S03E165: Rocky Exoplanet Discovery, ISS Crew Rotations, and Hubble's Jet Surprise

Transcript

Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space and astronomy news. I'm your host Anna, and in today's episode we'll be covering several exciting stories from across the cosmos.

In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have spotted the first rocky planet orbiting a white dwarf star, providing a fascinating glimpse into what might be Earth's fate billions of years from now. This frozen world, located about 4,200 light-years away, managed to survive the death and expansion of its host star. The planet, with a mass nearly twice that of Earth, now orbits a stellar remnant - the white dwarf - at a distance that puts it well beyond the former star's habitable zone. It's a chilly outpost, as the white dwarf emits only a fraction of the light it once did as a normal star. This discovery raises intriguing questions about our own planet's future. As our sun ages and expands into a red giant before becoming a white dwarf, will Earth survive? Some models suggest it might, while others predict Earth's destruction. This newfound planet implies that Earth's chances for survival could be higher than previously thought.

However, even if our planet does survive, it would likely become an inhospitable, frozen world - much like this newly discovered exoplanet. It's a sobering reminder of the long-term cosmic challenges facing our home world.

The International Space Station has been bustling with activity lately as several crew changes have taken place. Most notably, two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, recently returned to Earth after spending an incredible 374 days in space. This record-breaking mission has provided valuable data on the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. Meanwhile, NASA is gearing up for more crew rotations in the coming days. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission is set to launch as soon as this weekend, bringing fresh faces to the orbiting laboratory. This constant cycling of crew members ensures that the ISS remains continuously staffed and productive. Another exciting development is the potential resumption of spacewalks from the U.S. segment of the station. These crucial extravehicular activities have been on hold for nearly a year due to technical issues with the spacesuits. However, NASA is working diligently to resolve these problems and get astronauts back outside the station to perform vital maintenance and upgrades.

These crew changes and potential spacewalks highlight the dynamic nature of life aboard the International Space Station, as well as the ongoing commitment to scientific research and exploration in low Earth orbit.

In related news back on the ground NASA is gearing up for the crew change over this weekend, and they want you to be a part of it! The SpaceX Crew-9 mission is set to blast off on Saturday, September 28th at 1:17 PM Eastern Time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. While you can't be there in person, NASA is offering the next best thing – a virtual front-row seat to all the action. By registering as a virtual guest, you'll receive exclusive resources, interactive opportunities, and the latest mission updates. You'll even get a special collectible stamp for your virtual guest passport after liftoff. To register, you'll need to visit NASA's registration page online and I'll include the link in the show notes. Live coverage of the launch will begin at 9:10 AM Eastern on NASA's website and streaming platforms. So mark your calendars and get ready to witness another incredible journey to the stars!

Let's move onto some Hubble news today. In a stunning revelation, the Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled an unexpected cosmic phenomenon. Astronomers have discovered that the powerful jet emanating from a supermassive black hole at the core of a massive galaxy is causing nearby stars to erupt more frequently than usual. This jet, a blazing stream of plasma stretching over 3000 light-years, seems to be influencing double-star systems in its vicinity. These systems, known as novae, are experiencing twice as many eruptions compared to similar stars elsewhere in the galaxy. The finding has left researchers puzzled, challenging our current understanding of how black hole jets interact with their surroundings. Lead author Alec Lessing from Stanford University admits, "We don't know what's going on, but it's just a very exciting finding." This discovery opens up new questions about the complex relationships between black holes, their jets, and the stars that inhabit their galactic neighborhoods. It's a reminder that even after decades of observation, the universe still has plenty of surprises in store for us.

Now, some exciting news from the world of exoplanet hunting! Astronomers have just announced the first discovery from the NEID Earth Twin Survey. This new planet, named HD 86728 b, is orbiting a star located about 49 light-years away from us. What makes this discovery special is that it showcases the incredible precision of new instruments like this spectrograph. HD 86728 b has a mass about 9 times that of Earth and orbits its star every 31 days. While this particular planet isn't quite an Earth twin, its discovery proves that we're getting better at finding smaller, potentially rocky worlds around nearby stars. As we continue to refine our techniques and instruments, we're inching closer to the ultimate goal of finding true Earth-like planets in habitable zones around other stars.

This first success from the NEID survey is just the beginning. Astronomers are optimistic that more exciting discoveries are on the horizon as they continue to search for alien worlds in our cosmic neighborhood.

Moving on now to a Dark Matter update. In a surprising twist that challenges our understanding of the universe, a new study suggests that dark matter may not be as aloof as we once thought. Scientists have long believed that dark matter interacts with regular matter only through gravity. However, recent observations of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies are hinting at a more complex relationship. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, looked at six of these tiny galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. By comparing computer simulations with real-world observations, researchers found that the distribution of stars in these galaxies doesn't quite match what we'd expect if dark matter and regular matter were only linked by gravity. This slight discrepancy could indicate that dark matter interacts with regular matter in ways we haven't yet understood. While the exact nature of this interaction remains a mystery, the implications are profound. It could open up new avenues for detecting dark matter directly and force us to rethink our current models of how the universe works.

As always in science, more data is needed to confirm these findings. But if true, this discovery could be a game-changer in our quest to understand the enigmatic substance that makes up most of the universe's mass.

That's all for today's episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna, thanks for listening. Visit our website at astronomydaily.io for more space news, our daily newsletter, and all our previous episodes. You can also find us on social media as AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube and Tik Tok.. Until next time, keep looking up!