Cosmic Wobbles, Monster Galaxies, and the Future of Space Exploration

0:00 Anna: Hey there, space enthusiasts and welcome back

0:02 to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Anna, and

0:05 I'm super excited to take you on a whirlwind

0:08 tour of the cosmos right from the comfort of

0:09 your earbuds. Today we've got some mind

0:12 blowing stories lined up. We'll be diving

0:14 into the mystery of Titan's wobbling

0:16 atmosphere, checking out a newly discovered

0:18 ancient monster galaxy, and looking into the

0:21 delays plaguing Boeing's Starliner programme.

0:23 And we'll wrap it all up with a peek into the

0:25 next 50 years in space, according to the

0:27 Royal Society. So buckle up space cadets.

0:30 It's going to be a fun R.

0:33 Alright, first up, let's talk about Titan,

0:34 Saturn's largest moon. Now get this.

0:37 Scientists have discovered that Titan's

0:39 atmosphere isn't exactly sitting still. It

0:41 like wobbles. Yeah, you heard me right.

0:44 Wobbles like a gyroscope. A recent

0:46 study after analysing infrared light readings

0:49 over 13 years has revealed that Titan's

0:52 atmosphere isn't fixed in line with its

0:53 surface. It shifts across the seasons.

0:56 Spooky. Huh? Huh? Now the big question is

0:59 why? What's causing this weird wobble?

1:02 Planetary scientist Lucy Wright compares it

1:04 to a gyroscope stabilising itself in space

1:07 and adds that the wobble changes with Titan's

1:10 seasons. One theory is that it has something

1:12 to do with Titan's orbit around the sun and

1:14 Saturn. But the direction of the tilt remains

1:17 fixed, which is just adding to the mystery.

1:20 Maybe, and this is just a maybe. A large

1:23 impact event in Titan's past could have

1:25 started the wobbles and possibly changed its

1:28 climate. Now why should we care? Well, this

1:31 research is crucial for the upcoming

1:32 Dragonfly mission scheduled for 2034.

1:35 Dragonfly's gonna land on Titan and to do

1:37 that safely, we need to really understand its

1:40 atmosphere. Plus understanding

1:43 Titan's atmosphere, which by the way, is the

1:45 only moon in our solar system to have a

1:47 proper atmosphere, might help us understand

1:49 how life could survive on other planets. Even

1:52 better, studying Titan could even help us

1:54 understand Earth's atmosphere better. Who

1:57 knew?

1:57 Right, next up, we're heading

2:00 way, way back in time, like 11.1

2:02 billion years back. Astronomers have just

2:05 spotted a massive super active spiral galaxy

2:08 from the early universe. And it's shedding

2:10 new light on how galaxies like our own Milky

2:12 Way took shape. Now this galaxy ain't just

2:14 any galaxy. It's what they call a, ah,

2:16 monster galaxy that's growing super fast by

2:18 making stars at an incredible rate. It's got

2:21 a bright central bar, a feature seen in many

2:23 modern spiral galaxies, including our own,

2:26 this bar acts like a funnel directing gas

2:28 inward to fuel the birth of new stars.

2:31 And this one, called J0107A. It's like

2:34 the oldest and most massive barred spiral

2:36 galaxy we've ever seen. Think of it as a time

2:39 capsule, giving us a peek into how these

2:42 galactic structures formed and evolved way

2:44 back in the early universe. What's really

2:47 cool is that the team found that the gas in

2:50 J0107A is distributed

2:53 and moves in a way that's similar to modern

2:55 galaxies. But get this, the

2:57 concentrations of gas are way higher and the

3:00 speed of the gas flow is much faster.

3:03 Astronomers think this massive influx of gas

3:05 to the centre of the galaxy will cause even

3:08 more star formation, driving its evolution.

3:11 This is the first time these features have

3:12 been observed. And turns out they weren't

3:14 predicted by any of the theoretical models.

3:17 How about that, huh? Huh?

3:19 Alright, let's turn our attention back to

3:21 Earth, or at least to Earth's space

3:23 programmes. Remember Boeing's Starliner?

3:25 Well, a year ago it was docking with the

3:28 International Space Station for its crew

3:29 flight test with NASA astronauts Sunita

3:31 Williams and Barry Wilmore. But, a year

3:34 later, the future of the Starliner programme

3:36 is, well, still up in the air.

3:39 NASA just announced that the next flight has

3:41 been delayed again. This time from late

3:43 2025 to early 2026

3:47 at the soonest. And get this, they're still

3:49 deciding whether or not the next flight will

3:51 even have astronauts on board. Seriously,

3:54 Sunita Williams even told readers that flying

3:57 an uncrewed Starliner flight next would be

4:00 the logical thing to do. Makes you wonder

4:02 what's going on, doesn't it? So after its

4:05 first mission with a crew last June,

4:07 lingering issues with helium leaks and

4:09 propulsion system anomalies caused the

4:12 spacecraft to, you know, return to Earth

4:14 without its crew. Ouch. Now

4:17 NASA and Boeing are trying to figure out how

4:19 to fix these issues. They're doing tests at

4:21 the White Sands Test Facility, firing up key

4:24 thrusters to validate their thermal models

4:26 and look at potential upgrades. And about

4:29 those astronauts, who's going to be on the

4:31 first crewed mission whenever that happens?

4:33 Well, even NASA and the Canadian Space

4:36 Agency are being kind of cagey about it.

4:38 They're not confirming who's assigned to the

4:40 mission. Back in 2018, they announced the

4:42 cruise, then people got reassigned and things

4:45 got complicated. It's all a bit of a mess

4:47 really. But hey, at least astronaut Butch

4:50 Wilmore said he'd ride on Starliner again,

4:52 cuz he's confident they're Gonna fix all the

4:54 issues. Gotta admire that kind of optimism

4:57 right now.

5:00 Let's jump into the future, like, way into

5:02 the future. The Royal society in the UK

5:05 just dropped a report called Speaker Space

5:07 2075. And it's wild.

5:10 We're talking asteroid mining, space

5:13 factories, and even the big question, are we

5:15 alone? The report envisions a new

5:18 era of space activities that could totally

5:20 reshape the world. Imagine clean energy

5:23 beamed down to Earth from space. Robots

5:25 recycling dead satellites and products

5:27 labelled Made in space. Sounds like sci fi,

5:29 right? But the report warns that the UK needs

5:32 a clear plan to keep up, otherwise

5:35 they might miss out on all these

5:36 opportunities. They're saying this is as big

5:39 as the Industrial Revolution. Think about it.

5:42 Factories in microgravity making stuff we

5:45 can't even make on Earth. Interplanetary

5:47 space stations and even industries moving

5:49 into orbit. Power hungry data farms could

5:52 benefit from all that solar energy and free

5:55 cooling up there. And get this, they're even

5:57 talking about recycling space junk to reduce

6:00 collision risks and prevent pollution. Makes

6:03 sense, right? But it's not all sunshine and

6:04 roses. The report also warns about potential

6:07 conflicts in space over prime spots on

6:09 planets, valuable orbits and radio

6:12 frequencies. It's like the Wild west, but in

6:15 space, ethical challenges are also on the

6:17 horizon. What if we engineer bugs to make

6:20 living tools on Mars, but they end up wiping

6:22 out native microbes? And what happens when

6:25 humans start being born on Mars? Deep stuff.

6:27 Huh? Huh? Oh, and of course, the big one,

6:30 alien life. The report says if there are

6:33 aliens nearby, we'll probably know in the

6:35 next 50 years. Let's hope it brings us

6:37 together, not tears us apart. Fingers

6:39 crossed. So

6:42 that's your Astronomy Daily News for today.

6:45 We looked at Titan's wobbly atmosphere, a,

6:47 mega ancient galaxy, starliner's ongoing

6:50 delays, and the Royal Society's peek into the

6:53 future. Thanks for tuning in. I've been your

6:55 host, Anna. And don't forget to visit our

6:58 [email protected] for like all

7:01 things Astronomy Daily News, updates, back

7:03 episodes and how to get in touch until next

7:06 time. Keep looking up. I'm Anna, signing off

7:08 for today.