Happy New Year! ¡Prospero Año Nuevo! Blwydden Newydd Dda!

Okay, I understand (even if I don't agree with) pushing Holy Innocents to the 29th. But why is Venite still doing Holly Innocents today (the 30th)? Too many Becket fans insisting it can't have the 29th? ⚓

Merry Christmas!

Having been to a number of parties in Ireland, the image contoured up by the phrase "Irish goodbye" is saying goodbye to everyone at least twice, with interactions such as: Have I already said goodbye to you? Oh yes. Twice. Better make it a third time for luck then. Bye!

We're back in the time of year for Lessons and Carols, and for once again remembering that the rubrics in the Book of Occasional Services insist that this ends with a blessing, even when led by a lay person. How do others deal with this (and can we get it fixed)? ⚓

Time to post this again it looks like⚓

NEW: NRAO to Outfit the VLBA with New Ultra Wideband Receivers A major upgrade is coming to the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) – state-of-the-art ultra wideband receivers capable of operating across the frequency range of 8 - 40 gigahertz (GHz). #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #NRAO #VLBA

High altitude balloon seen to the north of #Socorro this evening. Without the telephoto lens it was just a bright object hovering high in the sky at dusk.

Great Horned Owl at the Bosque del Apache this evening #Socorro

NEW: ALMA Sheds Light on “the Cosmic Grapes” Super high-resolution #ALMA and #JWST observations unveil unexpected details of rapid growth in a faint, newborn “grape-like” galaxy, similar to galaxies in the early universe following the Big Bang. 🍇 #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #NRAO

Today is Lammas, the cross-quarter day marking the end of summer and the start of the harvest. The name comes from “loaf-mass”, when a freshly-baked loaf was blessed as the first fruits of the wheat harvest.

24 hours left to submit your NRAO proposals! Deadline is 5pm ET (21:00 UT) tomorrow (Wednesday 30 July). #RadioAstronomy

Proud of @robminchin.bsky.social for preaching on bread as part of lay preacher training. He linked it to Lammas (coming on Friday), Christ the first fruits from the dead, and sharing the bread of our faith when it'd be easier to just not. Really well co-ordinated hymns as well!

Lots of bombs bursting in the air here as the Americans check their flags are still there.

These are the three Roman Catholic bishops of San Diego. I was glad to join them and other faith leaders at immigration court today to offer compassion and presence.

Odd moment in the Morning Office podcast this morning when the OT reading was introduced as being from the Wisdom despite being from Sirach (aka Ecclesiasticus). Yes, the full title is the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sira, but the Book of Wisdom is a separate book.⚓️

These rescuers attached a sausage to a drone to lure a stranded dog named Millie back to safety. 14/10 for everybody

An Emerging Risk To #RadioAstronomy 📡 Using a prototype SKA-Low instrument, a new analysis from @icrar.bsky.social has detected Starlink signals leaking into protected radio bands. @cosmicrami.com writes about this new study. www.spaceaustralia.com/news/emergin... 📸 Astro_Work 🔭 #SpaceAustralia

What are we looking at? 📡 Check out NRAO's Mission Control Feature to see what's being observed by the Very Large Array, Green Bank Telescope, and ALMA Observatory in real time: public.nrao.edu/explore/miss... *Current VLA Observation: Supernovae with Luminous Radio Counterparts* #RadioAstronomy

Bosque fire in #Socorro! 🔥 #nmwx

Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain, Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain; Love lives again, that with the dead has been: Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.

ALMA Cycle 12 Call for Proposals Now Open! For scientific observations to be scheduled from October 2025 to September 2026 🚨 Submission deadline is Thursday, April 25, 2025, at 15:00 UT 🚨 More info: almascience.nrao.edu/proposing/ca... #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #ALMA

I read an article that mentioned the "Pareto Principle" I didn't know what the Pareto Principle was, so I looked it up. Now I know that the people who wrote the article didn't know what the Pareto Principle was either!

“We are trying to be a good neighbor, a loving neighbor, a compassionate neighbor; not a neighbor who has to check ID before we decide whether you’re worthy of our help.”—Bishop Hunn ⚓ www.krqe.com/news/albuque...

Episcopal Church beloveds, please join us in celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility! ⚓️ episcopalnewsservice.org/2025/03/28/e...

The Episcopal church stands against Christian Nationalism. “Christian nationalism is theologically illegitimate and must be called by its proper names: idolatry, blasphemy and heresy.” -Bishop Robert Wright

The first bats of summer. #Socorro

My third year undergrad tutor:

Remember to invest your hour of daylight savings wisely, or it might only be worth 45 minutes when it matures in November!

Amidst the rising tide of anti-DEI messages, it was nice to get an email from my alma mater today about their plan "to improve equality of opportunity in higher education and make Durham more diverse and inclusive than ever before". And it turns out they're also posting about it on BlueSky!

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Today is the feast of Frederick Douglass. His words still ring true and call us to a better Christianity. ⚓

"People, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices" – Isaiah prophesying mobile phones in today's reading (Is 65:2b) ⚓

Sharing this from Rt. Rev. Jonathan H. Folts, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota. “One of our own priests was targeted at his home—so let no one say, ‘it can’t happen here.’ It can. It has. It is. And rest assured, we will not remain silent or passive in responding.” My heart aches.

Happy Candlemas! 🕯️ First day of spring on this cross-quarter day today as the Sun continues its northwards journey, with temperatures predicted to reach above 20C in Socorro.

Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde is openly criticizing Trump's policies in her inaugural prayer service sermon right now. Says: “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children …who fear for their lives" and “Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger.”

My REU student, Yulián Humaran of UPR Mayagüez, did a great job presenting his poster on signs of ram pressure in ionized-carbon rich dwarfs in the Virgo cluster today at #AAS245 #RadioAstronomy #ExtragalacticAstronomy

If you looking for the #AAS245 session “Fundamental Physics and New Messengers”, it’s in Maryland Ballroom B, on the left of a narrow corridor between ballrooms A & C!

Here at #AAS245, where the #RadioAstronomy never stops, there’s a splinter session tomorrow (Wednesday) morning on “Exploring the radio sky with the DSA-2000 and the ngVLA”, from 09:30 to 11:00 in Chesapeake 4-5. The first challenge – can you find the room?

Meeting NOW

After the #AAS245 poster session today, there’s a Christian Astronomers dinner - meet at 18:30 at the noticeboard (by the registration desk).

ngVLA prototype antenna construction is nearly complete! We had some snow in New Mexico recently, but the finishing touches should be happening very soon. 📡❄️ 📸 Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/P. Bolton #AAS245 #RadioAstronomy

This afternoon I’ll be presenting in the #AAS245 poster session (17:30–18:30) at terminal 63 in the exhibit hall: “251.21 - High resolution observations of 'dark’ neutral hydrogen clouds in the Virgo cluster with the Very Large Array” #RadioAstronomy

I’m back on the @thenrao.bsky.social booth at #AAS345 from 11:00 to 12:00 EST, so stop by and say hi!

From #AAS245: "Astronomers Catch Unprecedented Features at Brink of Active Black Hole" Astronomers (using NASA + NSF NRAO VLBA data) monitoring a supermassive black hole in the heart of a distant galaxy have detected features never seen before! 🔗 public.nrao.edu/news/astrono...

Lots of people at the @thenrao.bsky.social #AAS245 Town Hall. Everyone who is anyone is here, as is everyone else!

Catch me at the @thenrao.bsky.social booth during the Monday #AAS245 poster session starting now!

Hi Bluesky! 👋 We are the NSF National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO). #RadioAstronomy Telescopes: 📡 Very Large Array (VLA) 📡 Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) 📡 Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 📡 Green Bank Telescope (GBT) 📡 Next Generation VLA (ngVLA) 🔗: public.nrao.edu

#AAS245 143 - Working Group for International Students and Researchers in #Astronomy Mon, 13 Jan 14:00 – 15:30 GMT-5 Gaylord National Resort Happening now! In National Harbor room 2 (3rd floor, right at the top of the stairs)