Blue Origin’s Latest Milestone, Sharper Black Hole Images, and Titan’s Dragonfly Mission
Highlights:
- Blue Origin's Latest Milestone: Join us as we celebrate Blue Origin's successful 12th crewed suborbital mission aboard the New Shepard, where space tourists experienced the breathtaking views of Earth and the sensation of weightlessness. This achievement marks another step forward in commercial space tourism, showcasing the reusable capabilities of the New Shepard vehicle.
- Unprecedented Black Hole Imaging: Dive into the groundbreaking results from the Event Horizon Telescope, which has captured the sharpest images of black holes ever seen from Earth. With enhanced resolution at 345 GHz, scientists can now observe the behaviours of supermassive black holes in unprecedented detail, revealing insights into their magnetic environments and the dynamics surrounding them.
- Spectacular Aurora Displays: Discover the stunning auroras that lit up the skies across North America and beyond, triggered by a powerful coronal mass ejection. This event created breathtaking light shows, visible as far south as Sandy Kaye, and even delighted observers in New Zealand with vibrant displays of the Aurora Australis.
- NASA's Dragonfly Mission to Titan: Journey with us as we look ahead to NASA's upcoming Dragonfly mission, set to launch in July 2028. This revolutionary nuclear-powered rotorcraft will explore Titan, Saturn's largest moon, investigating its unique methane-rich environment and the chemical processes that may shed light on the origins of life.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io (
http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:10 - Blue Origin's latest milestone
10:00 - Unprecedented black hole imaging
15:30 - Spectacular aurora displays
20:00 - NASA's Dragonfly mission to Titan
✍️ Episode References
Blue Origin Updates
[Blue Origin](
https://www.blueorigin.com/
(
https://www.blueorigin.com/)
)
Event Horizon Telescope Findings
[Event Horizon Telescope](
https://eventhorizontelescope.org/
(
https://eventhorizontelescope.org/)
)
Aurora Reports
[NOAA Space Weather](
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/
(
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/)
)
Dragonfly Mission Details
[NASA Dragonfly](
https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly
(
https://www.nasa.gov/dragonfly)
)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](
http://www.astronomydaily.io/
(
http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
)
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Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/27425044?utm_source=youtube
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:10 - Blue Origin’s latest milestone
10:00 - Unprecedented black hole imaging
Kind: captions
Language: en
00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.389
Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
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your go-to podcast for the latest
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discoveries and developments in the
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cosmos. I'm your host, Anna, and we've
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got a great lineup of space news for you
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today. Coming up, we'll blast off with
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details of Blue Origin's latest
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achievement. Then, prepare to have your
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mind blown as we dive into
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groundbreaking black hole images that
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are the sharpest ever captured from
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Earth. We'll also explore the
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spectacular aurora displays that lit up
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skies across North America and beyond.
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And finally, we'll journey to the
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mysterious world of Titan as we look
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ahead to NASA's fascinating Dragonfly
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mission. So, strap in and prepare for
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liftoff as we explore today's top
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stories from across the
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universe. Blue Origin has once again
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reached for the stars with their New
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Shepard vehicle, successfully completing
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their 12th crude suborbital mission.
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The spacecraft carried a full complement
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of space tourists to the edge of our
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atmosphere where they experienced the
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breathtaking views of our planet and the
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unforgettable sensation of
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weightlessness. This latest flight
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represents another milestone for Jeff
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Bezos's space company as they continue
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to establish themselves as leaders in
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the commercial space tourism industry.
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The new Shepard vehicle, named after
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Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, follows
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a fully autonomous flight profile,
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carrying passengers in a capsule that
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detaches from its booster rocket before
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both components return separately to
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Earth. The reusable nature of New
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Shepard continues to demonstrate Blue
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Origin's commitment to more sustainable
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space travel with the booster making a
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controlled powered landing while the
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passenger capsule gently descends under
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parachutes. This mission further
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cementss Blue Origin's growing track
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record of reliable suborbital flights,
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providing more civilians the rare
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opportunity to experience the overview
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effect, that profound shift in
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perspective that astronauts describe
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when seeing Earth from space for the
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first
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time. Now, this next story is pretty
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cool. In a major breakthrough for
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astronomy, scientists using the Event
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Horizon Telescope have captured the
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sharpest images ever of distant black
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holes from Earth. These remarkable new
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observations employed light at a
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frequency of 345 gigahertz, allowing
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researchers to peer deeper into the
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regions surrounding black holes with
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unprecedented clarity. This achievement
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represents a significant leap forward
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from their previous work at 230 GHz with
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the shorter wavelength providing
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approximately 50% sharper resolution
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around 14 microarch seconds.
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To put this in perspective, that's like
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being able to see a donut on the surface
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of the moon from Earth. The Event
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Horizon Telescope isn't a single
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instrument, but rather a global network
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of radio telescopes working in perfect
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synchronization. Using a powerful
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technique called very long baseline
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interferometry, scientists effectively
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created a virtual telescope the size of
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our planet. By combining signals from
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observatories scattered across Earth,
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they've achieved imaging capabilities
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far beyond what any single telescope
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could accomplish. Among the most studied
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targets are the super massive black hole
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at the center of galaxy M87 and
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Sagittarius A star, the black hole at
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the heart of our own Milky Way. With
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this enhanced resolution, researchers
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can now observe how light bends near
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these cosmic giants with remarkable
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detail, potentially revealing subtle
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behaviors that were previously
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invisible. The technical challenges
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involved were immense. At 345 GHz,
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atmospheric water vapor heavily absorbs
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radio waves, significantly weakening
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signals from distant black holes. To
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overcome this, the EHT team expanded
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their bandwidth and carefully selected
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high altitude observation sites like the
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Atakama largem submillimeter array in
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Chile and the submillimeter array in
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Hawaii where atmospheric interference is
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minimized.
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This advancement opens exciting new
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possibilities. Scientists can now study
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polarized light around black holes with
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greater precision, providing insights
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into their magnetic environments. The
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reduced effects of Faraday rotation, a
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phenomenon that alters light's electric
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field orientation, allows for clearer
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observations of magnetic field
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structures. Perhaps most thrilling is
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the potential to create time-lapse
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movies of black hole environments
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showing material moving around the event
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horizon in near real time. For
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Sagittarius, a star, which has a dynamic
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time scale of about 200 seconds.
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Simultaneous observations at multiple
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wavelengths could soon allow scientists
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to watch the cosmic dance of matter as
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it spirals toward the point of no
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return. This groundbreaking advancement
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in black hole imaging technology is set
00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:44.150
to revolutionize our understanding of
00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.270
these cosmic giants. With the successful
00:04:47.280 --> 00:04:50.550
345 gigahertz observations, scientists
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.230
are now on the cusp of creating
00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:55.510
something truly remarkable. Time-lapse
00:04:55.520 --> 00:04:57.510
movies of black hole environments that
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would show us the dynamic nature of
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these extreme regions in unprecedented
00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.710
detail. For M7's black hole, which
00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:06.950
evolves over a longer period of about 3
00:05:06.960 --> 00:05:09.749
days, researchers could combine images
00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:11.990
collected over consecutive observation
00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.189
sessions to construct detailed
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visualizations of its active
00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:18.870
surroundings. These time-lapse sequences
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would reveal how matter behaves as it
00:05:20.960 --> 00:05:22.710
approaches the event horizon,
00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:24.390
potentially showing the formation and
00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:26.629
evolution of jets that extend thousands
00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.510
of light years into space. Beyond the
00:05:29.520 --> 00:05:31.590
well-known black holes at M87 and
00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:33.909
Sagittarius A star, the improved
00:05:33.919 --> 00:05:36.070
resolution enables detailed studies of
00:05:36.080 --> 00:05:38.070
active galactic nuclei jets with
00:05:38.080 --> 00:05:40.629
unprecedented precision. Researchers can
00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.390
now investigate phenomena like limb
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brightening, where jets appear brighter
00:05:44.400 --> 00:05:46.710
near their edges, and study how these
00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:48.870
massive energy beams form and accelerate
00:05:48.880 --> 00:05:51.830
across vast cosmic distances. Perhaps
00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:53.430
most exciting is the potential for
00:05:53.440 --> 00:05:55.830
multi-frequency synthesis, a technique
00:05:55.840 --> 00:05:57.390
that combines data from different
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frequencies to map black hole
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:01.710
environments in exquisite detail over
00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.230
time. For our galaxy's central black
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:06.230
hole, this could provide real-time
00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:07.790
glimpses into its turbulent
00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:10.070
surroundings, capturing momentby-moment
00:06:10.080 --> 00:06:12.189
changes near the event
00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.950
horizon. Did you happen to see this?
00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:16.390
Earth has been putting on quite a show
00:06:16.400 --> 00:06:19.110
lately. A powerful coronal mass ejection
00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:20.950
struck our planet headon in the early
00:06:20.960 --> 00:06:23.270
hours of June 1, triggering one of the
00:06:23.280 --> 00:06:25.270
most spectacular aurora displays in
00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:27.749
recent memory. The CME originated from
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an M8.2 class solar flare that erupted
00:06:30.880 --> 00:06:33.430
on May 30 and raced toward Earth at a
00:06:33.440 --> 00:06:35.469
staggering speed of nearly
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1,938
00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.110
km/s. That's about 4.3 million
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mph. When this massive burst of solar
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energy collided with Earth's magnetic
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:46.790
field, it triggered what scientists
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.270
classify as a severe G4 geomagnetic
00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:52.950
storm. This intense disturbance in our
00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:55.110
planet's magneettosphere created
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.350
breathtaking auroras that were visible
00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.270
much farther south than usual,
00:06:59.280 --> 00:07:01.110
delighting skygazers across North
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America. The severity of this particular
00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.830
storm meant that aurora chasers were
00:07:05.840 --> 00:07:08.550
treated to spectacular displays even in
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regions where such sightings are
00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:13.110
extremely rare. Terry Griffin captured
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beautiful aurora pillars in St. George,
00:07:14.960 --> 00:07:17.189
Kansas, noting that the white pillars
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were strikingly visible to the naked
00:07:18.960 --> 00:07:22.150
eye. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, sky watchers
00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.309
reported brilliant curtains of green and
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purple light dancing across the night
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sky. Perhaps most remarkable were the
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sightings from places like Farmington,
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New Mexico, where photographer Derek
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Wilson captured a stunning timelapse of
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the northern lights. Wilson explained
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that visible auroras this far south are
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such a rare occurrence that he knew he
00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.029
had to get far from city lights when he
00:07:45.039 --> 00:07:47.510
saw the solar storm data. Most
00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:49.270
astonishingly, the light show was
00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:51.430
confirmed as visible on webcams as far
00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:53.830
south as San Diego, California. An
00:07:53.840 --> 00:07:55.270
extremely unusual occurrence that
00:07:55.280 --> 00:07:56.710
highlights just how powerful this
00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:59.749
GeForce storm truly was. The Southern
00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:01.350
Hemisphere wasn't left out of this
00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.670
extraordinary light show. Sky Watchers
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:04.950
in New Zealand were treated to
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spectacular displays of the Aurora
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.990
Australas with vibrant red and pink hues
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.309
illuminating night skies. The crimson
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and magenta hues that dominated many
00:08:14.400 --> 00:08:16.869
southern hemisphere sightings created an
00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.110
almost otherworldly atmosphere
00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:20.469
distinctly different from the
00:08:20.479 --> 00:08:23.029
predominantly green curtains often seen
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in the north. In Australia, the Aurora
00:08:26.479 --> 00:08:28.469
Australas made a dramatic appearance
00:08:28.479 --> 00:08:30.710
over Victoria. The aurora was
00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:32.790
particularly impressive over Tasmania
00:08:32.800 --> 00:08:34.790
with observers in Queenstown reporting
00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:37.350
some of the most vibrant displays. The
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:39.509
rugged landscape provided a striking
00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:42.230
foreground to the cosmic light show with
00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.190
red and pink aurora reflections visible
00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:47.430
in the still waters of lakes and bays
00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:49.829
across the region. What makes these
00:08:49.839 --> 00:08:52.310
sightings especially remarkable is their
00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:54.550
rarity. While northern lights are
00:08:54.560 --> 00:08:56.230
occasionally visible in the northern
00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:58.630
United States, seeing auroras from
00:08:58.640 --> 00:09:00.470
places like San Diego or central
00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.509
Australia is extraordinarily uncommon,
00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:05.670
requiring exceptionally powerful
00:09:05.680 --> 00:09:09.389
geomagnetic storms like this G4
00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.829
event. Now, let's turn our attention to
00:09:11.839 --> 00:09:13.590
a mission that will take us to one of
00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.829
the most fascinating worlds in our solar
00:09:15.839 --> 00:09:17.269
system.
00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:18.870
NASA is preparing to launch the
00:09:18.880 --> 00:09:20.949
Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan
00:09:20.959 --> 00:09:25.030
in July 2028 using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy
00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:27.030
rocket to send this revolutionary
00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:29.670
spacecraft on its six-year journey.
00:09:29.680 --> 00:09:31.990
Titan is unlike any world we've explored
00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.389
before. It's the only moon in our solar
00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.710
system with a thick atmosphere, and its
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:38.790
surface is dotted with methane rivers,
00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:41.350
lakes, and seas. This methane rich
00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:43.509
environment has scientists excited
00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.190
because they believe Titan resembles
00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:47.110
what Earth may have looked like billions
00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:49.590
of years ago before life transformed our
00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:52.230
planet's chemistry. What makes Dragonfly
00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.630
truly revolutionary is its design.
00:09:54.640 --> 00:09:56.949
Rather than a traditional rover, NASA
00:09:56.959 --> 00:09:59.590
has created a nuclearpowered roercraft,
00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.670
essentially a science drone that can fly
00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:03.829
from location to location across Titan's
00:10:03.839 --> 00:10:06.550
surface. This mobility will allow it to
00:10:06.560 --> 00:10:08.230
cover hundreds of kilometers during its
00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.710
mission, exploring diverse landscapes
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:13.190
that would be impossible to reach with a
00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.590
wheeled vehicle. The principal
00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.350
investigator, Zibby Turtle from John's
00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.590
Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory,
00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.590
explains that Dragonfly isn't searching
00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.630
for current life on Titan. Instead, it's
00:10:24.640 --> 00:10:26.389
investigating the chemical processes
00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.790
that might have preceded life on Earth.
00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:31.910
Since Titan is so cold, about 144
00:10:31.920 --> 00:10:34.550
degrees C below zero, any chemical
00:10:34.560 --> 00:10:36.389
reactions occur much more slowly than
00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.310
they would on Earth, effectively
00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.110
preserving evidence of prebiotic
00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:42.389
chemistry. One of Dragonflyy's prime
00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.110
destinations is Sulk Crater, a massive
00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.990
90 km wide impact site. Scientists
00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.069
believe this ancient asteroid impact may
00:10:50.079 --> 00:10:52.069
have temporarily melted Titan's icy
00:10:52.079 --> 00:10:54.470
crust, creating a warm pool of liquid
00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.870
water mixed with organic compounds,
00:10:56.880 --> 00:10:59.430
essentially a prebiotic soup, similar to
00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.230
what might have spawned life on early
00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:04.230
Earth. By studying Titan, scientists
00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:05.990
hope to answer fundamental questions
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.790
about how life begins. Is the path from
00:11:08.800 --> 00:11:11.030
chemistry to biology universal,
00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:13.269
following the same pattern everywhere?
00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:15.269
Or was Earth's development of life a
00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.269
cosmic coincidence?
00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.350
It's essentially a longunning chemical
00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.150
experiment, explains Sarah H, a
00:11:22.160 --> 00:11:24.389
Dragonfly co-investigator. That's why
00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.470
Titan is exciting. It's a natural
00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:27.910
version of our origin of life
00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:29.910
experiments, except it's been running
00:11:29.920 --> 00:11:33.069
much longer and on a planetary
00:11:33.079 --> 00:11:35.990
scale. Well, what an incredible journey
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.430
around our cosmic neighborhood we've
00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.430
taken today. From witnessing Blue
00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.030
Origin's continued progress in
00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:43.110
commercial space flight to marveling at
00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.870
the sharpest black hole images ever
00:11:44.880 --> 00:11:46.630
captured from Earth.
00:11:46.640 --> 00:11:48.630
This has been Anna hosting Astronomy
00:11:48.640 --> 00:11:50.630
Daily. If you'd like to keep up with all
00:11:50.640 --> 00:11:52.630
the latest space and astronomy news,
00:11:52.640 --> 00:11:54.430
visit our website at
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:56.310
astronomydaily.io where our newsfeed
00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.790
updates constantly. You can also follow
00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:00.389
us on social media by searching for
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Astro Daily Pod on Facebook X, YouTube,
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Tik Tok. Until next time, keep looking
00:12:07.040 --> 00:12:17.310
up.
00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:20.830
Oh, the stories were told.
00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:27.389
[Music]