David Rankin
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asteroiddave.bsky.social
David Rankin
@asteroiddave.bsky.social
Comet & Asteroid Hunter, Rockhound, Photographer / Storm Chaser, Flood Guru, Atheist.
Costa's Hummingbird hanging out behind the house this evening. #Tucson #Hummingbird #Bird #Photography 📷
November 30, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Object P12hxMW on the PCCP, MBA-type orbit but showing a very clear tail at PA ~270. Possible impact event or spin up. Images from G96 2025 11 29UT. #cometwatch #comet #NEOCP 🔭
November 30, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Maybe if you stop doing Nazi shit, people will stop calling you Nazis.
The White House web site now includes a "media bias" tracker with a leaderboard and an offender hall of shame. www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
November 30, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Playing with a new Canon 2x on my 70-200 2.8. Not bad quality at 400mm. Fun wildlife lens setup.
#photography #wildlife #Tucson 📷
November 30, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Preliminary 6.0 not far from Anchorage Alaska just now. #Earthquake #RaspberryShake
November 27, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
November 26, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
That’s just a regular leaf blower
November 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Cutoff low moving across southern AZ today, bringing very moist air (200% of normal for time of year). Storms through midnight will produce heavy rain and hail in some areas. Isolated flash flooding possible. #azwx
November 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
"Housing Shortage"
A new study shows corporations now own 8.9% of residential parcels in 500 U.S. counties—roughly 1 in 11 homes.

In St. Louis, Harrisonburg, and Franklin County, OH, that share tops 20%.
November 22, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Not every day you get to watch an active stratovolcano possibly on the verge of a major eruption live. Semeru Volcano, Java Indonesia.
🔴 Live Now: 24/7 Erupting Semeru Volcano in Java, Indonesia in 4K Ultra HD (CAM A)
YouTube video by afarTV
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:55 PM
New paper on the major earthquake swarm around Santorini. 🧪
November 21, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Nice meteor west of Tucson this evening. 🔭

#meteor #tucson
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Professor Dave strikes with a gripping part 2 on grifting astronomers. 3I/Atlas is an exocomet, not aliens.
Avi Loeb is a Fraud Part 2: 3I/ATLAS Shrugged
YouTube video by Professor Dave Explains
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Picked up my 15th spaceberg last shift, C/2025 V2 (Rankin). This one has precoveries back to Nov 2024, indicating it was active at 8+AU out. Very hypothetical light curve assuming m1=8. Hopefully puts on a decent show in 2027. #cometwatch #comet
November 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Had a lot of fun hanging out with Cleo Abram for her new Huge If True episode on planetary defense. Check it out! 🔭
Humanity’s Real Plan to Stop This Asteroid (Feat. Mark Rober)
YouTube video by Cleo Abram
youtu.be
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Very bright #meteor / #fireball west of #Tucson AZ early this evening. 🔭
November 15, 2025 at 4:32 AM
One thing I take for granted on #BlueSky is running a search for something I need and not seeing 50 million related ads. Keep it classy BlueSky.
November 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Aurora popping off even from Southern AZ tonight. Shot from Mount Lemmon Observatory looking north.
#Aurora #Photography 📷
November 12, 2025 at 4:52 AM
For the folks that are still struggling with this. Here is a Venn Diagram.
#3I/Atlas #3I 🔭
November 11, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by David Rankin
I've summarized the truth about Loeb's 10 "anomalies" about 3I/ATLAS in one post.

Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft.  He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Picked up my 30th Potentially Hazardous Asteroid last shift. This one is interesting. In a retrograde comet-like orbit with a period around 26yrs but showing no activity at ~1 AU from the sun. Likely 1km + in size with Earth MOID = 0.0275 AU. Now published as 2025 VP.
November 9, 2025 at 12:24 AM
New morphology in the tail of comet 3I/Atlas will inevitably be spun by the quack Avi Loeb as some evidence of alien activity. This is nothing new, we've seen similar behavior in other comes including 17P, C/2016 R2, and C/1961 R1, and others. It's ionized carbon monoxide. #3I #3I/Atlas #Comet 🔭
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Brief but bright meteor west of #Tucson AZ this morning.

#meteor #space 🔭
November 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Nice meteor over Tucson AZ last night. 🔭
#Meteor #Tucson
November 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM