Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

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.

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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/

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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 Astronomers led from Leiden University discovered a vast reservoir of cold molecular gas — direct fuel for star formation — in the galaxy REBELS-25, seen when the universe was approximately 700 million years old (~5% of its current age). The finding was published June 23, 2026 via Universe Today. Sources: •       Universe Today — 'Astronomers discover cold molecular gas reservoir in REBELS-25' (June 23, 2026): universetoday.com

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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)

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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 lost attitude control •       Second flight 'Onward and Upward': carrying 5 university cubesats + 1 experiment; backed by ESA Boost! programme •       2026 scrubs: January (pressurisation valve), March (fuel temp/fishing vessel), April (pressure vessel), June 15 (fluid system anomaly) •       Current status: no new launch date; Andøya window reportedly closed; Isar analysing data •       Context: part of ESA's European Launcher Challenge — must achieve orbital flight by 2027 to qualify for up to €205M

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