Andrew J. Steinmetz
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ajsteinmetz.com
Andrew J. Steinmetz
@ajsteinmetz.com
Physics PhD, Academic Professional at #GeorgiaTech, and #UniversityOfArizona alumnus. I love ⚛️ physics, 🌌 astronomy and all 🧪 sciences! (views my own) https://ajsteinmetz.github.io/
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
This is globular cluster NGC 2419, also known as the Intergalactic Wanderer, found in the constellation Lynx, where globular clusters wouldn't normally be found. It orbits the Milky Way every every three billion years and its orbit takes it further than the Magellanic Clouds.

#seestar
#astronomy
January 24, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Got married to my now wonderful Wife Sandy!
January 19, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
January 7th is National Old Rock Day! Well here is an old rock! These white circles are cross sections of Archaeocyathids. These were a type of sponge that built reefs during the Early Cambrian. This comes from the the Forteau Formation in southern Labrador, Canada. Over 516 million years old!
January 7, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
The rate of global mean sea level rise has increased from ~2.1 mm/year in 1993 to ~4.5 mm/year in 2023. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
The rate of global sea level rise doubled during the past three decades - Communications Earth & Environment
Global mean sea level rise amounted to 4.5 mm per year as a result of warming oceans and melting land ice, more than twice the rate of 2.1 mm/year observed at the start of satellite data in 1993, base...
www.nature.com
January 3, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Stuff like this makes me so sad... Libraries are magical places. #Science #Space #NASA
NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts
www.nytimes.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:35 PM
There's a famous Feynman interview where he explains why ice is slippery. It turns out there's more to the story involving shear-stress and slippage of disordered ice layers. Things we experience every day still generate novel thought and research. #Science #Physics

journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
December 29, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
A pair of happy hammerhead sharks
(ca. 1735 Edo period Japan)
December 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Hey Martians, did I mention we now also have a video of epic Phobos passing over a Martian dust storm near Pavonis Mons? 🌪️🌋🥔

Video & full info: flic.kr/p/2rNN8wk
Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY

@esa.int Mars Express HRSC
300 MP Photo quoted below
Easy zoom: easyzoom.com/image/674026
December 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"Faculty would prefer more emphasis on teaching and somewhat more on service than they observed in practice. The largest disconnects were the overvaluation of publication numbers and grants and undervaluation of publication quality in research" #Science #AcademicSky #EduSky

doi.org/10.1007/s442...
Science faculty perceptions of the promotion and tenure process at major research universities in the United States - Discover Education
The tenure and promotion process defines the standards and expectations for faculty at research universities. To explore faculty values and perceptions related to this process, we conducted a survey o...
doi.org
December 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
✨This NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope image shows the Westerlund 1 cluster, a group of massive stars located in our galaxy which are nearly as bright as a million Suns each. 🌌🎄🧪🔭

🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/10/The_exotic_stellar_population_of_Westerlund_1
December 24, 2025 at 11:11 AM
What's next? We'll be allowing young earth creationism in astronomy 101?
#Science #AcademicSky #EduSky
Instructor who gave U of Oklahoma student a zero on anti-trans paper removed from teaching
Graduate assistant Mel Curth found Samantha Fulnecky's paper unscientific and offensive in referring to trans people as "demonic."
www.advocate.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
A fairwell to #3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor, as now it is moving away both from the Sun and Earth. It has dimmed to about mag 12 and has a tail pointing towards the Sun. It will continue getting dimmer and won't be visible in just a few months. #cometWatch #astrophotography
December 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
No raptors this morning but I did find this handsome specimen 🪶
(ID in alt-text)
December 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
The Core (2003) is a guilty pleasure movie for me. It makes like zero scientific sense, and yet I kinda love it. #Science #Geology #Movies #xkcd
December 18, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
When Star Trek the Movie came out back in '79 it had a much criticized sequence of shots where the camera basically drools over the Enterprise (1701A) in dry dock. But I was the target audience.

I hope we get a Bird of Prey next. We probably also have enough […]

[Original post on mathstodon.xyz]
December 7, 2025 at 5:40 AM
We got to the final listed track, track 15 "The Fate of Thomas Light" and it's the saddest bit of music I've listened to in awhile. Everybody in the Bandcamp livestream was devastated. This can't be the end of Act III. #Protomen #Music #RockOpera
December 6, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
The stanning of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in this account continues

Image credit: Victor Sabet, Julien De Winter
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 AM
We're almost to the end of Act III. It's been a wonderful journey. #Music #RockOpera #Protomen
December 2, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Comet 240P/NEAT has now a small fragment (B) that is bright enough to be seen with modest telescopes. The nucleus shines at about mag 12 while B is two magnitudes fainter. #cometWatch #astrophotography
November 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Join arXiv! Want to make an impact on open science? Come help lead the team working on arxiv.org, one of the most integral websites for open scholarly communications and scientific discovery.

blog.arxiv.org/2025/11/24/w...

#arXiv
arXiv.org e-Print archive
arxiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I love #Quasars! This is 3C 273, brightest in the sky, by #HST #Hubble, 2.5 billion light-years away. The bottom blocks out the supermassive #BlackHole showing more detail. The "L" is a jet, possibly from a disrupted dwarf galaxy. #Science #Astronomy #Space.

See: esahubble.org/images/opo24...
November 21, 2025 at 11:24 PM
This week's Act III #Protomen is "The Dream." Amazing call back to Act III and it's cool to hear Emily again in the story, even only as a memory. #Music #ConceptAlbum #RockOpera.

We're getting to the endgame now.
November 21, 2025 at 1:00 AM
I missed last week's #Protomen Act III drop. Last week was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” #Music #ConceptAlbum #RockOpera
November 21, 2025 at 12:56 AM
This is a gorgeous photo of SN 1987A taken by the Hubble. #NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #Physics

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Su...
November 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM