Astronomy Daily: Latest Space News

Every 7.9 minutes a radio pulse arrives from Canis Major. This week astronomers at ICRAR-Curtin in Perth traced it to a white dwarf orbiting a star like our Sun, the first pairing of its kind, and found that the pulses carry the weather of the companion star with them. We unpack how the timing gives away which star is talking, and everything this result is not. Then: how the LISA gravitational-wave observatory could find planets around pairs of white dwarfs. In The Week That Was: NASA's nuclear Moon rover built from Curiosity's twin, the hot Jupiter that stopped transiting, Euclid's first big data release, and Starship Flight 15, in orbit with its catch attempt still to come at the time of recording. Plus Mars and Jupiter 1.2 degrees apart, and the Leonids, from both hemispheres. In this episode ·         Lead: GPM J071507−114153, a long-period radio transient made of a white dwarf and a Sun-like star (McSweeney, Hurley-Walker et al., Nature Astronomy, 12 Nov 2026). ·         Fresh item: LISA as a planet finder around double white dwarfs (McGrath et al., two papers in The Astrophysical Journal, 10 Nov 2026). ·         Week That Was: PROMISE nuclear Moon rover, gravitational reconnection, Tiangong 9.7 pK condensate (E226); TOI-2535 b, ice-giant dynamos, MeerKLASS (E227); Euclid DR1-Foundation, ASTRA in-orbit assembly (E228). ·         Starship Flight 15: launched 13 Nov, booster catch aborted, ship in orbit; ship catch attempt still to come at time of recording. Full coverage Monday. ·         Arc updates: ESCAPADE en route to Mars; Voyager 1 one light-day (18 Nov); BepiColombo (21 Nov); Hera (25 Nov). ·         Skywatch: Mars–Jupiter conjunction 16 Nov; Leonids 17–18 Nov; where to find Canis Major; ISO 12312-2 eye safety. Sources ·         Nature Astronomy, DOI 10.1038/s41550-026-03016-z — 'A long-period transient with a Sun-like companion' — nature.com/articles/s41550-026-03016-z ·         ICRAR / Curtin University release, 12–13 Nov 2026 — icrar.org ·         NASA Goddard, 10 Nov 2026 — 'NASA Scientists Show How Gravitational Waves Can Reveal New Worlds' — science.nasa.gov ·         NASA Science, 9 Nov 2026 — 'NASA's ESCAPADE Completes Powered Earth Flybys, Now En Route to Mars' ·         Space.com Starship Flight 15 live updates, 13–14 Nov 2026; PBS NewsHour / AP, 13 Nov 2026 ·         Skywatch figures computed in session with PyEphem astronomydaily.io · @AstroDailyPod · Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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SpaceX is targeting today for Starship Flight 15, and for the first time it will try to catch both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage back at the launch tower, the ship after more than 22 hours and about 14 orbits. We walk through the plan, the timings for both hemispheres, and the three caveats that matter. Also: ESA's Euclid telescope opens about 1,900 square degrees of sky to the world in its first major data release; Caltech's ASTRA robot assembles the first piece of structure ever built autonomously in orbit; Voyager 1 closes in on one light-day from Earth; and Mars and Jupiter draw to 1.2 degrees apart in the pre-dawn sky. In this episode ·         Starship Flight 15: targeted for Fri 13 Nov, 4:45 pm CT (22:45 UTC; 9:45 am AEDT Sat). First attempt to catch both booster and ship. ·         Euclid DR1-Foundation: about 1,900 square degrees and 1.8 petabytes, public from 12 November. Cosmology products follow in mid-2027. ·         ASTRA: a Caltech/DARPA robot assembles a truss bay in low Earth orbit, a first. ·         Quick hits: Voyager 1 one light-day on 18 Nov; BepiColombo at Mercury 21 Nov; Hera's Dimorphos close-ups 25 Nov. ·         Skywatch: Mars and Jupiter 1.2° apart on 16 Nov; Venus and Spica; Leonids 17–18 Nov; Saturn in the evening. Sources ·         Starship Flight 15 awaits FAA green light — NASASpaceflight — https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/11/starship-flight-15-awaits-faa/ ·         Starship Flight 15 will try to catch both stages — KeepTrack — https://keeptrack.space/x-report/spacex-brief-2026-11-09 ·         Euclid DR1 MER Catalog — Caltech/IPAC IRSA — https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/doi/10.26131/IRSA673 ·         Euclid timeline — ESA — https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/euclid/timeline ·         ESA Datalabs Euclid Hackathon 2026 — https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esa-datalabs-euclid-hackathon-2026 ·         NOM4D program demonstrates automated in-space assembly — DARPA — https://www.darpa.mil/news/2026/nom4d-program-demonstrates-automated-in-space-assembly ·         Caltech robotic space demo successfully builds in space — Caltech — https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltech-robotic-space-demo-successfully-builds-in-space ·         Voyager 1 to reach 1 light-day — EarthSky — https://earthsky.org/space/voyager-1-1-light-day-from-earth-november-17-18-2026/ ·         What's Up: November 2026 — NASA — https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/whats-up-november-2026-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/

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Show notes
A hot Jupiter called TOI-2535 b has become the first planet around a single star seen to stop transiting, tipped out of line by an unseen neighbour. Plus: why Uranus and Neptune have scrambled magnetic fields, MeerKAT measuring how cosmic hydrogen clusters, Euclid's first big data release, ESCAPADE heading for Mars, Starship Flight 15's double-catch attempt, the 2026 ozone hole, and a both-hemispheres sky with Mars and Jupiter 1.2 degrees apart. The planet that stopped transiting. TOI-2535 b, an 8.24-day hot Jupiter ~1,000 light-years away, ran up to ~6 hours early or late and its transits shortened and faded over seven years of TESS data until they vanished in 2026. A hidden companion of at least Saturn mass, likely in resonance on a tilted orbit, is making both orbits precess. Transits should return in 30–50 years. Yee, Petigura et al., The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 9 Nov 2026. Ice giants' scrambled magnetic fields. Dynamo models with electrical conductivity rising with depth reproduce Uranus- and Neptune-like fields, and suggest their tilt could shift by tens of degrees within decades. Aurora observations could test for change since Voyager 2. Yan et al., Communications Physics. MeerKLASS hears the cosmic web. Running MeerKAT's 64 dishes as independent telescopes, the MeerKLASS collaboration detected the 21-cm hydrogen power spectrum on cosmological scales at z = 0.42 over ~236 square degrees, signal-to-noise 6.2. MNRAS. Euclid DR1-Foundation. ~1,900 square degrees (about 1,400 in the southern sky), ~1.8 PB of images, catalogues and spectra. Weak-lensing and clustering products follow in mid-2027. Quick hits. ESCAPADE Blue and Gold complete powered Earth flybys, Mars arrival Sept 2027; Starship Flight 15 targeted NET 13 Nov 22:45 UTC; 2026 Antarctic ozone hole seventh largest in 48 years, recovery on track. Skywatch. Mars–Jupiter 1.19° on 16 Nov (pre-dawn, north-favoured); Venus 1.2° from Spica, a 10%-lit crescent; Saturn high in southern evenings; Leonids peak 17–18 Nov; first quarter 17 Nov, full Moon 24 Nov. Sources ·         UCLA Newsroom — First known 'disappearing planet' — https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/first-known-disappearing-planet-neighbor-wobble-like-top ·         Yee et al., ApJL 1011 L60 — https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aeb4a4 ·         arXiv 2611.13343 — https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.13343 ·         Yan et al., Communications Physics — https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-026-02841-y ·         UT Austin Jackson School release — https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2026/11/wacky-magnetic-fields-of-ice-giants-explained/ ·         University of Portsmouth — MeerKLASS — https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/breakthrough-cosmic-hydrogen-measurement-could-transform-our-view-of-the-universe ·         MNRAS stag1911 (DOI) — https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1911 ·         Caltech/IPAC — Euclid DR1 — https://euclid.caltech.edu/page/euclid-dr1 ·         ESA — DR1 timeline — https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/euclid/dr1-timeline ·         Berkeley News — ESCAPADE — http://news.berkeley.edu/2026/11/09/berkeleys-escapade-spacecraft-say-goodbye-to-earth-next-stop-mars/ ·         NextSpaceflight — Starship Flight 15 — https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/8403/

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Show notes NASA turns Curiosity's spare test-bed rover into PROMISE, a nuclear-powered rover bound for the Moon's south pole, as part of a sweep of Moon Base awards. Plus: a theory of 'gravitational reconnection' hidden in Einstein's equations, a record 9.7-picokelvin quantum gas aboard China's Tiangong space station, ESCAPADE's twin burns over southern Australia, and a both-hemispheres skywatch. NASA's PROMISE rover and the Moon Base awards NASA Release 26-095 (7 Nov 2026) and PROMISE mission page. JPL is converting the duplicate Curiosity test-bed rover, powered by a flight-spare MMRTG, for a late-2028 launch and an 18-month mission at the lunar south pole. Blue Origin: $94M base + $140M option to deliver it on Mark 1. Also: eight CLPS 2 companies ($10B maximum, 10 years), CLPS 1 raised to $4.2B, six VADR task orders (~$1.3B), a 2028 Starship cislunar communications demo. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-moon-base-transportation-technology-science-projects/ https://www.nasa.gov/mission/promise/ Gravitational reconnection Comisso (Columbia) & Asenjo (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez), 'Reconnection of Gravitational Fields', Physical Review D 114, 084095, 28 Oct 2026, DOI 10.1103/lmqy-pf9k; preprint arXiv 2609.25241 (Sept 2026). Theoretical only. https://news.columbia.edu/news/can-gravitational-fields-break-and-reconnect-einsteins-equations-suggest-they-can https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25241 Quantum gas below 10 picokelvin on Tiangong 'Quantum gases below 10 picokelvin in space', Science (First Release, 5 Nov 2026), DOI 10.1126/science.aea5324. ~20,000 Rb-87 atoms, 9.7 pK equivalent temperature, 7 s observation (CAS). Peking University, SIOM and CSU-CAS. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea5324 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lowest-temperature-china-space-station ESCAPADE's powered Earth flybys NASA ESCAPADE blog (2 Nov 2026). Blue's burn 8:51 p.m. AEDT 7 Nov; Gold's 9:51 p.m. AEDT 9 Nov, both over southern Australia; Mars arrival 7 and 9 Sept 2027. https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/escapade/2026/11/02/nasas-twin-escapade-spacecraft-to-slingshot-past-earth-on-way-to-mars/ Quick hits Starship Flight 15 targeted Fri 13 Nov, 22:45 UTC, pending regulatory approval; Voyager 1 one light-day ~18 Nov; Euclid DR1-Foundation due in November. https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/spacex-plans-to-launch-starship-15-flight-on-nov-13/ https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/euclid/dr1-timeline Skywatch New Moon 9 Nov. Venus about 1° from Spica before dawn 9–10 Nov (higher from the north). Mars and Jupiter close to ~1.2° on 16 Nov (our calculation). Crescent Moon ~2° from Antares on the evening of 11 Nov (southern-favoured). Saturn high in southern evenings. Northern Taurids 11–12 Nov; Leonids 17 Nov. Four-galaxy challenge for southern observers. Solar viewing only with ISO 12312-2 certified filters.

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Is Mars still volcanically alive? Europe's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter keeps catching hydrogen chloride, a gas that comes out of volcanoes on Earth, above fresh cracks on the giant Alba Mons volcano, in the wrong season, in one place and low to the ground. We unpack the evidence, the proposed 'ice lid', and everything this result is not. Then it's The Week That Was: two black holes in one early galaxy, Swift's fiery end over Sumatra, ESCAPADE's powered slingshots over Australia, a planet rescued from Webb's glare, and the cosmic leaf blower. Plus the week's sky from both hemispheres. In this episode • Lead: Hydrogen chloride detections at Alba Mons as a potential sign of igneous activity on Mars (Trokhimovskiy, Mège et al., Science Advances, 4 Nov 2026). Detections first presented at 2025 conferences. • Week That Was: LID-1166 dual black holes (E220); Swift re-entry, 4 Nov (E221); ESCAPADE powered flybys (E222); FLIP digital-twin coronagraph and 51 Eridani b (E223); Lyman-alpha 'leaf blower' (E224). • Arc updates: AR4566 M3.5 flare and storm watch; Starship Flight 15; Voyager 1 one light-day; BepiColombo; Hera. • Skywatch: Venus and Spica; thin crescent Moon; new Moon 9 Nov; spotting ESCAPADE Gold; Mars–Jupiter 16 Nov; aurora watch; ISO 12312-2 eye safety. Sources • Science Advances, DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeb9422 — 'Enigmatic HCl detections as a potential signature of igneous activity on Mars' • ESA release, 4 Nov 2026 — European orbiter detects hints of volcanic activity on Mars • NASA ESCAPADE blog, 2 Nov 2026 — science.nasa.gov/blogs/escapade • NASA Swift blog — science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift • EarthSky Sun news, 6 Nov 2026 astronomydaily.io · @AstroDailyPod · Bitesz.com Podcast Network YouTube description Is Mars still volcanically alive? ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has caught hydrogen chloride above fresh fissures on Alba Mons, out of season, in one place, low to the ground. We look at the evidence, the proposed ice lid, and what this result is NOT. Then The Week That Was: dual black holes in LID-1166, Swift's re-entry, ESCAPADE's slingshot over Australia, FLIP and 51 Eridani b, and the cosmic leaf blower. Plus this week's sky for both hemispheres. astronomydaily.io · @AstroDailyPod · Bitesz.com Podcast Network Chapters (estimate — confirm against final audio) 00:00 Cold open 00:40 Is Mars still breathing? Hydrogen chloride at Alba Mons 09:05 The Week That Was 14:10 Skywatch: Venus, Spica, ESCAPADE, Mars and Jupiter 17:30 Outro

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