Episode
Dark Matter Revealed by Light Echoes, MAVEN's Legacy, and Groundbreaking Research on Menstruation in Space
- Published
- Jun 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1047
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://astronomydaily.io
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Summary
S05E121 | Monday, 22 June 2026 Hosts: Anna & Avery | astronomydaily.io | @AstroDailyPod Story 1 — Dark Matter Is Hugging Our Galaxy's Black Hole • Virginia Tech researchers used 'echo mapping' — light reverberations around active black holes — to detect dark matter signatures • Supermassive black holes including Sgr A* (Milky Way) appear surrounded by dense dark matter clusters • Lead researcher Mayank Sharma: 'The observational evidence for dark matter is simply undeniable' • Published in Physical Review D, June 11, 2026 • Provides a new tool for probing dark matter in the most extreme gravitational environments Story 2 — Swift Rescue Mission: Launch Date Confirmed • NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched 2004; has been losing altitude due to atmospheric drag — no thrusters to compensate • Katalyst Space Technologies built LINK — a robotic servicer with 3 robotic arms and xenon Hall-effect thrusters • Northrop Grumman's Stargazer aircraft departed Wallops Flight Facility June 18 carrying Pegasus XL + LINK • Launch from Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: confirmed for June 27, 2026 • LINK must chase down Swift, inspect it, and latch on — a first-of-its-kind robotic capture mission • Critical altitude threshold: if Swift drops below 185 miles (300 km), rescue becomes impossible • Success would give Swift another ~22 years of science at its original 600 km altitude Story 3 — Chandra Spots a Supernova Near the Galactic Centre • NASA Chandra, ESA XMM-Newton, and MeerKAT (South Africa) detected a 'blue blob' of X-ray emission in Sagittarius C • Sagittarius C is a star-forming region ~26,000 light-years from Earth, a few dozen light-years from Sgr A* • Estimated age: ~1,700 years — light from the explosion would have reached Earth around 300 AD • Expansion speed:…