Mapping Missing Matter, Black Hole Big Bang Theories, and Artificial Solar Eclipses

0:00 Anna: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm

0:02 your host, Anna. Uh, get ready to dive into

0:04 the latest cosmic happenings. Today we're

0:07 exploring how astronomers have located the

0:09 universe's missing matter. We'll also discuss

0:11 an intriguing theory about the Big Bang

0:13 originating from a black hole and how

0:16 artificial solar eclipses are helping

0:17 scientists study the sun. Plus, we've got

0:20 updates on the Axiom mission delay, the

0:23 Project Kuiper launch, and a roundup of

0:25 upcoming launches from around the globe. So

0:27 buckle up. It's going to be an exciting

0:29 journey through space news.

0:31 let's get started with a big story. One of

0:33 the universe's biggest mysteries seems to

0:34 have been solved. That is, where's all the

0:37 missing ordinary matter? Astronomers using

0:39 fast radio bursts, those brief intense

0:42 flashes of radio waves from distant galaxies

0:45 have managed to map out where about three

0:47 quarters of the universe's normal matter has

0:49 been hiding. And guess what? It's

0:52 floating in the vast spaces between galaxies,

0:55 forming like an invisible cosmic web.

0:58 This is a pretty big deal because it's the

0:59 first time scientists have actually created a

1:02 detailed census of where all the universe's

1:04 ordinary matter is located. These fast

1:07 radio bursts act kinda like cosmic

1:09 flashlights. You see, different wavelengths

1:12 of radio waves travel at slightly different

1:14 speeds through ionised gas. So by measuring

1:16 how much each burst slowed down, scientists

1:19 could calculate the total amount of matter

1:21 the signal encountered. One cool finding

1:24 is this cosmic thermostat effect, where

1:26 supermassive black holes and exploding stars

1:29 blast gas out of galaxies, preventing them

1:32 from accumulating too much matter. This

1:35 research also gives us an independent

1:37 measurement of the universe's ordinary matter

1:39 content, which agrees with predictions from

1:42 the cosmic microwave background and Big Bang

1:45 nucleosynthesis. All in all, it's a

1:48 major step forward in understanding the

1:49 structure and composition of the universe.

1:53 Okay, next up, we're diving into some mind

1:55 bending stuff about the Big Bang. There's

1:58 a new theory floating around that suggests

2:00 the Big Bang wasn't actually the beginning of

2:02 everything, but rather the result of a

2:05 gravitational collapse inside a massive black

2:08 hole. Get your head around that one. Now,

2:11 the standard model of cosmology, which is

2:13 based on the Big Bang and cosmic inflation,

2:16 has been pretty successful. But it does leave

2:18 some questions unanswered. For example, the

2:21 Big Bang model starts with a singularity,

2:23 which is basically a point of infinite

2:26 density where the laws of physics break down.

2:28 And to explain the universe's large scale

2:31 structure, physicists came up with cosmic

2:33 inflation, which is this idea that the early

2:35 universe rapidly expanded. And let's not

2:38 forget dark energy, which is Supposed to

2:40 explain the accelerating expansion we see

2:42 today. So this new model, it kind

2:45 of looks inward instead of outward. Instead

2:47 of starting with an expanding universe, it

2:49 considers what happens when a really dense

2:51 collection of matter collapses under gravity.

2:55 Think about stars collapsing into black

2:57 holes. The math shows that as we approach

3:00 a potential singularity, the size of the

3:02 universe changes. And this collapsing cloud

3:05 of matter can actually bounce, Rebounding

3:08 outward into a new expanse expanding phase.

3:12 And get this, this bounce naturally produces

3:14 those two phases of accelerated expansion,

3:17 inflation and dark energy. One of the

3:20 cool things about this model is that it makes

3:22 testable predictions. It predicts a

3:25 small but non zero amount of positive

3:28 spatial curvature, Meaning the universe isn't

3:30 exactly flat, but slightly curved. So if

3:33 future observations confirm this, it could be

3:35 a hint that our universe really did emerge

3:38 from a bounce inside a black hole. Spooky,

3:41 right?

3:42 And now let's talk about artificial solar

3:44 eclipses. The European Space Agency, or

3:47 esa, has been pulling off some pretty cool

3:50 stuff with its Proba 3 mission. They've

3:52 managed to create the first artificial solar

3:54 eclipses Using two satellites flying in

3:57 really precise formation. We're talking about

3:59 satellites that are flying just 492ft

4:02 apart from with their positioning accurate to

4:05 within a millimetre. That's like the

4:06 thickness of your fingernail. One satellite

4:09 blocks the sun just like the moon does during

4:12 a natural solar eclipse, While the other one

4:14 aims its telescope at the corona, which is

4:17 the sun's outer atmosphere. This is a

4:19 total game changer for scientists because it

4:22 lets them study the corona for hours on end.

4:25 The longest eclipse they've managed so far

4:27 lasted five hours, and they're hoping to get

4:30 up to six hours Once they start doing

4:31 scientific observations in July. What's super

4:34 cool is that these artificial eclipses give

4:36 scientists a much better view of the corona

4:39 without needing any special image processing.

4:42 They're anticipating producing about two

4:44 solar eclipses per week, which will give them

4:46 over a thousand hours of totality during the

4:49 mission. That's way more than what you get

4:51 from natural solar eclipses. And

4:54 because the sun blocking disc and the

4:56 telescope are on two different satellites, it

4:58 gives scientists a better look at the part of

5:00 the corona that's closest to the sun.

5:03 Alright, next up, a quick update regarding

5:05 the Axiom Space Axe 4 mission to the

5:07 International Space Station. NASA says the

5:10 private astronaut mission could launch to the

5:12 ISS as soon as June 19th as it works

5:15 to understand an air leak on M, the Russian

5:17 segment of the station. Though Roscosmos has

5:20 claimed the leak is fixed, Fingers crossed,

5:23 they finally get going. This time. I'LL keep

5:25 you informed.

5:26 Now, turning our attention back to Earth, or

5:29 rather low Earth orbit. Amazon's second

5:32 Project Kuiper launch has been delayed again.

5:35 Yeah, the launch, which was set to happen

5:37 from the Florida coast, had to be postponed

5:39 because of an engineering observation of an

5:41 elevated purge temperature within the booster

5:43 engine. So the Atlas V rocket

5:46 was supposed to carry 27 satellites into

5:48 orbit, which would bring Amazon's total

5:51 constellation size to 54 satellites.

5:54 The goal of the mission is to provide fast,

5:57 reliable Internet to customers all around the

5:59 world. So it looks like we'll have to wait a

6:02 little bit longer to see these satellites

6:04 join the Kuiper constellation.

6:07 Okay, next up, let's dive into this massive

6:09 Launch Roundup from NASASpaceflight.com

6:12 We've got a whole bunch of launches scheduled

6:14 from all over the globe this week. First up,

6:16 SpaceX is planning five Falcon 9 missions.

6:19 Yes, five, that includes a rideshare. And the

6:22 Axiom Mission 4 crewed mission, hopefully,

6:25 which has, as I reported earlier, been

6:27 delayed a few times. Now, there's Also the

6:29 Angara A5 rocket launch from Russia. And

6:32 get this, the last ever flight of Japan's H2A

6:35 rocket is also on the schedule. I know. End

6:37 of an era, right? Plus, we have a Chinese

6:39 launch and a Blue Origin crewed suborbital

6:41 launch to look forward to. In a June

6:44 14 statement, NASA said it is working with

6:47 axiom space and SpaceX on reviewing launch

6:50 opportunities for the AXE 4 mission, with the

6:53 earliest such opportunity on June 19th.

6:56 So let's break it down a bit. A couple of the

6:58 Falcon 9 launches are set to take off from

7:01 Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,

7:03 while the other three are launching from

7:05 Florida. The New Shepard launch, which is,

7:07 you know, the one with the crew, is going to

7:09 be flying from West Texas. And that

7:12 Angara launch, well, it's carrying an

7:15 unknown payload from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome

7:17 in Russia. Super Mysterious

7:20 Rocket Lab also announced an electron launch

7:22 from New Zealand. And the ULA

7:24 K02 mission is scheduled as well. It's going

7:27 to be a Busy week. The H2A

7:30 that's launching the GOSAT GW Earth

7:32 Observation Satellite. It's designed to

7:35 monitor greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide

7:37 and methane and. And to measure the total

7:39 amount of Earth's water, too. It's kind of

7:41 sad to see it go, but the H3 family is taking

7:44 over. So onward and upward, right M.

7:47 And that's a wrap for today's Space News on

7:50 Astronomy Daily. Thanks so much for tuning

7:52 in. I'm Anna and it's been a blast, bringing

7:55 you all the latest space and astronomy news.

7:57 If you want to keep up with everything that's

7:59 happening beyond our world, make sure to

8:01 visit our website at astronomydaily IO.

8:05 There you can sign up for our free daily

8:07 newsletter and catch up on all the breaking

8:09 stories with our constantly updating

8:11 newsfeed. And don't forget to subscribe to

8:13 the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

8:17 YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

8:20 That way you'll never miss an episode. Clear

8:22 skies, everyone. And remember to keep looking

8:25 up. I'm out of here. See you next time.