@chrislintott
Astronomer, writer and zookeeper. Oxford, Gresham and the Zooniverse. The human half of the Dog Stars podcast. New book: 'Our Accidental Universe' (UK/rest of world) and 'Accidental Astronomy (US) now out.
I love how after years of us enthusing to raise the excitement level of how interstellar objects can be key probes of Galactic properties & evolution, 3I lets us do just that! @chrislintott.bsky.social
Amazing set of preprints up today for everyone's favourite interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS!
Three different teams use three different telescopes to measure 3I's composition in water, nitrogen & carbon. The isotope ratios suggest 3I comes from a truly ancient star 🧪🔭☄️
This is going to play havoc with Erdös numbers.
New book day!
Only the second use of ‘wizard’ in ApJS ever
Everyone else can look at the figures.
Astronomers should read section 3 ('We live in an era where astronomers interact with data primarily through catalogs and databases ... there are far fewer opportunities to simply look at and ponder images of individual well-resolved galaxies.')
Instant classic new paper from @dalcantonjd.bsky.social and friends. First sentence: "The Universe is a very odd place filled with strange and wonderful things." ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2026ApJS... 🔭
Open Lecturer in Planetary Science position at UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (Dorking) The successful applicant will be expected to perform research using data from the Rosalind Franklin Mission, but also other planetary bodies, such as the Moon and the Outer Planets icy moons. ☄️🔭🧪
No, there can be one close enough to see in the daytime that’s still faint enough to be dangerous. Betelgeuse for one.
I think there’s something about scarcity that impresses. Dark clear skies are precious in our climate
I love the uplift series!
I haven’t read that. Going on the list. I bounced off recent KSR when his scientist characters started to spend their time doing things like applying for funding. Accurate but too close to home
Consistency of transit timing. If you have exactly the same gap over and over again it’s reasonable to conclude it’s a single planet
Is there another beer? We don’t know, but it’s at least very big
The odds say one in the galaxy every century! So don’t give up hope
I think setting yourself a goal helps - eg star hopping to the Messiers. There are some nice pointers here britastro.org/2018/star-ho... Sketching, even if you are as terrible at art as I am, helps pay attention particularly for planets. And remember it’s fun - I look at favourite objects often.
Few shipwrecks to explore. We assume. Though I like the idea we should send British explorers to the permanently cloudy world
I do like a Dyson sphere, even though they should really be Stapledon Spheres.
For science, a nearby supernova. As an observer, definitely a glorious comet. It's been too long #Askanastronomer
Oh, for sure. Archeologists, like astronomers, have to deal with the evidence accessible to them, but so much is lost.
I am realising this thread threatens to overwhelm my 'to read' pile. This looks great though.
A subject of some contention. I would say the consensus is 'we don't have enough evidence to make that claim strongly yet'.
Weirdly, I've struggled. Read the first book, watched the first season. I have the second book in the (burgeoning) to read pile.
And so many questions about the holodeck.
I think it's natural to look at the sky and connect ourselves to what we see there. There are also assumed connections that build a lot on small amounts of evidence (e.g. Stonehenge is clearly aligned to the solstice sunrise, but it's less clear the claims about lunar calendars etc are real).
I have wondered whether Saturn would be visible through the haze. I wonder if anyone has simulated it? (cc @planetdr.bsky.social ?). But yes, the icy moons would be fun...but the surface is a bit samey after a while, I reckon.
I would say it's toward the softer end, as Trek writers never hesitate to break the rules of physics. (Q comes to mind). Also, there's a lovely Roddenbury quote in response to a fan's query about the shuttles on the Enterprise travelling 'at the speed of plot'.
YES! This is a good answer, especially for scuba divers cc @stellarplanet.bsky.social
People have certainly looked - there was a lot of activity on 'SCUBA galaxies' found by sub-mm (aka microwave) telescopes a few years back. JWST can take us a long, long way back, though - perhaps even the first galaxies. Talk on this coming up in a few weeks: www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/uni...