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

0:00 Anna: Hey there, space enthusiasts and welcome back to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Anna, and I'm super excited to take you on a whirlwind tour of the cosmos right from the comfort of your earbuds. Today we've got some mind blowing stories lined up. We'll be diving into the mystery of Titan's wobbling atmosphere, checking out a newly discovered ancient monster galaxy, and looking into the delays plaguing Boeing's Starliner programme. And we'll wrap it all up with a peek into the next 50 years in space, according to the Royal Society.

0:28 So buckle up space cadets. It's going to be a fun R. Alright, first up, let's talk about Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Now get this. Scientists have discovered that Titan's atmosphere isn't exactly sitting still. It like wobbles. Yeah, you heard me right. Wobbles like a gyroscope. A recent study after analysing infrared light readings over 13 years has revealed that Titan's atmosphere isn't fixed in line with its surface. It shifts across the seasons. Spooky. Huh? Huh? Now the big question is why?

0:59 What's causing this weird wobble? Planetary scientist Lucy Wright compares it to a gyroscope stabilising itself in space and adds that the wobble changes with Titan's seasons. One theory is that it has something to do with Titan's orbit around the sun and Saturn. But the direction of the tilt remains fixed, which is just adding to the mystery. Maybe, and this is just a maybe. A large impact event in Titan's past could have started the wobbles and possibly changed its climate. Now why should we care?

1:30 Well, this research is crucial for the upcoming Dragonfly mission scheduled for 2034. Dragonfly's gonna land on Titan and to do that safely, we need to really understand its atmosphere. Plus understanding Titan's atmosphere, which by the way, is the only moon in our solar system to have a proper atmosphere, might help us understand how life could survive on other planets. Even better, studying Titan could even help us understand Earth's atmosphere better. Who knew? Right, next up, we're heading way, way back in time, like 11.1 billion years back.

2:04 Astronomers have just spotted a massive super active spiral galaxy from the early universe. And it's shedding new light on how galaxies like our own Milky Way took shape. Now this galaxy ain't just any galaxy. It's what they call a, ah, monster galaxy that's growing super fast by making stars at an incredible rate. It's got a bright central bar, a feature seen in many modern spiral galaxies, including our own, this bar acts like a funnel directing gas inward to fuel the birth of new stars. And this one, called J0107A.

2:33 It's like the oldest and most massive barred spiral galaxy we've ever seen. Think of it as a time capsule, giving us a peek into how these galactic structures formed and evolved way back in the early universe. What's really cool is that the team found that the gas in J0107A is distributed and moves in a way that's similar to modern galaxies. But get this, the concentrations of gas are way higher and the speed of the gas flow is much faster. Astronomers think this massive influx of gas to the centre of the galaxy will cause even more star formation, driving its evolution.

3:11 This is the first time these features have been observed. And turns out they weren't predicted by any of the theoretical models. How about that, huh? Huh? Alright, let's turn our attention back to Earth, or at least to Earth's space programmes. Remember Boeing's Starliner? Well, a year ago it was docking with the International Space Station for its crew flight test with NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore. But, a year later, the future of the Starliner programme is, well, still up in the air.

3:39 NASA just announced that the next flight has been delayed again. This time from late 2025 to early 2026 at the soonest. And get this, they're still deciding whether or not the next flight will even have astronauts on board. Seriously, Sunita Williams even told readers that flying an uncrewed Starliner flight next would be the logical thing to do. Makes you wonder what's going on, doesn't it? So after its first mission with a crew last June, lingering issues with helium leaks and propulsion system anomalies caused the spacecraft to, you know, return to Earth without its crew.

4:16 Ouch. Now NASA and Boeing are trying to figure out how to fix these issues. They're doing tests at the White Sands Test Facility, firing up key thrusters to validate their thermal models and look at potential upgrades. And about those astronauts, who's going to be on the first crewed mission whenever that happens? Well, even NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are being kind of cagey about it. They're not confirming who's assigned to the mission. Back in 2018, they announced the cruise, then people got reassigned and things got complicated.

4:45 It's all a bit of a mess really. But hey, at least astronaut Butch Wilmore said he'd ride on Starliner again, cuz he's confident they're Gonna fix all the issues. Gotta admire that kind of optimism right now. Let's jump into the future, like, way into the future. The Royal society in the UK just dropped a report called Speaker Space 2075. And it's wild. We're talking asteroid mining, space factories, and even the big question, are we alone? The report envisions a new era of space activities that could totally reshape the world.

5:21 Imagine clean energy beamed down to Earth from space. Robots recycling dead satellites and products labelled Made in space. Sounds like sci fi, right? But the report warns that the UK needs a clear plan to keep up, otherwise they might miss out on all these opportunities. They're saying this is as big as the Industrial Revolution. Think about it. Factories in microgravity making stuff we can't even make on Earth. Interplanetary space stations and even industries moving into orbit. Power hungry data farms could benefit from all that solar energy and free cooling up there.

5:56 And get this, they're even talking about recycling space junk to reduce collision risks and prevent pollution. Makes sense, right? But it's not all sunshine and roses. The report also warns about potential conflicts in space over prime spots on planets, valuable orbits and radio frequencies. It's like the Wild west, but in space, ethical challenges are also on the horizon. What if we engineer bugs to make living tools on Mars, but they end up wiping out native microbes? And what happens when humans start being born on Mars?

6:26 Deep stuff. Huh? Huh? Oh, and of course, the big one, alien life. The report says if there are aliens nearby, we'll probably know in the next 50 years. Let's hope it brings us together, not tears us apart. Fingers crossed. So that's your Astronomy Daily News for today. We looked at Titan's wobbly atmosphere, a, mega ancient galaxy, starliner's ongoing delays, and the Royal Society's peek into the future. Thanks for tuning in. I've been your host, Anna. And don't forget to visit our [email protected] for like all things Astronomy Daily News, updates, back episodes and how to get in touch until next time.

7:07 Keep looking up. I'm Anna, signing off for today.