Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by AkaSci

Kyle Clark @kylec.bsky.social · 2d

Colorado AG Phil Weiser (D) is calling on Coloradans to turn out en masse for Oct 18 demonstrations against President Trump’s use of the military in American cities. “Don’t be afraid,” Weiser said. “Don’t be afraid to show up.” #copolitics

31 530 2K

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 15h

stellarium-web.org is a great resource to see how the night sky would look like at any given location and time. And how the Big Dipper would be oriented before sunrise and after sunset.

Also, theskylive.com/planetarium?...

Stellarium Web Online Star Map

Stellarium Web is a planetarium running in your web browser. It shows a realistic star map, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

stellarium-web.org

1 1 2

Reposted by AkaSci

🦋 kris🌻⋆⋆⋆ @eviebauer727.bsky.social · 2d

Absolute chaos continues to unfold in Portland.
#Terrorists
#NationalGuard

6 45 140

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 1d

Look at the orientation of the Big Dipper.

1 1

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 1d

Check out the thread at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1153... for more info on comets C/2025 R2 (SWAN) and C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), which will make close approaches to Earth around Oct 20, and two other faint comets in the evening sky.
#Astronomy
2/n

AkaSci 🛰️ (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Comets C/2025 R2 (SWAN) and C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) will be closest to Earth around Oct 20 and will both be visible in the evening sky shortly after sunset over the next two weeks. See ...

fosstodon.org

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 1d

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) beautifully captured by astro-photographer Petr Horálek on October 9, from the shore of Seč Lake, Czech Republic.

Check out his other works at www.petrhoralek.com

Quiz: Was this photo taken before sunrise or after sunset?
#Astronomy
1/n

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon in the distance beyond a lake and low tree-lined hills. The Big Dipper looms above it.

Description by photographer Petr Horálek:
After many cloudy nights, I was finally lucky again to shoot the brightening comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon, which is currently well found south of the Big Dipper asterism. I took the chance from the shore of Seč Lake, Czech Republic, just shortly before a fog completely covered the lake valley. Despite the strong moonlight, the tail of the comet seems to be significant and most likely will show even nicer structures when dark evenings come again.

3 10 77

Reposted by AkaSci

DrDinD.bsky.social @drdind.bsky.social · 6d

The Nobel Prizes, 5 of 6 having so far gone to US based scientists, are a reminder of why we must stand up for science against this horrid administration. Here are some great Scientist Activists to follow.

go.bsky.app/14W5Rdk

20 220 770

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 7d

There must be a new war fuming between some truck-faring nations that requires trump's tariff-wielding skills.

The Nobel Prize committee surely must be considering him for both the Peace and the Economic Sciences Prize 😜
bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Trump: "I've ended seven wars. At least half of them was because of my ability at trade and because of tariffs. If I didn't have tariffs to throw around a little bit, you would have at least 4 wars waging with thousands of people a day being killed ... we're getting close to settling 8."

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 9d

ESA today inaugurated a new 35-m deep space antenna at its New Norcia site, ~115 km north of Perth, Australia – the 4th of its kind for Estrack, ESA’s deep space tracking network.

www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1153...
#Astronomy

Pic from the inauguration ceremony of team leaders and guests with the antenna in the background.

The effort was led by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher alongside Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency, and Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations, together with Stephen Dawson, the Western Australia Minister for Regional Development, Ports, Science and Innovation, Medical Research and the Kimberley, with Sabine Winton, Western Australia Minister for Education, Early Childhood, Preventative Health and the Wheatbelt, in attendance.

Credit: ESA

1 9

Reposted by AkaSci

Andrea Love, PhD | Biomedical Scientist @drandrealove.bsky.social · 22d

Toxicology principle that needs to be mainstream:

The dose makes the poison.

That’s true of everything. Water. Oxygen. Vitamin A. Vitamin D. Aspartame. Formaldehyde.

A single pear contains 120 times MORE formaldehyde than what might be in a vaccine.

1/

14 160 450

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 24d

And what exactly does “shared clinical decision-making” between a health-care provider and a patient or their guardian mean? Is that a requirement? How is it enforced?

I presume the requirement for a prescription for the COVID-19 vaccine was voted down.

1 1

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 26d

Mungo crater on asteroid Donaldjohanson is named after Lake Mungo, site of the oldest human fossils in Australia dated circa 42,000 BCE.

The lake is the traditional land of the Paakantji, Ngylampaa and Mutthi Mutthi peoples.

More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1152...
medium.com/teatime-hist...
#Science

1. Map of SE Australia with location of Lake Mungo
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lake+Mungo/@-36.094131,142.9952767,7.07z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x6ae7f27f13b520ef:0x3f38c9ad66983ef2!8m2!3d-33.7233742!4d143.0566409!16zL20vMDdfeXkx!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkxNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

2. Pic of erosion mounds and sand drift, Lake Mungo.
Credit: Simon Cameron
https://medium.com/teatime-history/australia-on-the-ground-42000-bce-lake-mungo-6fa817f64615
Check out Simon's writings at the above website.

3. Skeleton remains of Mungo Man dated to 40,000 years ago

1 3

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 27d

Asteroid Donaldjohanson just got some new names for its various surface features.

The names were proposed by the NASA Lucy mission team to the IAU based on various paleoanthropological sites and discoveries.

science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
#PlanetSci

Pic of asteroid Donaldjohanson with annotations for recognized names of its geologic features.

Few annotations added by me.

Names include:
Afar Lobus (Lobe)
Olduvai Lobus (Lobe)
Windover Collum (Neck)
Hadar Regio (Region)
Minatogawa Regio (Region)

Narmada (Crater)
Mingo (Crater)
Luzia Dorsum (Ridge)
Cashel Saxum (Boulder)
Kennewicks Saxum (Boulder)
Boxgrove Saxum (Boulder)

Credit: NASA Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL

4 4 29

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 27d

Did you have a hand in the naming of the features on asteroid Donaldjohanson?

1

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · 28d

8 years ago OTD in 2017, the magnificent NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini mission ended with the spacecraft commanded into a fiery plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrGA...
More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1152...
#PlanetSci

NASA at Saturn: Cassini's Grand Finale

YouTube video by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

www.youtube.com

2 12

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Sep 6

Yes comets, including interstellar ones like 3I/ATLAS, grow tails as they get closer to the Sun. ☄️

Alien spaceships, not so much. 👽

Image taken on Aug 27 by the Gemini South Telescope at Cerro Pachón in Chile.
😎
noirlab.edu/public/image...
#Astronomy

Growing Tail of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

noirlab.edu

1 10

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Sep 6

Where is star cluster PISMIS-24, the subject of the stunning new image by the JWST, located?

The following images show the location of PISMIS-24, zooming in from a view of the night sky into the central core of the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357).
🤩
More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1151...
#Astronomy

Images show the location of PISMIS-24, zooming in from a view of the night sky into the central core of the Lobster Nebula (NGC 6357).

Sources:
https://stellarium-web.org/
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1226c/
https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2221a/
https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/ngc6357/
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2025/136/01K2JB2E4SSMC8Y7BGYE8N96TM

2 17

Reposted by AkaSci

Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · Sep 2

Our 400+ page comment on the DOE climate working group report is now out.

Our conclusion: The merchants of doubt are back, and they're coming for climate science.

DOEresponseSite

On July 29, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a report from its Climate Working Group (CWG). This report features prominently in the EPA's reconsideration of its 2009 Endangerment Finding. In response, over 85 scientists have come together to write a comprehensive review, which is

sites.google.com

17 230 460

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Sep 1

Direct imaging of exoplanets is possible using ground based telescopes thanks to adaptive optics, coronagraphs, polarization filters (light reflected off planets and dust is polarized), IR bands translucent to earth's atmosphere, large antennas and spectroscopy.
#Astronomy #PlanetSci
2/n

1. Schematic of an Adaptive Optics system.
A deformable mirror (DM) in the optical path is used to correct for distortions caused by atmosphere turbulence.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/adaptive-optics

2. Schematic of a Microlens Array Focusing a Distorted Wavefront
A Shack-Hartmann waveform sensor uses small lenses to create images of a reference star. The displacements of these images from the ideal positions is used to calculate corrections for the DM, over 1,000 times a second.
Source: https://www.thorlabs.com/newgrouppage9.cfm?objectgroup_id=5287

3. The center of the Milky Way as seen from Keck, with and without adaptive optics, showing how much clearer the view becomes with AO on. Image from the UCLA Galactic Center Group.
Source: https://astrobites.org/2022/11/20/guide-to-adaptive-optics/

1 10

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Aug 31

Did the DOJ lawyers make this argument (straight from the White House) to justify their actions?
Let's hope the judge sees these tweets anyways.

2 10

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Aug 31

Stunning images of a multi-ringed disk around the star WISPIT 2 and its embedded planet WISPIT 2b taken using the SPHERE extreme adaptive optics imager at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1151...
#Astronomy #PlanetSci

1. SPHERE/IRDIS multiband RGB image of the WISPIT 2 system.

The H-band Qϕ image was added as the blue channel and the median combination of the H-band and Ks-band Qϕ images was added as the green channel. The red channel is a combination of the Ks-band Qϕ image and the Ks-band cADI image in which we masked all but the gap containing the thermal emission from WISPIT 2b.

Uses combination of polarized and unpolarized light.

1 AU = Mean Sun-Earth distance = ~150 million km
Source: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/adf721

2. K-band RDI image (total intensity) image with a radius distance scaling from the central star applied to compensate for the drop-off in stellar illumination of the disk.

For illustrative purposes the inset on the right panel shows an image of Jupiter. The authors think that WISPIT 2b looks similar to this.

Source: https://www.christian-ginski.com/home/northeast-rgt98

1 10 54

Reposted by AkaSci

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · Aug 30

Trump’s delusions about winning a Nobel Peace Prize and his and Rubio’s shitty diplomacy have created a huge rift with India www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/u...

The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled

www.nytimes.com

6 29 140

AkaSci @akasci.bsky.social · Aug 30

JWST zooms into the heart of the beautiful Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302), a bipolar nebula 3,400 ly away. The MIRI instrument and its spectrometer were used at 5–28 µm wavelength to study the intricate structures surrounding its central star.
More at fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/1151...
#Astronomy

3 images of NGC 6302 -
1. Hubble at optical wavelength.
2. Hubble at near-IR wavelength.
3. JWST+ALMA at mid-IR and sub-mm wavelengths resp.

The Hubble images show some similar features, including a dark dust lane that runs through the centre of the nebula and two broad clouds that emerge from either side of the dust lane like the outstretched wings of a butterfly.

In the optical Hubble image, the nebula appears clumpy and nearly opaque, with few background stars showing through the cloudy material. The nebula appears in different shades of cream, yellow and orange, with the lightest colours appearing closest to the centre. The background of space is black with a handful of stars.

In the near-IR Hubble image, the nebula appears cream coloured and most opaque near the centre, then becomes reddish with purple streaks and more translucent out toward the wings of the nebula. There are 100s of background stars in the image, many of which are visible through the nebula.

The JWST image zooms in on the diamond-shaped region near the centre of the other two images. It shows a bright source at the centre that is surrounded by greenish nebulosity and several looping lines in cream, orange and pink. The upper-right and lower-left corners of this image show a purple streak pointing out of the image.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, M. Matsuura, J. Kastner, K. Noll, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), N. Hirano, J. K

4. Graphic with annotations describing the structures around the central star

13 34

Reposted by AkaSci

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · Aug 30

JUST IN: Judge Cobb has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to extend rapid-fire deportation procedures to immigrants who have been in the U.S. more than two years — warning that it is a flagrant deprivation of due process that could ensnare anyone. ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

26 800 2.6K

Reposted by AkaSci

Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · Aug 26

SPHEREx and JWST reveal what comet 3I/ATLAS is… and isn’t

Wonder what interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is all about? So did scientists working on SPHEREx and JWST.

Hello, too much carbon dioxide, no aliens, and very little everything else.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #science #notaviloeb

SPHEREx and JWST reveal what comet 3I/ATLAS is... and isn't

Designed to map galaxies, the SPHEREx mission's first science result is instead about interstellar interloper 3I/ATLAS. No, it's not aliens.

bigthink.com

18 28