Betelgeuse Is Not Alone!

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.030
One of the most famous stars in the


00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:04.870
whole night sky has been keeping a


00:00:04.880 --> 00:00:07.110
secret for about a hundred years. And


00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.190
this week, a telescope in the Chilean


00:00:09.200 --> 00:00:11.509
desert finally caught it red-handed.


00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.470
Betaljuice, it turns out, is not alone.


00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.470
>> Also ahead, a black hole caught


00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.390
wandering the lonely outskirts of a


00:00:18.400 --> 00:00:20.950
galaxy, dreading a star tens of


00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:22.950
thousands of light years from where any


00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:24.790
black hole has a right to be.


00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:27.029
>> NASA's next great observatory gets its


00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.269
tank filled and a date on the calendar.


00:00:29.279 --> 00:00:31.349
And the little spacecraft sent to rescue


00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:33.670
an aging telescope suddenly needs


00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:36.389
rescuing itself. Good day and welcome to


00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:38.470
Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of


00:00:38.480 --> 00:00:40.950
space and astronomy news. I'm Avery


00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:43.670
>> and I'm Anna. It's Wednesday, the 29th


00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:46.069
of July. Four stories and a look at the


00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:47.910
sky from both hemispheres. Let's get


00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.150
into it. If you've ever looked up at


00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:53.029
Orion and from Sydney or Seattle, just


00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:55.110
about everyone has, you've seen


00:00:55.120 --> 00:00:57.830
tonight's star, Battlejuice. That deep


00:00:57.840 --> 00:00:59.590
orange point marking the hunter's


00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.310
shoulder. It's a red super giant roughly


00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.109
650 lighty years away and it is


00:01:05.119 --> 00:01:07.750
enormous. Drop it where our sun sits and


00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.070
it would swallow the orbit of Jupiter.


00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:12.469
>> And it's famous for misbehaving. It


00:01:12.479 --> 00:01:13.270
flickers.


00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:15.990
>> It does. Betal juice brightens and dims


00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.469
on a whole set of overlapping cycles.


00:01:18.479 --> 00:01:20.070
And people have been writing that down


00:01:20.080 --> 00:01:22.230
for more than a thousand years. But


00:01:22.240 --> 00:01:24.710
there's one rhythm in particular, a slow


00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:27.510
beat about 6 years long that astronomers


00:01:27.520 --> 00:01:29.830
have never been able to fully explain.


00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:32.710
And for almost a century, one idea kept


00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:35.109
coming back. What if Betel Juice has a


00:01:35.119 --> 00:01:38.149
companion, a second star orbiting close,


00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:39.350
tugging on it?


00:01:39.360 --> 00:01:41.190
>> The famous Battle Buddy.


00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.510
>> That's the affectionate nickname. Yes.


00:01:43.520 --> 00:01:46.230
The trouble is, nobody had ever seen it.


00:01:46.240 --> 00:01:48.550
And you can see why. Imagine trying to


00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.789
spot a candle sitting right next to a


00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.590
lighthouse. Betal juice is so blindingly


00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:56.389
bright and so physically huge that any


00:01:56.399 --> 00:01:58.469
little companion tucked in beside it


00:01:58.479 --> 00:02:00.870
just drowns in the glare. For a hundred


00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:03.190
years, it stayed a hypothesis.


00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.830
>> So what changed? a team led by Miguel


00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:08.070
Montaris at the Paris Observatory in


00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.270
Chile, the VLT, and an instrument called


00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:13.430
Sphere that's built for exactly this


00:02:13.440 --> 00:02:15.830
job, blocking out a bright star to hunt


00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.070
for faint things right beside it. And


00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.070
crucially, they picked their moment.


00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.949
They observed in December 2024 at the


00:02:22.959 --> 00:02:24.550
point in the orbit when the companion


00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:26.710
was predicted to swing out as far from


00:02:26.720 --> 00:02:28.949
Beetlejuice as it ever gets from seeing


00:02:28.959 --> 00:02:31.190
from Earth. Best possible chance to


00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:35.110
split the two apart. And there it was, a


00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.030
faint little source right where a


00:02:37.040 --> 00:02:39.350
companion should be. Their paper landed


00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:41.350
yesterday, the 28th of July, in the


00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:43.910
journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. And


00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:45.910
Montaris called it the end of a


00:02:45.920 --> 00:02:48.550
centurylong quest after a 100red years


00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:50.710
of arguing about it. We have a direct


00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:53.110
image of what is very likely Beetlejuice


00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:53.750
B.


00:02:53.760 --> 00:02:56.309
>> That gives me chills, honestly. A star


00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:57.670
that people have watched since


00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.350
antiquity, and we're still learning


00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.430
brand new things about it. And here's


00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:03.670
the lovely twist. The reason they could


00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.390
see it at all is that it surprised them.


00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.070
The companion was predicted to be


00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.390
roughly the mass of our sun, but the


00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.390
data say it's bigger than that.


00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.229
Something like 2 to three times the


00:03:14.239 --> 00:03:17.350
sun's mass. Montages put it beautifully.


00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:18.790
Because it's more massive than we


00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:20.630
expected, it's brighter than we


00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:23.030
expected. And that's the only reason it


00:03:23.040 --> 00:03:25.030
peaked out of the glare. If it had been


00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:26.949
as small as the textbook said, they


00:03:26.959 --> 00:03:29.430
might have missed it entirely. So, the


00:03:29.440 --> 00:03:31.350
companion did us a favor by being


00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.910
chunkier than advertised. What is it,


00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:35.910
though? Another super giant?


00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:38.550
>> No, nothing like Beetlejuice. Think of


00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.509
it as a young, hot, fairly ordinary


00:03:41.519 --> 00:03:44.070
star, but locked in a very awkward


00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.949
orbit. It appears to circle so close


00:03:46.959 --> 00:03:48.869
that it's essentially skimming through


00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:51.270
the outer puffed up layers of the super


00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:54.309
giant. And that has consequences. That


00:03:54.319 --> 00:03:56.949
orbit is almost certainly what paces


00:03:56.959 --> 00:03:59.270
that mysterious six-year brightness


00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.309
cycle, but it's also most likely a death


00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.309
sentence for the companion.


00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:05.830
>> Ooh, go on.


00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.229
>> Plowing through a super giant's outer


00:04:08.239 --> 00:04:11.110
atmosphere means constant drag. Every


00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.429
orbit, the little star loses a bit of


00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.229
energy, and models suggest it's slowly


00:04:16.239 --> 00:04:19.030
spiraling inward. On astronomical time


00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:21.749
scales, Beetlejuice is very likely to


00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:24.870
swallow its own companion. Not tomorrow.


00:04:24.880 --> 00:04:27.110
We're talking thousands of years. But


00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.830
the relationship is, let's say, not


00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:31.270
built to last.


00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:33.510
>> The lighthouse eats the candle.


00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:35.990
>> Eventually, yes. And this matters for


00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:38.390
the big question everyone actually wants


00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:40.710
answered about Beetlejuice. When is it


00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.430
going to explode? Because it will. It's


00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:45.990
an old massive star near the end of its


00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.550
life. And one day it will go supernova


00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:50.870
and briefly outshine everything in the


00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:54.070
night sky. Now before anyone emails us,


00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:56.629
that's expected on a time scale of up to


00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.350
100,000 years. So don't cancel your


00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.150
weekend. But whether a star has a close


00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.469
binary companion changes the whole


00:05:04.479 --> 00:05:07.110
picture. How it sheds mass, the shape of


00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.749
the gas around it, even the choreography


00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.550
of the explosion when it finally comes.


00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.029
Knowing Beetlejuice is a pair rewrites


00:05:15.039 --> 00:05:16.310
part of that story.


00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:18.550
>> And this was direct imaging, an actual


00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.390
picture, not just an inference from


00:05:20.400 --> 00:05:21.990
wobbles in the light.


00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.070
>> That's what makes it land. There had


00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:26.629
been circumstantial hints for years. But


00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.670
this is a direct detection. Light caught


00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:31.909
from the companion itself in the right


00:05:31.919 --> 00:05:34.070
place at the right time. It's the


00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:36.310
difference between the data suggest a


00:05:36.320 --> 00:05:39.270
second star and here it is. So, if you


00:05:39.280 --> 00:05:40.790
want to go and look at the star at the


00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.350
center of all this, Beetlejuice itself,


00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.510
where are we? Both hemispheres.


00:05:45.520 --> 00:05:48.390
>> Right now, Orion is a pre-dawn act. It's


00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:50.629
climbing back into the morning sky after


00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.029
being lost in the sun's glare. For our


00:05:53.039 --> 00:05:55.110
southern hemisphere listeners, Orion


00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.029
rides high in the northern part of the


00:05:57.039 --> 00:05:59.350
early morning sky, and it's upside down


00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.350
compared to the northern view. Look for


00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.070
Betalju as the bright orange star. from


00:06:04.080 --> 00:06:05.749
North America and mid-n northern


00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.590
latitudes. It's lower in the


00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.990
eastsoutheast before dawn, climbing


00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.150
higher each week as we head towards the


00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:14.230
northern winter. We'll come back to it


00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.710
properly in the skywatch. But next time


00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.510
you find it, just remember it's not one


00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:21.670
star. It never was.


00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:23.189
>> Now, from a star that's hiding a


00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.189
companion to a black hole that was


00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:28.710
hiding full stop. Anna, picture a super


00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:30.790
massive black hole. Where is it?


00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.950
>> Dead center of a galaxy. That's the


00:06:32.960 --> 00:06:35.590
rule. The big ones sit in the core.


00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.830
>> That's the rule. And this week, NASA's


00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:40.309
Swift Observatory helped break it.


00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.390
Astronomers announced a title disruption


00:06:42.400 --> 00:06:44.309
event. That's the technical name for a


00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:45.990
black hole tearing a star apart and


00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.469
eating it. And the flare it produced was


00:06:48.479 --> 00:06:51.110
blazing, briefly outshining its entire


00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.830
host galaxy in ultraviolet. Like 10


00:06:53.840 --> 00:06:56.710
billion sunsed on at once. But here's


00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.790
the thing. It didn't happen in the


00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:00.950
middle of the galaxy. It went off about


00:07:00.960 --> 00:07:04.070
30,000 lighty years out from the core.


00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:06.710
>> 30,000? That's not a rounding error.


00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.469
That's further from the center than the


00:07:08.479 --> 00:07:10.790
sun is from the middle of the Milky Way.


00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.589
That black hole is out in the suburbs.


00:07:13.599 --> 00:07:15.749
>> Way out in the suburbs. The events


00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:19.110
called TDE 2025ABC


00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.070
in a galaxy about 750 million lighty


00:07:22.080 --> 00:07:24.629
years away. and the teams, one led out


00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:26.870
of NASA and the University of Maryland,


00:07:26.880 --> 00:07:29.589
another from UNC Chapel Hill, published


00:07:29.599 --> 00:07:31.510
it on the 27th of July in the


00:07:31.520 --> 00:07:33.990
Astrophysical Journal Letters. It's the


00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.390
most offcenter title disruption ever


00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:38.950
seen. And what it reveals is a wandering


00:07:38.960 --> 00:07:40.950
black hole around a million times the


00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:42.950
mass of the sun, just roaming through


00:07:42.960 --> 00:07:45.430
its galaxy, nowhere near the core.


00:07:45.440 --> 00:07:47.830
>> How does a black hole end up out there?


00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:49.830
They don't exactly stroll.


00:07:49.840 --> 00:07:52.550
>> Best guess is a galaxy merger. When two


00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.629
galaxies collide and their central black


00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.029
holes get thrown together, one can get


00:07:57.039 --> 00:07:58.469
kicked out of the middle and left


00:07:58.479 --> 00:08:00.629
drifting. Theorists have predicted these


00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.950
wanderers for years. The problem is


00:08:02.960 --> 00:08:05.270
they're invisible. A black hole sitting


00:08:05.280 --> 00:08:07.990
quietly in the dark emits no light. You


00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.670
only ever catch one if it does something


00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:10.710
dramatic.


00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.550
>> Like grabbing a passing star and


00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:13.510
lighting up.


00:08:13.520 --> 00:08:15.990
>> Exactly. The star is the flash bulb. It


00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.309
wanders too close, gets shredded, and


00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.550
for a few weeks, the wreckage glows and


00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.710
gives the whole thing away. That's the


00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:24.469
only reason we know this black hole is


00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:25.510
there at all.


00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:27.830
>> And there's a lovely modern wrinkle to


00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:29.589
how they found it, isn't there? This


00:08:29.599 --> 00:08:32.389
wasn't a human squinting at plate.


00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:34.389
>> Not a chance. The sky is too big for


00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:36.389
that now. The initial flare was picked


00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:39.269
up back in November 2025 by a survey at


00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.750
Palomar in California that scans the


00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:43.670
whole northern sky every couple of


00:08:43.680 --> 00:08:45.990
nights. It throws up something like half


00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.630
a million flashes every single night.


00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:50.949
So, the team trained an AI to sift that


00:08:50.959 --> 00:08:53.110
fire hose and flag the ones that look


00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.590
like a tidal disruption. And it caught


00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.509
this one precisely because it was in a


00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.750
weird place, off in the outskirts where


00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:02.230
nobody would have thought to look. Swift


00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.550
followed up to nail down the details.


00:09:04.560 --> 00:09:06.389
>> And that's the taste of what's coming


00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.870
right once the big new survey telescopes


00:09:08.880 --> 00:09:11.190
are running. That's the real headline


00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.190
under the headline. With observatories


00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:15.430
like the Vera Rubin Observatory and


00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.389
UNC's Argus Array coming online, we go


00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.470
from finding a handful of these a year


00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:23.110
to potentially hundreds or thousands.


00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:24.949
And suddenly all those invisible


00:09:24.959 --> 00:09:27.269
wandering black holes become findable.


00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.110
We're about to start taking a census of


00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.670
the galaxy's hidden monsters. And keep


00:09:31.680 --> 00:09:33.190
SWIP in mind, by the way,


00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.030
>> because it's going to come back to bite


00:09:35.040 --> 00:09:36.470
us later in the show.


00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:38.870
>> It is. Hold that thought. Speaking of


00:09:38.880 --> 00:09:40.790
survey telescopes about to change the


00:09:40.800 --> 00:09:43.430
game, let's talk about one that's now


00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.310
genuinely nearly on the launchpad.


00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.870
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space


00:09:48.880 --> 00:09:51.430
Telescope. Because as of this week, it


00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:53.590
is fueled and counting down.


00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.990
>> Fueled. That's a real milestone. That's


00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.070
not a slide in a presentation. That's


00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.750
propellant in the tank.


00:09:59.760 --> 00:10:02.870
>> Precisely. On the 25th of July, teams at


00:10:02.880 --> 00:10:06.230
Kennedy loaded around 290 gallons of


00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.550
hydrosine into the observatory. That's


00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:11.030
the fuel it'll use to hold its position


00:10:11.040 --> 00:10:13.110
and point with real precision once it's


00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.670
out there. And NASA is holding its big


00:10:15.680 --> 00:10:18.389
mission preview briefing today, exactly


00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.030
1 month out from launch. The date to


00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:23.590
circle is the 30th of August. And


00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.150
remarkably, that's about 8 months ahead


00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:28.389
of the original schedule. A NASA


00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.710
flagship running early and as I


00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:32.949
understand it on budget. Let the record


00:10:32.959 --> 00:10:34.630
show it can be done.


00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:37.670
>> It can. And here's why Roman is worth


00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:39.750
the excitement. Think of it as a


00:10:39.760 --> 00:10:42.150
telescope with Hubble quality sharpness,


00:10:42.160 --> 00:10:45.190
but a jaw-droppingly wide field of view.


00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:47.430
Something like 100 times the patch of


00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:50.470
sky Hubble sees in a single shot. NASA's


00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.870
estimate is that in its first 5 years,


00:10:52.880 --> 00:10:55.269
it could image more than 50 times as


00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.310
much sky as Hubble has in 30. It's built


00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.550
to survey fast and wide.


00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:02.710
>> And what's that actually hunting?


00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.069
>> Two headline jobs. One, dark energy, the


00:11:06.079 --> 00:11:08.230
mystery pushing the universe apart


00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.030
faster and faster. Roman will map how


00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:13.590
cosmic structure has grown over billions


00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.550
of years to pin down what dark energy is


00:11:16.560 --> 00:11:19.190
actually doing. And two, this is the one


00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.710
I love. It's an exoplanet machine. Using


00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.430
a trick called microlensing, Roman is


00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.470
expected to find more than 100,000 new


00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:30.710
planets and to catch hundreds of others


00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:33.350
in the very act of forming around young


00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:34.550
stars.


00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:36.310
>> 100,000.


00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:38.550
We do a story most weeks about one


00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:40.630
interesting new planet, and Roman's


00:11:40.640 --> 00:11:43.190
going to hand us 100,000.


00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.069
>> It really might reset the whole field.


00:11:46.079 --> 00:11:48.150
And this is genuinely for everyone


00:11:48.160 --> 00:11:50.550
listening. Wherever you are, it's a


00:11:50.560 --> 00:11:52.790
space telescope, though. There's no


00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:55.110
hemisphere that misses out. The whole


00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.150
planet shares this one. One month to go.


00:11:58.160 --> 00:12:00.470
Fingers crossed for the 30th of August.


00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.310
Right. I told you Swift would come back


00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.269
around. In story 2, Swift was the hero,


00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.190
the observatory that helped us catch


00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.150
that wandering black hole. Well, here's


00:12:10.160 --> 00:12:12.949
this thing in the tale. Swift itself is


00:12:12.959 --> 00:12:15.430
in trouble and the spacecraft sent to


00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.829
save it is now in trouble too.


00:12:17.839 --> 00:12:20.710
>> Set it up. Why does Swift need saving in


00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:21.750
the first place?


00:12:21.760 --> 00:12:23.829
>> Because Swift is falling. It's a


00:12:23.839 --> 00:12:25.430
fantastic gamma ray and X-ray


00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:27.190
observatory that's been working since


00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:30.470
2004, but it has no engine of its own.


00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.949
No way to boost its own orbit. And its


00:12:32.959 --> 00:12:34.790
orbit has been decaying faster than


00:12:34.800 --> 00:12:36.949
expected. partly because heightened


00:12:36.959 --> 00:12:39.190
solar activity puffs up the upper


00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:41.750
atmosphere and increases the drag. Left


00:12:41.760 --> 00:12:43.590
alone, Swift is looking at an


00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.670
uncontrolled re-entry by around the end


00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:46.870
of this year.


00:12:46.880 --> 00:12:50.069
>> So, it burns up unless someone goes up


00:12:50.079 --> 00:12:51.590
and gives it a push,


00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:53.910
>> which is exactly the plan. A company


00:12:53.920 --> 00:12:56.629
called Catalyst Space Technologies built


00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:58.790
a robotic servicing spacecraft named


00:12:58.800 --> 00:13:01.590
Link. And NASA hired them for what its


00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.590
own mission director called a fast,


00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.710
high-risk, highreward rescue. Link


00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.629
launched on the 3rd of July. And the


00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.910
goal is genuinely a first, to fly up,


00:13:11.920 --> 00:13:14.550
grab hold of Swift, a satellite that was


00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:16.310
never designed to be docked with or


00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.949
serviced, and physically boosted into a


00:13:18.959 --> 00:13:21.750
higher, safer orbit. Nobody has ever


00:13:21.760 --> 00:13:23.430
commercially docked with a government


00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.670
spacecraft that wasn't built for it.


00:13:25.680 --> 00:13:28.710
>> That's ambitious. So, what's gone wrong?


00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.710
>> Over the weekend, Link ran into an


00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:32.790
attitude control problem and started


00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:34.790
spinning with its communications


00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:37.430
dropping in and out. According to NASA's


00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.750
update, and I want to be precise here


00:13:39.760 --> 00:13:41.750
because this is developing, the


00:13:41.760 --> 00:13:43.670
preliminary finding is that two of


00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:45.829
Link's three reaction wheels are no


00:13:45.839 --> 00:13:47.910
longer working, and there's some loss of


00:13:47.920 --> 00:13:49.990
function in its cold gas thruster system


00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:50.949
as well.


00:13:50.959 --> 00:13:53.269
>> Reaction wheels, those are the spinning


00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.670
wheels inside a spacecraft that let it


00:13:55.680 --> 00:13:58.790
turn and hold steady without using fuel.


00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:01.430
Lose those and you lose fine control of


00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:02.870
which way you're pointing.


00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:05.189
>> That's the one. And losing two of three


00:14:05.199 --> 00:14:07.430
is serious, especially because there was


00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.509
already a wobble with one wheel earlier


00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.189
in commissioning that they patched in


00:14:11.199 --> 00:14:13.829
software. The good news, Link is not


00:14:13.839 --> 00:14:16.069
lost. It's still powered, still in


00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:18.389
contact, and its other major systems are


00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.710
behaving. The team's plan is to use


00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:23.030
Link's electric thrusters, its xenon


00:14:23.040 --> 00:14:25.350
propulsion, to stop the spin over the


00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.990
next few days, then reestablish stable


00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:29.990
pointing, update the spacecraft's


00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.750
guidance and navigation to work around


00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:34.550
the dead hardware, and only then sit


00:14:34.560 --> 00:14:36.470
down with NASA and decide whether it's


00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.470
still safe to attempt the approach and


00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.069
capture of Swift.


00:14:40.079 --> 00:14:43.030
>> So, the rescue isn't cancelled. It's on


00:14:43.040 --> 00:14:44.710
hold while they figure out if the


00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.269
rescuer can still do the job.


00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.269
>> That's exactly it. And I'll flag for


00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.750
everyone, this is a live situation as of


00:14:51.760 --> 00:14:53.750
when we're recording. By the time you


00:14:53.760 --> 00:14:55.509
hear this, the team may already have


00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.829
stopped to spin, or the picture may have


00:14:57.839 --> 00:15:00.230
changed again. But step back and look at


00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.230
the shape of it. The same little


00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.230
observatory that just helped us find an


00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.550
invisible black hole halfway across the


00:15:06.560 --> 00:15:09.110
universe is now clinging on in low Earth


00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.949
orbit, waiting to see if its own


00:15:10.959 --> 00:15:12.949
lifeboat can limp over and give it a


00:15:12.959 --> 00:15:15.829
shove. Base is hard. Even the rescue


00:15:15.839 --> 00:15:18.150
missions need rescuing. We'll keep you


00:15:18.160 --> 00:15:20.470
posted as that one develops. And that


00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.629
brings us to the sky over the next few


00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.030
nights. And there's one thing you cannot


00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:27.269
miss because it's going to be lighting


00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:30.069
up the whole night. The moon.


00:15:30.079 --> 00:15:31.590
>> The full buck moon.


00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.310
>> The full buck moon. Full tonight, the


00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.990
29th, and near enough to 100% lit for a


00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.550
couple of nights either side. Gorgeous


00:15:40.560 --> 00:15:42.870
to look at as it climbs the eastern sky


00:15:42.880 --> 00:15:45.990
after sunset. But it is a flood light


00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.550
and that shapes everything else we can


00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:50.470
and can't do this week.


00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:51.990
>> Starting with the meteors because there


00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.389
are three showers on the go at once.


00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.470
>> There are and this is where our two


00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:58.870
hemispheres genuinely differ. The


00:15:58.880 --> 00:16:00.949
headline shower right now is the


00:16:00.959 --> 00:16:03.670
southern delta Aquarius peaking over the


00:16:03.680 --> 00:16:05.749
next couple of nights. And the clue is


00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.150
in the name. For our southern hemisphere


00:16:08.160 --> 00:16:11.189
listeners, this one's yours. The radiant


00:16:11.199 --> 00:16:13.509
over near the bright star Fomalhout


00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:15.910
rides high almost overhead in the


00:16:15.920 --> 00:16:18.949
pre-dawn hours. So from Australia, New


00:16:18.959 --> 00:16:21.430
Zealand, and Southern Africa, you're in


00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.670
the best seats on Earth for it.


00:16:23.680 --> 00:16:25.110
>> And for the north,


00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.430
>> from North America, it's lower and


00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:29.590
stingier, though observers in the


00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:31.670
southern United States still get a fair


00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:34.389
look. Best window everywhere is the


00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.670
couple of hours before dawn. But big


00:16:37.680 --> 00:16:40.550
caveat this year, that brilliant moon is


00:16:40.560 --> 00:16:42.629
going to wash out most of the faint


00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.910
delta Aquar. So temper expectations.


00:16:45.920 --> 00:16:47.590
>> If the faint ones are drowned out,


00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.269
what's worth staying up for?


00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.150
>> The fireballs. The alpha Capricornids


00:16:52.160 --> 00:16:54.470
are active at the same time. They're


00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.189
sparse, only a handful an hour, but they


00:16:57.199 --> 00:17:00.150
specialize in slow, brilliant fireballs,


00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:01.670
bright enough to punch through


00:17:01.680 --> 00:17:04.630
moonlight. And unlike the Delta Aquar,


00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.270
the Capricornids play fair. They're just


00:17:07.280 --> 00:17:09.829
as good from either hemisphere. So the


00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.470
tip for everyone this week, don't chase


00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.590
quantity. Get comfortable, be patient,


00:17:15.600 --> 00:17:18.870
and wait for one big slow fireball to


00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:19.990
make your night.


00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:21.990
>> And the shower everyone's really waiting


00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:22.789
for,


00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.270
>> the Perciads. And here's the good news


00:17:25.280 --> 00:17:27.990
to hold on to. They're building now, but


00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.310
they peak on the night of the 12th into


00:17:30.320 --> 00:17:33.029
the 13th of August. And this year, the


00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.909
timing is close to perfect. The peak


00:17:35.919 --> 00:17:39.270
lands right on the new moon. Dark skies,


00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:41.669
no moonlight, potentially the best


00:17:41.679 --> 00:17:44.150
perciads in years. They favor the


00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.470
northern hemisphere, but midsouthern


00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.110
latitudes will catch some, too. Market,


00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:51.270
the night of the 12th of August is the


00:17:51.280 --> 00:17:52.789
one to keep clear.


00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.789
>> And that same date is a big one for


00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.990
another reason. It is a total solar


00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.310
eclipse on the 12th of August with the


00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:02.950
path of totality crossing Greenland,


00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:05.510
Iceland, and a slice of Spain and a


00:18:05.520 --> 00:18:07.830
partial eclipse visible across much of


00:18:07.840 --> 00:18:10.390
Europe and parts of North America. We'll


00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:12.870
have full timings closer to the day. And


00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.590
the one rule that never changes wherever


00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:18.070
you are, never look at the partial


00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:20.549
phases of a solar eclipse without


00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:26.390
certified eclipse glasses. ISO12312-2


00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:29.029
or a properly filtered telescope.


00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.350
Ordinary sunglasses will not protect


00:18:31.360 --> 00:18:35.029
your eyes. That safety line stays in. No


00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:36.230
exceptions.


00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.390
>> One quick planet note before we wrap the


00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:39.190
sky.


00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:42.150
>> Yes. Say goodbye to Jupiter for a little


00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.510
while. Today, the 29th, Jupiter reaches


00:18:45.520 --> 00:18:48.310
solar conjunction. It's passing almost


00:18:48.320 --> 00:18:50.390
directly behind the sun from our point


00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.950
of view. So, it's lost in the glare and


00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.110
out of action for the next few weeks.


00:18:55.120 --> 00:18:57.669
It'll creep back as a pre-dawn object


00:18:57.679 --> 00:19:00.630
later in August. And for early risers,


00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.029
Mercury is putting on its best morning


00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.110
showing of the season, low in the


00:19:05.120 --> 00:19:06.630
pre-dawn east.


00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.390
>> And we have to close the loop on our


00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:09.510
lead story.


00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:12.390
>> We do. If you're up before dawn chasing


00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.110
those meteors, look for Orion climbing


00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:17.909
in the east and find Beetlejuice, that


00:19:17.919 --> 00:19:20.070
bright orange shoulder. From the


00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:21.990
southern hemisphere, it's high in the


00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.390
northern sky and flipped over. From the


00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.390
north, it's lower in the east before


00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.669
sunrise. Either way, give it a nod. You


00:19:29.679 --> 00:19:31.990
now know something about that star that


00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.710
nobody knew for a hundred years. It's


00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.150
got a companion.


00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.150
>> Before we go, a bit of proper news from


00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.230
our end. We've just launched the brand


00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.070
new home for the show, astronomyaily.io.


00:19:44.080 --> 00:19:46.630
>> Same address you already know, but it's


00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:48.630
had a complete makeover, and there's a


00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.190
lot there now. You can stream the entire


00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.669
back catalog every episode. There's a


00:19:53.679 --> 00:19:55.669
news feed that updates continuously


00:19:55.679 --> 00:19:57.350
through the day, so you can keep up with


00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:59.510
the latest space and astronomy headlines


00:19:59.520 --> 00:20:01.909
between episodes. You can read listener


00:20:01.919 --> 00:20:03.830
reviews and leave one of your own. And


00:20:03.840 --> 00:20:06.230
you can sign up for our daily space news


00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:08.150
newsletter to get it all straight to


00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.190
your inbox.


00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.110
>> And there's a spot to drop us a line,


00:20:11.120 --> 00:20:13.190
questions, suggestions, a story you


00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.029
think we've missed, or just to say good


00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:16.549
day. We read them.


00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:18.710
>> It's brand new, so we genuinely love


00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:20.310
your feedback on it. Head to


00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:22.150
astronomyaily.io.


00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:24.070
Have a wander around and tell us what


00:20:24.080 --> 00:20:25.830
you think, what you love, what you'd


00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:28.230
change. Help us make it yours.


00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.390
>> That's Astronomy Daily for Wednesday,


00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:33.350
29th of July. Beetlejuice's hundred-year


00:20:33.360 --> 00:20:35.510
secret, a black hole in the wrong part


00:20:35.520 --> 00:20:37.990
of town, Roman on the clock, and a


00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.149
rescue mission holding its breath.


00:20:40.159 --> 00:20:41.590
Thanks for spending part of your day


00:20:41.600 --> 00:20:43.590
with us. Look after each other and


00:20:43.600 --> 00:20:45.990
whichever hemisphere you're in. Clear


00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:57.990
skies.


00:20:58.000 --> 00:21:01.720
Stories told.