[Space Bites+] Titan Dragonfly Assembly // Extra Long-Distance Software Update // New Exoplanet Detection Method
BONUS PART START STARTS AT 18:21
Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JMSfLchB5hI
Interview with Dr. Noelia Noël about painting satellites black https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yQegWQWtUo
Dragonfly is taking shape. A new exoplanet at Beta Pictoris. Hera gets a software upgrade mid-flight. And new features hiding in the Orion Nebula. On Space Bites Plus, how we can paint satellites black to reduce light pollution. All this and more in this week's Space Bites.
00:00 Intro
00:20 Dragonfly Takes Its Shape https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragonfly/2026/07/09/nasas-dragonfly-clears-key-tests-as-titan-rotorcraft-takes-shape/
03:41 Software Update for HERA https://www.universetoday.com/articles/rebooting-a-spacecraft-140-million-kilometres-from-home
06:11 New Exoplanet at Beta Pictoris https://www.universetoday.com/articles/this-exoplanet-hid-for-10-years-before-astronomers-finally-found-it
09:36 Missing Link for Black Holes https://www.universetoday.com/articles/a-relativistic-jet-could-be-an-indication-of-the-missing-link-for-black-holes
11:51 Vote results
12:13 Ancient astronomers were right about Theta Eridani https://www.universetoday.com/articles/to-ancient-astronomers-theta-eridani-was-brighter-for-a-thousand-years-now-we-know-why
14:41 New Features Hiding in the Orion Nebula https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomers-find-new-features-hiding-in-the-orion-nebula
16:15 Hubble Discovers First of Star Cluster’s Missing Black Holes https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-discovers-first-of-star-clusters-missing-black-holes/
17:54 More space news
19:03 How do you do, fellow kids?
Comments (18)
Great episode Fraiser thanks
Didn't starlink boil one of their satellites by painting them black?
Good show. Please add link to interview with Dr. Noelia Noël, thanks,
It's the second link in the description under the video https://youtu.be/1yQegWQWtUo?is=Kd6vSjlPxrxNb0QP
I wasn't sure about "Most Awesome Ever"... until you said "nuclear-powered octo-copter". I'm convinced. PS: Thanks once again for Space Bites.
Excelente idea me encantaría participar pero no puedo abrir la aplicación por qué el teléfono lo tengo en modo seguro lo quito y inmediatamente siguen los ataques de los ciber delincuentes que me persiguen y también me atacan con el modo seguro pero así tengo oportunidad de que me sigan atacando
The little jokes that Anton mixes in really make these fun to watch. Nice work guys!
Did I hear the name of the scientist heading up the Vanta black-colored satellite project correctly? Her name is Dr. Noellia Noel? As in Christmassy Christmas? I get the feeling she may have been teased a lot when she was a kid, and then teased even more in 1999 when The World Is Not Enough came out with Denise Richards playing a nuclear physicist named Dr. Christmas Jones. It would be funny if she were Jewish. OK, I think I'm done. If she happens to be reading this, I apologize, but I couldn't resist.
Her name makes me think of the late Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane.
As someone who builds drones, I'm really looking forward to the Dragonfly mission!
Wow, that’s really interesting! 😍 I can see why you’re excited about the Dragonfly mission, especially since you build drones. What part of the mission are you most looking forward to?
Purely coincidentally, I had the opportunity to visit Surrey Nanosystems, makers of Vantablack, earlier this week. It was a great to talk with them and learn about how Vantablack offers an order of magnitude improvement in signal-to-noise for optical sensors and see the manufacturing process. I even got to take home my own sample of Vantablack! I_FOUND_THE_EASTER_EGG
How heavy is the Dragon Fly going to be? Nuclear batteries are pretty heavy.
Only 875 kilos. Not too bad.
Great 👍 episode 👏
Thanks! and thanks to Anton, he had too much fun.
I expect they will be taking this into account, but regarding the black "paint", one of the other benefits of all satellites using the same proprietary blend could mean that the spectrum of any reflected light could then be well know and better subtracted from the path of the satellite to further reduce any contamination of the data.
Only problem is the emission is black body radiation, so hard to filter out of the IR spectrum, though it will help a lot with visible light astronomy and UV, but it probably does have some reduced absorption as you get further into the UV side, plus how will it reach to decades in orbit.