Latest / Space News Today / Dark Sky Victory, Jupiter Redefined, and Monster Sunspot Faces Earth

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Dark Sky Victory, Jupiter Redefined, and Monster Sunspot Faces Earth · Space News Today

• 0:00
  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your source
• 0:03
  for the latest space and astronomy news.
• 0:06
  I'm Anna.
• 0:06
  >> And I'm Avery. Today is Thursday,
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  February 5th, 2026, and we've got a
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  great lineup of stories for you today.
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  >> We certainly do. We'll be covering a
• 0:16
  major victory for dark sky preservation,
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  groundbreaking measurements of Jupiter's
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  true size, a monster sunspot currently
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  facing Earth, mysterious Martian
• 0:26
  weather, some frank talk from NASA about
• 0:28
  the SLS rocket, and how red giant stars
• 0:32
  destroy their own planetary systems.
• 0:34
  Quite the cosmic menu. But before we
• 0:36
  dive in, a quick reminder that you can
• 0:38
  get more space news and community
• 0:40
  discussion at astronomyaily.io io and
• 0:43
  you can find us on social media @
• 0:45
  astroailyaily pod across all platforms.
• 0:48
  >> All right, let's start with some good
• 0:50
  news for astronomy. Avery, what's
• 0:52
  happening with Earth's darkest skies?
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  >> This is a story that really highlights
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  how fragile our connection to the night
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  sky has become. Anna, astronomers around
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  the world are breathing a collective
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  sigh of relief after plans for a major
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  industrial plant near one of Earth's
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  darkest sky locations have been
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  cancelled.
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  >> Oh, that's wonderful news. Where was
• 1:11
  this proposed plant going to be built?
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  >> The development was planned near the Ro
• 1:15
  de los Moshashos Observatory in the
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  Canary Islands, which hosts some of the
• 1:19
  most important telescopes in the
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  northern hemisphere. This site is
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  renowned for having some of the darkest,
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  clearest skies accessible to modern
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  astronomy, and the proposed industrial
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  facility would have introduced
• 1:29
  significant light pollution to the area.
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  >> I can imagine the astronomical community
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  was pretty concerned. These pristine
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  observation sites are becoming
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  increasingly rare. Absolutely. What
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  makes this particularly significant is
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  that it represents a growing recognition
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  of the scientific value of dark skies.
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  The cancellation came after sustained
• 1:49
  advocacy from the astronomy community
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  who emphasized not just the local impact
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  but the global scientific importance of
• 1:56
  preserving these observation sites. With
• 1:58
  light pollution spreading worldwide,
• 2:00
  losing access to naturally dark skies
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  would be devastating for groundbased
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  astronomy. It's encouraging to see that
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  science preservation can still win out
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  over industrial development. These
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  observatories represent decades of
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  investment and irreplaceable viewing
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  conditions.
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  >> Exactly. And it sets an important
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  precedent for protecting other
• 2:20
  astronomical sites around the world. The
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  International Dark Sky Association has
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  noted that this decision could
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  strengthen arguments for dark sky
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  preservation elsewhere.
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  >> Great to hear some positive
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  environmental news for a change. Now,
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  speaking of observations from those
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  pristine sites, let's talk about what
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  we've learned about Jupiter. NASA's Juno
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  mission has completely redefined our
• 2:41
  understanding of the gas giant size and
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  shape, hasn't it?
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  >> It really has, Anna. This is one of
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  those discoveries that makes you realize
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  how much we still don't know about even
• 2:50
  our most familiar planetary neighbors.
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  Juno's precise measurements have
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  revealed that Jupiter is both larger and
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  more oblate than we previously thought.
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  When you say oblate, you mean it's
• 3:01
  flattened at the poles, right?
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  >> Exactly. All rotating bodies experience
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  this to some degree. Even Earth bulges
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  slightly at the equator. But Jupiter's
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  rapid rotation makes this effect much
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  more pronounced. What's new is just how
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  pronounced it actually is. Juno's
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  gravity measurements have shown that
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  Jupiter's equatorial diameter is
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  slightly larger than our previous
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  estimates, while the distance between
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  the poles is actually smaller. The
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  planet is basically wider and flatter
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  than we realized.
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  >> So, what caused this miscalculation? I
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  mean, we've been observing Jupiter for
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  centuries.
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  >> Well, measuring the size of a gas giant
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  with no solid surface is trickier than
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  it sounds. Earlier measurements relied
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  primarily on optical observations,
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  essentially looking at where Jupiter's
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  atmosphere becomes opaque. But Juno uses
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  extremely precise gravity measurements
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  as it orbits the planet. By measuring
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  tiny variations in how Jupiter's gravity
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  affects the spacecraft's trajectory,
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  scientists can determine the planet's
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  mass distribution with unprecedented
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  accuracy.
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  >> And I assume Jupiter's rotation plays a
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  big role in this shape.
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  >> Absolutely. Jupiter rotates once every
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  10 hours. That's incredibly fast for
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  something so massive. This rapid spin
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  creates enormous centrifugal forces that
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  push material outward at the equator.
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  What Juno has revealed is that this
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  effect penetrates much deeper into the
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  planet than we thought. The measurements
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  suggest that Jupiter's interior
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  structure, including how its metallic
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  hydrogen layer behaves, is more complex
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  than our models predicted.
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  >> This probably has implications for
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  understanding other gas giants too, both
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  in our solar system and around other
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  stars. Definitely understanding
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  Jupiter's interior helps us refine our
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  models of how gas giants form and
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  evolve. And since we can't exactly drill
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  into Jupiter to see what's inside, these
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  gravity measurements are the next best
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  thing. Every new piece of data from Juno
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  helps us understand not just Jupiter,
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  but the entire class of giant planets.
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  >> Fascinating stuff. It's amazing that
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  after all this time studying Jupiter,
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  we're still discovering fundamental
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  things about its basic structure. Now,
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  let's shift from distant Jupiter to our
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  very own sun, which is putting on quite
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  a show right now. Avery, there's a
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  massive sunspot facing Earth at the
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  moment.
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  >> There certainly is, Anna, and it's a
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  monster. The sunspot currently facing
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  Earth spans about 15 Earth diameters
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  across. That's roughly 120,000 m. To put
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  that in perspective, you could fit 15
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  Earths side by side across a single
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  sunspot.
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  >> That's genuinely hard to wrap your head
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  around. And I understand people can
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  actually see this with the right
• 5:45
  equipment.
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  >> Yes, but this comes with a crucial
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  safety warning. Never look directly at
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  the sun without proper solar filters.
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  This can cause premanent eye damage or
• 5:55
  blindness. However, with proper eclipse
• 5:57
  glasses or solar filters designed
• 5:59
  specifically for solar observation,
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  amateur astronomers can spot this
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  sunspot fairly easily. It's large enough
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  to be visible even with modest
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  magnification.
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  >> What exactly is a sunspot for our
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  listeners who might not know?
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  >> Sunspots are regions on the sun's
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  surface where powerful magnetic fields
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  break through, temporarily suppressing
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  the hot convective currents that
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  normally transport heat from the sun's
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  interior. This makes these regions
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  cooler than their surroundings, around
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  6,500°
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  F, compared to the normal surface
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  temperature of about 10,000°.
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  That temperature difference is why they
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  appear dark against the brighter
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  background.
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  >> And these magnetic fields, they're what
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  solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
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  Right.
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  >> Exactly. Large complex sunspot groups
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  like this one have tangled magnetic
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  field lines that can suddenly reconnect
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  and release enormous amounts of energy.
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  This particular sunspot is being closely
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  monitored because of its size and
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  complexity. When these magnetic
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  structures become unstable, they can
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  unleash powerful solar flares and
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  potentially hurl billions of tons of
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  charged particles toward Earth and
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  what's called a coronal mass ejection or
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  CME.
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  >> Should we be concerned about potential
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  impacts on Earth?
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  >> Space weather forecasters are definitely
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  keeping a close eye on it. A large CME
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  directed at Earth could affect
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  satellites, power grids, and radio
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  communications and could produce aurora
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  displays at lower latitudes than usual.
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  However, our sun monitoring satellites
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  like SOHO and SDO give us advanced
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  warning, typically several days before
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  CME arrives. So, while this sunspot
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  certainly has the potential to be
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  active, we have the monitoring
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  infrastructure in place to track any
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  eruptions and issue warnings if
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  necessary. It's one of those reminders
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  that we live inside the sun's atmosphere
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  in a sense. We're constantly bathed in
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  the solar wind.
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  >> That's a great way to think about it.
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  Earth's magnetic field shields us from
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  most of the effects, but we're
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  definitely connected to our stars
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  activity. And for amateur astronomers,
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  it's a rare chance to see solar activity
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  on this scale with safe solar viewing
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  equipment. All right, from solar weather
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  to Martian weather, Avery, there's been
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  an unusual storm on Mars that's
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  revealing something new about the red
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  planet. Yes, and this is a particularly
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  intriguing discovery because it
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  challenges some of our assumptions about
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  Martian meteorology. Researchers have
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  observed an unusual storm system on Mars
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  that's providing new insights into the
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  planet's atmospheric dynamics and what
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  lies beneath its dusty surface.
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  >> What made this storm unusual? I mean,
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  Mars is famous for its dust storms.
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  >> True. But this storm exhibited behavior
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  that didn't fit our standard models of
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  Martian weather patterns. The storm's
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  movement and structure suggested it was
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  being influenced by subsurface features.
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  Essentially, the topology and
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  composition beneath Mars' surface was
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  affecting how the storm developed and
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  moved across the planet.
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  >> So, the ground itself is influencing the
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  weather. How does that work? It's
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  similar to how mountains on Earth affect
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  weather patterns. But Mars has some
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  unique factors. The thin Martian
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  atmosphere, less than 1% of Earth's
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  atmospheric pressure, means that surface
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  features have a proportionately larger
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  impact on atmospheric circulation.
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  Additionally, variations in surface
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  temperature due to different rock and
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  soil composition can create localized
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  heating patterns that drive atmospheric
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  motion.
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  >> And what did the storm reveal about
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  what's underground? The storm's behavior
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  suggested there are variations in
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  subsurface composition that weren't
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  previously mapped. By tracking how the
• 9:36
  storm responded to these hidden
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  features, scientists could essentially
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  use the storm as a probe to detect
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  what's below the surface. It's a bit
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  like how doctors use ultrasound. You're
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  using one thing to indirectly sense
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  another.
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  >> That's a clever way to gather geological
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  information. Are there implications for
• 9:54
  future Mars missions?
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  >> Definitely. Understanding these
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  subsurface features is important for
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  several reasons. First, they could
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  indicate locations where subsurface
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  water ice might be present. Second, they
• 10:05
  help us understand Mars' geological
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  history and how the planet evolved. And
• 10:10
  third, for future crude missions,
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  knowing what's underground is essential
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  for landing site selection and resource
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  utilization. You want to land somewhere
• 10:19
  with access to useful materials.
• 10:21
  >> It's fascinating how atmospheric science
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  and geology intersect like this. One
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  storm can tell you so much about an
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  entire planet.
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  >> Exactly. And it's another example of how
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  every Mars observation opens new
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  questions. The more we learn, the more
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  complex and interesting Mars becomes.
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  >> Indeed. Now, speaking of complex and
• 10:41
  interesting, let's talk about NASA's
• 10:43
  space launch system. There's been some
• 10:46
  remarkably frank discussion from NASA
• 10:48
  about this rocket's future, hasn't
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  there?
• 10:50
  >> Yes. And it's notable precisely because
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  NASA officials are rarely this candid
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  about program challenges. Anna, for the
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  first time, NASA is publicly
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  acknowledging what many industry
• 11:02
  analysts have been saying for years. The
• 11:04
  space launch system has fundamental cost
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  and sustainability issues that need to
• 11:09
  be addressed.
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  >> This is the rocket that's supposed to
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  take astronauts back to the moon, part
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  of the Aremis program, right?
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  >> That's correct. The SLS is the most
• 11:19
  powerful rocket NASA has ever built.
• 11:22
  Designed specifically for deep space
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  missions, it successfully launched
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  Artemis 1 in late 2022, sending an
• 11:29
  uncrrewed Orion spacecraft around the
• 11:31
  moon. And it's scheduled to launch
• 11:33
  Artemis 2, the first crude lunar mission
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  in over 50 years, though that timeline
• 11:38
  keeps shifting.
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  >> So, what's the issue? The rocket works,
• 11:42
  doesn't it?
• 11:43
  >> The rocket does work. When it flies, it
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  performs beautifully. The problem is the
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  economics. Each SLS launch costs roughly
• 11:52
  $4 billion, and the system can only fly
• 11:55
  about once a year with current
• 11:57
  infrastructure. For comparison, SpaceX's
• 12:00
  Starship, which is also designed for
• 12:02
  deep space missions and has crater
• 12:04
  payload capacity, is projected to cost a
• 12:07
  tiny fraction of that per launch and
• 12:09
  could potentially fly dozens of times
• 12:11
  per year.
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  >> 4 billion per launch. That's hard to
• 12:15
  justify, especially when alternatives
• 12:18
  exist.
• 12:19
  >> Exactly. And that's what makes these
• 12:21
  recent NASA fatements so significant.
• 12:23
  Administrators are openly discussing the
• 12:25
  elephant in the room, that maintaining
• 12:28
  SLS in its current form may not be
• 12:30
  sustainable for a long-term lunar or
• 12:32
  Mars exploration program. They're
• 12:34
  acknowledging that the program needs to
• 12:36
  either dramatically reduce costs or
• 12:39
  potentially transition to commercial
• 12:40
  alternatives. This must be a difficult
• 12:43
  position for NASA. The SLS represents
• 12:46
  decades of development and enormous
• 12:48
  investment.
• 12:49
  >> It absolutely is. There are also
• 12:52
  political considerations. The SLS
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  program supports jobs across multiple
• 12:57
  states and has strong congressional
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  backing, but NASA is facing budgetary
• 13:01
  pressure and needs to make realistic
• 13:04
  plans for sustainable exploration. The
• 13:06
  acknowledgement that SLS's costs are
• 13:08
  problematic is a significant shift
• 13:10
  towards having honest conversations
• 13:12
  about the future of deep space
• 13:14
  exploration.
• 13:15
  >> What are the alternatives? Would NASA
• 13:17
  switch to something like Starship
• 13:19
  entirely?
• 13:20
  >> That's one option being discussed,
• 13:22
  though it's complicated. NASA has
• 13:25
  already contracted with SpaceX to
• 13:27
  provide a lunar lander version of
• 13:28
  Starship for Artemis missions. So,
• 13:30
  there's already commercial partnership
• 13:32
  in place. Some proposals suggest using
• 13:35
  commercial heavy lift rockets for cargo
• 13:37
  and potentially even crew, while others
• 13:40
  advocate for a hybrid approach. The
• 13:42
  challenge is that any major change would
• 13:44
  require congressional approval and
• 13:46
  significant replanning of Artemis
• 13:48
  architecture.
• 13:49
  >> It sounds like we're at an inflection
• 13:51
  point for NASA's deep space ambitions.
• 13:54
  >> We really are. This is one of those
• 13:57
  moments where honesty about challenges
• 13:59
  is the first step towards finding
• 14:00
  solutions. The fact that NASA is willing
• 14:03
  to have this conversation publicly,
• 14:05
  suggests they're serious about finding a
• 14:07
  sustainable path forward, even if it
• 14:10
  means difficult decisions about programs
• 14:12
  that have tremendous legacy and
• 14:13
  political support.
• 14:14
  >> Well, we'll certainly be watching how
• 14:16
  this develops. Now, for our final story,
• 14:19
  let's venture into the realm of stellar
• 14:21
  evolution. Avery, red giant stars are
• 14:24
  apparently destroying their own
• 14:26
  planetary systems. They are Anna and
• 14:29
  this research gives us a rather
• 14:31
  apocalyptic preview of what will happen
• 14:33
  to our own solar system in about 5
• 14:35
  billion years. Astronomers have observed
• 14:38
  how red giant stars, stars in their late
• 14:40
  evolutionary stages, systematically
• 14:43
  destroy gas giant planets that orbit too
• 14:45
  close to them.
• 14:46
  >> This is what our sun will eventually
• 14:48
  become, right? A red giant.
• 14:50
  >> Exactly. When stars like our sun exhaust
• 14:53
  the hydrogen fuel in their cores, they
• 14:56
  begin fusing helium and expand
• 14:57
  dramatically. Our sun will eventually
• 15:00
  swell to perhaps 100 times its current
• 15:02
  diameter, likely engulfing Mercury,
• 15:05
  Venus, and possibly Earth. But this
• 15:08
  research focuses on what happens to
• 15:10
  planets that survive the initial
• 15:11
  expansion, particularly gas giants at
• 15:14
  distances similar to Jupiter and
• 15:16
  Saturn's current orbits. Though these
• 15:19
  planets survive the stars expansion, but
• 15:21
  not what comes after.
• 15:23
  >> Precisely. As the star becomes a red
• 15:25
  giant, several destructive processes
• 15:28
  occur. First, the star becomes much more
• 15:31
  luminous. Our sun will eventually be
• 15:33
  about 2,000 times brighter than it is
• 15:36
  now. This intense radiation heats the
• 15:39
  atmospheres of gas giant planets,
• 15:42
  causing them to expand and potentially
• 15:44
  evaporate. Second, red giant stars have
• 15:48
  powerful stellar winds that can strip
• 15:50
  away planetary atmospheres. And third,
• 15:53
  the stars expansion causes tidal forces
• 15:56
  that can alter planetary orbits.
• 15:58
  >> That sounds like a recipe for planetary
• 16:01
  destruction. What exactly did the
• 16:03
  researchers observe?
• 16:04
  >> They studied multiple red giant star
• 16:06
  systems and found evidence of gas giant
• 16:09
  planets in the process of being
• 16:11
  destroyed. In some cases, they detected
• 16:14
  the spectral signatures of planetary
• 16:16
  material being stripped away and falling
• 16:19
  into their host star. In others, they
• 16:21
  found gas giants with highly eroded
• 16:23
  atmospheres, clearly showing the effects
• 16:26
  of their stars evolution. It's like
• 16:28
  watching different stages of the same
• 16:30
  destructive process.
• 16:32
  >> This presumably has implications for our
• 16:34
  understanding of how planetary systems
• 16:36
  evolve over time.
• 16:37
  >> Absolutely. One of the key findings is
• 16:40
  that the habitable zone, the region
• 16:42
  where liquid water could exist, moves
• 16:45
  outward as a star becomes a red giant.
• 16:48
  Moons of Jupiter or Saturn, currently
• 16:50
  frozen ice worlds, might temporarily
• 16:53
  become habitable as our sun swells. But
• 16:56
  this research shows that even if these
• 16:58
  worlds briefly enter the habitable zone,
• 17:01
  the gas giants they orbit are being
• 17:03
  actively destroyed by the dying star.
• 17:06
  It's a very dynamic and ultimately
• 17:08
  doomed situation.
• 17:09
  >> It really puts our solar systems
• 17:11
  long-term future in perspective.
• 17:13
  >> It does. Though I should emphasize we
• 17:15
  have about 5 billion years before any of
• 17:18
  this happens. So there's no immediate
• 17:20
  cause for concern. But it does remind us
• 17:23
  that solar systems, like everything else
• 17:25
  in the universe, have life cycles.
• 17:27
  Understanding these cycles helps us
• 17:29
  interpret what we see around other stars
• 17:32
  and appreciate that the stable longive
• 17:34
  solar system we enjoy is a temporary
• 17:37
  phase in cosmic terms.
• 17:38
  >> A sobering but fascinating look at
• 17:41
  stellar evolution. It's one thing to
• 17:43
  know intellectually that the sun will
• 17:45
  eventually die, but quite another to see
• 17:47
  the detailed process of what happens to
• 17:49
  the planets
• 17:50
  >> exactly. And who knows, in 5 billion
• 17:53
  years, humanity's descendants, if they
• 17:55
  exist, will likely have long since
• 17:58
  relocated to other star systems.
• 18:00
  Understanding how stars age and die is
• 18:02
  actually crucial for picking good
• 18:04
  long-term neighborhoods out in the
• 18:06
  galaxy.
• 18:06
  >> That's a nice optimistic note to end on.
• 18:08
  Well, that's all we have for you today
• 18:10
  on Astronomy Daily.
• 18:11
  >> And remember to check out our website at
• 18:13
  astronomydaily.io
• 18:15
  for more space news and to join our
• 18:17
  community discussions. You can also find
• 18:20
  us on social media at Astro Daily Pod.
• 18:22
  >> Thanks for listening and keep looking
• 18:24
  up. Astronomy day.
• 18:28
  Stories be told.
• 18:36
  Stories told.