Andy Lawrence
@e-astronomer.bsky.social
Active Galaxy Nut and Space Environmentalist. Read Losing The Sky at Amazon, Apple Books, or Google Play. More grooviness at https://andyxlastro.me
As we await the bad news in this afternoon's STFC "Town Hall" webinar, we are thinking fondly of PPARC days. (Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council). However, we did not always think so kindly of PPARC. In my ongoing office clear-out, just found this ancient viewgraph #astronomy
The scale, the amounts, the neck. Clacton you deserve better.
Led By Donkeys@ledbydonkeys.org · 9mo agoFarage: epic grifter
The UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) is finally hitting the end of the road. I have spent many many nights inside that dome! End of a glorious history #astronomy www.hawaii.edu/news/article...
System: UPDATED VNR WITH VIDEO: UH continues UKIRT decommissioning; science operations to end this fall | University of Hawaii News
hawaii.edu
Came across this gem today: a replica of Isaac Newton’s telescope, placed on a pedestal below the 200-inch Palomar telescope, for comparison. (Look closely!) 🔭 1958 photo from the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science collection at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
My latest Science piece #astronomy Undead models and shrouded black holes www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Undead models and shrouded black holes
Some physical theories take a long time to die, even when evidence piles up against them. Consider the geocentric cosmology that placed the Earth at the center of the universe, or phlogiston, once bel...
science.org
*gasp*
Seán Doran@theseaning.bsky.social · last mo."Crazy Beautiful!" 5,234 images from 2 time-lapse sequences photographed by Sophie Adenot & Jessica Meir on ISS Expedition 74 are repaired, remastered & retimed to create this video of aurora australis with music by Andreas Vollenweider. 11m19s 4K youtu.be/22mTjdmpG1M
came into my office today to find this on my table. I trust it refers to the furniture not the occupant
melting in oxfordshire. I love Scotland and need to go home :)
Moon Venus Clouds and Neighbours. As an astronomer I should hate clouds. But actually, well, they’re gorgeous #astronomy
The Satellite Strewn Sky. An impressive video made by Youtube user “Amazing Sky” in Alberta #astronomy youtu.be/yZpbJJLk1ug
The Satellite Strewn Sky
YouTube video by AmazingSky
youtu.be
Obligatory #selfie from the East Coast Main Line, rocking the I'm-about-to-sand-your-floors look 😷! Heading back to Westminster to ask MPs for their help in halting the impending catastrophic funding cuts to UK astro and particle physics. #SaveUKAstronomy 🔭
"Someone, somewhere, has taken the decision to defund astrophysics research in the UK, but no-one seems quite sure who that was, or why." The latest on the impact of the catastrophic funding cuts to UK astrophysics, by me, in @natastron.nature.com 👩🔬🧪🔭 ✒️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I can almost see my office
Edinburgh O'Clock@edinburghclock.bsky.social · 2mo agoEdinburgh O'Clock - 3 minutes to every hour. - we run fast so you don't miss your train. A new hourly image to brighten your day taken in #Scotland very often #Edinburgh and shared with love by Tom Duffin @tomduffinphotos.bsky.social. Please repost with your own caption.
The UK party landscape may be fractured, but you can divide into nasty and not-nasty. Thursday’s results show not-nasty 53% in England, 58% in Wales, and 78% in Scotland. We are lovely of course in Scotland, but it’s mostly about the voting system
Ain’t this true. Vote Green tomorrow www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zack Polanski’s Jewish identity is being erased because he is leftwing | Owen Jones
The leader of the Green party has faced antisemitic attacks, and yet his thoughts on the subject don’t count as far as the rightwing UK press is concerned, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
theguardian.com
Every time a #reform councillor goes to jail, an angel gets its... No, hold on, a green councillor wins. #Green #Party wins Cliftonville by-election called after councillor jailed - BBC News share.google/Feevc7blaV5b...
Green Party wins Cliftonville by-election called after councillor jailed
The by-election was called after the Cliftonville division's serving councillor was jailed for coercive behaviour.
share.google
Why bother doing astronomy and other blue-skies research? @e-astronomer.bsky.social discusses funding crises in the US & UK, and how researchers should (and shouldn't) justify the required investment. ☄️🔭🧪⚛️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
My latest Science water-cooler piece: Is Astronomy a Luxury? #astronomy www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is astronomy a luxury?
After years of spending taxpayer's money, stunning images and groundbreaking science are emerging from the JWST space observatory, the Euclid space mission, and the newest telescope, the Vera C. Rubin...
science.org
Excellent job done by @robertmassey.bsky.social on Beeb R4 this morning talking about the crazy Reflect Orbital plans for big shiny mirrors in space #astronomy
The RAS is alarmed by the threat to ground-based astronomy posed by proposals put forward by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Reflect Orbital. We have opposed the plans with @eso.org and the International Astronomical Union. Find out more at: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
The FCC just opened public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch a million satellites to do AI compute in space. Under the current proposal, an environmental review won't be required. Please consider submitting a public comment to oppose this damaging plan. darksky.org/news/two-sat...
Satellite proposals threaten the night sky
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency responsible for authorizing satellite launches and operations…
darksky.org
lasair.lsst.ac.uk Rubin alerts are now flooding in ! Millions of them. Get them here #astronomy
Lasair. A UK Alert Stream Broker and Transient Science Platform.
Lasair is developed by The University of Edinburgh and Queen's University Belfast with the ultimate goal of serving transient alerts from the Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) to the astron...
lasair.lsst.ac.uk
Another giant passed. I will line up some calming droney music for my day www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...
Éliane Radigue, French composer and musique concrète legend, dies aged 94
The Paris-born artist reinvented the synthesizer through meditative and feedback-drenched sonic explorations
theguardian.com
Atmospheric pollution from falling SpaceX debris. Nice write up, with quote from yours truly squeezed in at end www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
SpaceX rocket fireball linked to plume of lithium
A SpaceX Falcon 9 crashed to Earth last year. Now scientists have measured the pollution it caused.
bbc.co.uk
We urgently need public friendly terms that separate Machine Learning from LLMs etc, which these days all just get called "AI". The AI industry is conflating the two for greenwashing purposes www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Industry using ‘diversionary’ tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferate
theguardian.com
