Dark Energy, Cosmic Selfies & Baby Moons

week. We'll also explore a mysterious galaxy that's challenging what we thought we knew about the early universe. We check in on China's expanding satellite network and learn how NASA's Europa Clipper will scout potential landing sites on one of the most promising worlds for finding extraterrestrial life. So settle in as we journey through these captivating stories that remind us just how dynamic and ever changing our understanding of space truly is.

The US Space Force has officially certified United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket for national security missions after analyzing data from the vehicle's two certification launches that took place in January and October of 2024. This milestone announcement came on March 26 from the Space Force's Space Systems Command, marking the completion of a long

awaited certification process. Space Force Brigadier General Kristen Panzenhagen, who serves as the Program Executive Officer for Assured Access to Space, emphasized the significance of this development, noting that assured access to space is a core function of the Space Force and a critical element of national security. She added that the Vulcan certification adds launch capacity, resiliency and flexibility needed for the nation's most critical space based systems.

This certification is particularly notable as UH ula now joins SpaceX as only the

second provider certified to carry out launches under the National Security Space Launch Program, enhancing America's launch capabilities for sensitive military and intelligence payloads. The path to certification wasn't without challenges. The second Vulcan certification flight experienced an incident when the nozzle of one of its two solid rocket boosters fell off approximately half a minute after liftoff.

Remarkably, the vehicle compensated for the diminished thrust and still completed its mission successfully. ULA's President and CEO Tory Bruno later explained that a manufacturing defect in an internal insulator part caused the nozzle separation and appropriate corrective actions were implemented and verified through static fire testing. Looking ahead, ULA has ambitious plans for their launch

cadence. Bruno has indicated that the company is projecting a dozen launches this year split roughly evenly between their Atlas and Vulcan rockets, serving both national security and commercial missions. The first National Security space launch mission on Vulcan is planned for this summer in North America. ULA aims to establish a baseline tempo of two launches per month by the end of this year and perform 20 launches in

2025. Bruno noted that the company has been strategically stockpiling critical components such as B4 engines and solid rocket boosters to support this accelerated launch schedule. This certification represents a, uh, significant advancement for America's space launch capabilities, ensuring redundancy and resilience in the nation's ability to deploy critical national security assets to orbit. As Bruno remarked, we're all staged up and ready, and as spacecraft show up, we'll be able to fly them.

What a difference a year makes. Just a year after millions across North America witnessed the spectacular total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, we're already preparing for another celestial event. Mark your calendars for this Saturday, March 29, 2025, when a partial solar eclipse will grace our skies, though with a notably different viewing audience. This upcoming eclipse results from the Moon's shadow falling primarily on the north

polar regions of Earth. It's actually the second eclipse in less than a month, coming just two weeks after the total lunar eclipse that occurred on 3-13-14. This pattern is what astronomers call an eclipse season, a roughly 37 day period when the alignment of the sun and Moon can allow for eclipses to occur at both full and new Moon phases. For this March 29 event, the Moon will pass through the opposite node of its orbit. Compared to the lunar eclipse, however, the Moon passes this

node almost too early. By the time it reaches new phase, about 19 hours after crossing the ecliptic, the axis of its shadow will pass well to the north of Earth. The dark shadow cone, or umbra, will completely miss our planet, passing about 180 miles above the North Pole. This means no location on Earth will experience totality, but instead the Moon's outer shadow, the penumbra, will create a partial eclipse

visible in varying degrees. The eclipse will be visible across northwest Africa, much of Europe, excluding some eastern sections northwest Russia, Iceland, and Greenland. Parts of South America, including Suriname, French Guiana, and Amada in Brazil will see a small dent in the sun at sunrise. For North Americans, visibility depends entirely on location. If you draw a line from Oakville, Ontario, down to Virginia Beach, Virginia, areas west of this line won't see any

part of the eclipse. Those to the east, however, will catch at least a glimpse near sunrise, though maximum eclipse will have already occurred before the sun appears above the horizon. The farther north and east you go in North America, the more impressive the view becomes. In Baltimore, the Sun will rise with 7.8% of its diameter already eclipsed, with the event ending just four minutes later. But residents of northern New England and Atlantic Canada are in for a

spectacular treatment. The town of Madawaska in far northern Maine will experience maximum eclipse almost precisely at sunrise, with

88.2% of the Sun's diameter covered. This will create the stunning visual effect of the sun appearing as a delicate crescent with its points aimed nearly straight up, resembling two lobster claws emerging from beyond the eastern horizon. Similar impressive views await Atlantic Canada, with Halifax seeing 85.6% coverage and at 7:17am Fredericton experiencing 87% at 7:19am and St. John's reaching 85.4% at 7:52am as always with solar eclipses, proper eye protection is essential.

Unlike, um, a total eclipse with its brief moments of totality, a partial eclipse can be observed more leisurely, but only through specially designed solar filters or eclipse glasses. Remember that looking at the sun without proper protection is extremely dangerous. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has made another groundbreaking discovery that's challenging

our understanding of the early universe. An international team of astronomers has identified bright hydrogen emission from an incredibly distant galaxy observed just 330 million years after the Big Bang, a mere fraction of our universe's current 13.8 billion year age. The galaxy, designated Jades GSZ13.1, was first spotted in images taken by Webb's Near Infrared Camera as part of the James Webb Space Telescope Advanced Deep Extragalactic

Survey. Researchers initially estimated its redshift, a measure of how far the galaxy's light has traveled and been stretched by the expansion of space, at around 12.9 to confirm this extreme distance. They then observed it using Webb's Near Infrared

Spectrograph instrument. The resulting spectrum not only confirmed the redshift at 13.0, placing it firmly in the very early universe, but also revealed something completely unexpected a distinctly bright wavelength of light known as Lyman alpha emission radiating from hydrogen atoms. This emission was far stronger than scientists thought possible during this ancient epoch. What makes this finding so perplexing is that the early universe was filled with a thick fog of neutral hydrogen gas.

This fog should have completely blocked such emissions until a process called reionization cleared it away a process that wasn't completed until about 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Yet here was JDGS Z13.1 shining through this cosmic fog more than 600 million years earlier than should be possible. Roberto Maialino from the University of Cambridge and University College London explains why this is so significant.

GSZ13.1 is seen when the universe was only 330 million years old, yet it shows a surprisingly clear telltale signature of Lyman alpha emission that can only be seen once the surrounding fog has fully lifted. This result was totally unexpected by theories of early galaxy formation and has caught astronomers by surprise. Before and during the reionization era, the neutral hydrogen surrounding galaxies should have blocked any energetic ultraviolet light they emitted, much like colored glass filters

light. Until enough stars had formed to ionize this hydrogen gas, no such light, including Lyman Alpha emission, should have been able to escape and reach Earth. We really shouldn't have found a galaxy like this, given our understanding of the way the universe has evolved, says Kevin Hainlein from the University of Arizona. We could think of the early universe as, uh, shrouded with a thick fog that would make it exceedingly difficult to find

even powerful lighthouses peeking through. Yet here we see the beam of light from this galaxy piercing the veil. Scientists aren't yet certain what caused this unexpected emission, but they have theories. One possibility is that the galaxy contains some of the universe's first generation of stars, much more massive, hotter, and more luminous than stars formed later. Another explanation could be a powerful active galactic nucleus driven by one of the first supermassive

black holes. Whatever the explanation, this discovery opens exciting new questions about the earliest chapters of our cosmic history and how the first stars and galaxies formed. The research was published in the journal Nature, marking another remarkable achievement for the Webb Telescope as it continues to transform our understanding of the universe's origins. China has taken another significant step forward in its space infrastructure with the successful launch of a new

data tracking and relay communications satellite. The Tianlian two zero four lifted off on March 26th at 11:55am M. Eastern Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch center in southwest China aboard a long March 3rd B rocket. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or KSC, announced the mission's success about an hour after liftoff. While the launch was anticipated due to airspace closure notices, the exact payload wasn't revealed until after the successful

deployment. Tianlian2:04 is now in geosynchronous transfer orbit and will eventually maneuver to take up its final position along the geostationary belt. Approximately 35,000 sets 786 kilometers above Earth's equator. From this vantage point, it will join China's second generation geostationary orbit data relay satellite, Constellation. These satellites serve a critical function for China's space program, providing data relay and telemetry, tracking and command services for

the nation's crewed spacecraft. This includes supporting the Tiangong Space Station and Shenzhou spacecraft, as well as assisting medium and low Earth orbit satellites and launch operations. The Tianlian Network performs a role similar to NASA's Tracking and Data relay satellite system, with satellites strategically positioned around geostationary orbit to provide

nearly continuous coverage. According to casc, this newest addition to the fleet features several technical upgrades compared to its predecessor Tianlian2:03, which was launched in July 2022. These improvements include enhanced transmission capacity and faster response speed speeds aimed at meeting China's growing needs for data relay and tracking services, while also strengthening the autonomy and security of

their second generation relay system. The Tianlian program has a long history, beginning with China's first Tianlian satellite launched in 2008. The earlier Tianlian 1 series satellites have now been moved to graveyard orbits above the geostationary belt, while the newer generation continues active service like earlier satellites in the series, Tianlian2:04 was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, a UM major spacecraft making Institute under CASC.

This launch marks China's 15th orbital mission of 2025, demonstrating the country's increasingly ambitious space program. With expanded spaceport capabilities, ongoing mega Constellation projects, and new launch vehicles set to debut, China could potentially target around 100 or more launches this year, far exceeding their previous national record of 68 launches set last

year. The country's space agenda remains packed with other major upcoming missions, including the Shenzhou 20 and 21 crewed flights to the Tiangong Space Station and the Tianwen 2 near Earth asteroid Sample Return mission, expected to launch around May. Let's move a bit further out into space now, looking ahead to one of NASA's most anticipated deep

space missions. New research presented at the 2025 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference has revealed how the Europa Clipper will help identify potential landing sites for a future mission to Jupiter's icy moon. This strategic reconnaissance capability could prove crucial for the next phase of exploring this ocean world. The Europa Clipper, scheduled to reach the Jovian system in April 2030, will follow a complex orbital pattern around Jupiter, performing 49 close flybys of Europa.

Unlike Mars orbiters that follow relatively simple circular paths, the Clipper can't orbit Europa directly due to Jupiter's intense radiation environment, which would damage the spacecraft. Instead, it will follow carefully designed looping orbits that minimize radiation exposure while still allowing close study of the moon.

Planetary geologist Jennifer Scully and her team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have carefully assessed which of these flybys would be most suitable for identifying future landing sites. They determined that any reconnable flyby must meet three key proper lighting conditions with the surface and sunlight, specific incidence angles between 30 and 60 degrees, and an altitude of approximately 50 to 100 kilometers to ensure appropriate image resolution without

blurring. Based on these criteria, the researchers identified 12 flybys as fully reconnable and another 13 as supporting. Most notably, a flyby designated E19 stands out as particularly valuable for landing site selection. Its ground Track extends over 700km and covers a fascinating transition between Europa's ridged plains and a region called Pao Regio, one of the Moon's mysterious chaos terrains where the surface appears jumbled and disrupted, potentially offering clues about the

ocean beneath. The Europa Clipper's sophisticated Europa Imaging System, with its narrow and wide angle cameras, will collect crucial data for what's known as terrain relative navigation. This is the same guidance system that allowed NASA's Perseverance rover to safely navigate to its landing site on Mars. A future Europa lander would use these detailed surface images combined with real time camera data to guide itself

safely to the surface. The researchers note that their current assessments are based on older data from the Galileo mission, and rankings will likely change once the Europa Clipper begins returning high resolution images. Some potential landing areas haven't even been photographed at high resolution yet, highlighting just how much we still have to discover

about this intriguing world. This research provides a critical roadmap for mission planners as they prepare for the Europa Clipper's operations in the 2000-30s and lay groundwork for what could eventually become humanity's first landing on an ocean world beyond Earth. And that wraps up today's episode of Astronomy

Daily. From the space force certifying ULA's Vulcan rocket to the upcoming partial solar solar eclipse, Webb's surprising discovery of ancient light, China's new data relay satellite, and the Europa Clipper's mission to scout landing sites on Jupiter's Ocean Moon. We've journeyed across the solar system and beyond. I'm Anna, and it's been my pleasure to bring you these fascinating stories from across the cosmos.

Whether you're a seasoned astronomer or just curious about what lies beyond our atmosphere, I hope you've enjoyed today's cosmic update. Visit our website at astronomydaily IO where you can sign up for our free daily newsletter and listen to all our episodes. You can also find us on social media. Just search for Astro Daily pod on X, YouTubeMusic, Facebook, Tumblr, and TikTok. Until next time, keep looking up