Dark Matter Revealed by Light Echoes, MAVEN's Legacy, and Groundbreaking Research on Menstruation in Space

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Anna: Light echoes, revealing dark matter,

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a race against orbital decay with days

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to go, a supernova ghost haunting

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the heart of our own galaxy. And an

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11 year farewell to one of the best Mars

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missions we've ever flown.

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Avery: Plus, the first ever scientific study of

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menstruation in space is officially on the

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launchpad. And, um, Europe's plucky little

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rocket is trying and trying and

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trying again.

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Anna: It's Monday, the 22nd of June,

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2026. You're listening to Astronomy

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Daily. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Let's get into it.

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Anna: We have something genuinely new to tell you

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about dark matter this morning, and it

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involves the supermassive black hole right

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at the heart of our own galaxy,

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Avery: Sagittarius a, our galaxy's 4

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million solar mass anchor. Scientists have

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been staring at it for decades, and, um, they

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just found something hiding in plain sight.

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Anna: Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a

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technique called echo mapping, and they've

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used it to find hints that Sagittarius A

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and other supermassive black holes are

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surrounded by dense clusters of dark matter.

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Avery: Now, dark matter makes up about 85% of

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all the matter in the universe. We know it's

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there because of how it bends light and pulls

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on stars. But we can't see it, touch

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it, or detect it directly. It just

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lurks.

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Anna: Until now, the environments

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immediately around supermassive black holes

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were basically impenetrable to dark matter

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searches. But echo mapping changes that.

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Here's how it works.

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Avery: When a black hole at the center of an active

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galaxy flares, spitting out light, that

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light bounces off surrounding gas and dust,

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creating delayed echoes that we can detect,

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like sonar, but using light and gravity.

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Anna: Mayank Sharma, the Virginia Tech graduate

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student who led the study, said we are

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reaching a point where the observational

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evidence for dark matter is simply

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undeniable. The research was published in

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Physical Review D on June 11th.

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Avery: What they found were signatures in those

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echoes that couldn't be explained by the

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black hole lone. There appears to be extra

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material, extra mass huddled around it.

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And the leading candidate, dark matter.

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Anna: The implications are significant. If

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dark matter clumps densely around

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supermassive black holes, including our

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own Sagittarius A. That

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changes our models of how galaxies form,

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how black holes grow, and potentially how

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dark matter interacts at the smallest

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scales.

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Avery: And this is an entirely new observational

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tool. Scientists now have a way to peer into

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the environments right around black hole

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hearts and look for the universe's most

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mysterious ingredient.

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Anna: Dark matter. Still invisible, still

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mysterious, but apparently very

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attached to the biggest objects in the

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cosmos.

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Avery: We have a major update on a story we've been

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following closely here on Astronomy Daily,

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the daring rescue mission to save NASA's Neil

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Jarrell's Swift Observatory.

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Anna: Swift launched in 2004. It's been one

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of NASA's most productive telescopes,

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spotting gamma ray bursts, pivoting quickly

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to follow up targets across ultraviolet, X

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ray and visible light. 22 years

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of extraordinary science.

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Avery: But here's the problem. Swift was never

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equipped with thrusters. And after years of

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heightened solar activity, the atmosphere has

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puffed up, increasing drag. Swift

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has been sinking slowly but fatally

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towards Earth.

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Anna: Enter Catalyst Space Technologies, a,

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uh, startup that NASA commissioned to build a

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robotic servicer called Link, essentially

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a space tugboat with three robotic arms and

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xenon ion thrusters to grab

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Swift and haul it back up to safety.

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Avery: And here's the new development. The launch

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day is confirmed June 27, just five

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days from now. Northrop Grumman Stargazer

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aircraft left Wallops flight facility on June

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18th carrying the Pegasus XL rocket

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with Link tucked inside. And it's been making

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its way across the Pacific.

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Anna: It's now en route to Kwajalein Atoll in the

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Marshall Islands, a remote equatorial

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location chosen specifically for its orbital

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geometry. The Pegasus rocket will be

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dropped from about 40,000ft, fire its

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engines and deliver Link to orbit in roughly

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10 minutes.

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Avery: The hard part comes after launch. Link then

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has to chase down Swift, spending two to

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three weeks closing in on an observatory that

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was never designed to be grabbed and use its

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robotic arms to latch on.

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Anna: As of mid June, Swift was orbiting at

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about 225 miles altitude.

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If it dips below 185 miles,

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the rescue becomes physically impossible.

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Link's thrusters wouldn't be strong enough to

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fight the drag and boost them both to safety.

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Avery: If it works, Link will push Swift back up to

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around 600 km, its original

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altitude, which sustained the telescope for

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22 years. The first time. That would give

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Swift potentially another two decades of

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science.

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Anna: And if successful, this will be the first

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ever capture of an uncrewed US Government

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satellite by a private robotic

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spacecraft. The whole space industry is

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watching.

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Avery: Five days. The countdown is on.

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Anna: Stay near the center of the galaxy with us

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for a moment because we have another

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extraordinary discovery to share. And this

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one is thousands of years in the making.

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Avery: NASA's Chandra X Ray Observatory, working

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alongside ESA's XMM M M Newton

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and the Meerkat radial telescope in South

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Africa, has found what appears to be a

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supernova remnant lurking in a star

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forming region called Sagittarius C.

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Just a few Dozen light years from Sagittarius

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A.

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Anna: This would make it one of the closest

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supernova remnants ever found to the

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supermassive black hole at the center of our

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galaxy. The research was published in the

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astrophysical journal on June 11,

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and NASA made it the astronomy picture of the

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day on June 18th.

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Avery: What they found is a bright blob of X ray

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emission, A blue blob in the composite images

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buried inside a much larger cloud of radio

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emission. The Sagittarius C region itself

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is enormous, about 50 light years across.

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Anna: The team think this blob is the expanding

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wreckage of a massive star that detonated in

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a core collapse supernova. When a star

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runs out of fuel, collapses in on itself and

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explodes outward in one of the universe's

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most violent events.

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Avery: And the numbers are staggering. This remnant

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is estimated to be at least 1700 years

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old, meaning the light from that explosion

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would have reached Earth around the year 300

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AD and it's still racing outward at

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about 2 million miles per hour.

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Anna: The team led by Zem Lin Zhu and Mark

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Morris at UCLA looked for chemical

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signatures of a supernova like elevate

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iron, oxygen and silicon. They didn't

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find a clear spike, but that may be because

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the debris has already mixed with the

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surrounding gas.

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Avery: The galactic center is an incredibly dense,

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exotic environment. Magnetic fields,

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fast orbiting gas clouds, massive stars,

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and now possibly the ghost of a star that

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exploded in late antiquity, embedded just

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spitting distance from our galaxy's central

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black hole.

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Anna: If confirmed, this remnant adds an important

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data point to our understanding of how

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stellar cycles play out in the most extreme

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environments in the galaxy, and how

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supernovae seed the next generation of stars

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and planets with heavy elements.

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Avery: A blue blob expanding at 2 million

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miles an hour for 1700 years.

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And we only just noticed it.

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Anna: We want to take a moment now to pay tribute

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to one of NASA's great Mars missions. Because

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on June 3, NASA officially declared

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the end of the Maven mission after 11

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years in orbit at Mars.

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Avery: MAVEN, that stands for Mars Atmosphere and

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Volatile Evolution, launched from Cape

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Canaveral in November 2013, arrived

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at Mars in September 2014, and was only

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ever supposed to last one year. It

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lasted 11.

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Anna: The mission was designed to answer one of

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planetary science's most compelling

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how did Mars go from a warm, wet world

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with rivers, lakes, and a thick atmosphere

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to the cold, dry desert desert we see today?

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Avery: And MAVEN cracked it open. It measured

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atmospheric escape rates, the pace at

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which gas is being stripped away by solar

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wind. It discovered that solar storms

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dramatically accelerate that stripping.

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It found a New type of aurora at Mars,

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one that occurs planet wide, unlike

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Earth's, which are confined to the poles.

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Anna: It also observed a first atmospheric

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sputtering. That's when charged particles

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slam into the upper atmosphere hard enough to

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splash neutral gas molecules out into space.

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Like doing a cannonball in a pool, as the

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mission's principal investigator, Shannon

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Curry, put it.

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Avery: Maven also helped keep our surface rovers

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alive. It acted as a crucial communications

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relay for Curiosity and perseverance,

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passing messages between Earth and the

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Martian surface. When Maven went silent,

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it left a real gap.

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Anna: And silent it went. On December 6 last

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year, Maven passed behind Mars on a routine

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orbit and never came back. An

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anomaly review board spent months searching

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for a signal. They found fragments of

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telemetry showing the spacecraft had entered

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a fast spin, draining its batteries beyond

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recovery.

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Avery: NASA formally ended the mission at a press

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conference on June 3rd. Shaman Curry, when

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asked what she'd put on Maven's tombstone,

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had an immediate answer. Best Mars

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mission ever.

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Anna: Over 800 scientific publications.

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Auroras, atmospheric escape, Global

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dust storm studies, observations of

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interstellar comet 3I Atlas.

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Maven changed how we understand an entire

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planet.

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Avery: It will remain in Mars orbit for another 50

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to 100 years before eventually burning up in

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the Martian atmosphere. Fitting, really.

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Maven studied Mars atmosphere until the very

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end. And one day, it will become part of it.

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Anna: 11 years of extraordinary science.

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Farewell, Maven.

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Avery: Now, here's a story that's surprising for one

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simple reason. It's 2026. More than

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100 women have flown to space, and nobody

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has actually ever studied menstruation in

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microgravity until, um, now.

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Anna: A nonprofit called Operation Period, led by

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Gen Z researchers Manju Bangalore and Priya

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Abhiram has announced a suborbital research

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mission called Operation Period Zero,

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or OP1, on a Virgin Galactic

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suborbital flight targeted for 2027.

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Avery: Anju Bangalore is a physicist, astronautical

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engineer, and former NASA researcher.

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Priya Abhiram is an engineer who has worked

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on astronaut life support systems at NASA and

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Blue Origin. These are serious scientists

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tackling a serious gap.

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Anna: Here's the gap right now. Astronauts who

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menstruate typically choose to fully suppress

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their periods during spaceflight using

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hormonal IUDs or oral contraceptives.

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Not because it's dangerous, but because

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nobody has studied. What happens if they

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don't.

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Avery: With no data, there are no real choices.

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And as spaceflight missions get longer, to

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the moon, to Mars, the question becomes more

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urgent. What happens to the menstrual cycle

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in microgravity? Does it change? Does

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Fluid dynamics behave differently. Nobody

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knows.

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Anna: Op1 will send Bangalore and Abhiram

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themselves to the edge of space on a Virgin

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Galactic suborbital flight to collect real

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physiological data. The specific research

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protocol will be announced closer to the

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mission.

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Avery: The announcement came on June 19. The team

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sits under Operation Period's research wing,

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called the Redshift Lab. And the team has

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been pointed out that over 750 people

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have traveled to space. Yet this fundamental

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human biology has simply never been formally

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studied.

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Anna: It's a gap that's been hiding in plain sight.

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And it matters not just for the astronauts of

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today, but for the humans who will one day

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live on the Moon or spend years in transit to

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Mars.

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Avery: History is full of things that should have

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been studied decades earlier. Good to see

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this one finally getting its mission patch.

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Anna: And finally today, a story about persistence,

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ambition, and the maddening physics of

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getting a rocket off the ground.

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Avery: Europe wants sovereign access to space.

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Not just through Ariana Space's big

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launchers, but through a new generation of

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nimble commercial small satellite rockets

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built in Europe for European needs.

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Anna: The leading candidate for that crown is Isar

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Aerospace, a German startup headquartered

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near Munich. They've raised over 800

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million euros in private funding. They have a

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rocket called Spectrum, 28 meters tall,

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capable of hauling up to a ton to low Earth

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orbit. And they are trying very,

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very hard to fly it.

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Avery: Vectrum's first test flight was in March last

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year. It lasted 30 seconds before a

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vent valve unexpectedly opened. The rocket

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lost attitude control and it plunged into the

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sea near the launch pad.

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Anna: But critically, it cleared the pad,

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proved the engines could fire, proved liftoff

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was possible. And, Isar learned, fixed the

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softw, increased margins, and came back

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for a second attempt.

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Avery: That second attempt, the Onward and Upward

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mission, carrying five European university

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cubesats and a technology demonstrator,

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has been trying to launch from Andoya

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spaceport in Norway since January. Four

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attempts this year alone.

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Anna: January scrubbed for a faulty pressurization

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valve. March scrubbed for fuel temperature

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issues. And then a fishing vessel wandered

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into the hazard zone. April postponed

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over a suspected pressure vessel leak. June

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15 halted after an anomaly in the fluid

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system.

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Avery: As of today, the launch window at Andoya has

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reportedly expired and no new date has been

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announced. ISAR is analyzing the data from

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the June 15th abort.

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Anna: To be fair, this is exactly what test flight

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programs look like. SpaceX had

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spectacular failures. Rocket lab had

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scrubs. Every rocket that flies reliably

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today once refused to fly at all.

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Avery: But the backdrop matters. Europe's space

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sector needs a sovereign small launcher.

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Isar is the furthest ahead, and every delay

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is a reminder of just how hard the business

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of rocketry really is.

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Anna: We'll be watching. Go Spectrum whenever

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you're ready.

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Avery: Before we wrap up, let's look up what's in

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the winter sky tonight for our Southern

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Hemisphere listeners.

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Anna: The June Buddids meteor shower peaks

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Tonight right around 1am GMT,

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which for Eastern Australia is around midday,

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so Southern Hemisphere viewers will have

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missed the peak. But the Bootids are famously

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unpredictable. Occasional outbursts have

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surprised observers in the past. Worth a look

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either way, though. Expect only a handful of

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meteors per hour.

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Avery: The Moon is in its first quarter phase, half

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lit, making it a great target for binoculars

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or a small telescope. Tonight, look for the

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crisp terminator line where craters and

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mountain ranges cast sharp shadows.

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Anna: Tomorrow night, the Moon will appear near

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Spica, the bright blue white heart of

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Virgo, an easy and lovely pair to spot

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after sunset with the naked eye.

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Avery: And keep watching the western horizon after

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sunset for the planetary trio. Venus

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remains the brightest by far, with Jupiter

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nearby. Mercury is fading lower but

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still catchable if you have a clear western

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horizon,

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Anna: beautiful winter skies, Everyone rug up

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and look up.

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That's Astronomy daily for Monday 22nd

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June 2026. I'm Hannah.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. Thank you so much for spending

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part of your day with us in the cosmos.

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Anna: You'll find links and show

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notes@astronomydaily IO and

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if you're enjoying the show, leaving us a

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00:16:45.800 --> 00:16:47.680
review really does make a difference.

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Avery: Find us on X, Instagram, Facebook,

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TikTok, and Tumblr.

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Astrodaily Pod, we'd love to

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hear what you thought of today's stories.

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Anna: Until tomorrow, keep your eyes on the

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Avery: stars and your mind in the universe.

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Anna: The stories.

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Were told

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m.