June 29, 2026

Bow and Arrow Galaxy Discovered, Hayabusa2’s Daring Asteroid Flyby, and Mars’ Geological Secrets...

Bow and Arrow Galaxy Discovered, Hayabusa2’s Daring Asteroid Flyby, and Mars’ Geological Secrets...
Bow and Arrow Galaxy Discovered, Hayabusa2’s Daring Asteroid Flyby, and Mars’ Geological Secrets...
Space News Today
Bow and Arrow Galaxy Discovered, Hayabusa2’s Daring Asteroid Flyby, and Mars’ Geological Secrets...

Astronomy Daily S05E127 | Monday, June 29, 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod In today's episode: RAD-BAARG — The Bow-and-Arrow Galaxy A citizen scientist scanning LOFAR radio telescope data spotted a galaxy like nothing seen in 25 years — RAD-BAARG stretches 1.8 million light-years and shows what may be the clearest radio signature of a giant cosmic bow shock ever observed. Published June 22 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Hayabusa2 Flyby — One Week Away Japan's Hayabusa2# spacecraft is set to fly past asteroid Torifune (2001 CC21) on July 5 at a distance of just 1–10 km — one of the closest asteroid encounters ever attempted. The spacecraft already delivered Ryugu samples to Earth in 2020. Mars Magmatic Systems — Oxford/Nature Astronomy A University of Oxford-led study published June 26 in Nature Astronomy reveals seismic evidence that Mars once hosted vast, Earth-like transcrustal magmatic systems spanning potentially thousands of kilometres — without plate tectonics. Based on NASA InSight seismic data. Skywatching — Strawberry Moon & Mercury Retrograde The full Strawberry Moon peaks at 23:58 UTC tonight in Sagittarius near the Teapot asterism. Mercury also begins retrograde motion today. Southern Hemisphere viewers have good conditions for lunar viewing in winter skies. ESA Juice & 3I/ATLAS — Five New Findings ESA has published early results from Juice's November 2025 observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Key findings: 2,000 kg of water vapour per second at perihelion; comet behaviour resembling solar system comets; novel trajectory data from NavCam; and confirmation of Juice's instrument readiness for the Jupiter mission. NASA Artemis Audit — $5.9 Billion in Cancelled Contracts A NASA Inspector General memo finds the total value of cancelled Artemis programme hardware contracts reached $5.9 billion, reflecting cost increases and timeline extensions prior to programme restructuring. Artemis III lunar landing remains targeted for 2027.


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WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:03.110
Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.


00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.070
I'm Anna.


00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:06.869
>> And I'm Avery. It's Monday, June 29th,


00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.110
and the universe has been absolutely


00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:11.030
refusing to take the weekend off.


00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.669
>> Tonight is the full strawberry moon, and


00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.310
Mercury just went retrograde. So, we


00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:18.710
have the sky watching angle covered, but


00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:20.230
there is so much more.


00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:23.109
>> A galaxy that baffled 25 years of


00:00:23.119 --> 00:00:25.750
professional expertise spotted first by


00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.150
a citizen scientist. A Japanese


00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.150
spacecraft about to attempt one of the


00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:33.190
closest asteroid flybys in history. And


00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.670
new evidence that Mars was geologically


00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:38.150
far more complex than anyone imagined.


00:00:38.160 --> 00:00:40.549
>> Plus, new data from issa's Juice


00:00:40.559 --> 00:00:42.470
spacecraft that reveals what


00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:45.830
interstellar comet 3i Atlas was doing


00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.709
just days after it rounded the sun. And


00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.590
a candid NASA audit that puts some very


00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.069
large numbers on the Aremis program's


00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:55.350
canceled hardware.


00:00:55.360 --> 00:00:57.830
>> It is a packed Monday. Stay with us.


00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.069
>> Our first story today is one of those


00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.229
discoveries that makes you stop and


00:01:02.239 --> 00:01:04.149
think about the sheer scale of the


00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.710
universe and also about who gets to


00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:07.510
discover it.


00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:10.070
>> A citizen scientist, not a professional


00:01:10.080 --> 00:01:12.550
astronomer, not a research institute,


00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:14.630
was the first person to spot one of the


00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.030
most unusual radio galaxies ever


00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.270
recorded. And the lead researcher who


00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:21.670
followed up the finds says it is unlike


00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:24.390
anything he has seen in 25 years of


00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.630
studying these objects. The object is


00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.310
called rad bar. That stands for radio


00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:33.429
bow and arrow radio galaxy. And the name


00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.910
tells you almost everything because when


00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.990
you look at this thing in radio light,


00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.630
it genuinely looks like a drawn bow and


00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:43.109
arrow glowing in space. The discovery


00:01:43.119 --> 00:01:45.350
was published on June 22nd in the


00:01:45.360 --> 00:01:46.870
monthly notices of the Royal


00:01:46.880 --> 00:01:49.429
Astronomical Society and it was made by


00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:51.590
an international team working with the


00:01:51.600 --> 00:01:54.310
RAD at home astronomy collaboratory in


00:01:54.320 --> 00:01:56.789
India, a citizen science program that


00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:59.030
gives volunteers access to telescope


00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:01.590
data to look for unusual features that


00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:03.749
professional surveys might miss. The


00:02:03.759 --> 00:02:05.990
volunteer who found it was scanning


00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:08.710
images from the LOFAR radio telescope,


00:02:08.720 --> 00:02:11.350
the Low Frequency Array based in the


00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.910
Netherlands, and flagged an asymmetric


00:02:13.920 --> 00:02:16.229
structure that simply didn't look like


00:02:16.239 --> 00:02:18.470
any known radio galaxy. And when the


00:02:18.480 --> 00:02:20.470
scientists looked closer, they saw


00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:23.510
something remarkable. Radbar stretches


00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.110
nearly 1.8 million lightyears across.


00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:30.070
For scale, our entire Milky Way is about


00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.030
100,000 light-years wide. This structure


00:02:33.040 --> 00:02:35.270
is roughly 18 times that.


00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.229
>> What makes it so unusual is its shape.


00:02:38.239 --> 00:02:40.790
Most radio galaxies follow a familiar


00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.589
template. A super massive black hole at


00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.470
the center fires two jets of charged


00:02:46.480 --> 00:02:48.309
particles outward in opposite


00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.630
directions, creating a symmetric


00:02:50.640 --> 00:02:53.830
dumbbell-shaped structure. Radar doesn't


00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:55.990
look like that at all. Instead, one of


00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.070
the jets appears to have slammed into


00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.470
something, a vast front of compressed


00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:03.589
plasma, and lit it up in radite. That


00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:05.750
glowing arc, shaped like the curve of a


00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:09.750
bow, spans nearly 560 kilopar sex in the


00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:10.550
radio data.


00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:12.710
>> On the opposite side, the other jet


00:03:12.720 --> 00:03:15.190
bends and twists into an S-shaped


00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:18.309
structure with a faint offset tail. The


00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:21.190
leading explanation is a bow shock. The


00:03:21.200 --> 00:03:23.910
host galaxy of Radbar appears to be


00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:26.470
falling supersonically into a nearby


00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:29.030
galaxy cluster, plowing through the thin


00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:31.509
hot gas that fills the space between


00:03:31.519 --> 00:03:32.390
galaxies.


00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.470
>> And just like a supersonic aircraft


00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:36.710
produces a shock wave in front of it, a


00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:38.789
galaxy moving faster than the speed of


00:03:38.799 --> 00:03:41.589
sound in that gas can compress and heat


00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.990
it, creating a giant shock front. The


00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.630
radio emmitting plasma from Radbar


00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:49.030
appears to illuminate that shock wave,


00:03:49.040 --> 00:03:50.630
making visible something that


00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:53.190
astronomers have long predicted but


00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:55.750
almost never directly observed in radio


00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:56.229
light.


00:03:56.239 --> 00:03:58.710
>> Lead author Dr. Anand Hot of the


00:03:58.720 --> 00:04:01.030
University of Mumbai said the structure


00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:03.670
is unlike any radio galaxy he has seen


00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.270
in 25 years. His co-lead Dr. Pratik


00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.830
Dabad of the National Center for Nuclear


00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.910
Research in Poland noted that the


00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:14.309
complex multi-halo environment makes


00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:16.789
this especially exciting. We're seeing


00:04:16.799 --> 00:04:19.749
gas flows, infall, and possible shocks


00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.310
reshaping radial plasma over millions of


00:04:22.320 --> 00:04:24.790
light years of space. And crucially,


00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.030
this discovery came directly from the


00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.749
citizen science community. The data came


00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.950
from Loar's 2meter sky survey, whose


00:04:32.960 --> 00:04:35.030
third data release covering more than


00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.070
80% of the northern sky came out earlier


00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:40.950
this year. Radb shows what might be


00:04:40.960 --> 00:04:43.430
hiding in that massive data set. The


00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:45.510
team is hoping that AI and machine


00:04:45.520 --> 00:04:47.430
learning tools can now be applied to


00:04:47.440 --> 00:04:49.670
find similar systems and the next


00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.310
generation square km observatory


00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:54.310
currently under construction will be


00:04:54.320 --> 00:04:56.469
able to survey the sky with even greater


00:04:56.479 --> 00:04:59.590
sensitivity. Brad Bar may turn out to be


00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:01.030
just the beginning.


00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.590
>> A triumph for citizen science and a


00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.350
reminder that the universe is still


00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.430
hiding things from us until an alert


00:05:07.440 --> 00:05:09.270
volunteer spots them from a hillside


00:05:09.280 --> 00:05:13.189
data center. Next up, Japan's Hayabusa 2


00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.110
spacecraft has been on an extended


00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.430
mission for several years now after it


00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:19.430
already delivered what many considered


00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:21.270
the most scientifically valuable


00:05:21.280 --> 00:05:24.070
asteroid sample ever returned to Earth.


00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:26.469
And next Sunday, July the 5th, it's


00:05:26.479 --> 00:05:27.670
about to attempt something


00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.629
extraordinary. A flyby of an asteroid


00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:34.950
called Tory Fune, designated 2001 CC21


00:05:34.960 --> 00:05:37.029
at a closest approach distance of


00:05:37.039 --> 00:05:40.629
somewhere between 1 and 10 km at a speed


00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.670
of 5.3 km/s.


00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.670
That is roughly 19,000 kmh. And the


00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.830
spacecraft's cameras were not designed


00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:51.909
for this kind of encounter. For some


00:05:51.919 --> 00:05:54.870
context, Hayabusa 2 launched in December


00:05:54.880 --> 00:05:58.150
2014, traveled to the asteroid Riu,


00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.230
deployed rovers and landers onto its


00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.110
surface, fired an impactor to create an


00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.430
artificial crater, collected samples


00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:07.590
from below the surface, and returned


00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:10.790
that material to Earth in December 2020.


00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:14.950
5 g of RIU, but an extraordinary 5 g.


00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:16.950
After releasing the sample capsule over


00:06:16.960 --> 00:06:19.590
Australia, the spacecraft still had fuel


00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.830
remaining. Rather than decommission it,


00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:24.550
JAXA approved an extended mission now


00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.670
called Hayabusa 2 Hash and redirected it


00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.950
toward two new targets. Tory Fune is the


00:06:30.960 --> 00:06:31.990
first.


00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.309
>> Jaxa Satoshi Tanaka presented the


00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.870
mission status at the 35th NASA small


00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:39.350
bodies assessment meeting on June 11th,


00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.830
describing the Torifune flyby as one of


00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:44.070
the closest asteroid encounters ever


00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:46.469
attempted by a mission of this class.


00:06:46.479 --> 00:06:48.629
What makes it so challenging is the


00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.029
geometry. At that speed and that


00:06:51.039 --> 00:06:53.189
distance, the window of observation is


00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:55.430
extremely short. The spacecraft will


00:06:55.440 --> 00:06:57.909
sweep past in a matter of seconds. The


00:06:57.919 --> 00:07:00.150
navigation cameras have to be precisely


00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:02.469
aimed. The timing has to be right and


00:07:02.479 --> 00:07:04.390
the whole sequence has to execute


00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:06.710
autonomously because there is no time


00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.710
for ground control corrections.


00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.629
>> Toriune is roughly 450 m wide, a


00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.670
midsized near-Earth asteroid. Scientists


00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.309
believe it may be an L-type asteroid


00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:20.550
potentially containing calcium aluminum


00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.029
inclusions, some of the oldest primitive


00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:25.350
material in the solar system. But that


00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:27.350
classification is uncertain and the


00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.550
flyby data will help pin it down. After


00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.309
Tarifan, Hayabusa 2 continues on a long


00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:37.749
arc toward its second target, asteroid


00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.110
1998 KY26,


00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:44.710
a fast spinning microsteroid just 30 m


00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.670
across with which it will rendevous in


00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:51.510
July 2031. That will be the first ever


00:07:51.520 --> 00:07:54.150
close encounter with an asteroid of that


00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.270
size. But for now, next Sunday, July


00:07:57.280 --> 00:07:59.990
5th, one of the closest asteroid flybys


00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.550
ever attempted. A spacecraft that was


00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.629
never designed to do this, doing it


00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:07.830
anyway. IUSA 2 has already exceeded its


00:08:07.840 --> 00:08:10.150
mission objectives once. It is about to


00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:11.430
do it again.


00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:13.589
>> Mars is often described as a dead


00:08:13.599 --> 00:08:16.550
planet. No plate tectonics, no active


00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.189
volcanism, a frozen core, a thin


00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.589
atmosphere. And for a long time,


00:08:21.599 --> 00:08:23.589
scientists assumed its geological


00:08:23.599 --> 00:08:26.070
history was correspondingly simple.


00:08:26.080 --> 00:08:28.790
Isolated volcanoes, simple basaltic


00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.749
crust. Nothing like the complex churning


00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.630
geology that made Earth habitable. A new


00:08:34.640 --> 00:08:37.029
study published on June 26th in the


00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.750
journal Nature Astronomy suggests that


00:08:39.760 --> 00:08:42.149
picture is fundamentally wrong.


00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:43.750
Researchers from the University of


00:08:43.760 --> 00:08:45.590
Oxford in collaboration with the


00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.150
University of Bristol have found seismic


00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:51.030
evidence that Mars once hosted enormous


00:08:51.040 --> 00:08:53.910
Earthlike magmatic systems spread across


00:08:53.920 --> 00:08:55.990
potentially hundreds or even thousands


00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.509
of kilometers of its northern


00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:58.550
hemisphere.


00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:02.150
>> The key is a boundary layer about 24 km


00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:05.030
below the Martian surface. Scientists


00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:07.670
already knew this boundary existed. What


00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:10.310
they didn't know was what it meant. The


00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:13.030
new analysis based on seismic data from


00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:15.590
NASA's insight mission which recorded


00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:18.470
Mars quakes and meteoroid impacts before


00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:21.269
being retired suggests this boundary


00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:24.389
marks a zone of meltd depleted rock.


00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.110
Rock that is already had magma extracted


00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:27.910
from it.


00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:29.750
>> That's a signature of what geologists


00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:32.870
call transcrustal magnetism. A process


00:09:32.880 --> 00:09:35.430
where molten rock rises from the mantle,


00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.070
pools within the crust, differentiates,


00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:40.870
gets mixed and reprocessed, and slowly


00:09:40.880 --> 00:09:43.430
builds up complex crustal material over


00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.910
millions of years. On Earth, this


00:09:45.920 --> 00:09:48.310
process is driven by plate tectonics.


00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.710
The key finding here is that Mars


00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.790
appears to have done it without plate


00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:53.829
tectonics.


00:09:53.839 --> 00:09:57.350
>> Bead author Dr. Tobbery Mai Champion put


00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:00.150
it clearly. Traditionally, complex


00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:02.710
silicarrich crust was thought to require


00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:05.590
plate tectonics and subduction. This


00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.310
study suggests Mars can build complex


00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.949
crust through longived transcrustal


00:10:10.959 --> 00:10:13.750
magmatic systems where mantle derived


00:10:13.760 --> 00:10:16.710
magma is stored, differentiated, mixed,


00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.430
and assimilated within the crust. Plate


00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.829
recycling is not the only route.


00:10:21.839 --> 00:10:24.230
>> Professor John Wade of Oxford added a


00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.389
striking application. If Mars could


00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.630
develop this kind of complex crust


00:10:28.640 --> 00:10:31.110
without plate tectonics, then maybe the


00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.190
conditions needed for habitability can


00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.750
emerge on more planets than we realized,


00:10:35.760 --> 00:10:37.350
including those we've previously


00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.350
dismissed because of their apparent lack


00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.910
of tectonic activity. There are also


00:10:41.920 --> 00:10:44.550
more practical implications. Systems


00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:46.389
like these on Earth are known to


00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.389
generate large mineral and metal


00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.430
deposits. The study suggests Mars may


00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:53.910
hold significantly more near surface


00:10:53.920 --> 00:10:56.790
mineral wealth than previously assumed.


00:10:56.800 --> 00:10:58.870
Something that could matter greatly for


00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:01.190
any future human presence on the red


00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:01.829
planet.


00:11:01.839 --> 00:11:04.630
>> Mars is not a simple geologically boring


00:11:04.640 --> 00:11:06.550
world. It just did its geology


00:11:06.560 --> 00:11:08.710
differently. And the universe, it turns


00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:10.949
out, has more than one way to build a


00:11:10.959 --> 00:11:13.350
complex planet. Time for your sky


00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:15.030
watching update. And tonight is


00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:17.030
genuinely worth stepping out for because


00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:19.110
the full strawberry moon reaches its


00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.870
peak at 2358 UTC. That's just before


00:11:22.880 --> 00:11:25.030
midnight in universal time, which means


00:11:25.040 --> 00:11:26.949
most of our listeners will see it at its


00:11:26.959 --> 00:11:29.030
fullest either late tonight or early


00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:30.870
tomorrow morning, depending on your time


00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:31.509
zone.


00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.990
>> The strawberry moon gets its name from


00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.389
early Native American traditions. It


00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:38.230
marked the time of year when wild


00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.870
strawberries began to ripen. It's also


00:11:40.880 --> 00:11:42.870
been called the rose moon and the


00:11:42.880 --> 00:11:44.870
honeymoon. giving us the phrase


00:11:44.880 --> 00:11:47.509
honeymoon since June was historically


00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.430
considered an auspicious time for


00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:50.230
weddings.


00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:52.470
>> Tonight, the moon rises in Sagittarius


00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.190
near the well-known teapot asterism. For


00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.030
observers across Australia and New


00:11:57.040 --> 00:11:59.190
Zealand, the teapot will be reasonably


00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.030
wellplaced in the northern sky after


00:12:01.040 --> 00:12:03.110
dark. The moon will be brilliantly


00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.670
bright, so fainter stars will wash out,


00:12:05.680 --> 00:12:07.590
but the bright stars of Sagittarius


00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:09.670
should still be visible around it. One


00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:11.190
thing to note for our southern


00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.750
hemisphere listeners, in winter, the


00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:16.310
full moon rises higher in the sky for


00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.550
you, which actually gives you better


00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:20.389
viewing conditions for this kind of


00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.470
event than our friends in the northern


00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.629
hemisphere get during their summer full


00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:25.350
moons.


00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.190
>> And there's an astronomical event today


00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.110
that you won't actually be able to see


00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:30.949
with your eyes, but is worth knowing


00:12:30.959 --> 00:12:33.590
about. Mercury begins its retrograde


00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.310
motion today, June 29th. This is the


00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.790
apparent reversal of Mercury's movement


00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:41.110
against the background stars caused by


00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.750
the geometry of Mercury's faster orbit


00:12:43.760 --> 00:12:46.629
relative to Earth. You won't see Mercury


00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:49.509
move backward in real time. It's far too


00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:51.750
subtle for that. But if you track its


00:12:51.760 --> 00:12:53.910
position night by night over the coming


00:12:53.920 --> 00:12:56.710
weeks, you'll see it trace a small loop


00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.110
against the background stars before


00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.829
resuming its normal eastward motion.


00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:04.150
It's a lovely demonstration of orbital


00:13:04.160 --> 00:13:06.230
mechanics. if you have the patience to


00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.190
follow it.


00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.509
>> Mercury is currently a challenging


00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.590
target anyway, sitting low in the


00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:13.910
western sky after sunset and getting


00:13:13.920 --> 00:13:17.269
lower. But Venus is blazingly bright and


00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:19.509
easy to find in the west after dark. And


00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.430
the crescent moon earlier in the month


00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:23.509
created some lovely conjunctions that


00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:25.590
astrophotographers took full advantage


00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.470
of. Tonight though, the strawberry moon


00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.430
is the star of the show. Get outside,


00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.310
look up, and enjoy it. Time now to


00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.550
revisit an old friend. We've covered


00:13:36.560 --> 00:13:39.269
interstellar comet 3iatls


00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.509
extensively on this show. From its


00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.269
discovery last July through its


00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:45.990
parhelion pass, its chemistry, its


00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.470
ancient isotopic signature. But the data


00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.949
from that encounter is still coming in.


00:13:50.959 --> 00:13:52.710
And this week, issa published the


00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.550
results from one of the most unusual


00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:56.949
scientific opportunities of the entire


00:13:56.959 --> 00:13:59.990
3i ATLS mission. issa's Juice


00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.470
spacecraft, the Jupiter Icy Moons


00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.870
Explorer, was in the right place at the


00:14:04.880 --> 00:14:07.350
right time with the right instruments.


00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.189
In November 2025, just days after 3i


00:14:11.199 --> 00:14:13.430
ATLS made its closest approach to the


00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.069
sun, Juice turned five of its science


00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:18.710
instruments towards the comet. The data


00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.030
took months to arrive on Earth, but it


00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:23.110
has now been analyzed, and the early


00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.350
results are fascinating.


00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.150
>> Here are five things Juice revealed.


00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:30.470
First, the water output. On November


00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:33.350
2nd, 2025, just 4 days after


00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:37.030
parahhelion, Juice's Majis spectrometer


00:14:37.040 --> 00:14:39.750
detected 3ATLS was releasing


00:14:39.760 --> 00:14:43.829
approximately 2,000 kg of water vapor


00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:46.230
every single second. That is equivalent


00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.870
to filling 70 Olympic swimming pools


00:14:48.880 --> 00:14:51.670
every day. Second, despite its


00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:55.110
interstellar origin, 3IIA ATLS behaved


00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.350
like a typical solar system comet during


00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.910
its close approach to the sun. Juice's


00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:02.710
Janus camera showed a coma and activity


00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.389
consistent with what you would expect


00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.629
from a comet formed right here in our


00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.350
own system. The universe appears to make


00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.990
comets using broadly similar rules.


00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.870
>> Third, Juice's navigation camera was


00:15:14.880 --> 00:15:17.350
pressed into unexpected scientific


00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.990
service. NAVCAM is designed to help


00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.470
Juice navigate around Jupiter's icy


00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.430
moons when it arrives in 2031. But


00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:28.389
during the threeey atlas encounter, it


00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.629
captured images from a novel vantage


00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:32.629
point different from Earth-based


00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:34.949
telescopes at times when the comet


00:15:34.959 --> 00:15:37.829
wasn't even visible from Earth that gave


00:15:37.839 --> 00:15:40.790
ESA's planetary defense team a better


00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:43.110
fix on the comet's trajectory than they


00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.269
could have obtained otherwise. Fourth,


00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:47.590
the encounter revealed how well-prepared


00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:49.670
Juice's instruments actually are for


00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:52.069
their primary mission. The same tools


00:15:52.079 --> 00:15:54.470
built to study Europa, Ganymede, and


00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.949
Kalisto, icy moons with complex


00:15:56.959 --> 00:15:59.430
chemistry, turned out to be remarkably


00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:01.829
well matched to studying an interstellar


00:16:01.839 --> 00:16:04.470
icy comet. The team says the data has


00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.470
made them more excited than ever about


00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.870
what Juice will find at Jupiter in the


00:16:08.880 --> 00:16:12.389
2030s. And fifth, the overall picture


00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.550
emerging from juice combined with the


00:16:14.560 --> 00:16:17.509
JWST isotopic data we discussed last


00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.710
week paints a consistent portrait. 3i


00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.710
ATLS is very old, formed possibly 10 to


00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.509
12 billion years ago in a stellar system


00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:30.550
that predates our sun. It spent billions


00:16:30.560 --> 00:16:32.790
of years in the cold darkness of its


00:16:32.800 --> 00:16:35.269
home system before being ejected on a


00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.110
journey that would eventually bring it


00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.310
briefly through ours. Juice itself has


00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.710
one more Earth gravity assist coming in


00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.829
September 2026 when its instruments will


00:16:45.839 --> 00:16:47.670
be switched on again before the long


00:16:47.680 --> 00:16:50.389
cruise to Jupiter. The common encounter


00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:52.629
was a remarkable bonus for a mission


00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:55.670
with a very different primary purpose.


00:16:55.680 --> 00:16:58.629
>> 3IIA ATLS is gone heading out of the


00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.590
solar system never to return. But it is


00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.670
left behind a remarkable scientific


00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:06.390
legacy. Our final story today takes us


00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:08.230
from the science of space to the


00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:10.710
economics of it, and it involves some


00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:12.069
large numbers.


00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.230
>> A memo from NASA's Office of Inspector


00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.230
General published this past week has


00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.150
found that the total value of NASA


00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:20.309
hardware contracts that were cancelled


00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:21.990
as part of the Aremis program


00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:26.949
restructuring came to 5.9 billion.


00:17:26.959 --> 00:17:31.029
5.9 billion. Now, for context, the


00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.990
Aremis program is NASA's flagship effort


00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.630
to return humans to the moon. With


00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.270
Artemis 2 having already carried four


00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:41.590
astronauts around the moon earlier this


00:17:41.600 --> 00:17:44.150
year, the program has been hugely


00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.870
ambitious, hugely expensive, and has


00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.190
gone through significant changes,


00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:51.750
particularly around which contractors


00:17:51.760 --> 00:17:54.070
build which components and what the


00:17:54.080 --> 00:17:56.470
architecture looks like. The inspector


00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.470
general's review found that canceled


00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.630
hardware contracts included items that


00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.789
had experienced cost increases and


00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.750
extended timelines before being cut. The


00:18:05.760 --> 00:18:07.669
audit highlights the scale of the


00:18:07.679 --> 00:18:09.990
program's evolution and the real


00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.390
financial cost of changing direction in


00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:14.549
large scale space programs.


00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:17.430
>> To be clear, this doesn't mean $5.9


00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.630
billion was simply lost. Some of that


00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:22.710
work will have produced useful data,


00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.710
technical knowledge or partially


00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.870
completed hardware. And program


00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.870
restructuring of this kind is not


00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.510
unusual in aerospace development. The


00:18:31.520 --> 00:18:33.830
space launch system itself went through


00:18:33.840 --> 00:18:35.909
years of design evolution before its


00:18:35.919 --> 00:18:36.789
first flight,


00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.430
>> but it is a significant figure and it


00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.270
arrives at a moment when NASA is


00:18:41.280 --> 00:18:43.990
navigating a complex budget environment


00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.950
and preparing for Artemis 4, the first


00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.590
crude lunar landing currently targeting


00:18:49.600 --> 00:18:50.789
2028.


00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:52.950
>> The audit is a reminder that returning


00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.750
to the moon is not just a scientific and


00:18:55.760 --> 00:18:58.230
engineering challenge. It is also a


00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:00.470
program management challenge, one that


00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:02.549
involves billions of dollars, hundreds


00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.470
of contractors, and years of


00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.230
decision-making under conditions of


00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.470
political, technical, and financial


00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:09.510
uncertainty.


00:19:09.520 --> 00:19:11.590
>> The numbers are sobering, but the


00:19:11.600 --> 00:19:14.150
program continues, and the end goal,


00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.950
humans on the moon and eventually beyond


00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:18.870
remains one of the most ambitious


00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.750
endeavors in human history. And that is


00:19:21.760 --> 00:19:24.070
a wrap on Astronomy Daily for Monday,


00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:27.270
June 29th. What a lineup. A galaxy


00:19:27.280 --> 00:19:29.270
shaped like a bow and arrow. A


00:19:29.280 --> 00:19:31.029
spacecraft h hurtling toward an


00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:34.150
asteroid. A new picture of ancient Mars.


00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.870
Tonight's full strawberry moon. The last


00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.350
data from our interstellar visitor. And


00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:41.669
a candid look at the cost of going back


00:19:41.679 --> 00:19:42.710
to the moon.


00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.110
>> The universe never disappoints, and


00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:47.270
neither do you, our listeners. Thank you


00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:48.310
for joining us.


00:19:48.320 --> 00:19:50.310
>> If you're enjoying Astronomy Daily,


00:19:50.320 --> 00:19:51.750
please subscribe wherever you're


00:19:51.760 --> 00:19:53.750
listening and leave us a review. It


00:19:53.760 --> 00:19:55.590
genuinely helps more people find the


00:19:55.600 --> 00:19:56.230
show.


00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.310
>> Until tomorrow, clear skies.


00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:02.870
>> Clear skies, everyone.


00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:10.870
>> Stories told


00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.679
stories told.