Hypervelocity Star with Planet, Lunar Origins, and the Mystery of Peter Pan Disks: S04E42

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and

0:02 Speaker 1: astronomy news. Today, we're diving into some incredible discoveries and

0:06 Speaker 1: developments from across the cosmos. We'll explore a remarkable hypervelocity

0:10 Speaker 1: star system racing through space at breakneck speeds, uncover new

0:14 Speaker 1: findings about our Moon's ancient history, and look ahead to

0:18 Speaker 1: an exciting week of rocket launches. Plus, we'll investigate the

0:22 Speaker 1: physics of tiny black holes, learn about the possible origins

0:25 Speaker 1: of our first interstellar visitor, and discover why some planet

0:29 Speaker 1: forming discs seem to never grow up. Stay with me

0:32 Speaker 1: as we journey through these fascinating stories from the Final Frontier.

0:37 Speaker 1: In what might be one of the most extraordinary discoveries

0:40 Speaker 1: of recent times, NASA scientists have identified what they believe

0:44 Speaker 1: to be the fastest moving planetary system ever observed. Picture

0:48 Speaker 1: this a star hurtling through space at an astonishing one

0:52 Speaker 1: point two million miles per hour, and it's not traveling alone.

0:56 Speaker 1: This cosmic speedster is dragging along what appears to be

0:59 Speaker 1: a super Neptune sized planet, making this duo the fastest

1:03 Speaker 1: known planetary system in our galaxy. This remarkable discovery was

1:08 Speaker 1: made possible thanks to a phenomenon predicted by Einstein's theory

1:11 Speaker 1: of general relativity called gravitational lensing. The system was first

1:15 Speaker 1: detected back in twenty eleven when its gravity caused a

1:18 Speaker 1: slight warping of light from background stars. After a decade

1:22 Speaker 1: of follow up observations using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii

1:25 Speaker 1: and data from the Gaya spacecraft, scientists were able to

1:29 Speaker 1: confirm their finding. The star system is located approximately twenty

1:33 Speaker 1: four thousand light years away, near the dense central bulge

1:36 Speaker 1: of the Milky Way. What's particularly fascinating is that this

1:41 Speaker 1: system is moving so fast it actually exceeds our galaxy's

1:45 Speaker 1: escape velocity. This means it's literally in the process of

1:49 Speaker 1: breaking free from the Milky Way's gravitational grip and could

1:52 Speaker 1: eventually become an inner galactic wanderer. While the team has

1:56 Speaker 1: confirmed the star's incredible speed in two dimensions, there's a

1:59 Speaker 1: possibility it could be moving even faster, potentially up to

2:03 Speaker 1: one point three million miles per hour if it's also

2:06 Speaker 1: moving toward or away from Earth. This would make it

2:09 Speaker 1: not just a record breaker, but a system truly pushing

2:12 Speaker 1: the boundaries of what we thought possible in terms of

2:14 Speaker 1: planetary survival at such extreme velocities. Let's turn our attention

2:19 Speaker 1: now to this week's launches. Space enthusiasts are in for

2:23 Speaker 1: a treat this week with an action packed launch schedule

2:26 Speaker 1: featuring four exciting missions. SpaceX is leading the charge with

2:31 Speaker 1: three separate Falcon nine launches carrying their Starlink satellites, while

2:36 Speaker 1: rocket Lab rounds out the lineup with their sixtieth Electron

2:39 Speaker 1: mission from New Zealand. One of these launches is particularly

2:43 Speaker 1: noteworthy as it marks a historic first. SpaceX will attempt

2:46 Speaker 1: to land a Falcon nine booster in Bahamian waters near

2:49 Speaker 1: the island of Exuma. This new landing zone, made possible

2:53 Speaker 1: through an agreement with Bahamian authorities, offers calmer, more sheltered

2:57 Speaker 1: waters compared to the open Atlantic. This should provide more

3:01 Speaker 1: reliable landing conditions and enable SpaceX to explore new launch

3:04 Speaker 1: trajectories From Cape Canaveral. The first Starlink mission will deploy

3:09 Speaker 1: twenty three V two mini satellites to low Earth orbit,

3:12 Speaker 1: with the veteran booster B one thousand eighty making its

3:15 Speaker 1: sixteenth flight. Meanwhile, Rocket Lab's mission playfully titled Fasten Your

3:19 Speaker 1: Space Belts will carry a black Sky Gen three Earth

3:23 Speaker 1: imaging satellite. These new satellites will provide enhanced imaging capabilities

3:28 Speaker 1: with very high resolution thirty five centimeter imagery combined with

3:32 Speaker 1: AI enabled analytics. The week's remaining Starlink launches will continue

3:37 Speaker 1: SpaceX's rapid deployment of their Internet constellation, with one launching

3:42 Speaker 1: from Vandenberg Space four Space in California and another from

3:45 Speaker 1: Cape Canaveral in Florida. This intense launch cadence demonstrates the

3:50 Speaker 1: growing momentum in commercial space operations and the increasing reliability

3:55 Speaker 1: of reusable rocket technology. Next up, today, scientists have made

4:00 Speaker 1: a fascinating breakthrough in understanding our Moon's earliest days thanks

4:04 Speaker 1: to new analysis of rocks collected during the Apollo missions.

4:09 Speaker 1: By examining these lunar samples, researchers have pinpointed that our

4:12 Speaker 1: cosmic companion solidified approximately four point four to three billion

4:17 Speaker 1: years ago, a timeline that remarkably coincides with Earth becoming

4:21 Speaker 1: a habitable world. The key to this discovery lies in

4:24 Speaker 1: a unique substance found in moon rocks called CREEP, an

4:27 Speaker 1: acronym for potassium, rare earth elements and phosphorus. This material

4:33 Speaker 1: formed as the last remnant of the Moon's original magma ocean,

4:36 Speaker 1: making it an invaluable window into our satellite's cooling process.

4:40 Speaker 1: By analyzing the decay of a rare Earth element called

4:43 Speaker 1: lutetium into hafnium within these rocks, researchers were able to

4:48 Speaker 1: determine that creep formed about one hundred forty million years

4:51 Speaker 1: after the Solar System's birth. This timing tells us that

4:54 Speaker 1: the Moon was still cooling and crystallizing while being bombarded

4:57 Speaker 1: by a leftover planetary debris from the Solar System formation.

5:01 Speaker 1: What makes this finding particularly significant is how it aligns

5:04 Speaker 1: with Earth's own timeline. The impact that created the Moon

5:08 Speaker 1: was likely the last major collision Earth experienced, potentially marking

5:12 Speaker 1: the beginning of our planet's transformation into a stable, life

5:16 Speaker 1: supporting world. This new dating method not only helps us

5:19 Speaker 1: understand the Moon's evolution, but provides crucial context for Earth's

5:23 Speaker 1: early history as well. These findings come at an exciting time,

5:28 Speaker 1: as future Artemis missions to the lunar South Pole could

5:31 Speaker 1: provide even more samples to study, potentially confirming whether this

5:35 Speaker 1: creep layer exists uniformly across the Moon's surface. Have you

5:39 Speaker 1: ever wondered what would happen if a microscopic black hole

5:42 Speaker 1: passed right through your body. Well, a fascinating new study

5:47 Speaker 1: has tackled this exact question, and the results might surprise you.

5:51 Speaker 1: While most of us would assume instant destruction, the reality

5:54 Speaker 1: is more nuanced. The research focused on primordial black holes,

5:59 Speaker 1: theoretical object that may have formed in the universe's earliest moments.

6:03 Speaker 1: These would be far smaller than the stellar black holes

6:06 Speaker 1: we typically think of, ranging from the mass of an

6:08 Speaker 1: atom to several times Earth's mass. For a black hole

6:12 Speaker 1: to be potentially lethal, it would need to be in

6:14 Speaker 1: the same mass range as asteroids. The study examined two

6:18 Speaker 1: main effects, tidal forces and shockwaves. While the tidal forces

6:23 Speaker 1: from such a tiny black hole passing through your limbs

6:25 Speaker 1: or torso might only cause localized damage similar to a needle,

6:30 Speaker 1: a passage through your brain could be fatal due to

6:32 Speaker 1: the delicate nature of brain cells, but the real danger

6:35 Speaker 1: would come from shockwaves. A black hole with just one

6:38 Speaker 1: point four x ten circumflex fourteen kilograms of mass could

6:43 Speaker 1: generate energy waves comparable to a point two two caliber bullet,

6:47 Speaker 1: definitely enough to cause serious harm. Before you start worrying, though,

6:52 Speaker 1: here's the good news. Even if these primordial black holes exist,

6:56 Speaker 1: the chances of one passing through anyone in their lifetime

6:59 Speaker 1: are left less than one in ten trillion. So while

7:03 Speaker 1: it makes for fascinating physics, it's not something that should

7:06 Speaker 1: keep you up at night. Let's revisit an old friend now.

7:11 Speaker 1: New research is shedding light on the mysterious origins of Umuamua,

7:14 Speaker 1: that bizarre interstellar object that briefly visited our solar system

7:18 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. Scientists have been puzzling over how such

7:22 Speaker 1: an unusual object could have formed, and now they might

7:24 Speaker 1: have an answer. Using numerical simulations, researchers have found that

7:29 Speaker 1: solar systems with giant planets could be the perfect breeding

7:32 Speaker 1: grounds for Umuamua like objects. The key lies in a

7:36 Speaker 1: process called tidal fragmentation, where a large comet like body

7:40 Speaker 1: passes too close to its star at high speed, shattering

7:43 Speaker 1: into elongated shards. What makes this particularly interesting is that

7:48 Speaker 1: these fragments would have a unique composition, a rocky outer

7:52 Speaker 1: shell with subsurface ice hidden within. This could explain Umuamua's

7:56 Speaker 1: peculiar behavior, combining both asteroid like and common like properties.

8:01 Speaker 1: The study suggests that systems with Jupiter sized planets at

8:05 Speaker 1: reasonable distances from their stars are especially good at producing

8:09 Speaker 1: these objects. However, the rate at which they're created still

8:13 Speaker 1: doesn't quite match what we'd expect to see, suggesting there

8:16 Speaker 1: might be more to the story. Multiple planet systems might

8:20 Speaker 1: be even better candidates, as they're more efficient at ejecting

8:24 Speaker 1: objects into interstellar space. So while we're getting closer to

8:27 Speaker 1: understanding Umuamua's origins, it seems this cosmic wanderer still has

8:32 Speaker 1: some secrets left to reveal. Finally, today, in a fascinating

8:37 Speaker 1: twist on our understanding of planetary formation, astronomers have discovered

8:41 Speaker 1: that some planet forming discs are refusing to grow up

8:44 Speaker 1: quite literally. These disks, now nicknamed peter Pan disks, are

8:48 Speaker 1: being found around low mass stars and are lasting far

8:52 Speaker 1: longer than conventional theories suggest they should. Using the powerful

8:56 Speaker 1: atacomma large millimeter submillimeter array, scientists have found these discs

9:00 Speaker 1: are still rich in planet building materials even after thirty

9:04 Speaker 1: million years. That's three times longer than the typical ten

9:07 Speaker 1: million year lifespan we expected. Even more surprisingly, they're packed

9:12 Speaker 1: with hydrocarbons and show chemical signatures never before seen in

9:15 Speaker 1: such mature discs. This extended lifetime could completely change our

9:19 Speaker 1: understanding of how planets form around smaller stars. The longer

9:23 Speaker 1: these disks stick around, the more time there is for

9:26 Speaker 1: planetary cores to build up and for complex chemical processes

9:30 Speaker 1: to unfold. It's particularly intriguing because these conditions might favor

9:34 Speaker 1: the formation of planets with unique characteristics, possibly including worlds

9:38 Speaker 1: with carbon rich atmospheres similar to Saturn's moon Titan. While

9:43 Speaker 1: these peter Pan discs appear to be rare, with only

9:45 Speaker 1: nine discovered so far, they might not be as uncommon

9:48 Speaker 1: as we think. It's possible. We're just limited by our

9:51 Speaker 1: current observational capabilities, and many more of these eternally young

9:55 Speaker 1: discs are waiting to be discovered out there in the cosmos.

10:00 Speaker 1: And that brings us to the end of another intriguing episode.

10:03 Speaker 1: This has been Astronomy Daily with Anna. For all the

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10:32 Speaker 1: Until next we meet, keep looking up. You never know

10:35 Speaker 1: what you might see out there in the cosmos. See

10:37 Speaker 1: you tomorrow Today, Star starz