S05E43 | February 19, 2026 🚀 Artemis Fuels Up LIVE | Pulsar at Our Galaxy's Heart | Universe's Fate Revealed | City Killer Asteroids | Mercury Tonight! It's a big one today — and we mean that literally. As we record, NASA is fuelling its Artemis II Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in a make-or-break second wet dress rehearsal. But that's just the start. We've also got a cosmic discovery that could let us test Einstein's theories like never before, new data suggesting the universe will end in a 'Big Crunch', a sobering warning about thousands of undetected city-killing asteroids, a perfect night to spot Mercury, and a music video filmed in orbit. Welcome to Astronomy Daily. IN THIS EPISODE: • 🚀 Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal: NASA loads 700,000+ gallons of cryogenic propellant in its second fuelling test — critical step toward a March 6 crewed launch around the Moon • 🌌 Pulsar Near Sagittarius A*: Columbia University & Breakthrough Listen detect a candidate millisecond pulsar spinning at 8.19ms next to our galaxy's supermassive black hole — a potential new test of General Relativity • 💥 Big Crunch Theory: Cornell physicist Henry Tye uses fresh DESI and DES dark energy data to calculate the universe has a ~33 billion year total lifespan — challenging the 'Big Freeze' consensus • ☄️ City Killer Asteroids: NASA's Planetary Defense Officer warns 25,000 mid-sized asteroids capable of devastating cities orbit near Earth — and we've only found 40% of them • 🔭 Mercury Tonight: The innermost planet reaches greatest eastern elongation — your best evening viewing chance of 2026. Look west after sunset! • 🎵 Space Music Video: China's Shenzhou 21 crew celebrate the Year of the Horse with a music video filmed aboard Tiangong Space Station Follow NASA's Artemis II live stream at nasa.gov | Follow us @AstroDailyPod
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm Anna.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:06 >> And I'm Avery. It is Thursday, the 19th
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 of February, 2026, and we are recording
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 this episode while NASA is literally
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 fueling a rocket at this very moment.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 And we cannot wait to tell you about it.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 >> That's right. This is one of those days
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 where space news isn't just something
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 that happened somewhere out there in the
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 universe. It is happening right now on a
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 launchpad in Florida. But that's not
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 all. Today, we're also asking what lurks
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 in the darkness between us and our
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 nearest cosmic neighbors. Could there be
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 a cosmic clock ticking next to the most
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 extreme object in our galaxy? And brace
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 yourselves, is the universe actually
00:00:45 --> 00:00:46 going to end?
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 >> Plus, we have a story that will make you
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 want to check the sky tonight. A warning
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 from NASA that is genuinely a little
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 unsettling. And we're going to space
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 with a music video. All of that is
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 coming up on Astronomy Daily.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 >> Let's start with the big one, and I mean
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 big in every sense of the word. As we
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 speak, NASA's Space Launch System, the
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 most powerful rocket ever built, is
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 being loaded with more than 700
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 gallons of cryogenic propellant at
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 launch complex 39B at Kennedy Space
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 Center in Florida. This is the second
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 wet dress rehearsal for Artemis 2, the
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 mission that will carry four astronauts
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 on a loop around the moon. The first
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 time humans have ventured to lunar
00:01:29 --> 00:01:33 distance since Apollo 17 back in 1972.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 The crew are commander Reed Weisman,
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Christina Ko from NASA, and Jeremy
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 Now, the reason they're doing this
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 rehearsal, and the reason there have
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 been so many eyes on it today is that
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 the first attempt back on the 2nd and
00:01:51 --> 00:01:54 3rd of February did not go as planned.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 Engineers detected a liquid hydrogen
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 leak during fueling, which forced them
00:01:59 --> 00:02:00 to halt the test before they could
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 complete the full countdown sequence. In
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 the weeks since, technicians have
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 replaced seals around two fueling lines,
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 swapped out a filter and the ground
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 support equipment, and added an extra
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 hour of buffer time into the countdown
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 to allow more room for troubleshooting.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 It's the kind of painstaking,
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 unglamorous engineering work that rarely
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 makes headlines, but it's exactly what
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 keeps astronauts alive. Today's
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 rehearsal targets a simulated launch
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 window opening at 8:30 this evening,
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 Eastern time. The test is expected to
00:02:31 --> 00:02:34 run until around 12:30 Friday morning,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 and the stakes are high. NASA has said
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 it won't set a formal launch date until
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 after a successful wet dress rehearsal
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 campaign. March 6th remains the earliest
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 possible crude launch date.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 >> NASA administrator Jared Isaacman put it
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 well when he said, "We anticipated
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 encountering challenges. That is
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 precisely why we conduct a wet dress
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 rehearsal. These tests are designed to
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 surface issues before flight. The safety
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 of the crew comes first. So, tonight we
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 watch and we wait.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 >> We will be keeping a close eye on this
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 one and we'll bring you the results in
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 tomorrow's episode. Fingers crossed for
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 a clean test, no leaks, and a March
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 launch that puts humans back in the
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 vicinity of the moon for the first time
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 in over 50 years. All right, from a
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 rocket at Kennedy Space Center to the
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 absolute heart of our galaxy. And this
00:03:25 --> 00:03:28 story is one of those discoveries that
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 if it's confirmed, could fundamentally
00:03:30 --> 00:03:33 change how we understand the universe.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 >> Researchers from Columbia University
00:03:35 --> 00:03:36 working with the Breakthrough Listen
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 Initiative, which is best known for
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 searching for signs of intelligent life
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 beyond Earth, have announced the
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 detection of a candidate millisecond
00:03:44 --> 00:03:48 pulsar very close to Sagittarius A star.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 That's the super massive black hole
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 sitting at the center of the Milky Way.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 Roughly 4 million times the mass of our
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 own sun.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 >> So, let's unpack what a pulsar is
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 because it's one of the most
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 extraordinary objects in the universe.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 When a massive star reaches the end of
00:04:05 --> 00:04:08 its life and explodes as a supernova,
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 what's left behind is an incredibly
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 dense core called a neutron star. Some
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 of those neutron stars spin rapidly and
00:04:16 --> 00:04:19 emit beams of radio waves like a cosmic
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 lighthouse sweeping through space. When
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 those beams sweep past Earth, we detect
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 them as regular pulses, hence pulsar.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 >> And what makes millisecond pulsar
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 special is their extraordinary
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 precision. They spin hundreds of times
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 per second with almost perfect
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 regularity. Scientists have called them
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 the most accurate clocks in the
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 universe, more stable than atomic clocks
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 here on Earth. This candidate, nicknamed
00:04:44 --> 00:04:48 BLPSR, completes one full rotation every
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 8.19 milliseconds. Now, here's why
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 finding one near Sagittarius A star is
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 such a big deal. A pulsar next to a 4
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 million solar mass black hole would be
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 operating in one of the most extreme
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 gravitational environments imaginable.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 And Einstein's general theory of
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 relativity makes very specific
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 predictions about what happens to space
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 and time in such extreme environments.
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 Predictions that have never been tested
00:05:15 --> 00:05:17 at this level of precision.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 >> And if a pulsar is orbiting close to
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 Sagittarius a star, the black hole's
00:05:21 --> 00:05:24 gravity would warp spaceime so severely
00:05:24 --> 00:05:27 that those precise pulsar pulses would
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 arrive at our telescopes with tiny but
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 measurable distortions. As researcher
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 Slavo Bogdanov from Colombia put it, any
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 external influence on a pulsar would
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 introduce anomalies in the steady
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 arrival of pulses which can be measured
00:05:40 --> 00:05:41 and modeled.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 >> In other words, a confirmed pulsar next
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 to a super massive black hole would be a
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 natural laboratory for testing
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 Einstein's theories in the most extreme
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 conditions possible. It could also help
00:05:53 --> 00:05:54 us understand things like the mass of
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 Sagittarius a star, the geometry of
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 space-time near a super massive black
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 hole, and potentially even offer clues
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 about dark matter.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 >> Now, it's important to be clear this is
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 still a candidate. The team published
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 their findings in the Astrophysical
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 Journal, and Breakthrough Listen has
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 released all the observational data
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 publicly, so researchers around the
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 world can do independent analyses.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 Confirmation will require extensive
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 follow-up observations, but the
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 scientific community is buzzing. This is
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 the kind of discovery that reshapes
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 entire research programs if it holds up.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 >> Keep watching the skies and the galactic
00:06:31 --> 00:06:34 center. This story is far from over.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:35 >> So, we've talked about what's happening
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 in Florida tonight and what might be
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 happening at the center of our galaxy.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:42 Now, let's zoom all the way out, farther
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 than you've probably ever thought about,
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 and ask, how does the universe end?
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 >> For most of the past few decades, the
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 scientific consensus has been pretty
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 clear. The universe expands forever.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 Dark energy, that mysterious force
00:06:57 --> 00:07:00 making up roughly 68% of all the mass
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 and energy in the cosmos, was thought to
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 be a constant, relentlessly pushing
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 everything apart. Eventually, galaxies
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 would drift. so far from each other that
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 the night sky would go dark. Stars would
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 burn out. Everything would fade into a
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 cold, silent void. Scientists call this
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 the big freeze or heat death. But new
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 data is challenging that picture in a
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 dramatic way. Physicist Henry Thai at
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 Cornell University has published new
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 calculations using data from two of the
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 world's most powerful dark energy
00:07:33 --> 00:07:35 observatories. The dark energy survey in
00:07:35 --> 00:07:38 Chile and the dark energy spectroscopic
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 instrument in Arizona. And his
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 conclusion is striking. The universe may
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 be heading not for a freeze, but for a
00:07:45 --> 00:07:46 crunch.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 >> Here's how it works. Both surveys are
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 finding evidence that dark energy isn't
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 actually constant. It appears to be
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 weakening over time. If that's true,
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 then the force pushing the universe
00:07:57 --> 00:08:00 apart is gradually fading. And at some
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 point, gravity takes over. The expansion
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 slows, stops, and then reverses.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 Everything that has been flying apart
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 for billions of years begins falling
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 back together. A TAI model introduces a
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 hypothetical particle called an ultra
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 light axion combined with what's known
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 as a negative cosmological constant to
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 explain how dark energy could behave
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 this way. The math suggests the universe
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 is currently about 13.8 billion years
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 old and approaching the halfway point of
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 its total lifespan. It would continue
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 expanding for roughly another 11 billion
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 years, reach its maximum size, and then
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 begin to contract, ultimately collapsing
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 into a single point of unimaginable
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 density, the big crunch. Total elapsed
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 time approximately 33 billion years.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 >> Now, before anyone starts updating their
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 bucket list, this is one model. It's not
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 yet scientific consensus. There's
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 healthy debate about how to interpret
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 the dark energy data and upcoming
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 missions from the European Space ay's
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 Uklid telescope, NASA Spherex project
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 and the Vera C Ruben Observatory will
00:09:13 --> 00:09:14 provide much better measurements over
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 the coming years. But the very fact that
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 two independent observatories, one in
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 the southern hemisphere, one in the
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 northern, are converging on similar
00:09:24 --> 00:09:27 results about dark energy evolving.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 That's significant. As Tai himself put
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 it, for the last 20 years, people
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 believed the universe would expand
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 forever. The new data may be telling us
00:09:38 --> 00:09:39 something very different.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 >> The universe might be mortal after all.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 Quite the thought to sit with on a
00:09:44 --> 00:09:45 Thursday evening.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 >> And now, because apparently one
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 existential revelation isn't enough for
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 one episode, let's talk about city
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 killer asteroids.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 >> Those two words together are doing a lot
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 of work. They really are. So, at the
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 American Association for the Advancement
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 of Science conference in Arizona this
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 week, NASA's Planetary Defense Officer,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 and yes, that is a real job title, Dr.
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 Kelly Fast, gave a presentation that's
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 been making headlines ever since, and
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 for good reason.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 >> Dr. Fast explained that when it comes to
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 asteroids, there are essentially three
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 categories of concern. At the small end,
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 things are hitting Earth all the time.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:29 meteors burning up in the atmosphere,
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 the occasional fireball. We're not
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 particularly worried about those. At the
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 large end, the extinction level rocks,
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 the movie asteroid kind, scientists are
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 actually fairly confident about where
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 those are. We track them. We know their
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 orbits.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 >> It's the middle ground that keeps Dr.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 Fast up at night. Asteroids in the range
00:10:48 --> 00:10:52 of 140 m and larger, large enough to
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 devastate an entire city or a wide
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 region. but small enough to be difficult
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 to detect with current telescopes. Her
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 estimate there are around 25 of
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 these objects in the vicinity of Earth's
00:11:06 --> 00:11:06 orbit.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:10 >> And how many have we found? About 40%.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 Meaning there are potentially 15
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 city killing space rocks out there right
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 now that we simply do not know about.
00:11:17 --> 00:11:20 >> To add some context to that and to the
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 challenge of actually doing something
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 about it if we did spot one, Dr. Nancy
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 Shabet, the planetary scientist who led
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 NASA's Dart mission, the spacecraft that
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 successfully changed the orbit of an
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 asteroid back in 2022, was also at the
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 conference. She pointed out that DART
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 was a breakthrough demonstration, but
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 there isn't another one sitting on a
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 launchpad ready to go. She specifically
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 referenced the asteroid Y R4 which
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 caused some anxiety earlier this year
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 with a small but not zero probability of
00:11:53 --> 00:11:57 a lunar impact in 2032. She said if
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 something like Y4 had been headed
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 towards the Earth, we would not have any
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 way to go and deflect it actively right
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 now.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 >> The hope on the horizon is the Near
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 Earth Object Surveyor Telescope which is
00:12:10 --> 00:12:12 planned for launch next year. Unlike
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 conventional optical telescopes, it uses
00:12:15 --> 00:12:18 thermal infrared signatures to detect
00:12:18 --> 00:12:20 darker asteroids that are essentially
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 invisible to conventional instruments.
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 Potentially a gamecher for the detection
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 side of the problem.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 >> But Dr. Shabau's point stands. Detection
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 is one thing. Having an active readyto
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 deploy deflection capability is another.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 And that investment, she says, is simply
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 not being made at the level that needs
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 to be. Something worth thinking about
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 given that planetary defense is probably
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 the one area of space science that is
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 quite literally about survival.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 >> Sobering stuff. Let's come back down to
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 Earth for a moment. Or rather, let's
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 look up from it.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 >> Here's something wonderful and
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 wonderfully timely because this one is
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 happening right now tonight as you
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 listen to this. Mercury, the innermost
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 planet of our solar system and the one
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 most people have never actually seen
00:13:07 --> 00:13:10 with their own eyes, is tonight reaching
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 what astronomers call its greatest
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 eastern elongation. That's the point in
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 its orbit where it's at its maximum
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 angular distance from the sun as seen
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 from Earth. Meaning it appears as far
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 from the sun in our sky as it ever gets.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 And why does that matter for observers?
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 Because Mercury is normally incredibly
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 difficult to spot. It's always close to
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 the sun in the sky, so you're either
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 trying to catch it just before sunrise
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 or just after sunset with very little
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 time before it follows the sun below the
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 horizon. But at greatest elongation, you
00:13:43 --> 00:13:44 get the best window.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 >> Tonight, look to the western horizon
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 shortly after sunset. Mercury will be
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 visible as a moderately bright point of
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 light, shining steadily rather than
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 twinkling like a star. You won't need
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 any special equipment, though.
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 Binoculars will give you a much nicer
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 view. This is Mercury's first greatest
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 elongation of 2026, and the best evening
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 viewing opportunity we'll get for the
00:14:07 --> 00:14:10 year so far. There's also a bonus
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 tonight. The crescent moon, Saturn, and
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 Neptune are all gathering in the same
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 part of the sky, with Saturn and Neptune
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 very close together near the western
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 horizon. Now, Neptune will need a
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 telescope, and you'll need to wait until
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 the sun is fully set. Do not point any
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 optical instrument toward the horizon
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 until the sun has cleared it completely.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:33 But the overall scene is really quite
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 beautiful this evening.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 >> And for those of you keeping track of
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 the upcoming six planet parade on the
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 28th of February, Mercury reaching
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 greatest elongation tonight is actually
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 a key milestone in that buildup. By the
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 28th, Mercury will have improved its
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 position enough to join Venus, Saturn,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, all
00:14:53 --> 00:14:56 visible in the same sky. We'll have a
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 full guide to that event closer to the
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 date, but tonight is your preview. Go
00:15:00 --> 00:15:01 look west.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 >> And now to close out the episode, we
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 have something that we absolutely love.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 A reminder that even on a space station
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 in orbit, humans will find a way to
00:15:11 --> 00:15:14 celebrate. The crew of China's Shenzhu
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 21 mission currently living and working
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 aboard the Tangong space station have
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 released a music video to mark the Lunar
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 New Year, the year of the horse. And
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 honestly, it is delightful. Filming a
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 music video in microgravity is, as you
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 might imagine, a unique creative
00:15:30 --> 00:15:33 challenge. Everything floats. Hair
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 floats. Props float. But the crew
00:15:35 --> 00:15:37 apparently embraced all of it. And the
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 result is one of those lovely, warm,
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 deeply human moments that cuts right
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 through all the geopolitical complexity
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 of the space race and reminds you that
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 the people up there are just people
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 celebrating a holiday with their
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 families watching from below. Pyong,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 which means heavenly palace, currently
00:15:55 --> 00:15:57 has a crew of three aboard following the
00:15:57 --> 00:16:00 Shenzhu 21 mission. China has been
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 steadily expanding its space station
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 program. And moments like this one
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 shared with the world are a reminder of
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 why humans go to space in the first
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 place. Not just for science or national
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 prestige, but for the sheer joy of being
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 up there.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 >> Dang fai to all of our listeners
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 celebrating the lunar new year. May the
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 year of the horse bring you good fortune
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 and hopefully fewer hydrogen leaks.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 And on that note, that's your Astronomy
00:16:28 --> 00:16:33 Daily for Thursday, February 19th, 2026.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 What a lineup today. A live rocket
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 fueling test, a cosmic clock near a
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 black hole, the possible end of the
00:16:40 --> 00:16:43 universe, city killing asteroids,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 Mercury in the evening sky, and a music
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 video from orbit.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 >> If you want to follow along with the
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 Aremis 2 fueling test tonight, NASA has
00:16:52 --> 00:16:55 a live stream at nasa.gov. We'll link
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 everything in the show notes. And if you
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 spot Mercury tonight, tag us on social
00:16:59 --> 00:17:02 media at Astro Daily Pod. We would love
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 to see your photos.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 >> Subscribe, leave a review if you're
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 enjoying the show, and we will be back
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 tomorrow with the results of tonight's
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 fueling test. Until then, keep looking
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 up.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:25 >> Clear skies, everyone.
00:17:25 --> 00:17:29 Stories told.