In this episode, we delve into the latest astronomical marvels and groundbreaking developments that are shaping our understanding of the cosmos. We kick off with an astonishing achievement by SpaceX, which has shattered its own launch record with 165 orbital flights in 2025, averaging a launch every 2.2 days. The Falcon 9 rocket has been the backbone of this success, while the next-generation Starship is also making strides towards becoming a fully reusable heavy-lift vehicle.Next, we explore an innovative solution for cleaning up space junk, inspired by science fiction. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder are developing a tractor beam that uses a focused electrostatic beam to attract and maneuver debris without physical contact, promising a safer method of orbital debris removal.Shifting our gaze beyond Earth, we discuss a recent search for alien signals from the interstellar object 3i Atlas. Despite initial excitement over potential technosignatures, the search yielded no definitive evidence of extraterrestrial technology, but it set a new standard for future investigations.We then dive into the burgeoning lunar resource race, where countries and companies are vying to mine the Moon for valuable resources like water ice and helium-3. However, outdated international laws complicate this endeavor, prompting calls for a clearer framework to ensure responsible mining practices.As we look to the night sky, we highlight celestial events to watch for, including the brightest star, Sirius, and an upcoming total lunar eclipse on March 3rd. Jupiter will also be at opposition, shining brightly throughout the night, while Venus returns as the evening star.Finally, we unravel a cosmic mystery nearly a thousand years in the making regarding the supernova remnant PA30. Recent findings reveal it to be a failed type 1ax supernova, with a surviving white dwarf at its center emitting powerful winds that shape the nebula's unique structure.Join us for these captivating stories and more in this episode of Astronomy Daily!00:00 – **This podcast features the latest in astronomy news from around the world
00:32 – **In 2025, SpaceX successfully completed 165 orbital flights
01:39 – **Researchers at Colorado Boulder are developing a tractor beam to clean up space junk
02:54 – **Astronomers conducted a highly sensitive radio search on an interstellar visitor
04:09 – **There's a growing and increasingly urgent international race to mine the moon
05:36 – **There's plenty to see in the night sky as we head into 2019
06:43 – **Astronomers finally solve puzzle of supernova remnant known as PA30
08:42 – **Until tomorrow, this has been Avery and Anna telling stories### Sources & Further Reading1. SpaceX (https://www.spacex.com/) 2. University of Colorado Boulder (https://www.colorado.edu/) 3. NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/) 4. Space.com (https://www.space.com/) ### Follow & ContactX/Twitter: @AstroDailyPod
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 [music] that brings you the universe,
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 one story at a time. I'm Avery.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 >> And I'm Anna. It's great to have you
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 with us. Today, we'll be looking at
00:00:10 --> 00:00:11 SpaceX's [music]
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 absolutely staggering launch record, a
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 real life tractor [music] beam for
00:00:16 --> 00:00:18 cleaning up space junk, and the latest
00:00:18 --> 00:00:21 search for alien signals. [music] Plus,
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 we'll dive into the new gold rush, or
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 maybe water rush on the moon, tell
00:00:26 --> 00:00:27 [music] you what to look for in the
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 night sky, and solve the celestial
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 mystery nearly a thousand years in the
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 making. Let's get started with our top
00:00:33 --> 00:00:34 story, [music]
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 >> and it's a big one. SpaceX has once
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 again completely shattered their own
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 launch record. In 2025, the company
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 successfully completed
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 165 orbital flight.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 >> Wow.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 165. That averages out to a launch every
00:00:51 --> 00:00:54 2.2 days. That pace is just incredible.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 >> It really is. And the workhorse behind
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 this feat was the Falcon 9 rocket, which
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 handled almost all of those missions. To
00:01:02 --> 00:01:03 put it in perspective, this number
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 represents a huge increase over their
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 previous years and absolutely dominates
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 the global launch landscape.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:12 >> Right. And I'm guessing a huge chunk of
00:01:12 --> 00:01:14 those launches were for their own
00:01:14 --> 00:01:15 project.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 >> Exactly. The vast majority were
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 dedicated to building out the Starlink
00:01:19 --> 00:01:21 internet constellation. But it wasn't
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 just about the Falcon 9. The company
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 also made significant strides with its
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 next generation Starship vehicle,
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 completing several successful test
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 flights that bring a fully reusable
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 heavy lift rocket closer to reality.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 >> It's clear they're not just leading,
00:01:37 --> 00:01:39 they're creating a whole new league. But
00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 all those satellites do bring up the
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 ever growing issue of space junk. And it
00:01:44 --> 00:01:45 seems like every week we have some new
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 idea on how to deal with it. Well,
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 here's a novel new one. Some scientists
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 are turning to science fiction for a
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 solution.
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 >> That's right. Researchers at the
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 University of Colorado Boulder are
00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 developing what they're calling a
00:01:58 --> 00:02:01 tractor beam to help clean up orbital
00:02:01 --> 00:02:01 debris.
00:02:02 --> 00:02:04 >> A tractor beam like in Star Trek.
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 >> That's the inspiration. But the physics
00:02:06 --> 00:02:10 is very real. It's a non-cont system. It
00:02:10 --> 00:02:12 would use a focused electrostatic beam
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 to attract and move pieces of space junk
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 without ever physically touching them.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 >> And that's the key part, isn't it? The
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 non-cont aspect. Using nets or harpoons
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 to grab debris runs the risk of hitting
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 it wrong and accidentally creating even
00:02:27 --> 00:02:29 smaller, harder to track pieces of junk.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 Precisely, this electrostatic method
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 would gently pull the object, allowing a
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 cleanup satellite to guide it into a
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 decaying orbit where it can safely burn
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 up in the atmosphere. The concept is
00:02:41 --> 00:02:43 currently being tested in labs. But it's
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 a very promising approach to a serious
00:02:45 --> 00:02:46 problem.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:47 >> It's great to see that kind of
00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 innovative thinking. From cleaning up
00:02:49 --> 00:02:51 our orbital neighborhood to looking for
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 signs of other civilizations out there,
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 our next story takes us far beyond
00:02:56 --> 00:03:00 Earth's orbit to our recent interstellar
00:03:00 --> 00:03:00 visitor.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 >> Yes, astronomers conducted a highly
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 sensitive radio search on three Atlas as
00:03:07 --> 00:03:08 it traveled through our neighborhood.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 This was an interstellar object, meaning
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 it originated from outside our solar
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 system and was just passing through. The
00:03:16 --> 00:03:18 team was looking for what are called
00:03:18 --> 00:03:19 techno signatures.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 >> Basically, signals that would indicate
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 the presence of alien technology, a
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 transmission, a beacon, anything that
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 isn't produced by natural cosmic
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 phenomena. So, what did they find?
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 >> Well, after sifting through the data,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 and despite a few initial candidate
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 signals that caused some excitement, all
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 of them were eventually determined to be
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 false positives, human generated
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 interference from Earth. So, no alien
00:03:44 --> 00:03:45 transmissions were found.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 >> Ah, I have a shame.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 >> It might seem so, but the project was
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 far from a failure. The search was
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 actually the most sensitive of its kind
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 ever conducted on an interstellar
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 object. It sets a new standard and a
00:03:59 --> 00:04:01 powerful new benchmark for how to
00:04:01 --> 00:04:03 conduct these searches in the future
00:04:03 --> 00:04:05 when the next interstellar visitor comes
00:04:05 --> 00:04:06 calling.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 >> That makes sense. We learn and refine
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 the process with each attempt. And while
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 we're searching the far reaches of space
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 for others, there's a new kind of space
00:04:14 --> 00:04:16 race heating up much, much closer to
00:04:16 --> 00:04:16 home.
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 >> That's right, Avery. There's a growing
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 and increasingly urgent international
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 race to mine the moon. Various countries
00:04:23 --> 00:04:25 and private companies are actively
00:04:26 --> 00:04:28 developing the technology needed to
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 extract valuable lunar resources.
00:04:30 --> 00:04:32 >> And we're not just talking about rocks.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 The big prizes are resources like water
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 ice, which is critical for life support
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 and can be broken down into hydrogen and
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 oxygen for rocket fuel, and an isotope
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 called helium 3, which is rare on Earth,
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 but could be a fuel for future fusion
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 reactors.
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 >> Mhm. And the list of players is growing.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 We have space agencies and companies
00:04:52 --> 00:04:55 from the US, China, Australia, Japan,
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 and Europe all working on lunar
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 excavation and resource extraction
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 technologies. But there's a major
00:05:01 --> 00:05:03 hurdle, and it's not a technical one.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 >> Exactly. The International Legal
00:05:06 --> 00:05:07 Framework for this is dangerously
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 outdated. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 forbids any nation from claiming
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 sovereignty over a celestial body, but
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 it's completely silent on the issue of
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 commercial resource extraction.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 >> So, it's a bit like the Wild West on the
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 final frontier. There are urgent calls
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 from legal experts and diplomats to
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 establish clear modern international
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 rules to prevent conflict and ensure
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 that lunar mining is done responsibly
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 and sustainably.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 >> It's a conversation that needs to happen
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 quickly. Well, while nations plan their
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 lunar futures, the rest of us can look
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 up and enjoy some amazing celestial
00:05:42 --> 00:05:45 events right from our own backyards.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 Avery, what should we be looking for in
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 the night sky? There's plenty to see as
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 we head into the new year, particularly
00:05:51 --> 00:05:53 for our northern hemisphere listeners.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 For starters, on January 1st, the
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 brightest star in our night sky, Sirius,
00:05:58 --> 00:05:59 will be at its highest point in the sky
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 around midnight, making it a brilliant
00:06:01 --> 00:06:02 sight.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:04 >> And what about the moon?
00:06:04 --> 00:06:05 >> We'll have three full moons before the
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 spring equinox. And the third one on
00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 March 3rd is special. It will feature a
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 total lunar eclipse, which will be at
00:06:12 --> 00:06:14 least partially visible across most of
00:06:14 --> 00:06:15 the United States. So, mark your
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 calendars for that. Ooh, I will. Any
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 planets putting on a show?
00:06:20 --> 00:06:22 >> Absolutely. The giant of our solar
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 system, Jupiter, is at opposition. That
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 means Earth is passing directly between
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 Jupiter and the sun. So, the planet will
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 be visible all night long and at its
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 brightest for the year. And for the
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 early evening sky watchers, Venus is
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 making its return as the brilliant
00:06:36 --> 00:06:37 evening star.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 >> Wonderful. Plenty to look forward to.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 It's amazing to look up and see these
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 events happening now. But our final
00:06:44 --> 00:06:46 story today, Avery, is about solving a
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 cosmic mystery that's almost a thousand
00:06:49 --> 00:06:50 years old.
00:06:50 --> 00:06:52 >> That's right. Astronomers believe they
00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 finally figured out the puzzle of a
00:06:53 --> 00:06:56 supernova remnant known as PA30.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:58 Historical records from Chinese and
00:06:58 --> 00:07:01 Japanese astronomers in the year 1181
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 noted a new guest star in the sky that
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 was visible for 6 months. Scientists
00:07:06 --> 00:07:08 have long suspected PA30 was the
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 leftover cloud from that event.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 >> And now they know what caused it. It
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 turns out this was an extremely rare
00:07:14 --> 00:07:17 type of stellar explosion. What they
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 call a failed type 1 AX supernova.
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 >> A failed supernova. So the star didn't
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 completely blow itself to bits.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 >> Exactly. The explosion wasn't powerful
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 enough to completely obliterate the
00:07:29 --> 00:07:32 star. Instead, a surviving white dwarf
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 star was left behind at the center of
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 the remnant. And this survivor is doing
00:07:37 --> 00:07:38 something incredible.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 >> Mhm. And that explains the remnant's
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 weird shape, right? Most supernova
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 remnants are chaotic, messy clouds of
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 gas and dust. Pay 30 is different. It
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 has these strange, almost straight
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 filaments. That's the key. The surviving
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 white dwarf at the center is emitting an
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 extremely fast stellar wind. Material
00:07:59 --> 00:08:01 flowing outwards at thousands of
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 kilometers per second. It's this
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 incredibly fast, powerful wind that is
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 shaping the nebula creating those unique
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 straight line filaments. It's a
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 fantastic piece of cosmic detective
00:08:13 --> 00:08:14 work.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 >> And that's a wrap on another starstudded
00:08:16 --> 00:08:19 collection of stories for today. From
00:08:19 --> 00:08:20 record-breaking launches to
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 thousand-year-old stellar mysteries, the
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 universe never fails to fascinate.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 >> It certainly doesn't. A huge thank you
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 to all of you for tuning in to Astronomy
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 Daily. We hope you'll join us again next
00:08:32 --> 00:08:33 time for another journey through the
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 cosmos. And we hope you'll visit our
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 website at astronomydaily.io
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 for even more space news and our full
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 catalog of back episodes.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 >> Until tomorrow, this has been Avery
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 >> and Anna reminding you to always keep
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 looking up. Astronomy [music] Day.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 Stories we told.