Universe Today Podcast [Space Bites] Artificial Solar Eclipses // Mother of All Meteor Storms // Vera Rubin's First Light
Jun 20, 2025
A new mission can create artificial solar eclipses, providing exciting insights into solar phenomena. Discussions explore how supernovae and stellar flybys might have impacted Earth's climate throughout history. Listeners learn about a looming asteroid that could trigger the mother of all meteor showers in 2032, potentially endangering satellites. The podcast also covers SpaceX's testing challenges and a new mission from the Vera Rubin Observatory, poised to capture significant astronomical events for the next decade.
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Proba-3 Creates Artificial Eclipses
- ESA's Proba-3 mission can create artificial solar eclipses daily by flying two satellites in precise formation.
- This allows detailed study of the Sun's corona beyond what natural eclipses permit.
PUNCH Captures Solar Eruption
- NASA's PUNCH mission uses four spacecraft to observe the Sun's atmosphere in 3D.
- It captured a giant coronal mass ejection, important for studying space weather effects on Earth.
Stellar Flybys Not Climate Drivers
- Stellar flybys are common but simulations show they cannot cause the Earth's climate changes linked to mass extinctions.
- Hence, other explanations must account for these prehistoric climate events.