00:37 – **Unidentified anomalous phenomena are still being reported in America's skies
02:51 – **New study suggests the universe may not be as symmetrical as we've always thought
04:40 – **NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered the largest fresh impact crater
06:04 – **Astronomers have confirmed first known triple system where all three black holes feed
07:40 – **One of the single biggest obstacles for future long duration space missions is cosmic rays
09:42 – **This week's Astronomy Daily features a number of interesting topics### Sources & Further Reading1. NASA2. Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies3. HuffPost on UAPs4. Space.com### Follow & ContactX/Twitter: @AstroDailyPod
Instagram: @astrodailypod
Email: hello@astronomydaily.io
Website: astronomydaily.io
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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 the podcast that brings you the latest news
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 from across the cosmos. I'm your host,
00:00:09 --> 00:00:09 Avery.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you.
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 Avery: Today we'll be looking at the slow but steady
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 progress in UAP research and a new
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 discovery that suggests our universe might be
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 surprisingly lopsided.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 Anna: We'll also journey to Mars to see the largest
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 fresh impact crater ever confirmed, witness
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 a rare cosmic dance of three supermassive
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 black holes, and explore the innovative ways
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 scientists are trying to protect future
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 astronauts from cosmic rays.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Avery: So let's get started. Our first story
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 brings us back to Earth's atmosphere.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 After years of headlines, whistleblower
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 testimonies, and even congressional hearings.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 Unidentified anomalous phenomena, or
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 UAPs, are still being reported in
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 America's skies. But getting to the bottom of
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 it all has been slow going in 2025.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 Anna: Right. And experts agree that the only way
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 forward is with disciplined scientific study.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 The holdup, according to Michael Cifoni of
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 the Society for UAP Studies, isn't a lack of
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 interest, but a reluctance to invest serious
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 time and money into what many still see as a
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 wild goose chase.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Avery: Exactly. The good news is that the focus
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 is finally shifting away from old flying
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 saucer cold cases and towards
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 observational and experimental science. But
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 that requires real funding and institutional.
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Anna: Support, and we're starting to see that
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 happen. Institutions like the University of
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 Wurtzburg in Germany and the Galileo Project
00:01:38 --> 00:01:41 at Harvard are developing sophisticated
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 sensor arrays to collect high quality real
00:01:44 --> 00:01:45 time data on UAPs.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 Avery: But it's a massive undertaking. Robert
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 Powell of the Scientific Coalition for UAP
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Studies says that if you want to seriously
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 test the hypothesis that science some UAPs
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 are extraterrestrial, you need high precision
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 scientific gear that could cost hundreds of
00:02:02 --> 00:02:02 millions of dollars.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 Anna: Mhm. And this isn't just an academic
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 question. Former Navy pilot Ryan Graves,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 who now chairs an aerospace committee on
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 UAPs, emphasizes the national security
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 implications. He states that these objects
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 are operating in sovereign airspace and could
00:02:19 --> 00:02:20 be collecting intelligence.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 Avery: That's the angle that seems to be getting the
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 most traction. There's even a bipartisan
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 bill, the Safe Airspace for Americans act,
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 designed to support civilian UAP reporting.
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 Anna: Between that and the Department of Defense's
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 own All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office,
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 it feels like momentum is building. Graves
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 says he's optimistic that we may finally get
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 some closure on this topic.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 Avery: It will be fascinating to see what they find.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 Anna: From the skies above Earth to the very fabric
00:02:50 --> 00:02:50 of the cosmos.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 Our next story challenges one of the most
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 fundamental assumptions in cosmology. A
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 new study in the reviews of modern physics
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 suggests the universe may not be as
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 symmetrical as we've always thought.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 Avery: Not symmetrical? What does that mean exactly?
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 I thought the cosmological principle was that
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 the universe looks the same in all directions
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 from any vantage point.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 Anna: That principle is called isotropy, and this
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 new evidence directly challenges it. The
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 phenomenon is known as the cosmic dipole
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 anomaly, and it was discovered through
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 precise measurements of the cosmic microwave
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 background, or cmb.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 Avery: Right. The CMB is the afterglow of the
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 Big Bang. The oldest light in the universe.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 Anna: Exactly. And while it's incredibly uniform,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 it does have tiny temperature variations.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:43 What's strange is that these variations seem
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 to be biased. The CMB is slightly
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 hotter in one direction and slightly cooler
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 in the opposite direction. It suggests our
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 entire galaxy might be moving through space
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 in a preferred direction at a very high
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 speed, which shouldn't.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 Avery: Be happening if the universe expanded
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 uniformly. So this throws a wrench in the
00:04:03 --> 00:04:04 standard model of cosmology.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 Anna: It certainly could. If this anomaly
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 is confirmed to be a real large scale
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 feature of the universe, it would have
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 profound implications. It could change
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 our understanding of cosmic inflation,
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 dark energy and dark matter. It might
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 point to entirely new physics, an
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 undiscovered cosmic force, or
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 even require us to revise our theory of the
00:04:29 --> 00:04:30 Big Bang itself.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 Avery: Wow. That is a truly cosmic
00:04:34 --> 00:04:34 mystery.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 Anna: And as you know, we love a, uh, good mystery
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 here on Astronomy Daily.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 Avery: From that grand scale, let's zoom in on our
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 planetary neighborhood, Mars. NASA's
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has discovered
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 the largest fresh impact crater ever
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 confirmed on the Red Planet.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 Anna: That's fantastic. How big is it and
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 how did they spot it?
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 Avery: The crater is about 50 meters wide,
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 roughly half the length of a football field.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 And the way they found that is quite clever.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 Bruce Cancer of Mallon Space Science Systems
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 was using the Mars Color Imager, a camera
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 primarily used for weather monitoring, which
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 when he noticed an unusual dark spot that
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 appeared between March 27th and 28th,
00:05:18 --> 00:05:18 2012.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 Anna: So he found it by noticing something had
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 changed in the daily weather maps.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 Avery: Precisely. The crater itself is relatively
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 shallow, and scientists believe it was caused
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 by an asteroid only about 10 to 18ft
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 long. When they pointed the high resolution
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 HiRISE camera at the spot, they not only
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 confirmed the crater, but also saw smaller
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 nearby craters and even landslides caused
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 by the impact's shockwave.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 Anna: And studying a fresh crater like this must be
00:05:47 --> 00:05:48 incredibly valuable.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 Avery: Absolutely. It provides crucial data on
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 current impact rates on Mars and gives us a
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 pristine look at the subsurface materials
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 that were blasted out. A powerful reminder
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 that the solar system is still A very active
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 place.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 Anna: Speaking of active places, our next story
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 involves a, uh, truly rare and dynamic
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 system. Astronomers have confirmed the first
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 known triple system where all three
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 merging galaxies host actively feeding
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 radio bright supermassive black holes.
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 Avery: A triple black hole system. That
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 sounds like something out of science fiction.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:28 How far away is it?
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 Anna: This system, known as J1218
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 35, is about
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 1.2 billion light years from Earth.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 You. Using high resolution observations from
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 radio telescopes like the Very Large Array,
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 scientists confirmed that all three galaxies
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 have active galactic nuclei, or
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 agn, which are powered by these growing
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 black holes.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 Avery: And um, you said this is a first. What makes
00:06:55 --> 00:06:56 this so unique?
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 Anna: While a few other tripleagn
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 systems have been found, this is the first
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 confirmed triple radioagna,
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 meaning all three black holes are blasting
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 out powerful jets of radiation detectable
00:07:10 --> 00:07:11 in radio wavelengths.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 Avery: That makes sense. And I imagine this tells us
00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 a lot about how galaxies evolve.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 Anna: Exactly. Finding these systems is a key
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 prediction of the hierarchical model of
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 galaxy evolution where large galaxies
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 grow by merging with smaller ones. This
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 discovery provides a perfect natural
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 laboratory for testing how these galactic
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 encounters drive gas into the galactic
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 centers and ignite the black holes, causing
00:07:38 --> 00:07:39 them to grow.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 Avery: Finally, today, let's turn our attention to
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 the human element of space exploration. One
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 of the single biggest obstacles for future
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 long duration missions to the moon and Mars
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 is the constant threat of cosmic rays.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 Anna: Right. These aren't like the rays from our
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 sun. Cosmic rays are high energy
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 particles from distant exploding stars.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 And they are incredibly damaging to
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 biological tissue. They they can shred
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 DNA, damage proteins, and
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 significantly increase the risk for things
00:08:10 --> 00:08:11 like cancer.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 Avery: Here on Earth, our magnetic field and thick
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 atmosphere protect us. But in deep space,
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 astronauts are completely exposed. And
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 physical shielding, like lining a spacecraft
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 with polyethylene, can only do so much. The
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 most energetic rays can punch right through.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 Anna: Mm mhm. And they can even create a shower
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 of secondary radiation inside the ship
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 when they hit the shielding material, which
00:08:36 --> 00:08:37 can sometimes be be worse.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 Avery: So with shielding limitations, scientists are
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 turning to biology for creative new
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 solutions. What are they looking into?
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 Anna: Several strategies are being explored. One is
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 the use of powerful antioxidant drugs,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 which have been shown to reduce cognitive
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 damage in mice exposed to simulated cosmic
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 radiation. Another fascinating area is
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 learning from radio resistant organisms
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 like tardigrades.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 Avery: The little water bears that can survive
00:09:04 --> 00:09:05 almost anything.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 Anna: Exactly. By studying how tardigrades and even
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 hibernating animals protect their cellular
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 components from damage, we might be able to
00:09:14 --> 00:09:15 develop treatments that do the same for
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 astronauts. A third approach is to activate
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 the body's own cellular stress responses
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 through specific diets or drugs,
00:09:23 --> 00:09:26 essentially preparing the cells for the harsh
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 environment of space.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 Avery: So the answer probably isn't just one thing.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 Anna: That's the consensus. It will likely require
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 a combination of improved physical shielding
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 and a cocktail of these biolog strategies
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 to make long duration space travel truly safe
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 for humans.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 Avery: And that's all the time we have for today on
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 Astronomy Daily. From the ongoing search for
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 answers about UAPs to the fundamental nature
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 of our universe, and from new craters on Mars
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 to protecting the next generation of
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 explorers.
00:09:56 --> 00:09:58 Anna: It'S been an episode that shows us once again
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 how much there is still to discover out
00:10:01 --> 00:10:01 there.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:04 Avery: Absolutely. A, uh, huge thanks to all of you
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 for tuning in. Be sure to join us next time
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 for more news from across the cosmos.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 Anna: Until then, keep looking up.