Hosts: Anna & Avery
Episode: S05E20
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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 Avery: And I'm, um, avery. It's Friday, January
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 23rd, and we've got an amazing lineup of
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 space stories to close out your week.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 Anna: We certainly do. Today we're exploring
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 NASA's plans to send some very special
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 keepsakes around the moon on Artemis 2.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 Blue Origin's latest new Glenn launch
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 plans, and some m fascinating new research
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 about where Earth's water really came from.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 Avery: Plus, we'll dive into a rather urgent warning
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 about the increasing dangers of space space
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 debris, uncover new insights about how
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 supermassive black holes grew so quickly,
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 and learn how AI Is helping scientists
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 discover thousands of new exoplanets.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 Let's get started, avery.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 Anna: As Artemis 2 preparations continue at
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 Kennedy Space Center, NASA has revealed
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 something really special they'll be taking
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 along for the ride. And it's not just the
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 four astronauts.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:58 Avery: Oh, I love when missions carry meaningful
00:00:58 --> 00:00:59 items. What are they bringing?
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 Anna: This is fascinating. The official flight kit
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 includes a piece of fabric from the original
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 1903 Wright Flyer. It's a
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 tiny swatch just one inch square from the
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 very first aircraft that made the powered
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 flight at Kitty Hawk. What's even cooler is
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 that this same piece already flew on the
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 space shuttle discovery back in
00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 1985.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 Avery: So it's making its second journey to space.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 That's a beautiful connection between the
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 beginning of powered flight and humanity's
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 return to the moon. What else is in the
00:01:31 --> 00:01:32 flight kit?
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 Anna: There's an American flag with an incredible
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 history. It flew on the very first
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 shuttle mission, STS1, and the
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 final shuttle mission, STS135.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:46 It also went up on SpaceX's first crewed
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 Dragonflight. Talk about bookending an era
00:01:49 --> 00:01:50 of spaceflight.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:53 Avery: That flag has seen some serious history. Is
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 there anything connecting Artemis back to the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 Apollo program?
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 Anna: Absolutely. They're flying a flag that was
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 originally meant for Apollo 18, a
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 mission that never happened. This will be its
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 very first spaceflight, finally fulfilling
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 its original destiny after all these years.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 There's also a photo negative from the Ranger
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 7 mission, which was the US first
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 spacecraft to successfully reach the lunar
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 surface back in the 1960s.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Avery: It's like they're weaving together the entire
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 story of American exploration. And knowing
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 NASA, I bet they're including the public
00:02:26 --> 00:02:27 somehow.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 Anna: Of course, an SD card carrying
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 millions of names, including ours, from the
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 send you'd name to space campaign will be
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 aboard. NASA administrator Jared
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 Isaacman put it beautifully when he said
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 these artifacts reflect the long arc of
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 American exploration and the generations of
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 innovators who made this moment possible.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 With about 10 pounds of mementos in total,
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 Artemis 2 will truly be carrying our, uh,
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 collective history and dreams. Dreams Forward
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 into the next chapter beyond Earth.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 Avery: What a perfect way to mark America's
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 250th anniversary.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 Now, speaking of missions and launches, let's
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 shift gears to Blue Origin and their New
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 Glenn rocket.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 Anna: Blue Origin has announced their third New
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 Glenn launch is scheduled for late February.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 And there's an interesting twist to this one.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 Avery: Let me guess. Everyone expected them to fly
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 their Blue Moon lunar lander next, right?
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 Anna: Exactly. But instead, they're launching a
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 satellite for AST Space Mobile,
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 making it the second commercial payload to
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 fly on New Glenn. The blue moon mark one
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 lander is currently being shipped to NASA's
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 Johnson Space center for vacuum chamber
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 testing. And they haven't announced a launch
00:03:39 --> 00:03:40 date for that mission yet.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 Avery: So what makes this particular launch notable?
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 Anna: This will be the third New Glenn launch in
00:03:46 --> 00:03:49 just over a year, which is impressive
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 considering the rockets spent a decade in
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 development. But here's the really exciting
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 part. They're reusing the booster from
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 November's second flight. They successfully
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 landed it on a drone ship in the Ocean, just
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 like SpaceX does with Falcon 9.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 Avery: So this demonstrates their reusability
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 program is working. That's crucial for
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 reducing launch costs. What else is Blue
00:04:12 --> 00:04:13 Origin working on?
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 Anna: They've got some ambitious plans. In
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 November, they revealed a super heavy variant
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 of New Glenn that will be taller than a
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 Saturn V rocket on par with
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 SpaceX's Starship. And just this week, they
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 announced a satellite Internet constellation
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 called Terrawave that they plan to start
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 deploying in late 2027.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 Avery: February is shaping up to be a busy month for
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 spaceflight. NASA might launch Artemis 2 as
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 early as February 6th. SpaceX is testing
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 the third version of Starship, and Crew 12 to
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 the International Space Station is also
00:04:47 --> 00:04:48 scheduled.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 Speaking of busy orbital environments, that
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 brings us to our next story about space
00:04:53 --> 00:04:54 debris.
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 Anna: Avery, this next story is both
00:04:56 --> 00:04:59 fascinating and a bit alarming. A
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 new study has introduced something called the
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 crash clock. And according to their
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 calculations, if satellite operators
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 suddenly lost the ability to maneuver their
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 spacecraft, we could see a catastrophic
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 collision in just 5.5 days.
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 Avery: Wait, 5.5 days? That's
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 incredibly short. What's driving this?
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 Anna: Megaconstellations. The researchers found
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 that close approaches between satellites,
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 defined as two satellites passing within
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 1km of each other, now happen
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 every 22 seconds across all low
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 Earth orbit megaconstellations. For Starlink
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 alone, It's once every 11 minutes. Each
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 Starlink satellite performs an average of
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 41 avoidance maneuvers per year.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 Avery: Those numbers are staggering, and you said
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 5.5 days. I thought I'd heard this was
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 originally 2.8 days.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:56 Anna: Good catch. The team updated their model
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 based on community feedback. The original
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 calculation was 2.8 days, but after
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 incorporating expert input, they Revised it
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 to 5.5 days for 2025 data.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 By comparison, back in 2018, before the
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 mega Constellation era really took off, it
00:06:12 --> 00:06:15 would have taken 164 days before
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 a collision.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 Avery: So we've gone from 164 days down
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 to 5.5 days in just seven years.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 What could cause operators to lose control
00:06:25 --> 00:06:25 like that?
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 Anna: Solar storms are the main threat. When a
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 coronal mass ejection hits Earth, it heats up
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 the upper atmosphere, creating more drag on
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 satellites and making their trajectories
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 harder to predict. During the Gannon storm in
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 May 2024, over half of all
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 satellites in low Earth orbit had to for
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 repositioning maneuvers. More seriously,
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 solar storms can knock out satellites,
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 navigational and communication systems,
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 leaving them unable to maneuver at all.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 Avery: And, um, solar storms don't give us much
00:06:56 --> 00:06:57 warning, do they?
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 Anna: Typically just a day or two at most. The
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 study found that within 24 hours of losing
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 maneuvering capability, there's a 30% chance
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 of a collision between tracked objects and a
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 26% chance of a collision involving a, uh,
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 Starlink satellite. Specifically, such
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 collisions would be catastrophic, creating
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 major debris generating events with high
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 likelihood of secondary and tertiary
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 collisions.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 Avery: That sounds like Kessler Syndrome, the
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 cascade effect, where collisions create
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 debris that causes more collisions.
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 Anna: Exactly. Though the researchers want to be
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 clear about something important, lead author
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 Sarah Thiel emphasized, they're not saying
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 Kessler Syndrome is days away. The crash
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 clock only measures time to the first
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 collision, not a runaway cascade.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 Bolkesler Syndrome would take decades or even
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 centuries to develop. But the clock does show
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 how reliant we are on errorless operations
00:07:54 --> 00:07:55 every single day.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 Avery: So it's more of a stress indicator for the
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 orbital environment, Right.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 Anna: The team suggests the crash clock could
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 serve as a key environmental indicator,
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 similar to how we use carbon emissions
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 metrics for climate change. They're calling
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 for improved debris mitigation,
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 coordinated traffic management, and stronger
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 space weather resilience measures to protect
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 the technology modern society depends on.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 Now let's shift from orbital concerns to
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 lunar mysteries.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 Avery: For decades, Anna, uh, scientists have
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 assumed that Earth's water was delivered by
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 asteroids and comets during the Late heavy
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 bombardment about 4 billion years ago. But
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 new research from lunar samples is
00:08:38 --> 00:08:39 challenging that assumption.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 Anna: The Apollo samples are still teaching us new
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 things after all these years. What did they
00:08:45 --> 00:08:45 find?
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 Avery: Dr. Tony Gargano the Lunar and Planetary
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 Institute led a team that analyzed lunar
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 rocks and regolith using high precision
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 triple oxygen isotopes. They found that
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 meteorites could only have supplied a small
00:08:58 --> 00:09:00 fraction of Earth's water. Even by the most
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 generous estimates, the lunar surface record
00:09:03 --> 00:09:06 sets a hard limit on volatile delivery.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 Anna: Why is the Moon such a good record keeper for
00:09:09 --> 00:09:09 this?
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 Avery: On Earth, tectonic plates constantly renew
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 the surface, erasing traces of ancient
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 impacts. But the Moon is airless and hasn't
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 had geological activity for billions of
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 years. So its geological record since the
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 Late Heavy Bombardment has been carefully
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 preserved. It's like a cosmic history book
00:09:26 --> 00:09:27 that hasn't been edited.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 Anna: How did they approach the analysis
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 differently from previous studies?
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 Avery: Instead of focusing on metal loving elements
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 like previous researchers, Gargano's team
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 analyzed oxygen isotopes, which make up the
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 largest mass fraction of rocks. The oxygen
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 triple isotope signature can separate two
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 things that are often confused in lunar
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 the addition of impactor material and the
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 effects of impact induced vaporization on
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 isotopic composition.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 Anna: And what did the oxygen isotopes tell them?
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 Avery: They found that at least 1% of the moon's
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 mass consists of impact related material,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 likely from carbonaceous meteorites that
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 partially vaporized on impact. From this,
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 they calculated that only a tiny amount of
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 water has been delivered to the Earth Moon
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 system since the Late Heavy Bombardment
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 compared to Earth's existing water.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 Anna: To put that in perspective, how much water
00:10:19 --> 00:10:19 does Earth have?
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 Avery: Water covers over 71% of Earth's surface,
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 but it only accounts for about
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 0% of Earth's
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 total mass. That still works out to roughly
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 1.46 sextillion kilograms.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 That's 1.46 followed by 21
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 zeros. So even a tiny fraction of that is
00:10:39 --> 00:10:40 significant.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 Anna: Co author Dr. Justin Simon from NASA
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 summed it up. Well, the results don't say
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 meteorites delivered no water, but they
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 do make it very hard for late meteorite
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 delivery delivery to be the dominant source
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 of Earth's oceans.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 Avery: This has interesting implications for lunar
00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 exploration, doesn't it?
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 Anna: Absolutely. While meteorites may have
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 delivered only a tiny fraction of Earth's
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 water, their contribution could be crucial
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 for the Moon. Water ice in permanently
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 shadowed regions is essential for
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 establishing a sustained human presence,
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 providing drinking water, irrigation,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 radiation shielding and the means to make
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 rocket propellant. As the researchers noted,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 that small amount of water delivered by
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 impacts could be the single most important
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 factor enabling humanity's expansion
00:11:31 --> 00:11:31 into space.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 Avery: From water on the Moon to mysteries in the
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 early universe, let's talk about supermassive
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 black holes.
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 Anna: How did black holes get so big so
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 fast? That's been one of astronomy's great
00:11:44 --> 00:11:47 mysteries. Avery and researchers at Ireland's
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 Maynooth University have found an answer.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 Avery: The James Webb Space Telescope has been
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 finding these massive black holes in the
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 early universe that shouldn't exist according
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 to our previous models. Right?
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 Anna: Exactly. These supermassive black
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 holes existed just a few hundred million
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 years after the Big Bang, and conventional
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 theories said there wasn't enough time for
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 them to grow so large. The Maynooth
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 team, led by PhD candidate Daxel
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 Mehta, used state of the art computer
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 simulations to reveal what happened.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 Avery: Um, and what did they discover?
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 Anna: The chaotic conditions in the early universe
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 triggered these smaller black holes to
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 undergo what they call a feeding frenzy,
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 devouring material all around them. The
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 dense, gas rich environments in early
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 galaxies enabled something called Super
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Eddington accretion.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 Avery: Super Eddington accretion. That sounds
00:12:41 --> 00:12:42 intense. What is it?
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 Anna: It's when a black hole eats matter
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 faster than what's considered normal or safe.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 Normally, when matter falls into a black hole
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 that quickly, it should blow the food away
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 with radiation pressure. But somehow,
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 in these early dense environments, the
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 black holes kept eating anyway,
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 growing incredibly fast into
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 tens of thousands of times the mass of our
00:13:07 --> 00:13:08 Sun.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 Avery: So they found the missing link between the
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 first stars and later supermassive black
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 holes.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 Anna: Yes. Black holes come in two main
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 seed. Light seeds, which start at only
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 about 10 to a few hundred times the mass of
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 our sun, and heavy seeds, which can start at,
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 uh, up to 100 solar masses.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 Previously, astronomers thought you needed
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 those rare heavy seeds to explain
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 supermassive black holes. But this research
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 shows that common light seed black holes
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 can grow at extreme rates under the right
00:13:41 --> 00:13:41 conditions.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 Avery: Dr. John Regan from the team put it perfectly
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 when he said heavy seeds are somewhat exotic
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 and may need rare conditions to form. But
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 their simulations show that garden variety
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 stellar mass black holes can grow at extreme
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 rates in the early universe.
00:13:56 --> 00:13:59 Anna: This has implications beyond just
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 understanding the past. The research team
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 noted that future gravitational wave
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 observations from the Lisa mission, scheduled
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 to launch in 2035, may be able to
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 detect the mergers of these tiny, early,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 rapidly growing baby black holes.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 It's exciting to think we might actually
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 observe these processes directly from black
00:14:20 --> 00:14:22 holes to exoplanets.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 Avery: Let's close with our final story about AI
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 hunting for new worlds. Anna. Uh, we've found
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 over 6 exoplanets so far, with more
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 than half discovered using data from NASA's
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 Kepler and Tess missions. But there's still a
00:14:35 --> 00:14:36 treasure trove of data waiting to be
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 analyzed. And that's where artificial
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 intelligence comes in.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 Anna: I remember hearing about exominer back in
00:14:42 --> 00:14:45 2021. Is that what this is about?
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 Avery: Exactly. The team at NASA's Ames
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 Research center created Exominer, which used
00:14:51 --> 00:14:54 AI to validate 370 new
00:14:54 --> 00:14:56 exoplanets from Kepler data. Now they've
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 released Exominer, trained on both
00:14:59 --> 00:15:02 Kepler and TESS data, and the results are
00:15:02 --> 00:15:03 impressive.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 Anna: What can the new version do?
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 Avery: On, um, its initial run of test data,
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 Exominer identified
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 7 targets as exoplanet candidates.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 These are signals that are likely to be
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 planets but require follow up observations to
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 confirm. The software sifts through
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 observations of possible transits, those
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 tiny dips in starlight when a planet passes
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 in front of its host star and predicts which
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 ones are real planets versus other phenomena
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 like eclipsing binary stars.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 Anna: And this is all open source software?
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 Avery: Yes. Anyone can download it from GitHub and
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 use it to hunt for planets in TESS's growing
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 public data archive. Kevin Murphy, NASA's
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 chief science data Officer, emphasized that
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 open source software like exominer
00:15:46 --> 00:15:49 accelerates scientific discovery. When
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 researchers freely share their tools, it lets
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 others replicate results and dig deeper into
00:15:54 --> 00:15:54 the data.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 Anna: What makes exominer
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 particularly effective?
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 Avery: Miguel Martinho, the co investigator,
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 explains that when you have hundreds of
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 thousands of signals like this, it's the
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 ideal place to deploy deep learning
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 technologies. Despite Kepler and TESS
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 operating differently, TESS surveys nearly
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 the whole sky looking for planets around
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 nearby stars, while Kepler looked at a small
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 patch of sky more deeply. The two missions
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 produce compatible datasets. This allows
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 exominer to train on both and
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 deliver strong results.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 Anna: Project lead Hamed Valizadigan said it
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 perfectly with not many resources, they can
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 make a lot of returns. What's next for the
00:16:34 --> 00:16:34 program?
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 Avery: The team is working on giving the model the
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 ability to identify transit signals
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 themselves from raw data, rather than just
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 evaluating pre identified candidates and
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 looking ahead. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 Telescope will capture tens of thousands of
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 exoplanet transits starting in a few years
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 and all that data will be freely available
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 too. The advances made with exominer could
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 help hunt for planets in Roman data as well.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 Anna: Exoplanet scientist John Jenkins summed it
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 up beautifully. Open source science and open
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 source software are, uh, why the exoplanet
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 field is advancing as quickly as it is. It's
00:17:10 --> 00:17:13 a great reminder of how collaboration and
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 shared resources drive discovery.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 Avery: And that's all we have time for today. What a
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 day of space news. Anna um, from legacy
00:17:20 --> 00:17:23 keepsakes heading to the moon to urgent
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 warnings about orbital debris to AI
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 discovering thousands of new.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 Anna: Worlds and everything in between. New
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 insights about Earth's water, the rapid
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 growth of supermassive black holes, and Blue
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 Origin's expanding launch manifest. Space
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 exploration continues to accelerate on
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 multiple fronts.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 Avery: That's it for today's episode of Astronomy
00:17:43 --> 00:17:45 Daily. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 you tomorrow. Keep looking up.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 Anna: Clear skies, everyone.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 Avery: Astronomy Day
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Stories we told.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:55 Anna: Love.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:01 Avery: Story Soul.