Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Sep 20

Teaching a fun, illustrated Zoom course on atomic science for poets (meaning everyone.) Tuesdays Oct & Nov through the SF State OLLI program. For details & how to register: bit.ly/atomscourse
#science #physics #atomic #scienceeducation #astroedu #onlinecourses #Zoomcourses #sciencefiction #quantum

The course on atomic science is for everyone. It will use historical anecdotes, analogies from everyday life, thought experiments, and touches of humor.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Aug 19

This wonderful cartoon was sent out today in an email from The New Yorker magazine. All teachers will especially appreciate this.
#cartoons #teaching #astroedu #education #teachers #politicalcartoons #humor

In the cartoon, the man says, "I can't believe that summer, and civilization, are almost over."

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Aug 11

My latest astronomical #sciencefiction story (my 11th) was recently published. It's a new twist on doomsday & advanced #extraterrestrials - "In Conversation with the Downloaded Me." It's at: bit.ly/downloadedme
A list of all my published stories: bit.ly/sfbyfraknoi
#astroedu #hardsf #space #scifi

This graphic showing a rocket reads "science fiction." I am an astronomer writing scientifically reasonable science fiction stories, with eleven published so far.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jul 29

The 136-year old Astronomical Society of the Pacific is holding an exciting one-day nontechnical symposium on the future of #astronomy Aug. 21. Great speakers, time for breakout groups. See: bit.ly/ASP2025SYMP (Early bird pricing ends 7/31)
#astroedu #space #telescopes #amateurastronomy #science

ASP2025 Virtual Symposium: Eyes on the Cosmos - Embracing the Future

Join us August 21, 2025 to explore the evolving relationship between humanity and the universe.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Andrew Fraknoi

Astronomical Society of the Pacific @astrosociety.org · Jul 23

🚀 Register now for #ASP2025 #Virtual #Symposium: Eyes on the Cosmos -- Embracing the Future (Aug 21)!

Save with early bird registration by July 31.

Explore 4 themes: Questioning, Investigating, Adapting & Connecting.

Explore discoveries, strategies & shared sky stories. 🔭🧪

🔗: bit.ly/ASP2025SYMP

ASP2025 Virtual Symposium: Eyes on the Cosmos - Embracing the Future

Join us August 21, 2025 to explore the evolving relationship between humanity and the universe.

bit.ly

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jul 24

I agree, it does seem to be saying something like that!

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jul 22

This uncanny image shows LDN43, the cosmic bat nebula -- a region of dark dust & dense gas, where new stars are forming. The nebula is 1400 lightyears away and about 12 lightyears across. #astronomy #astroedu #astrophotos #space #spacephotos #spaceimages #astrophotography #nebula #spacepictures

The dark nebula with catalog number LDN43 resembles a flying bat. It is a cloud of dense gas and dust inside which new stars are forming, accounting for the lighter regions that paint the features of the bat. Image credit: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jul 16

Beautiful image from Gemini Observatory: the dome of their telescope on Maunkea peak, Hawaii. In this time exposure, see the stars circle the north pole of the sky as our planet rotates. Laser beams that probe atmospheric distortion add interest. #astronomy #astroedu #astrophotos #spacephotos #sky

This long time-exposure of the Gemini North Telescope dome on the 14,000 foot peak of Maunakea in Hawaii show the stars making circular trails around the north pole of the sky and the Pole Star Polaris. Some of the guide-star laser beams that help astronomers keep track of dancing of the Earth's atmosphere are also seen coming from the dome.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jun 17

Friday will be the #summersolstice -- the longest day and shortest night for the Northern Hemisphere. For the full story of how an ancient cosmic accident is responsible for our seasons, see: www.fraknoi.com/seasons/frid...
#astronomy #astroedu #space #science #seasons #sky #solstice

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jun 4

Amazing star-forming region, the Tarantula #Nebula, 160,000 lightyears away & 600 lightyears wide. Another great composite image produced by noted amateur astronomer #RobGendler. Massive, luminous baby stars help it to glow.
#astronomy #astroedu #space #spacephotos #astroimaging #sciencephotos

The Tarantula Nebula: a composite image produced by Rob Gendler from data provided by the European Southern Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. It is a star-forming nebula -- a region of gas and dust, lit up by the light of newly-born stars inside.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Jun 2

This coming weekend the summer meeting of the American Astronomical Society #AAS starts. If the administration's budget is passed by Congress, the science of #astronomy will be decimated in the U.S.
#astroedu #sciencefunding #UFOs #extraterrestrials #cartoons #sciencecartoons #astronomycartoons

Cartoon from an old New Yorker magazine shows two aliens in a flying saucer. One says to the other: "I hope my address to the American Astronomical Society will bring us the credibility we've been seeking." The American Astronomical Society is the professional organization of astronomer in the U.S.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 24

My latest #sciencefiction story "The Lurker" is just out in "The Worlds Within" online magazine: theworldswithin.net/the-lurker/ Just as we send probes to other planets, might advanced aliens not send AI probes to our system? Please check it out.
#astronomy #astroedu #SETI #scifi #extraterrestrials

This is the illustration for my science-fiction story the Lurker. It’s about the possibility that advanced civilizations among the stars might send automated probes to our solar system (and others); probes that wait - lurking quietly – to detect some sign of intelligent life. I tried to imagine how some hapless explorers in the future might accidentally trigger one of these probes.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 20

My latest (short) science-fiction story "Eclipsed" was published today. It's about how rare total eclipses might be, not just in the solar system, but the universe. See: bit.ly/eclipsedsfst...
#astronomy #astroedu #scifi #sciencefiction #hardsf #hardsciencefiction #eclipses #eclipsechasing

Eclipse sequence, showing how a total eclipse of the Sun happens, by Rick Fienberg (astronomer, astro-photographer, and veteran eclipse chaser.) Here the Moon exactly covers the Sun, blotting out its entire body, and allowing its faint atmosphere to become visible.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 15

For those who enjoy #StarTrek and fine art, this is a T-shirt you can buy. (I am not involved with the company, just amused.)

#astronomy #astroedu #sciencefiction #art #scifi #VanGogh #sciencehumor #astroart #scienceandart

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 13

We see the Veil Nebula, a small part of a vast ancient remnant of an exploded star, still glowing with colorful emissions from hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms.
#astronomy #astroedu #astrophotography #space #spaceimages #spacephotos #astroimages #NASA #sciencephotos

This colorful region of glowing gas, often called the Veil Nebula, is part of the large, old supernova remnant called the Cygnus Loop. A massive star exploded some 10-20 thousand years ago and the remnant is still glowing in places. Astronomers have determined that oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen atoms are contributing to the glow.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 11

She was born in England, but seeing no chance to get a PhD there, moved to the U.S., where she stayed.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 10

Today is the birthday (in 1900) of Cecilia Payne, the astronomer who wrote what some historians call the most important PhD thesis in astronomy -- showing that stars were made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
#astronomy #astroedu #astronomyhistory #historyofscience #womenastronomers #womeninscience

Cecilia Payne, born in England, got her PhD in the U.S., showing the then controversial result that the vast majority of each star is composed of the simplest elements hydrogen and helium. This contradicted the widely held notion that the Sun and the Earth should have roughly the same composition. As a woman, she was not allowed to hold a professorship at Harvard for many year during her long career there.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 5

I meant to type @debrafischer.bsky.social in the message, not #debrafischer (Still getting used to how BlueSky works.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 5

#Astro4Earth and #debrafischer just posted a 1-min public video: huge cuts in proposed US budget for #NSF and #NASA & about the beauty and value of astronomy, at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZsQ... Please share if you resonate with it.
#astronomy #astroedu #space #science #sciencebudget #budgetcuts

Support U.S. Science!

YouTube video by Astronomers for Planet Earth

www.youtube.com

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 2

Beautiful image by Robert Fesen & collaborators showing a Wolf-Rayet star (WR8) -- a massive star violently letting go its outer layer (blue) against a background of glowing gas.
#astronomy #astroedu #astrophotography #space #spacephotography #astroimages #sciencephotos #spacephotos #astrophotos

WR8, a Wolf-Rayet Star. These are massive stars losing their outer layers forcefully toward the end of their lives. The blue is the ejected material, the reddish glow comes from glowing gas and dust lying behind or front of the star, but not connected with it.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · May 1

Complex, beautiful image, assembled by Rob Gendler, from several visible-light & Infrared telescopes, shows the Ring Nebula, with its many shells of material emitted by a dying star.
#astronomy #astroedu #space #spacephotos #astroimaging #stars #sciencephotos #astrophotography #spaceimages

The Ring Nebula, a "planetary" nebula (misnomer), probably better called a death-shroud nebula. This material, shown in a photo that combines visible-light and infrared images, is emitted in several steps from a dying star, in the process of becoming a dense white dwarf. The hot star excites that material that "lifted off" and makes it glow.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Apr 25

YES. Why didn't I think of that?

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Apr 24

Beautiful new #HubbleTelescope image of the "death-shroud nebula" with catalog designation #NGC2899. The central star is giving off its outer layers in dying. What does the cavity in the gas look like to you?
#astronomy #astroedu #space #spacephotos #astroimaging #astronomyphotos #sciencephotos

Planetary nebula NGC 2899 glows from the energy of the hot white dwarf star in the center. The cavity in the expelled gas resembles the shape of a moth. The shape may be the result of the fact that the dying star that gave rise to the nebula orbits around a companion star in the center. The whole nebula is more than 2 lightyears across.

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Apr 23

Sign in a bookstore window, appropriate for the day after Earth Day. (Now that I am a published science-fiction writer, I pay special attention to such signs.)
#climatechange #science #sciencehumor #apocalypse #globalwarming #sciencefiction #bookstores

Sign in the window of a book store indicating that stories about what it's like after the apocalypse have been moved to "current affairs."

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Andrew Fraknoi @fraknoi.bsky.social · Apr 21

Tonight and tomorrow night are peak times to see the #Lyrids #meteorshower -- a time when more shooting stars are visible if you go to a dark, open site and are patient. The chart shows you the main showers of 2025 and rates them.
#astronomy #astroedu #sky #amateurastronomy #darksky #space #meteors

Listing of the meteor showers of 2025. ZHR tell you how many meteors you might see under IDEAL conditions. The star ratings are based on whether moonlight is likely to interfere with your viewing faint meteors.

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