Webb Makes Astronomy History | Update - NASA Rolls Artemis Back to the Hangar | Is There Life on...

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Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.


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I'm Anna.


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>> And I'm Avery. It's Wednesday, February


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25th, 2026, and you are listening to


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season 5, episode 48.


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>> Big show today. NASA's moon rocket is on


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the move again. James Webb has achieved


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a genuine first in a history of


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astronomy, and we're going to talk about


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a world out there that is becoming


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increasingly difficult to explain


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without considering the word life. Plus,


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the sun is taking a quiet day for the


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first time in years. There's some


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gripping new detail from China's


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incredible space emergency last year.


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And we close with something that might


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just make you want to send a letter.


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>> All that coming right up. Let's get into


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it.


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>> We start with an update on a story we've


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been following closely all week. And


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today, there's a genuinely new angle


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that caught a lot of people off guard.


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>> Right. So, Artemis 2, as of this


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morning, the enormous space launch


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system rocket and the Orion spacecraft


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have physically begun their 4mm journey


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from launchpad 39B back to the vehicle


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assembly building at Kennedy Space


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Center. That roll back started around


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9:00 a.m. Eastern time and could take up


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to 12 hours.


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>> The reason, as we've covered, is a


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helium flow interruption in the rocket's


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upper stage. Helium is critical. It


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pressurizes the propellant tanks.


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Without that working perfectly, you


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cannot fly. March is now completely off


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the table. The next realistic


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opportunity opens on April 1st.


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>> But here's what's new today, and it's a


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bit of a talking point. Last night, the


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four Artemis 2 crew members, Reed


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Wisman, Victor Glover, Christina Caul,


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and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.


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They were sitting in the gallery at the


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US capital for President Trump's State


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of the Union. They were guests of House


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Speaker Mike Johnson


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>> and the speech ran for nearly two hours.


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The president praised the space force


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extensively. He called it quote his


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baby. But he made no mention of the four


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astronauts sitting right there in the


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room and no mention of the Aremis


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program at all,


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>> which was noticed. These are the first


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people who will travel beyond low Earth


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orbit since the Apollo era. And they


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were in the chamber. Some in the space


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community found the omission quite


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striking.


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>> The crew have now been released from


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their pre-launch quarantine since


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there's no imminent launch. NASA has


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said they'll hold a media briefing in


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the coming days to lay out the path


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forward. For now, April 1st is the


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earliest the mission could fly pending


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successful repairs, a likely second wet


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dress rehearsal, and the clean flight


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readiness review.


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>> We will absolutely keep you updated as


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this develops. The mission itself is


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still on. It's just going to take a bit


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longer.


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>> This story has still got a long way to


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go. Me thinks


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>> now. This next story is a genuine


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landmark in astronomy. Something


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researchers have been waiting years for.


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>> It has to do with supernova, those


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spectacular explosions that mark the


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deaths of massive stars. Astronomers


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have long wanted to look back at


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archival images after a supernova


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occurs, and find the star that caused


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it, the so-called progenitor star. But


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for many of the most massive stars, they


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just weren't there. They seemed to be


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missing.


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>> Well, now we know why, and it's thanks


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to James Webb. On June 29th last year,


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an automated sky survey detected a new


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supernova in a galaxy called NGC 1637,


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about 40 million lighty years away. The


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explosion was designated 2025 PHT and a


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team at Northwestern University


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immediately did something clever.


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Instead of pointing their telescopes at


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the new supernova, they went to the


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archives to images Webb had already


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taken of that same galaxy.


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>> And there it was, a single red super


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giant star sitting exactly where the


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supernova now shines. This is the first


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published detection of a supernova


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progenitor by the James Webb telescope


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ever.


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>> And here's the key thing. Hubble


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couldn't see it. The star was completely


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invisible in Hubble images. It was


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surrounded by so much dust that shorter


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wavelengths of light were blocked


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entirely. Only Web's infrared


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instruments could pierce that veil. Lead


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author Charlie Kilpatrick from


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Northwestern described it as quote the


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reddest, most dusty red super giant


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we've seen explode as a supernova. And


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there was another surprise, the dust


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composition. They expected silicutri


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dust, the kind astronomers usually find.


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Instead, it was carbonri. The team


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thinks that carbon may have been dredged


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up from deep inside the star in its


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final moments before death. This has


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direct implications for what's called


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the mystery of the missing red super


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giants. Theory predicts these massive


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stars should be easy to spot before they


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explode. They should be bright and


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luminous, but historically they've often


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not shown up in preupnova images at all.


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Now we have a compelling answer. They're


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there. They're just hidden in dust.


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>> The findings are published in the


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astrophysical journal letters. The team


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is now looking for similar dusty red


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super giants that might be the next to


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explode. And web successor missions,


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including the upcoming Nancy Grace


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Romans telescope, should help that


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search enormously.


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>> A beautiful piece of detective work.


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>> From stellar deaths to potential life,


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because our next story is one that keeps


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getting more interesting every time new


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data comes in. The exoplanet K218b.


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If you've been following exoplanet


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science over the last couple of years,


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you'll know this name. K218b


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is located 124 light years away in the


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constellation LEO, sitting squarely in


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the habitable zone of its red dwarf host


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star, and James Webb has been staring at


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it.


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>> What Webb found was an atmosphere rich


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in both carbon dioxide and methane. That


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chemical combination is significant. It


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points strongly towards what astronomers


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call a hyen world. The idea is a planet


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with a warm liquid water ocean beneath a


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thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere. And the


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intrigue doesn't stop there. Earlier


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analyses of K218b's atmosphere had also


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hinted at possible traces of dimethyl


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sulfide, a molecule that on Earth is


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produced almost exclusively by marine


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life. Now, that hasn't been confirmed,


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and scientists are appropriately


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cautious. There are non-biological


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explanations being explored, but the


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ongoing analysis of web data is


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continuing to add layers to the story.


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The carbon dioxide and methane


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combination is precisely what you'd


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expect if there were a liquid ocean


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beneath that atmosphere. The current


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focus is whether those chemical


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signatures could have a biological


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origin. And that's one of the most


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consequential questions in all of


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science. K28b is one of the most watched


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targets in astrobiology right now. And


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with web continuing to accumulate data,


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we should expect more updates in the


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months ahead. Avery, if it turns out


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there is life on K218b,


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>> then everything changes. That's all I'll


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say. Okay, something a little different


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now. A story about our own sun behaving


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unusually quietly. On February 22nd, the


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Sun's Earth-facing disc went completely


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spotless for the first time in 1,355


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days. That ends a streak stretching all


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the way back to June 8th of 2022. For


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nearly 4 years, you could look at the


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sun on any given day and find at least


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one active sunspot region. Not anymore,


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for a few days at least. Sunspots are


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regions of intense magnetic activity on


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the solar surface, and they're the


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source of solar flares and the coronal


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mass ejections that can send charged


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particles hurtling toward Earth. We are


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in solar cycle 25, which peaked in


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October 2024 with a sunspot count


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significantly higher than scientists


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initially predicted.


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>> Here's a fun wrinkle. While Earth was


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looking at a blank sun, NASA's


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Perseverance rover on Mars had a


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different view. From the Martian


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surface, Perseverance could see sunspot


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groups blazing away on the far side of


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the sun, invisible to us here on Earth,


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but clearly visible from Mars' position


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in the solar system.


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>> The spotless period appears to have


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lasted about 2 to 3 days before a new


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active region began emerging around


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February 24th. So, the sun isn't


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shutting down. It's just having a quiet


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moment. Solar activity isn't expected to


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reach its next minimum until around


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2030. But this little pause is a signal


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that solar cycle 25 is beginning its


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long, slow windown from that October


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2024 peak. For listeners who love aurora


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hunting, the good news is there's still


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plenty of solar activity ahead. But the


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best years of the cycle are behind us


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now. Now to a story that we've touched


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on before, but which has taken on


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fascinating new depth this week with the


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Shenzu 20 astronauts speaking out in


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remarkable detail about last year's


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inorbit emergency, China's first ever


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human spaceflight crisis. Just to recap


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the situation, China's Shenzhu 20 crew,


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Commander Chen Dong, along with Chen


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Shong Rui and Wing Yay launched in April


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2025 for what was supposed to be a


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standard six-month mission to the Tiang


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Gong space station. During pre-return


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checks on the day before they were


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supposed to come home, Commander Chen


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went to inspect the return capsule


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>> and he spotted something on the viewport


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window, something triangular. His first


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thought, and he shared this in a new


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interview with Chinese state broadcaster


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CCTV, was that a small leaf had somehow


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stuck to the outside of the glass.


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>> And then, as he told it, he quickly


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realized that couldn't happen because


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they were in space.


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>> What he was actually seeing was a crack,


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a triangular scar roughly 2 cm long in


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the outer layer of the three layer


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viewport window, most likely caused by a


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debris strike. The crew used a


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pen-shaped microscope to confirm the


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damage, took photos immediately, and


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transmitted everything to the ground.


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The decision that followed was


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extraordinary. The crew could not safely


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return in their own spacecraft. Instead,


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they transferred to the Shenzu 21


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vehicle that had just arrived days


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earlier, carrying their relief crew. An


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uncrrewed Shenzu 22 was then emergency


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launched, carrying a port hole repair


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device. The whole response from finding


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the crack to the crew's safe return to


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Earth took just over 20 days.


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>> And the damaged Senzu 20 capsule, it was


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eventually brought back to Earth


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uncrrewed on January 19th of this year


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after spending 270 days in orbit, 90


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days longer than planned. It survived


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re-entry, which itself was a significant


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engineering achievement.


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>> Commander Chen Dong summed it up


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beautifully. The unexpected window


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cracks ultimately became a precious


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testament to the concerted efforts and


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shared commitment for safety between our


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two crews and all groundbased space


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personnel.


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>> A genuinely remarkable chapter in human


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space flight. The space debris problem


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is real and this story illustrates


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exactly why it matters.


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>> And finally, something a little lighter


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to close the show. Avery, have you ever


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wanted to send a letter that was also


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technically a window to the cosmos?


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>> I feel like that's a rhetorical


00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.430
question, but yes, obviously.


00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.750
>> Well, the US Postal Service has you


00:11:59.760 --> 00:12:02.949
covered. Yesterday, February 24th, the


00:12:02.959 --> 00:12:06.389
USPS officially issued two brand new


00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:09.269
priority mail stamps, both featuring


00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:11.509
images from the James Webb Space


00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.910
Telescope. The first is the priority


00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:17.110
mail stamp priced at $11.95


00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.670
and it features the Crab Nebula, the


00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:21.590
spectacular remnant of a star that


00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.590
exploded in the constellation Taurus


00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.269
about 6,500 lighty years away. Web


00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.269
captured it in the infrared, revealing


00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.269
structural details that have never been


00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:34.310
seen before. The second is the Priority


00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:38.790
Mail Express stamp at $33.25.


00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:41.910
And this one is a real showpiece. It's a


00:12:41.920 --> 00:12:45.350
composite image called Galaxy Pair. Two


00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:50.150
interacting spiral galaxies IC263


00:12:50.160 --> 00:12:53.269
and NGC2207


00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.829
located about 80 million light years


00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.790
away. The image combines web and Hubble


00:12:58.800 --> 00:13:01.829
data across infrared, visible, and


00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:04.949
ultraviolet wavelengths. It is genuinely


00:13:04.959 --> 00:13:05.990
stunning.


00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.910
>> Kansas City, Missouri was the official


00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:09.910
city of issue, though there was no


00:13:09.920 --> 00:13:12.150
public ceremony. And here's a lovely


00:13:12.160 --> 00:13:14.310
detail for collectors. You have until


00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.190
June 24th to send your stamps in for a


00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.910
first day of issue postmark. The postal


00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:21.990
service will even apply the postmark for


00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:24.310
free up to 50 envelopes.


00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.150
>> And this is actually the fourth


00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:29.110
consecutive year the USPS has used web


00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.829
imagery on priority mail stamps. In


00:13:31.839 --> 00:13:35.110
2022, it was a forever stamp featuring a


00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:37.750
rendering of the telescope itself. In


00:13:37.760 --> 00:13:41.670
2024 and 2025, the Pillars of Creation


00:13:41.680 --> 00:13:44.389
featured now the Crab Nebula and a


00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.949
Galaxy pair. Web is becoming something


00:13:46.959 --> 00:13:48.949
of an annual tradition at the post


00:13:48.959 --> 00:13:49.829
office,


00:13:49.839 --> 00:13:51.750
>> which when you think about it is rather


00:13:51.760 --> 00:13:54.230
wonderful. A space telescope that cost


00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:57.350
$10 billion and took 30 years to build


00:13:57.360 --> 00:13:59.430
is now sitting in people's junk drawers


00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.590
next to the scissors and the tape.


00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.150
>> That is the most poetic thing you have


00:14:04.160 --> 00:14:06.710
ever said on this podcast. I have my


00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:07.509
moments.


00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:09.509
>> And that is Astronomy Daily for


00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.590
Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. What a


00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.710
show. Rollbacks, red super giants,


00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:19.829
possible ocean worlds, a quiet sun,


00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:22.150
space debris emergencies, and


00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:23.910
commemorative postage.


00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:25.750
>> If you enjoyed today's episode, please


00:14:25.760 --> 00:14:27.430
do leave us a review wherever you


00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.670
listen. It makes a genuine difference.


00:14:29.680 --> 00:14:32.230
And you can find us at astronomydaily.io


00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.110
IO and on social media at Astro Daily


00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:35.750
Pod


00:14:35.760 --> 00:14:39.030
>> for Avery. I'm Anna. Stay curious, keep


00:14:39.040 --> 00:14:41.350
looking up, and we'll see you tomorrow.


00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:53.430
>> Clear skies, everyone.


00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:57.399
The stories told.