One recognizes the historical feat that an astronomer was able to detect the brightest M dwarf in the northern skies over 200 yrs ago. The other acknowledges the feat of a dude three quarters of a century ago adding it to his index card compilation of nearby stars.Ignores what makes the star special
For all the but how can we afford space exploration folksβ¦this means weβve already spent more on this war that started last week than Cassini cost in the 26 years it took to build, launch, and operate it.
That appears to be MIRES G206.3715-02.1290 (CWISE J063149.88+045123.2, SSTSL2 J063149.85+045122.4), previously known extended infrared source in NGC 2244. Povich+2013 classified it spectral energy distribution as consistent with a Class II or III young object, but that appearance screams edge-on II
A recipe for training a military that can win battles but lose long blood wars, and train and promote tacticians overseeing other tacticians, with a lack of strategic-minded leadership to draw upon at the top.
Has nothing been learned from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War I,II, Iraq,Afghanistan? #DOD
#exoplanets
New form of aluminum discovery team out of San Francisco and Edinburgh
Amid the turmoil, Sam Beyda, a 24-year-old who has never previously worked in public health, has assumed a prominent role at the agency, according to current and former officials. While at the CDC, O'Neill was often absent, those officials said, and he deputized Beyda to run much of the agency's day-to-day operations for him, people familiar with the matter said. Beyda, a 2023 graduate of Columbia University, is based in Washington, D.C., but frequently travels to the CDC's Atlanta headquarters. An internal document in November listed Beyda as leading five of 16 new strategic initiatives, including updating the CDC's agencywide response to outbreaks and crises, downsizing animal research and enhancing surveillance of novel pathogens. Some longtime CDC staffers have credited Beyda with being a quick study and making an effort to ask questions and learn on the ioh Ona coninr novear And ofniol enid Pando
But others say Beyda isn't qualified for a senior role that is often filled by someone with a master's in public health or years of experience in the federal government. Beyda executed January's widespread grant cuts to state and local health departments that the CDC then quickly rescinded, people familiar with the matter said. The administration moved forward about two weeks later with roughly $600 million in grant cuts to four states led by Democrats, a move now held up in court. Beyda was also deeply involved in a chaotic wave of firings at the CDC during the October government shutdown, according to people familiar with the matter, which saw more than a thousand employees laid off only for hundreds to later be reinstated. Beyda is one of at least a dozen political appointees at the agency, representing a larger number than in previous administrations, according to two current employees. The new political appointees wield significant power over the CDC's
Letting a 24 year old lead hundreds of millions of grants cuts at CDCβ¦
Deadline soon: The 8th Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) Exoplanet Summer Program, Aug 10-27, 2026. We wish to foster new & existing research collaborations by outstanding visitors, with stays of 1 to 3 weeks at the beautiful UC Santa Cruz campus. Applications accepted Feb 5-Mar 5.
owl.ucsc.edu/summer/
Today's arXiv has a notable preprint: humanity's latest direct imaging attempt of the nearest Jupiter analogue exoplanet!
arxiv.org/abs/2602.23423
It's a non-detection. Which implies it may be similar to Jupiter (high-Z or water clouds)!
Also the star is expected to be older (1.1 Β± 0.1 Ga) now.
Big news drop on a Friday afternoon. π
@caltechipac.bsky.social 2027 Visiting Graduate Student Research Fellowship applications are open! The VGSRF is a 6-month predoc at Caltech working with IPAC scientists.
www.ipac.caltech.edu/page/graduat...
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This is an image of Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair. Visual description: The image focuses on Carl's head and shoulders; he is wearing a white shirt with gray stripes with short sleeves, and he is looking directly at the camera and smiling. Carl has a busy brownish-red bear and hair and with gray eyes.
Our IPAC community is in shock at the sudden loss of our colleague and friend, Carl Grillmair.
His curiosity and dedication shaped IPAC in countless ways. We've dedicated our science talk series, The Next Seven Minutes, to his memory.π www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/ipac-mourns-passing-of-carl-grillmair
Sanduleak -69 202 has entered the chat. #SN1987A
White dwarfs are cooling star bones.
There are NASA folks on bluesky (myself included). Asking a question will probably get multiple responses (indeed may require multiple responses!)
Caltech astrophysicist fatally shot on porch in Antelope Valley; suspect charged with murder
The results of the US Olympic womenβs hockey, they have played 4 games so far. The US has scored 20 goals. Their opponents? ONE.
The US Womenβs Hockey team is terrifying.
They have scored twenty goals in this Olympiad so far.
Their opponents?
One.
That plot always reminds me of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas commenting on the painting. To paraphrase:
"I Like This One. One Planet Goes One Way, and the Other Planet Goes the Other Way."
That said, when Iβve posted science content I often get 0-few likes. While there are people on here that sneeze and get 1000 likes for the thoughtful commentary. So Iβve certainly reduced my engagement here due to lack of audience and reciprication.
Great series of posts by @mattkenworthy.bsky.social on missing the golden age of social media posting on scientific conferences.
The enshittification of Facebook, then ennazification of Twitter/X, has led to dispersal of tribes to platforms like bluesky, but interest in posting seems to have waned
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
βThis could have been an emailβ
The "Cosmic Owl," as photographed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Each "eye" is an active galactic nucleus, and the "beak" is a nursery of stars. (Image credit: Li et al.)
My nomination for today's #SuperbOwl.
The Cosmic Owl is two galaxies that crashed into each other, creating overlapping ring-shaped splashes of stars. It measures about 150,000 light years from side to side, or about 10^20 times the size of a Great Grey Owl on Earth. π§ͺπ
arxiv.org/abs/2506.10058
βDemocracy diesβ¦
no thatβs itβ
#WaPo #WashingtonPost
This image is a composite of artist's illustrations of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope pointing towards a lengthy collection of exoplanets against a background image of the Galactic Plane. The text says "2026 Sagan Summer Workshop" and the theme "Exoplanets with Roman Surveys: Microlensing and Transits July 20-24, 2026, Pasadena, California" followed by the hashtag #sagan2026.
β°Time to Register for #sagan2026β°
The hybrid workshop focuses on expected #exoplanet science from the @nasaromantelescope.bsky.social Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey. Travel support requests for early-career participants are due 3/5. nexsci.caltech.edu/workshop/2026
π #astrocode #instrumentation
Immigrants have paid more in taxes than they have received in benefits every single year for the past 30 years, according to new analysis from Cato.
Remember this the next time Trump and his racist lackeys call immigrants "freeloaders."
There's a new IRSA Newsletter - are you subscribed? myemail.constantcontact.com/IRSA-Newslet...
A full Moon is seen shining over NASAβs SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher in the early hours of February 1, 2026. The rocket is currently at Launch Pad 39B at NASAβs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as teams are preparing for a wet dress rehearsal to practice timelines and procedures for the launch of Artemis II. NASA/Sam Lott
NASA's Artemis II flight, which will send a crew around the Moon for the first time since 1972, has been delayed due to a hydrogen leak.
The flight is tentatively rescheduled for early March. π§ͺπ
arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...
How many children born will suffer and die preventable deaths due to dropping vaccine mandates?
How do these people sleep at night?
How do they explain their decisions to their kids?
And the βyour body, your choiceβ rheteric is hypocritically rich here considering FLβs near-total abortion ban.
The Rubin Observatory has discovered some rapidly rotating asteroids. By rapid I mean crazy fast: half-kilometer objects with βdaysβ shorter that 2 minutes. What the heck? How do they not fly apart?
tritonstation.com/2026/02/01/a...
Timeline cleanse featuring penguins frolicking in the snow at the Pittsburgh Zoo!
