Andrew Fraknoi
fraknoi.bsky.social
Andrew Fraknoi
@fraknoi.bsky.social
Semi-retired astronomer, college professor, lead author of a free, open-source textbook (OpenStax Astronomy), and science fiction writer with 8 stories published so far. See fraknoi.com
Sat night, the #astrosociety of the Pacific gave the 2025 Fraknoi Award for extraordinary support of the Society's educational work to Connie Walker of #NOIRLab For more on her work see: bit.ly/2025fraknoia...
#astronomy #astroedu @conniewalker.bsky.social #lightpollution #scienceawards
November 10, 2025 at 7:35 PM
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
September 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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
August 19, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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
August 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
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
July 29, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Andrew Fraknoi
🚀 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
July 23, 2025 at 2:41 AM
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
July 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
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
July 16, 2025 at 12:41 AM
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
June 17, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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
June 4, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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
June 2, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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
May 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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
May 20, 2025 at 2:08 AM
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
May 15, 2025 at 6:05 PM
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
May 13, 2025 at 11:14 PM
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
May 10, 2025 at 6:23 PM
#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
May 5, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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
May 2, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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
May 1, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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
April 24, 2025 at 7:42 PM
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
April 23, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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
April 21, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Beautiful composite image by #RobertGendler of galaxy M83, 12 million lightyears away. The red regions are nebulae, where gas clouds are glowing with the energy of recently-formed baby stars within them.
#astronomy #astroedu #space #spacehotos #astroimages #spacephotography #astrophotos #galaxies
April 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Nature's variety never fails to surprise us. Astronomers using the #ESO #VeryLargeTelescope have found a planet in a perpendicular orbit around 2 failed stars (brown dwarfs) that orbit each other: www.eso.org/public/news/...

#astronomy #astroedu #space #sciencenews #astronomynews #exoplanets #sci
"Big surprise": astronomers find planet in perpendicular orbit around pair of stars
Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a s...
www.eso.org
April 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Beautiful new infrared image of "star-death" nebula NGC1514 with the #JamesWebb telescope. The dying star in the center is actually a pair of stars that orbit each other in 9 years; the #nebula is hourglass shaped. #astronomy #astroedu #NASA #JWST #space #spacephotography #astroimages #spaceimages
April 14, 2025 at 8:11 PM