This was the first song I ever taped off of MTV when I was a kid. H/t @elakdawalla.bsky.social

I took a day off from work to go chase the largest steam engine in the world that just happened to be passing near my town.

Artemis so Y. Commercial space will always find a way to put the bro in Space Bros.

Six years ago this month I thought I might be having a heart attack. When I tried to google symptoms, I wound up on a buzzfeed listicle. After scrolling through four screens and ads just to get to the third symptom I finally said f*ck this and just called 911.

For those that might be interested in how my creative process works (and for those concerned I might be using AI) here is the process that led to my Organ Pipe poster. From pen and ink to Adobe Illustrator lines, to final color.

Holy sh!t. There are AI-detection programs out there that evidently claim my posters are AI. I despise AI for this very reason I spent two weeks working on this poster. Here’s the original pen and ink sketch I sent to the park. The final design work was done on a Wacom tablet in Adobe Illustrator).

Organ Pipe Cactus commissioned me to design this poster to celebrate their new dark sky status. www.spacearttravelbureau.com #art #spaceart #astronomy

I still love the theory a Year 6 child proposed to me that David Attenborough is actually God and he got fed up with people not noticing the amazing things he'd created, so he made documentaries to show off.

If you enjoy playing with these data (stretching, exposure stacking, timelapse, etc.) please note that these releases are lossy .jpg versions and that the Artemis II lunar science team is preparing the full-res RAW and native .tif files for release in the Planetary Data System. Stay Tuned!!!

My recent trip to Antarctica was on Hondius as part of the first leg of this trip that now sees 3 people dead. My heart goes out to the crew & passengers. The crew were absolute professionals and the doc took excellent care of me during our return trip through the Drake Passage. I hope she’s ok.

A couple cabins have opened up on the tour I’m leading to Greenland for THIS SUMMER’s total solar eclipse. We’ll be onboard a ship in Scorsby Sund, a massive fjord system with good weather prospects. Check out all the info here: betchartexpeditions.com/pdf_files/17...

For Earth Day I got a tour of Saratoga National Historic Park as part of a commission to design a 250th anniversary poster for the Battle of Saratoga next year. It was awesome. If you visit, bring your bike; the park loop is one way and closes to cars at 5pm. Check out the new tactile signage!

Two of my Space Bar posters appeared in S2, ep7 of ST: Picard! They’re in an LA bar when the crew goes back in time to the early 21st Century. So I, the artist Tyler Nordgren, exist as a person in the Star Trek universe according to canon. #art #startrek #sciart www.tylernordgren.com/space-bar-po...

These folks will always be cooler than a bunch of rich bros who who pay to be passengers on commercial flights.

Here it is.👍🙂

Speaking of Threads, this one got me in the feels.

This is the coolest Earth photo I’ve ever seen. I love that it also includes aurorae over both poles, zodiacal light, stars and Venus. The window frame of the spacecraft makes you feel as if you are there.

Departing Ithaca NY for the Antarctic Peninsula. Both are visible in this sculpture outside the Ithaca airport. With luck, once there we will not get iced in for the winter, develop scurvy, and go mad in the darkness while our ship is slowly crushed by the ice.

All packed for a long trip to Antarctica beginning tomorrow. Three years ago I started working with Oceanwide Expedition to plan astronomy-themed trips to Antarctica. Last year we successfully saw the Aurora Australis. Now I’m bringing my own tour along to experience the awe. #sciart #art #astronomy

The official NYS report on last years’ Erie Canal Bicentennial just came out. I got a mention in it for my poster: 20,000 free copies were given out at libraries and visitor centers across the state. You can still download one for free. #art edge.sitecorecloud.io/newyorkpowe2...

Q10: Ansel Adams’ Tetons Snake River photo was put on the golden Voyager spacecraft record because it showed that we live on a planet where water is a vapor (cloud), liquid (river) & solid (snow). What park photo would you send to aliens to show our world? #parkchat

Q9: There’s art in the parks other than pictures. Are there performing arts in the park that you’ve experienced that evoke a sense of place for you? #parkchat

Q8: In 2008 I was an Artist in Residence at Glacier National Park. If you could be one for any park for any medium what would it be? #parkchat

Q7: Ansel Adams used to lead photo workshops in Yosemite! Have you ever taken an art workshop in a park or wanted to? What was it and where? #parkchat

Q6: I once spent a year planning a single photo in a park. What’s a favorite piece of art you’ve created in a park? Maybe a photo you were dying to take, or one that still brings back memories because of the people who were in it? #parkchat

Q5: My favorite coffee cup is from the El Tovar Hotel in Grand Canyon. Its art reminds me of the park every time I use it. Is there anything you have whose design, decoration, etc evoke a park for you? #parkchat

Q4: Go into any park bookshop or store and there is so much art on display. Have you ever bought a piece of art in a park? What was it? What about it spoke to you? Do you still have it? #parkchat

Q3: The first time I went to Bryce Canyon I felt I was walking into a painting (I later realized it was because of a Loony Tunes cartoon I’d seen as a kid). What’s a park where you feel like you are walking into a work of art? #parkchat

Q2: Art has a long history with the national parks. Advertising and travel art played a huge role in promoting the national parks to visitors. What are the images that inspired you to visit a park? #parkchat

Almost time for #parkchat tonight. Got to stretch my typing fingers get ready to talk about Art in the Parks.

Hi folks, I’m hosting #parkchat tonight at 9pm EDT. The topic is “Art in the Parks.” Find a photo, poster, painting, etc you love about parks. My plan is to ask questions that’ll be perfect for you to share it in your answers. Let’s flood Bluesky with beauty tonight.

It’s hard to properly convey the lunacy of these proposals to people outside aerospace. Reflect wants to put gigantic mirrors in orbit and beam down sunlight at nighttime. SpaceX wants a million more starlink sats. If either of these actually happens, space will be unusable.

Thank you @amybrecountihwt for including us in this @NatGeo story on Indigenous astrotourism. See North America’s night sky through an Indigenous lens: www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/artic... #DarkSky #NightSky

Hi folks, I’m hosting #parkchat next Wednesday 3/11 9pm EDT. This will be my third time. Any topics you’d like me to ask about?

Post a pic you took, no context, to bring some zen to the feed.

🔭🧪

I've been following the journey of Colin O'Brady, who yesterday set the new world record for the longest solo unsupported one-way polar ski journey in Antarctica. Today, the chance orbital alignment and celestial dance of astrophysical bodies will reward him (and only a few others) with an eclipse.

Thanks everyone for coming tonight. Remember, as big as the universe is, and as small as we may be, we are a way for the stars to know themselves. And that’s no small thing. #parkchat

Q11: If there were one awe-inspiring sight/experience in a park that you think could lead to social growth, and make the world a better place, what would it be? #parkchat

Q10: Sociologists say that when we experience awe in nature we are forced to confront its vastness, increasing humility, and facilitating social growth. Have you found this to be true in your experience? #parkchat

Q9: Awe is described as a reverential feeling of respect mixed with fear or wonder. What’s an awe-inspiring experience you’ve had in a park? #parkchat

Q8: Speaking of astronomy by day or night, as an astronomer one of the things I love about parks is how otherworldly they can be. What’s a park that makes you feel like you are on another planet and appreciate our planet anew? #parkchat

Q7: Some astronomy in parks happens during the day. In both 2017 and 2024 a total solar eclipse (when the moon covers the Sun) was visible in the US from dozens of national parks. Did you get to see one there or perhaps somewhere else? What did you think? #parkchat

Q6: A naturally dark night sky was normal for all but recent human history. To see the stars at night is to see the world the way our ancestors saw it. What’s a connection to our ancestors that you’ve experienced in a park? #parkchat

Q5: In 2007 DarkSky International declared Natural Bridges Nat Mon to be the world’s 1st International Dark Sky Park. This year they named their 250th. Have you been to an International Dark Sky place? Where? What was it like? #parkchat

Q4: It’s estimated that 80% of the US population can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live. Can you? If not, how far do you have to travel to see it and is it at a park? #parkchat

Q3: In 2009 I coined the phrase “Half the park is after dark” to raise awareness of night skies for park visitors and park officials. Have you been to a night sky talk in a park recently? Where and what was the topic? # parkchat

Q2: In 2007 I began working with rangers on night sky interpretation. A superintendent once asked me what starry skies had to do with parks. Are starry skies a part of your park experience? If so how? #parkchat

Q1: As an astronomer, my life changed in 2005 the night I saw a ranger talk in Yosemite Valley about rangers protecting the view of starry skies in the nation’s parks. How has a park changed you or the path you were on in life? #parkchat

Looking forward to #parkchat tonight. Talking about parks always relaxes me and fills me with peace and awe. I hope there’s nothing else going on tonight.