Celebrating 60 Years of NASA's Deep Space Network, Saturn's Ring Disappearing Act

0:00 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the

0:03 Speaker 1: latest and most fascinating developments in space exploration and astronomical discoveries.

0:08 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Anna, and I'm excited to guide you

0:10 Speaker 1: through today's cosmic journey. We have a stellar lineup of

0:13 Speaker 1: stories for you.

0:14 Speaker 2: Today.

0:15 Speaker 1: We'll be exploring NASA's Deep Space Network as it celebrates

0:18 Speaker 1: sixty years in Australia while breaking ground on a new

0:21 Speaker 1: radio antenna. Then we'll look at Saturn's rings as they

0:25 Speaker 1: present a rare edge on view that occurs only every.

0:28 Speaker 2: Fourteen to fifteen years.

0:30 Speaker 1: We'll also cover this week's busy launch schedule, including Amazon's

0:34 Speaker 1: Project Kuiper Satellites and Blue Origins first all woman crew. Plus,

0:39 Speaker 1: we'll examine the growing commercial demand for lunar landers beyond

0:42 Speaker 1: NASA and dive into a breakthrough discovery about the origin

0:46 Speaker 1: of black hole magnetism that solves a long standing cosmic mystery.

0:51 Speaker 1: So strap in as we blast off into today's exploration

0:54 Speaker 1: of our fascinating universe. Here we go with one for

0:57 Speaker 1: our Ausie listeners. NASA's Deep Space Network in Canberra, Australia

1:02 Speaker 1: recently celebrated a significant milestone Its sixtieth anniversary. This celebration

1:08 Speaker 1: came with an exciting development, as the facility broke ground

1:11 Speaker 1: on a new radio antenna, marking the beginning of its

1:14 Speaker 1: next chapter in space communications. The Canberra facility has been

1:18 Speaker 1: a vital part of NASA's global communications network since joining

1:21 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty five, currently operating four massive radio antennas.

1:27 Speaker 1: The addition of this fifth dish represents a crucial expansion

1:29 Speaker 1: of the network's overall capacity to handle the ever increasing

1:33 Speaker 1: flow of data from missions across our solar system. This

1:36 Speaker 1: new antenna, designated Deep Space Station thirty three, will be

1:40 Speaker 1: a marvel of modern engineering. At one hundred and twelve

1:43 Speaker 1: feet wide that's about thirty four meters, this multi frequency

1:47 Speaker 1: beam waveguide antenna will significantly boost the network's capabilities. What

1:52 Speaker 1: makes this design particularly interesting is that most of its

1:54 Speaker 1: structure will actually be buried underground. A massive concrete pedestal

1:59 Speaker 1: will house cutting edge electronics and receivers in climate controlled rooms,

2:03 Speaker 1: providing a solid foundation for the reflector dish above. When operational,

2:09 Speaker 1: the dish will rotate during communications on a steel platform

2:12 Speaker 1: called an alidate, allowing it to track spacecraft as they

2:16 Speaker 1: move across the sky. This sophisticated design ensures reliable communication

2:21 Speaker 1: with distant spacecraft exploring the farthest reaches of our Solar system.

2:26 Speaker 1: Kevin Coggins, Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA's Space Communications and

2:32 Speaker 1: Navigation Program, highlighted the significance of this development, noting that

2:37 Speaker 1: as they look back on sixty years of incredible accomplishments

2:41 Speaker 1: at Canberra, the groundbreaking of this new antenna symbolizes the

2:44 Speaker 1: next sixty years of scientific discovery. The construction of such

2:48 Speaker 1: advanced communication technology demonstrates the Deep Space Network's commitment to

2:53 Speaker 1: embracing new technologies that enable exploration by an expanding fleet

2:57 Speaker 1: of space missions. The new Camber dish is expected to

3:01 Speaker 1: go online in twenty twenty nine and will be the

3:03 Speaker 1: final installation of six parabolic dishes constructed under NASA's Deep

3:07 Speaker 1: Space Network Aperture Enhancement Program. This program is specifically designed

3:13 Speaker 1: to support current and future spacecraft and accommodate the increasing

3:16 Speaker 1: volume of data they transmit back to Earth. Similar upgrades

3:20 Speaker 1: have already taken place at the network's Madrid facility, which

3:23 Speaker 1: christened a new dish in twenty twenty two, while the

3:26 Speaker 1: Goldstone facility in California is completing work on another antenna.

3:31 Speaker 1: The Deep Space Network operates through a brilliantly simple yet

3:34 Speaker 1: effective concept three communication facilities positioned strategically around the globe

3:40 Speaker 1: approximately one hundred twenty degrees apart. This careful placement ensures

3:44 Speaker 1: that as Earth rotates, at least one facility always has

3:48 Speaker 1: line of sight to any spacecraft in our Solar system,

3:51 Speaker 1: providing continuous coverage twenty four hours a day, regardless of

3:54 Speaker 1: where those spacecraft may be. The network officially began on

3:58 Speaker 1: December twenty fourth, nineteen sixty three, when NASA connected its

4:02 Speaker 1: early ground stations, including Goldstone, to the new network control

4:07 Speaker 1: center at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. Madrid

4:11 Speaker 1: joined in nineteen sixty four, followed by Canberra in nineteen

4:15 Speaker 1: sixty five. Since then, these facilities have been the lifeline

4:19 Speaker 1: for hundreds of space missions, including historic achievements like the

4:23 Speaker 1: Apollo Moon landings. What makes Canberra particularly special is its

4:28 Speaker 1: location in the southern Hemisphere. This unique positioning grants it

4:32 Speaker 1: an exclusive capability. It's the only facility that can both

4:36 Speaker 1: send commands to and receive data from Voyager two as

4:39 Speaker 1: it journeys southward through interstellar Space, now almost thirteen billion

4:43 Speaker 1: miles from Earth. Its sister craft, Voyager one, which is

4:47 Speaker 1: even more distant at over fifteen billion miles away, can

4:50 Speaker 1: transmit data to the Madrid and Goldstone complexes, but can

4:54 Speaker 1: only receive commands via Canberra. The Deep Space network currently

4:57 Speaker 1: relies primarily on radio frequencies for co communication, but NASA

5:01 Speaker 1: is looking toward the future with exciting new technologies. The

5:05 Speaker 1: agency is experimenting with laser or optical communications, which operates

5:10 Speaker 1: at significantly higher frequencies than radio. This difference is crucial

5:15 Speaker 1: because higher frequencies allow for substantially more data to be

5:18 Speaker 1: transmitted over the same period. This advancement isn't just theoretical.

5:23 Speaker 1: NASA is actively testing it through the Deep Space Optical

5:26 Speaker 1: Communications Experiment aboard the Psyche mission, launched in October twenty

5:30 Speaker 1: twenty three. The results have been impressive, demonstrating record breaking

5:35 Speaker 1: high data rates over unprecedented distances, and even successfully downlinking

5:39 Speaker 1: ultra high definition streaming video from deep space. These new

5:44 Speaker 1: technologies have the potential to boost the science and exploration

5:47 Speaker 1: returns of missions traveling throughout the Solar System, explained Amy Smith,

5:52 Speaker 1: Deputy Project manager for the Deep Space network. Looking further ahead,

5:57 Speaker 1: researchers in vision combining laser and radio communications to create

6:01 Speaker 1: hybrid antennas dishes that can communicate using both radio and

6:05 Speaker 1: optical frequencies, simultaneously, potentially revolutionizing how we communicate with distant spacecraft.

6:12 Speaker 1: As our exploration of space grows more ambitious, with missions

6:16 Speaker 1: venturing further into the Solar System and returning increasingly complex

6:20 Speaker 1: scientific data, the Deep Space Network continues to evolve to

6:24 Speaker 1: meet these demands, ensuring that humanity maintains its connection to

6:28 Speaker 1: our most distant explorers. Astronomy fans, here's one for you.

6:33 Speaker 1: If you've looked at Saturn through a telescope lately, you

6:36 Speaker 1: might be wondering where those iconic rings went. The ringed

6:40 Speaker 1: planet is looking distinctly ringless these days, thanks to a

6:43 Speaker 1: fascinating astronomical alignment that happens only once every fourteen to

6:48 Speaker 1: fifteen years, Saturn's rings have turned edge on as seen

6:52 Speaker 1: from Earth, rendering them nearly invisible even.

6:55 Speaker 2: Through powerful telescopes.

6:56 Speaker 1: This phenomenon is tied to Saturn's twenty nine point five

6:59 Speaker 1: year orbit around the Sun. The planet's magnificent rings are

7:03 Speaker 1: tilted twenty seven degrees with respect to its orbital plane,

7:07 Speaker 1: which means that from our earthly perspective, our view of

7:10 Speaker 1: the rings cycles from wide open to edge on and

7:13 Speaker 1: back again over roughly fifteen year intervals. The rings were

7:16 Speaker 1: last edge on to Earth on March twenty third, and

7:19 Speaker 1: they'll be edge on to the Sun on May sixth.

7:22 Speaker 1: What makes this disappearing axodramatic is the stark contrast between

7:26 Speaker 1: the rings enormous width and their paper thin profile. While

7:30 Speaker 1: Saturn's rings span an impressive two hundred eighty two thousand

7:33 Speaker 1: kilometers across that's almost three quarters of the distance from

7:37 Speaker 1: Earth to the Moon, they're astonishingly thin, averaging just about

7:41 Speaker 1: one hundred meters in thickness, so when we view them

7:44 Speaker 1: exactly edge on, they essentially vanish from sight. Galileo was

7:48 Speaker 1: the first to observe Saturn's rings in sixteen ten, though

7:51 Speaker 1: with his primitive telescope he couldn't quite make out what

7:54 Speaker 1: he was seeing. His sketches show a strange, twin lobed

7:57 Speaker 1: world that resembled a double handled coffee cup, a testament

8:01 Speaker 1: to the limitations of early astronomical equipment. It wasn't until

8:05 Speaker 1: later that Christian Huygens correctly deduced that these handles were

8:10 Speaker 1: actually rings, completely detached from the planet itself. Today, we

8:14 Speaker 1: understand that Saturn's rings consist primarily of countless ice particles

8:18 Speaker 1: ranging from snowball sized to much larger, along with some

8:22 Speaker 1: rocky debris, and while every gas and ice giant in

8:25 Speaker 1: our Solar System has some form of ring system, none

8:28 Speaker 1: are as spectacular or as visible from Earth as Saturns.

8:32 Speaker 1: Perhaps the most surprising discovery about Saturn's rings in recent

8:35 Speaker 1: years is their relative youth. Several studies now suggest that

8:40 Speaker 1: the rings may be a surprisingly recent addition to the planet,

8:43 Speaker 1: possibly forming just ten to one hundred million years ago

8:47 Speaker 1: practically yesterday. In cosmic terms, this means that if dinosaurs

8:51 Speaker 1: had somehow developed telescopes, they might have observed a rather

8:55 Speaker 1: ordinary looking Saturn without its distinctive halo. Even more intriguing

9:00 Speaker 1: is the ring's limited future. Scientists predict that in the

9:04 Speaker 1: next few hundred million years, the rings will gradually dissipate

9:08 Speaker 1: from view as gravitational forces pull their particles, either into

9:12 Speaker 1: Saturn itself or fling them outward into space. We're actually

9:16 Speaker 1: witnessing Saturn during a special period when its rings are

9:19 Speaker 1: at their most magnificent, a cosmic coincidence that makes our

9:22 Speaker 1: era particularly fortunate for astronomical observation. So while Saturn might

9:27 Speaker 1: look a bit bland during this edge on phase, take heart.

9:32 Speaker 1: The rings are still there, and they'll gradually become visible

9:35 Speaker 1: again as the viewing angle changes, reaching their maximum tilt

9:38 Speaker 1: once more in twenty thirty two. Sometimes in astronomy, the

9:43 Speaker 1: most fascinating phenomena are not what appears, but what temporarily disappears.

9:49 Speaker 1: April offers some excellent opportunities for early risers to spot

9:52 Speaker 1: Saturn despite its temporarily ringless appearance. If you're hoping to

9:56 Speaker 1: observe this unusual site, Venus will be your best guy.

10:00 Speaker 1: In the dawn sky. Shining brilliantly at magnitude minus four

10:03 Speaker 1: point six, Venus outshine Saturn by over one hundred times,

10:07 Speaker 1: making it an unmistakable beacon pointing the way to the

10:10 Speaker 1: more subdued Saturn, which currently glows at magnitude plus one

10:14 Speaker 1: point two. Mercury completes this planetary dawn trio, reaching its

10:18 Speaker 1: greatest elongation twenty seven degrees from the Sun on April

10:22 Speaker 1: twenty first. Mark your calendar for the morning of April

10:25 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, when the waning crescent Moon joins this celestial

10:28 Speaker 1: gathering in the eastern sky. While the moon won't pass

10:32 Speaker 1: directly in front of Saturn during this particular alignment, it

10:36 Speaker 1: creates a beautiful photo opportunity for astrophotographers and a striking

10:40 Speaker 1: visual for casual observers. If you're interested in seeing a

10:44 Speaker 1: lunar occultation of Saturn, you'll need to wait until April

10:48 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, twenty thirty one. Astronomy often rewards patients for

10:53 Speaker 1: telescope owners. This ring plain crossing period offers a rare

10:57 Speaker 1: observing opportunity. With the rings essentially invisible, you can enjoy

11:02 Speaker 1: unobstructed views of Saturn's moons as they transit across the

11:05 Speaker 1: planet's disc. These transit events where moons pass in front

11:09 Speaker 1: of Saturn from our perspective, are commonly observed on Jupiter,

11:13 Speaker 1: but are only visible on Saturn during years when the

11:15 Speaker 1: rings are edge On Titan, Saturn's largest moon is particularly

11:20 Speaker 1: worth watching, as it casts a prominent shadow during its transits.

11:24 Speaker 1: These events occur approximately every sixteen earth days as Titan

11:28 Speaker 1: completes its orbit, though catching one requires being in the

11:31 Speaker 1: right location at the right time, As each transit lasts

11:34 Speaker 1: about five hours. Specialized websites like PDS, rings Node and

11:39 Speaker 1: IMCCEE France provide predictions for these events, or you can

11:43 Speaker 1: use astronomy software like Stellarium to check for upcoming transits

11:47 Speaker 1: before planning an observation session. As the year progresses, Saturn

11:52 Speaker 1: will reach quadrature west of the Sun on June twenty second,

11:56 Speaker 1: an excellent time to observe the planet, casting its shadow

11:59 Speaker 1: across what remains visible of the rings, creating a striking

12:03 Speaker 1: three dimensional appearance. After reaching opposition on September twenty first,

12:08 Speaker 1: Saturn will transition back into the evening sky. By the

12:12 Speaker 1: end of twenty twenty five, the rings will have tilted

12:15 Speaker 1: about one degree open to our line of sight, and

12:18 Speaker 1: they'll continue widening until they reach their maximum tilt again

12:21 Speaker 1: in twenty thirty two. Saturn's unique orientation affects not just

12:26 Speaker 1: its appearance, but also its brightness, with the current edge

12:29 Speaker 1: on view reducing its magnitude to plus one point two

12:33 Speaker 1: compared to minus zero point five to four when the

12:35 Speaker 1: rings are fully tilted toward Earth. Let's look at this

12:39 Speaker 1: week's busy launch schedule next. This week is shaping up

12:43 Speaker 1: to be a remarkably active period in spaceflight, with five

12:46 Speaker 1: major launches taking place across multiple launch providers and mission types.

12:51 Speaker 1: The action begins with United Launch Alliances Atlas five rocket,

12:55 Speaker 1: which is set to lift off on April ninth at

12:58 Speaker 1: seven pm Eastern Time from Space Launch Complex forty one

13:02 Speaker 1: at Cape Canaveral Space four station in Florida. This mission

13:06 Speaker 1: carries special significance as it will deploy the first operational

13:10 Speaker 1: batch of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, marking a major milestone

13:15 Speaker 1: for the Internet Constellation program. The Atlas five will be

13:18 Speaker 1: flying in its most powerful configuration, designated five hundred and

13:22 Speaker 1: fifty one, featuring a five meter faring five solid rocket boosters,

13:27 Speaker 1: and a single engine Centaur upper stage. This robust setup

13:31 Speaker 1: is necessary to handle what will be the heaviest payload

13:33 Speaker 1: ever launched by an Atlas five, twenty seven Kuiper satellites

13:37 Speaker 1: bound for low Earth orbit at an altitude of four

13:39 Speaker 1: hundred fifty kilometers. SpaceX dominates the middle portion of the

13:43 Speaker 1: week with a trio of Falcon nine launches. First up

13:46 Speaker 1: on April tenth at nine forty three pm Eastern Time

13:50 Speaker 1: is a Starlink mission designated Group twelve seventeen, carrying approximately

13:55 Speaker 1: twenty Starlink V two mini satellites. This launch will depart

13:59 Speaker 1: from Launch Complex thirty nine A at Kennedy Space Center,

14:02 Speaker 1: sending the satellites on a southeastern trajectory to an orbit

14:05 Speaker 1: inclined at forty three degrees. Just two days later, on

14:08 Speaker 1: April twelfth, SpaceX shifts operations to the West Coast for

14:12 Speaker 1: a national security mission. A Falcon nine will lift off

14:15 Speaker 1: from Vandenberg Space Force Space in California at five seventeen

14:19 Speaker 1: am Pacific time, carrying a classified payload designated NROL one

14:23 Speaker 1: hundred ninety two for the National Reconnaissance Office. While details

14:27 Speaker 1: remain classified, this is believed to be the ninth SpaceX

14:31 Speaker 1: mission deploying Starshield satellites for reconnaissance operations such as Earth

14:36 Speaker 1: imaging and early missile warning detection. SpaceX rounds out its

14:40 Speaker 1: busy schedule with another Starlink launch on April thirteenth at

14:43 Speaker 1: nine to fifty nine pm Eastern Time from Space Launch

14:46 Speaker 1: Complex forty at Cape Canaveral. This mission, Starlink Group six

14:50 Speaker 1: seventy three, will deliver another batch of approximately twenty V

14:54 Speaker 1: two Mini satellites to the same forty three degree inclined

14:57 Speaker 1: orbit as the earlier Starlink launch. A week concludes with

15:01 Speaker 1: Blue Origins New Shepherd rocket taking flight on April fourteenth

15:04 Speaker 1: at nine thirty a m. Eastern time from Launch Site

15:06 Speaker 1: one in West Texas. This suborbital mission, designated NS thirty one,

15:11 Speaker 1: will carry a historic all woman crew of six passengers

15:15 Speaker 1: Aisha bo Amanda and Guyen, Gail King, Katy Perry, Carrie

15:20 Speaker 1: Anne Flynn, and Lauren Sanchez. The flight will take the

15:23 Speaker 1: crew above the internationally recognized Carmen line at one hundred kilometers,

15:28 Speaker 1: allowing them to experience several minutes of weightlessness before returning

15:31 Speaker 1: to Earth approximately eleven minutes after launch. The lunar economy

15:37 Speaker 1: appears to be gaining momentum as companies involved in NASA's

15:40 Speaker 1: Commercial Lunar Payload Services CLPS program report increasing interest from

15:45 Speaker 1: customers beyond the Space Agency. While NASA funding still accounts

15:50 Speaker 1: for about ninety percent of mission costs, the remaining ten

15:53 Speaker 1: percent comes from a diverse group of clients that includes

15:56 Speaker 1: international space agencies, universities, private companies, and even ride share customers.

16:03 Speaker 1: Intuitive Machines, which successfully landed on the Moon in March

16:07 Speaker 1: with its second lander, is seeing tangible growth in commercial demand.

16:11 Speaker 1: According to Trent martin the company's senior vice president for

16:14 Speaker 1: space systems, the commercial market is real and it's growing.

16:19 Speaker 1: This shift suggests we're witnessing the early stages of a

16:22 Speaker 1: sustainable lunar marketplace, rather than just government subsidized missions. These

16:28 Speaker 1: companies are finding that data gathered during scientific missions creates

16:31 Speaker 1: pathways to future commercial opportunities. David Wheeler, general counsel at

16:36 Speaker 1: Firefly Aerospace, points out that current activities like Regulith sample

16:39 Speaker 1: collections serve as precursors for resource extraction and mining. Similarly,

16:44 Speaker 1: Ananda Martin of I Space Technologies believes the scientific data

16:48 Speaker 1: being collected now will support further phases of lunar development,

16:52 Speaker 1: such as extraction and eventually human habitation. Although a report

16:56 Speaker 1: released last November by the Center for Strategic and International

16:59 Speaker 1: Studies found no indication of a lunar gold rush, industry

17:03 Speaker 1: insiders maintain that commercial interest is steadily increasing. They argue

17:08 Speaker 1: that the economics will improve with each successful mission as

17:12 Speaker 1: lunar flights become more affordable and less risky. International space

17:17 Speaker 1: agencies are already participating in these commercial ventures, albeit at

17:20 Speaker 1: a smaller scale than NASA, As Trent Martin explained, they

17:24 Speaker 1: don't have one hundred fifty million dollars to fund a mission,

17:27 Speaker 1: but maybe they have ten million dollars to fund a

17:30 Speaker 1: small instrument that they want to fly on the lander.

17:34 Speaker 1: Intuitive Machines has secured multiple contracts with foreign space agencies

17:38 Speaker 1: to carry payloads on future lunar missions. Companies are also

17:41 Speaker 1: discovering unexpected business opportunities along the way. Intuitive Machines has

17:47 Speaker 1: found additional revenue streams by offering orbital transportation services for

17:51 Speaker 1: satellites and creating a lunar communications network. When rideshare customers

17:56 Speaker 1: on their recent mission experienced difficulties communicating with their saddle

18:00 Speaker 1: lights at lunar distance, they turn to Intuitive Machines for help,

18:03 Speaker 1: revealing a new market need. The emerging picture suggests that

18:08 Speaker 1: while we're not yet seeing a full fledged commercial lunar ecosystem,

18:12 Speaker 1: the foundation is being laid through these initial CLPS missions.

18:17 Speaker 1: With each successful landing, these companies are building technical capabilities,

18:21 Speaker 1: operational experience, and business relationships that could eventually transform lunar

18:26 Speaker 1: activities from primarily government funded scientific endeavors into a sustainable

18:30 Speaker 1: commercial enterprise. Finally, today, one of the most enduring mysteries

18:36 Speaker 1: in astrophysics has finally been solved, revealing the origin of

18:40 Speaker 1: the powerful magnetic fields that enable black holes to create

18:44 Speaker 1: spectacular cosmic fireworks. Scientists at the Flat Iron Institute and

18:48 Speaker 1: their collaborators have discovered that these magnetic fields are inherited

18:52 Speaker 1: directly from the dying stars that give birth to black holes.

18:56 Speaker 1: Black holes are known primarily for their immense gravitational pull

19:00 Speaker 1: that traps everything nearby. However, they can also produce intense

19:05 Speaker 1: jets of charged particles that generate gamma ray bursts, explosive

19:09 Speaker 1: events that release more energy in seconds than our Sun

19:12 Speaker 1: will emit across its entire lifetime. These phenomena require extremely

19:17 Speaker 1: strong magnetic fields, but until now, the source of this

19:20 Speaker 1: magnetism remained elusive. Through detailed computer simulations tracking a star's

19:25 Speaker 1: evolution from collapse to black hole formation, researchers identified the

19:29 Speaker 1: critical mechanism at work. As a massive star explodes in

19:33 Speaker 1: a supernova, it leaves behind a dense core called a

19:36 Speaker 1: proto neutron star. When this proto neutron star collapses to

19:40 Speaker 1: form a black hole, its magnetic field doesn't simply disappear. Instead,

19:44 Speaker 1: it transfers to the disc of swirling matter that forms

19:47 Speaker 1: around the newborn black hole. Proto neutron stars are the

19:50 Speaker 1: mothers of black holes, explains Orgotlieb, the study's lead author.

19:55 Speaker 1: What we are seeing is that as this black hole forms,

19:58 Speaker 1: the proto neutron stars rounding disc will essentially pin its

20:02 Speaker 1: magnetic lines to the black hole. This discovery resolves a

20:06 Speaker 1: significant theoretical paradox that had puzzled scientists. Previous theories suggested

20:11 Speaker 1: that magnetic fields were compressed during stellar collapse, enhancing their strength. However,

20:18 Speaker 1: such strong magnetism causes stars to lose their rotation, and

20:22 Speaker 1: without rapid rotation, a black hole can't form the accretion

20:25 Speaker 1: disk necessary to produce jets and gamma ray bursts. The

20:29 Speaker 1: team's calculations revealed a critical timing element. The black hole's

20:33 Speaker 1: disc forms faster than the black hole can lose its

20:35 Speaker 1: inherited magnetism. This sequence preserves the magnetic field lines from

20:40 Speaker 1: the parent neutron star, anchoring them to the black hole's

20:43 Speaker 1: accretion disc. The implications extend throughout astrophysics, potentially changing how

20:47 Speaker 1: scientists understand jet formation in various cosmic systems. As Gottlieb notes,

20:53 Speaker 1: this study changes the way we think about what types

20:56 Speaker 1: of systems can support jet formation, because if we know

20:59 Speaker 1: that a accretion disks imply magnetism, then in theory, all

21:03 Speaker 1: you need is an early disc formation to power jets.

21:07 Speaker 1: This breakthrough helps explain how black holes can generate the

21:10 Speaker 1: most luminous explosions in the universe and provides a comprehensive

21:14 Speaker 1: picture of these extraordinary cosmic objects from birth to maturity.

21:18 Speaker 1: Previous theories about black hole magnetism painted an incomplete picture.

21:23 Speaker 1: Scientists had long thought that as stars collapsed, their magnetic

21:26 Speaker 1: fields were simply compressed and intensified, but this explanation created

21:31 Speaker 1: a fundamental paradox that had astronomers scratching their heads for years.

21:36 Speaker 1: The problem was this, a strong magnetic field causes a

21:39 Speaker 1: star to lose its rotation, and without rapid rotation, a

21:43 Speaker 1: newborn black hole can't form an accretion disc, that swirling

21:47 Speaker 1: collection of matter that surrounds it. Without an accretion disc,

21:51 Speaker 1: you can't get the powerful jets that produce gamma ray bursts.

21:55 Speaker 1: So how could black holes have both the strong magnetic

21:58 Speaker 1: fields and the accretion discs needed for these spectacular cosmic phenomena.

22:04 Speaker 1: Gottlieb's team realized that past simulations had missed something crucial.

22:08 Speaker 1: They'd only considered isolated neutron stars and black holes, ignoring

22:13 Speaker 1: the complex interactions between them during the collapse process. The

22:17 Speaker 1: key insight was recognizing that neutron stars have their own

22:20 Speaker 1: accretion discs before they collapse. It appears to be mutually exclusive.

22:26 Speaker 1: Gottlieb explains, you need two things for jets to form,

22:30 Speaker 1: a strong magnetic field and an accretion disc. But a

22:33 Speaker 1: magnetic field acquired by such compression won't form an accretion disc,

22:37 Speaker 1: and if you reduce the magnetism to the point where

22:39 Speaker 1: the disc can form, then it's not strong enough to

22:41 Speaker 1: produce the jets. The new calculations revealed a solution to

22:45 Speaker 1: this puzzle. As a neutron star begins to collapse, but

22:49 Speaker 1: before all its magnetic field is swallowed by the forming

22:52 Speaker 1: black hole, the neutron star's disc is actually inherited by

22:56 Speaker 1: the black hole. During this process, the magnetic field lines

22:59 Speaker 1: become anchored in the disc, preserving the magnetism even as

23:03 Speaker 1: the central object transforms. It's a bit like a cosmic inheritance.

23:08 Speaker 1: The mother neutron star passes down its magnetic genes to

23:12 Speaker 1: its child black hole through the medium of the accretion disc.

23:16 Speaker 1: This transfer happens because the timescale for disc formation is

23:20 Speaker 1: shorter than the timescale for magnetic field dissipation. This discovery

23:24 Speaker 1: fundamentally changes our understanding of black hole formation and jet production.

23:28 Speaker 1: It suggests that any system where an accretion disc forms

23:31 Speaker 1: quickly enough could potentially support jet formation. The researchers are

23:36 Speaker 1: now reconsidering various types of stellar systems and their potential

23:40 Speaker 1: for generating these powerful cosmic phenomena. The work demonstrates the

23:44 Speaker 1: power of multidisciplinary collaboration and advanced computational resources. By bringing

23:50 Speaker 1: together experts from different fields and running more comprehensive simulations

23:54 Speaker 1: than ever before, the team was able to see connections

23:58 Speaker 1: that had previously been missed. Well. That brings us to

24:02 Speaker 1: the end of another fascinating episode of Astronomy Daily. From

24:06 Speaker 1: the expansion of NASA's deep space network in Australia to

24:09 Speaker 1: Saturn's rarely seen edge on rings, we've covered some truly

24:13 Speaker 1: remarkable developments in our cosmic neighborhood. The busy launch week

24:17 Speaker 1: ahead promises to push human exploration further, while commercial lunar

24:21 Speaker 1: lander companies are finding growing interest beyond NASA's missions. Perhaps

24:26 Speaker 1: most exciting was our look at the breakthrough in understanding

24:29 Speaker 1: black hole magnetism, solving a paradox that has puzzled scientists

24:33 Speaker 1: for years by revealing how these cosmic monsters inherit their

24:36 Speaker 1: magnetic fields from their mother neutron stars. The universe continues

24:41 Speaker 1: to surprise us with its complexity and beauty, reminding us

24:45 Speaker 1: why astronomy remains one of the most captivating scientific pursuits.

24:49 Speaker 1: I'm Anna, and I've been your host for this edition

24:52 Speaker 1: of Astronomy Daily. If you enjoyed today's episode, please visit

24:57 Speaker 1: our website at Astronomydaily dot io, where you can sign

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25:03 Speaker 1: our back episodes. It's the perfect way to stay informed

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25:19 Speaker 1: Share your thoughts about today's topics or suggest subjects you'd

25:23 Speaker 1: like us to cover in future episodes. Until next time,

25:27 Speaker 1: keep looking up. There's always something amazing happening in our

25:30 Speaker 1: cosmic neighborhood. Sunday Star Star