😮 Perserverance might have seen interstellar comet 3I/Atlas from Mars

Interstellar comet 3I/Atlas is flying past Mars today. Might get some cool views! skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

One mega constellation is already crowding orbit. Now more are coming. SpaceX's Starlink will soon be joined by thousands of satellites from the US and China – and space is about to get busy. What's going to happen? Story by me in Aerospace America aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/hea...

One mega constellation is already crowding orbit. Now more are coming. SpaceX's Starlink will soon be joined by thousands of satellites from the US and China – and space is about to get busy. What's going to happen? Story by me in Aerospace America aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/hea...

My take on the US government shutdown

Some things we see in space appear to outpace light. Now we are learning to harness these bizarre optical illusions to understand the mysteries of neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and more

Very werid article this which only quotes one (very knowledgeable!) source but lacks any like... actual first-hand information or substance on most of the points it raises? 4/10, see me after Mega Constellation class www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Nothing can travel faster than light – but there are some pretty convincing illusions in the universe that appear to do so. From light echoes to backwards explosions, what can we learn from these unusual superluminal events? Story by me in @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2495...

Would be amazing if this happened. Obviously pretty fanciful to imagine European spacecraft sending humans to the Moon and Mars, but why not? Might as well aim high, and in the face of uncertainty elsewhere it would be pretty great if Europe emerged as a major player in human spaceflight.

Went to a tropical island this weekend about two hours from Bangkok. Was quite nice.

I miss the days when you could search a paper on Twitter and there would be lots of scientists talking about it

A beach ball-sized asteroid exploded like a bomb over France two years ago, losing 98% of its mass in a single event. It could mean some incoming asteroids are tougher than we thought, raising planetary defence concerns. Story by me in @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2496...

That's quite the headline

Meet JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer - and here's how it stacks up to the competition. Story by me in Nature www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Great to see my story on where we might actually find alien life on the BBC homepage today! www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Save MSR

Very timely, but here's my latest article for The Planetary Society on how we're closing in on Earth-like planets in our galaxy. www.planetary.org/articles/oth...

Hey supercomputer Bluesky, I’m looking for experts to comment on Europe’s new JUPITER supercomputer for a story in Nature. If that’s you, or you know someone, do get in touch. Thanks! jdaoca[at]gmail[dot]com

While exploring Bangkok's "green lung" (Bang Kachao) the other day I spotted a snake near us (not pictured but was near here). Looked it up after and it was a banded krait, the most venomous snake in Thailand! Apparently they're quite docile, but didn't particularly want to find out...

In my head this mission is always so far away, but nine years! Nine years until we land on Titan again in 2034! That is amazing. That is two and a bit more presidents away for probably the most exciting space mission of the century, so far. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

A monumental sign of an atmosphere on TRAPPIST-1e could be the precursor to finally finding a living world around another star

If we’re going to find life, TRAPPIST-1e might be our best bet. By next year, we should know for sure if this alien planet has an atmosphere. But already there is excitement at hints this is not a barren world. Story by me in @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/jwst...

Anyone know what journal this Sapphire Canyon paper is being published in? www.nasa.gov/news-release...

Me looking through the author list of a major exoplanet paper to find anyone that might be awake right now

So, it’s a bit of a long shot, but… astronomers might have seen a galaxy in the first 90 millions years of the universe with JWST 😮 Will it stand up to scrutiny? Maybe not. But, still a fun possibility! Story by me in @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2495...

There needs to be rules against dropping a major space story on a Friday with an embargo date on Monday.

Are you a space startup in South East Asia? Get in touch! I'm a space journalist based in Bangkok that is on the lookout for interesting stories in the region. If you're launching something, building something, developing something, or anything else, let me know! jdaoca[at]gmail[dot]com

My coffee shop office today in Bangkok. Apologies.

Possibly the best graph ever. You are more likely to die from an asteroid destroying Earth than a skydiving accident, being struck by lightning, or being trampled by an elephant.

Req for future Rubin 🔭 users

Bump

Impressive test flight for Starship

Astronomers, I'm looking for something a bit niche for a story I'm working on. Is anyone planning to use Rubin to look for any superluminal effects (eg light echoes, image doubling, time reversal GRBs)? If you are, or know anyone, do get in touch! jdaoca[at]gmail[dot]com

Not a bad commute and office for the day in Bangkok

Forget Planet X and Planet Nine – there might be a Planet Y warping objects in the outer solar system. Story by me in @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2493...

Ogres are like onions. But we've long thought stars are too – and now we have evidence they have layers, thanks to a new type of supernova that might have stripped the star before it exploded. Story by me in The New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/s...

A few pics from Bangkok. Bit surreal that we live here now.

What about, hypothetically, a Mars orbiter to reach 3I/ATLAS during the Mars flyby, eg MRO or Maven? Do any have enough fuel?

Aside from the aliens, is this true? Could Juno be sent to 3I/ATLAS? Is there any chance of that happening? www.universetoday.com/articles/nas...

Lot of familiar faces (Darryl, @astrokiwi.bsky.social, Jessica, Yuichi, Aster, yours truly) in this excellent article about the decidely local dark comets

It's me, back on the beeb, writing about those pesky dark comets lurking in our solar system. Enjoy! www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Hi editors - we have successfully relocated to Bangkok, and I am available for work again! If you have any space stories you need writing, or ideas you need exploring, do let me know. Cheers!

Six days until we relocate to Bangkok! Very real now, and very exciting. If any of you space people are based out that way, hit me up! Will be keen to expand my Asia coverage.

Someone accused me of being a woke liberal in a bar last night but my alcohol free mimosa mocktail I just drank while watching the women’s Euro final begs to differ

Whoa. Rubin has already seen 3I/ATLAS!

On Avi and 3I/ATLAS: sites.psu.edu/astrowright/... ☄️ 🔭

Remember those strange “little red dots” JWST found in the early universe? Turns out they’re not only in the early universe – we just found three close by! Story by me in @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2488...

So, for anyone getting Avi Loeb’s emails, or wondering if his claims have any merit this time around: all of his alien spacecraft stuff for this object rest on his assertion that it is very large and has no detected coma. This is incorrect. It is clearly, clearly a comet.

I’m in WIRED this month, chatting about supersonic planes. What are you waiting for? Go and buy it!

One of my favourite stories I’ve written this year. A third known interstellar object is flying through our solar system right now. What are the 7 biggest questions we want to answer about it? Story by me in @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...