Two Minutes of Totality: Inside the August 12 Eclipse

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Anna: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Astronomy

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AstroDailyPod. I'm Anna.

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Avery: And I'm Avery. And Anna, uh, I don't think

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I've slept properly since Wednesday.

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Anna: Because of the eclipse.

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Avery: Because of the Eclipse. It's Thursday,

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August 13th. This is series five, episode

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166. And yesterday, half our

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listeners were either standing on a beach in

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Spain or on a boat in Greenland watching the

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moon eat the sun. So, yeah, today's a

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big one.

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Anna: It really is. We've got the eclipse as

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our main storey today, properly deep dive.

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We're going to spend some real time on it.

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And then three more news storeys to get

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through. Astronomers have found three

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supermassive black holes hanging out in one

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single galaxy, which rude

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Virgin Galactic just pushed its comeback

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flight back again. And Rocket Lab's

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neutron rocket is doing that thing where the

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deadline keeps sliding, but they're also

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signing new customers, so make it make sense.

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Avery: Lots to get through. Let's get into it.

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Anna: Okay, so let's set the scene. Yesterday,

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August 12th, the moon's shadow, and this

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shadow is about 182 miles wide,

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swept across the planet, starting up near

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Siberia, across the Arctic Ocean, down

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through eastern Greenland, western Iceland,

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northern Spain, over the Balearic Islands,

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and finally out into the Mediterranean, which

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is such a wild path.

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Avery: Like, you don't usually get Arctic Ocean in

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northern Spain in the same sentence for

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anything, let alone the same eclipse.

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Anna: Right. And this is one of the reasons this

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one had people so excited, because it hit

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two totally different kinds of eclipse

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chasing experiences. You had people up in

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Greenland and Iceland, where it's this stark,

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icy, end of the world kind of landscape.

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And then a few hours of shadow travel later,

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it's crossing sunbathers in Spain.

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Avery: Tell me about the Iceland leg, because I

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heard that's where you got the longest

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totality.

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Anna: Yeah, so the single longest point of totality

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on land was at a place called La Tr,

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which is this dramatic bird cliff on

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Iceland's westernmost tip. And totality there

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ran about 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

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The actual maximum point of the whole eclipse

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was just off the coast, about 45 kilometres

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out over the water.

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Avery: 2 minutes 18. Doesn't sound like much, but

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when you're

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Anna: standing there, it's an eternity. And

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this is the bit I love. One of the Space.com

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editors on the ground, Daisy Dobrievic,

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said something like, I knew what to expect.

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I've seen thousands of photos, but nothing

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compares to that feeling you get when you

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watch the sun transform before your very

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eyes.

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Avery: That's a thing every eclipse chaser tries to

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explain to people who haven't seen one, and

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you just can't really.

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Anna: There was another quote I liked from a guy

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watching in Spain, Anthony Wood. He said it

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strikes the lizard part of your brain that

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just tells you this shouldn't be real.

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Avery: The lizard brain thing. Yeah, that tracks.

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There's something about totality that's

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almost primal. Day turning to night in a

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couple of minutes, temperature dropping,

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animals going quiet.

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Anna: And in Iceland, because it happened mid

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afternoon, only about four hours before

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sunset, and up that far north, you got some

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extra atmospheric effects that this eclipse

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gamma geometry meant people could actually

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see the moon shadow moving through the high

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atmosphere and had this weirdly extended

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twilight window either side of totality.

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Avery: That's very niche and, uh, very cool.

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Anna: There was even a chance of aurora showing up

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in northern Russia if the geomagnetic

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activity cooperated. Which total eclipse and

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aurora at once, that's the dream combo for a

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lot of skywatchers.

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Avery: Okay, let's talk Spain, because that's where

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the crowd numbers really show up.

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Anna: So the path crossed Ocaruna, Bilbao,

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Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma,

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notably Madrid and Barcelona, were both

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just outside the path of totality. So a

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lot of people had to

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Avery: travel for it, which, if you live in Madrid,

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that's a rough one. So close. And yet,

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nope, you get the partial.

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Anna: Millions of people gathered across small

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towns in northern Spain. Places like

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Valoria, La Buena, and Segur de Calafel

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were absolutely packed. And because it

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happened about an hour before sunset there,

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you got totality low on the horizon

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with this golden, dramatic lighting.

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Avery: And it wasn't just a look up and go home

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event either. There was real science

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happening during totality.

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Anna: Yeah, this is the bit that matters. Beyond

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the spectacle during totality, the

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sun's corona, its outer atmosphere, which

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you basically never get to see because the

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sun's surface is so blindingly bright, still

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streams out visibly into space.

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Observers also picked out a solar prominence,

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and you could see Jupiter, Mercury, and

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Venus all pop into the darkened sky.

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Avery: Four minutes, well, two and a bit minutes

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of what does a solar system actually look

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like right now?

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Anna: Exactly. And coronal science is

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genuinely useful. It helps researchers study

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the sun's magnetic structure and the

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processes that drive space weather, which is

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obviously very relevant right now, given how

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active this solar cycle's

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Avery: been for anyone gutted, they missed it.

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Partial phases were visible from a huge chunk

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of the world, too. Some are set in England,

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the northeastern U.S. michigan, Canada,

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even Alaska. All got a partial bite taken out

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of the sun.

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Anna: And if you're already eclipse hungry again,

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Spain gets another one relatively soon.

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Less than a year from now, on August 2,

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2027, there's another total solar

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eclipse crossing Spain.

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Avery: Two total eclipses in Spain within 12 months.

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Eclipse chasers are going to have a

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Anna: very good year, they really are.

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So that's our deep dive. The August 12th

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total solar eclipse. A, uh,

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182 mile wide shadow,

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Arctic ice to Spanish coastline. 2

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minutes 18 seconds of totality at its

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longest and a genuine I can't believe what

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I just saw moment for millions of people.

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Avery: Can we talk logistics for a second? Because I

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know a chunk of our listeners are already

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plotting the 2027 one. If you've never

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chased totality before, what's actually

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involved?

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Anna: Honestly, the biggest thing is just being

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inside the path. Even

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99% partial is nothing like

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totality. It's a completely different

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experience. So it's worth the travel. After

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that, it's the usual stuff. Proper eclipse

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glasses for every phase, except totality

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itself. A spot with a clear horizon if you

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can one, and a uh, backup location in case of

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cloud because you cannot control the weather

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on the day.

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Avery: And don't try to photograph the whole thing

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on your phone and forget to actually look up.

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Anna: That is the classic mistake. Half the

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eclipse chaser community has a rule now. Get

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one or two shots set up on a tripod and

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then just put the phone down and watch it

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with your own eyes. Because you only get 2

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minutes and 18 seconds and you don't get them

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back.

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Avery: I did see the livestreams were huge for this

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one too. Between the Greenland boat

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expeditions and the Spanish coverage, they

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were millions of people watching online who

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couldn't be there in person.

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Anna: Which is honestly one of the nicer things

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about how big eclipse broadcasting has

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gotten. You don't have to be a hardcore

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chaser with a passport full of stamps to get

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at least some of the I can't believe what I

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just saw feeling.

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Avery: Still not the same as the lizard brain moment

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though.

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Anna: No, nothing beats being there. But August

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2, 2027 in Spain is looking

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very tempting for a lot of people right now.

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Avery: Alright, from one sun to three black holes,

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astronomers have confirmed for the first time

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three actively feeding supermassive black

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holes

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Anna: sitting inside a single galaxy, which is

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just greedy.

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Avery: The galaxy's called

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J014-84214

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and it's about 12.5 billion light

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years away. So we're seeing it as it looked

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roughly 1.2 billion years after the

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big bang.

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Anna: So this is baby picture of the universe

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stuff.

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Avery: Exactly. And that's what Makes it such a big

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deal. The team led by Hannah Hubler at the

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Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial

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Physics used the James Webb Telescope's

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NIRSP instrument to find them.

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Specifically, a technique called

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spectroastrometry, which measures tiny

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spatial shifts in the light coming from

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hydrogen emission to pin down exactly where

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each black hole is sitting, even though

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they're really close together on the sky.

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Anna: And these aren't small either?

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Avery: No, roughly 80 million, 2 million

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and 0.6 million solar masses. And

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here's the two of the three are on a

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collision course. They're heading for a

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merger.

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Anna: So why does finding three in one galaxy

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actually matter scientifically beyond just

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wow three?

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Avery: Because it's evidence for how supermassive

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black holes get so big so fast in the early

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universe, which has honestly been a bit of a

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puzzle. If black holes can merge with each

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other, not just grow by slowly swallowing

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gas, that gives them a much faster route to

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becoming supermassive. Hubler's team is

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essentially saying mergers might be doing a

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lot more of the heavy lifting early on than

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we thought.

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Anna: It's basically a black hole growth hack,

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cosmic speedrunning to supermassive status.

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But it does reshape how we think about galaxy

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assembly in the early universe. If triple

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black hole systems like this aren't a total

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fluke, there could be a lot more of these

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hiding out there, waiting for JWST to spot

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them for scale.

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Avery: Sagittarius A, our own galaxy's black

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hole, is about 4 million solar masses. So

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the biggest of these three, at 80 million, is

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20 times heavier than the black hole sitting

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at the centre of the Milky Way.

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Anna: And that's just one of three in the same

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galaxy.

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Avery: Right. Which tells you this galaxy was doing

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some serious growing up fast. It's another

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one of those results where JWST just keeps

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outperforming what Hubble could ever have

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shown us at these distances. This is a level

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of detail on a 12.5 billion year old

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galaxy that simply wasn't accessible a few

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years ago.

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Anna: JWST really is the gift that keeps on

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giving. We'll be watching to see if Uber's

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team or anyone else turns up more of these

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triple systems now that people know what to

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look for.

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Sticking with things that are taking longer

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than planned, Virgin Galactic has delayed its

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return to commercial spaceflight again.

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Avery: Again being the key word.

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Anna: Right. So the new spacecraft, this is their

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upgraded Delta class vehicle, was supposed to

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start flying paying customers in the fourth

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quarter of this year. That's now been pushed

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to February 2027.

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Avery: What's the hold at this time? According to

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the company, it's avionics and systems

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installation on the first operational

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spacecraft. They say they need more time to

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get it right before putting people on board,

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which. Fair enough. I'd rather they take the

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extra months than rush it.

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Anna: Always the right call with anything crude.

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How did the market react?

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Avery: Not well. Shares dropped about 12% in after

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hours trading on the news.

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Anna: Ouch. But there's a more interesting storey

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buried in the same. Their

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$750,000 a seat flight packages

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were over subscribed and CEO Michael

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Coglazier said they'll be offering higher

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price points when ticket sales reopen this

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autumn.

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Avery: So even with the delay, demand isn't the

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problem. If anything, they could be

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underpricing seats.

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Anna: Seems that way. Financially, the picture is

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actually improving too. Net loss narrowed to

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about $56 million, down from

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$67 million a year ago. And they've still got

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$286 million in cash and

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securities on hand.

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Avery: So they can absorb another delay. They've

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just got to actually get the Delta ships

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flying at some point.

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Anna: That's the whole storey with Virgin Galactic

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at this point, isn't it? The money and the

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demand are there. It's the hardware timeline

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that keeps slipping.

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Avery: It's a very different position than where

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they were even five years ago. Right back

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when this was Richard Branson's company

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flying the original SpaceShipTwo on short

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hops. And everyone was comparing them

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directly to Blue Origin's New Shepard.

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Anna: Right. And that comparison's aged in an

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interesting way. Blue Origins had its own

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well documented hardware problems this year

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too. So it's not like Virgin Galactic's the

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only one whose timeline keeps slipping.

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Suborbital space tourism as a whole seems to

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be harder than everyone hoped across the

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board.

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Avery: Which? Building crewed spacecraft's always

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harder than everyone hoped. We'll cheque back

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in as February 2027 gets closer.

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Last one, Rocket Lab. Their new medium

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lift rocket, Neutron, is looking less and

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less likely to make its planned debut before

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the end of this year.

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Anna: How much of a slip are we talking?

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Avery: The company's now hedging pretty openly. This

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could push out of 2026 and into

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2027. It's the kind of narrowing

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window language that usually means don't hold

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your breath for December.

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Anna: Rocket development timelines name a more

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consistent disappointment, honestly.

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Avery: But and this is the fun contrast, in the same

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window, they announced a brand new 5 launch

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deal with Kepler Communications, who'll be

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flying payloads on Neutron once It does get

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off the ground,

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Anna: so customers are still betting on it even as

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the debut date wobbles.

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Avery: Exactly. And Rocket Lab's actually coming off

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a record revenue quarter, so the business

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overall is healthy. It's specifically

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Neutron's first flight that keeps sliding,

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right?

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Anna: Which to be fair, is basically the storey of

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every new orbital rocket ever built. Starship

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slipped for years, New Glenn slipped for

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years.

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Avery: Ariane 6 slipped for years,

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right?

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Anna: It's basically tradition at this point. We'll

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keep you posted on Neutron as we get closer

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to an actual launch date.

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Avery: For anyone not fully across it, Neutron's the

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reusable medium lift rocket Rocket Lab's been

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building to sit between their small electron

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rocket and the big players. Basically going

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head to head with Falcon 9 for the medium

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payload market, which

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Anna: is a pretty crowded lane to be entering late.

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Falcon 9's flying constantly and everyone

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from Blue Origin to the Chinese commercial

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players wants a piece of that market too.

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Avery: Exactly why deals like the Kepler

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communications one matter so much right now.

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Signing customers ahead of your first flight

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is basically a vote of confidence that Rocket

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Lab's execution track record with electron is

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enough to earn trust, even with Neutron

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itself still on the ground reputation

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Anna: doing some of the heavy lifting while the

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hardware catches up.

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Okay, that's our storeys for today. Quick

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recap the total solar eclipse over Greenland,

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Iceland and Spain gave millions of people a

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lizard brain moment on August 12.

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Astronomers found three supermassive black

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holes cozying up in one distant galaxy, two

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of them headed for a merger. Virgin

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Galactic's Delta class comeback flight has

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slipped to February 2027, and Rocket

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Lab's neutron rocket is picking up customers

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faster than it's picking up a launch date.

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Avery: If you enjoyed today's episode, the best

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thing you can do for us is leave a rating or

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review wherever you're listening and share

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00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.520
the episode with a fellow space nerd. You can

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find full show notes, sources and links for

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every storey we cover today at astronomydaily

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IO and find us on social media. We're

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astronomydailypod pretty much everywhere.

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Anna: We'll be back tomorrow with another episode.

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Until then, keep looking up.

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Avery: See you next time.