- Axiom Mission 4 Update: In this episode, we provide the latest on Axiom Mission 4, which has faced delays as NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX review new launch opportunities following recent repairs on the ISS. The crew remains in quarantine, eagerly waiting for the green light to launch.
- SpaceX Starship Setback: We discuss a significant setback for SpaceX's Starship program after a test at their Texas site resulted in an explosion. Initial findings suggest a failure of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel, leading to extensive damage but fortunately no injuries.
- Surviving Snowball Earth: New research from MIT reveals how early complex life forms, or eukaryotes, may have survived the extreme conditions of Snowball Earth periods. The study suggests that meltwater ponds on ice surfaces could have served as crucial habitats for these organisms.
- Birth of Galaxies: Groundbreaking research sheds light on how galaxies, including our Milky Way, formed during the cosmic noon. We delve into the findings surrounding Lyman Alpha emitters and their role in star formation, revealing that many are experiencing their first major starburst.
- Real-Time Search for Alien Life: Exciting developments in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence are underway, as researchers repurpose astronomical alert systems to detect potential technosignatures, utilizing existing infrastructure to scan for signs of advanced civilizations.
- Planetary Mysteries Explored: We tackle the enigma of why giant planets often reside at the far edges of their solar systems. New simulations suggest that chaotic interactions in early planetary systems may lead to these distant orbits, offering insights into the formation of our own solar system.
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 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 - Axiom Mission 4 update
10:00 - SpaceX Starship setback
20:00 - Surviving Snowball Earth
25:00 - Birth of galaxies
30:00 - Real-time search for alien life
35:00 - Planetary mysteries explored
✍️ Episode References
Axiom Mission 4 News
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
SpaceX Starship Incident
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Snowball Earth Research
[MIT](https://www.mit.edu/)
Galaxies Formation Study
[Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/ncomms/)
SETI Research
[SETI Institute](https://www.seti.org/)
Planetary Formation Study
[Nature Astronomy](https://www.nature.com/natureastronomy/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna and
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 I'm so glad you could join us. For today's
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 episode, we've got a jam packed show for you
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 covering some really fascinating developments
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 from across the universe and right here on
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 Earth too. First up, we'll dive into
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 the latest on space missions, including an
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 update on the Axiom mission 4 and that
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 unexpected anomaly that's caused a bit of a
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 setback for SpaceX's Starship program.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 Then we'll turn our attention back in time to
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 uncover how ancient life on Earth might have
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 survived some truly brutal snowball Earth
00:00:33 --> 00:00:36 periods. After that, we're zooming out to the
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 cosmos to talk about galaxy evolution and
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 how scientists are getting closer to
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 understanding the very birth of galaxies
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 similar to our Milky Way. And speaking of
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 searching, we'll explore how the hunt for
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 alien life and advanced civilizations is now
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 going real time, which is super exciting.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 Finally, we'll tackle one of those enduring
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 planetary mysteries. Why giant planets
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 often end up in the far reaches of their
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 solar systems. It's a bit like a cosmic game
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 of pinball, apparently. So stick around, it's
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 going to be a really interesting ride.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:11 Alright, let's kick things off with some news
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 from the International Space Station, or ISS.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 The launch of Axiom Mission 4, which was
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 originally set for Sunday, June 22, has
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 actually been put on hold again. NASA, Axiom
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 Space and SpaceX are still reviewing new
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 launch opportunities, so we'll have to wait
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 and see when it's rescheduled. Now, why the
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 delay? Well, NASA needs a little more time,
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 it seems, to evaluate the ISS operations
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 after some recent repair work on the Zvezda
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 service modules aft segment. You see, the
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 space station's systems are all really
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 interconnected, so they want to make
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 absolutely sure everything is totally ready
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 for additional crew members. They're taking
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 all the necessary time to review the data and
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 make sure it's safe. The crew is currently in
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 quarantine in Florida, but they're ready to
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 go as soon as the station gives the green
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 light. Meanwhile, SpaceX's Falcon
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are reportedly
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 in great shape, just waiting on the launch
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 Kennedy Space Center. Stay tuned for updates
00:02:07 --> 00:02:08 on that. It's on.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 Okay, shifting gears a bit to some not so
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 great news after. As I reported yesterday,
00:02:14 --> 00:02:16 SpaceX experienced a pretty significant
00:02:16 --> 00:02:18 setback at their Massey's test site near
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 Starbase Texas on the evening of June 18th.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 They were doing a routine six engine static
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 fire test of ship 36 for their starship
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 program and unfortunately There was a sudden
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 energetic anomaly just after
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 11pm Central Daylight Time. While propellant
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 was being loaded onto the vehicle, a pair of
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 explosions ripped ship 36 apart,
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 producing a large fireball and causing
00:02:41 --> 00:02:44 significant damage to the test facility. This
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 ship was actually slated for the 10th Test
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 flight of Starship and super heavy, expected
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 very soon, which obviously won't be happening
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 now. So what happened? Well, according to
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, initial
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 data points to a failure of a composite
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 overwrapped pressure vessel, or COPV,
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 in Ship 36's nose cone. These are
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 lightweight tanks that hold high pressure
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 gases. A rupture acted like a shaped charge,
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 tearing the payload wall and header tank
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 transfer tubes. This caused the liquid
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 methane and oxygen to mix and instantly
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 ignite, leading to the first explosion. The
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 nose cone collapse. Seconds later, the rest
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 of the propellant ignited, causing the
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 second. Fires kept burning for several
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 hours, indicating damage to the liquid
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 methane farm. The good news is fire.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 Thankfully, SpaceX confirmed no personnel
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 were injured and everyone was accounted for.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 All media and public members were safe too,
00:03:38 --> 00:03:41 thanks to preset exclusion zones. This is a
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 crucial point, obviously for the Starship
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 program, though this is a notable setback.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 It's the first time SpaceX has lost a ship in
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 ground testing since May 2020. And
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 what's more, they've lost the ability to
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 perform testing at Massey's for now, due to
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 all that significant damage to their static
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 fire test stand and the surrounding
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 infrastructure. It means that even ships like
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 ship 37, which just started getting engines,
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 can't be static fired without repairs. It's
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 worth noting that the COPVs on Starship don't
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 share commonality with those used on SpaceX's
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 Falcon rockets. So this issue is isolated to
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 the Starship program. The FAA won't be
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 involved in the investigation since it
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 happened during ground testing. SpaceX will
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 conduct their own. This means we're likely
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 looking at some significant changes and
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 delays for the Starship program in the coming
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 months as they assess repairs and
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 potentially inspect other ships in their
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 fleet. It's a tough break for sure, but as
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 SpaceX has demonstrated in the past, they
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 will bounce straight back from looking
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 at challenges in space.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Let's turn our attention back to Earth and a
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 fascinating mystery from its deep past. New
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 research out of MIT is shedding light on how
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 early complex life forms, what we call
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 eukaryotes, might have survived those extreme
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 periods known as Snowball Earth between
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 720 and 635 million years
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 ago. Now, imagine our planet completely iced
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 over. We're talking average global
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 temperatures of minus 50 degrees Celsius.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 Geologists call this the cryogenian period.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 And whether Earth was a hardened snowball or
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 more of a softer slushball. And is still
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 debated. But one thing's for most of
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 it was plunged into a deep freeze. So the big
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 question has always been, how and where did
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 life actually survive? Previously, ideas
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 included patches of open ocean, deep sea,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 hydrothermal vents, or perhaps even under ice
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 sheets. But this new study suggests another
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 intriguing meltwater ponds on
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 the surface of the ice. Fatima Hussain,
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 a graduate student at mit, explained their
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 interest, saying, we see evidence for
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 eukaryotes before and after the cryogenian in
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 the fossil record, but we largely lack direct
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 evidence of where they may have lived during.
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 She added, the great part of this mystery is
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 we know life survived. We're just trying to
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 understand how and where. To test this
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 meltwater pond hypothesis, the researchers
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 analyzed samples from modern meltwater ponds
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 in Antarctica, specifically on the McMurdo
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 Ice Shelf. These ponds, just a few feet deep
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 and meters wide, form when trapped sediments
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 rise to the surface, absorb sunlight, and
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 melt the ice. The bottom of these ponds
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 are lined with microbial mats, kind of like
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 sticky, layered communities of cells.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 While we know simpler life like cyanobacteria
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 can survive in these harsh environments, the
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 researchers wanted to know if eukaryotes,
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 those more complex organisms with a cell
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 nucleus, could also weather such challenging
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 circumstances. Using a combination of lipid
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 analysis, specifically looking for sterols
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 and genetic components called ribosomal rna,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 they found something pretty remarkable. They
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 discovered a surprising diversity of
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 eukaryotic life, including various types of
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 algae, protists, and even microscopic animals
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 thriving within these microbial mats.
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 Houssain noted that no two ponds were alike,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 but they all hosted diverse eukaryotic
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 assemblages from all the major groups. This
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 really suggests that meltwater ponds during
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 the snowball Earth episodes could have served
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 as crucial above ice oases,
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 nurturing the eukaryotic life that eventually
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 led to the incredible diversification of
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 complex life we see today, including us.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 The study was published in the journal Nature
00:07:25 --> 00:07:26 Communications.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 Okay, from understanding ancient life here on
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 Earth, let's turn our gaze even further back
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 in time, to the very early universe and the
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 birth of galaxies. There's some really
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 groundbreaking new research that's helping us
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 understand how galaxies, including our own
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 Milky Way, first came to be.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 We're talking about a period known as the
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 cosmic noon, which spanned from 10 to 12
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 billion years ago. During this incredibly
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 active time, star formation was happening at
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 a rate 10 to 100 times greater than it is
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 today. And New research has been looking
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 deeply into a particular type of ancient
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 galaxy called Lyman Alpha emitters or
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 laes. Now, without getting too technical,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 Lyman Alpha or Leia, is a hydrogen line
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 emission in the UV spectrum. Basically, when
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 young energetic stars form, they emit intense
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 UV light that ionizes hydrogen gas around
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 them. And when that hydrogen recombines, it
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 emits this specific Lya line. So
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 detecting it is like a really strong
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 indicator of active star formation. LAEs are
00:08:31 --> 00:08:32 thought to be the direct progenitors of
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 galaxies like our Milky Way. They're
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 typically low mass and very young, only about
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 200 to 600 million years old, and they have
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 the highest star formation rates among all
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 galaxies. But there's been a bit of, a
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 puzzle surrounding them. Were they undergoing
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 their very first intense burst of star
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 formation or were they older galaxies just
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 restarting their star forming engines after a
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 quiet period? A new study titled
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 Star Formation Histories Reveal Formative
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 Starbursts Experienced by lea emitting
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 Galaxies at Cosmic Noon. Led by Nicole
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 Firestone from Rutgers University, set out to
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 answer this. Firestone calls laes the most
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 profound beacons of the high redshift
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 universe, adding that they're fantastic
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 probes of distant galaxy populations because
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 they shine so brightly. M the team used
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 machine learning to examine the light from 74
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 LAEs detected by the 100 DCAM Imaging in
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 Narrowband Survey, or ODIN.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 This allowed them to trace the star formation
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 history of each galaxy. They identified three
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 main those undergoing their first burst,
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 those with a dominant burst happening now,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 but some past activity, and those where the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 dominant burst occurred in the past.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 The exciting finding a strong majority,
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 67% of the LAEs they studied were indeed
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 experiencing their very first major star
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 formation burst, with at most only modest
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 activity in their past. In fact,
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 95% were experiencing what the researchers
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 called dominant bursts of star
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 formation at the time of observation.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 Firestone emphasized, for the very first
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 time, we have been able to definitively show
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 that most LAEs are experiencing their first
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 major starburst at the time of observation
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 and only have very young stars. This
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 is a big deal, because if LAEs are truly the
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 precursors to galaxies like ours, then this
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 research has essentially unlocked a part of
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 our own galaxy's origin story. As Eric
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 Gowiser, also from Rutgers, put it, now we
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 know the answer to that question is yes. When
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 asked if we'd looked far enough back to find
00:10:34 --> 00:10:36 the starting points for galaxies like the
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 Milky Way. It really builds on those
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 fascinating JWST findings that showed
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 surprisingly massive, well, structured
00:10:44 --> 00:10:46 spiral galaxies in the early universe. I
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 mean, it's all part of this incredible story
00:10:48 --> 00:10:49 of galaxy evolution.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 Alright, let's shift gears a little bit from
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 the cosmic past to the future of searching
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 for alien civilizations. Imagine
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 scanning the night sky for signs of alien
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 technology using the very same systems that
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 hunt for exploding stars. That's exactly
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 what researchers are starting to do now.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 Transforming astronomical alert systems
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 originally designed to catch things like
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 supernovae into powerful tools for
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 detecting potential technosignatures.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 That's the evidence of advanced civilizations
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 beyond Earth. Every single night, the
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 Zwicky Transient Facility, or ztf,
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 generates up to a million alerts as it
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 monitors the sky for changing objects.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 These alerts flow through what are called
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 alert brokers, which are basically
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 sophisticated software systems that process
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 and distribute information about anything
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 that brightens, dims or suddenly appears
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 in the sky. And the upcoming Legacy Survey
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 of Space and Time, or lsst,
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 is going to increase this volume by an order
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 of magnitude, creating just an unprecedented
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 flood of astronomical data. While these
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 systems were initially built to catch
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 explosive events like supernovae and to track
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 asteroids, new research by Eleanor Gallet,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 James Davenport and Steve Croft is
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 demonstrating their untapped potential for
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 seti, the search for Extraterrestrial
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 intelligence. Their work shows how we can
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 totally repurpose these existing astronomical
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 systems to search for those subtle signatures
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 that might indicate artificial structures or
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 technology around distant stars. The
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 inspiration for this approach actually comes
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 partly from Boyajian's Star, also known as
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 Tabby's Star. This star, officially KIC
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 846-2852, really puzzled
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 astronomers with its mysterious dimming
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 patterns a few years back. And while natural
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 explanations like dust clouds ultimately
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 proved most likely in that case, the study of
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 Boyajian's star highlighted how unusual
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 stellar behavior could potentially indicate
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 artificial megastructures like a Dyson
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 sphere, which is a hypothetical construct an
00:12:55 --> 00:12:57 advanced civilization might build around its
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 star. So this new research takes that
00:12:59 --> 00:13:02 concept even further, creating automated
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 systems to identify what they call stellar
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 dippers. These are stars that suddenly and
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 dramatically dim without any obvious natural
00:13:10 --> 00:13:13 causes like a classical stellar variability
00:13:13 --> 00:13:15 or other astrophysical phenomena. The
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 challenge of course, is immense. How do you
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 filter millions of nightly alerts? To find
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 the handful that might represent something
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 truly anomalous, the researchers
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 developed a two stage approach. First,
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 they use the alert broker's built in
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 filtering capabilities to narrow down
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 candidates. Then they apply additional
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 analysis using historical data to identify
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 stars showing unprecedented dimming behavior.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 They're even deploying clever optical SETI
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 techniques like looking for planetary transit
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 zone geometries. And using something called
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 the Ceti ellipsoid The SETI ellipsoid
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 is this particularly neat concept that
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 identifies the zone in space where
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 hypothetical alien observers would have seen
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 Earth transit across our sun, potentially
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 prompting them to send signals in our
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 direction. Now the researchers are
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 honest about the current limitations. The
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 SETI methods that these alert brokers can
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 execute are still somewhat limited, but
00:14:11 --> 00:14:12 they're providing suggestions to enhance
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 future technosignature and anomaly searches.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 Especially in the era of the Vera C Rubin
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 Observatory. The existing systems weren't
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 designed with SETI in mind, so some
00:14:23 --> 00:14:24 modifications and new approaches will
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 definitely be needed to fully realize their
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 potential. However, the foundation is
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 really solid. Alert brokers already have
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 sophisticated tools for identifying unusual
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 astronomical events. The LaserRE alert
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 broker, for instance, offers a watchmap
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 feature that can monitor specific regions of
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 the sky for anomalous signals. And as the
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 Vera C Rubin Observatory comes online with
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 lsst, the volume of astronomical
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 alerts is just going to increase
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 dramatically, which creates both huge
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 opportunities and challenges for
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 technosignature research. More data means
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 better chances of catching rare anomalous
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 events. But it also means developing even
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 more sophisticated filtering techniques so we
00:15:03 --> 00:15:06 don't get completely overwhelmed. This work
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 represents a really sensible approach to SETI
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 because it uses existing infrastructure
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 rather than requiring dedicated alien hunting
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 telescopes. By utilizing systems
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 that are already scanning the entire visible
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 sky every few nights, we're essentially
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 getting a free ride on one of the most
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 comprehensive surveillance networks ever
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 pointed at the sky. And
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 while we shouldn't expect to find alien
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 megastructures next week, this research is
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 definitely establishing the groundwork for a
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 new generation of SETI that could operate
00:15:37 --> 00:15:40 continuously, scanning millions of stars
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 for those signs that we are not alone in the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 universe.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 Okay, so we've talked about searching for
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 life, but, what about the formation of
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 planets themselves? Let's turn our attention
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 to one of the really big mysteries in
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 planetary why are enormous and
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 mysterious worlds sometimes found silently
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 looping around their stars far beyond the
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 orbit of known planets? Like some drift
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 as far as 10 times the distance
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 between Earth and the Sun? For decades,
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 astronomers really struggled to explain how
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 these lonely giants ended up so far from the
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 warm center of their systems. But thanks to
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 new research out of Rice University, the
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 mystery might finally have a solution.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 A new study published in Nature Astronomy
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 reveals that these distant worlds aren't just
00:16:27 --> 00:16:30 cosmic flukes. They're actually the natural
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 results of wild early life behavior in
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 planetary systems. During this chaotic
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 stage, young planets collide. They bounce,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 and they scatter, almost like balls on a
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 pinball machine. And sometimes, if the
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 conditions are just right, one of these
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 planets Gets pushed to the outer limits of
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 the system. And believe it or not, it just
00:16:50 --> 00:16:53 stays there. As Andre Isidoro,
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 A lead author and assistant professor at
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 Rice, put it, essentially, we're watching
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 pinballs In a cosmic arcade. He explained
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 that when giant planets Scatter each other
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 through gravitational interactions, Some are
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 flung really far away. But if the timing and
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 the surrounding environment Are just right,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 those planets don't get ejected completely.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 Instead, they get trapped in these extremely
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 wide orbits. This happens while
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 stars are still part of crowded birth
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 clusters, which contain hundreds or even
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 thousands of stars. The Rice team,
00:17:23 --> 00:17:26 along with collaborators, Ran thousands of
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 computer simulations of early planetary
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 systems Living in these dense clusters.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:33 Many of these virtual universes Showed
00:17:33 --> 00:17:35 planets being kicked into orbits between one
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 hundred and ten thousand astronomical units
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 from their stars. That's up to 250
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 times farther than Neptune. Now. Usually
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 when planets are pushed that far, they don't
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 survive. They just get ejected into deep
00:17:47 --> 00:17:50 space and become rogue planets Wandering the
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 galaxy alone. But in these simulations,
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 Some actually survived.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 Gravitational nudges from neighboring stars
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 in the cluster Helped stabilize these extreme
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 orbits. As Nathan Kaib, A co author
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 of the study, explained, when these
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 gravitational kicks happen at just the right
00:18:07 --> 00:18:10 moment, A planet's orbit becomes decoupled
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 from the inner planetary system. This creates
00:18:12 --> 00:18:15 a wide orbit planet that's essentially frozen
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 in place after the cluster disperses.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 And get this. These findings Might shed new
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 light on one of our own solar system's Most
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 intriguing mysteries, Planet Nine.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 This theorized world, if it exists, could
00:18:28 --> 00:18:31 be between five and ten times Earth's mass
00:18:31 --> 00:18:34 and orbits somewhere between 250 and
00:18:34 --> 00:18:37 a thousand astronomical units from the sun.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 It hasn't been observed directly, but several
00:18:40 --> 00:18:42 icy bodies Beyond Neptune have these strange
00:18:42 --> 00:18:45 clustered orbits. That suggests they're being
00:18:45 --> 00:18:47 pulled by something big and unseen. Planet
00:18:47 --> 00:18:50 nine could be that something. According to
00:18:50 --> 00:18:52 the study, if the early solar system
00:18:52 --> 00:18:54 Experienced two specific instability phases,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 One during the growth of Uranus and Neptune,
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 and another during the later scattering among
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 gas giants, there's up to a 40% chance
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 that Planet Nine was actually trapped in its
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 current location. Isidoro said. Our
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 simulations show that these kinds of orbits
00:19:10 --> 00:19:12 Are entirely possible. The solar system
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 might not be unique, but it could be One of
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 the more efficient ones when it comes to
00:19:17 --> 00:19:20 trapping these wide orbit planets. The
00:19:20 --> 00:19:22 study also provides A bit of a roadmap for
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 future exoplanet hunters. Wide orbit planets
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 Are super hard to detect because they're so
00:19:27 --> 00:19:29 far away and dim, but the research suggests
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 they're more likely to appear around metal
00:19:31 --> 00:19:34 rich stars that already have gas giants.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 These stars could become prime targets for
00:19:36 --> 00:19:39 deep imaging surveys, and instruments like
00:19:39 --> 00:19:41 the upcoming Vera C Rubin Observatory will be
00:19:41 --> 00:19:44 absolutely essential. This telescope is
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 expected to help either find Planet nine or
00:19:46 --> 00:19:49 disprove its existence by scanning the sky in
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 unprecedented detail. It's really
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 fascinating to think that the chaos of early
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 planetary systems, combined with the
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 gravitational influence of a crowded stellar
00:19:58 --> 00:20:01 neighborhood, could be responsible for these
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 distant, stable worlds. It really
00:20:03 --> 00:20:06 adds another piece to the complex puzzle of
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 how planetary systems, including our own,
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 came.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:13 And that wraps up another exciting episode of
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 Astronomy Daily. It's always amazing to
00:20:16 --> 00:20:18 delve into the latest breakthroughs and
00:20:18 --> 00:20:20 mysteries of the cosmos, isn't it? From
00:20:20 --> 00:20:22 delayed space missions and unexpected
00:20:22 --> 00:20:24 incidents to the ancient secrets of life on
00:20:24 --> 00:20:26 Earth and even the search for alien
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 civilizations, there's just so much to
00:20:28 --> 00:20:31 explore. Thank you so much for joining me
00:20:31 --> 00:20:33 on this journey through the universe's latest
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 happenings. If you want to catch up on all
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 the latest space and astronomy news with our
00:20:38 --> 00:20:40 constantly updating news feed, or if you want
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 to listen to all our back episodes, be sure
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 to visit our website@astronomydaily.IO
00:20:45 --> 00:20:48 that's a S T R O N o M M y
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 D A I L y IO and
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 hey, don't forget to subscribe to Astronomy
00:20:52 --> 00:20:55 Daily on Apple podcasts, Spotify and
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 YouTubeMusic, or wherever you get your
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 podcasts. We'll be back tomorrow with more
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 news from beyond our world. Until then, this
00:21:01 --> 00:21:04 is Anna signing off and reminding you to keep
00:21:04 --> 00:21:04 looking up.