In anything less than true darkness, the "Phantom Galaxy" slips away like a ghost, its delicate light too faint for many amateur telescopes. The core may harbor a rarity: an intermediate-mass black hole! Image credit: my tiny telescope, about 4 hours of imaging. #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

A sparkling midnight rose, known as Caroline's Rose (or NGC 7789 if you prefer catalog names). This open star cluster is an anomaly among its peers due to its "straggler" stars which appear deceptively younger than their neighbors. 1/2 Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint. Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint. Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Amid all of yesterday's excitement, this was last night's "Beaver moon", named for the season when beavers feverishly prepare dams and lodges for winter. And especially cool is the "lunar halo" that encircled it (caused by moonlight refracting off of ice crystals in clouds). #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down... Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down... Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Yes, the core, where the sunlight-generating nuclear reactions, occur, is in the central ~25% of the Sun. In fact, that makes the image even more amazing. Not only are we seeing through 100% of the Earth but 75% of the Sun as well!

The Little Rosette Nebula began as a cloud of cold, dark gas. Over time, gravity transformed the center into a cradle, kindling newborns stars. These infant suns then poured their energy back into the gas, warming it into a stunning nebula. Image credit: my tiny telescope #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Monday morning on Earth. Life first stirred on our planet 4.5 billion years ago. In another 5, the Sun will exhaust its hydrogen, swell into a red giant, and draw our small world into its fading heart. Our story -- whatever it is that you're doing today -- is at its midpoint. #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

One of the biggest and most publicized disputes in stellar astronomy in recent decades centers on the distance to this star cluster, the Pleiades (the 7 Sisters). Image credit: my tiny telescope (~4 hours) #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

This astronomical snake thing is my most distant observation to date! You're peering beyond our Local Group at the "Rose Galaxies", 350 million light years away. Image credit: my tiny telescope plus 16 hours of photon collecting. #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Not many pulsars have been identified optically, but this one has. And you can actually hear the moment when the discovery was made.

I think I also caught the light from the surrounding nebula generated by the pulsar too, a while back! These are 10s integrations (so, not seeing it blink on/off) but rather the accumulated light over the course of an hour from pulsar effects. Position is consistent with professional shot below!

Here are the remnants of a massive star that ignited in 1054. Ancient astronomers marveled at how they could see the supernova even during the day. All that's left today is the faint, colorful smudge called the Crab Nebula. Image credit: my tiny telescope - only 2 hours! #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

The "Pillars of Creation" lie deep in the heart of the Eagle Nebula. According to a 2025 paper, these pillars have a hue of red that is off from what we'd expect, hinting that the dust inside is anything but ordinary. Image credit: my tiny telescope (8.5 hrs of observing). #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American! www.scientificamerican.com/article/math... #Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾‍🔬🧪

Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American! www.scientificamerican.com/article/math... #Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾‍🔬🧪

The Ghost of Cassiopeia nebula. Cassiopeia (the bright star) is an Ethiopian queen in Greek mythology. Her star illuminates nearby dust clouds, imparting a ghostly, ethereal appearance. Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hours of light collecting). #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

The Andromeda Galaxy, courtesy my tiny smart telescope. This galaxy is *very* close, only 2.5 million light years away. If someone in Andromeda is looking back at us right now (and can resolve Earth) they're watching early humans! 15 hours of 20s photos stacked #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

When you have a moment -- take a look at this math story involving butterflies, fractals, Douglas Hofstadter, and patterns in irrational energy potentials! My latest for Quanta. www.quantamagazine.org/ten-martini-... #science #MathSky #math #physics ⚛️👩🏾‍🔬

Remarkably, the central stars rotate one direction, while the stars in the hazy spirals go the opposite direction! Dark dust in the core gives the galaxy its name, the Black Eye Galaxy (magnitude 9). Image credit: 20 hours of imaging on my tiny smart telescope. #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

The Trifid Nebula! A pretty stellar nursery being ripped apart by intense radiation from a nearby star (note the glaring crack through the middle). Image credit: my tiny telescope (and about 5 hours of exposure). #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Feast on this view inside the galactic bulge - the huge crush of 10 billion stars that surround our supermassive black hole. The bright light in the center is NGC 6401, a star cluster which lies 5⁰ off of the galactic center. Credit: my tiny telescope. #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

William Rowan Hamilton was born #OTD in 1805. His reformulation of classical Newtonian mechanics via the principle of stationary action is one of the most beautiful ideas in all of physics, and is at the heart of nearly every modern theory in physics. 🧪 ⚛️

About 600,000 light years apart, these 2 galaxies are likely shaping each other via the tugs of gravity's incredibly long-distance tendrils. NGC 5905 (upper left) and NGC 5908 (lower right). Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 10.5 hours) #science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

A lone astronomical bubble floats inside frothy hot gas. Welcome to the Bubble Nebula! In the middle sits a massive star, the equivalent of ~45 suns. To make this bubble, it blew off ~15 suns. Eventually, it will end in a supernova. Credit: my tiny smart telescope. #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Does anyone want a new phone background? This is the Tulip Nebula, courtesy my tiny smart telescope. Feel free to grab the full resolution version here: photos.app.goo.gl/SuMjKTFX5P9x... #astronomy #science 👩🏾‍🔬🔭

The Western Veil Nebula. These colorful glowing filaments are part of the lacy last remnants of a massive star that exploded over 10,000 years ago. Image credit: my tiny smart telescope. #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

Waiting for a series of lightning talks on Vera Rubin's first images. I clearly wasn't the only one who wanted to hear lots of excited astronomers yack about it! #astronomy 🔭

The nebula Abell 39, a ball of hot gas that is famous for being one of the largest nearly-perfect spheres in the universe, 5 light years across. The central star is a hot white dwarf, magnitude 15.5. Photo credit: my tiny smart telescope (and a lot of patience). #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

New nova! V462 Lupa (middle of the photo) was first noticed June 12th. Previously an extremely faint star (mag 22.3), it can now be seen by eye! RA 15h 08m 03.3s Dec. –40° 08″ 29.6′ Photo credit: my tiny telescope More info: skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne... #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬 #V462Lupa

Did you know YOU will be able to work on NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data in your free time as a volunteer scientist?🔭🧪 We've partnered with the Zooniverse, a platform where researchers build projects for volunteer scientists. Find out more at rubinobservatory.org/explore/citizen-science 📷: B. Quint

A quarter for your thoughts? 🪙 We think Vera C. Rubin is a great choice to be honored with a quarter... and with an observatory! Rubin was an accomplished astronomer who provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter, influencing a new subfield of astrophysics. 🧪🔭

I don’t want to add to the hysteria, but in many ways these large language models are already outperforming most of our best graduate students in the world. -Ken Ono Read the article & then come back for this thread of extras 1/ www.scientificamerican.com/article/insi... #science #math #ai #llm

Mathematicians are jittery after AI proves shockingly good at outsmarting them www.scientificamerican.com/article/insi...

The Tulip Nebula. Hidden in this photo is the black hole Cygnus X1, its existence inferred by the motions of stars and dust around it. About 6 hours of light collecting in my mini telescope! #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

"Lying on our backs, we look up at the night sky. This is where stories began, under the aegis of that multitude of stars which at night filch certitudes." -John Berger Globular cluster NGC 6366 and star HD157950! A more obscure section of space. #astronomy #science #astrophotography 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

"Monkeys are superior to men in this: when a monkey looks into a mirror, he sees a monkey." --Malcolm de Chazal The spectacular (and terrifying?) Monkey Head Nebula, taken from the roof. About 3 hrs exposure. If you flip it upside down, it also looks like a monkey! #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

“This is only the first round of the fight!" My latest for Scientific American on the simmering debate over whether the universe's baffling dark energy really can evolve. www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-... #science #astronomy #physics 🔭 🧪👩🏾‍🔬

“This is only the first round of the fight!" My latest for Scientific American on the simmering debate over whether the universe's baffling dark energy really can evolve. www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-... #science #astronomy #physics 🔭 🧪👩🏾‍🔬

A really nice article from @lyndie.bsky.social! www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-... #cosmology

Little inky spots in the sky are actually dark nebulas. There is a catalog of them thanks to Edward Barnard and his niece, Mary Calvert, who found 369. Around 40 yrs later, Beverly Lynds extended the catalog by over a thousand. Barnard #174 from my backyard, 160 mins. #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

"I don't know that I was thinking of any particular city lights. The thing that struck me, that I remember so vividly, was it was a clear night, and there were like a million stars up in the sky." - B. Anderson The great globular cluster of Hercules, M13, 45 mins exposure #astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾‍🔬

A new approach promises to help mathematicians answer origami-related questions! This 122 year old theorem is the first application. (article by me) #math #science 🧪👩🏾‍🔬

"At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour." -H.P. Lovecraft, who wrote at night 2 hours on the horseshead and flame nebulas! #astronomy #science 🔭🧪👩🏾‍🔬

M81. This galaxy is thought to harbor magnetars, which are a type of dense neutron star with powerful magnetic fields. Magnetars may be the origin of the still mysterious fast radio bursts. At the bottom of the photo is the Cigar Galaxy. ~3hrs exposure on my tiny scope! #astronomy #physics 🔭🧪👩🏾‍🔬

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Orion's nebula this past Saturday. You can see this with a small pair of binoculars, no fancy equipment needed. #astrophotography 🔭 #astronomy

After 50+ years, we've finally got new mathematical legs to understand what's going on inside a black hole. (Article by me). 👩🏾‍🔬🧮🧪🔭 #science #physics #math #astronomy