clifff @clifff

41 posts35 participants3 posts today

Continued thread

**Anthony Horton** @spacelizard@aus.social · 5h

Anthony Horton @spacelizard@aus.social

Last time I was there it was for a systems engineering workshop for the MAVIS project (https://mavis-ao.org), this time it will be an MAIT (manufacturing, assembly, integration & test) planning workshop, also for MAVIS.

The international consortium working on MAVIS (ANU & Macquarie University in Australia, INAF in Italy, LAM in France &, of course, @esoastronomy ) mostly relies on Zoom/Teams meetings, but occasional face to face meetings still really help.

MAVISMAVISMAVIS public website

#MAVIS #Astronomy #Astrodon

**Anthony Horton** @spacelizard@aus.social · 5h *

5h *

Anthony Horton @spacelizard@aus.social

Oh cool, in May I will be going back to one of my favourite (former) astronomical observatories, La Specola in Padua/Padova.

Thread of pics & info from last time: https://aus.social/@spacelizard/113357480334568703

Photo graph of a tall, castle-like tower near to a river.

Aus.SocialAnthony Horton (@spacelizard@aus.social)Attached: 1 image There are many noteworthy buildings in Padova/Padua, but this is the one that I'm here for: La Specola. Originally build as a defensive tower in the 9th century, it became a prison in the 13th century, part of a new castle in the 14th, a warehouse in the 16th and then finally, in 1761, it was decided to convert it into an astronomical observatory. As this was an astronomical instrumentation project it ended up behind schedule and over budget, but by 1777 it was a working observatory, which it remained until the 1930s. Now the buildings on the site are used by a museum and INAF's Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova. It's our INAF colleagues that have invited us here for the MAVIS systems engineering and MAIT planning workshop, at La Specola. https://www.unipd.it/en/specola #Astrodon #Astronomy #Observatory

#Astrodon #Astronomy #Observatory

**Matthew Kenworthy** @mattkenworthy@mastodon.social · 1d

Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy@mastodon.social

I’m in Belfast this week, giving an Astrophysics Research Centre Seminar at #QUB on Wednesday 26th March titled “Scattered: Wide separation directly imaged exoplanets and shattered exomoons” (also soliciting pub recommendations!) #astrodon #exoplanets

A Mustill plot, named by me. Made by Alex Mustil, this is a Venn set-like structure made of nested boxes representing planets and their gravitational domain. Multicolored lines go from left to right in the boxes, representing exomoons, and when they scatter and interact, they move from one box to another.

A wireframe sculpture of a female figure holding up a hoop. The sculpture is against a blue sky dotted with clouds. It is called "The Beacon of Hope".

**Daniel Pomarède** @pomarede@mastodon.social · 1d

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede@mastodon.social

Webb unmasks true nature of the Cosmic Tornado

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a beautiful juxtaposition of the nearby protostellar outflow known as Herbig-Haro 49/50 with a perfectly positioned, more distant spiral galaxy.

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_unmasks_true_nature_of_the_Cosmic_Tornado

Angled from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the image is a conical shaped orange-red cloud known at Herbig-Haro 49/50. This feature takes up about three-fourths of the length of this angle. The upper left end of this feature has a translucent, rounded end. At this same location there is a background spiral shaped galaxy with a concentrated blue center that fades outwards to blend in with red spiral arms. The conical feature widens slightly from the rounded end at the upper right down to the lower right. The black background of space is clearer, speckled with some white stars and smaller, more numerous, fainter white galaxies.

#JWST #Webb #Astronomy

**Daniel Pomarède** @pomarede@mastodon.social · 1d

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede@mastodon.social

Perseverance has been climbing on this rocky mound, as shown by these two shots from the front hazard avoidance cameras. That's why we've been getting unusually tilted views from the navigation cameras...

#Mars Mar. 23, 2025 (Sol 1454)
https://areo.info/mars20/ecams/1454/

An image captured by the left front hazard avoidance camera of the Mars rover Perseverance, featuring a rocky mound and a wheel of the rover, with a Martian landscape in the background.

An image captured by the right front hazard avoidance camera of the Mars rover Perseverance, featuring a rocky mound and a wheel of the rover, with a Martian landscape in the background.

#Perseverance #rover #Sol1454

**ESO** @esoastronomy@astrodon.social · 2d

ESO @esoastronomy@astrodon.social

1/3 An epic moonrise for an epic telescope! Kick off the week with this breathtaking video of the full #Moon rising behind our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction in the Atacama Desert in #Chile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pSxH0EkRNo

And check the thread below for some spectacular images!

J. Beltrán/ESO

YouTubeAmazing moonrise behind ESO's Extremely Large TelescopeBy European Southern Observatory (ESO)

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophotography

**catherinerhyde** @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social · 2d

catherinerhyde @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social

A different take on the moon with the Teapot asterism this morning. This one is all one exposure level, allowing the moon to be blown out to show the scene more the way it would look to the unaided eye. Because I know asterisms can be hard to see, I've included an annotated version.
#space #astronomy #astrodon

A crescent moon illuminates a dark night sky dotted with stars, while a faint silhouette of a landscape is visible at the bottom.

A night sky showing a bright moon on the left and a dotted outline of a constellation on the right, with faint stars visible in the background.

**Daniel Pomarède** @pomarede@mastodon.social · 2d *

2d *

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede@mastodon.social

Mosaic captured two days ago by Perseverance at Broom Point after a short drive northward, exploring the geology of the lower slopes of the Witch Hazel Hill area, on the Jezero crater rim.

interactive zoom app https://zoomhub.net/2a9ek

#Mars Mar. 21, 2025 (Sol 1452)
Credits images: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

An ochre toned mosaic of a Martian landscape, capturing a rock outcrop.

An ochre toned mosaic of a Martian landscape, capturing a lighter toned rock outcrop.

#Perseverance #WitchHazelHill #BroomPoint

**cafuego** @cafuego@misanthrope.social · 3d

cafuego @cafuego@misanthrope.social

I made the little seestar do some deep sky objects over night last night. I ran into a possible bug when trying to set up my original larger mosaic target, so instead I picked a few separate ones.

The horse head nebula; Markarians Chain in the Virgo cluster; the Leo Triplet of galaxies and Omega Centauri.

Because I dont have a tilting mount head for it (yet) I used alt-az mode, which means the field of view rotates over time, which is why the corners all look so rubbish :-)

A dark horse silhouette on a pink background. Stars are scattered all around.

A string of galaxies all in an arc, on a starry foreground.

Three fairly bright galaxies making a 😑 face.

A dense round swarm of thousands of stars.

#astrophotography #seestar #seestars30

**rdm** @rdm@aus.social · 3d

rdm @rdm@aus.social

So last night we put our #Dwarf3 telescopes on the studio roof at the back of the house, loaded up some schedules, and let them go all, night.

Inspired by @malcircuit 's post a little while ago, one of the targets I programmed in was Markarian's Chain, a string of galaxies.

This is 170x60s@gain 60, post processed using the automated online denoising tool that Dwarf have made available, and finished off in #Snapseed

A dark sky with many stars. Across to top third is line of galaxies of various sizes, which curves down in a fishhook shape at the right.

#Astronomy #Astrodon #astrophotography

Continued thread

**Daniel Pomarède** @pomarede@mastodon.social · 3d *

3d *

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede@mastodon.social

Shocking Spherules!

Last week the Perseverance Science Team were astonished by a strange rock comprised of hundreds of millimeter-sized spheres… and the team are now working hard to understand their origin.

https://science.nasa.gov/blog/shocking-spherules/

This image from NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover, a fusion-processed SuperCam Remote Micro Imager (RMI) mosaic, shows part of the “St. Pauls Bay” target, acquired from the lower Witch Hazel Hill area of the Jezero crater rim. The image reveals hundreds of strange, spherical-shaped objects comprising the rock. Perseverance acquired this image on March 11, 2025, or sol 1442 — Martian day 1,442 of the Mars 2020 mission.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP.

#Mars #Perseverance #WitchHazelHill

**catherinerhyde** @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social · 3d

catherinerhyde @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social

I got a chance to work on M100 some more last night.
#space #astronomy #astrodon

A spiral galaxy with a bright core is visible in the center against a dark background, surrounded by smaller stars and galaxies.

**Thomas Hanrath** @astrocamp@astrodon.social · 3d

Thomas Hanrath @astrocamp@astrodon.social

Messier 66 is a spiral #galaxy located approximately 36 million light-years away in the constellation #Leo that reaches its annual culmination at astronomical midnight and is best observed in early March.

Detailed Information: https://astrocamp.eu/m66

▼ Vixen VC200L | EOS R(a) '25

#astrophoto #astrophotography #nightsky

**Andrea Luck** @andrealuck@fosstodon.org · 3d *

3d *

Andrea Luck @andrealuck@fosstodon.org

Cat's Eye Nebula NGC 6543 as seen by ESA Euclid Space Telescope

Full size 3K & full info: https://flic.kr/p/2qTiGsj
Credit: ESA/Euclid/EuclidConsortium/NASA/NAOJ/AndreaLuck CC BY

Latest data release available on: https//eas.esac.esa.int/sas
Mission: ESA Euclid
Instruments: VIS and NIS
Product Type: MER Mosaic
Release Q1 R1
Filters: HSC G (Subaru Telescope), VIS, NIR H, NIR J, NIR Y

$This image presents a stunning deep space view centered on the Cat’s Eye Nebula, with intricate structures and vibrant colors. The nebula itself glows in an ethereal blue and violet hue, surrounded by delicate, symmetrical, and concentric gaseous layers that form its iconic shape. The surrounding space is filled with an intricate web of faint reddish and brownish wisps on the outer region surrounding the nebula. Bright stars with distinct diffraction spikes punctuate the scene, adding depth and contrast to the dark, star speckled background. Numerous galaxies are also visible in the background. The image showcases a great balance between sharp details in the nebula's core and the softer, ghostly tendrils of interstellar gas beyond.$

#Space #Astronomy #Euclid

**CosmicRami** @CosmicRami@aus.social · 3d

CosmicRami @CosmicRami@aus.social

'Mars Attack - How Elon Musk's Plans for Mars Threaten Earth'

This is a really great read, and presented in the scroll storytelling format (I love this style).

By Dr Kelly Weinersmith & Zach Weinersmith (who wrote the excellent 'A City on Mars' book)

https://thebulletin.org/2025/03/mars-attacks-how-elon-musks-plans-to-colonize-mars-threaten-earth/#post-heading

Cartoon showing a human standing on a red planet (Mars) and looking back at Earth (not to scale). The caption reads: ""If the world's most power nation, helped along by history's most powerful rocket company, were to scrap international space law, it would have consequences that may echo for centuries"

#SpaceExploration #Mars #Astrodon

**Sabrina** @Steinwaelzer@nrw.social · 4d

Sabrina @Steinwaelzer@nrw.social

Letzte Nacht konnte ich endlich mal wieder (schwache) Polarlichter fotografieren.
Als Bonus habe ich neben dem üblichen Waldkauz auch einen Steinkauz gehört! Ich wusste nicht dass es hier welche gibt
#omsystemOM3 #astrodon #Polarlichter #auroraborealis

A starry night sky is depicted with numerous stars scattered across a dark background. The silhouette of a tree line is visible at the bottom, with hints of red color in the night sky close to the horizon.

**S K Y E N C E** @skyence@mastodon.social · 4d

S K Y E N C E @skyence@mastodon.social

IC 417 & NGC 1931

Four clear nights in a row at the beginning of galaxy season. I just don't want to give up on my beloved nebulae.

Wlliam Optics Z103
ZWO 183MC/MM Pro
SKkyWatcher EQ8-R
10h H / 6h S / 3h RGB

#astrophotography #deepsky #astrofotografie

**catherinerhyde** @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social · 4d

catherinerhyde @catherinerhyde@newsmast.social

This is the spiral galaxy M100, in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. It's not quite there yet. I'll probably work on it more tonight if it's clear.
#space #astronomy #astrodon

A spiral galaxy surrounded by stars in deep space, set against a dark background.

**ESO** @esoastronomy@astrodon.social · 4d *

4d *

ESO @esoastronomy@astrodon.social

To clarify: this is only possible thanks to adaptive optics, which corrects atmospheric turbulence and allows us to read those tiny labels.

https://xkcd.com/3066/

A cartoon with a stick figure pointing at a whiteboard with an image of the night sky. A small patch on that image is amplified several times until one can read the name of a star and its distance. A text at the bottom reads: “Cosmology news: new telescopes are finally powerful enough to read the little labels next to stars showing how far away they are.”

#astrodon #astronomy

**franco_vazza** @franco_vazza@mastodon.social · 4d

franco_vazza @franco_vazza@mastodon.social

VIsualisation of the central turmoil of gas temperature, around a simulated Active Galactic Nuclei in a Persus-like cluster of galaxies.
Simulations by PhD student Stefano Sotira using ENZO

#astrodon #astronomy #science
#SimulatedUniverses

Recent searches

Search options

Administered by:

Server stats:

#Astrodon