From Dr. Becky.
AD | Huge thanks to KiwiCo for sponsoring today’s video. Go to https://www.kiwico.com/astrodrbecky and use code ASTRODRBECKY for 50% off your first monthly crate! | Hello and welcome to this episode of Night Sky News for May 2025 with me, astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst. This is the show where we chat about what you should look out for in the night sky in the next month, and what’s been happening in space news in the past month. In this episode we’re chatting about the proposed cuts to the NASA budget which almost halve the space science programs budget, and its potential impact on astrophysics research, the latest on the construction of the extremely large telescope in Chile, and whether we’ve finally spotted the infamous planet nine at the edge of the solar system…
Madhusudhan et al. (2025; DMS detection on K2-18b?) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.12267
Taylor et al. (2025; no DMS on K2-18b?) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.15916
My previous video on the big news this month of a claimed detection of the biosignature dimethyl sulphide (DMS) in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b – https://youtu.be/j2eqanZ2YQ8?si=fpm6rfziEKj-UIt_
Phan et al. (2025; hints of Planet 9) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.17288
My previous video on Planet 9 – https://youtu.be/AplFPtHY09E?si=-R1lRNHyNA4RS0dC
White House FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Request detailing cuts to NASA – https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-resources/budget/the-presidents-fy-2026-discretionary-budget-request/
Resources to take action against NASA budget the Planetary Society – https://www.planetary.org/save-nasa-science
More on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EiTby2Lku8
00:00 Introduction
00:59 Spot the Summer Triangle after sunset
02:21 The season of the centre of the Milky Way
05:08 Venus & Saturn before sunrise, plus toenail moon!
06:07 Jupiter & Mars after sunset
08:42 A marker of life in K2-18b?!
10:25 The Extremely Large Telescope gets a roof!
12:54 Could this be the first hints of Planet 9?!
17:47 The BIG cuts to the NASA budget
29:04 Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Jonny Hyman
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👩🏽💻 I’m Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don’t know. If you’ve ever wondered about something in space and couldn’t find an answer online – you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.
