Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

Episodios

• Cosmic Fireworks, Mars Meets Uranus, and the Dawn of a New Era in Astronomy 04.07.2026 9m

  Astronomy Daily — S05E132 — Weekend Space and Astronomy News Wrap — Saturday, July 4, 2026 It's the Fourth of July weekend edition of Astronomy Daily! This week's wrap covers the successful launch of the Swift rescue mission after a week of delays, the historic start of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's decade-long sky survey, an aurora-triggering geomagnetic storm timed for the holiday weekend, a promising nearby habitable-zone super-Earth, a brand new James Webb 'cosmic fireworks' image released for America's 250th birthday, and a rare ultra-close conjunction between Mars and Uranus visible before dawn today. In this episode: •          Swift Boost mission: LINK spacecraft launches successfully on the final flight of Pegasus XL •          Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time from Chile •          G2–G3 geomagnetic storm watch brings aurora chances for the July 4 weekend •          Recap: GJ 3378 b, a potentially habitable super-Earth just 25 light-years away •          JWST releases new 'cosmic fireworks' image of the FS Tau star system for America 250 •          Mars and Uranus in an extremely close conjunction, visible before dawn today Links & sources: •          science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift — Swift Boost mission updates •          rubinobservatory.org — Vera C. Rubin Observatory LSST •          swpc.noaa.gov — NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center aurora forecasts •          science.nasa.gov/missions/webb — James Webb Space Telescope FS Tau image release •          space.com/stargazing — Mars-Uranus conjunction viewing guideBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• Solar Storms, Grounded Missions, and the Planet That Survived Its Star 03.07.2026 16m

  Astronomy Daily S05E131 — Friday, July 3, 2026   1. Swift Rescue Mission — Grounded Mid-Flight •    Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK spacecraft was set to launch aboard a Pegasus XL rocket, air-launched from Northrop Grumman's Stargazer aircraft over Kwajalein Atoll. •    Thursday's attempt (July 2) got airborne after two prior weather scrubs, but was aborted mid-flight when engineers spotted an unexplained warning. •    No new launch date has been set. Swift faces uncontrolled reentry by October 2026 without a successful reboost. 2. Solar Storm Watch — G2 Geomagnetic Storm Active Today •    X1.1 flare (June 30) plus 10 M-class flares in 24 hours from sunspot region AR4479. •    NOAA SWPC G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm watch in effect for July 3, easing July 4. •    Aurora borealis potential as far south as Idaho/New York (US); aurora australis potential for Tasmania and southern NZ/VIC under clear, dark skies. 3. TESS's First Microlensing Exoplanet — Gaia23bra b •    Super-Jupiter (~1.63 Jupiter masses) orbiting an orange dwarf ~40,000 light-years away, discovered via gravitational microlensing — a first for TESS. •    Originally flagged by ESA's Gaia mission in 2023; confirmed using archival TESS data. •    Published July 1, 2026 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, led by Mallory Harris (University of New Mexico). 4. GJ 3378b — Revised Habitable-Zone Super-Earth, 25 Light-Years Away •    UC Irvine team revised the planet's mass down to 2.3 Earth masses (rocky super-Earth, not mini-Neptune) and orbital period to 21.45 days. •    Receives ~90% of the stellar radiation Earth receives from the Sun — squarely in the habitable zone. •    Atmosphere unknown; planet does not transit, so JWST transit spectroscopy isn't possible. Published in The Astrophysical Journal, led by Paul Robertson (UC Irvine). 5. ESO Study: 1.7 Million Planned Satellites 'Devastating' for Astronomy •    Study led by ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. •    Modelled impact of proposed constellations (SpaceX ~1M for space data centres, Reflect Orbital 50,000 mirror satellites) on ESO's VLT and the Vera Rubin Observatory. •    Recommends a hard cap of 100,000 satellites, all fainter than naked-eye visibility. Decision pending from the US FCC. 6. JWST Solves the WD 1856b Mystery •    Gas giant (4–11 Jupiter masses) orbits a white dwarf every 34 hours, blocking 56% of its star's light during transit. •    New JWST atmospheric data shows the planet is ~240K hotter than expected — evidence it migrated inward 3–5.5 billion years after the star's death, rather than surviving the red giant phase in place. •    Published July 1, 2026 in Nature, led by Ryan MacDonald with Northwestern's Christopher O'Connor.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• Solar Flares, Bizarre Hot Jupiters, and NASA's Soccer Ball Moon Mission 02.07.2026 8m

  Astronomy Daily S05E130 — Thursday, July 2, 2026   A quick update on Swift's third launch scrub, a solar flare that could spark aurora for July 4th weekend, a hot Jupiter breaking the rules of physics, Amazon Leo's final Atlas V flight, patriotic Chandra imagery, a look back at a third galaxy missing its dark matter, and NASA's cheeky World Cup wager involving the Moon.   In This Episode ●        Swift/LINK rescue mission scrubbed again, third attempt targeted for today ●        X1.1 solar flare triggers G2 geomagnetic storm watch for July 3 ●        CoRoT-2 b: the hot Jupiter that isn't tidally locked ●        Amazon Leo's 8th and final Atlas V launch — LA-08 ●        NASA's Chandra reveals four cosmic images for America's 250th ●        Circling back: DF9, the third dark matter-free galaxy ●        NASA pledges a soccer ball to the Moon if the US wins the World Cup   Links & Sources ●        NASA Swift Blog — science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift ●        Space.com — Sun unleashes X1.1 flare, CME could spark aurora for July 4 ●        Space.com — This weird 'hot Jupiter' exoplanet has a hotspot in the wrong place ●        Space.com — Watch Atlas V launch 29 Amazon Leo satellites ●        NASA Chandra — Red, White, Blue Universe for US 250th ●        Yale News / Keck Observatory — Third time's the charm for a row of faint galaxies without dark matter ●        Space.com — NASA will send a soccer ball to the Moon if the US wins the World CupBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• The Universe Unfolds: Vera Rubin's Epic Journey, Swift's Mission Update, and Titan's Human Future 01.07.2026 13m

  A landmark day in space news: the Vera Rubin Observatory officially begins its ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, NASA reveals it may send a spare nuclear-powered Mars rover to the Moon's south pole, Blue Origin shows off its rebuilt launch pad a month after the New Glenn explosion, Rocket Lab strikes an $8 billion deal to acquire Iridium, a brief Swift/LINK scrub update, and scientists hold the first-ever summit on sending humans to Titan. 1. Rubin Observatory Begins Its Ten-Year Cosmic Movie The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory officially began the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) on June 30, 2026, following a months-long commissioning process after handover from construction to operations last October. Rubin's 8.4-metre Simonyi Survey Telescope, fitted with the largest digital camera ever built (3,200 megapixels), will scan the entire southern sky every few nights for the next decade, producing a new image roughly every 40 seconds. Each area of sky will be revisited around 800 times over the survey's ten years, generating up to 7 million nightly alerts and around 10 terabytes of data per night. The final dataset is expected to contain billions of objects. Source: NOIRLab / SLAC / Rubin Observatory press release, June 30, 2026   2. Swift/LINK: Scrubbed, Retargeted for Tonight The launch of Katalyst Space's LINK servicing spacecraft — riding the final Pegasus XL rocket to rendezvous with NASA's Swift Observatory — was scrubbed Tuesday, June 30, due to unfavourable weather over Kwajalein Atoll. The next attempt is targeted for July 1 at 9:43 p.m. local Kwajalein time (5:43 a.m. EDT). Source: NASA Science blog, June 30, 2026   3. NASA's Moon Base Update: PROMISE Rover & New Lander Contracts NASA awarded roughly $590 million across Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines for four new CLPS lander missions targeted for late 2028, delivering science and technology demonstration payloads to the Moon. NASA is also considering repurposing an engineering development unit of its Mars Perseverance/Curiosity rovers as a new lunar rover named PROMISE (Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration), powered by a radioisotope generator for operation in permanently shadowed polar craters. Source: NASA news release and briefing, June 30, 2026   4. Blue Origin Reveals Its Rebuilt Launch Pad One month after a New Glenn rocket exploded during a static-fire test at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36A on May 28, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp announced the company will rebuild the pad in a new 'horizontal/vertical hybrid' configuration rather than recreating the original. Reconstruction has begun, with Blue Origin targeting a return to flight before the end of 2026. Early analysis points to the aft section of the first stage as the source of the anomaly, though the investigation continues. Source: Blue Origin company statement / SpaceNews / CNBC, June 30, 2026   5. Rocket Lab's $8 Billion Bid for Iridium Rocket Lab announced a definitive agreement to acquire satellite communications operator Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $8 billion — $54 per share, a 24.1% premium. The deal combines Rocket Lab's launch and satellite manufacturing business with Iridium's 66-satellite L-band constellation and 2.5 million-plus subscriber base, aiming to create a vertically integrated space company. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2027. Source: Rocket Lab / Iridium joint announcement, June 29, 2026   6. Mapping Humanity's Next Giant Leap — to Titan The first-ever Humans to Titan Summit was held June 11–12 in Boulder, Colorado, gathering planetary scientists and engineers to explore the concept of a future crewed mission to Saturn's largest moon. Organised by Amanda Hendrix of the Planetary Science Institute and hosted by the Southwest Research Institute, the summit addressed spacesuits, habitats, transportation and Titan's...
• Launch Day for Swift's Rescue, ISS Spacewalk, and Unraveling the Secrets of the Cosmos 30.06.2026 9m

  Astronomy Daily S05E128 | Tuesday, June 30, 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod In today's episode:🚀 NASA's Swift Observatory Rescue Mission Launches After weeks of anticipation, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is set for a historic rescue mission. The robotic spacecraft, Link, designed by Catalyst Space Technologies, will attempt to stabilize Swift's orbit, which has been jeopardized by solar activity. The launch is taking place from Kwajalein Atoll, marking a significant moment in spacecraft servicing history.🌌 Spacewalk on the ISS NASA astronauts Chris Williams and Jessica Meir are conducting a crucial spacewalk today to replace a faulty wrist joint on the KANADRM2 robotic arm. This maintenance is essential for the ongoing operations of the International Space Station, showcasing the delicate balance of human ingenuity and risk in space.🌀 Cosmology's Rulebook Challenged A study of the galaxy cluster XLSSC122 using the James Webb Space Telescope reveals unexpected mass concentration, defying current cosmological models. This discovery suggests a potential need to revise our understanding of galaxy formation in the early universe, highlighting JWST's role in reshaping cosmic history.🌟 Star Formation in Turbulent Environments Astronomers have discovered a serene pocket of star formation within the chaotic center of the Milky Way. This finding indicates that stars may form similarly across the galaxy, even in the most violent regions, providing insights into the early conditions of our own Sun.🪐 Andromeda 36: A Fossil Galaxy The ultra-faint dwarf galaxy Andromeda 36 has been confirmed, initially discovered by citizen scientist Giuseppe Donatellio. This ancient galaxy, dating back 12.5 billion years, serves as a reminder of the valuable contributions of amateur astronomers in uncovering the universe's secrets.🌑 Asteroid Day Awareness June 30th marks Asteroid Day, commemorating the Tunguska event of 1908. This UN-sanctioned day raises awareness about planetary defense and the importance of tracking near-Earth objects, emphasizing the ongoing efforts to protect our planet from potential threats.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click away... Click HereSponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• Bow and Arrow Galaxy Discovered, Hayabusa2's Daring Asteroid Flyby, and Mars' Geological Secrets Unveiled 29.06.2026 20m

  Astronomy Daily S05E127 | Monday, June 29, 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod   In today's episode:   RAD-BAARG — The Bow-and-Arrow Galaxy A citizen scientist scanning LOFAR radio telescope data spotted a galaxy like nothing seen in 25 years — RAD-BAARG stretches 1.8 million light-years and shows what may be the clearest radio signature of a giant cosmic bow shock ever observed. Published June 22 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.   Hayabusa2 Flyby — One Week Away Japan's Hayabusa2# spacecraft is set to fly past asteroid Torifune (2001 CC21) on July 5 at a distance of just 1–10 km — one of the closest asteroid encounters ever attempted. The spacecraft already delivered Ryugu samples to Earth in 2020.   Mars Magmatic Systems — Oxford/Nature Astronomy A University of Oxford-led study published June 26 in Nature Astronomy reveals seismic evidence that Mars once hosted vast, Earth-like transcrustal magmatic systems spanning potentially thousands of kilometres — without plate tectonics. Based on NASA InSight seismic data.   Skywatching — Strawberry Moon & Mercury Retrograde The full Strawberry Moon peaks at 23:58 UTC tonight in Sagittarius near the Teapot asterism. Mercury also begins retrograde motion today. Southern Hemisphere viewers have good conditions for lunar viewing in winter skies.   ESA Juice & 3I/ATLAS — Five New Findings ESA has published early results from Juice's November 2025 observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Key findings: 2,000 kg of water vapour per second at perihelion; comet behaviour resembling solar system comets; novel trajectory data from NavCam; and confirmation of Juice's instrument readiness for the Jupiter mission.   NASA Artemis Audit — $5.9 Billion in Cancelled Contracts A NASA Inspector General memo finds the total value of cancelled Artemis programme hardware contracts reached $5.9 billion, reflecting cost increases and timeline extensions prior to programme restructuring. Artemis III lunar landing remains targeted for 2027.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• The Weekend Wrap: NASA's Bold Swift Rescue, Cosmic Demolition Derby Unfolds 28.06.2026 14m

  Weekend Space & Astronomy News Wrap | Saturday, June 27, 2026   It's our Saturday wrap — and what a week it's been for space and astronomy! Join Anna and Avery for two brand-new stories plus the four biggest headlines from the past five days.   THIS WEEK'S STORIES   🚀 NASA's Daring Swift Rescue Mission Launches Today NASA's Swift Boost mission launched this morning, sending the LINK robotic servicing spacecraft to rescue the 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from orbital decay. Built in under a year by startup Katalyst Space Technologies, LINK will rendezvous with Swift, grab it with robotic arms, and boost it to a safer orbit — a historic first for commercial spacecraft servicing.   🌌 JWST Catches Six Galaxies Merging Into One of the Universe's Largest The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a 'cosmic demolition derby' — at least six galaxies in the process of merging, seen as they were 12 billion years ago. The system TGSSJ1530+1049 hosts hundreds of billions of solar masses of stars and a growing supermassive black hole, offering a rare front-row seat to galaxy and black hole formation happening simultaneously.   ☄️ WEEKLY WRAP: Lucy's Peanut-Shaped Wobbling Asteroid NASA's Lucy mission has revealed that asteroid Donaldjohanson tumbles on two axes simultaneously — an unexpected discovery published in Science this week. Lucy also found evidence of ancient water interaction and traced the asteroid's violent origin to a collision 155 million years ago. A preview of what Lucy will reveal at Jupiter's Trojans.   🪨 WEEKLY WRAP: Asteroid 1997 NC1 Passes Earth Today A 1-kilometre-wide asteroid makes its closest approach to Earth today — at 1.5 million miles (about 7 times the Earth-Moon distance). Completely safe and well-tracked, it's a great telescope target for Southern Hemisphere observers this evening, drifting visibly against the background stars.   🌠 WEEKLY WRAP: Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS — Alien Chemistry Confirmed by JWST New JWST analysis confirms that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains methane — the first detection of methane on any interstellar object. The comet's chemical fingerprint is radically different from anything in our solar system, pointing to an extremely cold birthplace in another star system. These are our last close observations as 3I/ATLAS heads out of the solar system forever.   💫 WEEKLY WRAP: The Jellyfish Nebula's Hidden Sibling Astrophysicists have identified what appears to be the first-ever pair of sibling supernova remnants — the famous Jellyfish Nebula and a previously hidden companion concealed in its glare. The two remnants are connected by a filament of gas, suggesting they share a common stellar origin.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• 60 Million Stars Captured, Cosmic Fog Cleared, and Earth's Oldest Impact Crater Revealed 26.06.2026 21m

  In this episode of Astronomy Daily (S05E125), hosts Anna and Avery cover six major stories from the frontiers of space science and astronomy, including the most detailed image ever taken of the Milky Way's core, a Hubble discovery that solves a decades-old cosmological mystery, the oldest confirmed asteroid impact crater on Earth, a pair of impossibly light exoplanets, an impending lunar impact from a SpaceX rocket stage, and a live solar weather alert for Southern Hemisphere aurora watchers.   Stories Covered Story 1 — Euclid's Record Milky Way Galactic Bulge Image: ESA's Euclid telescope releases the largest, highest-resolution visible-light image ever made of the Milky Way's central bulge, containing more than 60 million stars. The image serves as a baseline for NASA's upcoming Roman Space Telescope's microlensing survey. (ESA / NASA, June 24–25 2026) Story 2 — Hubble Catches Galaxy Clearing the Cosmic Fog: Galaxy MXDFz4.4, observed 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, has been caught emitting ionising ultraviolet light — direct evidence of how the early universe's hydrogen fog was cleared. Published in The Astrophysical Journal, June 23 2026. Story 3 — Earth's Oldest Asteroid Crater Dated to 3 Billion Years: Curtin University researchers precisely date the North Pole Dome impact structure in Western Australia's Pilbara region to 3.024 billion years ago — the oldest known impact crater on Earth, beating the next oldest by ~800 million years. Published in Geology, June 23 2026. Story 4 — Super-Puff Planets Lighter Than Cotton Candy: An Oxford-led international team confirms TOI-791 b and c — two Jupiter-sized exoplanets with densities lower than cotton candy (0.038 and 0.047 g/cm³), making them the lowest-density giant planets ever found. Published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, June 26 2026. Story 5 — SpaceX Falcon 9 Upper Stage to Impact Moon on August 5: A spent Falcon 9 upper stage from the January 2025 Blue Ghost / Hakuto-R launch is on course to strike the Moon near Einstein Crater on August 5 2026. Visibility from Earth is uncertain, but NASA's LRO will image the resulting crater. NASA SSERVI, June 2026. Skywatching — A G1 geomagnetic storm struck overnight June 25, with further unsettled conditions expected June 26–27 as coronal hole streams strengthen and new sunspot region AR4478 rotates into Earth view. Aurora possible for Tasmania, New Zealand's South Island and southern Australia tonight.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• Ancient Comet Shatters Time Records, Mars' Life Signs Intensify, and the ISS Faces Controversial Farewell 25.06.2026 18m

  In this episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery explore six remarkable stories from the frontiers of space science. JWST has determined that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS likely formed 10–12 billion years ago — before our Sun existed — making it the oldest object ever chemically characterised. NASA's Perseverance rover has delivered its most robust organic detection yet in Mars's Jezero Crater. ESA's Euclid telescope has released the largest and most detailed visible-light image ever taken of the Milky Way's galactic bulge. NASA's plan to deorbit the ISS into the Pacific Ocean faces new legal and environmental scrutiny. Research from the University of Glasgow reveals the Chicxulub impact crater hosted an underground hydrothermal system for eight million years — four times longer than previously estimated. And astronomers have discovered the first-ever pair of sibling supernova remnants, hiding in the glow of the famous Jellyfish Nebula.   Story 1 — JWST & 3I/ATLAS Origin • Cordiner et al. (2026). 'Isotopic evidence for a cold and distant origin of 3I/ATLAS.' Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10771-6 • Opitom et al. (2026). 'High nitrogen and carbon isotopic ratios in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.' Nature (in press). arXiv: 2603.07187 • NASA Science: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-finds-clues-to-ancient-distant-origin-of-comet-3i-atlas/ • Science Magazine: https://www.science.org/content/article/interstellar-comet-unlike-anything-seen-our-solar-system   Story 2 — Perseverance Organic Detection • Murphy et al. (2026). 'Spatially distributed complex organic matter detected in an ancient river valley in Jezero crater, Mars.' Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx0047 • Space.com: https://www.space.com/astronomy/mars/did-nasa-just-find-evidence-of-ancient-life-on-mars-perseverance-rover-spots-complex-carbon-in-red-planet-rocks • ScienceAlert: https://www.sciencealert.com/perseverance-finds-complex-organic-compounds-in-strange-mars-rocks   Story 3 — Euclid Milky Way Image • ESA Euclid Mission Press Release, 24 June 2026 • NASA JPL: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/roman-space-telescope/euclid-view-of-milky-way-heart-previews-core-survey-by-nasas-roman/ • Space.com: https://www.space.com/astronomy/galaxies/this-is-the-largest-and-most-detailed-image-of-our-milky-way-with-over-60-million-stars-and-50-exoplanet-systems • CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/euclid-telescope-most-detailed-image-milky-way-stars/   Story 4 — ISS Deorbit Environmental Concerns • US Government Accountability Office report on ISS deorbit, June 2026 • Space.com: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/nasa-wants-to-dump-the-iss-in-the-sea-experts-say-the-plan-raises-serious-concerns-for-ocean-health • The Ocean Foundation statement, June 2026   Story 5 — Chicxulub Hydrothermal System • Pickersgill et al. (2026). 'Hydrothermal activity persisted for at least 8 Myr at Chicxulub.' Communications Earth & Environment. DOI: 10.1038/s43247-026-03618-5 • Phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-dino-asteroid-fueled-underground-life.html • EarthSky: https://earthsky.org/earth/dinosaur-killing-asteroid-underground-hydrothermal-habitat/   Story 6 — Jellyfish Nebula Sibling Remnant • Astrophysicists' paper on IC 443 sibling supernova remnant, Universe Today, June 23 2026 • Universe Today: https://www.universetoday.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn....
• Roman Telescope Update, China's Shenlong Mystery Deepens, and Quantum Breakthroughs in Space 24.06.2026 15m

  Story 1 — Roman Space Telescope Arrives at Kennedy NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center on June 21, 2026, beginning a 70-day prelaunch campaign inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Launch is targeted no earlier than August 30, 2026, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A — eight months ahead of the previous schedule. The observatory's 300-megapixel camera offers a field of view 100× wider than Hubble's. Sources: •       NASA Science Blog — 'NASA's Next Generation Telescope Arrives in Florida Ahead of Launch' (June 21, 2026): science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman •       Spaceflight Now — 'NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives in Florida' (June 22, 2026): spaceflightnow.com •       Discover Magazine — 'NASA's Roman Space Telescope Arrives in Florida Ahead of Late-Summer 2026 Launch' (June 22, 2026)   Story 2 — Shenlong Spaceplane Mystery Object At 02:30 UTC on June 22, 2026, commercial space surveillance firm LeoLabs detected an unknown object near China's Shenlong reusable spaceplane, first tracked by the Kiwi Space Radar in New Zealand. LeoLabs assessed with high confidence it was released from the spaceplane — consistent with sub-satellite deployments on previous missions. Shenlong is on its fourth mission, launched February 6, 2026. Sources: •       Space.com — 'China's space plane appears to have released a mystery object in orbit' (June 23, 2026) •       SpaceNews — 'Chinese spaceplane releases object into orbit, according to commercial space surveillance' (June 23, 2026) •       LeoLabs post on X — @LeoLabs_Space (June 22, 2026)   Story 3 — NASA Cold Atom Lab Final Upgrade NASA's upgraded Cold Atom Lab aboard the ISS resumed operations in mid-June 2026 following its fourth and final hardware overhaul. The new SM-3X science module, installed by astronaut Jessica Meir on May 8 and activated June 16, creates Bose-Einstein condensates five times larger than before. A White House executive order signed June 22 directed NASA to submit a five-year quantum space plan within 120 days. Sources: •       NASA JPL — 'NASA's Quantum Lab Aboard Space Station Gets Chilly Upgrade' (June 16, 2026): jpl.nasa.gov •       ScienceDaily — 'NASA's Cold Atom Lab is creating one of the weirdest forms of matter in space' (June 23, 2026) •       SpaceNews — 'Trump signs executive order to accelerate quantum space infrastructure' (June 23, 2026)   Story 4 — Boeing Starliner-1 Update During an Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel public meeting on June 23, 2026, NASA confirmed that the Starliner-1 uncrewed cargo mission launch target remains under review. Work continues to close propulsion system issues including overheating in the thruster doghouse structures. 22 of 28 implied anomalies from the 2024 Crew Flight Test have been resolved. A February 2026 report classified the CFT as a Type A mishap. Sources: •       Spaceflight Now — 'NASA, Boeing committed to Starliner-1 launch despite unclear timeline' (June 23, 2026) •       Wikipedia — Boeing Starliner-1 (updated June 2026)   Story 5 — SpaceX Starfall Update SpaceX's Starfall reentry capsule launched June 23, 2026 at 6:52 a.m. EDT from SLC-40, Cape Canaveral. Orbital deployment confirmed at 10:01 a.m. EDT. As of June 24, the capsule remains in low Earth orbit. No reentry date has been announced. The disc-shaped capsule is 3.1m across, weighs ~2,100 kg and can carry up to 1,000 kg of payload. Pacific Ocean splashdown ~1,300 km off the US West Coast planned. Sources: •       Space.com — 'SpaceX launches its 1st Starfall reentry capsule in early morning Falcon 9 liftoff' (June 23, 2026) •       Spaceflight Now — 'SpaceX launches reentry capsule demo mission called Starfall' (June 23, 2026) •       TechTimes — 'SpaceX Starfall Reaches Orbit: Disk Capsule Targets Market No Return Vehicle Has Cracked' (June 23, 2026)   Story 6 — REBELS-25 Cold Molecular Gas Reservoir...
• Starfall Takes Flight, Roman Telescope Arrives, and Dark Matter's New Secrets Unveiled 23.06.2026 18m

  Episode Date: Tuesday, 23 June 2026 Runtime: Approximately 18–22 minutes Hosts: Anna and Avery   Story Sources & Further Reading STORY 1 — SpaceX Starfall Demo SpaceX launches Starfall Demo mission (June 23, 2026) — SpaceX.com / Space.com / Gizmodo FAA Environmental Assessment for Starfall reentry vehicle operations   STORY 2 — Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope NASA Science: 'NASA's Next Generation Telescope Arrives in Florida Ahead of Launch' (June 21, 2026) Spaceflight Now / Discover Magazine — Roman arrives at KSC (June 22, 2026)   STORY 3 — JWST & XLSSC 122 IPAC/Caltech: 'New JWST Images of XLSSC 122 Open Up the Cosmic Noon Frontier' (presented AAS 248, June 17, 2026) Finner et al., The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2026) — three-paper series on XLSSC 122   STORY 4 — Galactic Centre Excess List, Rodd et al., Physical Review Letters (2026): 'Energy Distribution of the Galactic Center Excess's Sources' Phys.org: 'Dark matter cannot be ruled out as cause of gamma ray glow at the Milky Way's center' (June 17, 2026)   STORY 5 — Swift Observatory / LINK Space.com: 'No one thought it was going to be possible' — NASA Swift Boost mission briefing (June 17–20, 2026) WRAL.com: 'Teaching a robot to rescue a space telescope' — LINK mission detail   STORY 6 — Tianwen-2 / Kamoʻoalewa SpaceNews: 'Tianwen-2 makes series of burns on approach to asteroid' (June 14, 2026) Scientific American: 'China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft will soon grab samples from a quasi-moon of Earth' Nature Communications: Pengfei Zhang et al. — Kamoʻoalewa composition study (June 2, 2026)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• Dark Matter Revealed by Light Echoes, MAVEN's Legacy, and Groundbreaking Research on Menstruation in Space 22.06.2026 17m

  S05E121 | Monday, 22 June 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery  |  astronomydaily.io  |  @AstroDailyPod Story 1 — Dark Matter Is Hugging Our Galaxy's Black Hole •       Virginia Tech researchers used 'echo mapping' — light reverberations around active black holes — to detect dark matter signatures •       Supermassive black holes including Sgr A* (Milky Way) appear surrounded by dense dark matter clusters •       Lead researcher Mayank Sharma: 'The observational evidence for dark matter is simply undeniable' •       Published in Physical Review D, June 11, 2026 •       Provides a new tool for probing dark matter in the most extreme gravitational environments Story 2 — Swift Rescue Mission: Launch Date Confirmed •       NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched 2004; has been losing altitude due to atmospheric drag — no thrusters to compensate •       Katalyst Space Technologies built LINK — a robotic servicer with 3 robotic arms and xenon Hall-effect thrusters •       Northrop Grumman's Stargazer aircraft departed Wallops Flight Facility June 18 carrying Pegasus XL + LINK •       Launch from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: confirmed for June 27, 2026 •       LINK must chase down Swift, inspect it, and latch on — a first-of-its-kind robotic capture mission •       Critical altitude threshold: if Swift drops below 185 miles (300 km), rescue becomes impossible •       Success would give Swift another ~22 years of science at its original 600 km altitude Story 3 — Chandra Spots a Supernova Near the Galactic Centre •       NASA Chandra, ESA XMM-Newton, and MeerKAT (South Africa) detected a 'blue blob' of X-ray emission in Sagittarius C •       Sagittarius C is a star-forming region ~26,000 light-years from Earth, a few dozen light-years from Sgr A* •       Estimated age: ~1,700 years — light from the explosion would have reached Earth around 300 AD •       Expansion speed: approximately 2 million miles per hour •       Published in The Astrophysical Journal (Zhu et al., June 11); NASA APOD June 18 •       If confirmed, one of the closest supernova remnants ever found to the Milky Way's central black hole Story 4 — MAVEN: The Eulogy •       MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) launched November 2013; arrived Mars September 2014 •       Original mission: 1 year. Actual mission: 11+ years — ended June 3, 2026 •       Last contact: December 6, 2025 — entered fast spin, batteries drained, unrecoverable •       Key discoveries: atmospheric escape rates, solar storm acceleration of Mars atmosphere loss, atmospheric sputtering (first observed at any planet), new types of Martian aurora •       Also served as communications relay for Curiosity and Perseverance rovers •       PI Shannon Curry's epitaph: 'Best Mars mission ever.' — 800+ scientific publications •       MAVEN will remain in Mars orbit 50–100 years before eventually entering the Martian atmosphere Story 5 — Operation Period: First-Ever Space Menstruation Study •       Non-profit Operation Period, led by Manju Bangalore and Priya Abiram, announced OP-01 mission on June 19 •       First dedicated scientific study of menstruation in microgravity — despite 100+ women having flown to space •       Current practice: astronauts typically suppress menstruation during spaceflight with hormones — due to lack of data, not proven necessity •       OP-01: suborbital Virgin Galactic flight in 2027; researchers will conduct the study on themselves •       Research wing: Operation Period's 'Redshift Lab' •       Data vital for longer missions — Moon, Mars — where menstrual health management matters more Story 6 — Isar Aerospace's Spectrum Rocket: Europe Keeps Trying •       Isar Aerospace (Ottobrunn, Germany): Europe's most advanced commercial small launch startup — 800M+ euros raised •       Spectrum rocket: 28m tall, up to 1,000 kg to LEO, 700 kg to SSO; 10 engines •       First flight (March 2025): failed after 30 seconds — vent valve opened unexpectedly, rocket...
• Cosmic Secrets in Ocean Rocks, Record-Breaking Ariane Launch, and a Salty Pink World Revealed 21.06.2026 13m

  This weekend's Astronomy Daily wraps up the biggest stories from across the cosmos, starting with two completely fresh discoveries — a 1976 ocean rock that's turned out to hold atomic-scale proof of an ancient neutron star collision, and a record-breaking rocket launch from Europe's Ariane 6. Then we wind back through the week for our four biggest headlines: a new crew for Artemis III, JWST's salty 'Pink Planet' discovery, an update on the daring Swift Observatory rescue mission, and China's Tianwen-2 closing in on its target asteroid.   Story 1: A Kilonova's Fingerprint, Found in a 1976 Ocean Rock •       A rock sample dredged from the Pacific seafloor in 1976 has been found to contain a few hundred atoms of plutonium radioisotopes. •       The plutonium originated from a kilonova — a collision between two neutron stars — that occurred over 100 million years ago. •       Stellar debris from the merger settled to Earth and was slowly incorporated into a ferromanganese crust on the ocean floor. •       Isotope ratios provide the strongest physical clues yet to what created the elements and roughly when the merger occurred. •       Study published 18 June 2026.   Story 2: Ariane 6 Smashes Its Own Heaviest-Payload Record •       On 17 June 2026, an Ariane 64 rocket launched 36 Amazon Leo satellites from French Guiana (mission VA269 / LE-03). •       First flight of new P160C solid boosters — about a metre longer than the previous P120C, holding up to 156 tonnes of propellant each. •       Boosters deliver roughly a 10% performance increase, raising Ariane 64's LEO capacity to approximately 22 tonnes. •       The mission broke the 13-year record for heaviest payload ever launched by an Ariane rocket, previously held by the 2013 ATV 'Albert Einstein' resupply flight. •       Eighth Ariane 6 launch overall; 100th Amazon Leo satellite deployed by Arianespace.   Story 3: Artemis III Crew Revealed •       NASA announced the Artemis III crew on 9 June 2026 at Johnson Space Center: Commander Randy Bresnik, Pilot Luca Parmitano (ESA), and Mission Specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas, with Bob Hines as backup. •       The Artemis II crew (Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen) symbolically passed their lunar baton to the new crew. •       Artemis III is a two-week test flight in low Earth orbit to test docking procedures between Orion and commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. •       Targeted for launch as early as late 2027, ahead of a planned lunar surface landing in 2028. •       Will be Andre Douglas's first spaceflight.   Story 4: JWST Cracks the 'Pink Planet' Mystery •       JWST has confirmed salt clouds in the atmosphere of GJ504b, the 'Pink Planet,' located 57 light-years away. •       First direct evidence of salt clouds on a cold substellar companion object, a phenomenon theorised 15 years ago. •       At approximately 550°F, GJ504b is the coldest companion object ever directly imaged. •       Its true nature remains uncertain — it may be a giant planet or a brown dwarf. •       Research led by a Northwestern University team.   Story 5: The Swift Rescue Mission Heads for the Pacific •       NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (orbiting since 2004) faces premature reentry due to orbital decay accelerated by recent solar activity. •       Katalyst Space Technologies' LINK robotic servicing spacecraft will attempt to grapple and boost Swift to a safer ~600km orbit. •       LINK launches on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, carried by Stargazer, the last flying Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. •       Stargazer departed NASA Wallops Flight Facility on 18 June 2026, en route to Kwajalein Atoll via California and Hawai'i. •       Launch targeted for 27 June 2026; if successful, it will be the first capture of an unprepared US government satellite by a commercial vehicle.   Story 6: Tianwen-2 Closes In on Kamo'oalewa •       China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft, launched May 2025, completed orbital insertion at near-Earth asteroid...
• Salty Skies on a Pink Planet, Black Holes Burp, and a Lunar Lander for Moon Base 2 19.06.2026 19m

  Welcome back to Astronomy Daily! In today's episode, Anna and Avery cover six of the biggest stories in space and astronomy for Friday June nineteenth, twenty twenty-six — from a salty surprise on a mysterious pink world to a little rover completing a marathon on Mars.   Story 1: JWST Reveals Salty Clouds on the 'Pink Planet' GJ504b Northwestern University astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to finally crack open the spectrum of GJ504b — the so-called 'Pink Planet' 57 light-years away. The discovery, published in The Astronomical Journal on June 18, reveals an atmosphere filled with exotic chemistry and salt clouds unlike anything previously observed. At just 550°F, it's the coldest planetary-mass companion ever directly imaged. Whether it's a giant planet or a brown dwarf remains an open question, but its salty skies are a first for astronomy. Study led by Aneesh Baburaj, Northwestern University's CIERA. Story 2: Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Black Holes' Delayed Radio 'Burps' Using the NSF's Very Large Array, a team led by Kate Alexander (University of Arizona) has found that roughly 40% of all tidal disruption events — moments when a supermassive black hole shreds a passing star — produce a powerful delayed radio burst months to years after the initial flare. The study, announced June 16, also identifies a chemical fingerprint in early optical spectra that can predict which black holes are likely to produce these late-stage outbursts, giving astronomers a roadmap for long-term monitoring. Story 3: SpaceX Launches NROL-179 — the 14th NRO Proliferated Architecture Mission SpaceX launched NROL-179 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the early hours of June 19, making it the 14th mission dedicated to building out the National Reconnaissance Office's 'proliferated architecture' — a constellation of small, resilient surveillance satellites. It was the 71st Falcon 9 launch of 2026. Mission details including satellite count and orbit remain classified. Story 4: Astrobotic Unveils Griffin-1: NASA's Moon Base II Lander Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic publicly revealed its Griffin-1 lunar lander on June 15, ahead of environmental testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Designated 'Moon Base II' by NASA, Griffin-1 is a 650kg-capacity infrastructure-class lander targeting the lunar south pole region. It will carry 10 payloads from 6 nations, led by Astrolab's FLIP rover (500kg), and is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in Q4 2026. Astrobotic has been recently acquired by Voyager Technologies. Story 5: Lucy Reveals the Life Story of Double-Lobed Asteroid Donaldjohanson Results from NASA's Lucy spacecraft's April 2025 flyby of asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson were published in Science on June 18. The study, led by Simone Marchi (Southwest Research Institute), reveals a contact binary with a surface over 40 million years old and a younger neck (under 20 million years) built by slow-motion landslides triggered as sunlight gradually braked the asteroid's rotation from a few hours to its current 252.6-hour period. Donaldjohanson is likely a fragment of the Erigone family's parent body, destroyed ~155 million years ago. Story 6: Perseverance Rover Completes a Marathon Distance on Mars NASA's Perseverance rover has driven more than 26.2 miles (42.2 km) on Mars since landing in Jezero Crater in February 2021 — completing a marathon distance. The rover continues science operations beyond the crater's western rim, studying some of the oldest rocks in the mission's history. Perseverance is approaching Opportunity's all-time distance record of 45.16 km for a rover on another world. Mission operations are funded through at least 2028.   Links & References • JWST Pink Planet (GJ504b): The Astronomical Journal, June 18 2026 — Northwestern University / CIERA • TDE Radio Burps: NSF VLA / University of Arizona — Kate Alexander et al., announced June 16 2026 • NROL-179:...
• A Milky Way Fossil Unearthed, Extreme Weather on a Roasted Planet, and a Space Telescope's Last Chance 18.06.2026 21m

  A landmark episode packed with discoveries at the cutting edge of space and astronomy. Webb and Hubble redefine a category of stellar object, JWST delivers unprecedented chemistry data from an extreme exoplanet, a 21-year-old NASA observatory faces a daring robotic rescue, a multi-telescope image reveals an ancient galactic supernova, China's Tianwen-2 zeroes in on a possible fragment of our own Moon, and astronomers detect the chemical fingerprint of a planet swallowed by its star.   Story 1: Webb & Hubble Rewrite History: Terzan 5 Is a 'Bulge Fossil Fragment' Using the James Webb Space Telescope and archival data from Hubble spanning 12 years, researchers have definitively reclassified Terzan 5 — a stellar system 22,000 light-years away in Sagittarius — from a globular cluster to an entirely new class of object: a 'bulge fossil fragment.' Four distinct generations of stars have been identified within Terzan 5, formed 12.5 billion, 4.7 billion, 3.8 billion, and 2.5 billion years ago. Unlike a typical globular cluster with a single ancient stellar population, Terzan 5 repeatedly formed new stars by retaining the gas and heavy elements expelled by its own supernovae. Astronomers believe Terzan 5 is a surviving relic of the primordial clumps that merged to form the Milky Way's central bulge billions of years ago — a living fossil of galaxy formation. Results were presented at the 248th American Astronomical Society meeting and published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Source: NASA / ESA / STScI press release, 16–17 June 2026   Story 2: JWST Catches the 'Roasted Exoplanet' HD 80606 b in the Act Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI instrument have observed the extreme exoplanet HD 80606 b experiencing a temperature increase of 1,100°F (600°C) during its close approach to its host star. HD 80606 b is a gas giant four times the mass of Jupiter on a highly elliptical 111-day orbit. The JWST study — led by Tiffany Kataria of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory — also detected specific atmospheric chemical signatures including methane and carbon dioxide, enabling detailed study of how the planet's chemistry shifts under extreme heating. This is the most detailed look yet at an atmospheric response to a rapid, intense heating event. Results were presented at the 248th AAS meeting in Pasadena, California. Source: NASA / JPL press release, 16–17 June 2026   Story 3: Swift's Rescue Mission Cleared for Launch: LINK on the Pad NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has studied gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy cosmic events since 2004, is facing re-entry as its orbit decays under increased solar activity. NASA contracted Katalyst Space Technologies in September 2025 to build and launch a robotic servicing spacecraft — called LINK — to boost Swift to a higher orbit. LINK is now encapsulated inside a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, which has been attached to the Stargazer L-1011 carrier aircraft and is en route to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands for launch later in June 2026. This will be the final flight of the Pegasus XL — the world's first privately developed orbital launch vehicle, which first flew in 1990. Its air-launch capability is uniquely suited to reaching Swift's unusual low-inclination orbit. Source: NASA press release and media teleconference, 17 June 2026   Story 4: Possible Supernova Remnant at the Galactic Centre A striking multi-telescope composite image released as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day on 18 June 2026 reveals a possible supernova remnant near the galactic centre — a blue X-ray-emitting structure whose light is estimated to have reached Earth approximately 1,700 years ago, in the third century CE. The image combines X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton (the blue structure), radio data from the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa (the large red cloud), and optical background star data from the PanSTARRS...
• Rockets Across Continents, A Black Hole's Jet Unveiled, and Rain of Rubies on Distant World 17.06.2026 16m

  A launch-packed Wednesday kicks off with two rocket milestones — SpaceX's BlueBird 8-10 direct-to-cell satellite launch and Ariane 6's record-breaking Amazon Leo flight — followed by a splashdown update for the science-laden Dragon CRS-34. Then a Chandra double-header delivers the most detailed X-ray view ever of M87's famous black hole jet, plus the discovery of possible supernova wreckage at the very heart of the Milky Way. We close with JWST's extraordinary weather portrait of WASP-121b — a planet where the rain is made of rubies and sapphires.   Story Summaries & Key Facts   Story 1 — SpaceX BlueBird 8-10 Launch •       Launched: 2:39 a.m. EDT, 17 June 2026, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (SLC-40) •       Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9 (booster B1077, 29th flight) •       Booster recovery: drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas', Atlantic Ocean •       Payload: AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 8, 9 & 10 (Block 2 next-generation satellites) •       Antenna array: ~2,400 sq ft each — largest commercial phased arrays in LEO •       Peak data speed: 120 Mbps per coverage cell (nearly double Block 1) •       Processing bandwidth: 10 GHz per satellite •       Goal: space-based cellular broadband direct to standard smartphones •       AST network partners: 50+ MNOs including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone (~3 billion subscribers)   Story 2 — Ariane 6 Record Payload •       Mission: VA269 / LE-03 (Amazon Leo 3rd Ariane 6 flight; 8th Ariane 6 overall; 3rd of 2026) •       Launch site: Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana •       Payload: 36 Amazon Leo broadband satellites — heaviest Ariane payload ever (~20,820 kg) •       First flight of upgraded P160C solid rocket boosters (debut; replaces P120C) •       P160C improvement: +1 metre longer, carries 156 tonnes propellant each (+10% performance) •       Ariane 64 LEO capacity with P160C: ~22 tonnes •       Previous flights each carried 32 satellites; today's adds 4 more •       Arianespace milestone: 100 Amazon Leo satellites launched in under 5 months •       Next Ariane 6 launch: 28 August (2-booster configuration; likely Meteosat-14)   Story 3 — Dragon CRS-34 Splashdown (Update) •       UPDATE on yesterday's S05E116 story (undocking reported 16 June 2026) •       Dragon CRS-34 splashed down off Southern California coast, 17 June 2026 (~5:08 a.m. PDT) •       Capsule: Cargo Dragon 2 (C209, 6th flight); undocked ~12:25 p.m. EDT 16 June •       Science returned: bioprinted organ/cartilage tissue; DNA-inspired cancer treatment materials •       Also returned: blood-forming stem cells; cryogenic propellant storage experiment data •       Dragon is the ONLY ISS cargo vehicle capable of returning cargo to Earth intact •       Time-sensitive samples flown by helicopter from recovery ship to Kennedy Space Center •       CRS-34 launched 15 May 2026; delivered ~6,500 lbs cargo to Expedition 74 crew   Story 4 — Chandra / M87 Jet (Double-Header Part 1) •       Published: 15 June 2026; presented at 248th AAS Meeting, Pasadena, CA •       Lead researcher: Camille Poitras (PhD student, Laval University, Canada) •       M87* mass: 6.5 billion solar masses; distance: ~55 million light-years •       M87* was the first black hole ever directly imaged (Event Horizon Telescope, 2019) •       Data span: Chandra observations 2012–2025, processed with advanced deconvolution •       Key finding 1: Two distinct components revealed in feature HST-1 (previously blended) •       Key finding 2: Global X-ray emission decrease of up to 84% — consistent with synchrotron cooling •       Key finding 3: Jet features show both quasi-stationary and superluminal apparent motion •       Multi-wavelength: Chandra + JWST + Hubble + VLA + ALMA combined •       Significance: most detailed evolving picture of any black hole jet ever produced   Story 5 — Chandra / Galactic Centre Supernova (Double-Header Part 2) •       Published: Astrophysical Journal, released 14–15 June 2026...
• James Webb's Cosmic Revelation, Lunar Landers Take Flight, and a Race Against Time for SWIFT 16.06.2026 16m

  Today's episode covers six stories spanning cosmic mysteries, lunar exploration, robotic rescue missions, cutting-edge space medicine, and what's happening in your own night sky tonight.   1. JWST Solves the "Little Red Dots" Mystery Four years after the James Webb Space Telescope began spotting strange, compact red objects in the ancient universe, scientists have a definitive answer. A team led by Vasily Kokorev at the University of Texas at Austin published the most detailed spectrum ever obtained of one of these objects — GLIMPSE-17775 — in The Astrophysical Journal on June 10. The data confirms these objects are supermassive black holes in their furious early growth phase, wrapped in dense cocoons of hot gas that disguise them. The universe is not broken — the little red dots were just very well hidden. 2. Astrobotic Unveils Griffin-1 Lunar Lander Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic publicly unveiled its Griffin-1 lunar lander on June 15 at the Moonshot Museum. NASA selected Griffin as the vehicle for its Moon Base II mission. The lander will carry Astrolab's FLIP rover and payloads from multiple nations — including Australia — to the lunar South Pole, targeting launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy in late 2026. Griffin-1 heads to JPL for environmental testing this month. 3. Robotic Rescue Mission for NASA's Swift Observatory NASA's 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is losing altitude fast due to accelerated solar activity. A startup called Katalyst Space Technologies has built a robotic spacecraft — LINK — in under a year, and it's now integrated into a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket ready for launch from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, later this month. If successful, LINK will boost Swift's orbit and extend its life — while pioneering on-orbit servicing capabilities. 4. SpaceX CRS-34 Dragon Departs the ISS NASA's 34th SpaceX commercial resupply mission departed the ISS today, June 16, carrying blood stem cells, bioprinted organ and cartilage tissue, DNA-inspired cancer treatment materials, and cryogenic fuel storage experiment data. Splashdown off California is expected June 17. 5. Tonight's Sky: Moon Meets Three Planets A stunning western sky show is on offer tonight — a crescent Moon appearing between Mercury and Jupiter about an hour after sunset, with brilliant Venus also on display. Mercury reached its greatest eastern elongation on June 15, making this the best time of its current apparition to spot it. Tomorrow evening the Moon drifts to sit beside Venus. 6. Space Weather: CME Glancing Blow A coronal mass ejection from June 12 is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth on June 16-17. Active geomagnetic conditions (Kp up to 4) are forecast, with a chance of minor G1 storm conditions. High-latitude aurora watchers in the Southern Hemisphere may see some activity.   Links & Further Reading • GLIMPSE-17775 study — The Astrophysical Journal (June 10, 2026) • Astrobotic Griffin-1 mission info: astrobotic.com • NASA Swift Boost mission: science.nasa.gov/mission/swift/swift-boost-mission • ISS research blog: nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation • Space weather: spaceweather.gov | NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center   Find us at astronomydaily.io  |  Follow: @AstroDailyPodBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are...
• NASA's Historic Artemis 3 Crew, Early Launch for Roman Telescope, and a Solar Storm Spectacle 09.06.2026 16m

  In today's episode, Anna and Avery cover six major stories: NASA's historic Artemis III crew announcement, the official August 30 launch date for the Roman Space Telescope, a G3 geomagnetic storm delivering northern lights to mid-latitudes, a worrying air leak aboard the International Space Station, the fallout from Blue Origin's New Glenn explosion and its impact on NASA's Moon programme, and JAXA's H3 rocket attempting a redemption launch tonight.   Stories Covered •        BREAKING: NASA announces the four-person crew for Artemis III at Johnson Space Center -- a mission redesignated as a low-Earth-orbit docking rehearsal, paving the way for the Artemis IV Moon landing in 2028. •        NASA officially sets August 30, 2026 as the launch date for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope -- eight months ahead of schedule. Roman will survey the sky 100x wider than Hubble, targeting dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets. •        A cannibal coronal mass ejection -- two merged CMEs -- arrives at Earth triggering a G3 geomagnetic storm, with auroras visible to mid-northern latitudes on June 8-9. •        Crew aboard the ISS briefly shelters in the docked SpaceX Dragon on June 5 as a worsening air leak in the Russian Zvezda module's PrK transfer tunnel prompts precautionary evacuation procedures. •        NASA seeks an alternative launch vehicle for Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander following the catastrophic May 28 New Glenn explosion at Cape Canaveral, which destroyed LC-36 and threatened the autumn cargo lander demonstration flight. •        JAXA launches the H3 rocket (H3-30 variant) tonight from Tanegashima on a test flight -- Japan's first large rocket powered entirely by liquid engines -- following the December 2025 failure that lost the QZS-5 navigation satellite.   Links & Further Reading NASA Artemis III crew announcement: nasa.gov Roman Space Telescope launch update: science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman Space weather updates: spaceweather.com | earthsky.org/sun ISS status blog: blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation Blue Origin New Glenn updates: spaceflightnow.com JAXA H3 launch: global.jaxa.jp  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• From Rocket Ruins to Cosmic Discoveries: Blue Origin's Resilience and New Magnetic Insights 03.06.2026 17m

  In today's Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover six major stories: Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp pledges New Glenn will fly again before year's end despite last week's launchpad explosion; astronomers announce the first direct evidence of magnetic fields on exoplanets using Hot Jupiter wind data; NASA's Roman Space Telescope clears its final mirror inspection ahead of a September 2026 launch; SpaceX wins a $4.16 billion Space Force contract for an airborne threat-tracking satellite constellation; a reflection on the lasting scientific legacy of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS; and Hungarian researchers publish the definitive mass boundary between neutron stars and black holes at 2.2–2.3 solar masses.   Stories Covered •       Blue Origin New Glenn explosion aftermath — CEO Dave Limp confirms damage is less severe than feared, pledges return to flight before end of 2026 •       First direct evidence of exoplanet magnetic fields — Nature Astronomy, June 2, 2026 — ESO VLT and Gemini North study of seven Hot Jupiter wind speeds •       NASA Roman Space Telescope primary mirror passes final Earth-side inspection — September 2026 launch target confirmed •       SpaceX $4.16 billion US Space Force SB-AMTI contract — threat-tracking satellite constellation targeting 2028 operational capability •       3I/ATLAS scientific legacy — new analysis on what the interstellar comet reveals about solar system formation across the Milky Way •       Neutron star mass limit defined at 2.2–2.3 solar masses — HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungary   Key Terms Explained •       Hot Jupiter: A gas giant exoplanet similar in size to Jupiter, orbiting very close to its host star, typically tidally locked •       Magnetic field: An invisible force field generated by electrically conducting material moving inside a planet, critical for atmospheric protection •       Lagrange point 2 (L2): A gravitationally stable point in space approximately 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, opposite the Sun — home to both JWST and (soon) Roman •       SB-AMTI: Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator — a satellite constellation for tracking airborne threats from orbit •       Neutron star: The ultra-dense remnant of a collapsed massive star, composed almost entirely of neutrons •       3I/ATLAS: Third confirmed interstellar object, discovered July 2025; an active comet from outside our solar system •       Deuterium: A heavy isotope of hydrogen containing one neutron; its abundance in 3I/ATLAS water suggests formation in an extremely cold environmentBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.
• NASA's Lunar Dreams in Jeopardy, China's Bold Moves, and a Lava World Reimagined 02.06.2026 16m

  Episode Summary In today's episode, Anna and Avery cover six major space and astronomy stories: the growing implications of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket explosion for NASA's lunar plans; China's surprise maiden flight of the Long March 12B reusable rocket plus the return of the Shenzhou-21 crew; Starship V3 being grounded by the FAA following Flight 12 — with SpaceX's IPO in the balance; the upcoming launch of NASA's Roman Space Telescope and its mission to find 100,000 new exoplanets; new research suggesting Earth remained a global magma ocean for up to half a billion years; and a stunning new Hubble image of galaxy M88 on a perilous journey through the Virgo Cluster.   Story 1 — New Glenn Aftermath: NASA Moon Plans Under Threat Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was destroyed on May 28 during a pre-launch static fire test at Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral. As of June 2, the damage to Blue Origin's lunar programme is becoming clear: the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander — scheduled to deliver Moon Base 1 hardware in autumn 2026 — now faces likely delays, and the crewed Blue Moon MK2 timeline may slip as a result. LC-36 is Blue Origin's only orbital pad; rebuilding will take considerable time. NASA had signed a new New Glenn launch agreement for Moon rovers just two days before the explosion. Sources: Space.com, Time Magazine, TechTimes (June 1–2, 2026)   Story 2 — China's Long March 12B Debut + Shenzhou-21 Returns China's new Long March 12B rocket completed its maiden flight on June 1 from Jiuquan, deploying Qianfan constellation satellites in a no-advance-notice launch. The rocket — China's answer to the Falcon 9 — features a 20-tonne LEO capacity, a 5.2m fairing, kerolox propulsion, and dual independent flight computers ('dual brains'). No booster recovery on this flight, but planned for future missions. Developed in just 21 months. In other Chinese space news: the Shenzhou-21 crew (Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, Zhang Hongzhang) returned safely on May 29 after a record 210-day stay aboard Tiangong, landing in a Shenzhou-22 emergency rescue capsule after their original return craft was damaged by a suspected space debris strike. Sources: SpaceNews, Global Times, Xinhua (June 1, 2026)   Story 3 — Starship V3 Grounded: FAA Mishap Investigation Following Flight 12 (May 22), the FAA has formally classified the Starship V3 debut as a mishap and grounded the vehicle. The Super Heavy booster failed its boostback burn and hard-splashed in the Gulf of America; one Raptor Vacuum engine on the upper stage also failed. SpaceX must complete an FAA-overseen investigation before Flight 13. This is Starship's seventh grounding in three years. A July–August return-to-flight window is cited; a booster catch may be skipped on Flight 13. SpaceX's IPO (ticker: SPCX, Nasdaq) was filed May 20 with shares potentially trading from ~June 12. Sources: SpaceNews, Aviation Week, TechCrunch (May 27–June 1, 2026)   Story 4 — NASA Roman Space Telescope: 100,000 New Worlds NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is on track to arrive at Kennedy Space Center in June, with a launch target of early September 2026 — ahead of its May 2027 commitment. Over its five-year primary mission, Roman is expected to discover ~100,000 exoplanets, hundreds of millions of galaxies, and billions of stars, generating a 20,000-terabyte data archive. Its Galactic Bulge Survey will observe ~100 million stars in underexplored Milky Way regions. Roman also features a Coronagraph Instrument to directly image nearby exoplanets and test techniques for future Earth-analogue imaging. Sources: NASA.gov, ScienceDaily, SciTechDaily (June 1–2, 2026)   Story 5 — Earth Was a Lava World for Half a Billion Years A preprint from researchers at the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (arXiv, June 2026) proposes that Earth's global magma ocean phase lasted up to 500 million years — far longer than previously assumed. Two key factors sustained the molten state: tidal heating...