Solar Fireworks, Crew-12 Countdown, and Venus Hides a Secret

In today's episode of Astronomy Daily, Anna and Avery cover five major stories from across the cosmos. SpaceX Crew-12 is targeting Thursday February 12th for launch to the International Space Station, after weather pushed back the Wednesday window. Meet the international crew of four and find out why this mission will run longer than usual. Our Sun has been active overnight, with sunspot region AR4366 firing off four M-class flares including an M2.8 that triggered a radio blackout over the Pacific. We look at what this means for space weather and aurora watchers. A stunning new study from Penn State, published in PNAS, has rewritten how scientists think amino acids formed in asteroid Bennu — and the implications for where life's ingredients can arise in the universe are profound. Italian scientists have confirmed the first lava tube on Venus, using 30-year-old radar data from NASA's Magellan mission. The structure is larger than any lava tube found on Earth, the Moon, or Mars. And finally — could coal be the key to finding advanced alien civilisations? A provocative new paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology makes the case. All stories sourced from NASA, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Phys.org. Links below. Source Links •       Crew-12 weather delay: nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation •       NSF launch preview: nasaspaceflight.com/2026/02/launch-preview-020926 •       Bennu amino acids (PNAS): doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2517723123 •       Venus lava tube (Nature Communications): doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68643-6 •       Aliens and coal: phys.org/news/2026-02-advanced-aliens-exoplanets-large-coal.html •       Solar activity: earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates Chapters / Timestamps (approximate) •       00:00 — Cold Open •       01:00 — Story 1: SpaceX Crew-12 Weather Delay •       05:00 — Story 2: Solar Flare Activity AR4366 •       07:30 — Story 3: Asteroid Bennu & Amino Acid Origins •       10:30 — Story 4: Venus Lava Tube Discovery •       13:30 — Story 5: Alien Civilisations & Coal Deposits •       17:00 — Close

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