4 days left for abstract submission to "Observation and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets" at the 2025 AG Annual Meeting in Görlitz (16-17 Sep 2025).

Abstract submission:
ag2025.astronomische-gesellschaft.de/abstracts.php.

Session details:
ag2025.astronomische-gesellschaft.de/view_splinte...

Hi exoplaneteers! Please consider submitting an abstract for the Observation and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets session of this year's meeting of the German astronomical society (deadline is 31 July, you first need to register).

ag2025.astronomische-gesellschaft.de/view_splinte...

New fascinating images of Saturn‘s clouded moon Titan! The picture on the left shows an overlay of three infrared exposures of Titan in different wavelengths.

The photos were taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, a space mission of NASA, ESA, and CSA.

www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

Just a normal day working for a European space mission.

The Service Module of the #PLATO spacecraft arrived at the OHB space technology company in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany). Also, 18 out of 26 PLATO cameras have now been installed on the Payload Module. 🚀
Image Credit: OHB

„Toxicologist Matthew Campen […] estimates that he can isolate about 10 grams of plastics from a donated human brain; that’s about the weight of an unused crayon.“
nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00405-8

Trump signs order shifting US back toward plastic straws.
bbc.com/news/articles/c2k574ydyyqo.amp

I know the situation is bad, but I keep forgetting just HOW bad the gender imbalance among laureates of the Nobel Prize is. Physics is particularly terrible... [says a physicist]

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This week’s Cambridge meeting of ESA‘s (@esa.int) Science Operations Center & the #PLATO Mission Consortium. Less than 2 years before launch, we’re nearing the Mission Critical Design Review. Also, I found a transcript of Tycho Brahe’s 1570s observations in the @cambridgeastro.bsky.social library.

ESA and Arianespace signed a contract to launch our PLATO spacecraft on an Ariane 6 in late 2026 (esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Plato/Planet_hunter_Plato_to_fly_on_Ariane_6). Here's the Ariane 6 maiden flight in 2024 as seen from inside a Rafale military jet: youtu.be/3w48YAOWNYY&t=137.