SpaceTime with Stuart Gary

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 134 * Perseverance's Uphill Struggle in Jezero Crater NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover faces challenges as it attempts to climb the steep and slippery ridgeline of Jezero Crater. Despite its previous experience with steep inclines, this mission marks the first time the rover has tackled such a challenging combination of slope and surface. Engineers are exploring new strat...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 133 * Earth's Mantle: Two Distinct Domains Revealed Groundbreaking research has unveiled that the Earth's mantle is composed of two distinct and separate types of materials, forming independent African and Pacific domains. This discovery, published in Nature Geoscience, challenges previous assumptions of a chemically uniform mantle. The study highlights how these domain...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 132 *Could Betelgeuse Actually Be Two Stars? A new study raises the intriguing possibility that the red supergiant Betelgeuse may not be on the brink of supernova, as previously thought. Instead, it might be a binary star system. This revelation, reported in the Astrophysical Journal, suggests that an unseen companion star could be causing Betelgeuse's pulsing brightnes...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 131 * Ultra High Energy Gamma Rays Detected in the Milky Way's Core Scientists have detected ultra high energy gamma rays emanating from the centre of the Milky Way. This discovery, reported in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, offers a new perspective on the violent phenomena occurring in the galactic core. Using the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory in Mexico...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 130 *Epoch of Reionization: New Insights from Webb A groundbreaking study suggests the epoch of reionization, a pivotal era in the universe's early evolution, may have occurred 350 million years earlier than previously believed. Utilising data from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered a greater abundance of extreme ultraviolet emitting galaxies, ch...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 129 *First Evidence of a Volcanic Splatocone on Mars Scientists have identified what appears to be the first evidence of a volcanic splatter cone on Mars, similar to those found on Earth. This discovery, led by Ian Flynn from the University of Idaho, sheds light on the volcanic processes of the red planet. The presence of splatter cones, which form under specific condit...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 128 *Dating the Moon's Oldest Impact Crater Scientists have pinpointed the edge of the massive South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest and oldest known impact crater on the Moon, dating it to over 4.32 billion years old. By analysing a lunar meteorite, researchers have concluded that this impact site is around 120 million years earlier than the previously believed intense...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 127 *SpaceX's Starship's Fifth Test Flight Success SpaceX's Starship has completed its fifth test flight with a spectacular feat of engineering, successfully catching the super heavy booster with mechanical chopsticks on the launch pad tower. The booster, equipped with 33 Raptor engines, returned to Earth after a successful launch from SpaceX's Starbase in Texas, showca...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 126 * NASA's Parker Solar Probe Completes 21st Philip of the Sun NASA's Parker Solar Probe has achieved its 21st close encounter with the Sun, matching its previous distance and speed records. The spacecraft swooped to within 7.26 million kilometers of the solar surface at a record speed of 635,300 km/h. This flyby sets up the probe for its final closest approaches, wit...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 125 *Discovery of the Most Distant Spiral Galaxy Astronomers have identified the most distant spiral galaxy ever seen, named REBELS 25. This galaxy, observed as it was 13.1 billion years ago, challenges current models of galaxy formation with its orderly spiral structure, despite being from an era when the universe was just 700 million years old. The discovery, made usi...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 124 *Galaxies: Bigger Than We Ever Imagined Recent findings suggest that galaxies are far larger than previously thought, with gaseous halos extending much further into intergalactic space. This study, published in Nature Astronomy, focuses on the circumgalactic medium of a starburst galaxy 270 million light-years away. These halos, accounting for about 70% of a galaxy'...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 123 *Discovery of a New Region within the Earth's Core Scientists have uncovered a doughnut-shaped region within Earth's molten liquid outer core, located at low latitudes parallel to the equator. This torus-like zone was detected due to seismic waves travelling slower through this area compared to the rest of the liquid outer core. The discovery, published in Science A...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 122 *The Sun's Most Powerful Solar Flare in Over a Decade The Sun has unleashed its most powerful solar flare in more than a decade, with a spectacular X9.1 class event. This massive solar flare, part of a pair that erupted just two days apart, was detected by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The event sparked strong G3 class geomagnetic storms, causing auroral activi...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 121 * A New Planet Discovered Orbiting Barnard's Star Astronomers have discovered a new exoplanet orbiting Barnard's Star, the closest single star to the Sun. This newly found planet, Barnard b, has about half the mass of Earth and completes an orbit around its host star every three Earth days. Located 5.96 light-years away, Barnard's Star is a small red dwarf in the co...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 120 * Planet Earth Just Got a Second Moon Planet Earth has temporarily acquired a second moon, a tiny near-Earth asteroid named 2024 PTS. Captured by Earth's gravitational field on September 29, this 10-metre wide Space rock will remain in orbit until November 25, making it one of only five known mini moons. Discovered by the Atlas asteroid terrestrial impact last alert...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 119 * Australian Crater Offers Fresh Insights into Earth's History Scientists have uncovered a potential 600-kilometre-wide crater in Australia's outback, which could revolutionise our understanding of Earth's geological past. This discovery, presented at the 37th International Geological Congress in South Korea, suggests the existence of Mapix, a massive Cambrian-Preca...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 118 *Dark Matter May Be Experiencing Forces Beyond Gravity A groundbreaking new study suggests that dark matter, the elusive substance making up 85% of the universe's matter, may interact through forces other than gravity. Using observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have found that dark matter particles might experience additional forces, providing c...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 117 *The Biggest Black Hole Jets Ever Seen Astronomers have detected the largest pair of black hole jets ever observed, stretching an astounding 23 million light years. Named Porphyron, this jet megastructure dates back to when the universe was just 6.3 billion years old. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, suggests that these colossal jets had a significant...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 116 * Discovery of More Black Holes Than Expected in the Early Universe A new study using the Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a significantly higher number of supermassive black holes in the early universe than previously anticipated. Published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the findings could revolutionise our understanding of how these ancient black holes...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 115 * How Black Holes Eat Stars Astronomers have developed a groundbreaking computer simulation detailing how supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies can rip apart and consume entire stars. The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, provides new insights into the mysterious optical and ultraviolet emissions observed during these catastrophic...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 114 *Did the Dwarf Planet Ceres Originate in the Asteroid Belt? A new study challenges earlier observations about the origins of Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt. The findings suggest that Ceres may have formed where it currently orbits rather than in the outer solar system. *Galactic Mystery About Dark Matter and Stars Finally Resolved Astronomers have...

In today’s episode, we explore the latest discoveries in lunar volcanism, the unique phenomena awaiting astronauts at the moon's south pole, and the arrival of a new crew at the International Space Station. Join us for an in-depth look at these exciting developments in Space exploration! *Recent volcanism on discovered on the Moon Scientists have discovered evidence of volcanism on the lunar surfa...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 112 First Ever Spacewalk by Private AstronautsA historic milestone as the first commercial non-government astronauts successfully complete a spacewalk using a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The mission, launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, aimed to monitor radiation exposure levels during its journey into the Van Allen radiation belts. Boeing Starliner Returns Safely to EarthBoei...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 111 *Evidence of Unexpected Population of Kuiper Belt Objects A new study has detected an unexpected population of very distant bodies in the Kuiper Belt, an outer region of the solar system populated by ancient remnants of planetary building blocks lying beyond the orbit of Neptune. *The Martian polar caps are not created equally A new study has confirmed that the Mart...

SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 110 *Gigantic asteroid impact shifted Ganymede’s axis A new study claims that the solar system’s largest moon, the Jovian giant Ganymede, was hit by a massive asteroid four billion years ago shifting its axis. *New way to measure the spin of a supermassive black hole Astronomers have found a new way to measure how fast a black hole spins, by using the wobbly aftermath f...