Space News Today

Friday SpaceTime 20261016 Series 29 Episode 124 Is dark matter real A new study has raised more questions about the existence of a mysterious substance called Dark Matter which is hypothesized to make up some 80 percent of the mass of the universe. The unique supernova remnant with a corpse in its heart Astronomers have discovered that the only known supernova remnant of its kind in the Milky Way galaxy has an unexpectedly intricate structure including chains of gas knots resembling pearls on a string, each wide enough to fit the solar system multiple times. Another clue in the search for life on Mars NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover has discovered nickel rich rocks in Jezero Crater’s Neretva Vallis region providing yet another clue in the search for life on the red planet. The Science Report Night owls are almost twice as likely as early birds to retire early due to poor health. Warnings that the Wilkes Subglacial Basin contains enough ice to raise sea levels by four metres. The magenta solar panels that let enough light through to grow crops underneath them. A new kind of clock could push precision timekeeping to a new level. Skeptics guide to the importance of vitamin K for new born babies. Our Guests This Week Professor Richard de Grijs from Macquarie University NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze Dragonfly Principal Investigator Elizabeth Turtle Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy NASA Associate Administrator Nicky Fox Mars Perseverance Project Scientist Katie Stack-Morgan Mars Perseverance PIXL Instrument Principal Investigator Joel Hurowitz from Stony Brook University Our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics 🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn (http://www.bitesz.com/nordvpn) . The discounts and bonuses are incredible! And it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content by becoming a SpaceTime crew member, you can do just that through The Big Bang editions on Patreon, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Details on the Support page on our website https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/ (https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/) For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ (https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ) If you love this podcast, please get someone else to listen too. Thank you… Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35776751?utm_source=youtube

Show notes Six months after Artemis II swung around the far side of the Moon, NASA has published what the crew saw, said and sketched — including five faint impact flashes spotted during a 54-minute eclipse. Plus: two UCL papers that take apart the chemical evidence for hypernovae, Juno finds Jupiter's magnetodisk crumpled into ripples, and IISc simulations suggest magnetised white dwarfs could grow well past the Chandrasekhar limit. Skywatch: the crescent Moon meets Antares, Mercury and Venus favour the south, Mars leaves the Beehive, and Vesta at opposition. Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report · Crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (CSA); lunar flyby 6 April 2026. · Five extremely faint impact flashes seen from ~74,000 km during a 54-minute eclipse behind the Moon; impactors estimated at no more than ~5 cm. · Crew-reported colours (blue = titanium-rich volcanic rock, brown = iron, green = glass); terminator observations as a proxy for south-pole lighting. · 'Hello, World' Earth image lit by moonlight; labelled southern Milky Way image (Crux, Carina, LMC). · Source: NASA Science, 'Artemis II: Sights & Sounds of Science', 7 Oct 2026 — science.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-ii-preliminary-lunar-science-report/ Hypernovae: the evidence that wasn't · Anmol Aggarwal & Ralph Schoenrich (Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL), two MNRAS papers; UCL release 5 Oct 2026. · Uneven ('stochastic') supernova enrichment explains three of four supposed hypernova-enriched stars; the fourth (silver- and uranium-rich halo giant) fits a neutron-star merger plus one ordinary supernova. · Source: ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/oct/ultra-powerful-star-explosions-might-not-have-occurred-after-all ; DOI 10.1093/mnras/stag610 Juno: Jupiter's rippling magnetodisk · Ruilong Guo (Shandong University) et al., Science China Earth Sciences 69(10), 2026; release 6 Oct 2026. · Repeated current-sheet crossings — four in ten minutes in one case — with reconnection signatures; a rotating, rippled sheet rather than a smooth flapping one. · Source: doi.org/10.1007/s11430-025-1870-9 White dwarfs beyond the Chandrasekhar limit · Zenia Zuraiq, Banibrata Mukhopadhyay (IISc) and collaborators incl. Christopher Tout, ApJL 2026; IISc release 9 Oct 2026. · Modified STARS code: a magnetised accreting white dwarf reaches ~2.4 solar masses vs ~1.4 without the field. · Source: iisc.ac.in/events/strong-magnetic-fields-could-allow-white-dwarfs-to-grow-beyond-the-chandrasekhar-limit/ Quick hit: Hera and MMX · ESA: Hera BRM-1, 93-minute braking burn early Thu 15 Oct; BRM-2 on 22 Oct. esa.int (Hera) · JAXA: MMX launch on H3 F10, 20 Oct 2026 04:41:03 JST from Tanegashima; samples to South Australia in 2031. Skywatch (computed for Sydney, LA, New York, London) · Tonight: crescent Moon near Antares — 1.3° from New York, 2.3° from LA and London (very low), 7° from Sydney. · Evening Mercury (24° up at sunset from Sydney) and Venus (heading to inferior conjunction ~24 Oct) favour the south. · Pre-dawn: Mars ~2° from the Beehive, Mars–Jupiter closing to ~1.2° on 16 Nov; Saturn in the evening; Southern Taurids; Vesta at opposition (mag 6.5, Cetus). · Solar safety: never view the Sun except through certified ISO 12312-2 filters. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Sponsor Details: Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN . To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit You'll be glad you did! Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail (https://www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail) Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support) This episode includes AI-generated content. Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35762688?utm_source=youtube

Wednesday SpaceTime 20261014 Series 29 Episode 123 Surfs up on the Saturnian moon Titan A new study suggests lakes and seas on the Saturnian moon Titan could produce a three metre surf under the right conditions. How planet Earth rock and rolls on its axis Ancient sea-level changes have provided new evidence showing that planet Earth experienced episodes of rapid true polar wander during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Scientists have Glueballs Physicists finally discovered the long elusive glueball, a particle made entirely of elemental particles called gluons. The Science Report New warnings about the deadly dangers of daylight saving time. Claims too much exposure to light during the night may be influencing the shape of your heart. Discovery of the first ever Diplodocus dinosaur fossils outside North America. Warnings that people in the early stages of psychosis may be more vulnerable to AI chatbots. Alex on Tech China’s growing robot army. 🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn (http://www.bitesz.com/nordvpn) . The discounts and bonuses are incredible! And it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content by becoming a SpaceTime crew member, you can do just that through The Big Bang editions on Patreon, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Details on the Support page on our website https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/ (https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/) For more SpaceTime and show links: https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ (https://linktr.ee/biteszHQ) If you love this podcast, please get someone else to listen too. Thank you… Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35740644?utm_source=youtube

Show notes Hera Hits the Brakes ESA's Hera spotted its target asteroid for the first time last week and fires its first braking burn on Thursday — 93 minutes of thrust to start stopping at Didymos and Dimorphos, the asteroid pair NASA's DART hit in 2022. Plus: Solar Orbiter traces a solar-wind switchback back to the Sun, Gemini North finds chains of giant knots in the remnant of the supernova of 1181, Webb reads the dust of Mars-sized worlds colliding, and Perseverance becomes the farthest-driving vehicle on another world. In the skywatch: the Moon meets Antares, Venus bows out, Mars and Jupiter rule the northern dawn, and the Orionids are a week away. Hera Hits the Brakes Two years after launch, Hera caught its first glimpse of Didymos from about 236,500 km away — a sub-pixel dot. On Thursday 15 October three hydrazine thrusters fire for 93 minutes (BRM-1), taking a few hundred metres per second off its approach speed; BRM-2 (~31 min) follows on 22 October, then three small transition burns. The first signal after the burn comes through ESA's New Norcia antennas in Western Australia. Hera will measure the mass of Dimorphos so DART's single orbital-period result can become a repeatable deflection technique; its CubeSats Milani and Juventas will study dust, composition and the interior. Solar Orbiter traces a switchback home Coburn et al. (Nature Astronomy, 8 Oct) used heavy-ion charge states measured inside a large switchback crossed on 2 March 2022 to show it formed by interchange reconnection in hot closed loops at the Sun's surface — with waves and turbulence taking over once it left. Both leading theories are right, at different stages. The supernova of 1181 is strung with pearls Cunningham, Caiazzo et al. (ApJ, 6 Oct) used Gemini North/GMOS to show that Pa 30's radial filaments are chains of knots ~100 billion km across. Pa 30 is the Milky Way's only known Type Iax remnant, with a surviving 'zombie' star. The knots constrain models but don't yet settle what formed them. Webb reads the wreckage of colliding worlds Su et al. (ApJ, 1 Oct) studied 21 extreme debris disks with Webb and Spitzer. About a third are silica-rich, consistent with collisions between Mars-sized planetary embryos; older systems should be silica-poor. Quick hit: Perseverance's driving record On 11 October (sol 2,006) Perseverance reached 45.22 km, passing Opportunity's 45.16 km. More than 90% of the distance was driven on AutoNav. Sources · Hera braking campaign (ESA, 7 Oct 2026) — https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Brake!_Time_for_ESA_s_Hera_asteroid_mission_to_go_slow · Hera's first glimpse of Didymos (ESA, 7 Oct 2026) — https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/10/Destination_sighted_Hera_s_first_glimpse_of_Didymos · Finding Hera's way: Flight Dynamics team in action (ESA, 7 Oct 2026) — https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Finding_Hera_s_way_Flight_Dynamics_team_in_action · Solar Orbiter tracks origin of magnetic switchbacks (ESA, 8 Oct 2026) — https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter/Solar_Orbiter_tracks_origin_of_mysterious_magnetic_switchbacks · Coburn et al., Nature Astronomy, DOI 10.1038/s41550-026-02928-0 — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02928-0 · Gemini North reveals pearl-like knots in Pa 30 (NOIRLab, 6 Oct 2026) — https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2624/ · NASA's Webb provides crash course on planet-shattering collisions (NASA) — https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-provides-crash-course-on-planet-shattering-collisions/ · Su et al., ApJ 1010:1, DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/ae88fe — https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae88fe · Perseverance sets off-world record for total distance driven (JPL, 12 Oct 2026) — https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-sets-off-world-record-for-total-distance-driven/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Sponsor Details: Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN . To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit You'll be glad you did! Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail (https://www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail) Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support) This episode includes AI-generated content. Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35740534?utm_source=youtube

Sponsor Link: This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you by NordVPN . Protect your online privacy today by visiting www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts (https://www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts) for an exclusive offer! Space Nuts: Fast-Moving Planets, Photon Pressure, and the Nature of Moons In this engaging Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a series of intriguing listener questions. Kicking off with Ron's query about the implications of living on a super fast-moving planet orbiting Sagittarius A*, they delve into the fascinating world of time dilation and its effects on scientific observations. Next, Jeff from Colorado poses a thought-provoking question regarding photon pressure and its potential influence on the universe's expansion, leading to a discussion on dark energy and cosmic mysteries. Brian from the Gold Coast wonders about the visibility of cosmic microwave background radiation behind black holes, while Bob rounds off the episode with a query on the characteristics that define a moon. Join Andrew and Fred Watson as they navigate these cosmic curiosities with their trademark wit and insight. Key topics - The effects of high-speed planetary motion near a black hole on time and observational science. - Exploring photon pressure and its relationship to the universe's expansion and dark energy. - The cosmic microwave background radiation and its interaction with black holes. - Defining moons: How small and irregular can they be while still being classified as moons? Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction and overview of listener questions 01:20 - Ron’s question about living on a fast-moving planet and time dilation effects 15:30 - Jeff’s inquiry into photon pressure and its impact on cosmic expansion 25:00 - Brian’s question regarding cosmic microwave background radiation and black holes 35:15 - Bob’s exploration of what constitutes a moon 45:00 - Closing thoughts and listener engagement Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35724789?utm_source=youtube

The coldest brown dwarf we know has weather. JWST watched water clouds thicken and thin on WISE 0855, a sunless world seven and a half light-years away — plus a star slowly eating a brown dwarf, ten minutes of X-rays after a half-second burst, a Soviet satellite breaking up over Western Australia, NASA's lunar cave hunt, and Mercury's best evening show of the year for the south. Stories Weather on a World Without a Sun Miles et al. used JWST NIRSpec to take a spectrum of WISE 0855 every 15 minutes for 11 hours. Carbon monoxide and phosphine rise and fall together as convection dredges deep gas upward, while patchy water clouds thicken and thin higher up — the first variable water clouds seen outside the Solar System. Source: University of Arizona release, 9 Oct 2026; arXiv:2609.20664 The Star That Eats Slowly ZTF J0440+2325: a red dwarf drawing gas from a 25-Jupiter-mass brown dwarf on an 87-minute orbit — the first confirmed stable mass transfer from a substellar object onto a star. Householder, Burdge et al., Nature Astronomy, 5 Oct 2026. Source: Nature Astronomy (2026); arXiv:2603.17039 Ten Minutes After Half a Second Einstein Probe caught ~560 s of soft X-rays after the 0.37 s GRB 250704B, at redshift 0.661 with no supernova — pointing to a compact-object merger and possibly a newborn magnetar. Science Bulletin, 2026. Source: DOI 10.1016/j.scib.2026.08.021; arXiv:2601.14137 A Dead Satellite Comes Apart Soviet weather satellite Meteor 2-7 (launched 1981) fragmented on 5 Oct at ~850 km, detected by LeoLabs' Western Australian radar. Cause unknown. Source: EarthSky, 9 Oct 2026; Space.com Quick hit: NASA Goes Caving on the Moon NASA's PRISM picks for the Moon Base program include GIMLI, which will probe the Marius Hills Pit for a lava tube, plus LEMS-SP and DISCO. Source: NASA RELEASE26-080, 30 Sept 2026 Skywatch Mercury at greatest eastern elongation — 24° up at sunset from Sydney vs 10° LA, 7.5° NY, 3° London. Crescent Moon near Venus and Mercury, Venus heading to inferior conjunction on the 24th, pre-dawn Mars and Jupiter for the north (Mars through the Beehive), Orionids 21–22 Oct. Source: Computed with PyEphem Sources · https://astrobiology.com/2026/10/09/first-detection-of-variable-water-clouds-outside-of-our-solar-system/ · https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20664 · https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/175765 · https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17039 · https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2601.14137 · https://earthsky.org/?p=560313 · https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/a-dead-soviet-satellite-just-broke-apart-in-orbit-again-experts-say-its-part-of-a-worrying-trend · https://nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-adds-new-science-investigations-for-moon-base Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Sponsor Details: Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN . To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit You'll be glad you did! Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail (https://www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail) Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support) This episode includes AI-generated content. Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35722903?utm_source=youtube

Monday SpaceTime 20261012 Series 29 Episode 122 How ancient black holes and a hidden fifth dimension could explain dark matter A new study claims an ancient hypothetical type of black hole and a hidden fifth dimension of spacetime may help explain the mysterious substance known as dark matter as well as a strange type of ultra-high-energy neutrino detected three years ago. Australia’s new lunar rover revealed The Australian Space Agency ASA has formally unveiled the latest version of its new Roo-ver lunar rover which will travel to the Moon in 2030 aboard an Intuitive Machines lander as part of NASA’s Artemis program. Evidence of activity from the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole Astronomers have discovered a powerful wind blowing from Sagittarius A* the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole. The Science Report The 2026 Nobel Prizes have been awarded in Sweeden. A Russian Bioweapon based on the Plague escapes the lab in Siberia. Scientists in Israel develop an artificial intelligence program that can quite literally read minds. Skeptics guide to diphtheria dangers. Our Guests This Week Professor Richard de Grijs from Macquarie University NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division Lori Glaze Dragonfly Principal Investigator Elizabeth Turtle Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy NASA Associate Administrator Nicky Fox Mars Perseverance Project Scientist Katie Stack-Morgan Mars Perseverance PIXL Instrument Principal Investigator Joel Hurowitz from Stony Brook University Our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics 🌏 Get Our Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ www.bitesz.com/nordvpn (http://www.bitesz.com/nordvpn) . The discounts and bonuses are incredible! And it’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ If you’d like to support the podcast and gain access to bonus content by becoming a SpaceTime crew member, you can do just that through The Big Bang editions on Patreon, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Details on the Support page on our website https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/ (https://www.bitesz.com/show/spacetime/support/) Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35708823?utm_source=youtube

Sponsor Link: This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you with the support of NordVPN . To check out our special money-saving deal , visit www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts (https://www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts) Space Nuts: Unraveling the Mysteries of NGC 4698 and Chariklo's Rings In this exciting episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson explore some truly peculiar cosmic phenomena. They kick off with a deep dive into the strange behaviour of the galaxy NGC 4698, known for its unusual rotational patterns and mysterious bulge, leading to discussions about possible galactic mergers. Next, the duo ventures into the intriguing world of Chariklo, a centaur object with changing rings, as they discuss the latest observations from the James Webb Space Telescope and the implications of its unique ring structure. Join Andrew and Fred Watson as they navigate these captivating astronomical tales with their signature blend of humour and insight. Key topics - The peculiar characteristics of NGC 4698: What makes this galaxy behave strangely? - Insights into the dynamics of galaxy mergers and their effects on structure. - Chariklo's rings: How have they changed since their discovery, and what does this mean for our understanding of ring systems? - The potential existence of a hidden moon influencing the structure of Chariklo's rings. Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction and overview of today's topics 01:20 - Discussion on the peculiar galaxy NGC 4698 and its unusual features 15:30 - Exploring Chariklo and the changes in its ring system 25:00 - Insights from the James Webb Space Telescope and the hidden moon hypothesis 35:15 - Final thoughts and listener engagement Wanting a commercial free option of Space Nuts? Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35707403?utm_source=youtube

Sponsor Link: This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you by NordVPN. Protect your online privacy today by visiting www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts (https://www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts) for an exclusive offer! Space Nuts: Time Travel, Orbiting Telescopes, and Gold Origins In this Q&A episode of Space Nuts , hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson tackle a range of thought-provoking listener questions. They begin with a fascinating inquiry from Andy, a train driver in the UK, about the implications of time travel at relativistic speeds. What does it mean to age differently when travelling close to the speed of light? The duo then dives into the mechanics of orbiting telescopes, addressing Nick's questions about how these instruments manage their observations while minimising interruptions from Earth. Finally, Ash from Brisbane poses an intriguing question about the origins of gold, prompting a discussion on neutron star collisions and the cosmic processes that create heavy elements. Key topics - Time travel and the effects of relativistic speeds on aging: Can we really travel through time? - The scheduling and operational strategies of orbiting telescopes like Hubble: How do they maximise observation time? - The origins of gold in the universe: What role do neutron star collisions play in the creation of heavy elements? Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction and overview of listener questions 01:20 - Andy’s question on time travel and relativistic speeds 15:30 - Nick’s inquiry about orbiting telescopes and their observation strategies 25:00 - Ash’s question regarding the origins of gold and neutron star collisions 35:15 - Final thoughts and listener engagement Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35687961?utm_source=youtube

Show notes We're back after a short break! Today: the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Francis Halzen for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory — a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice turned into a telescope. Then a Sydney-led team publishes the most distant fast radio burst yet, from a dwarf galaxy just 3 billion years after the big bang; Hubble's archive yields a possible second-generation planet around a white dwarf; and we catch up on Starship's first orbit, Crew-13, Juice's Earth flyby and the end of the LINK/Swift story. Skywatch: zodiacal light at both ends of the day, Mercury above Venus in southern twilight, and Mars in the Beehive for the north. Segment 1 — LEAD: The Telescope Made of Ice · Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 — nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2026 (6 Oct 2026) · Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences press release, 6 Oct 2026 · AIP congratulations release, Newswise, 6 Oct 2026 · University of Wisconsin–Madison / IceCube background (via Interesting Engineering, 6 Oct 2026) Segment 2 — The Most Distant Fast Radio Burst · NASA: 'Webb Measures Distance to Farthest Fast Radio Burst, Suggesting Origin', 8 Oct 2026 · Caleb et al., Science, 8 Oct 2026, DOI 10.1126/science.adz2675 · Preprint: arXiv 2508.01648, 3 Aug 2025 (14-month gap disclosed) Segment 3 — A Planet Built From a Dead Star · NASA: 'Suspected Second-generation Planet Solves NASA Hubble Cold Case', 5 Oct 2026 · Williams et al., Nature Astronomy, 5 Oct 2026, DOI 10.1038/s41550-026-02983-7 · ESA/Hubble heic2613; poster, UK White Dwarf meeting, Durham, July 2025 (disclosed) Segment 4 — While We Were Away · SpaceX Starship Flight 14 overview (via leonarddavid.com, 29 Sept 2026) · NASA: 'NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 Launches', 1 Oct 2026 · ESA: 'Successful Earth flyby improves Juice's course to Jupiter', 28–30 Sept 2026 · AP (Marcia Dunn): 'Private spacecraft falls back to Earth...', 25 Sept 2026 · JAXA: MMX launch schedule aboard H3 F10, 20 Aug 2026 Segment 5 — Skywatch: Both Hemispheres · PyEphem 4.2.1 computations, Sydney / Los Angeles / New York / London · BBC Sky at Night: Vesta and Pallas at opposition, Oct 2026 · NASA: What's Up, October 2026 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) . Sponsor Details: Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN . To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit You'll be glad you did! Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail (https://www.astronomydaily.io/protonmail) Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click Here (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support) This episode includes AI-generated content. Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/35678025?utm_source=youtube