Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Professor of astronomy, farmer of goats. Asteroid (42910). She/her.
Living and learning on the land and under the skies of Treaty 4 (Saskatchewan, Canada)
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Living and learning on the land and under the skies of Treaty 4 (Saskatchewan, Canada)
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
[complaining and food]
Well, today has been totally fucking terrible. And I have a 6pm meeting. 6pm Friday meetings are aaaawwwwful but this is something I care a lot about so it'll be worth it (I keep telling myself).
Maybe it's time to take a brownie-baking break in an attempt to make today […]
Well, today has been totally fucking terrible. And I have a 6pm meeting. 6pm Friday meetings are aaaawwwwful but this is something I care a lot about so it'll be worth it (I keep telling myself).
Maybe it's time to take a brownie-baking break in an attempt to make today […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 14, 2025 at 9:46 PM
[complaining and food]
Well, today has been totally fucking terrible. And I have a 6pm meeting. 6pm Friday meetings are aaaawwwwful but this is something I care a lot about so it'll be worth it (I keep telling myself).
Maybe it's time to take a brownie-baking break in an attempt to make today […]
Well, today has been totally fucking terrible. And I have a 6pm meeting. 6pm Friday meetings are aaaawwwwful but this is something I care a lot about so it'll be worth it (I keep telling myself).
Maybe it's time to take a brownie-baking break in an attempt to make today […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
A surprisingly good write-up of our recent paper on the formation of the Solar System:
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-intruder-that-knocked-our-planets-askew
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-intruder-that-knocked-our-planets-askew
November 14, 2025 at 4:55 PM
A surprisingly good write-up of our recent paper on the formation of the Solar System:
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-intruder-that-knocked-our-planets-askew
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-intruder-that-knocked-our-planets-askew
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
LAUNCH at 0304 UTC Nov 14 of Atlas AV-100 from Canaveral with the Viasat-3F2 communications sat
November 14, 2025 at 3:14 AM
LAUNCH at 0304 UTC Nov 14 of Atlas AV-100 from Canaveral with the Viasat-3F2 communications sat
I was trying to write up a summary of different types of Earth orbits for a scicomm piece, and got sucked into this incredible rabbit hole on orbital stability outside geosynchronous orbit and resonances with the Moon... ohhh I loooove resonances...
More here: "The Resonant Structure of xGEO […]
More here: "The Resonant Structure of xGEO […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I was trying to write up a summary of different types of Earth orbits for a scicomm piece, and got sucked into this incredible rabbit hole on orbital stability outside geosynchronous orbit and resonances with the Moon... ohhh I loooove resonances...
More here: "The Resonant Structure of xGEO […]
More here: "The Resonant Structure of xGEO […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
November 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Boy I'm really racking up the unpaid university appointments... but that's part of how I have to do research work, because I'm the only professional research astronomer in Saskatchewan, at a university with no astronomy major.
So, in order to co-supervise students, I'm also an affiliate prof at […]
So, in order to co-supervise students, I'm also an affiliate prof at […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 13, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Boy I'm really racking up the unpaid university appointments... but that's part of how I have to do research work, because I'm the only professional research astronomer in Saskatchewan, at a university with no astronomy major.
So, in order to co-supervise students, I'm also an affiliate prof at […]
So, in order to co-supervise students, I'm also an affiliate prof at […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
Tonight's Aurora Forecast (12/12/25)
ps. Last night was well more than the forecast, aurora to Florida and Mexico. This CME is supposed to be stronger, but TBD if the aurora does the same thing again.
ps. Last night was well more than the forecast, aurora to Florida and Mexico. This CME is supposed to be stronger, but TBD if the aurora does the same thing again.
November 12, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Tonight's Aurora Forecast (12/12/25)
ps. Last night was well more than the forecast, aurora to Florida and Mexico. This CME is supposed to be stronger, but TBD if the aurora does the same thing again.
ps. Last night was well more than the forecast, aurora to Florida and Mexico. This CME is supposed to be stronger, but TBD if the aurora does the same thing again.
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
Light pollution: The silent threat to the planet that's easily solved https://phys.org/news/2025-11-pollution-silent-threat-planet-easily.html
Light pollution: The silent threat to the planet that's easily solved
New research has revealed for the first time the full extent of how "Artificial Light At Night" (ALAN) is increasing carbon released by plants and animals across continents—without any increase in the carbon they absorb. The result is reduced carbon storage in ecosystems—which has major implications for climate models and global carbon budgets.
phys.org
November 12, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Light pollution: The silent threat to the planet that's easily solved https://phys.org/news/2025-11-pollution-silent-threat-planet-easily.html
The possibility of auroras tonight is all that's getting me through this giant pile of stressful emails.
November 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The possibility of auroras tonight is all that's getting me through this giant pile of stressful emails.
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
Looks like the CME might have taken at least one satellite offline... (NASA VIIRS)
Dear LANCE-MODIS Users:
Currently, there is a S-NPP VIIRS data outage. No science data has been received since 11/11/25 11:36:50 UTC due to an anomaly at Fairbanks, impacting all S-NPP data processing. There is […]
Dear LANCE-MODIS Users:
Currently, there is a S-NPP VIIRS data outage. No science data has been received since 11/11/25 11:36:50 UTC due to an anomaly at Fairbanks, impacting all S-NPP data processing. There is […]
Original post on ai6yr.org
m.ai6yr.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Looks like the CME might have taken at least one satellite offline... (NASA VIIRS)
Dear LANCE-MODIS Users:
Currently, there is a S-NPP VIIRS data outage. No science data has been received since 11/11/25 11:36:50 UTC due to an anomaly at Fairbanks, impacting all S-NPP data processing. There is […]
Dear LANCE-MODIS Users:
Currently, there is a S-NPP VIIRS data outage. No science data has been received since 11/11/25 11:36:50 UTC due to an anomaly at Fairbanks, impacting all S-NPP data processing. There is […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
Aurora in southern New Mexico - now with green bands added! (This was at approx 7:20PM Mountain Daylight time)
2nd graphic shows the sky coverage of the wide angle lens I'm using. The aurora is 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon when it's bright.
Real-time […]
[Original post on universeodon.com]
2nd graphic shows the sky coverage of the wide angle lens I'm using. The aurora is 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon when it's bright.
Real-time […]
[Original post on universeodon.com]
November 12, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Aurora in southern New Mexico - now with green bands added! (This was at approx 7:20PM Mountain Daylight time)
2nd graphic shows the sky coverage of the wide angle lens I'm using. The aurora is 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon when it's bright.
Real-time […]
[Original post on universeodon.com]
2nd graphic shows the sky coverage of the wide angle lens I'm using. The aurora is 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon when it's bright.
Real-time […]
[Original post on universeodon.com]
I cannot believe how much misinformation there is about comet 3I/ATLAS. It's just very cool on its own without having to be an alien spaceship conspiracy...
Prof. Jason Wright wrote a great breakdown of all the ways Avi Loeb is wrong about his awful alien conspiracy theories, and why 3I/ATLAS […]
Prof. Jason Wright wrote a great breakdown of all the ways Avi Loeb is wrong about his awful alien conspiracy theories, and why 3I/ATLAS […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 11, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I cannot believe how much misinformation there is about comet 3I/ATLAS. It's just very cool on its own without having to be an alien spaceship conspiracy...
Prof. Jason Wright wrote a great breakdown of all the ways Avi Loeb is wrong about his awful alien conspiracy theories, and why 3I/ATLAS […]
Prof. Jason Wright wrote a great breakdown of all the ways Avi Loeb is wrong about his awful alien conspiracy theories, and why 3I/ATLAS […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
For those who keep asking me about 3I/ATLAS, here's a great writeup by my friend
@astrowright.bsky.social
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
@astrowright.bsky.social
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft. He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 11, 2025 at 12:03 AM
For those who keep asking me about 3I/ATLAS, here's a great writeup by my friend
@astrowright.bsky.social
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
@astrowright.bsky.social
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
Currently trying to decide if it's worth driving to a dark sky site tonight (~1 hr drive, I know, I'm super lucky) even though some high clouds are moving in, or if I should wait until tomorrow night, when currently the forecast looks better (but it looked really good for tonight earlier today […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Currently trying to decide if it's worth driving to a dark sky site tonight (~1 hr drive, I know, I'm super lucky) even though some high clouds are moving in, or if I should wait until tomorrow night, when currently the forecast looks better (but it looked really good for tonight earlier today […]
Good morning. I'm hoping for clear skies and auroras tonight, and success in juggling a ridiculous number of family and work commitments during the day today.
November 10, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Good morning. I'm hoping for clear skies and auroras tonight, and success in juggling a ridiculous number of family and work commitments during the day today.
It's so pretty!! (I keep affirming to myself over and over.... it was -19C this morning when I went out to do chores)
November 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
It's so pretty!! (I keep affirming to myself over and over.... it was -19C this morning when I went out to do chores)
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
@sundogplanets Just to clarify one point - streetlights are usually found to be responsible for *less* than half of light emissions or skyglow. Here is a table from a paper we published: https://doi.org/10.26607/ijsl.v25i1.133
I also misremembered that there […]
[Original post on fediscience.org]
I also misremembered that there […]
[Original post on fediscience.org]
November 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM
@sundogplanets Just to clarify one point - streetlights are usually found to be responsible for *less* than half of light emissions or skyglow. Here is a table from a paper we published: https://doi.org/10.26607/ijsl.v25i1.133
I also misremembered that there […]
[Original post on fediscience.org]
I also misremembered that there […]
[Original post on fediscience.org]
I just was on a panel for DarkSky International's Under One Sky conference. The panel was about novel and emerging sources of light pollution, I was there to yell a lot about Reflect Orbital.
One of the other panelists was Jolyon Troscianko, who studies animal vision at night (how totally […]
One of the other panelists was Jolyon Troscianko, who studies animal vision at night (how totally […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 8, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I just was on a panel for DarkSky International's Under One Sky conference. The panel was about novel and emerging sources of light pollution, I was there to yell a lot about Reflect Orbital.
One of the other panelists was Jolyon Troscianko, who studies animal vision at night (how totally […]
One of the other panelists was Jolyon Troscianko, who studies animal vision at night (how totally […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
Alarm Grows over Proposed Giant Mirrors in Orbit and Other Commercial Space Plans
November 6, 2025
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing […]
November 6, 2025
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing […]
Original post on ai6yr.org
m.ai6yr.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Alarm Grows over Proposed Giant Mirrors in Orbit and Other Commercial Space Plans
November 6, 2025
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing […]
November 6, 2025
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing […]
Supposed to be 100% cloudy and snowing here tonight for G3-level auroras, but if you have clear skies get outside and look!
Hopefully the auroras keep going for Saturday night when I'm supposed to get much clearer skies! (Downside: forecast is for a low of -17C on Saturday night which is...ugh […]
Hopefully the auroras keep going for Saturday night when I'm supposed to get much clearer skies! (Downside: forecast is for a low of -17C on Saturday night which is...ugh […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Supposed to be 100% cloudy and snowing here tonight for G3-level auroras, but if you have clear skies get outside and look!
Hopefully the auroras keep going for Saturday night when I'm supposed to get much clearer skies! (Downside: forecast is for a low of -17C on Saturday night which is...ugh […]
Hopefully the auroras keep going for Saturday night when I'm supposed to get much clearer skies! (Downside: forecast is for a low of -17C on Saturday night which is...ugh […]
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
It is so much more satisfying to put people in front of cameras than it is to be the person someone else is putting in front of a camera.
November 7, 2025 at 1:38 PM
It is so much more satisfying to put people in front of cameras than it is to be the person someone else is putting in front of a camera.
Reposted by Prof. Sam Lawler
LAUNCH at 0131 UTC Nov 6 of Starlink 6-81 from Canaveral
November 6, 2025 at 1:37 AM
LAUNCH at 0131 UTC Nov 6 of Starlink 6-81 from Canaveral
Today I'm bringing my telescope+solar filter to 2 different schools on Pasqua First Nation to show a bunch of kids some big fat sunspots, then giving a talk about space junk at the Ituna library (and the talk is mostly happening because librarians are all awesome).
And it looks like I have […]
And it looks like I have […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 5, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Today I'm bringing my telescope+solar filter to 2 different schools on Pasqua First Nation to show a bunch of kids some big fat sunspots, then giving a talk about space junk at the Ituna library (and the talk is mostly happening because librarians are all awesome).
And it looks like I have […]
And it looks like I have […]
[cats are weird]
Good morning to everyone, especially this cat who woke me up in the middle of the night churruping incredibly loudly for a ridiculously long time. When I went downstairs, she had dragged three stuffies and a hat into a pile in the middle of […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
Good morning to everyone, especially this cat who woke me up in the middle of the night churruping incredibly loudly for a ridiculously long time. When I went downstairs, she had dragged three stuffies and a hat into a pile in the middle of […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
November 5, 2025 at 1:56 PM
[cats are weird]
Good morning to everyone, especially this cat who woke me up in the middle of the night churruping incredibly loudly for a ridiculously long time. When I went downstairs, she had dragged three stuffies and a hat into a pile in the middle of […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
Good morning to everyone, especially this cat who woke me up in the middle of the night churruping incredibly loudly for a ridiculously long time. When I went downstairs, she had dragged three stuffies and a hat into a pile in the middle of […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
[academia crowd-source grant question]
Does anybody know of grants that could help support a Europe-based PhD student doing research on satellite pollution? This student currently has no funding and needs it badly to keep doing excellent (and much-needed research work). I'm not Europe-based so […]
Does anybody know of grants that could help support a Europe-based PhD student doing research on satellite pollution? This student currently has no funding and needs it badly to keep doing excellent (and much-needed research work). I'm not Europe-based so […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
[academia crowd-source grant question]
Does anybody know of grants that could help support a Europe-based PhD student doing research on satellite pollution? This student currently has no funding and needs it badly to keep doing excellent (and much-needed research work). I'm not Europe-based so […]
Does anybody know of grants that could help support a Europe-based PhD student doing research on satellite pollution? This student currently has no funding and needs it badly to keep doing excellent (and much-needed research work). I'm not Europe-based so […]