Jan. 8, 2026
From Betelgeuse's Secrets to Lunar Wonders: Your Daily Space Update
In this episode, we embark on an exciting journey through the latest astronomical discoveries and cosmic phenomena that are captivating enthusiasts around the globe. We begin with a groundbreaking revelation about Betelgeuse, the iconic red supergiant star. Astronomers have uncovered the cause behind its perplexing brightness fluctuations and the dramatic dimming event of 2020, attributing it to a hidden companion star, affectionately named Siwarha, which disrupts Betelgeuse's atmosphere and light.Next, we present a stunning decades-long time-lapse video of Kepler's supernova remnant, showcasing the evolution of this cosmic explosion as observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This visual journey through time reveals the dynamic expansion of the remnant and its implications for the elements that contribute to new star formation.Shifting our focus closer to home, we discuss a comprehensive all-sky census of K dwarfs, revealing promising candidates for potential life-bearing planets. These cooler, longer-lived stars present a stable environment for life to evolve, providing a treasure trove of data for future exoplanet exploration.For sky watchers, we highlight a series of spectacular lunar events in 2026, including a total lunar eclipse, a blue moon, and a Christmas Eve supermoon, all offering breathtaking views for observers.We also explore a thought-provoking study on the potential risks posed by passing stars to our solar system, suggesting that galactic flybys could destabilise Earth's orbit, although the probability remains exceedingly low.Finally, we delve into the feasibility of asteroid mining, examining recent research on meteorites that sheds light on the challenges and potential of extracting resources from asteroids.Join us as we unpack these captivating stories and more in this episode of Astronomy Daily!00:00 – **Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast where we discuss the coolest space news
00:44 – **Astronomers have finally cracked Betelgeuse's biggest mystery
02:34 – **NASA releases stunning video of supernova remnant from Chandra Xway Observatory
05:40 – **Could a passing star fling Earth into deep space faster than thought
07:45 – **Thanks for listening to Astronomy Daily! We appreciate every listen### Sources & Further Reading1. NASA2. Hubble Space Telescope3. Chandra X-ray Observatory4. European Space Agency### Follow & ContactX/Twitter: @AstroDailyPod
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WEBVTT
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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
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where we chat about the coolest space and
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astronomy news we can source. I'm Anna,
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um, and with me is my co host, Avery.
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Hey Avery, it's January 8,
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2026. How's your week going?
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Avery: Hey Anna. And hello to all our listeners.
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It's been fantastic. Clear nights for
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00:00:22.040 --> 00:00:25.000
some stargazing. We've got a stellar lineup
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today. Mysteries solved on a famous star.
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A decades long supernova video,
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a cens nearby stars for life,
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lunar events to watch, a dramatic but
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low risk orbital scenario, and fresh
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insights on asteroid mining. Plenty to
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unpack. Let's get started.
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Anna: Leading off with big news from Orion,
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astronomers have finally cracked Betelgeuse's
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biggest mystery. The cause of its weird
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brightness swings and that dramatic great
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dimming back in 2020.
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Avery: Yeah, this red supergiant, one of the
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brightest stars in the sky and about 650
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light years, has been puzzling folks
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forever. With its pulsations, it has a short
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400 day cycle from internal throbbing.
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But there's this longer 2100 day
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variation that stumped everyone. Theories
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range from giant convection cells to dust
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clouds or even a companion star.
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Anna: Turns out it is a hidden companion.
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Researchers from the Centre for Astrophysics
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at Harvard and Smithsonian, led by Andrea
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Dupre, used nearly eight years of Hubble
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data plus ground telescopes to
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direct evidence. The companion, playfully
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called Siwarha, orbits every six years or
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so, ploughing through Betelgeuse's massive
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extended atmosphere. Like a boat cutting
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through water, leaving a dense wake of gas.
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Avery: That wake disrupts the star's light and
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spectrum, causing the dimming and patterns we
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see. Dupree described it perfectly. It's a
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bit like a boat moving through water. The
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companion star creates a ripple effect in
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Betelgeuse's atmosphere that we can actually
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see. In the data they caught the wake form
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forming right after the companion passes in
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front.
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Anna: This explains the 2020 sneeze too.
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Dust and gas from that interaction. Huge
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implications. It shows how companions can
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reshape massive stars. Evolution, mass
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loss and eventual supernovae.
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Betelgeuse is eclipsing Siwarha right now,
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but they'll watch for it emerging in 2027.
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Avery: Front row. See to a star's dramatic life.
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Love it.
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Anna: Next, NASA dropped an incredible video
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that's literally decades in the making. A
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time lapse of Kepler's supernova remnant
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from Chandra Xway Observatory data.
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Avery: This is the remnant from the supernova
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spotted by Johannes Kepler in 1604.
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A, uh, type 1A explosion from a white dwarf
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that blew up after Gaining too much mass,
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maybe from a companion or merger. It's about
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17,000 light years away and
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Chandra's been watching since 2000.
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Anna: The video combines observations from
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2000-2004-2006-2014
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and even in 2025 over
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25 years. It shows this neon
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blue X ray ring expanding like a balloon
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overlaid on optical light. The bottom side
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blasts out faster at 13.8
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million miles per hour while the top lags
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at 4 million miles per hour because it hits
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denser gas, Chandra.
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Avery: Glows in blue from million degree material
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and the rim measurements tell us about the
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explosion's power and surroundings. It's the
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longest spanning Chandra video ever showing
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remnant crashes into space stuff hurling
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elements for new stars and planets.
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Anna: Mind blowing to see cosmic history unfold.
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Avery: Frame by frame Shifting closer to
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home, a uh new all sky census of over
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2100 K dwarfs within about
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130 light years reveals some prime real
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estate for potential life bearing planets.
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Anna: K dwarfs are cooler, fainter orange
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stars twice as common as sun like G
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dwarfs nearby and they live way longer,
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giving planets stable rates radiation for
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billions more years Perfect for life to
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evolve slowly.
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Avery: The team use high res spectrometers on
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telescopes in Chile and Arizona for full sky
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coverage. They measured temperatures,
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ages, spin rates, magnetic activity
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all key for habitability since flaring
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stars can strip atmospheres.
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Anna: This spectroscopic recon is a goldmine
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data set for future exoplanet hunts and even
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interstellar travel planning Presented just
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this week at the AAS meeting.
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Foundational for decades makes you wonder
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how.
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Avery: Many Earth likes are chilling around these
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steady stars.
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Anna: For sky watchers, especially down south,
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2026 has some lunar a red
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moon from a total eclipse, a blue moon and
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a Christmas Eve supermoon.
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Avery: The total lunar eclipse on March 3 evening
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will turn the moon coppery red as Earth's
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atmosphere bends sunset light onto it.
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Totality's best from the Southern hemisphere
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Australia, New Zealand lasting about an hour
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visible even in cities Naked eye Then a.
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Anna: Blue moon on May 31 the second full
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moon in a month. A calendar quirk every
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couple years and December 24
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supermoon full moon at perigee
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looking bigger and brighter. Perfect illusion
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at moonrise.
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Avery: No equipment needed. Safe to watch. Mark
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those calendars for some magical nights.
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Anna: Now Headline grabber Could a passing
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star fling Earth into deep space,
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destabilising our orbit faster than thought?
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Avery: This comes from simulations by Nathan Kaib
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and Sean Raymond factoring in galactic
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flybys stars passing within 100
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AU at slow speeds. Normally
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solar system models assume isolation, but
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Reality includes these encounters.
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Anna: Mercury's the weak link. A flyby could make
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its orbit more eccentric, leading to crashes
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or tugs that cascade outward. Maybe
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Venus or Mars Nudging Earth toward
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Jupiter for a slingshot ejection.
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Avery: Probability about 0.2%
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chance over the next 5 billion years for
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Earth ejection or collision Tiny,
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but higher than old estimates. Pluto's risk
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is 4 to 5%, based on Gaia
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data and AARXIVE paper Real science. But
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the article amps up the drama with hidden
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threat vibes.
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Anna: Comforting to know it's super rare. Are
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orbits stable for aeons?
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Avery: Last up Is asteroid mining actually
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feasible? New chemistry data from meteorites
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offers sobering but insightful answers.
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Anna: Researchers analysed Carbonius chondrites
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proxies for C type asteroids. Measuring
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46 elements, these primitive rocks
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mix metals, silicates, water
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bearing stuff. But impacts create
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breccias and regolith, making separation
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tough in low gravity.
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Avery: Some groups show enriched titanium or rare
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Earths, but overall depleted in easy metals
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like copper. Water alteration oxidises
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things, complicating extraction. Led by
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Joseph Tirigo Rodriguez and team, it suggests
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mining's hard for bulk profit, better for
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targeted water or in space manufacturing.
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Anna: Focus on sample returns like Osiris Rex
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to pick winners. Feasible eventually with
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tech advances, but not a quick space gold
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rush.
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Avery: Realistic view Space resources for
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exploration, not Earth riches.
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Anna: Whew.
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Uh, from stellar companions to lunar lights
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in cosmic risks, what a ride Today.
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Avery: The universe never runs out of storeys.
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Thanks for joining us on Astronomy Daily.
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Anna: We appreciate every listen, subscribe, share
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and we'll catch you tomorrow with more. Keep
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looking up Clear skive.
0
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Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:05.880
where we chat about the coolest space and
2
00:00:05.880 --> 00:00:08.640
astronomy news we can source. I'm Anna,
3
00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.200
um, and with me is my co host, Avery.
4
00:00:11.520 --> 00:00:14.160
Hey Avery, it's January 8,
5
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.399
2026. How's your week going?
6
00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.120
Avery: Hey Anna. And hello to all our listeners.
7
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.040
It's been fantastic. Clear nights for
8
00:00:22.040 --> 00:00:25.000
some stargazing. We've got a stellar lineup
9
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.600
today. Mysteries solved on a famous star.
10
00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:30.320
A decades long supernova video,
11
00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.580
a cens nearby stars for life,
12
00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:36.900
lunar events to watch, a dramatic but
13
00:00:36.900 --> 00:00:39.780
low risk orbital scenario, and fresh
14
00:00:39.780 --> 00:00:42.500
insights on asteroid mining. Plenty to
15
00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:43.900
unpack. Let's get started.
16
00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:46.860
Anna: Leading off with big news from Orion,
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00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.900
astronomers have finally cracked Betelgeuse's
18
00:00:49.900 --> 00:00:52.420
biggest mystery. The cause of its weird
19
00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:54.820
brightness swings and that dramatic great
20
00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:56.620
dimming back in 2020.
21
00:00:57.020 --> 00:00:59.700
Avery: Yeah, this red supergiant, one of the
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00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:02.580
brightest stars in the sky and about 650
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00:01:02.580 --> 00:01:05.240
light years, has been puzzling folks
24
00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:08.200
forever. With its pulsations, it has a short
25
00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:11.160
400 day cycle from internal throbbing.
26
00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:14.080
But there's this longer 2100 day
27
00:01:14.080 --> 00:01:16.840
variation that stumped everyone. Theories
28
00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.560
range from giant convection cells to dust
29
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:21.880
clouds or even a companion star.
30
00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:25.000
Anna: Turns out it is a hidden companion.
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00:01:25.320 --> 00:01:27.560
Researchers from the Centre for Astrophysics
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00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.080
at Harvard and Smithsonian, led by Andrea
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00:01:30.080 --> 00:01:33.000
Dupre, used nearly eight years of Hubble
34
00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.160
data plus ground telescopes to
35
00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.540
direct evidence. The companion, playfully
36
00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:41.500
called Siwarha, orbits every six years or
37
00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:44.140
so, ploughing through Betelgeuse's massive
38
00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:46.900
extended atmosphere. Like a boat cutting
39
00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:49.540
through water, leaving a dense wake of gas.
40
00:01:49.940 --> 00:01:52.460
Avery: That wake disrupts the star's light and
41
00:01:52.460 --> 00:01:54.940
spectrum, causing the dimming and patterns we
42
00:01:54.940 --> 00:01:57.940
see. Dupree described it perfectly. It's a
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00:01:57.940 --> 00:02:00.180
bit like a boat moving through water. The
44
00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:02.540
companion star creates a ripple effect in
45
00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:04.900
Betelgeuse's atmosphere that we can actually
46
00:02:04.980 --> 00:02:07.610
see. In the data they caught the wake form
47
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.680
forming right after the companion passes in
48
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:10.000
front.
49
00:02:10.480 --> 00:02:13.440
Anna: This explains the 2020 sneeze too.
50
00:02:13.760 --> 00:02:16.640
Dust and gas from that interaction. Huge
51
00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:19.400
implications. It shows how companions can
52
00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:22.320
reshape massive stars. Evolution, mass
53
00:02:22.320 --> 00:02:24.560
loss and eventual supernovae.
54
00:02:24.720 --> 00:02:27.440
Betelgeuse is eclipsing Siwarha right now,
55
00:02:27.440 --> 00:02:30.320
but they'll watch for it emerging in 2027.
56
00:02:30.880 --> 00:02:33.760
Avery: Front row. See to a star's dramatic life.
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00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:34.560
Love it.
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Anna: Next, NASA dropped an incredible video
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that's literally decades in the making. A
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time lapse of Kepler's supernova remnant
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from Chandra Xway Observatory data.
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Avery: This is the remnant from the supernova
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spotted by Johannes Kepler in 1604.
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A, uh, type 1A explosion from a white dwarf
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that blew up after Gaining too much mass,
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maybe from a companion or merger. It's about
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17,000 light years away and
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Chandra's been watching since 2000.
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Anna: The video combines observations from
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2000-2004-2006-2014
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and even in 2025 over
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25 years. It shows this neon
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blue X ray ring expanding like a balloon
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overlaid on optical light. The bottom side
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blasts out faster at 13.8
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million miles per hour while the top lags
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at 4 million miles per hour because it hits
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denser gas, Chandra.
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Avery: Glows in blue from million degree material
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and the rim measurements tell us about the
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explosion's power and surroundings. It's the
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longest spanning Chandra video ever showing
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remnant crashes into space stuff hurling
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elements for new stars and planets.
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Anna: Mind blowing to see cosmic history unfold.
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Avery: Frame by frame Shifting closer to
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home, a uh new all sky census of over
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2100 K dwarfs within about
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130 light years reveals some prime real
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estate for potential life bearing planets.
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Anna: K dwarfs are cooler, fainter orange
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stars twice as common as sun like G
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dwarfs nearby and they live way longer,
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giving planets stable rates radiation for
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billions more years Perfect for life to
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evolve slowly.
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Avery: The team use high res spectrometers on
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telescopes in Chile and Arizona for full sky
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coverage. They measured temperatures,
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ages, spin rates, magnetic activity
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all key for habitability since flaring
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stars can strip atmospheres.
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Anna: This spectroscopic recon is a goldmine
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data set for future exoplanet hunts and even
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interstellar travel planning Presented just
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this week at the AAS meeting.
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Foundational for decades makes you wonder
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how.
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Avery: Many Earth likes are chilling around these
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steady stars.
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Anna: For sky watchers, especially down south,
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2026 has some lunar a red
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moon from a total eclipse, a blue moon and
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a Christmas Eve supermoon.
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Avery: The total lunar eclipse on March 3 evening
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will turn the moon coppery red as Earth's
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atmosphere bends sunset light onto it.
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Totality's best from the Southern hemisphere
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Australia, New Zealand lasting about an hour
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visible even in cities Naked eye Then a.
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Anna: Blue moon on May 31 the second full
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moon in a month. A calendar quirk every
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couple years and December 24
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supermoon full moon at perigee
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looking bigger and brighter. Perfect illusion
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at moonrise.
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Avery: No equipment needed. Safe to watch. Mark
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those calendars for some magical nights.
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Anna: Now Headline grabber Could a passing
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star fling Earth into deep space,
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destabilising our orbit faster than thought?
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Avery: This comes from simulations by Nathan Kaib
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and Sean Raymond factoring in galactic
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flybys stars passing within 100
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AU at slow speeds. Normally
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solar system models assume isolation, but
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Reality includes these encounters.
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Anna: Mercury's the weak link. A flyby could make
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its orbit more eccentric, leading to crashes
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or tugs that cascade outward. Maybe
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Venus or Mars Nudging Earth toward
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Jupiter for a slingshot ejection.
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Avery: Probability about 0.2%
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chance over the next 5 billion years for
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Earth ejection or collision Tiny,
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but higher than old estimates. Pluto's risk
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is 4 to 5%, based on Gaia
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data and AARXIVE paper Real science. But
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the article amps up the drama with hidden
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threat vibes.
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Anna: Comforting to know it's super rare. Are
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orbits stable for aeons?
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Avery: Last up Is asteroid mining actually
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feasible? New chemistry data from meteorites
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offers sobering but insightful answers.
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Anna: Researchers analysed Carbonius chondrites
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proxies for C type asteroids. Measuring
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46 elements, these primitive rocks
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mix metals, silicates, water
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bearing stuff. But impacts create
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breccias and regolith, making separation
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tough in low gravity.
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Avery: Some groups show enriched titanium or rare
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Earths, but overall depleted in easy metals
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like copper. Water alteration oxidises
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things, complicating extraction. Led by
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Joseph Tirigo Rodriguez and team, it suggests
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mining's hard for bulk profit, better for
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targeted water or in space manufacturing.
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Anna: Focus on sample returns like Osiris Rex
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to pick winners. Feasible eventually with
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tech advances, but not a quick space gold
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rush.
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Avery: Realistic view Space resources for
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exploration, not Earth riches.
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Anna: Whew.
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Uh, from stellar companions to lunar lights
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in cosmic risks, what a ride Today.
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Avery: The universe never runs out of storeys.
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Thanks for joining us on Astronomy Daily.
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Anna: We appreciate every listen, subscribe, share
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and we'll catch you tomorrow with more. Keep
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looking up Clear skive.
