Markus Pössel
@mpoessel.de
Astronomy and relativity outreach (Tweets in German & English) | personal account | he/his | managing scientist @hausderastronomie.bsky.social | director @astro4edu.bsky.social |outreach @mpi-astro.bsky.social | Seestar enthusiast
Pinned
Markus Pössel
@mpoessel.de
· Oct 17
Welcome new followers! I’m interested in astronomy education and outreach, and count myself lucky to have a job managing @hausderastronomie.bsky.social and @astro4edu.bsky.social that allows me to follow that passion! I also post about politics, mostly related to climate change. 1/
Reposted by Markus Pössel
In a time of crisis for U.S democracy, CBS News under new right-wing management just committed one of the worst acts of journalism in American history
What's so terrible about its unverified, unlikely Trump propaganda over the the MLPS killing by ICE
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
What's so terrible about its unverified, unlikely Trump propaganda over the the MLPS killing by ICE
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
The day that CBS News became literally ‘fake news’ for America | Will Bunch
An unverified, unlikely story about the Minneapolis ICE shooter exposes the new CBS News team as Trump's state media.
www.inquirer.com
January 18, 2026 at 7:01 PM
In a time of crisis for U.S democracy, CBS News under new right-wing management just committed one of the worst acts of journalism in American history
What's so terrible about its unverified, unlikely Trump propaganda over the the MLPS killing by ICE
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
What's so terrible about its unverified, unlikely Trump propaganda over the the MLPS killing by ICE
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/cbs-...
Auch für den Diskurs in D wichtig.
Your regular reminder that they had concentration camps going in the last administration.
(This, by me, from 2019, unpaywalled below).
What they're doing now is an intensification.
(This, by me, from 2019, unpaywalled below).
What they're doing now is an intensification.
Perspective | ‘Never again’ means nothing if Holocaust analogies are always off limits
Yes, every situation is different. That doesn’t mean we can’t compare them.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Auch für den Diskurs in D wichtig.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Working in astronomy outreach, you quickly learn that the average person knows way less than you think.
It's fine! You can live your whole life without knowing if the Sun is a star. I know because it is my job, most people don't have to.
But asking questions is the first step to learning more.
It's fine! You can live your whole life without knowing if the Sun is a star. I know because it is my job, most people don't have to.
But asking questions is the first step to learning more.
January 18, 2026 at 11:21 PM
Working in astronomy outreach, you quickly learn that the average person knows way less than you think.
It's fine! You can live your whole life without knowing if the Sun is a star. I know because it is my job, most people don't have to.
But asking questions is the first step to learning more.
It's fine! You can live your whole life without knowing if the Sun is a star. I know because it is my job, most people don't have to.
But asking questions is the first step to learning more.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Recording evidence of state violence is great, but you know what’s even better? Taking away their ability to be violent in the first place!
January 18, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Recording evidence of state violence is great, but you know what’s even better? Taking away their ability to be violent in the first place!
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Ich kann euch beruhigen: Außenminister Wadephul hat gerade erklärt, niemand in Washington habe die NATO-Treue in Frage gestellt. Die vielen anderslautenden Berichte (inklusive der Zitate des US-Präsidenten) werden wir uns dann wohl eingebildet haben. Ich bin erleichtert.
January 18, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Ich kann euch beruhigen: Außenminister Wadephul hat gerade erklärt, niemand in Washington habe die NATO-Treue in Frage gestellt. Die vielen anderslautenden Berichte (inklusive der Zitate des US-Präsidenten) werden wir uns dann wohl eingebildet haben. Ich bin erleichtert.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Average Sunday show interview:
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
January 18, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Average Sunday show interview:
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
Reposted by Markus Pössel
I realized I didn’t know what happened to the guardsmen at Kent State so I looked it up- not a one convicted
January 18, 2026 at 9:42 PM
I realized I didn’t know what happened to the guardsmen at Kent State so I looked it up- not a one convicted
Reposted by Markus Pössel
New report from doctors shows the Iranian regime slaughtered 16,500 protesters during the communications shutdown.
Iran report says 16,500 dead in ‘genocide under digital darkness’ — The Times and The Sunday Times
‘You have ten minutes to cry,” came the officer’s curt command to the couple as he revealed the corpse of their twentysomething daughter, gunned down in the historic streets of Isfahan. After searchin...
apple.news
January 18, 2026 at 6:04 PM
New report from doctors shows the Iranian regime slaughtered 16,500 protesters during the communications shutdown.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Fascinating Astronomy.
Happy 11th anniversary of me losing my fucking mind over this QVC clip
January 18, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Fascinating Astronomy.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
In nächster Zeit wird eine der Widerstandsempfehlungen gegen Faschismus von @timothysnyder.bsky.social so zentral wie selten: Niemals, niemals vorauseilender Gehorsam!
Jens Spahn, chairman of the CDU/CSU in German parliament on a possible US invasion of Greenland: “When you look at Greenland's location on the globe, the questions raised by the US are understandable.”
Utter madness.
Utter madness.
Das hat Jens Spahn gerade erst gestern, am Freitag, in der SZ gesagt. Diese Servilität, dieses Sich-in-den-Staub-Werfen der Union vor einem skrupellosen Potentaten ist einfach nur entsetzlich.
January 18, 2026 at 6:40 PM
In nächster Zeit wird eine der Widerstandsempfehlungen gegen Faschismus von @timothysnyder.bsky.social so zentral wie selten: Niemals, niemals vorauseilender Gehorsam!
Reposted by Markus Pössel
ICE are nasty ass child kidnappers, like after school special style
Thanks. We have folks in our community giving vulnerable students rides to school, and a teacher shared that they were putting small stuffed animals on their dashboards to help kids identify safe cars. ICE picked up on it and started doing the same. Horrifying.
January 18, 2026 at 6:20 PM
ICE are nasty ass child kidnappers, like after school special style
"Mist, dann hätte ich ja ebenso gut auch Tennis spielen gehen können."
January 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM
"Mist, dann hätte ich ja ebenso gut auch Tennis spielen gehen können."
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Das Regime spricht von 5000 Toten, iranische Ärzte von rund 16.500 Toten und 330.000 Verletzten - das ist vermutlich das schrecklichste und größte Massaker an Demonstrierenden, das es jemals auf der Welt gegeben hat.
Was macht die Bundesregierung?
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
Was macht die Bundesregierung?
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
„Das ist Völkermord“: Iranische Ärzte berichten von rund 16.500 Toten und 330.000 Verletzten unter den Demonstranten
Der Widerstand gegen die Mullahs ist nach dem brutalen Vorgehen der Sicherheitskräfte abgeebbt. Wie viele mussten ihren Mut mit dem Leben bezahlen? Neue Berichte lassen Schreckliches befürchten.
www.tagesspiegel.de
January 18, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Das Regime spricht von 5000 Toten, iranische Ärzte von rund 16.500 Toten und 330.000 Verletzten - das ist vermutlich das schrecklichste und größte Massaker an Demonstrierenden, das es jemals auf der Welt gegeben hat.
Was macht die Bundesregierung?
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
Was macht die Bundesregierung?
www.tagesspiegel.de/internationa...
Wer kennt sie nicht, die Gewaltenteilung: Legislative, Judikative und Extortative.
Er ist für mich schon lange der extortioner in chief
January 18, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Wer kennt sie nicht, die Gewaltenteilung: Legislative, Judikative und Extortative.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Hier als Gegengift ein paar historische Portraits von Lise Meitner, die auf natürliche Art so hot und fotogen war, dass wir wahrlich keine KI-Sexualisierungen mit Come Hither-Blick von ihr brauchen
January 17, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Hier als Gegengift ein paar historische Portraits von Lise Meitner, die auf natürliche Art so hot und fotogen war, dass wir wahrlich keine KI-Sexualisierungen mit Come Hither-Blick von ihr brauchen
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Cat - Umbo (Otto Umbehr), 1927.
July 1, 2024 at 1:48 PM
Cat - Umbo (Otto Umbehr), 1927.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Wirklich hörenswert!
January 18, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Wirklich hörenswert!
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Erst überfiel Russland die Ukraine, US-LNG war der Hauptgrund dafür, dass sich die Gasabhängigkeit nicht noch viel stärker gerächt hat. Jetzt erpressen die USA Europa (und es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis Gas als Hebel genutzt wird) - und zeitgleich läuft ein Sturm auf die Klimaziele. Absurd.
January 17, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Erst überfiel Russland die Ukraine, US-LNG war der Hauptgrund dafür, dass sich die Gasabhängigkeit nicht noch viel stärker gerächt hat. Jetzt erpressen die USA Europa (und es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis Gas als Hebel genutzt wird) - und zeitgleich läuft ein Sturm auf die Klimaziele. Absurd.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
I’ll never get over this. Trump unfairly pardoned someone, they turned around and committed a new crime, and Trump pardoned them again.
You can commit any any crime you want as long as you have the money, power, and connections to get yourself a pardon.
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/p...
You can commit any any crime you want as long as you have the money, power, and connections to get yourself a pardon.
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/p...
Trump’s double pardon underscores sweeping use of clemency | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump has leaned into his presidential clemency powers much more aggressively in his second term –in fact, he’s pardoned one woman twice.
edition.cnn.com
January 17, 2026 at 10:47 PM
I’ll never get over this. Trump unfairly pardoned someone, they turned around and committed a new crime, and Trump pardoned them again.
You can commit any any crime you want as long as you have the money, power, and connections to get yourself a pardon.
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/p...
You can commit any any crime you want as long as you have the money, power, and connections to get yourself a pardon.
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/17/p...
Reposted by Markus Pössel
The network that spiked the factual CECOT story went ahead with a thinly sourced claim about ICE officer Ross’ “internal bleeding.” www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...
CBS News report on ICE officer’s injuries drew ‘huge internal concern’
Anonymously sourced report that Jonathan Ross ‘suffered internal bleeding’ after killing Renee Good faced skepticism inside CBS newsroom
www.theguardian.com
January 17, 2026 at 10:48 PM
The network that spiked the factual CECOT story went ahead with a thinly sourced claim about ICE officer Ross’ “internal bleeding.” www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...
Reposted by Markus Pössel
When I lecture to students about how the apparently thriving economy of the 1920s was really a house of cards just waiting to be knocked down, one of the points I stress is how much a small number of the very rich were essentially propping up consumer spending in unsustainable ways
The top 10% now account for nearly half of all consumer spending.
January 17, 2026 at 6:50 PM
When I lecture to students about how the apparently thriving economy of the 1920s was really a house of cards just waiting to be knocked down, one of the points I stress is how much a small number of the very rich were essentially propping up consumer spending in unsustainable ways
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Europe has - in technical terms - an absolute sod load of potential economic leverage over the United States.
It has turned the other cheek due to security concerns.
The US seems intent on demonstrating that it will not guarantee European security.
So Europe may start using that leverage.
It has turned the other cheek due to security concerns.
The US seems intent on demonstrating that it will not guarantee European security.
So Europe may start using that leverage.
January 17, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Europe has - in technical terms - an absolute sod load of potential economic leverage over the United States.
It has turned the other cheek due to security concerns.
The US seems intent on demonstrating that it will not guarantee European security.
So Europe may start using that leverage.
It has turned the other cheek due to security concerns.
The US seems intent on demonstrating that it will not guarantee European security.
So Europe may start using that leverage.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Hat der Präsident eines Verwaltungsgerichtes über Jahre Frauen im Internet beleidigt? Er streitet das ab, aber @laurenzschreiner.bsky.social hat in der @taz.de viele Verdachtsmomente zusammen getragen... Starke Recherche über den oft schwer zu verfolgenden Hass von ekelhaften Männern im Internet.
Hasskommentare im Internet: Anonym verurteilt
Auf Instagram beleidigt „profdrcn“ seit Jahren Frauen und queere Menschen. Steckt dahinter ein hochrangiger Richter, der auch an einer Uni lehrt?
taz.de
January 16, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Hat der Präsident eines Verwaltungsgerichtes über Jahre Frauen im Internet beleidigt? Er streitet das ab, aber @laurenzschreiner.bsky.social hat in der @taz.de viele Verdachtsmomente zusammen getragen... Starke Recherche über den oft schwer zu verfolgenden Hass von ekelhaften Männern im Internet.
Reposted by Markus Pössel
Brief operational term of art 🧵 to help better define what we're experiencing. What we're experiencing is state terror. I've seen a lot of terms thrown around for what the Trump admin is doing w/ICE, CBP, & other federal law enforcement (LE). The now largely out of use term is state terror. 1/
January 17, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Brief operational term of art 🧵 to help better define what we're experiencing. What we're experiencing is state terror. I've seen a lot of terms thrown around for what the Trump admin is doing w/ICE, CBP, & other federal law enforcement (LE). The now largely out of use term is state terror. 1/