Mark McCaughrean

Adjunct scientist, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg / Former Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency / JWST Science Working Group Interdisciplinary Scientist / Co-founder Space Rocks / New worlds ahead / Opinions very much own   

Now living in a hilly part of Germany & very much missing regular cycling with the wide horizons & big skies of The Netherlands 😢🚴‍♂️

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Last Notes

2026-10-26 20:34:10 UTC

Just for fun: the Moon seen through thin cloud last night, just a couple of hours before it was full 🌝
Capturing details on the Moon itself at the same time as the colourful surrounding halo would be extremely challenging, so this is a two image montage, with a longer exposure for the cloud & a shorter one for our satellite.
Both hand-held with my Nikon, so the cloud part is fairly noisy.
Anyway, as I say, just for fun 🤷‍♂️🙂
#Photography 📷
#Astronomy 🔭
#Heidelberg 🏰
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/509/113/439/300/288/original/c261cc8ce8db6889.jpg

2026-10-22 20:49:03 UTC

A couple of mysteries.
First, this little black fly is very likely in genus Hebecnema according to both iNat & ObsIdentify.
The close eyes say it's a male & looking at the visible features, it might be one of H affinis, H vespertina, or H nigra.
All rarely observed in DE on iNat.
But 🤷‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/486/513/697/254/794/original/501ff3b968364042.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/486/514/794/942/141/original/62ce8ca798873bf3.jpg

2026-10-22 13:06:16 UTC

Sorry to keep you dangling ...
This cranefly was probably regretting its life choices this afternoon, likely having blundered into a spider, although I couldn't spot one.
The thorax & wing markings, as well as the time of year, strongly suggest Tipula confusa (🇩🇪 Gefleckte Herbstschnake).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/484/693/900/116/172/original/a95061d96ab9564b.jpg

2026-10-15 18:39:49 UTC

Lunar transmissions 🌒🗼
The five-day old waxing Moon setting behind the Fernsehturm atop the Königstuhl above Heidelberg this evening.
As seen from our rooftop terrace.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/446/375/949/177/380/original/1ebdb49b2ce6cde9.jpg

2026-10-12 14:10:30 UTC

This ...
is what I live for when patrolling the garden – first time seeing a new (to me) ichneumon wasp 🙂
It's likely Ephialtes manifestator (🇩🇪 Rotbeinige Holzschlupfwespe).
She'll use that very long ovipositor to lay her eggs in the pupae of solitary bees & wasps in my bee hotel 😬
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/428/305/439/190/659/original/3e90119e4deb2e7e.jpg
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2026-10-10 19:37:41 UTC

Well, I'm claiming it – hints of a purple aurora borealis in the skies north of Heidelberg this evening, at latitude 49.4ºN between ~20:20 & 20:50 CEST 🙂 👍
It was a strong geomagnetic event, caused by a coronal mass ejection four days ago, so hopefully people further north will have captured much more.
And there could be more to come tonight – keep an eye on the skies / aurora alert apps.
#NorthernLights
#Aurora #AuroraBorealis
#Photography
#Heidelberg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/418/280/794/459/035/original/38d2c71329c25a1e.jpg
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2026-10-07 14:47:02 UTC

A couple of new species & nice pictures of a couple of others.
First this moth, only briefly glimpsed in the ferns. But the shape & colouration are sufficient to fairly definitely ID it as a morning-glory plume moth (Emmelina monodactyla; 🇩🇪 Ackerwinden-Federmotte).
Better shots later hopefully.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/400/164/442/931/136/original/898fe491269fb30c.jpg

2026-10-04 20:30:30 UTC

Watching Greece vs Germany in the Nations League.
All the hoarding ads are German.
And yet not if you’re in Greece – then you get Greek ads.
How? Motion tracking & real-time CGI overlays onto the boards in post?
No – it’s cleverer than that.
The LED boards are cycling at 240fps, running four different sets of ads.
Each broadcaster syncs to the 60fps stream with the ads they want.
Smart.
But not foolproof: occasionally they switch to a camera where you get the “wrong” ads 🙂
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/384/528/988/862/917/original/772cf509956a6704.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/384/528/984/558/585/original/99b785ab2337fe44.jpeg

2026-09-30 10:44:38 UTC

As I was driving yesterday from Katwijk to Heidelberg, I didn’t have time to post about the successful second Earth flyby that ESA’s JUICE mission made on Monday, as part of its eight-year journey to Jupiter.
So here’s one of the images of Earth (& the Moon 🙂) from the JMC monitoring cameras, beautifully processed by my friend @nprofile…efgw: they’re not simple RGB devices, so lots of skill & knowledge goes into getting a true-colour view 👍
#SpaceScience #Science #Photography
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/359/391/551/305/946/original/ca64de8aacedcf51.jpeg

2026-09-24 13:58:47 UTC

Now, *this* is cycling infrastructure 🥰🇳🇱
Am also enjoying the topography, if not so much the excessive dynamic air pressure 💨
A 37km ride today on familiar bike paths in the Vlietland, around Katwijk, Wassenaar, Leiden, & Valkenburg. Video is south of Voorschoten.
Am here in NL for this weekend's ESTEC Open Day with #SpaceRocks – lots of interesting panels & discussions, as ever.
#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/326/360/673/763/278/original/c50c2ac421e6914f.mp4

2026-09-20 16:25:30 UTC

Checking back, I photographed so many interesting arthropods at the Tagungsstätte Löwenstein in May, that lots have gone unpublished 😬✌️
Here's one: a pretty little cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cerasi; 🇩🇪 Kirschfruchtfliege).
Will post more as I process & (hopefully!) ID them.
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/304/273/975/028/139/original/9e29427024b076ce.jpg
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2026-09-11 16:25:07 UTC

Sorry – awful photos, but the only way I could get them was by holding the camera high above my head & semi-blindly tapping on the fold-out screen to take a shot 🙄
But still worth sharing, IMO, as they show a male Dexia vacua, a tachnid fly species that's very rare except, it seems, in my garden 🤷‍♂️🙂
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-09-03 12:32:45 UTC

Success 🙂 BepiColombo’s transfer propulsion module has separated from the two science spacecraft, another major step in this mission to study Mercury.
This was confirmed by a change in the doppler shift of the signal coming from Bepi as its trajectory changed slightly.
Lots of smiles & clapping here at ESOC 👍
But this isn’t over yet – it’ll be a while, 90 minutes or longer, before we hear again from the main science spacecraft, when it has rebooted & reoriented, then sends signals home.
#nevent1q…tnkz

2026-09-03 12:02:33 UTC

The watch party at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, moments before the separation of the Mercury Transfer Module propulsion module from the two science spacecraft from ESA & JAXA.
And that will be the end of MTM, with its electric ion engines powered by huge solar arrays – its job is done.
It has been a long eight years since the launch to reach this key moment en-route to the enigmatic innermost planet of our solar system.
#Science #SpaceScience
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/207/001/010/051/827/original/64dd3f6a833a1089.jpeg

2026-09-03 09:55:19 UTC

Another major space event today, far from Earth.
In a few hours, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will dump its solar electric ion propulsion module, MTM.
The eight year journey since launch has involved many planetary gravity assists & long arcs of continuous propulsion by MTM.
But that's now over & the European & Japanese science spacecraft, MPO & MMO, are preparing to enter Mercury orbit later this year.
I'll be at ESOC in Darmstadt again to watch today's event 🤞
#Science #SpaceScience
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/206/489/168/802/215/original/0c596c4e0fd92809.jpg

2026-08-29 12:38:19 UTC

Yet another partly-right story from the man in Florida the @nprofile…m6h2 entrusts its space stories to 🙄
1. Roman will search for exoplanets, but its main goal involves a wide-field IR survey to study dark matter & dark energy, much like ESA's Euclid launched in 2023;
2. Zero mention of international partners in Roman, including ESA (visible detectors, star trackers, batteries, & data downlink) & my current institute, @nprofile…f3kp (key hardware for the coronagraph).
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/aug/29/nasa-telescope-launch-nancy-grace-roman

2026-08-27 19:20:19 UTC

Well, I'm bamboozled 🤷‍♂️
This jewel is a Chrysidid wasp in tribe Elampini. But beyond that?
The green-blue & red colour scheme suggests either Hedychrum gerstaeckeri or Holopyga generosa (less likely), but it could be a male Hedychrum nobile, a female of which I saw yesterday.
Will seek help on iNaturalist 🤞
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-08-24 11:45:54 UTC

- reply

There were also damselflies, including this mating pair of western willow spreadings (Chalcolestes viridis; 🇩🇪 Westliche Weidenjungfer).
The male is on top holding the female's head with claspers. She will later curl her abdomen up under the male & extract sperm he has deposited at the base of his abdomen.
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/150/294/591/971/822/original/b1bfda41bbe2e106.jpg

2026-08-24 11:37:44 UTC

My macro hobby started during the pandemic, photographing dragonflies & damselflies in my NL garden.
We don't have many in our DE garden as we're far from standing water 🤷‍♂️
But I had a nice 5 mins by a pond in Windsor Great Park yesterday, which included seeing this common darter (Sympetrum striolatum; 🇩🇪 Große Heidelibelle).
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/150/259/267/888/578/original/ea8ebf854a5abd2b.jpg

2026-08-20 20:30:37 UTC

And the winner is ... 🎉
The 400th species of invertebrate I've photographed this year: a lovely broad scarlet dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea; 🇩🇪 Feuerlibelle).
Poor shot, but I was surprised it let me get close at all with my phone 🤷‍♂️
Seen at the Fischkinderstube on this evening's 47km ride.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/129/723/183/595/123/original/9e8e4120e198347f.jpeg

2026-08-19 20:25:40 UTC

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@nprofile…pfuj That ain't no ant, ma'am 🙂

2026-08-19 20:16:11 UTC

Well, this a puzzle 🧐
The CV models of iNaturalist & ObsIdentify are all over the place with IDing this small flea beetle. They suggest genus Neocrepidodera, among others, but it lacks any dimples on its thorax & elytra.
I reckon it might be Aphthona cyparissiae, as it was on Eurphorbia cypressas.
But ... ?
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-08-19 13:55:32 UTC

What a difference rain & cooler weather make 🌧️🙂
A lot more activity in the garden this afternoon, including this large lady, doing exactly what it says on her tin 👍
She's a hornet mimic fly (Volucella zonaria; 🇩🇪 Hornissenschwebfliege), feeding on the blackberries.
Had me fooled when I first saw her 😳
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-08-12 20:40:32 UTC

It may only have been 90% partial, but we had a good time watching the eclipse with many locals atop the 40 metre Teltschikturm at 530 metres up in the Odenwald. Stunning location.
The Sun was still partly eclipsed as it set over Mannheim & the Pfalz across the Rhine Valley.
Did a live radio with LBC from up there & a long piece with BBC News TV when I got home.
Next year totality with the family in Spain (again), I hope.
#SolarEclipse2026
#SolarEclipse
#Heidelberg
#Photography 📷
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/084/460/560/095/079/original/78d90b284f383c7a.jpg

2026-08-10 13:08:18 UTC

Utterly depressing leader in this week’s Economist on the rapid rise of “agentic flooding” in the UK.
Vast numbers of tax assessment complaints, planning permission objections, parking ticket disputes, & more, written by AI & filed at no cost.
Tying up bureaucratic processes, leading to long delays, frustration, & fodder for populist opportunists.
The Economist’s proposed solution?
Quickly adopting AI across govt to process claims efficiently & make independent decisions.
We’re so frakked.

2026-08-09 15:51:19 UTC

Oh, FFS 😡
A total eclipse will curve across Europe in a few days & UK media run a story about a *NASA* plane observing it.
Just ignore the Iberia Airbus also scheduled to conduct a research flight & blank the ESA PROBA-3 space mission that makes solar eclipses on demand to study them.
Honestly, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's no science done in Europe or that there's no European Space Agency that the UK pays into 🙄
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/aug/09/nasa-mission-total-solar-eclipse-iceland-sun-nanoflares

2026-08-08 19:15:15 UTC

Sometimes I think my garden arthropods are taking the piss 🙄
I chased this big tachnid fly around for ages, trying to get a clear shot. Then it landed on my calf & started drinking the sweat – not easy to photograph 😬
It's a male black & orange parasite fly (Nowickia ferox; 🇩🇪 Große Borsten-Raupenfliege).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-08-08 12:17:22 UTC

A new solar lighthenge discovery 🌞🙂
Walked into my bedroom at just the right moment this afternoon to find this beautiful patch of illumination on the wall.
It’s sunlight reflected from a dormer window on a house down the valley to the south, sneaking through a narrow gap into my balcony door. The leaf shadows are vines on the neighbour’s wall.
Lasted just a minute & I may never see it again given the angle, time of day & year, & brevity.
Now there’s a metaphor …
#Photography 📷
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/059/831/228/214/373/original/e0a2526a8ef1f203.jpeg

2026-08-07 15:42:02 UTC

Cooler today, but still not much activity apart from the honeybees.
I did see one of my favourites however – a buffalo treehopper (Stictocephala bisonia; 🇩🇪 Büffelzikade), & will try to get a head-on shot showing where the name comes from.
That said, it's an invasive species from North America, now widespread in Europe.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/054/976/720/210/745/original/6f6d09aa2728a812.jpg

2026-07-20 20:01:56 UTC

Just heard today that solar physicist, science communicator, & my good friend, Pål Brekke of the Norwegian Space Agency, has been diagnosed with aggressive brain tumours.
He used to work for ESA & we spent lots of time together in ESA meetings down the years.
I sent an email & he replied in minutes, & in a very Pål move, also sent a newspaper article about his situation – he's quite the science celeb in Norway.
He said to feel free & share the news, hence this.
#FuckCancer
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2026-07-14 13:18:40 UTC

RIP my venerable Nikon D7000 😢
I've had it since 2010 & despite it being just a now ancient tech APS-C DSLR, it served me well.
Until yesterday, mid-shoot, when the shutter half-fired one last time, after which the reflex mirror simply flapped & the display said "Err".
Inspection showed the shutter was bent & stuck. A repair would cost ~€300 & the current value of a used D7000 is ~€200.
Time to bite the bullet & buy a new camera, I guess – my thoughts on this below.
#Photography 📷
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2026-07-01 19:59:14 UTC

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It was still flying quickly around, so I couldn't get great close-up shots, but certainly better than earlier today.
T. orbatus is a cuckoo bee that lays its eggs in the nest of a flower bee in genus Anthophora. Its larvae hatch first, eat the food, & kill the host bee larvae. Nice.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-07-01 19:45:37 UTC

A profitable return to the lavender bush this evening – the black & white cloak & dagger bee was there again.
I'm pretty sure now that this is indeed the rare & (according to the official German Rote Liste) highly endangered Thyreus orbatus (🇩🇪 Schwarzgesichtige Fleckenbiene).
A few more pictures below.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/846/426/728/970/443/original/5f4b56d84eefe0ae.jpg

2026-06-28 18:52:43 UTC

Not to forsake my garden arthropods completely, here are a couple from this evening, just as the Sun was setting & the temperature went down a few millikelvin.
First a red cabbage bug (Eurydema ornata; 🇩🇪 Schwarzrückige Gemüsewanze) in its away strip, & then a red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius; 🇩🇪 Steinhummel).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-06-16 12:25:34 UTC

Just one new garden species so far on this warm, overcast, & drizzly day. But it's a doozy ... 🙂
This is a white plume moth (Pterophorus pentadactyla). It has many names in German, but I like Schlehengeistchen, or little blackthorn ghost 👻
Hard to capture, hidden in the foliage, but well worth the effort 👍
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/759/743/809/500/317/original/68541375a0ee98b4.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/759/744/067/018/072/original/b4173472a1da33ad.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/759/744/175/866/334/original/cbf843d8b0c1566a.jpg

2026-06-15 18:47:30 UTC

Happy to spot one of these little jewels in the garden this evening.
It's a cuckoo wasp in the family Chrysididae, often in bright metallic colours due to light interference effects.
There are over 3000 species & many in this emerald-green & ruby-red scheme, so making an exact ID from a photo is challenging.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/755/584/216/139/771/original/92c9b0a17ab43112.jpg

2026-06-13 11:43:02 UTC

My private Newgrange 🌞
As we approach the northern summer solstice, we get to see sunlight flooding into parts of our house it normally doesn’t reach.
We live in a steep-sided valley & at certain times of the day, houses on the other side with angled roof windows line up with the Sun & reflect it horizontally into our living room.
And as the house doing it today has two such windows, we get double shadows 🙂
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷
#LightPainting 🎨
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/742/596/416/015/241/original/8a3a097d87ac5584.jpeg
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2026-06-08 19:49:29 UTC

Little black flies are notoriously difficult to ID.
Same goes for little yellow ones.
Saw this one this evening as it was getting dark & after rain.
It's likely in the Lauxaniid family, possibly genus Sapromyzosoma.
Maybe S. quadricincta or S. quadripunctata?
Or maybe something else entirely 🤷‍♂️
Anyone? 😬
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/716/202/241/070/620/original/674a464c678d7027.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/716/202/541/106/021/original/abf912934a5f6b34.jpg

2026-06-07 20:15:45 UTC

Back to riding in Germany: 54km this evening in warm, sunny, & breezy conditions.
Spent too long at the Fischkinderstube chasing damselflies – it’s hard getting to within a few cm using the phone macro mode.
This is a blue featherleg (Platycnemis pennipes; 🇩🇪 Blaue Federlibelle).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/710/654/406/632/992/original/bfb2b5852a7644aa.jpeg

2026-06-06 17:32:47 UTC

Not everyone's favourite kind of arthropod, I know, but some cockroaches can be quite pretty 🤷‍♂️
This is genus Ectobius, & my best guess (based on the shape of the head) is E. vittiventris, the amber wood cockroach (🇩🇪 Bernstein-Waldschabe).
The transparent "raincoat" is cool 🙂
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/704/348/482/977/763/original/6dd29e59e6623b35.jpg

2026-05-30 06:24:45 UTC

A conversation I had with four Canadians while out cycling in Mallorca yesterday.
They asked me what I did & I said “I’m an astronomer”.
They were amazed & said they’d never met one before.
I replied “that’s funny – I meet them all the time” 🤪
Dad jokes aside, it makes sense: there’s roughly only one professional astronomer for every million people on the planet, so the chances are slim.
And asking every astronomer to have an individual chat with a million people would be a challenge 🤓🖖

2026-05-21 17:27:32 UTC

A reminder to look up from the garden insects occasionally ☝️
Not a common sight, but always a welcome one – a circumzenithal arc appeared above the Sun this evening, with a bonus parhelion to boot.
Among the most saturated atmospheric phenomena colour-wise, they're often missed because they're so high in the sky. I once saw one reflected in a car windscreen, before looking upwards.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#AtmosphericOptics
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2026-05-19 14:09:32 UTC

Somewhat warmer & sunnier today, bringing more arthropods out.
First, a vernal shield bug (Peribalus strictus vernalis; 🇩🇪 Frühlings-Baumwanze). Despite the spring connotations of the name, they live until well into the autumn, & I last recorded one in early November.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/601/626/225/893/129/original/8554a27b7bbaa763.jpg

2026-05-16 21:44:22 UTC

The ESA-China SMILE mission atop its ride to space – launch scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
The mission is designed to study the interaction of the solar wind with Earth’s atmosphere, & help understand geomagnetic storms & space weather.
Includes continuous UV imaging of the aurorae for almost two days at a time.
www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile
#nevent1q…fmwz

2026-05-14 19:26:23 UTC

Some late evening sunshine, allowing me to spot this little fly from the glint of his silvery "nose" (really the frons).
It's a male in genus Metopia, satellite flies. Possibly M. argyrocephala (a name encoding the silver on the head), but iNaturalist tachnid experts say Metopia is hard to ID definitively from photos.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/574/540/316/281/021/original/5f9131b240f8f8ef.jpg
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2026-05-13 10:55:14 UTC

Say "wasp" & most people think only of those in genus Vespula, the yellow & black ones that are a nuisance around your jam sandwich.
But there are many others, including the 25,000 known species in family Ichneumonidae.
Of which this is one.
Perhaps tribe Exenterini.
Maybe.
Like I said: 25,000 known species 😬
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/566/887/143/938/510/original/02925d2e495f93ab.jpg

2026-05-12 14:44:41 UTC

Also braving the colder, windier conditions today, this small, colourful, long-legged fly.
Seems likely that it's in the genus Sciapus, & from pictures taken here in Germany, probably S. platypterus.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/562/124/514/287/794/original/42f9109ea1a7e5f4.jpg

2026-05-10 18:05:55 UTC

How do flies stay cool on hot days if they can't sweat? 🤨
They blow bubbles of watery saliva; some of it evaporates & loses heat; they then re-ingest the cooler liquid.
Simple 🤷‍♂️
Two flies seen at it this evening: a lesser dung fly (Sepsis fulgens; 🇩🇪 Glänzende Schwingfliege) & a fruit fly (Scaptomyza pallida; 🇩🇪 Taufliege).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/551/578/072/128/938/original/d17556fbf875bde9.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/551/579/062/511/978/original/37734888a1cc13c9.jpg

2026-05-10 14:21:46 UTC

- reply

On a somewhat different scale, I briefly glimpsed this sawfly as it was flitting around the garden.
Am pretty sure it's a female yellow-spotted Macrophya (Macrophya montana; 🇩🇪 Bergblattwespe) – the males have black & white legs, rather than black & yellow.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/550/714/076/738/803/original/fa1ebeec0c72cc5b.jpg

2026-05-10 14:07:23 UTC

It's May, so it should be no surprise that the Maybugs are here 🤷‍♂️
Still, I'm always a bit shocked each year when I see my first common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha; 🇩🇪 Feldmaikäfer) – they're huge 😱
First picture is a three-frame macro stack; second a single; third from my phone, to be able to get behind the doodlebug.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-05-08 17:17:04 UTC

In the ten days since I was last at @nprofile…f3kp, the greenery around the institute has grown a lot & the arthropods are loving it.
For example, this pretty small magpie moth (Anania hortulata; 🇩🇪 Brennnesselzünsler) was flitting around & hiding under leaves.
Made for an interesting photographic challenge & perspective.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-05-03 20:26:04 UTC

Well, that's unexpected 😳
Took some pictures earlier of a jumping spider I thought was Evarcha falcata, one of our regulars.
But checking it now, looks like it's actually Macaroeris nidicolens (🇩🇪 Kanarenspringer).
First seen in Germany in 1995 & then in the East End of London in 2002, hence the name Mile End jumping spider.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-05-02 12:46:44 UTC

Like me, this male goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia; 🇩🇪 Veränderlich Krabbenspinne) is waiting to embrace the next wave of insects that will arrive in the garden soon 😬✌️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/505/042/072/051/325/original/28ed838c1343f77c.jpg

2026-05-01 19:13:29 UTC

Three flies & a deadly assassin in the garden just before the sun set over the valley.
First, a sawfly from genus Arge, likely a bramble sawfly (Arge cyanocrocea; 🇩🇪 Bürstenhorn-Blattwespe). Some saturated yellows, oranges, & blacks in the evening light.
It might be called the
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🦋
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2026-05-01 15:10:04 UTC

Well, I didn't have that on my May Day bingo card – a predatory jumping spider impersonating a noble worker ant 😱
This is likely Leptorchestes berolinensis (🇩🇪 Großer Ameisenspringer), & from its shape & the way it was running up & down the rose leaves, I was sure it was a large ant.
Then I downloaded the photos & counted the legs 😳
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-04-27 14:21:35 UTC

From the garden today, something rather rare, I believe 🙂
It's a leaf-rolling sawfly, genus Pamphilius, but many of the more common species are not good matches.
After much searching, I think I've found it – the belted rose spinner (P. inanitus; 🇩🇪 Rosengespinstblattwespe).
Only five prior observations in Germany on iNaturalist 😱
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🦋
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2026-04-27 12:51:00 UTC

Apologies – didn't post after yesterday's sunny 55km ride, which included a wander in the meadows at the Fischkinderstube in Edingen.
And speaking of which, this is a male meadow fly, genus Chrysotoxum. Likely C. vernale, the straight-barred spearhorn (Frühlings-Wespenschwebfliege), given the partly black femurs & yellow abdomen tip.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🦋
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2026-04-22 16:54:34 UTC

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@nprofile…h6sh Strange – there is sound when I view my post & the video in Mastodon.
Works for me in Firefox on my laptop & in the IceCubes app on my iPhone.

2026-04-22 16:41:42 UTC

<sound on>
Something rather different for me, a black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius; 🇩🇪 Schwarzspecht) searching for food in the forest around @nprofile…f3kp atop the Königstuhl. With only slight hints of a red crest, I suspect it's a female.
The video is horribly compressed, as the woodpecker was high above me & I had the phone set to maximum zoom. But the pecking sounds are nice & you can also hear the bits of bark hitting the forest floor.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#BirdsOfMastodon 🐦‍⬛
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/449/341/881/308/655/original/c01f798334778630.mp4

2026-04-21 18:14:02 UTC

Hive mind – I need your help.
I recall seeing a video (on TV?) in the past couple of years of a contemporary dance piece which featured a solo dancer in a black studio, under a spotlight, with sand falling on them.
The music was also contemporary & (I think) written by a woman. I loved it & am trying to find it again.
I think it was a UK production, but not (?) Wayne McGregor.
None of these details are certain, & my google-fu is completely failing me.
Anyone have any ideas?

2026-04-18 13:34:19 UTC

It's mad out there – lots of new species in the garden, but many of them proving photographically elusive in the warm, sunny conditions 😬
But it's only mid-April – there's time ... 🕰️👊
Among the cooperative ones: a very pretty juniper shield bug (Cyphostethus tristriatus; 🇩🇪 Buntrock [meaning "colourful skirt" 🙂]).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-04-18 09:24:11 UTC

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And when turning off the light in the living room last night, I saw that one of our large Mediterranean spiny false wolf spiders (Zoropsis spinimana) had taken up a hunting post behind the TV.
Aka the Nosferatu spider because of the face on its prosoma, they’re harmless. I promise.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-04-18 09:15:25 UTC

Overnight action.
Spotted this heavy metal beast while walking to my car late last night.
It’s a blue ground beetle (Carabus intricatus; 🇩🇪 Dunkelblauer Laufkäfer) out hunting.
Flash photography with my phone didn’t work, so I used my laptop screen to illuminate the scene 🤷‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
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2026-04-17 10:33:11 UTC

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@nprofile…galm Not on this planet ... I'd be happy to send this marketing company & its singers to another one, if that'd be helpful ...

2026-04-17 08:13:35 UTC

Good grief 😭
It’s April and this appears in my feed …
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2026-04-15 22:16:13 UTC

A reminder that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) carries more than a petawatt, one million power stations worth of warmth from the tropics to Europe.
If it shuts down, as appears increasingly likely even in this century, northern Europe will suffer intense cold in winter, deep drought in summer, & far more extreme weather overall.
You might think “nice, it’ll offset global warming.”
You’d be wrong – it’ll be utterly catastrophic for the region.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/critical-atlantic-current-significantly-more-likely-to-collapse-than-thought

2026-04-07 07:09:29 UTC

And now for our regular listeners, an entirely unsurprising piece of news 🙄
My interview on BBC Radio 4 Today about #Artemis II scheduled for 10 minutes from now
… has been dropped 🎺
“Really sorry sir, but we’ve had to reshuffle due to breaking news overnight in the UK.”
That is the fifth or sixth time in a row that they’ve asked me to come on & then cancelled at the last minute.
And I only found out because I called them to ask where the Zoom link was.
I am peeved. To say the least 🤬

2026-04-07 06:26:36 UTC

Good morning from Heidelberg 👋
As I'm due to to do a few radio interviews about the #Artemis II mission today, this picture seems like a good way to start 🤷‍♂️
Taken at 07:15 CEST as the gibbous Moon set over the Königstuhl as seen from Ziegelhausen 🌖
Question: are Artemis II & its four astronauts also in the picture? 🧐
#Photography 📷
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Astronomy 🔭
#Germany 🇩🇪
#Space ✨
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2026-04-06 17:56:35 UTC

Hive mind: I'm a bit confused about the claim that tonight's #Artemis II lunar flyby will be the first time humans have seen the far side illuminated.
The claim is that the all Apollo landings took place on the nearside when the Moon was full, so the far side was dark.
That can't be entirely true: Apollo 8 saw some of the far side, as did all other Apollo flights.
And the Moon is ~80% waning gibbous tonight from Earth, so only ~20% of the far side is illuminated today.
What am I missing?

2026-04-04 09:17:59 UTC

As I suspected, media are getting very confused about that #Artemis II Earth image, thanks to NASA’s poor original captioning.
This BBC article shows it as “Hello, world” without knowing / noting that it’s the dark side, illuminated by moonlight.
Then lower in the article it says NASA later released another image, this time showing Earth in near complete darkness with city lights.
Folks, it’s the same image, just differently processed 🙄
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8jzr423p9o

2026-04-04 09:05:22 UTC

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@nprofile…y6u5 Looks like a carpet beetle, genus Anthrenus. Could be A. verbasci, the varied carpet beetle, depending on where you live.
Common in houses & can be a pest, but generally harmless.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrenus

2026-04-03 17:52:18 UTC

You'll likely catch this image a million times in your various feeds: Earth as seen by Reid Wiseman from Artemis II en-route to the Moon.
My first thought? That's *really* noisy 🧐
But then I realised – it's the *nightside* of Earth, illuminated by the almost full Moon, not the Sun 🌕
The bright limb at lower-right is where the dayside starts, & the fact that you can see aurorae, airglow, & cities in Europe, Africa, & S & N America also gives the game away.
Cool.
#Photography #Artemis
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2026-04-03 16:26:53 UTC

Still slowly crawling towards full-blown spring here – mostly cloudy & not that warm yet 🤷‍♂️
But still some things to see in the garden, starting with this pretty fly.
From the colouration, & arrangement of bristles on the thorax & around the eyes, my best guess is a female common European greenbottle (Lucilia sericata; 🇩🇪 Goldfliege / Grüne Goldfliege).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/341/700/491/750/536/original/2461f0b582400afe.jpg

2026-04-03 15:52:17 UTC

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@nprofile…h6sh I'm not fully up-to-speed on all the details, but the original Moon landing mission was supposed to Artemis III, but was already moved to IV. ESM-3 & ESM-4 were delivered by Airbus to KSC in Aug 2024 & Nov 2025, respectively, so those parts of the hardware for those missions is in place.
Whether ESA will get its promised lunar astronauts (in principle the first should be German) & what happens to ESM-5 & 6, I don't know.

2026-04-03 09:46:26 UTC

Yet another #Artemis II article (from a French press agency, no less) ignoring that propulsion, power, & life support to the Orion capsule is provided by ESA’s European Service Module.
Built in Bremen by Airbus, with parts from all over Europe, e.g. solar wings made in Leiden.
Also no mention of the fact that the ESM’s for the Moon-landing Artemis IV & V missions are to be supplied as part of ESA’s contribution to the Lunar Gateway.
Which NASA cancelled last week.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/03/artemis-ii-astronauts-rocket-towards-the-moon-after-breaking-free-of-earths-orbit

2026-04-01 22:50:43 UTC

Despite my many concerns & reservations, I can’t deny that this is a very cool image.
See? That’s how they get you 🤷‍♂️😬
#ArtemisII
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2026-04-01 18:38:28 UTC

Sneak preview 👀
Some of our #JWST data will become publicly available in the archives tomorrow, for the galactic star-forming region, Sharpless 305, & the nearby massive protostar, RAFGL5232.
The data are tricky & need more work on saturation, noise, & banding problems, plus colour compositing 😬
But as others will be quick to publish images as usual, I thought I'd share our snapshot with you first 😉
More to come as we continue pixel-bashing 👾🔨👍
#SpaceScience #Astronomy #Space #Photography
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2026-03-26 14:17:50 UTC

Hope despite it all.
#Photography 📷
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2026-03-08 15:12:14 UTC

Warm & sunny on this Baden-Württemberg state election day – my wife is working at the local polling station, but as I'm not a German citizen, I can't vote or help out 🤷‍♂️
So I'm in the garden, watching the arthropods 🙂
First up, a familiar friend, a peacock butterfly (Aglais io), which decided to pose nicely on the sage bush 🦋
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪳
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/194/184/930/802/101/original/4074da0dd986d666.jpg

2026-03-05 14:49:27 UTC

A female tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva; Rotzpelzige Sandbiene in 🇩🇪), a traditional springtime insect, flying between March & May.
These are solitary, each female creating her own underground nest, but many can do so close to each other.
They mate in spring, after which the male dies, then the next generation of adults emerges the next year after hibernation.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/177/113/905/570/968/original/9c4ce0a1b2ddc4ac.jpg

2026-03-01 13:44:14 UTC

“A modest proposal for preventing the AI children of rich people becoming a burthen to ordinary parents or countries, and for stopping the propaganda about them being beneficial to the publick.”
Can someone please create a hunter-killer AI whose reward function makes it feel happy and sated after consuming other AI systems?
And that, ultimately, as the last remaining AI system, it achieves apotheosis by eating itself?
With apologies to Dr Swift, I thank you 🙇‍♂️
#StopTheWorldIWantToGetOff

2026-02-27 19:12:48 UTC

Re: the newly reshuffled Artemis programme, here's the official NASA graphic laying out the architecture for missions II, III, IV, and beyond.
I suggest you hang upside down before trying to decipher it, to avoid a nose bleed 🙃
And no signs of any ESA logos anywhere, which is interesting, because they're already on the real Orion & ESM.
#Space #SpaceExploration
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2026-02-26 22:34:18 UTC

The Moon is, err, a comet & therefore an interstellar alien spaceship 👽🛸
Am I doing social media astronomy right? 🤨
In the real universe, a clear night atop the Königstuhl, with Orion, Sirius, Aldebaran & the Hyades, Jupiter, & that bright cheesy object all putting on a show. Plus the very orange giant star Epsilon Leporis down in the trees 🍊
And as for Apple’s always entertaining night mode image processing … 🙄
#Space #SpaceScience #Astronomy #Photography #Heidelberg
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2026-02-26 12:05:18 UTC

Just to confirm yesterday's sighting, a pair of peacock butterflies (Aglais io; Tagpfauenauge in 🇩🇪) were out again today in the warm sunshine, feeding off some early flowers.
Here's one of them soaking up the photons on some ivy. They tend to be among the earliest butterflies to emerge after wintering-over.
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪳
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/136/833/061/727/666/original/27fac46f59c3e61a.jpg

2026-02-12 18:37:51 UTC

The world is on fire in so many ways & I blame software.
Well, I certainly blame it in this case.
On the left, a screenshot of a magnified part of a PDF file that includes a black-and-white image & some text, as rendered on-screen by the macOS app Skim.
On the right, the same file as rendered by Apple's Preview.
Can you turn off that unwanted interpolation & smoothing in Preview?
You cannot.
Because Apple ... Quartz ... something ... wibble ... wibble ...
Argh 😱
#firstworldproblems
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https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/059/095/437/636/544/original/d70e515afa9ebf80.jpg

2026-02-01 13:04:55 UTC

Doubly invasive 😬
The weather hasn't been great for insect photography of late, which may be why I found this brown marmorated shield bug (Halyomorpha halys) in the house today, not the garden.
They're from Asia & started appearing in both Europe & North America in the late 1990s, transported via shipping.
It's in the garden now – I'm ambivalent about its chances 🤷‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪳
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/995/503/914/267/039/original/4316203c4ac704c7.jpg

2026-01-29 12:56:15 UTC

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@nprofile…3kqn You're most welcome – please feel free to use it (although note the CC BY-SA licence if you feel tempted to start selling posters 😉)

2026-01-29 12:32:02 UTC

Enter the Dragon 🐉🥋
Here it is – my new JWST image of the young protostellar outflow system in Cassiopeia called HH288, aka The Dragon Jet.
We discovered it in the 1990s & the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST reveals stunning new detail, including several new jets crossing the main dragon 🙂👍
This is a 4K version – you can view & download the full 12K image here: https://www.flickr.com/gp/markmccaughrean/944q5814f8
For more coverage, see this by @nprofile…qk7w at: https://www.iflscience.com/dragon-jet-erupts-from-baby-stars-in-stunning-new-jwst-image-82374
#Space #SpaceScience #Astronomy #Photography
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2026-01-28 10:45:03 UTC

On this day, forty years ago: 28 January 1986.
I was working on my astronomy PhD in the terminal room at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh.
Someone came in & told us the awful news. After so many launches & astronauts, we’d grown blasé & didn’t pay much attention anymore.
That changed in 73 seconds on that cold day & we learned again that space is hard.
I still remember their names:
Onizuka, Smith, McAuliffe, Scobee, Jarvis, Resnick, & McNair.
Ad astra, STS-51L Challenger crew ✨
#space
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2026-01-26 00:25:45 UTC

Hmm 🤨
So apparently we’re doing the whole winter wonderland thing again tonight ❄️
And apparently it’s going to snow and/or rain for several days this week.
Woohoo 😬
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/958/549/747/990/565/original/51a6f7e719d585f4.jpeg

2026-01-25 15:54:02 UTC

Finally some good news.
You may have been aware of the green hydrogen & ammonia production facility, INNA, proposed for construction on the Chilean coast, very close to Paranal & Armazones, home to ESO's VLT, VLTI, VISTA, & ELT telescopes.
It posed an existential light & atmospheric pollution threat to those world-leading astronomical facilities.
Fortunately, the concerns of the scientific community have been heard & the project cancelled.
https://www.aesandes.com/en/press-release/aes-andes-focus-renewables-and-storage-discontinues-green-hydrogen-development
#science #astronomy

2026-01-24 11:50:57 UTC

Teaser 😉
In the 1990s, I discovered this beauty while making an IR survey of dense molecular cloud cores in the Milky Way, searching for signs of star formation ✨🔭
Almost 10 light years long, it's a bipolar outflow of gas ejected at hundreds of km/sec from a young, massive protostar 🌟
Officially HH288, it's also called The Dragon Jet, thanks to its fire-breathing appearance 🐉
And next week, you'll get to see my JWST image of it – it's special 😱
Stay tuned 📻
#Space #SpaceScience #Astronomy
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2026-01-17 14:41:04 UTC

Markedly colder today & only wan sun, meaning that the willingness of bugs to show themselves & my willingness to search for them were both reduced 🥶
But I did see this tiny little spider – from its stance, it's clearly a crab spider, & probably in the genus Philodromus 🦀🕷️
Best guess? A female P. dispar, the Eurasian running crab spider (Weißrandiger Flachstrecker 🇩🇪).
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#ArachnidsOfMastodon 🕷️
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/910/938/975/204/676/original/b6040bc83546c138.jpg
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2026-01-16 19:48:25 UTC

Yet more insects out in the warmer & sunnier weather today 🌞
First, a true legend of our garden: the European firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus).
We've had loads of them year-round, & even on the worst days when no other insects are about, look carefully & you'll find some firebugs 🔥
Amazingly resilient 🙇‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🦟
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/906/496/482/067/844/original/432bdca393330102.jpg

2025-12-25 09:53:07 UTC

Happy #JWST Launch Day Fourth Anniversary, everyone 🚀🛰️🔭✨
Oh, & the other thing too 🎅🏻🙂
#Science #SpaceScience #Ariane5 #Astronomy #Photography #NASA #ESA #CSA #SpaceRocks
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2025-12-21 12:58:55 UTC

Just a reminder, folks – northern winter solstice is at 16:03 CET / 15:03 UTC today, the moment at which Earth’s North Pole is maximally tilted away from the Sun 🌞🌍
That makes today the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, so I need to get out on the bike asap 😬👍
Tell you what – take a picture at the exact moment of the solstice wherever you are & let’s see what you see 🙂🖖🤘
This is my view right now 👇
#WinterSolstice #WinterSonnenwende #Photography
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2025-12-20 13:57:41 UTC

Weekend update for folk interested in image processing & open source software – the second GIMP 3.2 release candidate is out.
Like RC1, RC2 features one of my JWST images as the splash screen, this time the short-wavelength infrared view of the inner Orion Nebula & Trapezium Cluster.
The original image is 21,000 pixels wide, & GIMP + G'MIC were key in preparing it. And I'm working on a new JWST image with GIMP's help now – you'll see it in 2026 🙂👍
#GIMP #OpenSource #Photography #Science
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2025-12-16 21:32:15 UTC

The Main Control Room at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt today 🛰️
This room sees launches, landings, mission sims, & more, & has been the scene of some of the greatest days in ESA’s history (& mine).
The spacecraft the MCR talks to are in, err, space 🤷‍♂️, but several have siblings at ESOC, engineering models with the same electronics & software, used to test procedures before uplinking to the real thing.
A few pictures below 👇
#Space #SpaceScience #Photography
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2025-12-10 14:04:37 UTC

I’ve travelled to the US more than a hundred times for work, lived there for five years, & was a Green Card holder.
I always found it to be a fascinating & often beautiful country, & one that can achieve astonishing things.
And despite being a mess of contradictions, including many aspects that I personally disagree with, it always felt self-confident enough to allow discussion & debate about those issues.
No more, it seems, so I doubt I’ll be going there again.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dz0g2ykpeo

2025-12-06 15:52:53 UTC

It's that time of year, when Stage 0 ("just ignore it – it's ages away 🤷‍♂️") has turned to Stage 1 ("oh, if I must, but what? 🤨") 🎄🎅
So, here's a self-serving suggestion to help you avoid Stage 2 ("aaarrrggghhh 😱"):
Available in real shops & online ✅
Compact, easily wrapped form ✅
Not cheap, but not too expensive ✅
Short chapters for a short attention span world ✅
Make two people very happy (one of them me; thank you 🙇‍♂️) ✅
SPAAAAAAAACE! 🚀🛰️🔭👩‍🚀🌚🌞🪐💫✨
ISBN 978-3-7408-0601-9
#111PlacesInSpace
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