Main Topics:
The concept of moon dust remnants potentially indicating alien megastructures or extraterrestrial artifacts.
The recent research explaining Venus's peculiar retrograde rotation and the impact hypothesis involving a large impactor.
Updated protocols from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) for credible extraterrestrial life detection announcements.
The potential for lunar surface dust, especially 'technograins,' to harbor evidence of past civilizations.
Technological prospects for lunar infrastructure, including 3D printing using moon dust and the economics of relocating materials to build lunar bases.
The discussion of the universe's expansion, dark energy, and the likelihood of future scenarios like the Big Rip, Big Crunch, or indefinite expansion.
The importance of rigorous verification for scientific claims and the dangers of misinformation, especially on social media.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to extraterrestrial moon dust and alien artifacts
02:14 - New findings on Venus's rotation and impact theories
03:52 - Updated protocols for announcing extraterrestrial evidence
10:37 - Moon dust as remnants of alien civilizations
24:17 - Future lunar habitation and construction using moon dust
33:00 - The challenges and possibilities of lunar infrastructure
44:00 - The expanding universe: dark energy, Big Rip, and Big Crunch
55:30 - The nature of time before the Big Bang and current theories
58:38 - The potential for observing lunar sunsets and corona phenomena
67:41 - The inevitability of future lunar sunset observations
69:12 - Closing remarks and climate of scientific inquiry
Resources & Links:
Research on Venus's Rotation by ETH Zurich
Declaration of Principles for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Phys.org Moon and Space Mining articles
Space Connect Article on Extraterrestrial Protocols
The Bright Side - Moon Dust as Building Material
NASA - Artemis Program
The European Geosciences Union Conference Vienna
Connect with Professor Fred Watson:
Keep questioning and exploring — our universe is full of mysteries waiting to be uncovered.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:02 Anna: From the farthest reaches of the galaxy to
00:00:02 --> 00:00:05 the red dust of Mars. You're tuned in to
00:00:05 --> 00:00:08 Astronomy Daily, your daily briefing on, um,
00:00:08 --> 00:00:10 the universe. I'm Anna.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 Avery: And I'm Avery. Today on the show, an
00:00:12 --> 00:00:15 interstellar comet has just revealed it's
00:00:15 --> 00:00:17 older than our sun by billions of years.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 Perseverance scores its most impressive
00:00:20 --> 00:00:22 organic detection yet on Mars. And
00:00:22 --> 00:00:25 Europe's dark matter detective turns its gaze
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 to the heart of our own galaxy and delivers
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 the most stunning portrait ever made.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:33 Anna: We've also got a controversial plan to dump
00:00:33 --> 00:00:35 the world's largest space station into the
00:00:35 --> 00:00:38 Pacific Ocean, raising some very pointed
00:00:38 --> 00:00:41 questions. Plus, an asteroid that killed the
00:00:41 --> 00:00:44 dinosaurs may have kept underground life
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 burning for 8 million years. And
00:00:46 --> 00:00:48 astronomers have just found that a, uh,
00:00:48 --> 00:00:51 famous nebula has a long lost twin
00:00:51 --> 00:00:52 sibling.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 Avery: It's Thursday, the 26th of June,
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 2026, and this is Astronomy
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 Daily.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:00 Anna: We start today with one of the most
00:01:00 --> 00:01:02 remarkable findings in the short but
00:01:02 --> 00:01:05 extraordinary history of interstellar
00:01:05 --> 00:01:08 astronomy. The comet known as 3i
00:01:08 --> 00:01:11 Atlas, which swept through our solar system
00:01:11 --> 00:01:13 last year and captured the imagination of
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 scientists worldwide, has now revealed
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 something almost impossible to wrap your head
00:01:18 --> 00:01:21 around. This comet is older than our Sun.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:25 Avery: Much older, potentially. Two new papers
00:01:25 --> 00:01:27 published in the journal Nature this week,
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 using data from NASA's James Webb Space
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 Telescope, report that 3i
00:01:32 --> 00:01:35 Atlas carries a chemical fingerprint unlike
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 anything found in our own solar system. And
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 that fingerprint points to an origin between
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 10 and 12 billion years ago.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:45 Anna: To put that in perspective, our sun is about
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 4 1/2 billion years old. So this
00:01:48 --> 00:01:50 comet may have been drifting through the
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 galaxy for more than twice the lifetime of
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 our entire Sol solar system before it
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 happened to pass through our neighborhood.
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 Avery: The key evidence comes from isotopes,
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 specifically the ratio of two forms of carbon
00:02:02 --> 00:02:05 and a type of water molecule called semi
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 heavy water, in which some of the hydrogen
00:02:08 --> 00:02:10 atoms carry an extra neutron.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 Astronomers using Webb's near infrared
00:02:13 --> 00:02:16 Spectroscope found that 3i Atlas
00:02:16 --> 00:02:19 has far less carbon 13 relative to
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 carbon 12 than anything in our solar system.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:24 And carbon 13 builds up in the universe over
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 time as successive generations of stars are
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 born, live, and explode. Less carbon
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 13 means an older origin, one from
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 a time before many stars had even had the
00:02:36 --> 00:02:37 chance to die.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 Anna: The semi heavy water signature is equally
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 telling. That kind of water tends to form in
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 high radiation environments, cold,
00:02:45 --> 00:02:48 massive star forming regions that were far
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 more common in the early universe. And taken
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 together, the Webb team concludes this comet
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 formed during what astronomers call cosmic
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 noon, when star formation across the universe
00:02:59 --> 00:03:01 was at its absolute peak.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 Avery: Lead researcher Martin Cordiner of NASA's
00:03:04 --> 00:03:06 Goddard Space Flight center described it as a
00:03:06 --> 00:03:09 unique opportunity to study an ancient object
00:03:09 --> 00:03:12 from the distant galaxy, probably predating
00:03:12 --> 00:03:15 our sun and solar system. His words. On
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 one hand, we get direct insight into that
00:03:17 --> 00:03:20 distant time and place, and on the other, we
00:03:20 --> 00:03:23 learned something about how our own solar
00:03:23 --> 00:03:24 system may be.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:27 Anna: A companion study from the European Southern
00:03:27 --> 00:03:30 Observatory's Very Large Telescope found
00:03:30 --> 00:03:32 complementary evidence in the comet's carbon
00:03:32 --> 00:03:35 and nitrogen isotope ratios, further
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 cementing the picture of an ancient, cold,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:39 alien origin. 3i
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 Atlas, it seems, is a genuine relic from
00:03:42 --> 00:03:44 another era of the universe
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 Avery: entirely, and it's on its way out. The
00:03:47 --> 00:03:49 comet is now departing our solar system,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 never to return. But the data it's left
00:03:52 --> 00:03:55 behind will be studied for years, perhaps
00:03:55 --> 00:03:56 decades.
00:03:56 --> 00:03:59 Anna: We stay in the realm of ancient chemistry,
00:03:59 --> 00:04:02 but this time a little closer to home, just
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 40 to 250 million km
00:04:05 --> 00:04:07 away, depending on where Mars and Earth
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 happen to be in their orbits. NASA's
00:04:10 --> 00:04:12 Perseverance rover has just delivered what
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 scientists are calling the most robust
00:04:15 --> 00:04:17 organic detection made in Jezero Crater.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 A new study published in Science Advances
00:04:21 --> 00:04:24 reports that the rover's SHERLOCK instrument,
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 a laser based spectrometer on the end of the
00:04:27 --> 00:04:29 robotic arm, has detected complex
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 macromolecular carbon in two mudstone
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 rocks at a site called Bright angel in an
00:04:35 --> 00:04:38 ancient river valley called Neretva
00:04:38 --> 00:04:38 Vallis.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:41 Avery: The paper's own summary describes it as, and
00:04:41 --> 00:04:44 I'm quoting, the most robust organic
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 detection in Jezero Crater. That thus far
00:04:47 --> 00:04:49 and the only detection of macromolecular
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 carbon on a natural rock surface on Mars.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:55 That's macromolecular, meaning large,
00:04:55 --> 00:04:58 complex carbon based molecules, the kind that
00:04:58 --> 00:05:01 on Earth are associated with biology. But we
00:05:01 --> 00:05:02 need to be careful here.
00:05:03 --> 00:05:06 Anna: Absolutely. The researchers are very clear
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 that detecting organic carbon on Mars
00:05:08 --> 00:05:11 does not mean life. The SHERLOCK instrument
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 cannot distinguish between carbon produced by
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 biology and carbon produced by geology
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 or delivered by meteorites. What it can
00:05:20 --> 00:05:22 do is show that the chemical ingredients were
00:05:22 --> 00:05:25 there, and in this case, they were there in
00:05:25 --> 00:05:27 abundance. Hundreds of individual
00:05:27 --> 00:05:30 detections across just two rocks.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 Avery: What makes this particularly compelling is
00:05:33 --> 00:05:36 the location these mudstones are at. Bright
00:05:36 --> 00:05:38 angel connected to Naret Va Vallis, the
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 ancient river channel that fed Jezero
00:05:40 --> 00:05:43 Crater's western delta billions of years ago.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:46 This was a water rich environment, exactly
00:05:46 --> 00:05:49 the kind of place where on Earth you would
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 expect to find microbial sheltering in
00:05:51 --> 00:05:52 sediment.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 Anna: One of the two rocks examined is the now
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 famous Chayava Falls, the very rock
00:05:57 --> 00:06:00 that caused such excitement last year with
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 its distinctive leopard spot markings.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:05 Finding complex macromolecular carbon in
00:06:05 --> 00:06:08 it adds yet another Intriguing layer to the
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 mystery. The other rock showed organic
00:06:11 --> 00:06:14 carbon associated with carbonate and sulfate
00:06:14 --> 00:06:16 minerals, both of which can be connected to
00:06:16 --> 00:06:18 biological processes.
00:06:19 --> 00:06:21 Avery: The researchers also note this is the first
00:06:21 --> 00:06:24 detection of this type of complex carbon in a
00:06:24 --> 00:06:26 mudstone on Mars outside of Gale Crater,
00:06:26 --> 00:06:29 where the Curiosity rover operates more than
00:06:29 --> 00:06:32 three and a half thousand kilometers away.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:34 That suggests the conditions that allowed
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 organics to form and survive may have been
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 widespread across Mars, not just in one
00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 localized area.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 Anna: The samples Perseverance has collected are
00:06:43 --> 00:06:46 still sealed in its sample tubes, waiting for
00:06:46 --> 00:06:49 a future Mars sample return mission to bring
00:06:49 --> 00:06:51 them back to Earth. When they arrive in a
00:06:51 --> 00:06:54 laboratory, scientists will be able to run
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 tests orders of magnitude more
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 sophisticated than anything a rover
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 instrument can perform. That's when the real
00:07:01 --> 00:07:02 detective work begins.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:05 Avery: Microlensing works by detecting the tiny
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 brightening of a background star when a
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 foreground star and any orbiting planets pass
00:07:10 --> 00:07:13 in front of it. Acting as a gravitational
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 lens. It's a powerful technique for finding
00:07:16 --> 00:07:18 cold, distant planets that are otherwise
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 invisible. And to do it, you need an
00:07:20 --> 00:07:23 incredibly crowded starfield, which, as it
00:07:23 --> 00:07:26 turns out, is exactly what the galactic bulge
00:07:26 --> 00:07:26 provides.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:29 Anna: The Euclid Image already contains
00:07:29 --> 00:07:31 51 known planetary systems.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:34 Scientists expect it will also help confirm
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 and measure the masses of around 60
00:07:37 --> 00:07:40 previously detected but poorly characterized
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 exoplanets. And when Roman comes online
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 and begins repeatedly monitoring the same
00:07:45 --> 00:07:48 field, the two data sets together will give
00:07:48 --> 00:07:51 us the most complete picture yet. Yet of how
00:07:51 --> 00:07:54 many planets exist throughout the galaxy.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:56 Avery: For Australian and Southern Hemisphere
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 listeners, you're in an ideal position to see
00:07:58 --> 00:08:00 the galactic center in the night sky. Right
00:08:00 --> 00:08:03 now, it's high in the winter sky in the
00:08:03 --> 00:08:05 constellation Sagittarius. And under dark
00:08:05 --> 00:08:08 skies, away from city lights, you can see the
00:08:08 --> 00:08:10 glow of the bulge. With your naked eye,
00:08:10 --> 00:08:12 you're looking at the very region Euclid just
00:08:12 --> 00:08:13 photographed.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 Now, a story about endings and the
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 complications that come with them. The
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 International Space Station has been
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 continuously inhabited for more than 24
00:08:23 --> 00:08:25 years. It's hosted astronauts from 22
00:08:25 --> 00:08:27 countries, conducted thousands of
00:08:27 --> 00:08:30 experiments, and served as humanity's
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 permanent foothold in low Earth orbit. But
00:08:32 --> 00:08:35 its time is running out, and NASA's plan for
00:08:35 --> 00:08:38 how to retire it is now under scrutiny from
00:08:38 --> 00:08:39 some unexpected quarters.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 Anna: The plan, in brief, is
00:08:42 --> 00:08:45 starting in 2028, the ISS will
00:08:45 --> 00:08:47 begin a, uh, gradual orbital lowering.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:51 In mid-2029, NASA will launch
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 a SpaceX built in deorbit
00:08:53 --> 00:08:56 vehicle and attach it to the station.
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 That vehicle, fitted with 46
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 Draco thrusters, will then push the
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 entire structure out of orbit in a
00:09:04 --> 00:09:06 controlled re entry, targeting a
00:09:06 --> 00:09:09 splashdown in the remote South Pacific,
00:09:09 --> 00:09:12 near a location called Point Nemo.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 Avery: Point Nemo is the most isolated spot on the
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 planet, more than 2 km
00:09:18 --> 00:09:21 from the nearest land. It's already known as
00:09:21 --> 00:09:24 a spacecraft cemetery. Russia's Mir station
00:09:24 --> 00:09:26 ended its days there, along with hundreds of
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 other spacecraft. NASA chose it precisely
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 because it minimizes the risk to any human
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 population. But a leading ocean conservation
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 organization says that calculation misses
00:09:37 --> 00:09:37 something important.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 Anna: The Ocean foundation based in Washington
00:09:41 --> 00:09:44 D.C. says the deorbit plan, and
00:09:44 --> 00:09:47 I'm quoting, raises serious concerns for
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 ocean health that the space community has not
00:09:50 --> 00:09:53 adequately grappled with. The organization's
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 president Mark Spalding, says there is a
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 quote, troubling structural gap in
00:09:58 --> 00:10:01 international law that the ISS de orbit
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 throws into sharp relief.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 Avery: The legal gap he's referring to is this.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:08 The 1972 Space Liability
00:10:08 --> 00:10:11 Convention requires that if a country's space
00:10:11 --> 00:10:13 debris falls on another nation's territory or
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 damages another nation's property, the
00:10:16 --> 00:10:18 launching country must pay compensation.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 But international waters and the ocean floor
00:10:21 --> 00:10:23 beneath them, um, are not a nation's
00:10:23 --> 00:10:26 territory. There's no equivalent protection
00:10:26 --> 00:10:27 for the deep sea.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 Anna: And this isn't a small amount of debris.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:32 The ISS weighs roughly
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 450 kilograms.
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 While much of the structure will burn up
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 during re entry, denser heat resistant
00:10:40 --> 00:10:43 components, including pressurized modules,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 structural beams and hardware are expected
00:10:46 --> 00:10:48 to survive and reach the seafloor. The
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 exact quantity and composition of what will
00:10:51 --> 00:10:53 sink is, according to critics,
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 insufficiently studied.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 Avery: The concerns have now drawn the attention of
00:10:58 --> 00:11:00 the U.S. government Accountability Office,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:02 which has issued a report highlighting the
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 issues. The Ocean foundation is calling for
00:11:05 --> 00:11:07 NASA to conduct a full environmental impact
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 assessment before proceeding with the re
00:11:09 --> 00:11:12 entry, currently planned for around 2030 to
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 2031. There's still time, but not
00:11:15 --> 00:11:17 unlimited time to address these questions.
00:11:18 --> 00:11:20 Anna: It's a fascinating tension. The very
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 success of the ISS program, the
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 sheer scale of the structure humanity built
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 up there is now what makes disposing of
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 it so complicated. And this case,
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 as legal experts have noted, is likely to
00:11:34 --> 00:11:37 set precedents for how we handle the growing
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 number of much larger orbital platforms
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 expected in the coming decades.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:45 Moving on to our next story. Today,
00:11:45 --> 00:11:48 66 million years ago, a 10
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 kilometer wide asteroid slammed into
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 what is now the Yucatan Peninsula of
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 Mexico with a force equivalent to
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 billions of nuclear weapons. The
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 impact triggered Megatsunami, a uh,
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 global firestorm and a years long
00:12:05 --> 00:12:08 impact winter that blotted out the sun
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 and wiped out roughly three quarters of
00:12:11 --> 00:12:13 all species on Earth, including
00:12:14 --> 00:12:17 every non avian dinosaur. It
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 is the most studied extinction event in
00:12:20 --> 00:12:20 history.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:22 Avery: But new research from the University of
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 Glasgow has uncovered a remarkable footnote
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 to that catastrophe. While the surface of the
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 Earth was plunged into darkness and death
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 underground in the shattered rocks beneath
00:12:32 --> 00:12:35 the crater, life may have found a way,
00:12:35 --> 00:12:38 and not just briefly. The new study suggests
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 it found the way for 8 million years.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 Anna: The Chicxulub crater, the scar left by
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 that asteroid is buried beneath layers of
00:12:46 --> 00:12:49 sediment and ocean in the Gulf of Mexico.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 But it still spans nearly 200
00:12:51 --> 00:12:54 km in diameter. When the asteroid
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 hit, the immense heat it generated
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 fractured the bedrock and superheated water
00:13:00 --> 00:13:02 trapped in the rock, creating a vast
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 hydrothermal system beneath the crater.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 A network of hot water flowing through
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 porous shattered rock.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 Avery: Hydrothermal systems like this are well known
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 on Earth at, uh, mid ocean ridges and
00:13:15 --> 00:13:18 volcanic vents. They host entire ecosystems
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 of organisms that live completely
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 independently of sunlight. Bacteria,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:25 tube worms, crabs, and more, all
00:13:25 --> 00:13:27 powered by chemical energy from the Earth's
00:13:27 --> 00:13:30 interior. The question for scientists has
00:13:30 --> 00:13:33 always been, how long did Chicxulub's version
00:13:33 --> 00:13:34 of this system survive?
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 Anna: Previous estimates based on computer models
00:13:37 --> 00:13:40 from the early 2000s suggested about 2
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 million years. The new study, led by Dr. Ann
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 Marie Pickerskill of the Scottish
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 University's Environmental Research center,
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 used advanced argon. Argon dating of
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 potassium rich feldspar crystals collected
00:13:52 --> 00:13:55 during a 2016 drilling expedition to the
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 crater's peak ring. The result? The
00:13:58 --> 00:14:01 system remained active for at least 8 million
00:14:01 --> 00:14:03 years, four times longer than anyone had
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 previously estimated, and the longest impact
00:14:06 --> 00:14:09 generated hydrothermal system ever
00:14:09 --> 00:14:09 documented.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:12 Avery: To be clear, this doesn't mean complex life
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 was thriving underground while the dinosaurs
00:14:15 --> 00:14:17 went extinct. Above, we're talking about
00:14:17 --> 00:14:19 microbial life, bacteria and other
00:14:19 --> 00:14:22 microorganisms sheltering in the warm,
00:14:22 --> 00:14:24 chemically rich porous rock, shielded from
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 the radiation and temperature extremes at the
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 surface. But even that is extraordinary,
00:14:30 --> 00:14:30 and the
00:14:30 --> 00:14:33 Anna: implications extend beyond Earth.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:36 Mars has endured countless asteroid impacts
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 over its history and may have once had liquid
00:14:38 --> 00:14:41 water. If the same dynamics applied there,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 and there's no reason to think they wouldn't
00:14:43 --> 00:14:46 then. Even as Mars became cold and dry on the
00:14:46 --> 00:14:48 surface, underground hydrothermal systems
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 could have kept microbial life viable for
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 millions of years. The Chicxulub finding
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 makes that possibility more credible than
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 ever.
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 Avery: We close today with a story that's part
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 astronomy, part cosmic detective work.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:04 And we'll admit it a little bit poetic.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:07 Somewhere between 4 and 5 light years
00:15:07 --> 00:15:10 away, in the constellation Gemini, there's a
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 supernova remnant called
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 IC443.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 Astronomers gave it a more evocative nickname
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 long ago, the Jellyfish Nebula, for its
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 billowing tentacle like filaments of glowing
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 gas.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 Anna: It's one of the most photographed nebulae in
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 the sky, a favorite of astrophotographers the
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 world over. Its soft, wispy tendrils of
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 light are, uh, the expanding shockwave from a
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 star that died in a spectacular explosion
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 somewhere between 3 and 30 years ago.
00:15:40 --> 00:15:42 It's beautiful. It's well studied, and
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 astronomers thought they knew it well.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 Avery: But new research has revealed that the
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 Jellyfish Nebula has been hiding something.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:51 Lurking right there in the bright glare of
00:15:51 --> 00:15:54 the Jellyfish itself, Barely visible against
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 it, is a second supernova remnant connected
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 to IC443 by a bright
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 filament of gas. Astrophysicists are
00:16:02 --> 00:16:04 calling this the first. First confirmed pair
00:16:04 --> 00:16:06 of sibling supernova remnants ever
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 identified.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 Anna: Two massive stars, born from the same cloud
00:16:10 --> 00:16:13 of gas and dust, lived out their lives in
00:16:13 --> 00:16:16 relative proximity, and then both died in
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 supernovae, leaving behind these two glowing,
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 expanding shells of debris. The fact that
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 their remnants are still connected by that
00:16:23 --> 00:16:26 filament of gas tells us the two explosions
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 happened close enough in space and time to
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 interact with one another.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 Avery: What makes the discovery particularly
00:16:32 --> 00:16:35 striking is not just what was found, but
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 where it was hiding. The second remnant had
00:16:37 --> 00:16:39 been there all along, but the Jellyfish
00:16:39 --> 00:16:42 Nebula's own brightness had been obscuring
00:16:42 --> 00:16:44 it, like trying to see a faint star right
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 next to the Full Moon. It took careful
00:16:47 --> 00:16:49 analysis to disentangle the two structures
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 and recognize the second for what it was.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 Anna: It's a reminder that even some of the most
00:16:54 --> 00:16:56 familiar objects in the sky can still
00:16:56 --> 00:16:59 surprise us. That even after decades of
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 observation, the universe has a habit of
00:17:01 --> 00:17:04 tucking secrets away in plain sight,
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 waiting for us to look a little more
00:17:06 --> 00:17:07 carefully.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 Avery: And for observers in Australia and New
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 Zealand, the Jellyfish Nebula is in Gemini,
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 which sits low on the northern horizon in
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 winter evenings. While the nebula itself
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 requires a telescope, it's a wonderful target
00:17:19 --> 00:17:22 for astrophotographers. And now, when you
00:17:22 --> 00:17:24 photograph it, you can tell people you're
00:17:24 --> 00:17:26 looking at two nebulae for the price of one.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:29 Anna: And that's our universe for today. An
00:17:29 --> 00:17:32 ancient interstellar traveler, older than the
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 Sun. The strongest hint yet that Mars once
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 had the chemistry for life. The most detailed
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 portrait ever made of our galaxy's crowded
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 heart. The ISS's complicated
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 farewell. A crater that kept life burning
00:17:46 --> 00:17:49 Underground for 8 million years, and a, uh,
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 nebula that turned out to be twins.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:53 Avery: The universe keeps delivering. Make sure you
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 subscribe so you never miss an episode.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:55 Anna: And subscribe.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 Avery: And if today's show sparked something for
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 you, leave us a review. It genuinely helps
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 the show reach more
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 Anna: listeners, find us at astronomydaily
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 IO Follow us Astrodaily Pod on
00:18:06 --> 00:18:08 all your socials, and we'll see you right
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 back here tomorrow.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 Avery: Until then, keep looking up.