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Dying Star, Skull Nebulae, and a Blood Moon · Space News Today

0:00
Hello and welcome to Astronomy Daily.
0:02
I'm Anna
0:04
>> and I'm Avery. You're listening to
0:06
season 5, episode 50.
0:08
>> That's right, episode 50. Half a century
0:11
of episodes this season alone. Thank you
0:14
honestly to every single listener who's
0:16
been on this journey with us.
0:18
>> It's been an incredible ride. And today
0:21
we have six stories that are absolutely
0:23
worthy of the occasion. We're talking a
0:26
star that may be dying in real time, a
0:29
skull-shaped nebula revealed by the
0:31
James Webb Space Telescope, a Dragon
0:34
capsule splashing down this morning, a
0:36
blood moon just days away, fresh
0:39
evidence for life in the Jupiter system,
0:41
and a major shakeup at NASA following
0:44
one of the most damning reports in the
0:46
AY's recent history.
0:48
>> Big show. Let's get into it. We're
0:50
starting today with one of the most
0:52
dramatic stories in stellar astronomy in
0:55
recent memory. Avery here. Picture a
0:58
star so enormous that if you placed it
1:00
at the center of our solar system, its
1:02
outer edge would reach beyond the orbit
1:05
of Jupiter. That's WG64.
1:09
And it may be dying right before our
1:11
eyes.
1:12
>> WG64
1:14
has been known to astronomers since the
1:16
1970s. It lives in the large melanic
1:19
cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits our
1:21
Milky Way, about 160,000 lighty years
1:25
away. And for decades, it was classified
1:27
as the most extreme red super giant in
1:30
that galaxy. We're talking a radius of
1:32
roughly 1540 times that of our sun. That
1:36
is almost incomprehensibly large.
1:39
>> But here's where it gets really
1:41
interesting. Back in 2014, astronomers
1:44
started noticing something was changing.
1:46
The star began to look different. Its
1:49
color was shifting and its surface
1:51
temperature was rising. A team led by
1:53
Gonzalo Muno Sanchez at the National
1:55
Observatory of Athens has now published
1:58
research in the journal Nature
2:00
Astronomy, confirming what they believe
2:02
is happening. WG64
2:05
has transitioned from a red super giant
2:08
into something far rarer, a yellow hyper
2:11
giant.
2:11
>> Now, yellow hyper giants are
2:13
extraordinarily rare. Why? because they
2:16
represent a very brief unstable
2:18
transitional phase. Muno Sanchez
2:21
described them as a short-lived bridge
2:23
between the red super giant stage and
2:25
the eventual supernova explosion. There
2:28
are only a few tens of confirmed yellow
2:30
hyper giants known to us in the entire
2:33
universe. So to potentially be watching
2:35
one form in real time is remarkable.
2:38
>> The transformation appears to have
2:40
happened relatively quickly on a cosmic
2:42
time scale. The star essentially shifted
2:45
from red to yellow in roughly a year.
2:48
What drives this? Strong stellar winds
2:51
powerful enough to strip away the outer
2:53
layers of material the star has
2:55
previously shed. That process heats the
2:58
star up and reveals a hotter, smaller
3:00
surface beneath. It's like peeling back
3:03
the layers of a cosmic onion.
3:05
>> There's an added twist to this story,
3:07
though. The team also found evidence
3:09
that WHG64
3:12
isn't alone. It appears to have a
3:14
companion star. And that binary
3:16
relationship may be complicating the
3:19
picture considerably. If a companion is
3:21
stripping material away from the main
3:24
star through gravitational interaction,
3:26
that could explain some of what we're
3:28
seeing independently of the supernova
3:30
pathway.
3:31
>> In fact, there's some scientific debate
3:33
here worth noting. Another team led by
3:36
Jaco Vanlon at Keel University observed
3:39
WHG64
3:41
more recently and found signatures
3:43
suggesting the stars atmosphere might
3:45
still be that of a red super giant.
3:48
They're being more cautious about
3:49
calling this a confirmed transition. So
3:52
the jury at least partially is still
3:54
out.
3:54
>> But what everyone agrees on, including
3:57
the skeptics, is that something
3:59
extraordinary is happening with this
4:01
star. As Vanlon himself said, we are all
4:04
witnessing an unprecedented spectacle.
4:07
Whether WHG64
4:10
ultimately explodes as a supernova,
4:12
collapses directly into a black hole, or
4:15
merges with its companion, we are
4:17
watching one of the universe's most
4:19
massive stars navigate the final
4:22
chapters of its life. And that's
4:24
something we may literally get to see. A
4:27
supernova from a well doumented,
4:29
wellstudied star. If and when it goes,
4:32
it would be a scientific gift of the
4:34
highest order. Dain closer to home now.
4:38
Well, closer than 160,000 lightyear.
4:41
Anyway, yesterday SpaceX's CRS33
4:45
Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the
4:48
International Space Station, wrapping up
4:50
what has been a genuinely historic
4:53
6-month stay. CRS33, that's the 33rd
4:57
commercial resupply services mission
4:59
SpaceX has performed for NASA, arrived
5:02
at the station back on August 25th last
5:04
year. It delivered around 5,000 lb of
5:07
supplies and scientific equipment. But
5:10
what really sets this mission apart is
5:12
something that happened during its time
5:13
docked.
5:15
>> For the very first time, a Dragon cargo
5:17
capsule was used to reboost the orbit of
5:20
the space station itself. The station
5:23
sits in low Earth orbit, and atmospheric
5:26
drag, even at that altitude, gradually
5:29
pulls it lower over time. Historically,
5:32
Russian Progress spacecraft and the
5:34
station's own thrusters have handled the
5:36
job of pushing it back up. But Dragon
5:39
introduced a brand new independent
5:41
reboost capability during CRS33.
5:45
>> It performed six of these reboosts
5:47
during its stay, five in 2025 and a
5:49
final one in January. That might sound
5:52
like a technical footnote, but it's
5:54
actually strategically significant as
5:56
the geopolitical landscape around
5:58
USRussia space cooperation continues to
6:01
evolve. Having an American spacecraft
6:03
capable of maintaining the station's
6:05
orbit is a real capability milestone.
6:08
The capsule undocked at just after noon
6:10
Eastern time yesterday, February 26th.
6:13
It was scheduled to splash down in the
6:15
Pacific Ocean off the California coast
6:18
in the early hours of this morning. NASA
6:20
wasn't streaming that splashdown, but
6:22
updates have been posted to their
6:24
station blog.
6:25
>> And Dragon wasn't just heading home
6:27
empty-handed, either. It's bringing back
6:29
a packed cargo of scientific results,
6:32
including samples from the Euromaterial
6:34
Aging Study, which spent a full year
6:36
exposing 141 different samples to the
6:39
harsh environment of space to see how
6:42
insulation coatings and 3D printed
6:44
materials degrade. Plus, results from
6:47
Thailand's liquid crystals experiment
6:49
looking at how materials used in
6:51
displays behave in microgravity. What
6:53
this mission really demonstrates is how
6:56
far SpaceX's role has evolved. They're
6:58
no longer just a delivery service for
7:00
the station. They're now actively
7:02
helping to maintain and sustain it.
7:05
That's a significant evolution in the
7:07
commercial spaceflight relationship.
7:09
Now, for something that's going to stick
7:11
in your imagination, I promise. This
7:14
week, NASA released stunning new images
7:16
from the James Webb Space Telescope, and
7:18
they might be the most striking thing
7:20
Web has produced this year. Ladies and
7:23
gentlemen, meet the exposed cranium
7:25
nebula.
7:27
>> I love that name, and the images
7:29
absolutely justify it. Officially called
7:32
PMR1,
7:33
named after the astronomers Parker,
7:36
Morgan, and Russell, who discovered it
7:38
in a sky survey in the late 1990s, this
7:41
nebula surrounds a dying star and looks
7:44
almost uncannily like a transparent
7:46
human skull with a brain visible inside
7:49
it. The nebula was first observed in
7:52
infrared light by the now retired
7:54
Spitzer telescope back in 2013, which is
7:57
when it got its nickname, but Spitzer's
7:59
view was relatively indistinct. Web has
8:02
now looked at PMR1 with two of its most
8:04
powerful instruments, Near Cam, the near
8:07
infrared camera, and Mary, the mid
8:09
infrared instrument. And the difference
8:11
is extraordinary.
8:13
>> In the near infrared image, you can
8:15
clearly see an outer shell of gas. This
8:18
is the skull composed mostly of hydrogen
8:21
blown off by the star in an earlier
8:23
phase of its death. Inside that there
8:26
are two hemispheres of complex ionized
8:28
gas forming the brain. And running
8:31
vertically through the center is a dark
8:33
lane, a gap that divides the two loes
8:36
and gives the nebula its distinctly
8:39
cerebral appearance. The mid infrared
8:41
image from Mary tells a different story.
8:44
Warmer dust and denser material glow
8:46
more prominently, and you can see
8:48
evidence of gas being actively pushed
8:50
outward from the central star through
8:52
what may be polar jets. That dark
8:55
central lane appears to be related to
8:57
outflows or jets from the star firing
8:59
material out in opposite directions, top
9:02
and bottom.
9:03
>> What's particularly intriguing is how
9:05
much scientists still don't know about
9:07
this object. The mass of the dying
9:10
central star hasn't been precisely
9:12
determined yet, and that matters
9:15
enormously for predicting its fate. If
9:18
it's sufficiently massive, it could
9:20
explode as a supernova when the end
9:22
comes. But if it's a lower mass star,
9:25
more like our sun, it will keep shedding
9:28
its outer layers until only its dense
9:31
cooling core remains, a white dwarf.
9:34
There's also speculation that PMR1
9:37
central star could be a wolf riot star,
9:40
an especially hot and luminous type of
9:42
star known for ferocious stellar winds.
9:45
That would explain the dramatic outflows
9:47
and layered structure we're seeing.
9:49
Either way, what web has delivered here
9:52
is a masterclass in the death of a star.
9:55
Every one of these images is a reminder
9:57
of why we built this telescope and what
10:00
it continues to reveal about the
10:02
universe around us. I highly recommend
10:05
looking up those images. They are
10:06
genuinely breathtaking.
10:09
>> All right, sky watchers, this one is for
10:11
you. And the timing is brilliant because
10:13
you've got just 4 days to prepare. This
10:16
Tuesday, March 3rd, the moon is going to
10:18
turn blood red in a total lunar eclipse.
10:21
And it's the last one of its kind
10:23
visible until the very end of 2028.
10:26
>> Let's explain what's happening. A total
10:29
lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth
10:31
passes directly between the Sun and the
10:34
Moon, casting our planet's full shadow,
10:37
called the umbra, across the lunar
10:39
surface. The moon doesn't go dark
10:42
entirely, though. What happens instead
10:44
is that the only light reaching the moon
10:46
is filtered through Earth's atmosphere,
10:49
and Earth's atmosphere scatters away the
10:51
blue wavelengths of light, allowing only
10:54
the reds and oranges through. The
10:56
results, the moon turns that spectacular
11:00
deep coppery red that gives it the blood
11:02
moon nickname.
11:04
>> Totality, the period when the moon is
11:06
fully within Earth's shadow, will last
11:08
58 minutes from just after 11:00 a.m.
11:11
UTC to just after 12:00 p.m. UTC on
11:14
March 3rd. Maximum eclipse, when the
11:17
moon sits deepest in the shadow, occurs
11:19
at 11:33 UTC.
11:21
>> Now, visibility depends heavily on where
11:24
you are in the world. The best seats in
11:26
the house are in the western half of
11:28
North America, Hawaii, Australia, New
11:31
Zealand, and across the Pacific. Eastern
11:34
Asia will also get a great view of the
11:36
eclipse in their evening hours.
11:38
Observers in much of South America and
11:41
Central Asia will see a partial eclipse.
11:43
And unfortunately, if you're in Europe
11:45
or Africa, this one is going to pass you
11:48
by entirely. The moon will be below the
11:51
horizon for most of the event. There's a
11:54
lovely bonus for North American
11:55
observers in particular. During the
11:57
eclipse, as the full moon dims
11:59
significantly, fainter objects in the
12:01
sky become much more visible than they
12:03
normally would during a full moon. And
12:06
there's actually a rare event happening
12:08
during totality. The moon will occult or
12:11
pass in front of the galaxy NGC 3423,
12:16
which should be a treat for telescope
12:18
users.
12:19
>> No special equipment needed for the
12:20
eclipse itself. This is one of those
12:23
events you can simply step outside and
12:25
enjoy with the naked eye. Unlike a solar
12:28
eclipse, you don't need any filters or
12:30
protective glasses. Just find a dark
12:33
spot, look up, and watch our cosmic
12:36
companion transform. We'll have a
12:38
reminder and more observing tips in our
12:40
episode on Monday, but mark Tuesday,
12:43
March 3rd, in your diary now. Set your
12:46
alarm, get outside, and enjoy the show.
12:49
Next chance for another total lunar
12:51
eclipse after this. New Year's Eve 2028
12:55
going into 2029.
12:57
So, this really is one not to miss.
13:00
>> Now, for a story that could reshape how
13:02
we think about the origin of life in our
13:05
solar system and perhaps beyond it.
13:07
Astronomers and astrobiologists have
13:10
long been fascinated by Jupiter's icy
13:13
moons, Europa, Ganymede, and Kalisto in
13:16
particular, because they harbor vast
13:18
liquid water oceans beneath their frozen
13:21
surfaces. And where there's liquid
13:23
water, there's potential for life. But
13:26
new research published this week
13:28
suggests those moons may have been even
13:30
better prepared for life than we
13:32
previously thought. An international
13:35
team including scientists from the
13:37
Southwest Research Institute and Ex
13:39
Marcel University have published two
13:42
complimentary studies. One in the
13:44
Planetary Science Journal and one in the
13:47
monthly notices of the Royal
13:48
Astronomical Society that model how
13:51
complex organic molecules formed and
13:54
were delivered to Jupiter's moons at the
13:56
very moment they were born. Complex
13:59
organic molecules or COM are carbonri
14:02
compounds that also contain elements
14:05
like oxygen and nitrogen. On Earth,
14:07
they're essential precursors to life.
14:10
Think amino acids, proteins, the
14:12
building blocks of DNA. And the question
14:15
the team was asking was, could these
14:17
molecules have formed in the early solar
14:20
system around Jupiter specifically and
14:23
ended up embedded in the Galilean moons
14:25
during their formation billions of years
14:27
ago?
14:28
>> The answer, according to their models,
14:30
appears to be yes. When icy dust grains
14:33
containing simple compounds like
14:35
methanol or ammonia were subjected to
14:38
ultraviolet radiation and moderate
14:40
heating, conditions that existed in both
14:42
the wider disc around the young sun and
14:45
in Jupiter's own circumlanetary disc,
14:48
complex organic chemistry could occur.
14:51
The resulting organic molecules were
14:53
then transported by those icy grains
14:55
into the growing moons as they formed.
14:58
Perhaps most strikingly, their models
15:00
show that in some scenarios, nearly half
15:03
of the simulated icy particles carried
15:06
newly formed organic molecules from the
15:08
solar disc into Jupiter's local
15:10
environment without being destroyed.
15:13
Lead author Dr. Olivier Mus put it
15:16
clearly. Jupiter's moons did not form as
15:19
chemically pristine worlds. They may
15:21
have accumulated a significant inventory
15:23
of these complex organic molecules right
15:26
from birth. For Europa in particular,
15:29
this is exciting. Europa is already
15:32
considered one of the best candidates
15:34
for life in the solar system with its
15:36
subsurface ocean in direct contact with
15:38
a rocky seafloor, conditions not unlike
15:41
Earth's deep sea hydrothermal vents
15:44
where life thrives in total darkness. If
15:47
that ocean also began with a supply of
15:49
organic building blocks, the case for
15:52
habitability gets considerably stronger.
15:54
The researchers also note that this
15:56
finding has implications for NASA's
15:59
Europa Clipper mission and issa's juice
16:02
mission, both currently on route to
16:04
Jupiter system. These missions carry
16:06
instruments capable of detecting organic
16:09
molecules. And this new research gives
16:11
scientists a framework for interpreting
16:13
whatever they find when they get there.
16:16
>> It's worth stepping back and
16:17
appreciating what this research is
16:19
telling us more broadly. The ingredients
16:21
for life may not be rare or special.
16:24
They may be woven into the very process
16:26
of planetary formation, delivered as
16:29
standard across our solar system, and by
16:31
extension, potentially across the
16:33
universe. Every time we think life
16:36
requires a lucky break, a study like
16:38
this suggests the dice may be loaded in
16:41
life's favor.
16:42
>> And we close today's episode with a
16:44
story that's been building for over a
16:46
year and finally came to a head
16:48
yesterday. NASA has replaced two of its
16:51
most senior human space flight leaders
16:54
just one week after releasing what can
16:57
only be described as a devastating
16:59
internal report on the Boeing
17:01
Starlininer crew flight test. For
17:03
listeners who may have missed our
17:05
earlier coverage of the Boeing
17:06
Starlininer saga, here's the quick
17:08
version. In June 2024, NASA astronauts
17:12
Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams
17:14
launched on Boeing Starlininer
17:16
spacecraft for what was supposed to be
17:18
an 8-day test mission. But once docked
17:20
at the space station, multiple thruster
17:23
failures and helium leaks in the
17:25
propulsion system emerged. After weeks
17:27
of analysis, NASA made the call that
17:29
Starlininer was not safe enough to bring
17:31
the crew home. They came back in March
17:34
2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon after
17:37
spending 286 days in orbit instead of
17:40
eight. Last week, NASA administrator
17:43
Jared Isaacman held a press conference
17:46
to announce the findings of an
17:47
independent investigation into what went
17:50
wrong. The conclusions were stark. The
17:53
crew flight test has been retroactively
17:56
reclassified as a typea mishap, NASA's
17:59
highest severity classification,
18:01
previously reserved for events like the
18:03
space shuttle Challenger and Colombia
18:06
disasters. That classification simply
18:08
means damage exceeded a $2 million
18:11
threshold, but the symbolism is
18:13
significant.
18:14
>> More damning still were Isaacman's words
18:16
about what the investigation actually
18:18
found. And I want to quote this because
18:21
it really cuts to the heart of the
18:23
matter. He said, "The most troubling
18:26
failure revealed by this investigation
18:28
is not hardware. It is decision-m and
18:31
leadership that if left unchecked could
18:34
create a culture incompatible with human
18:37
space flight."
18:38
>> Strong words. And yesterday, action
18:41
followed. NASA announced that Ken
18:44
Bowersox, the associate administrator
18:46
for the space operations mission
18:48
directorate, is retiring with his last
18:51
day on March 6th. Steve Stiche, the
18:54
program manager of the commercial crew
18:56
program, has also been moved from that
18:58
role. Their deputies, Joel Montelbano
19:01
and Dana Hutcherson, have stepped in as
19:04
acting leaders of those programs with
19:06
immediate effect.
19:07
>> Now, it's worth being precise here.
19:09
Bower Sockox's retirement was announced
19:11
the day before and appears to be a
19:13
genuine retirement rather than being
19:15
pushed out. Though the timing is
19:18
impossible to ignore, and Isacman
19:20
notably did not publicly connect the
19:22
leadership changes to the Starlininer
19:24
report, though he had explicitly
19:26
promised accountability would follow.
19:29
Reading the room, most observers see the
19:31
connection as clear.
19:33
>> Where does this leave Boeing
19:34
Starlininer? It won't fly with crew
19:37
again until technical causes are fully
19:39
understood. The propulsion system is
19:41
qualified and investigation
19:43
recommendations are implemented. An
19:46
uncrrewed cargo mission is still on the
19:48
calendar for no earlier than April and
19:51
NASA says it remains committed to having
19:54
two commercial crew providers, the
19:56
redundancy principle that drove the
19:58
Starlininer program in the first place.
20:00
>> But there are real questions about the
20:02
program's future beyond that. The ISS is
20:05
due to be decommissioned in the next few
20:07
years. Starlininer's contracted
20:09
rotational missions have already been
20:11
reduced. And with SpaceX's Crew Dragon
20:14
operating reliably, the urgency of
20:16
getting Starlininer certified for crude
20:18
flight feels somewhat diminished from
20:20
NASA's perspective. What this episode
20:23
ultimately speaks to, I think, is the
20:25
culture of human space flight. The
20:28
Challenger and Colombia disasters both
20:30
had technical causes, but both also had
20:33
cultural and organizational failures
20:36
that allowed problems to be minimized or
20:38
ignored. The fact that the Starlininer
20:41
report uses that same language,
20:43
decision-making, leadership culture is a
20:46
warning that the lessons of those
20:47
tragedies need to be continuously
20:50
relearned. We'll continue to follow the
20:52
story closely and we'll have more on
20:54
Starlininer's path forward as details
20:56
emerge in the coming weeks. And that is
20:59
our episode 50 of season 5 of Astronomy
21:02
Daily. What a show it's been. A dying
21:04
hyper giant, a dragon splashdown, a
21:07
cosmic skull, a blood moon, life's
21:10
building blocks around Jupiter, and NASA
21:13
reckoning with its own culture. The
21:15
universe, as always, delivers. If you
21:18
enjoyed today's episode, please take a
21:20
moment to leave us a review wherever you
21:21
listen. It makes a huge difference in
21:23
helping new listeners find us and follow
21:26
us on social media at astroaily pod for
21:29
daily space shorts and news updates.
21:31
>> And if you haven't already, head over to
21:34
astronomyaily.io
21:36
for full show notes, our blog posts, and
21:38
all our back episodes. We've got 50 of
21:41
them this season alone for you to
21:43
explore. We'll be back on the weekend
21:45
with more space and astronomy news.
21:47
Until then, keep looking up.
21:49
>> Bler skies, everyone.
21:52
>> Day
21:54
stories told.