Unraveling the Universe: A Planet in Peril, Webb's Breakthroughs, and UFO Origins

0:00 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host, Anna,

0:03 Speaker 1: and I'm thrilled to bring you today's exciting journey through

0:06 Speaker 1: the Cosmos. We've got an absolutely fascinating lineup of stories

0:10 Speaker 1: for you Today. We'll explore a doomed planet that's literally

0:13 Speaker 1: shedding mountains of material with each orbit, learn how the

0:16 Speaker 1: James Webb Space Telescope may have finally discovered a missing

0:19 Speaker 1: supermassive black hole, and dive into Webb's crucial role in

0:23 Speaker 1: our search for life beyond Earth. We'll also take a

0:26 Speaker 1: look at China's latest space station mission with its new

0:29 Speaker 1: three person crew, and travel back in time to explore

0:33 Speaker 1: the origins of the UFO craze that captivated America's imagination

0:37 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen forties. So buckle up for a

0:40 Speaker 1: stellar journey through the latest and most intriguing developments in

0:43 Speaker 1: space and astronomy. Let's get started in a remarkable discovery

0:49 Speaker 1: that offers a rare glimpse of cosmic destruction. Astronomers have

0:52 Speaker 1: found a planet that is literally falling apart before our eyes.

0:56 Speaker 1: Located about one hundred and forty light years from Earth

0:59 Speaker 1: in the Pegs constellation, this doomed world named b D

1:03 Speaker 1: plus zero five four thousand, eight hundred and sixty eight

1:06 Speaker 1: AaB is experiencing what can only be described as a

1:09 Speaker 1: catastrophic demise. This ill fated planet whips around its star

1:13 Speaker 1: once every thirty point five hours, an orbit so perilously

1:17 Speaker 1: close that its surface is being scorched to temperatures approaching

1:20 Speaker 1: three thousand degrees fahrenheit. At this extreme heat, the planet's

1:25 Speaker 1: surface is turning into magma and actively vaporizing into space.

1:29 Speaker 1: What's truly astonishing is the scale of this destruction. With

1:33 Speaker 1: each blistering orbit, BD plus zero five four thousand, eight

1:36 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight AB sheds as much mass of

1:39 Speaker 1: molten rock as an entire Mount Everest. Behind it trails

1:42 Speaker 1: a gargantuan taiale of debris stretching up to nine million kilometers,

1:46 Speaker 1: roughly half the planet's entire orbital path. Mark Hahn, a

1:51 Speaker 1: post dock at MIT's Cavili Institute, described it as an

1:54 Speaker 1: epic disintegration unfolding in real time. While scientists have identified

1:59 Speaker 1: over six thousand exoplanets, this is only the fourth known

2:02 Speaker 1: disintegrating world ever discovered. What makes B D plus zero

2:06 Speaker 1: five four thousand eight hundred and sixty eight AB special

2:09 Speaker 1: is that it boasts the longest debris tail of them all,

2:12 Speaker 1: suggesting its evaporation is particularly catastrophic. Despite its ongoing destruction,

2:18 Speaker 1: don't expect this cosmic demolition to end anytime soon. Researchers

2:22 Speaker 1: estimate it might take between one to two million years

2:25 Speaker 1: for the entire planet to fully disintegrate. As Avi Schporer

2:29 Speaker 1: from the Test Science Office put it, we got lucky

2:32 Speaker 1: with catching it exactly when it's really going away. It's

2:35 Speaker 1: like on its last breath. The discovery was actually a

2:38 Speaker 1: fortunate accident. The planet was spotted using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet

2:42 Speaker 1: Survey satellite or TESTS, which scans for periodic dips in

2:46 Speaker 1: starlight caused by orbiting planets. The team wasn't specifically hunting

2:50 Speaker 1: for disintegrating worlds, but BD plus zero five four thousand,

2:55 Speaker 1: eight hundred and sixty eight AaB's unusual transit signal caught

2:58 Speaker 1: their attention. The star's brightness took much longer than normal

3:02 Speaker 1: to return to baseline, and the depth of the dimming

3:05 Speaker 1: changed with every transit. This doomed planet's misfortune is a

3:09 Speaker 1: scientific gold mine. Its relatively small size somewhere between our

3:13 Speaker 1: Moon and mercury, means its gravity is too weak to

3:16 Speaker 1: hold onto its mass once it starts evaporating, creating a

3:19 Speaker 1: runaway process that continuously worsens. The James Web Space Telescope

3:23 Speaker 1: will observe the planet this northern summer, offering scientists a

3:27 Speaker 1: unique opportunity to directly measure the interior composition of a

3:30 Speaker 1: rocky planet. As the planet's material streams away in its

3:34 Speaker 1: massive tail, JWST can analyze the chemical makeup of what

3:38 Speaker 1: was once buried deep within this world, potentially revealing new

3:43 Speaker 1: insights about the diversity and habitability of terrestrial planets throughout

3:47 Speaker 1: our galaxy and in more JWST news has the James

3:52 Speaker 1: Web Space Telescope finally solved one of astronomy's most puzzling mysteries.

3:57 Speaker 1: For years, scientists have been perplexed by the apparent at

4:00 Speaker 1: absence of a supermassive black hole at the heart of

4:02 Speaker 1: the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, more formally known as Messier eighty

4:06 Speaker 1: three or M eighty three. Conventional wisdom holds that every

4:09 Speaker 1: large galaxy should harbor a monster sized black hole at

4:13 Speaker 1: its center. These cosmic giants with masses millions or billions

4:17 Speaker 1: of times that of our Sun, are typically easy to

4:19 Speaker 1: spot when they're actively feeding. As they consume surrounding matter,

4:23 Speaker 1: they create brilliantly glowing regions called active galactic nuclei or AGNs,

4:28 Speaker 1: that can outshine entire galaxies. Yet, despite numerous searches, no

4:33 Speaker 1: such cosmic behemoth had been detected in M eighty three,

4:36 Speaker 1: a spiral galaxy located approximately fifteen million light years from Earth.

4:41 Speaker 1: This absence presented astronomers with a conundrum. Was the black

4:44 Speaker 1: hole dormant and therefore invisible, or was it perhaps hidden

4:47 Speaker 1: behind a thick veil of cosmic dust. Now, thanks to

4:51 Speaker 1: the unparalleled sensitivity and resolution of the James Webb Space Telescope,

4:55 Speaker 1: we may have our answer. The smoking gun came in

4:58 Speaker 1: the form of clumps of highlight the ionized gas detected

5:01 Speaker 1: at the Galaxy Center. As Svea Hernandez, the team leader

5:05 Speaker 1: and European Space Agency scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, explained,

5:10 Speaker 1: our discovery of highly ionized neon emission in the nucleus

5:13 Speaker 1: of M eighty three was unexpected. These signatures require large

5:18 Speaker 1: amounts of energy to be produced, more than what normal

5:20 Speaker 1: stars can generate. This excess energy strongly suggests the presence

5:26 Speaker 1: of an agn the telltale sign of a feeding, supermassive

5:29 Speaker 1: black hole that has somehow remained hidden from view until now.

5:34 Speaker 1: Even the explosive deaths of massive stars and supernovas couldn't

5:38 Speaker 1: provide enough energy to create this distinctive ionized neon signature.

5:43 Speaker 1: What makes this discovery particularly significant is that it challenges

5:47 Speaker 1: previous astronomical assumptions. Linda Smith of the Space Telescope Science

5:52 Speaker 1: Institute noted, for years astronomers have searched for a black

5:55 Speaker 1: hole in M eighty three without success. Now we finally

5:59 Speaker 1: have a compell clue that suggests one may be present.

6:03 Speaker 1: While this evidence is compelling, scientists aren't closing the case

6:06 Speaker 1: just yet. The team still needs to rule out other

6:09 Speaker 1: potential explanations, such as shockwaves traveling through the interstellar medium.

6:14 Speaker 1: They'll be following up with additional observations using the Hubble

6:17 Speaker 1: Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array, and the

6:22 Speaker 1: Very Large Telescope. Regardless of the final verdict, this research

6:26 Speaker 1: demonstrates the revolutionary capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope

6:31 Speaker 1: in uncovering cosmic secrets that have eluded astronomers for decades.

6:35 Speaker 1: As Smith aptly put it, this discovery showcases how the

6:39 Speaker 1: JWST is making unexpected breakthroughs. Astronomers thought they had ruled

6:43 Speaker 1: out in agn in m eighty three, but now we

6:46 Speaker 1: have fresh evidence that challenges past assumptions and opens new

6:50 Speaker 1: avenues for exploration next. Even more from the JWST, the

6:57 Speaker 1: James Web Space Telescope is not only revealing hidden black holes,

7:00 Speaker 1: but also revolutionizing our search for life beyond Earth. With

7:04 Speaker 1: its unprecedented infrared sensitivity and resolution, WEB is peering at

7:08 Speaker 1: rocky potentially habitable exoplanets with more detail than ever before possible.

7:14 Speaker 1: What makes Web particularly groundbreaking is its ability to detect

7:18 Speaker 1: whether these distant worlds have atmospheres, and crucially, to analyze

7:22 Speaker 1: their chemical composition. These atmospheric studies could reveal tantalizing clues

7:27 Speaker 1: about habitability and potential biosignatures, gases that might indicate the

7:32 Speaker 1: presence of life. However, finding conclusive evidence of life presents

7:36 Speaker 1: enormous challenges. Detecting biosignatures requires potentially hundreds of hours of

7:41 Speaker 1: observing time for a single planet. Even then, the results

7:45 Speaker 1: may not be definitive due to the natural evolution of

7:48 Speaker 1: both stars and planetary atmospheres over time, and the exoplanet's

7:53 Speaker 1: web can currently study orbit stars that may be relatively

7:56 Speaker 1: inhospitable compared to our Sun. NASA scientists emphasis that discovering

8:00 Speaker 1: life elsewhere would be a process, not a single Eureka moment.

8:04 Speaker 1: The detection of a potential biosignature would need to be

8:07 Speaker 1: followed by extensive studies, multiple lines of converging evidence, and

8:11 Speaker 1: the careful elimination of false positives, possibly requiring data from

8:16 Speaker 1: several different missions and sophisticated atmospheric modeling. One of the

8:21 Speaker 1: most intriguing frontiers in web search is the study of

8:24 Speaker 1: what scientists call hic in planets. These theoretical worlds larger

8:29 Speaker 1: than Earth could potentially support life with their relatively thin,

8:33 Speaker 1: hydrogen rich atmospheres and substantial liquid water oceans. Web's observations

8:38 Speaker 1: of the exoplanet K two eighteen B are helping researchers

8:41 Speaker 1: investigate whether it might be such a world. The concept

8:45 Speaker 1: of hiician planets is very new, and scientists are still

8:49 Speaker 1: exploring what kinds of potential biosignatures might exist in these environments.

8:54 Speaker 1: Web's rich spectral data is rapidly advancing our understanding as

8:58 Speaker 1: this field evolves. While WEBB wasn't specifically designed as a

9:02 Speaker 1: life hunting telescope, its remarkable performance has made it the

9:06 Speaker 1: first observatory capable of characterizing the atmospheres of promising small

9:10 Speaker 1: planets orbiting cooler stars. These pioneering observations are building the

9:14 Speaker 1: scientific and technical foundation for future missions like NASA's planned

9:19 Speaker 1: Habitable World's Observatory, which will specifically target Earth like planets

9:24 Speaker 1: around sunlike stars when it launches in the coming decades.

9:29 Speaker 1: Next up, China has just announced the crew members for

9:32 Speaker 1: its Chenho twenty mission, which will launch three astronauts to

9:35 Speaker 1: the Chinese Space Station for a six months stay. The

9:38 Speaker 1: mission continues China's ambitious and rapidly expanding presence in space.

9:43 Speaker 1: The three person crew consists of Chendong, chen Jong Rui,

9:46 Speaker 1: and Wang Jia. Chendong, who will serve as the mission commander,

9:50 Speaker 1: is a veteran astronaut making his third trip to space,

9:53 Speaker 1: having previously served on the Shenzho eleven and Shenho fourteen missions.

9:58 Speaker 1: During his time on Shenho fourteen, he played a key

10:01 Speaker 1: role in the construction of China's space station. At a

10:05 Speaker 1: press conference, Chen expressed his feelings about returning to orbit.

10:09 Speaker 1: I feel incomparable pride and accomplishment to go to space

10:12 Speaker 1: for my country again. Each journey to space is unparalleled.

10:15 Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to gaining more experience and more breakthroughs

10:18 Speaker 1: through this flight. His two crewmates are both first time

10:22 Speaker 1: space travelers. Chen Jong roy was previously an Air Force pilot,

10:26 Speaker 1: while Wangdiya comes to the mission as an engineer with

10:29 Speaker 1: the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The Shenzo twenty

10:33 Speaker 1: crew will launch from Jukuan, located on the edge of

10:36 Speaker 1: the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. Once in space, they'll

10:40 Speaker 1: replace the current crew, who have been aboard the station

10:43 Speaker 1: for one hundred and seventy five days and are scheduled

10:45 Speaker 1: to return to Earth on April twenty ninth. During their

10:49 Speaker 1: half year mission, the astronauts will conduct experiments in space

10:52 Speaker 1: medicine and technology, perform space walks, and make improvements to

10:56 Speaker 1: the space station. This continues China's methodical ab approach to

11:00 Speaker 1: establishing a permanent presence in orbit. China's independent space station

11:05 Speaker 1: became necessary after the country was excluded from participating in

11:08 Speaker 1: the International Space Station due to US national security concerns

11:13 Speaker 1: over the military's involvement in China's space program. This isolation

11:17 Speaker 1: has not slowed China's progress, however. In recent years, the

11:21 Speaker 1: Chinese space program has achieved several major milestones, including landing

11:25 Speaker 1: and explorer on Mars and sending a rover to the

11:28 Speaker 1: far side of the Moon, accomplishments only previously achieved by

11:31 Speaker 1: the United States. Looking ahead, China has set an ambitious

11:36 Speaker 1: goal to put astronauts on the lunar surface before twenty thirty,

11:40 Speaker 1: adding a new dimension to humanity's return to the Moon

11:42 Speaker 1: after decades of absence. Finally, today something a little different.

11:48 Speaker 1: While we often think of the space age beginning with

11:51 Speaker 1: Sputnik's launch in nineteen fifty seven, the space age of

11:54 Speaker 1: the imagination started a decade earlier. On June twenty fourth,

11:58 Speaker 1: nineteen forty seven. That's when private pilot Kenneth Arnold, while

12:03 Speaker 1: searching for a downed plane near Mount Rainier in Washington State,

12:07 Speaker 1: spotted nine disc like objects flying at an estimated one thousand,

12:11 Speaker 1: seven hundred miles per hour, twice the speed of any

12:14 Speaker 1: jet at that time. Arnold described their movement as being

12:18 Speaker 1: like a saucer wood if you skipped it across the water,

12:21 Speaker 1: though he actually compared their shape to pie plates. Newspapers

12:25 Speaker 1: latched onto the saucer analogy, and the term flying saucers

12:29 Speaker 1: was born. The Associated Press spread the story nationwide, and

12:33 Speaker 1: within weeks dozens of similar sightings were reported across America.

12:38 Speaker 1: The Army Air Force began receiving numerous reports, but interestingly,

12:42 Speaker 1: one notable sighting was instead reported to Raymond Palmer, editor

12:46 Speaker 1: of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. Palmer had already

12:51 Speaker 1: been blurring the lines between fiction and alleged fact through

12:54 Speaker 1: his publication of The Shaver Mystery, a series of stories

12:58 Speaker 1: claiming the existence of malevolences subterranean beings affecting life on

13:01 Speaker 1: Earth's surface. By nineteen forty eight, the newly formed US

13:06 Speaker 1: Air Force had established Project Signed to investigate these mysterious objects.

13:10 Speaker 1: When this yielded inconclusive results, it was replaced by Project

13:13 Speaker 1: Grudge in nineteen forty nine, which seemed more focused on

13:16 Speaker 1: explaining away sightings than investigating them. The military's attempts to

13:20 Speaker 1: offer mundane explanations, including the infamous claim that pilot Thomas

13:25 Speaker 1: Mantel had crashed while pursuing Venus rather than the actual

13:29 Speaker 1: classified Skyhook balloon only intensified public skepticism into this information

13:34 Speaker 1: void stepped numerous publications and civilian research groups. Palmer launched

13:39 Speaker 1: Fate magazine, featuring Kenneth Arnold's first hand account. Writer Donald

13:43 Speaker 1: Kehoe published Flying Saucers Are Real in nineteen fifty, popularizing

13:48 Speaker 1: what would later be called the extraterrestrial hypothesis while suggesting

13:52 Speaker 1: government cover ups, establishing two enduring narratives in UFO lore.

13:58 Speaker 1: By nineteen fifty two, when Project Blue Book replaced Grudge,

14:01 Speaker 1: the government had lost control of the narrative. Civilian saucer

14:05 Speaker 1: research clubs formed, including the International Flying Saucer Bureau and

14:09 Speaker 1: the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization. The military's mixed messaging, rational

14:15 Speaker 1: explanations for some sightings, dishonest ones for classified aircraft, and

14:20 Speaker 1: silence where they had no answers had eroded public trust

14:24 Speaker 1: and created fertile ground for speculation about visitors from other worlds.

14:29 Speaker 1: And that's a quick summary of how it all started,

14:33 Speaker 1: and that brings us to the end of today's cosmic journey.

14:36 Speaker 1: What an incredible range of stories we've explored from a

14:39 Speaker 1: doomed planet shedding mount ever sized chunks with each orbit

14:42 Speaker 1: around its star. To the Web telescope potentially solving the

14:46 Speaker 1: mystery of M eighty three's missing black hole, to China's

14:49 Speaker 1: latest space station crew launch, We've seen how web is

14:53 Speaker 1: revolutionizing our search for life beyond Earth, while also learning

14:56 Speaker 1: about the fascinating origins of our cultural obsession with UFOs

15:00 Speaker 1: and flying saucers. The universe continues to surprise, challenge, and

15:05 Speaker 1: inspire us with each new discovery. I'm Anna, and I've

15:08 Speaker 1: been your host on Astronomy Daily. If you're hungry for

15:11 Speaker 1: more space and astronomy news, visit our website at Astronomydaily

15:15 Speaker 1: dot io, where you'll find our constantly updating news feed

15:20 Speaker 1: with all the latest discoveries and developments, plus all our

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