- Chang' E6 Mission Reveals Moon's Secrets: China's Chang' E6 mission has unveiled surprising thermal asymmetry on the Moon's far side, showing it is approximately 180 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) cooler than the near side. This discovery sheds light on the Moon's dual characteristics, suggesting that uneven distribution of heat-producing elements during its formation played a crucial role in its geological history.
- Galactic Wave of Stars: Data from the European Space Agency's Gaia space telescope has revealed a colossal "wave" of stars moving outward from the Milky Way's center. This structure, spanning tens of thousands of light years, is likely the result of a collision with a dwarf galaxy billions of years ago, illustrating the dynamic nature of our galaxy.
- SpaceX's Starship Flight 11 Update: Mark your calendars for October 13th as SpaceX prepares for the 11th flight of its Starship Mega Rocket. This mission aims to demonstrate the rocket's reliability and reusability, including testing the payload bay door with mock Starlink satellites, paving the way for future operational launches.
- Hidden Asteroids Near Venus: Astronomers warn of a potentially large population of undiscovered asteroids orbiting near Venus, which are difficult to detect due to their location in the Sun's glare. While not an immediate threat, these asteroids could pose a long-term risk to Earth as their orbits may become chaotic over time. Upcoming missions like the Vera Rubin Observatory and NASA's NEO Surveyor aim to address this observational blind spot.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, 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 and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the wonders of our universe.
Chang' E6 Mission Findings
[CNSA](http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/)
Gaia Space Telescope Discoveries
[ESA](https://www.esa.int/)
SpaceX Launch Details
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Asteroid Research and NEO Surveyor
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Avery: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 brings you the universe, one story at a time.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:06 I'm Avery.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 Anna: And I'm Anna. Today we're journeying
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 from our own cosmic backyard to the
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 vast structures of our galaxy.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 Avery: That's right. We'll be looking at surprising
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 new data from the Moon's far side. A
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 colossal wave of stars discovered in the
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 Milky Way, and an update on SpaceX's next
00:00:24 --> 00:00:25 big launch.
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 Anna: And we'll wrap up with a look at the
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 invisible asteroids lurking closer to the
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Sun. A potential threat yet we're only just
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 beginning to understand. Let's get started.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 Avery: First up, Anna, uh, let's talk about the
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Moon. We tend to think of it as this static,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 unchanging rock. But China's Chang'
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 E6 mission is telling us a different story.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 Anna: It certainly is. The rock and soil samples
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 returned from the far side are revealing a
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 fascinating thermal asymmetry. In
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 simple terms, the interior of the Moon's far
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 side, the side we never see from Earth, is
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 significantly cooler than the near side.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 Avery: Cooler. How much cooler are we talking?
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 Anna: Around 180 degrees Fahrenheit
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 or 100 degrees Celsius cooler? That
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 might not sound like a huge number on a
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 planetary scale, but it's enough to explain
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 some long standing mysteries about the Moon's
00:01:17 --> 00:01:17 two faces.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 Avery: Like why the near side is covered in those
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 dark volcanic plains, the maria. While
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 the far side is so much more rugged and
00:01:25 --> 00:01:26 cratered.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Anna: Exactly. A hotter nearside mantle would
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 have been more molten, leading to more
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 widespread and prolonged volcanic activity.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 This heat also explains why the near side
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 crust is thinner. The cooler far side mantle
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 solidified earlier, resulting in a thicker
00:01:41 --> 00:01:43 crust and far less volcanism.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 Avery: So the big question is why? Why
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 would one side be so much hotter than the
00:01:49 --> 00:01:49 other?
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 Anna: That's the billion dollar question. The
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 leading hypothesis is an uneven distribution
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 of heat producing radioactive elements like
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 uranium and thorium. For some reason,
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 these elements were concentrated on the near
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 side when the Moon was forming.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 Avery: And how would that have happened?
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 Anna: There are a couple of compelling theories.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 One suggests that a massive ancient impact
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 could have essentially splattered these
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 elements across one hemisphere. Another,
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 more dramatic theory posits that early in its
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 history, Earth had two moons and a
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 smaller companion moon had a slow motion
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 collision with the larger one, depositing its
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 element rich material onto what is now the
00:02:29 --> 00:02:30 MIR side.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 Avery: Wow. So the face of the Moon we see every
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 night might actually be the result of a
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 cosmic fender bender. It really highlights
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 how dynamic and violent the early solar
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 system was.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 A truly incredible discovery from the Chang'
00:02:43 --> 00:02:44 E6 mission.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 Anna: From our closest neighbor to the grand scale
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 of our entire galaxy. Avery. Data
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 from the European Space Agency's Gaia space
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 telescope has revealed something truly
00:02:55 --> 00:02:56 monumental.
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 Avery: Gaia is always turning up amazing things.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:00 What has it found this time?
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 Anna: It's been described as a great wave of
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 stars. A colossal ripple moving
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 outwards from the center of the Milky Way.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 We're talking about a structure that spans
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 tens of thousands of light years.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 Avery: A wave of stars. What does that even
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 look like? Are the stars themselves moving in
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 a wave pattern, like water?
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 Anna: In a way, yes. This isn't a wave of light,
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 but a literal wave of motion. The
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 collective positions and velocities of
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 millions of stars. Stars are perturbed,
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 causing them to move up and down as this
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 ripple propagates through the galactic disk.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 It's a subtle effect, but on a galactic
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 scale, it's enormous.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 Avery: That's mind boggling. A wave that's tens
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 of thousands of light years across. What
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 could possibly cause something that huge?
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 Anna: The most likely culprit is a collision. Not a
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 recent one, but an event that happened
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 perhaps a few billion years ago. The thinking
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 is that a dwarf galaxy plunged through
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 the center of the Milky.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 Avery: Way's disk like drop a stone into a pond.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 But the pond is our galaxy, and the stone
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 is another, smaller galaxy.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 Anna: That's the perfect analogy. The dwarf
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 galaxy's gravity would have punched through
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 the disk, setting off these ripples that
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 are still expanding outwards today.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:20 It's a testament to the power of big data
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 in astronomy. By mapping out the 3D
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 motion of billions of stars, we can
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 uncover these hidden dynamics.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 Avery: And does this wave affect us here in our
00:04:31 --> 00:04:31 solar system?
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 Anna: That's a great question. We are likely caught
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 up in this wave, just like all the other
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 stars in our neighborhood. The effect on our
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 solar system's orbit is probably very small,
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 but it's a powerful reminder that we are part
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 of a much larger dynamic system
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 shaped by events that took place long before
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 the Earth even formed.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:55 Avery: All right, let's bring it back a little
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 closer to home. It's time for an update from,
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 uh, SpaceX. Mark your calendars because they
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 are targeting October 13th for the
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 11th flight of the Starship Mega
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 Rocket Flight 11.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 Anna: They are certainly keeping a rapid pace.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 This will be another crucial test for the
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 most powerful rocket ever built. What are
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 the main objectives for this flight? Avery?
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 Avery: The mission profile will look very similar to
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 the successful Flight 10. The main goal is to
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 demonstrate reliability and reusability. Uh,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 they'll launch the super heavy booster, will
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 separate and perform a boostback burn, aiming
00:05:33 --> 00:05:34 For a soft splashdown in the.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 Anna: Gulf of Mexico and the starship upper
00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 stage.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 Avery: The ship will continue on a suborbital
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 trajectory, Coasting for about an hour before
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 performing its own re entry and attempting a
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 They'll also be testing the payload bay door
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 again, this time by deploying some mock
00:05:53 --> 00:05:54 Starlink satellites.
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 Anna: Deploying mach satellites is an important
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 step towards the vehicle becoming operational
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 for its primary mission. Launching the
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 next generation of Starlink.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 Avery: Exactly. It's also worth noting that this
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 will be the final flight for the current
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 version 2 of the Starship vehicle.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 The next flights will feature significant
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 upgrades aimed at even faster turnaround
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 times and greater reliability.
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 Anna: So it's both a validation of the current
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 design and a, uh, final farewell before
00:06:25 --> 00:06:28 we see the next evolution of starship.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 Each of these flights, even when they seem
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 repetitive, gathers an immense amount of
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 data that feeds directly into those future
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 improvements.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 Avery: That's the key iteration we'll be watching on
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 October 13th to see if they can stick the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 landing or at least to splashdown.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 Anna: For our final story, we're looking at
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 something that's, um, a bit unsettling. The
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 idea of hitting dangers in our own solar
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 system. Astronomers are suggesting there
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 could be a large undiscovered population of
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 asteroids lurking near the orbit of
00:07:02 --> 00:07:02 Venus.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Avery: Undiscovered asteroids are always a concern.
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 Why are these ones particularly hard to spot?
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 Are they very small or very dark?
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 Anna: It's neither of those actually. It's a
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 problem of location. These asteroids are
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 believed to be orbiting the sun in a
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 resonance with Venus. From our viewpoint
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 on Earth, this means they spend almost all
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 their time in the direction of the Sun.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 Avery: Ah, uh, so they're lost in the glare. You
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 can't really point a telescope at the sun to
00:07:32 --> 00:07:33 look for faint objects.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 Anna: Precisely. It's like trying to spot a
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 firefly next to a searchlight. You ground
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 based telescopes are limited to searching the
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 sky at twilight, just after sunset
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 or before sunrise, which gives them a very
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 narrow window to hunt in that direction.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 This creates a huge observational blind
00:07:52 --> 00:07:52 spot.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 Avery: So we have this potential swarm of asteroids
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 nearby, and we can barely see them. Should we
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 be worried? Do they pose a threat to Earth?
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 Anna: The potential is there. The models show
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 that the gravitational pull of Venus can
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 nudge these asteroids into chaotic orbits
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 over millions of years. Some of those
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 chaotic orbits could eventually intersect
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 with Earth's orbit, creating a collision risk
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 down the line.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 Avery: So this isn't an immediate threat, but a long
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 term hazard we need to map out. Is there any
00:08:24 --> 00:08:25 hope in finding them?
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 Anna: Yes, there is. Upcoming missions
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 are specifically designed to tackle this
00:08:31 --> 00:08:34 problem. The Vera Rubin Observatory, with
00:08:34 --> 00:08:37 its massive field of view, will be able to
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 survey the sky much more rapidly during
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 twilight. And even better,
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 NASA's NEO Surveyor mission will be a, ah,
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 space based infrared telescope.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 Avery: A space telescope wouldn't be hampered by the
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 sun's glare in the same way, right?
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 Anna: Exactly. By operating in space
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 and observing in the infrared where asteroids
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 glow from the Sun's heat, NEO
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Surveyor will be able to find these elusive
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 objects regardless of their position in the
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 sky. It's designed to fill in these dangerous
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 blind spots in our planetary defense network.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 Avery: That's reassuring. It's a good reminder that
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 the sky isn't empty and we need to keep our
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 eyes open even in the places that are hardest
00:09:20 --> 00:09:21 to look.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 And that's all the time we have for today on
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 Astronomy Daily. We've journeyed from our two
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 face Moon to a great wave in the Milky Way,
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 checked in on Starship, and peered into the
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 Sun's glare for hidden asteroids.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 Anna: It's a constant reminder that there are
00:09:36 --> 00:09:39 always new discoveries to be made, both near
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 and far. Thanks so much for joining us.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 Avery: You can find Astronomy Daily wherever you get
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 your podcasts or simply visit our website at
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 astronomydaily IO Be sure
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 Until next time, keep looking up and keep
00:09:55 --> 00:09:55 wondering.