Stellar Explosions, Galactic Surprises, and the Controversial Light Beaming Plan

### Episode Summary Real-time images of exploding stars, a surprisingly “gentle” supermassive black hole, the return of a long-duration Soyuz crew, a packed week of launches, Subaru’s first new exoplanet and brown-dwarf finds, and a controversial plan to light up the night sky with orbital mirrors.### Timestamps & Stories 00:00 – Cold Open 00:35 – Intro 01:05 – **Story 1: Astronomers watch novae explode in real time** **Key Facts** - First-ever direct imaging of two novae as they erupted using the CHARA optical interferometer - V1674 Herculis: fastest nova on record; brightened & faded in days; showed two perpendicular gas jets - V1405 Cassiopeiae: visible to naked eye for months; delayed ejection after 50+ days - Gamma-ray bursts from Fermi telescope timed perfectly with visible jets 03:35 – **Story 2: Soyuz MS-27 crew lands after 8-month ISS mission** **Key Facts** - Crew of three returned safely to Kazakhstan on 8 Dec 2025 - 260+ days in orbit (launched April 2025) - Handover completed; ISS now at full Expedition strength for next rotation 05:05 – **Story 3: Launch Roundup (8–15 Dec 2025)** **Key Facts** - SpaceX Starship Flight 6 (Texas) – major reusability test - China Long March 7A – new Tiangong station module - ULA Vulcan Centaur Cert-2 (Cape Canaveral) – second certification flight - Rocket Lab Electron (New Zealand) – successful dawn launch - Russia Soyuz-2.1b (Vostochny) – classified payload 06:35 – **Story 4: Subaru Telescope’s first discoveries** **Key Facts** - First science results from upgraded high-contrast infrared instruments - New brown dwarf (13–80 Jupiter masses) with dusty disk - New wide-orbit gas-giant exoplanet ~300 light-years away showing methane & water signatures 08:05 – **Story 5: Sagittarius A* is less destructive than thought** **Key Facts** - Objects like G2/DSO, D9, X3, X7 all survive stable orbits within 0.8 parsecs of the 4-million-solar-mass black hole - 20+ years of VLT data (SINFONI, NACO, ERIS) show no tidal disruption - Galactic Center may be a star-formation zone rather than a shredder 09:55 – **Story 6: Giant space mirrors to light up the night** **Key Facts** - Reflect Orbital plans thousands of mirror satellites by 2030 - Each beam ~5 km wide, 4× brighter than full moon - Goal: extend solar-farm output after sunset & aid night rescues - Astronomers warn of catastrophic light-pollution increase and wildlife disruption 11:20 – Outro ### Sources & Further Reading 1. https://connectsci.au/news/news-parent/7462/Astronomers-watch-stars-explode-in-real-time-and 2. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/12/09/soyuz-crew-lands-ending-eight-month-space-research-journey/ 3. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2025/12/launch-roundup-120825/ 4. https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/the-subaru-telescope-just-made-its-1st-discoveries-a-failed-star-and-an-exoplanet 5. https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-milky-ways-supermassive-black-hole-isnt-as-destructive-as-thought 6. https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/12/giant-space-mirrors-to-light-up-the-night/ ### Quick Quotes - “High-definition video of stellar explosions.” – Elias Aydi - “Sagittarius A* is less destructive than was previously thought.” – Florian Peißker - “Catastrophic for astronomy.” – Robert Massey (on orbital mirrors)### Follow & Contact X/Twitter: @AstroDailyPod Instagram: @astrodailypod Email: [e-mail] Website: astronomydaily.io Clear skies and see you tomorrow! 🌟Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-space-news-updates--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.bitesz.com/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Become a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.