Latest / Space News Today / Black Hole Born in Silence | Crew-12 Launches | Inside-Out Planets

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Black Hole Born in Silence | Crew-12 Launches | Inside-Out Planets · Space News Today

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Good morning, good evening, and good
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whenever you're listening. Welcome to
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Astronomy Daily, your front row seat to
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the cosmos. I'm Anna.
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>> And I'm Avery. It's Friday, the 13th,
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February, 2026. And if you're
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superstitious, well, the universe
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doesn't care about your calendar. It's
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been too busy making black holes,
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breaking rockets, and building planetary
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systems that make absolutely no sense.
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>> That's right. We've got an absolutely
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packed show for you today. Astronomers
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may have just watched a star quietly
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collapse into a brand new black hole in
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our neighboring Andromeda galaxy. No
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supernova required. SpaceX's Crew 12 is
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launching to the International Space
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Station as we speak. Europe's most
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powerful rocket just flew for the very
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first time. And that's just for
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starters.
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>> We've also got a Vulcan rocket that
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apparently didn't learn its lesson the
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first time around. a planetary system
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that's been turned completely inside out
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and NASA's Swift Observatory going into
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survival mode to avoid a fiery re-entry.
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Let's get into it.
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>> We're kicking things off with what is
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quite literally happening right now.
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NASA and SpaceX have given the final go
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for Crew 12 mission to the International
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Space Station. Liftoff was scheduled for
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5:15 a.m. Eastern time this morning from
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Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape
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Canaveral. The crew is an international
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squad. We've got NASA astronauts Jessica
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Mir and Jack Hathaway, European Space
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Agency astronauts Sophie Edino from
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France, and Rosscosmos cosminaut Andre
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Fedv from Russia. They're riding aboard
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a SpaceX Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9
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rocket. And this launch was supposed to
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happen yesterday on the 12th, but
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mission teams waved off due to weather
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conditions along the flight path. They
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completed a final weather briefing last
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night and gave the all clear to proceed
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into the countdown.
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>> If everything went according to plan
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this morning, the crew should arrive at
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the station tomorrow afternoon on
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Valentine's Day at around 3:15 p.m.
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Eastern. Romantic, right? Nothing says I
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love you like docking with a space
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station at 28,000 kmh.
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>> Once they're aboard, they'll bring the
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station back up to its full complement
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of seven crew members. The ISS has been
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operating with a reduced crew, so this
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is a welcome reinforcement. They've got
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a packed science agenda waiting for them
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up there.
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>> Fun stat on this one. The Falcon 9
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booster being used, B1081,
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is flying for its 22nd time. 22 flights
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on a single rocket booster. And this is
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the 19th Falcon 9 mission of 2026 alone,
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and we're only in midFebruary. SpaceX's
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launch cadence is just relentless. We'll
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keep you updated on Crew 12's progress
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as they make their way to the station.
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You can catch the full coverage on NASA
2:49
Plus, Amazon Prime, and NASA's YouTube
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channel.
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>> All right, Anna, this next story is the
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kind of thing that gives astrophysicists
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goosebumps. Astronomers believe they've
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witnessed something extraordinary. A
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massive star in the Andromeda galaxy
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that didn't go out by a bang, but just
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quietly vanished. And what it left
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behind appears to be a brand new black
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hole. This is genuinely remarkable. The
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star cataloged as M31204DS1
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was a yellow super giant about 13 times
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the mass of our own sun, sitting roughly
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2.5 million lighty years away in our
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neighboring Andromeda galaxy. Before it
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disappeared, it was one of the brightest
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stars in Andromeda, shining about
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100,000 times brighter than our own sun.
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>> So, here's what happened. A team led by
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Columbia University astrophysicist Kesha
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Leiday was sifting through archival data
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from NASA's Neoise mission, an infrared
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space telescope that mapped the sky from
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2009 to 2024. They were building a map
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of how millions of stars change in
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brightness over time. And buried in that
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data, they found something stunning.
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>> Starting around 2014, this star began to
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brighten in infrared light. Then it
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started fading dramatically in visible
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light. And by 2022, it had vanished
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entirely from Neoise's view. Even with
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the most sensitive telescopes available
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today, there's nothing there. As Depos
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put it, imagine if Betal Juice just
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suddenly disappeared. That's essentially
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what happened here, just in the galaxy
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next door.
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>> Now, normally when a massive star dies,
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it goes out spectacularly as a
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supernova. The core collapses, nutrinos
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erupt outward, and the resulting shock
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wave blasts the stars outer layers into
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space in an explosion that can outshine
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an entire galaxy. But this star didn't
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do any of that. It appears to be what
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astronomers call a failed supernova. The
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theory is that the core collapsed as
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expected, forming a dense neutron star,
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but the shock wave that was supposed to
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blow the star apart just wasn't strong
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enough. Instead of exploding outward,
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most of the stars material fell back
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inward, overwhelming the neutron star
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and creating a black hole. It's death by
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implosion rather than explosion.
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>> And what's really interesting is the
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role of convection. The team realized
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that previous models hadn't properly
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accounted for the churning turbulent
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motions in the stars outer layers. When
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they factored that in, they found the
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convection actually helps sap energy
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from the shock wave, making it more
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likely to fail. That's a significant new
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insight. The material that didn't fall
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straight in is now forming a rotating
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accretion disc around the newborn black
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hole, slowly spiraling inward, much like
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water circling a drain. The infrared
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glow from that debris should remain
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visible to the James Web Space Telescope
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for decades as it gradually fades.
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>> The study was published yesterday in the
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journal Science and the implications are
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huge. If relatively lightweight stars
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like this one at just 13 solar masses
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can collapse directly into black holes,
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then there could be far more black holes
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out there than we've previously
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estimated. This could be a very common
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way for stars to die, and we've just
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been missing it because there's no
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explosion to see.
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>> Not everyone's convinced yet, though.
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Some astronomers suggest this could be a
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case of merging stars whose combined
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light got obscured by dust. But as one
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researcher put it, the definitive test
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is simple. Death is forever. If it's
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truly a black hole, that star is never
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coming back. Future observations with
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JWST will help settle the debate.
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>> Sticking with the launch theme, Europe
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had a huge milestone yesterday. The most
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powerful version of the Aron 6 rocket
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flew for the first time, and it was
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carrying cargo for one of SpaceX's
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biggest competitors.
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>> That's right. Aryan Space launched the
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Arion 64, the four booster configuration
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of Europe's new flagship rocket. It
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lifted off from the Guyana Space Center
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in Kuru, French Guyana at 1645 UTC on
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February 12th. And riding on top were 32
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satellites for Amazon's Internet
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Constellation, now officially branded as
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Amazon LEO.
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>> So, let's break down the naming. The
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Aron 6 comes in two versions. the 62
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with two strap-on solid rocket boosters
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and the 64 with four. This was the first
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time the 64 has ever flown, and it's
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significantly more powerful. Those four
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P120 Seolid boosters give it the extra
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punch needed to loft heavier payloads.
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And Amazon Leo, formerly known as
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Project Kyper, is Amazon's answer to
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SpaceX's Starlink. The plan is to build
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a constellation of 3,236
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satellites providing broadband internet
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from low Earth orbit. So these 32
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satellites are an early batch to start
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building out that network. It's a big
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deal on two fronts. For Europe, the Aron
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64 flying successfully means they now
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have a heavy lift option that can
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compete for larger commercial and
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government payloads. And for Amazon,
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getting satellites up on a non-SP SpaceX
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rocket is strategically important. You
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don't want your main competitor also
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being your sole ride to orbit.
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>> The launch went smoothly with the
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satellites successfully deployed into
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low Earth orbit. It's a promising start
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for the Aron 64 configuration.
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>> Now, speaking of rockets that had a
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slightly less smooth day, we need to
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talk about the Vulcan Centaur. This is
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an update to the story we covered
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yesterday. United Launch Alliance flew
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the USSF87
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mission for the US Space Force early on
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February 12th, and there was a very
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familiar problem. About 30 seconds after
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liftoff from Cape Canaveral, observers
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noticed a bright glow and a shower of
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sparks pouring from the aft end of one
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of the four GEM 63 XL solid rocket
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boosters. Video and tracking footage
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showed what appears to be a nozzle burn
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through where hot exhaust gas
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essentially melts its way through the
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nozzle casing.
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>> And here's the thing, this has happened
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before. The exact same type of anomaly
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occurred during Vulcan's second
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certification flight back in October
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2024. ULA and booster manufacturer
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Northrup Grumman spent months
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investigating that incident, identified
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a manufacturing defect, and said they'd
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fixed it. The third flight in August
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2025 went cleanly.
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>> But now on just the fourth flight
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overall, the problem is back. ULA
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acknowledged it had quote an observation
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early during flight on one of the four
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solid rocket motors and said the team is
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reviewing the data.
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>> The silver lining is that the mission
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still succeeded. The Falcon 9, sorry,
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the Vulcan's twin BE4 main engines
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compensated and the Centaur upper stage
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completed all its planned burns. About
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eight hours after launch, ULA confirmed
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the payloads were successfully delivered
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to geocynchronous orbit more than 22,000
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m above Earth. The primary payload was a
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pair of GSSAP satellites for the Space
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Force. These are maneuverable spacecraft
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that serve as a sort of neighborhood
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watch for geocynchronous orbit,
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monitoring activity near US and Allied
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assets. There were also some research
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and development payloads aboard. But the
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bigger question now is what this means
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for Vulcan's future. ULA had ambitious
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plans to fly 16 to 18 missions this
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year, including launches for Amazon GPS
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satellites and more Space Force
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payloads. A recurring booster issue on a
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rocket that's only flown four times is a
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serious concern. The Space Force has
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already said it will work closely with
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ULA on flightw worthiness before the
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next national security mission.
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>> We'll be watching this one closely.
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Vulcan is supposed to be ULA's flagship
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for the future, replacing the venerable
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Atlas 5. It needs to prove it can fly
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reliably, and a pattern of booster
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issues isn't helping that case.
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All right, time for some planetary
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weirdness. Astronomers have found a star
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system that looks like someone assembled
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the planets in the wrong order. Think of
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it as a cosmic double stuffed Oreo.
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That's actually a great analogy. The
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star is called LHS1903.
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It's a red dwarf about half the mass of
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our sun, located about 116 light years
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away. It has four planets, all orbiting
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in less than 30 days. So it's a very
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compact system and from the star outward
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the arrangement goes rocky gaseous
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gaseous rocky
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>> which is the exact opposite of what
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models predict. In standard planetary
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formation theory rocky planets form
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closer to the star where intense
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starlight strips away atmospheres and
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gas giants form farther out where
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there's more gas available in the
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protolanetary disc. You'd expect rocky
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on the inside, gassy on the outside. But
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LHS1903
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follows the rules beautifully for the
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first three planets. A rocky one closest
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in, then two gaseous ones, and then the
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fourth planet, the one furthest out, is
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rocky again. It's like finding a
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Venuslike world out past Neptune's
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orbit. It just shouldn't be there. The
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system was first discovered by NASA's
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test mission back in 2019. And this
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latest study published February 12th in
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Science used a suite of groundbased and
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space-based instruments to precisely
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determine the planet's masses and
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densities. That's how they could tell
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which ones are rocky and which have
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thick gaseous envelopes.
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>> The leading explanation is planetary
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migration. Sometime early in the systems
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history, the inner planets may have
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shuffled around, similar to what
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happened in our own solar system during
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the late heavy bombardment. A
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gravitational reshuffle could have sent
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a large body crashing into the fourth
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planet, stripping away its atmosphere,
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or the planet may have formed late after
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the system had run out of gas.
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>> As astronomer Andrew Cameron from the
13:32
University of St. Andrews put it, that
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stuff does happen in young planetary
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systems. This one has the look of
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something that's been turned inside out.
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It's a fantastic reminder that for all
13:44
our models and theories, the universe
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keeps finding ways to surprise us.
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>> Our final story today is about a veteran
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space telescope that's fighting for its
13:54
life and NASA's creative plan to save
13:57
it. The Neil Gerald Swift Observatory
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has been one of NASA's workh horses for
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high energy astrophysics. It's been in
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orbit for about 21 years, rapidly sooing
14:08
to observe gammaray births and other
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transient cosmic events. But time and
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physics are catching up with it.
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>> The problem is atmospheric drag.
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Enhanced solar activity, and we're right
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around solar maximum heats Earth's upper
14:24
atmosphere and causes it to expand. That
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expanded atmosphere creates more drag on
14:30
satellites in low orbit, slowly pulling
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them down. Swift's average altitude has
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been steadily declining, and it's now
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dropped below about 250 m or 400 km.
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>> So on February 11th, NASA's Swift team
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made a tough call. They've temporarily
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suspended most science operations. The
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burst alert telescope will keep
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detecting gammaray bursts, but the
14:56
spacecraft will no longer slew to follow
14:58
up on those detections with its other
15:00
instruments. Instead, controllers are
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keeping Swift in a fixed orientation
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that minimizes atmospheric drag. Think
15:08
of it like a swimmer turning sideways to
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cut through a current instead of facing
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it headon. By reducing how much surface
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area Swift presents to the thin wisps of
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atmosphere at that altitude, they can
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slow the orbital decay.
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>> And here's the creative part. NASA has
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contracted a company called Catalyst
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Space Technologies based in Flagstaff,
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Arizona to actually go up and give Swift
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a push. They're planning a servicing
15:35
mission that will boost the observatory
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into a higher orbit, extending its
15:40
scientific lifetime. The reboost
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spacecraft is expected to launch in the
15:44
summer, but for that to work, Swift
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needs to stay above about 185 m, roughly
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300 km. So everything they're doing now
15:55
is about preserving enough altitude to
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make the rescue mission possible.
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>> It's a fascinating case study in
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satellite servicing. If it works, it
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demonstrates a capability that could be
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applied to all sorts of aging
16:08
spacecraft. Rather than letting valuable
16:11
observatories burn up, you send a little
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tugboat to push them back up. The
16:15
economics of that could be
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transformative for space science.
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>> We're rooting for Swift. 21 years of
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service and still going. Fingers crossed
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the reboost mission comes together in
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time.
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>> And that wraps up another packed edition
16:30
of Astronomy Daily. What a Friday the
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13th it's been. From a star silently
16:35
becoming a black hole to rockets that
16:37
keep surprising us, the universe never
16:40
takes a day off. If you enjoyed today's
16:42
episode, please hit subscribe wherever
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you're listening and leave us a review
16:47
if you can. It really does help new
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listeners find us. You can also follow
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us on social media at astroaily pod on
16:55
all the major platforms.
16:57
>> Head over to astronomyaily.io
16:59
io for full show notes and links to all
17:01
the stories we covered today. And if
17:03
you've got questions, story tips, or
17:05
just want to say hi, we'd love to hear
17:07
from you.
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>> Until next time, keep looking up.
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>> Clear skies, everyone. Astronomy day.
17:15
Stories be told.
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Stories to tell.