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Last Notes

2026-08-25 04:00:22 UTC

The historic first Earthrise photo from the Moon was received 60 years ago today. It was shot on film, developed onboard the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft, scanned, transmitted home...and then meticulously restored decades later.
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/features/lunarOrbiter/ #space #science #history #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/154/145/050/394/639/original/97d00e71e8588912.jpg

2026-08-21 12:21:27 UTC

Life may have originated more than once on Earth...and today's living cells might have two separate origins.
Fascinating new research traces life's likely beginnings to a hydrothermal vent environment.
https://www.hhu.de/en/news/two-origins-of-life #science #nature #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/133/464/940/140/894/original/8612b67562e84fa8.jpg

2026-08-17 23:04:31 UTC

I needed something spectacular, and here it is: a view of the August 12 solar eclipse as seen from South Korea's Danuri satellite, in orbit around the Moon.
That's the limb of the Moon in the foreground, and the lunar shadow sweeping across Greenland.
https://www.mt.co.kr/amp/tech/2026/08/13/2026081314245392530
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/113/346/516/334/506/original/2205f3bccb951bab.jpg

2026-08-12 23:26:46 UTC

It amazes me every time that pinhole projection really works. We got just a 9% eclipse in Brooklyn, but that was enough to put an obvious dent in the Sun.
I made my "camera" in 10 seconds, using a needle and two pieces of card stock. #science #nature #eclipse
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/085/118/178/439/792/original/dad52db0f70728cc.webp

2026-07-20 22:51:24 UTC

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The first color image from the surface of Mars was released a day later, July 21, 1976.
It was *not* the one that NASA shows you today! Viking scientists were so surprised by the orange skies that they initially shifted the color calibration to make Mars look more Earthlike, before releasing a corrected version 5 days later.
https://solarviews.com/history/SP-4212/ch11-4.html #science #nature #art
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/954/716/673/092/056/original/9469c3b441b7113f.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/954/717/553/920/420/original/472ad726a9940308.jpg

2026-07-20 22:41:44 UTC

The very first image from the surface of Mars, transmitted to Earth from NASA's Viking 1 lander, 50 years ago today.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/our-first-view-of-the-surface-of-mars/ #science #nature #history #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/954/712/059/386/690/original/ef804a4fcd0d8129.webp

2026-07-16 23:44:41 UTC

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It's hard to describe how challenging it is to detect air on a planet 49 light years from Earth. Imagine figuring out how to collect these data...then to look at these results and realize, "I see traces of a helium atmosphere!"
But they did it. Full paper:
https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-spot-first-atmosphere-around-potentially-habitable-alien-world #space #science #nature #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/932/310/375/704/763/original/92ab118d769528f5.jpg

2026-07-16 23:16:06 UTC

Very exciting! First clear detection of an atmosphere around an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.
This is a big step forward in figuring out if "potentially habitable" planets are actually habitable & if red dwarf stars could sustain life.
https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-spot-first-atmosphere-around-potentially-habitable-alien-world #space #science #nature #life
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/932/198/578/352/755/original/7ecbc2b59ed4f87f.jpg

2026-06-08 17:14:35 UTC

Just look at this gorgeous portrait of celestial creation!
JWST trained its infrared vision on one tiny patch in the Orion Nebula. There, it saw a wild collage of collapsing clouds, protostars, jets, shockwaves, and dark disks where new planets are forming.
https://esawebb.org/images/potm2605a/ #space #science #art #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/715/608/154/166/226/original/2b0b9a8ba2adcd40.jpg

2026-05-29 14:18:20 UTC

The scale of the New Glenn explosion is a reminder of the staggering amount of energy locked up within a rocket, and the extreme engineering it takes to release that energy in a precisely controlled way.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/05/29/blue-origins-new-glenn-rocket-explodes-during-prelaunch-testing-at-cape-canaveral/ #space #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/658/291/579/282/041/original/b9b08edb36a6757e.mp4

2026-05-25 14:09:03 UTC

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If you could see our planet's inner magnetism, it would look like this geodynamo simulation. Turbulence in the outer core (red/blue) influences the resulting field (orange).
Abrupt changes down there lead to noticeable "jerks" in the magnetic field that we experience up top.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Swarm/Swarm_helps_explain_Earth_s_magnetic_jerks #space #science #technology #esa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/635/607/195/520/991/original/b52039a651d58a6c.jpg

2026-05-25 14:07:25 UTC

I'm flat-out amazed that we can monitor the currents of molten metal in Earth's outer core, 2200 kilometers underground--but we can. Lately, part of that flow has reversed direction, for reasons unknown.
There's a whole other dynamic world inside the world we see.
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Swarm/Insights_into_Earth_s_molten_outer_core_from_space #space #science #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/635/600/105/623/916/original/b6cca79e32bf10da.mp4

2026-05-24 19:09:53 UTC

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Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey is generally credited as the inventor of the telescope. (That's his patent application, below.) He had a different name for the device: He called it a "kijker," meaning "looker" in Dutch.
In a different reality, there is a Hubble Space Kijker.
https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/lippershey.html
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/631/127/557/476/165/original/807d6b319f97feee.jpg

2026-05-24 19:08:33 UTC

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Some accounts attribute the name "telescope" to Prince Frederico Cesi, head of the Lincean Academy, who hosted the banquet. More likely, he was the one who announced Demisiani's idea to the room.
(Below is a diagram of the telescope design sent to Cesi in 1609. Why, what else did you think it was.)
https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/teleskopos-how-the-telescope-got-its-name/ #science #tech #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/631/120/361/356/824/original/0073fb55a3066273.jpg

2026-05-24 19:06:08 UTC

The word "telescope" was coined at the Lincean Academy in Rome on April 14, 1611, at a dinner party honoring Galileo. But Galileo did not name it!
The telescope was named by Greek poet/priest/mathematician Giovanni Demisiani. He called it "teleskopos"--far-seeing.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24009629?seq=4 #science #history #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/631/111/899/370/112/original/72ad028b32a87a87.webp

2026-05-21 15:37:36 UTC

The growth curve of space debris leveled off for a while. Now it's on a steep upward trajectory: There are 33,269 tracked objects, and counting.
It's still a manageable problem. But we need to manage it.
https://www.accu.co.uk/p/525-the-space-debris-report #space #tech #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/613/305/303/237/787/original/a4e0ff565df7c56d.webp

2026-05-17 20:01:19 UTC

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ESA's long-running Mars Express orbiter captured an exceptional view of clouds & atmospheric haze on Mars. A lot of weather happening in that thin air.
(Processing by Andrea Luck.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrealuck/55274343929/ #space #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/591/692/912/697/614/original/a34d195375df3dd6.jpg

2026-05-17 19:58:47 UTC

Some magical new images of Mars have just come in from our interplanetary robots.
The Psyche probe, en route to a metal asteroid, got this startling view of crescent Mars during its flyby. (Processing by Kevin Gill.)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmgill/55271374755/ #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/591/681/685/090/184/original/76f4fc76fe6ece95.jpg

2026-05-14 20:03:42 UTC

We live at an extraordinary moment in science history: We're the first generation able to see a meaningful map of the entire visible universe.
This view across billions of light years is based on JWST data, as part of the COSMOS-Web survey.
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2026/05/11/astronomers-produce-most-detailed-map-cosmic-web #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/574/713/619/255/371/original/4cbdb88731485dbf.png

2026-05-10 22:16:39 UTC

It is ON! Japan & Europe are collaborating on Ramses, a mission to asteroid Apophis as it makes a rare, unusually close pass by the Earth in April 2029.
The Ramses spacecraft will study Apophis & see how it changes under the pull of Earth's gravity.
https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Planetary_Defence/Ramses_ESA_s_mission_to_asteroid_Apophis #space #science #nature #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/552/589/937/706/474/original/cc738db194330cc2.jpg

2026-04-23 20:32:10 UTC

This story is amazing.
Giant octopuses of the Cretaceous were up to 19 meters (60 feet) long.
They were the apex ocean predators of their day, eating up plesiosaurs and mosasaurs.
And they were apparently quite intelligent.
Sorry we missed you!
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6285 #science #nature #history
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/455/838/925/018/458/original/d607a41cc99b07ac.jpg

2026-04-14 15:40:06 UTC

The Artemis II crew observed six impact flashes from meteorites striking the Moon! The impacts appeared near the equatorial region & were most clearly seen while the Moon was eclipsing the Sun.
No photos, unfortunately: The flashes happened too quickly.
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasas-artemis-ii-crew-saw-meteorites-striking-the-moon-in-real-time #space #science #nature #artemis
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/403/810/066/226/561/original/52b1c95ee49629ed.webp

2026-04-11 18:00:31 UTC

A new study confirms the "Hubble tension": measurements of the local expansion of the universe do not line up with measurements of how the universe was expanding after the Big Bang.
It's no simple experimental error. 11 different techniques agree.
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2611/?lang #space #science #science
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/387/376/047/314/266/original/469ef82a8384f4a3.png

2026-04-08 16:47:11 UTC

One is Pluto's moon Charon.
One is Earth's moon, the Moon (aka Luna)
A little shift in perspective, and even the most familiar objects in space look surprising and new.
#space #science #artemis #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/370/098/053/668/654/original/ac5a042027b02d0b.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/370/100/062/431/103/original/7ed378cf3258607f.webp

2026-04-06 15:16:08 UTC

Beautiful shot & beautiful metaphor. The "Man in the Moon" drifting off at right. The lunar farside coming into view at left. (Processing: Damian Peach)
From the evolution of the eye, ~500 million years ago, until October 7, 1959, no creature on Earth had ever seen the far side of the Moon. #space #science #artemis #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/358/416/970/997/840/original/31290fcc000e7744.jpg

2026-04-05 19:39:41 UTC

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Some context on why Artemis II is providing a perspective on the Moon unlike any seen before by human eyes.
Humans have flown to the Moon before, but Artemis II has a unique flight geometry.
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-missions/artemis-ii-astronauts-mare-orientale #artemis #science #space
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/353/791/428/967/605/original/6ac1e4b94a9ecfdd.webp

2026-04-05 16:22:04 UTC

The Artemis II crew is closing in on the Moon, getting an unearthly view: south at the top, lunar farside on the right.
This is the first time humans have had a complete, direct view of the huge Orientale impact basin, visible at far right.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/55187348577/ #space #science #artemis #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/353/014/236/556/301/original/f7f0dc846b287c2a.jpg

2026-04-03 18:00:34 UTC

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Here is another version of the marvelous new Artemis II view of Earth, taken just minutes later.
This shot uses a shorter exposure, emphasizing the night side of our planet as it eclipses the Sun.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/342/049/192/183/523/original/5378124838d8855f.jpg

2026-04-03 17:23:54 UTC

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To be clear: We're basically looking at an eclipse of the Sun, by the Earth.
This is the night side of our planet, illuminated by the light of the full Moon, seen in a long exposure. Wow!

2026-04-03 17:22:16 UTC

What an amazing view of Earth from Artemis II.
The Sun is behind the Earth, illuminating a thin crescent. This low-light shot, taken by Reid Wiseman using a Nikon D5, shows auroras over the poles, city lights, and the glow of the atmosphere.
And yes, there are stars!
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/hello-world/ #space #science #nature #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/341/926/633/218/832/original/dedcc68e64889945.jpg

2026-04-02 20:35:38 UTC

Even before beginning formal science operations, the remarkable Rubin Observatory has already discovered 12,700 new asteroids.
It found 11,000 asteroids in just 6 weeks during an "optimization" shakedown.
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2608/ #space #science #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/337/023/900/892/987/original/6b78d077ce052d93.jpg

2026-03-24 16:35:26 UTC

A new 225-meter (740-foot) crater appeared on the Moon while nobody was looking. NASA's lunar orbiter imaged the dramatic aftermath.
Such large impacts are once-in-a-century events. This one happened in the spring of 2024.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/moon-new-crater-nasa-orbiter #space #science #nature #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/285/119/051/006/531/original/906ec2c565bb52f2.png

2026-03-22 03:43:28 UTC

I keep seeing versions of this post, which imply a bizarre misunderstanding of how we know the world.
Do people imagine that if we'd never observed galaxies or neutrinos or exoplanets or the cosmic microwave background, we could have *imagined* these things & that would be just as real?
Or that we've magically reached the point, just now, where we no longer need to observe the world?
#science #nature #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/270/756/846/200/929/original/e11140a40656132b.webp

2026-03-15 14:26:21 UTC

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This summary of the Starshot project by one of its team leaders is a bit defensive. But it's a fascinating peek into the minds of the engineers who deeply, passionately wanted to be able to send a spacecraft to another star within their lifetime.
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/03/starshot-is-a-success-part-i/ #science #astronomy #space #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/233/650/876/415/471/original/97cd7b4b7c1b9e4c.jpg

2026-03-15 14:25:19 UTC

The wild "Starshot" project was conceived to design a probe that could reach Proxima Centauri in about 20 years.
Although project has gone dormant, it has yielded a lot of new ideas (many not widely shared, alas) about how to build a viable interstellar probe.
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/03/10/starshot-is-a-success-part-ii/ #space #science #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/233/646/992/846/258/original/cc696e12a9d73723.jpg

2026-03-12 04:41:32 UTC

One of the largest structures in the known cosmos is hidden behind gas & dust in our galaxy.
A new study pierces the gloom & reveals the true extent of the Vela Supercluster: over 300 million light years wide, more than 100,000x as massive as the Milky Way.
https://www.sarao.ac.za/news/vela-the-true-scale-of-a-hidden-giant-structure-revealed/ #space #science #nature #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/214/363/593/832/527/original/74a4a86ce1a79efc.jpeg

2026-03-10 13:40:31 UTC

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Something dramatic happened to the star WOH G64 around 2014: maybe an interaction with a companion star, or the clearing of an enormous eruption.
The lines show how the star's spectrum completely changed between 2007 & 2016. We've never seen anything quite like this.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.19329 #science #space
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/205/159/356/987/774/original/55a1ee2618b7cbb5.jpg

2026-03-10 13:39:35 UTC

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WOH G64 is an enormous star, 2000 times the diameter of the Sun. If you put it in the Solar System, it would extend out to the orbit of Saturn!
It's so big that we can take a direct picture of it, even though it lies outside our own galaxy. The illustration offers a closer look at what's going on here.
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2417/ #science #nature #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/205/149/222/038/392/original/97adb6eeb8ab159e.jpg

2026-03-10 13:36:52 UTC

Astronomers watched as the star WOH G64 transformed from a red supergiant into a rare, shortlived yellow supergiant star...in just 12 years.
It's a dramatic, rapid instability in a star that is rapidly headed toward a cataclysmic supernova explosion.
https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-biggest-stars-in-the-universe-might-be-getting-ready-to-explode-276519 #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/205/144/747/071/086/original/236d53478b83e178.jpg

2026-02-24 16:07:36 UTC

During thunderstorms, electric discharges in the air cause trees to glow with an ultraviolet aura. You can't see it with your eyes, but researchers have finally managed to measure it & recreate it in the lab.
https://news.agu.org/press-release/thunderstorms-conjure-ghostly-coronae-in-treetops-observed-outdoors-for-the-first-time/ #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/126/463/826/615/971/original/7d888018edd8f6bc.jpg
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2026-02-22 12:10:08 UTC

First a hydrogen leak. Now a separate *helium* leak is causing a delay in NASA's Artemis 2 mission around the Moon.
The giant rocket is rolling off the launch pad, with the flight delayed to April 1 at the earliest.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/02/21/nasas-artemis-2-rocket-hit-by-new-problem-expected-to-bump-moonshot-into-early-april/ #space #science #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/114/207/184/261/895/original/eceb99782cd5ebee.jpg

2026-02-16 02:29:07 UTC

If you want to see some rousing volcanic activity, just check out the current live feed from Kīlauea. You might want to sit down first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0tfYDxrUA #science #nature #volcano
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/077/948/562/783/547/original/5632c5cab70c0460.png

2026-02-14 20:38:34 UTC

Radio is beyond red
Gamma rays, beyond blue
There are 80 octaves of the electromagnetic spectrum
But only one we can view
#science #valentinesday
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/070/908/709/640/273/original/0d0005fa7cd85ac1.jpg

2026-02-11 21:21:20 UTC

Ten years ago today, physicists reported the first direct detection of gravitational waves, produced by colliding black holes 1.3 billion light years away.
That was when we, as a species, developed space-time eyes. My Invisible Universe column:
https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/p/the-day-we-evolved-space-time-eyes #space #science #nature #technology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/054/088/924/394/098/original/06dd05569b7e39a1.webp

2026-02-08 19:46:15 UTC

My nomination for today's #SuperbOwl.
The Cosmic Owl is two galaxies that crashed into each other, creating overlapping ring-shaped splashes of stars. It measures 150,000 light years from side to side, or about 10^20 times the size of a Great Grey Owl on Earth.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.10058 #space #science #nature #sports
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/036/728/348/301/917/original/11095378a790a337.png

2026-02-06 21:30:31 UTC

News from the edge of the visible universe:
JWST has confirmed this galaxy, MoM-z14, as the most distant one yet studied. We're seeing it as it was 13.5 billion years ago, 98% of the way back to the beginning of time.
(MoM stands for "miracle or mirage," to give you a sense of where the researchers' heads are at.)
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-pushes-boundaries-of-observable-universe-closer-to-big-bang/ #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/025/812/837/142/332/original/1945758df8cd1fa7.jpg

2026-01-30 05:27:04 UTC

After three decades of searching, astronomers have found more than 6000 planets, but nothing quite like our own.
The new Terra Hunting Experiment in the Canary Islands is designed to find what we're really looking for: an Earth-size planet in an Earth-like orbit around a Sun-like star.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earth-analog-terra-hunting-experiment #space #science #nature #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/982/388/828/867/484/original/1b5da017f2fa427b.jpg

2026-01-25 06:26:49 UTC

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It's sad to see the decay of science information online.
For the 30th anniversary, NASA posted hi-res Voyager images and in-depth details.
For the 35th, lo-res images and in-depth details.
For the 40th, a cartoon and a short blurb, along with a dead link.
#tech #history #nasa

2026-01-25 06:26:10 UTC

40 years ago today, Voyager 2 became the first (and, so far, only) spacecraft to visit to Uranus, sending back astonishing images of the planet, its thin rings, and its peculiar set of moons.
https://www.nasa.gov/history/35-years-ago-voyager-2-explores-uranus/ #space #science #nature #history
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2026-01-21 19:56:58 UTC

A breathtaking look at a dying star. This new image of the Helix Nebula is just in from JWST.
We've never seen this level of detail, as the star's remains stream back out to interstellar space. Our Sun will look something like this 7 billion years from now.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/intricacies-of-helix-nebula-revealed-with-nasas-webb/ #science #nature #art
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/934/848/464/999/274/original/7e8096121c5a8f54.png

2026-01-21 03:59:44 UTC

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I also want to express my admiration for the people who devote their lives to discovery, collaboration, & expanding the human imagination. That's not only a noble task, these days it counts as a form of protest against crass power politics.
Full paper at link:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adf4d5 #space #science #astronomy #politics
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/931/084/562/653/938/original/88d4438a74ab79c8.jpg

2026-01-21 03:58:32 UTC

The universe is full of natural magnifying glasses--gravitational lenses--pointed in random directions. By chance, this one points toward a galaxy cluster forming in the early universe, 11 billion years ago.
It's a rare peek into how the modern cosmos took shape.
https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/alma-and-the-nsf-vla-use-a-cosmic-lens-to-reveal-a-hyperactive-cradle-of-a-future-galaxy-cluster/ #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/931/079/824/340/425/original/4131aea54a11cbe1.jpg

2026-01-13 00:55:01 UTC

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JWST spotted point-like lights at the edge of the visible universe. Black holes? Nope. Colliding galaxies? Nope. Something never seen before.
These may be primordial clumps of gas collapsing directly into dense clusters of stars--some of the very first galaxies.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12177 #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/885/060/124/805/482/original/da9793dfc840b6ac.jpg

2026-01-13 00:53:46 UTC

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See the little dot? New studies of that blue flash from the distant universe (a "Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient") indicate it was caused by a black hole swallowing an entire star. For a moment, it blazed as bright as 100 billion Suns.
https://public.nrao.edu/news/radio-telescopes-uncover-invisible-gas-around-record-shattering-cosmic-explosion/ #space #science
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/885/055/160/131/872/original/bfcf3d90dd28c686.png

2026-01-13 00:52:53 UTC

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A hellish world: Planet TOI-561 b, slightly larger than Earth, orbits an ancient, sunlike star so closely that a "year" lasts just 11 hours and its surface is lava. Yet somehow it has a thick atmosphere, hinting at how old, battered planets might rejuvenate themselves.
https://eos.org/articles/a-lava-world-unexpectedly-hosts-an-atmosphere #science #nature #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/885/051/710/484/614/original/3420caca1c07768d.webp

2026-01-13 00:51:36 UTC

In happier news, it's been a great week for learning strange new things about the universe. A few highlights:
The Rubin Observatory opened its eyes & immediately discovered 1900 asteroids, including the fastest-spinning large asteroid (once every 1.88 minutes!).
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2601/ #science #nature #space
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/885/046/336/603/655/original/875e2a09fc71cb2b.webp

2026-01-04 19:44:38 UTC

Astronomers have spotted a supermassive black hole fleeing its home galaxy at 900+ kilometers per second, heading off alone into intergalactic space.
I feel you, friend.
https://www.sciencealert.com/jwst-confirms-first-runaway-supermassive-black-hole-tearing-through-space #space #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/838/541/304/078/641/original/6160836b1784ba21.png

2025-12-31 03:39:35 UTC

So cool. If you zoom in on the upper right, you see a little crescent. That's the Martian moon Phobos.
Zoom in again and you'll see a star next to Phobos. That's Earth! That's home.
Seen from Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover.
https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/curiosity-views-earth-setting-phobos-rising/ #science #space #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/812/093/414/069/919/original/280d5b89cf9f283d.jpg

2025-12-28 16:58:11 UTC

There will be four eclipses in 2026, including widely visible full & partial lunar eclipses, plus a total solar eclipse in Spain.
For much of North America, the March 3 lunar eclipse happens near moonset, allowing beautiful views like this. (Photo by Fred Espenak)
https://www.eclipsewise.com/ #science #nature #newyear
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/798/248/748/219/056/original/a6df04efdc564195.jpg

2025-12-27 03:46:02 UTC

The visible universe contains about a trillion galaxies, in a dizzying variety of styles.
The blue scatter at bottom is Leo P, a nearby dwarf galaxy that is just one-millionth the mass of our Milky Way. It's almost pure hydrogen & helium--much like the galaxies of long ago.
https://www.stsci.edu/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-401 #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/789/469/719/201/613/original/8a7e67a7c4f14ef2.jpg

2025-12-25 19:09:16 UTC

Three ways of looking at the iconic Christmas Tree Cluster, 2700 light years from Earth.
What the universe looks like depends on how we look at it. These views highlight infrared (left), x-rays (middle), and red emission from hydrogen gas. Beautiful in three different ways. #space #science #art
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/781/778/734/038/569/original/086c2cd157b4fddd.png

2025-12-15 22:15:24 UTC

I could use some light in this darkness right now, so I thought I'd share a gorgeous image from JWST.
This cosmic butterfly is a star being born. New planets are forming within the vertical dark line. Galaxies shine through the scene from the far distance.
https://esawebb.org/images/potm2508a/ #space #science #art #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/725/887/842/851/121/original/bbe6a0f01657040c.jpg

2025-12-05 00:52:38 UTC

Spiral galaxies like our own are rare in the early universe, because they require quiet, stable conditions.
But the discovery of "Alaknanda," a tidy spiral from 12.3 billion years ago, shows that there were pockets of calm even in the era of cosmic chaos.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251203004729.htm #science #nature #philosophy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/664/220/605/648/830/original/4227fcd59608e770.jpg

2025-11-26 15:44:04 UTC

Look at little Mercury transiting in front of the Sun! This scene wasn't visible from Earth, but NASA's STEREO A spacecraft caught it on April 7.
(The video is greatly sped up; the actual event took several hours.)
https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/ #space #science #nature #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/616/747/825/562/329/original/3be3a5d28ce434f1.mp4

2025-11-16 21:27:24 UTC

Marvelous new image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by photographer Satoru Murata before dawn this morning. *
On the right you can also see galaxy NGC 4691. There should be a lot more pictures coming in soon.
(Yes, this one really is the interstellar comet.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/227002358661288/permalink/1619658589395651/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=Es101r7n2s2JTsMn #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/561/490/087/410/141/original/d5eab7552738ce0f.jpg

2025-11-13 21:28:29 UTC

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is fragmenting on its way back out from the Sun.
https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/11/13/comet-c-2025-k1-atlas-fragmentation-13-nov-2025-image-and-animation/ #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/544/507/072/229/181/original/9b85f00554bbfacc.jpg

2025-11-11 01:12:10 UTC

Historians are still decoding the complex calendar system in the Dresden Codex. Who knows what information was in the many other, lost Mayan manuscripts.
All of these tables were created using centuries of carefully recorded, naked eye observations.
https://archaeologymag.com/2025/10/maya-astronomers-predicted-solar-eclipses/ #history #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/528/401/288/895/229/original/5662c3afa44ab802.webp

2025-11-11 01:08:37 UTC

I find this remarkable:
The Dresden Codex, one of the few surviving Mayan manuscripts, contains tables that give highly accurate timings of solar eclipses over more than 700 years, from 350 CE to the 12 century.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt9039 #history #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/528/388/013/396/870/original/e5f3d01de11a0e93.jpeg

2025-11-09 20:44:37 UTC

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Here's a comparison between the sky that you can see with your human eyes & the sky seen through the radio eyes of the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/publications-of-the-astronomical-society-of-australia/article/galactic-and-extragalactic-allsky-murchison-widefield-array-survey-extended-gleamx-iii-galactic-plane/C95F9B7DC74EC3F9D3DDCD1C43A905BD #space #astronomy #physics #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/521/687/332/894/041/original/2788d72957114b32.jpg

2025-11-09 20:42:45 UTC

This is what the band of the Milky Way would look like at night if your eyes could see radio waves. A hidden beauty.
It's a new image created by the Murchison Widefield Array, which scanned the sky in 20 radio "colors" over frequencies from 72 to 231 megahertz.
https://www.icrar.org/gleam-x-galactic-plane/ #space #science #nature #tech
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/521/678/609/698/797/original/e5c51a35d1458aec.jpg

2025-11-02 06:49:22 UTC

What a shot of Comet Lemmon! You can almost reach out and touch it.
Photo taken 3 days ago by Debra Ceravolo.
https://app.astrobin.com/u/debraceravolo?i=0614kk#gallery #space #science #art #photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/478/766/209/796/068/original/8b64dba017b1b378.jpg

2025-10-31 18:00:34 UTC

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Finally, there's this iconic image from JWST. Sure, they can call it the "Pillars of Creation," but this is obviously a giant Monkey's Paw that has already curled two fingers.
https://esawebb.org/images/pillarsofcreation_composite/ #space #science #nature #halloween
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2025-10-31 17:59:34 UTC

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A particularly weird one: The Flying Bat Nebula has the Squid Nebula inside of it.
Is the bat carrying a squid? Did it swallow a squid whole? Somebody needs to work out the mythology here.
https://www.nebulaphotos.com/sharpless/sh2-129/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/076/997/993/922/original/9a3e809ac078c909.jpg

2025-10-31 17:58:34 UTC

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The Bat Signal Nebula, just released by the European Southern Observatory.
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2518/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/073/672/692/281/original/5106e713c50f3eea.jpg

2025-10-31 17:57:51 UTC

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The Goblin Nebula, imaged by father-son duo of Bill & Chad Williams.
https://www.williamsseaandsky.com/?page_id=2324
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/070/340/763/435/original/cdf6727143bfcb95.jpg

2025-10-31 17:57:00 UTC

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The Ghost Nebula, haunting the constellation Cassiopeia.
https://esahubble.org/news/heic1818/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/067/645/154/951/original/b486a0b56de91f1e.jpg

2025-10-31 17:56:10 UTC

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The Witch Head Nebula, located near the bright star Rigel in Orion.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/witch-head-nebula/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/064/452/118/856/original/bc8615210064097e.jpg

2025-10-31 17:55:06 UTC

Astronomers sure do conjure up a lot of spooky images when they look out into deep space. A short Halloween thread:
Let's start with the Cosmic Bat Nebula (LDN 43).
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241027.html #space #science #art #halloween
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/470/059/603/434/033/original/56fd8c72db6a4b59.jpg

2025-10-28 22:36:04 UTC

Spectacular time-lapse image of Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6), taken by astrophotographer Michael Jäger.
There might have been, um, a few satellites passing by during the long exposure.
https://forum.vdsastro.de/viewtopic.php?t=7600&start=50#p43988 #space #science #astronomy #art
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/454/171/075/726/586/original/699ca9a687afbdc7.mp4

2025-10-28 15:55:55 UTC

What a strange, beautiful shot of Comet Lemmon, now passing through the northwest sky after sunset.
Here you see 2 comet tails (gas and dust), plus the unrelated zigzag trail of a passing meteor. And, inevitably, a couple satellite trails, too.
http://star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/ap251027.html #space #science #nature #art
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/452/604/425/752/481/original/deffdb264586a88a.jpg

2025-10-19 17:50:39 UTC

Wild! A meteorite may have struck the windshield of a 737 flying over Colorado, according to early reports.
Whatever the object was, it cut a pilot's arm but did not seriously damage the plane.
https://avbrief.com/united-max-hit-by-falling-object-at-36000-feet/ #science #tech #technology #space
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/402/093/091/133/122/original/7f197d85b3ec1a68.jpg

2025-10-09 19:43:16 UTC

China's Tianwen-2 is on its way to Kamoʻoalewa, an asteroid that currently doubles as a "quasi-moon" of Earth. The spacecraft will collect samples & bring them back home.
On its outward trajectory, Tianwen-2 looked back and got this lovely view of our planet.
https://english.news.cn/20251001/ef35fcb0ed1649c787045fd51547149b/c.html #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/345/901/945/057/643/original/38173b670514de16.png

2025-10-08 02:42:17 UTC

Just amazing: Comet ATLAS formed some 8 billion years ago. It made about 3 dozen circuits around our galaxy. It entered our our solar system & just passed 30 million kilometers from Mars...
...where ESA's ExoMars orbiter captured these images of the interstellar comet!
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_s_ExoMars_and_Mars_Express_observe_comet_3I_ATLAS #space #science #astronomy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/336/234/896/516/169/original/b4633ca61df8f64c.mp4

2025-10-07 11:48:03 UTC

This year's Nobel Prize in physics recognizes the discovery of practical ways to achieve quantum tunneling, which electrons can jump across "forbidden" barriers.
I love the official explanatory cartoon from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2025/press-release/ #science #tech #technology #nobel
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2025-10-01 18:09:58 UTC

If you need a blast of beauty (and who doesn't?) I highly recommend browsing the new Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners. They're spectacular -- and neither of these shots even made it to #1.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/galleries/overall-winners-2025 #space #science #nature #art #photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/300/247/696/177/883/original/5e8200ff7583b911.webp
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/300/247/740/558/917/original/eee816c2cf7c6ed5.webp

2025-09-10 16:05:46 UTC

Possible chemical signature of life found on Mars!
These claims are hugely exciting--and, as always, complex and somewhat ambiguous. The NASA press conference just wrapped, but the news coverage is already coming out:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/09/10/life-on-mars-rocks-mudstones-rover/ #space #science #nasa #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/180/851/898/774/973/original/76631f1d842f72e3.webp

2025-09-05 21:42:11 UTC

A new image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS yielded some serendipitous art.
The Gemini South telescope observed the comet through four color filters. While tracking its motion, the telescope split the light from surrounding (unmoving) stars into little rainbows.
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2525a/ #space #science #art #nature
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2025-09-04 21:22:59 UTC

Warped light makes it possible to measure the black hole at the center of this galaxy, known as the "Cosmic Horseshoe."
It's a monster, 36 billion times as massive as the Sun, possibly the biggest black hole known.
Some very cool astrophysics sleuthing here!
https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/research-highlights/most-massive-black-hole-ever-discovered-detected #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/148/124/496/616/858/original/ebe3914841631eef.png

2025-08-26 13:53:41 UTC

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is slowly giving up its secrets. New JWST observations give a great view of its lopsided, dusty coma & show unusually high levels of carbon dioxide billowing off its nucleus.
These are clues about how it formed long ago in a star system far, far away.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.18209 #space #science #nature
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/095/394/742/578/358/original/03393df83d7ca1fb.jpg

2025-08-24 00:44:14 UTC

Last week I came across a remarkable archival document by astronomer William Herschel. He describes his telescopes as time machines, capable of "penetrating into time" as much as 1,910,000 years into the past.
His specific numbers were off, but his insight was spot on. In the year 1800!
#space #science #history #nature
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2025-08-19 16:13:21 UTC

Let's get this over with: Astronomers just found a new moon around Uranus.
It's part of an unusual group of 14 mini satellites orbiting close to the planet, within the orbit of its 1st major moon, Miranda. They may relate to the planet's rings & odd, sideways tilt.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/webb/2025/08/19/new-moon-discovered-orbiting-uranus-using-nasas-webb-telescope/ #space #science #nature #uranus
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2025-08-18 02:12:55 UTC

Fifteen years of radio observations yielded this amazing view down the throat of a black hole.
We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet.
https://www.mpg.de/25171297/eye-of-sauron-in-deep-space?c=2249 #space #science #nature
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2025-08-08 22:52:11 UTC

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The gas cloud spat out by this star is huge.
How huge? About 50,000 times the size of Earth's entire orbit around the Sun!
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.11609 #science #nature #wonder
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2025-08-08 22:50:16 UTC

4,000 years ago, the star DFK 52 spit out a huge cloud of gas & dust--nearly as massive as our entire Sun. We don't know why, but we can see the result.
This is a velocity image of the star, which is likely to explode soon as a supernova. Blue indicates gas moving toward us, red indicates gas moving away.
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2531a/ #space #science #nature #astronomy
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2025-08-04 09:02:49 UTC

En route to Jupiter, NASA's Europa Clipper captured this ethereal thermal (infrared) image of Mars and its two tiny moons.
We still don't know if they are captured asteroids, or the splattered remains of ancient impacts.
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26567 #space #science #astronomy
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2025-07-31 13:33:57 UTC

At an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of quantum mechanics, physicists were polled on their view of quantum theory.
Their wildly divergent answers illustrate the difference between observation and interpretation.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02342-y #science #nature #physics #philosophy
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2025-07-28 20:52:13 UTC

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The combined PUNCH images create the funky propeller effect.
Look closely in the background and you can see Orion at the bottom and Jupiter at middle left. The Sun's extended corona is faint enough that you can see the stars right through it.

2025-07-28 20:51:43 UTC

NASA's new PUNCH mission is a constellation of 4 small satellites that collectively provide an unprecedented view of giant eruptions breaking free from the Sun.
This first-release video compresses about 6 days of observations.
https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/punch/2025/06/10/nasas-punch-releases-its-first-images-of-huge-eruptions-from-sun/ #space #science #nature #nasa
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/932/835/079/631/311/original/4e4cd0756a993a7f.mp4

2025-07-26 01:37:56 UTC

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3. Perhaps the most intriguing discovery in the outer solar system: Ammonite, an ancient ~300-kilometer-wide chonk that loops up to 252 times as far from the Sun as Earth.
It orbits roughly where the proposed Planet 9 should be...likely meaning that Planet 9 doesn't exit.
https://subarutelescope.org/en/results/2025/07/14/3574.html #space #science #nature #astronomy
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2025-07-26 01:35:50 UTC

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2. Another object, 2015 OU194, is in a 3:4 resonance with Uranus, meaning it completes 3 orbits for every 4 of Uranus. The object is classified as a "centaur."
So yeah, there's a centaur waltzing around Uranus in 3:4 time.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/aded08 #science #space #nature
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