Jason Wright
@astrowright.bsky.social
Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State.
Son, father, partner, scientist, teacher, student, human, Earthling.
Mostly posting astronomy. Mostly.
Son, father, partner, scientist, teacher, student, human, Earthling.
Mostly posting astronomy. Mostly.
November 3, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Just found this old wedding photo of me!
Man, do I look sharp…
Man, do I look sharp…
October 28, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Just found this old wedding photo of me!
Man, do I look sharp…
Man, do I look sharp…
Apparently here at Penn State there is a second @pseticenter.bsky.social?
October 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Apparently here at Penn State there is a second @pseticenter.bsky.social?
I feel like we need an Avi Loeb pitchbot that generates these, but he‘s better than most of what it would produce.
(He calculates they came from regions “only” 10° apart on the sky—what are the odds!?—sooo, maybe? 🤣)
(He calculates they came from regions “only” 10° apart on the sky—what are the odds!?—sooo, maybe? 🤣)
September 29, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I feel like we need an Avi Loeb pitchbot that generates these, but he‘s better than most of what it would produce.
(He calculates they came from regions “only” 10° apart on the sky—what are the odds!?—sooo, maybe? 🤣)
(He calculates they came from regions “only” 10° apart on the sky—what are the odds!?—sooo, maybe? 🤣)
Question for @aas.org and @augustfly.bsky.social
When I compile a RNAAS using the latest bst file I get no space after the ampersand in 2-author citations.
Does the string
" \& "
need to read
" \&\ "
the 4 times it appears in aasjournv7.bst? It seems to fix the problem.
When I compile a RNAAS using the latest bst file I get no space after the ampersand in 2-author citations.
Does the string
" \& "
need to read
" \&\ "
the 4 times it appears in aasjournv7.bst? It seems to fix the problem.
September 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Question for @aas.org and @augustfly.bsky.social
When I compile a RNAAS using the latest bst file I get no space after the ampersand in 2-author citations.
Does the string
" \& "
need to read
" \&\ "
the 4 times it appears in aasjournv7.bst? It seems to fix the problem.
When I compile a RNAAS using the latest bst file I get no space after the ampersand in 2-author citations.
Does the string
" \& "
need to read
" \&\ "
the 4 times it appears in aasjournv7.bst? It seems to fix the problem.
Awesome!
From my forthcoming textbook…
From my forthcoming textbook…
September 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Awesome!
From my forthcoming textbook…
From my forthcoming textbook…
August 28, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Proud adviser with a whole host of @pseticenter.bsky.social students, postdoc, and alumni!
Winter Parts, Olivia Curtis, @cayladedrick.bsky.social (honorary), Nick Tusay, @mhuston.bsky.social, Pinchen Fan, Evan Sneed, Sofia Sheikh, Lennon Nichol, and Arianna Nielsen.
Winter Parts, Olivia Curtis, @cayladedrick.bsky.social (honorary), Nick Tusay, @mhuston.bsky.social, Pinchen Fan, Evan Sneed, Sofia Sheikh, Lennon Nichol, and Arianna Nielsen.
August 22, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Proud adviser with a whole host of @pseticenter.bsky.social students, postdoc, and alumni!
Winter Parts, Olivia Curtis, @cayladedrick.bsky.social (honorary), Nick Tusay, @mhuston.bsky.social, Pinchen Fan, Evan Sneed, Sofia Sheikh, Lennon Nichol, and Arianna Nielsen.
Winter Parts, Olivia Curtis, @cayladedrick.bsky.social (honorary), Nick Tusay, @mhuston.bsky.social, Pinchen Fan, Evan Sneed, Sofia Sheikh, Lennon Nichol, and Arianna Nielsen.
August 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Still can't get over @deschscoveries.bsky.social parodying Loeb, and Loeb straight-up playing out the parody a 3 days later.
Is Desch a clairvoyant, or did Loeb read this mockery of him and think—hey, that's actually a great idea!—and just plagiarize him?!
Is Desch a clairvoyant, or did Loeb read this mockery of him and think—hey, that's actually a great idea!—and just plagiarize him?!
August 18, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Still can't get over @deschscoveries.bsky.social parodying Loeb, and Loeb straight-up playing out the parody a 3 days later.
Is Desch a clairvoyant, or did Loeb read this mockery of him and think—hey, that's actually a great idea!—and just plagiarize him?!
Is Desch a clairvoyant, or did Loeb read this mockery of him and think—hey, that's actually a great idea!—and just plagiarize him?!
Anyway, what could be powering the 3I/ATLAS spaceship?
I dare you to guess the first three things he checked the viability of. Seriously, whatever you're guessing, it's not weird enough.
I dare you to guess the first three things he checked the viability of. Seriously, whatever you're guessing, it's not weird enough.
August 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Anyway, what could be powering the 3I/ATLAS spaceship?
I dare you to guess the first three things he checked the viability of. Seriously, whatever you're guessing, it's not weird enough.
I dare you to guess the first three things he checked the viability of. Seriously, whatever you're guessing, it's not weird enough.
I don't have time to write up Avi's latest, but the short version is he's decided that the surface brightness profile of 3I/ATLAS is anomalous and inconsistent with ordinary comets, and can only be explained by a small, self-luminous nucleus.
He's sure the dust must follow a 1/r^2 profile.
He's sure the dust must follow a 1/r^2 profile.
August 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I don't have time to write up Avi's latest, but the short version is he's decided that the surface brightness profile of 3I/ATLAS is anomalous and inconsistent with ordinary comets, and can only be explained by a small, self-luminous nucleus.
He's sure the dust must follow a 1/r^2 profile.
He's sure the dust must follow a 1/r^2 profile.
Loeb: we must stick to the facts, not judge things based on public opinion.
Also Loeb: Look at how many likes and messages my ideas get! I must be doing it right.
Also Loeb: Look at how many likes and messages my ideas get! I must be doing it right.
August 2, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Loeb: we must stick to the facts, not judge things based on public opinion.
Also Loeb: Look at how many likes and messages my ideas get! I must be doing it right.
Also Loeb: Look at how many likes and messages my ideas get! I must be doing it right.
![[Image of an email]:
Subject: Your ebook has been accepted for publication in the AAS-IOP Astronomy collection
from: ebooksproduction@ioppublishing.org 4:50 AM (6 hours ago)
to: me
Body:
Re: "The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" by Wright
Dear Professor Wright,
We are pleased to inform you that IOP Publishing has accepted your book for publication.
Our next step is to prepare a proof, which may take up to six weeks for large books. You will next hear from us when your proof is available. We will send you an email with instructions on how to access and review your proof.
In the meantime, we are interested to hear your thoughts on your experience with IOP Publishing so far. We would be grateful if you could complete a very short survey: Accepted Author Survey. (Please be assured that we will only use your details for the purposes of the survey).Thank you for your support of AAS-IOP Astronomy.
Best regards,
IOP Publishing eBooks Production Team
ebooksproduction@ioppublishing.org](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:43ku4dc2gtcryj3hdf465ang/bafkreicdlrmo4tw6exdqlvatk23bnfp3sflgviy67ryxjzsfbjaqhypl6a@jpeg)
So, Avi has responded to this, and he is doubling down. It's a bit unclear, but the best I can figure is he thinks the images of a coma are from shift-and-stacking minutes-long exposures.
I emailed him privately to explain how non-sidereal tracking works. He has not responded.
🔭☄️
I emailed him privately to explain how non-sidereal tracking works. He has not responded.
🔭☄️
July 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
So, Avi has responded to this, and he is doubling down. It's a bit unclear, but the best I can figure is he thinks the images of a coma are from shift-and-stacking minutes-long exposures.
I emailed him privately to explain how non-sidereal tracking works. He has not responded.
🔭☄️
I emailed him privately to explain how non-sidereal tracking works. He has not responded.
🔭☄️
3I/ATLAS is moving around 1".2 per minute in these images, which means in a one minute exposure, it will smear out by that much if one tracks "sidereally", i.e. so stars stay fixed.
This is why Seligman et al. are tracking *non-sidereally*:
This is why Seligman et al. are tracking *non-sidereally*:
July 17, 2025 at 3:01 PM
3I/ATLAS is moving around 1".2 per minute in these images, which means in a one minute exposure, it will smear out by that much if one tracks "sidereally", i.e. so stars stay fixed.
This is why Seligman et al. are tracking *non-sidereally*:
This is why Seligman et al. are tracking *non-sidereally*:
The overall tone of the paper is of a "just asking questions" variety, and I don't object to using 3I/ATLAS as a case study to describe how one would determine if an interstellar object were a spacecraft.
But this is no excuse for pretending it might not be a comet when it clearly is.
But this is no excuse for pretending it might not be a comet when it clearly is.
July 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The overall tone of the paper is of a "just asking questions" variety, and I don't object to using 3I/ATLAS as a case study to describe how one would determine if an interstellar object were a spacecraft.
But this is no excuse for pretending it might not be a comet when it clearly is.
But this is no excuse for pretending it might not be a comet when it clearly is.
Note the dismissal of expertise in these papers by Loeb's team. The cited papers are clear and conclusive, but they assert, without evidence, that they are inconclusive for reasons directly contradicted by the papers.
July 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Note the dismissal of expertise in these papers by Loeb's team. The cited papers are clear and conclusive, but they assert, without evidence, that they are inconclusive for reasons directly contradicted by the papers.
From Seligman et al., confirming a clear detection of a coma:
arxiv.org/abs/2507.02757
Note the 10s exposure time (too short for the comet to smear out due to its motion as Loeb claims) and the top subfigure that clearly shows them accounting for the object's motion in the sky.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.02757
Note the 10s exposure time (too short for the comet to smear out due to its motion as Loeb claims) and the top subfigure that clearly shows them accounting for the object's motion in the sky.
July 17, 2025 at 2:32 PM
From Seligman et al., confirming a clear detection of a coma:
arxiv.org/abs/2507.02757
Note the 10s exposure time (too short for the comet to smear out due to its motion as Loeb claims) and the top subfigure that clearly shows them accounting for the object's motion in the sky.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.02757
Note the 10s exposure time (too short for the comet to smear out due to its motion as Loeb claims) and the top subfigure that clearly shows them accounting for the object's motion in the sky.
Confirmation of a coma from Opitom et al.:
arxiv.org/abs/2507.05226
arxiv.org/abs/2507.05226
July 17, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Confirmation of a coma from Opitom et al.:
arxiv.org/abs/2507.05226
arxiv.org/abs/2507.05226
Deadpool movies as summarized xkcd-style by a 14-year-old who only knows them via memes:
June 19, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Deadpool movies as summarized xkcd-style by a 14-year-old who only knows them via memes:
Love this figure from @cayladedrick.bsky.social's new paper on precise dynamical masses of binaries. It shows how few precise model-independent masses we have of well resolved binaries.
GJ 105 AC joins α Cen AB in an exclusive club!
Paper is here!
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXi...
GJ 105 AC joins α Cen AB in an exclusive club!
Paper is here!
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXi...
May 29, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Love this figure from @cayladedrick.bsky.social's new paper on precise dynamical masses of binaries. It shows how few precise model-independent masses we have of well resolved binaries.
GJ 105 AC joins α Cen AB in an exclusive club!
Paper is here!
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXi...
GJ 105 AC joins α Cen AB in an exclusive club!
Paper is here!
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXi...