Cosmic Filaments, Earth 2.0, and Mayonnaise in Space

0:00 Avery: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast that brings you the latest news from across the cosmos. I'm your host, Avery. Anna: And I'm Anna. It's great to be with you. We've got a busy show today. From the largest rotating structure ever observed to. Man is in space. Avery: That's right. We'll also be looking at China's ambitious plans to find Earth 2.0, checking in on a commander swap at the International Space Station, and celebrating an Emmy win for NASA. So let's get started. Anna: First up, an incredible discovery that's being compared to a cosmic teacup ride.

0:37 Astronomers have found a string of 14 galaxies that are all spinning in the same direction as the massive structure they belong to. Avery: And this isn't just any structure. It's a cosmic filament. A gigantic thread like formation made of dark matter, galaxies and gas. They're the biggest things in the universe, forming a kind of cosmic web. Anna: Exactly. This particular filament is about 50 million light years long and is rotating at a staggering velocity of 110 kilometers per second. Avery: Wow, 110 kilometers per second.

1:13 And the galaxies within it are spinning along with it. Anna: That's the amazing part. Researchers looked at a section of this filament about 140 million light years away. They found these 14 galaxies, all rich in hydrogen gas, moving in a way that suggests the whole structure is rotating. And more surprisingly, many of the galaxies themselves are spinning in the same direction as the filament. Avery: Right. The lead researcher, Lila Zhang, used a great analogy. She said it's like the teacups ride at a theme park.

1:44 Anna: Mhm. Each galaxy is a spinning teacup and the whole platform, the cosmic filament, is rotating too. This dual motion gives us a rare insight into how galaxies get their spin from the cosmic web they inhabit. It suggests these larger structures have a much stronger influence than we previously thought. Avery: A truly mind bending discovery. Now let's shift our focus a bit closer to home and look at the future of space exploration. The China National Space Agency, or cnsa, has outlined some very ambitious plans.

2:18 Anna: That's right. In a video titled Earth 2.0. Um, China's plan to find New Earth. They detailed four major upcoming missions scheduled for their 15th five year plan between 2026 and 2030. Avery: And these missions cover a huge range of objectives. They're planning a radio astronomy experiment for the far side of the moon, a solar observatory to study space weather, duts. Anna: A space telescope to monitor black holes and neutron stars, and of course, the exoplanet hunting satellite that will search for Those Earth like planets.

2:51 Avery: It's a clear statement of intent. China is positioning itself to be at, uh, the absolute forefront of space science and exploration in the coming decade. Anna: Absolutely. Now for a couple of updates from the International Space Station, where it's been a busy few days. First up, a change of leadership. Avery: Yes, Expedition 73 is handing the reins over to Expedition 74. On Sunday, veteran Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Rysakov will pass the symbolic stat key to four time NASA astronaut Mike Finke.

3:22 Anna: And that handover marks the beginning of the end of the mission for three crew members. Risakov, along with flight engineers Alexei Zubritsky and NASA's Johnny Kim, are packing up for their return trip to Earth inside the Soyuz MS.27 spacecraft. Avery: Safe travels to them. But while the crew is changing, the science never stops. And our next story from the ISS is a fascinating one. Anna, uh, why are scientists studying mayonnaise in space? Anna: It sounds strange, but it's all about understanding something called soft matter.

3:53 This includes things like gels, foams, colloids, and mayonnaise. These substances have internal structures that reorganize very slowly over time. Think about how sunscreen can change in the cabinet or how a cream loses effectiveness. Avery: Okay, that makes sense. And studying this process on Earth is complicated by gravity, right? Anna: Exactly. So researchers developed an experiment called Colis, which is now operating on the space station. It uses sophisticated optical techniques to look inside these materials without disturbing them in a microgravity environment.

4:29 Avery: And are there any results yet? Anna: There are, and they're already surprising. Early data shows that gravity affects the structure of soft matter much more dramatically than anyone expected. This could have huge implications for everything from food production to pharmaceuticals right here on Earth. Avery: Incredible. What we can learn from looking at everyday items in an extraordinary place. Next, let's talk comets. NASA's Punch mission has released an incredible 40 day timelapse of Comet Swann.

4:58 Anna: This might be the longest, most frequent observation of a comet ever recorded. The Spacecraft imaged Comet C 2025 R2, also known as Swann, every four minutes from late August to early October. Avery: The video is just stunning. You can see the comet gliding through space with its bluish green coma and glowing tail. Clear visible. That glow is from the sun's heat vaporizing the comet's ices, a process called sublimation. Mhm. Anna: And there was an unexpected guest star in the video. The comet happened to be sharing the same patch of sky with the famous Interstellar Visitor 3i Atlas, which you can just glimpse in the footage.

5:36 A true cosmic photobomb Fantastic. Avery: And for our final story today, we're switching from scientific observation to television production. NASA has won another Emmy award. Anna: They have. This time it's for their broadcast of the total solar eclipse back on April 8, 2024. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recognized them for excellence in production technology. Avery: And it was a massive undertaking. The agency called it the most complex life project they've ever produced. The broadcast was three hours long, covered seven American states in two countries, and had hosts and correspondents all over the path of totality.

6:13 Anna: The effort definitely paid off. The broadcast pulled in nearly 40 million views across all of NASA's channels, including their streaming service, NASA. From watch parties in libraries to Times Square, people all over the world tuned in. Avery: A well deserved win for a truly spectacular production that brought a celestial wonder to millions. And that, unfortunately, is all the time we have for today. Anna: Thanks for joining us on Astronomy Daily. If you'd like to stay on top of all the latest space news or listen to our back episodes, join us just visit our [email protected].

6:48 it's constantly updating, so there's always something new to check out. Avery: And that's it for today. See uh you Monday when we do it all over again. Until then, clear skies and keep looking up.

7:10 Sam.