S03E16: Cosmic Conundrums: Eclipse Essentials and Euclid's Icy Encounter

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. It's Steve with another episode of Astronomy Daily. It is the twenty fifth of March twenty twenty four, the podcast and your whole Steve, don't cue. Oh and we're straight into it for another episode of Astronomy Daily. Thanks for joining us again on this perfect, perfect day. Look, I don't want to brag or anything, but down here in Australia we have got the best of everything. Did I mention that we've got the best of everything? Despite the fact that everything here can kill you. They balance They balance it by giving us the best of everything, the best beaches, the best mountains, the best lakes, the best rivers, the best weather. When the weather doesn't try and kill you as well, it's pretty amazing. Anyway, today was fantastic. That's what I'm getting at. It's just stunning in every possible way. But anyway, today we've got a couple of really amazing stories for you. Something very hopefu skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere. There's a big event, as you know, coming up, and we've got an update from the dart mission. That's the one that, as you know, the one that collided with the asteroid. Ah, here she is, Halle. That's exactly the one I'm talking about. And it looks like they've got some very surprising results there. And what else, Well, you remember the EUCLID mission. That's the one making a three D map of the universe on the ball as usual, Halle, that's exactly the mission we're talking about. They launched it to make a three D map of the universe. That's a pretty big mission. So what's up, well, Halle, ice is the problem and we'll find out how they deal with ice from back here on Earth. It's pretty clever and pretty simple. Clever and simple sounds like someone I know. Oh thanks, Halle. I think anyway, they're working on a solution that is indeed clever and simbol as all good solutions are true enough then, and what have you got for us, Halle? I'm looking at cancer research in space. Oh that's great. Like I was talking to some people this week about astronauts and the ISS and the research that goes on there. They were saying, what do those astronauts do on the ISS. This might answer some of those questions, and it's real world changing research too. Also, very soon there will be a massive eclipse spanning the United States all the way from Mexico to northeast Canada. Oh. Yes, millions will see that all across the northern hemisphere. And even though we won't be able to see it on our side of the world, take notes, flat earthers. Yes, you're funny, Steve, but my story is for all you skywatchers to be safe. Eclips watchers. Ah, yes, that's right. Just because it's an eclipse doesn't mean it can't damage your eyesight for good. Right, So on with the show. She's old business today, everybody, it's all yours, hallie, here we go. Experiments in the weightless environment of space have led to crazy progress in the fight against cancer. NASA officials said space is a unique place for research. Astronaut Frank Rubio said at the event in Washington. The forty eight year old, a physician and former military helicopter pilot, conducted cancer research during his recent mission to the International Space Station, orbiting some four hundred kilometers two hundred and fifty miles above the Earth's surface. Not only do cells their age more rapidly, speeding up research, their structures are also described as of purer They all don't clump together as they do on Earth. Because of gravity, they are suspended in space, enabling better analysis of their molecular structures, said NASA chief Bill Nelson. Research conducted in space can help make cancer drugs more effective. Nelson added, pharmaceutical giant Merk has conducted research on the iss with qui Trudah, an anti cancer drug that patients now receive intravenously. Its key ingredient is difficult to transform into a liquid. One solution is crystallization, a process often used in drug manufacturing. In two thousand seventeen, Merk conducted experiments to see if the crystals would form more rapidly in space than on Earth. Thanks to such research, researchers will be able to make a drug that can be administered by injection in a doctor's office instead of through long and painful chemotherapy treatments. He added, A solar eclipse will be visible across North America on April eighth. Every one in the US will see at least a partial solar eclipse, but only those within the one hundred and fifteen mile wide one hundred and eighty five kilometers path of totality will witness the Sun's face completely blocked by the Moon's shadow for up to four minutes twenty eight seconds. Only during totality, when the Sun's face is completely blocked, is it safe to look at the totally eclipsed Sun's corona with the naked eye. At all other times, including during the partial phase of the eclipse, you must wear certified solar eclipse glasses to view the Sun. There are some safety issues to be aware of at other times too. Here are six tips to ensure a safe and enjoyable viewing of the solar eclipse. Number one, don't ever use ordinary sunglasses to protect your eyes. They won't help one bit. Even filters that are meant for goggles, cameras, telescopes, and binoculars are useless to protect your eyes. Tip two. Know when to use only approved eclipse safety glasses. Solar eclipse glasses must be used to look at the Sun only during the brief moment of totality, when the Moon fully obscures the Sun. Can you remove them? Tip number three Be prepared to travel. Although the path of totality on April eighth will include several major cities and metropolitan areas, it crosses a lot of backcountry. Many people will chase clear skies which could take them to areas they hadn't planned on visiting. Remote parts of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine in particular are short on facilities and gas stations, so bring everything you need, including a full fuel tank and extra food, water, cash, and toilet paper. Number four. It might seem obvious, but pay attention to the weather in April. You can expect the unexpected, with everything from snow in the Northeast to tornadoes in the Midwest. In remote areas of the northeastern US and Canada, the mountains, lakes and forests may provide a beautiful backdrop, but conditions in the back country that time of year can be difficult. Number five. Be careful in the cities. If you decide to watch the eclipse from a city sidewalk, perhaps even during a lunch break at work, then watch out. Wandering into roads and other dangerous situations is easier than you might think. When you're looking through solar eclipse classes. The best, easiest and safest eclipse observing site is an open space or park, which will likely have a much better view of the eclipse than city streets where buildings could easily block the view. The biggest cities inside the path are Mazat, Lawn and Tourrean, Mexico, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas, Indianapolis, Indiana, Hamilton, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec. Number six and you're probably getting the picture by now. An eclipse this big can be a pretty big hazard for the unwary and the unprepared, So in the cities, be careful, don't blindly walk out onto roads, and always be aware of your surroundings. Relocating at the last minute in search of clear weather is not particularly recommended unless the roads are clear and you have multiple backup plans. A great way to begin your research is to use an interactive eclipse map and note the eclipse schedules for various locations in advance. The great option is to download the Solar Eclipse Timer app, which provides audio commentary on exactly what to expect and when to expect it, and instantly tells you if you're inside the path of totality. So enjoy the eclipse and stay safe. Back to you favorite human, Oh well, thank you for sticking with us, everybody, and don't forget to visit our new yourel to check out all the back editions of Astronomy Daily. Of course, we've made it very easy now just go to Astronomydaily dot io. That's Astronomy Daily dot io. And if you'd like to receive the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter in your email each day, just like Hallie and I do, pop your email address into the slot provided, and don't forget. You can still visit us on the Space Nuts podcast group page. That's a bit of a mouthful, I know, on Facebook and on our new X page that's formally Twitter. Now we're going to keep saying that, don't we ex formally Twitter? And the address there is at astro Daily Pod. That sounds like something out of two thousand and one, doesn't it. At Astro Daily Pod. And as they're saying the funny pages, Bob's your uncle, Bob, He's not really unless you actually have an uncle called Bob or Robert. That's very confusing. Have the Boffin's been up in messing with your literal circuits again, Halle? It's just a saying, Halle, why would everyone have an uncle with the same name? How could that even be possible? It's not Halle, no, no, no. Just play the promo Halle please Astra Daly the podcast. Well, it may come as no surprise that it's very cold in space, and those of you who have been following the travels of EUCLID, a probe sent out to map the universe, you will probably be assuming that some of its senses may be reacting to the cold, and that's exactly what's happening, as ice is starting to cloud euclid's optics. On July first, twenty twenty three, the European Space Agency launched the EUCLID Observatory emission that will spend the next six years investigating the composition and evolution of the universe. In particular, EUCLID will observe how the universe has expanded over the last ten billion years to test theories about dark energy. I know I've had a bit of dark energy lately. You'll have to forgive me for that. While find jurning the calibrating the telescopes's instruments in preparation for the mission's first survey, the mission team noticed that a few layers of water ice formed on its mirrors after entering in the freezing cold of space. While common, this is a problem for highly sensitive missions like Leuclid, which requires remarkable precision to investigate cosmic expand. After months of research, the EUCLID team tested a newly designed procedure to de ice the mission's optics. On March twentieth, the ESA announced that the team's de icing approach worked so far and that euclid's vision had been restored. If the method proved successful, it will have validated the mission team's plan to keep euclid's optical system working for the rest of the mission. It was always expected that there would be some water contamination with EUCLID, which is why there was an outgasing campaign shortly after launch. This consisted of the telescope being warmed up by onboard heaters and also partially exposed to the sun, sublimating most of the water brought from Earth. However, a considerable amount remained after being absorbed in the telescope's multi layer insulation, which slowly began building up on the vis instrument's mirror surfaces. After months of research, lab studies and calibrations, the team determined the source and began working on a solution. The obvious solution was to heat EUCLID again by running all its internal heaters for days. However, this ran risk of deforming the mechanical structure of the spacecraft, which could alter euclid's optical alignment, said Andreas Randolph, who is euclid's flight director at ESA's Mission Control. The team began by individually heating two of euclid's mirrors independently, a low risk approach since they are located in areas where water vapor was not likely to contaminate other instruments. However, the response to this problem highlights the international cooperation that made this mission possible, said Ralph Coley, euclid's instrument operations scientist. In addition, this issue could lead to vital research on how to maintain missions where highly sensitive optics are concerned. Despite how common this issue is for spacecraft, there is very little research on how ice forms on optical mirrors and impacts observations. The solution devised by the mission team and agent he could lead to new procedures for future missions. These could come in handy when EUCLID is joined by NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in March twenty twenty seven, another mission that will explore the dark universe Astronomy Adobe with Steve and Halley Space, Space Science and Astronomy. Hey remember that time we rammed a space probe into an asteroid to take revenge for the destruction of the dinosaurs. As that was all about no anyway, Yeah, that was the old DHUT mission, not the old DART mission that it was only two years ago. On September twenty six, twenty twenty two, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test DART was a great name. Spacecraft slammed into the side of one hundred and seventy meter wide asteroid Dimorphous to test the future asteroid deflection tactics in the event of an asteroid that might be threatening Earth. Following the impact, DART teams confirmed that the spacecraft's collision with the asteroid had successfully deflected the asteroid. Actually, I think I got my wires cross. That's not the one that fired the bullet into the asteroid. That was the Japanese haibusamission. Got my wires cross. Following the impact, DART teams confirmed that the spacecraft's collision with the asteroid had successfully deflected the asteroid by a small amount, proving the design of the deflector and allowing scientists and engineers to better understand the ways we can protect Earth from asteroids. However, a new study from a group of scientists shows that darts collision with Demorphos not only changed the shape of its orbit around the host asteroid Didymus, but also significantly changed the shape of the asteroid itself. Before the collision, Domorphos was known to be a roughly symmetrical oblate spheroid. Now I know a few fellas like that shaped asteroid similar to a squished ball. Sorry, fellas, that is wider than it is tall. Oh it's getting worse, isn't it. Additionally, it took the asteroid around eleven hours and fifty five minutes you could say, almost twelve hours to complete one orbit around Dinamers, which as mentioned, had been altered following Dart's impact with Dimorphous. When Dart made impact, things got very interesting. Dimorphous orbit no longer, it was no longer circular, and its orbital period is now thirty three minutes and fifteen seconds shorter, and the entire shape of the asteroid has changed from relatively symmetrical to ariaxical triaxial ellipsoid, something more like an oblong watermelon, said navigation engineer Shentanu Nadu of NASA's Jet Propulsional Laboratory JPL in California. The DSN Goldstone Solar System Radar was now second data source, which is located in Barstow, California. Using Dart's impact sequence, the Goldstone radar bounced radio waves off Dimorphos and Dinnamus to measure the position and velocity of Domorphos and dinamis precisely before and after Dart's collision. These measurements are what allowed NASA's team to quickly discern whether or not dt darts impact had indeed deflected Dimorphos in its orbit around Didnamis. Teams would eventually find that the effect of Dart's impact on the asteroid greatly exceeded the minimum expectations for the mission final The final and most significant data source utilized in Nadu Edal's study was ground telescopes located around Earth that measured the light curve how sunlight reflects on the surface of the asteroids over time from both asteroids. Comparing the asteroids lightcurves before and after impact allowed the team to determine more about how Dart had or altered domorphis position around Dinymis. We used the timing of this precise series of light curve dips to deduce the shape of the orbit, and because our models were so sensitive, we could figure also out the shape of the asteroid before impact. Chesley continued, the times of the events occurred regularly, allowing the circular orbit following the impact. There were very slight timing differences showing something was askew. We never expected to get this kind of accuracy, said co author Steve Chesley. At JPL nay do even confirm that their models were so sensitive that they were able to detect a slight back and forth rocking of Domorphis as it orbits around Dinymis. What's more, they do at El's models were also able to calculate how Domorphus's orbital period around Dinimus was altered and evolved over time. Immediately following impact, teams found that Dart had reduced domorphous orbitaled period by thirty two minutes and forty two seconds, making its total orbital pure period around dinnimers eleven hours, twenty two minutes, and thirty three seconds. However, the asteroids orbit would continue to shorten as the asteroid continually lost more and more surface material from the impact to space. Dimorphos's orbital period would finally settle to be approximately eleven hours, twenty two minutes and three whole seconds, meaning that Data's impact officially altered the orbit of the asteroid by thirty three minutes and fifteen seconds. The scientist's calculations are accurate to within one point five seconds and now sits at a Results of this study agree with the others that are being published. Separate groups analyze the data and independently come out to the same conclusions. Is a hallmark of solid scientific result. Data is not only showing us the pathway to an asteroid deflection technology, it is revealing new fundamental understanding of what asteroids are and how they behave, said NASA's lead Scientists for Solar Systems Small Bodies, Tom Statler of NASA's hate in Washington, DC. The results from Nadou Etl's study, along with observations of material left around Dimorphous after the impact, indicate that Dimorphous is a loosely packed rubble pile asteroid similar to asteroid Benu. That was visited and sampled by NASA's a Cyrus Rex mission. The European Space Agency's upcoming Hero mission will travel back out to Didymus Dimorphis system to further investigate the long term changes made to dimorphous by darts impact. And that's it for another episode of Astronomy Daily featuring Me, Flesh and Blood, Steve, and my digital pal Who's fun to be with? Hallie? I am fun to be with. I'm going to have to check your batteries, Hallie. I like that story about the Dart mission. I know you love asteroid stories too. Yes, they are my favorite. I know. I keep saying that, which reminds me howe. I saw a great story about drilling for water on Mars, which I wanted to get to today, but I ran out of time. So folks go and check it out on the Astronomy Daily newsletter. It's a terrific story and it'll get your imagination wearing just like mine. I've read it. Great stuff. So that's it for another day. I guess I'll see you next week, Halle, unless I see you first for sure. Bye Halle, Bye everyone, Bye the podcast. I mean to be your whole Steeds don't cut