From Dr. Becky.
AD – Go to https://ground.news/drbecky to stay fully informed with the latest Space and Science news. Save 40% off the Vantage plan through my link for unlimited access | Hello and welcome to this episode of Night Sky News for June 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 new studies using JWST data of the infamous exoplanet K2-18b claiming there’s no evidence for dimethyl sulphide, unlike the claims from a recent study that made headlines, plus we’ve got more detail on the proposed cuts to NASA and the NSF including a 66% cut to the astrophysics budget, along with the discovery of a new “most distant galaxy known”.
My previous video on K2-18b – https://youtu.be/j2eqanZ2YQ8
Last month’s Night Sky News episode – https://youtu.be/si6paqM2_ug
My previous video on the search for life as we don’t know it – https://youtu.be/HzCDgvG14ok
My previous video on every “most distant galaxy known” – https://youtu.be/nkYeHYDneHU
My previous video on the Habitable Worlds Observatory – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEWaK3hFZwk
Luque et al. (2025) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.13407
Wellbanks et al. (2025) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.21788
Madhusudhan et al. (2025) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2504.12267
Madhusudhan et la. (2023) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.05566
NASA FY 2026 discretionary budget request details – https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/
NSF Fy 2026 discretionary budget request details – https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2026
The Planetary Society resources for contacting your representative (for US residents) – https://www.planetary.org/save-nasa-science
The Planetary Society global petition – https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/55
Naidu et al. (2025) – https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.11263
00:00 Introduction
01:01 June Solstice
02:09 Toenail Moon + Venus after Solstice
02:34 Look for Milky Way at New Moon
02:52 7th July Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation
03:29 Mercury, Moon, and the Twins!
03:51 29th June Mars + Moon occultation
04:33 Ground News AD
06:57 K2-18b: evidence against DMS detection
13:33 Confirmation of NASA budgt cuts :'(
20:00 Confirmation of NSF budget cuts :'(
22:37 MoM-z14 a new most distant galaxy!
25:01 Bloopers
Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV
Video edited by Jonny Hyman
—
📚 My new book, "A Brief History of Black Holes", out NOW in hardback, paperback, e-book and audiobook (which I narrated myself!): http://lnk.to/DrBecky
—
👕 My new merch, including JWST designs, are available here (with worldwide shipping!): https://https://shopdrbecky.com/
—
🎧 Royal Astronomical Society Podcast that I co-host: podfollow.com/supermassive
—
🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
—
👩🏽💻 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.
