M78 is a reflection nebula located about 1350 ly away in the constellation of Orion. We see reflection nebulae because the light from a nearby star is bouncing off the gas and dust of the nebula. #astronomy

The Milky Way is a glowing band seen across the sky. This band is made up of untold millions of stars in our own Galaxy. Since our Galaxy is a spiral or disk galaxy and we live in the disk we see it as a band across the sky. #astronomy

M104 is a spiral galaxy located about 9.5 Mly away in the constellation of Virgo. M104 is known for its prominent dust lane, visible across the galaxy image. We can see this as the galaxy is nearly edge-on to our view. #astronomy

IC 1747 (blue dot in the line of stars at centre) is a planetary nebula located about 9800 ly away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. IC stands for Index Catalog, a supplemental catalog to the NGC catalogue, released about 15 years after the NGC. 1747 is the PN's number in the catalog. #astronomy

What could possibly go wrong with AI designing and operating nuclear power plants…

NGC 4647 (smaller of the two galaxies at centre) is a spiral galaxy located about 57 Mly away in the constellation of Virgo. It seems to be starting to interact with M60 (larger of the two) which is only about 600 kly away from it. #astronomy

@djclimenhaga.bsky.social: Trying to challenge the UCP government’s misuse of the Charter’s notorious notwithstanding clause may be a waste of time and money, but using the UCP’s ridiculous recall legislation as a strategy against the perpetrators is clearly rattling Premier Smith. #abpoli

NGC 3384 (galaxy at top of triangle of galaxies) is an elliptical galaxy located about 35 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. As with most elliptical galaxies, NGC 3384 is made up of mostly older Population II stars. These stars are cool red stars that have very long lives. #astronomy

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun And in the morning We shall remember them.

108 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 46 Mly away in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has been observed to have over 200 globular clusters in orbit about it. #astronomy

Well this is interesting: evl.link/t6

Saturn is the 6th planet in our solar system, famed for it's spectacular ring system. As the rings are inclined to the plane of Saturn's orbit, we see them at different angles through the years. Here we see the change from 2019 (L) to 2025 (R). #astronomy

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system. It's red appearance is due to a large amount of iron oxide dust on its surface. #astronomy

M41 is an open cluster located about 2400 ly away in the constellation of Canis Major. Open clusters are great natural laboratories for stellar evolution. Since the stars were formed roughly at the same time, we can see how different stars evolve over time. #astronomy

Scientists say the return to "standard time" is good for our health. But the time change can be disruptive and we must also adjust to more winter darkness. Syncing our habits to our body clock helps.

M60 (bright galaxy centre) is an elliptical galaxy located about 56.7 Mly away in the constellation of Virgo. It is one of the brightest galaxy in the Virgo cluster. The smaller spiral galaxy beside it is NGC 4647. The pair are listed as Arp 116 in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. #astronomy

Great news Alberta! You’re getting a provincial police force that nobody wanted! Sure, it costs millions more to set up and operate, but we don’t care about fiscal responsibility. The UCP needs a police force we can control and answers to us! #abpoli #ableg calgaryherald.com/news/politic...

M27, the Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula located about 1250 ly away in the constellation of Vulpecula. A type of dying star, M27 was the first planetary nebula discovered, in 1764, by Charles Messier; though what it was wasn't known at that time. #astronomy

Some bling from the PMO.

By tracking the telescope at the sidereal rate (with the Earth's rotation) and taking a photo every minute as the Moon moved through the following image was made staking the images. This was during a lunar eclipse. The resulting photo shows the Earth's shadow. #astronomy

🔭 Dust Shapes of the Ghost Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Kent Wood star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a...

NGC 2903 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 30 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. It is a field galaxy, that is not directly associated with a cluster or group. That being said it is a member of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies. #astronomy

A story in two pictures… #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Ever notice that when things get hot politically in Alberta Danielle Smith promptly goes on a junket?

M96 is a spiral galax located about 31 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. It is about the same mass as size as our own Milky Way Galaxy. #astronomy

Let's be clear about what happened today. Premier Smith introduced a bill to strip Albertans of Charter rights, denied MLAs the opportunity to debate it and the courts the ability to scrutinize it, and did all of this from her seat on a jet to Saudi Arabia.

M33 is a spiral galaxy located about 3.2 Mly away in the constellation of Triangulum. M33 is the third large spiral galaxy in our Local Group of about 50 galaxies. The other two are M31 (the largest) and our own Milky Way Galaxy (in the middle for size). #astronomy

NEW: Astronomers Map Mysterious “Dark” Gas in the Milky Way For the first time, astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope have created a large-scale map of a mysterious form of matter known as CO-dark molecular gas. #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #GreenBankTelescope #NRAO

How do Rubin alerts work? 🌌📲 Think of Rubin Observatory as a friend constantly scrolling through the Universe’s social media feed. Every minute, they refresh and see what’s new — an asteroid has moved, a star has changed in brightness...or maybe even exploded in a supernova. 🔭🧪

M63 is a spiral galaxy located about 29 Mly away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Though classified as a spiral galaxy, invisible light its spiral arms are difficult to discern and it is often called a flocculent spiral as a result. #astronomy

What the UCP did by forcing municipalities to go all paper for their elections was voter suppression. And it worked even if they didn't get the outcome they wanted this time. They know now they can suppress turnout by making things needlessly onerous. #ableg #abpoli

I live in an older neighbourhood, built in the mid 1970s. This has some advantages, such as I just returned from a trip to the supermarket for milk, a pleasant 15 minute walk one-way.

M110 is a dwarf elliptical galaxy located about 2.7 Mly away in the constellation of Andromeda. This, the last object in Messier's list of non-comet fuzzy objects, is a satellite galaxy of M31 - the Andromeda galaxy. #astronomy

NGC 7000, the North America Nebula, is an emission nebula located about 2600 ly away in the constellation of Cygnus. The shape of the nebula is due to a dark nebula between us and the emission nebula. #astronomy

Wow! The UCP has just announced they will be introducing legislation to restrict who can run for office! #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

"never thought the leopards would eat my face..."

M76, The Little Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula located about 2500 ly away in the constellation of Perseus. A bipolar PN, it is not round. It is also one of the faintest objects on Messier's list of non-comet fuzzy objects. #astronomy

Venus is the second planet from the Sun in our solar system. Since it is an inferior planet, that is closer to the Sun than the Earth, it has phases as it orbits the Sun. Bouncing radio waves off Venus allowed us to figure out how far the Sun was away from the Earth. #astronomy

M29 is an open cluster located about 5200 ly away in the constellation of Cygnus. The cluster has about 50 members, though it is difficult to tell for sure due to large amounts of interstellar dust between us and M29. #astronomy

She wants a fight with Ottawa, not a pipeline. And she’ll do almost anything — including damaging the prospects of a new pipeline — to make it happen.

M20, The Trifid Nebula, is an HII region located about 4100 ly away in the constellation of Saggitarius. An HII region is a cloud of gas and dust with large amounts of ionized hydrogen gas. Stars are often formed in regions like this.

That is, of course, unless you're talking about private schools... Then it becomes one of the most important things that the Alberta Government recommends parents pay attention to while choosing a private school. /2

NGC 3593 is a lenticular galaxy located about 21 Mly away in the constellation Leo. Studies have shown it to have two stellar populations in its disk, one of the populations orbits retrograde (backwards) to the other. This is possibly due to a merger with another galaxy. #astronomy

NGC 2371 is a planetary nebula located about 4400 ly away in the constellation of Gemini. It is a bipolar planetary nebula, that is isn't round but has two lobes of matter on either side of the central star. #astronomy

There are reports that UCP MLAs have been told to not talk to constituents if they contact them about the strike.

NGC 3389 (galaxy lower left in the triangle of galaxies) is a spiral galaxy located about 72 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. It is considerably further away than NGC 3384 and M105, the other two galaxies which are 35 Mly and 37 Mly away respectively. #astronomy

A colleague and I have been awarded a Certificate of Achievement in this year’s Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence in STEM. #PMawards ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en...

M2 is a globular cluster located about 55 kly away in the constellation of Aquarius. M2 is one of the larger globular clusters orbiting our galaxy being about 175 light years in diameter and contains about 150000 stars. #astronomy

M106 is a spiral galaxy located about 24 Mly away in the constellation of Canes Venatici. It is a Seyfert type 2 galaxy. This means it has a supermassive black hole at its core actively drawing nearby matter into it. #astronomy

By way of context… In May, 22,300 teacher voted against the UCP’s offer at 61.99% Today, 38,113 voted no at 89.5%. In May, 13,517 voted to accept. Today? Only 4,479. The UCP managed to find a way to actually make things worse. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli #abed