Feb. 19, 2026
Artemis, Pulsars, Big Crunch & City Killers
S05E43 | February 19, 2026 🚀 Artemis Fuels Up LIVE | Pulsar at Our Galaxy's Heart | Universe's Fate Revealed | City Killer Asteroids | Mercury Tonight! It's a big one today — and we mean that literally. As we record, NASA is fuelling its Artemis II Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in a make-or-break second wet dress rehearsal. But that's just the start. We've also got a cosmic discovery that could let us test Einstein's theories like never before, new data suggesting the universe will end in a 'Big Crunch', a sobering warning about thousands of undetected city-killing asteroids, a perfect night to spot Mercury, and a music video filmed in orbit. Welcome to Astronomy Daily. IN THIS EPISODE: • 🚀 Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal: NASA loads 700,000+ gallons of cryogenic propellant in its second fuelling test — critical step toward a March 6 crewed launch around the Moon • 🌌 Pulsar Near Sagittarius A*: Columbia University & Breakthrough Listen detect a candidate millisecond pulsar spinning at 8.19ms next to our galaxy's supermassive black hole — a potential new test of General Relativity • 💥 Big Crunch Theory: Cornell physicist Henry Tye uses fresh DESI and DES dark energy data to calculate the universe has a ~33 billion year total lifespan — challenging the 'Big Freeze' consensus • ☄️ City Killer Asteroids: NASA's Planetary Defense Officer warns 25,000 mid-sized asteroids capable of devastating cities orbit near Earth — and we've only found 40% of them • 🔭 Mercury Tonight: The innermost planet reaches greatest eastern elongation — your best evening viewing chance of 2026. Look west after sunset! • 🎵 Space Music Video: China's Shenzhou 21 crew celebrate the Year of the Horse with a music video filmed aboard Tiangong Space Station Follow NASA's Artemis II live stream at nasa.gov | Follow us @AstroDailyPod
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!
Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!
Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here
This episode includes AI-generated content.
WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.160
Welcome to Astronomy Daily.
2
00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:06.480
I'm Anna and I'm Avery. It is Thursday, the nineteenth
3
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.919
of February twenty twenty six, and we are recording this
4
00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.560
episode while NASA is literally fueling a rocket at this
5
00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.519
very moment, and we cannot wait to tell you about it.
6
00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:20.160
That's right. This is one of those days where space
7
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.480
news isn't just something that happened somewhere out there in
8
00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.320
the universe. It is happening right now on a launchpad
9
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.320
in Florida. But that's not all today. We're also asking
10
00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.880
what lurks in the darkness between us and our nearest
11
00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.719
cosmic neighbors. Could there be a cosmic clock ticking next
12
00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:43.000
to the most extreme object in our galaxy? And brace yourselves?
13
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.719
Is the universe actually going to end?
14
00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.640
Plus, we have a story that will make you want
15
00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.399
to check the sky tonight, a warning from NASA that
16
00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.520
is genuinely a little unsettling, and we're going to space
17
00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:57.719
with a music video. All of that is coming up
18
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:58.719
on Astronomy Daily.
19
00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.320
Let's start with the big one, and I mean big
20
00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.920
in every sense of the word. As we speak, NASA's
21
00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:10.239
Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, is
22
00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.680
being loaded with more than seven hundred thousand gallons of
23
00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:18.079
cryogenic propellant at Launch Complex thirty nine B at Kennedy's
24
00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:19.359
Space Center in Florida.
25
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:22.920
This is the second wet dress rehearsal for Artemis two,
26
00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:25.920
the mission that will carry four astronauts on a loop
27
00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.840
around the Moon, the first time humans have ventured to
28
00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.120
lunar distance since Apollo seventeen back in nineteen seventy two.
29
00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.319
The crew are Commander Reidwiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist
30
00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.120
Christina Cokes from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian
31
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:42.920
Space Agency.
32
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.640
Now. The reason they're doing this rehearsal and the reason
33
00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.239
there have been so many eyes on it today, is
34
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.000
that the first attempt, back on the second and third
35
00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:56.000
of February, did not go as planned. Engineers detected a
36
00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.640
liquid hydrogen leak during fueling, which forced them to halt
37
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.799
the test before they could complete the full countdown sequence.
38
00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.599
In the week, sense technicians have replaced seals around two
39
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:10.319
fueling lines, swapped out a filter in the ground support equipment,
40
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.080
and added an extra hour of buffer time into the
41
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.400
countdown to allow more room for troubleshooting. It's the kind
42
00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:21.240
of painstaking, unglamorous engineering work that rarely makes headlines, but
43
00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.520
it's exactly what keeps astronauts alive.
44
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.000
Today's rehearsal targets a simulated launch window opening at eight
45
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.560
thirty this evening Eastern Time. The test is expected to
46
00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.319
run until around twelve thirty Friday morning, and the stakes
47
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.520
are high. NASA has said it won't set a formal
48
00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:42.360
launch date until after a successful wet dress rehearsal campaign.
49
00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.400
March sixth remains the earliest possible crude launch date.
50
00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.280
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman put it well when he said,
51
00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.759
we anticipated encountering challenges. That is precisely why we conduct
52
00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:58.199
a wet dress rehearsal. These tests are designed to surface
53
00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.560
issues before flight. This safety of the crew comes first.
54
00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:03.960
So tonight we watch and we wait.
55
00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:07.120
We will be keeping a close eye on this one,
56
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.919
and we'll bring you the results intomorrow's episode. Fingers crossed
57
00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:14.199
for a clean test, no leaks, and a March launch
58
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:16.759
that puts humans back in the vicinity of the Moon
59
00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.280
for the first time in over fifty years.
60
00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:22.800
All right from a rocket at Kennedy Space Center to
61
00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.400
the absolute heart of our galaxy, and this story is
62
00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.280
one of those discoveries that, if it's confirmed, could fundamentally
63
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.400
change how we understand the universe.
64
00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:37.280
Researchers from Columbia University, working with the Breakthrough Listen initiative,
65
00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:40.240
which is best known for searching for signs of intelligent
66
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.560
life beyond Earth, have announced the detection of a candidate
67
00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.759
millisecond pulsar very close to Sagittarius, a star that's the
68
00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.879
super massive black hole sitting at the center of the
69
00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.479
Milky Way, roughly four million times the mass of our
70
00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:56.080
own Sun.
71
00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.599
So let's unpack what a pulsar is, because it's one
72
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:04.240
of the most extraordinary objects in the universe. When a
73
00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.199
massive star reaches the end of its life and explodes
74
00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.159
as a supernova, what's left behind is an incredibly dense
75
00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.879
core called a neutron star. Some of those neutron stars
76
00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.319
spin rapidly and emit beams of radio waves like a
77
00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:23.160
cosmic lighthouse sweeping through space. When those beams sweep past Earth,
78
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.120
we detect them as regular pulses, hence pulsar.
79
00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:32.160
And what makes millisecond pulsar special is their extraordinary precision.
80
00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:35.759
They spin hundreds of times per second with almost perfect
81
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:40.079
regularitydientists have called them the most accurate clocks in the universe,
82
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.600
more stable than atomic clocks here on Earth. This candidate,
83
00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:48.720
nicknamed BLPSR, completes one full rotation every eight point one
84
00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:50.040
nine milliseconds.
85
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.839
Now here's why finding one near Sagittarius a star is
86
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.959
such a big deal. A pulsar next to a four
87
00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:00.319
million solar mass black hole would be operating in one
88
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:05.600
of the most extreme gravitational environments imaginable, and Einstein's general
89
00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.800
theory of relativity makes very specific predictions about what happens
90
00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.000
to space and time in such extreme environments, predictions that
91
00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.759
have never been tested at this level of precision.
92
00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:20.639
And if a pulsar is orbiting close to Sagittarius astar,
93
00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.519
the black hole's gravity would warp space time so severely
94
00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:28.319
that those precise pulsar pulses would arrive at our telescopes
95
00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.920
with tiny but measurable distortions. As researcher Slovko Bogdanov from
96
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:36.759
Columbia put it, any external influence on a pulsar would
97
00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:40.360
introduce anomalies in the steady arrival of pulses, which can
98
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:41.560
be measured and modeled.
99
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.000
In other words, a confirmed pulsar next to a super
100
00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.360
massive black hole would be a natural laboratory for testing
101
00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:52.480
Einstein's series in the most extreme conditions possible. It could
102
00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.160
also help us understand things like the massive Sagittarius astar,
103
00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.959
the geometry of space time near a supermassive black hole,
104
00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.240
and potentially even offer clues about dark matter.
105
00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.720
Now it's important to be clear this is still a candidate.
106
00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.079
The team published their findings in the Astrophysical Journal, and
107
00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:14.000
Breakthrough Listen has released all the observational data publicly, so
108
00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.519
researchers around the world can do independent analyses. Confirmation will
109
00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:23.279
require extensive follow up observations, but the scientific community is buzzing.
110
00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:27.519
This is the kind of discovery that reshapes entire research programs.
111
00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.560
If it holds up, keep watching the skies and the
112
00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.519
galactic center. This story is far from over.
113
00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:36.839
So we've talked about what's happening in Florida tonight and
114
00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.360
what might be happening at the center of our galaxy.
115
00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.959
Now let's zoom all the way out farther than you've
116
00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.160
probably ever thought about, and ask how does the universe end?
117
00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.199
For most of the past few decades, the scientific consensus
118
00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:56.240
has been pretty clear the universe expands forever. Dark energy,
119
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.839
that mysterious force making up roughly sixty eight percent of
120
00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:03.000
the mass and energy in the cosmos, was thought to
121
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.800
be a constant, relentlessly pushing everything apart. Eventually, galaxies would
122
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.319
drift so far from each other that the night sky
123
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.480
would go dark, stars would burn out, everything would fade
124
00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.600
into a cold, silent void. Scientists call this the Big
125
00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:21.079
Freeze or heat.
126
00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:24.079
Death, but new data is challenging that picture in a
127
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:28.600
dramatic way. Physicist Henry Tie at Cornell University has published
128
00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:32.040
new calculations using data from two of the world's most
129
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:36.040
powerful dark energy observatories, the Dark Energy Survey in Chile
130
00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:40.040
and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument in Arizona, and his
131
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.959
conclusion is striking. The universe may be heading not for
132
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.680
a frieze, but for a crunch.
133
00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.920
Here's how it works. Both surveys are finding evidence that
134
00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:54.000
dark energy isn't actually constant. It appears to be weakening
135
00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:57.399
over time. If that's true, then the force pushing the
136
00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.720
universe apart is gradually fading, and at some point gravity
137
00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:07.279
takes over. The expansion slows, stops, and then reverses Everything
138
00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.439
that has been flying apart for billions of years, begins
139
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:11.720
falling back together.
140
00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:16.680
A TIES model introduces a hypothetical particle called an ultra
141
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:21.199
light axion, combined with what's known as a negative cosmological
142
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.079
constant to explain how dark energy could behave this way.
143
00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.560
The math suggests the universe is currently about thirteen point
144
00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.320
eight billion years old and approaching the halfway point of
145
00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:37.759
its total lifespan. It would continue expanding for roughly another
146
00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:42.399
eleven billion years, reach its maximum size, and then begin
147
00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:48.159
to contract, ultimately collapsing into a single point of unimaginable density.
148
00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:54.000
The Big crunch total elapsed time approximately thirty three billion years.
149
00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.799
Now before anyone starts updating their bucket lists, this is
150
00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:02.039
one model. It's not yet scientific senses. There's healthy debate
151
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.320
about how to interpret the dark energy data, and upcoming
152
00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.080
messions from the European Space Agency's EUCLID Telescope, NASA SPHEREx
153
00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:14.039
project and the Veraice Reuben Observatory will provide much better
154
00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:15.639
measurements over the coming years.
155
00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:20.519
But the very fact that two independent observatories, one in
156
00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.279
the southern hemisphere one in the northern are converging on
157
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:29.639
similar results about dark energy evolving. That's significant. As TI
158
00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.559
himself put it, for the last twenty years, people believed
159
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.159
the universe would expand forever. The new data may be
160
00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.240
telling us something very different.
161
00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.519
The universe might be mortal after all. Quite the thought
162
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:44.960
to sit with on a Thursday evening.
163
00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:50.360
And now, because apparently one existential revelation isn't enough for
164
00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.279
one episode, let's talk about City Killer asteroids.
165
00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.440
Those two words together are doing a lot of work.
166
00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.639
They really are so. At the American Association for the
167
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:06.519
Advancement of Science conference in Arizona this week, NASA's Planetary
168
00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.559
Defense Officer, and yes, that is a real job title,
169
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.120
Doctor Kelly Fast, gave a presentation that's been making headlines
170
00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.399
ever since, and for good reason.
171
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.080
Doctor Fast explained that when it comes to asteroids, there
172
00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.840
are essentially three categories of concern. At the small end,
173
00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:27.840
things are hitting Earth all the time, meteors burning up
174
00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.919
in the atmosphere, the occasional fireball, We're not particularly worried
175
00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.720
about those. At the large end, the extinction level rocks
176
00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:40.320
the movie asteroid kind. Scientists are actually fairly confident about
177
00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.240
where those are. We track them, we know their orbits.
178
00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.000
It's the middle ground that keeps doctor fast up at night.
179
00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.679
Asteroids in the range of one hundred and forty meters
180
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.759
and larger, large enough to devastate an entire city or
181
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.159
a wide region, but small enough to be difficult to
182
00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.720
detect with current telescopes. Her estimate there are around twenty
183
00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:06.639
five thousand of these objects in the vicinity of Earth's orbit.
184
00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.480
And how many have we found about forty percent, meaning
185
00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:14.200
there are potentially fifteen thousand city killing space rocks out
186
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.159
there right now that we simply do not know about.
187
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.679
To add some context to that and to the challenge
188
00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.759
of actually doing something about it if we did spot one.
189
00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:29.080
Doctor Nancy Shabbitt, the planetary scientist who led NASA's Dart mission,
190
00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:33.039
the spacecraft that successfully changed the orbit of an asteroid
191
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.200
back in twenty twenty two, was also at the conference.
192
00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:40.279
She pointed out that Dart was a breakthrough demonstration, but
193
00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.240
there isn't another one sitting on a launch pad ready
194
00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:43.559
to go.
195
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:48.879
She specifically referenced the asteroid why Are four, which caused
196
00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.120
some anxiety earlier this year, with a small but not
197
00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:56.360
zero probability of a lunar impact in twenty thirty two.
198
00:11:56.519 --> 00:11:59.600
She said, if something like Why R four had been
199
00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:02.600
headed towards the Earth, we would not have any way
200
00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.480
to go and deflect it actively.
201
00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:07.399
Right now, the hope on the horizon is the Near
202
00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.080
Earth Object survey or telescope, which is planned for launch
203
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:16.519
next year. Unlike conventional optical telescopes, it uses thermal infrared
204
00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:21.120
signatures to detect darker asteroids that are essentially invisible to
205
00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:25.679
conventional instruments, potentially a game changer for the detection side
206
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:26.360
of the problem.
207
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.240
But doctor Schabbot's point stands. Detection is one thing, having
208
00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:35.759
an active, ready to deploy deflection capability is another, and
209
00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.720
that investment, she says, is simply not being made at
210
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.679
the level that needs to be something worth thinking about.
211
00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.919
Given that planetary defense is probably the one area of
212
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.759
space science that is quite literally about survival.
213
00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.600
Sobering stuff. Let's come back down to Earth for a moment,
214
00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.799
or rather, let's look up from it.
215
00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:58.200
Here's something wonderful and wonderfully timely, because this one is
216
00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.320
happening right now to night as you listen.
217
00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:04.840
To this, Mercury, the innermost planet of our Solar system
218
00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.039
and the one most people have never actually seen with
219
00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:11.799
their own eyes, is tonight reaching what astronomers call its
220
00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.879
greatest eastern elongation. That's the point in its orbit where
221
00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.120
it's at its maximum angular distance from the Sun as
222
00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:22.159
seen from Earth, meaning it appears as far from the
223
00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.080
Sun in our sky as it ever gets.
224
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.600
And why does that matter for observers because Mercury is
225
00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:31.480
normally incredibly difficult to spot. It's always close to the
226
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.799
Sun in the sky, so you're either trying to catch
227
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.799
it just before sunrise or just after sunset, with very
228
00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:40.639
little time before it follows the Sun below the horizon.
229
00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.240
But at greatest elongation you get the best window.
230
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.120
Tonight, look to the western horizon shortly after sunset. Mercury
231
00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:51.879
will be visible as a moderately bright point of light,
232
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.960
shining steadily rather than twinkling like a star. You won't
233
00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.080
need any special equipment, though binoculars will give you a
234
00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:03.600
much nicer view. This is Mercury's first greatest elongation of
235
00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.200
twenty twenty six, and the best evening viewing opportunity will
236
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:08.399
get for the year so far.
237
00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.559
There's also a bonus tonight, the crescent moon, Saturn, and
238
00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:15.360
Neptune are all gathering in the same part of the sky,
1
00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.160
2
00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:06.480
3
00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.919
4
00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.560
5
00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.519
6
00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:20.160
7
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.480
8
00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.320
9
00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.320
10
00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.880
11
00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.719
12
00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:43.000
13
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.719
14
00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.640
15
00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.399
16
00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.520
17
00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:57.719
18
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:58.719
19
00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.320
20
00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.920
21
00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:10.239
22
00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.680
23
00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:18.079
24
00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:19.359
25
00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:22.920
26
00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:25.920
27
00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.840
28
00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.120
29
00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.319
30
00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:42.120
31
00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:42.920
32
00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.640
33
00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:49.239
34
00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.000
35
00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:56.000
36
00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.640
37
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.799
38
00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.599
39
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:10.319
40
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.080
41
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:16.400
42
00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:21.240
43
00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:23.520
44
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.000
45
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.560
46
00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.319
47
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.520
48
00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:42.360
49
00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.400
50
00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.280
51
00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.759
52
00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:58.199
53
00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.560
54
00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:03.960
55
00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:07.120
56
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.919
57
00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:14.199
58
00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:16.759
59
00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.280
60
00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:22.800
61
00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.400
62
00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.280
63
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.400
64
00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:37.280
65
00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:40.240
66
00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.560
67
00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.759
68
00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.879
69
00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.479
70
00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:56.080
71
00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.599
72
00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:04.240
73
00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.199
74
00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:11.159
75
00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.879
76
00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:18.319
77
00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:23.160
78
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.120
79
00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:32.160
80
00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:35.759
81
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:40.079
82
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.600
83
00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:48.720
84
00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:50.040
85
00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.839
86
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.959
87
00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:00.319
88
00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:05.600
89
00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.800
90
00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.000
91
00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.759
92
00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:20.639
93
00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.519
94
00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:28.319
95
00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.920
96
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:36.759
97
00:05:36.759 --> 00:05:40.360
98
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:41.560
99
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.000
100
00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.360
101
00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:52.480
102
00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.160
103
00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.959
104
00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.240
105
00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.720
106
00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.079
107
00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:14.000
108
00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.519
109
00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:23.279
110
00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:27.519
111
00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.560
112
00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.519
113
00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:36.839
114
00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.360
115
00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.959
116
00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:47.160
117
00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.199
118
00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:56.240
119
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.839
120
00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:03.000
121
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:08.800
122
00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:11.319
123
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.480
124
00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.600
125
00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:21.079
126
00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:24.079
127
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:28.600
128
00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:32.040
129
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:36.040
130
00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:40.040
131
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:43.959
132
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.680
133
00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.920
134
00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:54.000
135
00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:57.399
136
00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:01.720
137
00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:07.279
138
00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:10.439
139
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:11.720
140
00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:16.680
141
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:21.199
142
00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:25.079
143
00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:29.560
144
00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.320
145
00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:37.759
146
00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:42.399
147
00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:48.159
148
00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:54.000
149
00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.799
150
00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:02.039
151
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.320
152
00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.080
153
00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:14.039
154
00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:15.639
155
00:09:16.279 --> 00:09:20.519
156
00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.279
157
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:29.639
158
00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.559
159
00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.159
160
00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.240
161
00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.519
162
00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:44.960
163
00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:50.360
164
00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:54.279
165
00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.440
166
00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.639
167
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:06.519
168
00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.559
169
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.120
170
00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.399
171
00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.080
172
00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.840
173
00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:27.840
174
00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.919
175
00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.720
176
00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:40.320
177
00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.240
178
00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.000
179
00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.679
180
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.759
181
00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.159
182
00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.720
183
00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:06.639
184
00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:10.480
185
00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:14.200
186
00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.159
187
00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.679
188
00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.759
189
00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:29.080
190
00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:33.039
191
00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.200
192
00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:40.279
193
00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.240
194
00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:43.559
195
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:48.879
196
00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.120
197
00:11:52.360 --> 00:11:56.360
198
00:11:56.519 --> 00:11:59.600
199
00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:02.600
200
00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.480
201
00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:07.399
202
00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.080
203
00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:16.519
204
00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:21.120
205
00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:25.679
206
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:26.360
207
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.240
208
00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:35.759
209
00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.720
210
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.679
211
00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.919
212
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.759
213
00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:51.600
214
00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:53.799
215
00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:58.200
216
00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.320
217
00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:04.840
218
00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.039
219
00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:11.799
220
00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:15.879
221
00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.120
222
00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:22.159
223
00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.080
224
00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.600
225
00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:31.480
226
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.799
227
00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.799
228
00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:40.639
229
00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.240
230
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.120
231
00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:51.879
232
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.960
233
00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:59.080
234
00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:03.600
235
00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:07.200
236
00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:08.399
237
00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.559
238
00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:15.360