"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us."

We are the legacy of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. We have a choice: We can enhance life and come to know the universe that made us, or we can squander our 15 billion-year heritage in meaningless self-destruction. ~ Carl Sagan

Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

The very first clip of COSMOS—this is where it all began. A voyage from the shores of Earth's oceans to the infinite expanses of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and beyond. Thank you, Carl, for taking us on this journey. We remain forever in your debt.

What a sunset looks like from space 🌅 Video Credit: ESA/NASA

Albert Einstein died on this day, April 18, 1955. It is incredible to hear Albert Einstein explain his famous formula, E=mc².

"There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." - Carl Sagan

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff. ~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos

What is the most spook-tacular nebula in the galaxy? One contender is LDN 43, which bears an astonishing resemblance to a vast cosmic bat flying amongst the stars on a dark Halloween night. Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby

“Astrologers cannot even agree among themselves what a given horoscope means.” ~ Carl Sagan

This dim and distant world is the farthest planet from the Sun, about 30 times farther away than planet Earth. Details of the complex ring system are seen here for the first time since Neptune was visited by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in August 1989. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, NIRCam

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff. ~ Carl Sagan

Every star may be a sun to someone. ~ Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Can you recognize the constellation? 📸 Jason Bonnicksen

The first image of Earth from space - Oct. 24, 1946

Hubble vs Webb Showcasing the Pillars of Creation

Merry Christmas! 🎄 Credit: NASA

Merry Christmas! 🎄 A gift from Carl 🧵

Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed from deep nonsense.

The highest-resolution color images of any part of Saturn's rings, to date, showing a portion of the inner-central part of the planet's B Ring.

To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is to never die.

Jupiter in infrared 📸 GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) et al.

If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth. ~ Carl Sagan

The young star cluster NGC 602, by #JWST

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." - Carl Sagan

Wildly Interacting Galaxy from Hubble Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA

57 Years Ago, Jocelyn Bell Burnell Discovered Pulsars "On 28 November 1967, it came again—a string of pulses, one-and-a-third seconds apart." At first, some joked, "Little Green Men?" But what Jocelyn Bell Burnell had found was far more remarkable. A Little Backstory🧵

What's happened since the universe started? The time spiral shown here features a few notable highlights. ⬇️ Credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi

This photo from NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the Earth as seen from the surface of Mars, shining brighter than any star in the Martian night sky.

Cyril Connolly in 1933, timeless words

It is the responsibility of scientists never to suppress knowledge, no matter how awkward that knowledge is, no matter how it may bother those in power; we are not smart enough to decide which pieces of knowledge are permissible and which are not.

That's no moon. On the ground, that's the Lars Homestead in Tunisia. And that's not just any galaxy. That's the central band of our own Milky Way galaxy. Last, that's not just any meteor. It is a bright fireball likely from last year's Perseids meteor shower. Credit: Makrem Larnaout

Perspective is everything. We're small, aren't we?

The first drawings of the moon made by Galileo Galilei after he observed it through his telescope in 1609.

Orion over the Czech Republic 📸 Vojtěch Bauer

“I think people in power have a vested interest to oppose critical thinking.” - Carl Sagan, interview from May 1996

Uranus throughout the ages!

The surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa Credit: NASA/JPL/University Of Arizona

NASA's next spacesuit that will be worn on the Moon in 2025/2026

Webb and Hubble's Views of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1566

“We are all star stuff.”

First ever image of a multi-planet system around a Sun-like star Credit: ESO/Bohn et al.

Aurora over Norway 📸 Max Rive

I'm lucky enough to teach a kindergarten or first-grade class. Many of these children are natural-born scientists - although heavy on the wonder side and light on scepticism. They're curious, intellectually vigorous. Provocative and insightful questions bubble out of them.

“But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine.”

The Eagle has risen: stellar spire in the Eagle Nebula Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The Rosette Nebula Located about 5,000 light years from Earth, this composite image shows the Rosette star formation region. Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Wang et al) Optical (DSS & NOAO/AURA/NSF/KPNO 0.9-m/T. Rector et al)

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot."

Milky Way from Nepal 📸 Tomáš Havel