Prof. Jonathan Nichols
@jnic.bsky.social
Space scientist at Leicester, amongst other things. All views my own, yada yada.
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
Goldfinger: A case study in concrete brutalism
Also:
Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy
Also:
Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy
December 27, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Goldfinger: A case study in concrete brutalism
Also:
Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy
Also:
Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy
Make a Bond movie academic.
Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.
Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.
Make a Bond movie academic.
A View to a Kill: An Introduction to Crime Scene Photography.
A View to a Kill: An Introduction to Crime Scene Photography.
Make a Bond movie academic.
Moonraker: A Concept Study for a Lunar Regolith Explorer
Moonraker: A Concept Study for a Lunar Regolith Explorer
December 27, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Make a Bond movie academic.
Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.
Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.
Well, now the days are drawing in…
December 22, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Well, now the days are drawing in…
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
'The Emerald Sea'
4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie.
Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it.
Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc
4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie.
Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it.
Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc
December 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
'The Emerald Sea'
4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie.
Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it.
Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc
4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie.
Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it.
Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc
There are important practical reasons why we study space plasma physics, in addition to its being super cool! (Or hot, rather…)
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
How solar storms that cause the Northern Lights have the power to wreak havoc on Earth
The aurora borealis can bring stunning night skies, but hidden dangers can accompany the Northern Lights to disrupt life on earth as Chris Fawkes explains.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 8:34 AM
There are important practical reasons why we study space plasma physics, in addition to its being super cool! (Or hot, rather…)
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
I still can’t believe they said my name!! I got the Global Space Award 2025 in the category of Science Breakthrough for my leadership of the M-MATISSE mission concept to Mars! A really wonderful night! Next step is to do our super best for the mission to be selected in June 2026!
December 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I still can’t believe they said my name!! I got the Global Space Award 2025 in the category of Science Breakthrough for my leadership of the M-MATISSE mission concept to Mars! A really wonderful night! Next step is to do our super best for the mission to be selected in June 2026!
The sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma @tmbg.bsky.social
Gracefully carving through the solar corona, a mini eruption of filament plasma erupted from the Sun earlier today! Beautiful.
December 4, 2025 at 7:59 AM
The sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma @tmbg.bsky.social
Huh. Curious as to what they mean by “intense radiation from the Sun” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...
Flight disruption warning as Airbus requests modifications to 6,000 planes
The European aerospace giant said it had found that intense radiation from the Sun could corrupt data crucial to flight controls.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Huh. Curious as to what they mean by “intense radiation from the Sun” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...
Microsoft Copilot in Word just helpfully told me how to adjust the format of a document… in LaTeX. After I told it that I was not using LaTeX, that it was Microsoft Copilot in Word, it said “Ah, thanks for clarifying! In Microsoft Word…” 😖
November 24, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Microsoft Copilot in Word just helpfully told me how to adjust the format of a document… in LaTeX. After I told it that I was not using LaTeX, that it was Microsoft Copilot in Word, it said “Ah, thanks for clarifying! In Microsoft Word…” 😖
Just come out of a lecture and idly checked the cricket score. What on Earth? 😮
November 21, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Just come out of a lecture and idly checked the cricket score. What on Earth? 😮
Jupiter with an apparently very large GRS in 1879, although I suppose it could be enhanced by the particular photographic process used. What do you think, @leighfletcher.bsky.social? Likely real or artefact?
The first surviving successful image of Jupiter was taken in 1879 by Andrew Ainslie Common in Ealing, London, using his 36-inch Newtonian reflector and the wet collodion process invented in 1851 by portrait photographer Frederick Scott Archer
November 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Jupiter with an apparently very large GRS in 1879, although I suppose it could be enhanced by the particular photographic process used. What do you think, @leighfletcher.bsky.social? Likely real or artefact?
Very not surprised. (You get compensated if the delay is 30 min or more.)
November 9, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Very not surprised. (You get compensated if the delay is 30 min or more.)
November 9, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Very not surprised. (You get compensated if the delay is 30 min or more.)
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
Looking to start a PhD in Physics & Astronomy in 2026? The team @physicsuol.bsky.social have announced their STFC-funded projects on offer next year, spanning astrophysics, planetary science, and space instrumentation. Deadline: Jan 18th, contact us to learn more!
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Looking to start a PhD in Physics & Astronomy in 2026? The team @physicsuol.bsky.social have announced their STFC-funded projects on offer next year, spanning astrophysics, planetary science, and space instrumentation. Deadline: Jan 18th, contact us to learn more!
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
Funnily enough I gave a lecture today showing this. A student piped up “what, you personally took these?”. Yep*!
*as personally as it gets with a space telescope that is.
*as personally as it gets with a space telescope that is.
In 2023, #NASAWebb observed a spectacular light show on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The planet’s auroras are hundreds of times brighter and more energetic than Earth’s. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). 🔭 🧪
November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Funnily enough I gave a lecture today showing this. A student piped up “what, you personally took these?”. Yep*!
*as personally as it gets with a space telescope that is.
*as personally as it gets with a space telescope that is.
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
In 2023, #NASAWebb observed a spectacular light show on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The planet’s auroras are hundreds of times brighter and more energetic than Earth’s. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). 🔭 🧪
November 4, 2025 at 3:23 PM
In 2023, #NASAWebb observed a spectacular light show on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The planet’s auroras are hundreds of times brighter and more energetic than Earth’s. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Nichols (University of Leicester), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb). 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Going for that Only Connect vibe by having a cornéd beef sandwich @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Going for that Only Connect vibe by having a cornéd beef sandwich @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social
I’ve seen commentators this morning adamant that it was not a red card and some adamant it was. That indicates a problem with the rules that requires clarity. For me it was never red, Tadgh had like 30 milliseconds to supposedly drop, open his arms and wrap again. Nuts!
Afternoon watching rugby. Thought the Scotland USA game was ridiculous enough but that red card against Beirne in the Ireland NZ game was another level. How can “being run into” be a red card offence?
November 2, 2025 at 9:28 AM
I’ve seen commentators this morning adamant that it was not a red card and some adamant it was. That indicates a problem with the rules that requires clarity. For me it was never red, Tadgh had like 30 milliseconds to supposedly drop, open his arms and wrap again. Nuts!
It would be amazing if Clipper could obtain in situ measurements of particles originating from elsewhere in the galaxy. Can’t think of many other examples of this opportunity… Voyager outside the heliopause, cosmic rays, anything else?
I recommend this article by @meghanbartels.bsky.social and @leebillings.bsky.social for folks who are looking for *factual* information about why 3I/ATLAS is of interest to planetary astronomers: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
The Race to Study an Interstellar Comet from Deep Space
Astronomers are hustling to use interplanetary spacecraft to study the interstellar comet dubbed 3I/ATLAS while the sun is hiding it from Earth
www.scientificamerican.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:39 AM
It would be amazing if Clipper could obtain in situ measurements of particles originating from elsewhere in the galaxy. Can’t think of many other examples of this opportunity… Voyager outside the heliopause, cosmic rays, anything else?
Afternoon watching rugby. Thought the Scotland USA game was ridiculous enough but that red card against Beirne in the Ireland NZ game was another level. How can “being run into” be a red card offence?
November 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Afternoon watching rugby. Thought the Scotland USA game was ridiculous enough but that red card against Beirne in the Ireland NZ game was another level. How can “being run into” be a red card offence?
Reposted by Prof. Jonathan Nichols
The beautiful Comet LEMMON's tail
The comet is going out with a bang. The tail was as bright as ever last night. Captured with Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter.
📸 Chuck's Astrophotography (Chuck Ayoub)
x.com/chucksastrop...
The comet is going out with a bang. The tail was as bright as ever last night. Captured with Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter.
📸 Chuck's Astrophotography (Chuck Ayoub)
x.com/chucksastrop...
October 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The beautiful Comet LEMMON's tail
The comet is going out with a bang. The tail was as bright as ever last night. Captured with Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter.
📸 Chuck's Astrophotography (Chuck Ayoub)
x.com/chucksastrop...
The comet is going out with a bang. The tail was as bright as ever last night. Captured with Celestron RASA telescope, ZWO ASI533MC color camera, and an Antlia L-Filter.
📸 Chuck's Astrophotography (Chuck Ayoub)
x.com/chucksastrop...
Just watched a Morse. Wow, I’d forgotten how good some TV used to be. An intricate story developed over 2 h, great acting, no swearing or violence, not ‘gritty’, not formulaic, a bit cerebral but not precocious. Some dated stuff of course - but overall great telly
October 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Just watched a Morse. Wow, I’d forgotten how good some TV used to be. An intricate story developed over 2 h, great acting, no swearing or violence, not ‘gritty’, not formulaic, a bit cerebral but not precocious. Some dated stuff of course - but overall great telly