# Salty Skies on a Pink Planet, Black Holes Burp, and a Lunar Lander for Moon Base 2

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates-5658676/salty-skies-on-a-pink-planet-black-holes-burp-and-a-lunar-lander-for-moon-base-2.md
Podcast: [Astronomy Daily: Latest Space News](https://stenobird.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates-5658676)
Published: 2026-06-19T10:21:31+00:00
Episode link: http://astronomydaily.io
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/mgln.ai/track/op3.dev/e/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72597498/salty_skies_on_a_pink_planet_black_holes_burp_and_a_lunar_lander_for_moon_base_2.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1181

## Resource

Welcome back to Astronomy Daily! In today's episode, Anna and Avery cover six of the biggest stories in space and astronomy for Friday June nineteenth, twenty twenty-six — from a salty surprise on a mysterious pink world to a little rover completing a marathon on Mars. Story 1: JWST Reveals Salty Clouds on the 'Pink Planet' GJ504b Northwestern University astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to finally crack open the spectrum of GJ504b — the so-called 'Pink Planet' 57 light-years away. The discovery, published in The Astronomical Journal on June 18, reveals an atmosphere filled with exotic chemistry and salt clouds unlike anything previously observed. At just 550°F, it's the coldest planetary-mass companion ever directly imaged. Whether it's a giant planet or a brown dwarf remains an open question, but its salty skies are a first for astronomy. Study led by Aneesh Baburaj, Northwestern University's CIERA. Story 2: Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Black Holes' Delayed Radio 'Burps' Using the NSF's Very Large Array, a team led by Kate Alexander (University of Arizona) has found that roughly 40% of all tidal disruption events — moments when a supermassive black hole shreds a passing star — produce a powerful delayed radio burst months to years after the initial flare. The study, announced June 16, also identifies a chemical fingerprint in early optical spectra that can predict which black holes are likely to produce these late-stage outbursts, giving astronomers a roadmap for long-term monitoring. Story 3: SpaceX Launches NROL-179 — the 14th NRO Proliferated Architecture Mission SpaceX launched NROL-179 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in the early hours of June 19, making it the 14th mission dedicated to building out the National Reconnaissance Office's 'p…

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