Latest / Space News Today / Spectacular Auroras, Suni Williams Retires, China’s Space Rescue

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Spectacular Auroras, Suni Williams Retires, China’s Space Rescue · Space News Today

0:00
Hello space enthusiasts. I'm Anna
0:03
>> and I'm Avery. Welcome to Astronomy
0:06
Daily, your daily dose of space and
0:08
astronomy news brought to you by
0:10
astronomyaily.io.
0:12
>> And what a day we have for you today,
0:15
Avery. If you were lucky enough to catch
0:17
the auroras last night, you know what
0:19
we're leading with.
0:20
>> Absolutely, Anna. We're following up on
0:23
yesterday's story about that powerful
0:25
X-class solar flare and the coronal mass
0:28
ejection that was racing toward Earth.
0:30
Well, it hit and it hit hard. That's
0:34
right. We've got stunning photos from
0:36
around the world of the resulting
0:38
Northern Lights and a retirement
0:40
announcement from a legendary NASA
0:42
astronaut, an incredible space rescue
0:45
story from China, and some exciting
0:47
updates from the commercial space
0:48
sector. Plus, we'll tell you about
0:50
NASA's latest mission that's preparing
0:52
to study the sun's most powerful
0:54
eruptions. And we'll take you on a
0:56
cosmic journey billions of years into
0:58
the past with some fascinating new
1:00
telescope observations.
1:02
>> So, grab your coffee, settle in, and
1:05
let's get into today's space news.
1:07
>> All right, Anna, let's dive into our
1:09
lead story. And what a spectacular show
1:12
it was. Yesterday, we told our listeners
1:14
about that X1.9 solar flare and coronal
1:18
mass ejection headed our way. Well, it
1:21
arrived right on schedule. In fact, a
1:23
little early.
1:24
>> It certainly did, Avery. The CME slammed
1:27
into Earth's magnetic field on January
1:30
19th at around 2:38 p.m. Eastern time.
1:33
And it packed quite a punch. Space
1:36
weather forecasters at Noah's Space
1:38
Weather Prediction Center confirmed that
1:40
geomagnetic conditions escalated to G4
1:43
level. That's classified as severe on
1:46
their fivepoint scale.
1:47
>> And the results were absolutely
1:50
breathtaking. What made the CME
1:52
particularly noteworthy was just how
1:54
fast it traveled. Remember, it was
1:57
ejected from the sun on January 18th
1:59
during that powerful solar flare, which
2:02
means it covered roughly 93 million
2:04
miles in just over a day. That's
2:07
exceptionally quick.
2:08
>> The aurora displays that followed were
2:11
truly global in scope. We're seeing
2:13
reports and photographs from locations
2:15
that rarely get to witness the northern
2:17
lights. One photographer, Greg Gage,
2:20
captured stunning red auroras from
2:22
Deming, New Mexico. That's at 32 degrees
2:25
latitude. He told space.com he was on
2:28
vacation there and never expected to see
2:30
auroras that far south.
2:32
>> That's incredible. And it wasn't just
2:34
North America. The displays stretched
2:36
across Europe, Asia, and beyond. In
2:40
Germany, vivid red and green auroras
2:42
danced above the river Muglespree near
2:44
Berlin. Hungary saw intense red and
2:47
green hues filling the skies over the
2:49
village of a boyar. France had some
2:51
particularly eerie displays with rich
2:54
magenta auroras above Britany. And in
2:57
China, the northern lights were visible
2:59
above Beiji village in Hilong Jong
3:01
province with photographers capturing
3:03
everything from magenta to green to even
3:06
hints of blue in the curtains of light.
3:08
What's particularly interesting about
3:10
these displays is the variety of colors.
3:13
The red auroras we're seeing indicate
3:15
that oxygen atoms at very high altitudes
3:18
around 200 to 300 m up are being
3:21
energized. The green we typically
3:23
associate with auroras comes from oxygen
3:26
at lower altitudes while any blue would
3:29
be from nitrogen. The geomagnetic
3:31
conditions throughout the night were
3:33
quite dynamic too. Storm levels
3:35
fluctuated between G1, G2, G3, and G4 as
3:40
the CME passed through Earth's magnetic
3:42
field. According to the UK Met Office,
3:45
this kept Earth's magnetic field in a
3:47
highly disturbed state for hours,
3:49
producing repeated surges of auroral
3:51
activity. And there's more good news for
3:54
aurora watchers. While geomagnetic
3:56
activity is expected to gradually ease,
3:59
forecasters say conditions remain
4:01
unsettled. That means there's still a
4:03
chance the northern lights could make
4:05
another appearance tonight if solar wind
4:07
conditions cooperate.
4:08
>> So, if you missed last night's show,
4:10
keep those cameras charged and your
4:12
Aurora Alert apps turned on. The sun is
4:15
clearly in an active phase and we could
4:17
see more displays in the coming days and
4:19
weeks.
4:20
>> Absolutely. And this really highlights
4:23
why we track space weather so closely.
4:25
While these auroras are beautiful, the
4:27
same geomagnetic storms can affect
4:29
satellites, power grids, and radio
4:32
communications. It's a reminder of how
4:34
our technological society is connected
4:36
to what's happening 93 million miles
4:39
away on the sun. Moving on to our next
4:42
story, Avery. And this one marks the end
4:44
of an era. After 27 years of
4:47
distinguished service, NASA astronaut
4:50
Sunni Williams has officially retired
4:52
from the agency. This is definitely a
4:55
significant moment. Anna Sunni Williams
4:57
has been such an inspiring figure in
4:59
human space flight. Her retirement
5:01
became effective on December 27th, 2025,
5:05
though NASA just announced it this week.
5:08
Let's talk about her remarkable
5:09
achievements. Where do we even start?
5:12
Over the course of her career, Williams
5:14
logged an impressive 608 days in space.
5:18
That makes her second on the list for
5:20
cumulative time in space by a NASA
5:22
astronaut. She completed three missions
5:24
to the International Space Station and
5:26
held numerous records throughout her
5:28
career.
5:29
>> Her most recent mission was particularly
5:31
interesting. Williams and fellow
5:33
astronaut Butch Wilmore launched aboard
5:35
Boeing Starlininer spacecraft in June
5:38
2024 as part of NASA's Boeing crew
5:41
flight test mission. Both tied for sixth
5:44
place on the list of longest single
5:45
space flight by an American, logging 286
5:49
days during their combined Starlininer
5:51
and SpaceX Crew 9 missions.
5:54
>> That's right. And during that mission,
5:55
Williams once again took command of the
5:57
space station for Expedition 72. She's
6:00
also renowned for her spacew walking
6:02
expertise. She completed nine spacew
6:04
walks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes
6:07
over her career. That gives her the
6:09
record for most spacew walk time by a
6:12
woman and fourth most on the all-time
6:14
cumulative spacew walk duration list.
6:16
Oh, and here's a fun fact. She was also
6:19
the first person to run a marathon in
6:21
space. Beyond her spaceflight
6:24
experience, Williams held numerous
6:25
important roles at NASA. She served as
6:28
deputy chief of the astronaut office,
6:30
was director of operations in Star City,
6:32
Russia, and most recently helped
6:34
establish a helicopter training platform
6:37
to prepare astronauts for future moon
6:39
landings. NASA administrator Jared
6:42
Iikman had some wonderful words about
6:44
her legacy. He called her a trailblazer
6:47
in human space flight, whose work
6:49
advancing science and technology has
6:51
laid the foundation for Aremis missions
6:53
to the moon and future missions to Mars.
6:56
It's worth noting her background, too.
6:58
She's a retired US Navy captain and an
7:01
accomplished pilot with more than 4,000
7:03
flight hours in 40 different aircraft.
7:06
She holds a bachelor's degree in
7:08
physical science from the United States
7:10
Naval Academy and a master's degree in
7:12
engineering management.
7:13
>> In her retirement statement, Williams
7:15
said, "Anyone who knows me knows that
7:18
space is my absolute favorite place to
7:20
be." She expressed gratitude for her
7:23
27-year career and the support she
7:25
received from her colleagues and
7:27
mentioned she's excited to watch NASA
7:29
make history as the agency continues its
7:31
exploration efforts.
7:32
>> It's a well-deserved retirement for
7:34
someone who has contributed so much to
7:36
human space flight. Her achievements
7:38
will undoubtedly inspire the next
7:40
generation of astronauts and space
7:42
explorers.
7:43
>> All right, Anna, our next story is quite
7:46
dramatic. It involves a successful space
7:48
rescue, emergency repairs, and some
7:51
impressive quick thinking by China's
7:53
space program.
7:54
>> This is really a remarkable story,
7:56
Avery. China's Shenzhout 20 capsule
7:59
safely landed in Inner Mongolia on
8:01
January 19th, 2026 after spending 270
8:06
days in orbit. But the journey back
8:09
wasn't exactly routine. This mission
8:11
became one of the most technically
8:13
demanding in China's human spaceflight
8:16
history. The Shenzhow 20 was originally
8:19
launched back on April 24th, 2025 from
8:22
the Ju Kuan satellite launch center. It
8:25
was expected to complete its mission and
8:27
return in November 2025. But then came
8:30
the complication. A suspected impact
8:33
with space debris damaged one of the
8:35
capsule's port holes.
8:37
>> Talk about a critical issue. A cracked
8:40
port hole on a spacecraft is serious
8:42
business, especially when you're
8:44
thinking about the intense heat and
8:46
forces of re-entry through Earth's
8:48
atmosphere. So, how did China's space
8:51
program respond?
8:52
>> With remarkable speed and coordination.
8:55
First, they authorized astronauts aboard
8:57
the Shenzo 21 spacecraft to photograph
9:00
the damaged port hole during a spacew
9:02
walk on December 9th. They used
9:04
highdefin cameras to get a detailed
9:06
diagnosis of the problem.
9:08
>> And then came an unprecedented move.
9:11
China launched Shenzo 22 on November
9:14
25th, marking the first rapid response
9:17
emergency deployment in China's space
9:19
history. This uncrrewed craft delivered
9:22
a specially engineered repair device
9:24
designed to enhance the capsule's heat
9:27
resistance and sealing for re-entry.
9:30
Meanwhile, for safety reasons, the crew
9:32
of Shenzo 20 was evacuated ahead of
9:34
schedule. They returned aboard Shenzo 21
9:38
on November 14th in what the China man
9:40
space agency called an emergency
9:43
reroute.
9:44
>> So, the Shenzo 20 capsule came home
9:47
empty, but it came home safe. According
9:49
to CGTN, the China manned space agency
9:52
declared the mission a complete success
9:55
after an on-site inspection confirmed
9:57
the capsule was in good condition
9:59
despite everything it went through. What
10:02
really stands out here is the
10:03
operational capability this
10:05
demonstrates. China executed three
10:08
overlapping missions, Shenzo 20, 21, and
10:11
22 over a span of just weeks. That shows
10:15
significant operational depth and the
10:17
ability to respond to emergencies in
10:19
space.
10:20
>> Absolutely. And it's not just about the
10:22
technical achievement. This validates
10:25
China's long-term approach to
10:26
maintaining crew vehicles in orbit. The
10:29
Shenzo 20 stayed up there for 270 days,
10:33
which demonstrates the reliability of
10:35
their spacecraft systems.
10:37
>> This mission also underscores something
10:38
we talk about often, the very real
10:41
danger posed by space debris. Even small
10:44
particles traveling at orbital
10:46
velocities can cause significant damage
10:48
as we saw here with the port hole crack.
10:51
And China's ability to handle this
10:53
situation adds to their growing
10:55
reputation in space exploration. They're
10:57
now capable of managing multi- vessel
11:00
operations under pressure with modular
11:02
mission architecture and long-term crew
11:05
support capabilities.
11:06
>> Congratulations to all involved in this
11:09
very successful mission in the end.
11:11
>> Moving on to our next story, Avery. And
11:13
we're heading to West Texas where Blue
11:15
Origin is preparing for its next
11:17
suborbital space tourism mission.
11:20
>> That's right, Anna. Blue Origin is
11:22
scheduled to launch six space tourists
11:24
on its NS38 mission this Thursday,
11:27
January 22nd. The launch window opens at
11:30
9:30 a.m. Eastern time. That's 8:30 a.m.
11:33
local Texas time. This will be the 38th
11:36
flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard
11:39
rocket capsule system. And if all goes
11:41
according to plan, the 17th crude
11:43
mission they've flown. The mission
11:45
follows the same profile we've seen
11:47
before. About 10 to 12 minutes from
11:50
liftoff to the capsule's parachute aided
11:52
touchdown. During that brief but
11:54
spectacular journey, passengers will
11:56
experience a few minutes of
11:58
weightlessness and get to see Earth
12:00
against the blackness of space from an
12:02
altitude above the Karman line, which is
12:04
generally recognized as the boundary of
12:06
space.
12:07
>> Now, let's talk about who's flying. We
12:10
have entrepreneur and pilot Tim Drexler,
12:13
retired obstitrician and gynecologist
12:15
Linda Edwards, real estate developer and
12:18
investor Elaine Fernandez, entrepreneur
12:21
and technologist Alberto Gutierrez, and
12:24
retired US Air Force Colonel Jim Hendin,
12:27
who founded Hendin Plastics, Inc.
12:29
>> And there's an interesting late addition
12:31
to the crew manifest. Blue Origin just
12:34
announced that Laura Styles, who is Blue
12:36
Origin's director of New Shepard launch
12:39
operations, will be flying on this
12:41
mission.
12:42
>> That's a pretty cool opportunity for
12:44
someone who's been so involved in making
12:46
these missions happen. Dials is actually
12:48
a late replacement for a passenger who
12:50
had to drop out due to illness. Though,
12:52
that person will get to fly on a future
12:54
mission.
12:55
>> Blue Origin has been steadily building
12:57
their flight rate. Just last month, they
12:59
made history by flying the first
13:01
wheelchair user to space on their NS-37
13:04
mission. They're really demonstrating
13:06
that spaceflight can be accessible to a
13:08
diverse range of people. Now, Blue
13:10
Origin hasn't publicly disclosed their
13:13
ticket prices, but we know their main
13:15
competitor, Virgin Galactic, charges
13:17
$600,000
13:19
per seat for similar suborbital flights.
13:21
So, we can probably assume Blue Origin's
13:24
prices are in that same ballpark. If you
13:26
want to watch this launch, Blue Origin
13:28
typically live streams their missions
13:30
and space.com will likely carry the feat
13:32
as well. It's always exciting to watch
13:34
these launches. That new Shepard rocket
13:36
is quite a sight to see.
13:38
>> Absolutely. And it's worth noting how
13:40
routine these launches are becoming.
13:42
Blue Origin is really building up their
13:45
experience with regular crude flights,
13:47
which is essential for the commercial
13:48
space tourism industry.
13:50
>> Our next story takes us from suborbital
13:52
tourism to cuttingedge helopysics
13:55
research. Anna, NASA's Sunrise, that's
13:57
the Sun Radio interrometer space
13:59
experiment, is moving closer to its
14:02
launch later this year after
14:03
successfully completing a rigorous
14:05
series of tests. This is such a
14:08
fascinating mission, Avery. Sunrise
14:10
consists of six small sats. There are
14:13
about the size of a toaster oven that
14:15
will fly in formation to act as one
14:17
giant radio telescope studying the sun.
14:20
>> That's the clever part. These six small
14:23
sats will orbit at about 22,000 mi
14:26
altitude, which is geocynchronous orbit,
14:28
flying up to 10 m apart from each other.
14:31
By combining their observations using a
14:33
technique called interferometry, they'll
14:35
create what's essentially a single large
14:38
radio telescope in space.
14:40
>> And what will they be looking at? Solar
14:42
radio bursts. These bursts are generated
14:45
by solar energetic particle events deep
14:48
within the sun's atmosphere or corona.
14:50
In extreme cases, these events could
14:53
pose radiation hazards to unprotected
14:55
astronauts and damaged satellites. The
14:58
spacecraft were built at Utah State
15:00
University Space Dynamics Laboratory in
15:02
Logan, Utah, and they just completed
15:04
what's described as a rigorous testing
15:07
campaign. This included thermal vacuum
15:09
testing to simulate orbital conditions,
15:12
electromagnetic compatibility testing to
15:14
ensure the electronic systems won't
15:16
interfere with the sensitive
15:18
instruments, and most dramatically
15:20
vibration testing.
15:22
>> The vibration testing is crucial because
15:25
launch is an incredibly violent event.
15:28
Jim Lux, the Sunrise project manager at
15:30
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
15:33
explained that each spacecraft was
15:35
loaded with propellant to match its
15:37
launch mass and then subjected to
15:39
vibration testing in all three axes.
15:42
>> They wanted to make the simulated
15:44
vibrations as true to the actual launch
15:46
conditions as possible. And here's the
15:48
important part. Pre and post- test
15:51
functional checks were performed, and
15:52
all six spacecraft passed with flying
15:55
colors. The mission is scheduled to
15:57
launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force
15:59
Station in Florida aboard a ULA launch
16:02
Vulcan Centaur rocket as a ride share
16:04
mission. Once in orbit, each satellite
16:07
will deploy four telescoping antenna
16:09
booms about 10 ft long, forming an
16:12
X-shaped configuration. Sue Lepri, the
16:15
Sunrise principal investigator at the
16:17
University of Michigan, points out that
16:19
these solar radio bursts are triggered
16:21
when vast quantities of energy stored in
16:23
the sun's magnetic field accelerate
16:26
solar particles to high speeds. Tracking
16:28
these events will help space agencies
16:30
protect astronauts and spacecraft. And
16:33
this mission will work in conjunction
16:35
with other NASA helopysics missions like
16:37
the solar terrestrial relations
16:39
observatory, the Parker Solar Probe, and
16:42
Solar Orbiter, which is an international
16:44
cooperative mission with ISSA.
16:46
>> It's exciting to see these missions
16:48
coming together. Between Parker Solar
16:50
Probe diving close to the sun, Solar
16:53
Orbiter studying the polar regions, and
16:55
now Sunrise tracking radio bursts from
16:57
Earth orbit, we're building a
16:59
comprehensive picture of our stars
17:01
behavior. And now for our final story,
17:04
Avery, we're going to talk about
17:06
something that's never been seen before
17:08
in quite this detail. Planetary systems
17:11
in their awkward teenage years.
17:15
Love that description, Anna. Astronomers
17:18
using the Otakama large millimeter
17:20
submill array, better known as ALMA,
17:23
have captured the most detailed images
17:25
ever of 24 debris discs. These are the
17:28
dusty belts left behind after planets
17:31
have finished forming.
17:32
>> The survey is called ARCs which stands
17:35
for the ALMA survey to resolve exocyper
17:38
belt substructures. Meredith Hughes, an
17:41
associate professor at Wesley and
17:43
University and co-principal investigator
17:46
explains it perfectly. We've often seen
17:48
the baby pictures of planets forming,
17:51
but until now the teenage years have
17:53
been a missing link. And just like human
17:57
teenagers, these systems turned out to
17:59
be quite dramatic. The observations
18:01
revealed incredible diversity. Not just
18:04
simple rings, but multi- ring belts,
18:07
wide smooth halos, sharp edges, and even
18:10
unexpected arcs and clumps. This phase
18:13
is really important because these debris
18:15
discs represent what's called the
18:17
collision dominated phase of planet
18:19
formation. Think of it like our own
18:22
solar systems Kyper belt. that ring of
18:24
icy debris beyond Neptune that preserves
18:27
a record of massive collisions and
18:30
planetary migrations from billions of
18:32
years ago. Thomas Henning from the
18:34
Maxplank Institute for Astronomy,
18:37
another co-principal investigator, notes
18:39
that by characterizing these disc
18:41
structures, they can find evidence
18:43
pointing to the presence of planets.
18:45
They're using ALMA alongside direct
18:47
imaging and radio velocity studies to
18:49
search for young planets in these
18:51
systems. One of the challenges with
18:53
studying debris discs is that they're
18:55
incredibly faint, hundreds or even
18:58
thousands of times dimmer than the
19:00
bright gas-rich discs where planets are
19:02
actively being born. But ALMA's
19:04
sensitivity and resolution made these
19:07
observations possible.
19:09
>> And the findings are fascinating. About
19:11
onethird of the observed discs show
19:13
clear substructures like multiple rings
19:16
or distinct gaps. These could be legacy
19:19
features from earlier planet building
19:21
stages, or they could be sculpted by
19:23
planets over much longer time scales.
19:26
>> Perhaps most surprising, several of
19:28
these discs retain gas much longer than
19:31
expected. In some systems, this
19:34
lingering gas might actually shape the
19:36
chemistry of growing planets, or it
19:39
might push dust into wide halos.
19:42
>> Many of the discs also show asymmetries
19:44
and arcs. They're lopsided with bright
19:47
arcs or eccentric shapes. This hints at
19:50
gravitational interactions with unseen
19:52
planets, leftover scars from planetary
19:55
migration, or interactions between the
19:57
gas and dust. Luca Matra from Trinity
20:01
College Dublin, another co-principal
20:03
investigator, puts it beautifully. These
20:06
discs record a period when planetary
20:08
orbits were being scrambled and huge
20:11
impacts like the one that forged Earth's
20:13
moon were shaping young solar systems.
20:17
>> And here's some great news for the
20:19
scientific community. All of the ARKs
20:21
observations and processed data are
20:23
being made freely available to
20:24
astronomers worldwide, which means we
20:27
can expect even more discoveries from
20:29
this data set in the coming years.
20:31
>> Meredith Hughes sums up the significance
20:34
perfectly. This project gives us a new
20:37
lens for interpreting the craters on the
20:39
moon, the dynamics of the Kyper belt,
20:42
and the growth of planets big and small.
20:45
It's like adding the missing pages to
20:47
the solar systems family album.
20:50
>> Well, that wraps up today's episode of
20:52
Astronomy Daily. What an incredible day
20:54
of space news we've covered. From
20:56
spectacular auroras lighting up skies
20:59
around the globe to the retirement of a
21:02
legendary astronaut, emergency space
21:04
repairs by China, exciting commercial
21:07
space launches, and groundbreaking
21:09
observations of planetary systems. It's
21:12
been quite a journey through the cosmos.
21:14
>> And remember, if you want to stay
21:16
uptodate with all the latest space and
21:18
astronomy news, visit our website at
21:20
astronomydaily.io.
21:22
You can also find us on all major social
21:24
media platforms. Just search for Astro
21:26
Daily Pod.
21:28
>> That's Astro Daily Pod, all one word.
21:31
We'd love to hear from you and see your
21:32
aurora photos if you caught last night's
21:35
display.
21:35
>> Thanks for joining us today, space fans.
21:37
Keep looking up and we'll see you
21:39
tomorrow with more exciting space and
21:41
astronomy news.
21:42
>> Until then, clear skies, everyone.
21:56
Stories told.