Hill I will die on today, Artemis II day, but on all days too: The Moon is a place, a world, a sacred relative in some cosmogonies, and a fundamental part of Earth. So it’s a PROPER NOUN and you should give it a capital M! I will make this case in as many words as somebody wants me to write!

Differences between Artemis and Apollo. No 1 in an irregular series. Forecast for launch includes space weather, after Apollo 16 just missed an intense storm. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_...

If you want to keep track of what's happening with #ArtemisII ahead of tonight's launch opportunity, this is a great site. Something nice about the rocket sitting there waiting in the Flordia night.

Can't believe this entire Artemis mission was an April Fool's joke. I mean truly, hats off to the global lizard elite for that one 👏

Important work on the effects of the increasingly crowded low Earth orbit from @astrokiwi.bsky.social and friends: arxiv.org/abs/2603.29324

ESA engagement doing its thing.

Four times a year, strangers fly to a secure facility, enter a metal cage inside a signal-proof room, and turn keys in unison to keep the internet secure. New episode of Lore in the Machine 🎧 loreinthemachine.com/episodes/6-a-ritual-to-secure-the-internet #infosec #DNSSEC #cybersecurity #techhistory

Artemis 2 countdown clock is now counting down.

Kudos to the @oxfordphysics.bsky.social student opposite me on the train who has just whacked out his Casio calculator to help with his quantum problem sheet.

'How to image a black hole' by Prof Heino Falcke, Radboud University Nijmegen. 26 March, 6pm. This is a public lecture (in person and online), everyone is welcome. For abstract, more information and link, visit:   https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/events/how-image-black-hole

Ok, this is cool.

So I guess we at Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society support emojis now. ApJ would never! Please use this power carefully. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... 🔭

Live in just a few minutes: me on the Universe’s 100th birthday, and on the mysterious Little Red Dots. Join us online @greshamcollege.bsky.social www.youtube.com/live/9CaWqYf...

4-Year Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship in Physics/Astro @ Edinburgh! - early career - personal background currently under-represented in the School - Pay Grade: Lecturer (~Assoc. Prof.) - ***Deadline 20 April 2026*** 🔭🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🧪 elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

✨ Applications for the 2026 International Astronomical Youth Camp are now open! ✨🚀 Join us in Spain for the 60th lAYC celebration and experience an unforgettable total solar eclipse! 🌘 Head to our First Info page via the link in our bio to apply! Clear skies 🌌 🔭🎢 #EduSky #scicomm #astroedu

‘It’s never aliens’

‘It could just be bias’

Quote from today's @royalastrosoc.bsky.social meeting: 'We can confirm Jupiter exists, and is in the Solar System'. 🔭

The Science, Innovation & Tech committee have written the most amazing letter to DSIT/UKRI/STFC: "What is clear is that, despite your assertions to the contrary... widespread cuts have been proposed before adequate consultation with those affected was undertaken. This is wholly unacceptable" 💪🔭⚛️🧪

Reposting for the US astro crowd - roll up and get your exciting new ML tools here! 🔭 🧪

New paper day! A longer version of work by DPhil student and superstar Brian Rogers on applying a new sort of Machine Learning for astronomy: arxiv.org/abs/2511.094... (1/n)

OK, and ending this particular flurry of activity (I think), here's our Research Note of the AAS giving some more details about our work on #2024YR4. This publication is word-limited and figure-limited, but hopefully will hold folks until we publish a fuller paper in coming weeks! 🔭🧪

I love how after years of us enthusing to raise the excitement level of how interstellar objects can be key probes of Galactic properties & evolution, 3I lets us do just that! @chrislintott.bsky.social

Amazing set of preprints up today for everyone's favourite interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS! Three different teams use three different telescopes to measure 3I's composition in water, nitrogen & carbon. The isotope ratios suggest 3I comes from a truly ancient star 🧪🔭☄️

New book day!

Instant classic new paper from @dalcantonjd.bsky.social and friends. First sentence: "The Universe is a very odd place filled with strange and wonderful things." ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2026ApJS... 🔭

Open Lecturer in Planetary Science position at UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (Dorking) The successful applicant will be expected to perform research using data from the Rosalind Franklin Mission, but also other planetary bodies, such as the Moon and the Outer Planets icy moons. ☄️🔭🧪

For science, a nearby supernova. As an observer, definitely a glorious comet. It's been too long #Askanastronomer

I like hard sci-fi too. Would love recommendations from others. Given that I love Kim Stanley-Robinson's Red/Green/Blue Mars series, I really enjoyed 'The Terraformers' by Annalee Newitz recently. I've been pressing @aptshadow.bsky.social's Children of Time on everyone for years, too.

This is nearly impossible to answer (without further beers and much debate). In the Solar System - not a planet, but can I have Titan? That would be fun. In the galaxy - one of the worlds with a double star, just to see the sunsets. Maybe PH-1b for its quadruple system.

Having a beer on a very quiet Sunday and have some time to kill. Anyone want to #askanastronomer anything?

Hey, so, we have some news about something that won't be happening in 2032.

Hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment! Great test of our capability to follow up possibly threatening asteroids though - these JWST results have given the all clear earlier than many thought possible.

New podcast from the awesome Daina Bouquin on the strange history of computing. A must listen.

Five year Astro career development fellowship in Oxford open for applications, broadly in survey astronomy including transients and cosmology. College teaching and research. Do think about joining us. Happy to answer questions! 🔭

Astronomer Nevil Maskelyne racked up a £141 alcohol bill during his 18 month expedition to observe the 1761 Transit of Venus. That’s over £26,000 ($35,000) in today’s money. Or almost £50 per day. He claimed it on expenses and would go on the become Astronomer Royal. #astronomy #histsci 🧪

I'm on the Harry Hill podscarf/show this week, with the marvellous Phil Wang, talking about Gravity. Marvellously silly. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SZY...

This was an interesting chat. Come hear about why funding Astronomy can save the UK. (ish).

"Planned cuts to physics and astronomy funding threaten to undermine a core UK government strategy to harness innovation to boost economic growth, leading researchers have warned ministers." Thanks @financialtimes.com for covering this really important story 🗞️: www.ft.com/content/a235...

Very happy to be involved looking at this data, as part of the JANUS team. It’s a cool dataset.

Just been out, like Chris says. (It's quite clear, here). Jupiter is up to the right of the moon. Very bright. Tempted to think that the red one down and to the right is Mars, but it's Betelgeuse - of course, once you see the belt of Orion! And on to the right and down, Rigel.

It's looking like it might be clear, & there's been a lot of nonsense talked about a spectacular 'planet parade' here's your no nonsense guide to seeing planets this evening. 1. Earth. This one is easy. 2. Jupiter. Nearly as easy if it's clear. Look up. It's the bright thing. (1/n)

The Atlantic here, setting new records for words-to-substance ratio, and not in a good way. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

As @vrubinobs.bsky.social gets going with its survey of the sky, nice to be reminded of a Fred Hoyle quote: ‘a large telescope is a good example of the things which our civilisation does well’.

In a few hours, night will come to the Chilean Atacama desert. The @vrubinobs.bsky.social dome will open, and the giant telescope within will scan the sky, feeding light to the largest astronomical camera ever made.

The sheer volume of data coming from the new Rubin Observatory is staggering. In *one* night it issued 800,000 alerts, indicating something that changed in the sky: a moving asteroid, variable star, supernova, etc. Rubin will be an astonishing discovery machine. 🔭🧪 noirlab.edu/public/news/...

Lasair is a clever software system that allows users to build their own filters to find exactly what they want. Congratulations to the team from @physicsastronomyed.bsky.social @oxfordphysics.bsky.social and @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social . Find out more about Lasair at lasair.lsst.ac.uk 🔭

Here we go…the marvellous Vera Rubin Observatory has started scanning the sky, telling us about things that change and move. In there there are untold wonders and undoubtedly a few surprises. Let’s go!

I cannot recommend more strongly what should be an amazing @greshamcollege.bsky.social lecture this evening from m’colleague @miltonline.bsky.social : Music and Space. 6pm GMT. Online via www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/mus...

Starting to get media enquires about a 'six planet alignment' on Saturday, but there's nothing to report. Mercury, Venus & Saturn are in vaguely the same part of the sky, but lost in twilight. Jupiter's well placed, but has been for months. And Uranus & Neptune are elsewhere and need optical aid.