From Danish Moonshots to Vanishing Planets: Your Daily Space Update

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Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your go-to


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spot for the latest in space and


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astronomy news. I'm Anna here with my


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co-host and good friend Avery. Hey


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Avery, happy January 3rd. Hope


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everyone's recovering from the new year


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festivities.


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>> Hey Anna, and hello to all our listeners


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out there in the cosmos. Absolutely.


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2026 is off to a flying start, literally


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with some launches and sky events


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already. We've got six great stories


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today. From lunar missions to vanishing


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planets and some good news up on the


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ISS. Let's dive right in, shall we?


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>> Starting with something exciting for our


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European friends. Denmark just got the


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green light from its very first mission


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to the moon. The mission's called Mani,


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named after the Norse personification of


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the moon.


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>> Yeah, this is huge. It's the largest


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Danish satellite mission ever and the


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first time Denmark is leading an ESA


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mission. The spacecraft is being built


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by Space Inventor, a company based in


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Alborg with a budget of about 130


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million Danish croners or around 17


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million euros. The goal is high


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resolution mapping of the lunar surface


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to help identify the best spots for


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future crude landings and even habitats


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for long-term human presence. It's part


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of ISA's push for small cost effective


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lunar missions capped at 50 million


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euros development cost and ready to


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launch within 4 and a half years. This


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one got selected after a competitive


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process that started back in 2023.


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Launch is eyed for 2029 led by the


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University of Copenhagen. Yen's


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frightenbang the mission leader said


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it's about to get exciting now that the


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journey truly begins. Totally. It's


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awesome to see more countries getting


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involved in lunar exploration. This kind


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of scouting data will be invaluable for


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Artemis and beyond.


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>> Speaking of launches, SpaceX kicked off


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2026 with a bang. Literally their first


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mission of the year on January 2nd. They


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launched an Italian Earth observing


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satellite called Cosmos Skyat, second


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generation from Vandenberg Space Force


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Base in California. Launch was at 9:09


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p.m. Eastern time on a Falcon 9,


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deploying the satellite into low Earth


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orbit just 4.5 minutes later. This bird


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uses synthetic aperture radar to image


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Earth day or night in any weather from


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about 385 miles up. It's for everything


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from emergency prevention and risk


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management to defense, maritime


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surveillance, agriculture, you name it.


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It's operated by the Italian Space


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Agency and Ministry of Defense, and this


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is now the third in the second


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generation constellation. The mission


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went smoothly with the booster landing


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as expected, coming off SpaceX's record


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165 launches in 2025. It's a strong


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start to the year.


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>> Always impressive how reliable these


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Falcon 9 have become. Earth observation


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tech like this is crucial for monitoring


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our planet in real time. Shifting to


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exoplanets now. A bit of a mystery


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solved. Remember FOMO Halt B? This


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candidate planet around the star FOMO


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Halt about 25 light years away that was


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spotted by Hubble back in 2008.


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>> Yeah, it was hailed as one of the first


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directly imaged exoplanets. But new


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Hubble images from 2023 show its light


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fading and then completely disappearing.


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Turns out it wasn't a planet at all. It


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was an expanding cloud of debris from a


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massive collision between two


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asteroidsized bodies.


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>> Exactly. These collisions are rare.


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Maybe once every 100,000 years or more,


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and the dust cloud was glowing and


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reflecting light, mimicking a planet.


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There's even a second bright object now


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called CS2 from the same event. Four


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independent analyses confirmed this.


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It's a reminder of how dynamic


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protolanetary systems can be. And a


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cautionary tale for exoplanet hunters.


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Debris clouds can fake planet signals in


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reflected light. JWST's NIR Cam will


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take a closer look at CS2 for


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composition, temperature, maybe even


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signs of ice or water. This reshapes how


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we think about planetary formation


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around young stars.


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>> Next up, some deep insights into our own


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galaxy's history thanks to the James


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Webb Space Telescope. A team of Canadian


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astronomers led by Dr. Vivian Tan from


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York University used JWST data to piece


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together the Milky Way's turbulent past.


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They studied 877 distant galaxies that


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are twins to what the Milky Way would


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have looked like billions of years ago


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when the universe was between 1.5 and 10


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billion years old. Combining JWST's near


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infrared views with Hubble's visible


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light, they map stars and star formation


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rates across these evolutionary stages.


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The early progenitors were chaotic, full


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of mergers, asymmetric shapes, and


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intense starbursts triggered by


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collisions. Then around 3 to 4 billion


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years after the Big Bang, they started


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growing inside out. dense cores first,


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then building extended discs and spirals


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through more mergers and accretion.


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>> It's wild. Our galaxy had a much more


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violent youth than some models


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predicted. Simulations match some of


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this, but struggle with the rapid outer


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growth or super central early phases.


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This is tightening up theories on


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feedback processes, merger rates, and


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how discs stabilize. Future JWST work


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with gravitational lensing could push


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this back even further to when the Milky


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Way was just 3% of its current age. Love


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how we're using the universe as a time


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machine like this.


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>> Absolutely mindblowing. And for


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something you can see right now, no


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telescope needed, though binoculars


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help. Jupiter is putting on its


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brightest show of the year this January.


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Opposition hits on the night of January


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10th when Earth is right between the sun


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and Jupiter, making it shine big and


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bright all night long. It's up from dusk


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to dawn throughout the month, glowing


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steadily, easy to spot even in cities.


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>> On January 4th, it's in conjunction with


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the full moon, super close in the sky.


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Look high up near Gemini, surrounded by


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winter favorites like Orion, Taurus with


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the Pleaides, and Aldabaron. Binoculars


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will show the four big moons, Io,


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Europa, Ganymede, and Kalisto.


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>> The Quadrantids meteor shower is peaking


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around now, too. Up to 10 or even more


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streaks per hour, though the full moon


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might wash some out. Still, watch for


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bright fireballs. Perfect month for


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getting outside and stargazing.


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>> Definitely grab a blanket, look up, and


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enjoy the show. Jupiter is at its best.


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No excuses. Finally, some relief for the


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International Space Station crew. After


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years of dealing with a persistent leak


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in the Russian segment, it's finally


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stopped. The leak was in the PRK


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transfer compartment attached to the Zda


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module. Microscopic cracks that started


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showing up in 2019 and worsens over


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time, even doubling at rate in 2024.


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Russian cosminauts have been


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methodically sealing cracks with a


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special sealant called Germetal 1,


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closing hatches to isolate and monitor


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pressure. After repeated inspections and


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applications over half a decade, the


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pressure is now holding steady.


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>> NASA confirmed it, calling it a stable


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configuration, though they'll keep


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watching for any changes. It was a


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high-risk issue for both agencies, so


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this is genuinely good news for ongoing


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ISS operations.


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Yeah, maintaining a spacecraft in orbit


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for decades isn't easy. Glad they've


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plugged it, literally.


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>> What a roundup today. New missions,


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launches, cosmic mysteries, galactic


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history, skywatching tips, and station


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fixes. The universe keeps delivering.


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>> It really does. Thanks so much for


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joining us on Astronomy Daily. If you're


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enjoying the show, tell a friend or


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leave us a review. It helps us reach


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more space fans. We'll be back Monday


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with more fresh news. Until then, clear


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skies and keep wondering


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>> and keep looking up. Bye for now.


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Astronomy day.


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Stories told


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stories told.


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Story for