Mars - Clouds over Terra Cimmeria - ESA Mars Express HRSC Full size 5k image: flic.kr/p/2sdpsHP 🔭🧪 Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY 2025-07-24 South is up HR211_0000 ND3+GR3+BL3

Yesterday, 56 of our fab colleagues at the Physics & Astronomy dept in Nottingham, received “at risk of redundancy” letters. The Uni is planning to reduce the size of the Physics dept by almost a third.🧪⚛️🔭 Sign this petition to show them your support ✍️: nottinghamphysics.github.io/Open_Letter/

Easter eggs are a potent symbol of a general enshitification witnessed by Gen X over their lives, largely caused by inflation but also with some climate change and geopolitics in there too. They used to be much bigger, with multiple bars etc. inside them, and with stuff like free mugs…

My take on a Universe Size Comparison. On and off, this took several months to make! Check it out of you have 10 minutes and be sure to put your 🎧 on for the full experience youtu.be/2D9vHQOaauM (New and improved, reupload!)

Space art in its roots has been an effort to anticipate sights that future space travelers may one day see. In the late 1940s Chesley Bonestell painted a moonlit Earth that appeared in 'The Conquest of Space'. This modest work shows a view broadly similar to that revealed in the new Artemis photo.

Allow me a little self-trumpet blowing. Had a smile on my face all morning after a referee called my submitted paper “technically highly accomplished”. Even a grizzled scientist like me appreciates nice comments, so thank you referee 2!

The Earth and its aurora!

You'll have seen this – Earth from #Artemis II en-route to the Moon. But look again – it's Earth's *nightside*, lit by the near-full Moon, not the Sun 🌕️ The aurorae, airglow, stars, & city lights in Europe, Africa, & the Americas give the game away. Cool. NASA/Reid Wiseman #Space #Photography

This is a great video of Rebecca Morelle watching the launch! 🚀 www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

So here’s a fact. Only 10% of the energy of a rocket launch is to get it up to space. The other 90% is to go fast enough to stay there

But hold on, hold on, if it’s not a mission to Jupiter, is it even a mission?

I love a rocket launch

I love the helicopter pictures looking down on the launchpad

View of the rising moon this evening. I like to imagine the pylons are launch towers…

The most interesting fact about The Moon is that it is the second best moon in the solar system 🌝

Good to see the struggling UK HE sector getting a sorely-needed boost

My latest Science water-cooler piece: Is Astronomy a Luxury? #astronomy www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Well, credit to Italy, but England continue to be 💩. Thought that Scotland beating France might have just shown that England weren’t actually so awful, but no England are indeed just awful.

What a game at Murrayfield!

I and every other academic I know worked non-stop to adapt and provide as good and ‘normal’ education as we could. Far, far more hours went into teaching activities than at any other time. Whilst homeschooling our own families.

An international team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from @universitedeliege.bsky.social, has published new observations of Ganymede revealing a striking similarity between its auroras and those on Earth. A 🧵 about 🔭. #planetsci #jupiter #juno #aurora www.star.uliege.be/cms/c_136561...

I’ve written a poem! It’s called: The Perils of Commuting in a Town Bisected by a Railway Line Due to freight, we’ll be late at eight

Not only that, but the Mrs now tells me she’s accidentally bought an effing vegetarian wellington instead of a real one ☹️

I repeat this statement. It’s tacky, @itvx.com.

What. 🏉

Adverts in the middle of play ruins the atmosphere and enjoyment of the game, @itvx.com. All they are are a successful advert for the BBC

Politicians and mandarins will always think they know what is the best science that scientists should undertake. They don’t. Even scientists argue over this. It is the continual duty of science advisors and research council leaders to push back and explain the huge benefits of just funding science.

Great to put a face to a name!

This letter more or less confirms that once again the need to fund the ‘fixed’ costs of STFC - essentially the labs - those of us who work in areas funded by the council can go swivel. So stupid and shortsighted.

What is most irritating is that all Governments say the same thing: “UK science super power blah blah”, “we need STEM graduates blah blah”, “Strategic and blue skies research are vital to our vision for a UK at the forefront of tech blah blah” but all they ever do is cut funding. And then cut more.

Aurora Coolness xkcd.com/3196/

Goldfinger: A case study in concrete brutalism Also: Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy

Make a Bond movie academic. Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.

Well, now the days are drawing in…

'The Emerald Sea' 4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie. Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it. Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc

There are important practical reasons why we study space plasma physics, in addition to its being super cool! (Or hot, rather…) www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...

I still can’t believe they said my name!! I got the Global Space Award 2025 in the category of Science Breakthrough for my leadership of the M-MATISSE mission concept to Mars! A really wonderful night! Next step is to do our super best for the mission to be selected in June 2026!

The sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma @tmbg.bsky.social

Huh. Curious as to what they mean by “intense radiation from the Sun” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

Microsoft Copilot in Word just helpfully told me how to adjust the format of a document… in LaTeX. After I told it that I was not using LaTeX, that it was Microsoft Copilot in Word, it said “Ah, thanks for clarifying! In Microsoft Word…” 😖

Fool’s Gold on loud 🤘 #mani

Just come out of a lecture and idly checked the cricket score. What on Earth? 😮

Jupiter with an apparently very large GRS in 1879, although I suppose it could be enhanced by the particular photographic process used. What do you think, @leighfletcher.bsky.social? Likely real or artefact?

Very not surprised. (You get compensated if the delay is 30 min or more.)

Looking to start a PhD in Physics & Astronomy in 2026? The team @physicsuol.bsky.social have announced their STFC-funded projects on offer next year, spanning astrophysics, planetary science, and space instrumentation. Deadline: Jan 18th, contact us to learn more! le.ac.uk/study/resear...

Funnily enough I gave a lecture today showing this. A student piped up “what, you personally took these?”. Yep*! *as personally as it gets with a space telescope that is.

In 2023, #NASAWebb observed a spectacular light show on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The planet’s auroras are hundreds of times brighter and more energetic than Earth’s. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). 🔭 🧪