Dark Sky Victory, Jupiter Redefined, and Monster Sunspot Faces Earth

Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for

the latest space and astronomy news. I'm

Anna.

Avery: And I'm avery. Today's Thursday, February

5, 2026, and we've got a great lineup of

stories for you today.

Anna: We certainly do. We'll be covering a major

victory for dark sky preservation,

Groundbreaking measurements of Jupiter's true

size, a monster sunspot currently

facing Earth, mysterious Martian weather,

some frank talk from NASA about the SLS

rocket and how red giant star destroy

their own planetary systems.

Avery: Quite the cosmic menu. But before we dive in,

a quick reminder that you can get more space

news and community discussion at

astronomydaily IO and you can find us on

social media astrodaily pod across

all platforms.

Anna: Alright, let's start with some good news for

astronomy. Avery. What's happening with

Earth's darkest skies?

Avery: This is a story that really highlights how

fragile our connection to the night sky has

become. Anna. Uh, astronomers around the

world are breathing a collective sigh of

relief after plans for a major industrial

plant near one of Earth's darkest sky

locations have been canceled.

Anna: Oh, that's wonderful news. Where was this

proposed plant going to be built?

Avery: The development was planned near the Roque de

los Mochacos Observatory in the Canary

Islands, which hosts some of the most

important telescopes in the northern

hemisphere. This site is renowned for having

some of the darkest, clearest skies

accessible to modern astronomy. And the

proposed industrial facility would have

introduced significant light pollution to the

area.

Anna: I can imagine the astronomical community was

pretty concerned. These pristine observation

sites are becoming increasingly rare.

Avery: Absolutely. What makes this particularly

significant is that it represents a growing

recognition of the scientific value of dark

skies. The cancellation came after sustained

advocacy from the astronomy community, who

emphasized not just the local impact, but the

global scientific importance of preserving

these observation sites. With light pollution

spreading worldwide, losing access to

naturally dark skies would be devastating for

ground based astronomy.

Anna: It's encouraging to see that science

preservation can still win out over

industrial development. These observatories

represent decades of investment and

irreplaceable viewing conditions.

Avery: Exactly. And it sets an important precedent

for protecting other astronomical sites

around the world. The International Dark sky

association has noted that this decision

could strengthen arguments for dark sky

preservation elsewhere.

Anna: Great to hear some positive environmental

news for a change.

Now, speaking of observations from those

pristine sites, let's talk about what we've

Learned about Jupiter. NASA's Juno mission

has completely redefined our understanding of

the gas giant's size and shape, hasn't it?

Avery: It really has, Anna. Um, this is one of those

discoveries that makes you realize how much

we still don't know about even our most

familiar planetary neighbors. Juno's

precise measurements have revealed that

Jupiter is both larger and more oblate than

we previously thought.

Anna: When you say oblate, you mean it's flattened

at the poles, right?

Avery: Exactly. All rotating bodies experience this

to some degree. Even Earth bulges slightly at

the equator. But Jupiter's rapid rotation

makes this effect much more pronounced.

What's new is just how pronounced it actually

is. Juno's gravity measurements have shown

that Jupiter's equatorial diameter is

slightly larger than our previous estimates,

While the distance between the poles is

actually smaller. The planet is basically

wider and flatter than we realized.

Anna: So what caused this miscalculation? I mean,

we've been observing Jupiter for centuries.

Avery: Well, measuring the size of a gas giant with

no solid surface is trickier than it

sounds. Earlier measurements relied primarily

on optical observations, essentially looking

at where Jupiter's atmosphere becomes opaque.

But Juno uses extremely precise

gravity measurements as it orbits the planet.

By measuring tiny variations in how Jupiter's

gravity affects the spacecraft's trajectory,

scientists can determine the planet's mass

distribution with unprecedented accuracy.

Anna: And I assume Jupiter's rotation plays a big

role in this shape.

Avery: Absolutely. Jupiter rotates once every

10 hours. That's incredibly fast for

something so massive. This rapid spin

creates enormous centrifugal forces that push

material outward at the equator. What Juno

has revealed is that this effect penetrates

much deeper into the planet than we thought.

The measurements suggest that Jupiter's

interior structure, including how its

metallic hydrogen layer behaves, is more

complex than our models predicted.

Anna: This probably has implications for

understanding other gas giants, too, both in

our solar system and around other stars.

Avery: Definitely. Understanding Jupiter's interior

helps us refine our models of how gas giants

form and evolve. And since we can't

exactly drill into Jupiter to see what's

inside, these gravity measurements are the

next best thing. Every new piece of data from

Juno helps us understand not just Jupiter,

but the entire class of giant planets.

Anna: Fascinating stuff. It's amazing that after

all this time studying Jupiter, we're still

discovering fundamental things about its

basic structure.

Now let's shift from distant Jupiter to our

very own sun, which is putting on quite a

show right now. Avery, there's a massive

sunspot facing Earth at the moment.

Avery: There certainly is, Anna, and it's a monster.

The sunspot currently facing earth spans

about 15 earth diameters across. That's

roughly 120,000 miles. To put that

in perspective, you could fit 15 earths side

by side across a single sunspot.

Anna: That's genuinely hard to wrap your head

around. And I Understand, people can actually

see this with the right equipment, yes.

Avery: But this comes with a crucial safety warning.

Never look directly at the sun without proper

solar filters. This can cause permanent eye

damage or blindness. However, with proper

eclipse glasses or solar filters designed

specifically for solar observation, amateur

astronomers can spot this sunspot fairly

easily. It's large enough to be visible even

with modest magnification.

Anna: What exactly is a sunspot for? Uh, our

listeners who might not know.

Avery: Sunspots are regions on the Sun's surface

where powerful magnetic fields break through,

temporarily suppressing the hot convective

currents that normally transport heat from

the Sun's interior. This makes these regions

cooler than their surroundings, around

6,500 degrees Fahrenheit, compared

to the normal surface temperature of about

10,000 degrees. That temperature difference

is why they appear dark against the brighter

background.

Anna: And these magnetic fields, they're what cause

solar flares and coronal mass ejections,

right?

Avery: Exactly. Large, complex sunspot groups like

this one have tangled magnetic field lines

that can suddenly reconnect and release

enormous amounts of energy. This particular

sunspot is being closely monitored because of

its size and complexity. When these magnetic

structures become unstable, they can unleash

powerful solar flares and potentially hurl

billions of tons of charged particles toward

Earth in what's called a coronal mass

ejection, or cme.

Anna: Should we be concerned about potential

impacts on Earth?

Avery: Base weather forecasters are definitely

keeping a close eye on it. A large CME

directed at Earth could affect satellites,

power grids, and radio communications and

could produce aurora displays at lower

latitudes than usual. However, our sun

monitoring satellites like SoHo and SDO

give us advance warning, typically several

days before CME arrives. So while this

sunspot certainly has the potential to be

active, we have the monitoring infrastructure

in place to track any eruptions and issue

warnings if necessary.

Anna: It's one of those reminders that we live

inside the Sun's atmosphere. In a sense,

we're constantly bathed in the solar wind.

Avery: That's a great way to think about it. Earth's

magnetic field shields us from most of the

effects, but we're definitely connected to

our star's activity. And for amateur

astronomers, it's a rare chance to see solar

activity on this scale with safe solar

viewing equipment.

Anna: All right. From solar weather to Martian

weather. Avery, there's been an unusual

storm on Mars. That's revealing something new

about the Red Planet.

Avery: Yes, and this is a particularly intriguing

discovery because it challenges some of our

assumptions about Martian meteorology.

Researchers have observed an unusual storm

system on Mars that's providing new insights

into the planet's atmospheric dynamics and

what lies beneath its dusty surface.

Anna: What made this storm unusual? I mean, Mars

is famous for its dust storms.

Avery: True. But this storm exhibited behavior that

didn't fit our standard models of Martian

weather patterns. The storm's movement and

structure suggested it was being influenced

by subsurface features. Essentially, the

topology and composition beneath Mars

surface was affecting how the storm developed

and moved across the planet.

Anna: So, uh, the ground itself is influencing the

weather. How does that work?

Avery: It's similar to how mountains on Earth affect

weather patterns. But Mars has some unique

factors. The thin Martian atmosphere, um,

less than 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure,

Means that surface features have a

proportionately larger impact on atmospheric

circulation. Additionally, variations in

surface temperature Due to different rock and

soil composition can create localized heating

patterns that drive atmospheric motion.

Anna: And what did the storm reveal about what's

underground?

Avery: The storm's behavior suggested there are

variations in subsurface composition that

weren't previously mapped. By tracking how

the storm responded to these hidden features,

Scientists could essentially use the storm as

a probe to detect what's below the surface.

It's a bit like how doctors use ultrasound.

You're using one thing to indirectly sense

another.

Anna: That's a clever way to gather geological

information. Are there implications for

future Mars missions?

Avery: Definitely. Understanding these subsurface,

um, features is important for several

reasons. First, they could indicate locations

where subsurface water ice might be present.

Second, um, they help us understand Mars's

geological history and how the planet

evolved. And third, for future crewed

missions, knowing what's underground is

essential for landing site selection and

resource utilization. You want to land

somewhere with access to useful materials.

Anna: It's fascinating how atmospheric science and

geology intersect like this one storm

can tell you so much about an entire planet.

Avery: Exactly. And it's another example of how

every Mars observation opens new questions.

And the more we learn, the more complex and

interesting Mars becomes.

Anna: Indeed.

Now, speaking of complex and interesting, uh,

let's talk about NASA's Space Launch System.

There's been some remarkably frank discussion

from NASA about this rocket's future, hasn't

there?

Avery: Yes, and it's notable precisely because

NASA officials are rarely this candid about

program challenges. Anna, for the first time,

NASA is publicly acknowledging what many

industry analysts have been saying for years.

The Space Launch System has fundamental cost

and sustainability issues that need to be

addressed.

Anna: This is the rocket that's supposed to take

astronauts back to the moon. Part of the

Artemis program, right?

Avery: That's correct. The SLS is the most

powerful rocket NASA has ever built, Designed

specifically For deep space missions. It

successfully launched Artemis 1 in late

2022, sending an uncrewed Orion

spacecraft around the moon. And it's

scheduled to launch Artemis 2, the first

crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. Though

that timeline keeps shifting.

Anna: So, uh, what's the issue? The rocket works,

doesn't it?

Avery: The rocket does work. When it flies, it

performs beautifully. The problem is the

economics. Each SLS Launch costs

roughly $4 billion, and the system can

only fly about once a year with current

infrastructure. For comparison,

SpaceX's Starship, which is also designed for

deep space missions and has greater payload

capacity, is projected to cost a tiny

fraction of that per launch and could

potentially fly dozens of times per year.

Anna: 4 billion per launch. That's hard

to justify, especially when alternatives

exist.

Avery: Exactly. And that's what makes these recent

NASA statements so significant.

Administrators are openly discussing the

elephant in the room that maintaining SLS in

its current form may not be sustainable for a

long term lunar or Mars exploration program.

They're acknowledging that the program needs

to either dramatically reduce costs or

potentially transition to commercial

alternatives.

Anna: This must be a difficult position for NASA.

The SLS represents decades of development

and enormous investment.

Avery: It absolutely is. There are also political

considerations. The SLS program supports

jobs across multiple states and has strong

congressional backing. But NASA is facing

budgetary pressure and needs to make

realistic plans for sustainable exploration.

The acknowledgment that SLS's costs are

problematic is a significant shift towards

having honest conversations about the future

of deep space exploration.

Anna: What are the alternatives? Would NASA switch

to something like Starship entirely?

Avery: That's one option being discussed, though

it's complicated. NASA has already

contracted with SpaceX to provide a lunar

lander version of Starship for Artemis

missions. So there's already commercial

partnership in place. Some proposals suggest

using commercial heavy lift rockets for cargo

and potentially even crew, while others

advocate for a hybrid approach. The challenge

is that any major change would require

congressional approval and significant

replanning of Artemis architecture.

Anna: It sounds like we're at an inflection point

for NASA's deep space ambitions.

Avery: We really are. This is one of those moments

where honesty about challenges is the first

step towards finding solutions. The fact that

NASA is willing to have this conversation

publicly suggests they're serious about

finding a sustainable path forward, even if

it means difficult decisions about programs

that have tremendous legacy and political

support.

Anna: Well, we'll certainly be watching how this

develops.

Now for our final story, let's venture into

the realm of stellar evolution. Avery

red giant stars are apparently destroying

their own planetary systems.

Avery: They are Anna. And this research gives us a

rather apocalyptic preview of what will

happen to our own solar system in about 5

billion years. Astronomers have observed how

red giant stars, stars in their late

evolutionary stages, systematically destroy

gas giant planets that orbit too close to

them.

Anna: This is what our sun will eventually become,

right? A red giant.

Avery: Exactly. When stars like our sun exhaust the

hydrogen fuel in their cores, they begin

fusing helium and expand dramatically.

Our sun will eventually swell to perhaps a

hundred times its current diameter, likely

engulfing Mercury, Venus, and possibly

Earth. But this research focuses on what

happens to planets that, uh, survive the

initial expansion, particularly gas giants,

uh, at distances similar to Jupiter and

Saturn's current orbits.

Anna: Though these planets survive the star's

expansion, but not what comes after.

Avery: Precisely. As the star becomes a red

giant, several destructive processes occur.

First, the star becomes much more luminous.

Our sun will eventually be about 2,000

times brighter than it is now. This

intense radiation heats the atmospheres of

gas giant planets, causing them to expand

and potentially evaporate. Second,

red giant stars have powerful stellar

winds that can strip away planetary

atmospheres. And third, the star's

expansion causes tidal forces that can

alter planetary orbits.

Anna: That sounds like a recipe for planetary

destruction. What exactly did the researchers

observe?

Avery: They studied multiple red giant star systems

and found evidence of gas giant planets in

the process of being destroyed. In some

cases, they detected the spectral signatures

of planetary material being stripped away

and falling into their host star. In others,

they found gas giants with highly eroded

atmospheres, clearly showing the effects of

their star's evolution. It's like watching

different stages of the same destructive

process.

Anna: This presumably has implications for our

understanding of how planetary systems evolve

over time.

Avery: Absolutely. One of the key findings is

that the habitable zone, the region where

liquid water could exist, moves outward

as a star becomes a red giant. Moons

of Jupiter or Saturn, currently frozen ice

worlds, might temporarily become habitable

as our sun swells. But this research

shows that even if these worlds briefly enter

the habitable zone, the gas giants they orbit

are being actively destroyed by the dying

star. It's a very dynamic and

ultimately doomed situation.

Anna: It really puts our solar system's long term

future in perspective.

Avery: It does, Though I should emphasize we have

about 5 billion years before any of this

happens, so there's no immediate cause for

concern. But it does remind us that solar

systems, like everything else in the

universe, have life cycles. Understanding

these cycles helps us interpret what we see

around other stars and appreciate that the

stable, long lived solar system we enjoy

is a temporary phase in cosmic terms.

Anna: A sobering but fascinating look at stellar

evolution. It's one thing to know

intellectually that the sun will eventually

die, but quite another to see the detailed

process of what happens to the planets.

Avery: Exactly. And who knows, in 5 billion

years, humanity's descendants, if they exist,

will likely have long since relocated to

other star systems. Understanding how stars

age and die is actually crucial for picking

good long term neighborhoods out in the

galaxy.

Anna: That's a nice optimistic note to end on.

Well, that's all we have for you today on

Astronomy Daily.

Avery: And remember to check out our website at, uh,

astronomydaily IO for more space

news and to join our community discussions.

You can also find us on social

[email protected].

Anna: Thanks for listening and keep looking up.

Avery: The stories.

We told.

In this episode