SpaceX Scrubs, Europa's Icy Mysteries, and the Remarkable 3I/Atlas Comet

0:00 Anna: Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your gateway to

0:02 the latest cosmic revelations. I'm your host,

0:05 Anna, and today we have an episode packed

0:08 with exciting space news. We'll kick things

0:10 off with an unexpected launch delay that saw

0:12 a crucial solar wind mission temporarily

0:15 grounded. And we'll uncover the surprising

0:17 reason behind that scrub, then prepare to

0:20 meet an ancient interstellar visitor, Comet

0:22 3i/Atlas Atlas, and discover how it was

0:25 accidentally spotted even before its official

0:28 discovery. Finally, we'll provide practical

0:30 tips for safely observing and photographing

0:33 our very own star, the dynamic Sun.

0:35 Let's dive in. Let's start

0:38 by delving into some recent launch news,

0:41 specifically a SpaceX Falcon 9 scrub at

0:43 Vandenberg Space Force Base that caught many

0:46 off guard. What initially looked like a

0:48 straightforward hold turned out to be a bit

0:50 more complex. SpaceX was all set to

0:53 launch tracers, NASA's latest mission to

0:56 study solar wind and its impact on earth.

0:58 From Vandenberg's SLC4E, the

1:01 booster was even planning a return to launch

1:03 site landing. Everything seemed to be going

1:06 smoothly in the final countdown, right up

1:08 until the hold, hold, hold call came in

1:11 indicating the launch was paused and for

1:13 Falcon 9, scrubbed for the day.

1:16 The initial announcement cited FAA airspace

1:19 concerns, which isn't entirely uncommon and

1:22 as a range can go red if a boat or plane

1:24 enters the exclusion zone. However, this time

1:27 the reason was far more unusual. The Federal

1:29 Aviation Administration or faa,

1:32 confirmed that the airspace concerns weren't

1:34 about a specific aircraft, but rather the air

1:37 traffic control centre monitoring those

1:39 aircraft. This particular centre,

1:41 the LA artc, is responsible

1:44 for a massive flight information region

1:46 covering Southern California where Vandenberg

1:49 is located, along with parts of Nevada, Utah

1:52 and Arizona. A regional power

1:54 outage in the Santa Barbara area caused

1:56 communication problems for the LAR TCC.

2:00 This meant they couldn't verify or perhaps

2:02 even tell SpaceX whether the range was clear

2:05 for launch. Without that crucial green light,

2:08 SpaceX had no choice but to scrub the Falcon

2:10 9 launch due to the unacceptable range

2:13 configuration. While this specific launch

2:16 faced an unexpected hurdle, another attempt

2:18 was pencilled in for the very next day.

2:21 Interestingly, despite this West coast snag,

2:24 SpaceX did manage a successful launch just

2:27 hours later from Cape Canaveral Space Force

2:29 station in Florida. Two satellites for SES

2:32 owned O3B networks, MPower M9 and

2:34 MPower M10, lifted off during their second

2:37 launch opportunity. This particular Florida

2:40 launch had its own set of challenges as its

2:43 first attempt the previous day was also

2:44 scrubbed, though that was due to weather

2:46 conditions rather than range issues. It just

2:49 goes to show the dynamic and often

2:50 unpredictable nature of Space operations.

2:53 With various factors, from power outages to

2:56 weather, playing a role in getting these

2:57 missions off the ground.

3:00 From one dynamic event to another, let's now

3:02 turn our gaze to Jupiter's intriguing moon

3:05 Europa. New observations from the James

3:07 Webb Space Telescope are painting a vivid and

3:10 frankly quite chaotic picture of its icy

3:12 shell, revealing it to be a dynamic world far

3:15 from frozen in time. For decades, scientists

3:18 often pictured Europa's frozen surface as a

3:20 still, silent shell. But these new findings

3:23 are completely changing that perception.

3:25 According to Richard Cartwright, a

3:27 spectroscopist at Johns Hopkins University's

3:29 Applied Physics Laboratory and lead author of

3:32 this new study, the surface of Europa is

3:34 likely quite porous and warm enough in

3:36 certain areas to allow ice to rapidly

3:38 recrystallize. This suggests a level of

3:41 activity we hadn't fully appreciated. Even

3:44 more exciting is what this surface activity

3:46 reveals about Europa's subsurface ocean

3:48 regions, known as chaos terrains. Highly

3:51 disrupted areas where blocks of ice appear to

3:53 have broken off, drifted and then refrozen

3:55 are proving to be incredibly valuable. They

3:58 act as potential windows into Europa's

4:00 mysterious interior, hinting at ongoing

4:02 geological processes. The study

4:05 specifically focused on two regions in

4:07 Europa's southern hemisphere, Tara Regio

4:10 and Pas Regio. Tara Regio

4:13 in particular, has emerged as one of the

4:15 moon's most intriguing areas. The Webb

4:18 telescope's observations detected crystalline

4:20 ice not just on the surface, but also deeper

4:23 below, which challenges previous assumptions

4:26 about how ice is distributed on Europa.

4:29 By measuring the spectral properties of these

4:31 chaos regions using remotely sensed data,

4:34 scientists are gaining crucial insights into

4:36 Europa's chemistry and, significantly, its

4:39 potential for habitability. Ujwal

4:41 Raut, programme manager at the Southwest

4:43 Research Institute and a co author of the

4:45 study, emphasised that their data strongly

4:48 suggests that what they are observing must be

4:51 sourced from the interior, possibly from a

4:53 vast subsurface ocean and nearly 20 miles,

4:56 or 30 kilometres beneath Europa's thick

4:59 icy shell. To better understand this,

5:02 Raut and his team conducted laboratory

5:04 experiments. They studied how water freezes

5:07 on Europa, where the surface is constantly

5:09 bombarded by charged particles from space.

5:13 Unlike Earth, where ice naturally forms a

5:16 hexagonal crystal structure, Europa's intense

5:19 radiation disrupts this, causing it to become

5:21 amorphous ice, a disordered non

5:24 crystalline form. These experiments were

5:27 vital in demonstrating how the ice changes

5:30 over time, offering clues about the Moon's

5:32 surface dynamics. When combined with Webb's

5:35 fresh data, these findings add to the

5:38 mounting evidence of a vast hidden liquid

5:41 ocean beneath Europa's icy crust.

5:43 Cartwright pointed out that in these same

5:46 fascinating regions, they've also found

5:48 strong indications of Sodium chloride,

5:50 essentially table salt likely originating

5:53 from that interior ocean. Furthermore,

5:55 they've seen some of the strongest evidence

5:57 for carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on

5:59 Europa. The chemistry in these specific

6:02 locations is truly bizarre and incredibly

6:04 exciting. These fractured surface features

6:07 strongly suggest geologic activity is pushing

6:10 material up from beneath Europa's icy shell.

6:13 Webb's Near Spec instrument is particularly

6:16 well suited for studying Europa's surface

6:18 because it can detect key chemical signatures

6:21 across a wide range of infrared wavelengths.

6:24 This includes features associated with

6:26 crystalline water ice and a specific form of

6:28 carbon dioxide called 13 CO2.

6:31 This is significant for understanding the

6:33 moon's geological and chemical processes.

6:36 The team detected higher levels of carbon

6:38 dioxide in these areas compared to

6:40 surrounding regions, leading them to conclude

6:42 that it most likely originates from the

6:45 subsurface ocean rather than external sources

6:47 like meteorites, which would result in a more

6:50 even distribution given that carbon

6:53 dioxide is unstable under Europa's intense

6:56 radiation environment. These deposits are

6:58 thought to be relatively recent and directly

7:01 linked to ongoing geological processes.

7:04 The evidence for a liquid ocean underneath

7:06 Europa's icy shell continues to grow, making

7:09 this an incredibly thrilling time for

7:11 planetary science. The discovery of carbon

7:14 13, an isotope of carbon, further deepens

7:17 the mystery. As Cartwright noted, it's hard

7:19 to explain its presence, but every road leads

7:22 back to an internal origin. This aligns with

7:25 other hypotheses about the origin of carbon

7:27 dioxide detected in Tara Regio. This new

7:30 study also comes at a perfect time, as NASA's

7:32 Europa Clipper mission is currently en route

7:35 to the Jovian moon with an expected arrival

7:37 in April 2030. The spacecraft will perform

7:40 dozens of close flybys, gathering critical

7:43 data about the hidden ocean, building upon

7:45 the incredible insights from the James Webb

7:47 Space Telescope.

7:50 Now let's shift our focus from the icy moon

7:52 Europa to an even more distant and Ancient

7:56 Comet, 3i/Atlas This celestial object

7:59 holds a special place in astronomical

8:01 history, as it is only the third interstellar

8:04 object humanity has ever observed entering

8:06 our solar system. The previous two 1i

8:08 Oumuamua in 2017 and 2i

8:11 Borisov in 2019 have already made their

8:14 grand exits. But 3i/Atlas is still giving us

8:16 plenty to talk about. What makes this comet

8:19 particularly captivating isn't just its

8:21 interstellar origin, but also the

8:23 serendipitous way its earliest high

8:25 resolution images were captured. Get this.

8:28 The Vera C Rubin Observatory, a

8:31 powerful new facility designed to scan the

8:33 universe, actually took pictures of 3i/Atlas

8:35 before it was even officially discovered.

8:37 During its science validation phase, the

8:40 Rubin Observatory just happened to be

8:41 pointing at the right part of the sky where

8:44 3i/Atlas was located. Unbeknownst to the

8:46 operators, it snapped images of the comet

8:49 between June 21 and July 7, even

8:52 a few days before the telescope officially

8:54 released its first look images to the public.

8:56 These observations are incredibly important

8:59 because they represent the earliest, highest

9:01 resolution images we have of this rare

9:04 interstellar visitor. At that time, the

9:06 observatory's 8.4-metre Simui Survey

9:09 Telescope, combined with its 3.2-gigapixel

9:12 Legacy Survey of Space and Time camera

9:14 provided unparalleled detail. Adding to

9:17 the excitement, the Hubble Space Telescope

9:19 also caught its first glimpse of Comet

9:21 3i/Atlas. These Hubble images confirm the

9:23 comet's puffy coma, a cloud of gas and dust

9:26 surrounding its nucleus. The arrival of

9:28 3i/Atlas Atlas has really ignited a period of

9:31 intense study for astronomers, with many

9:33 instruments now attempting to get a good look

9:35 at it. Since its initial spotting on July 1,

9:38 2025 by the Atlas Survey Telescope,

9:41 recent research suggests that 3i/Atlas could

9:44 be even more exciting than initially thought.

9:46 Its trajectory through our solar system

9:49 indicates it comes from a region of the Milky

9:51 Way that is older than our own 4.6 billion

9:54 year old solar system. With an estimated

9:56 age of 7 billion years, 3i/Atlas

9:59 Atlas holds the title of the oldest comet

10:02 we've ever seen, offering a potential

10:04 window into the earliest days of planetary

10:07 systems far beyond our own.

10:10 The images captured, especially those from

10:12 Rubin, reveal a comet that largely behaved as

10:15 expected, confirming its cometary nature with

10:17 a clear coma of gas and dust.

10:20 Interestingly, the apparent size of its coma

10:23 grew by about 58% during the observation

10:25 period as it continued to approach the Sun.

10:28 But here's where it gets truly unique. It had

10:31 a sunward pointing tail. This unusual

10:33 phenomenon, explained by what's called

10:35 anisotropic dust emission, is relatively

10:38 rare, but has been observed in other comets.

10:41 It could be due to the slow ejection of large

10:43 particles that aren't pushed back as quickly

10:46 by the Sun's radiation pressure or perhaps a

10:48 rotational axis that nearly aligns with its

10:51 orbital plane. While 3i/Atlas

10:54 hasn't shown any signs of non gravitational

10:56 acceleration. Unlike 1i

10:58 Oumuamua, astronomers will be watching

11:00 closely as it approaches its perihelion in

11:03 October, though it will unfortunately be

11:05 blocked by the sun from September through

11:07 December and won't be visible during that

11:09 crucial period. Nevertheless, the data from

11:12 3i/Atlas is already incredibly rich.

11:15 Optical and near infrared spectroscopy

11:18 has revealed that it's an active interstellar

11:20 comet containing abundant water ice with a

11:23 dust composition similar to D type asteroids,

11:26 space rocks rich in organic molecules,

11:28 silicates and carbon. This kind of detailed

11:31 Insight helps us paint a more intimate

11:33 picture of planetary systems beyond our own.

11:35 The Vera C Rubin Observatory, which

11:38 inadvertently gave us these early views, is

11:41 expected to discover between 5 and 50 more

11:43 interstellar objects as they zip through our

11:46 solar system over its decade long survey,

11:48 promising a future filled with even more

11:50 cosmic surprises.

11:52 From ancient comets to cutting edge

11:54 observatories, space. Space constantly offers

11:57 us new wonders to explore. But sometimes

12:00 the most extraordinary cosmic sights are

12:02 right here in our own solar system, if you

12:04 know how to look for them. For our final

12:06 segment today, let's turn our attention to

12:09 our very own star, the sun, and

12:12 unlock the secrets to safely and effectively

12:14 photographing its intricate details.

12:17 Most of us have probably taken a picture of

12:19 the rising or setting sun, but those images

12:22 typically show an overexposed ball of light.

12:25 That's because even with the lowest camera

12:26 settings, the sun's surface is simply too

12:29 bright for standard photography gear to

12:30 resolve any detail. To truly capture our

12:33 dynamic local star, you need specialised

12:36 equipment and a deep understanding of safety.

12:38 First and foremost, safety is paramount.

12:41 Never look directly at the sun without

12:43 certified solar eclipse glasses, as even

12:46 brief exposure can cause permanent eye damage

12:49 when photographing. If your camera has an

12:51 optical viewfinder, avoid looking through it.

12:54 Always use the digital display as uh. Some

12:56 filters designed for cameras aren't safe for

12:58 direct eye observation. To successfully

13:01 photograph the sun, you must significantly

13:03 reduce its effective brightness. The

13:06 primary tool for this is a neutral density

13:08 filter which attaches to the end of your

13:10 camera lens. These aren't your everyday

13:12 filters. You need one specifically designed

13:15 for solar photography, capable of blocking

13:17 out an immense amount of light, over

13:19 99.9% in fact. These

13:22 specialised filters ensure you can resolve

13:24 details while protecting your camera sensor.

13:27 Different filters allow you to capture

13:29 different layers and features of the sun.

13:32 A white light filter reduces intensity across

13:35 all wavelengths, revealing the sun's surface

13:38 known as the photosphere. With this, you can

13:41 clearly see sunspots, which are cooler,

13:43 darker regions caused by intense magnetic

13:45 fields. For even more detail, particularly of

13:48 features in the sun's atmosphere above the

13:50 photosphere, you'll want to use specialised

13:52 filters like H Alpha or kk. H

13:55 Alpha filters, for instance, capture light

13:57 emitted by hydrogen plasma, making the sun

14:00 appear red and revealing structures like

14:02 filaments and prominences. Filaments are

14:05 twisted magnetic structures seen against the

14:07 sun's disc, while prominences are the same

14:10 structures seen dramatically arcing out from

14:12 the sun's edge against the dark backdrop of

14:15 space. CK filters, on the other hand,

14:18 filter light from calcium plasma, showing a

14:21 different perspective of the chromosphere. If

14:24 you're feeling ambitious. You can even

14:26 photograph the sun with a telescope, either

14:28 by mounting your camera to it or using a

14:30 dedicated solar telescope. These setups often

14:33 come with internal filter systems designed

14:35 for detailed solar observation. By

14:37 experimenting with these various filters and

14:40 understanding their unique capabilities, you

14:42 can move beyond the simple overexposed disc

14:45 and capture the true, ever changing nature of

14:48 our star, revealing its fascinating sunspots,

14:51 fiery prominences, and intricate filaments.

14:53 Again, a final reminder always think safety

14:55 first and never look directly at the Sun.

14:59 And that brings us to the end of another

15:00 fascinating journey through the cosmos on

15:03 Astronomy Daily. Thank you for joining me,

15:05 Anna, as we explored everything from

15:07 unexpected launch scrubs and the hidden

15:09 depths of Europa to ancient interstellar

15:12 comets and the art of photographing our own

15:15 Sun. If you enjoyed today's episode and want

15:17 to delve deeper into the wonders of the

15:19 universe, be sure to visit our

15:21 website at astronomydaily.IO.

15:23 there you can listen to all our back episodes

15:26 and become a true astronomy completionist.

15:28 And don't forget to subscribe to Astronomy

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15:36 podcasts, so you never miss an update.

15:40 Until tomorrow, keep looking up.