Cosmic Discoveries: Mini Moons, Laser Stars, and the Coldest Exoplanet Ever

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm anna bringing you the latest

0:03 Speaker 1: astronomical wonders and space news from across the universe. Today,

0:08 Speaker 1: we have a stellar lineup of fascinating stories that showcase

0:11 Speaker 1: just how dynamic our universe truly is. We'll explore the

0:14 Speaker 1: surprising discovery of many moons lurking near Earth that might

0:18 Speaker 1: hint at a hidden population of lunar fragments in our neighborhood.

0:22 Speaker 1: Then we'll look at a remarkable telescope that's literally shooting

0:25 Speaker 1: lasers into space to create artificial stars. I'll also share

0:29 Speaker 1: details about the James Webb Space Telescopes groundbreaking discovery of

0:33 Speaker 1: the coldest exoplanet ever found and it's orbiting a dead star. Plus,

0:38 Speaker 1: get ready for the upcoming Eta Aquarid meteor Shower, your

0:41 Speaker 1: chance to witness the cosmic debris from Halle's comment lighting

0:44 Speaker 1: up our night skies. And finally, we'll update you on

0:48 Speaker 1: that Soviet Venus lander that's been stranded in Earth orbit

0:51 Speaker 1: for over five decades and is now making its way

0:54 Speaker 1: back home. So let's journey together through these cosmic tales

0:58 Speaker 1: that remind us just how wondrous our universe truly is.

1:03 Speaker 1: First up, today, Earth's Moon might be getting a bit

1:05 Speaker 1: of company in our cosmic neighborhood. Scientists have discovered what

1:09 Speaker 1: appears to be a second mini moon, a small rocky

1:12 Speaker 1: body that travels near Earth's orbit. This new mini moon,

1:15 Speaker 1: designated twenty twenty four PT five, was first spotted last

1:19 Speaker 1: year by astronomers in South Africa, and the evidence suggests

1:23 Speaker 1: it may have been blown off our own Moon during

1:25 Speaker 1: an ancient impact event. What makes twenty twenty four PT

1:29 Speaker 1: five particularly interesting is that it represents the second known

1:33 Speaker 1: lunar fragment traveling near Earth. The first, called camo Oalewa,

1:37 Speaker 1: was traced to the Moon in twenty twenty one. As

1:40 Speaker 1: planetary scientists Teddy Caretta from Lowell Observatory in Arizona puts it,

1:45 Speaker 1: if there were only one object, that would be interesting

1:48 Speaker 1: but an outlier. If there's two, were pretty confident that's

1:52 Speaker 1: a population. This discovery hints at a potentially hidden collection

1:56 Speaker 1: of lunar fragments orbiting in Earth like paths around the Sun.

2:00 Speaker 1: Think of it as Earth traveling in its highway lane

2:03 Speaker 1: around the Sun, while these mini moons cruise along in

2:06 Speaker 1: adjacent lanes, occasionally merging into Earth's path. Before moving on again.

2:11 Speaker 1: What's fascinating about twenty twenty four PT five is how

2:14 Speaker 1: researchers identified its lunar origin. After its discovery, scientists quickly

2:20 Speaker 1: turned the Lowell Discovery telescope toward this space rock and

2:23 Speaker 1: studied it using both visible and near infrared data. The

2:27 Speaker 1: composition matched rocks brought back by Apollo missions and the

2:30 Speaker 1: Soviet Union's Luna twenty four mission, confirming its lunar heritage.

2:34 Speaker 1: Size Wise, twenty twenty four PT five is relatively small,

2:38 Speaker 1: estimated at just twenty six to thirty nine feet in diameter.

2:42 Speaker 1: Scientists believe it was likely excavated when an asteroid or

2:45 Speaker 1: other object crashed into the Moon, ejecting material that eventually

2:48 Speaker 1: found its way into an earth like orbit. Kreta aptly

2:52 Speaker 1: compared this discovery to finding a new kind of evidence

2:54 Speaker 1: at a crime scene. These lunar fragments offer scientists a

2:57 Speaker 1: unique opportunity to study the effects of massive impacts on

3:00 Speaker 1: the Moon. By matching the debris to specific lunar craters,

3:04 Speaker 1: researchers may gain new insights into how cratering events shape

3:08 Speaker 1: planetary bodies throughout the Solar System. The two confirmed mini

3:11 Speaker 1: moons appear quite different from each other. Kama Oaloa is

3:15 Speaker 1: larger and shows signs of longer exposure to cosmic rays

3:18 Speaker 1: and solar radiation, suggesting it's been in space longer than

3:21 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four pt five. Their orbits also differ slightly.

3:26 Speaker 1: While twenty twenty four pt five occasionally crosses Earth's orbital path,

3:31 Speaker 1: Kamo Waloa maintains a more consistent quasi satellite orbit that

3:35 Speaker 1: keeps it in Earth's vicinity for several consecutive orbits. Researchers

3:40 Speaker 1: are now actively searching for more of these lunar refugees,

3:43 Speaker 1: with Kreta suggesting that some asteroids previously classified as unusual

3:47 Speaker 1: might actually be disguised lunar rocks. As new large scale

3:51 Speaker 1: survey telescopes like the Vera Reuben Observatory come online, we

3:55 Speaker 1: may soon discover that Earth's mini moon population is much

3:58 Speaker 1: larger than previously thought. Next up a rather intriguing experiment

4:03 Speaker 1: at the Paranol Observatory in Chile, astronomers have developed what

4:07 Speaker 1: might be the most dramatic solution to a persistent problem.

4:10 Speaker 1: They're shooting powerful lasers into space. But this isn't science fiction.

4:13 Speaker 1: It's cutting edge astronomy at work. The UT four telescope,

4:18 Speaker 1: one of four to eight meter behemoths that make up

4:20 Speaker 1: the very large telescope array, is equipped with a remarkable

4:23 Speaker 1: system called the four Laser Guide Star facility. This system

4:28 Speaker 1: allows the telescope to do something extraordinary, create artificial stars

4:32 Speaker 1: high in Earth's atmosphere. When we look up at the

4:35 Speaker 1: night sky, we see stars twinkling. While this might be beautiful,

4:39 Speaker 1: it's actually a serious problem for astronomers trying to capture

4:41 Speaker 1: clear images. That twinkling is caused by atmospheric turbulence. Essentially,

4:46 Speaker 1: we're looking at space through a constantly shifting layer of

4:49 Speaker 1: air that distorts the light. The UT four solution. It

4:53 Speaker 1: fires four brilliant laser beams about ninety kilometers up into

4:56 Speaker 1: the atmosphere, where they excite sodium atoms, causing them to

5:00 Speaker 1: glow brightly. These glowing points effectively create guide stars that

5:04 Speaker 1: the telescope can use as reference points. By observing how

5:08 Speaker 1: these artificial stars are distorted by the Earth's atmosphere in

5:11 Speaker 1: real time, the telescope's adaptive optics system can precisely adjust

5:16 Speaker 1: the shape of its secondary mirror to counteract the blurring effects.

5:20 Speaker 1: It's like wearing glasses that constantly update their prescription to

5:23 Speaker 1: match changing conditions. The results are spectacular. This technology allows

5:28 Speaker 1: ut for to capture images from the ground that are

5:31 Speaker 1: almost as sharp as those taken from space based telescopes,

5:34 Speaker 1: but at a fraction of the cost, and with the

5:37 Speaker 1: ability to upgrade and maintain the equipment regularly. The success

5:41 Speaker 1: of this system has been so impressive that plans are

5:44 Speaker 1: underway to equip the other three telescopes in the VLT

5:47 Speaker 1: array with similar laser technology. This is part of a

5:51 Speaker 1: series of upgrades to the VLT Interferometer and its Gravity

5:55 Speaker 1: Plus instrument, which can combine light from multiple telescopes to

5:59 Speaker 1: create what is essentially a huge virtual telescope. Not far

6:02 Speaker 1: from Paranol, another ambitious project is taking shape. The extremely

6:07 Speaker 1: large telescope currently under construction, will be equipped with at

6:11 Speaker 1: least six lasers to ensure it delivers the sharpest possible

6:14 Speaker 1: images for a ground based observatory. What makes this technology

6:18 Speaker 1: truly revolutionary is how it transforms the capabilities of Earth

6:22 Speaker 1: based astronomy. Space telescopes like Hubble and James Webb provide

6:26 Speaker 1: incredible clarity, but are extraordinarily expensive to build, launch and operate.

6:32 Speaker 1: With laser adaptive optics, ground based telescopes can now approach

6:36 Speaker 1: that level of precision while remaining accessible for regular upgrades

6:39 Speaker 1: and maintenance. This brilliant solution, literally creating stars with lasers

6:44 Speaker 1: to see the real ones better, represents one of the

6:47 Speaker 1: most innovative approaches in modern astronomy. It's allowing us to

6:51 Speaker 1: peer deeper into the cosmos than ever before, all while

6:55 Speaker 1: keeping our feet firmly on the ground. And while on

6:58 Speaker 1: the subject of telescope, let's get an update from the JWST.

7:03 Speaker 1: The James Webb Space Telescope has made another groundbreaking discovery,

7:07 Speaker 1: this time finding the first confirmed planet orbiting a dead star.

7:11 Speaker 1: This isn't just any exoplanet, it's also the coldest one

7:15 Speaker 1: ever directly observed, offering astronomer's unprecedented insights into planetary evolution.

7:21 Speaker 1: The planet, named WD eighteen fifty six plus five thirty

7:24 Speaker 1: four B, was actually first spotted back in twenty twenty,

7:28 Speaker 1: but scientists weren't entirely sure whether it was truly a

7:31 Speaker 1: planet or possibly a brown dwarf, one of those failed

7:34 Speaker 1: stars that never quite gathered enough mass to ignite fusion

7:38 Speaker 1: in their cores. It took the incredible sensitivity of the

7:41 Speaker 1: James Webb Space Telescope to settle the debate. Located about

7:45 Speaker 1: eighty light years from Earth, this Jupiter sized world orbits

7:49 Speaker 1: a white dwarf, the dense Earth sized remnant core left

7:53 Speaker 1: behind after a sunlike star has exhausted its nuclear fuel,

7:56 Speaker 1: expanded into a red giant, and then collapsed. What makes

8:00 Speaker 1: this discovery particularly fascinating is that the planet completes an

8:03 Speaker 1: orbit around its dead star every one point four days,

8:07 Speaker 1: placing it remarkably close to the stellar remnant. This proximity

8:11 Speaker 1: creates what astronomers call a paradox. WD eighteen fifty six

8:15 Speaker 1: plus five thirty four B exists in what should be

8:18 Speaker 1: a forbidden zone, a region so close to the white

8:21 Speaker 1: dwarf that any planet there should have been completely destroyed

8:24 Speaker 1: when the star expanded during its red giant phase. Yet

8:27 Speaker 1: somehow this massive world survived, or more likely migrated inward

8:32 Speaker 1: after the star's violent death throws had subsided. As Mary

8:36 Speaker 1: Anne Limbach, the astronomer who led the study at the

8:39 Speaker 1: University of Michigan, put it, this is compelling evidence that

8:43 Speaker 1: planets cannot only survive the violent death of their star,

8:46 Speaker 1: but also move into orbits where we didn't previously necessarily

8:50 Speaker 1: expect them to exist. The planet is extraordinarily cold, with

8:54 Speaker 1: a temperature of about negative one hundred twenty five degrees

8:57 Speaker 1: fahrenheit negative eighty seven degrees celsia. This makes it significantly

9:02 Speaker 1: colder than the previous record holder Epsilon INDAB, which is

9:07 Speaker 1: a relatively balmy thirty five degrees fahrenheit. The extreme cold,

9:12 Speaker 1: combined with its orbit around a white dwarf, offers astronomers

9:15 Speaker 1: a unique laboratory for studying planetary atmospheres and evolution. This

9:20 Speaker 1: discovery has wide ranging implications for our understanding of cosmic evolution.

9:25 Speaker 1: It suggests that the migration of planets after stellar death

9:29 Speaker 1: might be a key mechanism for positioning worlds in the

9:31 Speaker 1: potentially habitable zones around white dwarfs, regions where liquid water

9:35 Speaker 1: and potentially life could exist while this particular gas giant

9:39 Speaker 1: wouldn't be habitable. The principle applies to smaller rocky worlds

9:43 Speaker 1: as well. The James Webb Space Telescope hasn't yet reached

9:47 Speaker 1: its theoretical limits for detecting cold objects. Future observation programs

9:51 Speaker 1: aim to push those boundaries, potentially allowing astronomers to detect

9:55 Speaker 1: planets as cold as negative three hundred twenty four degrees fahrenheit.

10:00 Speaker 1: Such capabilities would accelerate our understanding of exoplanets similar to

10:04 Speaker 1: our own Jupiter and Saturn, placing our Solar System in

10:07 Speaker 1: a broader galactic context. The research team isn't finished with

10:11 Speaker 1: this fascinating system either. They plan to conduct a second

10:14 Speaker 1: JWST observation this July, hoping to spot any additional planets

10:19 Speaker 1: that might be gravitationally bound to the star. Finding another

10:23 Speaker 1: planet could help explain how WD eighteen fifty six plus

10:26 Speaker 1: five thirty four B managed to migrate to its current

10:29 Speaker 1: close orbit around the White Dwarf without being destroyed in

10:32 Speaker 1: the process. Whether or not they find additional planets, these

10:36 Speaker 1: observations represent a crucial step forward in understanding how planetary

10:41 Speaker 1: systems evolve through the dramatic final stages of a star's

10:44 Speaker 1: life cycle, knowledge that may one day help us predict

10:47 Speaker 1: the ultimate fate of our own Solar system. Okay, it's

10:52 Speaker 1: time to get outside and look up. Get ready for

10:54 Speaker 1: a spectacular celestial light show, as the Eta Aquarid media

10:58 Speaker 1: shower is set to peak on the morning of Tuesday,

11:00 Speaker 1: May six, that's this coming Tuesday. This dazzling display occurs

11:05 Speaker 1: when Earth passes through the debris trail left behind by

11:08 Speaker 1: perhaps the most famous cosmic wanderer of all, Halley's Comet.

11:12 Speaker 1: During the peak nights of May five and six, well

11:15 Speaker 1: positioned observers could witness up to fifty meteors per hour

11:18 Speaker 1: streaking across the night sky. These shooting stars are actually

11:22 Speaker 1: tiny particles of primordial comet dust, some no bigger than

11:26 Speaker 1: grains of sand, that slam into Earth's atmosphere at the

11:29 Speaker 1: astonishing speed of forty miles per second. That's about one

11:33 Speaker 1: hundred forty four thousand miles per hour. The shower takes

11:36 Speaker 1: its name from its radiant point, which appears to be

11:39 Speaker 1: near the star Eta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius. This

11:44 Speaker 1: makes the Southern Hemisphere the prime viewing location for this

11:47 Speaker 1: particular meteor shower, as Aquarius rises much higher in their

11:51 Speaker 1: night sky this time of year, allowing observers there to

11:54 Speaker 1: catch the greatest number of meteors. For those of us

11:57 Speaker 1: in the Northern Hemisphere, don't despair. We can still enjoy

12:01 Speaker 1: the show, though with somewhat reduced numbers. The best viewing

12:05 Speaker 1: time will be during the pre dawn hours when Aquarius

12:08 Speaker 1: rises in the eastern sky, Observers in places like New

12:12 Speaker 1: York might expect to see around ten meteors per hour.

12:15 Speaker 1: While fewer than our southern neighbors, it's still a respectable

12:18 Speaker 1: showing for a meteor shower. What makes the Eta Aquarids

12:22 Speaker 1: particularly special is the nature of the meteors themselves. They're

12:26 Speaker 1: known for leaving glowing debris trails that can persist in

12:28 Speaker 1: the night sky for several seconds after the meteor itself

12:32 Speaker 1: has disappeared. These luminous trails are sometimes called persistent trains

12:36 Speaker 1: and add an ethereal quality to the shower. For the

12:39 Speaker 1: best viewing experience, experts recommend finding a spot forty degrees

12:43 Speaker 1: away from the radiant in the direction of your zenith

12:46 Speaker 1: that's the point directly overhead. Allow at least thirty minutes

12:50 Speaker 1: for your eyes to fully adapt to the darkness, and remember,

12:53 Speaker 1: binoculars or telescopes aren't necessary or even recommended for meteor watching.

12:58 Speaker 1: Your naked eyes, with their wide field of view, are

13:01 Speaker 1: the perfect instruments for taking in these fleeting celestial visitors.

13:05 Speaker 1: While the shower peaks on May five six, the Eta

13:08 Speaker 1: Aquorids have actually been active since April twenty, so keep

13:12 Speaker 1: watching the skies in the coming days. As activity ramps up.

13:15 Speaker 1: There's always the chance of catching an especially dramatic fireball,

13:19 Speaker 1: a meteor that burns exceptionally bright as a larger chunk

13:22 Speaker 1: of cometary debris meets its fiery end in our atmosphere.

13:26 Speaker 1: This celestial light show is just one of two annual

13:29 Speaker 1: meteor showers produced by Halle's comet. We'll cross its debris

13:32 Speaker 1: field again in October, creating the Orionid meteor Shower. So

13:36 Speaker 1: even though Halle itself won't return to the inner Solar

13:39 Speaker 1: System until twenty sixty one, we get to enjoy its

13:42 Speaker 1: cosmic calling cards twice each year. Finally, today, an update

13:46 Speaker 1: to a story we covered yesterday, there's new information. After

13:50 Speaker 1: more than half a century silently orbiting Earth, a relic

13:53 Speaker 1: of the space race is finally coming home. The Soviet

13:57 Speaker 1: Union's Cosmos four hundred and eighty two, a failed VSNUS

14:00 Speaker 1: probe launched back in nineteen seventy two, is expected to

14:03 Speaker 1: re enter Earth's atmosphere around May tenth, give or take

14:06 Speaker 1: about two days. According to satellite tracker Marco Langbruck. This

14:11 Speaker 1: isn't your typical space debris. Cosmos four hundred eighty two

14:15 Speaker 1: was meant to be a sister mission to the successful

14:17 Speaker 1: Venera eight, which successfully landed on Venus and transmitted data

14:21 Speaker 1: for fifty minutes before succumbing to the planet's crushing atmosphere

14:25 Speaker 1: and scorching temperatures. Unfortunately, Cosmos four hundred eighty two's upper

14:30 Speaker 1: stage rocket malfunctioned after reaching Earth orbit, stranding the Venus

14:34 Speaker 1: bound spacecraft in our planet's gravitational embrace. What makes this

14:39 Speaker 1: re entry particularly fascinating is that the surviving component appears

14:43 Speaker 1: to be the actual lander module, a reinforced capsule specifically

14:47 Speaker 1: designed to withstand the extreme conditions of Venus. This robust

14:52 Speaker 1: engineering means it might actually survive the plunge through Earth's

14:55 Speaker 1: atmosphere intact and reach the surface without disintegrating. Recent images

15:01 Speaker 1: captured by satellite tracker Ralph Vanderberg in the Netherlands reveal

15:05 Speaker 1: intriguing details about the wayward spacecraft. His high resolution photography

15:10 Speaker 1: shows what appears to be a clear compact ball, presumably

15:15 Speaker 1: the lander itself. Even more interesting, several frames seem to

15:19 Speaker 1: show a weak, elongated structure extending from one side of

15:22 Speaker 1: the spherical object. This has led to speculation that the

15:26 Speaker 1: lander's parachute may have prematurely deployed during its decades in orbit.

15:30 Speaker 1: Vanderberg notes that the object might be tumbling, which would

15:34 Speaker 1: explain why this potential parachute is only visible in certain frames.

15:38 Speaker 1: If confirmed, this would be an extraordinary development a spacecraft

15:42 Speaker 1: that not only survived fifty three years in space, but

15:44 Speaker 1: actually initiated part of its landing sequence while still in orbit.

15:49 Speaker 1: The re entry is expected to be a long, shallow

15:51 Speaker 1: trajectory through the atmosphere due to the spacecraft's current orbit. This,

15:56 Speaker 1: combined with the age and condition of the object, introduced

16:00 Speaker 1: numerous uncertainties about exactly when and where it might return

16:04 Speaker 1: to Earth. However, the fact that this capsule was engineered

16:08 Speaker 1: to withstand Venus's atmosphere, which is far denser and hotter

16:11 Speaker 1: than Earth's, gives it a fighting chance to reach the

16:14 Speaker 1: surface relatively intact. This unexpected return of Cosmos four eighty

16:19 Speaker 1: two offers a rare opportunity to examine early Soviet planetary

16:23 Speaker 1: exploration technology that has endured more than five decades in

16:26 Speaker 1: the harsh environment of space. For scientists and space enthusiasts, alike.

16:31 Speaker 1: This visitor from the early days of interplanetary exploration provides

16:35 Speaker 1: a tangible connection to the ambitious dreams of the first

16:38 Speaker 1: space age. Well that brings us to the end of

16:42 Speaker 1: today's cosmic journey, and what an extraordinary collection of discoveries

16:46 Speaker 1: we've explored together. From the hidden population of mini moons

16:49 Speaker 1: that may be scattered throughout our orbital neighborhood to giant

16:52 Speaker 1: telescopes shooting lasers into space, the universe continues to surprise

16:57 Speaker 1: and captivate us. The James Webb Space temeelescope's discovery of

17:01 Speaker 1: a planet orbiting a dead star challenges our understanding of

17:04 Speaker 1: planetary survival, while the upcoming Eta Aquarid meteor Shower promises

17:09 Speaker 1: to paint our skies with celestial fireworks, and the imminent

17:13 Speaker 1: return of a Soviet Venus lander after fifty three years

17:16 Speaker 1: in orbit reminds us of humanity's long history of reaching

17:20 Speaker 1: toward other worlds. If you've enjoyed today's episode, I'd love

17:23 Speaker 1: for you to visit our website at Astronomy Daily dot io,

17:27 Speaker 1: where you can sign up for our free daily newsletter

17:29 Speaker 1: and catch up on all the latest space in astronomy

17:32 Speaker 1: news with our constantly updating newsfeed. You can subscribe to

17:36 Speaker 1: Astronomy Daily on all podcast apps including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,

17:41 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts from him.

17:45 Speaker 1: Anna and I'll be back soon with more fascinating stories

17:48 Speaker 1: from the cosmos. Until then, keep looking up. There's a

17:51 Speaker 1: lot going on if only.

17:52 Speaker 2: You Lookday stars, the stars, the soul Stars, the soul

18:15 Speaker 2: m