Almost to 200 signatures!! Way to go! Keep signing and sharing. I am doing a lot of groundwork to see this change through. I just need to let the people I am speaking with know that YOU care about this, too!

Gael Gomez and his family are all but certain to leave the country this week, upending the lives they’ve built in D.C. But Mount Pleasant's 19-year-old sidewalk astronomer wants people to keep looking up — at the sky and in life. @samdelgado.bsky.social reports:

Open Sesame! The ELT doors have moved for the first time. This was no small feat, as each door will weigh 650 tonnes once completed. The ELT dome & its doors will guard the telescope from the harsh conditions of the Atacama Desert. https://www.eso.org/public/videos/potw2544a/ 🔭 🧪 📹 ESO/ACe

I have been looking forward to this stream with @mwatzke.bsky.social for months! Please come. It's going to be glorious, awesome, and creepy - just like our Universe.

Just in time for Halloween, here's the trailer for our new book that goes on sale this February from @sourcebooks.bsky.social! @kimberlykowal.bsky.social

Spooky season is upon us! In tomorrow's CosmoQuest After Hours, we welcome on author & science communicator @mwatzke.bsky.social to talk about the Spooky Images telescopes capture of our actual skies. Tune in for paradolia, science, & more at 2pm E / 11am P / 4pm UTC youtube.com/live/nrieMNg...

I love this. If you live anywhere in the dark blue areas, you are closer to outer space (defined by the Kármán line) than you are to the nearest seashore. 🧪

And here's the other event .... This is a really simple, visual and effective way to share science with broader audiences ... go follow @astronerdika.bsky.social for more! 🔭🧪

Y'all .... are you following @astronerdika.bsky.social ? Brilliant scientists, but also - fantastic science visualisations, infographics and art. Like I am totally biased (Shanika is a @spaceaustralia.com #SpaceFam!) but .... these are so good. Check out the new @ligo.org results by her! 🔭🧪

She’s brilliant for so many reasons but add this to the list.

US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold. [In some cases, to zero.] Story by @alexwitze.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The latest issue (and cover!) of @natastron.nature.com features the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its quarter century+ of transforming our understanding of the Universe. www.nature.com/natastron/vo...

💯

Oooh the Nobel Prize is out today, so it's time for my yearly round of ignoring that news and reading about many of the women who were snubbed of the prize in the past and who the Nobel Prize committee refuses to apologise for. 🧪🔭

I may need to watch this daily.

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” ― Jane Goodall 💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

Did you know there's a limit to how fast a black hole can feed? And that some break that limit? Here's one that does it by a *lot*. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-black-ho... [Paid subscribers only today] 🧪🔭

I feel badly for the squid but this is fascinating. Our oceans are so mysterious and cool (as long as we humans don't ruin them.)

New blog post by Luca Ighina about a black hole doing its thing in the very early Universe. Tied to latest press release from Chandra. chandra.si.edu/blog/node/934

So we asked the universe where the dark matter is, and it said, "Here. Right here." www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa... 🔭🧪

Congrats to my colleague, co-author and friend @kimberlykowal.bsky.social for winning the 2025 Klumpke-Roberts Award from the @astrosociety.org for those "who have made outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy." chandra.si.edu/press/25_rel...

@barnesandnoble.com is running a pre-order sale for our book over the next few days and there's a promo code for 25% off. It's meant to both gross/scare kids out while giving them some science in the process -- maybe like an astronomy book for Wednesday Addams. ;) @kimberlykowal.bsky.social

About 26 years ago, the Chandra X-ray Observatory released its "First Light" images. The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A was the highlight. All of these years later, Chandra is still delivering discoveries about this exploded star. chandra.si.edu/press/25_rel...

How a dead star carved the “Hand of God” in space So, you've seen the new-and-improved "Hand of God" nebula in space: MSH 15-52. Now come learn why this "kicked" pulsar produces a wind nebula unlike any other in appearance. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astro #physics #pulsar #nebula

There’s a giant hand in space. Ok, not a real hand but instead one made out of energetic particles that glow in X-ray and radio light. chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/m... I mean, that mixes up your timeline, does it not?

Stupid on top of stupid

📣📣 BOOK NEWS 📣📣 I'm excited to share the cover and release date of Book #2, #EdgeOfSpaceTime, which is now available for PREORDER!! You can order from ANY bookstore, including your local indie! More details on preordering here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817... What's the book about? 🧵

Specifically the Smithsonian was only willing to share the painting in the form of "a video of people reacting to the painting and discussing transgender issues"

#ThisWeek in 1999, launch of Space Shuttle Columbia STS-93 on 23 July carrying NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory. Eileen Collins became the first female shuttle Commander on this flight. Also on board was @cnes.fr astronaut Michel Tognini and our friend Cady Coleman! 👉 www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-...

Meanwhile ... "Climate change is making severe fire weather more common around the world, raising the chances of worsened forest fire seasons, a study in the journal Nature Communications found." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/c...

I was legitimately confused about this headline as someone who follows astronomy news. Turns out, there's a company called "Astronomer". Who knew? ;) www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...

Baby exoplanet is being hoovered up by super aggressive host star. Will go from Jupiter size planet to a barren smaller world in short order (astronomically speaking) thanks to the onslaught of X-rays. Latest news from Chandra: chandra.cfa.harvard.edu/press/25_rel...

Scientists have discovered an oddly-shaped galaxy that may contain the first newborn supermassive black hole ever spotted. This could have implications for when the biggest black holes can form. Results from JWST + Chandra + VLA.

We've sent a probe to the Sun and it sends back the best stuff.

This. Is. Brilliant.

Always of interest to those of us who live in Seattle!

What’s really at stake if NASA’s science budget gets slashed and entire science missions are canceled? We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose. Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...

Alt text: You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale Date: July 8-11, 2025 Location: Bookshop.org Enjoy free shipping and the knowledge that your money will go toward supporting independent bookstores, not billionaires

Closer science ties across the Atlantic: the Max Planck Society has just launched its new #Transatlantic Program to boost collaboration with top U.S. institutions & open up more chances for researchers at every level - from #PhDs & #postdocs to directors!🌍🔬 www.mpg.de/25034916/max...

Nice op-ed on “Made in the USA” discoveries in space science, by Haverford Emeritus prof Bruce Partridge wapo.st/44CVsWM (with #JWST images!)

The evil that men do lives after them

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history The largest brain drain in history was when thousands of scientists left Nazi Germany; it became known as "Hitler's gift." America's current assault on science is set to surpass that. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #science

💥💥 Double detonation!  For the first time, astronomers have obtained visual evidence that a star met its end by detonating twice. The fingerprint that points to this mechanism is represented by two separate shells of calcium.   Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2511/ 🔭 🧪 ☄️ 1/

How do we know that dark matter is real? One of the best ways is from the Bullet Cluster, where we can see where dark matter has been wrenched apart from the regular stuff. New image from JWST and Chandra. chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/b...

What would happen if a baseball-sized chunk of a neutron star hit the Earth? Great Q&A. www.spokesman.com/stories/2025...

Vera Rubin’s legacy — both how she transformed our understanding of the universe & charted a path for more women in astro — carries on in her namesake, even amid a troubled scientific landscape. the latest in our @nytimes.com Rubin Observatory package: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/s...

🔭 womenshistory.si.edu/blog/life-cu...

That we don't know what most of the Universe is made or what kind of unseen force that is pushing it apart.

What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders? Water is such a weird substance. Just absolutely bizarre. It's used as a standard or reference point for so much because it's so ubiquitous, but it's very different than pretty much every other liquid and every molecule of similar size.