Positive detection of the Falcon 9 impact from the VLT!!!
ESO@eso.org · 2mo agoEarlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact. 🔭 🧪 📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al. 1/4
News from #SSA2026: Hush, something big is happening! @jhuartssciences.bsky.social @spacequakes.bsky.social researcher Benjamin Fernando says a #seismic quiet fell over U.S. and Canadian cities that were in the “path of totality” during the 8 April 2024 total #solar #eclipse buff.ly/4Py3Ker ⚒️
Inspired by the launch of Artemis II? Join our impact flash observation project, where we'll be coordinating a search for meteoroid strikes on the Moon with the astronauts! science.nasa.gov/citizen-scie...
Impact Flash! - NASA Science
You and your telescope can join a global network of amateur astronomers documenting meteors hitting the moon.
science.nasa.gov
Did the superbowl affect seismology? Yes, especially in Seattle (and not in the way you might think!). New pre-print out now: eartharxiv.org/repository/v...
Did Seattle go silent during the Superbowl?
eartharxiv.org
In April 2024, burning remnants of a defunct Chinese spacecraft fell to Earth. As the space junk tumbled through the atmosphere, the fragments created a series of sonic booms. Seismic stations on Earth were listening. https://scim.ag/49Lsc2w
Falling space junk can be tracked from its sonic booms
Seismic stations can accurately map re-entering debris with high accuracy
scim.ag
Achievement unlocked: a paper in Science! My friend and colleague Constantinos Charalambous & I showed how seismic data can be used to track and characterise the break-up of re-entering space debris. Also features a beautiful graphic by @jhuartssciences.bsky.social Sophia Economon.
Science Magazine@science.org · 9mo agoResearchers in Science present a novel way to track errant space debris as it falls to Earth in near-real-time. Their method uses publicly available data from ground-based seismic sensors to detect the shockwaves, or sonic booms, of reentering debris. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4jTaKxz
(This from @spacequakes.bsky.social's excellent @royalastrosoc.bsky.social talk)
Locked beneath a single-plate crust, Mars’ mantle holds a frozen record of the red planet’s primordial past, according to a new Science study of Martian seismic data collected by NASA’s InSight mission. https://scim.ag/47jTkWX
Seismic evidence for a highly heterogeneous martian mantle
A planet’s interior is a time capsule, preserving clues to its early history. We report the discovery of kilometer-scale heterogeneities throughout Mars’ mantle, detected seismically through pronounce...
science.org
Conferences are key enablers of community building and can provide constructive environments for open discussions of cultural issues within science, write @spacequakes.bsky.social @jhuartssciences.bsky.social and Mariama Dryák-Vallies @ciresceee.bsky.social eos.org/opinions/eig...
Eight Ways to Encourage Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Discussions at Conferences - Eos
Getting scientists to engage in sessions about issues of scientific culture is challenging, but these best practices for meeting organizers can help.
eos.org
Huge explosion at SpaceX's Starbase this evening! Detected what looks like Rayleigh waves and airwaves from hundreds of miles away. (will make a better-looking plot when I'm less sleepy haha).
We're recruiting a undergraduate research intern to work part-time in London with me and @nhm-london.bsky.social this summer on analysing micrometeroids from the world's first deep-sea ocean expedition (HMS CHALLENGER, 1873-76). Pease encourage your undergrads to apply!
Ben Fernando (Johns Hopkins): Impact seismology can give us a sense of the trajectories, speeds and numbers of impacting objects in the Solar System. We can use "insights" gained from observations on Mars and the Moon to learn about high velocity objects moving in Earth's atmosphere.
Researchers say that a NASA-funded institute is over-interpreting Trump’s anti-DEI order https://go.nature.com/3YD039e
‘Orwellian’: planetary scientists outraged over deletion of research records
Researchers say that a NASA-funded institute is over-interpreting Trump’s anti-DEI order.
go.nature.com
Planetary scientists have been really, really mad about DEI-related conference abstracts being taken down from LPI meeting sites. I wrote about it: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Orwellian’: planetary scientists outraged over deletion of research records
Researchers say that a NASA-funded institute is over-interpreting Trump’s anti-DEI order.
nature.com
Horrific news. Hopkins research helps some of the most in-need communities around the world. This will cost lives. 🤬🤬🤬
Johns Hopkins University to slash 2,000 jobs after $800M in federal cuts
Johns Hopkins University said it is laying off more than 2,000 workers across the globe after the Trump administration cut $800 million in federal grants.
washingtonpost.com
Interesting signal recorded on the northern Cuban coast post-Starship 8 last night - looks like a sonic boom (and a big one at that!) to me...
A team led by Johns Hopkins University scientists has dispelled fears that Iran conducted a nuclear test following a Magnitude 4.5 earthquake last October, showing these concerns were unfounded. Read more: doi.org/10.26443/sei... spacequakes.bsky.social
Road trip day #2 - Raleigh, NC! Ticked off my 5k in state number 25. Very wet and very very windy…
About to set off on a road trip to Johnson Space Center to drop off some non-flyable equipment. Looking forward to ticking off some new states! 🚗🚀🪐
How much of a bang did OSIRIS-REx make when it re-entered the atmosphere? Take a look at our new paper to found out! doi.org/10.1785/0220... w/ @neerajac.bsky.social @tomrivlin.com and others!
New paper alert! 🧪⛏️ Led by the amazing @spacequakes.bsky.social, here's a seismologically ordinary earthquake that got outsized attention due to some misinformation. It was cool to be a small part of this work! Open access in @weareseismica.bsky.social : seismica.library.mcgill.ca/article/view...
This was a fun thing to be part of, in an otherwise grim week. TL;DR - we can use seismometers to track space junk re-entering the atmosphere in close to real-time. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Earthquake sensors could help track a different threat: Falling space debris
Scientists have found that using seismometers is a new and inexpensive way to detect falling space junk.
washingtonpost.com
Some interesting signals from Grand Turk in the TCI last night, a few minutes after the Starship explosion. Possible/likely sonic booms from re-entering debris I suspect!
The Moon occulting Mars a few minutes ago from Baltimore, MD!
Went running with some Baltimore friends round St James’ Park yesterday. Cold but stunning. I do miss having open green space to run in!
Interested in a free, one-day workshop with @markpanning.seismology.space, I, and others, on how to access and use InSight seismic data? More info/application here! forms.office.com/r/TNRCKfP8yp
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
Hey, that’s an article about our InSight observers program in that table of contents! Congrats to @spacequakes.bsky.social on that and thanks to all of our InSight Seers who were a great part of our science team meetings in the last couple of years of the InSight mission.
Daniel Pomarède@pomarede.bsky.social · 2y agoNature Astronomy's current issue: Ryugu galore, Mars aplenty, and a pinch of Cosmology - with the cover image by yours truly! www.nature.com/natastron/ @natureastronomy.bsky.social #PlanetaryScience #Cosmology 🧪
This week I’m continuing to do fieldwork everywhere except the field… Very cool to visit the @ctbto.bsky.social ops room this morning!!
