S03E165: Rocky Exoplanet Discovery, ISS Crew Rotations, and Hubble's Jet Surprise

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source for the latest space

0:03 Speaker 1: in astronomy news. I'm your host, Anna, and in today's episode,

0:06 Speaker 1: will be covering several exciting stories from across the cosmos.

0:11 Speaker 1: In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have spotted the first rocky

0:14 Speaker 1: planet orbiting a white dwarf star, providing a fascinating glimpse

0:18 Speaker 1: into what might be Earth's fate billions of years from now.

0:22 Speaker 1: This frozen world, located about four thy two hundred light

0:25 Speaker 1: years away, managed to survive the death and expansion of

0:28 Speaker 1: its host star. The planet, with a mass nearly twice

0:31 Speaker 1: that of Earth now orbits a stellar remnant the white

0:35 Speaker 1: Dwarf at a distance that puts it well beyond the

0:38 Speaker 1: former star's habitable zone. It's a chilly outpost, as the

0:41 Speaker 1: white Dwarf emits only a fraction of the light it

0:43 Speaker 1: once did as a normal star. This discovery raises intriguing

0:47 Speaker 1: questions about our own planet's future, as our Sun ages

0:50 Speaker 1: and expands into a red giant before becoming a white dwarf.

0:53 Speaker 1: Will Earth survive Some models suggest it might, while others

0:57 Speaker 1: predict Earth's destruction. This newfound planet implies the Earth's chances

1:00 Speaker 1: for survival could be higher than previously thought. However, even

1:04 Speaker 1: if our planet does survive, it would likely become an inhospitable,

1:08 Speaker 1: frozen world, much like this newly discovered exoplanet. It's a

1:12 Speaker 1: sobering reminder of the long term cosmic challenges facing our

1:15 Speaker 1: home world. The International Space Station has been bustling with

1:19 Speaker 1: activity lately as several crew changes have taken place. Most notably,

1:24 Speaker 1: two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chubb recently returned

1:29 Speaker 1: to Earth after spending an incredible three hundred and seventy

1:32 Speaker 1: four days in space. This record breaking mission has provided

1:36 Speaker 1: valuable data on the effects of long duration spaceflight on

1:39 Speaker 1: the human body. Meanwhile, NASA is gearing up for more

1:42 Speaker 1: crew rotations in the coming days. The SpaceX Crew nine

1:46 Speaker 1: mission is set to launch as soon as this weekend,

1:48 Speaker 1: bringing fresh faces to the orbiting laboratory. This constant cycling

1:52 Speaker 1: of crew members ensures that the ISS remains continuously staffed

1:55 Speaker 1: and productive. Another exciting development is the potential resumption of

1:59 Speaker 1: space Wall from the US segment of the station. These

2:02 Speaker 1: crucial extra vehicular activities have been on hold for nearly

2:05 Speaker 1: a year due to technical issues with the space suits. However,

2:09 Speaker 1: NASA is working diligently to resolve these problems and get

2:12 Speaker 1: astronauts back outside the station to perform vital maintenance and upgrades.

2:16 Speaker 1: These crew changes and potential space walks highlight the dynamic

2:20 Speaker 1: nature of life aboard the International Space Station, as well

2:23 Speaker 1: as the ongoing commitment to scientific research and exploration in

2:26 Speaker 1: Low Earth orbit. In related news, back on the ground,

2:29 Speaker 1: NASA is gearing up for the crew change over this weekend,

2:33 Speaker 1: and they want you to be a part of it.

2:34 Speaker 1: The SpaceX Crew nine mission is set to blast off

2:37 Speaker 1: on Saturday, September twenty eighth at one seventeen pm Eastern

2:41 Speaker 1: Time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This

2:44 Speaker 1: mission will carry NASA astronaut Nick Haig and russ Cosmos

2:47 Speaker 1: cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX

2:51 Speaker 1: Dragon spacecraft. While you can't be there in person, NASA

2:54 Speaker 1: is offering the next best thing, a virtual front row

2:57 Speaker 1: seat to all the action. By registering as a virtual Ganes,

3:00 Speaker 1: you'll receive exclusive resources, interactive opportunities, and the latest mission updates.

3:06 Speaker 1: You'll even get a special collectible stamp for your virtual

3:09 Speaker 1: guest passport after liftoff. To register, you'll need to visit

3:12 Speaker 1: NASA's registration page online, and I'll include the link in

3:15 Speaker 1: the show notes. Live coverage of the launch will begin

3:18 Speaker 1: at nine ten am Eastern on NASA's website and streaming platforms,

3:22 Speaker 1: So mark your calendars and get ready to witness another

3:24 Speaker 1: incredible journey to the stars. Let's move on to some

3:27 Speaker 1: Hubble news today. In a stunning revelation, the Hubble Space

3:30 Speaker 1: Telescope has unveiled an unexpected cosmic phenomenon. Astronomers have discovered

3:35 Speaker 1: that the powerful jet emanating from a super massive black

3:38 Speaker 1: hole at the core of a massive galaxy is causing

3:41 Speaker 1: nearby stars to erupt more frequently than usual. This jet,

3:45 Speaker 1: a blazing stream of plasma stretching over three thousand light years,

3:49 Speaker 1: seems to be influencing double star systems in its vicinity.

3:52 Speaker 1: These systems, known as novae, are experiencing twice as many

3:56 Speaker 1: eruptions compared to similar stars elsewhere in the galaxy. The

4:00 Speaker 1: finding has left researchers puzzled, challenging our current understanding of

4:04 Speaker 1: how black hole jets interact with their surroundings. Lead author

4:07 Speaker 1: alec Lessing from Stanford University admits, we don't know what's

4:11 Speaker 1: going on, but it's just a very exciting finding. This

4:14 Speaker 1: discovery opens up new questions about the complex relationships between

4:18 Speaker 1: black holes, their jets, and the stars that inhabit their

4:21 Speaker 1: galactic neighborhoods. It's a reminder that even after decades of observation,

4:26 Speaker 1: the universe still has plenty of surprises in store for us.

4:30 Speaker 1: Now some exciting news from the world of exoplanet hunting.

4:33 Speaker 1: Astronomers have just announced the first discovery from the Knead

4:36 Speaker 1: Earth Twin survey. This new planet, named HD eight six

4:40 Speaker 1: seven two eight B, is orbiting a star located about

4:43 Speaker 1: forty nine light years away from us. What makes this

4:46 Speaker 1: discovery special is that it showcases the incredible precision of

4:50 Speaker 1: new instruments like this spectrograph. HD eight six seven two

4:54 Speaker 1: eight B has a mass about nine times that of

4:57 Speaker 1: Earth and orbits its star every thirty one days. While

5:00 Speaker 1: this particular planet isn't quite an Earth twin, its discovery

5:04 Speaker 1: proves that we're getting better at finding smaller, potentially rocky

5:07 Speaker 1: worlds around nearby stars as we continue to refine our

5:11 Speaker 1: techniques and instruments we're inching closer to the ultimate goal

5:15 Speaker 1: of finding true Earth like planets in habitable zones around

5:18 Speaker 1: other stars. This first success from the NEED survey is

5:22 Speaker 1: just the beginning. Astronomers are optimistic that more exciting discoveries

5:26 Speaker 1: are on the horizon as they continue to search for

5:28 Speaker 1: alien worlds in our cosmic neighborhood. Moving on now to

5:32 Speaker 1: a dark matter update. In a surprising twist that challenges

5:35 Speaker 1: our understanding of the universe, a new study suggests that

5:38 Speaker 1: dark matter may not be as aloof as we once thought.

5:41 Speaker 1: Scientists have long believed that dark matter interacts with regular

5:44 Speaker 1: matter only through gravity. However, recent observations of ultra faint

5:48 Speaker 1: dwarf galaxies are hinting at a more complex relationship. The study,

5:52 Speaker 1: published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, looked at six of

5:55 Speaker 1: these tiny galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. By comparing computers

6:00 Speaker 1: simulations with real world observations. Researchers found that the distribution

6:04 Speaker 1: of stars in these galaxies doesn't quite match what we'd

6:07 Speaker 1: expect if dark matter and regular matter were only linked

6:10 Speaker 1: by gravity. This slight discrepancy could indicate that dark matter

6:14 Speaker 1: interacts with regular matter in ways we haven't yet understood.

6:18 Speaker 1: While the exact nature of this interaction remains a mystery,

6:21 Speaker 1: the implications are profound. It could open up new avenues

6:24 Speaker 1: for detecting dark matter directly and force us to rethink

6:27 Speaker 1: our current models of how the universe works. As always

6:31 Speaker 1: in science, more data is needed to confirm these findings,

6:34 Speaker 1: but if true, this discovery could be a game changer

6:36 Speaker 1: in our quest to understand the enigmatic substance that makes

6:39 Speaker 1: up most of the Universe's mass. That's all for today's

6:43 Speaker 1: episode of Astronomy Daily. I'm anna. Thanks for listening. Visit

6:46 Speaker 1: our website at Astronomy Daily dot io for more space news,

6:50 Speaker 1: our daily newsletter, and all our previous episodes. You can

6:54 Speaker 1: also find us on social media as astro Daily Pod

6:57 Speaker 1: on Facebook, x YouTube, and TikTok. Until next time, keep

7:01 Speaker 1: looking up Sunny Day. Star is Star is the Star.