Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

Episode: S05E42 — Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network   In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover six unmissable stories from across the cosmos. Here's what we're talking about in S05E42:   1. Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal Round Two NASA begins fuelling the SLS moon rocket tomorrow (Feb 19) for a second critical practice countdown. Engineers have replaced two seals and a filter after hydrogen leaks forced the February launch window to be abandoned. A clean test is required before NASA will commit to a launch date — currently no earlier than March 6. The four-person crew includes Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, each of whom will make history on the flight. 2. Moon Occults Mercury Tonight — Plus a Ganymede Transit Tonight, February 18, a thin crescent Moon passes so close to Mercury that observers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia will see the Moon hide Mercury in a rare occultation. For everyone else, a stunning close conjunction is visible in the western sky just after sunset. Simultaneously, Jupiter's moon Ganymede transits the gas giant's face through the night. Two events, one evening. 3. Ariane 6 Launches Amazon Kuiper Satellites Europe's most powerful Ariane 6 configuration successfully launched 32 satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband constellation today — a direct competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. The launch highlights both the commercial ambitions of Amazon's internet satellite programme and the ongoing resurgence of European launch capability. 4. 3I/ATLAS Update: JUICE Data Downlinking Now ESA's JUICE spacecraft is currently transmitting data it collected on interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS back to Earth — the downlink window runs February 18–20. If successful, this would be the closest-ever spacecraft observations of an interstellar object. Meanwhile, 3I/ATLAS heads toward a close Jupiter flyby in March that may trigger fresh outbursts. 5. How Titan Formed — And Why Saturn Has Rings New research from the SETI Institute proposes a single ancient catastrophe that explains multiple Saturn mysteries at once: a moon called proto-Hyperion collided with proto-Titan about 400 million years ago. The merger debris re-accreted into Saturn's inner moons and left behind the iconic ring system. The hypothesis also explains Saturn's unusual axial tilt, Iapetus's orbital inclination, and the surprising youth of Titan's surface. 6. Russia's 30-Day Mars Engine Rosatom's Troitsk Institute is ground-testing a nuclear-powered magnetoplasma engine that its developers claim could reach Mars in 30 days — compared to 8 months for chemical rockets. With a plasma exhaust velocity of 100 km/s, the system is part of a global race toward deep-space plasma propulsion also being pursued by NASA's VASIMR programme and Chinese researchers. A flight prototype is targeted for 2030.   
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Astronomy Daily — S05E41 | Tuesday 17 February 2026 Ring of Fire, Farewell Comet, and the Smell of Rotten Eggs in Space   Two celestial events happen TODAY — an annular solar eclipse transforms the Antarctic Sun into a ring of fire, and a rare hyperbolic comet makes its closest pass to Earth before leaving the solar system forever. Plus, JWST uses the smell of rotten eggs to solve a major exoplanet mystery, NASA performs a CT scan on the northern lights, a startup plans to fuel rockets with water, and we preview why 2026 is the dawn of a golden age of eclipses.   In This Episode: •      Ring of Fire solar eclipse over Antarctica — happening today, February 17, with up to 96% of the Sun covered and a 616km-wide path of annularity •      Comet Wierzchoś (C/2024 E1) makes its closest approach to Earth today at 151 million km — a one-way trip out of the solar system, never to return •      JWST detects hydrogen sulfide in giant exoplanets orbiting HR 8799, proving they formed like planets, not brown dwarfs — published in Nature Astronomy •      NASA’s BADASS and GNEISS twin rocket missions launch from Alaska to “CT scan” the electrical circuitry of the aurora •      General Galactic, led by ex-SpaceX engineer Halen Mattison, reveals plan to make rocket fuel from water — satellite test in October 2026 •      2026: A golden age of eclipses begins — total lunar eclipse March 3, total solar eclipse over Europe August 12, and much more ahead   Hosted by: Anna & Avery Produced by: Huw at Bitesz.com Website: astronomydaily.io Social: @AstroDailyPod across all platforms Network: Bitesz.com Podcast Network

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• Crew-12 Docks at ISS — The SpaceX Crew-12 mission docked at the International Space Station on Valentine’s Day, restoring the station to full strength after over a month with a skeleton crew. Astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev join Expedition 74 for an eight-month mission.   • Artemis 2 Hydrogen Leak Update — NASA’s “confidence test” on the SLS rocket’s repaired hydrogen fueling seals showed mixed but cautiously encouraging results. March remains the earliest potential launch window for humanity’s first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years.   • Enceladus: Electromagnetic Powerhouse — A major new study of 13 years of Cassini data reveals Saturn’s tiny moon Enceladus generates Alfvén waves extending over 504,000 km, transforming our understanding of how small moons influence giant planetary magnetospheres.   • Catching 3I/ATLAS — Researchers from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies propose a Solar Oberth Manoeuvre mission launching in 2035 that could intercept the interstellar comet, currently heading toward Jupiter for its closest pass on March 16.   • Geomagnetic Storm Watch — G1 minor storming is likely today as a coronal mass ejection arrives alongside fast solar wind from a returning transequatorial coronal hole. Aurora possible at higher latitudes tonight.   • SpaceX Starlink 6-103 — 29 Starlink V2 Mini satellites launched to orbit in the early hours of today, the 10th orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in 2026.   LINKS & RESOURCES: • NASA Crew-12 Docking: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2026/02/14/spacex-crew-12-docks-to-station-beginning-long-duration-mission/ • Artemis 2 Confidence Test Update: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/13/following-confidence-test-nasa-continues-artemis-ii-data-review/ • Enceladus Alfvén Wings Study: https://phys.org/news/2026-02-tiny-enceladus-giant-electromagnetic-saturn.html • 3I/ATLAS Solar Oberth Paper: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-new-concept-for-catching-up-with-3iatlas • Space Weather Updates: https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/ • Spaceflight Now Launch Schedule: https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/   Astronomy Daily is part of the Bitesz.com Podcast Network Website: https://astronomydaily.io Social: @AstroDailyPod

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Happy Valentine's Day from Astronomy Daily! The cosmos has pulled out all the stops today — from astronauts docking at the space station to a dying star sending the universe a literal heart-shaped Valentine. Plus, the ring of fire eclipse countdown, why eclipses always arrive in pairs, a comet that flipped its spin, a six-planet parade to look forward to, and a chance of aurora tonight.
In this episode:
🚀 SpaceX Crew-12 launched yesterday and docks at the ISS today — a Valentine's Day arrival to end a month of skeleton-crew operations
🌑 Just 3 days until the "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse over Antarctica on February 17th
🌒 Why eclipses come in pairs: eclipse seasons explained — and 2026 has four eclipses across two spectacular seasons
💖 A dying star's cosmic Valentine: Mira A ejects a heart-shaped cloud of gas and dust 300 light-years from Earth
☄️ Comet 41P stuns scientists by flipping its rotation direction — what's behind this mysterious spin reversal?
🪐 Six-planet parade coming February 28 — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune line up at a civilised hour
🌌 Bonus: Possible Valentine's Day aurora from geomagnetic activity tonight
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Today on Astronomy Daily: Astronomers have witnessed something extraordinary in the Andromeda Galaxy — a massive star that simply vanished, collapsing into a brand-new black hole without the usual supernova fireworks. We cover the SpaceX Crew-12 launch to the ISS, Europe's powerful Ariane 64 flying for the first time with Amazon satellites aboard, another booster anomaly for ULA's Vulcan rocket, a bizarre inside-out planetary system that defies formation models, and NASA's plan to rescue the Swift observatory from orbital decay. Timestamped Chapters 00:00 — Welcome to Astronomy Daily 01:30 — SpaceX Crew-12 launches to the ISS 04:00 — Star vanishes in Andromeda — a black hole is born 08:30 — Europe's Ariane 64 flies for the first time 10:30 — Vulcan rocket suffers repeat booster anomaly 13:00 — The bizarre inside-out planetary system of LHS 1903 15:30 — NASA's Swift observatory fights for survival 17:30 — Sign-off and how to stay connected Key Links •       NASA Crew-12 Blog: nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew •       Vanishing Star Study (Science): doi.org/10.1126/science.adt4853 •       Inside-Out Planet Study (Science): doi.org/10.1126/science.adl2348 •       NASA Swift Observatory: nasa.gov/swift •       Show Website: astronomydaily.io •       Social Media: @AstroDailyPod on all platforms

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