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From Betelgeuse’s Secrets to Lunar Wonders: Your Daily Space Update · Space News Today

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  Welcome to Astronomy Daily, the podcast
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  where we chat about the coolest space
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  and astronomy news we can source. I'm
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  Anna and with me is my co-host Avery.
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  Hey Avery, it's January 8th, 2026. How's
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  your week going?
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  >> Hey Anna, and hello to all our
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  listeners. It's been fantastic. Clear
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  night for some stargazing. We've got a
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  stellar lineup today. Mysteries solved
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  on a famous star, a decadesl long
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  supernova video, a census of nearby
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  stars for life, lunar events to watch, a
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  dramatic but lowrisk orbital scenario,
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  and fresh insights on asteroid mining.
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  Plenty to unpack. Let's get started.
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  Leading off with big news from Orion.
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  Astronomers have finally cracked Betal
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  Juice's biggest mystery. the cause of
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  its weird brightness swings and that
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  dramatic great dimming back in 2020.
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  >> Yeah, this red super giant, one of the
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  brightest stars in the sky and about 650
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  light years away, has been puzzling
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  folks forever with its pulsations. It
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  has a short 400day cycle from internal
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  throbbing. But there's this longer
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  2100day variation that stumped everyone.
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  Theories range from giant convection
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  cells to dust clouds or even a companion
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  star.
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  >> Turns out it is a hidden companion.
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  Researchers from the center for
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  astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian
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  led by Andrea DRI used nearly eight
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  years of Hubble data plus ground
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  telescopes to spot direct evidence. The
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  companion, playfully called Seawirha,
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  orbits every 6 years or so, plowing
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  through Betal Juic's massive extended
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  atmosphere like a boat cutting through
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  water, leaving a dense wake of gas. That
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  wake disrupts the stars light and
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  spectrum, causing the dimming and
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  patterns we see. Dri described it
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  perfectly. It's a bit like a boat moving
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  through water. The companion star
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  creates a ripple effect in Bet Jesus's
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  atmosphere that we can actually see in
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  the data. They caught the wake forming
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  right after the companion passes in
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  front.
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  >> This explains the 2020 sneeze, too. Dust
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  and gas from that interaction. Huge
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  implications. It shows how companions
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  can reshape massive stars evolution,
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  mass loss, and eventual supernova. Betal
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  Juice is eclipsing Seawware right now,
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  but they'll watch for it emerging in
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  2027.
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  >> Front row sea to a stars dramatic life.
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  Love it.
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  >> Next, NASA dropped an incredible video
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  that's literally decades in the making.
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  A time lapse of Kepler's supernova
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  remnant from Chandra X-way observatory
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  data. This is the remnant from the
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  supernova spotted by Johannes Kepler
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  in6004. A type 1A explosion from a white
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  dwarf that blew up after gaining too
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  much mass, maybe from a companion or
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  merger. It's about 17,000 light years
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  away. And Chandra has been watching
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  since 2000.
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  >> The video combines observations from
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  2000, 2004, 2006, 2014, and even 2025,
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  over 25 years. It shows this neon blue
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  X-ray ring expanding like a balloon
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  overlaid on optical light. The bottom
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  side blasts out faster at 13.8 million
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  mph while the top lags at 4 million mph
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  because it hits denser gas.
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  >> Chandra glows in blue from million
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  degree material and the rim measurements
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  tell us about the explosion's power and
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  surroundings. It's the longest spanning
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  Chandra video ever, showing how the
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  remnant crashes into space stuff,
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  hurling elements for new stars and
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  planets.
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  >> Mindblowing to see cosmic history unfold
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  frame by frame.
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  >> Shifting closer to home, a new all sky
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  census of over 2100 K dwarfs within
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  about 130 lighty years reveals some
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  prime real estate for potential
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  lifebearing planets.
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  >> K dwarfs are cooler, fainter orange
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  stars. twice as common as sunlike gwarfs
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  nearby. And they live way longer, giving
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  planets stable radiation for billions
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  more years, perfect for life to evolve
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  slowly. The team used high- res
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  spectrometers on telescopes in Chile and
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  Arizona for full sky coverage. They
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  measured temperatures, ages, spin rates,
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  magnetic activity, all key for
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  habitability since flaring stars can
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  strip atmospheres. This spectroscopic
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  recon is a gold mine data set for future
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  exoplanet hunts and even interstellar
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  travel planning. Presented just this
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  week at the AAS meeting, it's
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  foundational for decades.
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  >> Makes you wonder how many Earthlikes are
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  chilling around these steady stars.
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  >> For sky watchers, especially down south,
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  2026 has some lunar treats. A red moon
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  from a total eclipse, a blue moon, and a
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  Christmas Eve super moon. The total
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  lunar eclipse on March 3rd evening will
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  turn the moon coppery red as Earth's
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  atmosphere bends sunset light onto it.
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  Totalities best from the southern
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  hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand,
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  lasting about an hour, visible even in
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  cities naked eye.
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  >> Then a blue moon on May 31st, the second
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  full moon in a month. A calendar quirk
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  every couple years. And December 24th,
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  super moon, full moon at Perigee,
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  looking bigger and brighter. Perfect
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  illusion at moonrise.
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  >> No equipment needed. Safe to watch. Mark
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  those calendars for some magical nights.
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  >> Now, a headline grabber. Could a passing
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  star fling Earth into deep space?
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  Destabilizing our orbit faster than
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  thought?
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  >> This comes from simulations by Nathan
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  Kib and Shawn Raymond factoring in
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  galactic flybys. Stars passing within a
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  100 AU at slow speeds. Normally, solar
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  system models assume isolation, but
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  reality includes these encounters.
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  >> Mercury is the weak link. A flyby could
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  make its orbit more eccentric, leading
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  to crashes or tugs that cascade outward.
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  Maybe Venus or Mars nudging Earth toward
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  Jupiter for a slingshot ejection.
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  >> Probability about 0.2% chance over the
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  next 5 billion years for Earth ejection
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  or collision. Tiny, but higher than old
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  estimates. Pluto's risk is four to 5%.
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  Based on Gaia data and a archive paper,
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  real science, but the article amps up
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  the drama with hidden threat vibes.
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  >> Comforting to know it's super rare. Our
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  orbit stable for eons.
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  >> Last up, is asteroid mining actually
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  feasible? New chemistry data from
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  meteorites offers sobering but
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  insightful answers. Researchers analyzed
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  carbonius condrites, proxies for sea
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  asteroids, measuring 46 elements. These
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  primitive rocks mix metals, silicates,
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  waterbearing stuff, but impacts create
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  brechas and regalith, making separation
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  tough in low gravity.
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  >> Some groups show enriched titanium or
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  rare earths, but overall depleted and
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  easy metals like copper. Water
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  alteration oxidizes things, complicating
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  extraction. Led by Joseph Togo Rodriguez
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  and team, it suggests mining's hard for
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  bulk profit, better for targeted water
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  or in space manufacturing.
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  >> Focus on sample returns like Osiris Rex
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  to pick winners. Feasible eventually
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  with tech advances, but not a quick
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  space gold rush.
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  >> Realistic view space resources for
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  exploration, not Earth riches. Woo! From
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  stellar companions to lunar lights in
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  cosmic risks. What a ride today.
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  >> The universe never runs out of stories.
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  Thanks for joining us on Astronomy
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  Daily. We appreciate every listen.
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  >> Subscribe, share, and we'll catch you
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  tomorrow with more.
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  >> Keep looking up.
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  >> Clear skies.
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  Stories told.