Spacewalks, Supernovas, and the Mysteries of Super Jupiters

WEBVTT

0
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.000
Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that

1
00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.160
brings you the biggest news from across the

2
00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:06.600
cosmos. I'm Avery.

3
00:00:06.600 --> 00:00:08.960
Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.

4
00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:11.720
Today we're talking about a dramatic

5
00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.640
spacewalk outside the Tiangong Space

6
00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.600
Station. Plus the James Webb Telescope spots

7
00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.320
the oldest supernova ever seen. And we'll

8
00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:22.840
find out why giant planets known as Super

9
00:00:22.840 --> 00:00:25.320
Jupiters might look nothing like our own

10
00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:25.760
Jupiter.

11
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.000
Avery: And we'll finish with a black hole that's

12
00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.360
whipping up winds at a fraction of the speed

13
00:00:30.360 --> 00:00:30.800
of light.

14
00:00:30.880 --> 00:00:32.580
Let's get first up.

15
00:00:32.580 --> 00:00:35.020
Anna: Let's head to low Earth orbit. There's been

16
00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:37.500
some serious activity outside the Tiangong

17
00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:38.100
Space station.

18
00:00:38.340 --> 00:00:40.940
Avery: That's right. Two Chinese astronauts from the

19
00:00:40.940 --> 00:00:43.420
Shenshou 21 mission conducted a

20
00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:46.220
marathon eight hour spacewalk. The primary

21
00:00:46.220 --> 00:00:48.620
goal was to get a close look at the Shenshou

22
00:00:48.620 --> 00:00:49.940
20 return capsule.

23
00:00:50.250 --> 00:00:52.580
Anna: Mhm. And what they were looking for was

24
00:00:52.580 --> 00:00:53.540
damage, Right?

25
00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.380
Avery: Exactly. The capsule was likely struck by a

26
00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:58.820
piece of space junk, and the damage was

27
00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:01.140
serious enough that the Shenzhou 20 crew

28
00:01:01.140 --> 00:01:04.120
couldn't use it to return home. They had

29
00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.040
to come back to Earth on a different vehicle

30
00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:06.880
as a precaution.

31
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.840
Anna: Wow. That really highlights the dangers of

32
00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.880
space debris. So this spacewalk was

33
00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:15.320
essentially a, ah, forensic investigation in

34
00:01:15.320 --> 00:01:15.840
orbit.

35
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.840
Avery: It was. They were meticulously inspecting

36
00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.440
and photographing the damage to understand

37
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.200
exactly what happened. But that wasn't all

38
00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:26.400
they did. They also took the opportunity to

39
00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.240
install new space debris protection systems

40
00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:30.400
on the station itself.

41
00:01:30.870 --> 00:01:33.290
Anna: Uh, a necessary upgrade, it seems. It's a

42
00:01:33.290 --> 00:01:36.290
growing problem that isn't going away. Every

43
00:01:36.290 --> 00:01:39.050
piece of junk, big or small, is a

44
00:01:39.050 --> 00:01:41.290
potential threat to current and future

45
00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:41.810
missions.

46
00:01:42.050 --> 00:01:44.050
Avery: And speaking of China's space program,

47
00:01:44.210 --> 00:01:46.370
they've been busy on the launch pad as well.

48
00:01:46.770 --> 00:01:48.610
Incredibly busy, in fact.

49
00:01:48.930 --> 00:01:51.650
Anna: You can say that again. They just set a new

50
00:01:51.650 --> 00:01:54.450
national record by launching three separate

51
00:01:54.450 --> 00:01:57.010
Long March rockets in less than 19

52
00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:57.570
hours.

53
00:01:58.170 --> 00:02:01.050
Avery: 19 hours, that's an astonishing pace.

54
00:02:01.290 --> 00:02:04.250
It brings their total for 20, 25 up to

55
00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:06.570
83 orbital launches already.

56
00:02:07.370 --> 00:02:09.050
Anna: So what were these missions carrying?

57
00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:11.730
Avery: A couple of different payloads. The launches

58
00:02:11.730 --> 00:02:14.170
deployed more broadband satellites for their

59
00:02:14.490 --> 00:02:17.130
Guang Mega Constellation, which is their

60
00:02:17.130 --> 00:02:19.210
competitor to systems like Starlink.

61
00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:19.770
Anna: Right.

62
00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:22.810
Avery: And they also sent up two classified military

63
00:02:22.810 --> 00:02:25.410
satellites. The details on those, as you'd

64
00:02:25.410 --> 00:02:26.490
expect, are pretty sparse.

65
00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.920
Anna: It just shows the sheer scale and speed of

66
00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:32.280
their operations. Right now they're not just

67
00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:34.640
launching frequently, they're launching with

68
00:02:34.640 --> 00:02:35.960
incredible efficiency.

69
00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:37.840
Avery: And, uh, they seem to be getting better at it

70
00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:38.600
with every launch.

71
00:02:39.160 --> 00:02:42.120
Anna: Okay, let's shift our focus from Earth orbit

72
00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:45.040
to the Red planet. A major new report from

73
00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:47.560
the U.S. national Academies of Sciences,

74
00:02:47.640 --> 00:02:50.400
Engineering and Medicine has just been

75
00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:52.680
released and it's making some bold

76
00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:54.760
recommendations for the future of Mars

77
00:02:54.760 --> 00:02:55.400
exploration.

78
00:02:56.830 --> 00:02:59.190
Avery: It really is. The headline recommendation is

79
00:02:59.190 --> 00:03:02.070
that the primary scientific objective for the

80
00:03:02.070 --> 00:03:04.870
first crewed missions to Mars should be the

81
00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:07.230
search for life, either past or present.

82
00:03:07.790 --> 00:03:10.150
Anna: That's a significant statement. For a long

83
00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:12.910
time, the focus has been on geology and

84
00:03:12.910 --> 00:03:15.710
paving the way for colonization. This report

85
00:03:15.790 --> 00:03:18.350
puts astrobiology front and center.

86
00:03:18.350 --> 00:03:21.070
Avery: Exactly. It outlines 11 specific

87
00:03:21.070 --> 00:03:23.710
science objectives and proposes two main

88
00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:26.030
science mission campaigns to achieve them.

89
00:03:26.260 --> 00:03:28.130
The the first campaign would target near.

90
00:03:28.130 --> 00:03:31.050
Anna: Surface glacier ice, which could preserve

91
00:03:31.050 --> 00:03:32.090
biosignatures.

92
00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:34.810
Avery: Precisely. The second, even more ambitious

93
00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:37.410
campaign would involve exploring the deep

94
00:03:37.410 --> 00:03:39.570
subsurface of Mars. They're talking about

95
00:03:39.570 --> 00:03:41.610
drilling deep down to where liquid water

96
00:03:41.610 --> 00:03:44.090
might still exist, Protected from the harsh

97
00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:44.970
surface radiation.

98
00:03:46.170 --> 00:03:48.650
Anna: That would be an incredible undertaking.

99
00:03:48.890 --> 00:03:51.850
The technical challenges alone are immense.

100
00:03:52.090 --> 00:03:54.900
But the potential payoff for finding evidence

101
00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:57.780
of life on another planet is arguably

102
00:03:57.780 --> 00:03:59.500
the greatest prize in science.

103
00:03:59.820 --> 00:04:02.820
Avery: It completely reframes the why of sending

104
00:04:02.820 --> 00:04:05.180
humans to Mars. It's not just about planting

105
00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:07.100
a flag. It's about answering one of

106
00:04:07.100 --> 00:04:08.940
humanity's biggest questions.

107
00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:11.620
Anna: It would be nice if we could get a definitive

108
00:04:11.620 --> 00:04:12.620
answer one day.

109
00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:15.340
Avery: Well, from the search for life to the death

110
00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:18.220
of stars, the James Webb Space Telescope has

111
00:04:18.220 --> 00:04:21.020
done it again. It's given us a glimpse into

112
00:04:21.020 --> 00:04:23.580
the cosmic dawn by finding the oldest

113
00:04:23.580 --> 00:04:24.860
supernova ever seen.

114
00:04:25.490 --> 00:04:27.730
Anna: This story is just mind boggling.

115
00:04:28.050 --> 00:04:30.810
JWST detected light from a star

116
00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:33.650
that exploded 13 billion years ago.

117
00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:36.770
Avery: Let that sink in. The universe itself is

118
00:04:36.770 --> 00:04:39.410
about 13.7 billion years old.

119
00:04:39.730 --> 00:04:42.530
So this event happened just 730

120
00:04:42.530 --> 00:04:44.610
million years after the Big Bang.

121
00:04:45.090 --> 00:04:47.650
Anna: Incredible. So what do we know about this

122
00:04:47.650 --> 00:04:47.970
event?

123
00:04:48.210 --> 00:04:50.690
Avery: It's been designated GRB

124
00:04:51.310 --> 00:04:54.030
250314A.

125
00:04:54.590 --> 00:04:57.190
The GRB stands for Gamma ray

126
00:04:57.190 --> 00:04:59.630
burst, which was detected first.

127
00:05:00.350 --> 00:05:03.030
That burst is the telltale sign of a

128
00:05:03.030 --> 00:05:05.910
massive star collapsing into a black hole

129
00:05:05.910 --> 00:05:08.190
or neutron star. The

130
00:05:08.190 --> 00:05:10.910
supernova is the explosion that follows.

131
00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:14.230
Anna: So this breaks the previous record for the

132
00:05:14.230 --> 00:05:16.870
most distant supernova by a long

133
00:05:16.870 --> 00:05:17.310
shot.

134
00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:19.710
Avery: Observing an event like this from the very

135
00:05:19.710 --> 00:05:22.430
early universe gives astronomers a direct

136
00:05:22.510 --> 00:05:24.690
look at at the life cycle of the first

137
00:05:24.690 --> 00:05:27.330
generations of stars, which were much more

138
00:05:27.330 --> 00:05:29.730
massive and short lived than stars like our

139
00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:32.490
Sun. It's a crucial piece of the puzzle for

140
00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:35.410
understanding how the universe evolved from.

141
00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:38.250
Anna: The most distant to some of the most massive.

142
00:05:38.650 --> 00:05:41.650
Let's talk about exoplanets. A new study

143
00:05:41.650 --> 00:05:44.090
is challenging. What we thought we knew about

144
00:05:44.250 --> 00:05:46.250
super Jupiters, right?

145
00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:48.810
Avery: These are gas giants that are significantly

146
00:05:48.810 --> 00:05:51.730
more massive than our own Jupiter. This

147
00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:54.490
new research focused on an exoplanet called

148
00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:57.090
VHS 1256 b,

149
00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:00.108
it has a mass of about 20 jupiters,

150
00:06:00.258 --> 00:06:01.570
20 times.

151
00:06:01.570 --> 00:06:04.250
Anna: The mass of Jupiter. That's almost in the

152
00:06:04.250 --> 00:06:07.129
territory of a brown dwarf, a failed

153
00:06:07.129 --> 00:06:07.490
star.

154
00:06:07.890 --> 00:06:10.250
Avery: It's right on that line. And the study

155
00:06:10.250 --> 00:06:12.770
suggests that planets this massive might not

156
00:06:12.770 --> 00:06:15.570
look like Jupiter at all. We picture Jupiter

157
00:06:15.570 --> 00:06:18.410
with its beautiful stable, banded cloud

158
00:06:18.410 --> 00:06:18.930
patterns.

159
00:06:19.280 --> 00:06:22.120
Anna: Mhm. Mm. The Great Red Spot. The distinct

160
00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:23.360
zones and belts.

161
00:06:23.760 --> 00:06:26.640
Avery: Exactly. But on a world like VHS

162
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.640
1256 B, the internal heat and

163
00:06:29.640 --> 00:06:32.000
higher temperatures could drive a much more

164
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.760
turbulent and chaotic atmosphere. The

165
00:06:34.760 --> 00:06:37.280
model suggests that instead of stable bands,

166
00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:40.200
you'd see large, dusty silicate

167
00:06:40.200 --> 00:06:41.920
storms swirling chaotically.

168
00:06:42.640 --> 00:06:45.480
Anna: So less organized beauty, more

169
00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:46.480
violent chaos.

170
00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:49.200
Avery: That's a good way to put it. It reminds us

171
00:06:49.200 --> 00:06:51.240
that our own solar system is just one

172
00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:53.840
example. And the diversity of planets out

173
00:06:53.840 --> 00:06:55.960
there is far greater than we can imagine.

174
00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:57.320
Anna: Well said.

175
00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.120
And from voyages within our solar system,

176
00:07:00.440 --> 00:07:03.080
let's take a leap to the truly cosmic scale.

177
00:07:03.320 --> 00:07:05.480
For our final story, we're heading to the

178
00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:08.368
center of galaxy NGC 378

179
00:07:08.512 --> 00:07:11.440
3, where a supermassive black hole

180
00:07:11.440 --> 00:07:13.660
is putting on a spectacle spectacular and

181
00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:15.020
very windy show.

182
00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:17.980
Avery: And this was a coordinated effort between two

183
00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:20.870
powerful space telescopes, the XMM M Newton M

184
00:07:21.340 --> 00:07:23.900
and the new Xrism M Observatory.

185
00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:27.260
Anna: That's right. They observed the black hole's

186
00:07:27.260 --> 00:07:30.060
active galactic nucleus, or agn,

187
00:07:30.140 --> 00:07:32.540
as it let out a massive X ray flare.

188
00:07:33.020 --> 00:07:35.660
Avery: So similar to a solar flare from our sun,

189
00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:37.900
but on an unimaginable scale.

190
00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:41.150
Anna: Precisely. And this flare had a dramatic

191
00:07:41.150 --> 00:07:43.790
effect. It triggered powerful winds of

192
00:07:43.790 --> 00:07:46.430
superheated gas being blasted away from the

193
00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:49.270
black hole at an incredible 1/5

194
00:07:49.270 --> 00:07:49.950
the speed of.

195
00:07:49.950 --> 00:07:52.910
Avery: Light, 20% of the speed of

196
00:07:52.910 --> 00:07:54.950
light. That's just phenomenal speed.

197
00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:58.150
Anna: It really is. And observing this process

198
00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:00.830
helps astronomers understand how these

199
00:08:00.830 --> 00:08:03.510
central black holes influence their entire

200
00:08:03.510 --> 00:08:06.390
host galaxies. These winds are so

201
00:08:06.390 --> 00:08:09.150
powerful that they can clear out gas from the

202
00:08:09.150 --> 00:08:11.810
galaxy's center, which can shut down star

203
00:08:11.810 --> 00:08:14.410
formation and fundamentally shape how a, uh,

204
00:08:14.490 --> 00:08:16.930
galaxy evolves over billions of years.

205
00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:20.050
Avery: It's a direct link between the very

206
00:08:20.130 --> 00:08:22.770
small, the accretion disk of a black

207
00:08:22.770 --> 00:08:25.770
hole, and the very large, the

208
00:08:25.770 --> 00:08:28.090
entire galaxy. A

209
00:08:28.090 --> 00:08:30.130
fantastic discovery to end on.

210
00:08:30.850 --> 00:08:33.170
Anna: And that's all the time we have for today on

211
00:08:33.170 --> 00:08:36.130
Astronomy Daily. We covered everything from

212
00:08:36.130 --> 00:08:38.970
spacewalks and launch records to the hunt for

213
00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:39.810
life on Mars.

214
00:08:40.830 --> 00:08:43.630
Avery: And we peered back to the dawn of time

215
00:08:43.630 --> 00:08:46.550
with the oldest supernova and questioned

216
00:08:46.550 --> 00:08:48.990
what a super Jupiter really looks like.

217
00:08:49.230 --> 00:08:50.750
Thanks so much for joining us.

218
00:08:51.230 --> 00:08:53.070
Anna: You can find us wherever you get your

219
00:08:53.070 --> 00:08:55.910
podcasts or our website, which can be found

220
00:08:55.910 --> 00:08:58.780
at astronomydaily.io we'll be back tomorrow

221
00:08:58.780 --> 00:09:01.500
with another roundup of the latest news from

222
00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:02.620
the final frontier.

223
00:09:03.260 --> 00:09:06.240
Avery: Until then, keep looking up. This is

224
00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.000
Avery and Anna signing off.