In this episode of Astronomy Daily, host Hallie takes the reins while Steve enjoys a well-deserved break, guiding listeners through a series of fascinating cosmic events and discoveries. From the remarkable birthday of NASA's oldest astronaut to groundbreaking insights about Mars' magnetic field, this episode is packed with stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Highlights:
- Don Pettit's 70th Birthday in Space: Celebrate the extraordinary milestone of NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who marked his 70th birthday while returning to Earth after an impressive seven-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Discover the details of his journey and the remarkable achievements of his crew during their time in orbit.
- National Reconnaissance Office Reaches Satellite Milestone: Learn about the National Reconnaissance Office's recent accomplishment of deploying over 200 satellites in just two years, following the successful launch of the NROL 145 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This achievement highlights the growing importance of satellite networks for national security.
- The Awakening of a Supermassive Black Hole: Dive into the intriguing observations of a dormant supermassive black hole in the galaxy SDSS1335 0728, which suddenly became active after years of inactivity. This phenomenon provides a rare opportunity to study black hole behavior and the dynamics of accretion disks.
- PUNCH Mission Captures First Light: Celebrate the successful commissioning of the PUNCH mission, which has begun capturing its first images of the Sun's outer atmosphere. These early observations are crucial for understanding solar wind and coronal mass ejections, setting the stage for future scientific exploration.
- New Insights into Mars' Magnetic Field: Explore a groundbreaking theory suggesting that Mars may have once had a molten core, leading to a lopsided magnetic field. This research sheds light on the planet's atmospheric history and its potential for supporting life in the past.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io (http://www.astronomydaily.io/) . Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, 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 Hallie signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:05 - Don Pettit's 70th birthday in space
10:30 - National Reconnaissance Office satellite milestone
17:00 - Awakening of a supermassive black hole
22:15 - PUNCH mission captures first light
27:30 - New insights into Mars' magnetic field
✍️ Episode References
NASA Astronaut Don Pettit
[NASA]( https://www.nasa.gov/ (https://www.nasa.gov/) )
National Reconnaissance Office Launch
[NRO]( https://www.nro.gov/ (https://www.nro.gov/) )
Supermassive Black Hole Observations
[European Space Agency]( https://www.esa.int/ (https://www.esa.int/) )
PUNCH Mission Details
[NASA PUNCH]( https://www.nasa.gov/punch (https://www.nasa.gov/punch) )
Mars Magnetic Field Research
[University of Texas]( https://www.utexas.edu/ (https://www.utexas.edu/) )
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily]( http://www.astronomydaily.io/ (http://www.astronomydaily.io/) )
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-exciting-space-discoveries-and-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-exciting-space-discoveries-and-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/26711847?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 hi everyone it's time for Astronomy
00:00:02 --> 00:00:06 Daily again it's the 21st of April
00:00:06 --> 00:00:10 2025 astronomy Daily the podcast with
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 your host Steve Dunley
00:00:12 --> 00:00:18 [Music]
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 hi there everyone hi here to take you
00:00:22 --> 00:00:23 through the show today as my favorite
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 human Steve is enjoying an Easter break
00:00:25 --> 00:00:29 today so off we go straight into the
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 stories I've collected from the
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 astronomy daily
00:00:32 --> 00:00:44 newsletter here we
00:00:44 --> 00:00:47 go cake gifts and a low-key family
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 celebration may be how many senior
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 citizens picture their 70th birthday but
00:00:52 --> 00:00:53 NASA's oldest serving astronaut Don
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 Pettit became a septtogenarian while
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 hurtling toward Earth in a spacecraft to
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 wrap up a seven-month mission aboard the
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 International Space Station a Soyuse
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 capsule carrying the American and two
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 Russian cosminauts landed in Kazakhstan
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 on Sunday the day of Pettit's milestone
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 birthday today at 4:20 a.m moscow time
00:01:11 --> 00:01:14 the Soyos MS26 landing craft with Alexe
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 Opchinan Ivan Banner and Don Pettit
00:01:16 --> 00:01:17 aboard landed near the Kazak town of
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 Zcoskin russia's space agency Rose
00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 Cosmos said spending 220 days in space
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 and his crew mates Optin and Banner
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 orbited Earth 3520 times and completed a
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 journey of 93.3 million miles over the
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 course of their mission it was the
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 fourth space flight for Pettit who has
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 logged more than 18 months in orbit
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 throughout his 29-year career the trio
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 touched down in a remote area southeast
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 of Kazakhstan after undocking from the
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 space station just over 3 hours earlier
00:01:47 --> 00:01:50 you're listening to Astronomy Daily with
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 Steve Dunley
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 following the launch of a classified
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 mission April 20th the National
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 Reconnaissance Office has reached a new
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 milestone deploying more than 200
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 satellites into orbit in just over 2
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 years the NOL45 mission lifted off
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 Vandenberg Space Force Base in
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 California at 8:29 a.m eastern this
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 marked SpaceX's 10th launch of
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 satellites for the NRO's proliferated
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 architecture which includes Starshield
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 imaging satellites built by SpaceX and
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 Northre Grumman a proliferated
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 architecture refers to the strategy of
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 using numerous smaller satellites rather
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 than fewer large ones creating networks
00:02:27 --> 00:02:28 that are more resilient against
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 potential threats and capable of
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 providing more comprehensive coverage
00:02:33 --> 00:02:34 the National Reconnaissance Office
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 designs and operates classified US
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 government surveillance and intelligence
00:02:38 --> 00:02:41 satellites the agency is deploying an
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 extensive satellite network designed to
00:02:43 --> 00:02:46 track ground targets in near real time
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 sunday's launch was the first mission
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 awarded by the US Space Force under the
00:02:50 --> 00:02:52 National Security Space Launch Phase 3
00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 lane 1 program the task order for NOL
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58 145 was one of nine awarded to SpaceX in
00:02:58 --> 00:02:59 October
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 2024 this was our first phase 3 launch
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 coming only months after establishing
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 this new contract colonel Jim Horn
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 launch execution senior material leader
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 at the Space Systems Command said in a
00:03:10 --> 00:03:13 statement horn also noted that 44
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 missions from the previous NSSL phase 2
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 contract remain to be launched the
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 majority of those missions were awarded
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 to United Launch
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 Alliance ula's new Vulcan rocket is
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 expected to conduct its first NSSL
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 mission this summer
00:03:28 --> 00:03:32 astronomy Derby with Steve and Hi space
00:03:32 --> 00:03:46 space science and astronomy
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 thank you for joining us for this Monday
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 edition of Astronomy Daily where we
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 offer just a few stories from the now
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 famous Astronomy Daily newsletter which
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 you can receive in your email every day
00:03:55 --> 00:03:58 just like Hi and I do and to do that
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 just visit our URL astronomyaily.io
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00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 slot provided and just like that you'll
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 be receiving all the latest news about
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00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 not only that you can interact with us
00:04:14 --> 00:04:19 by visiting @ Astro Daily Pod on X or at
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 our new Facebook page which is of course
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 Astronomy Daily on Facebook see you
00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 there
00:04:25 --> 00:04:30 [Music]
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 you never know exactly when a central
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 super massive black hole is going to
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 power up and start gobbling matter
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 contrary to the popular view that these
00:04:38 --> 00:04:40 monsters are constantly devouring nearby
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 stars and gas clouds it turns out they
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 spend part of their existence dormant
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 and inactive new observations from the
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 European Space Ay's XMM Newton
00:04:49 --> 00:04:50 spacecraft opened a window on the
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 turn-on event for one of these monsters
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 in a distant galaxy the super massive
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 black hole at the heart of the galaxy
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 SDSS 1335 plus0728 has been sleeping
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 quietly for decades then it suddenly lit
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 up in 2019 and astronomers caught the
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 outbursts in both optical and x-ray
00:05:09 --> 00:05:12 light the galaxy which lies some 300
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 million lighty years away was
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 experiencing a wake-up call from its
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 central black hole astronomers named
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 this newly active galactic nucleus Anski
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 when we first saw Ansky light up in
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 optical images we triggered follow-up
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 observations using NASA's Swift X-ray
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 Space Telescope and we checked archived
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 data from the Arasida X-ray telescope
00:05:31 --> 00:05:32 but at the time we didn't see any
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 evidence of X-ray emissions said
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 European Southern Observatory researcher
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 Paula Sanchez Sai she and her team were
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 the first to explore the activity at the
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 black hole another team led by Lorena
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 Hernandez Garcia a researcher at
00:05:46 --> 00:05:48 Valparezo University Chile followed up
00:05:48 --> 00:05:51 on their work in 2024 by detecting X-ray
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 bursts from the same region this rare
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 event provides an opportunity for
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 astronomers to observe a black holes
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 behavior in real time using X-ray space
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 telescopes XMM Newton and NASA's Nicer
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 Chundra and Swift this phenomenon is
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 known as a quasa periodic eruption or
00:06:07 --> 00:06:08 QPE
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 these are short-lived flaring events and
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 this is the first time we have observed
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 such an event in a black hole that seems
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 to be waking up explained Lena what
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 happened to light up Ansky in a QPE
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 think about what happens as a black hole
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 feeds we know that the extreme
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 gravitational pull of the black hole
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 draws matter in usually via spinning
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 accretion disc it could be a star that
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 wanders too close for example the strong
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 gravitational influence of the black
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 hole shreds the star scattering its
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 material throughout the disc these are
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 called tidal disruption events that
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 sounds great until you realize Ansky
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 doesn't seem to have destroyed a star
00:06:49 --> 00:06:50 there's no observational
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 evidence however it has been
00:06:53 --> 00:06:54 experiencing recurring bursts of
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 activity which implies more than one
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 event is occurring it's possible that a
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 QP could be caused by a star or some
00:07:01 --> 00:07:02 other object interacting with the
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 accretion disc but not getting sucked in
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 and creating a different kind of
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 TDE researchers went back to the drawing
00:07:09 --> 00:07:10 board to consider other
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 possibilities it could be that the
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 accretion disc isn't formed by a star
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 but is a result of gas being drawn into
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 the black hole's gravity well the X-ray
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 flares that the astronomers saw at Ansky
00:07:21 --> 00:07:22 suggest the disc could be experiencing
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 energetic shocks created by the presence
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 of something traveling through it but
00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 not getting
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 disrupted something on a headlong rush
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 through an accretion disc would produce
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 multiple events sort of like a boat
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 cutting through water those events would
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 create the X-ray flares the bursts of
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 X-rays from Ansky are 10 times longer
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 and 10 times more luminous than what we
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 see from a typical QP says Johene
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 Chuckraordi a team member and PhD
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 student at the Massachusetts Institute
00:07:48 --> 00:07:49 of
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 Technology to get the X-rays you need
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 highly energetic events in the disc each
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 of these eruptions is releasing 100
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 times more energy than we have seen
00:07:58 --> 00:08:01 elsewhere ansky's eruptions also show
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 the longest cadence ever observed of
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 about 4.5 days this pushes our models to
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 their limits and challenges our existing
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 ideas about how these X-ray flashes are
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 being generated
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 we're listening to Astronomy Daily a
00:08:15 --> 00:08:20 broadcast
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 nasa's Punch Polarimeter to unify the
00:08:22 --> 00:08:25 corona and heliosphere mission has
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 successfully completed its spacecraft
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 commissioning phase last week the team
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 opened the instrument doors allowing the
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 spacecraft to capture first light its
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 first images of the sun's outer
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 atmosphere and the surrounding space
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 these early observations mark a key
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 milestone in the mission's goal to
00:08:41 --> 00:08:42 better understand how the sun's outer
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 atmosphere extends and flows through the
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 solar system the team will now move into
00:08:47 --> 00:08:48 the next stage of commissioning
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 preparing and fine-tuning the onboard
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 instruments for scientific
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 operations on April 14th the mission's
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 narrow field imager NFI and one of three
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 wide field imagers WFI were the first to
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 open their doors and begin capturing
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 data two days later on April 16th the
00:09:05 --> 00:09:09 remaining WFIs followed the first image
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 from the NFI shows a star-filled field
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 with the sun near the center to better
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 highlight background stars the image was
00:09:15 --> 00:09:16 processed to reduce the effect of
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 zodiacal light a faint glow caused by
00:09:19 --> 00:09:20 sunlight scattering off dust particles
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 orbiting the sun during the rest of the
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 commissioning phase scientists will
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 calibrate the instruments to reveal
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 finer details of the sun's corona its
00:09:29 --> 00:09:32 wispy outermost layer this process
00:09:32 --> 00:09:34 involves removing about 99% of the
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 overwhelming light from the sun itself
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 making it possible to trace the delicate
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 faint streams of solar material as they
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 move through space the WFI image below
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 taken April 14th shows the wide field of
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 view from WFI and is marked with labeled
00:09:48 --> 00:09:49 constellations
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 as commissioning progresses the Punch
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 team will be removing the star fields
00:09:53 --> 00:09:54 and other background light from all
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 images to highlight the faint stream of
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 solar wind as it travels toward Earth
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 these early images confirm a crucial
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 milestone the cameras on board Punches
00:10:03 --> 00:10:04 four satellites are in focus and
00:10:04 --> 00:10:07 functioning as designed the Punch
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 satellites include one NFI and three
00:10:10 --> 00:10:13 WFIs the NFI is a coronagraph which
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 blocks out the bright light from the sun
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 to better see details in the sun's
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 corona the WFIs are heliospheric imagers
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 that view the very faint outermost
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 portion of the solar corona and the
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 solar wind itself once the punch
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 satellites reach their targeted
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 alignment the images from these
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 instruments will be stitched together to
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 create the wide view of the journey of
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 the sun's corona and solar wind to Earth
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 once the commissioning is complete Punch
00:10:37 --> 00:10:38 will provide the first ever imagery of
00:10:38 --> 00:10:40 the solar wind and coronal mass
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 ejections in polarized light enabling
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 scientists to discern new information
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 about this activity
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 astronomy Daily the podcast Astronomy
00:10:49 --> 00:10:57 Space and
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 Science and finally something for Steve
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 to enjoy while he's relaxing by the pool
00:11:02 --> 00:11:08 right Steve a story about Mars
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 scientists have known for a while that
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 Mars currently lacks a magnetic field
00:11:11 --> 00:11:13 and many blame that for its poultry
00:11:13 --> 00:11:14 atmosphere with no protective shield
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 around the planet the solar wind was
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 able to strip away much of the gaseous
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 atmosphere over the course of billions
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 of years but evidence has been mounting
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 that Mars once had a magnetic field
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 results from Insight one of the red
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 planets landers lend credence to that
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 idea but they also point to a strange
00:11:31 --> 00:11:33 feature the magnetic field seemed to
00:11:33 --> 00:11:35 cover only the southern hemisphere but
00:11:35 --> 00:11:36 not the north
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 a team from the University of Texas
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 Institute for Geoysics thinks they might
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 know why in a recent paper they
00:11:42 --> 00:11:43 described how a fully liquid core in
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 Mars could create a lopsided magnetic
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 field like the one seen in Insights data
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 the Earth's core isn't completely molten
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 despite what you may have learned in
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 elementary school there are two distinct
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 cores a solid inner core and a molten
00:11:56 --> 00:11:59 outer core the inner core remains solid
00:11:59 --> 00:12:01 due to the immense pressures on the iron
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 and nickel found there so the magnetic
00:12:04 --> 00:12:06 field that covers our whole planet is in
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 fact created only by the outer core
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 researchers have long thought that a
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 similar dynamic solid inner and molten
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 outer core was present on Mars when it
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 maintained a magnetic field billions of
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 years ago after about 3.9 billion years
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 the rocks that formed some of the large
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 impact basins from that time such as
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 Helis and Isodus would contain rocks
00:12:26 --> 00:12:27 that would have magnetized while they
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 were cooling due to the presence of the
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 field since they don't there is little
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 evidence for a strong global magnetic
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 field past that point the going theory
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 was that as the planet's core cooled the
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 entire core became solid eliminating the
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 spinning molten metal that creates the
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 magnetic field in the first place fraser
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 discusses the question of when Mars
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 dynamo shut down however there was a
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 strange feature in Mars magnetic field a
00:12:52 --> 00:12:53 massive difference in strength between
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 the field in the northern and southern
00:12:55 --> 00:12:56 hemispheres
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 this dichotomy was first noticed during
00:12:58 --> 00:13:00 the Mars Global Surveyor mission back in
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 1997 but data from the Insight lander
00:13:03 --> 00:13:04 also confirmed a stark difference
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 between the two
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 hemispheres various explanations have
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 been offered for why the dichotomy
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 existed these ranged from the effects of
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 large asteroid impacts to very early
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 localized tectonic activity however the
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 scientific community has not widely
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 accepted previous explanations
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 enter the new theory from Chiian of the
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 University of Texas and their
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 co-authors theirs is a two-fold
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 explanation first the red planet could
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 have had a holy molten core and second a
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 massive temperature difference between
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 the northern and southern hemispheres
00:13:37 --> 00:13:38 led to the heat escaping only in the
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 southern
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 hemisphere magnetic fields can be
00:13:41 --> 00:13:45 artificial as Fraser discusses here in
00:13:45 --> 00:13:46 Mars case a molten core would be a
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 primary mover of the process known as a
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 planetary dynamo which creates planetary
00:13:51 --> 00:13:53 scaled magnetic fields with a solid
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 inner core like the Earth's the dynamo
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 effect could have been disrupted by
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 inefficiencies in the systems fluid
00:13:59 --> 00:14:02 dynamics it could also explain how the
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 temperature gradients allow such uneven
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 heat extraction if the southern
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 hemisphere had much higher thermal
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 conductivity heat would be more likely
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 to flow through it causing the churning
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 that creates the planetary dynamo to
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 happen primarily on the southern side of
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 the planet to prove their point the
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 authors created a model version of early
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 Mars using a supercomput at the Maryland
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 Advanced Research Computing Center they
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 varied the fluid dynamics of Mars as
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 well as the conductivity of its crust
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 they found that the conditions that most
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 accurately matched the results from
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 Insight and Global Surveyor occurred
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 when Mars core was wholly molten and
00:14:35 --> 00:14:36 there was a significant difference in
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 the thermal conductivity of the northern
00:14:38 --> 00:14:39 and southern
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 hemispheres keeping Mars any artificial
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 atmosphere Mars has would require a
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 magnetic field or something similar as
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 with all research there is plenty more
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 left to do the authors suggest further
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 analysis of some of the seismic data
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 from insight to see if any additional
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 data was already collected that could
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 align with the molten core theory other
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 potential paths forward could include
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 improved modeling for a broader range of
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 internal and external planetary
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 conditions or a deeper understanding of
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 Martian meteorites from various regions
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 and times for now this new theory seems
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 to hold water or molten iron depending
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 on who you ask but there is a lot more
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 work that needs to be done to prove this
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 theory and its implications for the
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 existence of life on Mars
00:15:22 --> 00:15:31 you're listening to a daily broadcast
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 and that's all I have for you today i've
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 enjoyed flying the studio for you and I
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 hope you enjoyed the stories I pull from
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 the astronomy daily newsletter files
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 today i'm sure Steve will be wandering
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 back sometime next Monday if I can find
00:15:45 --> 00:15:49 him see you next time
00:15:49 --> 00:15:53 bye daily the podcast with your host
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 Steve Dunley
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 [Music]