In today's Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover six major stories: Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp pledges New Glenn will fly again before year's end despite last week's launchpad explosion; astronomers announce the first direct evidence of magnetic fields on exoplanets using Hot Jupiter wind data; NASA's Roman Space Telescope clears its final mirror inspection ahead of a September 2026 launch; SpaceX wins a $4.16 billion Space Force contract for an airborne threat-tracking satellite constellation; a reflection on the lasting scientific legacy of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS; and Hungarian researchers publish the definitive mass boundary between neutron stars and black holes at 2.2–2.3 solar masses. Stories Covered • Blue Origin New Glenn explosion aftermath — CEO Dave Limp confirms damage is less severe than feared, pledges return to flight before end of 2026 • First direct evidence of exoplanet magnetic fields — Nature Astronomy, June 2, 2026 — ESO VLT and Gemini North study of seven Hot Jupiter wind speeds • NASA Roman Space Telescope primary mirror passes final Earth-side inspection — September 2026 launch target confirmed • SpaceX $4.16 billion US Space Force SB-AMTI contract — threat-tracking satellite constellation targeting 2028 operational capability • 3I/ATLAS scientific legacy — new analysis on what the interstellar comet reveals about solar system formation across the Milky Way • Neutron star mass limit defined at 2.2–2.3 solar masses — HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungary Key Terms Explained • Hot Jupiter: A gas giant exoplanet similar in size to Jupiter, orbiting very close to its host star, typically tidally locked • Magnetic field: An invisible force field generated by electrically conducting material moving inside a planet, critical for atmospheric protection • Lagrange point 2 (L2): A gravitationally stable point in space approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, opposite the Sun — home to both JWST and (soon) Roman • SB-AMTI: Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator — a satellite constellation for tracking airborne threats from orbit • Neutron star: The ultra-dense remnant of a collapsed massive star, composed almost entirely of neutrons • 3I/ATLAS: Third confirmed interstellar object, discovered July 2025; an active comet from outside our solar system • Deuterium: A heavy isotope of hydrogen containing one neutron; its abundance in 3I/ATLAS water suggests formation in an extremely cold environment
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Last week, a rocket exploded on its
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 launch pad in Cape Canaveral. The
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 fireball could be seen from miles. This
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 week, the CEO of Blue Origin looked at
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 the wreckage and said five words, "We
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 will fly again this year." That story,
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 plus magnetic fields discovered on
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 distant worlds, a space telescope
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 moments from launch, and the definitive
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 answer to one of astronomy's oldest
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 questions. This is Astronomy Daily.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily,
00:00:31 --> 00:00:32 your daily guide to the universe and
00:00:32 --> 00:00:34 everything in it. I'm Avery.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 >> And I'm Anna. It is Wednesday, the 4th
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 of June, 2026. And we have an
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 exceptional episode lined up today.
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 >> We do. Six stories ranging from a
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 dramatic comeback story in the world of
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 commercial space flight to a scientific
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 first that reshapes what we know about
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 planets beyond our solar system. If
00:00:54 --> 00:00:55 you've been listening this week, you'll
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 know Blue Origin had a very bad
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 Thursday. We'll have a full update on
00:00:59 --> 00:01:02 what comes next, but let's get into it.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 >> Last Thursday night at Cape Canaveral,
00:01:04 --> 00:01:07 Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 on its launchpad during a routine
00:01:09 --> 00:01:12 pre-launch hotfire test. The fireball
00:01:12 --> 00:01:15 engulfed launch complex 36. Debris was
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 found up to half a mile away. It was the
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 biggest and most public failure in the
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 company's history. And many observers
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 feared the road back could take years.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 >> But as of this week, Blue Origin CEO
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 Dave Limp is pushing back hard on that
00:01:30 --> 00:01:32 narrative. He's saying that damage is
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 far less catastrophic than it looked.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 >> Limp posted a detailed update on X in
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 which he said that now that teams have
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 gained full access to the pad, there's
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 actually some good news. The propellant
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 storage infrastructure, the oxygen
00:01:46 --> 00:01:49 tanks, the liquid hydrogen storage, and
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 the cryogenic methane tanks all came
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 through the blast in good shape. He
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 called that extremely fortunate because
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 those are very long lead items to
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 replace. The water tower also survived.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:03 The main support gantry is damaged, but
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 crucially limp says it can be repaired
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 in place. It doesn't need to be torn
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 down and rebuilt from scratch. Perhaps
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 most importantly, there are spare
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 assets. The previously flown New Glenn
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 booster, nicknamed Never Tell Me the
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 Odds, along with three upper stages
00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 stored in a neighboring integration
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 facility, all appear undamaged.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 >> As for the cause of the explosion,
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 there's still no official word. The test
00:02:29 --> 00:02:31 was not within the scope of FAA license
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 activities, so the FAA won't be leading
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 the investigation. Blue Origin is
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 conducting its own assessment. LIMP also
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 used the moment to announce a strategic
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 pivot. The company had already been
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 working on eliminating the need for a
00:02:44 --> 00:02:47 transporter erector, the massive
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 structure used to move and stand the
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 rocket upright. He said Blue Origin will
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 now skip straight to an alternative
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 vertical launch concept, which means
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 they don't need to build a replacement
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 for the one destroyed during the
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 explosion. And he closed his statement
00:03:01 --> 00:03:05 with Blue Origins motto gradum feroc
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 which means stepby step ferociously and
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 the declaration we will fly again before
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 the end of this year.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 >> That's an aggressive timeline by any
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 measure. But it's the kind of defiant
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 pledge investors, customers, and the
00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 broader space industry needed to hear.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 Patrick Space Force Base has cleared
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 Blue Origin to begin its full damage
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 assessment of launch complex 36. Though
00:03:29 --> 00:03:31 the formal rebuilding process is now
00:03:31 --> 00:03:32 underway,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 >> we will of course keep tracking the
00:03:34 --> 00:03:35 story as it develops.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:38 >> Now, let's move from the dramatic to the
00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 extraordinary. Scientists have just
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 published what they're calling the first
00:03:42 --> 00:03:45 direct evidence that planets beyond our
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 solar system possess magnetic fields,
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 and they found it by studying the wind.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 >> This is a remarkable piece of science. A
00:03:53 --> 00:03:55 team of astronomers used two of the
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 world's most powerful groundbased
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 telescopes, the ESO's Very Large
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 Telescope in Chile and the Gemini North
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 telescope in Hawaii to measure wind
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 speeds on seven so-called hot Jupiter
00:04:06 --> 00:04:09 exoplanets. Hot Jupiters are gas giants
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 roughly the size of Jupiter, but
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 orbiting extremely close to their host
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 stars, far closer than Mercury is to our
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 sun. Because they're tidily locked,
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 always showing the same face to their
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 star. One side is perpetually scorching
00:04:24 --> 00:04:28 hot and the other is freezing cold. That
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 temperature difference creates powerful
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 winds that howl from the day side to the
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 night side.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 >> The researchers measured those wind
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 speeds and found something totally
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 counterintuitive. On the hotter planets,
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 the winds were actually slower. And that
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 is the opposite of what standard physics
00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 would predict.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 >> If you have more thermal energy, you'd
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 expect stronger winds. But these planets
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 are pumping the brakes. And the best
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 explanation, the one that actually fits
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 the data, is magnetic fields.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 >> A magnetic field can interact with the
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 electrically charged gas in a planet's
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 upper atmosphere and slow those winds
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 down. The stronger the magnetic field,
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 the greater the breaking effect. The
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 team inferred magnetic field strengths
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 ranging up to four times that of Saturn
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 and up to about half the strength of
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 Jupiter's field. The wind speeds
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 themselves were extraordinary. They
00:05:21 --> 00:05:25 ranged from around 7 km hour up to
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 more than 25 kmh.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 For context, the fastest winds measured
00:05:30 --> 00:05:34 on Jupiter reach about 1 kmh.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 These are winds on a scale we simply
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 don't see in our own solar system. The
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 results were published in the journal
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 Nature Astronomy on June 2nd, and the
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 implications go well beyond just knowing
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 that other planets have magnetic fields.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:50 Magnetic fields are thought to play a
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 critical role in protecting planetary
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 atmospheres from being stripped away by
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 stellar radiation, which is one of the
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 key factors in whether a planet could
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 over billions of years potentially
00:06:01 --> 00:06:04 remain habitable. As the lead researcher
00:06:04 --> 00:06:07 put it, this is a key step toward
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 ultimately understanding which planets
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 can stay alive, keep their water, and
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 perhaps even one day host life as we
00:06:14 --> 00:06:15 know it.
00:06:15 --> 00:06:19 >> A genuinely landmark result. Our next
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 story takes us to NASA's Gddard Space
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 Flight Center in Greenb Belt, Maryland,
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 where engineers have completed what they
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 describe as the last look humanity will
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 ever take on a critical piece of
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 hardware before it becomes the eyes of
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 humanity on the universe.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 >> We're talking about the Nancy Grace
00:06:38 --> 00:06:40 Roman Space Telescope and specifically
00:06:40 --> 00:06:45 its primary mirror, a 2.4 4 meter 7.9 ft
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 reflector that will be the heart of the
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 instrument once it launches into space.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:53 >> On May 20th and 21st, engineers
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 performed a meticulous final inspection.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 They tilted the entire observatory onto
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 its side, deployed the protective hood
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 that will be stowed during launch, and
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 used a highresolution camera with a
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 powerful zoom lens to do a thorough
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 multi-purpose check, looking for any
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 particles that may have settled on the
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 mirror surface during testing and
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 confirming that the optical alignment
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 hadn't shifted.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:21 >> It passed with flying colors, no specks,
00:07:21 --> 00:07:23 no misalignment. The mirror silver
00:07:23 --> 00:07:27 coating, which is just 400 nanome thick,
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 hundreds of times thinner than a human
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 hair, is perfect.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 >> The Roman telescope manager at Goddard,
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 J. Scott Smith, marked the moment
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 beautifully. He said, "The Roman
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 engineering team laid eyes on the
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 telescope for the final time before it
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 in turn becomes the eyes of humanity,
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 revealing the wonders of the cosmos."
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 That's a sentence worth sitting with.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:53 With this milestone complete, Roman will
00:07:53 --> 00:07:55 now be shipped to Kennedy Space Center
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 in Florida in preparation for its
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 planned launch, currently scheduled for
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 as early as September 2026.
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 >> Once in space, Roman will travel to the
00:08:04 --> 00:08:08 Sun Earth Lrange point 2, known as L2,
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 the same orbital neighborhood where the
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 James Web Space Telescope operates. It
00:08:12 --> 00:08:15 will join the most exclusive telescope
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 real estate in the solar system.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 >> And Roman's scientific ambitions are
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 extraordinary. It will have a field of
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 view at least 100 times larger than the
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 Hubble Space Telescope, potentially
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 measuring light from a billion galaxies
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 over its lifetime. It will also be
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 capable of directly imaging exoplanets
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 by blocking out starlight and conducting
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 a comprehensive statistical census of
00:08:38 --> 00:08:41 planetary systems across our galaxy.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 >> We are getting very close to launch.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 September can't come soon enough.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 >> We'll be right back after this short
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 break for a word from our sponsors. Stay
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 with us. And we're back. Three more
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 stories to go and they are all
00:08:53 --> 00:08:54 fascinating.
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 >> Space Force has made a very large
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 investment in SpaceX. On May 29th, the
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 US Space Force announced it had awarded
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 Elon Musk's company a $4.16 billion
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 contract for a program called the
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 Spacebased Airborne Moving Target
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 Indicator, or SBMTI.
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 In plain language, the goal is to build
00:09:15 --> 00:09:17 a constellation of satellites that can
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 track and target airborne threats from
00:09:19 --> 00:09:22 orbit. Things like aircraft, cruise
00:09:22 --> 00:09:24 missiles, and other fast-moving threats
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 anywhere on Earth at any time. The
00:09:26 --> 00:09:28 satellites are designed to fill a gap
00:09:28 --> 00:09:30 that currently exists in military
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 surveillance. Traditionally, the US
00:09:32 --> 00:09:35 military uses aircraft, particularly
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 Awoks planes, to track airborne targets,
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 but satellites can reach areas where
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 it's too dangerous to fly, and they can
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 maintain persistent coverage that
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 aircraft simply can't match. The
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 contract is part of the Trump
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 administration's broader Golden Dome
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 missile defense initiative, which aims
00:09:51 --> 00:09:53 to build a layered national defense
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 system, including groundbased
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 interceptors, enhanced radar networks,
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 and now this space-based tracking layer.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 >> SpaceX isn't the only company involved.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 Base Force confirmed there are nine
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 companies in the SBA MTI vendor pool,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 though the identities of the other eight
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 have not been made public for national
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 security reasons. More contracts are
00:10:14 --> 00:10:16 expected to be issued over the coming
00:10:16 --> 00:10:16 year.
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 >> The goal is to have an initial
00:10:18 --> 00:10:20 operational constellation of these
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 satellites in place by 2028. This
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 contract was also accompanied by a
00:10:25 --> 00:10:28 separate $2.29 billion Space Force award
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 to SpaceX earlier in the week for a
00:10:31 --> 00:10:34 space data network backbone, a secure
00:10:34 --> 00:10:35 high-speed military communication
00:10:36 --> 00:10:38 system. In total, SpaceX received over
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 $6.5 billion in Space Force contracts in
00:10:42 --> 00:10:44 a single week. For a company that is
00:10:44 --> 00:10:45 also preparing for what could be the
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 largest IPO in stock market history,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 it's been quite a week in Hawthorne,
00:10:50 --> 00:10:51 California.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 >> Now, an update about a visitor that has
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 already left, but whose influence is
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 still being felt across the astronomy
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 community. 3i/Atlas,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 the third interstellar object ever
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 confirmed to pass through our solar
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 system. Discovered on July 1st, 2025 by
00:11:07 --> 00:11:10 the Atlas telescope network in Chile, it
00:11:10 --> 00:11:11 is now heading back out into the deep
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 galaxy, never to return.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:15 >> But the scientific conversation it
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 sparked is very much alive. A new
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 analysis published this week explores
00:11:20 --> 00:11:22 the way that 3II/Atlas
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 has prompted astronomers to
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 fundamentally update what they
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 understand, not just about foreign solar
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 systems, but about our own. Let's do a
00:11:31 --> 00:11:32 quick recap for listeners who may have
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 joined us since the main three/atlas
00:11:35 --> 00:11:37 coverage last year. This was an
00:11:37 --> 00:11:39 extraordinary object. It was only the
00:11:39 --> 00:11:41 third interstellar visitor ever
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 confirmed after 1/uamua
00:11:44 --> 00:11:49 in 2017 and 2i/ Boris in 2019. But
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 unlike those two, 3/ Atlas was clearly
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 an active comet, releasing dust and gas
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 with multiple tails and a nucleus
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 estimated at somewhere between a few
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 hundred meters and several kilome
00:12:02 --> 00:12:04 across. It passed closest to the sun in
00:12:04 --> 00:12:07 late October 2025, then flew by Mars,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 then Jupiter in March 2026, and is now
00:12:10 --> 00:12:13 departing. But even as it fades, the
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 data it generated continues to be
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 analyzed. One of the most striking
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 findings came from a University of
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 Michigan study that examined the water
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 ice in three ice/ Atlas and found it
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 contained an extraordinarily high
00:12:26 --> 00:12:29 concentration of dutyium, heavy isotope
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 of hydrogen that is far less common in
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 comets from our own solar system. That
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 suggests three/las
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 formed in an environment that was
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 dramatically colder and more isolated
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 than the conditions that shaped our
00:12:42 --> 00:12:45 solar systems comets. Researchers have
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 since traced its likely origin to a
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 cold, dark corner of the Milky Way that
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 had not yet fully assembled into a
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 planetary system when this object
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 formed, potentially making it up to 11
00:12:57 --> 00:12:59 billion years old, more than twice the
00:12:59 --> 00:13:01 age of our sun.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 >> What does all of this teach us? Quite a
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 lot, as it turns out. It tells us that
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 the chemical signatures of comets vary
00:13:08 --> 00:13:10 dramatically across the galaxy, meaning
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 the building blocks of planetary
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 systems, including the water and
00:13:14 --> 00:13:16 organics that may seed life, differ
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 significantly from one stellar
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 neighborhood to another.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 >> It also demonstrates how much we can
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 learn from fleeting cosmic visitors if
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 we have the tools to observe them
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 quickly. The Veraracruz Reuben
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 Observatory in Chile, which released its
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 first images in June, is expected to
00:13:33 --> 00:13:35 dramatically increase the rate at which
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 we detect future interstellar objects,
00:13:38 --> 00:13:39 which could let astronomers determine
00:13:40 --> 00:13:42 whether three/Atlas's
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 unusual properties are rare or
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 commonplace.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 >> A visitor that has left the building,
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 but whose lessons will be with us for
00:13:49 --> 00:13:50 years to come.
00:13:50 --> 00:13:53 >> Our final story today answers a question
00:13:53 --> 00:13:55 that astrophysicists have been wrestling
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 with for decades. At what exact mass
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 does a neutron star collapse into a
00:14:00 --> 00:14:01 black hole?
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 >> This is one of those wonderfully
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 fundamental questions in physics. We
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 know that when a massive star dies, it
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 can leave behind either a neutron star
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 or a black hole depending on how massive
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 the original star was. But the precise
00:14:14 --> 00:14:17 boundary between those two fates has
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 never been definitively pinned down.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 Until now, researchers at the Hunren
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 Wigner Research Center for Physics in
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 Hungary have published what they
00:14:26 --> 00:14:28 describe as a definitive answer. The
00:14:28 --> 00:14:32 boundary falls between 2.2 and 2.3 solar
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 masses. To unpack that, a neutron star
00:14:35 --> 00:14:38 is one of the most extreme objects in
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 the universe. Imagine taking the mass of
00:14:40 --> 00:14:43 two suns and compressing it into a
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 sphere about the size of a city. A
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 teaspoon of its material would weigh
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 billions of tons. These are objects so
00:14:50 --> 00:14:52 dense that the neutrons themselves are
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 packed together like one giant atomic
00:14:55 --> 00:14:57 nucleus. But there's a limit to how much
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 mass a neutron star can hold before
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 gravity wins and the whole thing
00:15:02 --> 00:15:05 collapses inward to form a black hole.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 That limit the Tolman Oppenheimer voloff
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 limit has previously been estimated to
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 be somewhere between two and three solar
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 masses depending on the assumptions
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 used. This new work narrows that window
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 considerably, placing the critical
00:15:19 --> 00:15:23 threshold between 2.2 and 2.3 solar
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 masses. Beyond that, a neutron star
00:15:26 --> 00:15:28 simply cannot support itself against
00:15:28 --> 00:15:31 gravity, and the black hole is born. Why
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 does this matter? Because it gives
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 astronomers a clearer tool to classify
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 compact objects they observe. When we
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 detect something via gravitational waves
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 or X-ray observations, knowing the
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 precise mass boundary between neutron
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 stars and black holes helps us identify
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 what we're actually looking at.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 >> It also feeds into our understanding of
00:15:51 --> 00:15:53 what happens in neutron star mergers,
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 the cataclysmic collisions that produce
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 gravitational wave signals, and some of
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 the most energetic explosions in the
00:16:00 --> 00:16:01 universe.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:03 >> A beautifully precise answer to one of
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 the universe's most extreme questions.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 Before we go, a quick look at the June
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 sky for our listeners in Australia, New
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 Zealand, and across the Southern
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 Hemisphere.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 >> June is a wonderful month for southern
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 observers. We're heading toward the
00:16:17 --> 00:16:20 winter solstice on June 21st, which
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 means longer nights, prime time for
00:16:22 --> 00:16:25 stargazing. Jupiter and Venus are
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 currently visible in the western sky
00:16:27 --> 00:16:29 after sunset. And on June 9th, they'll
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 appear at their closest to each other. A
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 spectacular conjunction worth getting
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 outside for. The Milky Way core is also
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 rising in the evening sky from the
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 southern hemisphere right now.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:42 Beautifully positioned for photography
00:16:42 --> 00:16:45 and naked eye observation in dark sky
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 locations away from city lights.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 >> That is all from us for today. Six
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 stories and every one of them a reminder
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 that the universe is never standing
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 still. From Blue Origin's defiant pledge
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 to rise from the ashes to magnetic
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 fields discovered on distant worlds, it
00:17:02 --> 00:17:04 has been a remarkable day to cover
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 space. If you enjoyed today's episode,
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 please subscribe, leave us a review, and
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 tell a fellow space lover about the
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 show. Find us on Instagram, Facebook,
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 and x at astroaily pod and at
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 astronomyaily.io.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 >> I'm Avery.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:22 >> And I'm Anna. We'll see you tomorrow.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:36 And until then, keep looking up.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:40 Stories told.