Story 1: Farewell to Interstellar Comet 3I/Atlas**
**Key Facts**
- Comet 3I/Atlas made its closest approach to Earth, coming within 168 million miles.
- It is only the third interstellar object detected passing through our solar system.03:20 –
**Story 2: Parker Solar Probe's Close Approach**
**Key Facts**
- The probe completed its 26th perihelion, flying just 3.8 million miles from the Sun.
- It operated autonomously while gathering crucial data about solar activity.05:45 –
**Story 3: NASA's Artemis 2 Mascot Contest**
**Key Facts**
- NASA invited the public to design a zero gravity indicator for the Artemis 2 mission.
- Thousands of submissions were received, with 25 finalists selected.08:00 –
**Story 4: Understanding LFBOTs**
**Key Facts**
- Recent findings suggest LFBOTs result from black holes shredding companion stars.
- The energy emitted during these events is significantly higher than typical supernova explosions.10:15 –
**Story 5: Potential Impact of Asteroid 2024 YR4**
**Key Facts**
- There is a 4% chance that this building-sized asteroid will hit the Moon in 2032.
- The impact could release energy equivalent to 400 times the Hiroshima bomb.12:00 –
**Story 6: Russia's Future in Space**
**Key Facts**
- Russia plans to repurpose the old ISS modules into a new national space station.
- Concerns arise regarding the safety and maintenance of aging infrastructure.### Sources & Further Reading
1. NASA
2. James Webb Space Telescope
3. Space.com
4. European Space Agency
5. NASA Solar System Exploration
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This episode includes AI-generated content.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your
00:00:03 --> 00:00:05 source for the latest news from across the
00:00:05 --> 00:00:06 cosmos. I'm Avery.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to have you with us.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 Today we say goodbye to our interstellar
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 visitor and look to the future of life in
00:00:14 --> 00:00:14 orbit.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:16 Avery: That's right. We'll be talking about a
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 comment from another solar system that just
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 made its closest approach to Earth. And we'll
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 check in on the Parker solar probe as it once
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 again braves the Sun's fiery atmosphere.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 Plus, a fun story about how you could have
00:00:30 --> 00:00:32 helped design a mascot for the next mission
00:00:32 --> 00:00:33 to the Moon.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 Anna: And later in the show, we'll dive into a
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 cosmic mystery involving incredibly powerful
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 blue explosions, a building sized
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 asteroid with a small chance of hitting the
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 Moon, and Russia's surprising new plans for
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 its future in space after the International
00:00:48 --> 00:00:49 Space Station.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:50 So let's get started.
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 Avery: First up, a, visitor from very, very
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 far away. On Friday, December
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 19, interstellar comet
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 3I Atlas made
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 its closest approach to our planet.
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 Anna: It came within 168 million
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 miles of Earth. Now that it's passed us, it
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 will begin its long journey back out of our
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 solar system, continuing its voyage through
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 the Milky Way.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 Avery: And, this isn't just any comet. It's only the
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 third object we've ever detected passing
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 through our solar system. That originated
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 from interstellar space.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Anna: Exactly. It was first spotted by NASA's
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 Atlas system on July 1, 2025.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 By analyzing its trajectory, scientists
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 determined it didn't come from around here.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 In fact, its path suggests it comes from a
00:01:39 --> 00:01:42 region of our galaxy that might be up to 7
00:01:42 --> 00:01:43 billion years old.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 Avery: 7 billion years. That means this little icy
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 wanderer is significantly older than our own
00:01:49 --> 00:01:52 4.6 billion year old solar system.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 It's like a relic from a completely different
00:01:54 --> 00:01:55 time and place.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 Anna: Mm. A true cosmic fossil. And it
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 gave scientists a bit of a surprise. As it
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 made its closest approach to the sun, the
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 comet brightened much more than expected. And
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 the reason for that extra glow is still a
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 mystery. It's a fascinating puzzle for
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 scientists to analyze as they gather the data
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 from its Flyby. So farewell, 3i
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 Atlas. You put on quite a show for us.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Avery: Speaking of getting close to the Sun, NASA's
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 Parker Solar Probe has been doing just that
00:02:24 --> 00:02:25 again.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 Anna: That's right. On December 13, the probe
00:02:28 --> 00:02:31 completed its 26th close approach, or
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 perihelion. And it wasn't just another
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 flyby. It matched its own incredible
00:02:36 --> 00:02:37 records.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 Avery: And what records they are, it flew just
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 3.8 million miles from the solar surface.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 To put that in perspective, earth is about
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 93 million miles away. And its
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 speed, a, blistering 430
00:02:51 --> 00:02:52 miles per hour.
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 Anna: It's almost impossible to comprehend that
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 velocity. During this close approach, the
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 spacecraft was completely out of contact with
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 Earth, operating fully autonomously as its
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 instruments gathered data from right inside
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 the sun's atmosphere. The corona
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 Avery: And the timing is perfect. This is all
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 happening while the sun is in a very active
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 phase of its 11 year cycle.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 Anna: That's the key. These observations are
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 critical for helping us understand our star
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 and the space weather events it produces,
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 like solar flares and coronal mass ejection.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 That data is vital for protecting our
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 astronauts and technology both in orbit
00:03:29 --> 00:03:30 and here on Earth.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 Avery: Alright. From the intense heat of the sun to
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 something a little more whimsical, NASA
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 recently gave the public a very unique
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 opportunity. The chance to design a mascot
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 for the Artemis 2 mission.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 Anna: This is such a great story. In collaboration
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 with the platform Freelancer, NASA held a
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 contest for a zero gravity indicator. These
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 are small, usually plush items that the crew
00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 takes with them when they start to fly
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 afloat. It's a simple visual cue that they've
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 reached the microgravity of space.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 Avery: Right. It's a long standing tradition in
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 human spaceflight, but this is the very first
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 time the public has been invited to create
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 the crew's mascot. Artemis 2 is the
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 mission that will send four astronauts on a
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 trip around the moon in early 2026. So
00:04:15 --> 00:04:16 this is a historic flight.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 Anna: The response was overwhelming. The
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 contest received thousands of submissions
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 from over 50 countries. They've now
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 narrowed it down to 25 finalists and the
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 winning will be fabricated by NASA's own
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 thermal blanket Lab and will fly with the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:33 astronauts on their journey.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 Avery: I love that we won't know the winner until
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 closer to the launch date, but it's fantastic
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 to see this level of public engagement with
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 such a landmark mission. It really connects
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 people to the adventure of space exploration.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 Anna: Now for a deep space mystery. For years,
00:04:49 --> 00:04:51 astronomers have been puzzled by extremely
00:04:51 --> 00:04:54 powerful and bright blue cosmic
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 explosions. They're called luminous fast
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 blue optical Transients, or L
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 LFBOTs for short. And we may
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 finally know what causes them.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 Avery: Lfbots. The name itself is a
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 mouthful. What's the leading theory here?
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 Anna: Well, a, recently detected signal designated
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 at 2024wpp
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 has provided a major clue. It suggests
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 that LFBOTs are the result of an
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 extreme version of something called a tidal
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 disruption event, or tde.
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 Avery: That's when a black hole tears a star apart,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:30 right?
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 Anna: Exactly. But in this case, we're talking
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 about a black hole with a mass up to 100
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 times that of our sun, completely shredding
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 its companion star in a matter of days.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 This particular event at
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 2024wpp emitted
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 about 100 times more energy than an
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 average supernova explosion.
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 Avery: Wow. So what makes it so much more powerful
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 than a typical tde?
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 Anna: The theory is that this wasn't just a one
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 time. The black hole was likely
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 parasitically feeding from its companion star
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 for a long time, which created a huge
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 shell of material around the pair. When
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 the star finally spiraled close enough to be
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 completely shredded, the new stellar
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 material slammed into that pre existing
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 shell. That massive collision is what
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 generated the immense light and energy that
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 we observe as an lfbot. Yes.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 Avery: So it's a cosmic two punch knockout. The star
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 gets torn apart and then its remains crash
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 into a wall of its own lost material. That's
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 an incredible level of cosmic violence.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 Anna: It certainly is now bringing the
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 cosmic violence a little closer to home.
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 Let's talk about an asteroid named 2024
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 yr. 4.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 Avery: Right. This is a building size asteroid
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 roughly 60 meters wide. And scientists have
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 calculated that there is about a 4% chance
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 that it will hit the moon in the year 2032.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 Anna: A 4% chance isn't huge, but it's
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 certainly not zero. And the potential
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 consequences are significant. If it does
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 hit the moon, the impact could release energy
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 equivalent to 400 times the Hiroshima
00:07:10 --> 00:07:10 bomb.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 Avery: And it gets a bit more concerning. There's
00:07:13 --> 00:07:15 also a 1% chance that the impact could
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 scatter meteorites into near Earth space.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 That debris cloud could pose a real threat to
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 our satellites and any astronauts in orbit.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 Anna: So what can be done? Is there a plan to
00:07:25 --> 00:07:26 deflect it?
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 Avery: At the moment a deflection mission is
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 impractical. However, some options like
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 intentionally breaking it up into smaller,
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 less harmful pieces are being considered.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 The most immediate step is to gather more
00:07:38 --> 00:07:38 data.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 Anna: and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope might
00:07:41 --> 00:07:44 give us the clear view we need. There's a
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 potential observation window in February
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 2026 that could help scientists
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 refine the asteroid's orbit and get a much
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 better handle on the actual odds of a L
00:07:54 --> 00:07:54 impact.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 Avery: For our final story today, we're looking at a
00:07:57 --> 00:07:58 major shift in the future of human
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 spaceflight. Russia has significantly altered
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 its plans for what comes after the
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 International Space Station.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 Anna: That's right. The original plan was to build
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 an entirely new station, the Russian
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 Orbital Station or ros. But now
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 the plan has changed. The core of this new
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 station will actually be the old Russian
00:08:18 --> 00:08:19 segment of the issuance.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 Avery: So in 2030 when the US segment of the ISS
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 is scheduled to be deorbited and burned up in
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 the atmosphere, the Russian segment will just
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 detach and become its own station.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 Anna: Essentially, yes, this decision is
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 widely seen as a money saving move for
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 Russia's war strapped economy. However,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 it means their new national space station
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 will be based on modules that are already
00:08:44 --> 00:08:45 over 30 years old.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 Avery: That raises some pretty serious concerns.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 Using hardware that old brings up major
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 questions about safety, long term maintenance
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 and the station's future scientific
00:08:56 --> 00:08:57 capabilities.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 Anna: It does. And it places Russia's program
00:09:00 --> 00:09:03 in stark contrast with other nations. At
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 a time when China is operating its new
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 Tiangong space station and India is
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 developing its own, Russia is choosing to
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 repurpose aging infrastructure. It's a
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 significant moment that could reshape the
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 geopolitical landscape of human activity in
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 low Earth orbit.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 Avery: And that is all the time we have for today.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 From interstellar visitors to the shifting
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 future of space stations, it's been another
00:09:28 --> 00:09:29 busy day in the world of astronomy.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 Anna: We hope you enjoyed our tour of the latest
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 headlines from the cosmos.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 Avery: Thank you for tuning in to ASTRONOMY Daily.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:37 I'm Avery.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 Anna: And I'm Anna. We'll be back on Monday with
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 more updates. Until then, keep looking up.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:49 Avery: The world.