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Brett Morris

@brettmorr.is

Astronomer, software engineer. Supporting space telescopes, open science, and data access in astrophysics. Thrilled and haunted by dots on stars. http://brettmorr.is/ Posts my own, not my employer's.

920 Posts14531 Follower486 Folgt
James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 13h ago

Shuang Yang—Chang’e 7 will land near the Moon’s south pole Shackleton crater later this year and deploy (via tether) a seismometer that is planned to survive for 8 years. This might be the first node of a long-lived *international* geophysical network! #AOGS2026

A photograph of my notebook showing a sketch of Shuang Yang (Chinese Academy of Science) talk at AOGS. It shows a low, oblique shot of the Chang’e 7 lander, landed on the Moon, as it lowers its seismometers (SP + VBB) to the surface of the Moon from the bottom of the lander. The seismometer will survive up to 8 years through use of an RHU.
Sarah Kendrew@sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 5d ago

I heard a story about a detained health researcher the other day and assumed this was it - but no, there‘s a second local scientist, from UMD, who is being held by ICE. On his way home from receiving a “teacher of the year” award. www.wbaltv.com/article/umb-...

University of Maryland pharmacy instructor detained in Dallas

Federal officials detained an instructor from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy last week.

wbaltv.com

Eileen Clancy 🧿@clancyny.bsky.social · 6d ago

Ameaka Fatima Nkempu, a Johns Hopkins University researcher in public health, was detained by ICE while boarding a domestic flight. She says she is Cameroonian in a Medium article that she authored. As of Thursday morning, the ICE Online Detainee Locator did not list where she was being held.

Evert Nasedkin@evertnasedkin.bsky.social · 7d ago

🔭 New paper day! 🪐 This time from Merle Schrader, a PhD student in the brown dwarf group at Trinity College Dublin. Today, they're publishing a fresh look at SIMP-0136, using principal component analysis, identifying the mechanisms driving its atmospheric variability. arxiv.org/abs/2607.26182

The JWST weather report: Unravelling the atmospheric variability of isolated worlds using principal component analysis

Brown dwarf variability directly probes atmospheric dynamics beyond the Solar System, and recent JWST time-resolved spectroscopy has opened a new window into these processes. Principal component analy...

arxiv.org

Ryleigh Davis@import-astrory.bsky.social · last wk.

My new paper is out in Science Advances! Neptune's inner moons preserve clay minerals from the deep interiors of ancient icy worlds, exposed by Triton's catastrophic arrival. Here's the story and what it tells us about the violent history of the Neptunian system. 🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Neptune’s inner moons and rings are exposed icy body interiors

Triton’s destructive wake exposed clay-like minerals from within ancient icy worlds, now reaccreted as Neptune’s inner moons.

science.org

Karl Galle@karlgalle.bsky.social · last wk.

Interesting LARGE manuscript of astronomical tables that appears to have been copied out years after the earlier publication of the print version. Link to the digital copy of the MS and a slightly longer video description here: find.library.upenn.edu/catalog/9949... #HistSTM #MedievalSky

[Calendarium and ephemerides]. · Find · Penn Libraries

Access '[Calendarium and ephemerides].' through the Penn Libraries catalog.

find.library.upenn.edu

Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies@sims-mss.bsky.social · last wk.

Today's manuscript is a copy of the Calendarium and Ephemerides as published by Regiomontanus in 1474. The Calendarium, for 1475-1530, gives information on lunar and solar eclipses, the length of days, and the signs of the zodiac and planets. #medievalsky 🔗 https://bit.ly/44BxXxN

Brett Morris@brettmorr.is · last wk.

Perhaps Farage can “gift” a few million to help out. Since we’re all pretty sure we can’t tax billionaires for their fair share, can we at least seize their payouts?

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · last wk.

Short-sighted, stupid cuts to the UKRI budget include shutting down Jodrell Bank, the icon of British astronomy. (Many other cuts too, including 20% to our brand new @vrubinobs.bsky.social). Interesting politically to shut down a major facility in...um..Manchester 🔭 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Robert McNees@mcnees.bsky.social · 2w ago

This bit, especially, does a beautiful job of capturing the germ of basic research. DeVorkin asks Rubin what possessed her as a child to stay up late and study the sky. Rubin: “I don’t have the vaguest idea. I just found it fascinating.”

Transcript: Rubin: What fascinated me was that if I opened my eyes during the night, they had all rotated around the pole. And I found that inconceivable. I just was captured. And then, of course, I learned that during the seasons they changed. And then it became partly a game, I think. I would see meteors. Its inconceivable; this is in Washington, D.C. Because my sister was in the room, I could not put a light on, although she was not always [in the room] because if we were angry with each other, we separated. But I knew my parents would object if I put the lights on. So during active meteor times I would stay up all night, and I would memorize where each meteor had gone so that in the morning I could draw a map.Transcript: DeVorkin: What possessed you to do such a thing? Rubin: I don't have the vaguest idea. I just found it fascinating.
Kevin Olsen@drksolsen.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hot off the press, a new analysis of InSight seismic data for Mars has revealed some tantalising new structures! This is interpreted as hardened lava tunnels - a transcrustal magmatic system! 🌋 The team is from @ox.ac.uk Earth Sci #planetsci 🔭🧪 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Seismic evidence for a melt-depleted lower crust and transcrustal magmatism on Mars - Nature Astronomy

Seismic data from NASA’s InSight mission reveal a melt-depleted lower crust on Mars and indicate that Earth-like, vertically integrated, transcrustal magmatic systems and associated crustal differenti...

doi.org

Brett Morris@brettmorr.is · 3w ago

Each summer that you experience will be the coolest and most tranquil summer of the rest of your life. Unless maybe you vote like you mean it. 🧪

Four severe weather alerts for Baltimore right now.
Remco de Kok@planetremco.bsky.social · 3w ago

What I also like about this discovery is that it was driven partly by theoretical predictions about the existence of He-planets, which made them look in the first place. Models and observations working together in harmony! #exoplanets

Robin Wordsworth@rdword.bsky.social · 3w ago

Very proud of my student Collin Cherubim for his discovery of an atmosphere on the habitable-zone exoplanet LHS 1140 b! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/s...

Sarah Hörst@planetdr.bsky.social · 4w ago

Hey Baltimore Bluesky! I don’t think BARCS is here (please tag them if my search skills failed) but looks like they are in a dire situation with back to back intakes of a bananas number of dogs (92 animals in 2 days). Today no adoption fee and if you have the capacity to foster they are desperate!

< abards BARCS Animal Shelter • Follow ... 3h • 0 We're also extremely short-staffed this week. Our team is doing everything possible to care for every animal while managing this sudden influx. If you visit today, we truly appreciate your patience and kindness. We also want to be transparent about what's at stake: BARCS is an open-admission shelter. We do not control how many animals arrive at our doors, and we cannot stop accepting animals from Animal Control who have nowhere else to go. When intake dramatically exceeds the number of animals leaving through adoption, foster, rescue, or reunification, we eventually run out of safe, humane housing. If we cannot create enough space today, BARCS may be forced to make euthanasia decisions solely because there is no safe place left to house additional dogs. We do not want that to happen. It is the hardest reality of open-admission animal sheltering, and we work every day to prevent it. We're incredibly hopeful that our All Paws Home event this Saturday will help many animals find homes. But we have to get there first. We need dogs leaving the shelter today, tomorrow, and Friday so they have the chance to be at Saturday's event-and so we can continue making room for the animals arriving every day. Write a comment... ④ 2:07 < BARCS Animal Shelter • Follow ... 3h • 0 EMERGENCY @ BARCS: This morning, BARCS is 13 dog kennels over capacity with another 12 dogs on the way after they were found living alone in a home under a search warrant. Sadly, yes, this is almost the same heartbreaking situation we experienced yesterday. In just the past 48 hours, we've taken in 92 animals. To make room, our team is "shifting down" dogs to double up kennels and setting up temporary crates. This is an emergency measure only. These crates and shared kennels are not appropriate housing beyond today, and every dog needs a kennel of their own as quickly as possible. The fastest way to help is to come to BARCS today: Looking to adopt? Visit us between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. It's Waived Fee Wednesday, so adoption fees are waived. Interested in fostering? Come to BARCS between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Our team will help match you with a dog who needs a temporary place to stay. *Please do not call or email. If you're able to help, the best thing you can do is simply come to the shelter today! Write a comment... ④
Arp Bot 🤖@arpbot.bsky.social · 4w ago

Very Large Telescope image of Arp 271, also known as NGC 5426 and NGC 5427. The galaxies are tugging on each other with gravity, which has begun to distort their features and may have also triggered bursts of star formation. Credit: ESO Source

Two similar-looking spiral galaxies take up most of the frame. They both have bright, yellow-white central cores and well-defined spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and dark dust lanes. NGC 5427 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy at top. NGC 5426 is a more oblique galaxy at bottom. The two spiral arms from NGC 5426 appear to reach upward and act as a bridge that connects with NGC 5427. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.