Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates

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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In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery unpack six major space stories. China has achieved a crucial milestone in its crewed lunar programme, successfully testing the Mengzhou capsule's abort system at maximum dynamic pressure while also demonstrating SpaceX-style rocket recovery with the Long March 10 first stage. ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket is set to launch its longest mission yet, delivering GSSAP space surveillance satellites directly to geosynchronous orbit for the US Space Force. We explain why NASA's Artemis 2 Moon mission has remarkably few launch opportunities — just 11 dates across March and April — and what orbital mechanics, solar power constraints, and hydrogen leaks have to do with it. In astronomy news, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has produced its clearest image yet of the Egg Nebula, a pre-planetary nebula offering a rare glimpse of a Sun-like star in its death throes. A provocative new study in the journal Astrobiology argues that the 1976 Viking missions may have detected signs of Martian life after all, with perchlorates masking the organic signatures. And finally, astronomers continue searching for remnants of Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS, which spectacularly disintegrated during the 2020 pandemic — but may not be entirely gone.   Timestamps [00:00] Introduction [01:30] China's Mengzhou capsule abort test & Long March 10 rocket recovery [05:30] ULA Vulcan USSF-87 launch — GSSAP satellites for Space Force [08:30] Artemis 2 launch windows — why only 11 chances in 2 months [11:30] Hubble's stunning Egg Nebula image — a dying star's final act [14:00] Did NASA's Viking missions find life on Mars? New evidence says maybe [16:30] The mystery of 'dead' Comet ATLAS — could fragments survive? [18:00] Sign-off

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Four astronauts are stuck in quarantine in Florida as weather keeps pushing back the Crew-12 launch — now targeting no earlier than Friday, February 13. We've got the full story, including the remarkable subplot involving a Russian cosmonaut who was quietly removed from the mission in December. Plus: interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is on its way out of the solar system forever, but new data from NASA's SPHEREx and James Webb telescopes reveals it's been carrying a chemical cocktail from another star system — one that's unlike anything we've seen in our own comets. Also in today's episode: NASA let an AI drive the Perseverance rover on Mars for two days straight; new research suggests Earth may have hit a rare chemical jackpot during formation that made life possible; the Ring of Fire solar eclipse is just one week away; and Starship is back on track after the Booster 18 disaster, with Flight 12 targeting a March launch window.   In This Episode • SpaceX Crew-12: Three launch scrubs, skeleton ISS crew, and the cosmonaut spy subplot • 3I/ATLAS farewell: SPHEREx detects alien chemistry; JWST finds record CO2-to-water ratio • AI drives Perseverance on Mars — 456 metres without human control • Earth's lucky chemistry: why phosphorus and nitrogen almost didn't make it to the surface • Ring of Fire annular solar eclipse — February 17 over Antarctica • Starship Flight 12: Booster 19 passes cryo tests, March launch window in sight   Key Links • Full show notes & blog: astronomydaily.io • NASA Crew-12 mission blog: nasa.gov • NASA SPHEREx 3I/ATLAS data: science.nasa.gov • Universe Today — AI drives Perseverance: universetoday.com • Nature Astronomy — Earth habitability study: nature.com   Subscribe & Connect Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. New episode every weekday. Full transcripts, blog posts and show notes at astronomydaily.io

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In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover five major stories from across the cosmos. SpaceX Crew-12 is targeting Thursday February 12th for launch to the International Space Station, after weather pushed back the Wednesday window. Meet the international crew of four and find out why this mission will run longer than usual. Our Sun has been active overnight, with sunspot region AR4366 firing off four M-class flares including an M2.8 that triggered a radio blackout over the Pacific. We look at what this means for space weather and aurora watchers. A stunning new study from Penn State, published in PNAS, has rewritten how scientists think amino acids formed in asteroid Bennu — and the implications for where life's ingredients can arise in the universe are profound. Italian scientists have confirmed the first lava tube on Venus, using 30-year-old radar data from NASA's Magellan mission. The structure is larger than any lava tube found on Earth, the Moon, or Mars. And finally — could coal be the key to finding advanced alien civilisations? A provocative new paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology makes the case. All stories sourced from NASA, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Phys.org. Links below. Source Links •       Crew-12 weather delay: nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation •       NSF launch preview: nasaspaceflight.com/2026/02/launch-preview-020926 •       Bennu amino acids (PNAS): doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2517723123 •       Venus lava tube (Nature Communications): doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68643-6 •       Aliens and coal: phys.org/news/2026-02-advanced-aliens-exoplanets-large-coal.html •       Solar activity: earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates Chapters / Timestamps (approximate) •       00:00 — Cold Open •       01:00 — Story 1: SpaceX Crew-12 Weather Delay •       05:00 — Story 2: Solar Flare Activity AR4366 •       07:30 — Story 3: Asteroid Bennu & Amino Acid Origins •       10:30 — Story 4: Venus Lava Tube Discovery •       13:30 — Story 5: Alien Civilisations & Coal Deposits •       17:00 — Close

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