Ancient Impacts, Blue Origin Breakthroughs, and Galactic Ripples: S04E31

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily.

0:01 Speaker 2: I'm Anna, and we have a great lineup of space

0:03 Speaker 2: discoveries and developments to share with you today. From ancient

0:06 Speaker 2: lunar canyons formed by catastrophic impacts, to spectacular galactic collisions

0:11 Speaker 2: creating cosmic ripples, and groundbreaking missions exploring our Solar System,

0:16 Speaker 2: we'll journey through some of the most fascinating recent developments

0:19 Speaker 2: in space exploration and astronomy. Our stories today will take

0:23 Speaker 2: us from the Moon's mysterious south pole to the far

0:26 Speaker 2: reaches of space, where the spectacular Bull's Eye Galaxy shows

0:29 Speaker 2: us the aftermath of an incredible cosmic collision.

0:32 Speaker 1: We'll also check in on several exciting space.

0:34 Speaker 2: Missions, including Blue Origin's latest achievement and NASA's ongoing explorations

0:39 Speaker 2: of our cosmic neighborhood.

0:41 Speaker 1: A lot to cover, so let's kick things off with

0:43 Speaker 1: our own moon.

0:45 Speaker 2: A fascinating new study has revealed the dramatic origin story

0:48 Speaker 2: of two enormous canyons near the Moon's south pole. These

0:52 Speaker 2: massive structures, known as Vallis Schrodinger and Vallas Plank, were

0:55 Speaker 2: carved out in less than ten minutes by an extraordinary

0:58 Speaker 2: cosmic event that occurred three zero point eight billion years ago,

1:02 Speaker 2: according to research published in Nature Communications, it all began

1:06 Speaker 2: with a massive impact near the lunar south pole. This

1:09 Speaker 2: collision sent a curtain of rock flying away from the

1:12 Speaker 2: impact site, and when these rocks came crashing back down,

1:16 Speaker 2: they struck the lunar surface with devastating force. The energy

1:19 Speaker 2: released was truly astronomical, about one hundred and thirty times

1:24 Speaker 2: greater than Earth's entire nuclear weapons inventory. These falling rocks

1:28 Speaker 2: created what planetary geologist David Kring describes as a staccato

1:32 Speaker 2: like series of impacts bang bang, bang, that carved out

1:35 Speaker 2: two incredible canyons. To put their size in perspective, While

1:39 Speaker 2: the Grand Canyon reaches depths of one point nine kilometers,

1:43 Speaker 2: these lunar canyons plunge as deep as three point five

1:46 Speaker 2: kilometers into the Moon's surface. They stretch for about two

1:50 Speaker 2: hundred and seventy and two hundred and eighty kilometers in length,

1:54 Speaker 2: cutting straight lines across the lunar landscape. What makes this

1:58 Speaker 2: discovery particularly significant for future lunar exploration is its location.

2:03 Speaker 2: The impact site lies about one hundred and twenty five

2:05 Speaker 2: kilometers from where NASA's Artemis astronauts plan to land. Initially,

2:10 Speaker 2: scientists worried that the impact might have buried some of

2:13 Speaker 2: the Moon's oldest rocks, potentially dating back to its formation

2:17 Speaker 2: four billion years ago, under debris. However, the team's analysis

2:22 Speaker 2: revealed some good news. The impact appears to have thrown

2:25 Speaker 2: material primarily northward, away from the planned exploration zone. This

2:30 Speaker 2: means that when astronauts arrive, they should still have access

2:34 Speaker 2: to these ancient rocks, offering an unprecedented opportunity to study

2:38 Speaker 2: the earliest chapter of the Earth Moon System's history. If

2:42 Speaker 2: we could stand on the lunar surface today, we'd be

2:45 Speaker 2: looking at what Kring calls one of the most dramatic

2:48 Speaker 2: landscapes in our cosmic neighborhood, a testament to the Moon's

2:52 Speaker 2: violent past, and a window into the powerful forces that

2:56 Speaker 2: shaped our Solar system. And some good news today. Blue

3:01 Speaker 2: Origin has just achieved a significant milestone in space research

3:04 Speaker 2: with their latest New Shepherd launch from their West Texas facility.

3:08 Speaker 2: The mission, designated n S twenty nine, wasn't just another

3:12 Speaker 2: routine flight. It marked the company's first successful attempt at

3:16 Speaker 2: simulating lunar gravity conditions in space. The launch saw New

3:20 Speaker 2: Shepherd reach an impressive altitude of one hundred and five

3:23 Speaker 2: kilometers above sea level. What made this flight unique was

3:27 Speaker 2: what happened after the capsule separated from its booster. Using

3:31 Speaker 2: reaction control thrusters, the capsule was commanded to spin at

3:34 Speaker 2: eleven revolutions per minute, creating lunar gravity conditions inside for

3:39 Speaker 2: approximately two minutes. This capability represents a major breakthrough for

3:44 Speaker 2: lunar research. As phil Joyce, Blue Origin, Senior vice president

3:48 Speaker 2: for New Shepherd, explained, it provides researchers with an invaluable

3:51 Speaker 2: opportunity to test lunar technologies at a fraction of the

3:54 Speaker 2: cost of actual Moon missions. Scientists can now rapidly iterate

3:58 Speaker 2: and test their experiments in lunar like conditions, dramatically accelerating

4:03 Speaker 2: the development process. The mission carried twenty nine different payloads,

4:08 Speaker 2: with seventeen of them provided by NASA through their Flight

4:11 Speaker 2: Opportunities program. These experiments covered crucial areas for future lunar exploration,

4:17 Speaker 2: including resource utilization, dust mitigation, advanced habitation systems, and various

4:22 Speaker 2: spacecraft technologies. One payload was even mounted on the exterior

4:27 Speaker 2: of the booster to test its response to space conditions.

4:31 Speaker 2: While there was a minor issue with one of the

4:33 Speaker 2: three parachutes during descent, The capsule landed safely, as it's

4:37 Speaker 2: designed to operate with just two parachutes. The successful completion

4:41 Speaker 2: of this mission opens up exciting new possibilities for lunar

4:45 Speaker 2: research and development, providing a crucial stepping stone towards sustainable

4:49 Speaker 2: lunar exploration and establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon.

4:54 Speaker 2: The achievement marks a significant advancement in our ability to

4:57 Speaker 2: prepare for future lunar missions, offering researchers a reliable platform

5:02 Speaker 2: to test and refine their technologies before deploying them on

5:05 Speaker 2: the Moon itself. Next up today, talk about a cosmic bullseye.

5:11 Speaker 2: The Hubble Space telescope has captured something truly remarkable, a

5:14 Speaker 2: galaxy sporting not one, not two, but nine distinct ring

5:18 Speaker 2: shaped ripples in its structure. This extraordinary cosmic object, formerly

5:22 Speaker 2: known as LEDA one three one three, four two four,

5:25 Speaker 2: but nicknamed the Bullseye galaxy, lies about five hundred sixty

5:29 Speaker 2: seven million light years away in the constellation Pisces. This

5:33 Speaker 2: discovery was completely serendipitous. Yale University researcher Imad Pasha spotted

5:39 Speaker 2: these unusual rings while reviewing a ground based imaging survey,

5:43 Speaker 2: and the finding immediately demanded closer investigation. When the team

5:47 Speaker 2: took a closer look using Hubble's Advanced Camera for surveys,

5:50 Speaker 2: they were able to spot eight distinct rings, with a

5:53 Speaker 2: ninth ring identified using data from the Kech Observatory in Hawaii.

5:58 Speaker 2: What caused this remarkable pattern, Well, imagine throwing a rock

6:01 Speaker 2: into a pond. That's essentially what happened here. On a

6:04 Speaker 2: galactic scale, a smaller blue dwarf galaxy plunged right through

6:08 Speaker 2: the heart of the larger galaxy about fifty million years ago,

6:12 Speaker 2: creating these spectacular ripples in space. Even now, though the

6:17 Speaker 2: galaxies are separated by one hundred thirty thousand light years,

6:20 Speaker 2: they remain connected by a thin trail of gas. The

6:24 Speaker 2: Bullseye galaxy itself is quite a sizable target, spanning about

6:27 Speaker 2: two hundred fifty thousand light years. That's two and a

6:30 Speaker 2: half times wider than our Milky Way. The impact event

6:34 Speaker 2: caused galactic material to move both inward and outward, triggering

6:38 Speaker 2: multiple waves of star formation along these ripples, creating exactly

6:42 Speaker 2: the pattern that theoretical models had predicted.

6:45 Speaker 1: What makes this discovery.

6:46 Speaker 2: Particularly exciting is that it's the first time we've seen

6:49 Speaker 2: so many rings in a single galaxy. Previous observations of

6:53 Speaker 2: similar galactic collisions only showed two or three rings at most.

6:58 Speaker 2: The timing of this observation is particularly fortunate, as there's

7:01 Speaker 2: only a brief window after such an impact when a

7:03 Speaker 2: galaxy would display so many distinct rings. This remarkable observation

7:08 Speaker 2: not only confirms long standing theoretical predictions about galactic collisions,

7:13 Speaker 2: but also gives us a preview of what might happen

7:15 Speaker 2: when galaxies merge, something our own Milky Way will experience

7:19 Speaker 2: billions of years from now when it collides with the

7:21 Speaker 2: Andromeda galaxy, though that encounter is expected to be far

7:25 Speaker 2: more complex than this relatively straightforward cosmic bulls eye shot.

7:30 Speaker 2: In more Moon news, an exciting new mission is preparing

7:33 Speaker 2: to head to the Moon as SpaceX readies the launch

7:36 Speaker 2: of the Lunar Trailblazer orbiter scheduled for February twenty sixth

7:40 Speaker 2: from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This university led mission has

7:44 Speaker 2: a fascinating objective to pinpoint the locations of ice and

7:47 Speaker 2: liquid water trapped within lunar rocks. The spacecraft, weighing about

7:52 Speaker 2: four hundred and forty pounds, has been built by Lockheed

7:55 Speaker 2: Martin using their innovative Curio platform, a new small sat

7:59 Speaker 2: Archett texture designed to make deep space exploration more cost efficient.

8:03 Speaker 1: The probe comes.

8:04 Speaker 2: Equipped with two deployable solar arrays and carries two primary

8:08 Speaker 2: scientific instruments, the High Resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper

8:12 Speaker 2: from JPL and the Lunar Thermal Mapper from the University

8:15 Speaker 2: of Oxford. What makes this mission particularly interesting is its

8:20 Speaker 2: planned observation strategy. The Lunar Trailblazer will peer into permanently

8:24 Speaker 2: shadowed regions of the Moon, searching for microcold traps smaller

8:28 Speaker 2: than a football field. It will also collect measurements at

8:31 Speaker 2: various times of day over sunlit regions to understand how

8:35 Speaker 2: water signatures might change as surface temperatures fluctuate by hundreds

8:39 Speaker 2: of degrees during a lunar day. Following its launch aboard

8:42 Speaker 2: the Falcon nine, where it will share the ride with

8:45 Speaker 2: intuitive machines athena lunar lander, the spacecraft will take between

8:49 Speaker 2: four to seven months to reach lunar orbit. Once there,

8:53 Speaker 2: its plan to operate for at least a year systematically

8:56 Speaker 2: mapping and studying the Moon's water distribution. This mission represents

9:01 Speaker 2: an important step in understanding how water works on the Moon,

9:06 Speaker 2: knowledge that could prove crucial for future lunar exploration and

9:09 Speaker 2: potential human settlement. After completing its scientific mission, the spacecraft

9:14 Speaker 2: will conclude its journey with a planned impact on the

9:16 Speaker 2: lunar surface, a process officially termed as surface disposal. The

9:21 Speaker 2: Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for

9:25 Speaker 2: Planetary Exploration program, and in a unique educational component, it

9:30 Speaker 2: will be operated by students from both Caltech and Pasadena

9:33 Speaker 2: City College at the Caltech based Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.

9:39 Speaker 2: NASA's Europa Clipper mission has hid an early milestone on

9:42 Speaker 2: its ambitious journey to Jupiter's icy Moon, Europa marking progress

9:46 Speaker 2: just three months after its launch from Kennedy Space Center.

9:49 Speaker 2: While the spacecraft still has an incredible one point six

9:51 Speaker 2: billion miles ahead of it before reaching Jupiter's orbit in

9:54 Speaker 2: twenty thirty, it's already providing valuable data from its current

9:58 Speaker 2: position fifty three million miles from Earth. The mission team

10:02 Speaker 2: recently received the spacecraft's first images of deep space, captured

10:06 Speaker 2: by its star treker cameras. These specialized imagers act like

10:09 Speaker 2: a celestial compass, helping mission controllers precisely determine the spacecraft's orientation,

10:15 Speaker 2: crucial for keeping its communication antennas pointed toward Earth. The

10:20 Speaker 2: captured starfield shows tiny pinpricks of light from stars between

10:23 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty to three hundred light years away,

10:27 Speaker 2: including bright stars from the constellation Corvus. The spacecraft is

10:32 Speaker 2: currently racing through space at an astonishing seventeen miles per

10:36 Speaker 2: second relative to the Sun and is approaching its first

10:39 Speaker 2: major navigational milestone, a Mars flyby scheduled for March first.

10:44 Speaker 2: This carefully planned maneuver will use the red planet's gravity

10:48 Speaker 2: to give the spacecraft an additional boost on its long

10:51 Speaker 2: journey to the Jupiter System. Once it reaches its destination, Europa,

10:55 Speaker 2: Clipper will conduct forty nine close flybys of Europa using

10:59 Speaker 2: its of nine scientific instruments to study the Moon's composition, geology,

11:04 Speaker 2: and the mysterious ocean that lies beneath its icy crust.

11:08 Speaker 2: This comprehensive investigation will help scientists determine whether Europa's subsurface

11:12 Speaker 2: ocean might harbor conditions suitable for life. The successful checkout

11:17 Speaker 2: of the Star Trekers represents an important early step in

11:20 Speaker 2: ensuring all systems are functioning as intended after launch, While

11:24 Speaker 2: the spacecraft's main science cameras remain safely behind their protective

11:27 Speaker 2: covers for at least the next three years. These engineering

11:31 Speaker 2: milestones are building confidence in the mission's ability to accomplish

11:35 Speaker 2: its ambitious scientific goals when it finally arrives at Jupiter's

11:38 Speaker 2: intriguing icy moon. Have you ever thought about this? A

11:43 Speaker 2: fascinating new study is asking a compelling question, if there

11:47 Speaker 2: are alien civilizations out there with technology similar to ours,

11:51 Speaker 2: how far away could they detect signs of Earth's existence.

11:55 Speaker 2: This research, led by Sophia's Shake from the Seti Institute,

11:59 Speaker 2: takes a unique approach by examining our own technological footprint

12:03 Speaker 2: from an outsider's perspective. Instead of speculating about advanced alien civilizations,

12:09 Speaker 2: the team focused on what an alien civilization with Earth

12:12 Speaker 2: twenty twenty four level technology could detect. They analyzed various

12:17 Speaker 2: technosignatures were currently producing, from radio transmissions to satellite signals,

12:22 Speaker 2: and even city lights and atmospheric pollution. The results paint

12:26 Speaker 2: an interesting picture of our cosmic visibility. Our most detectable

12:30 Speaker 2: signature comes from our planetary radar systems like the former

12:33 Speaker 2: Araxibo observatory, which could be spotted from up to twelve

12:37 Speaker 2: thousand light years away. That's roughly the distance to the

12:40 Speaker 2: Tadpole nebula, quite a considerable reach into our galaxy. The

12:44 Speaker 2: next most visible signs would be signals from NASA's Deep

12:47 Speaker 2: Space Network, detectable from about one hundred light years away,

12:51 Speaker 2: But most of our technological signatures, including our LTE signals,

12:55 Speaker 2: atmospheric pollution, and laser emissions, would only be detectable from

13:00 Speaker 2: within about four light years, approximately the distance to our

13:04 Speaker 2: nearest stellar neighbor Proximus Andry. What's particularly intriguing is how

13:09 Speaker 2: these findings might inform our own search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

13:14 Speaker 2: The research suggests that, despite ongoing debates in the SETI community,

13:18 Speaker 2: focusing on radio waves remains our best bet for detecting

13:22 Speaker 2: other civilizations, as they outperform other technos signatures by a

13:26 Speaker 2: factor of a thousand in terms of detection distance. The

13:30 Speaker 2: study also raises thought provoking questions about how we're presenting

13:33 Speaker 2: ourselves to the cosmos. Our technological signatures could tell potential

13:37 Speaker 2: observers quite a bit about our society, from how we

13:40 Speaker 2: organize ourselves to our relationship with our environment. It's a

13:44 Speaker 2: cosmic mirror that reflects not just our technological capabilities, but

13:48 Speaker 2: also who we are as a civilization. That brings us

13:52 Speaker 2: to the end of another fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily,

13:55 Speaker 2: I'm anna and I hope you've enjoyed exploring these incredible

13:58 Speaker 2: stories from across the cosmos me today. From ancient lunar

14:02 Speaker 2: canyons to rippling galaxy collisions, and from water hunting spacecraft

14:05 Speaker 2: to our own cosmic detectability. It's been quite a journey

14:08 Speaker 2: through space and science. If you want to stay up

14:11 Speaker 2: to date with all the latest developments in space and astronomy,

14:15 Speaker 2: head over to Astronomy Daily dot io. There you can

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14:36 Speaker 2: We're sharing amazing space images and breaking news content every day.

14:40 Speaker 2: Until next time, Keep looking up and wondering about the

14:43 Speaker 2: mysteries of our universe. This has been anna with Astronomy, Dailyday.

14:50 Speaker 3: Star Star. The story is control h