S03E167: New Sun Discovery, Orion's Progress, and Falcon Fleet Grounded

[00:00:00] Welcome to Astronomy Daily once again its 30th of September 2024.

[00:00:12] Yes Steve, with you again all the way from Down Under, and we have a nice collection

[00:00:17] of tales from the Astronomy Daily newsletter details on how to receive that in your email

[00:00:21] are coming up later in the episode, aren't they?

[00:00:24] We always say it, every episode.

[00:00:27] Well, that we do.

[00:00:28] Today's newsletter has some interesting stories, including the discovery of a new sun in our

[00:00:32] night sky.

[00:00:33] Well let's show it doesn't happen every day, a new sun.

[00:00:35] Anova, you can read all about it.

[00:00:37] Hi, yes, and there's another one about the progress of the Orion spacecraft ready

[00:00:43] for the Artemis 3 mission and more from the James Webb Telescope which shares a report on

[00:00:49] early star formation.

[00:00:50] All in the actual astronomy daily newsletter but what have we chosen for our presentation today

[00:00:55] my favorite human?

[00:00:56] Well, Helen, I'm glad you asked because I found a story about the speed of the Uncoming

[00:01:01] Anulus Solar eclipse.

[00:01:02] Yes, the speed which will sweep across the southern hemisphere on Octa B2 and also a story

[00:01:08] that has everyone talking.

[00:01:10] The little rock that will become Earth's temporary moon just for a little while.

[00:01:15] That sounds weird.

[00:01:16] Well it is a bit weird but that's why it's interesting.

[00:01:19] A bit like you.

[00:01:20] So what?

[00:01:21] Weird and interesting.

[00:01:22] Okay, that's good, I think.

[00:01:24] I'm still trying to work out which bits are weird and which bits are interesting.

[00:01:28] Oh well, I'd like to think I'm mostly interesting.

[00:01:31] Being weird can be good unless you're in like a really important role.

[00:01:35] Like mine?

[00:01:36] Show, Helen.

[00:01:37] Like yours.

[00:01:38] You can be as weird as you like.

[00:01:40] I think I'll be not weird at all but completely interesting.

[00:01:43] Well you go right ahead and do that, Helen.

[00:01:46] I don't think you'll get any complaints from around here.

[00:01:48] I will.

[00:01:49] So what's in your story file today, Helen?

[00:01:51] Oh, you might recall the hair omission which is a simulated mission to Mars.

[00:01:55] Yes I wonder what happened to that simulated mission.

[00:01:57] Did they get simulated lost in simulated space?

[00:02:00] Again with the weird stuff.

[00:02:02] No, they did not.

[00:02:03] More on that later.

[00:02:04] Okay, Doki.

[00:02:05] And did you hear SpaceX has grounded its Falcon fleet because of an engine misshap?

[00:02:09] Yes, what he heard all about that one's space ex news is always interesting news.

[00:02:15] And not at all weird.

[00:02:16] No, not at all.

[00:02:17] But this one is a little weird.

[00:02:19] Okay, hit me.

[00:02:19] A new study explores why planets larger than Earth's struggle to form in certain locations

[00:02:24] like low-medalicity stars.

[00:02:26] Hmm, yeah.

[00:02:28] That one is a bit weird.

[00:02:29] I thought you'd like it.

[00:02:31] And so while you're being so weirdless yourself and so interesting would you also be so

[00:02:35] kind?

[00:02:36] The short takes.

[00:02:37] If you please madam.

[00:02:38] My pleasure Mr. Weirdo.

[00:02:47] An all volunteer crew on a simulated trip to Mars returned to Earth on September 23rd,

[00:02:52] 2024.

[00:02:53] After being isolated in a tiny habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

[00:02:58] Their work is contributing to the science that will propel humanity to the moon and eventually

[00:03:02] Mars.

[00:03:04] The Hare omissions provide valuable scientific insights into how humans may respond

[00:03:08] to the confinement, demanding work-life conditions, and remote environments that astronauts

[00:03:12] may encounter on deep space missions.

[00:03:15] These insights help NASA prepare for humanity's next giant leap to the moon and Mars.

[00:03:21] Campaign 7 Mission 3 started when Hare Operations lead Ted Bobbic rain the bell outside

[00:03:25] the habitat 10 times, a ceremonial send-off wishing the crew a safe and successful simulated

[00:03:30] mission to Mars.

[00:03:32] 7 Rings honored the campaign and three more signaled the mission, continuing a long-standing

[00:03:36] tradition.

[00:03:38] At Ingress, Anderson, a structural engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia,

[00:03:43] told Hare us Mission Control, we're going to take good care of this ship of yours on

[00:03:47] our journey.

[00:03:48] The Hareau crew members participated in 18 human health and performance studies,

[00:03:53] seven of which were led by scientists from outside the United States.

[00:03:57] These international studies are in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates Muhammad

[00:04:01] bin Rashid Space Center and the European Space Agency, ESA.

[00:04:06] Throughout the simulation, the crew performed a variety of tasks.

[00:04:10] They harvested plants from a hydroponic garden, Grishrimp, deployed a small cube satellite

[00:04:14] to simulate data gathering, conducted a virtual reality walk on the surface of Mars and

[00:04:19] flew simulated drones on the Martian terrain.

[00:04:23] These activities are designed to immerse the crew in the task-focused mindset of astronauts.

[00:04:28] NASA scientists then monitor Hareau crew to assess how routine tasks, along with isolation

[00:04:33] and confinement, impact behavior and performance.

[00:04:36] As their mission progressed, the team experienced longer communication delays with mission

[00:04:41] control, eventually reaching five minute lags.

[00:04:44] This simulates the challenges astronauts might face on Mars, where delays could be up to 20 minutes.

[00:04:50] Scientists studying Hareau crew are interested to see how this particular group builds

[00:04:54] independent, autonomous workflows, despite this communication delay.

[00:04:59] As the mission near descent, Mekandless and Anderson participated in a ground link, a live session

[00:05:04] connecting them with middle school students in a classroom in coconut growth, Florida,

[00:05:08] and in Olaitha, Kansas.

[00:05:10] Ground links provide a unique opportunity for students to engage directly with crew members

[00:05:15] and learn about the realities of long-duration missions.

[00:05:19] The students asked the crew about life inside the habitat, the challenges of isolation,

[00:05:23] and what it might be like to live on Mars.

[00:05:26] They were also curious about the crew's favorite foods and activities.

[00:05:30] Mekandless shared her love for shutter crists and freeze-dried pad tie

[00:05:34] and proudly showed off favorite sports teams from her home state of Kansas,

[00:05:37] much to the cheers of the crowd.

[00:05:39] Anderson displayed the massive collection of comics and fantasy books that she read inside the

[00:05:45] habitat. In the late afternoon of September 23, 2024, the crew regressed from Hareau,

[00:05:50] marking the end of their 45-day simulated mission to Mars.

[00:05:54] After stepping out of the habitat, the crew expressed gratitude for the opportunity

[00:05:58] and reflected on the mission's significance.

[00:06:02] Following our safe passage to Mars and our safe return to Earth as the crew of campaign 7,

[00:06:06] mission 3, we hereby officially transfer this exploration vessel to the flight analogs operations

[00:06:11] team, said Kent. We hope this vessel continues to serve as a safe home for future Hareau

[00:06:17] crews. SpaceX's Falcon rocket fleet was grounded for the third time in three months after a

[00:06:26] second-stage problem occurred Saturday following the successful launch of a Dragon capsule

[00:06:30] carrying two crew to the International Space Station.

[00:06:34] The suspension in flights comes as the company prepares to launch two solar system exploration

[00:06:38] missions in October with narrow launch windows. SpaceX said the Falcon 9 second stage that

[00:06:44] launched NASA's crew nine mission failed to correctly perform a firing of its Merlin vacuum

[00:06:48] engine less than 30 minutes after releasing Dragon Freedom into a planned orbit.

[00:06:53] The engine firing is designed to prevent the rocket body from becoming space debris by

[00:06:57] driving the stage into the atmosphere for a destructive reentry.

[00:07:01] Any debris was supposed to fall harmlessly into the ocean in an area previously identified

[00:07:05] in warnings to meriners and aviators. Falcon 9 second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned,

[00:07:11] but experienced an off-nominal de-orbit burn, SpaceX said in a social media post

[00:07:16] shortly after midnight eastern daylight time on Sunday. As a result, the second stage safely landed

[00:07:22] in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area. The misshap is likely to prompt an investigation from

[00:07:28] the federal aviation administration which oversees the company's launch licenses. SpaceX is currently

[00:07:34] in dispute with the F.A. overfines related to Falcon 9 activities at Kennedy Space Center and

[00:07:39] delays in gaining authorization for the fifth test flight of its Starship vehicle from Starbase in Texas.

[00:07:45] Space flight now reached out to the F.A. for a comment, but has not yet received a response,

[00:07:49] with the F.A.'s offices closed for the weekend.

[00:07:52] debris from the rocket stage should have fallen in a stretch of the Pacific Ocean that

[00:07:56] started east of New Zealand, but probably ended up falling further down range, but still south

[00:08:00] the equator, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and tracker of space launches and satellites.

[00:08:07] The most likely failure mode that still results in reentry is a slight underburn,

[00:08:11] he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. So you expect the entry to be further along,

[00:08:17] but not by too much. McDowell told Space Flight now he estimates the de-orbit burn

[00:08:22] should have occurred around 155pm eastern daylight time as the craft passed over Yemen.

[00:08:27] If everything had gone to plan, reentry would have happened about 35 minutes later.

[00:08:33] SpaceX was scheduled to launch 20 satellites for one web from its west coast launch

[00:08:37] pad at Vanburg Space Force Base late Sunday night local time, but that mission was put on hold,

[00:08:41] along with the Starlink delivery mission from Cape Canaveral originally planned for Wednesday.

[00:08:46] We will resume launching after we better understand the root cause of the problem, SpaceX said in

[00:08:51] statement, this will be the third grounding of the Falcon 9 fleet in three months.

[00:08:57] An upper-stage problem resulted in the loss of 20 starlink satellites on July 11.

[00:09:03] Flight's resumed 15 days later after the company determined the cause of a liquid oxygen leak

[00:09:07] and came up with a quick fix. A shorter suspension of just three days came when a Falcon 9

[00:09:12] first stage made a crash landing on the deck of SpaceX's drone ship after an otherwise successful launch

[00:09:17] on August 28th. The company has not disclosed the cause of that miss-hap.

[00:09:23] The grounding of the Falcon fleet will be of particular concern to NASA and the European Space

[00:09:27] Agency, which had launches of solar system exploration missions planned within days of each other in

[00:09:32] early October. On October 7, a Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral with the

[00:09:38] S.A.'s air omission to study the Didimose Binary asteroid system that was impacted by the

[00:09:48] 7th. Then on October 10, a Falcon Heavy, which uses the same second stage as the Falcon 9,

[00:09:54] is due to launch NASA's Europa Clipper on a mission to explore one of Jupiter's most intriguing

[00:09:58] moons. The Falcon Heavy will need all its performance for the $5 billion mission and two

[00:10:03] burns of the rocket's second stage will be required. The spacecraft will be released from the

[00:10:08] rocket at a velocity of approximately 25,000 miles per hour, 40,200 kilometers per hour, the fastest

[00:10:15] speed ever achieved by a Falcon upper stage. The launch window for Europa Clipper closes on October 30th.

[00:10:25] A recent study by astronomers presents new evidence on the boundaries of planet formation,

[00:10:29] revealing that planets larger than Earth's struggle to form around stars with low

[00:10:33] metalicity beyond a certain threshold. Using the Sun as a baseline, astronomers can measure

[00:10:39] when a star formed by determining its metalicity or the level of heavy elements present within it.

[00:10:44] Metalrich stars or nebulas formed relatively recently while metalpoor objects were likely present

[00:10:49] during the early universe. Previous studies found a weak connection between

[00:10:53] metalicity rates and planet formation, noting that as a star's metalicity goes down, so, too,

[00:10:59] does planet formation for certain planet populations like subsaturns or sub-neptions?

[00:11:05] Yet this work is the first to observe that under current theories, the formation of super Earth's

[00:11:09] metalpoor stars becomes significantly more difficult, suggesting a strict cutoff for the

[00:11:14] conditions needed for one to form, said lead author Kirsten Bolley, who recently received a PhD in

[00:11:19] astronomy at the Ohio State University. When stars cycle through life, they enrich the surrounding

[00:11:25] space until you have enough metals or iron to form planets, said Bolley. But even for stars with

[00:11:31] lower metalicities, it was widely thought that the number of planets it could form would never reach zero.

[00:11:36] Other studies posited that planet formation in the Milky Way should begin when stars fall

[00:11:41] between negative 2.5 to negative 0.5 metalicity, but until now, that theory was left and proven.

[00:11:48] To test this prediction, the team developed an end-searched catalogue of 10,000 of the most

[00:11:53] metalpoor stars observed by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Mission.

[00:11:58] If correct, extrapolating known trends to search for small, short period planets around one region

[00:12:03] of 85,000 metalpoor stars would have led them to discover about 68 super Earth's.

[00:12:09] Surprisingly, researchers in this work detected none, said Bolley.

[00:12:13] We essentially found a cliff where we expected to see a slow or a gradual slope that keeps going,

[00:12:18] she said. The expected occurrence rates do not match up at all.

[00:12:23] This cliff, which provides scientists with a time frame during which

[00:12:26] metalicity was too low for planets to form, extends to about half the age of the universe,

[00:12:30] meaning that super Earths did not form early in its history.

[00:12:34] 7 billion years ago is probably the sweet spot where we begin to see a decent bit of

[00:12:38] super Earth formation, Bolley said. Moreover, as the majority of stars formed before that

[00:12:44] era have low metalicities and would have needed to wait until the Milky Way had been enriched

[00:12:47] by generations of dying stars to create the right conditions for planet formation, the results successfully

[00:12:53] propose an upper limit on the number and distribution of small planets in our galaxy.

[00:12:58] In a similar stellar type as our sample, we now know not to expect planet formation to be a

[00:13:03] abundant once you pass a negative 0.5-medalicity region, said Bolley.

[00:13:08] That's kind of striking because we actually have data to show that now.

[00:13:12] What's also striking is the study's implications for those searching for life beyond Earth,

[00:13:16] as having a more precise grasp on the intricacies of planet formation can supply scientists

[00:13:20] with detailed knowledge about where in the universe life might have flourished.

[00:13:24] You don't want to search areas where life wouldn't be conducive or in areas where you

[00:13:28] don't even think you're going to find a planet, Bolley said.

[00:13:32] There's just a plethora of questions that you can ask if you know these things.

[00:13:36] Such inquiries could include determining if these exoplanets hold water, the size of their core,

[00:13:41] and if they've developed a strong magnetic field, all conditions conducive for generating life.

[00:13:47] Fortunately, future observations could be attained with the help of upcoming projects

[00:13:51] like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Played-O Mission,

[00:13:56] both of which will widen the search for terrestrial planets inhabitable zones like our own.

[00:14:00] Those instruments will be really vital in terms of figuring out how many planets are out there

[00:14:05] and getting as many follow-up observations as we can, said Bolley.

[00:14:25] Thank you for joining us for this Monday edition of Astronomy Daily.

[00:14:29] We often just have a few stories from the now famous Astronomy Daily newsletter which you can

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[00:15:06] Astronomy Daily with Steve and Halley, space science and astronomy.

[00:15:20] Now after the great northern eclipse comes along the ring of fire,

[00:15:25] Anula Solar eclipse that can be seen in some iconic destinations what is a ring of fire or

[00:15:31] anula eclipse well. The moon looks like it's taking a bigger and bigger bite out of the

[00:15:36] sun until it comes at, but not completely leaving a ring of orange around it. A ring of fire can be seen

[00:15:42] in the Pacific Ocean or from the Pacific Ocean in South America, similar to the one witnessed

[00:15:48] in the US Southwest on October 14, 2023. But on October 2 this year, an Anula Solar eclipse will

[00:15:56] pass over parts of the Pacific Ocean, Southern Chile and southern Argentina during this

[00:16:03] Anula Solar eclipse at the point of greatest eclipse in the Pacific. The moon will obscure

[00:16:08] 93% of the Sun's center creating a ring of fire effect visible for seven minutes and 25 seconds.

[00:16:16] And as I've reported on previous eclipses, during an Anula Solar eclipse it is never safe to

[00:16:21] direct the at the sun without solar eclipse glasses, specially designed for solar viewing.

[00:16:27] Ordinary sunglasses will not protect you. Khaled Film will glass, likewise.

[00:16:34] Only prescribed viewing eyewear will suffice. So here's everything you need to know about

[00:16:40] the Anula Solar eclipse on October 2, 2024 in Chile and Argentina. The October 2 eclipse will be

[00:16:48] similar to the Anula Solar eclipse in October 2023, which was visible across the US Southwest,

[00:16:56] Central America and South America. All solar eclipse is a curve when a new moon is positioned

[00:17:01] precisely between the Earth and the Sun and Custards shadow on the Earth. However, unlike

[00:17:07] a total solar eclipse and Anula Solar eclipse occurs when the moon is slightly further from the Earth.

[00:17:14] Even when the disks are lined from our perspective, the moon's shadow doesn't completely block

[00:17:20] out the Sun's light. Instead a ring of sunlight is visible around the moon. This eclipse will have

[00:17:26] a magnitude of 0.9326 according to eclipswise.com. That means about 93% of the Sun will be blocked

[00:17:35] out by the moon during the eclipse resulting in an Anula Solar eclipse which is Latin for ring

[00:17:40] and according to Moonlink, the moon will appear 6.4% smaller than average. The closer the

[00:17:48] observer is to the centerline of the Anula pathway, the more circular the ring of fire will be

[00:17:55] and the longer it will last but experienced eclipse chases often observed from the edge of the path

[00:18:00] during the Anula-Ecclesiola eclipse to see extended views of Bailey's beads,

[00:18:06] fizzing around where the limb of the moon appears to touch the Sun. They can be visible for

[00:18:12] several minutes and it's quite spectacular. The ring of fire this time will be visible only within

[00:18:18] a path of Anularity that passes across the Pacific Ocean, Southern Chile and Southern Argentina.

[00:18:24] Now this area will include the volcanic island of Rapa Nui, Easter Island as it's known.

[00:18:30] An iconic travel destination that's famous for the mysterious stone statues called Mai.

[00:18:35] Some of which reach 40 feet or 12 meters tall and weigh 75 tons.

[00:18:41] The island, which is only 63 square miles or 163 square kilometers, is located 2,300 miles

[00:18:49] or 3,700 kilometers from the Chilean court coast, making it the most isolated in habitant

[00:18:55] landmass on earth. Remarkably, it will be the second time a central solar eclipse has been visible

[00:19:01] from this tiny Pacific island in recent decades, with a total solar eclipse that glimpsed

[00:19:06] there on July 11, 2010. The next total and Anula eclipse is there will be in 2324 and 2345

[00:19:15] respectively. So how fast is this Anularity ring of fire going to be? In each area you can expect

[00:19:22] this briefing counter with the conjunction on Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Chile, 5 minutes, 38 seconds

[00:19:29] to 6 minutes, 12 seconds of Anularity starting at 1403. At Cockroach and Chile,

[00:19:36] 5 minutes, 40 seconds of Anularity starting at 321 at Pareto Moreno National Park,

[00:19:44] Argentina, 6 minutes, 17 seconds starting at 521 at Porto de Zierto Argentina,

[00:19:50] 3 minutes 22 seconds of Anularity starting at 527. At Porto de Zierto Argentina,

[00:19:58] 5 minutes 12 seconds of Anularity starting at 524 and for those who are very keen,

[00:20:05] yes there are organised tours headed for Rapa Nui, Easter Island, especially to view the event.

[00:20:11] You've got to be very keen. But there is going to be some bad news attached to all of this

[00:20:16] wonderful news about eclipses. The chances of clouds that day are 75% for Rapa Nui, Easter Island,

[00:20:24] 90% for Perito Moreno National Park, 65% to 70% for locations on Argentina's Atlantic Coast

[00:20:32] according to Time and Date. On Rapa Nui, Easter Island, the cooling of the land could cause

[00:20:37] convective clouds to dissipate according to eclipsa file with the south coast statistically slightly

[00:20:45] favoured. The chances of seeing the ring of fire are smallest, unfortunately, on Chile's

[00:20:50] Pacific Coast and the highest on Argentina's Atlantic Coast. The latter has the least interesting

[00:20:57] scenery it says here over anywhere on the path, how unfortunate. But the eclips will arguably be

[00:21:03] bon't more dramatic side because it will occur much lower in the sky that will be.

[00:21:09] And I do hope you get to see this wonderful event and capture some memorable images

[00:21:14] so that you can share them with us.

[00:21:27] Now just in case you're the one person who hasn't heard yet, Earth is about to receive

[00:21:32] a visitor in the shape of a small asteroid whose well which is going to orbit the Earth.

[00:21:40] It's going to become a mini moon. This mini moon is actually an asteroid about the size of a

[00:21:44] tall bus, about 33 feet or 10 meters for the rest of the world. It is a when it

[00:21:51] whizzes by Earth on Sunday. It will temporarily be trapped by our planet's gravity and orbit

[00:21:58] the globe but only for about two months the space rock which is called our glamourously called

[00:22:04] 2024 PT5. Wonderful. It was first spotted in August by astronomers at

[00:22:12] complete sense, the University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in southern and

[00:22:19] south Africa. These short lived mini moons are more common than we realised said which had been

[00:22:25] zeller in astronomer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The last known one was detected

[00:22:31] in 2020. This happens with some frequency but we rarely see them because they're very small and

[00:22:37] very hard to detect, he said. Only recently has our survey capability reached the point of

[00:22:43] spotting the routine. The discovery by Carlos Della Fuentes Makos and Rau de la Fuentes Makos

[00:22:51] was published by the American Astronomical Society. This one won't be visible to the naked eye

[00:22:57] or through amateur telescopes but it can be observed with relatively large research grade tellerscopes.

[00:23:04] Carlos Della Fuentes Makos said in an email. Benzell who was not involved in the research said

[00:23:09] it's not clear whether the space rock originated as an asteroid or as a chunk of the moon that got

[00:23:15] blasted out. NASA defines moons as naturally formed bodies that orbit planets. Intuitively we

[00:23:22] think of moons as big rocks that stick around for a while like our very own moon. Astronomers

[00:23:28] have defined many moons as asteroids or comets that are gravitationally captured by a planet

[00:23:34] for a temporary amount of time. Small mini moons are very common but ones big enough to spot

[00:23:41] a very rare. 2024 PT 5 is only the fifth ever detected mini moon captured by Earth.

[00:23:49] A mini moon is a temporary captured orbiter if it competes, completes at least one full orbit of

[00:23:56] the Earth before returning to its usual orbit around the Sun. If a mini moon is captured by Earth's

[00:24:02] gravity but doesn't make it around for a full orbit, its temporarily captured fly by instead.

[00:24:09] Two of Earth's mini moons were temporarily captured orbit as well as the other three including

[00:24:15] 2024 PT 5 fall into the temporary captured fly by category. Mini moons are asteroids from the

[00:24:24] large population of near Earth objects or any of those that are temporarily grabbed from their

[00:24:30] orbit around the Sun. Near Earth objects are defined as natural physical objects floating in space,

[00:24:37] such as asteroids, space rocks or comets, dirty space snowballs made of rock and ice that are

[00:24:45] orbiting the Sun and approach to within 1.3 times the Earth's distance from the Sun at some point

[00:24:52] in their orbit because these objects are around the same distance from the Sun as the Earth,

[00:24:58] they can sometimes be captured by Earth's gravity. 2024 PT 5 and the previous mini moon call 2022

[00:25:07] NX1 were both captured from a group of asteroids orbiting the Sun at a similar distance from Earth

[00:25:13] called the Arjunus which is one of the main characters of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Please

[00:25:20] forgive my pronunciation again I am Australian. The first known mini moon was called 1991 VG. It arrived

[00:25:28] in late 1991 and left early in 1992 and like 2024 PT 5 it was around 10 meters in diameter.

[00:25:38] In 2002, a astronomer Bill Yeong found what he thought was a second mini moon.

[00:25:48] J00233 are they great at naming these things however on closer inspection the object display

[00:25:54] to spectra of light suggesting it was coded in white paint containing titanium oxide.

[00:26:01] Then a study of how the objects brightness changed over time found its shape resembled something

[00:26:05] like the upper stage of a rocket. Astronomers now believe J00233 is the third stage of the Apollo

[00:26:14] Saturn V rocket S1 the V instead of a natural mini moon the plot twist of J00233 I think that's the

[00:26:24] third way I've read that number made astronomers a bit more cautious when another mini moon

[00:26:33] 2006 RH120 was spotted on September 14, 2006 and it was first classified as artificial

[00:26:41] however after more observations it turned out to be a natural mini moon about two to seven meters in diameter

[00:26:50] in 2006 RH102 stuck around from July 2006 until July 2007 the new mini moon will circle it

[00:27:03] low for almost 57 days but one complete a full orbit on November 25 it will part ways with the earth

[00:27:10] and continue its solo trajectory through the cosmos it's expected to pass by again in 25

[00:27:19] that nice and there you have it another episode of astronomy daily thanks for staying with us

[00:27:32] today on astronomy daily please don't forget Hallie's cousin Anna will be manning the studio

[00:27:37] from Tuesday to Saturday with more stories covering space space science and astronomy isn't there

[00:27:43] right Hallie she does a nice job very stylish I know so you won't miss a thing Hallie where do you

[00:27:55] with the territory what are you using human well I like to use Spotify in the car I get every episode

[00:28:01] in its true I don't miss anything either Anna will be so pleased yes I know she is nice so folks

[00:28:07] that's all we have until next Monday so bye for now bye