- Revolutionary Travel to Uranus: SpaceX's Starship could potentially cut travel time to Uranus in half for future missions. With innovative in-orbit refueling techniques and aerobraking strategies, researchers suggest a journey could take just 6.5 years, a significant improvement over traditional methods that could take over 13 years.
- Black Hole Devours Star: Astronomers have observed a gamma-ray burst, GRB 250702B, which may be a black hole consuming a star from within. This event, detected by NASA's Fermi telescope, challenges existing models of gamma-ray bursts and suggests a new type of stellar phenomenon.
- Orionid Meteor Shower: The Orionid meteor shower is peaking soon, offering stargazers a chance to see 15 to 30 meteors per hour under optimal dark skies. The best viewing time is in the early morning hours around October 21, when the Moon will be absent.
- Massive Comet Awakens: The largest known comet from the Oort Cloud, C 2014 UN 271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein), is showing signs of activity even at a distance of 16.6 AU from the Sun. This massive comet, measuring 85 miles across, is venting gases and providing insights into the early solar system.
- Tribute to Ace Frehley: The music world mourns the loss of Ace Frehley, the iconic guitarist from KISS, who passed away at 74. Known for his space-themed persona and contributions to rock music, his legacy will continue to inspire fans and musicians alike.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, 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 and Avery signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the wonders of our universe.
SpaceX Starship Uranus Mission
[Universe Today](https://www.universetoday.com/)
Gamma Ray Burst Discovery
[Sky and Telescope](https://skyandtelescope.org/)
Orionid Meteor Shower Details
[Space.com](https://www.space.com/)
Bernardinelli-Bernstein Comet Activity
[Daily Galaxy](https://www.dailygalaxy.com/)
Tribute to Ace Frehley
[Space.com](https://www.space.com/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 Astronomy Daily, your go to spot for all
00:00:05 --> 00:00:07 things space and starts. I'm Anna.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 Avery: And I'm Avery. joining you as always.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:13 Today is October 18, 2025
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 and we've got some really cool stories lined
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 up. Like from cutting travel time to distant
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 planets in half to a black hole,
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 basically devouring a star from the inside
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 out. Oh, and don't forget the meteor shower
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 peaking soon. Perfect for stargazers like us.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Anna: Totally, Avery. And we'll touch on a massive
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 comet waking up way out there. And even a
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 cosmic tribute to a rock legend.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 So let's dive right in, starting with some
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 exciting news about SpaceX's Starship and
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 potential mission to Uranus.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 Avery: Okay, so you know how getting to the outer
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 planets takes forever? Like Voyager 2
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 took over nine years to reach Uranus back in
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 the 80s and, and that was just a flyby.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Well, according to this article From Universe
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 Today, SpaceX's Starship could
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 slash that travel time in half for a future
00:01:03 --> 00:01:04 orbiter mission.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 Anna: Whoa, really?
00:01:06 --> 00:01:06 Avery: Half?
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 Anna: That's huge. so The National
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 Academy's 2022 Decadal Survey
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 prioritized a Uranus orbiter and probe,
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 UOP for short. Because
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Uranus is this weird ice giant we
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 barely know anything about. It'
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 tilted on its side, has a funky magnetic
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 field, and its moons might have underground
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 oceans. But traditional plans using
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 something like Falcon Heavy would take over
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 13 years to get there, relying on
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 gravity assists from other planets.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 Avery: Yeah, and that's a drag, you know,
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 operationally, financially, all that. But
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 starship changes the game with in orbit
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 refueling, which they're still testing, but
00:01:50 --> 00:01:51 fingers crossed it'll be ready by the end of
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 the decade. Researchers from MIT
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 crunched the numbers and said with refueling
00:01:57 --> 00:02:00 and even using starship as an aerobraking
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 shield in Uranus's atmosphere, you could
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 get there in just six and a half years. No
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 slingshots needed.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 Anna: Aerobraking shield like the starship would
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 tag along the whole way and help slow down
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 the probe. That's clever. And it could
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 cut costs too, since shorter missions mean
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 less time, paying teams and all. But
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 NASA's funding for UOP is still up in
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 the air, so we gotta hope they seize those
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 launch windows in the2030s. Otherwise
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 we're waiting till the2040s. That's like 70
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 years since Voyager's last look.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 Avery: Exactly. Anna. Uranus deserves more love.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 It's key for understanding exoplanets too,
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 since ice giants are common out there. Super
00:02:42 --> 00:02:43 exciting potential here.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 Anna: Alright, shifting gears to something straight
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 out of a sci fi horror flickering,
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 astronomers spotted a gamma ray burst
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 that might be a black hole tunneling into a
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 star and exploding it from the inside out.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 This is from sky and Telescope. And it's
00:03:00 --> 00:03:00 wild.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 Avery: Oh, man. Tell me about it. So this burst,
00:03:04 --> 00:03:05 GRB
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 250702B,
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 was picked up by NASA's Fermi telescope on
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 July 2, 2025. But it actually
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 happened 8 billion years ago in a distant
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 galaxy. It lasted a, whopping seven
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 hours with all these flares and fades
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 plus soft X rays a day before from the
00:03:24 --> 00:03:25 Einstein probe.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 Anna: Normally, gamma ray bursts are either short
00:03:28 --> 00:03:31 from neutron stars smashing together or
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 longer from massive stars collapsing into
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 black holes. Collapsars, Right, but
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 this one's duration and variability don't
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 fit. Follow ups with the Very Large
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 Telescope, Hubble, JWST and
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 more pinpointed it to the edge of a dusty
00:03:47 --> 00:03:48 asymmetric galaxy.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 Avery: Yeah, and the leading theory, a stellar mass
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 black hole merged with a bloated helium star.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 As the star expanded, the black hole started
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 gobbling. Material slowed down, produced
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 those X rays, then dove into the core and
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 shot out jets that blew the star apart.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 Eliza Nates from George Washington University
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 and her team think this could be a rare new
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 type of GRB interrupt.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 Anna: But is this confirmed? It challenges all
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 the models, right? Like, incompatible
00:04:19 --> 00:04:20 with everything we know.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 Avery: Totally. But the afterglow data shows fast
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 jets and shock waves that match this black
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 hole star merger. If it's real, it opens up a
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 whole new class of these events. Mind blowing
00:04:32 --> 00:04:33 how violent the universe can be.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Now for something you can actually see from
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 your backyard. The Orionid meteor shower is
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 peaking next week, and conditions are prime.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 Space.com has the details.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Anna: Yes, it runs until October 26,
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 but maxes out on the morning of October 21.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 The Moon's new that day, so super dark skies,
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 no moonlight messing things up. Expect 15
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 to 30 meteors per hour. If you're in a rural
00:04:58 --> 00:04:59 spot away.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 Avery: From city lights, they're from Halley's
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 comets. Debris, you know, Earth plows through
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 that stream twice a year. Orionids in fall,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 Eta Aquarids in spring. These guys are fast.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 Like 41 miles per second. So quick
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 streaks and bright ones can leave trains or
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 even fireballs a few days after peak.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 Anna: To catch em, head out before dawn, say 4 to
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 5am local time. Bundle up, lie
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 back, let your eyes adjust. Don't stare
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 right at the radiant near Betelgeuse in
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 orion. Look about 30 degrees away toward the
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 zenith. Visible from both hemispheres, too.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 Avery: Perfect timing for us stargazers. If you're
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 out there, any predawn meteor has a
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 75% chance of being in Orionid.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 Grab a friend, make it a thing.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 Anna: Speaking of comets, the largest known comet
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 from the Oort Cloud is already active
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 billions of miles out. This is C
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 2014 UN 271
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 or Bernardinelli Bernstein from
00:05:58 --> 00:05:59 Daily Galaxy.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 Avery: It's huge, about 85 miles across,
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 way bigger than most. Currently
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 16.6 AU from the sun past
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 Saturn, over 1.5 billion
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 miles away. At that distance, water's still
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 frozen, but volatiles like carbon monoxide
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 are venting out in bursts.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 Anna: Alma telescope in Chile caught these gas jets
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 at 230 gigahertz, changing between
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 observations. Probably rotating active
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 spots facing the Sun. It's got a compact
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 coma, low formaldehyde, so the gas is coming
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 straight from inside.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 Avery: This challenges what we thought about when
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 comets wake up, usually closer in. As
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 a pristine Oort Cloud object, it's like a
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 time capsule from the solar system's birth.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 Exciting for understanding ancient chemistry.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 Anna: Absolutely. And it's rotating, outgassing
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 explosively. Can't wait to see how it evolves
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 as it gets closer.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 Avery: Finally, a bit of a lighter but sad note.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 Ace Frehley, the spaceman from KISS,
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 passed away at 74. Space.com did a
00:07:03 --> 00:07:04 cosmic tribute.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 Anna: Oh yeah, he died from a head injury on
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 October 16th. Ace was the original
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 guitarist for Kiss from 73 to 82,
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 then reunited in the 90s. His spaceman
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 look was all space themed makeup,
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 costumes of stars and lightning,
00:07:21 --> 00:07:21 and.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:24 Avery: His solo stuff leaned into it hard. Albums
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 like Frehley's Comet, Space Invader with
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 tracks about Mars, missions and vortices.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 Spaceman in 2018, even 10 volts.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 This year with Walkin on the Moon, he left a
00:07:35 --> 00:07:36 cosmic mark on rock.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 Anna: Totally tributes from folks like Alex
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 Liveson. Rest in peace Space Ace. Your sci
00:07:42 --> 00:07:43 fi legacy lives on.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 Avery: Whew, that was a packed episode. Anna From
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 black holes to rockstars, space never
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 disappoints for sure.
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 Anna: Thanks for tuning in to Astronomy Daily. And
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 remember, if you need more space and
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 astronomy news in your life, just visit our
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 website at astronomydaily IO
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 and check out our continuously updating
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 newsfeed and sign up for our free daily
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 newsletter. Catch us next time for more
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 stellar news. Stay curious. Look up
00:08:08 --> 00:08:09 Avery: Bye for now