Where do you even start...

The most insightful discussion I seen on the Loeb and his insertion into the 3I/Atlas apparition: tinieblasyestrellas.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-...

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

No idea if any of this is true, but as a friend of mine once said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Too good!

I just love this surrealistic illustration of the cosmic optical background that Guy Bilout did a few years ago for a NYT article. Light comes from the dark Universe.

A little essay about DESI on the occasion of visiting the KPNO 4m, where the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is measuring an extremely precise history of the expansion of the Universe. noirlab.edu/public/blog/...

The University of Arizona says, "No!" www.kvoa.com/news/top-sto...

On days like this I miss Santa Cruz. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/s...

I didn't get a picture of the best sign I saw today, but I remember what it said: Somewhere in America A little Hispanic girl Is hiding in an attic And keeping a diary. #NoKings

Chicago!

Tucson on River road.

Tucson this AM

Thanked a friend for data analysis, "By the way, I wanted to say I think you've done a wonderful job. I appreciate the way you've handled this thing." Who knew to reply, "Well, the way I look at it it's my job to do this thing the way you want it done and I’m only too happy to be able to oblige."

100% true.

From the last review of our JWST prop Strengths The path to science is clearly laid out, and the analysis techniques used are state-of-the-art Weaknesses: A more detailed justification would strengthen the need for JWST observations, as well as a more specific description of the path to science

Procrastination takes may forms. Tonight as a service to the astronomical community I offer help with your JWST proposal titles. #JWST 🧪🔭✨

The effort put into understanding 3I/Atlas has been spectacular, imaginative, professional and well-organized. Planetary scientists don't need Avi Loeb put in charge of an international directorate to tell them how to do their jobs.

</sarcasm> This is an incredibly brilliant idea. We need to set up a UN body in charge of all work and resources for the study of interstellar objects. After all, planetary science is too important to trust to the planetary scientists. But who would direct it? arxiv.org/pdf/2510.01405

Nothing to see here: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/b...

Spectacular image of a rich cluster of galaxies lensing the galaxies and other goodies beyond it. This is from the HST Vast Exploration for Nascent, Unexplored Sources (VENUS) program.

A remarkable polemic by Raskin - read it in full at the link included. It's a direct plea to Roberts.

So... reading some papers by an author and his former advisor that were huge on reference consolidation. They cite their own summary works, rather than the primary sources of observations/results (including mine). Don't really understand what the journals' policies are on this.

So wonderfully childish...

Finding good information is hard. A study done on 2.5M pregnant women who took Tylenol during pregnancy showed no adverse fetal effects. However, pregnant women with untreated fevers had increased fetal risk of: Neural tube, Heart, And abdominal wall, Defects. Plus cleft palate and more!

I look forward to Bobby Jr. and Trump's resolution of the Hubble constant tension.

I just love posting this image now and then. I know it was taken at the dedication of one of the Bush's libraries, and that no one ever figured out what they were reacting to.

JFC!

So many movies that Robert Redford brought life to. My fave is "Three Days of the Condor," a sharp cat&mouse spy thriller. Can Redford escape with the whole CIA and a hit team after him just by his wits and intelligence? A great tight script with an all-star cast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQJD...

Pythagorean Triple Square Day, as one man affectionately calls 9/16/25, is a day like no other this century.

This is a fantastic piece of work! Zoom in and have a look. The Arp Atlas was sort of of sly reply to the too neat Hubble atlas. But we have learned an immense amount from studying these galaxies. Bravo Zulu JD!

From me, a list of Trump supporters who killed, or tried to kill, Democrats and opponents of Trump in recent years (since the right are now claiming all the political violence is from the left!) Receipts: zeteo.com/p/charlie-ki...

LIGO is Galileo's telescope, or the Hubble, or the CERN accelerator, or a Saturn V to the Moon, or a canvas in the hands of Da Vinci, or a blank score in the hands of Mozart. It's an expression of imagination that takes us to places we've never gone before. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/s...

This makes my head spin - Fawn Hall has just married Oliver North (if you weren't around in the 80s, don't worry about it). www.cnn.com/2025/09/09/p...

Exclusive: Bill Pulte accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of fraud. His relatives filed housing claims similar to hers. Via Reuters

The relevant scale here is a measure of how sensational the release is, and how likely to garner attention for he scientist involved, regardless of the rigor of the science. We refer to this as Likelihood of Ego Boost, or the LOEB scale.

Yesterday, I reposted this with a bit of sarcasm, but the gross ignorance of Duffy with regards to the very basics of how we do space exploration keeps gnawing at me. JFK in starting Apollo said, "...landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in a single sentence. (continued)

Yes, everyone agrees that NASA's safety culture has always held it back. Sure, just for starters they lost 3 crews over the years, but what's that compared to progress?

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

And that's that for the CDC... wapo.st/4n7Dkfm

Yep, 3I/Atlas is really a comet.

May this portion of the dissent by Ketanji Brown Jackson haunt John Roberts forever and be the final word on his tenure as Chief Justice.

Trump says that DC having a week with no homicides was something that happened "for the first time in memory." The last time that happened was March, where there was a 16-day streak without a homicide.

Very clever of Trump to gut the NSA cause his little feelings were hurt. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/u...

This too

Before the Borg made Wolf 359 famous, there was a deeply lonely and scary "Outer Limits" episode about it. Wolf 359 has always given me the creeps. Aliens there can see Earth transiting our Sun. We looked at it with New Horizons to see the whopping Earth/NH parallax. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTMQ...

Of course I love the old "Outer Limits." How many TV shows start with an image processing demo? www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCcd...

Speaking of comets - here's a snapshot of Halley I took on March 21, 1986 south of Kona, Hawaii. About a 30s exposure with a 35mm camera on a tripod, using an f/1.4 70mm lens and ASA 3600 film. The famed Sagittarius teapot is in the center. Center of the MW in the dark area above Baade's window.

A wonderful article. Not through it yet but I already love it for its discussion of how the author thinks of generating good ideas. This is especially true: "Sometimes it's a good idea but not a good idea for you." journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...