- Elon Musk's Ambitious Mars Plans: Explore SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's bold timeline for sending an uncrewed starship to Mars by the end of 2026. This mission aims to coincide with a crucial launch window, but Musk acknowledges the challenges ahead, including the need for humanoid robots to simulate human crews.
- Breakthrough Discovery in Mars's Atmosphere: Dive into the recent findings from NASA's MAVEN mission, which has finally observed atmospheric sputtering on Mars. This long-sought phenomenon reveals how solar particles erode the Martian atmosphere, providing crucial insights into the planet's climatic history.
- Unprecedented Views of the Sun's Corona: Witness the revolutionary observations of the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, using an advanced adaptive optic system. Discover stunning details of coronal rain and previously unseen plasma features, shedding light on solar dynamics and mysteries.
- Europa's Dynamic Surface: Journey to Jupiter's moon Europa, where recent James Webb Space Telescope observations indicate a surprisingly active surface. The presence of both amorphous and crystalline ice suggests ongoing geological processes and the potential for a subsurface ocean.
- The Perfectly Circular Object Teleios: Uncover the mystery of Teleios, a remarkably symmetrical supernova remnant discovered in our Milky Way. With an astonishing circularity score, this celestial bubble raises questions about its formation and the nature of stellar explosions.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:10 - Elon Musk's ambitious Mars plans
10:00 - Breakthrough discovery in Mars's atmosphere
15:30 - Unprecedented views of the Sun's corona
20:00 - Europa's dynamic surface
25:00 - The perfectly circular object Teleios
✍️ Episode References
SpaceX Mars Plans
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
MAVEN Mission Findings
[NASA MAVEN](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html)
Solar Observations
[Big Bear Solar Observatory](http://www.bbso.njit.edu/)
Europa Research
[James Webb Space Telescope](https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/)
Teleios Discovery
[Murchison Widefield Array](https://www.mwatelescope.org/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 the latest developments in space exploration
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 and astronomical discoveries. I'm your host,
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 Anna. And today we'll be exploring Elon
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 Musk's ambitious timeline for reaching the
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 Red Planet. A, groundbreaking discovery about
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 Mars's atmosphere that's been a decade in the
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 making and unprecedented views of our sun's
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 outer atmosphere that are revolutionising
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 solar science. Then we'll journey to
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 Jupiter's icy moon Europa, where recent
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 observations reveal a surprisingly dynamic
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 surface, before examining a mysteriously
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 perfect sphere discovered deep within our
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 Milky Way galaxy. So settle in as we
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 embark on this cosmic journey through the
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 latest and most fascinating developments in
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 our quest to understand the universe around
00:00:44 --> 00:00:44 us.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:46 Let's start with Elon's latest plan.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 ambitious plans to send an uncrewed starship
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 to Mars by the end of 2026.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 This timeline would coincide with a crucial
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 astronomical window that occurs only once
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 every two years, when Earth and Mars align
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 in their orbits around the sun to create the
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 most efficient path between the two planets.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 This alignment would minimise both travel
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 time and fuel consumption, with the journey
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 to Mars expected to take between seven and
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 nine months. Despite the optimistic
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 timeline, Musk himself acknowledges the
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 challenges, giving the mission only a
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 5050 chance of meeting this deadline. If
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Starship isn't ready by then, SpaceX would
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 need to wait another two years for the next
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 optimal launch window. What makes this
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 proposed mission particularly fascinating is
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 the planned cargo rather than traditional
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 scientific equipment. Musk intends to send
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 one or more Tesla built humanoid Optimus
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 robots as a simulated crew. These
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 robots would serve as stand ins for human
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 astronauts, potentially testing various
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 systems and protocols that would eventually
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 be used by actual people. According to
00:01:55 --> 00:01:58 Musk's vision, human crews would follow on
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 the second or third Mars landings. His long
00:02:01 --> 00:02:02 term ambition is staggeringly bold,
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 eventually launching between 1 to 2
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 ships to Mars every two years to rapidly
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 establish a self sustaining permanent human
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 settlement on the Red Planet. This timeline
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 represents a significant shift from NASA's
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 more conservative approach, which aims to
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 return humans to the moon first using
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 starship as the landing vehicle before
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 attempting Mars missions sometime in the 2000
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 and 30s. Musk has long advocated for a
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 more Mars focused human spaceflight
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 programme, previously targeting 2024 for
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 a first crewed mission to the Red Planet.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 It's worth noting that Musk has a history of
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 setting ambitious timelines that later get
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 revised. He had previously mentioned sending
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 an unmanned SpaceX vehicle to Mars as early
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 as 2018, a goal that wasn't realised.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 The recent setback with Starship's ninth test
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 flight, which ended with the vehicle spinning
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 out of control and disintegrating, highlights
00:02:55 --> 00:02:56 the significant technical challenges that
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 remain before any Mars mission becomes
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 reality. Nevertheless, Musk appeared
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 undeterred by the failure, describing it as
00:03:04 --> 00:03:07 providing good data to review and promising a
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 faster launch cadence for upcoming test
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 flights. As SpaceX continues to
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 refine its massive starship vehicle, the race
00:03:14 --> 00:03:17 to put humans on Mars intensifies, with
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 significant implications for the future of
00:03:19 --> 00:03:20 space exploration and potentially human
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 civilization itself.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 While we're talking about Mars in a
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 breakthrough discovery, NASA's MAVEN mission
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 has finally observed a long theorised
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 atmospheric escape process at Mars. After a
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 decade of searching, scientists have directly
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 detected a phenomenon called atmospheric
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 sputtering, which works similar to a
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 cannonball splash in a swimming pool, but on
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 a planetary scale. When energetic
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 charged particles from the sun crash into
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 Mars's atmosphere, they essentially knock
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 atoms out into space, gradually eroding the
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 planet's atmosphere over billions of years.
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 Dr. Shannon Curry, Maven's principal
00:03:57 --> 00:03:58 investigator at the Laboratory for
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 Atmospheric and Space Physics, explains that
00:04:01 --> 00:04:02 previous evidence of sputtering was like
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 finding ashes from a campfire. Scientists
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 knew it happened, but had never directly
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 observed the process until now. This
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 discovery is crucial to understanding Mars's
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 dramatic climate evolution. Billions of years
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 ago, Mars had a thick atmosphere and liquid
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 water flowing on its surface. However, when
00:04:20 --> 00:04:22 the planet lost its protective magnetic field
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 early in its history, the atmosphere became
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 directly exposed to the solar wind and solar
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 storms, making it vulnerable to processes
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 like sputtering. To make this observation,
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 Maven scientists needed precise, simultaneous
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 measurements from three different instruments
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 aboard the spacecraft, capturing data from
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 both the dayside and night side of Mars at
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 low altitudes, a process that took years to
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 achieve. The result was a new kind of map
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 showing sputtered argon in relation to the
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 solar wind, revealing argon at high altitudes
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 exactly where energetic particles had
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 collided with the atmosphere. Perhaps most
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 surprising, researchers discovered that this
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 atmospheric erosion is happening at a rate
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 four times higher than previously predicted,
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 and the rate increases even further during
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 solar storms. This confirms that
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 sputtering was likely a primary driver of
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 atmospheric loss in Mars's early history,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 when the Sun's activity was much more
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 intense. M the findings, published in
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 Science Advances, provide critical insights
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 into the conditions that once allowed liquid
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 water to exist on Mars surface and the
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 implications for potential ancient
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 habitability. By understanding how Mars
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 lost its atmosphere, scientists gain valuable
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 knowledge about planetary evolution and the
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 fragility of conditions needed to support
00:05:36 --> 00:05:37 life as we know it.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 Next up Today, the Sun's outer atmosphere,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 known as the corona, has long been a source
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 of fascination and frustration for
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 scientists. Its extreme temperatures, violent
00:05:47 --> 00:05:50 eruptions and towering prominences have been
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 difficult to study in detail until now.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 Thanks to a revolutionary adaptive optic
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 system called Kona, installed at the 1.6
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 metre good solar telescope at Big Bear Solar
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 Observatory in California, we now have
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 unprecedented views of the Sun's most elusive
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 layer. These new observations provide the
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 sharpest images ever captured of the corona,
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 revealing details that have never been seen
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 before. One of the most striking discoveries
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 is an incredibly detailed view of coronal
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 rain. Delicate threads of cooling plasma
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 cascading back down to the solar surface.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 Some of these plasma threads are
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 astonishingly narrow, less than 12 miles
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 across. Unlike rain on Earth, this solar
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 precipitation doesn't fall straight down, but
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 follows the Sun's magnetic field lines,
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 creating beautiful arching and looping
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 patterns as it returns to the surface.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 Perhaps even more exciting is the first ever
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 observation of what scientists are calling a
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 plasmoid, A finely structured plasma stream
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 that forms and collapses rapidly. This snake
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 like feature moves at speeds approaching 62
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 miles per second across the solar surface.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 Dr. Vasil Yerkishin, who co authored the
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 study, notes that these features have never
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 been observed before and scientists aren't
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 entirely sure what they are. The new
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 imaging technology has also captured stunning
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 views of solar prominences, those massive
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 loops of plasma that extend from the sun's
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 surface far into the corona. These
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 detailed observations show these structures
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 dancing and twisting in response to the Sun's
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 magnetic field with unprecedented clarity.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 These sharper views aren't just visually
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 spectacular, they're scientifically
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 invaluable. They may help solve one of solar
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 physics greatest mysteries. Why the corona
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 blazes millions of degrees hotter than the
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 solar surface itself. The technology
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 also provides crucial insights into filament
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 eruptions and coronal mass ejections,
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 powerful blasts that can impact space weather
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 and create spectacular auroras on Earth.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 Dr. Thomas Rimmel, National Solar Observatory
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 chief technologist, explains that this new
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 system finally closes a decades old gap
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 in our observational capabilities, delivering
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 images of coronal features at 63
00:08:02 --> 00:08:05 kilometres resolution, the theoretical limit
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 of the telescope. Scientists hope to bring
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 this groundbreaking technology to even larger
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 telescopes, including the four metre Daniel
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 promising an even closer look at our star's
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 most dynamic regions.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 Next, some myth breaking. You might think
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 that icy worlds are frozen in time and space.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 After all, they're covered in ice. But
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 Jupiter's moon Europa is proving to be far
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 more dynamic than previously imagined. Recent
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 observations by the James Webb Space
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 Telescope have revealed fascinating changes
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 happening on this distant frigid world.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 Europa's surface is showing evidence of both
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 amorphous and crystalline ice, Two different
00:08:45 --> 00:08:48 structural forms of frozen water. This
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 distinction is significant because on Europa,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 the natural state should be amorphous ice. As
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 the moon orbits Jupiter, Its surface is
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 bombarded by charged particles Trapped in
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. This
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 radiation bombardment Disrupts the crystal
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 structure of ice, Converting it to an
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 amorphous form. So. So why are scientists
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 finding crystalline ice on the surface? Dr.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 Ujwal Raut of the Southwest Research
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 institute Believes this points to active
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 processes Bringing fresh water from below.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 Our data showed strong indications that what
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 we are seeing Must be sourced from the
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 interior, Perhaps from a subsurface ocean
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 nearly 20 miles beneath Europa's thick, icy
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 shell, Raut explains. The most
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 compelling evidence Comes from an area known
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 as Tara regio and a chaotic terrain
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 region where scientists have detected not
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 only crystalline ice, but also sodium
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 chloride, Essentially table salt, along
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 with carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 The presence of these compounds Strongly
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 suggests They originated from Europa's
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 subsurface ocean. What's particularly
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 remarkable Is how quickly these changes
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 occur. In some regions, the ice is
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 recrystallizing in cycles as short as two
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 weeks. This rapid transformation indicates
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 that Europa's surface Is likely porous and
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 and warm enough in certain areas to allow for
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 quick recrystallization. Despite the constant
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 radiation bombardment. Scientists
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 believe two main heat sources Are at work
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 Beneath Europa's icy tidal heating from
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 Jupiter's gravitational pull and radioactive
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 decay in the moon's core. These processes
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 warm the subsurface ocean and force water
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 upward through cracks and fissures. This
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 water may reach the surface through various
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 mechanisms, including diapirs,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 Essentially stovepipes that convey warmer
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 water and slush upward, or through geyser
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 like plumes that shower the surface with ice
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 grains. The discovery of these dynamic
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 processes Adds to the mounting evidence For a
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 liquid ocean Beneath Europa's icy shell,
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 Making this moon one of the most promising
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 places in our solar system to search for
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 conditions that could support life. The
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 upcoming Europa Clipper mission Will study
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 these regions in much greater detail during
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 its close passes of this fascinating moon,
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 Potentially revealing even more About
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 Europa's hidden ocean and its constant cycle
00:11:03 --> 00:11:04 of surface renewal.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 Finally, today, A, puzzling discovery in our
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 own backyard, so to speak. In the vast
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 universe of spherical objects, Planets,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 moons, and stars, Astronomers have recently
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 discovered something that stands out for its
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 extraordinary perfection. Deep within
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 our Milky Way galaxy Lies a mysteriously
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 circular object that has left researchers
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 Both fascinated and puzzled. This celestial
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 bubble, accidentally discovered by
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 astrophysicist Miroslav Filipovi of western
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 Sydney University has been named
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 Teleios, after the Greek word for perfect.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 And for good reason. While scientists believe
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 it's a supernova remnant, the expanding shell
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 of gas and dust left behind after a massive
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 stellar explosion, Teleios exhibits
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 an almost unnaturally perfect form. What
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 makes this discovery so remarkable is its
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 astonishing symmetry. Teleios has been
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 measured with a circularity score of
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 95.4%, placing it among
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 the most geometrically perfect supernova
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 remnants ever observed. As Filipovi explains,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 this level of symmetry is extremely unusual.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 Typical supernova remnant shapes vary
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 dramatically, he notes, either from
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 asymmetries in the initial explosion,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 disruption from expanding into an imperfect
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 environment, or various other interfering
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 factors. Yet telaos displays none of these
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 common irregularities. Instead, it appears to
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 have expanded with almost textbook
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 perfection, as if created in an idealised
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 simulation rather than the chaotic reality of
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 space. The secret to Teleios's perfect
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 form may lie in its location. Situated
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 2.2 degrees below the galactic plane, it
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 exists in a region with significantly less
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 interstellar gas and dust. This
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 relatively empty environment has allowed the
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 remnant to expand undisturbed for thousands
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 of years, maintaining its symmetrical shape.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 But the mysteries of Teleios don't end with
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 its shape. Unlike most supernova remnants,
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 which emit radiation across multiple
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 wavelengths, Teleios is only detectable in
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 radio frequencies with just a hint of
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 hydrogen alpha emissions. This peculiar
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 characteristic has made it difficult for
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 astronomers to determine exactly what type of
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 stellar explosion created it. The most likely
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 explanation is that Teleios resulted from a
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 type 1a supernova, the spectacular death
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 of a white dwarf star that consumed too much
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 material from a companion star.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 Alternatively, it might be the result of a
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 type 1 axe supernova, a similar but less
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 common event that leaves behind a zombie
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 star. However, the observable data doesn't
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 perfectly match either model. Using data
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 from the Australian Square Kilometre Array
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 Pathfinder and the Murchison Widefield Array,
00:13:42 --> 00:13:45 researchers estimate that Teleios spans
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 somewhere between 46 and and 157
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 light years across, depending on its exact
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 distance from Earth, which is still being
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 determined. As researchers continue to study
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 this celestial oddity, TELAOS stands as a
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 reminder that the universe still has plenty
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 of perfectly formed mysteries waiting to be
00:14:02 --> 00:14:05 unravelled by our increasingly sophisticated
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 astronomical instruments.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 That wraps up today's journey through our
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 cosmic neighbourhood. From Elon Musk's
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 ambitious plans to reach Mars, to the
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 groundbreaking discoveries about atmospheric
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 loss on the Red Planet, to unprecedented
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 views of our Sun's fiery corona, to
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 Europa's surprisingly dynamic icy
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 surface, and finally to the mysteriously
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 perfect sphere called Teleios, we've covered
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 quite a bit of astronomical territory today.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 These stories remind us that our
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 understanding of the universe continues to
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 evolve with each new observation and
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 technological advancement. Whether it's
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 solving ancient planetary mysteries or
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 capturing never before seen solar phenomena,
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 the field of astronomy remains as exciting
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 and full of discovery as ever. I'm Anna, your
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00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 website@astronomydaily.IO where you can
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00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 Until next time, keep looking up.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:32 Sa