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From Rogue Planets to Lunar Missions: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  [Music]
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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
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  that brings you the latest happenings
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  from across the cosmos. I'm your host,
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  Anna.
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  >> And I'm Avery. It's great to be with
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  you. We have a packed show today
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  covering everything from newborn planets
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  and rogue worlds to a major upgrade for
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  one of Earth's most powerful telescopes.
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  >> That's right, Avery. We'll also be
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  looking at what makes an interstellar
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  visitor so familiar and peering into the
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  very exciting future of spaceflight. So,
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  let's get started. First up, an update
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  from low Earth orbit. Starlink has
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  announced plans to adjust its satellite
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  constellation in 2026, primarily for
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  space safety reasons.
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  >> Right. This is a significant move.
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  They're planning to lower the entire
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  constellation from its current altitude
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  of about 550 km down to 480 km.
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  >> And this isn't just a random adjustment.
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  It follows a recent incident where a
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  Starlink satellite broke up, creating a
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  small but notable amount of space
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  debris. This move is a direct response
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  to mitigate future risks.
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  >> Exactly. A lower orbit has a key
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  advantage. Atmospheric drag is stronger.
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  So if a satellite fails, it will deorbit
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  and burn up in the atmosphere much
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  faster in a few years instead of
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  decades. This drastically reduces the
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  long-term risk of collisions.
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  >> It's a proactive step towards managing
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  the increasingly crowded environments in
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  low Earth orbit. A responsible move for
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  a company with such a massive presence
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  up there. From our crowded orbital
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  backyard to the nurseries of distant
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  stars, Gaia Space Telescope has given us
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  an unprecedented look at planets in the
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  process of being born.
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  >> This is incredible news. Gaia has found
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  compelling evidence of planet formation
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  in 31 different young stellar systems.
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  We're talking about seeing the very
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  first stages of planetary life.
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  >> It really is. And the method is just as
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  brilliant as the discovery itself. Gaia
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  isn't seeing the planets directly.
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  Instead, it's detecting the tiny
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  gravitational wobble that these forming
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  planets exert on their host stars.
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  >> That gravitational wobble, it's the same
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  principle behind many exoplanet
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  discoveries. But applying it to these
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  incredibly young, chaotic systems is a
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  huge breakthrough. It allows astronomers
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  to study these systems in their infancy
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  on a large scale for the first time.
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  We're moving from theoretical models to
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  direct observation of how solar systems
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  like our own might have formed. It's a
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  whole new window into planetary science.
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  >> Speaking of new windows, how about this?
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  Astronomers have successfully weighed a
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  rogue planet for the first time. And for
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  our listeners, a rogue planet is one
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  that drifts through space untethered to
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  any star. They're incredibly difficult
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  to find, let alone study.
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  >> Exactly. This one is about the size of
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  Saturn, and it was likely ejected from
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  its home solar system billions of years
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  ago. Using a technique called
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  microlensing, scientists were able to
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  measure not just its mass, but its
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  distance from us as well.
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  >> And the secret ingredient here was
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  parallax. They observed the microl
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  lensing event where the rogue planet's
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  gravity bends the light of a background
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  star from two places at once. Earth and
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  the Gaia Space Telescope, which is about
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  a million miles away.
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  >> Mhm. That different perspective gave
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  them the data they needed to calculate
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  the planet's properties. It's a
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  fantastic proof of concept for a new way
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  to study these isolated wandering
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  worlds. It makes you wonder how many are
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  out there. From wandering worlds to
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  interstellar visitors, our third
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  confirmed guest from another star
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  system, comet 3i/ATLS,
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  has been revealing some more fascinating
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  secrets.
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  >> It certainly has. As the comet was
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  moving away from the sun, the SOHO
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  spacecraft observed it producing an
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  absolutely massive amount of water.
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  >> Right. The solar wind was breaking down
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  that water vapor into hydrogen and
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  oxygen. SOHO's SWAN instrument, which is
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  designed to look for hydrogen, detected
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  this huge hydrogen glow surrounding the
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  comet.
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  >> And what's so significant about that?
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  >> Well, it means this interstellar comet
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  is behaving in a way that's very similar
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  to comets from our own solar system.
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  They also release large amounts of water
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  as they are heated by the sun.
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  >> So, it's a piece of another solar
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  system, but it's made of the same stuff
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  as ours. That's a profoundly important
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  clue about the composition of planetary
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  systems beyond our own. It suggests the
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  building blocks for worlds like Earth
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  could be quite common across the galaxy.
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  >> That it does, and it shows the threeey
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  atlas has untold stories to tell us as
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  it heads on out of our solar system.
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  >> Let's shift our gaze from the distant
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  past to the very near future. 2026 is
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  shaping up to be an absolutely massive
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  year for space exploration.
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  >> Oh, I am so excited for this. The
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  headline mission, of course, is NASA's
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  Aremis 2. We're finally sending
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  astronauts back to the moon, or at least
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  on a trip around it. It will be the
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  first time humans have been in deep
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  space since the Apollo program.
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  >> A huge milestone. But it's not just
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  NASA. The commercial sector is also
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  making big moves. We're expecting the
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  debut of new commercial space stations
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  and the next generation of private lunar
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  landers.
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  >> And we'll be getting new eyes on the
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  universe, too. The Nancy Grace Roman
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  Space Telescope is scheduled to launch.
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  Its wide field view will be
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  revolutionary for studying dark energy
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  and finding exoplanets.
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  >> That's right. And not to be outdone,
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  China's launching its own powerful space
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  telescope, Sununin, which will have a
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  field of view 300 times larger than
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  Hubble's. It's going to be a year of
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  incredible advancements across the
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  board.
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  >> Finally, let's come back down to Earth
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  for our last story. The Audacama
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  largem/s submillimem array in Chile,
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  better known as ALMA, has just completed
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  a major upgrade.
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  >> ALMA is already one of the most powerful
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  radio telescopes on the planet. What did
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  this upgrade involve?
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  >> Engineers installed 145 brand new
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  low-noise amplifiers across the array of
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  antennas. In simple terms, this will
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  massively increase the telescope's
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  sensitivity. It's like giving a giant
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  ear a state-of-the-art hearing aid.
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  >> Wow. So, it will be able to pick up even
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  fainter signals from space. What kind of
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  science will that enable?
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  >> It's going to give us a much clearer
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  view of the cold universe. ALMA excels
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  at observing things like the dusty discs
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  where planets are forming, the cold gas
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  of the interstellar medium, and even
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  complex organic molecules in distant
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  galaxies. With this upgrade, those views
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  will be sharper and deeper than ever
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  before.
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  >> I love all this new science we have to
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  look forward to.
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  >> It's a powerful testament to how this
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  new telescope is not just confirming old
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  theories, but actively rewriting the
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  first chapters of cosmic history right
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  before our eyes. It's a true revolution
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  in our understanding of the early
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  universe.
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  >> And that's a wrap for our news today.
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  From managing our orbital highways to
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  discovering newborn planets and gearing
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  up for humanity's return to deep space,
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  it's been an incredible tour of the
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  cosmos.
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  >> It certainly has. Thanks so much for
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  tuning in to Astronomy Daily. We hope
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  you'll join us next time for another
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  look at the universe around us.
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  >> For more space and astronomy news,
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  follow us on social media. Just search
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  for Astro Daily Pod on all the major
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  platforms. And if you visit our YouTube
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  channel, please give us a thumbs up and
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  a follow. It really helps with the
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  algorithm recommending us to other space
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  enthusiasts.
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  >> Until tomorrow, keep looking up.
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  >> Stories told
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  stories told.
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  [Music]