I love Cassini photos because the camera had such dynamic range. The crescent of Tethys in this photo is lit by sunlight. But you can also see nearly all of Tethys’ night side, because it’s lit by Saturnlight. There may be some bits that are lit only by ring light. So much light bouncing around.

Daniel Machacek@danielmachacek.bsky.social · yesterday

Crescent Tethys with giant crater Odysseus (445 km across). A color composite made from images taken by the ISS Narrow Angle Camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft from a distance of 292 000 km on May 9, 2015. Resolution 875 m/pix (originally 1.75 km/pix). Color is from IR1, GRN and UV3 filters.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics recognizes Eastman Kodak facilities in Rochester, NY, as an Historic Aerospace Site, honoring a legacy of innovation that has shaped aerospace, Earth observation, and space exploration for generations. 🧪 🔭 🏺

Eastman Kodak’s Legacy of Innovation Recognized by AIAA

On 21 October, AIAA recognized Eastman Kodak facilities in Rochester, NY, as an Historic Aerospace Site, honoring a legacy of innovation that has shaped aerospace, national security, Earth observation...

aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org

So there’s a whole folder of cleared for public consumption Dragonfly I&T photos I can post 👀

!!!!! And everyone should read his new space history book too🚀

This rather epic edited collection is now on the Palgrave site! To be published in April 2027! I'm thrilled to be included alongside so many stellar thinkers and friends like @thehistoriann.bsky.social . #Pacifichistory #maritimehistory #skystorians 🗃️

The Palgrave Handbook of Global Oceanic Encounters throughout History

This handbook examines oceans, seas, beaches, bays and estuaries where cultures and species meet, focused on Pacific, Indian and Australasian histories.

link.springer.com

It's the season for the gales of November. So reposting by inexplicable popular demand: The Wreck of the Spacecraft Cassini

Going to get earnest again for a sec, but I feel so privileged to play even a small role in telling this story. It's one for the ages. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATwz...

JPL at 90: A Legacy of Exploration, A Future of Discovery

YouTube video by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

youtube.com

My favourite frontispiece is Kepler's from the Tabulae Rudolphinae (Rudolphine Tables) published in Ulm in 1627. thonyc.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/c...

Christmas Trilogy 2023 Part 3: A picture worth a thousand words

Johannes Kepler was a very prolific author but there is an aspect to his major books that usually doesn’t receive enough attention. As well as the torrent of words that poured from his pen, his boo…

thonyc.wordpress.com

One of my all-time favorite frontispieces comes from Giovanni Battista Riccioli's Almagestum novum (1651), which literally weighs the merits of the Copernican & Tychonic solar systems! Bill Ashworth wrote an excellent analysis here: www.lindahall.org/about/news/s... #histSTM #histsci #astronomy 🔭🗃️

Eric Brandom@ebrandom.bsky.social · last wk.

The most famous frontispiece is for Hobbes' Leviathan; another is for Vico's New Science. What are some others that in some way contain the arguments of the book? 🗃️

This…is…not Sparta! But it is my 300th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely to support all this great work, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

#ScholarSunday Thread 300! (11/1/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

This…is…not Sparta! But it is my 300th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely...

blackwhiteandread.com

"Osteographia, or The Anatomy of the Bones" (1733), by William Cheselden, contains highly detailed skeletons of people and animals. 🧵 #histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”

"Osteographia, or The Anatomy of the Bones" (1733), by William Cheselden, contains highly detailed skeletons of people and animals. 🧵 #histsci 🗃️ #SciArt #science #history First, “The three famous skeletons in Vesalius…all of them are drawn from skeletons whose bones were very ill put together.”

For spooky season, here's one of my favorite scientific illustrations: this goofy bat by Carl Linnaeus. #histsci 🗃️ #SciArt

If you can help us get there for December, we'd appreciate it (you can give as little as $3!) but we know it's tough for everyone, so if you can't donate, you can support us by sharing our magazine with people you know--especially historians working off the tenure track.

Contingent Simpsons Fundraiser | Contingent, Inc. (Powered by Donorbox)

Since our December 2019 Star Wars issue, Contingent has always published a special six-article themed issue to close out the year. Last year, a grant allowed us to grow our December issue for the...

donorbox.org

Contingent Magazine pays its writers. It always has. It's paid hundreds of contingent historians over the last eight years. It's always been donor-funded, and most of those donors? Contingent historians themselves. For the first time, we're not sure we can pay for a full December issue.

The decline of mathematics in late Antiquity and the Early Modern Period and its rise under Islam a sketch #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/10/30/t...

Take it to the limit one more time – a history of calculus VII

Having looked at the various developments of the method of exhaustion as produced by the ancient Greeks and independently by the ancient Chinese, which can seriously be considered as a sort of prot…

thonyc.wordpress.com

OTD in 1836, Charles Darwin, just back from the Beagle, met Charles Lyell for the first time. L had been an inspiration to D and would become a scientific mentor. (IMO, tho, the young D’s notion of scientific explanation owes as much to Herschel and Babbage as to Lyell). 🐋🌱🧪 #histSTM #evobio

For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail. #histSTM #histmed 🗃️ From a couple years back: daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...

The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria - JSTOR Daily

Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.

daily.jstor.org

For a brief period in Alexandria, scholars practiced dissection-and perhaps even vivisection-on human subjects. Two of them, Herophilus and Erasistratus, described what they found in great detail. #histSTM #histmed 🗃️ From a couple years back: daily.jstor.org/the-anatomis...

The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria - JSTOR Daily

Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.

daily.jstor.org

In the early 60s, James Webb worked hard to make sure science was incorporated into the US space program, although he faced indifference and opposition.

After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging. #histsci 🗃️ #NASA invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...

James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space

In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …

invertingvision.com

University of Arizona: Soft and Stretchy or Rock Solid? New Modeling Study Sheds Light on How Earth Got Its Moon news.arizona.edu/news/soft-an...

Soft and stretchy or rock solid? New modeling study sheds light on how the Earth got its moon

Historically, computer simulations modeling collisions between protoplanetary bodies have treated them largely as fluids. A new study suggests taking into account the material strength of solid bodies...

news.arizona.edu

After becoming NASA admin, James Webb reached out to Vannevar Bush for advice. They had been exchanging letters since the battle over the NSF, discussing the future of science in the US. Bush's response was not encouraging. #histsci 🗃️ #NASA invertingvision.com/2026/10/27/j...

James Webb, Vannevar Bush, and Basic Research in Space

In November 1962, NASA administrator James Webb wrote a letter to President John F. Kennedy after a contentious meeting about the Apollo program. In that meeting, they had litigated the overall goal of the US space program, and arrived at a sort of agreement in principle. They both wanted the United States to achieve “preeminence …

invertingvision.com

Wild: “MRO is actually old enough that some of those stars have moved across the night sky—very slightly, but they have moved,” says Paul Fieseler... The tiny misalignments confused the spacecraft, and last year, engineers had to send up an updated map to keep MRO oriented into the future."

Meghan Bartels@meghanbartels.bsky.social · 2w ago

I'm a sucker for a long-lived spacecraft, so it was a real pleasure to write for @wired.com about what it takes to survive a couple decades at Mars 🧪 🔭

As Halloween is round the corner we thought we’d share some medieval skeletons. A thread… 🧵 💀

How could Bluesky's upcoming spaces feature (a bit like communities) be useful to the astronomy community? 🔭☄️ Someone other than me should make one for astro PhD students. Someone should also make one for LGBTQ+ astronomers. I wonder what else?

alex benzer@alexbenzer.com · last mo.

we have an idea for communities in the app that we're calling "spaces" — places where people can gather around shared interests or social groups. here's a peek at some early prototypes. these are explorations, not polished or final. looking for feedback, esp from community builders 👀

Mario Jurić is announcing a possible dwarf planet, 2026 ED138, discovered by @rubinobservatory.org right now at www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RVO...

Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138! Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier this year. Early analysis suggests it's ~600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!🔭🧪 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...

🔭 Rosetta's Selfie Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA ap261024

For spooky season, here's one of my favorite scientific illustrations: this goofy bat by Carl Linnaeus. #histsci 🗃️ #SciArt