Of course the first question asked at my AoT talk was when our team’s instrument would be ready 😂

YOU - Who broke my heart? BEAUTIFUL NECKTIE - You both did, *bratan* — deep down, you know it was the both of you.

I got Clio (with Ourania and Polymnia)!

Dr. Moiya McTier@goastromo.bsky.social · 5d ago

Merry Muses Week, everyone!! In honor of my book, MOTHERS OF INVENTION, coming out this week, I made a fun quiz so you can get to know the muses better. Which of the Greek Muses guide you? qzzr.com/view/ZSAwpvOc

Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart.

You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing -- just by accident.

STEBAN, THE STUDENT COMMUNIST - “In dark times, should the stars also go out?”

“The worst picture day we ever had” per our driver on the Ring of Kerry tour 🥲

I hate this game!

I need you to know that the shipping container into which the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was packed for transport to the launchpad is called the Chariot, and the barge pulling the container to Cape Kennedy is called the Pegasus. So yes, this is a picture of a Pegasus pulling a Roman Chariot.

Grown out of pandemic shenanigans, our department has developed a tradition of making a parody music video for our graduates. youtu.be/8bwoPD1A0EU?... @jradavenport.com is the artistic genius behind the video, and @werkjess.bsky.social is our spectacular lyricist. I've been humming it for weeks

PAB - 2026 Astro Graduation Video

YouTube video by James Davenport

youtu.be

VOLITION - No. Not a disaster. Weave this into the story of you. Walk out of its *ruins*. Save those who still can be saved -- *I'm* on your side.

"'Why do we do astrophysics?' Hogg offered an answer. It wasn’t to solve the cosmos but to grapple with it: a journey, not a destination." THIS, from @joshuasokol.bsky.social, gets at the heart of why I despise genAI: it assumes that writing is a product rather than an experience

Amid a flood of AI advances, astrophysicists are questioning the soul of their field

Researchers see enormous power in new tools—but also the potential end of astrophysics as a human endeavor

science.org

On a street there that flows like a muddy river in the snow, with fire traps rising on either side. A film rental opens its doors to the rain, an armoured motor carriage rushes past the corner where you used to walk together... Suddenly, the hair on your back rises. SHIVERS - YOU CANNOT RETURN

Rebound is only working in my Python notebook if I have my screen on the active cell. It is Friday, this problem set is overdue, and I’m going to drop the moment I get home

The Seattle Times published a full obituary for Juniper Blessing. It's a moving tribute to a life well-lived. May she rest in peace, and may UW honour and carry on her legacy. Scholarships named for her might be a good start.

UW student Juniper Blessing, 19, remembered as ‘full of life’

Those who knew Juniper Blessing, the 19-year-old trans woman killed in her off-campus housing building, said she had a powerful, moving voice.

seattletimes.com

Is answering the question “did you use an LLM on this?” with “no, I just talk like that — I’m autistic” socially acceptable? Asking for me.

I know I’m 30 years too late but Mark Greene moving into Susan Lewis’s apartment after she leaves for Arizona is clinically unhinged.

Hacking canvas? What do they think this is, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in 1990.

I have a really nice (horrifying) image stack that one of my research team members made, that powerfully demonstrates what a huge problem satellite streaks are for wide-field imaging. This is a 3 hour stack of star-subtracted 5 minute exposures using the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Things are rough but I get to see this note every day and keep going 💖

It's estimated that these extreme cuts to NASA science would cancel more than 40 missions. That's lost science, lost discovery, lost innovation, and the end of careers. Some of these missions are already in space, doing good science, and would simply be abandoned. www.planetary.org/articles/82-...

84 NASA missions at risk under new proposal

Proposed NASA cuts would reduce NASA’s workforce by thousands and cancel over 50 space missions.

planetary.org

From @astrokat.bsky.social: For Earth Week 2026, we’re focusing on how astronomers can build more sustainable instruments. Dr. Laurane Fréour is working on just that! ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪 astrobites.org/2026/04/22/astrobites-x-earth-week-2026-freour/

Astrobites x Earth Week 2026: How to build a telescope sustainably with Dr. Laurane Fréour

For Earth Week 2026, we're focusing on how astronomers can build more sustainable instruments. Dr. Laurane Fréour is working on just that!

astrobites.org

❤️❤️❤️ love Astrobites

Getting real tired of "AI will revolutionize your workflow!" I am a scientist! I do what I do because I want to dig into things myself. I don't want offload that labor onto a computer, and I don't need to accelerate the rate at which I work, because the point of the work is to learn.

Members of the AAS & the American Association of Physics Teachers are on the Hill today to advocate for science and STEM education funding! Join them by requesting a meeting with your local congressional office: aas.org/posts/news/2... #WeekofAction #SaveScience 🔭

Members and staff of AAPT and AAS are on Capitol Hill today advocating for science and STEM education funding! Join them by requesting a meeting with your local congressional office: ow.ly/eiBR50YJTeh #WeekofAction #SaveScience 🔭 @aas.org

Nice new (peer-reviewed) analysis of the impact of satellite constellations on ground-based astronomical observations. By Olivier Hainault from @eso.org 🔭https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09427

Large or bright satellite constellations: Effects on observations, including on the background sky brightness

This study evaluates the effect of proposed constellations -- ranging from current deployments to mega-constellations and very bright reflector concepts -- on direct trail losses, diffuse background, ...

arxiv.org

Seattle’s Lightrail is slick but there’s almost nowhere to put luggage. SEPTA will always have my heart. DC Metro seems chill so far (and I remember it being decent when I visited ten years back. Excellent station architecture) 🚉💺🚅 public transit appreciation post 🚅💺🚉

In retrospect, using a telescope named after a man who infamously did not detect an exoplanet to take transit measurements is — objectively — hysterical. I did not appreciate it at the time.

Outstanding itemization of how the FY27 budget request for NASA, NSF, and DOE impacts astronomy by the @aas.org Policy Team, Colin Hamill and Roohi Dalal 🔭🧪: aas.org/posts/news/2...

American Astronomical Society (AAS)@aas.org · 4mo ago

The AAS Policy team has published a detailed breakdown of the proposed FY27 budgets for NASA, NSF, and DOE. aas.org/posts/news/2... Take action now by asking your Senators to sign letters in support of NSF and NASA Science: 1️⃣ aas.org/urge-your-se... 2️⃣ aas.org/urge-your-se... @policy.aas.org 🔭