Spectacular Auroras, Suni Williams Retires, China's Space Rescue

0:00 Anna: Hello, space enthusiasts. I'm Anna. Avery: And I'm, um, Avery. Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your daily dose of space and astronomy news, brought to you by astronomydaily IO and what a. Anna: Day we have for you today, Avery. If you were lucky enough to catch the auroras last night, you know what we're leading with. Avery: Absolutely, Anna. We're following up on yesterday's story about that powerful X class solar flare and the coronal mass ejection that was racing toward Earth. Well, it hit and it hit hard.

0:33 Anna: That's right. We've got stunning photos from around the world of the resulting northern lights. And a retirement announcement from a legendary NASA astronaut. An incredible space rescue story from China, and some exciting updates from the commercial space sector. Avery: Plus, we'll tell you about NASA's latest mission that's preparing to study the Sun's most powerful eruptions. And we'll take you on a cosmic journey billions of years into the past with some fascinating new telescope observations.

1:02 Anna: So grab your coffee, settle in, and let's get into today's space news. Avery: All right, Anna, let's dive into our lead story and what a spectacular show it was yesterday. We told our listeners about that x 1.9 solar flare and coronal mass ejection headed our way. Well, it arrived right on schedule. In fact, a little early. Anna: It certainly did, Avery. The CME slammed into Earth's magnetic field on January 19th at around 2:38pm Eastern Time. And it packed quite a punch. Space weather forecasters at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction center confirmed that geomagnetic conditions escalated to G4 level.

1:43 That's classified as severe on their five point scale. Avery: And the results were absolutely breathtaking. What made the CME particularly noteworthy was just how fast it traveled. Remember, it was ejected from the sun on January 18th during that powerful solar flare, which means it covered roughly 93 million miles in just over a day. That's exceptionally quick. Anna: The aurora displays that followed were truly global in scope. We're seeing reports and photographs from locations that rarely get to witness the northern lights.

2:18 One photographer, Greg Gage, captured stunning red auroras from Deming, New Mexico. That's at 32 degrees latitude. He told Space.com he was on vacation there and never expected to see auroras that far south. Avery: That's incredible. And it wasn't just North America. The displays stretched across Europe, Asia and beyond. In Germany, vivid red and green auroras danced above the River Mughelspree near Berlin, Hungary, saw intense red and green hues filling the skies over the village of. Anna: Oboivar, uh, France had some particularly eerie displays with rich magenta auroras above Brittany.

2:56 And in China, the northern lights were visible Above Beiji village in Heilongjiang province, with photographers capturing everything from magenta to green to even hints of blue in the curtains of light. Avery: What's particularly interesting about these displays Is the variety of colors. The red auroras we're seeing indicate that oxygen atoms at, uh, very high altitudes around 200 to 300 miles up, are being energized. The green we typically associate with auroras Comes from oxygen at lower altitudes, While any blue would be from nitrogen.

3:30 Anna: The geomagnetic conditions throughout the night Were quite dynamic, too. Storm levels fluctuated between G1, G2, G3, and G4 as the CME passed through Earth's magnetic field. According to the UK Met Office, this kept Earth's magnetic field In a highly disturbed state for hours, Producing repeated surges of auroral activity. Avery: And there's more good news for aurora watchers. While geomagnetic activity Is expected to gradually ease, Forecasters say conditions remain unsettled. That means there's still a chance the northern lights could make another appearance tonight if solar, uh, wind conditions cooperate.

4:08 Anna: So if you missed last night's show, keep those cameras charged and your aurora alert apps turned on. The sun is clearly in an active phase, and we could see more displays in the coming days and weeks. Avery: Absolutely. And this really highlights why we track space weather so closely. While these auroras are beautiful, the same geomagnetic storms can affect satellites, power grids, and radio communications. It's a reminder of how our technological society is connected to what's happening 93 million miles away on the sun.

4:41 Anna: Moving on to our next story. Avery. And this one marks the end of an era. After 27 years of distinguished service, NASA astronaut Suni Williams has officially retired from the agency. Avery: This is definitely a significant moment. Anna, uh, Suni Williams has been such an inspiring figure in human spaceflight. Her retirement became effective on December 27, 2025, though NASA just announced it this week. Let's talk about her remarkable achievements. Anna: Where do we even start? Over the course of her career, Williams logged an impressive 608 days in space.

5:18 That makes her second on the list for cumulative time and space by a NASA astronaut. She completed three missions to the International Space Station and held numerous records throughout her career. Avery: Her most recent mission was particularly interesting. Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore launched aboard Boeing Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 as part of NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test mission, both tied for sixth place on the list. Of longest single spaceflight by an American logging 286 days during their combined Starliner and SpaceX Crew 9 missions.

5:53 Anna: That's right. And during that mission, Williams once again took command of the space station for Expedition 72. She's also renowned for her spacewalking expertise. She completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and six minutes over her career. Avery: That gives her the record for most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth most on the all time cumulative spacewalk duration list. Oh, and here's a fun fact. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space. Anna: Beyond her spaceflight experience, Williams held numerous important roles at NASA.

6:27 She served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, was Director of Operations in Star City, Russia, and most recently helped establish a helicopter training platform to prepare astronauts for future moon landings. Avery: NASA Administrator Jared Eichman had some wonderful words about her legacy. He called her a trailblazer in human spaceflight whose work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the moon and future missions to Mars. Anna: It's worth noting her background too.

6:58 She's a retired US Navy captain and an accomplished pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours in 40 different aircraft. She holds a bachelor's degree in Physical science from the United States Naval Academy and a master's degree in Engineering Management. Avery: In her retirement statement, Williams said, anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be. She expressed gratitude for her 27 year career and the support she received from her colleagues and mentioned she's excited to watch NASA make history as the agency continues its exploration efforts.

7:32 Anna: It's a well deserved retirement for someone who has contributed so much to human spaceflight. Her achievements will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of astronauts and space explorers. Avery: Alright, Anna, um, our next story is quite dramatic. It involves a successful space rescue, emergency repairs, and some impressive quick thinking by China's space program. Anna: This is really a remarkable story, avery. China's Shenzhou 20 capsule safely landed in Inner Mongolia on January 19, 2026 after spending 270 days in orbit.

8:07 But the journey back wasn't exactly routine. This mission became one of the most technically demanding in China's human spaceflight history. Avery: The Shenzhou 20 was originally launched back on April 24, 2025 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It was expected to complete its mission and return in November 2025. But then came the complication. A, uh, suspected impact with space debris damaged one of the capsule's portholes. Anna: Talk about a critical issue. A cracked porthole on a spacecraft is serious business, especially when you're thinking about the intense heat and forces of re entry through Earth's atmosphere.

8:49 So how did China's space program respond? Avery: With remarkable speed and coordination. First they authorized astronauts aboard the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft to photograph the damaged porthole during a spacewalk on December 9. They used high definition cameras to get a detailed diagnosis of the problem. Anna: And then came an unprecedented move. China launched Shenzhou 22 on November 25. Marking the first rapid response emergency deployment in China's space history. This uncrewed craft delivered a specially engineered repair device designed to enhance the capsule's heat resistance and sealing for re entry.

9:30 Avery: Meanwhile, for safety reasons, the crew of Shenzhou 20 was evacuated ahead of schedule. They returned aboard Shenzhou 21 on November 14th in what the China Manned Space Agency called an emergency reroute. Anna: So uh, the Shenzhou 20 capsule came home empty, but it came home safe. According to cgtn, the China Manned Space Agency declared the mission uh, a complete success after an on site inspection confirmed the capsule was in good condition despite everything it went through. Avery: What really stands out here is the operational capability.

10:05 This demonstrates China executed three overlapping missions, Shenzhou 20, 21 and 22 over a span of just weeks. That shows significant operational depth and uh, the ability to respond to emergencies in space. Anna: Absolutely. And it's not just about the technical achievement. This validates China's long term approach to maintaining crew vehicles in orbit. The Shenzhou 20 stayed up there for 270 days which demonstrates the reliability of their spacecraft systems. Avery: This mission also underscores something we talk about often, the very real danger posed by space debris.

10:43 Even small particles traveling at orbital velocities can cause significant damage as we saw here with the porthole crack. Anna: And China's ability to handle this situation adds to their growing reputation in space exploration. They're now capable of managing multi vessel operations under pressure with modular mission architecture and long term crew support capabilities. Avery: Congratulations to all involved in this very successful mission. In the end. Anna: Moving on to our next story, Avery. And we're heading to West Texas where Blue Origin is preparing for its next suborbital space tourism mission.

11:20 Avery: That's right Anna. Uh, Blue Origin is scheduled to launch six space tourists on its NS38 mission this Thursday, January 22nd. The launch window opens at 9:30am Eastern Time. That's 8:30am M local Texas time. Anna: This will be the 38th flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket capsule system. And if all goes according to plan, the 17th crewed mission they've flown the mission follows the same profile we've seen before. About 10 to 12 minutes from liftoff to the capsule's parachute aided touchdown.

11:53 Avery: During that brief but spectacular journey, passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and get to see Earth against the blackness of space from an altitude above the Karman Line, which is generally recognized as the boundary of space. Anna: Now, let's talk about who's flying. We have entrepreneur and pilot Tim Drexler, retired obstetrician and gynecologist Linda Edwards, real estate developer and investor Elaine Fernandez, entrepreneur and technologist Alberto Gutierrez, and retired US Air Force Colonel Jim Hendren, who founded Hendren Plastics, Inc.

12:29 And there's an interesting. Avery: Late addition to the crew manifest. Blue Origin just announced that Lara Stiles, who is Blue Origin's director of New Shepard launch Operations, will be flying on this mission. Anna: That's a pretty cool opportunity for someone who's been so involved in making these missions happen. Dials is actually a late replacement for a passenger who had to drop out due to illness. Though that person will get to fly on a future mission. Avery: Blue Origin has been steadily building their flight rate.

12:58 Just last month, they made history by flying the first wheelchair user to space on their NS37 mission. They're really demonstrating that spaceflight can be accessible to a diverse range of people. Anna: Now, Blue Origin hasn't publicly disclosed their ticket prices, but we know their main competitor Virgin Galactic charges $600,000 per seat for similar suborbital flights. So we can probably assume Blue Origin's prices are in that same ballpark. Avery: If you want to watch this launch, Blue Origin typically livestreams our missions, and Space.com will likely carry the feat as well.

13:32 It's always exciting to watch these launches. That New Shepard rocket is quite a sight to see. Anna: Absolutely. And it's worth noting how routine these launches are becoming. Blue Origin is really building up their experience with regular crewed flights, which is essential for the commercial space tourism industry. Avery: Our next story takes us from suborbital tourism to cutting edge heliophysics research. Anna. Uh, NASA Sunrise, that's the Sun Radio Interometer Space Experiment is moving closer to its launch later this year after successfully completing a rigorous series of tests.

14:07 Anna: This is such a fascinating mission. Avery Sunrise consists of six smallsats. They're about the size of a toaster oven that will fly in formation to act as one giant radio telescope studying the sun. Avery: That's the clever part. These six smallsats will orbit at about 22,000 miles altitude, which is geosynchronous orbit. Flying up to 10 miles apart from each other. By combining their observations Using a technique called interferometry, they'll create what's essentially A single large radio telescope in space.

14:40 Anna: And what will they be looking at? Solar radio bursts. These bursts are generated by solar energetic particle events Deep within the sun's atmosphere, or corona. In extreme cases, these events could pose radiation hazards to unprotected astronauts and damaged satellites. Avery: The spacecraft were built At Utah State University's Space Dynamics laboratory in Logan, Utah, and they just completed what's described As a rigorous testing campaign. This included thermal vacuum testing to simulate orbital conditions, Electromagnetic compatibility testing to ensure the electronic systems Won't interfere With the sensitive instruments, and most dramatically, vibration testing.

15:22 Anna: The vibration testing is crucial because launch is an incredibly violent event. Jim Lux, the Sunrise project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Explained that each spacecraft was loaded with propellant to match its launch mass and then subjected to vibration testing in all three axes. Avery: They wanted to make the simulated vibrations as true to the actual launch conditions as possible. And here's the important part. Pre and post test functional checks were performed and all six spacecraft passed with flying colors.

15:55 Anna: The mission is scheduled to launch From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida Aboard a, uh ULA launch Vulcan Centaur rocket As a rideshare mission. Once in orbit, each satellite will deploy four telescoping antenna booms about 10ft long, forming an X shaped configuration. Avery: Sue Lepre, the sunrise principal investigator at the University of Michigan, Points out that these solar radio bursts Are triggered when vast quantities of energy Stored in the sun's magnetic field Accelerate solar particles to high speeds.

16:28 Tracking these events will help space agencies Protect astronauts and spacecraft. Anna: And this mission will work in conjunction with other NASA heliophysics missions like the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the Parker Solar probe, and Solar Orbiter, which is an international cooperative mission with esa. Avery: It's exciting to see these missions coming together Between Parker Solar Probe diving close to the sun, Solar Orbiter studying the polar regions, and now Sunrise tracking radio bursts from Earth orbit.

16:58 We're building a comprehensive picture of our star's behavior. Anna: And now for our final story. Avery. We're going to talk about something that's never been seen before in quite this Planetary systems in their awkward teenage years. Avery: Love that description, Anna. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array, better known as Alma, have captured the most detailed images ever of 24 debris disks. These are the dusty belts left behind after planets have finished forming. Anna: The survey is called arcs, which stands for the ALMA Survey to Resolve Exoker belt substructures.

17:40 Meredith Hughes, an associate professor at Wesleyan University and co principal investigator, explains it perfectly. We've often seen the baby pictures of planets forming, but until now, the teenage years have been a missing link. Avery: And just like human teenagers, these systems turned out to be quite dramatic. The observations revealed incredible diversity. Not just simple rings, but multi ring belts, wide smooth halos, sharp edges, and even unexpected arcs and clumps. Anna: This phase is really important because these debris disks represent what's called the collision dominated phase of planet formation.

18:20 Think of it like our own solar system's Kuiper Belt, that ring of icy debris beyond Neptune that preserves a record of massive collisions and planetary migrations from billions of years ago. Avery: Thomas Henning from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, another co principal investigator, notes that by characterizing these disk structures, they can find evidence pointing to the presence of planets. They're using ALMA alongside direct imaging and radio velocity studies to search for young planets in these systems.

18:52 Anna: One of the challenges with studying debris disks is that they're incredibly faint, hundreds or even thousands of times dimmer than the bright gas rich disks where planets are actively being born. But alma's sensitivity and resolution made these. Avery: Observations possible, and the findings are fascinating. About one third of the observed disks show clear substructures, like multiple rings or distinct gaps. These could be legacy features from earlier planet building stages, or they could be sculpted by planets over much longer timescales.

19:26 Anna: Perhaps most surprising, several of these disks retain gas much longer than expected. In some systems, this lingering gas might actually shape the chemistry of growing planets. Or it might push dust into wide halos. Avery: Many of the disks also show asymmetries and arcs. They're lopsided with bright arcs or eccentric shapes. This hints, uh, at gravitational interactions with unseen planets, leftover scars from planetary migration or interactions between the gas and dust. Anna: Luca Matra from Trinity College Dublin, another co principal investigator, puts it beautifully.

20:05 These disks record a period when planetary orbits were being scrambled and huge impacts like the one that forged Earth's Moon were shaping young solar systems. Avery: And here's some great news for the scientific community. All of the ARC's observations and process data are being made freely available to astronomers worldwide. Which means we can expect even more discoveries from this data set in the coming years. Anna: Meredith Hughes sums up the significance perfectly. This project gives us a new lens for interpreting the craters on the Moon, the dynamics of the Kuiper Belt, and the growth of planets big and small.

20:45 It's like adding the missing pages to the solar system's family album. Avery: Well, that wraps up today's episode of Astronomy Daily. What an incredible day of space news we've covered. Anna: From spectacular auroras, lighting up skies around the globe, to the retirement of a legendary astronaut, emergency space repairs by China, exciting commercial space launches, and groundbreaking observations of planetary systems, it's been quite a journey through the cosmos. Avery: And remember, if you want to stay up to date with all the latest space and astronomy news, visit our [email protected].

21:22 you can also find us on all major social media platforms. Just search for astrodaily Pod. Anna: That's astrodaily pod. All one word. We'd love to hear from you and see your aurora photos if you caught last night's display. Avery: Thanks for joining us today, space fans. Keep looking up and we'll see you tomorrow with more exciting space and astronomy news. Anna: Until then, clear skies, everyone.

22:05 Avery: Told.