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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm
00:00:02 --> 00:00:03 Anna.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 Avery: And I'm avery. It's Thursday, July 2,
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 2026, and we've got a properly mixed bag for
00:00:09 --> 00:00:10 you today.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 Anna: A solar flare that could light up the sky for
00:00:13 --> 00:00:16 the Fourth of July weekend. A planet that's
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 breaking all the hot Jupiter rules, and
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 NASA making a very cheeky promise
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 involving a soccer ball and the moon.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 Avery: Plus, we're circling back on a story that
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 quietly reshaped how we think about dark
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 matter. Let's get into it.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 Anna: Quick update on the Swift rescue mission,
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 because if you were with us yesterday, you'll
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 remember this one just won't lift off.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Avery: Right, Catalyst Link spacecraft
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 riding the very last Pegasus XL rocket
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 has now been scrubbed twice for weather.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 First, it slipped from June 30 to July 1.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 Then from July 1 to today, targeting
00:00:51 --> 00:00:52 5O9 Eastern.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 Anna: So as of when, we're recording, it's a real
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 nail biter. Swift is still up there, still
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 safe for now. And Link is still waiting for
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 its shot at making history as the first
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 commercial spacecraft to grapple an uncrewed
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 government satellite.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Avery: We'll keep tracking it and give you the real
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 result the moment we have it. For now.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 Patience, Pegasus.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:17 Now for something the sun actually delivered
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 on. On June 30, Sunspot
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 Region AR479 let loose an x
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 1.1 flare, the most powerful class there
00:01:25 --> 00:01:26 is.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Anna: It triggered strong radio blackouts across
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 the daylight side of Earth, and it launched a
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 full halo coronal mass ejection heading our
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 way.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 Avery: NOAA Space Weather Prediction center has
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 issued a G2 moderate geomagnetic
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 storm watch for July 3, meaning
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 Aurora could be visible much further from the
00:01:45 --> 00:01:46 poles than usual.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 Anna: For our friends in the Northern Hemisphere,
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 that could mean lights as far south as New
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 York, Wisconsin and Washington State,
00:01:54 --> 00:01:57 just in time for July 4th fireworks.
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 Avery: And for us down, um, under, it's the opposite
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 season. Deep winter darkness, which is
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 honestly prime Aurora australis viewing
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 weather. If the geometry cooperates.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 Anna: Solar activity remains elevated too, with a
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 slight chance of further X class flares from
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 three separate active regions. Keep your
00:02:14 --> 00:02:15 cameras charged.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 Avery: Next up, time for a proper mystery. Meet
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Corot 2B, a gas giant three and a
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 half times the mass of Jupiter orbiting its
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 star in just 41 hours.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 Anna: Hot Jupiters like this are almost always
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 tidally locked. One side permanently cooking
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 in starlight, the other in permanent night.
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 With a hotspot that shifts in a predictable
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 direction thanks to eastward winds.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 Avery: Coro2b has had astronomers scratching their
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 heads for eight years because its hotspot is
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 on the Wrong side entirely. Now, new research
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 led by Aurora Caselli at the NASA
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 Exoplanet Science Institute has cracked.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 Anna: It turns out this planet just isn't
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 tidally locked. Its day is about three
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 Earth days long, almost double the length of
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 its year, which is only around one and a half
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 days.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 Avery: So by the time it finishes spinning once,
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 it's already lapped its own star nearly
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 twice. That's genuinely bizarre for a
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 planet this close to its host.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 Anna: As Caselli put it, a, uh, one size fits all
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 model just doesn't work. Even for planets
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 we've studied for years. There goes another
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 tidy theory.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 Avery: Our next story today takes us up to Florida,
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 where United Launch alliance sent another
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 29Amazon Leo broadband satellites
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 into orbit in the small hours of this
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 morning. Liftoff at 1224 Eastern from
00:03:36 --> 00:03:36 Cape Canaveral.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 Anna: This one carries some history with it. It's
00:03:39 --> 00:03:42 the eighth and final Atlas V5 flight
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 dedicated to Amazon Leo. From here, the
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 constellation shifts over to Ula's newer
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 Vulcan Centaur rocket launch.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 Avery: Amazon's building toward more than 3
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 satellites for its Low Earth orbit Internet
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 network. Competing head on with SpaceX's
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 Starlink, this launch pushes the total in
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 orbit past the 390 mark.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 Anna: It's also worth noting the clock is ticking.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 The FCC requires Amazon to have half that
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 constellation flying by the end of this
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 month. So expect the launch pace to stay
00:04:13 --> 00:04:13 brisk.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 Avery: Our next story is for all patriotic
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 Americans. Well, sort of. With
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 America's 250th birthday coming up on the
00:04:22 --> 00:04:25 4th of July, NASA's Chandra X Ray
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 Observatory has given the country a rather
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 spectacular gift.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 Anna: Four new composite images, each
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 rendered in red, white and blue.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 Combining Chandra's X ray vision with light
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 from Hubble Webb and ground based telescopes,
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 Avery: the lineup includes the Cassiopeia, a
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 supernova remnant, the star
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 forming nebula NGC
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 3603, the
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 spiral galaxy Messier 94,
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 and the galaxy cluster
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 ZWCL
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00
00:05:00 --> 00:05:03 1652, where Hubble
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 has mapped out dark matter's fingerprints.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 Anna: And it's not just visual. Chandra's team
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 also released three new sonifications,
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 turning the X ray data into sound so you can
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 genuinely listen to a supernova remnant.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 Avery: A lovely patriotic little reminder that the
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 universe doesn't know about borders. But it
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 sure looks good in the right color scheme.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 Anna: Now, a bit of a different segment. A couple
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 of weeks back, a genuinely strange discovery
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 came out of Yale and the Keck Observatory and
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 it's stuck with us. So we wanted to circle
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 back and make sure you'd heard it too.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 Avery: Back in Mid June, astronomers confirmed a
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 third galaxy that appears to have essentially
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 zero dark matter. It's called
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 DF9. Sitting alongside two previous
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 oddballs, DF2 and DF4.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 Anna: All three line up in a tight, straight
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 trail of galaxies. And that alignment is the
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 real kicker. It suggests they didn't form the
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 normal way. Tucked inside a dark matter halo.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 Avery: The leading idea is a bullet dwarf collision,
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 a violent high speed crash between galaxies
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 billions of years ago that literally stripped
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 the ordinary gas away from its dark matter,
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 letting new galaxies form from that gas
00:06:17 --> 00:06:18 alone.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 Anna: Using the Keck Observatory's Cosmic Web
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 Imager, the team led by Yale's Michael Keim
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 measured DF9's mass by tracking how its
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 stars move. And the total came out almost
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 exactly matching the visible matter. No room
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 left over for anything invisible.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 Avery: It's a big deal because it's some of the
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 clearest evidence yet that dark matter
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 behaves like an actual physical substance,
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 one that can genuinely be separated from
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 ordinary matter in the right violent
00:06:46 --> 00:06:46 circumstances.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 Anna: So if this one slipped past you when it first
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 broke, now you're all caught up, and it's a
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 great excuse to look up DF2, DF4 and
00:06:55 --> 00:06:56 DF9 together.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 Next clear night. Well, with a very big
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 telescope, let's
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 Avery: finish on something completely different.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has made a
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 promise. If the United states wins the
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 2026 FIFA World Cup, NASA will
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 send a soccer ball to the moon.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 Anna: This is not a joke. Apparently, Isaacman
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 made the pledge alongside Carlos Garcia
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 galan, who runs NASA's moon base program,
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 during a briefing about lunar lander plans.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 Avery: The plan is to one up Apollo 14 astronaut
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 Alan Shepard, who famously smuggled a golf
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 club and a couple of balls to the moon back
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 in 1971 for a very short round
00:07:36 --> 00:07:37 of lunar golf.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 Anna: NASA's already sent an official World cup
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 ball to the space station so astronauts could
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 test their zero gravity footwork. This would
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 be the away leg, Garcia.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 Avery: Galan says the ball is light enough that
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 finding room on a future lander payload won't
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 be a problem. So really, it's all down to
00:07:55 --> 00:07:56 Team USA now.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 Anna: No pressure.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 Avery: And, um, that's a wrap for today's episode.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 Anna: If swift's launch finally goes ahead
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 overnight, we'll bring you the result first
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 thing tomorrow. Until then, clear skies,
00:08:07 --> 00:08:07 everyone.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 Avery: And keep an eye out for Aurora this weekend.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:11 You might just catch a show.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 Anna: We'll do it all again tomorrow. Bye.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:18 Stories,
00:08:21 --> 00:08:21 Love.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 Avery: Story, soul.