Author | Lightnews

Jamie L. Molaro

@spacejammie.bsky.social

5.2K followers 300 following 1.3K posts

Planetary Scientist, Artist/Maker, Musician, D&D Nerd, Epic Poet. hEDS, Bi/Ace ♿️🏳️‍🌈 I like rocks, study asteroids, and make art out of spacecraft data. I also play harp, own a carousel, and my dog is really cute. www.dataarcana.com / www.jmolaro.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Oct 18

Our 2024 Engagement Report is out! For new followers, the #SkyhorseCarousel is an amusement ride, piece of #SciArt, and science outreach installation celebrating human culture and cosmology from ancient and modern times which we just brought to Burning Man!

skyhorsecarousel.com/news-updates/

Watercolor of a carousel showing colorful figures, with a large canopy tent in the background and a slightly cloudy sky.

4 3 33

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 21h

Boy I love Halloween but y’all, when you put decorations of black cats all over your yard the neighborhood dogs are going to react!! Fable just injured me freaking out in surprise over a yard filled with no less than five fake cats, come ooonn.

1 3

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 22h

Sent a response!

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 4d

Pretty spectacular clouds tonight, hard to fully capture their iridescent pearl quality in the photo. #SkyhorseCarousel

A statue of a golden winged lion next to a carousel against a sky full of blue wispy clouds with bright yellow light from the sunset shining through them.

3 29

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 10d

When you’re middle aged packing for a festival camp out and worried that the cops might mistake your thousand daily vitamins for drugs 🤦‍♀️

1 6

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 12d

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day! Here's a couple of interesting videos on how the roads, landmarks, and cities in modern LA are built upon the Native footpaths and villages they displaced.

www.tiktok.com/@beachboyz2m...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb1D...

Longest video I’ve ever made and still barely scratched the surface. The Tongva (also called the Kizh) occupied an area the size of Rhode Island for thousands of years and still are not federally reco...

TikTok video by beachboyz2men

www.tiktok.com

1 4

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 16d

…aaaaand because I was chuckling to myself about being glad to spend less time calling tech support now, I now have the JPL hold music in my head 😆 (IYKYK)

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 16d

End of an era! I've been at JPL for the last 10 years! Two years as a postdoc, and then after moving to @psi.edu I kept my office to continue work with collaborators. Current projects have ended and I had to hand in my badge today, a bit sad but new plans are in the works so I'm sure I'll be back :)

A henge-like sculpture of large stones in a courtyard in front of a tall building.

Large concrete letters at the entrance to the laboratory spelling JPL.

Metallic letters forming a sign on a matte gray wall stating JPL's motto "DARE MIGHTY THINGS"

1 3 38

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 27d

"Seminar" is a strong word for this despite the heading, it was very informal. But it was fun to share about some of my art projects with colleagues! #SciArt #SkyhorseCarousel #FrameOfReference

Brian Swift @bswift.bsky.social · 29d

Vid of @spacejammie.bsky.social showing off cool Burning Man Informal Outreach projects youtu.be/dkGPpcjIsN8?...

Science Outreach at the Burning Man Art Festival (Jamie Molaro, 09/17/2025)

YouTube video by Planetary Science Institute

youtu.be

1 5

Reposted by Jamie L. Molaro

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · Sep 26

At least a third of my book (in progress) is just me having fun explaining the humor in Frost’s astronomical poems, but this one is different.

The tone goes from contentious to sad.

Note, the “far star” is a galaxy. 🧪🔭

Far star that tickles for me my sensitive plate and fries a couple of ebon atoms white, I don’t believe I believe a thing you state. I put no faith in the seeming facts of light. I don’t believe I believe you’re the last in space, I don’t believe you’re anywhere near the last, I don’t believe what makes you red in the face is after explosion going away so fast. The universe may or may not be very immense. As a matter of fact there are times when I am apt to feel it close in tight against my sense like a caul in which I was born and still am wrapped.

2 11 38

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 29d

Both you and Andy both using that same emoji makes me feel like they really should have one of the eyes facing the opposite direction too so you can respond to each other haha.

1 2

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 29d

Ahhhh! I am sitting on some VERY exciting personal news which I am just BURSTING to tell you 😁 Hopefully soon!

3 22

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · 29d

It is mind boggling to me that the template NASA made for the Table of Work Effort in proposals does not fit within the prescribed page margins…

Also their biosketch template eliminates half of what is supposed to be included.

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 23

“Dear Dr. Colleague…” Well that’s a new one.

1 3

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 18

oh my god, when I get pinched nerves in my neck it causes my shoulders to itch uncontrollably and I am absolutely dying today. I would so much rather have pain than itching, why is this my life.

1 5

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 18

lol oh nooo, you mean during the big storm? No, for us just a thousand pounds of styrofoam from nearby camps’ hexayurts being torn to shreds.

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

Yeah I did, but ultimately I was prioritizing simplicity. While more elegant, that requires wiring, programming, bulb housings, etc. It would have taken a lot longer to build and been more complicated to fix than off the shelf stuff I can just plug in and swap around. But maybe it will evolve :)

1 1

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

Ahh you were out there? Nice! Well next year we are bringing the carousel back and we’ll probably set this up alongside it, so come find us and you can see both :)

1 1

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

Oh very cool, I’ll take a look at your tool!

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

Overall, I'm really happy with how the project went. I think next time I'll tweak some of the signage, but I got a lot of good feedback that people enjoyed it. It looked just absolutely stunning out there. I can't wait to show it somewhere else!

View of the piece showing scorpius at night.

The side view of scorpius with a crescent moon hanging in the sky above it.

3 5 19

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

We spent time throughout the week hanging out nearby so we could watch people interact with it. There’s a lot to look at out there, but some folks stopped and took the time to really explore it. It was satisfying to see people light up when they found the right place to see the constellations.

A woman standing inside the art piece holding her hands up to one of hte lights.

Two people on bicycles wearing jackets covered in colorful LED lights. They stopped next to the piece to have a look.

A view of the piece with huge lasers spreading out into the sky from somewhere distant on the horizon.

Two people have dropped their bikes on the ground and are standing inside the edge of the piece and talking about it.

1 8

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

Major thanks to my husband for always being so supportive in helping me with my art. We had so much fun building together! Our campmates helped as well. Though, afterwards I didn't want to see another stair or ladder ever again.

Three people standing on ladders and holding up parts of the frame as it is being assembled.

Me standing on a step stool under the assembled frame inspecting my diagram as I am figuring out where the lights need to be placed in the grid. There are ladders, bins, and the box truck visible in the scene.

Closer shot of me using both hands to clip up a light above my head, my reference diagram hanging from a string behind me. I'm wearing black and yellow with work gloves, a bandana, and a utility belt with some assorted devices on it.

My husband and I smiling in a selfie in front of the completed art piece.

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 17

It's past time I shared a little about our experience at Burning Man with the #FrameOfReference. Despite the wild weather this year, it was a big success! I'm proud of us for getting it out there! It did fine in the wind and rain, I only had to replace a couple of light bulbs all week. #SciArt

View of the art piece lit up with the Big Dipper showing. Many lights are visible in the distance where the edge of the city meets the open desert.

Another view of the piece lit at night from a different angle. The distant lights are colorful and show the shapes of different structures and art pieces.

A view of the piece during the day. It is dim with storm clouds overhead, and you can see some of the bulbs lit but it is too light outside to make out the constellation.

A picture of me smiling and leaning against the structure during the day. I am happy that we just completed the build. I'm wearing red shorts, a black sports bra, a pink and red scarf, cowboy hat, and black dusty combat boots.

2 18

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 14

Sunday

A dog curled up with her face smushed in some pillows on a couch sleeping

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 3

Not fully back online yet, but here is a teaser for you :) #SciArt #FrameOfReference

View of the art piece standing lit on a dry lake bed at night. Behind it, all manner of bright lights, structures, and other art can be seen in the distance.

Two people stand to one side of the art. One of them has his hand pointing towards it as if showing the other person what to look for.

1 1 20

Jamie L. Molaro @spacejammie.bsky.social · Sep 3

Somebody is so happy to be home on her own couch after such a long time away 💜 (Hint: It’s both of us.)

Closeup of a dogs face and front paw curled up against some pillows on the couch. Her eyes are closed as if smiling content and sleepy.