NASA's Artemis II moon rocket begins its rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building today as a helium flow issue kills the March launch window — and the crew's unannounced presence at Trump's State of the Union adds a fascinating new dimension. Plus: James Webb achieves an astronomical first by identifying a supernova's progenitor star that was invisible to every other telescope; the case for life on exoplanet K2-18b keeps building; the sun goes spotless for the first time since 2022; China's Shenzhou-20 astronauts reveal gripping new details about last year's space debris emergency; and the U.S. Postal Service turns Webb's greatest hits into stamps. Full episode rundown at astronomydaily.io
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/31864397?utm_source=youtube
00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.
00:00:03 --> 00:00:04 I'm Anna.
00:00:04 --> 00:00:06 >> And I'm Avery. It's Wednesday, February
00:00:06 --> 00:00:09 25th, 2026, and you are listening to
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 season 5, episode 48.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 >> Big show today. NASA's moon rocket is on
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 the move again. James Webb has achieved
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 a genuine first in a history of
00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 astronomy, and we're going to talk about
00:00:21 --> 00:00:23 a world out there that is becoming
00:00:23 --> 00:00:25 increasingly difficult to explain
00:00:25 --> 00:00:29 without considering the word life. Plus,
00:00:29 --> 00:00:31 the sun is taking a quiet day for the
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33 first time in years. There's some
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 gripping new detail from China's
00:00:35 --> 00:00:37 incredible space emergency last year.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:39 And we close with something that might
00:00:39 --> 00:00:41 just make you want to send a letter.
00:00:41 --> 00:00:43 >> All that coming right up. Let's get into
00:00:43 --> 00:00:44 it.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 >> We start with an update on a story we've
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 been following closely all week. And
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 today, there's a genuinely new angle
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 that caught a lot of people off guard.
00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 >> Right. So, Artemis 2, as of this
00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 morning, the enormous space launch
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 system rocket and the Orion spacecraft
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 have physically begun their 4mm journey
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 from launchpad 39B back to the vehicle
00:01:06 --> 00:01:08 assembly building at Kennedy Space
00:01:08 --> 00:01:10 Center. That roll back started around
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and could take up
00:01:13 --> 00:01:15 to 12 hours.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 >> The reason, as we've covered, is a
00:01:17 --> 00:01:19 helium flow interruption in the rocket's
00:01:19 --> 00:01:22 upper stage. Helium is critical. It
00:01:22 --> 00:01:24 pressurizes the propellant tanks.
00:01:24 --> 00:01:26 Without that working perfectly, you
00:01:26 --> 00:01:29 cannot fly. March is now completely off
00:01:29 --> 00:01:31 the table. The next realistic
00:01:31 --> 00:01:33 opportunity opens on April 1st.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:35 >> But here's what's new today, and it's a
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 bit of a talking point. Last night, the
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 four Artemis 2 crew members, Reed
00:01:40 --> 00:01:43 Wisman, Victor Glover, Christina Caul,
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:47 They were sitting in the gallery at the
00:01:47 --> 00:01:49 US capital for President Trump's State
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 of the Union. They were guests of House
00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 Speaker Mike Johnson
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 >> and the speech ran for nearly two hours.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:58 The president praised the space force
00:01:58 --> 00:02:00 extensively. He called it quote his
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 baby. But he made no mention of the four
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 astronauts sitting right there in the
00:02:05 --> 00:02:07 room and no mention of the Aremis
00:02:07 --> 00:02:08 program at all,
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 >> which was noticed. These are the first
00:02:11 --> 00:02:13 people who will travel beyond low Earth
00:02:13 --> 00:02:15 orbit since the Apollo era. And they
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 were in the chamber. Some in the space
00:02:18 --> 00:02:19 community found the omission quite
00:02:19 --> 00:02:20 striking.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:22 >> The crew have now been released from
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 their pre-launch quarantine since
00:02:24 --> 00:02:26 there's no imminent launch. NASA has
00:02:26 --> 00:02:28 said they'll hold a media briefing in
00:02:28 --> 00:02:29 the coming days to lay out the path
00:02:29 --> 00:02:32 forward. For now, April 1st is the
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 earliest the mission could fly pending
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 successful repairs, a likely second wet
00:02:37 --> 00:02:39 dress rehearsal, and the clean flight
00:02:39 --> 00:02:40 readiness review.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:43 >> We will absolutely keep you updated as
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 this develops. The mission itself is
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 still on. It's just going to take a bit
00:02:47 --> 00:02:48 longer.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 >> This story has still got a long way to
00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 go. Me thinks
00:02:51 --> 00:02:54 >> now. This next story is a genuine
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 landmark in astronomy. Something
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 researchers have been waiting years for.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 >> It has to do with supernova, those
00:03:01 --> 00:03:03 spectacular explosions that mark the
00:03:03 --> 00:03:06 deaths of massive stars. Astronomers
00:03:06 --> 00:03:07 have long wanted to look back at
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 archival images after a supernova
00:03:10 --> 00:03:12 occurs, and find the star that caused
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 it, the so-called progenitor star. But
00:03:15 --> 00:03:18 for many of the most massive stars, they
00:03:18 --> 00:03:20 just weren't there. They seemed to be
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 missing.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 >> Well, now we know why, and it's thanks
00:03:23 --> 00:03:27 to James Webb. On June 29th last year,
00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 an automated sky survey detected a new
00:03:29 --> 00:03:34 supernova in a galaxy called NGC 1637,
00:03:34 --> 00:03:37 about 40 million lighty years away. The
00:03:37 --> 00:03:42 explosion was designated 2025 PHT and a
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 team at Northwestern University
00:03:44 --> 00:03:46 immediately did something clever.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:47 Instead of pointing their telescopes at
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 the new supernova, they went to the
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 archives to images Webb had already
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 taken of that same galaxy.
00:03:55 --> 00:03:57 >> And there it was, a single red super
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 giant star sitting exactly where the
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 supernova now shines. This is the first
00:04:02 --> 00:04:04 published detection of a supernova
00:04:04 --> 00:04:06 progenitor by the James Webb telescope
00:04:06 --> 00:04:07 ever.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:09 >> And here's the key thing. Hubble
00:04:09 --> 00:04:12 couldn't see it. The star was completely
00:04:12 --> 00:04:14 invisible in Hubble images. It was
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 surrounded by so much dust that shorter
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 wavelengths of light were blocked
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 entirely. Only Web's infrared
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 instruments could pierce that veil. Lead
00:04:24 --> 00:04:26 author Charlie Kilpatrick from
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 Northwestern described it as quote the
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 reddest, most dusty red super giant
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 we've seen explode as a supernova. And
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 there was another surprise, the dust
00:04:36 --> 00:04:38 composition. They expected silicutri
00:04:38 --> 00:04:41 dust, the kind astronomers usually find.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 Instead, it was carbonri. The team
00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 thinks that carbon may have been dredged
00:04:45 --> 00:04:47 up from deep inside the star in its
00:04:47 --> 00:04:50 final moments before death. This has
00:04:50 --> 00:04:52 direct implications for what's called
00:04:52 --> 00:04:54 the mystery of the missing red super
00:04:54 --> 00:04:57 giants. Theory predicts these massive
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 stars should be easy to spot before they
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 explode. They should be bright and
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 luminous, but historically they've often
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 not shown up in preupnova images at all.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:10 Now we have a compelling answer. They're
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 there. They're just hidden in dust.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:14 >> The findings are published in the
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 astrophysical journal letters. The team
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 is now looking for similar dusty red
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 super giants that might be the next to
00:05:21 --> 00:05:23 explode. And web successor missions,
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 including the upcoming Nancy Grace
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 Romans telescope, should help that
00:05:27 --> 00:05:29 search enormously.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:31 >> A beautiful piece of detective work.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 >> From stellar deaths to potential life,
00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 because our next story is one that keeps
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 getting more interesting every time new
00:05:38 --> 00:05:43 data comes in. The exoplanet K218b.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:44 If you've been following exoplanet
00:05:44 --> 00:05:46 science over the last couple of years,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 you'll know this name. K218b
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 is located 124 light years away in the
00:05:53 --> 00:05:55 constellation LEO, sitting squarely in
00:05:55 --> 00:05:57 the habitable zone of its red dwarf host
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 star, and James Webb has been staring at
00:06:00 --> 00:06:01 it.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 >> What Webb found was an atmosphere rich
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 in both carbon dioxide and methane. That
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 chemical combination is significant. It
00:06:09 --> 00:06:11 points strongly towards what astronomers
00:06:11 --> 00:06:15 call a hyen world. The idea is a planet
00:06:15 --> 00:06:17 with a warm liquid water ocean beneath a
00:06:18 --> 00:06:20 thick hydrogen-rich atmosphere. And the
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 intrigue doesn't stop there. Earlier
00:06:23 --> 00:06:26 analyses of K218b's atmosphere had also
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 hinted at possible traces of dimethyl
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 sulfide, a molecule that on Earth is
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 produced almost exclusively by marine
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 life. Now, that hasn't been confirmed,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 and scientists are appropriately
00:06:39 --> 00:06:41 cautious. There are non-biological
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 explanations being explored, but the
00:06:43 --> 00:06:45 ongoing analysis of web data is
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 continuing to add layers to the story.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:49 The carbon dioxide and methane
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 combination is precisely what you'd
00:06:52 --> 00:06:53 expect if there were a liquid ocean
00:06:53 --> 00:06:55 beneath that atmosphere. The current
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 focus is whether those chemical
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 signatures could have a biological
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 origin. And that's one of the most
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 consequential questions in all of
00:07:03 --> 00:07:07 science. K28b is one of the most watched
00:07:07 --> 00:07:09 targets in astrobiology right now. And
00:07:09 --> 00:07:12 with web continuing to accumulate data,
00:07:12 --> 00:07:13 we should expect more updates in the
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 months ahead. Avery, if it turns out
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 there is life on K218b,
00:07:19 --> 00:07:22 >> then everything changes. That's all I'll
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 say. Okay, something a little different
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 now. A story about our own sun behaving
00:07:27 --> 00:07:30 unusually quietly. On February 22nd, the
00:07:30 --> 00:07:33 Sun's Earth-facing disc went completely
00:07:33 --> 00:07:37 spotless for the first time in 1
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 days. That ends a streak stretching all
00:07:39 --> 00:07:42 the way back to June 8th of 2022. For
00:07:42 --> 00:07:44 nearly 4 years, you could look at the
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 sun on any given day and find at least
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 one active sunspot region. Not anymore,
00:07:50 --> 00:07:53 for a few days at least. Sunspots are
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 regions of intense magnetic activity on
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 the solar surface, and they're the
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 source of solar flares and the coronal
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 mass ejections that can send charged
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 particles hurtling toward Earth. We are
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 in solar cycle 25, which peaked in
00:08:08 --> 00:08:12 October 2024 with a sunspot count
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 significantly higher than scientists
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 initially predicted.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 >> Here's a fun wrinkle. While Earth was
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 looking at a blank sun, NASA's
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 Perseverance rover on Mars had a
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 different view. From the Martian
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 surface, Perseverance could see sunspot
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 groups blazing away on the far side of
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 the sun, invisible to us here on Earth,
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 but clearly visible from Mars' position
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 in the solar system.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:39 >> The spotless period appears to have
00:08:39 --> 00:08:42 lasted about 2 to 3 days before a new
00:08:42 --> 00:08:44 active region began emerging around
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 February 24th. So, the sun isn't
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 shutting down. It's just having a quiet
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 moment. Solar activity isn't expected to
00:08:52 --> 00:08:54 reach its next minimum until around
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 2030. But this little pause is a signal
00:08:57 --> 00:09:00 that solar cycle 25 is beginning its
00:09:00 --> 00:09:02 long, slow windown from that October
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 2024 peak. For listeners who love aurora
00:09:06 --> 00:09:08 hunting, the good news is there's still
00:09:08 --> 00:09:11 plenty of solar activity ahead. But the
00:09:11 --> 00:09:13 best years of the cycle are behind us
00:09:13 --> 00:09:16 now. Now to a story that we've touched
00:09:16 --> 00:09:18 on before, but which has taken on
00:09:18 --> 00:09:20 fascinating new depth this week with the
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 Shenzu 20 astronauts speaking out in
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 remarkable detail about last year's
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 inorbit emergency, China's first ever
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 human spaceflight crisis. Just to recap
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 the situation, China's Shenzhu 20 crew,
00:09:35 --> 00:09:37 Commander Chen Dong, along with Chen
00:09:37 --> 00:09:40 Shong Rui and Wing Yay launched in April
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 2025 for what was supposed to be a
00:09:43 --> 00:09:45 standard six-month mission to the Tiang
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 Gong space station. During pre-return
00:09:48 --> 00:09:50 checks on the day before they were
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 supposed to come home, Commander Chen
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 went to inspect the return capsule
00:09:54 --> 00:09:57 >> and he spotted something on the viewport
00:09:57 --> 00:09:59 window, something triangular. His first
00:09:59 --> 00:10:01 thought, and he shared this in a new
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 interview with Chinese state broadcaster
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 CCTV, was that a small leaf had somehow
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 stuck to the outside of the glass.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 >> And then, as he told it, he quickly
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 realized that couldn't happen because
00:10:13 --> 00:10:14 they were in space.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:17 >> What he was actually seeing was a crack,
00:10:17 --> 00:10:20 a triangular scar roughly 2 cm long in
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 the outer layer of the three layer
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 viewport window, most likely caused by a
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 debris strike. The crew used a
00:10:27 --> 00:10:29 pen-shaped microscope to confirm the
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 damage, took photos immediately, and
00:10:31 --> 00:10:33 transmitted everything to the ground.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 The decision that followed was
00:10:35 --> 00:10:38 extraordinary. The crew could not safely
00:10:38 --> 00:10:41 return in their own spacecraft. Instead,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 they transferred to the Shenzu 21
00:10:43 --> 00:10:45 vehicle that had just arrived days
00:10:45 --> 00:10:47 earlier, carrying their relief crew. An
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 uncrrewed Shenzu 22 was then emergency
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 launched, carrying a port hole repair
00:10:53 --> 00:10:56 device. The whole response from finding
00:10:56 --> 00:10:58 the crack to the crew's safe return to
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 Earth took just over 20 days.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 >> And the damaged Senzu 20 capsule, it was
00:11:04 --> 00:11:05 eventually brought back to Earth
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 uncrrewed on January 19th of this year
00:11:08 --> 00:11:12 after spending 270 days in orbit, 90
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 days longer than planned. It survived
00:11:14 --> 00:11:17 re-entry, which itself was a significant
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 engineering achievement.
00:11:19 --> 00:11:21 >> Commander Chen Dong summed it up
00:11:21 --> 00:11:23 beautifully. The unexpected window
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 cracks ultimately became a precious
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 testament to the concerted efforts and
00:11:27 --> 00:11:30 shared commitment for safety between our
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 two crews and all groundbased space
00:11:32 --> 00:11:33 personnel.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:36 >> A genuinely remarkable chapter in human
00:11:36 --> 00:11:38 space flight. The space debris problem
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 is real and this story illustrates
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 exactly why it matters.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:45 >> And finally, something a little lighter
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 to close the show. Avery, have you ever
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 wanted to send a letter that was also
00:11:50 --> 00:11:53 technically a window to the cosmos?
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 >> I feel like that's a rhetorical
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 question, but yes, obviously.
00:11:57 --> 00:11:59 >> Well, the US Postal Service has you
00:11:59 --> 00:12:02 covered. Yesterday, February 24th, the
00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 USPS officially issued two brand new
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 priority mail stamps, both featuring
00:12:09 --> 00:12:11 images from the James Webb Space
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 Telescope. The first is the priority
00:12:13 --> 00:12:17 mail stamp priced at $11.95
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 and it features the Crab Nebula, the
00:12:19 --> 00:12:21 spectacular remnant of a star that
00:12:21 --> 00:12:23 exploded in the constellation Taurus
00:12:23 --> 00:12:27 about 6 lighty years away. Web
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 captured it in the infrared, revealing
00:12:29 --> 00:12:31 structural details that have never been
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 seen before. The second is the Priority
00:12:34 --> 00:12:38 Mail Express stamp at $33.25.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 And this one is a real showpiece. It's a
00:12:41 --> 00:12:45 composite image called Galaxy Pair. Two
00:12:45 --> 00:12:50 interacting spiral galaxies IC263
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 and NGC2207
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 located about 80 million light years
00:12:55 --> 00:12:58 away. The image combines web and Hubble
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 data across infrared, visible, and
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 ultraviolet wavelengths. It is genuinely
00:13:04 --> 00:13:05 stunning.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 >> Kansas City, Missouri was the official
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 city of issue, though there was no
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 public ceremony. And here's a lovely
00:13:12 --> 00:13:14 detail for collectors. You have until
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 June 24th to send your stamps in for a
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 first day of issue postmark. The postal
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 service will even apply the postmark for
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 free up to 50 envelopes.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:26 >> And this is actually the fourth
00:13:26 --> 00:13:29 consecutive year the USPS has used web
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 imagery on priority mail stamps. In
00:13:31 --> 00:13:35 2022, it was a forever stamp featuring a
00:13:35 --> 00:13:37 rendering of the telescope itself. In
00:13:37 --> 00:13:41 2024 and 2025, the Pillars of Creation
00:13:41 --> 00:13:44 featured now the Crab Nebula and a
00:13:44 --> 00:13:46 Galaxy pair. Web is becoming something
00:13:46 --> 00:13:48 of an annual tradition at the post
00:13:48 --> 00:13:49 office,
00:13:49 --> 00:13:51 >> which when you think about it is rather
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 wonderful. A space telescope that cost
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 $10 billion and took 30 years to build
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 is now sitting in people's junk drawers
00:13:59 --> 00:14:01 next to the scissors and the tape.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:04 >> That is the most poetic thing you have
00:14:04 --> 00:14:06 ever said on this podcast. I have my
00:14:06 --> 00:14:07 moments.
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 >> And that is Astronomy Daily for
00:14:09 --> 00:14:13 Wednesday, February 25th, 2026. What a
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 show. Rollbacks, red super giants,
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 possible ocean worlds, a quiet sun,
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 space debris emergencies, and
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 commemorative postage.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:25 >> If you enjoyed today's episode, please
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 do leave us a review wherever you
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 listen. It makes a genuine difference.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 And you can find us at astronomydaily.io
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 IO and on social media at Astro Daily
00:14:35 --> 00:14:35 Pod
00:14:35 --> 00:14:39 >> for Avery. I'm Anna. Stay curious, keep
00:14:39 --> 00:14:41 looking up, and we'll see you tomorrow.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:53 >> Clear skies, everyone.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:57 The stories told.