The Chinese networks are a big threat to Starlink's dominance. They are unlikely to be used in the US, but there are plenty of places around the world that will see the value of an alternative and likely cheaper system.

I never see anyone address the question of how Musk's massive arrays of solar panels are supposed to dodge debris and avoid collisions...

Cool solar eclipse seen from orbit this week! Plus a look at the possibilities of nuclear electric propulsion, a possible sighting of a failed supernova, a revision to the dimensions of Jupiter, and another delay to Artemis II. #space #scicomm #astronomy #science 🧪🔭

In 2012 the Hinode satellite photographed Venus silhouetted against the Sun. This will not happen again until December 2117. #space #art #astronomy

...and started asserting that he can build a city on the Moon instead. I wonder what happens when he learns how long the lunar night is?

New post today: Hubble picks up signs of dwarf worlds colliding around Fomalhaut. 🧪🔭

Time to stand up to the bully

This is quite a post www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/reality-is...

What do the colours of astronomical images actually mean? And why can the same object appear very different depending on the telescope we use to look at it? 🔭🧪

New post up, looking this week at how the sister-stars of the Pleiades are now scattered across the night sky. 🧪🔭

This is 1) a stupid idea and 2) something that will never work economically anyway.

This is an incredible image of comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by Satoru Murata ICQ Comet Observations group on 16 November 2025 from western New Mexico. Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.

I am not sure this work is better than my bot's, but I did try to integrate all NIRCam data. I had to compromise the resolution, it was too much for my laptop to handle in full scale. JWST 🔭: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI.

New post up about the recent big and beautiful auroral displays. #space #science #technology 🧪🔭

Do people really want to read easily understood descriptions of recent papers in astronomy or physics? Astronomers probably don’t, or if they do, the audience of potential astronomers is so small and so poorly paid that they don’t make a viable audience.

In today's post I look at NASA's struggles to get back to the Moon, the perihelion of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas, and the end of our last probe around Venus (we really should send another one!) 🔭🧪 #astronomy #space #nasa

Mars may have once hosted life. In 2024, Perseverance found minerals that, on Earth, would be clear biosignatures. A big discovery—but not yet proof of life beyond Earth. Plus: TRAPPIST-1e, a folly of a new Moon race, and the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. #space #astronomy #science

This is really not a surprise - the details of the project always made it impracticable. Fun idea, but not a realistic way to reach the stars any time soon.

In this incredible image, the Earth eclipses the Sun. Viewed by the returning astronauts of Apollo 12, and credit goes to them and to NASA. #space #art #historyofastronomy

What is it that lies beyond the edge of the solar system? What fills the space between the stars? These are questions we are beginning to answer - and, for the first time, we have probes that are venturing out into this untouched terrain. #science #space

Two years ago I published a list of serious and free physics resources. The idea was to create a guide for those studying physics, either alone or as part of a course. I'm now working on an update - and, if you know of free and good physics resources like those here, I'd love to hear of them. 🧪

A concept from 1969 of a space station. It was to be made of old Apollo stages, and to make sure the astronauts living there did not suffer from endless weightlessness, the station was supposed to constantly spin as it orbited the Earth. Credit, of course, to NASA. #space #art #NASA

Via #TimesNowNews - Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian daredevil best known for his 2012 supersonic skydive from the stratosphere, has died in a paragliding accident in Italy. He was 56 years old. www.timesnownews.com/world/who-wa...

Dark energy is pretty cool right? Or maybe it isn't. To be honest we don't know all that much about it. But it sure seems like it is going to play a big role in deciding the fate of the universe. And that makes it interesting enough for an article on the stuff. Check it out here!

My newsletter this week: on interstellar comets, how New Horizons is reviving the ancient art of celestial navigation, the top quark and toponium, and a study of the lost rivers of Mars. Oh, and some gorgeous celestial art thanks to the brilliant James Webb telescope. 🧪🔭

It's going to be an incredible moment if or when we snap a picture of an interstellar comet from the surface of another world.

Our Ariel mission will take us from 'discovering' towards 'studying and understanding' exoplanets. The mission will survey about 1000 exoplanets, ranging from rocky planets to gas giants, to better understand the link between exoplanets and their parent stars 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪

In ten years time, when Americans are asking what went wrong, the last six months will be the answer.

It certainly feels like America is on the verge of a mistake that will be felt decades into the future.

In 2012 the NRO gave NASA two 2.4m diameter mirrors. One is part of the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope. What happened to the other? Is it forgotten in some warehouse somewhere, awaiting the funds to build another Hubble? Or did something else happen to it? 🔭

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s hilarious, but my laughter would be less nervous if one of the guys didn’t have control of the biggest military in the world and the other one didn’t have rockets, a satellite network, and thousands of tactical-ready pickup trucks just sitting around.

Our statement on the full FY2026 NASA budget proposal: www.planetary.org/press-releas...

Waxing Crescent Moon. 2048UT 30 May 2025. 🔭 🧪 🎨 #astrophotography #SciArt #photography #StormHour #ThePhotoHour

Eleven thousand years a star exploded about nine hundred light years away. It was probably spectacular, but today all that remains is a tangled cloud of gas and dust with a fast spinning ball of neutrons hidden in its midst. This image is from ESO. 🔭 #space #art #eso

However big you think a supernova to be, the reality is bigger. To put it one way, an dying star can outshine the light of every other star in a galaxy; to put it another, a supernova at the distance of Pluto would hit you with more energy than a hydrogen bomb exploding just outside your front door.

In December 1968, after 7 years of development, the Saturn V launched astronauts to fly around the Moon. Starship is now at least 7 years into development and is still to go around the Earth even once. This is no longer a case of fail fast. It is becoming just failing. #StarshipFailure

Does anyone know if NASA has published any technical details about Isaacman's proposed Hubble repair mission a few years ago?

It is really hard to see how Artemis III will take place in its current form. The chances of Starship landing on the moon by 2028 are getting smaller and smaller. But at the same time, the SLS and Orion are likely to be scrapped after A3 - what then is America's plan to land on the Moon?

Lets unpack what happened with this starship flight 9 launch. There's some interesting stuff to notice. The launch seemed to go very smoothly. No noticeable issues with booster, which is becoming a trend.

🔭 Beneath Jupiter Image Credit & Copyright: NASA, Juno, SwRI, MSSS; Processing & License: Gerald Eichstädt & Seán Doran apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25052...

Tromholt tried desperately to photograph the aurora in 1882. But the cameras of the day couldn't capture the faint and shimmering light, so eventually he admitted defeat. Instead of photographs, then, he made wonderful sketches like this. From the University of Bergen Library. #space #art 🔭

I cannot believe they raised $20 million for this ridiculous idea. But while we're on the topic, who wants to invest in my AI-enabled quantum space laser bitcoin company?

This also holds in reverse - philosophers have a terrible grasp of physics, and this is leading them into bad philosophical arguments.

Stars like our Sun are capable of producing solar flares, ones far bigger than anything we've seen in recent history. What happens if one hits the Earth? #space #science

The Helix Nebula, captured from the Atacama Desert of Chile. Credit: ESO. #space #astrophotography

A geologic relief map of France created in 1905 from the 'Service De La Carte Geologique detaillee de la France'. #France #Geology #Art #Maps #Cartography

It is possible, if you can move fast enough, to outpace the shadow of the Moon. In 1973 someone actually did this: they took a prototype of Concorde, cut holes in the roof for cameras and telescopes, and then flew at speed across the deserts of northern Africa. #science #space #astronomy #esa