Dark Matter Breakthrough, Seven Rocket Launches, and Mars' Meteorite Discovery

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Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the

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podcast that brings you the universe, one

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story at a time. I'm Avery.

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Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to have you with us

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today, covering everything from the deepest

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cosmic mysteries to the latest missions

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exploring our own solar system.

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Avery: That's right, Anna. We'll be talking about a

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potential breakthrough in the search for dark

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matter, a very busy week of rocket launches,

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and a curious find by the Perseverance rover

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on Mars.

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Anna: Plus, we'll check in with the Osiris, uh,

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apex, and Escapade missions and dive into

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a fascinating new study that suggests there

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could be boiling oceans on tiny icy moons.

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Avery: So grab your favorite beverage, get

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comfortable, and let's explore the cosmos.

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Anna: Avery, let's start with what could be one of

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the biggest discoveries in modern physics.

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For nearly a century, scientists have been

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searching for dark matter.

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Avery: Right. It's this mysterious substance that we

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know is out there because we can see its

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gravitational effects on galaxies, but. But

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it doesn't interact with light, so we can't

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see it directly. It's a huge puzzle.

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Anna: Exactly. And now there's a tantalizing

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new signal. An astronomer from the University

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of Tokyo, analyzing data from NASA's

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Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, believes he

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may have found its signature.

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Avery: Wow. Okay. How? What did he find?

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Anna: He detected high energy photons, gamma

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rays that seemed to perfectly match the

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theoretical predictions for when dark matter

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particles collide and annihilate each other.

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Avery: And we're not just talking about any

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particles. This is linked to the leading

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theory, Right? The idea of WIMPs.

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Anna: That's the one. WIMPs, or weakly

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interacting Massive Particles, are the

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hypothetical particles that many physicists

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believe make up dark matter. The signal

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matches the energy that would be released if

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two wimps destroyed each other.

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Avery: M. So this could be our first direct

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glimpse of dark matter actually doing

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something. Of course, it still needs to be

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verified and peer reviewed, of course, but.

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Anna: If it holds up, it would be a monumental

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discovery. Finally pulling back the curtain

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on one of the universe's greatest secrets.

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Avery: Absolutely incredible.

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From the invisible universe to the very

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visible, let's talk about what's heading up

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into the sky this week. It is going to be a

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very busy one for launch fans.

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Anna: It certainly is. How many are we looking at?

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Avery: 7 launches from five different rockets all

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across the globe. SpaceX is leading the

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charge as usual, with three missions planned

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for its workhorse Falcon 9.

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Anna: 3 launches. They really make it look

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routine. And there's also a crewed mission

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this week, isn't there?

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Avery: There is a Russian Soyuz rocket will be

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launching from Kazakhstan carrying three new

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crew members up to the International Space

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Station. Always exciting to see humans

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heading to orbit.

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Anna: Mhm. And Russia has another launch planned

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too.

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Avery: That's right. A military payload is set to

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launch on an Angara 1.2 rocket from

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northern Russia. And not to be left out,

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South Korea is getting in on the action with

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a launch of its KSLV2 rocket.

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Anna: And the week is rounded out from French

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Guiana. Right, a Vega C launch.

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Avery: Exactly. The Vega C will carry another South

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Korean satellite, this one heading to a sun

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synchronous orbit. It's a truly international

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week for spaceflight.

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Anna: It's amazing to think of all that hardware

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leaving Earth in such a short span of time.

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Speaking of other worlds, let's journey from

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Earth orbit to the surface of Mars, where the

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Perseverance Rover has spotted something

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unusual.

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Avery: Yes, another Martian mystery rock. What did

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Percy find this time?

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Anna: Well, the science team describes it as a

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sculpted, high standing rock that looked

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completely different from the flat, broken up

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terrain around it. It immediately caught

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their attention.

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Avery: And it's a decent size too, right? About

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three feet long. So of course they zapped it

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with the laser.

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Anna: Naturally, the Supercam instrument

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analyzed its composition and the results

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are pretty conclusive. The rock, which

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they've nicknamed Phi Staxhla, is made

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of iron and nickel, which.

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Avery: Is the classic signature of a meteorite. It's

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likely a fragment from the core of a large

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asteroid that slammed into Mars at some point

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in the distant past.

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Anna: That's the leading theory. And if its

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origin is confirmed, this would be the very

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first meteorite the Perseverance has

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discovered since it landed back in February

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2021.

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Avery: That's fantastic. It's like getting a free

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sample of an asteroid delivered right to your

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rover.

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From one NASA mission to another, let's come

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a little closer to home and talk about a

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spacecraft that just paid Earth a flying

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visit.

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Anna: You must be talking about Osiris Apex.

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This is the same spacecraft that delivered

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the sample from Astero Bennu, but now on

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a new mission.

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Avery: Exactly. Its new name is Osiris

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Apophis Explorer. And its new target

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is Asteroid Apophis. To get

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there, it needed a gravity assist from Earth,

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and that just happened on September 23rd.

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Anna: How close did it come?

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Avery: It flew within about 2,100 miles of the

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surface. But the team didn't waste

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opportunity. As it approached and flew past,

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the spacecraft turned its instruments back

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towards home.

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Anna: Right. To calibrate them. Since we know Earth

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so well, it's the perfect subject to test

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your instruments. On to make sure they're

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working correctly before you get to your new

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target. I bet they got some beautiful

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images.

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Avery: They certainly did. It's always a bit

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special seeing our home planet from the

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perspective of one of our robotic explorers.

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Anna: From a, uh, spacecraft looking back at us.

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Let's talk about one that's looking at

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itself. So NASA's new escapade

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mission has just sent back its first selfies.

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Avery: That's right. This mission is a pair of twin

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spacecraft, and about a week after their

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launch, One of them turned its camera around

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to snap a picture.

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Anna: And what do these selfies show? It's not just

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for social media, I assume.

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Avery: No, though they are pretty cool. The

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images taken by the visible and infrared

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observation system, or visions, show part

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of the spacecraft solar panel against the

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backdrop of space.

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Anna: It's an important engineering check. Right.

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It confirms that the camera system has

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deployed correctly and is functioning as

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expected as the explorer's speed away from

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Earth. It's the first step in a long journey.

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Avery: Exactly. It's the spacecraft saying,

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I'm okay, My eyes are open and

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I'm ready for what's next. It's a simple

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image, but a very reassuring one for the

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mission team.

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Anna: It always is.

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Avery: And speaking of long journeys, let's take one

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ourselves out to the far reaches of the solar

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system for our final story, which sounds like

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something straight out of science fiction.

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Anna: This is the one I've been waiting for.

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Boiling oceans on icy moons.

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It sounds contradictory.

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Avery: It does. But a, uh, new study suggests it

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might be possible. We already have strong

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evidence that some larger icy moons, Like

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Saturn's moon Enceladus or Jupiter's

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Europa, have liquid water oceans under their

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icy shells.

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Anna: Right. Kept liquid by the heat generated from

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tidal forces. The constant gravitational

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push and pull from their giant parent planet.

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Avery: Exactly. This new research takes it a

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step further. It models what might happen

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inside much smaller icy moons, Moons that

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we previously thought would be frozen solid.

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The study finds that the same tidal forces

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could generate so much heat in the rocky core

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that the water at the bottom of the ocean

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could actually be boiling.

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Anna: So you'd have this incredible environment

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With a ceiling of ice, A floor of

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boiling rock, and a vast, uh, liquid ocean

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in between.

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Avery: That's the idea. And if you have liquid water

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and a source of heat and chemical energy,

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like a hydrothermal vent system at the bottom

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of an ocean, then you have.

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Anna: The key ingredients for life, as we know

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dramatically expands the number of places in

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our solar system that could potentially host

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living organisms. What an

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amazing thought.

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Avery: It really is. And it's not just about finding

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life, but understanding its limits.

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These environments would be under immense

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pressure and in total darkness. Life there

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would be fundamentally different, likely

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chemosynthetic, thriving on chemical

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reactions from the core rather than sunlight.

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Anna: And that has huge implications.

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It suggests that the habitable zone

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isn't just about the distance from a star,

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but also about the internal dynamics of a

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world. You could have potentially habitable

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moons orbiting rogue planets that were

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ejected from their star systems, wandering

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through interstellar space.

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Avery: And on, um, that note, we'll call it a wrap

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on today's episode of Astronomy Daily.

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Anna: From a potential glimpse of dark matter, a

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week of powerful launches, a meteorite

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on Mars, and missions checking in on their

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way to new adventures, all the way to

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boiling oceans on distant moons,

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the universe is never short of wonders.

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Avery: It certainly isn't. A huge thank you to all

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of you for joining us on Astronomy Daily. We

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hope you've enjoyed the journey.

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Anna: You can find links to all the stories we

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discussed today on our website. And be sure

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to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

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so you don't miss an episode. Until next

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time. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. Keep looking up.

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Is the

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tongue.