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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: From the dawn of the universe to the shores
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 of the moon and the skies above your head
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 tonight. This is Astronomy Daily.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 Avery: Coming up, James Webb has finally cracked the
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 four year cosmic mystery. We'll tell you what
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 those strange little red dots really are. And
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 it's even weirder than you'd expect.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 Anna: A brand new lunar lander just made its
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 public debut, and it's aiming to lay the
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 foundation for a permanent moon base. We have
00:00:27 --> 00:00:27 the details.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 Avery: And there's a NASA spacecraft on a race
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 against time. A robotic rescue mission is
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 heading for an observatory that's slowly
00:00:35 --> 00:00:36 falling out of the sky.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Anna: Plus, a, uh, science packed dragon capsule is
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 heading home from the ISS as we speak.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 There's a celestial triple play in tonight's
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 sky. And we've got a space weather update for
00:00:48 --> 00:00:49 aurora watchers.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 Avery: It is Tuesday, June 16,
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 2026. And this is Astronomy Daily.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Season five, episode 116.
00:00:58 --> 00:00:59 I'm, um, Avery.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 Anna: And I'm Anna. Let's get into it.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 We're starting with a big one today. A
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 mystery that has genuinely unsettled
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 cosmologists since James Webb first opened
00:01:09 --> 00:01:10 its eyes.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 Avery: We're talking about the little red dots. And
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 if that name sounds almost comically
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 understated for something that threatened to
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 break our understanding of the universe,
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 well, that's astronomy for you.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 Anna: So let's rewind a little. When Webb
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 began science operations back in
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 2022, astronomers noticed something
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 deeply strange. Practically everywhere
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 the telescope looked in the ancient, distant
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 universe. In a period just a few hundred
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 million years after the Big Bang, it kept
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 spotting these tiny, compact ruby
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 red objects. They were everywhere. Far
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 too many of them, far too bright, and
00:01:49 --> 00:01:50 nobody could explain what they were.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 Avery: The problem was that they didn't behave like
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 anything in our existing models. They looked
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 too massive and too mature to be young
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 galaxies lit up by newborn stars. But they
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 also weren't blasting out the X rays and
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 radio waves you'd expect from a supermassive
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 black hole. Feeding on gas and dust,
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 they seemed to break every box astronomers
00:02:11 --> 00:02:11 had.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 Anna: Some researchers genuinely used the phrase
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 broken cosmology, not because they thought
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 physics had failed, but because these objects
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 appeared in such numbers and with such
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 properties that the standard story of how the
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 early universe evolved simply couldn't
00:02:28 --> 00:02:29 account for them.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 Avery: And now, four years later, Webb has
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 handed astronomers the object they needed to
00:02:35 --> 00:02:36 solve it. It goes by the name
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 glimpse17775.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 Not exactly a catchy title, but it turned out
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 to be the Rosetta Stone for this whole
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 mystery.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 Anna: A team led by Vasily Kakhorev at the
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 University of Texas at Austin observed
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 glimpse 1-7775. Through a
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 stroke of cosmic luck, Webb was actually
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 pointed at a galaxy cluster called Abel
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 S1063 as part of a
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 program searching for something entirely
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 population three stars, the hypothetical
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 first generation of stars in the universe.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 The galaxy cluster's gravity acted as a
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 natural lens, magnifying what was behind it.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 And right in the field of view was glimpse
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 1-7775, magnified
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 beautifully, giving the team the most
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 detailed spectrum of a little red dot ever
00:03:25 --> 00:03:26 obtained.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 Avery: The data, published in the astrophysical
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 journal on June 10, is about as clear as it
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 gets. These objects are supermassive black
00:03:34 --> 00:03:36 holes, but not in the way we're used to
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 seeing them. They're in the midst of an
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 explosive early growth phase, wrapped in
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 dense cocoons of hot ionized gas.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 The gas acts like a disguise. It scatters and
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 absorbs the high energy radiation that would
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 normally give a growing black hole away,
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 making these objects look red and compact
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 rather than blazingly bright.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 Anna: Though the universe isn't broken, we just
00:03:59 --> 00:04:00 couldn't see through the costume.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 Avery: And this finding also resolved something that
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 had alarmed astronomers even further. Earlier
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 estimates suggested these black holes were
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 extraordinarily massive, which made the
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 timeline for how they grew seem impossible.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 But the team's analysis shows the gas cocoon
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 was distorting those mass measurements. The
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 black holes inside the little red dots are
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 likely around a hundred times less massive
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 than originally thought, bringing them back
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 within the bounds of what our models can
00:04:28 --> 00:04:29 explain.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 Anna: Very. I think the thing that strikes me most
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 about this story is what it says about how
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 science actually works. Four years of
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 competing theories, genuine alarm among
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 serious scientists, and then one lucky
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 observation of one well placed object, and
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 suddenly the picture snaps into focus.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 Avery: Serendipity and a very big
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 telescope, a combination that seems to work
00:04:53 --> 00:04:54 remarkably well.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 Anna: The little red dots are solved, and the
00:04:57 --> 00:05:00 universe, it turns out, was never broken.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 Just very good at keeping secrets.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 Avery: Story two and we're heading to the moon. Or
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 at least heading toward heading to the moon.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 Anna: Yesterday, June 15th, Pittsburgh based
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 company Astrobotic held a public unveiling of
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 their Griffin 1 lunar lander at the Moonshot
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 Museum, which is co located with their
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 headquarters and has a large window into the
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 clean room so the public could actually watch
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 engineers working on the vehicle in real time
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 while the press conference was
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 Avery: happening, which is a nice touch.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 Anna: Very nice touch. Now, Griffin one is
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 significant on multiple levels. NASA has
00:05:36 --> 00:05:37 selected it as the lander for what they're
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 calling The Moon Base 2 mission, part of
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 the first phase of the agency's efforts to
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 establish a permanent lunar outpost.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 Astrobotic CEO John Thornton described it as,
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 quote, the first infrastructure class lander
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 going to the surface of the moon, and
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 Avery: it's carrying a substantial payload to prove
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 that point. The largest is the Flip rover,
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 the Flex lunar innovation platform from
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 California company Astrolabe. Flip is
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 designed to demonstrate critical technologies
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 for future large scale commercial lunar
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 rovers. It'll be deployed in the Noble region
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 near the lunar South Pole.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 Anna: The lander is also carrying several other
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 payloads, including Astrobotic's own Beacon
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 Cube rover and the European Space Agency's
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 Landcam X, designed to help improve
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 precision landing on future missions. There
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 are also payloads from Japan, Canada,
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 Germany and worth a mention for our audience,
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 Australia, of course. Griffin
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 One is now preparing to depart Pittsburgh for
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 California, where it'll go through
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 environmental testing. From there it'll head
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 to Florida, where the Flip rover will be
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 integrated ahead of launch on a SpaceX Falcon
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 Heavy currently targeting the fourth quarter
00:06:51 --> 00:06:52 of this year.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 Avery: Now, Astrobotic's previous mission, the
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 Peregrine lander in early 2024,
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 unfortunately didn't make it to the surface
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 due to a helium valve issue early in flight.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 But Thornton emphasized that the in house
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 avionics and systems performed as expected on
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 that flight and the post anomaly review was
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 thorough. Griffin is the next chapter.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 Anna: A moon base has to start somewhere, and if
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 all goes to plan, this could be one of the
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 most significant robotic landings in the
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 history of lunar exploration.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 Avery: We'll be watching very closely.
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 Anna: Story three has all the drama of a rescue
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 mission, because that's exactly what it is.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 Avery: NASA's Neil Garros Swift Observatory has been
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 one of the workhorses of high energy
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 astrophysics since it Launched back in 2004.
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 22 years of catching gamma ray bursts,
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 the most powerful explosions in the known
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 universe, and relaying that information to
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 ground telescopes fast enough to catch the
00:07:49 --> 00:07:50 afterglows.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 Anna: It has acted, as NASA put it, as a kind of
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 cosmic dispatcher, spotting a burst and
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 immediately alerting other observatories to
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 follow up before the light fades. It has
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 been extraordinary. But now Swift
00:08:04 --> 00:08:04 has a problem.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 Avery: Like all spacecraft in low Earth orbit, Swift
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 experiences drag from the upper atmosphere,
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 which gradually lowers its altitude over
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 time. That's manageable, except that the
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 recent surge in solar activity has
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 dramatically accelerated the process. The
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 orbit has decayed faster than expected, and
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 without intervention, Swift would re enter
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 Earth's atmosphere in the autumn of this
00:08:27 --> 00:08:27 year.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 Anna: Now, many spacecraft simply do that at end of
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 life. It's a normal retirement, but NASA
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 looked at this situation and saw an
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 opportunity to do something unprecedented.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 In September 2025, they awarded a contract
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 to a company called Catalyst Space
00:08:44 --> 00:08:46 Technologies in Flagstaff, Arizona to build
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 and launch a robotics servicing spacecraft
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 called Link to rendezvous with Swift and
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 physically boost its orbit to a higher
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 altitude in less than a year.
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 Avery: That, uh, turnaround is remarkable in itself.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 Link went through testing at Goddard Space
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 Flight center, was transported to NASA's
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, and was
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 integrated into a Northrop Grumman Pegasus
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 XL rocket on June 12th. That
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 rocket was attached to the belly of
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 Northrop's Stargazer, a modified L1011,
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 and is now ready for the trip south.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 Anna: Link will launch from Kwajalen Atoll in the
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 Marshall Islands later this month. The air
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 launch approach gives flexibility in reaching
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 Swift's orbit that a ground launch couldn't
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 match. Once in orbit, Link will use its
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 three ion thrusters and robotic arms to
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 rendezvous with Swift and execute the boost.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 Avery: NASA is calling it bluntly a fast,
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 high risk, high reward mission. There are no
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 guarantees. This type of on orbit servicing
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 at this speed has never been done before. But
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 if it works, it not only saves a beloved and
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 productive science mission, but it
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 demonstrates a capability that could be
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 transformative for the future of the entire
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 spacecraft fleet.
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 Anna: A NASA media briefing on the mission is
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 scheduled for tomorrow, June 17, so we'll
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 likely have more details coming. We'll keep
00:10:04 --> 00:10:05 you across it.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 Avery: Swift has spent 22 years watching the
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 universe's most violent moments. Here's
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 hoping it gets a few more years to keep doing
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 exactly that.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 Anna: Story four is happening right now as we
00:10:17 --> 00:10:19 record a SpaceX Dragon cargo
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 spacecraft supporting NASA's 34th
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 Commercial Resupply Services mission has
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 undocked from the International Space
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 station. Today, Tuesday, June 16,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 at around 12:05 in the afternoon Eastern
00:10:32 --> 00:10:32 time.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 Avery: Flashdown off the coast of California is
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 expected tomorrow morning, June 17, at around
00:10:38 --> 00:10:39 8am Eastern.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 Anna: Now, the Dragon arrived at the ISS on May
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 17 carrying nearly 6
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 pounds of supplies and equipment for the
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 Expedition 74 crew. But what it's bringing
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 back is what makes this particularly
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 interesting, because packed inside
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Avery: Dragon right now are some genuinely
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 remarkable research specimens. Blood stem
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 cells harvested by NASA flight engineer
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 Jessica Mayer inside the Kibo laboratory
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 module have been growing aboard the station
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 and are now heading home. Researchers are
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 exploring whether the microgravity
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 environment of space could allow these cells
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 to be developed into therap blood cancers and
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 immune diseases that are difficult to
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 manufacture on Earth.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 Anna: There are also samples of bioprinted organ
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 and cartilage tissue produced using three
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 dimensional Printing techniques aboard the
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 station and materials developed for what are
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 described as DNA inspired cancer
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 treatments.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 Avery: The capsule is also carrying hardware,
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 including equipment related to cryogenic fuel
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 storage experiments, data that will be
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 valuable for future deep space missions.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 Anna: The ISS has long been described as a
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 laboratory in the sky. Missions like this are
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 a reminder of what that actually means in
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 practice. That the unique conditions of orbit
00:11:53 --> 00:11:56 allow science that simply isn't possible on
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 the ground. And that the journey home is
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 sometimes the most scientifically significant
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 part of the mission.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 Avery: Safe travels, Dragon, and fingers crossed for
00:12:05 --> 00:12:06 a smooth splashdown tomorrow.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 Anna: Now for something you can actually go outside
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 and see tonight. And it is a lovely
00:12:12 --> 00:12:13 1m.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 Avery: Right now in the western sky after sunset,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 three planets are visible to the naked eye.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 Venus, Jupiter and Mercury. That
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 alone is worth stepping outside for. And
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 tonight specifically, the slim waxing
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 crescent Moon is joining the party, appearing
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 between Mercury and Jupiter in the western
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 sky. About an hour after Sunset
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 Tomorrow evening, June 17, the moon will
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 drift further along and sit next to brilliant
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 Venus.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 Anna: Mercury is the trickiest of the three to
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 spot. It's much fainter than Venus and
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 Jupiter and sits very close to the horizon.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 So you'll want a clear sky and an
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 unobstructed western view. It actually
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 reached its greatest eastern elongation,
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 its furthest point from the sun as seen from
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 Earth just yesterday on June 15th.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 So right now is genuinely the best time of
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 this apparition to find it.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 Avery: Venus, as always, is unmissable, the
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 brightest object in the sky after the sun.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 And the Moon. And Jupiter sits just below it,
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 the second brightest, both of them easy to
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 Anna: find for our, uh, listeners in Australia and
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 New Zealand. The geometry will appear
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 flipped compared to Northern Hemisphere
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 charts, with the planets appearing to the
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 right rather than the left as they track west
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 after sunset. But the view is equally
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 beautiful.
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 Avery: The crescent Moon alongside three planets all
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 setting together in the western glow. It's
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 one of those simple no telescope required
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 moments that reminds you why people fell in
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 love with the night sky in the first place.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 Anna: Get outside tonight if you can.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 And finally, a quick space weather update
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 which also ties in nicely with our sky
00:13:57 --> 00:13:57 watching story.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 Avery: Forecasters at NOAA Space Weather Prediction
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 center are tracking a coronal mass ejection,
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 uh, a CME that departed, uh, the sun on June
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 12th. It's expected to deliver a glancing
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 blow to Earth today or tomorrow, June
00:14:12 --> 00:14:13 16th to 17th.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 Anna: The emphasis is glancing. A, uh, direct
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 hit is not anticipated, but
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 forecasters expect active conditions with a
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 kp index up to around four. And
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 there's a chance of an isolated G1
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 minor geomagnetic storm. Uh, a
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 G1 is the lowest level on NOAA's five
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 point scale, but it can still produce aurora
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 activity at high latitudes.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 Avery: If you're in the higher latitudes of
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 Australia, Tasmania or New Zealand tonight,
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 it's worth keeping an eye on Space Weather
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 Apps the Aurora Australis won't be putting on
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 a headline show, but with clear skies and a
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 bit of luck, there may be some activity on
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 the southern horizon for those in the right
00:14:55 --> 00:14:55 location.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 Anna: June is generally a, uh, quieter time for
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 southern aurora chasers, given the shorter
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 nights as we head towards the solstice in
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 just a few days, but the sun has been
00:15:06 --> 00:15:09 reasonably active this month. Earlier in
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 June, There was a G3 watch issued for a
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 series of more significant CMEs, and
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 this is a reminder that space weather remains
00:15:17 --> 00:15:18 worth monitoring.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:21 Avery: We'll of course keep watching and update us.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 Anna: Conditions develop and on that note,
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 that is your Astronomy daily for Tuesday,
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 June 16, 2026.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 Avery: A uh, massive thank you for spending part of
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 your day with us. If you're enjoying the
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 show, please subscribe, leave a review or
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 share it with a fellow space enthusiast. It
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 makes an enormous difference.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 Anna: Find us at astronomydaily IO
00:15:43 --> 00:15:44 and follow us on social media
00:15:45 --> 00:15:48 astrodailypod. We'll be back tomorrow
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 with another full episode.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 Avery: Until then, keep looking up.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 Anna: This is Astronomy Daily. Goodbye for
00:15:55 --> 00:15:55 now.