First genuinely green star discovered & Rethinking the solar system’s edge - Space News (Oct 16, 2026)

Support The Automated Daily directly: 15 free episodes a day, 5 editions, 3 languages, about $4 a day to produce. A coffee keeps it going: theautomateddaily.com/support Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Invest Like the Pros with StockMVP - https://www.stock-mvp.com/?via=ron - SurveyMonkey, Using AI to surface insights faster and reduce manual analysis time - https://get.surveymonkey.com/tad - Prezi: Create AI presentations fast - https://try.prezi.com/automated_daily Today's topics: First genuinely green star discovered - Astronomers identified a chartreuse white dwarf whose atmosphere was altered by rocky planetary debris, making it the first known star that would genuinely appear green to human eyes. The same survey also revealed an exceptionally red white dwarf. [31] Rethinking the solar system’s edge - Scientists propose that the solar system’s gravitational frontier may extend nearly 3.8 light-years from the Sun. The idea considers the Milky Way’s gravity and dark matter, although it is not yet an accepted redefinition. [61] Cosmic Treble Clef explained - Chandra and eROSITA observations indicate that the Treble Clef radio structure was shaped by a supermassive black hole outburst followed by a collision between two galaxy clusters. The discovery helps explain how ancient clouds of particles can be revived. [121][127] Classified Space Force mission launches - A Falcon 9 launched the classified USSF-481 mission from California for the United States Space Force. The payload remains secret, while the rocket’s first stage successfully returned to a platform in the Pacific. [172] Phobos sample mission nears launch - Japan’s MMX mission is preparing to visit the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, collect material from Phobos and return it to Earth. The international mission could settle a long-running debate over how Mars acquired its moons. [198][204] Episode Transcript First genuinely green star discovered We begin with a discovery that challenges the familiar language of astronomy. White dwarfs are the dense remains left behind after stars like the Sun exhaust their fuel, and their name suggests a fairly limited color palette. A new survey shows that reality is much more varied. Researchers examined the light from 151 white dwarfs and found examples appearing pink, yellow, cyan, purple and, most surprisingly, green. The standout is a star called WD J1330 plus 6435. Its atmosphere contains sodium, calcium and lithium associated wit