The conclusion of a century-long quest 😲 Our VLT obtained firm evidence that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation and one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone! 🔭 🧪 1/4

The national synchrotron source, a laser facility and a particle accelerator are under threat of closure unless cash is found. Among the sites at risk looks to be the UK’s Jodrell Bank Observatory and its iconic Lovell radio telescope. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The existential choice facing UK physics facilities: commercialize or close

The national synchrotron source, a laser facility and a particle accelerator are under threat of closure unless cash is found.

nature.com

Taking advantage of a respite between wildfire smoke and clouds, we set up the hydrogen-alpha solar telescope and captured some images. Seeing was remarkably good, considering the recent hubbub; while haze may have impacted transparency somewhat this morning, the atmosphere was steady.

Dodging clouds, dealing with building heat, this image was worth the frustrations! This is the Waning Crescent Moon, 31% illuminated, at 11:05 AM EDT, July 9, via Askar 103APO telescope, ZWO ASI183MM Pro camera, IR Pass filter, processed in Pixelmator Pro. Yes, delighted!

The negative, or inverted rendition of one of Monday's morning moonshots. I like these because, well, they're an unusual way to view astronomical images and some of the more delicate details show a bit better -- I mean just look at those ejecta rays around the craters! #moonjoy #moon #astronomy

Lunar Blueprints. A quick imaging session this morning resulted in some interesting views of our nearest neighbor in space. These images were recorded at about 8:00 AM EDT resulting in the blue skies of Earth tinting and softening Lunar features. #MoonJoy #bluemoon #daytimemoon #moon #astronomy

"Mix politics and science, you get politics. You kind of lose everything else." -Francis Collins

Welcome to #RubinInFocus: a new series exploring the complex tech behind the NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! 🔭🧪 First up: this sci-fi-looking structure is Rubin's giant calibration screen. But what does a giant glowing wall actually do in an observatory? 👇 🧵

The Planetary Society created a fact sheet and action alert about the recent OMB proposal that would, among other things, insert politics into the proposal review process across science. More discussion here: www.planetary.org/articles/whe...

Absolutely, what a feeling... #BookSky

Active Region 4455 exploded on 2026/06/02, with several flares sending multiple corornal mass ejections Earthward. This image, in hydrogen-alpha light, shows the Region with several white areas called plage, and a large sunspot. Lines and curves are magnetic field lines outlined in Solar plasma.

Solar activity levels were officially reported to be at low levels but today's Sun was offering some excellent views. A large area of prominence activity on the southwest Solar limb was visually dominant. We were able to image earlier in the quiet morning today due to the higher Sun clearing trees!

It seems every time we attempted to finalize edits, the software essentially threw up! So before finalizing this one, we made a screen capture and I’m glad! Numerous spicules can be seen along the rim, and the prominence itself has an unexpected dynamical look. #solarobserving #solarastronomy #sun

Difficult to image but fascinating to watch as involved, this dynamic prominence. It was on the northeastern Solar limb and, we think, collapsing during our observing run. It’s the first time we’ve noticed changes in such a feature in real time. Cloudy days ahead. #solarastronomy #solarobserving

Well I was thinking of going to the gym this morning. Hardly seems worth it now.

“Keivan Stassun, a physicist and astronomer at Vanderbilt University, who has been a board member since 2022 said he had personally received confirmation from a third of the board members that they had been terminated by the boilerplate emails, which provided no reason.” wapo.st/3P3DSY2

Trump ousts National Science Board members

Members of the independent board that guides the National Science Foundation said they received a notice from the White House that their position was being terminated.

wapo.st

Happy National Library Week! 💙📚

“International Dark Sky Week is hailed as a global celebration of the night and a call for less light pollution. In some cities internationally, local governments are trying to find a solution to lighting … better serve critical wildlife ecosystems and humans alike.” www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Cities turn streetlights red to protect nocturnal ecosystems

International Dark Sky Week is hailed as a global celebration of the night and a call for less light pollution. In some cities internationally, local governments are trying to find a solution to light...

pbs.org

The National Science Foundation which funds a quarter of all basic scientific research in the country is being dismantled.

Albert Einstein passed away #OTD in 1955 due to complications from a ruptured abdominal aneurysm. Doctors recommended surgical intervention but Einstein declined, saying “I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly." Here is his office as he left it. 🧪 ⚛️ Image: R. Morse/LIFE

Our Sun has been at low activity levels but that doesn't mean it has been without interesting features. Active Region 4419 has been providing the majority of flaring activity; its bright plages are caused by intense magnetic fields, also expressed in web-like shapes seen in the solar plasma.

NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating The Low-energy Charged Particles experiment has been operating almost without interruption since Voyager 1 launched in 1977 - almost 49 years. 🧪🔭 #Voyager science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyage...

NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating - NASA Science

On April 17, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California sent commands to shut down an instrument aboard Voyager 1 called the

science.nasa.gov

Partly to mostly sunny skies drew us to set up the solar scope this morning and Sun did not disappoint! This large prominence and dynamic filament offered interest and challenge. We also imaged a sunspot that is displaying its complex magnetic fields in the medium of solar plasma!#solarastronomy

Here’s a link to NASA’s FULL LUNAR FLYBY GALLERY! Real images for people who love them. #ArtemisII www.nasa.gov/gallery/luna...

Lunar Flyby - NASA

nasa.gov

Just read that this photo was captured by the cameras aboard Orion and transmitted to Earth via the Quantum Optical Ground Station (QOGS) at the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra. This is the demo laser comms tech that @scienceanu.bsky.social are working with. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 📸 NASA

"COMET MAPS HAS BEEN DESTROYED: Hopes for a bright daylight comet ended April 4th when Comet MAPS (C/2026 A1) skimmed the sun and disintegrated. SOHO coronagraphs recorded a sudden outburst ... followed by a spray of narrow dust streamers. See the full length movies at Spaceweather.com."

NASA #Artemis II flyby coverage schedule; all times in Eastern. You can follow along live on NASA+ (plus.nasa.gov) or on the NASA YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@NASA). It should be amazing to watch!

Our Sun has been busy, of late, even if we couldn't see it due to clouds. Saturday was sunny so we mounted the Sky-Watcher Heliostar on its Heliofinder mount (the pier was occupied) and captured some views. Prominences large and small were visible as were some very distinct filaments.

Last night we finally had an opportunity to check out the C-11 in the observatory. The 24-year-old scope had languished in storage for a very long time after daytime collimation efforts without real world tests. The sky was mostly clear until, of course, we opened the dome. 1/2

With precision, a scientific illustration of this morning’s meteor event!

NE Ohio Regional Sewer District@neorsd.org · 5mo ago

none of our trail or process cameras captured the meteor this morning but Nicole did offer this artist rendering.