Curiosity Blog, Sols 4661-4667: Peaking Into the Hollows By Susanne P. Schwenzer @spsmars.bsky.social, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, UK science.nasa.gov/blog/curiosi... #Mars 🧪 #PlanetSci

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology successfully showed that data encoded in lasers could be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded after traveling millions of miles from Earth at distances comparable to Mars. www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-d...

"Quarter of UK physics departments face closure, finds IOP report" physicsworld.com/a/quarter-of... @physicsworld.bsky.social

She basically invented astrophysics. She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally. She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe. She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.

I've just joined the Society for Natural Sciences as a student member. "Advancing interdisciplinary science and education for the benefit of society" share.google/5E9iULGVKyjU...

This...is exactly how wars start 😉

NASA Astrobiology Program Early Career Collaboration Award astrobiology.com/2025/09/nasa... #astrobiology #education

Dear Disney- I don't see an actual apology there, nor any sort of admission on your gross overreaction and misjudgement over what Kimmel actually (and factually) said. So, yeah, I'm glad you're backing down but I don't think you've really learned anything here.

New Mars research reveals multiple episodes of habitability in Jezero Crater ➡️ news.rice.edu/news/2025/ne... ➡️ doi.org/10.1029/2024... #Mars 🧪 #PlanetSci

Ten years ago, I blew up my notifications on Facebook.

Is it normal for USPS to take 14 DAYS to deliver a low-mass item from one side of the US to another? I assume the package was delivered via tortoise.

"An astronomer’s sleep schedule." (2017). I guess robotic telescopes and scheduling has largely reduced this issue of sleep deprivation for optical astronomers? 🔭 share.google/QWMVyOm2hBUJ...

This should surprise no one who's been paying attention. spacenews.com/nasa-safety-...

Just got this - because I'm worth it 😉🔭

By 'eck, champion new evidence proves Yorkshire North Sea asteroid impact #planetsci 🔭 www.bbc.com/news/article...

This is amazingly awesome news. VIPER rises phoenix-like from the ashes! (Sorry for the amateur poetry imagery). www.nasa.gov/news-release...

The discovery of the first #exoplanets www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Did you hear? The number of confirmed #exoplanets has surpassed 6000! 🙌 Exciting times for our #ExoplanetExplorers 🛰️ future terrestrial planet hunter, Plato 🛰️ upcoming Ariel mission looking at exoplanets' atmospheres 🛰️ our hard-at work Cheops, studying exoplanets orbiting nearby bright stars 🔭

I'll soon be starting the astronomy project as part of SXPS288 - remotely operating the PIRATE optical telescope on Izaña Ridge near mount Teide in Tenerife (video stills are copyright of The Open University) @osobservatories.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social telescope.org/about-telesc... 🔭

As a part of the soft launch of the BOWIE+ Seminar Series in July, Dr. Michael Radica gave a talk on how we discern the three dimensional structure of exoplanet atmospheres from observations. The video is now available. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOw7...

Right now, Donald Trump is at a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle, while in Gaza a genocide is unfolding. He alone can stop the assault on Gaza City, end the aid blockade and secure the release of hostages - Keir Starmer must make that clear to him before this visit ends.

Sometimes 2025 just feels like a lot, and you need an excuse to celebrate your fabulous team (and the whole exoplanet community!) reaching a new milestone… Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!! (You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣) www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...

What if we do find life beyond Earth? Explore "What is Astrobiology Ethics?" with Dr Emma Puranen in our YouTube talk: Available: Tuesday 7 October #Astrobiology #SpaceEthics #WorldSpaceWeek

Tomorrow, newly-discovered #asteroid 2025 RJ2 will miss the Moon by 13,000 km. Shortly before close approach, it will pass through the Moon's shadow.

Under the tropical skies of Puerto Rico, a new observatory joined the @laserseti.bsky.social Network, expanding the SETI Institute’s ability to search for technosignatures. The project will scan the heavens for fleeting flashes of light. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬 Learn more: www.seti.org/news/laserse...

A little bit of good news for you. And a reminder that we *can* solve big, global problems--when we want to. 🧪 (by @meghanbartels.bsky.social)

As a part of the launch of the BOWIE+ Seminar Series, Dr. Ryan MacDonald (@distantworlds.space) gave a great overview of our current understanding of rocky worlds thanks to JWST. The talk is now up on Youtube if you're interested. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN3y...

A new study led by ETH Zurich fellow @aaffholder.bsky.social examines whether Titan's subsurface ocean could support life. His findings suggest that if life exists there, it may persist only in extremely small amounts, making detection a formidable challenge. 🧪 🔭 Learn more:

"Planets without plate tectonics and too little carbon dioxide could mean that technological alien life is rare" #astrobiology phys.org/news/2025-09...

I'll join In sharing this incredible news. While the paper points to a biogenic origin for these minerals, a crucial part of the scientific process is to test alternatives. What plausible abiotic process could explain these low-temperature redox reactions on Mars?

I've taken the plunge & signed up to Disney+ just for ALIEN Earth. Please let it be better than the God-awful Alien: Romulus debacle.

The expression "Bring your authentic self to work" is interesting, because I suspect if people *actually* did that, many would be terminated.

Some sad #exoplanets news in a paper led by me: “YSES 2b is a background star”#exoplanets A distant M dwarf star some 2 kiloparsecs behind the star just so happens to have a non-zero proper motion in EXACTLY the wrong direction: this required multiple GRAVITY observations to solve… #astrosci #astrodon

Somehow I've never seen this before. Very funny. youtu.be/ptfmAY6M6aA?...

My animation of Mercury's escaping sodium exosphere over the course of a Mercury year. The only thing that changes is the magnitude of radiation pressure which is a function of where Mercury is in its orbit. Without radiation pressure, nothing would escape. #EPSCDPS #EPSC2025 #planetsci #mercury

This is the peer reviewed journal article that studied 17.5k people across 169 countries to conclude that regular micro-acts of joy boost mental wellbeing: 📖: www.jmir.org/2025/1/e72053/ You can join their citizen science Big Joy project here 🧪 😃: ggia.berkeley.edu/bigjoy

You'd think with all the jingoism of the UK right-wing they would: A) Hang the union flag the right way up. B) Not call it the union jack (unless it's flying on a ship.) It's almost as if they are mindless cretins.

World Space Week 2025 is nearly here We’ve got talks, videos & more exploring careers, ethics & planetary protection. Join us all week to celebrate space! 4 - 10 October Full details and registration info coming soon. #WorldSpaceWeek #SpaceForEveryone

A few years back I made a functioning DIY radio telescope with items from my kitchen pantry and garage! The 3L olive oil can is the perfect dimension for a waveguide that captures the Galactic 21cm neutral hydrogen signal, and aluminum foil inside the feed horn to focus the radio waves.

The USA is like that embarrassing relative to be ignored and pitied, because they won't believe in data & thus the status-quo of idiocy is maintained *sigh* www.theguardian.com/food/2025/se...

At a remote field camp in West Antarctica, scientists drilled through 1,100 meters of ice to reach the perpetually dark waters of the subglacial Lake Mercer.

One-stop resource from NASA about yesterday's announcement of a potential biosignature on Mars: science.nasa.gov/mars/the-mar...

US marks 24th anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks share.google/FFzSny52CKsg...

The project involves photometry with CCD detectors, & creation of colour-magnitude diagrams of open & globular clusters. I'll be remotely controlling the Tenerife-based (Izaña ridge/Teide) PIRATE telescope, in "observer mode" i.e. LIVE night observation sessions! @osobservatories.bsky.social 🔭

Without the Mars Sample Return mission to return the core sample to Earth, however, we will never know if these are 3.5 billion yr old signs of fossilised microbial life or just a normal chemical process ☹️ Fab @sciam.bsky.social write-up here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-t... 🔭🧪

NASA #Perseverance is one step closer in its mission to find signs of fossilised microbial life on Mars with an analysis of the "Poppy seed & Leopard spot" features seen in Mars mudstone from an ancient river valley. Mineral formations like these on Earth are created by marine microbes. 🔭🧪🧵

Life on Mars? #astrobiology www.bbc.com/news/article...

Today at #EPSCDPS2025 - Jessie is presenting her PhD work exploring how ice grain size affects salt composition in the plumes of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This work helps us understand how different-sized grains carry different chemical signatures. #Enceladus #Astrobiology #IcyWorlds #SpaceResearch

Online Courses in Astrobiology @astro4edu.bsky.social 🔭🧪🧬 #astrobiology red-astrobiology.fr

Today at #EPSCDPS2025 - Grace, one of our Alumni, presented a poster on her PhD work simulating how Saturn’s magnetosphere affects the icy surface of Enceladus. The research helps us understand how surface chemistry might shape what we see in Enceladus’ plumes #Astrobiology #Enceladus #IcyWorlds