- SpaceX's Launch Rate Expansion: SpaceX has received approval from US regulators to more than double its launch rate from Cape Canaveral, increasing from 50 Falcon 9 launches per year to an astonishing 120. This expansion aims to alleviate the current launch bottleneck and streamline operations, including the addition of a new landing zone for up to 34 returning boosters.
- Revolutionary Cosmological Theory: A bold new study by physicist Rajendra Gupta challenges the existence of dark matter and proposes that the universe may be twice as old as previously thought. By combining controversial theories of covarying coupling constants and tired light, Gupta's model suggests a universe aged 26.7 billion years, a radical departure from the accepted 13.8 billion years.
- Primordial Black Hole Discovery: The James Webb Space Telescope may have found the first direct evidence of a primordial black hole, nicknamed the little red dot. This massive black hole, estimated at 50 million solar masses, dates back to just 600 million years after the Big Bang and raises questions about the formation of black holes in the early universe.
- Interstellar Comet 3i Atlas Approaches Mars: An interstellar comet, designated 3i Atlas, is set to make a close flyby of Mars on October 3, 2025. The European Space Agency's Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter will attempt to observe the comet, aiming to analyse its chemical composition and learn about the building blocks of other solar systems.
- For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music, 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 Avery and Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and exploring the wonders of our universe.
SpaceX Launch Updates
[SpaceX](https://www.spacex.com/)
Cosmological Model Research
[arXiv](https://arxiv.org/)
Primordial Black Hole Findings
[NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/)
Interstellar Comet Observations
[ESA](https://www.esa.int/)
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily](http://www.astronomydaily.io/)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!
Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here
00:00:01 --> 00:00:04 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 podcast that brings you the universe, one
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 story at a time. I'm Avery.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to have you with us.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 We've got a packed show for you today, Avery.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:18 We're talking about a massive expansion for
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 SpaceX launches, a new theory that could
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 double the age of the universe, and a
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 potential glimpse of a primordial black hole
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 and an interstellar visitor heading for
00:00:28 --> 00:00:29 Mars.
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 Avery: An absolutely fascinating lineup.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 So where do you want to start? Should we kick
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 things off with the launch pad?
00:00:36 --> 00:00:37 Anna: Let's do it.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 Our first story is big news for the pace of
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 space exploration. SpaceX has just
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 received a green light from US regulators to
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 more than double their launch rate from
00:00:48 --> 00:00:48 Florida.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:52 Avery: And when you say more than double, you really
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 mean it. They're going from 50 Falcon
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 9 launches per year up to
00:00:57 --> 00:01:00 120 from Cape Canaveral.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 And that is a staggering increase in
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 frequency.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 Anna: It really is. And to handle all those
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 returning boosters, the approval also
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 includes a, uh, new on site landing zone.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 They're planning for up to 34 booster
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 landings right there at the Cape. This is all
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 about streamlining their operations.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Avery: So how does an approval like this work?
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 I imagine launching that many rockets has
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 some environmental considerations.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 Anna: Absolutely. The approval is officially called
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 a, uh, mitigated finding of no significant
00:01:31 --> 00:01:34 impact. That means they've put measures in
00:01:34 --> 00:01:36 place to protect local wildlife and the
00:01:36 --> 00:01:39 environment. But it's not the final step.
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 SpaceX still needs a final licence
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 modification from the FAA and approval from
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 the Air Force before they can start ramping
00:01:46 --> 00:01:46 up.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:48 Avery: It sounds like they're clearing the final
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 hurdles. This has to be a huge relief for a
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 lot of companies and agencies. We've heard
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 about the launch bottleneck for a while now.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 This should really help ease the traffic jam
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 for commercial satellites, military missions,
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 and of course, SpaceX's own Starlink
00:02:03 --> 00:02:03 constellation.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:07 Anna: Exactly. And this isn't just happening in
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 Florida. They're planning a similar expansion
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 for their west coast operations at Vandenberg
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 Space Force Base in California. We are
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 truly entering an era of unprecedented
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 access to space.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 Avery: Beyond just easing the traffic jam, what does
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 this increased capacity mean for the kinds of
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 missions? We'll see. Are we talking more
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 sc, more commercial activity, or
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 both? Well, I guess we'll have to wait and
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 see what happens in practise, but I think
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 you'll find it'll be a balance of both
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 science and commercial. Alright,
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 from the very practical to the deeply
00:02:43 --> 00:02:44 theoretical. Anna.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 Uh, our next story is a real mind bender.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 A new study is suggesting that dark matter
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 doesn't exist, and that the universe is
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 twice as old as we thought.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 Anna: That's the headline, and it's as provocative
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01 as it sounds. A physicist named
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 Rajendra Gupta has proposed a new
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 cosmological model that attempts to explain
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 the universe without the need for dark matter
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 or dark energy, which are foundational
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 pillars of our current understanding.
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 Avery: Okay, I'm intrigued. How does he
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 propose to do that? Our current model relies
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 on dark matter to explain why galaxies don't
00:03:22 --> 00:03:23 fly apart.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 Anna: Well, Gupta's model combines two different
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 and somewhat controversial ideas. The
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 first is called covarying coupling constants,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 or ccc. This theory suggests that
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 the fundamental physical constants of nature,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:40 things like the strength of gravity, might
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 actually change over cosmic time.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 Avery: Whoa. That alone would rewrite the
00:03:45 --> 00:03:48 textbooks. Um, and what's the second idea?
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 Anna: The second is an old hypothesis called
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 tired light. This idea proposes that
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 light particles, photons, lose
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 energy as they travel over billions of light
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 years. This energy loss would cause their
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 light to shift toward the red end of the
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 spectrum, which is something we currently
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 attribute almost entirely to the expansion of
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 the universe.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 Avery: So by combining these two theories, he can
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 explain cosmic observations without
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 dark matter. And how does that lead to the
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 universe being twice. Twice as old?
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 Anna: By reinterpreting the redshift of distant
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 galaxies, his calculations suggest that
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 the universe isn't 13.8 billion years
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 old, but actually 26.7
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 billion years old. It completely changes the
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 timeline of cosmic evolution.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 Avery: This is a monumental claim. Dark matter is
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 thought to make up about 27% of the universe.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 To just remove it from the equation is a
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 radical step. So what's the next step
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 for this theory? How do we know if it holds
00:04:52 --> 00:04:52 any water?
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 Anna: That's the key question. The model now has to
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 be rigorously tested against real world
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 observational data. Can it accurately predict
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 the rotation speeds of galaxies? Can it
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 explain the patterns we see in the cosmic
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 microwave background, the afterglow of the
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 big Bang? The Standard Model does this very
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 well. So Gupta Siri has a very high
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 bar to clear. It's a fascinating
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 alternative. But for now, the Standard Model
00:05:19 --> 00:05:20 remains the reigning champion.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 Avery: Speaking of cosmic mysteries, our next story
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 comes from the James Webb Space Telescope,
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 which may have just found the first direct
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 evidence of a primordial black hole.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 Anna: This is an amazing story. Astronomers were
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 looking at an object nicknamed the little red
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 dot, officially called QSO
00:05:39 --> 00:05:42 uh1. And this little dot might just be
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 a massive black hole seed born in the
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 fiery chaos of the very early universe.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:49 Avery: How early are we talking?
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 Anna: The light from this object comes from the
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 epoch of reionization just
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 600 million years after the Big Bang.
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 That's incredibly early in cosmic history.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 And the black hole itself is estimated to
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 have a mass of 50 million suns.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 Avery: 50 million solar masses, less
00:06:09 --> 00:06:10 than a billion years into the universe's
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 existence. That's a monster.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 How were they even able to see something so
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 distant and ancient?
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 Anna: They had a little help from Einstein. The
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 observation was made possible by
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 gravitational lensing, where the gravity of a
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 massive galaxy cluster in the foreground
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 acted like a cosmic magnifying glass,
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 amplifying the light from the little red dot
00:06:33 --> 00:06:33 behind it.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 Avery: So what makes this discovery so significant?
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 What does it tell us about how black holes
00:06:39 --> 00:06:39 form?
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 Anna: Here's the most fascinating part. This
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 enormous black hole is located in a
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 surprisingly small host galaxy. According
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 to our current models, galaxies and their
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 central black holes are supposed to grow up
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 together. But this black hole is way too big
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 for its galaxy. It's like finding a giant
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 skeleton inside a child's playroom.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 Avery: Which suggests the black hole came
00:07:03 --> 00:07:04 first.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:07 Anna: Exactly. This could be evidence for what are,
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 uh, called heavy seeds. Instead of forming
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 from a collapsed star and slowly growing,
00:07:12 --> 00:07:15 these black holes might have formed directly
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 from the collapse of massive gas clouds, or
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 even from density fluctuations right after
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 the Big Bang itself. These would be true
00:07:23 --> 00:07:24 primordial black holes.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 Avery: It's an incredible find. I
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 assume there's a caveat here.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 Anna: Of course, the findings are currently in a
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 preprint, which means they're awaiting the
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 rigorous process of peer review. But if they
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 hold up, this little red dot could
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 fundamentally change our understanding of how
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 the first galaxies and the giants within them
00:07:45 --> 00:07:46 came to be.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 Avery: Alright, for our, uh, final story today.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 We're coming back into our own solar system,
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 but we're tracking a visitor from very, very
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 far away. An interstellar comet is
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 set to make a close flyby of Mars.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 Anna: That's right, Avery. The Comet is designated
00:08:01 --> 00:08:04 3i Atlas, with the I standing for
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 interstellar. And on 10-3-20,
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 it's going to pass within 18.6 million
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 miles of the red planet. That's a
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 fantastic observation opportunity for our,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:17 uh, robotic explorers there.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 Avery: And it sounds like the European Space Agency
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 is already getting its probes ready. What's
00:08:22 --> 00:08:22 the plan?
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 Anna: ESA's Mars Express and Trace Gas
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 Orbiter are going to attempt to observe it as
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 it passes. They'll try to image the comet,
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 though it will still be quite distant for
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 detailed close ups. More importantly, they'll
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 use their spectrometers to measure the light
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 coming from it, which can tell us about its
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 chemical composition.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 Avery: So we get a chance to analyse the building
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 blocks of another solar system. That's
00:08:47 --> 00:08:50 incredible. Are any other spacecraft going to
00:08:50 --> 00:08:50 be looking?
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 Anna: It's very likely. NASA's orbiters like
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 Maven and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 and perhaps even China's Tianwen one
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 could all potentially point their instruments
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 at the Comet. Even the JWST
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 has already taken a look at 3i
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 Atlas from its vantage point further out in
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 space. It's an all hands on deck effort to
00:09:12 --> 00:09:13 study this rare traveller.
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 Avery: It's amazing to think that we have a fleet of
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 advanced scientific instruments orbiting
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 another planet ready to welcome a visitor
00:09:22 --> 00:09:25 from the stars. October 2025 is a
00:09:25 --> 00:09:26 date to mark on the calendar.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 Anna: And that's a wrap on today's astronomical
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 news. We've gone from the bustling launch
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 pads of Florida to the edge of
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 cosmological theory, deep into the cosmic
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 dawn and back to a close encounter at
00:09:40 --> 00:09:40 Mars.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:43 Avery: What a journey. A, uh, big thank you to all
00:09:43 --> 00:09:46 of you for tuning in and sharing it with us.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 And for even more news, please visit our
00:09:48 --> 00:09:51 website at astronomydaily IO
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 where you'll find our continually updated
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 news feed, plus all our back episodes if you
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 need to do some catching up. Until next time,
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 this has been Astronomy Daily. Um, I'm
00:10:01 --> 00:10:02 Avery.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 Anna: And I'm Anna. Keep looking up.