Galaxy Map
@galaxymap.bsky.social
The first accurate and detailed maps of the Milky Way and ways to promote and visualize them (including VR).
Website: https://kevinjardine.dev
Tip jar: https://tiptopjar.com/kevinjardine
Also follow me on @[email protected]
Website: https://kevinjardine.dev
Tip jar: https://tiptopjar.com/kevinjardine
Also follow me on @[email protected]
My latest VR project is, paradoxically, a 2D text adventure engine. For more details and information on how you can create your own adventures using a simple JSON file, see this article:
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-14/
#GameDev #IndieDev
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-14/
#GameDev #IndieDev
Adventure Engine
A system to create illustrated text adventures
kevinjardine.dev
December 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
My latest VR project is, paradoxically, a 2D text adventure engine. For more details and information on how you can create your own adventures using a simple JSON file, see this article:
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-14/
#GameDev #IndieDev
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-14/
#GameDev #IndieDev
Reposted by Galaxy Map
I got this encyclopedia of planets in a box of Cracker Jacks back in the 70s.
December 10, 2025 at 6:35 AM
I got this encyclopedia of planets in a box of Cracker Jacks back in the 70s.
I love this cautionary tale. Thanks to @chrislintott.bsky.social for the link. A reminder that not everyone who pushes lies is an outright con man. Some are deluded by their own desires.
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
The Man Who Wanted to Believe in Life on Mars
The Mars craze is a case study in twisting evidence and defying facts.
newrepublic.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I love this cautionary tale. Thanks to @chrislintott.bsky.social for the link. A reminder that not everyone who pushes lies is an outright con man. Some are deluded by their own desires.
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Shocked that this still hasn't been resolved.
Eminent researchers have written an open letter to the Chilean Government appealing for the protection of the #DarkSkies above our Paranal Observatory, threatened by the industrial complex INNA — planned to be located just a few kilometres away.
https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann25009
🔭 🧪
https://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann25009
🔭 🧪
December 2, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Shocked that this still hasn't been resolved.
I'm best known these days for visualizing Gaia Mission data but I've also tried my hand at visualizing HI velocity data. Here, for example, is a slice of HI4PI. I'd love to see more papers about HI4PI.
December 2, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I'm best known these days for visualizing Gaia Mission data but I've also tried my hand at visualizing HI velocity data. Here, for example, is a slice of HI4PI. I'd love to see more papers about HI4PI.
In case anyone missed this yesterday. The countdown has begun!
Gaia DR4 is expected to be released in December 2026, so today is a good day to start the countdown!
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
Counting down to Gaia DR4
The next data release from the revolutionary star mapping Gaia Mission
kevinjardine.dev
December 2, 2025 at 7:47 AM
In case anyone missed this yesterday. The countdown has begun!
I have to give Star Trek writers big credit for their decision to choose a real nearby star as the location for Star Fleet's disastrous battle with the Borg. It's usually the only reason why people have heard of Wolf 359.
Jayce’s Fighting Ships of Wolf 359 is here — early for Patreon!
Our first community-led book is finally complete, featuring gorgeous art by @pundus.art and @steillustrates.bsky.social stunning design work by Hye. Patreon members can download it right now — a full month before public release.
Our first community-led book is finally complete, featuring gorgeous art by @pundus.art and @steillustrates.bsky.social stunning design work by Hye. Patreon members can download it right now — a full month before public release.
New Release! Jayce's Fighting Ships of Wolf 359 | Tranquilty Press
Get more from Tranquilty Press on Patreon
www.patreon.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:40 PM
I have to give Star Trek writers big credit for their decision to choose a real nearby star as the location for Star Fleet's disastrous battle with the Borg. It's usually the only reason why people have heard of Wolf 359.
Gaia DR4 is expected to be released in December 2026, so today is a good day to start the countdown!
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
Counting down to Gaia DR4
The next data release from the revolutionary star mapping Gaia Mission
kevinjardine.dev
December 1, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Gaia DR4 is expected to be released in December 2026, so today is a good day to start the countdown!
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
Why is Gaia DR4 going to be so exciting? Here are several reasons.
kevinjardine.dev/blog/post-13/
It would be amazing if Pico were to release an affordable (less than 1000 euros) 4K per eye VR headset.
www.uploadvr.com/pico-2026-he...
www.uploadvr.com/pico-2026-he...
Pico's 2026 Headset To Have 4K Micro-OLED Displays & R1-Style Chip
Pico's 2026 headset will have 4K micro-OLED displays and a dedicated R1-style passthrough chip, a ByteDance executive reportedly said.
www.uploadvr.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:01 PM
It would be amazing if Pico were to release an affordable (less than 1000 euros) 4K per eye VR headset.
www.uploadvr.com/pico-2026-he...
www.uploadvr.com/pico-2026-he...
Reposted by Galaxy Map
A confusing statement. NASA's proposed 2025 budget was 25.4 billion dollars. If this ESA budget was annual, it would be similar. But I think this is for 3 years. ☹️
22.1 billion euros subscribed.
A record.
A first.
And a clear message that Europe is serious about space and that @esa.int is the agency it trusts to deliver.
A historic Ministerial. A united Europe. A stronger ESA.
www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor...
A record.
A first.
And a clear message that Europe is serious about space and that @esa.int is the agency it trusts to deliver.
A historic Ministerial. A united Europe. A stronger ESA.
www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor...
ESA Member States commit to largest contributions at Ministerial
The largest contributions in the history of the European Space Agency, €22.1 bn, have been approved at its Council meeting at Ministerial level in Bremen, ...
www.esa.int
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A confusing statement. NASA's proposed 2025 budget was 25.4 billion dollars. If this ESA budget was annual, it would be similar. But I think this is for 3 years. ☹️
A confusing statement. NASA's proposed 2025 budget was 25.4 billion dollars. If this ESA budget was annual, it would be similar. But I think this is for 3 years. ☹️
22.1 billion euros subscribed.
A record.
A first.
And a clear message that Europe is serious about space and that @esa.int is the agency it trusts to deliver.
A historic Ministerial. A united Europe. A stronger ESA.
www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor...
A record.
A first.
And a clear message that Europe is serious about space and that @esa.int is the agency it trusts to deliver.
A historic Ministerial. A united Europe. A stronger ESA.
www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor...
ESA Member States commit to largest contributions at Ministerial
The largest contributions in the history of the European Space Agency, €22.1 bn, have been approved at its Council meeting at Ministerial level in Bremen, ...
www.esa.int
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A confusing statement. NASA's proposed 2025 budget was 25.4 billion dollars. If this ESA budget was annual, it would be similar. But I think this is for 3 years. ☹️
I'd like to talk to people organizing VR field trips for schools, seniors or other groups. Any suggestions?
November 22, 2025 at 9:27 AM
I'd like to talk to people organizing VR field trips for schools, seniors or other groups. Any suggestions?
It would be fun to work out what the sky would have looked like 66 million years ago, on the day before the asteroid wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. I think quite different. Has anyone already done that?
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
November 22, 2025 at 2:06 AM
It would be fun to work out what the sky would have looked like 66 million years ago, on the day before the asteroid wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs. I think quite different. Has anyone already done that?
‘Now we need to choose our friends very, very wisely, so when we come to America, we come to Canada now.’
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch
Clever phrasing. When I was growing up in Canada, the country to our south was the "United States".
"America" was the continents.
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch
Clever phrasing. When I was growing up in Canada, the country to our south was the "United States".
"America" was the continents.
November 21, 2025 at 10:42 PM
‘Now we need to choose our friends very, very wisely, so when we come to America, we come to Canada now.’
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch
Clever phrasing. When I was growing up in Canada, the country to our south was the "United States".
"America" was the continents.
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch
Clever phrasing. When I was growing up in Canada, the country to our south was the "United States".
"America" was the continents.
Well OK, I can sort of understand the excitement of being able to visit real environments in VR, but the astronomy worlds I can create in VR are way more interesting than my home office.
youtu.be/ybdWf6P3FKE?...
youtu.be/ybdWf6P3FKE?...
The Quest 3 Just Unlocked Something Wild
YouTube video by BMFVR
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Well OK, I can sort of understand the excitement of being able to visit real environments in VR, but the astronomy worlds I can create in VR are way more interesting than my home office.
youtu.be/ybdWf6P3FKE?...
youtu.be/ybdWf6P3FKE?...
Reposted by Galaxy Map
Webb has revealed for the first time that there are four shells of dust around this pair of Wolf-Rayet stars, which are known as Apep.
Read more 👉 https://esawebb.org/images/wolf-rayet-apep/
🔭
Read more 👉 https://esawebb.org/images/wolf-rayet-apep/
🔭
November 19, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Webb has revealed for the first time that there are four shells of dust around this pair of Wolf-Rayet stars, which are known as Apep.
Read more 👉 https://esawebb.org/images/wolf-rayet-apep/
🔭
Read more 👉 https://esawebb.org/images/wolf-rayet-apep/
🔭
Reposted by Galaxy Map
Our Director @cmundell.esa.int is “proud that the collaboration between our Chinese colleagues & our ESA teams has gone so well and that we’re on the right track to launch in spring 2026 [...] Smile is the next big step in revealing how our planet’s magnetic shield protects us from the solar wind.”
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Our Director @cmundell.esa.int is “proud that the collaboration between our Chinese colleagues & our ESA teams has gone so well and that we’re on the right track to launch in spring 2026 [...] Smile is the next big step in revealing how our planet’s magnetic shield protects us from the solar wind.”
I've done a revised version of my O-type star poster which uses Bailer-Jones distances where available. This eliminated 7 stars that are now further than 1250 pc but added 11 more.
png: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
pdf: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
png: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
pdf: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
November 20, 2025 at 12:10 PM
I've done a revised version of my O-type star poster which uses Bailer-Jones distances where available. This eliminated 7 stars that are now further than 1250 pc but added 11 more.
png: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
pdf: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
png: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
pdf: gruze.org/ha_grid/o_st...
I don't know how I missed this but I see that the IAU Working Group on Star Names (@iau-wgsn.bsky.social) is still active and has released a number of new names this year. As a cartographer of course I love the idea of giving more names to visible stars that I can use on maps!
November 19, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I don't know how I missed this but I see that the IAU Working Group on Star Names (@iau-wgsn.bsky.social) is still active and has released a number of new names this year. As a cartographer of course I love the idea of giving more names to visible stars that I can use on maps!
Another example of how my favourite VR game, Walkabout Mini Golf, is evolving into a more general social space. As well as some of the most inventive and beautifully realized locations in VR, it has treasure hunts, slingshot games, meeting areas and now chess.
www.uploadvr.com/walkabout-mi...
www.uploadvr.com/walkabout-mi...
Walkabout's Latest Attraction Adds Playable Chess
Chess is playable in Walkabout Mini Golf starting this Wednesday.
www.uploadvr.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Another example of how my favourite VR game, Walkabout Mini Golf, is evolving into a more general social space. As well as some of the most inventive and beautifully realized locations in VR, it has treasure hunts, slingshot games, meeting areas and now chess.
www.uploadvr.com/walkabout-mi...
www.uploadvr.com/walkabout-mi...
Following up on my O-type star map, I found 11 additional stars that have Bailer-Jones distances less than 1250 parsecs, O-type spectra in SIMBAD but do not *appear* to be in the O-type catalog I used for the map. Perhaps because they have separate Gaia IDs but the star system is already on the map?
November 19, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Following up on my O-type star map, I found 11 additional stars that have Bailer-Jones distances less than 1250 parsecs, O-type spectra in SIMBAD but do not *appear* to be in the O-type catalog I used for the map. Perhaps because they have separate Gaia IDs but the star system is already on the map?
Reposted by Galaxy Map
A new 3D map of interstellar dust with Gaia! 🌌
A new study, led by Marie Barbillon, exploited the spectroscopic parametriser from Gaia DR3 to build a high-resolution extinction map! It extends up to 4 kpc from the Sun, with a finer version focused on the Local Bubble area.
#astro #galactic
A new study, led by Marie Barbillon, exploited the spectroscopic parametriser from Gaia DR3 to build a high-resolution extinction map! It extends up to 4 kpc from the Sun, with a finer version focused on the Local Bubble area.
#astro #galactic
November 18, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Stunning look at the Chamaeleon dark cloud, which is located below the Coalsack near the Sco OB2 hot star association.
#apod 2025-11-19
Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
Image Credit:
Xinran Li &
Houbo Zhao
Web page: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251119.html
Chamaeleon Dark Nebulas
Image Credit:
Xinran Li &
Houbo Zhao
Web page: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251119.html
November 19, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Stunning look at the Chamaeleon dark cloud, which is located below the Coalsack near the Sco OB2 hot star association.
Interesting discussion with @astrochara.bsky.social. Quoting it here for people interested in galactic structure.
Indeed…I wonder if it could be that the distribution of OB stars within even a continuous spiral arm are naturally patchy, and that’s why we’re seeing them as disconnected structures here.
November 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Interesting discussion with @astrochara.bsky.social. Quoting it here for people interested in galactic structure.