Dr. Skylar Grayson

@skylargrayson.bsky.social

Astrophysics PhD ✨ studies black holes and galaxy evolution 🌌Science Communicator (find me other places at “Space According to Skylar”)

Turns out I am not capable of simultaneously wrapping up a PhD, prepping for an international move, planning a wedding, AND posting regularly on here so the ball has been dropped a bit this summer 😅 I will be back to being active soon, just gotta get through this bonkers phase of life first

So in the month of May I had my bachelorette party, defended my PhD thesis, graduated, went to the UK for two weeks for a family wedding, and watched my team win the premier league. I’ll get back to science soon, I’m just…processing 😅

Not all galaxies wander space alone...and sometimes they're too close for comfort 😬 Galaxies can interact, collide, and merge. By studying snapshots of these interactions, scientists can gain insight into how galaxies evolve over billions of years⏳

A complex entanglement of three interacting galaxies, bright cores lined up left to right and connectied by spiderweb-like tendrils. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.Two interacting galaxies, one larger and blue and the other smaller and more yellow. The background is sprinkled with stars and galaxies of varying colors and sizes.Two interacting galaxies at center, bright cores lined up upper left to lower right and connected by spiderweb-like tendrils. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.Two interacting galaxies at center, with cores and extended tendrils of stars in a thin horizontal line. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.

Alrighty so NASA (and me and a lot of other people) had a little goof. But I think it’s a great opportunity to remind people that sometimes mistakes can actually be pretty cool and lead to a lot of new perspectives and understanding! 🧪🔭

Holy sh*t. A solar eclipse, seen for the first time by human eyes during a lunar flyby. The Earthlight illuminating the crescent of the moon and part of the spacecraft, the stars and planets in the background…I’m in tears 🤯 📸: NASA 🔭🧪

Image from the Artemis II mission taken from a camera on the solar array. The Orion spacecraft is visible in silhouette on the left, with the top part slightly illuminated. On the right, a solar eclipse, with the moon blocking out sunlight. The moon is surrounded by a faint haze, and a slim crescent is lit up on the upper left of the side facing the camera, illuminated by Earthlight

Don’t mistake my excitement about Artemis as apathy towards what’s happening here on Earth. The behavior of the president is terrifying and despicable, literally threatening war crimes and crimes against humanity on social media.

I’m seeing this picture going around today being dropped in with the other amazing Artemis II shots, but this is not an Artemis photo!!!! This was taken by the DSCOVR satellite in 2015, from a distance of a million miles from Earth. 🧪🔭 (1/3) 📸: NASA, NOAA

A high resolution image of earth fully illuminated. In the lower left region, the far side of the moon is lit up as it transits the earth, appearing about 1/4 the size of the planet

Oh my god this almost doesn’t look real 🤯 this is a solar eclipse-the moon blocking the sun-as seen by the crew on Artemis II during their lunar flyby yesterday. The haze is the sun’s atmosphere, only visible during eclipses. The illumination on the left of the moon is coming from Earth!!! 🧪🔭📸:NASA

The moon, almost completely in shadow, blocks out the sun in an eclipse. The suns atmosphere is a white haze extended out past the moon, and stars are visible in the background. The left side of the moon is slightly lit up due to light coming from earth