Baby seal live solar-powered webcam anyone? Only ~one more week before they leave the rocks and head off into the sea. 📽️: www.seabird.org/webcams/crai... From the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scottish Seabird centre team working on the small island of Craigleith, in the Firth of Forth.

So what is a #Supermoon? Well, the Moon is typically ~¼ million miles away (30 Earths in a row), but thanks to its elliptical orbit, that distance changes. Tonight the Full Moon is 2-Earths closer than normal (221,823 miles away), making it appear ~15% brighter than usual hence #Supermoon! 🔭🧪

Your guide to the November night skies courtesy of @astronomyedinburgh.bsky.social. Wishing you all clear skies and lots of lovely #Leonid 'shooting stars' (meteor shower peaks on the 17th)! 🤞🧪🔭🤩

🥳My 1st cosmic-comic-collab hits the shelves today in the "Geology Rocks" edition of Aquila Magazine (for 8-14yos). The amazing comic artist Edward Ross created "Galactro the Elder God", a chef who demos his (astrophysically accurate) neutron star recipe to make gold goujons! Dee-licious! #scicomm 🔭

This week I've been e-chatting with photographer Lynn Gilbert who took this stunning portrait of Grace Hopper (1906-1992) legend & pioneer of language-based computer programming. 🧪👩‍🔬 You can read Hopper's own words about her experience in Lynn's wonderful interview: www.lynn-gilbert.com/free-chapters

Happily drove through Auchtermuchty on the way home from Dundee yesterday….iykyk 🦊🎩 www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb0k...

Mind has been officially blown by seeing Saturn and its moon Titan through the Mills Observatory Victorian 10" Cooke telescope. WOW! Every time I've visited before, the clouds have come too, but not today! This old technology still works perfectly with a clockwork tracking mechanism. Stunning 🥳👌 🔭

Did I mention how much I love #Dundee! Having a super visit for the #Mills Observatory 90th b'day celebrations. Packed talk at the Steps Theatre last night, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿STV this morning, Ancrum Rd Primary asking lots of space questions at lunch, & tonight a party at Mills🥳. Crossing fingers for clear skies! 🔭

Anyone looking for some #halloween costume ideas?

🔊Calling #Dundee! Mills, the UK's 1st public observatory, is about to turn 90! This time last year looming budget cuts threatened its closure forever, but overwhelming public support saved it🥳. Do join us for the 90th🎂birthday celebrations on the 27th Oct! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🔭 🎟️: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professor-...

Started learning about the 1935 opening of Mills Observatory. Left knowing all about Lady Georgiana (the Earls' daughter), who was forced into a loveless marriage with Lieut Home Kidston instead of her true love Roger Bushell who masterminded the "Great Escape" from a WW2 POW camp. #ThanksBlueSky 🤗

Searching 1935 Newspaper archives in prep for the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Mills Observatory 90th bday party & 😲 it was opened with a kitty of £4000 (£¼ million today)! Philanthropist John Mills sure gave #Dundee a fine gift. Also 🥰 the Earl's glamourous daughter!🔭 Mon 27th Oct 🎟️: www.dundeecity.gov.uk/events/event...

"What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the furry critter) in one place?" On Mole Day, enjoy @xkcd.com's classic what-if: A Mole of moles 🔗: what-if.xkcd.com/4/ "If these moles were released onto the Earth’s surface, they’d fill it up to 80 km deep" 🤔🤓

Congrats to @carersinstemm.bsky.social for a successful and insightful launch event in Edinburgh's grand Playfair library. They're calling for systemic changes to funding, policy & culture to support carers in STEM. Read more 👉 carersinstemm.co.uk & join future events in London/Manchester/Online 👩‍🔬🧪

Never one to be thwarted by a bit of patchy cloud cover 🤔 I am hereby joining the #Comet #Lemmon fanclub 😂 It's a cute one (and check out👇 @stuartatkinson.bsky.social's images to see how cute it really is when the Edinburgh streetlight-hazy clouds aren't photobombing it). 🔭 #seestar

A nice wee piece about my visit to the fab #Kirkcudbright Dark Space Planetarium in the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Daily Record. The Planetarium is near the Galloway Dark Sky Park (soon-to-be-built Scottish #DarkSky Observatory) & James Clerk Maxwell's grave. All well worth a visit! 🔭 www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-n...

🔊Announcing a new Physics/Astro PhD scholarship scheme in Edinburgh, for students from a Black heritage, inc mixed Black background. Please help me spread the word. The scholarship covers all tuition fees, living costs & research travel. #blackinSTEM 🔭👩‍🔬⚛️ ℹ️: www.ph.ed.ac.uk/studying/pos...

Well it's not every day that you get to stand on the site of a brand new Observatory! This is Clatteringshaws loch, in the Galloway Forest #DarkSky Park, home of the 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scottish Dark Sky Observatory. Construction starts soon and like a phoenix SDSO will rise from the ashes! Re-opening mid-2027. 🥳🔭🧪

Had a very happy morning at the #Kirkcudbright Dark Space Planetarium this week. A fab interactive exhibit plus a gorgeous immersive experience in the planetarium. It's so unique to have such a state-of-the-art science centre in this 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 rural setting, and the team there are just awesome. #scicomm 🔭

Amused by the 13yo's lexicon - just got a message from their train heading South "Dad has been a total donut" Turns out he forgot the railcard, but crisis averted thanks to a kind ticket inspector and a speedily sent photograph of it. Thanks @lner.co.uk

Went on a little pilgrimage today to Parton, the resting place of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scotland’s very own Einstein, James Clerk Maxwell. Quite the pause when I realised he was only one year older than me (48) when he died. ⚛️🔭

Tomorrow is my youngest's 13th birthday: when the clock strikes midnight, will he lose the power of rational thought and the use of his arms? #HesBecomeATeenager 📺: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLuE...

Me and my good pal Andrew from @astronomyedinburgh.bsky.social gatecrashed a local #supermoon gathering last night with his Dobsonian🔭. Minds were blown as we looked at the lunar mare and craters through patchy holes in the cloud cover. Pop-up sidewalk astronomy at its best - loved it!

I love it that everyone loves a #supermoon. Tonight is the night so #DoLookUp! Fine print: this astronomical event comes with a expectation-management disclaimer: *The Supermoon is only 15% brighter than a normal full moon and I personally can not tell the difference 🤔 *Every moon is SUPER🔭🥳

🔊Calling #Dundee! Mills, the UK's 1st public observatory, is about to turn 90! This time last year looming budget cuts threatened its closure forever, but overwhelming public support saved it🥳. Do join us for the 90th🎂birthday celebrations on the 27th Oct! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🔭 🎟️: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professor-...

Conventional wisdom says motherhood should wait for tenure as before you land a permanent post, #academia is just not that family friendly🙁 @carersinstemm.bsky.social are calling for change and to celebrate their new report, a Saturday🧵on parenting & academia! 1/9 👩‍🔬🧪🔭⚛️ ℹ️: carersinstemm.co.uk

Today I salute Elizabeth Brown (1830-1899) who "with the gentle persistency which characterised her...would not take 'No' for an answer", was a key architect in the founding of the British Astronomical Association at a time when the Royal Astronomical Society was not admitting women! Pure legend 🤩👩‍🔬🔭

The fantastic UK network of science and discovery centres needs your help to survive and thrive! Sign this letter urging the UKGov to stop excluding science from the financial support that is available for other museums, art galleries & theatres 🙏🧪🔭👩‍🔬🎢 👉✉️: www.sciencecentres.org.uk/openletter20...

If you're looking for evidence to convince your undergrads not to rely on AI this semester, this study is pretty damning "Over 4 months, LLM users consistently underperformed" One caution though: the paper is not yet peer reviewed.🧪⚛️👩‍🔬 🗞️: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 📖: arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

Inner child extremely excited about a crewed mission to the moon as soon as February! Outer adult painfully aware of the NASA funding cuts and their impact on wide-ranging and incredibly important scientific research. Anyone else simultaneously thrilled and downcast about this news?🔭🛰️

Tick Tick Tick BOOM WINTER IS (officially) COMING.

Top #Equinox fact: Today is the day that the Sun rises due East and sets due West. At the December solstice the sun rises in the South East. At the June solstice it rises in the North East. As the days pass between the two, the sunrise position slowly changes passing due East each equinox.👇🤩 🔭🧪

⏰ Start your countdown clock for the exact moment of the autumn #equinox, 19:19 (UK) 22nd Sept, when the Northern hemisphere and Southern hemisphere are equally illuminated. Today the day length in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scotland is ~the same as in 🇳🇿New Zealand 🤓🧪🔭 📷: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Celestial alignment captured by @peterlewis55.bsky.social this afternoon! Behold the Moon, on its journey around the Earth, moving to temporarily block out the light from planet Venus. 🔭🧪 Absolutely cracking photos Peter - thanks so much for sharing!

I know we don't like bots, but this one does produce some stunning displays. It's beautiful #maths in action with some lovely music to go with it. Happy weekend all 🤗

This is the peer reviewed journal article that studied 17.5k people across 169 countries to conclude that regular micro-acts of joy boost mental wellbeing: 📖: www.jmir.org/2025/1/e72053/ You can join their citizen science Big Joy project here 🧪 😃: ggia.berkeley.edu/bigjoy

Is this Hippy-woo-woo? No, it's an actual scientific study🧪🤓 "Deliberately finding gratitude, offering kindness or giving ourselves moments to experience awe are...courageous & effective ways of gently steering your own ship, even through stormy times." ℹ️: www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Describing the NASA Perseverance Rover on BBC Radio 5Live "Well, have you seen the film WALL-E?" 😂 Fun fact: At top speed Percy moves 2.5 metres per minute which is only 3x faster than a garden snail 🐌 In 4.5 yrs he's travelled 23 miles, so only 3 more to go to complete the Mars Marathon! 💪 🔭🧪

NASA #Perseverance is one step closer in its mission to find signs of fossilised microbial life on Mars with an analysis of the "Poppy seed & Leopard spot" features seen in Mars mudstone from an ancient river valley. Mineral formations like these on Earth are created by marine microbes. 🔭🧪🧵

What has Percy found now? NASA Press teleconference tomorrow Wed Sept. 10, 11EDT/16UK on the analysis of the Mars "Sapphire Canyon" rock sample from the suspected ancient river valley area of the Jezero crater 🤓🔭🧪 🎬🍿: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-StZ... 📷: NASA/JPL-Caltech #Perseverance

Well that was splendid! A patch in the Edinburgh clouds cleared to see the moon in Pac-Man mode for the last 1/2hr #LunarEclipse. Got overly excited explaining to passers by that the upward motion of the moon was because the Earth turns, & the shifting shadow was because the moon is orbiting us 🤓🔭🧪

The #LunarEclipse is underway: the full moon is slowly moving into the Earth's shadow. Totality starts at 17:30UTC. If you're stuck under clouds and/or sunlight, timeanddate are live streaming the moon as seen from the dark clear skies over Cyprus and Dubai 🔭🧪 🍿: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Sx...

Abernethy Scouts have sent me a list of space questions for "Ask the Astronomer Royal Anything". I've covered aliens, killer asteroids & living on Mars, but am now really struggling to answer their last Q: "who is your favourite Star Wars character?" Is it Chewie or Han - a tough tough decision.

Good morning! 📷: Portobello Beach, Edinburgh, 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland 🤗

UK-peeps: Sunday's #LunarEclipse is going to be tricky as the horizon is mostly in the way 😬 If you're keen not to miss it, try a dress rehearsal: spot the moonrise today/tomorrow & you'll know where to look on Sunday 🤓🔭🧪 Location-specific moonrise 🕰️: www.timeanddate.com/moon/uk/edin... 📷 S. Harvey

As a coding dinosaur (mother tongue fortran) my "suck-it-and-see" approach to python isn't as strong as it should be. @joezuntz.bsky.social spat his tea out when reviewing a recent commit, kindly pointing me to PEP8 & "black". It's pure magic! Now my code is so pretty 💃 ℹ️: pypi.org/project/black/

#ProudParent moment. Eldest (on Sousaphone) and her street band Golden Grooves at the Porty #BigBeachBusk yesterday. A big happy bopping crowd even though it was properly raining (shakes fists at clouds).

I can hear Bagpipes crossed with an Oasis cover. It can only mean one thing: the #Portobello #BigBeachBusk has started. If you're in #Edinburgh, hop on a 26 and come on down to the beach to witness this once-a-year musical madness!

Delighted to announce the AeroSpace Science and Education Trust (ASSET) have invited me to be their Patron 🥳 ASSET run AeroSpace Kinross & the Cosmos Planetarium - super excited as they move to the building phase of their aerospace discovery centre! 🔭🛰️ #scicomm ℹ️: aerospacekinross.com/our-mission/

🔊Calling 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿P6/7,S1/2/3 teachers: the AeroSpace Kinross ✈️Air Race Challenge is on! Enter with a paper aeroplane design. Complete challenges with 2 remote controlled quadcopters (kit provided for free). A flight-themed day out for the winners! #scicomm🎢 ℹ️: aerospacekinross.com/schools-air-...