hard, and some days, getting rockets to work doesn’t go as well as expected. An Epsilon rocket launched by JAXA and carrying eight payloads including RAISE 3 was lost when mission control triggered the flight termination system due to an attitude issue. Plus, stars blowing dust rings, stars exploding, asteroids getting hit with spacecraft, and Europa’s geysers may not come from the subsurface ocean.
Catch the full-length interview with Jochen Grandell, Program Scientist for the Meteosat third generation, from our October 4th episode.
Catch the full-length interview with Jochen Grandell, Program Scientist for the Meteosat third generation, from our October 4th episode.
As if getting set on fire and tossed into space wasn’t enough, new research finds evidence that after the Chicxulub impact, dinosaurs were also the victims of a massive global tsunami and worldwide earthquakes. Plus, the Milky Way’s stellar graveyard, a new timeline for the Moon’s formation, and this week in space history, we look back at the Meteosat program.
As if getting set on fire and tossed into space wasn’t enough, new research finds evidence that after the Chicxulub impact, dinosaurs were also the victims of a massive global tsunami and worldwide earthquakes. Plus, the Milky Way’s stellar graveyard, a new timeline for the Moon’s formation, and this week in space history, we look back at the Meteosat program.
While astronomers have observed white dwarfs consuming companion stars on numerous occasions, for the first time, they have now observed the consumption of the companion’s helium and not just hydrogen. Plus, galactic alignment, rocket launches including Crew 5, a new Europa image, and a review of the video game “Tinykin”.
While astronomers have observed white dwarfs consuming companion stars on numerous occasions, for the first time, they have now observed the consumption of the companion’s helium and not just hydrogen. Plus, galactic alignment, rocket launches including Crew 5, a new Europa image, and a review of the video game “Tinykin”.
Early Saturday morning, another company entered the exclusive club of successful orbital launchers, Firefly Aerospace, when their second attempt to reach orbit, named To The Black, lifted off on October 1. Plus, a crater in Spain, a new DART image, Juno flies by Europa, and an interview with Jochen Grandell regarding the Meteosat program.
Early Saturday morning, another company entered the exclusive club of successful orbital launchers, Firefly Aerospace, when their second attempt to reach orbit, named To The Black, lifted off on October 1. Plus, a crater in Spain, a new DART image, Juno flies by Europa, and an interview with Jochen Grandell regarding the Meteosat program.
The quest to understand the formation mechanisms of globular clusters was limited by the Hubble Space Telescope’s ability to peer back in time. Now, JWST’s larger mirror has allowed astronomers to find gravitationally lensed galaxies that have globular clusters almost nine billion years old. Plus, two new super-mercury exoplanets, This Week in Space History, and an interview with Eric Palmer about the DART mission.
The quest to understand the formation mechanisms of globular clusters was limited by the Hubble Space Telescope’s ability to peer back in time. Now, JWST’s larger mirror has allowed astronomers to find gravitationally lensed galaxies that have globular clusters almost nine billion years old. Plus, two new super-mercury exoplanets, This Week in Space History, and an interview with Eric Palmer about the DART mission.
Catch the full-length interview with Amanda Sickafoose from our September 29th episode.
Catch the full-length interview with Amanda Sickafoose from our September 29th episode.
Using a machine learning algorithm, scientists have confirmed 68 out of 77 potential gravitational lens candidates from a subset of over 5,000 possibilities. Plus, generation one stars, astronauts coming home, dating craters on Earth, lunar glass, and an interview with Amanda Sickafoose regarding the DART mission.
Using a machine learning algorithm, scientists have confirmed 68 out of 77 potential gravitational lens candidates from a subset of over 5,000 possibilities. Plus, generation one stars, astronauts coming home, dating craters on Earth, lunar glass, and an interview with Amanda Sickafoose regarding the DART mission.
After ten months of space travel, NASA’s DART spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Didymos, targeted the moonlet Dimorphos, and successfully flung itself at the surface. Multiple observations confirm that the system brightened and even managed to resolve a cloud of debris. Plus, rocket launches, an update on the SLS, some broken physics, and International Observe the Moon Night.
After ten months of space travel, NASA’s DART spacecraft arrived at the asteroid Didymos, targeted the moonlet Dimorphos, and successfully flung itself at the surface. Multiple observations confirm that the system brightened and even managed to resolve a cloud of debris. Plus, rocket launches, an update on the SLS, some broken physics, and International Observe the Moon Night.
Astronomers using the 1.2-meter Whipple Observatory to follow the brightness of a lensed galaxy for 14.5 years have calculated that the time delay between light arriving along the shortest and farthest paths is 6.73 years. Plus, DART, Hayabusa2, Juno, fast radio bursts, and This Week in Space History, we look back at NASA’s 1990s attempts to reach Mars.
In advance of the next scheduled launch attempt, NASA conducted another test to fill the fuel tanks onboard the Space Launch System rocket. The results were mixed, but the launch is still on schedule. Plus, a crewed launch, beautiful images, and an interview with Mike Simmons from Astronomy for Equity about sending telescopes to underprivileged students.
Beth is joined by Mike Simmons, the founder of Astronomy for Equity, an Affiliate Research Scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, and a member of the Board of Directors for the International Dark-Sky Association. Mike is here to talk with us about a new crowdfunding campaign to bring telescopes to astronomy outreach students in Libya.
Asteroseismologists are combining data from TESS, Kepler, and eventually JWST to study stellar oscillations in ‘infant’ stars, with the goal of creating new models for how such young stars form and evolve over time. Plus, JWST images Mars, Hubble images stars, and SpaceX manages to launch another Starlink mission in spite of weather delays.
Using computer simulations, researchers have pieced together a possible scenario where Titan caused another of Saturn’s moons to break up and become the beautiful ring system we see today. Plus, organic molecules on Mars, the death of the dinosaurs, and a review of Lightyear on Disney+.
Data and images from NASA’s Curiosity rover found evidence that wind played a key role in erosional processes on the red planet, despite the lower atmospheric volume. Plus, astrophysics and cosmology news, a baby exoplanet, and this week in space history, we look back at an uncrewed lunar mission from Japan.
Using pockets of gas found in tiny crystals, scientists have created a timeline for the formation and eruption of four supervolcano events in northern Chile more than twenty million years ago. Plus, rocket launches, gorgeous new space images, and an interview with Jian-Yang Li about the upcoming DART mission’s impact.
A population study of 43 exoplanets orbiting M-dwarf stars used both the transit method and radial velocity method to find the densities of the worlds and a surprising pattern emerged. The planets are less dense than expected, suggesting they are not purely rock but half-rock and maybe half-water. Plus, star factories in the Milky Way, glaciers on ancient Mars, and This Week in Space History.
As global temperatures rise, Earth observations show that glaciers are retreating and ice sheets are melting everywhere from Greenland to Antarctica while regions of the Arctic are getting greener. Plus, collaborations lead to new Mars and exoplanet discoveries, several rockets launched, and this week’s What’s Up involves Dr. Brian May of Queen.
As we return from our summer hiatus, we are back with a rundown of some of the stories that came out during the break. On the planetary front, JWST has been taking amazing images and learning about exoplanets. On the astrophysics front, we’ve got stories on dark matter and Betelgeuse. And there were thirty orbital launches, including a whole lot of Starlinks… but not including Artemis.
Using layers of data from a variety of Martian missions, researchers have developed a machine learning algorithm that identified the actual crater from which a particular Martian meteorite originated. Plus, a radio heartbeat, the missing baryon problem, and our last What’s Up and review of the season.
With the release of JWST’s first science images behind us, we now catch up on all the rocket launches of the past few days. Meanwhile, Bennu continues to be a favorite research topic and is the subject of three new papers released this week. Plus, pulsar-orbiting planets, and this week in rocket history, we look back at GEOTAIL.
Starting with the stunning release of JWST’s first image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 on July 11, the bonanza continued the morning of July 12 with newly released images of Stephan’s Quintet, the Carina Nebula, the Southern Ring Nebula, and exoplanet WASP-96b. Plus, that controversial name and what’s ahead for the newest space observatory.
Using a first-principles approach, researchers have discovered that the differences in the rotational rate of the solar system are due to the inward and outward flow of cations and electrons. Plus, JWST’s first list of observations, a Starlink launch, dinosaurs, raining sand, and a review of episode two of this season’s “For All Mankind.”
Using etched tungsten ditelluride at nearly absolute zero, scientists have observed electrons swirling around like whirlpools, behaving as a fluid. The methods could be used to design low-energy devices. Plus, eavesdropping on aliens, machine learning on solar data, and some new observatories are in the works.
While waiting for the launch and commissioning of JWST, engineers designed an infrared telescope with a 2.5-meter mirror that will fly onboard a large research balloon to nearly 40 kilometers in altitude. Plus, fast radio bursts, robotic ammonites, and this week in rocket history we look back at Telstar-1.
Scientists observing the Manatee Nebula find that the supernova remnant contains a stellar-mass black hole that is emitting powerful, high-energy jets, creating the strange, double-lobed shape. Plus, rocket launches, mission updates from Mars and the Moon, and a spinning galaxy from the early universe.
A star cataloged as Gliese 781 is approaching our solar system and in slightly more than a million years from now, will reach the Oort Cloud, likely disrupting the orbits of icy bodies that could head toward Earth. Plus, an Indian launch, Asteroid Day, understanding our ice giants, and a review of “Kaiju Preservation Society” by John Scalzi.
A trio of stories examines the possibilities for finding life in strange, new places, including deep underground here on Earth, in the subsurface oceans of Europa, and fossilized within sedimentary rocks on Mars. Plus, a SpaceX launch, gamma-ray bursts, and this week’s What’s Up.
Today we look at a trio of climate change stories, which are mostly bad news, although one study has discovered that African lakes are doing more sequestering of greenhouse gases than emissions. Plus, the CAPSTONE launch, meteorite crystals, and this week in rocket history, a mission that launched… but failed.
With a little bit of luck and a lot of time on different telescopes, researchers managed to capture the black hole in the center of the Milky Way, SgrA*, consuming matter at a faster rate than usual. Plus, Australia launches a rocket, a couple of Mars stories, and strange glaciers on Earth.
A recent paper examined data from NASA’s Juno mission and found that Jupiter’s atmosphere not only contains metals but also is not a homogenous mix. The likely culprits are the remains of planetesimals from the early solar system. Plus, a Voyager update, a new Mercury image, sulfur residue on Europa, and a review of “For All Mankind”.
A basin region within Margaritifer Terra on Mars contains deposits of clay-bearing sediment that provide evidence of flowing water on the red planet as recently as 2.5 billion years ago. Plus, Mars mission updates, gravitational wave detection, rocket launches, and this week’s What’s Up.
An analysis of the craters on Bennu’s surface provides evidence that the rubble pile asteroid is protected from smaller impacts by the boulders scattered on the surface. Plus, the SLS Wet Dress Rehearsal, dwarf galaxies around M81, and this week in rocket history, we look back at the X-15 hypersonic plane.
Researchers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have found that a known pulsar is moving through a supernova remnant at over one million miles per hour. Plus, the life and death of stars, new pictures of the Large Magellanic Cloud, and all of the SpaceX rocket launches.
Observations of V1674 Hercules reveal a nova produced by the white dwarf star that dimmed in only one day. Additionally, the strange star wobbles every 501 seconds, producing flashes in visible and X-ray light. Plus, more results from the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, a farewell to SOFIA, and What’s Up is the June solstice.
After six years of Hubble Space Telescopes and the hypothesis that millions of black holes exist in the Milky Way, scientists have finally found direct evidence for the existence of one such black hole. Plus, planetary formation, a wandering star, and this week in rocket history, we look back at China’s first crewed space station docking.
Using data from the fabulous Gaia mission, researchers have detected four new brown dwarfs as well as several other unusual companions to 25 stars in the Milky Way. Plus, Yellowstone, Earth’s magnetic field, hot Jupiters, and a review of the first episode of The Orville: New Horizons.
A second repeating fast radio burst was detected in 2019 by China’s FAST observatory and confirmed in 2020 by the Very Large Array. This latest discovery raises the possibility that there are two different types of FRBs. Plus, a SpaceX commercial launch, mission updates, neutron stars, and this week’s What’s Up.
Using the radiation signatures of quasars, scientists have determined when the era of reionization ended in our universe – about 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang. Plus, an update on NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, new Hubble and Chandra images, and This Week in Rocket History is the TIROS-5 weather satellite.
Astronomers combined observations of far distant galaxies exhibiting no signs of star formation and found active supermassive black holes that may have contributed to the evolution of their parent galaxies. Plus, rocket launches, detecting earthquakes, and why Uranus and Neptune are different shades of blue.
Today, we take a look at three recent papers attempting to explain various phenomena on Mars. One uncovers the cause of discrete aurorae. Another explains the martian haze. And a third actually ends up with more questions than answers. Plus, Boeing’s OFT-2 returns to Earth, ESA’s Solar Orbiter makes its closest approach, and Dr. Pamela reviews the new graphic novel Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod.
Due to the gravitational pull of Jupiter on the fragments and dust of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann, Earth’s orbit may be moving through a dense portion of the comet’s trail on May 31. This alignment could result in an unusually spectacular meteor outburst, and we’ll interview astronomer Pierre Martin about this possible event. Plus, a SpaceX launch that wasn’t Starlink, a new solar sail, and JWST.
Researchers using radioactive decay analysis have recreated the early history of some asteroids in our solar system, revealing a more chaotic phase than previously thought. Plus, a near-Earth asteroid, a solar sail, a trove of black holes, and this week in rocket history, we look back at Mercury-Atlas 7.
Fast, strong magnetic winds caused by quickly rotating pulsars may be accelerating particles like electrons to extremely high-energy states and creating gamma-ray photons in their wake. Plus, missions close to home, large and distant objects, some pretty Hubble photos, and laser simulations of fast radio bursts.
Over the past three decades, astronomers around the world have been using the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope to more precisely calculate the expansion of the universe. And they have converged on a precision of just over 1%. Plus, Boeing launches Starliner, Voyager 1 struggles, and Erik reviews his favorite camera lens.
With a groundbreaking technique, astronomers have used a galaxy as a gravitational lens to backlight two hydrogen clouds, peering back 11 billion light-years at our early universe. Plus, volcano water on the Moon, a quadruple star system, and this week’s What’s Up takes a careful look at the Sun.
A forensic analysis of the element concentration found in the Hypatia stone finds evidence in the cometary fragment, which may have impacted Earth 28 million years ago, of a supernova origin story. Plus, Ceres, Mars, and this week in rocket history, we look back at SpaceX’s COTS Demo Flight 2.
A team of scientists combined stellar locations from the Gaia mission with dust and cloud maps from the WISE and 2MASS catalogs to create amazing three-dimensional images of the California Cloud and Orion A Cloud. Plus, rocket launches, the origin of carbon, and an interview with Dani DellaGiustina, principal investigator for the OSIRIS-APEX mission.
Using a mere twelve grams of lunar soil returned by the Apollo missions, scientists have successfully grown plants in the lab. With a wealth of genetic data on hand, they can now analyze the changes to the plants and the soil. Plus, stellar cannibalism, a black hole merger, brown dwarfs, water on Mars, and a review of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”.
In an early morning announcement, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration finally revealed their first image of Sgr A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. We have a special episode entirely about this amazing new image and the science behind it. And this week’s What’s Up is a total lunar eclipse.
A ninth-magnitude star in our neighborhood of the Milky Way has been found to contain 65 different elements, including large proportions of heavier elements like gold. This star required either a supernova or a neutron star merger to form. Plus, another solar flare, a strong marsquake, cosmic rays, cookies, and this week in rocket history, we look back at STS-82 (84).
A luminous black hole already classified as an active galactic nucleus brightened suddenly in recent ground and space observations, and the cause may be due to a sudden flip in the magnetic poles. Plus, community science, rockets, Ingenuity, and an interview with Dr. Cathy Weitz from Planetary Science Institute.
Data from the Hubble Space Telescope has determined that the newly discovered companion of a star that went supernova had its outer hydrogen layer siphoned off before the explosion. The results support the theory that massive stars generally form and evolve as binary systems. Plus, rocks from space, Crew-4 comes home, searching for life beyond Earth, and another Canon lens review.
The flash of a pulsar about 3,000 light-years from our solar system was caused by a ‘black widow’ binary consuming a smaller star. Intriguingly, a third companion star is orbiting the pair, which may have originated near the Milky Way’s center. Plus, the Sun is ramping up, Chandra releases more sonification videos, and this week’s What’s Up is all about occultations.
On this May 4th, all of us here at CosmoQuest would like to say, “May the Fourth be with you.” Today we are proud to announce our third annual CosmoQuest-a-Con: Rockin’ with Rockets and Robots, a celebration of science and creativity. This year’s virtual event is going to be October 21-23, and we are going to offer 42 hours of programming, bringing you guests, contests, cosplay, a community Minecraft build, and more. Learn more and get tickets at cosmoquest.org
Using spherical grains called ooids, found on Earth in shallow, tropical waters, scientists have found a possible mechanism for the formation of hydrocarbon sand on Titan. Plus, rocket launches, Jupiter and Mars, space explosions, and this week in rocket history, we look back at Britain’s Ariel satellite program.
Using data from TESS, a new paper presents evidence for the discovery of thirty potential comets orbiting in the Beta Pictoris system. Plus, astrobiology research, water on the Moon, solar system formation, and a review of “The Adam Project” starring Ryan Reynolds.
An analysis of images taken by the Spirit rover of olivine-rich rocks in Gustev crater has revealed a much more violent volcanic origin than originally thought and one that likely occurred early in Mars’s history. Plus, balloon science, more Mars, more volcanoes, pretty Hubble images, and What’s Up (a supernova!).
Remember that new object COW, named for a strange supernova? We’ve seen four more of these Fast Blue Optical Transits, and new research may even have figured out just how and why they occur. Plus, Crew-4 launches, a bunch of planetary science news, micronovae, and this week in rocket history, we look back at the San Marco program.
An analysis of sediment core samples taken at the Salmon River Estuary in Oregon provides evidence that the massive 1700 Cascadia earthquake caused 15 meters of slip along the shoreline, which lead to over a meter of coastal subsidence. Plus, all the rocket launches, a few mission updates, making Mars bricks with urea, and an interview with Maggie Thompson from UC Santa Cruz about using methane as a biosignature.
An analysis of the relative movements of 18 tectonic ridges over the past 19 million years finds that the rate of seafloor spreading has dropped by about 40% on average globally. Plus, stars are getting naked, climate change is heating things up, and we review “Impact: How Rocks from Space Led to Life, Culture, and Donkey Kong” by Greg Brennecka.
An analysis of microscopic features in rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt in Quebec, Canada, which date back between 3.75 and 4.28 billion years, finds evidence of possible microbial life. Plus, a supermassive black hole precursor, temperatures on Neptune, check-ins with various spacecraft, and our weekly What’s Up segment.
A new paper looks at marsquakes and what is causing them, which turns out to be magma moving. And Curiosity has found rocks it needs to go around. Then there is the weather on Mars. Plus, lunar formation, a giant comet, and this week in rocket history, we look back at Apollo 13.
Despite being shut down a decade ago, the Collider Detector at Fermilab provided enormous amounts of data, some of which have recently been re-analyzed, leading to the discovery that the W boson is actually more massive than calculations and predictions expected. Plus, another JWST update, the newest most distant galaxy, gravitational waves, and an interview with Dr. Kelsi Singer about cryovolcanoes on Pluto.
From plastics invading the Arctic Ocean to the changing morphology of birds in response to rising temperatures and the problems with pathogens killing off pollinators like bees, we examine some of the effects of climate change on Earth’s ecosystems. Plus, Ganymede, moonlight, solar cells, and this week in rocket history, we look back at STS-83.
In a joint discovery announced by the Subaru and Hubble telescopes, researchers have captured images of a gas giant protoplanet whose distant formation supports the disk instability theory. Plus, galaxies, more galaxies, a couple of rocket launches, and updates on JWST and SLS.
An analysis of the thickness and the shapes of the ice mounds of Martian craters found that the patterns matched Mars’ axial tilt and precession over the last 4 to 5 million years. Plus, Europa, faint galaxies, What’s Up, and a review of an entire camera.
Researchers pouring through high-resolution Hubble images of galaxy clusters have found the gravitationally magnified light of a star that was shining just four billion years after the Big Bang, making this bright star the new record holder for the farthest ever spotted. Plus, some launches, ice volcanoes on Pluto, melting Arctic ice, and this week in rocket history, we look back at INSAT.
Join us as we take a deep dive into the history of atmospheric methane on Mars and Titan, how that methane could be a sign of life, and what methane means for future missions and science. Plus, a planetary nebula, a supernova, ancient helium, and a couple of rockets.
Researchers use data from ESA’s Gaia telescope to discover that white dwarf stars have two different distributions both in how they move and how bright they shine. Plus, all the International Space Station news, simulated JWST observations, and a review of a macro lens from Venus Optics.
Stellar formation and evolution data collected from ESA’s Gaia telescope has allowed scientists to create a timeline of the evolution of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Plus, an ancient ice age, sound on Mars, a new exoplanet, and What’s Up.
After detecting high levels of organic matter using remote sensors at the asteroid Ryugu, numerical models show that it’s possible that rubble pile asteroids are actually extinct comets. Plus, the Cosmic Optical Background, Enceladus’s tiger stripes, and this week in rocket history, we look back at STS-45.
Computer models of the effects of an eruption event similar to the Columbia River Flood Basalt show that, despite massive injections of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, Earth’s climate rebounded much more quickly than expected. Plus, ORCs, lunar swirls, exoplanets, and diamonds.
The first SLS was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) High Bay 3 on the Crawler Transporter on March 17, 2022, and is the first lunar rocket to emerge from the VAB since Apollo 17’s Saturn V in 1972. Plus, an asteroid impact, some climate change, ancient volcanoes, spring on Mars, and a new Deep Space Network dish.
Scientists propose using changes in the distance from the Earth to the Moon and measured by lasers as a way to detect the phenomenon of gravitational waves. Plus, JWST is working, ExoMars is at risk, and in this week’s What’s Up, we learn about looking for zodiacal light.
Using updated stellar measurements based on new data from the Gaia mission, three (and possibly four) Kepler exoplanets are actually small stars, but it’s unlikely new calculations will reveal many more such issues. Plus, Ingenuity, astronauts, permafrost, and This Week in Rocket History, we look back at STS-3 and the first use of the Canadarm.
Researchers studying GPS data collected from the 1999 İzmit earthquake in Turkey found that the quake changed the movement of the plate, and this effect may be possible for other tectonic plates. Plus, more pretty images, starspots merging, melting Arctic sea ice, and minerals on Mars.
Researchers have determined how to effectively measure the magnetic fields at Neptune to determine if any of the moons are ocean worlds… in just twelve minutes. Plus, lasers recreate galaxy cluster conditions, some mind-bending new math, how the Earth’s crust developed, and a look at the long history of Daylight Saving Time.
Today’s science stories run the gamut of the strange and the weird, with several black holes, the effects of space on astronaut blood cells, and how alligator mating dances added to solar science. Plus, this week’s What’s Up helps you choose binoculars for sky gazing.
The Advanced Camera for Surveys instrument onboard the Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating twenty years of service this week. Plus, a new look at an old lunar rock, gas rings around an aging star, all the rockets from around the world, and this week in rocket history, we look back at the 1962 Orbiting Solar Observatory, led by Nancy Grace Roman.
Today we’re going to discuss the repercussions to space science of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some people may find this subject upsetting, and if you need to skip this episode, we understand. We’re going to take a look at Roscosmos and how space corporations and nations are imposing sanctions that impact how, when, and what we send to space.
In the latest climate change news, ancient underwater landslides could help us understand tsunami risks in the Middle East, NASA now has a ‘Vanilla’ ice drone to study the Arctic, and lake temperatures are rising. Plus, we bring you joy with this week’s What’s Up and a review of Starlight Cok
To bring some joy into a fraught world, we have rounded up a few of the latest image releases of star mergers and galaxies to brighten your day. Plus, we’ll look at a few strange exoplanetary systems and their amazing science, talk about the latest GOES satellite to launch, and this week in rocket history is all about Envisat.
As we return from our mini-break, we bring you some highlights of stories that happened while we were away, including black holes spiraling toward each other, the possible origin of a fast radio burst, and more information on the demise of the dinosaurs. Plus, Erik Madaus brings us updates on quite a few rocket launches.
Do you want lasers? I want lasers! And today’s show features lots of lasers. We also have more questions than answers about Mars’ methane, misbehaving stars, and new research on how we would look for the early signs of life on other worlds. Plus, a study on how spaceflight impacts the human brain.
The science that dictates our planet is the exact same physics that affects our entire universe. Trying to understand everything around us is just as simple as taking into account all the forces and factors that interact to make everything we see.
Today our view on the universe gets itself an update thanks to the combined efforts of theorists and observers. From new understanding of how galaxies can lose their darkmatter, to how white dwarfs can be resurrected into Helium burning stars, we have the weird, the wonderful… and in the case of a new lunar tracking system, we even have a touch of the mundane.
Observers tracking a piece of space debris that is expected to impact the far side of the Moon early in March have now corrected the origin of the object, which isn’t from SpaceX but is from a Chinese Long March 3B involved in the Chang’e 5TI mission. Plus, asteroid 16 Pysche, craters in Wyoming, more launches, and an interview with Katharine Hesse from the TESS mission.
The second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launched in 2017 re-entered the atmosphere over Mexico, breaking up and creating a show of fiery lights in the sky. Plus, dead stars with possibly living planets, more on moon formation, more launches, more launch failures, and a review of “The Apollo Murders” by Chris Hadfield.
Defying expectations, an ultramassive galaxy and many of its cluster companions had already formed most of their stars and become inactive only two billion years after the beginning of the universe. Plus, the nightside of Venus, a new exoplanet for Proxima Centauri, and What’s Up.
SpaceX launched another 49 Starlink satellites last week, but a geomagnetic storm caused by solar activity kept the satellites offline, and 40 of them failed to reach their final orbits after exiting safe mode. They are now deorbiting and breaking up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Plus, asteroid systems, Eta Carina, and this week in rocket history, we look back at Mir Expedition 2.
A NASA-funded simulation of early Mars revealed that the climate three billion years ago on the red planet was very similar to Earth now, with a stable ocean in the northern hemisphere. This new timeline would have given life another 500 million years to develop. Plus, a dwarf galaxy, Saturn’s aurorae, a Soyuz launch, and an interview with Dr. Adam Szabo, mission scientist for the Parker Solar Probe.
New simulations find that to form a moon with a similar size ratio to our own system, certain types of planets are needed. And that type of moon-planet system could then be beneficial to the rise of life on the planet. Plus, a Starlink launch, puffy planets, and training astronauts underwater for spacewalks.
Scientists analyzed iron-rich sedimentary rocks and estimated the amount of oxygen present in the atmosphere when those rocks formed, finding low levels of oxygen and giving insight into a potential biosignature for life beyond Earth. Plus, controlling robots from space, a SpaceX launch, and this week’s What’s Up.
By collecting and analyzing stories from a variety of indigenous cultures in North America, researchers find evidence for a mid-air explosion of a comet or asteroid, similar to the Tunguska event. Plus, a new Trojan for Earth, volcanoes and dinosaurs, ancient Mexican cacao groves, and this week in rocket history is Lunar Orbiter 3.
After several weather-related (and one cruise ship-related) delays, SpaceX finally launched the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Flight 2 (CSG-2) satellite for the Italian government. Plus, some beautiful images to start your week and an interview with Dr. Núria Miret-Roig about free-floating planets.
A research team studying the Poás volcano in Costa Rica, a potential analog for early Mars conditions, finds microbes surviving in extremely harsh conditions. Plus, table-top matter-antimatter experiments, an exoplanet’s complex atmosphere, and how snails and squirrels can help us understand space.
Scientists using the Murchison Widefield Array in Australia recently discovered an extremely bright source of radio waves, releasing bursts of energy three times an hour. That timing makes the object behave unlike anything else seen to date, leaving the research team with a new mystery to unravel. Plus, everything else is about water today, all over the solar system, and we present this week’s What’s Up segment.
For decades, scientists have been trying to work out just how the Earth got all its water, and the prevailing theory was that comets and asteroids brought it, and we have evidence for that mechanic; however, a new hypothesis has provided evidence that the water was already here, locked away in hydrous minerals in a very iron-poor core. Plus, magnetic fields, subatomic particles, life on the ocean floor, a geology mystery solved, and this week in rocket history covers a space shuttle mission with some really neat science.
A dynamical analysis of the 14 Herculis system has revealed the existence of two brown dwarf planets orbiting in completely misaligned, eccentric orbits. The study also uncovered the possibility of a third brown dwarf that was ejected from the system. Plus, weird ice in Chicago, the ongoing debate about liquid water on Mars, one rocket goes up while a capsule comes down, and we interview Dr. Knicole Colon from the JWST mission.
The Gemini South Observatory, using adaptive optics, has captured stunning new images of meandering stellar jets. The sidewinding appearance is likely caused by gravitational influences of nearby companion stars. Plus, exoplanet news and a review of a Canon lens.
The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the Kingdom of Tonga erupted on January 15, and despite communications being cut off, government officials and scientists have gathered a wealth of information about the event and its outcome so far. Plus, urban heat islands, volcanic lightning, and What’s Up.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered carbon isotopes on Mars which are usually caused by the degradation of biological methane, leading scientists to examine other potential reasons for the molecules. Plus, more Starlink satellites, their impact on observing, and This Week in Rocket History.
Recent observations of twelve different stellar streams around the Milky Way have revealed the effects of dark matter, similar to how lights on a Christmas Tree reveal the shape of the tree in dark. Plus, globular clusters, volcanoes, and an interview with Dr. Cathy Olkin from the Southwest Research Institute’s Lucy mission.
Researchers have potentially found a Neptune-sized exomoon orbiting a Jupiter-sized planet in a system with a Sun-like star, making it the second such potential exomoon discovered to date. Plus, rocket launches, This Week in Rocket History, and What’s Up.
China’s Chang’e-5 lunar lander has made the first in situ detection of water on the Moon, using reflectance spectroscopy from the surface of our natural satellite. Plus, all the news from the AAS virtual press conferences, including black holes and galaxies.
Scientists examined over 80,000 images from large telescopes and their sensitive instruments and found over 70 free-floating planets with the possibility for even more. Plus, a red giant supernova, new images of the Flame Nebula, and a review of Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up”.
With the successful launch of the JWST, the focus turns to the complicated process of unfurling the sunshield and unfolding the mirror. We’ll look at just where NASA is in the process and how much farther we have to go before first light. Plus, Earth and supernovae, and in this week’s What’s Up, we look forward to 2022’s astronomy events.
The Rocket Roundup team takes a look back at the rockets that launched in 2021, with a review of the statistics and some highlights (including that one telescope that could have ruined Christmas).
Dr. Pamela and Beth each picked their three favorite stories from 2021, including news from Mars and Pluto and about distant comets and undead white dwarf stars. Plus, we interview Dr. Jackie Faherty from the American Museum of Natural History about citizen science, exoplanets, and JWST.
This week on Rocket Roundup, we have all the Falcon 9 launches! And another Kuaizhou 1A launch failure to wrap up the year. Plus, we look back at the origins of NORAD’s Santa Tracker.
Dr. Pamela takes a deep dive into her feelings about the JWST, its pending launch, and just what the telescope means to the astronomical community. Plus, general relativity is still true, a huge filament of gas in the Milky Way, and we interview Hamed Valizadegan, project lead for ExoMiner.
New models of sublimating nitrogen show that the process creates enough heat to drive the formation and texture of the polygons in Sputnik Planitia. Plus, black holes, star formation, and an interview with Dr. Jonathan McDowell, orbital police.
A team of scientists collected cores and modeled ice cliff failure and found that Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is melting more quickly than ever and could be at risk of collapse, threatening global coastlines with almost a meter of sea level rise. Plus, new results from Percy, and this week’s What’s Up.
On Rocket Roundup, launches include the latest from Rocket Lab, a Blue Origin crewed launch, several Chinese launches, and a pair of Russian communication satellites. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at Apollo 17.
Using the ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, scientists have obtained the deepest and sharpest images of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. They tracked the orbits of stars and were able to more precisely measure the mass of the black hole. Plus, new ways to research meteors, and a review of a Peak Design camera anchor system.
Using data provided by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, volunteers found a possible large planet or brown dwarf orbiting its star at a distance of more than 1,600 astronomical units. Plus, NASA launches the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, and we review Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Researchers hypothesize that blobs in post-Big Bang fields of energy, known as Q-balls, could explain how matter came to dominate over antimatter in our Universe, and they plan to use gravitational waves to find their evidence. Plus, a crewed launch to the ISS features Japanese tourists, NASA selects the latest astronaut class, and What’s Up is the Geminids.
In this week’s Rocket Roundup, we have more Starlink, European navigation satellites, a Chinese company launching to orbit again, a large U.S. government satellite, and a sounding rocket from Sweden. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at Little Joe 2.
Astronomers using the Very Large Array in New Mexico spent 40 hours observing galaxy AGC 114905, which seemed to have little to no dark matter in 2019 observations. The new evidence shows there is no dark matter in the galaxy at all. Plus, more Hubble and JWST updates, an eclipse over Antarctica, and an interview with Dr. Franck Marchis about citizen science.
A Mars-sized planet was found just 31 light-years away, orbiting its star every eight hours and having 55 percent the mass of the Earth, leading scientists to conclude it’s mostly made of an iron-nickel core. Plus, water on Earth, a huge comet, and a review of a Canon lens.
An analysis of over 9 million samples of coccoliths whose ages span several million years has led scientists to conclude that changes in Earth’s orbit may have influenced changes in the size and shape of the microscopic algae. Plus, Europe contemplates geologic threats, and a comet is in this week’s What’s Up.
During this jam-packed episode of Rocket Roundup, we attempt to cover several Chinese launches, a few SpaceX launches, NASA’s DART mission to hit an asteroid, and Russia’s launch of a military satellite. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at Pioneer 10’s encounter with Jupiter.
Using a new deep neural network called ExoMiner, scientists have added 301 new exoplanets to the Kepler mission’s already enormous total of 4,569 confirmed planets. Plus, another gravitational lens, updates on Hubble and JWST, how InSight mapped Mars’ inner structure, an ultrahot Jupiter, and rockets. Yup. Rockets.
We can't ignore the world we live in, and today we have a special message that reflects on the news around us.
A new research project called the Virgo Environment Traced in Carbon Monoxide Survey (VERTICO) used data collected by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to understand just what is stripping star-forming gases out of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. Plus, calderas, a mass extinction, and this week’s What’s Up.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, SpaceX launches NASA astronauts and more Starlink satellites, and Arianespace launches military satellites for France. Plus, this week in rocket history we look back at the only launch of the Soviet Space Shuttle, Buran.
After five years of observations, researchers have found that the quasi-satellite Kamo’oalewa, which currently orbits the Earth, is similar to a lunar sample collected during the Apollo 14 mission. Plus, Russia blows up a satellite, TESS finds a circumbinary planet, and we interview Dr. Gail Christeson of the University of Texas, Austin, about mapping Chicxulub crater.
The Decadal Survey was released earlier this month, and we take a look at some of the recommendations. Plus, this week’s What’s Up and a review of the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 lens.
Rocket Roundup includes two long-delayed Chinese launches that finally go up along with another surprise Chinese launch and Russia launches a space station resupply. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the first ISS expedition.
After a bit of a scare, the aging Hubble Space Telescope has once again resumed its science operations with the ACS instrument brought back online. Plus, Landsat 9 released its first images and the Crew 2 Dragon splashed down safely. Then we interview Dr. Rosanne Di Stefano from the Center for Astrophysics about the potential discovery of the first extragalactic planet.
Astronomers researching the G237 protocluster find 63 galaxies within, all producing stars and more galaxies at a high rate, acting as a “shipyard” for their region of the cosmos. Plus, Juno looks inside Jupiter’s cloud bands and a review of “Invasion” on AppleTV+
Scientists have measured the composition of the hot Jupiter exoplanet WASP-77Ab using an instrument at the Gemini South observatory as the first step in creating a catalog of exoplanetary atmospheres. Plus, looking for ocean worlds and this week’s What’s Up.
This week on Rocket Roundup, we cover a little bit of everything: French, Chinese, and Japanese rockets launch satellites into orbit, and South Korea attempts the first launch of their homemade Nuri rocket but fails to put its payload into orbit. This week in rocket history, we look back at the first Chinese crewed spaceflight, Shenzhou 5.
A proposed mission called the Contemporaneous LEnsing Parallax and Autonomous TRansient Assay, or CLEoPATRA, seeks to work with the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope to find rogue planets not orbiting any star. Meanwhile, a possible planet has been discovered in the Whirlpool Galaxy and could be the first planet found outside the Milky Way. Plus, an interview with Dr. Margaret Meixner, Director of Science Mission Operations for the SOFIA telescope.
Researchers looked at lensed galaxy systems, searched for nearby analogs to those distant systems, and found that in general, the systems showed signs of bingeing star formation and then quiet lulls. Plus, using tree rings to track Arctic ice changes, and this week’s What’s Up.
This week, our Rocket Roundup includes crewed space flights from the U.S. and China, Russia launches more satellites for OneWeb, and NASA launches the Lucy spacecraft to visit asteroids near Jupiter. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the launch of the Cassini mission to Saturn.
Today we whirl through some of the stories that happened last week while we were on hiatus, including pretty images of two galaxies merging and a lovely supernova, as well as news about moons Europa and Titan. Plus, we interview Dr. Julie Rathbun, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.
A newly completed analysis of Perseverance’s first images from Mars finds that the landing site, Jezero Crater, was really a lake that was fed by a river, with sedimentary layers, flash floods, and strewn boulders. Plus, Central African biomass burning, Arctic permafrost melting, and we look at jewelry that celebrates upcoming missions.
An analysis of the most recent sample taken from the Moon and returned by the Chang’e-5 mission shows that the basaltic rock is about two billions years old. This age implies a previously unknown heat source in the region. Plus, how plants and animals record climate change, and this week’s What’s Up.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup: the latest crewed Soyuz launch, MS-19; a Cargo Dragon brings back science for NASA; and a JPL robot competes in a DARPA competition. Plus, this week in rocket history, we cover the grandparent of them all - Sputnik 1.
Scientists analyzed the results of a stellar occultation when Pluto passed in front of a distant star and found that Pluto’s atmosphere is freezing to the surface as the planet moves away from the Sun. Plus, an interview with Dr. Kat Volk regarding Transneptunian space and the possibility of Planet 9.
From the Great Oxidation Event to how Earth is dimming, we look at a selection of stories about how climate changes have affected the Earth in the distant past, the recent past, and the current time. Plus, we review an app called MeteorActive.
From the Great Oxidation Event to how Earth is dimming, we look at a selection of stories about how climate changes have affected the Earth in the distant past, the recent past, and the current time. Plus, we review an app called MeteorActive.
For Rocket Roundup, we have the latest in a long series of US weather satellites, a Chinese remote sensing satellite on a small rocket’s return to flight, and another secret Chinese satellite launched into an unusual orbit. Plus, this week in rocket history we look back at the first competition flight of SpaceShipOne.
The inner solar system was a wild and wooly place as the planets were forming, and new research shows that the collisions that formed Earth and Venus were likely of the hit-and-run variety. Plus, polar ice loss warps the planet, and a black hole eats a star.
Using data from the Hubble Telescope and the ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, a team of scientists have successfully detected clouds on an exoplanet and even measured their altitude. Plus, fossil evidence of humans’ arrival in North America and a review of the first episode of “Foundation” on Apple TV+.
While searching for objects deep in the universe’s history, at about three billion years of age, researchers found six massive but “dead” galaxies in Hubble and ALMA data, a strange finding for a time period known for prolific star birth. Plus, planetary science from the EPSC2021 conference and this week’s What’s Up.
This week’s Rocket Roundup includes Inspiration4, the first all private citizen orbital spaceflight. Plus, a Chinese crew returns to Earth, and China sends up a resupply spacecraft to prepare for their next crewed expedition. And this week in rocket history looks back at the Surveyor 2 mission.
A study of the feces of Adélie penguins from Inexpressible Island on the Ross Sea of the Antarctic sheds new light on how the avian population may survive during climate change. Plus, the possibility for life on Mars and understanding destructive meteors.
A supernova first observed in 2016 will be replayed in a few years because of the light’s journey through a galaxy cluster and how dark matter gravitationally warps space-time. Plus, inactive centaurs, a Scottish ice wall, and a review of “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space”.
Research into the Toba caldera and its super-eruption 75,000 years ago shows that magma continued to flow out of the volcano for thousands of years after the main eruption event. Plus, magma and volcanoes throughout our solar system as well as our weekly What’s Up segment.
The Rocket Roundup this week features two Chinese launches, including one we couldn’t cover last week, a Russian military satellite launch, and some more Starlink and OneWeb internet satellites. Plus, this week in rocket history, we discuss a groundbreaking mission that sent humans farther from Earth than ever before: Gemini 11.
The discovery of multicellular algae specimens in an early Cambrian formation in China provides evidence of the change from cyanobacteria to more complex organisms with external membranes and cell walls. Plus, a new spacesuit is tested in Oregon, and we look at the real secrets of Stonehenge.
Using a simple model based on granular physics, like those used for modeling sand or sugar deposits, scientists have recreated the diamond shape of asteroids Ryugu and Bennu in computer simulations. Plus, the origins of loner dwarf galaxies and this week’s What’s Up.
Our Rocket Roundup is a launch bonanza, with launches from Arianespace, China, Blue Origin, Astra, SpaceX, and Firefly. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the Luna 16 mission, which included the first successful robotic sample return from the Moon.
Hycean worlds have hydrogen-rich atmospheres and are covered in oceans, making them prime candidates for the search for life outside our own solar system. These worlds are also more numerous and easier to find than Earth-like exoplanets. Plus, an update on the search for Planet 9 and how volcanoes may provide a climate safety valve.
New research has pinpointed small, violent faults caused by the breakup of an ancient supercontinent as the potential cause of a major loss in the rock record of the Grand Canyon, known as the Great Unconformity. Plus, using sky mapping tools to find earthly tombs and a review of Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary.”
We’re talking about particle physics today! An effect called the “triangle singularity” has been observed, and it describes how particles change identities by exchanging quarks. Plus, climate change news, and in this week’s What’s Up, Jupiter is at opposition.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, an Indian rocket fails and Arianespace launches a big satellite. Plus, Boeing can’t seem to get their act together. And this week in rocket history, we look back at the first mission to explore all of the outer planets - Voyager 2.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook the island nation of Haiti, destroying thousands of homes and resulting in the loss of over 1,400 people. Additionally, Tropical Depression Grace arrived and hampered rescue efforts. Plus, the asteroid Phaethon is outgassing sodium, studying Mars’ moons in the search for life, and how dust storms helped dry out Mars.
Using a neutron spectrometer onboard the Dawn spacecraft, scientists have found elevated concentrations of hydrogen in Ceres’ Occator Crater, which provides evidence of an icy crust. Plus, everything is on fire in the western United States, and we review “The Past is Red” by Catherynne M. Valente.
After careful analysis of orbital data, gravitational forces, and several other factors, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team calculated the risk of a collision with near-Earth asteroid Bennu to be %0.057 through 2300. Plus, magnetites in meteorites reveal solar system history, and the constellation Ophiuchus is What’s Up.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, China launches two different rockets and an ISS resupply brings new technology and also student involvement. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the impact the Landsat program has had on the monitoring of the Earth’s climate.
Based on X-ray detections from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, scientists used the Chandra X-ray Observatory and found rings called light echoes moving out from a black hole and its companion star, reflecting off the surrounding dust clouds. Plus, solving the puzzle of the Sun and using glassy nodules to find a meteorite impact.
NASA’s TESS spacecraft, which is primarily used to search for exoplanets, has now observed a veritable symphony of pulsating red giant stars, each with their own internal vibrations. This work was presented at this week’s TESS Science Conference. Plus, some more climate change news (bad) and superflares may be less harmful to exoplanets than thought (good).
Two new studies have possibly identified regions on the Moon’s surface that could contain pieces of the lunar mantle, which would be possible sample targets for the Artemis mission. Plus, Venus gets a double flyby next week, and it’s all about asteroids and meteor showers in this week’s What’s Up.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, China launches another military satellite, Rocket Lab returns to flight, Arianespace returns to flight, and a Chinese private rocket fails. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the first time two crewed spacecraft from the same country were in orbit at the same time.
Last year’s announcement that water ice had been found on the dayside of the Moon by the SOFIA observatory prompted scientists to understand just why that could work, and they found that the Moon’s rough surface creates frost pockets. Plus, all the climate change news over the millennia (Pamela’s back, everyone!).
Continuing the ongoing saga of just what is under the Martian south polar ice caps, new research has once again analyzed radar data, and this time, scientists find that clays known as smectites are responsible for the bright reflections once thought to be subsurface lakes. Plus, drama with an ISS docking and some more oddball exoplanets to round out the week.
Once again, science has proved Einstein’s theories correct. This time, observations taken with ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuSTAR space telescopes have seen x-ray flashes bent from behind a black hole. Plus, so many exoplanet stories (Beth was left in charge) and this week’s What’s Up.
For this week’s Rocket Roundup, we have exactly zero launches to cover. What’s up with that? In the meantime, we talk about Europa Clipper’s launch announcement, Blue Origin’s attempt to be a part of Artemis, and what a NOTAM is and how we use it. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Scientists analyzed archival data from the Hubble Space Telescope and found evidence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. The water vapor is present due to thermal escape from the icy surface of the moon. Plus, a “fizzled” gamma-ray burst and all the exoplanets!
In three new papers released this week, scientists analyzed data from NASA’s InSight lander to reveal the structure of Mars and its layers, including information about the planet’s crust, lithosphere, mantle and core. Plus, isotopes in an exoplanet’s atmosphere, a potential exomoon being formed, the heart of a radio galaxy, and black holes impeding stellar birth.
After several weeks of trying different methods, the operations team successfully revived the stalwart Hubble Space Telescope, which experienced a payload computer fault back on June 13. The first images taken were of several unusual galaxies. Plus, Jupiter’s moon Io triggers radio emissions from the giant planet, and this week, What’s Up returns with a look at the Summer Triangle.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, Russia launches a long delayed ISS module with a new space toilet, New Shepard conducts its first crewed launch, and China launches some more secret satellites. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at Apollo 11.
The fossilized remains of methane-cycling microbes have been found in exposed sedimentary seafloor rocks in South Africa. These microbes, dating back 3.42 billion years, could extend the fossil record back to when life first began on Earth. Plus, teenage exoplanets orbit sibling stars and gamma ray bursts happen on schedule.
Using data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, scientists have found four free-floating, or rogue, planets near the core of the Milky Way. These planets formed in discs in other planetary systems and were thrown out by gravitational interactions with larger planets. Plus, the early solar system, including ancient Earth, Jupiter’s chemistry, and Mercury’s core.
For this week’s Rocket Roundup, we have all the Chinese launches! Plus SpaceX launches a ton of satellites on one rocket, Virgin Orbit launches a few satellites from a plane, and Virgin Galactic sends a few employees to space. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
Over tens of millions of years, the surface of Europa has been churned by impacts down to an average depth of 30 centimeters. This churning means that the search for chemical biosignatures must look below that zone. Plus, methane and icequakes at Enceladus, predicting underwater eruptions, Virgin Galactic's flight, and a Chinese spacewalk.
In a new paper, a renowned physicist’s overview of recent observations shows that the gap in the universe expansion calculations is closing. The Standard Model may be fine after all. Plus, Mars’ methane mystery, an orphan cloud, galaxies moving to collide, and an interview with PSI’s Than Putzig about just what is under Mars’ south polar ice cap.
On this week's Rocket Roundup, a sounding rocket launches with student payloads, the Russian Space Force launches a classified satellite, and finally, a routine ISS resupply mission. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at STS-71 and the first Shuttle-Mir docking.
About 900 million miles away in two different galaxies, a black hole and a neutron star merged, and their gravitational waves have been detected here on Earth. These detections add another type of merger to the collection so far discovered. Plus, new composition data on Mars’ south polar cap and a look back at the Tunguska Event. #AsteroidDay
The fossilized teeth and bones of baby dinosaurs found in northern Alaska may indicate that dinosaurs didn’t just summer in the Arctic but nested and raised their young there. Plus, the cosmic dawn, a cosmic hand, black holes, and preserving core samples for the future of science.
New high-resolution images captured by the SOFIA airborne telescope have given scientists the first clear view of a massive star-forming region here in the Milky Way, including an expanding bubble of gas. Plus, finding Earth-like exoplanets, detecting life on Earth, and this week’s What’s Up, featuring the Messier Catalogue.
On this week’s Rocket Roundup, the Chinese send a crewed mission to their new space station, SpaceX launches some new GPS satellites, China adds to their Yaogan satellite constellation, and Mauritius yeets a CubeSat from the International Space Station. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the Soviet Salyut 3.
Minor planet 2014 UN271, discovered in data collected by the Dark Energy Survey, is set to make a close pass to Saturn’s orbit at the end of the decade, giving astronomers a chance to observe a rare trans-Neptunian object from up close...ish. Plus, Venus, Jupiter, the Milky Way, and an invisible galactic structure discovered quite by accident.
The payload computer aboard the Hubble Space Telescope stopped running on Sunday, June 13, 2021, and now the operations team is working to either save the module or switch to a backup. Plus, a protoplanetary disk, stellar mega-flares, missing dark matter, trans-Neptunian objects, and a review of Brandon Sanderson’s novel Skyward.
New research presented at the Workshop on Terrestrial Analogs for Planetary Exploration used the Haughton impact crater in Arctic Canada as a potential analog for impact craters on Titan, one of the targets of the upcoming Dragonfly mission. Plus, giant spinning structures, the slowing of the Milky Way, a blinking star, and volcanoes here on Earth.
This Rocket Roundup includes a Chinese launch and two launches from Northrop Grumman, including one for the National Reconnaissance Office. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the first woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, and Vostok 6.
Contrary to the destructive role supermassive black holes are thought to play in the lives of stars, it turns out that certain types of galaxies benefit from black holes clearing the way and keeping star formation going. Plus, lightning at the edge of space, a landslide in the Himalayas, and an interview with Dr. Darby Dyar and Dr. David Grinspoon about the recent selection of three different Venus missions.
Two seemingly unrelated stars, each with several exoplanets, turn out to be members of an enormous, diffuse star cluster. Plus, baby squid go to the ISS, new images from China’s Zhurong rover, a brightening blazar, and an interview with scientist Sophia Gad-Nasr and artist Cathrin Machin about how art and science work together.