S.M. Pritchard

It almost looks like a fingerprint!

Seconded, I love Paul's videos

I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.

how I feel when this happens

Describe your plot in five words or less - if you dare.

"Not everything is for us." -Stanislaw Lem, The Invincible (paraphrased)

Plus it was easily able to be filtered out when doing astronomical observations! LEDs are too broad-spectrum for that.

gotta get another DART mission up there to correct this

Ah, thank you! Then the reason I didn't see it the other night is probably just the natural variability of the disk emission. Perhaps I should start monitoring it to see when the emission strengthens again!

I'm not sure why I don't see any Hα emission from T CrB (it's a cataclysmic variable consisting of the giant itself and a white dwarf with an active accretion disk). It could simply be lost in the noise, and the lines are known to be variable.

A spectrum of the star Phecda, showing the characteristic absorption lines of hydrogen that define it's classification as an A-type star. As light from Vega's photosphere shines through its outer atmosphere, specific frequencies get absorbed by the atoms within. In A-type stars, hydrogen dominates due to the high temperatures of such stars.

A spectrum of the cataclysmic variable star T CrB, showing the characteristic absorption lines of titanium(II) oxide molecules. As light from T CrB's photosphere shines through its outer atmosphere, specific frequencies get absorbed by the atoms and molecules within. In M-type stars, titanium(II) oxide dominates the spectra as the upper atmosphere is cool enough for molecules to condense.

Managed to take some spectra the other night, despite the Moon interfering. My actual target was quasar 3C 273, but it was entirely washed out by moonlight. Here instead are spectra of the A0V star Phecda and the infamous red giant T Coronae Borealis, both corrected for instrument response. 🔭🧪☄️

I've often thought if I should continue trying to pursue a career in astronomy given how much the world seems to be abandoning it. I'm not going to give up though, either out of spite or sheer stubbornness.

Something I've never really seen mentioned with this is that pretty much eliminates any chance of there being life within Enceladus' ocean simply because it's probably far too young for it to have formed yet.

A disturbing corollary: increased CO2 tends to be associated with cognitive impairment, which could then amplify the anti-science backlash and subsequent societal collapse in a horrible positive feedback loop.

I really shouldn't be trying to do precision photometry when the Moon is so near to being full but these were the first clear nights I've had in almost 2 weeks so I was kinda desperate for anything lol

It was a struggle to pull a signal out of this lightcurve. The light from the nearby Moon seems to have ruined the flat fielding as the photometry post-meridian-flip was significantly offset. The timing of the transit is pretty good, but the model's depth is too large, probably due to systemics. 🔭🧪☄️

I'm just dreaming about being able to afford a house

but also dreaming about the observatory and library and cat sanctuary that will obviously be most of the house

Sure! It's a Celestron AVX. It's actually fairly undermounted for imaging but this is what they sold the scope with. Guiding can be hit or miss depending on seeing and how the mount is feeling.

Bombing civilians and murdering schoolgirls in the name of "peace". Absolutely heinous. There is no justification for this beyond imperialism.

A large black Newtonian reflector telescope pointing at the starry sky. In the background are the skeletal silhouettes of trees. The whole scene is illuminated by moonlight.

Trying again with a much brighter target (almost problematically bright for my sensor in fact), and in two colors this time for fun (V and B)! Target is KELT-24b, a hot Jupiter orbiting an F-type star. Still a shallow transit (9.49 ppt) so hopefully will be a good test of sensitivity. 🔭🧪

A large black Newtonian reflector telescope pointing at the starry sky. In the background are the skeletal silhouettes of trees. The whole scene is illuminated by moonlight.

Trying again with a much brighter target (almost problematically bright for my sensor in fact), and in two colors this time for fun (V and B)! Target is KELT-24b, a hot Jupiter orbiting an F-type star. Still a shallow transit (9.49 ppt) so hopefully will be a good test of sensitivity.

ESA is partnered with NASA for Artemis, they provide Orion's service module. China is gearing up for their own crewed landing in 2030 though!

Gonna be interesting to see how they manage to do an SLS launch every 10 months when the White House is illegally withholding funds. Absolutely not surprised they bumped the landing to A4 though, called that happening a few years ago.

aaa good luck!!

Honestly with the amount of fiddling I had to do to get a model fit I'm not really sure there was anything in the data at all, especially with the scatter I had. This may be a spurious signal. Probably should have also used the clear filter to increase SNR.

After a ton tweaking this is the best fit I could come up with. I'm not willing to call it a confident detection. The timing is a bit off and the depth is a tad too large. The data were also pretty noisy so I should have gone for longer exposures (the Moon didn't help either). But a good test! 🔭🧪☄️

A large black Newtonian reflector telescope pointing at the sky. The telescope is sitting on a wooden deck. In the background, a snowy hill is illuminated by moonlight. A small barn sits on the top of the hill.

The Science Tube™ is collecting photons! 🧪🔭

think about it, have you every actually *met* someone from "ohio"?

The clouds should be clearing up in another hour or so, and then I'll be doing an experiment to test the limits of my scope. I'll be attempting to catch a transit of the hot Neptune TOI-1728 b. The predicted depth will be 5.40 ppt, so it will just barely be detectable. Hopefully the forecast holds!

Anyway, slash the Pentagon's budget by 90% and quadruple the budget of the NSF.

Impeach and prosecute this entire illegitimate regime. This money is *required by law* to be dispersed per Congress' budget.