00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your cosmic
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 connection to the latest happenings
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 beyond our atmosphere. I'm Anna, and
00:00:07 --> 00:00:08 today we're exploring a fascinating
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 array of space discoveries and
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 developments that remind us just how
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 dynamic our universe truly is. In
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 today's stellar lineup, we'll dive into
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 NASA's Spherex Space Telescope, which
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 has just begun its ambitious mission to
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 map the entire sky in unprecedented
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 detail. We'll also check in on the
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 ongoing efforts to revive the silent
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 lunar trailblazer orbiter that went
00:00:29 --> 00:00:32 quiet shortly after launch. Then we'll
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 explore a truly mind-bending discovery,
00:00:34 --> 00:00:36 an enormous ring of galaxies that's
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 challenging our fundamental
00:00:38 --> 00:00:39 understanding of the universe's
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 structure. If that wasn't enough cosmic
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 intrigue, we'll track a piece of space
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 history as a Soviet era Venus probe from
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 the 1970s makes an unplanned return to
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 Earth after more than 5 decades in
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 orbit.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 And finally, we might be getting closer
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 to answering one of our solar systems
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 biggest mysteries. Is there a ninth
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 planet lurking in the distant reaches
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 beyond Neptune? Researchers have
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 uncovered compelling evidence in decades
00:01:04 --> 00:01:06 old data that could point to this
00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 elusive world. So, strap in for a
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 journey across the cosmos as we explore
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 these fascinating developments together.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 We'll kick things off with a story
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 update. After weeks of preparation and
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 testing, NASA's Spherex Space Telescope
00:01:21 --> 00:01:23 has officially begun its scientific
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 mission, marking an exciting new chapter
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 in our exploration of the
00:01:27 --> 00:01:30 cosmos. Launched on March 11th, the
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 observatory has spent the last 6 weeks
00:01:32 --> 00:01:33 undergoing rigorous checkouts and
00:01:34 --> 00:01:35 calibrations to ensure everything is
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 functioning properly. Now, it's ready to
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 create something truly remarkable, a
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 complete map of the entire sky. What
00:01:44 --> 00:01:45 makes Spherex special isn't just that
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 it's mapping the sky. Other telescopes
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 have done that before, but rather how
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 it's doing it. The observatory is
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 capturing roughly
00:01:54 --> 00:01:58 3 unique images every single day,
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 observing in 102 different wavelengths
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 or colors of infrared light that are
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 invisible to the human eye. This
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 spectroscopic approach will give
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 astronomers unprecedented insights into
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 the universe around us. From its orbit
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 around Earth, Spherex looks outward into
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 space, constantly shifting its view. The
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 spacecraft completes more than 14 orbits
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 per day, passing over the poles in a
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 north to south pattern. Each day, it
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 photographs one circular strip of the
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 sky. As Earth moves around the sun over
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 the course of 6 months, Spherex's field
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 of view gradually shifts until it has
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 observed in every direction. The
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 mission's primary goal is ambitious to
00:02:36 --> 00:02:37 help answer fundamental questions about
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 the origins of our universe. By mapping
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 the positions of hundreds of millions of
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 galaxies in three dimensions, Spherex
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 will search for clues about cosmic
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 inflation, that mindbending moment in
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 the first fraction of a second after the
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 big bang when the universe expanded a
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 trillion trillionfold.
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 Jim Fansen, the mission's project
00:02:58 --> 00:03:00 manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 Laboratory, noted the beautiful symmetry
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 in this approach, saying, "We're going
00:03:05 --> 00:03:07 to study what happened on the smallest
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 size scales in the universe's earliest
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 moments by looking at the modern
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 universe on the largest
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 scales." The telescope doesn't use
00:03:16 --> 00:03:17 moving mirrors or detectors like some
00:03:17 --> 00:03:21 other observatories. Instead, the entire
00:03:21 --> 00:03:22 spacecraft shifts position using
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 reaction wheels that spin inside it to
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 control its orientation. When it takes a
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 picture, the light is captured by six
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 detectors, each producing a unique image
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 at different wavelengths. These groups
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 of six images are called an exposure.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 And Spherex takes about 600 exposures
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 daily. Over its 2-year primary mission,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 the telescope will create four complete
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 maps of the sky. But Spherex isn't just
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 looking for clues about the universe's
00:03:47 --> 00:03:48 beginnings. It's also searching for the
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 building blocks of life. The observatory
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 will examine interstellar clouds within
00:03:53 --> 00:03:56 our own galaxy, making over 9 million
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 observations to map water and other key
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 ingredients for life. This could help
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 scientists understand how compounds
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 essential to life on Earth formed and
00:04:04 --> 00:04:07 evolved throughout the cosmos. Jaime
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 Bach, the mission's principal
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 investigator, expressed excitement about
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 the telescope's performance, saying,
00:04:13 --> 00:04:15 "The performance of the instrument is as
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 good as we hoped." That means we're
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 going to be able to do all the amazing
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 science we planned on and perhaps even
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 get some unexpected
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 discoveries. After 12 years of planning
00:04:26 --> 00:04:27 and development, Spherex is now
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 operational and beginning to unravel
00:04:30 --> 00:04:31 some of our universe's greatest
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 mysteries, one infrared image at a
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 time. Next, let's pay a visit to NASA's
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 Never Say Die department. I made that
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 up. However, NASA is still holding out
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 hope for its lunar trailblazer
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 spacecraft, which went silent just one
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 day after its February 26th launch
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Despite
00:04:52 --> 00:04:53 more than 2 months of silence, mission
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 controllers haven't given up on the 94
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 million dollar lunar orbiter. The
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 situation became concerning shortly
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 after launch when the mission team
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 determined that the 440lb spacecraft was
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 spinning slowly and running dangerously
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 low on power. The probe couldn't
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 properly orient itself to harvest enough
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 sunlight with its solar panels,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:14 preventing it from charging its
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 batteries as planned. Now, engineers see
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 a potential window of opportunity.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 According to NASA's latest update,
00:05:22 --> 00:05:23 modeling indicates that lighting
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 conditions from May through mid June
00:05:26 --> 00:05:27 could be favorable enough to provide
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 sufficient sunlight on the spacecraft's
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 solar panels. This might recharge the
00:05:32 --> 00:05:33 batteries to operational levels and
00:05:34 --> 00:05:35 potentially allow ground controllers to
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 regain command of the vehicle.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:39 There's cautious optimism that if
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 contact can be reestablished, the
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 mission might still be salvageable. NASA
00:05:44 --> 00:05:45 officials stated that if they can
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 command the spacecraft again, and if the
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 propulsion system remains functional
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 after thawing and the scientific
00:05:51 --> 00:05:54 instruments are still operable, they may
00:05:54 --> 00:05:56 be able to guide Lunar Trailblazer into
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 its intended elliptical orbit around the
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 moon. The mission team has been able to
00:06:01 --> 00:06:02 track lunar trailblazers precise
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 position using groundbased equipment,
00:06:05 --> 00:06:06 which has been crucial in planning
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 recovery efforts. If they do reestablish
00:06:09 --> 00:06:12 contact, NASA will conduct a thorough
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 review to determine whether the mission
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 can proceed or should be terminated.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 However, if no signal is received by the
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 end of this favorable period in mid
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 June, the agency will begin procedures
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 to officially close out the mission.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 Lunar Trailblazer was designed with an
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 important scientific purpose, mapping
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 the moon's water stores from lunar
00:06:32 --> 00:06:35 orbit. This information is considered
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 vital for NASA's Aremis program, which
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 aims to establish one or more bases near
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 the moon's south pole, an area believed
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 to contain significant deposits of water
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 ice. Understanding the distribution and
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 accessibility of these water resources
00:06:49 --> 00:06:50 could prove crucial for sustained human
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 presence on the lunar surface.
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 Interestingly, Lunar Trailblazer wasn't
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 the only spacecraft on that February
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 launch to encounter difficulties. It
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 shared its ride to space with Athena,
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 the second moon lander built by
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 Houston-based company Intuitive
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 Machines. While Athena did successfully
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 reach the lunar surface on March 6th, it
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 toppled over shortly after touchdown
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 near the moon's south pole, cutting
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 short its planned 10-day mission. The
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 coming weeks will be critical for Lunar
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 Trailblazer as engineers watch closely
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 for any signs of life from the silent
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 spacecraft, hoping that the changing
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 solar conditions might just provide
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 enough power to bring it back from the
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 brink. Next on today's story rundown, a
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 startling discovery in the depths of
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 space is challenging our fundamental
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 understanding of the universe.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 Astronomers have identified a colossal
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 structure dubbed the Big Ring. An almost
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 perfect ring of galaxies measuring an
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 astonishing 1.3 billion lightyear in
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 diameter. This enormous cosmic formation
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 appears in light that has traveled 6.9
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 billion years to reach our telescopes,
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 meaning we're seeing it as it existed
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 when the universe was roughly half its
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 current age. What makes this discovery
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 so remarkable is that it simply
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 shouldn't exist according to our current
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 cosmological models. The standard model
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 of cosmology is built upon what's called
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 the cosmological principle. The idea
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 that on a large enough scale, matter
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 should be evenly distributed throughout
00:08:18 --> 00:08:21 the universe. Theoretical calculations
00:08:21 --> 00:08:23 suggest structures shouldn't exceed
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 about 1.2 billion lightyear in size.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:28 Yet, the big ring dramatically exceeds
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 this limit. The discovery was led by
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 astronomer Alexia Lopez of the
00:08:32 --> 00:08:34 University of Central Lancaster and
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 presented at a recent American
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 Astronomical Society meeting. Even more
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 intriguing is that this isn't the first
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 mega structure Lopez and her team have
00:08:43 --> 00:08:46 found in this region. In 2021, they
00:08:46 --> 00:08:48 announced the discovery of the giant ark
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 in the same area of sky and at the same
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 cosmic distance. That structure was
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 nearly three times larger than the
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 theoretical size limit. Neither of these
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 two ultra-large structures is easy to
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 explain in our current understanding of
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 the universe, Lopez explained. And their
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 ultra-large sizes, distinctive shapes,
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 and cosmological proximity must surely
00:09:10 --> 00:09:11 be telling us something
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 important. Upon closer inspection,
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 researchers determined that the big ring
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 isn't actually a perfect circle, but
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 more of a corkcrew shape that appears
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 ring-like from our vantage point. This
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 rules out the possibility that it's a
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 baron acoustic oscillation. circular
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 arrangements of galaxies formed by
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 acoustic waves in the early universe
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 which typically measure around 1 billion
00:09:32 --> 00:09:33 lightyears
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 across. The presence of these enormous
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 structures raises fascinating
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 possibilities. Some astronomers suggest
00:09:40 --> 00:09:41 they could be evidence supporting
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 alternative cosmological theories such
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 as Roger Penrose's conformal cyclic
00:09:46 --> 00:09:48 cosmology which proposes the universe
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 goes through endless big bang expansion
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 cycles. Another possibility is that they
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 represent cosmic strings, theoretical
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 defects in the fabric of spaceime that
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 formed as the universe expanded in its
00:09:59 --> 00:10:02 earliest moments. Finding multiple
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 ultra-large structures in close
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 proximity also presents a statistical
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 anomaly. As Lopez noted, we could expect
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 maybe one exceedingly large structure in
00:10:11 --> 00:10:14 all our observable universe. Yet, the
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 big ring and the giant ark are two huge
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 structures and are even cosmological
00:10:18 --> 00:10:19 neighbors.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 This discovery adds to a growing list of
00:10:22 --> 00:10:23 observations that don't neatly fit
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 within our current understanding of the
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 universe. The best path forward may
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 involve finding more such arrangements
00:10:30 --> 00:10:31 scattered throughout the cosmos,
00:10:32 --> 00:10:33 potentially hiding in plain sight in our
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 astronomical data. Whatever the big ring
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 ultimately proves to be, it serves as a
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 humbling reminder that the universe
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 remains full of mysteries, even in its
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 largest and most fundamental structures.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 A relic from the space race era is about
00:10:50 --> 00:10:52 to make an unexpected return to Earth.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:53 Cosmos
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 482, a Soviet spacecraft originally
00:10:56 --> 00:11:00 designed to explore Venus back in 1972,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 is now on track for an uncontrolled
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 re-entry into Earth's atmosphere around
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 May 10th. This half-tonon piece of space
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 history never fulfilled its intended
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 mission due to a rocket malfunction that
00:11:11 --> 00:11:14 left it stranded in Earth orbit instead
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 of heading toward our neighboring
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 planet. For over five decades, 53 years
00:11:18 --> 00:11:21 to be precise, this abandoned spacecraft
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 has been silently circling our world in
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 a highly elliptical orbit that has
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 gradually degraded over time. Dutch
00:11:27 --> 00:11:29 scientist Marco Langbrook, who's been
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 tracking the object, predicts it will
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 come plummeting down at approximately
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 150 mph if it remains intact during
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 re-entry. What makes the situation
00:11:40 --> 00:11:41 particularly interesting is the
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 spacecraft's specialized design. Cosmos
00:11:45 --> 00:11:47 482 was built to withstand the
00:11:47 --> 00:11:49 incredibly harsh conditions of Venus's
00:11:49 --> 00:11:51 atmosphere, which is much thicker than
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 Earth's and filled with carbon dioxide.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 This robust construction means there's a
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 significant possibility that the
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 spacecraft could survive its fiery
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 descent through our atmosphere rather
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 than burning up as most space debris
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 does. The surviving component is
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 believed to be the landing capsule
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 itself, a spherical object roughly 3 ft
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 in diameter, weighing about 1 lb or
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 nearly 500 kg. Although experts doubt
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 that its parachute system would still
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 function after so many years in the
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 harsh environment of space, the heat
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 shield might remain effective enough to
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 protect the craft during re-entry.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 Jonathan McDow from the Harvard
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 noted that it would actually be better
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 if the heat shield fails, causing the
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 spacecraft to burn up during its
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 atmospheric dive. Otherwise, we could
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 have a halfton metal object falling from
00:12:43 --> 00:12:44 the
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 sky. While this sounds alarming,
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 Langbrook emphasizes that the risk to
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 people on Earth is relatively small,
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 comparable to that of a random meteorite
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 fall, several of which occur each year.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 The spacecraft could potentially
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 re-enter anywhere between 51.7 degrees
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 north and south latitude, encompassing a
00:13:02 --> 00:13:04 vast area from as far north as London
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 and Edmonton down to near South
00:13:06 --> 00:13:09 America's Cape Horn. Given that most of
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 our planet is covered by water, the odds
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 favor an ocean splashdown rather than
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 landfall. However, the exact location
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 remains unpredictable at this time. This
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 event adds to a growing list of
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 uncontrolled re-entries in recent years,
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 including a Chinese booster rocket in
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 2022 and the Tiangong 1 space station in
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 2018, both of which fortunately ended
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 without
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 incident. And to wrap up today's
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 stories, could we be about to solve a
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 major space mystery? In what could be
00:13:40 --> 00:13:41 the most significant development in our
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 solar systems outer reaches in decades?
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 Astronomers have uncovered compelling
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 evidence for the long hypothesized
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 planet 9 by examining infrared surveys
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 conducted 23 years apart. This potential
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 new member of our planetary family has
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 been hiding in plain sight, buried
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 within archival data from two different
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 space telescopes. The detective work was
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 led by astronomer Terry Longfan of
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 Taiwan's National Sing Hua University
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 who devised an ingenious method to hunt
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 for the elusive planet. The team
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 compared infrared images from NASA's
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 IRAS satellite, which operated in 1983,
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 with those from JAX's Accari spacecraft,
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 which collected data between 2006 and
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 2011. They were searching for objects
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 that appeared in one position in the
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 1983 data and had moved by the time
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 Accari looked at the same region of sky.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:35 What makes this discovery particularly
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 credible is that they found an object
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 that moved exactly the distance that
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 would be expected for a large planet in
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 a distant orbit over that time period.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 The object appears in the IRAS imagery
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 and then shows up again in Aari's data
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 approximately 47.4 arc minutes away,
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 consistent with the slow movement of an
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 extremely distant planet. To rule out
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 false positives, fans team carefully
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 accounted for parallax effects caused by
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 Earth's movement around the sun and
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 eliminated fastmoving nearby objects by
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 examining hourly changes in
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 position. Their meticulous approach has
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 yielded what appears to be the most
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 promising Planet 9 candidate to date.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 Based on the object's brightness in both
00:15:19 --> 00:15:22 infrared surveys, researchers estimate
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 it would be more massive than
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 Neptune, significantly larger than the
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 super Earth-sized body they initially
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 expected to find. This came as a
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 surprise as previous surveys had already
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 ruled out the possibility of Jupiter or
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Saturnized planets at these distances.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 If confirmed, this object would
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 currently be located approximately 700
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 astronomical units from the sun. That's
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 700 times farther than Earth's distance
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 from our star or about 65 billion miles
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 away. Its orbit appears highly
00:15:53 --> 00:15:55 eccentric, potentially bringing it as
00:15:55 --> 00:16:00 close as 280 AU and as far as 1 AU
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 from the sun. The mystery of how such a
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 massive planet ended up in this remote
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 region remains. Fans suggest two
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 possibilities. Either it formed closer
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 to the sun near where our known giant
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 planets developed and was later
00:16:13 --> 00:16:15 gravitationally scattered outward, or it
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 was a rogue planet captured by our sun's
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 gravity during the early days of the
00:16:19 --> 00:16:22 solar system. While this isn't the first
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 potential planet 9 candidate astronomer
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 Michael Rowan Robinson found a different
00:16:26 --> 00:16:30 object in the IRAS data in 2021, fans
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 discovery holds more weight because it
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 appears in two separate data sets taken
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 decades apart. Definitive confirmation
00:16:36 --> 00:16:38 will require detecting the object in
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 current observations. With advanced
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 instruments like the soon-to-launch
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 Vera C. Ruben Observatory, and the
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 already operational dark energy camera,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 astronomers now have a specific target
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 to investigate. After years of
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 theoretical debate about Planet 9's
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 existence, we may finally be on the
00:16:57 --> 00:16:59 verge of officially welcoming the newest
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 member of our solar system family.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 That wraps up today's journey through
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 our fascinating cosmos. From NASA's
00:17:07 --> 00:17:08 Spherex telescope beginning its
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 ambitious all sky mapping mission to the
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 potential discovery of the elusive
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 planet 9 hiding in decades old data, the
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 universe continues to surprise and
00:17:18 --> 00:17:20 challenge us. We've explored the
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 mysterious big ring structure that
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 defies our cosmological models, NASA's
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 ongoing efforts to revive the silent
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 lunar trailblazer, and even tracked a
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 Soviet era Venus probe making its way
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 back to Earth after 53 years in orbit.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 I'm your host, Anna, and I want to thank
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 you for spending time with me today
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 exploring these cosmic wonders. The
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 universe is vast and full of mysteries
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 waiting to be unraveled, and we'll
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 continue bringing them to you right here
00:17:46 --> 00:17:50 on Astronomy Daily. Visit our website at
00:17:50 --> 00:17:52 astronomydaily.io where you can catch up
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 on all the latest space and astronomy
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 news with our constantly updating news
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 feed and listen to all our back
00:17:58 --> 00:18:00 episodes. You can also find us on social
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 media by searching for Astro Daily Pod
00:18:02 --> 00:18:06 on Facebook X YouTube, YouTube Music,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 Tumblr, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Remember
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 that the same curiosity that drives
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 astronomers to search the cosmos is
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 within all of us. So until our next
00:18:15 --> 00:18:17 cosmic conversation, keep wondering,
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 keep questioning, and most importantly,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 keep looking up.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 Day stories told.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:41 [Music]