Chandra, the space-based observatory that brings us incredible x-ray images of the most extreme environments in the cosmos, is at risk of cancellation. It’ll be a huge loss to astronomy if the mission ends prematurely for budget reasons. Go to www.savechandra.org to find out how to help #SaveChandra

Please call your senators and ask them to *restore full operations funding* for the Chandra X-ray observatory! I really believe NASA has simply made a mistake here and cannot realize that the arguments put forward for decommissioning it were just /wrong/. www.savechandra.org

University email: STUDENT has requested that you write a letter of recommendation on their behalf. Me: Ok. Which dept? Uni: Me: Uhh.... When is this due? Uni: By the deadline. Me: Which is...? Uni: Is this student (A) the best student you ever worked with or (B) the worst? 🧪🎢 #AcademicChatter

GREAT NEWS! From the latest JAXA briefing: Solar panels deployed, nominal voltage seen, sun acquired, initializing thrusters and reaction wheels. XRISM LAUNCH SUCCESS!!! Congratulations JAXA

That was fun, I know nothing about animals, and I will never get it in 5 guesses again... 🦋 Animal #36 🐹 I figured it out in 5 guesses! 🟥🟥🟨🟥🟩 🔥 1 | Avg. Guesses: 5 metazooa.com #metazooa

BIG if true! Silphium, thought to have been harvested to extinction by the Romans, (possibly) rediscovered in Turkey. greekreporter.com/2023/08/13/p...

Scientist? ✔️ New to BlueSky? ✔️ Wanna get your posts seen by people in your field? ✔️ Check out this list of 42 science-related feeds 👇 You can add specific feeds to your timeline to see their posts, and you can include your own posts in a feed by including a feed-specific tag. #AcademicSky 🧪

In which I show that there's no evidence that the inventors of the alphabet could actually read. www.asor.org/anetoday/202.... Instead a remarkable "working misunderstanding" led to the alphabet's rise, much as with the invention of Greek script. ClassicsBluesky

Real truth: I never really used twitter except to find other astronomers excited about things like the HST proposal deadline. But I am reformed and ready to do this thing.