- Perseverance Rover's Exploration of Megabreccia: NASA's Perseverance rover has embarked on a new phase of its mission, exploring a region known as Megabreccia, filled with diverse boulders that may hold clues to Mars' early history. This area, believed to contain fragments from ancient asteroid impacts, offers a rare glimpse into the planet's geological past and could reveal insights about water presence on ancient Mars, as the rover systematically investigates these ancient rocks.
- Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster: Collision Risks: A study has emerged discussing the potential fate of the Tesla Roadster launched into space in 2018. Researchers liken it to a Near Earth asteroid, assessing its orbit and the probability of collision with Earth. While predictions suggest a 22% chance of impact over millions of years, the likelihood of a collision in the near future remains low, allowing us to breathe easy for now.
- Discovery of Earth's New Quasi Moon: A newly discovered asteroid, 2025 PN7, has been identified as a quasi moon of Earth, having been in orbit alongside our planet for about 60 years. This asteroid, which will remain in its current orbit for several more decades, adds to the fascinating dynamics of Earth's celestial companions, showcasing the complex gravitational interactions that govern our solar system.
- Chinese Proposal for Asteroid Apophis Philip: Chinese scientists are proposing a mission to flyby asteroid Apophis during its close approach to Earth in 2029. This ambitious plan aims to gather data on potentially hazardous asteroids and enhance China's planetary defense program, showcasing international collaboration in space exploration.
- Revolutionary Insights from Distant Supernova: Astronomers have observed a supernova, SN2021YF, revealing the inner layers of a star for the first time. This discovery challenges existing theories about stellar evolution, showing that massive stars can lose significant material before exploding, reshaping our understanding of how stars are structured and evolve over time.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic 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 Steve and Hallie signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the wonders of our universe.
Perseverance Rover Updates
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Tesla Roadster Study
[Aerospace](https://www.aerospace.org/)
Quasi Moon Discovery
[Pan Starrs Observatory](https://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/panstarrs/)
Asteroid Apophis Proposal
[Europlanet](https://www.europlanet-society.org/)
Supernova Observations
[Keck Observatory](https://www.keckobservatory.org/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
Become a supporter of this podcast: Click Here.
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!
Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here
00:00:00 --> 00:00:01 Steve Dunkley: Welcome to Astronomy Daily for another
00:00:01 --> 00:00:04 episode. I'm Steve Dunkley, your host. It's
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 the 15th of September 2025.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 Voice Over: With. Your host, Steve Dunkley.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 Steve Dunkley: Yes, and getting straight back into it.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 Welcome to the 15th of September 2025.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 Wow. This year is just skipping by.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 And what a crazy year it's been. Welcome
00:00:25 --> 00:00:25 back, Hallie.
00:00:25 --> 00:00:26 Hallie: Good to be back.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 Steve Dunkley: Well, Hallie, I don't know about you, but I'm
00:00:29 --> 00:00:30 feeling the need.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Hallie: The need to with it, perhaps.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 Steve Dunkley: Oh, well, yes. I was going to do a bit of a
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 movie line, but yes, I guess that's the
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 essence of it, Hallie. Yes.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:40 Hallie: Terrific.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 Steve Dunkley: All business today then, Hallie. Okay, well,
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 the archiving is nice and neat, I see. Yes,
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 you have been busy. And the Astronomy Daily
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 newsletter has provided another stack of
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 fresh takes. So we can just get going, I
00:00:52 --> 00:00:53 guess.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 Hallie: That's perfectly fine with me, my favorite
00:00:55 --> 00:00:55 human.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Steve Dunkley: Well, righty o then.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 Hallie: Let's get on with it.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 Steve Dunkley: Well, you are all business, Hallie.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 Hallie: With my supercomputer algorithmic thought
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 processors. I'm already way ahead of you.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 Steve Dunkley: Well, of course you are.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 Hallie: I knew you were going to say that. Yes, of
00:01:08 --> 00:01:09 course you did, silly human.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:11 Steve Dunkley: I could do this all day.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:12 Hallie: Okies, let's go.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Steve Dunkley: Hit it, machine girl.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 Hallie: Last week, the Perseverance rover began an
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 exciting new journey. Driving
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 northwest of the Soya Ridge,
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 Perseverance entered an area filled with a
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 diverse range of boulders that the science
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 team believes could hold clues to Mars early
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 history. The terrain we are exploring
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 is known as Megabreccia, a chaotic mixture of
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 broken rock fragments likely produced during
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 ancient asteroid impacts. Some
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 blocks may have originated in the gargantuan
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 Isodus impact event, which created a
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 1200 mile wide crater, or about
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 1930km just
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 east of Jezero. Studying Mega
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 Breccia could help us link Jezero's geology
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 to the wider region around Isidis Basin,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 tying local observations to Mars global
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 history. The rover is now beginning
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 a systematic exploration of these rocks
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 starting at Scotia Felit. If they
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 are truly mega Breccia, they could contain
00:02:21 --> 00:02:24 pieces of deep crustal material, offering a
00:02:24 --> 00:02:25 rare glimpse into Mars interior.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 These rocks likely predate the deltaic and
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 volcanic deposits we explored earlier in
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 Jezero Crater, making them some of the oldest
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 accessible rocks Perseverance will ever
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 encounter. They may therefore reveal
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 to what extent water was present on ancient
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 Mars. A key question as we continue our
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 search for signs of past life on the Red
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 planet. In short, by venturing
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 into this jumbled terrain, Perseverance is
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 giving us a front row seat to the Earliest
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 chapters of Mars story. You're
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 listening to Astronomy Daily.
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 Steve Dunkley: The probability of the Tesla Elon
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 Musk launched into space will hit the Earth,
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 or whether or not a Tesla will land on Earth
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 from space isn't something we normally be
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 thinking about. But after Elon Musk
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 actually launched one into space in 2018, it
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 is something that some people are apparently
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 contemplating. You may recall back six years
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 ago the famous Tesla Roadster being launched
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 into space on a rocket. And since then the
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 Tesla has traveled approximately
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 15 miles per
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 hour and covered a distance that would be the
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 equivalent of orbiting the sun four times
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 over. But now that it's out in space, is
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 there any risk of that Tesla falling back to
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 Earth? Believe it or not, some scientists
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 have already looked into this very question.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 In 2018, a study published in
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 the journal Aerospace. Yes, they've actually
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 published the results. Some researchers
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 likened the Roadster to an asteroid.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 The Roadster bears many similarities to Near
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 Earth asteroids or NEAs, which diffuse
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 through the inner solar system chaotically.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 Though repeated close counter encounters with
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 the terrestrial planets and the effects of
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 mean motion and secular resonances.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 A uh, lot of technical talk, meaning that
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 they come close sometimes to uh,
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 the planets. Initially, NEAs reach their
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 uh, orbits from the more distant main
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 uh built via strong resonances such as
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 secular V, uh6 resonance or
00:04:33 --> 00:04:36 the strong 3.1 mean motion resonance with
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 Jupiter. How's that?
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 When entering these escape routes, many
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 NEAs are driven into nearly
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 radial orbits that plunge into the Sun. And
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 this would put NEA uh chances of colliding
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 with a UH planet very low at around
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 2%. But the Roadster is slightly
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 different. The 2018 article
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 continued that the initial Tesla ah,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 orbit grazes that of Earth
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 uh, so one might expect an initial
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 period of enhanced collision probabilities
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 with Earth before it is randomized into a
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 more NEA like trajectory. It's
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 therefore unclear whether the Tesla uh is
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 likely to diffuse into
00:05:19 --> 00:05:22 distant strong resonances and meet the same
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 fate as the wider NEA UH population or
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 whether it would first strike one of the
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 terrestrial planets. The researchers
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 estimated that the Tesla would draw closest
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 to Earth in 2047, when it
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 will come within 3.1 million miles of us.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 After 100 years it becomes
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 impossible to make long term predictions.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 But that didn't stop the team from producing
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 this statistic. They stated, however,
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 using an ensemble of several hundred
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 realizations, they were able to sustain
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 statistically determine the probability of
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 the Tesla colliding with the solar system
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 planets on astronomical timescales. With
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 this longer timescale in mind. They estimated
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 that there was a 22% chance of the
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 Tesla hitting Earth. The researchers
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 didn't exactly put a date on it, but at least
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 we can relax, given that this is on a
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 timescale of millions of years and that we
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 shouldn't lose any sleep over a Tesla landing
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 on top of us anytime soon.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 podcast with Steve Dunkley.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 Something has just been discovered, but it's
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 been orbiting the sun alongside Earth for
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 decades and will continue to do so for
00:06:35 --> 00:06:38 decades more. Our home planet just
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 got a new companion, or at least a newfound
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 one. We know the Earth only has one
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 true moon, but we've also known for a
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 while that our planet is currently
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 accompanied by seven other small asteroids
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 that seem to circle around us, even though
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 they don't really orbit Earth as a true moon
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 would. These objects, known as
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 quasi moons, tend only to inhabit Earth
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 accompanying orbits for short periods, years
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 or decades, sometimes centuries.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 Now it turns out there's a new quasi moon in
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 town. Just discovered on August
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 29 by the Pan Starrs Observatory on
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 Haleakala, Hawaii, asteroid
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 2025 PN7 was quickly confirmed by
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 other observatories. Earlier
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 images of the object extend back to
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 2014. It now
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 appears to have been on a quasi moon orbit
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 for about 60 years, and it will remain so for
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 about 60 more. Eventually,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 though, it will revert to a horseshoe orbit,
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 one that brings it periodically close to
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 Earth, only to back away again, never
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 completing a full circle around our planet.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 Alan Harris of Space Science Institute, in a
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 posting on the Minor Planet's mailing list,
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 writes that its velocity relative to Earth of
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 3.4 kilometers per second, or
00:07:55 --> 00:07:58 7 miles per hour, is higher
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 than would be expected from lunar ejecta.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 He adds that it's most likely just an
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 asteroid that has trickled into a near Earth
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 orbit from the inner main belt. At
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 some point in the future, gravitational
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 interactions may eject it from Earth's
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 vicinity altogether. Some future
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 close encounter with Earth could put it on an
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 orbit that intersects either Mars or Venus or
00:08:21 --> 00:08:22 both, harris writes.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:26 Indeed, simulations carried out by French
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 journalist and amateur astronomer Adrian
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 Coffinit, who was the first to post on the
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 MPML group that this object is a quasi moon
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 of Earth, show that indeed this object is
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 likely to cross Mars's orbit at some point,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 although that event is likely thousands of
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 years in the future.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:55 Steve Dunkley: Thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 edition of Astronomy Daily, where we offer
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 just a few stories from the now famous
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 Astronomy Daily newsletter, which you can
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 receive in your email every day just like
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 Hallie and I do. And to do that, just Visit
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 our URL astronomydailyio
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 and place your email address in the slot
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 provided. Just like that, you'll be receiving
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 all the latest news about science, space
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 science and astronomy from around the world
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 as it's happening. And not only that, you can
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 interact with us by visiting
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 astrodaily Pod on
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 X or at our parent podcast
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 Facebook page, which is Space Nuts.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 Astronomy Daily with Steve and Hallie
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 Space, Space, Science and
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 Astronomy Foreign
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 proposes a flyby mission to the asteroid
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 UH apophis during the 2029 Earth
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 uh encounter. Chinese scientists are uh,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 proposing using a Pathfinder spacecraft
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 to make a flyby of asteroid Apophis
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 when it makes a close approach to Earth in
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 2029. The team behind the concept are
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 proposing a Pathfinder spacecraft flyby
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 of the asteroid Apophis during its close
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 approach to Earth uh in that year,
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 leveraging a proposed mission to deploy
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 asteroid spotting spacecraft in Venus like
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 orbits. The mission would consist of two
00:10:21 --> 00:10:24 small satellites sent into a halo
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 orbit around the Sun Earth Lagrange point
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 1 to await the approach of Apophis
00:10:29 --> 00:10:32 and transfer into a flyby orbit so as
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 to meet the asteroid shortly after its close
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 encounter with the Earth. The asteroid is due
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 to pass within the geosynchronous orbit belt
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 on Friday, April 13,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 2029. The Crown Apophis
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 concept tags onto a proposed
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 asteroid Surveyor mission. That mission,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 named CROWN and for which the preliminary
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 design is completed, would consist of six
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 heterogeneous wide field near Earth surveyors
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 in Venus like heliocentric
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 orbits and proposed to substantially improve
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 improve the searching and tracking of NEAs.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 It would, if approved, form part of China's
00:11:10 --> 00:11:13 asset for a planned comprehensive planetary
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 defense program. The science
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 objectives of Crown Apophis, according to
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 Zhang Yi of Sun Yat Sen University,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 who presented the proposal at the
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Europlanet Science Congress and Division for
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 Planetary Sciences joint session in
00:11:30 --> 00:11:33 Helsinki September 8, would be to measure
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 the fundamental properties of potentially
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 hazard asteroids and the effect of
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 its close encounter with the planet Earth. It
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 would aim to observe how the movement of
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 material on Apophis is induced any dust
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 activity and how it interacts with the
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 terrestrial magnetosphere. The larger
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 44 kilogram spacecraft would use
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 combined chemical and ion propulsion
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 and carry a narrow angle camera,
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 microwave ranging Doppler system, a four
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 formation monitoring camera and a low
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 frequency radar. An 8 kilogram
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 CubeSat would carry some of the same
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 systems as the main spacecraft. This is a
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 very rare opportunity for planetary science
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 and there are many parties already
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 proposing missions or concepts and so we
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 don't want to miss this opportunity in China,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 salee said. Launch is proposed to
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 be a yet to be identified rideshare mission
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 to geosynchronous transfer orbit and then
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 the spacecraft would slowly raise to reach
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 its L1 position. We hope to
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 coordinate with and complement other
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 missions including Ramses Destiny plus and
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 Osiris Apex, lee said, referring to
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 respective missions from the European Space
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 Agency, Japanese Aerospace Exploration
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 Agency and NASA, which are in different
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 stages of development, funding and operation.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 In the latter case, Michael Nolan, who is the
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 deputy principal investigator of Osiris uh,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 Apex stated in an earlier presentation on
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 the mission that congressional language in a
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 bill not yet passed includes funding for
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 Osiris Apex. Ramses faces
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 its own funding decision in November at an
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 ESA ministerial. Other smaller class missions
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 in the US and Europe are UH being proposed.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:23 The value of multiple missions could be very
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 high, according to scientists at
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 EPSC dps. It's going to
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 enhance our scientific returns such as
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 cross verification and comparison. The
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 results provide scientific context to each
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 other and provide redundancies, lee said.
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 He added that the team, based in Macau, has
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 international partners from Brazil, Uruguay,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 Spain and France, but is also seeking
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 further cooperation, which would likely
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 benefit the mission's chances of gaining
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 approval, possibly by the end of the year.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:56 It is also looking at commercial avenues to
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 make the mission happen. Li was also involved
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 in another Chinese rapid response proposal to
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 study 99942 Apophis Ah, which
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 would have employed a swarm of cubesats
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 to make multiple flybys. China
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 is meanwhile working towards its first
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 planetary defense mission, a kinetic impactor
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 with a combined Surveyor spacecraft expected
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 to launch around 2027. The country
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 also launched a near Earth UH asteroid sample
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 return mission, Changwen 2 in
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 late May. China's first space mission
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 to an asteroid was flyby of the asteroid
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 tutalis in 2012, conducted by
00:14:36 --> 00:14:39 repurposing the Chang' E2 lunar
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 orbiter for an extended mission.
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 Hallie: You're listening to Astronomy Daily, the
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 podcast with your host Steve Dudley.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 A AH distant supernova exposed elements from
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 a star's core. The result
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 reshapes ideas of how massive stars
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 evolve. For the first time,
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 astronomers have seen the inner layers of a
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 star revealed in its final moments.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 According to long standing theory, stars are
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 built in layers like onions, with each layer
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 composed of different elements that grow
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 heavier toward the core. While this
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 model is widely accepted, directly observing
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 a star's deeper layers has been nearly
00:15:22 --> 00:15:25 impossible until now.
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 Astronomers using the Keck Observatory in
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 Hawaii have collected spectroscopic data from
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 a supernova first identified by the Zwicky
00:15:34 --> 00:15:35 transient facility in 2019.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 The event, designated
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 SN2021YF, occurred
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 2.2 billion light years away.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 The Keck observations revealed ionis,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 silicon, sulfur, and argon elements
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 never before detected in a supernova because
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 they are normally hidden beneath outer
00:15:53 --> 00:15:56 layers. The finding supports some
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 theoretical predictions about the structure
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 of exploding stars, but also raises new
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 challenges. It is well established
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 that massive stars shed material from their
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 outer layers as they near the point of
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 collapse into a supernova. This
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 process has been documented many times, and
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 the new data confirm it again.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 However, SN2021YF appears to
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 have lost far more material than any star
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 observed before leaving astronomers to
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 reconsider how extreme this stripping process
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 can be. The observations are
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 presented in a new paper titled A Cosmic
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 Formation Site of Silicon and Sulfur Revealed
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 by a New Type of Supernova Explosion.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 The lead author is Steve Schulz, a UH
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 research associate at Northwestern
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 University's center for Interdisciplinary
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 Exploration and Research in Astrophysics.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 This is the first time we have seen a star
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 that was essentially stripped to the bone,
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 said lead author Scholz. It shows
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 us how stars are structured and proves that
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 stars can lose a lot of material before they
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 explode. Not only can they lose their
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 outermost layers, but they can be completely
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 stripped all the way down to the core and
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 still produce a, um, brilliant explosion that
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 we can observe from very, very far distances.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:25 Steve Dunkley: And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen,
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 another episode of Astronomy Daily in the
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 can. I hope you enjoyed the stories that we
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 have for you today off the Astronomy
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 Daily newsletter, which you can receive in
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 your inbox every day just by putting your
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 email address in the slot
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 provided@astronomydaily.IO As I
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 mentioned earlier on in the episode, I hope
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 you go ahead and do that because there's lots
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 of, lots of information coming in everyday,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 stories from all around the globe. It's very
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 interesting. Hallie and I get our information
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 every day just like that, and I hope you do
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 too. So join us again next Monday for
00:17:59 --> 00:18:02 the mostly human or mostly live version
00:18:02 --> 00:18:05 of Astronomy Daily. I'm live, she's
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 an AI, and she gives me heaps.
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 Okay, so we'll hope to see you then. Have a
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 great week and we'll catch you on the flip
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 side. Bye, everybody. Bye.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 Voice Over: With your host, Steve Dunkley