Highlights:
- SpaceX's Ninth Starship Test Flight: Join us as we explore the rollercoaster journey of SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight. Witness the impressive achievements of the Super Heavy booster, the first to be reused, and the challenges faced during the mission, including the dramatic loss of the second stage during its descent.
- A Major Discovery in the Outer Solar System: Exciting news for planetary scientists as a newly confirmed dwarf planet, 2017 of 201, is revealed. This significant find, measuring approximately 700 kilometres across, challenges existing theories about the outer solar system and hints at more undiscovered celestial bodies lurking in the shadows.
- The Future of Europa: Delve into the intriguing possibilities for Europa as our sun evolves. In about 12 billion years, this icy moon could develop a tenuous water vapour atmosphere, potentially creating a brief window for habitability as it shifts into the habitable zone.
- Rare Binary Star System Discovery: Discover the remarkable findings from Chinese astronomers who identified a rare binary star system featuring a pulsar whose radiation is intermittently blocked by its companion star. This observation sheds light on stellar evolution and the dynamics of binary systems.
- Expanding the Search for Life to Exomoons: A new study suggests that moons orbiting giant planets could be more common sites for habitability than previously thought. Researchers model how large exomoons might form and thrive, expanding our understanding of where to look for extraterrestrial life.
For more cosmic updates, visit our website at astronomydaily.io (http://www.astronomydaily.io/) . Join our community on social media by searching for #AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, TikTok, and our new Instagram account! Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for tuning in. This is Anna signing off. Until next time, keep looking up and stay curious about the wonders of our universe.
Chapters:
00:00 - Welcome to Astronomy Daily
01:10 - SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight
10:00 - A major discovery in the outer solar system
15:30 - The future of Europa
20:00 - Rare binary star system discovery
25:00 - Expanding the search for life to exomoons
✍️ Episode References
SpaceX Updates
[SpaceX]( https://www.spacex.com/ (https://www.spacex.com/) )
Dwarf Planet Discovery
[Institute for Advanced Study]( https://www.ias.edu/ (https://www.ias.edu/) )
Europa Research
[NASA]( https://www.nasa.gov/ (https://www.nasa.gov/) )
Binary Star System Findings
[National Astronomical Observatories of China]( http://www.naoc.cas.cn/ (http://www.naoc.cas.cn/) )
Exomoon Study
[Astronomy and Astrophysics]( https://www.aanda.org/ (https://www.aanda.org/) )
Astronomy Daily
[Astronomy Daily]( http://www.astronomydaily.io/ (http://www.astronomydaily.io/) )
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-exciting-space-discoveries-and-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-exciting-space-discoveries-and-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/27351852?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 I'm your host, Anna, bringing you the
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 latest and most fascinating developments
00:00:07 --> 00:00:09 from across the cosmos. Today, we've got
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 a great lineup of stories that showcase
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 both human ingenuity and the wonders of
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 our universe. We'll dive into SpaceX's
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 ninth Starship test flight, a mission
00:00:20 --> 00:00:23 with impressive successes, but also some
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 dramatic setbacks along the way. Then
00:00:25 --> 00:00:27 we'll explore a significant new
00:00:27 --> 00:00:29 discovery in our own solar system, a
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 dwarf planet that's been hiding in plain
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 sight for years and represents the
00:00:33 --> 00:00:36 largest such find in over a decade.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:38 We'll also journey to Europa and examine
00:00:38 --> 00:00:40 its potential future habitability, peak
00:00:40 --> 00:00:43 at a bizarre star within a star system,
00:00:43 --> 00:00:45 and investigate new research suggesting
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 habitable moons might be more common
00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 than we thought. So get comfortable and
00:00:49 --> 00:00:51 join me for a journey through the latest
00:00:51 --> 00:00:53 astronomical discoveries that continue
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 to expand our understanding of the
00:00:55 --> 00:00:59 universe we call home. First up today,
00:00:59 --> 00:01:01 SpaceX's Starship Super Rocket completed
00:01:01 --> 00:01:04 its ninth flight test recently, and it
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 was quite the roller coaster of
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 achievements and challenges. The launch
00:01:07 --> 00:01:10 began impressively at SpaceX's Starbase
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 in Texas with the massive 400 ft tall
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 rocket lifting off as planned. The first
00:01:15 --> 00:01:18 stage booster known as Superheavy
00:01:18 --> 00:01:20 performed beautifully with all 33
00:01:20 --> 00:01:23 methane fueled engines firing perfectly,
00:01:23 --> 00:01:26 generating an astonishing 16.7 million
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 pounds of thrust, more than twice the
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 power of the Saturn 5 rockets from the
00:01:30 --> 00:01:33 Apollo era. What made this launch
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 particularly notable was that this
00:01:35 --> 00:01:37 marked the first time Spac X reused a
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Superheavy booster, as this same first
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 stage had previously flown during
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 January's seventh test flight. The
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 successful reuse represents a
00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 significant milestone in SpaceX's quest
00:01:48 --> 00:01:51 for rapid reusability of its rocket
00:01:51 --> 00:01:52 components. However, the mission
00:01:52 --> 00:01:54 encountered several significant
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 challenges once the second stage, known
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 as SHIP, separated from the booster. The
00:01:59 --> 00:02:01 planned deployment of eight Starlink
00:02:01 --> 00:02:04 satellite simulators had to be scrubbed
00:02:04 --> 00:02:05 when ship couldn't open its payload
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 doors. This would have been Starship's
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 first ever payload deployment, making
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 the failure particularly disappointing.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 Things went from bad to worse as ship
00:02:15 --> 00:02:17 continued its journey. As it headed
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 toward a scheduled splashdown in the
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 Indian Ocean, it began spinning
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 uncontrollably. Space X commentators
00:02:23 --> 00:02:25 reported that the second stage had lost
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 attitude control, apparently due to
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 propellant leaks. The spacecraft
00:02:30 --> 00:02:31 ultimately broke up during its
00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 uncontrolled descent over a cleared area
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 of ocean. Despite these setbacks, the
00:02:36 --> 00:02:37 test flight wasn't without its
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 successes. The Superheavy booster
00:02:40 --> 00:02:41 executed several challenging maneuvers
00:02:42 --> 00:02:43 after stage separation, including a
00:02:44 --> 00:02:45 directional flipover and maintaining a
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 heightened angle of attack. Both
00:02:48 --> 00:02:49 techniques aimed at improving fuel
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 efficiency for future missions. The
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 booster also demonstrated its ability to
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 maintain controlled descent even when
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 simulating a single engine failure.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk remained
00:03:02 --> 00:03:04 characteristically optimistic, noting on
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 social media that Starship made it to
00:03:06 --> 00:03:08 the scheduled engine cutoff point, which
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 represented a significant improvement
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 over previous flights. He also
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 highlighted that there was no
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 significant loss of heat shield tiles
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 during ascent, another important
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 achievement. Looking ahead, Musk
00:03:20 --> 00:03:22 indicated that SpaceX plans to
00:03:22 --> 00:03:23 accelerate its launch cadence for the
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 next three Starship flights, aiming for
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 approximately one launch every 3 to 4
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 weeks. This aggressive schedule reflects
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 SpaceX's determination to rapidly
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 iterate and improve the Starship system.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 This persistence is crucial given
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 Starship's central role in NASA's Aremis
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 program, where a version of the
00:03:41 --> 00:03:43 spacecraft is slated to serve as the
00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 landing system for the Aremis 3 mission,
00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 which would mark humanity's return to
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 the lunar surface. Beyond Moon missions,
00:03:51 --> 00:03:53 SpaceX has even more ambitious plans
00:03:54 --> 00:03:55 with Musk suggesting that Starship
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 flights to Mars could begin as early as
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 2024. While that timeline seems
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 extraordinarily ambitious, the company's
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 approach of testing, failing, learning,
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 and rapidly improving continues to push
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 the boundaries of what's possible in
00:04:09 --> 00:04:10 space
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 exploration. Now, let's turn our
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 attention to discovery. In exciting news
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 for planetary scientists, a newly
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 discovered object in the outer solar
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 system has been confirmed as a dwarf
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 planet, the largest such discovery in
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 more than a decade. Currently bearing
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 the preliminary designation 2017
00:04:30 --> 00:04:33 OF21, this celestial body measures
00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 approximately 700 kilometers, about 400
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 miles across and follows an extremely
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 elliptical orbit around our sun. What
00:04:41 --> 00:04:43 makes this orbit particularly remarkable
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 is its lengthy duration, taking an
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 estimated 25 years to complete a
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 single circuit around the sun. This
00:04:51 --> 00:04:55 places 2017 OFF201 in the exclusive
00:04:55 --> 00:04:57 category of dwarf planets alongside more
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 familiar objects like Pluto, the
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 asteroid series, and a handful of other
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 similar bodies in the outer solar
00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 system. The discovery story is almost as
00:05:06 --> 00:05:09 fascinating as the object itself. The
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 dwarf planet was hiding in plain sight,
00:05:12 --> 00:05:13 buried within terabytes of publicly
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 available astronomical data, some of
00:05:16 --> 00:05:17 which was collected more than a decade
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 ago. Finding this celestial needle in a
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 haystack required months of
00:05:22 --> 00:05:23 computational work to distinguish it
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 from the countless background stars and
00:05:25 --> 00:05:28 noise. The detection came through
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 painstaking analysis of data originally
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 collected for the dark energy survey or
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 DS. While that project primarily focuses
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 on studying gravitational lensing in
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 distant galaxies, the survey's ability
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 to detect extremely faint objects made
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 it inadvertently perfect for hunting
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 distant solar system objects. Ciho Cheng
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 from the Institute for Advanced Study
00:05:50 --> 00:05:52 led the discovery team, noting that
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 while in principle anyone could have
00:05:54 --> 00:05:55 made this discovery using the public
00:05:55 --> 00:05:58 data, the process was extraordinarily
00:05:58 --> 00:06:00 demanding. Developing the algorithm
00:06:00 --> 00:06:03 alone took several months, followed by
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 additional months of computation as they
00:06:05 --> 00:06:07 scanned through roughly 200 terabytes of
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 data using hundreds of
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 processors. What made the search
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 particularly challenging was the widely
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 separated observation dates. Unlike
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 targeted asteroid searches that
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 typically take successive exposures
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 separated by hours or days, these images
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 were often separated by months or even
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 years containing numerous points of
00:06:26 --> 00:06:28 light from unrelated objects that needed
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 to be filtered out. After identifying
00:06:30 --> 00:06:33 the object in dees data, the team
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 confirmed its existence by locating it
00:06:35 --> 00:06:37 in another public data set from the
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 Canada France Hawaii telescope. In
00:06:40 --> 00:06:42 total, they found 19 observations of the
00:06:42 --> 00:06:46 object spanning from 2011 to 2017, all
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 showing it exactly where their orbital
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 calculations predicted. The extreme
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 elongation of 2017, OF201's orbit means
00:06:54 --> 00:06:57 it's only visible over a tiny fraction
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 of its journey around the sun, too faint
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 to detect for more than 99% of its
00:07:02 --> 00:07:04 orbit. This suggests there could be many
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 more similar objects lurking undetected
00:07:06 --> 00:07:09 at the edges of our solar system.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 Interestingly, this discovery has
00:07:11 --> 00:07:13 implications for the hypothesized planet
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 X or planet 9. Some astronomers have
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 suggested this unknown planet's
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 gravitational influence explains the
00:07:20 --> 00:07:22 clustered orbits of certain trans
00:07:22 --> 00:07:26 neptunian objects. However, 2017 of
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 201's orbit doesn't fit this pattern,
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 potentially challenging the planet X
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 hypothesis. Though, debate continues
00:07:33 --> 00:07:34 among experts about what this new
00:07:34 --> 00:07:36 discovery actually tells us about our
00:07:36 --> 00:07:39 outer solar system.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:41 Next on the story list today, while
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 Europa is currently an icy world with a
00:07:43 --> 00:07:46 subsurface ocean, its distant future
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 might hold something remarkable. In
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 about 12 billion years, when our sun
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 exhausts its hydrogen fuel and enters
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 the red giant phase of its evolution,
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 the habitable zone of our solar system
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 will dramatically shift outward from its
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 current position. This cosmic relocation
00:08:02 --> 00:08:04 of real estate suitable for liquid water
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 will eventually encompass Jupiter and
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 its moons, potentially transforming
00:08:08 --> 00:08:11 Europa in fascinating ways. Researchers
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 estimate that as the expanding sun grows
00:08:13 --> 00:08:16 more luminous, Europa could develop and
00:08:16 --> 00:08:17 maintain a tenuous water vapor
00:08:17 --> 00:08:19 atmosphere for several hundred
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 years. The process begins with the sun's
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 inevitable evolution. After spending
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 billions of years as a stable main
00:08:26 --> 00:08:28 sequence star, our sun will eventually
00:08:28 --> 00:08:31 deplete its core hydrogen fuel. This
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 triggers the fusion of heavier elements
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 like helium, causing the sun's outer
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 envelope to expand dramatically. During
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 this red giant phase, the sun will grow
00:08:40 --> 00:08:42 hundreds of times larger than its
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 current size, engulfing Mercury and
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 Venus entirely while rendering Earth
00:08:47 --> 00:08:48 uninhabitable.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 However, for the outer planets, this
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 stellar evolution creates new
00:08:53 --> 00:08:55 possibilities. Computer models suggest
00:08:55 --> 00:08:58 that Jupiter's system will enter the red
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 giant branch habitable zone in about 12
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 billion years when it's approximately
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 two astronomical units from the
00:09:05 --> 00:09:07 expanding sun, less than half its
00:09:08 --> 00:09:10 current distance. Jupiter itself will
00:09:10 --> 00:09:12 likely develop bright water clouds in
00:09:12 --> 00:09:14 its upper atmosphere as it experiences
00:09:14 --> 00:09:17 the increased solar radiation. More
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 intriguingly, Europa's surface ices will
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 begin to sublimate under the influence
00:09:21 --> 00:09:23 of both the brighter Jupiter and the
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 expanded sun. Much like dry ice sizzling
00:09:27 --> 00:09:29 away in sunlight, Europa's frozen
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 surface will transform directly from
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 solid to vapor. While most of this
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 sublimated ice will escape to space,
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 simulations suggest some water vapor
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 will remain bound to Europa for
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 approximately 200 years before being
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 completely lost.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:49 During this brief cosmic window, Europa
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 might actually be considered habitable.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:52 Though whether this time span is
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 sufficient for life to emerge and thrive
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 remains an open question. This scenario
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 offers valuable insights for astronomers
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 studying exoplanetary systems around
00:10:02 --> 00:10:05 sunlike stars. As we identify more
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 exoplanets and potentially exomoons,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:10 understanding how these worlds evolve
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 alongside their aging stars becomes
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 increasingly important. The fate of
00:10:15 --> 00:10:16 Europa serves as a model for what might
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 happen to similar icy worlds in distant
00:10:19 --> 00:10:20 star
00:10:20 --> 00:10:23 systems. Now for something pretty rare.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 In a remarkable discovery, Chinese
00:10:26 --> 00:10:28 astronomers have identified an extremely
00:10:28 --> 00:10:30 rare type of binary star system that
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 gives us a glimpse into a fleeting phase
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 of stellar
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 evolution. Using the 500 meter aperture
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 spherical radio telescope, also known as
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 the China sky eye, researchers led by
00:10:42 --> 00:10:43 Han Jin Lin from the National
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 Astronomical Observatories of China,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:49 detected a unique pulsar designated
00:10:49 --> 00:10:51 PSRJ1928 plus
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 1815. Located about 455 lighty years
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 away, this system features something
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 astronomers have long theorized but
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 rarely observed. a pulsar whose
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 radiation pulses are occasionally
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 blocked by its companion star every few
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 hours. What makes this discovery
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 particularly special is that the two
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 stars are actually orbiting inside a
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 common envelope of hydrogen gas. Pulsars
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 themselves aren't uncommon. Scientists
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 have identified nearly 3 in our
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 galaxy alone. These dense stellar
00:11:22 --> 00:11:23 remnants form after massive stars
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 explode as supernovi. As they rotate,
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 they emit beams of electromagnetic
00:11:28 --> 00:11:30 radiation from their magnetic poles that
00:11:30 --> 00:11:31 sweep across space like lighthouse
00:11:32 --> 00:11:34 beams. When one of these beams crosses
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 Earth, we detect it as a regular pulse
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 of radio waves. But the
00:11:39 --> 00:11:42 PSRJ1928 + 1815 system captures a
00:11:42 --> 00:11:44 critical moment in binary star
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 evolution. In these systems, the heavier
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 star ages faster and eventually
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 collapses into a neutron star or pulsar.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:53 Meanwhile, the smaller companion star
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 loses material to its dense partner,
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 causing them to share a common envelope
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 of hydrogen gas. For a relatively short
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 period, astronomically speaking, the two
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 stars orbit within this shared envelope.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 Over approximately 1 years, the
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 neutron star gradually clears away this
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 envelope, eventually leaving behind a
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 hot helium burning star orbiting the
00:12:13 --> 00:12:16 neutron star. This observation provides
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 compelling evidence supporting
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 long-standing theories about how stars
00:12:19 --> 00:12:22 in binary systems exchange mass, shrink
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 their orbits, and eject shared gas
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 envelopes. Understanding these processes
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 helps astronomers piece together the
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 complex puzzle of stellar evolution,
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 neutron star behavior, and how such
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 pairs eventually merge to produce
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 gravitational waves. The discovery is
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 particularly significant because binary
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 systems are extremely common in our
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 galaxy. More than half of all stars
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 exist as part of binary or multiple star
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 systems. Their gravitational dance
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 shaping their evolution in dramatic
00:12:50 --> 00:12:54 ways. In some cases, one stars gravity
00:12:54 --> 00:12:56 can drag material from its companion,
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 leading to explosive events like novi or
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 even supernovi. With increasingly
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 powerful telescopes like FAST,
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 astronomers hope to find more of these
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 rare cosmic pairs, further illuminating
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 the processes that shape stars
00:13:09 --> 00:13:11 throughout their lifetimes and after
00:13:11 --> 00:13:12 their
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 deaths. Finally, today, while we focused
00:13:15 --> 00:13:17 much of our search for extraterrestrial
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 life on Earthlike exoplanets, a
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 fascinating new study suggests we should
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 broaden our horizons to include moons
00:13:23 --> 00:13:26 orbiting giant planets. Researchers from
00:13:26 --> 00:13:28 Hungary and the Netherlands have
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 published compelling findings about the
00:13:29 --> 00:13:32 potential habitability of exomoons in
00:13:32 --> 00:13:34 the journal Astronomy and
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 Astrophysics. Their study titled Grand
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 Theft Moons: Formation of Habitable
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 Moons Around Giant Planets used complex
00:13:42 --> 00:13:44 simulations to investigate how moons
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 form around giant exoplanets and whether
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 these moons could support life. The team
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 led by Zultan Denx from the Hun Ren
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 Research Center for Astronomy and Earth
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 Sciences focused specifically on the
00:13:57 --> 00:13:58 formation of large moons in
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 circumlanetary discs, the rotating
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 collections of material that remain
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 after a planet forms. The researchers
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 examined 461 known giant exoplanets,
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 modeling how lunar embryos might grow
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 through collisions within these discs.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 Their simulations revealed that moons
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 with masses between Mars and Earth could
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 form around planets roughly 10 times the
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 size of Jupiter with many potentially
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 habitable. Perhaps most interestingly,
00:14:26 --> 00:14:27 the study found that the optimal
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 distance for habitable exomoons is
00:14:30 --> 00:14:32 between 1 and two astronomical units
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 from their stars. Beyond this range,
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 tidal heating rather than stellar
00:14:37 --> 00:14:39 radiation becomes the primary heat
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 source for these moons. This is similar
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 to what we see in our own solar system
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 where moons like Europa and Enceladus
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 likely harbor subsurface oceans warmed
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 by tidal flexing rather than direct
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 sunlight. The simulations also showed
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 that as distance from the star
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 increases, more moons tend to form, but
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 their masses become too small to
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 maintain habitability. Meanwhile, closer
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 to the star, fewer but more massive
00:15:04 --> 00:15:06 moons form, with more being lost to
00:15:06 --> 00:15:08 stellar theft, where the stars gravity
00:15:08 --> 00:15:11 pulls them away from their host planet.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:12 While astronomers haven't definitively
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 confirmed the existence of any exomoons
00:15:15 --> 00:15:16 yet, several candidates have been
00:15:16 --> 00:15:18 identified. The James Web Space
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 Telescope is currently examining
00:15:20 --> 00:15:23 potential exomoon candidates, and the
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 European Space Ay's upcoming Plato
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 mission may also be capable of detecting
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 these distant moons.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 This research effectively expands our
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 definition of the habitable zone to
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 include moons orbiting giant planets. As
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 one researcher put it, the circumstellar
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 habitable zone can be extended to moons
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 around giant planets, potentially
00:15:44 --> 00:15:45 multiplying the number of worlds where
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 we might someday find evidence of
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 life. Well, that's all for today's
00:15:50 --> 00:15:53 episode of Astronomy Daily. What an
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 incredible journey through space we've
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 taken. From watching Spac X push the
00:15:57 --> 00:15:59 boundaries of rocket technology despite
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 setbacks to discovering a massive new
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 dwarf planet that was hiding in plain
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 sight within existing data. We've peered
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 into the distant future where Europa
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 might briefly become habitable as our
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 sun expands and witnessed the bizarre
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 spectacle of a pulsar orbiting inside
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 another star. Perhaps most tantalizing
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 is the possibility that habitable moons
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 may be far more common than we once
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 thought, potentially expanding our
00:16:25 --> 00:16:27 search for life beyond traditional
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 Earthlike
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 planets. Each of these stories reminds
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 us that the universe remains full of
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 surprises, constantly challenging our
00:16:34 --> 00:16:37 assumptions about what's possible. As
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 our tools and techniques for observation
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 continue to improve, from powerful radio
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 telescopes like FAST to the upcoming
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 Plato mission, we stand on the threshold
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 of even more remarkable discoveries. The
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 cosmos is vast and ancient, yet we're
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 learning new things about it every day.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 Thank you for joining me on Astronomy
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 Daily. I'm Anna, and I'll see you again
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 tomorrow as we continue to explore the
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 wonders of our universe together. In the
00:17:02 --> 00:17:06 meantime, keep looking up and wonder.
00:17:06 --> 00:17:15 Day stories be told.
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 Stories to tell.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:25 [Music]