00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:02 --> 00:00:03 your cosmic connection to the stars and
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 beyond. I'm Anna and today we're
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 exploring some truly mind-bending
00:00:08 --> 00:00:11 stories from across the universe. Coming
00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 up on today's show, we'll witness a
00:00:13 --> 00:00:15 celestial joust between two massive
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 galaxies on a collision course with one
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 firing a beam of radiation through the
00:00:19 --> 00:00:22 other like a night's lance. We'll also
00:00:22 --> 00:00:24 discover that Jupiter, the architect of
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 our solar system, was once twice its
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 current size with a magnetic field 50
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 times stronger than it is
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 today. Then we'll examine the often
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 overlooked challenges of interstellar
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 travel. Not the rockets and propulsion
00:00:39 --> 00:00:42 systems, but the microscopic passengers
00:00:42 --> 00:00:44 that would need to make the journey with
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 us. Plus, we'll explore one of the
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 strangest planetary systems ever
00:00:48 --> 00:00:49 discovered, featuring a planet that
00:00:50 --> 00:00:51 orbits perpendicular to everything we
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 thought we knew about orbital mechanics.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 And finally, we'll check in on Tom
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 Cruz's ambitious plans to become the
00:00:58 --> 00:00:59 first actor to film a movie in actual
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 outer space. It's a packed episode
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 exploring the biggest and smallest
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 wonders of our universe. So, let's dive
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 right into today's Astronomy Daily.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Astronomers have recently observed what
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 they're describing as a cosmic joust.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 two massive galaxies hurtling toward
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 each other in deep space. This
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 remarkable celestial event gives us a
00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 glimpse of a galactic merger as it was
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 happening 11.4 billion years ago when
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 the universe was just about 1/5 of its
00:01:26 --> 00:01:30 current age. The observation made using
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 two powerful telescopes in Chile, the
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 Adakama Largem Submillimem Array and the
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 European Southern Observatory's Very
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 Large Telescope reveals two galaxies,
00:01:40 --> 00:01:41 each containing roughly the same number
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 of stars as our own Milky Way. But what
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 makes this encounter particularly
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 fascinating is what's happening at the
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 heart of one of these galaxies. One of
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 the galaxies contains a quazar, an
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 extraordinarily luminous object powered
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 by a super massive black hole. As gas
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 and other material fall into this cosmic
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 monster, it heats up due to friction,
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 creating a disc that emits extremely
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 powerful radiation in two opposite
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 directions. These are called biconical
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 beams, and one of them is directly
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 piercing through the companion galaxy.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 The researchers have likened this
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 interaction to medieval knights charging
00:02:18 --> 00:02:20 toward each other in a joust. As
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 astrophysicist Sergey Balachev from the
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 Iopa Institute in St. Petersburg puts
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 it, "One of them, the quazar host, emits
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 a powerful beam of radiation that
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 pierces the companion galaxy like a
00:02:32 --> 00:02:35 lance." This radiation lance is actually
00:02:35 --> 00:02:37 disrupting the molecular clouds in the
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 companion galaxy. The very clouds that
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 would normally give rise to new stars.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 Instead of forming stars, these clouds
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 are being transformed into tiny, dense
00:02:46 --> 00:02:49 cloudlets that are too small to create
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 stellar nurseries. It's effectively
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 wounding its opponent by disrupting the
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 gas structure necessary for star
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 formation. The super massive black hole
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 powering this cosmic joust is estimated
00:03:00 --> 00:03:02 to be about 200 million times the mass
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 of our sun, far larger than the one at
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 the center of our own Milky Way, which
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 is only about 4 million solar masses.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 What makes this observation particularly
00:03:11 --> 00:03:14 special is that it's the first time
00:03:14 --> 00:03:16 scientists have witnessed this kind of
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 phenomenon. A quazar's radiation
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 directly affecting the molecular clouds
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 in another galaxy. The unique alignment
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 of these galaxies from our perspective
00:03:25 --> 00:03:27 on Earth allowed researchers to observe
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 the radiation passing directly through
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 the companion galaxy. According to
00:03:31 --> 00:03:33 astronomer Pascar Notre Dame of the
00:03:33 --> 00:03:35 Paris Institute of Astrophysics, these
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 two galaxies will eventually coalesce
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 into a single larger galaxy as their
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 gravitational interaction continues. The
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 quazer will gradually fade as it
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 exhausts its available fuel. Most
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 galactic mergers observed by astronomers
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 occurred later in the universe's
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 history, making this early cosmic
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 collision particularly valuable for
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 understanding how galaxies evolved in
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 the young universe. It's a dramatic
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 snapshot of the violent processes that
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 have shaped the cosmos since its
00:04:01 --> 00:04:04 earliest days. A cosmic joust that will
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 ultimately end in union rather than
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 victory for either
00:04:08 --> 00:04:11 contestant. Next, let's take a new look
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 at one of our cosmic neighbors. Jupiter,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 the largest planet in our solar system,
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 was once even more massive and
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 magnetically powerful than it is today.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 According to a groundbreaking new study
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 published in the journal Nature
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 Astronomy, researchers from Caltech and
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 the University of Michigan have
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 determined that approximately 3.8
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 million years after the formation of the
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 solar systems first solids, Jupiter was
00:04:37 --> 00:04:39 about twice its current size with a
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 magnetic field 50 times stronger than
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 what we observe now. This revelation
00:04:43 --> 00:04:45 comes from an ingenious approach that
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 bypasses traditional uncertainties in
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 planetary formation models. Rather than
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 relying on assumptions about gas opacity
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 or accretion rates, the researchers
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 focused on something more concrete. The
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 orbital dynamics of Jupiter's tiny moons
00:04:59 --> 00:05:03 Amla and Theeb. These small moons, which
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 orbit even closer to Jupiter than the
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 Galilean moon Io, have slightly tilted
00:05:08 --> 00:05:10 orbits. By analyzing these orbital
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 discrepancies, Constantine Badigan,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 professor of planetary science at
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 Caltech, and Fred C. Adams, professor of
00:05:18 --> 00:05:19 physics and astronomy at the University
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 of Michigan, were able to calculate
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 Jupiter's original dimensions. Their
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 findings paint a picture of a truly
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 enormous early Jupiter with a volume
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 equivalent to over 2 Earths. This
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 isn't just an interesting factoid. It
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 provides critical information about a
00:05:35 --> 00:05:36 pivotal moment in our solar systems
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 development. The research establishes a
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 clear snapshot of Jupiter at the precise
00:05:41 --> 00:05:43 moment when the surrounding solar nebula
00:05:43 --> 00:05:45 evaporated, effectively locking in the
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 primordial architecture of our solar
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 system. Our ultimate goal is to
00:05:50 --> 00:05:51 understand where we come from and
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 pinning down the early phases of planet
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 formation is essential to solving the
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 puzzle, explains bad. This brings us
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 closer to understanding how not only
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 Jupiter but the entire solar system took
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 shape.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 What makes this research particularly
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 valuable is that it provides independent
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 verification of long-standing planet
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 formation theories which suggest that
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 Jupiter and other giant planets formed
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 via core accretion a process where a
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 rocky and icy core rapidly gathers gas.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 These theories have been developed over
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 decades by many researchers including
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 Calte Dave Stevenson and this new study
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 adds crucial specificity to our
00:06:28 --> 00:06:29 understanding.
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 Understanding Jupiter's early evolution
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 has broader implications for our solar
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 systems development. Jupiter's gravity
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 has often been called the architect of
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 our solar system, playing a critical
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 role in shaping the orbital paths of
00:06:42 --> 00:06:44 other planets and sculpting the disc of
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 gas and dust from which they formed. As
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 Fred Adams notes, it's astonishing that
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 even after 4.5 billion years, enough
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 clues remain to let us reconstruct
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 its existence. While Jupiter's very
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 first moments remain obscured, this
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 research establishes what Badigen calls
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 a valuable benchmark, a point from which
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 scientists can more confidently
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 reconstruct the evolution of our solar
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 system, bringing us closer to answering
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 fundamental questions about our cosmic
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 origins and the processes that made our
00:07:17 --> 00:07:19 planetary neighborhood what it is
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 today. Our next story today features a
00:07:22 --> 00:07:23 subject I know many of us wonder about.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:26 When we think about interstellar travel,
00:07:26 --> 00:07:28 our minds typically gravitate toward the
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 technological challenges of propulsion
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 systems and spacecraft design. But
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 according to physicist and author Paul
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 Davies, we're overlooking perhaps the
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 most critical obstacle to human space
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 exploration beyond our solar system, the
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 complex biological requirements for
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 creating a sustainable ecosystem. In
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 Davies's analysis, traveling between
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 stars will inevitably be a one-way
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 journey, even with the most optimistic
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 technological advances. This means any
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 mission would require creating a
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 completely self-sustaining ecological
00:08:00 --> 00:08:02 environment. It's not simply about
00:08:02 --> 00:08:03 growing enough food and generating
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 oxygen. It's about replicating Earth's
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 intricate web of life on a cosmic scale.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 The true complexity lies in the
00:08:10 --> 00:08:13 microbial realm. As Davies points out,
00:08:13 --> 00:08:14 almost all terrestrial species are
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 microbes, bacteria, archa, and
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 unicellular ukarotes, and they form the
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 foundation of Earth's biosphere. These
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 microorganisms aren't merely passengers
00:08:25 --> 00:08:26 on our planet. They're essential
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 components of our life support system,
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 recycling materials and exchanging
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 genetic components in ways we're only
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 beginning to
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 understand. Even within our own bodies,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 microbes play a crucial role. Your
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 personal microbiome, the microbial
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 inhabitants of your gut, lungs, and
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 other organs, outnumber your own cells.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 Without them, you would die. So,
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 astronauts cannot journey to the stars
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 without, at minimum, their own
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 microbiomes. But it gets even more
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 complicated. Microbes don't exist in
00:08:55 --> 00:08:57 isolation. They form vast networks of
00:08:57 --> 00:08:59 biological interactions that remain
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 poorly understood. There's horizontal
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 gene transfer, cell-toell signaling,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 viral interactions, and collective
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 organization that creates an ecological
00:09:08 --> 00:09:12 web of staggering complexity. Scientists
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 have barely begun to map this intricate
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 planetary scale information flow. This
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 raises what Davies calls a Noah's Arc
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 conundrum with a vengeance. Which
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 species get chosen for the journey? What
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 is the minimum complexity of an
00:09:25 --> 00:09:27 ecosystem necessary for long-term
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 sustainability? At what point does
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 removing certain microbes cause the
00:09:31 --> 00:09:33 entire system to collapse? The problem
00:09:33 --> 00:09:36 is that we simply don't know. We haven't
00:09:36 --> 00:09:38 identified the smallest self-sustaining
00:09:38 --> 00:09:40 purely microbial ecosystem, let alone
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 which microbes are crucial for human
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 survival in space. Imagine compiling a
00:09:45 --> 00:09:47 list of plants and animals to accompany
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 humans on a one-way mission. cows, pigs,
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 vegetables, but then consider how many
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 and which microbial species these
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 organisms depend on and which other
00:09:56 --> 00:09:59 microbes those microbes depend on. Space
00:09:59 --> 00:10:00 conditions add another layer of
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 complexity. Research shows that bacteria
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 can change their gene expression in zero
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 gravity. Michelle Leven's experiments
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 with plenaria worms that had flown on
00:10:09 --> 00:10:11 the space station revealed that some
00:10:12 --> 00:10:13 returned with two heads instead of the
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 normal one. How might other organisms
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 change in the harsh environment of
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 space? Davey suggests our best hope may
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 lie not in cataloging genes, but in
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 discovering the underlying principles
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 governing the flow and organization of
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 information in living systems, what he
00:10:29 --> 00:10:33 calls the software of life. If we can
00:10:33 --> 00:10:34 identify universal informationational
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 patterns in biology, we might create a
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 transplantable ecosystem robust enough
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 to withstand space conditions. Without
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 solving these fundamental biological
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 challenges, our dreams of establishing
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 permanent human settlements beyond our
00:10:47 --> 00:10:49 solar system may remain just that,
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 dreams. The tiniest organisms may pose
00:10:52 --> 00:10:55 the biggest obstacles to our cosmic
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 ambitions. Next up today, will the
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 cosmos ever stop surprising us? I hope
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 not. In what might be the most unusual
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 planetary arrangement ever discovered,
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 astronomers have recently identified a
00:11:07 --> 00:11:08 system that defies our conventional
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 understanding of how planets form and
00:11:11 --> 00:11:15 orbit. The system, informally known as 2
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 M1510, features what appears to be a
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 planet tracing an orbit that carries it
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 directly over the poles of two brown
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 dwarfs that are orbiting each other.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 If you're having trouble visualizing
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 this, imagine two spinning tops circling
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 each other on a table while a marble
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 rolls around them in a path that goes
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 over and under the table. It's a
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 configuration that until now existed
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 only in theoretical models. In typical
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 planetary systems like our own solar
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 system, planets orbit their stars in a
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 relatively flat plane that aligns with
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 the stars equator. This makes sense
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 because planets form from the same
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 rotating disc of material that formed
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 the star. Everything stays nice and
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 orderly, moving in roughly the same
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 plane. But candidate planet
00:12:01 --> 00:12:04 2M1510b breaks all these rules. Its
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 orbital plane appears to be
00:12:05 --> 00:12:08 perpendicular at a 90° angle to the
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 plane in which its two host brown dwarfs
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 orbit each other. Brown dwarfs
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 themselves are fascinating objects, too
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 massive to be considered planets, but
00:12:17 --> 00:12:18 not massive enough to sustain the
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 nuclear fusion that powers stars.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 They're cosmic inbetweeners, and this
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 system has two of them at its center,
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 with a third brown dwarf orbiting at an
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 extreme distance. The detection method
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 for this perpendicular planet is itself
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 remarkable. Most exoplanets today are
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 found using the transit method, where we
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 detect tiny dips in starlight as planets
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 cross in front of their stars. But that
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 wouldn't work in this unusual orbital
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 arrangement. Instead, researchers used
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 what's called the radial velocity
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 method, measuring subtle shifts in the
00:12:51 --> 00:12:53 brown dwarf's light spectrum caused by
00:12:53 --> 00:12:56 the gravitational pole of the orbiting
00:12:56 --> 00:12:59 planet. More specifically, they detected
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 how the planet subtly alters the 21-day
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 mutual orbit of the brown dwarf pair.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 After extensive analysis, the research
00:13:06 --> 00:13:08 team concluded that only a polar
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 orbiting planet could explain these
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 perturbations. This discovery is
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 significant because circumbinary
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 planets, those orbiting two stars at
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 once, are already quite rare. Of the
00:13:19 --> 00:13:22 more than 5 confirmed exoplanets,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 only 16 are known to orbit binary
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 systems, with most discovered by NASA's
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 now retired Kepler Space Telescope. A
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 circumbinary planet in a polar orbit
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 takes this rarity to another level
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 entirely. Scientists have previously
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 observed debris discs and protolanetary
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 discs in polar orbits which led to
00:13:39 --> 00:13:41 speculation that polar orbiting planets
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 might exist.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:46 2M510 appears to be the first confirmed
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 case validating these theoretical
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 predictions.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 The international research team led by
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 Thomas A. Brooft from the University of
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 Birmingham published their findings in
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 the journal Science Advances in April
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 with the planet officially entered into
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 NASA's exoplanet archive on May 1st of
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 this year. This bizarre system
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 challenges our understanding of
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 planetary formation and orbital
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 dynamics, suggesting that the universe
00:14:11 --> 00:14:14 has many more surprises in store as we
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 continue to explore the cosmos. It
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 reminds us that nature often finds ways
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 to create arrangements far more exotic
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 than what we might
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 imagine. Finally, today, this news will
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 horrify some and delight others. In the
00:14:28 --> 00:14:31 realm of space exploration, one unlikely
00:14:31 --> 00:14:32 pioneer may soon make the transition
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 from movie star to actual astronaut. Tom
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 Cruz, known for performing his own
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 deathdeying stunts in the mission
00:14:39 --> 00:14:42 Impossible franchise, appears to be
00:14:42 --> 00:14:43 inching closer to perhaps his most
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 ambitious project yet. filming a movie
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 in actual outer space. According to
00:14:49 --> 00:14:53 Cruz's IMDb page, an untitled Tom Cruz
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 SpaceX project is currently listed in
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 pre-production. The tantalizing
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 description states that Cruz and
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 director Doug Lyman planned to travel
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 far beyond Earth to film the first ever
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 Hollywood motion picture in outer space.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 While no official launch date has been
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 announced, this development suggests the
00:15:11 --> 00:15:13 long rumored space movie may indeed be
00:15:13 --> 00:15:16 moving forward. The concept first gained
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 traction back in 2020 and 2021 following
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 a successful SpaceX NASA rocket launch
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 from Cape Canaveral. NASA confirmed at
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 the time that they were in discussions
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 with crews about filming a movie aboard
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 the International Space Station, though
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 updates about this potential
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 collaboration have been scarce since
00:15:33 --> 00:15:36 then. Interestingly, during SpaceX's
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Inspiration 4 mission in September 2021,
00:15:39 --> 00:15:41 the fourperson civilian crew, which
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 included Jared Isaac man, who would
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 later become President Trump's pick to
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 lead NASA, actually spoke with Cruz via
00:15:48 --> 00:15:51 a Zoom call during their orbital flight.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 At that time, reports suggested Cruz was
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 set to fly on a different Crew Dragon
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 mission to film scenes for an upcoming
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 movie.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:01 While Cruz would be the first Hollywood
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 actor to film in space, he wouldn't be
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 the first to shoot a feature film there.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 That distinction belongs to Russian
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 actress Julia Parasild and director Clim
00:16:10 --> 00:16:12 Shopeno, who traveled to the
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 International Space Station in October
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 2021 to film scenes for The Challenge, a
00:16:17 --> 00:16:19 drama about a surgeon sent to space to
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 save a cosminaut suffering from a heart
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 attack. Released in 2023, it became the
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 first featurelength film with
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 professional actors shot in space. For
00:16:28 --> 00:16:31 Cruz, who turned 63 this year and is
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 fresh off the success of Mission
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 Impossible: The Final Reckoning, A
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 Journey to Space would represent the
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 ultimate frontier in his career of
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 pushing physical boundaries. The actor
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 has already hung from airplanes, scaled
00:16:44 --> 00:16:46 the world's tallest building, and
00:16:46 --> 00:16:48 performed halo jumps from extreme
00:16:48 --> 00:16:51 altitudes. Space would certainly be the
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 next logical, if extraordinarily
00:16:53 --> 00:16:56 ambitious, step. Whether this project
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 ultimately launches remains to be seen,
00:16:58 --> 00:17:01 but one thing seems certain. If anyone
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 in Hollywood has the determination and
00:17:03 --> 00:17:05 influence to make filming in space a
00:17:05 --> 00:17:07 reality, it's Tom
00:17:07 --> 00:17:10 Cruz. And that wraps up another
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 incredible journey through the cosmos on
00:17:12 --> 00:17:15 today's episode of Astronomy Daily. From
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 those two galaxies engaged in a cosmic
00:17:17 --> 00:17:20 joust billions of years ago to Jupiter's
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 surprisingly massive past to the complex
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 microbial challenges of interstellar
00:17:24 --> 00:17:27 travel. The universe continues to amaze
00:17:27 --> 00:17:30 and humble us with its mysteries. We
00:17:30 --> 00:17:32 also explored that fascinating
00:17:32 --> 00:17:34 perpendicular planetary orbit in the 2
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 M1510 system, a configuration
00:17:37 --> 00:17:39 astronomers had only theorized until
00:17:39 --> 00:17:42 now. And of course, Tom Cruz's potential
00:17:42 --> 00:17:44 journey to become the first Hollywood
00:17:44 --> 00:17:47 actor to film in actual space certainly
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 pushes the boundaries of what's possible
00:17:49 --> 00:17:51 when human ingenuity meets cosmic
00:17:51 --> 00:17:54 ambition. The universe is vast,
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 mysterious, and full of stories waiting
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 to be told. If you want to stay on top
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 of all the latest developments in space
00:18:00 --> 00:18:02 and astronomy, I encourage you to visit
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 our website at
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 astronomydaily.io, where you can sign up
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 for our free daily newsletter. Our site
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 features a constantly updating news feed
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 with the latest discoveries and
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 breakthroughs in cosmic exploration.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 Don't forget to subscribe to Astronomy
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 YouTube, or wherever you get your
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 podcasts to ensure you never miss an
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 episode. This has been Anna, your guide
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 to the cosmos, and I'll be back tomorrow
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 with more fascinating stories from the
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 final frontier. Until then, keep looking
00:18:33 --> 00:18:37 up.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:41 Stories been told.