Astronomy Daily: Latest Space News

Anna and Avery open the Weekend Wrap with a genuine first: South Africa's MeerKAT has detected the 21-centimetre hydrogen signal from four to five billion light years away using radio data alone — no optical galaxy survey propping it up — proving out the technique the Square Kilometre Array will use to measure dark energy. Then the week in review: Roman's coronagraph wakes up, Starship Flight 14 gets a date, Mars turns out to be lopsided inside, BepiColombo lets go, LZ's one unexplained flash, and a centaur caught in the act of becoming a comet. Plus the sky for the week ahead, both hemispheres.

Links & sources ·         University of Manchester — Astronomers use MeerKAT to directly detect faint hydrogen signal from the distant Universe — https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/astronomers-use-meerkat-to-directly-detect-faint-hydrogen-signal-from-the-distant-universe ·         The Astrophysical Journal Letters — Paul, Wolz, Santos, Chen et al. (paper DOI) — https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae808f ·         American Astronomical Society — release listing — https://aas.org/node/730547 ·         Phys.org — MeerKAT directly detects faint hydrogen signal from the distant universe — https://phys.org/news/2026-09-meerkat-faint-hydrogen-distant-universe.html ·         Space.com — Scientists detect signals of hydrogen from billions of years ago — https://www.space.com/astronomy/galaxies/scientists-detect-signals-of-hydrogen-from-billions-of-years-ago-could-this-help-us-map-out-the-universe ·         Xinhua — MeerKAT in South Africa directly detects faint hydrogen signal from distant universe — https://english.news.cn/africa/20260905/3f6c7164a4404b0a9b79f879b1d31a59/c.html ·         SKA Observatory — the construction journey (SKA-Mid, Karoo; SKA-Low, Murchison) — https://www.skao.int/en/explore/construction-journey ·         NASA Science — Roman's planet imager has powered on (1 September 2026) — https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/2026/09/01/nasa-romans-planet-imager-has-powered-on/ ·         NASA — NASA's dark universe-seeking Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches — https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-dark-universe-seeking-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-launches/ ·         Next Spaceflight — Starship Flight 14 (NET 15 September 2026, Pad 2, Starbase) — https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/8346/ ·         Tesla Oracle — FCC filing points to Starship Flight 14 on 15 September; Booster 21 33-engine static fire — https://www.teslaoracle.com/2026/09/02/fcc-filing-reveals-starship-flight-14-launch-on-september-15-spacex-conducts-33-engine-static-fire-on-booster-21/ ·         Nature — Tidal tomography reveals a thermal anomaly beneath Mars's crustal dichotomy (27 August 2026) — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10893-x ·         Phys.org — Thermal anomaly discovered below Mars' south pole — https://phys.org/news/2026-08-thermal-anomaly-mars-south-pole.html ·         ESA — Latest updates: BepiColombo's arrival at Mercury — https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Latest_updates_BepiColombo_s_arrival_at_Mercury ·         ESA — BepiColombo's Mercury arrival begins (full replay) — https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2026/09/BepiColombo_s_Mercury_arrival_begins_-_full_replay ·         Brown University — LZ experiment sees surprising result in search for dark matter — https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-09-01/lz-dark-matter-results ·         The LZ Dark Matter Experiment — collaboration site — https://lz.lbl.gov/ ·         ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics — Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory — https://www.centredarkmatter.org/supl ·         University of Central Florida — UCF researchers study a centaur transforming into a comet — https://www.ucf.edu/news/ucf-researchers-study-a-centaur-transforming-into-a-comet/ ·         Phys.org — Saturn encounter may have set distant centaur on path to becoming a comet — https://phys.org/news/2026-09-saturn-encounter-distant-centaur-path.html ·         Space.com — Scientists watch a comet being born 3 billion miles away — https://www.space.com/astronomy/comets/scientists-watch-a-comet-being-born-3-billion-miles-away ·         Star Walk — Astronomical events in September 2026 — https://starwalk.space/en/news/night-sky-tonight-september ·         EarthSky — Venus greatest brilliancy, 18 September 2026 (magnitude −4.8) — https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/venus-brightest-greatest-brilliancy-greatest-illuminated-extent-2/ ·         EarthSky — Sun news: flares, CMEs and aurora updates — https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/ ·         Space.com — Night sky September 2026: the best things to see this month — https://www.space.com/stargazing/what-to-see-night-sky-september-2026 Follow us: @AstroDailyPod · astronomydaily.io

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Links & sources Brown University — LZ experiment sees surprising result in search for dark matter — https://www.brown.edu/news/2026-09-01/lz-dark-matter-results US Department of Energy — LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter — https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/lz-sees-surprising-result-search-dark-matter Imperial College London — Dark matter hunt takes unexpected turn after puzzling signal spotted in LZ detector — https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/articles/natural-sciences/physics/2026/dark-matter-hunt-takes-unexpected-turn-after-puzzling-signal-spotted-in-lz-detector/ TeVPA 2026 — Search for high-energy dark matter interactions with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment — https://indico-icehap.phys.s.chiba-u.ac.jp/event/3/contributions/471/ The LZ Dark Matter Experiment — collaboration site — https://lz.lbl.gov/ Space.com — Scientists may have detected the 1st direct evidence of dark matter — https://www.space.com/astronomy/dark-universe/scientists-may-have-detected-the-1st-direct-evidence-of-dark-matter ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics — Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory — https://www.centredarkmatter.org/supl SABRE South — dark matter direct-detection experiment — https://www.sabre-experiment.org.au/ Phys.org — Underground lab clears crucial hurdle for dark matter hunt — https://phys.org/news/2026-04-underground-lab-crucial-hurdle-dark.html Space.com — India sends Earth-imaging satellite toward geosynchronous orbit in milestone launch — https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/gslv-mark-ii-eos-05-launch-first-indian-geo-earth-observing-satellite Outlook India — 'Successfully and precisely injected': ISRO chairman hails GSLV-F17 launch — https://www.outlookindia.com/national/successfully-and-precisely-injected-isro-chairman-hails-gslv-f17-launch-eos-05-reaches-orbit Business Standard — ISRO launches India's first imaging satellite in geostationary orbit — https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/isro-launches-india-s-first-imaging-satellite-in-geostationary-orbit-126090400054_1.html Space.com — Rocket issues delay 1st-ever private mission to Venus — https://www.space.com/astronomy/venus/rocket-issues-delay-1st-ever-private-mission-to-venus-we-are-awaiting-neutron-readiness Syracuse University — The Spin Behind Fading Black Hole Flares — https://news.syr.edu/2026/09/01/the-spin-behind-fading-black-hole-flares/ arXiv — The Role of Stellar Spin in Repeating Partial Tidal Disruption Events (2606.02692) — https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.02692 NASA Science — What's Up: September 2026 Skywatching Tips — https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/skywatching/whats-up-september-2026-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ Universe Today — Lunar occultations of Jupiter, Venus and more in September — https://www.universetoday.com/articles/penultimate-lunar-occultations-inbound-for-jupiter-venus-and-more-in-september In-The-Sky.org — Lunar occultation of Jupiter, 8 September 2026 — https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20260908_16_100 EarthSky — Sun news: flare, CME and aurora updates — https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/ Space.com — Night sky September 2026: the best things to see this month — https://www.space.com/stargazing/what-to-see-night-sky-september-2026 Follow us: @AstroDailyPod · astronomydaily.io

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Anna and Avery cover BepiColombo's arrival at Mercury beginning today, as the ESA/JAXA mission jettisons the transfer module that has carried it for nearly eight years and nine planetary flybys. Plus: NASA awards Blue Origin a $700 million contract to build a dedicated Mars communications orbiter, Hubble confirms a brand-new ten-sided cloud pattern at Saturn's south pole — first spotted by amateur astronomers, one of them in outback New South Wales — and China's Galactic Energy flies its reusable Pallas-1 rocket for the first time.

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Today's episode — S05E183, Wednesday September 2, 2026: Main story: A thermal anomaly beneath Mars's south pole. Writing in Nature on August 27, a team led by Alexander Berne (Caltech PhD '26, now University of Arizona) reports that the interior of Mars's southern hemisphere is 200–400 °C hotter than the northern hemisphere and partially molten. The team used tidal tomography — measuring how much the solid body of Mars flexes under the Sun's tidal pull by tracking minute velocity changes in three orbiters (Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) across roughly 25 years of radio tracking data. Hotter, softer rock deforms more, so the degree of flex reveals interior temperature. The result offers a deep-interior explanation for the Martian crustal dichotomy — the sharp division between the smooth low northern plains and the ancient, thickly crusted southern highlands, unexplained since the Viking era — and also accounts for the concentration of crustal magnetic anomalies in the south and the unexpectedly strong seismic-wave damping seen by InSight. The cause of the asymmetry remains open: a giant early impact, lopsided mantle convection, or a heat-trapping compositional layer. Co-authors span Brown University, NASA Goddard, the University of Arizona, Academia Sinica, the University of Rome, TU Delft, UCLA, UT Austin, CU Boulder and UC Santa Cruz. Crew-13 stands down. NASA and SpaceX announced on August 29 that an oxidizer leak had been found in the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system during standard prelaunch processing, delaying the Crew-13 launch from its September 12 target. Teams are performing additional tests and data review and will complete any necessary rework before flight; a new target date will be announced once available. The crew is commander Jessica Watkins (NASA), pilot Luke Delaney (NASA), and mission specialists Joshua Kutryk (CSA) and Sergey Teteryatnikov (Roscosmos), flying an approximately seven-month increment with significant station maintenance and several spacewalks planned. Swift is observing again. NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory restarted science operations on August 26, with two of its three instruments back online and the third expected within weeks. Swift's telescopes had been powered down progressively — the ultraviolet/optical and X-ray telescopes in February, the Burst Alert Telescope in April — to reduce power draw and atmospheric drag while awaiting a boost from Katalyst Space's LINK spacecraft, launched in July. NASA announced on August 19 that LINK would not attempt the capture after developing attitude-control problems. With no rescue coming, NASA has restarted the instruments to extract as much science as possible. NASA expects Swift to fall below roughly 300 km (185 miles) — where telescope operations become impractical — within the next one to two months. Katalyst will still fly proximity operations to demonstrate in-orbit servicing techniques. An 80,000-year mission to Alpha Centauri. The Seattle-area nonprofit Fermi Explorer Mission announced plans to launch a 100–200 kg probe toward Alpha Centauri (4.4 light-years away) at the end of 2029, most likely on a SpaceX rideshare. Solar electric propulsion plus repeated perihelion pumping manoeuvres would build a cruise speed of 24.2 km/s (about 54,000 mph) — faster than New Horizons at Pluto — for a journey of roughly 80,000 years: 12 years of active operations followed by around 79,500 years of coasting. Budget is under $15 million, with $10 million verbally pledged. Payload is at least 1 kg in a shielded 10 cm cube, including a digitised Voyager Golden Record, messages from children worldwide, and cosmic-ray detectors. Co-founders Philip Johnston, Ezra Feilden and Adi Oltean are behind the space computing company Starcloud; the advisory board includes Rob Meyerson (former Blue Origin president) and Jeff Thornburg (former SpaceX propulsion lead). Johnston: "We'll be the first to leave, and the last to arrive." It would be the first spacecraft deliberately aimed at a specific star. Tonight's sky and the month ahead: Five naked-eye planets are in play through September. Venus dominates the early evening, low in the west/west-southwest about 14° up an hour after sunset (Sydney sunset ≈ 5:34pm AEST), still close to Spica after last night's conjunction, and building to maximum brilliance on September 18 — with a thin crescent Moon alongside on the 14th. Saturn is up most of the night at magnitude +0.4 with its rings tilted just 8° from edge-on, the narrowest in about a dozen years, and rides far higher for Southern Hemisphere observers than for northern ones. Mars rises around 1:40am and is slowly brightening; Jupiter rises east-northeast around 3:50am, and on September 8 the Moon occults Jupiter for much of North America. Mercury appears low in evening twilight in the final week, about 1° above Spica on the 25th. The Moon is a waning gibbous heading to last quarter on September 4. Also this month: International Observe the Moon Night on the 19th, the equinox on the 22nd, and a Harvest Moon near Saturn on the 26th. Standing reminder: any solar filter must be certified to ISO 12312-2.   Links & sources: Caltech — Thermal Anomaly Discovered Below Mars's South Pole (Aug 28) Nature — "Tidal Tomography Reveals a Thermal Anomaly Beneath Mars's Crustal Dichotomy", Berne et al. (Aug 27) Phys.org — Thermal anomaly discovered below Mars' south pole Space.com — Scientists discover massive underground 'thermal anomaly' on Mars NASA Space Station Blog — NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-13 Launch Date (Aug 29) Space.com — SpaceX, NASA delay next astronaut launch to ISS due to leak on Dragon spacecraft NASA Swift Blog — NASA's Swift Restarts Science Observations (Aug 28) Space.com — NASA's Swift space telescope resumes observations after failed orbital rescue attempt (Aug 31) GeekWire — Fermi Explorer team plans 80,000-year trip to Alpha Centauri (Sept 1) Space.com — Nonprofit wants to launch 80,000-year mission to Alpha Centauri in 2029 (Sept 1) MIT Technology Review — How AI plotted an interstellar journey to Alpha Centauri (Sept 1) NASA Science — What's Up: September 2026 Skywatching Tips Space.com — 5 planets will light up the September sky Follow us: @AstroDailyPod  

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Today's episode — S05E182, Tuesday September 1, 2026: Main story: SpaceX cleared Booster 21's static fire at Starbase's Pad 2 on August 30, the last major milestone before Starship Flight 14 — the third flight of the Starship V3 design. Ship 41 had already completed its own static fire campaign at Massey's Test Site. Flight 14 will attempt something no Starship flight has done before: catching the ship itself, not just the Super Heavy booster, with the launch tower's upgraded "chopstick" arms. Pad 2 received expanded propellant storage, additional pumps and faster-moving catch hardware ahead of the attempt. The flight follows directly on from Flight 13's Ship 40, which survived a dramatic, unplanned float in the Indian Ocean after splashdown before finally beginning its journey home to Starbase on August 30. A firm Flight 14 launch date is still pending FAA and range approvals, with current expectation pointing to sometime in September. Chang'e-7 slips to early 2027. China's four-vehicle lunar south pole mission — rolled back to the vehicle assembly building on August 24, hours before its scheduled launch — has now been retargeted to early 2027 (February–March windows), a far bigger delay than the "about a month" first reported. Chinese authorities have not disclosed a technical cause beyond an approaching storm; multiple outlets report a separate issue was likely found during final on-pad testing, with reviews continuing into whether the launch vehicle or the spacecraft itself is at fault. A very busy month at the space station. NASA's Jessica Meir (her 7th spacewalk) and ESA's Sophie Adenot (her 3rd, following her historic first-French-woman EVA a few weeks ago) began a roughly six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk at 7:30am EDT on September 1 — the ISS's 284th since 1998, and Expedition 75's fourth in a single month. Tasks include replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, prepping a cosmic particle detector for a future upgrade, and installing data-relay jumper cables. NASA's Anil Menon supported from inside on Canadarm2, with Jack Hathaway on safety watch. Planet formation is a "race against time." A team led by Naman Bajaj (University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, with the SETI Institute) published in The Astronomical Journal on August 27, using archival JWST MIRI data on 72 young, Sun-like stars to show protoplanetary disk dispersal happens in two distinct phases — magnetically driven jets and winds early on (roughly the first 1–10 million years), then photoevaporative winds taking over as the star matures. Gas giant planets must form before that gas is gone. Türkiye joins the Artemis Accords. Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır signed on August 31 at NASA Headquarters, hosted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman — Türkiye is the 71st country to sign. Türkiye sent its first astronaut to the ISS in 2024 and is preparing its first lunar mission, AYAP-1; it hosts the International Astronautical Congress in October. Tonight's sky: Venus is in a tight conjunction with Spica, under 2° apart, low in the west/west-southwest about 45 minutes after sunset (Sydney sunset ≈ 5:33pm AEST), setting roughly 90 minutes later. Saturn now rises near sunset and is up most of the night in Aquarius, building toward an October 4 opposition with rings tilted a photogenic angle. Jupiter has returned to the pre-dawn sky (best 4–6am), with Mars still visible nearby but fading. The Moon is a waning gibbous heading to last quarter on September 4. The weak Aurigid meteor shower peaked overnight but is Northern Hemisphere-favoured and moonlight-affected — not worth chasing from the Southern Hemisphere. Links & sources: KeepTrack — SpaceX Brief, Aug 30 2026: Super Heavy Static Fire Clears Starship Flight 14 Basenor — Starship Flight 14: 5 Details That Matter Right Now Space.com — SpaceX test-fires Starship Super Heavy booster ahead of critical Flight 14 Tesla Oracle — Starship 40 begins its journey from the Indian Ocean back home to Starbase, Texas China-in-Space.com — Chang'e 7 Moon Launch Moved to Early 2027 (Aug 31) South China Morning Post — Could the delay to China's moon mission ease pressure on Nasa? (Aug 26) NASA Space Station Blog — Expedition 75 is Go for Tuesday's Navigation and Science Maintenance Spacewalk (Aug 31) NASA — NASA Sets Spacewalk for Station Maintenance, Live Coverage Planned (Sept 1) Universe Today — Planets Hurry To Form Before the Protoplanetary Disk Dissipates University of Arizona News — Planet formation is a 'race against time,' according to new U of A research SETI Institute — JWST Reveals a Race Against Time for Forming Planets NASA — NASA Welcomes Türkiye as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory (Aug 31) When The Curves Line Up — 2026, September 1: Venus and Spica Conjunction Tonight Follow us: @AstroDailyPod

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