Galactic Collision Reconsidered

Anna: Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily, your

source for the latest developments in space

science and astronomy. I'm your host, Anna.

And today we've got a fascinating lineup of

cosmic news to share with you. We'll start

with a surprising revelation about our

galactic neighbourhood. Then we'll look at

how robots could revolutionise space based

solar power with breakthrough technology that

might soon beam, constant clean energy back

to Earth. We'll also examine why June's

upcoming Full Moon will be sitting unusually

low in the northern sky, a rare celestial

event. And finally, we'll catch up on the

Latest launches from SpaceX and Rocket Lab,

including historic milestones for human

spaceflight. So stay with us as we journey

through today's cosmic headlines on Astronomy

Daily. Let's kick things off today

with a story that might help you sleep easier

at night.

For what seems like billions of years,

astronomers have been telling us that our

Milky Way galaxy is on an inevitable

collision course with our nearest large

galactic neighbourhood, Andromeda. This

cosmic crash was thought to be about 4 to 5

billion years in our future, with the merger

eventually creating what scientists had

already named Milcomeda. But now

this long held belief is being challenged by

new research. A paper published in Nature

Astronomy suggests that this galactic

collision might not be as certain as we once

thought. Scientists have analysed the latest

and most accurate observations from both the

Gaia and Hubble space telescopes, combined

with recent mass estimates to recalculate the

possible future scenarios for our Local Group

of galaxies over the next 10 billion years.

The Milky Way's path through the universe

isn't just influenced by Andromeda. It's

actually affected by the gravitational pull

of several objects in our cosmic

neighbourhood, including the smaller

Triangulum Galaxy, also known as

Messier33, along with the Large and

Small Magellanic Clouds and various

superclusters. What's particularly

interesting is how these other cosmic bodies

play a significant role in determining

whether the Milky Way and Andromeda will

actually collide. The research shows that

while the Triangulum Galaxy increases the

merger probability, the Large Magellanic

Cloud's orbit runs perpendicular to the Milky

Way Andromeda path, which actually makes

their merger less likely. The most striking

finding from these new simulations is that

there's nearly a 50% chance that the Milky

Way and Andromeda won't collide at all within

the next 10 billion years. That's a dramatic

shift from what was previously considered

almost inevitable. The researchers do

acknowledge some uncertainties in their

model. They assumed, for example, that the

mass distributions within the galaxies remain

constant over the next 10 billion years,

which may not be entirely accurate, but their

updated simulations using the latest

observational data and physics cast

considerable doubt on whether this cosmic

collision will ever occur. Interestingly,

the study suggests there's a higher chance

that the Milky Way will actually collide with

the Large Magellanic cloud in about 2 billion

years. Of course, none of us will be around

to witness any of these potential cosmic

crashes, but it's fascinating how our

understanding of even the largest scale

events in our cosmic neighbourhood continues

to evolve.

Next today, and I assure this is real and not

some fancy sci fi dream. In a breakthrough

that could revolutionise clean energy

production, the UK Atomic Energy Agency has

demonstrated that remotely operated robots

can successfully build gigawatt scale solar

power satellites without human intervention.

This development, part of the Albatross

project in collaboration with clean tech firm

Space Solar, marks a significant step toward

achieving round the clock renewable energy

from space. The project, based at the

UKEAEA's Cullam campus in Oxfordshire,

utilised dual arm robotic manipulators to

construct satellite components designed to be

several kilometres long and about 20 metres

wide. This robotic approach offers both

cost advantages and safety benefits by

reducing the need for astronaut involvement

in the assembly, maintenance and eventual

decommissioning of these massive structures.

What makes this concept particularly

promising is the intensity of solar energy

available in space. According to the

European Space Agency, sunlight at the top

of Earth's atmosphere is more than 10 times

stronger than at ground level. These orbital

solar collectors would capture this

uninterrupted energy source and beam it back

to Earth as microwaves, which could then be

converted into electricity by ground based

antennas. The robotic technology being

developed at UKEAEA's remote applications in

Challenging Environment Centre isn't just for

space applications. These same innovations

support fusion energy production on Earth,

highlighting the synergy between terrestrial

and space based energy solutions.

Space solar is moving quickly with this

technology, expecting to Commission its first

30 megawatt demonstrator system by

2029 and reach full gigawatt

scale capac within the following decade,

potentially providing a continuous stream of

clean energy from the limitless solar

resources available in orbit.

If you've been watching the night sky, you

might notice something unusual happening this

June. The Full Moon on June 11,

2025 will appear remarkably low in

the sky for Northern Hemisphere observers.

In fact, it will be the lowest full moon

we've seen in decades. This isn't random

chance or an astronomical anomaly. It's

actually part of a fascinating 18.6

year cycle that affects how we see our lunar

companion Unlike what many people

assume, the Moon's orbit isn't aligned with

Earth's equator or even with Earth's path

around the Sun. The Moon's orbit is actually

tilted by about 5.15 degrees relative

to the ecliptic. That's the plane of Earth's

orbit around the Sun. This tilt,

combined with Earth's own 23.5 degree

axial tilt, creates some interesting effects

that play out over long time periods. Because

of these combined tilts, the Moon can appear

anywhere from 28.65 degrees south

to 28.65 degrees north in our sky.

This means that over time, the Moon seems to

wander north and south against the background

stars. Astronomers call the extreme points

in this cycle lunar standstills.

The last major lunar standstill occurred in

2006, and now we're approaching another

one. During this period, the Moon's path

swings to its maximum extremes, making it

appear exceptionally high in winter and

exceptionally low in summer for Northern

Hemisphere observers. That's why this June's

Full Moon will barely skim the treetops for

many North American and European viewers.

And if you're in places like Alaska or

Iceland, the Moon might not rise at all.

Meanwhile, observers in the Southern

hemisphere will experience the opposite

effect. They'll see what's essentially their

own long night's Moon riding remarkably high

in their June skies. This

gradual shifting of the Moon's path

happens because the Moon's orbital plane is

slowly being dragged around once every 18.6

years, primarily due to the gravitational

pull of the Sun. Astronomers call

this the nodal precession. What's

particularly fascinating is that ancient

peoples recognised and tracked these lunar

cycles at the Callanish stones in

Scotland, erected during the bronze age over

4000 years ago. Archaeoastronomers have

discovered alignments that mark the rising

and setting positions of the Moon at its

extreme standstills. These

ancient stone circles served as astronomical

calendars, helping people track longer

periods of time than the regular monthly

lunar cycle. So when you look at this

unusually low full Moon in June, remember

you're witnessing the same celestial

mechanics that our ancestors observed and

celebrated thousands of years ago. A living

connection to humanity's earliest attempts to

understand the rhythms of the cosmos.

Let's switch gears now and look at what's

happening in space. Launches this week.

SpaceX continues to dominate the launch

schedule, with an impressive five missions

packed into just one week. Rocket Lab

kicked things off with their 65th Electron

launch, nicknamed Full Stream, ahead just

before June 3rd ended in New Zealand time.

They successfully deployed a BlackSky

Generation 3 satellite into orbit. This marks

Rocket Lab's 10th launch for BlackSky

technology, making them the most frequent

launch provider for this constellation. The

Gen 3 satellites are quite impressive,

capable of producing images with 50

centimetre resolution and equipped with

shortwave infrared sensors. SpaceX

has been even busier with multiple Starlink

deployments across different launch sites.

From Cape Canaveral in Florida, they launched

Starlink Group 1219, carrying

23 Starlink V2 mini satellites,

13 of which feature the new direct to cell

capabilities. This mission used booster

B1077, making its

remarkable 21st flight. The very

same day, SpaceX conducted another Starlink

launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in

California, delivering 27 more

satellites to, a different orbital

inclination. And if that wasn't enough,

they scheduled yet another StarLink mission

for June 8 from Vandenberg, adding 26 more

satellites to their rapidly growing

constellation. Beyond Starlink, SpaceX

is launching the SXM10 satellite for SiriusXM

on June 7. This third generation satellite

weighs over 6,000 kilogrammes and will

replace older satellites in the constellation

that have been in service since 2005 and

2006. SiriusXM currently serves

over 33 million subscribers, highlighting how

space technology directly impacts everyday

services many of us use. Perhaps most

exciting is the Axiom 4 crewed mission

launching June 9th. Commander Peggy Whitson

will lead a diverse international crew,

including Shubanshu Shukla from India,

Slavosh Usnanski from Poland and

Tibor Kapu from Hungary, each representing

only the second astronaut from their

respective countries to reach space. They'll

spend up to two weeks aboard the

International Space Station, conducting 60

scientific experiments, setting a record for

the most research activities during an Axiom

mission. The Dragon capsule for this mission

is brand new, making its first flight, While

the Falcon 9 booster is flying for just its

second time, having been used only 41 days

earlier for a Starlink mission. These

milestones highlight how commercial space

missions are now creating opportunities for

nations that don't have their own human

spaceflight programmes to send their citizens

to orbit. It's democratising access to

space in ways we couldn't have imagined even

a decade ago.

Well, what an incredible journey through

space we've taken today. From reconsidering

the collision course of galaxies to robots

building solar satellites in orbit. From the

moon's fascinating dance across our skies to

the remarkable diversity of launches carrying

humans and technology beyond our atmosphere.

I'm Anna and I want to thank you for joining

me on this episode of Astronomy Daily. If you

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Until next time, keep looking up. There's

always something fascinating happening in our

cosmic neighbourhood.

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