Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries

Space Nuts: Dark matter clues, Saturn’s new decagon, Mars and Titan missions.
Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson cover a packed astronomy episode that moves from a tentative dark matter signal to a newly spotted ten sided storm pattern on Saturn. They also dig into two upcoming sample return style missions, one to Mars and one to Titan, before finishing with listener questions about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, solar missions, gravitational waves, and AI in astronomy.
Key topics
In this episode, Andrew and Fred discuss the Lux-Zeppelin underground detector result, where researchers saw a low-energy flash that might be consistent with dark matter, though the signal is still far short of discovery level.
Fred explains why dark matter is inferred from galaxy rotation and gravitational lensing, and why direct detection experiments need to be buried deep underground and shielded from background noise.
The discussion covers Fred’s own migraine aura experience, including the zigzag visual pattern he describes as a brain-based phenomenon that affects both eyes.
In this episode, they celebrate an outback astronomy success story involving Trevor Barry of Broken Hill, whose long-term Saturn observations helped connect amateur and professional work on planetary atmospheres.
Fred explains Saturn’s famous north polar hexagon and the newly reported south polar decagon, noting that the southern feature appears to have formed only since 2023.
They cover China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return plans, including the narrowing of candidate landing sites from 86 to 12 and the mission’s focus on clay-rich terrain that may preserve signs of ancient life.
Fred and Andrew also discuss NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan, including the chosen region near Selk crater, the expected 3.3-year primary mission, and why Titan’s dense atmosphere makes rotorcraft flight more practical there than on Mars.
Timestamps
00:00 - Pre-show timing and getting ready to go live
00:49 - Welcome to Space Nuts and what’s coming up
02:23 - Fred joins the show and mentions recovering from knee surgery
03:17 - First story: a possible dark matter detection at Lux-Zeppelin
05:28 - Why dark matter is hard to detect directly
06:56 - Underground detectors and the LZ experiment in South Dakota
08:50 - The flash event and why it is only a hint, not a discovery
11:44 - The 2.6 sigma result and what that means statistically
13:55 - Trevor Barry and the discovery of Saturn’s south polar decagon
16:23 - Saturn’s north polar hexagon and why the south is unusual
17:49 - The decagon’s possible recent formation and what comes next
21:26 - China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission
23:40 - Candidate landing sites narrowed down and why clays matter
25:20 - NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan
26:03 - Why the Titan landing region near Selk crater is scientifically interesting
27:31 - Dragonfly’s three point three year primary mission and Titan’s chemistry
29:09 - Listener shout-outs and wrapping the first half

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Space Nuts: Q&A on the Swift Satellite, Redshift, and Hypothetical White Holes
In this engaging Q&A edition of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson dive into a myriad of intriguing questions posed by listeners. From the fate of the Swift satellite to the mysteries of redshift and the speculative nature of white holes, this episode covers a wide range of cosmic curiosities.
Key topics include:
- The fate of the Swift satellite and the challenges faced by the Link mission meant to boost its orbit.
- An exploration of redshift and the implications of energy loss in distant light.
- Insights into the temperature variations on the Moon and the potential for human habitation beneath its surface.
- A thought-provoking discussion on the hypothetical merger of black holes and white holes, and what that could mean for our understanding of the universe.
Join Andrew and Fred Watson as they tackle these questions with their signature blend of humour and expertise, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of the cosmos.
00:00 - This is where the audience asks us questions, we scratch our heads
01:20 - Do you always record on the same day and time
02:56 - What are your thoughts on the red dots as seen by James Webb Telescope
06:33 - A spacecraft called Link will boost the decaying orbit of the Swift satellite
14:08 - Is distant light redshifted? What happens to the lost energy
16:18 - Professor Fred Watson discusses Apollo 13 problems in Q and A edition
17:19 - Fenton from Minnesota has a question about the temperature on the moon
23:13 - European astrobiologist working on Roslyn Franklin rover on Mars
26:03 - Fred Watson asks what would happen if a white hole merged with a black hole
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Space Nuts: Spanish Eclipse, Nancy Grace Roman Launch, Cloud Nine, and Venus's Mysterious Clouds
Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson cover four big astronomy stories in this episode, from Fred’s trip to view a sunset eclipse in Spain to the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. They also unpack a starless dwarf galaxy called Cloud Nine and a new way of thinking about the strange dark material in Venus’s clouds.
Guests and speakers
Andrew Dunkley - Host, frames the news, asks listener questions, and guides the discussion.
Professor Fred Watson - Astronomer at large, explains the eclipse, the Roman telescope, Cloud Nine, and Venus’s clouds.
Key topics
In this episode, Fred recounts the Spanish eclipse expedition
The eclipse was only 9 degrees above the western horizon at totality, making the viewing conditions unusually challenging.
He and Marnie led a 16-person tour through France, Spain, and Switzerland before settling near Santander in northern Spain.
They staked out a viewing site 2 kilometers from the hotel, set up a gazebo, and had to tie it down to a car to keep it from blowing away.
The weather looked threatening, but a hole opened in the cloud just before totality, giving them a clear view of the corona.
Fred described the yellowish corona, pink hydrogen clouds, and the crowd of around 2,000 people.
We discuss the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launch
Andrew watched the launch live after being nudged by his own brain at the right moment.
Fred noted the launch was flawless, with 27 Merlin motors firing.
The telescope is headed for the L2 Lagrange point, about 1.5 million kilometers away.
Roman is a 2.4-meter Hubble-class telescope but with 100 times the field of view.
Its wide-angle infrared design should enable major surveys of dark matter, dark energy, and exoplanets via its coronagraph.
Fred explains why Cloud Nine matters
Cloud Nine is described as a starless dwarf galaxy about 14 million light years away.
It lies near Messier 94 and was studied using the Gran Telescopio Canarias and its Hypercam instrument.
The deep exposure was 2.36 hours, yet the team found no convincing stellar population.
Fred says theory suggests the gas may be too hot to cool and collapse into stars because of the ultraviolet background radiation after reionization.
He says Cloud Nine may be the first strong example of a galaxy predicted by standard cosmology but never before clearly identified.
Venus’s clouds are still puzzling astronomers
Fred explains that Venus appears yellowish because we see the top of its cloud layer, especially in visible light.
In ultraviolet, Venus shows dramatic global cloud patterns caused by an as-yet unidentified absorber.
The new study uses radiative transfer modeling to constrain what the unknown absorber could be.
The team compares Venus’s cloud droplets to cigarette smoke, tiny particles that look light-colored when dispersed but could become dark sludge in bulk.
The result suggests the absorber must be very efficient, very concentrated, or both, but it is not being claimed as evidence of life.

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In this intriguing Q&A episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Jonti Horner tackle a variety of cosmic queries from listeners. Join them as they explore the fascinating world of radio telescopes and how they produce images from radio waves, delve into the complexities of gravitational waves, and ponder the sounds and smells of space.
Key topics include:
- How photographic images are generated from radio telescopes, despite only receiving radio waves, and the fundamental principles behind this technology.
- A deep dive into gravitational waves, their impact on space, and how LIGO detects these minute disturbances in the fabric of spacetime.
- An imaginative discussion on what sounds might exist in space and the potential smells one could encounter beyond Earth’s atmosphere, including the curious idea of cosmic fragrances.
Join Andrew and Jonty as they demystify these concepts, providing clarity and insights into the wonders of astronomy and space science.

00:00 - Space Nuts aims to answer questions from the audience about astronomy and space science
01:37 - Were the pyramids built by aliens or were they built by humans
04:26 - How is a photographic image produced from a radio telescope and not an optical telescope
12:36 - Dean: I often hear about gravity waves and I have a hard time visualising
20:15 - Andrew Dunkley: I think ideas become easier to explain over time
22:45 - Our next question comes from David from Port Washington, New York
30:37 - Several volcanoes have blown up since we've been to them
32:08 - The metropolitan area of Auckland contains 53 volcanoes
35:02 - If you could take a big inhale, what would space smell like
36:22 - If you would like to send us some questions, please do through our website

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Space Nuts: Moon impact, Roman Observatory launch, and Neptune’s odd moons
Andrew Dunkley is joined by Professor Jonti Horner, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland, for a wide-ranging astronomy update. They cover SpaceX’s out-of-control rocket body hitting the Moon, the imminent launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Observatory, and a new result that may explain the strange origin of some of Neptune’s moons.
We discuss why lunar impacts matter far beyond the Moon itself, how Roman will study exoplanets and dark energy, and why clay minerals on Neptune’s small moons are such a big clue about a violent early solar system.
Key topics
SpaceX’s rocket body impacted the Moon after being left in a long, uncontrolled orbit
Why lunar impacts are a real concern for future habitats, infrastructure, and Apollo heritage sites
The sheer scale of human-made objects that have already hit or landed on the Moon
Elon Musk’s vision for lunar factories, rail-gun launches, and large-scale off-Earth manufacturing
Why the same company could end up both creating the risk and needing to solve it
The Nancy Grace Roman Observatory launching around 9 months ahead of schedule
Roman’s 2.4 metre mirror, 300 megapixel wide-field camera, and hydrazine-fueled journey to L2
How Roman will study dark energy, gravitational lensing, exoplanets, and free-floating planets
New James Webb observations of Neptune’s moons showing clay-type minerals on Larissa and Galatea
Why those clays suggest a much older, more violent system shaped by Triton’s capture and moon-to-moon collisions
Timestamps:
00:00 - Studio prep, muting phones, and getting ready to record
01:53 - Episode intro: SpaceX lunar impact, Roman Observatory, and Neptune moons
03:00 - Jonti Horner joins the show
04:26 - SpaceX rocket body crashes into the Moon
07:03 - Predicted impact plume and expected crater size
08:54 - Korean spacecraft Danuri captures post-impact images
10:19 - Why Moon impacts matter for future lunar bases
11:47 - Protecting Apollo landing sites and lunar archaeology
12:15 - More than 3,000 human-made objects have hit the Moon
14:32 - Law, responsibility, and the problem of cleanup beyond Earth
16:07 - Musk’s plans for Moon factories and Starlink-style expansion
18:12 - Rail guns, Optimus robots, and scaling lunar industry
19:34 - SpaceX’s own industry could be threatened by its own debris
21:24 - Balancing commercial benefits and environmental costs
23:46 - The Nancy Grace Roman Observatory launch approaches
26:03 - Roman’s orbit, hydrazine fuel, and five-year mission plan
27:57 - From WFIRST to Roman: how the telescope evolved
29:23 - Roman’s mirror, 300 megapixel camera, and survey power
30:14 - Exoplanets, microlensing, and the coronagraph
33:29 - Roman’s launch status and the excitement ahead
34:17 - Neptune’s moons and the role of Triton

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