S05E44 | Friday, February 20, 2026 It's a big one today! We cover EIGHT stories including breaking news from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a damning independent report into the Boeing Starliner crisis, two astonishing dark matter discoveries, the first ancient Jellyfish Galaxy, SpaceX rocket pollution science, and a cosmic farewell to a comet we'll never see again. Plus — yes — we briefly and responsibly address the UFO/UAP conversation. Stories in this episode: • Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal — Did NASA just clear the path to a March 6 launch? • Starliner Independent Report — NASA says 'we failed them' as Type A mishap is confirmed • UAP Files — Trump hints at declassification: should we get excited? • Hubble finds CDG-2: the most dark matter-dominated galaxy ever discovered • Jellyfish Galaxy spotted 5 billion years after the Big Bang — earlier than thought possible • First real-time observation of SpaceX rocket re-entry pollution cloud • First confirmed dark galaxy — a structure with no stars at all • Comet Wierzchoś at closest approach today — and it's never coming back
🌐 astronomydaily.io | 📱 @AstroDailyPod | Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
Sponsor Details:
Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN . To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit You'll be glad you did!
Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support)
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/31773666?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Hello and welcome back to Astronomy
00:00:02 --> 00:00:04 Daily. I'm Anna.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:07 >> And I'm Avery. It's Friday, February the
00:00:07 --> 00:00:10 20th, 2026, and our producer has
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 absolutely loaded us up today. We've got
00:00:12 --> 00:00:14 eight stories to get through.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 >> Eight. That's right. And honestly,
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 they're all worth it. We've got huge
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 breaking news from the Kennedy Space
00:00:21 --> 00:00:24 Center about Artemis 2. A genuinely
00:00:24 --> 00:00:26 damning report that NASA itself has
00:00:26 --> 00:00:29 described as we failed them. some
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 absolutely mindbending deep space
00:00:31 --> 00:00:34 discoveries. And yes, we are going to
00:00:34 --> 00:00:37 briefly talk about UFOs.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:40 >> We absolutely are. Just briefly and
00:00:40 --> 00:00:41 responsibly.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 >> Responsibly. That is the word. Right.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 Let's dive in. There is a lot of ground
00:00:46 --> 00:00:47 to cover.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:48 >> I think this might be the biggest
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 episode we've ever done, but there's
00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 plenty to cover today.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:54 >> We are going to start with the biggest
00:00:54 --> 00:00:56 space story of the week, and it's one
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 that broke overnight. NASA has just
00:00:58 --> 00:01:01 completed its second wet dress rehearsal
00:01:01 --> 00:01:03 of the Aremis 2 space launch system
00:01:03 --> 00:01:05 rocket. And from everything we're
00:01:05 --> 00:01:07 hearing, it went well.
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 >> Really well, actually. Teams ran the SLS
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 through a full countdown, fueling the
00:01:12 --> 00:01:13 rocket with its super cold liquid
00:01:14 --> 00:01:16 hydrogen and liquid oxygen, simulating
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 launch day procedures right down to
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 closing the Orion crew codle hatch. And
00:01:21 --> 00:01:24 they got all the way to tminus 29
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 seconds before wrapping up. That is
00:01:26 --> 00:01:28 exactly where they wanted to stop.
00:01:28 --> 00:01:31 >> And this matters enormously because the
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 first wet dress rehearsal back on
00:01:33 --> 00:01:36 February 2nd and 3rd had to be called
00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 off early due to hydrogen fuel leaks at
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 launchpad 39B. That was a setback. NASA
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 had to go in and replace seals. And
00:01:44 --> 00:01:47 there was very real uncertainty about
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 whether they'd solved the problem.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 >> And it looks like they have. NASA is
00:01:51 --> 00:01:53 holding a media briefing this morning,
00:01:53 --> 00:01:55 11:00 a.m. Eastern, and we'll be
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 watching that closely, but the early
00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 word is positive.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 >> So, for anyone who needs a refresher on
00:02:00 --> 00:02:04 what this mission actually is, Artemis 2
00:02:04 --> 00:02:06 is the first crude flight of the Aremis
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 program. It's not a moon landing that
00:02:09 --> 00:02:11 comes later with Artemis 3, but it is
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 the first time humans will travel to
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 lunar distance since Apollo 17 in 1972.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:22 We are talking more than 50 years.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 >> And the crew is commander Reed Weisman,
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 Christina all NASA, and mission
00:02:30 --> 00:02:32 specialist Jeremy Hansen from the
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 Canadian Space Agency. They're going to
00:02:34 --> 00:02:36 fly around the moon in a free return
00:02:36 --> 00:02:39 trajectory and come home. 10 days, no
00:02:39 --> 00:02:42 landing, but an absolutely historic
00:02:42 --> 00:02:44 journey. And if this morning's press
00:02:44 --> 00:02:46 conference gives the all clear, the
00:02:46 --> 00:02:48 launch window we're looking at is as
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 early as March 6th, that is just 2 weeks
00:02:51 --> 00:02:53 away. Avery, what does that feel like to
00:02:53 --> 00:02:54 you?
00:02:54 --> 00:02:57 >> Honestly, it feels surreal. We've been
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 living in the Aremis era for years now.
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 Artemis 1 flew in 2022, and it's been a
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 long road to get here, but 2 weeks from
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 now, there could be four astronauts on
00:03:08 --> 00:03:09 their way to the moon.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:11 >> We will have full coverage as things
00:03:11 --> 00:03:13 develop. And if that briefing produces
00:03:13 --> 00:03:15 any surprises, we'll update you in
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 tomorrow's episode. For now though,
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 looking very good for Artemis 3.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 >> Now, while NASA is very much in
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 celebratory mode for this morning,
00:03:24 --> 00:03:26 yesterday they were facing a very
00:03:26 --> 00:03:28 different kind of news day, an
00:03:28 --> 00:03:30 independent review board released its
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 full report into the Boeing Starlininer
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 crude flight test, and it is a damning
00:03:35 --> 00:03:35 document.
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 >> Damning is the word. The report formally
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 classifies the Starlininer mission as a
00:03:41 --> 00:03:45 quote typea mishap, the most serious
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 category in NASA's safety framework.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 That means it was an event that could
00:03:49 --> 00:03:51 have resulted in death or permanent
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 disability. And NASA administrator Jared
00:03:54 --> 00:03:56 Isaacman stood up in front of the
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 cameras yesterday and said, and I'm
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 paraphrasing here, "We almost did have a
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 really terrible day. We failed them."
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 them being astronauts Butch Wilmore and
00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 Sunni Williams who launched in June 2024
00:04:11 --> 00:04:13 expecting to be gone for 8 to 10 days
00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 and ended up spending $286
00:04:16 --> 00:04:18 days in orbit.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:20 >> Right? So, let's just remind listeners
00:04:20 --> 00:04:23 how we got here. Boeing won a $4.2
00:04:23 --> 00:04:26 billion contract from NASA back in 2014
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 to build the Star Liner as a second
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 commercial crew vehicle alongside Spac
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 X's Crew Dragon. Starlininer ran into
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 problems on its very first uncrrewed
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 test flight in 2019, needed a second
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 unpiloted flight before it was deemed
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 ready, and Butch and Sunni finally
00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 launched in June of last year.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 >> The trip up went okay. They docked
00:04:48 --> 00:04:50 successfully with the International
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 Space Station. But during the rendevous
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 approach, the capsule experienced
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 multiple helium leaks in the propulsion
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 system and several of the maneuvering
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 thrusters failed. There was a moment
00:05:00 --> 00:05:02 where they temporarily lost what a
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 report calls six degrees of freedom
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 control. Had things gone differently in
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 those minutes. Had the thrusters not
00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 recovered, docking might not have been
00:05:11 --> 00:05:13 possible. And what's really chilling
00:05:13 --> 00:05:15 about reading the report is discovering
00:05:15 --> 00:05:18 just how many warning signs were there.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 The investigation found that NASA and
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 Boeing were aware of concerns that
00:05:22 --> 00:05:24 weren't fully understood but were
00:05:24 --> 00:05:26 considered acceptable for flight.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 Anyway, there was pressure,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 institutional pressure to make this
00:05:30 --> 00:05:32 mission succeed because the entire
00:05:32 --> 00:05:34 commercial crew program's credibility
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 depended on having two viable crew
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 vehicles. The report quotes unnamed NASA
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 personnel saying things like, "There was
00:05:42 --> 00:05:44 yelling in meetings. It was emotionally
00:05:44 --> 00:05:47 charged and unproductive. And if you
00:05:47 --> 00:05:48 weren't aligned with the desired
00:05:48 --> 00:05:50 outcome, your input was filtered out or
00:05:50 --> 00:05:53 dismissed." One person said they stopped
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 speaking up entirely because they knew
00:05:55 --> 00:05:56 they'd be dismissed.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:58 >> That is a profoundly troubling portrait
00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 of an organization under pressure. And
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 what makes it worse is this. One NASA
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 worker told the investigation panel
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 roughly 11 months after the mission,
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 "Nobody within NASA or outside of NASA
00:06:10 --> 00:06:13 has been held accountable. Nobody."
00:06:13 --> 00:06:15 >> Administrator Isaacman addressed that
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 headon. He said there will be
00:06:17 --> 00:06:19 accountability. He said the report
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 reveals that advocacy for the mission
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 success quote exceeded reasonable bounds
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 and placed the mission, the crew and
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 America's space program at risk. He also
00:06:29 --> 00:06:31 made clear that NASA will not fly
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 another crew on Starlininer until the
00:06:33 --> 00:06:35 technical causes are understood. The
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 propulsion system is fully qualified and
00:06:38 --> 00:06:41 all 61 recommendations from this report
00:06:41 --> 00:06:44 are implemented. 61 recommendations
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 spanning technical, organizational, and
00:06:47 --> 00:06:49 cultural domains. Boeing, for its part,
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 said they've made substantial progress
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 and driven significant cultural changes.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:55 We'll see.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 >> It's worth noting Butch and Sunni are
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 safe. They got home in a SpaceX Crew
00:06:59 --> 00:07:02 Dragon in early 2025 and have since
00:07:02 --> 00:07:05 retired from NASA. But this report is a
00:07:05 --> 00:07:07 stark reminder of just how close things
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 came to going very wrong and how
00:07:09 --> 00:07:11 important it is that the lessons are
00:07:11 --> 00:07:12 actually learned.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 >> One more thing before we move on.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 Isaacman confirmed the eventual cost of
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 Starlininer's wos exceeded the $2
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 million typea mishap threshold by quote
00:07:23 --> 00:07:25 a hundfold. So, not just a safety
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 crisis, an enormous financial one, too.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 >> All right, we promised you this and here
00:07:30 --> 00:07:32 it is. President Trump has been making
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 noise again about UAPs, unidentified
00:07:35 --> 00:07:37 aerial phenomena, and the possibility of
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 releasing classified government files,
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 including apparently what's actually
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 going on at Area 51.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 >> And look, the serious astronomy
00:07:46 --> 00:07:48 community broadly keeps its distance
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 from this territory for good reasons. We
00:07:50 --> 00:07:52 are not going to go deep on it today
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 because there is genuinely not much new
00:07:54 --> 00:07:57 substance to report yet. It's hints and
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 statements rather than actual
00:07:59 --> 00:08:00 declassification.
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 But, and this is an honest butt, if
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 genuine classified data about UAP
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 encounters were actually released in a
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 verifiable, scientifically usable form,
00:08:11 --> 00:08:13 that would be worth serious examination.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 The scientific community has actually
00:08:15 --> 00:08:17 been pushing for more transparency in
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 this area for years. The issue has never
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 been whether UFOs are real as a
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 phenomenon. There are clearly things
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 being observed that pilots and sensors
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 can't immediately explain. The question
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 is what they actually are.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 >> Right? And the history of these big
00:08:34 --> 00:08:36 reveals is, shall we say, not
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 encouraging. You get a lot of heavily
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 redacted documents, a lot of blurry
00:08:41 --> 00:08:44 footage, and then not much.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 >> Area 51, though, that is a name. If
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 files about what's actually been going
00:08:49 --> 00:08:51 on out there in the Nevada desert come
00:08:51 --> 00:08:54 out, even if it's all just experimental
00:08:54 --> 00:08:56 aircraft, that's going to be a
00:08:56 --> 00:08:58 fascinating day. Regardless, we will
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 watch this space. Pun intended. If
00:09:01 --> 00:09:03 something genuinely newsworthy emerges
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 from the UAP file story, we will cover
00:09:05 --> 00:09:08 it properly. For now, back to the actual
00:09:08 --> 00:09:09 cosmos.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 >> Now, this is one of those stories that
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 really makes you stop and think about
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 how strange the universe is. NASA's
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 Hubble Space Telescope has identified
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 what may be the most heavily dark matter
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 dominated galaxy ever discovered. The
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 object is called CDG2 and CDG stands for
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 circumgalactic diffused galaxy which is
00:09:30 --> 00:09:33 already a fascinating description. It's
00:09:33 --> 00:09:35 an extraordinarily faint low surface
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 brightness galaxy that's basically
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 invisible when you look at it. There are
00:09:39 --> 00:09:42 only a sparse scattering of faint stars,
00:09:42 --> 00:09:44 but according to the measurements, the
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 vast majority of its total mass is dark
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 matter. We should take a moment here to
00:09:49 --> 00:09:51 explain what dark matter actually is.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 For anyone who's new to the show, dark
00:09:54 --> 00:09:56 matter is a name we give to whatever
00:09:56 --> 00:09:57 makes up most of the mass of the
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 universe that we can't see, can't detect
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 directly, and don't fully understand. We
00:10:03 --> 00:10:05 know it exists because of its
00:10:05 --> 00:10:07 gravitational effects. The way galaxies
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 rotate, the way light bends around
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 galaxy clusters, but beyond that, it
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 remains one of the great unsolved
00:10:14 --> 00:10:15 problems in physics.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 >> And CDG2 is interesting because it seems
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 to be almost entirely dark matter. The
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 few stars it contains are almost an
00:10:23 --> 00:10:25 afterthought. It's like finding a house
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 that's built almost entirely of
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 invisible walls. You can only see the
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 wallpaper. What makes this particularly
00:10:32 --> 00:10:34 significant is that we've long theorized
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 that galaxies like this should exist. In
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 the standard model of cosmology, dark
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 matter forms the scaffolding that
00:10:41 --> 00:10:45 ordinary matter, gas, stars, planets,
00:10:45 --> 00:10:48 falls into and clumps around. But most
00:10:48 --> 00:10:50 galaxies have converted a good portion
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 of that gas into stars by now. CDG2
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 seems to have barely bothered.
00:10:56 --> 00:10:59 >> The question is why? Why did so little
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 star formation occur here? Was it
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 stripped of its gas by interactions with
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 neighboring galaxies? Is it in an
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 unusually isolated environment? Those
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 are the questions that will keep
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 astronomers busy for a while, but as a
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 window into dark matter's dominant role
00:11:14 --> 00:11:16 in shaping the cosmos. This one is
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 remarkable.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:19 >> Amen to that.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:22 >> From one galaxy mystery to another,
00:11:22 --> 00:11:24 astronomers have spotted a candidate
00:11:24 --> 00:11:26 jellyfish galaxy. One of the most
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 visually striking types of galaxies we
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 know of, dating back to just 5 billion
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 years after the Big Bang. And the reason
00:11:34 --> 00:11:36 this is extraordinary is because theory
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 said this shouldn't be possible. Let me
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 explain what a jellyfish galaxy is for
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 anyone picturing an actual jellyfish
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 floating through space, which honestly
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 is not a bad mental image. A jellyfish
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 galaxy gets its name from the long
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 streamers of gas and young stars that
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 trail behind it like tentacles. They
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 form through a process called RAM
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 pressure stripping.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 >> Ram pressure stripping is essentially
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 what happens when a galaxy moves through
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 the hot diffused gas that fills galaxy
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 clusters. What astronomers call the
00:12:07 --> 00:12:09 intercluster medium. The galaxy is
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 moving so fast through this medium that
00:12:11 --> 00:12:14 it gets the cosmic equivalent of a blast
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 of wind from the front and the gas in
00:12:16 --> 00:12:18 its outer regions gets blown backwards
00:12:18 --> 00:12:21 forming those trailing streams. Now, the
00:12:22 --> 00:12:24 reason this discovery is so significant
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 is that RAM pressure stripping was
00:12:26 --> 00:12:28 thought to require a dense enough
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 cluster environment to operate. And in
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 the early universe, 5 billion years
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 after the Big Bang, clusters weren't
00:12:35 --> 00:12:37 expected to be dense enough yet. The
00:12:37 --> 00:12:39 universe was younger, less evolved.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 Clusters were less mature.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:44 >> And yet, here we have what looks like a
00:12:44 --> 00:12:46 fully formed jellyfish galaxy from that
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 early era. It challenges our timeline of
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 how galaxy clusters developed and how
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 RAM pressure stripping operated in the
00:12:54 --> 00:12:55 young universe.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 >> There's also a bonus mystery here. The
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 discovery may shed light on the
00:13:00 --> 00:13:03 so-called red nugget galaxies. Compact
00:13:03 --> 00:13:05 red massive galaxies from the early
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 universe that have puzzled astronomers
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 for years. The theory is that RAM
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 pressure stripping in jellyfish galaxies
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 could be one of the mechanisms that
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 transform normal star forming galaxies
00:13:16 --> 00:13:19 into those quiescent red nuggets. If
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 confirmed, this single galaxy could be a
00:13:21 --> 00:13:23 crucial missing link in understanding
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 how galaxies evolve.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 >> It does still need to be confirmed. It's
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 officially a candidate at this stage,
00:13:30 --> 00:13:32 but the evidence looks strong, and this
00:13:32 --> 00:13:33 is exactly the kind of thing that makes
00:13:34 --> 00:13:36 deep sky astronomy so endlessly
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 fascinating. All right, here's a story
00:13:38 --> 00:13:40 that's a little different in flavor.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:44 It's part wow, cool science, part should
00:13:44 --> 00:13:45 we be thinking about this more
00:13:45 --> 00:13:49 carefully? Yes. For the first time ever,
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 scientists have observed a cloud of air
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 pollution forming in near real time as a
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 SpaceX rocket burned up during re-entry
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 into Earth's atmosphere. And I want to
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 be clear about what we mean by burned up
00:14:00 --> 00:14:03 here. This isn't a failed mission. This
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 is the normal end of life process for a
00:14:05 --> 00:14:07 rocket stage where it re-enters the
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 atmosphere and disintegrates through the
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 heat of re-entry.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 >> So these things happen routinely and
00:14:13 --> 00:14:15 what scientists have now been able to do
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 using atmospheric monitoring instruments
00:14:17 --> 00:14:20 is actually watch in something close to
00:14:20 --> 00:14:23 real time the chemical cloud that forms
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 as the rocket material vaporizes.
00:14:25 --> 00:14:28 Metals, aluminum oxide particles,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:30 various combustion products, all of it
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 lighting up in the instruments. And this
00:14:33 --> 00:14:34 matters because we're launching things
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38 at an everinccreasing rate. SpaceX alone
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 is launching dozens of missions per
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 year. If every re-entry deposits a cloud
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 of metallic particles and other
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 pollutants into the upper atmosphere,
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 and we're doing this hundreds of times a
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 year, what does that add up to over a
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 decade?
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 >> The honest answer right now is we don't
00:14:54 --> 00:14:57 fully know. This is genuinely new
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 science. Researchers have been raising
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 concerns about the potential impact of
00:15:01 --> 00:15:03 rocket exhaust and re-entry pollution in
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 the stratosphere for a few years now,
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 but being able to observe it in real
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 time to actually characterize what's
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 happening is a significant step towards
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 understanding the cumulative effect.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 >> It's one of those stories where the
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 science itself is fascinating, but the
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 implications quietly deserve more
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 attention than they're getting. The
00:15:22 --> 00:15:24 space economy is booming. That's
00:15:24 --> 00:15:27 wonderful in many ways, but what are the
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 environmental costs of a high cadence
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 launch industry is a question that needs
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 answering and researchers are now
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 developing the tools to start answering
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 it. Something to watch and full credit
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 to the scientists making these
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 observations. Pioneering work.
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 >> Now we come to a story that, and I say
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 this with genuine enthusiasm, is about
00:15:47 --> 00:15:50 as mindbending as astronomy gets.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 Researchers may have confirmed the very
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 first true dark galaxy. Not just a
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 galaxy dominated by dark matter like
00:15:58 --> 00:16:01 CDG2 we discussed earlier, but a galaxy
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 made almost entirely of dark matter with
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 effectively no stars at all.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 >> A dark galaxy in theory is a region of
00:16:09 --> 00:16:11 space where dark matter has clumped
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 together in sufficient quantity to form
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 a gravitationally bound structure.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 essentially a galaxyshaped thing, but
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 where ordinary matter has never clumped
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 enough to form stars or has been
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 stripped away entirely. We've theorized
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 they should exist for decades, and now
00:16:28 --> 00:16:30 we may finally have one.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:33 >> I want to sit with that for a second. A
00:16:33 --> 00:16:36 galaxy, a structure that has all the
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 gravitational signatures of a galaxy
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 with no stars in it. You literally
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 cannot see it with any optical
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 telescope. It's detectable only by its
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 gravitational effects on nearby visible
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 matter.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:53 >> It's like detecting a ghost by watching
00:16:53 --> 00:16:55 how other people react to the room it's
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 standing in.
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 >> That is exactly the right analogy.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 Actually, the way astronomers identify
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 these objects is by looking at how their
00:17:04 --> 00:17:07 gravity warps the light and motion of
00:17:07 --> 00:17:10 surrounding galaxies. And when they do
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 the maths on the candidate identified in
00:17:12 --> 00:17:15 this new research, the numbers point to
00:17:15 --> 00:17:18 a massive dark matter structure with
00:17:18 --> 00:17:21 essentially no luminous component.
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 >> If confirmed, this would be a genuinely
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 landmark moment in cosmology. We've
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 known for decades that dark matter
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 vastly outweighs ordinary matter in the
00:17:30 --> 00:17:34 universe, roughly 5:1. But actually
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 finding a structure that is purely dark
00:17:36 --> 00:17:38 matter with no ordinary matter
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 hitchhiking along inside it would be
00:17:41 --> 00:17:44 extraordinary observational proof of how
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 dark matter can organize itself
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 independently.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 >> The researchers are being appropriately
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 cautious. This requires further
00:17:52 --> 00:17:54 confirmation and independent
00:17:54 --> 00:17:56 verification, but the evidence is
00:17:56 --> 00:17:58 compelling. We'll keep you posted as
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 this one develops. And we close today
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 with something a little different in
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 mood, something poetic actually.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:10 >> Comet C/2024E1
00:18:10 --> 00:18:12 known as comet where Kosh after its
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 discoverer. As we mentioned earlier in
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 the week, is making its closest approach
00:18:17 --> 00:18:20 to Earth today. Right now, as you listen
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 to this, the comet is passing at roughly
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 the same distance from us as the sun,
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 about one astronomical unit, and it's
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 putting on a genuinely beautiful display
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 for those with telescopes or binoculars
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 in the right conditions.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 >> There are images out already, a gorgeous
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 30inut exposure taken last week from
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 Chile, showing a 5° long ion tail.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 That's 10 times the width of the full
00:18:46 --> 00:18:49 moon in the sky, plus three shorter dust
00:18:49 --> 00:18:52 tails. The coma of the comet glows green
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 from the breakdown of dicarbon molecules
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 by sunlight.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:58 >> But here's what makes this one special
00:18:58 --> 00:19:00 and why we wanted to close the show with
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 it. Comet where Kosh is on a hyperbolic
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 orbit,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 >> which means it is not coming back.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 >> It is not coming back. This comet has
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 traveled from the outermost reaches of
00:19:13 --> 00:19:16 the solar system, swung around the sun,
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 passed close by our little blue dot, and
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 when it leaves, it will leave forever.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:25 Its orbit carries it out of the solar
00:19:25 --> 00:19:28 system entirely into interstellar space.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:31 It will become a wanderer between the
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 stars.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 >> You know, we had 3i.atls ATLS this
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 season. The interstellar object that
00:19:36 --> 00:19:38 came into our solar system from
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 somewhere else entirely. That was a
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 visitor from interstellar space. Comet
00:19:43 --> 00:19:46 where Kosh is going the other direction.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 It's leaving. We're waving goodbye to a
00:19:48 --> 00:19:52 comet that no human will ever see again.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:55 And I find that genuinely moving. So, if
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 you have clear skies tonight or this
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 weekend and you can get to a dark spot
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 with a pair of binoculars, it is worth
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 trying to find it. Check the astronomy
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 apps for its exact position. It is
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 bright enough to see.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:12 >> Last chance, a cosmic farewell.
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 >> And that's a wrap on a genuinely packed
00:20:15 --> 00:20:17 episode of Astronomy Daily. Eight
00:20:17 --> 00:20:20 stories, breaking news, accountability
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 journalism, mindbending deep space
00:20:23 --> 00:20:26 science, and a cosmic goodbye.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:28 >> Thank you so much for spending part of
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 your Friday with us. If you enjoyed
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 today's show, please do leave a review
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 wherever you listen. It makes a huge
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 difference in helping new listeners find
00:20:36 --> 00:20:36 us.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 >> You can find us at astronomyaily.io
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 for the blog and show notes, and we're
00:20:42 --> 00:20:45 at astroaily pod across all the social
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 platforms. We'll see you again tomorrow.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:50 And if Artemis 2 gets a launch date
00:20:50 --> 00:20:52 confirmed today, we'll make sure that's
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 front and center.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 >> Until then, keep looking up.
00:20:56 --> 00:21:08 >> Clear skies, everyone.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:12 Stories told.