astronomy

132d

RE: https://mastodon.social/@esoastronomy/116844616500605008

The impact of satellite constellations on astronomy can get much worse. A new ESO study has quantified not only the effects of the satellite streaks, but also the overall increase in the sky brightness due to (a) millions of faint satellites that create a veil of diffuse light, and (b) sunlight scattered by space mirrors, even when not aiming directly at the observer. 👇 #astronomy #space

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152d

Anatomy of a Galileo Forgery

It was hailed as a historic discovery—until a trail of clues revealed one of the rare-book world’s most audacious scams.

By: Matthew Wills

https://daily.jstor.org/anatomy-of-a-galileo-forgery/

Books by Galileo Galilei at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39014

#Books #Science #Astronomy

Title page of Sidereus nuncius, 1610, by Galileo Galilei (1564-1642).

The original Latin title page of Galileo Galilei's landmark astronomical work, announcing observations of the Moon, fixed stars, the Milky Way, and four Jupiter moons named "Medicea Sidera." Published by Thomas Baglioni in Venice (MDCX), with an ornate engraved publisher's vignette of an enthroned figure below the text.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereus_Nuncius#/media/File:Houghton_IC6.G1333.610sa_-_Sidereus_nuncius.jpg

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138d

Our congratulations to ESO fellows Maximilian Häberle & Bibiana Prinoth @bibianaprinoth on receiving the 2025 IAU PhD Prize 👏

Assigned by each IAU Division, it acknowledges remarkable work carried out in the Division's subject area during the previous year. 1/4

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

Promotional graphic announcing the recipients of the 2025 IAU PhD Prize. The text reads, “Congratulations to Maximilian Häberle & Bibiana Prinoth on receiving the 2025 IAU PhD Prize.” The announcement is displayed over the image of a nebula with swirling clouds of gas and stars. Circular portrait photos of the two awardees appear at the bottom.

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156d

Happy Sunday, y'all.

My new YT video is up! This week's topic is ads in space, which is wild, but is becoming a possibility and may one day be a thing. Luckily for us, there's some resistance.

If you enjoy the video, let me know what you think and please take a second to hit the like button. Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz9NSNL2NG4

#Space #Ads #Capitalism #Astronomy #Science #YouTube #Video #SocialMedia

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94d

Science, religion, and political omens: the meaning of eclipses in ancient Rome

by Javier Andreu Pintado

Romans could predict eclipses, but still interpreted them as signs from the gods.

https://theconversation.com/science-religion-and-political-omens-the-meaning-of-eclipses-in-ancient-rome-288125?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20EUs%20migration%20debate%20%20Europes%20sunset%20eclipse%20is%20coming%20-%203896539712&utm_content=The%20EUs%20migration%20debate%20%20Europes%20sunset%20eclipse%20is%20coming%20-%203896539712+CID_952c1740fd71fa6eba3b277d08276330&utm_source=campaign_monitor_europe

Books about eclipses (next eclipse will take place on August 12) at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=eclipses

#books #literature #astronomy #history

Two philosophers watching an eclipse, etching by Pierre Brébiette.

It is showing two robed, bearded figures gesturing dramatically toward the sky where a solar eclipse is depicted, with an armillary sphere at their feet and classical architecture in the background. The Latin inscription reads "Aut Deus naturae patitur, aut mundi machina dissoluetur" ("Either God suffers in nature, or the machine of the world will be dissolved").

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148d

June 1980: Vera Rubin Publishes Paper Hinting at Dark Matter

Work by Rubin, a champion of women in science, suggested that galaxies contain hidden mass.

By Tess Joosse (from the archives)

https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2023/05/vera-rubin-paper-dark-matter?fbclid=IwdGRleASUAXdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeYSbuALAcaZwSI4UwuQI6x64UXZ03eQgILkOr8PUSR64Tmh6BLEDT_goHXIg_aem_FRZJfLYwV0aYrvV256iXtA

Her autobiographical article is available online:
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-astro-081710-102545

#Books #Astronomy #WomenInStem

Vera Rubin, Dept. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute of Washington.

Elderly white-hairedVera Rubin smiling warmly, wearing a red jacket, photographed outdoors in natural light.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vera_Rubin.jpg

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120d

Hidden in Maya wall writings: A named astronomer emerges from 1,200-year-old calculations

by Antiquity

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hidden-maya-wall-astronomer-emerges.html

Original article in Antiquity:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/identification-and-work-of-an-eighthcentury-maya-mathematician/FDE9610F9D80ADBC245CAC2B8F204070

#epigraphy #mathematics #astronomy

Diego de Landa's Maya alphabet was an early attempt at decipherment.

A printed page reproducing "Diego de Landa's Maya Alphabet" — 27 numbered glyph signs arranged in three columns, each paired with its corresponding phonetic value (a, b, e, k, m, n, o, u, etc.), from a 19th-century American history textbook.

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111d

That's no moon. It's a...hang on, what should we call it? 🤔

Our VLT has revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Yet this new ‘exomoon’ detection is challenging cosmic labels!

Illustration: ESO/M. Kornmesser

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

1/4

The artist's impression features a small star (left) and two gaseous planets covered in clouds (centre and right), set against the blackness of space.

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124d

We know you loved the photograph of our Extremely Large Telescope that we shared earlier this week! Curious to learn more about how we rotated the 3500 t structure of the telescope for the first time? Check the video below 👇

https://www.eso.org/public/videos/potw2627a/

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

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62d

Open PhD positions: The IMPRS for Solar System Science at the University of Göttingen and at TU Braunschweig is offering PhD projects in Star-Planet Interactions and in Planet Formation https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/open-projects

Star-Planet Interactions with E. Ilin: https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/star-planet-interactions
Planet Formation with J. Drążkowska: https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/planet-formation
Application deadline: October 1st, 2026

Want to get notified when new PhD projects become available in the #IMPRS? This way, please: https://www.mps.mpg.de/phd/new-project-notification

@unigoettingen @thegoecampus @tubraunschweig @maxplanckgesellschaft

#SolarSystemSchool #MPSGoettingen #JobAd #FediHire #PhD #Jobs #PhDPositions #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #Stars #Planets #PlanetFormation #Space

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64d

Posts under the #ag2026garching conference hashtag are starting to come in, follow the hashtag for the latest in astronomy!

Or tag along on this particularly convenient fediwall view: https://fediwall.social/?servers=mastodon.social,scicomm.xyz,wisskomm.social,fedi.buzz&tags=ag2026garching,ag2026,agtagung2026&accounts=GermanAstroSoc@wisskomm.social&lang=en,de&hide=nsfw&title=AG+2026+Garching&interval=20

Here's hoping that we here on the fediverse will be simultaneously able to
- show the live posters from the conference how much we appreciate that they're keeping us informed
- communicate that we really appreciate ALT text and would love to have it on all their posts with media attached

#ag2026garching #astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #fediwall

Edited 63d ago

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93d

The difference between a 99% solar #eclipse and a total one is like the difference between smelling food off a fork vs actually eating it. There's no "close enough": if you're not inside the path of totality you're going to miss a unique spectacle. #astronomy

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91d

Solar eclipse & Einstein's theory of relativity

In late 1915, Einstein finalized his general theory of relativity using Riemannian geometry, predicting Mercury's perihelion precession and gravitational lensing. Arthur Eddington verified these predictions four years later during the 1919 solar eclipse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddington_experiment#External_links

Books by Eddington at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34163

#books #relativity #astronomy #solareclipse

Three Parisian women watching the solar eclipse of 8 April 1921 through glasses on the Cour du Havre, next to the gare Saint-Lazare.

Three women in long coats stand on a raised platform beside a lamppost outside Gare Saint-Lazare, each holding improvised viewing devices to their eyes to observe a solar eclipse. Early automobiles and a busy street crowd fill the background.

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83d

One for the record books 🏅

Our Very Large Telescope Interferometer has discovered the fastest known star in our galaxy. Named S301, it orbits Sagittarius A* — the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way — reaching speeds of 25 000 kilometres per second, over 8% the speed of light.

📷 ESO/GRAVITY collaboration

1/3

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

Four observations from 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 showing star S301 moving along its orbit around Sagittarius A*. A small circle below the images shows the size of Neptune’s orbit for scale.

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90d

Upon his guilded chariot led by hours,
With radiant glories darting throw the air,
The sun, high sprung in his diurnal course,
Shed down a day serenely sweet and fair…

—Allan Ramsay (1684–1758), “The Eclipse”

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #eclipse #astronomy #18thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage

The Eclipse
Allan Ramsay

Upon his guilded chariot led by hours,
With radiant glories darting throw the air,
The sun, high sprung in his diurnal course,
Shed down a day serenely sweet and fair.
The earth mair beautiful and fertile grew;
The flow’ry fields in rich array,
Smil’d lovely on the beamy day,
Delightful for the eye to view;
Ceres, with her golden hair,
Displaying treasure ilka where,
While useful plenty made her stalks to bow.

A thousand little suns glanc’d on the wave;
Nature appear’d to claim the sun’s respect,
All did sae blyth and beauteously behave.
“Ah!” cry’d the moon, “too much for him ye deck;
“My aking een cannot this glory bear;
“This sun pretends nane in the sky
“Can shine but him, then where am I?
“Soon I the contrary shall clear:
“By ae bauld strake,
“With him I’ll make
“My equal empire in the heaven appear.”

“’Tis me that gives a lustre to the night;
“Then should not I my proper right display,
“And now, even now dart down my silver light?
“I give enough, this sun gives too much day.”
The project fram’d, pale Cynthia now to shaw
Her shining power, right daftly run
Directly ’tween the earth and Sun.
Unwise design! the warld then saw,
Instead of light, the Moon
Brought darkness in at noon,
And without borrowing, had no light at a’.

Thus many empty and imprudent men,
Wha to their ain infirmities are blind,
Rax yont their reach, and this way let us ken
A jealous, weak and insufficient mind.

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106d

The conclusion of a century-long quest 😲

Our VLT obtained firm evidence that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation and one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone!

1/4

📷 ESO/M. Montargès et al. Background: N. Rissinger (skysurvey.org)

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

A collage of various astronomical images. The background image shows a wide view of a starry night sky, with blue lines connecting the stars of the Orion constellation. An inset image zooms into the star Betelgeuse, showing its orange surface. A second inset shows a bright companion next to the star.

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90d

Partial eclipse from Germany. Really happy with how this shot turned out. Taken with an Acuter Elite Phoenix 40 and a ToupTek G3M678M.

#solareclipse #eclipse #eclipse2026 #photography #astrophotography #Astrodon #astronomy #sonnenfinsternis

Solar eclipse from Germany through an Acuter Elite Phoenix 40

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30d

The full sky in the ultraviolet

https://menard.pha.jhu.edu/uvmap/

"This is the whole sky in ultraviolet light — the first detailed version with no holes in it. Most of it was photographed by NASA’s GALEX space telescope between 2003 and 2013; the parts no ultraviolet telescope ever saw were filled in by a statistical model, and every such pixel is labelled. The top of this page is for anyone curious about the sky; the bottom is for astronomers who want the numbers, the files and the paper. …"

Using Claude Science to produce the first complete map of the sky in UV light \ Anthropic

https://www.anthropic.com/research/the-missing-map-of-the-sky

#AI #Anthropic #astronomy #Claude #GALEX #MilkyWay #NASA #science

Image from https://menard.pha.jhu.edu/uvmap/ – ultraviolet

Image from https://menard.pha.jhu.edu/uvmap/ – visible

Image from https://menard.pha.jhu.edu/uvmap/ – infrared

Edited 30d ago

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90d

That August night
the Perseid shower rained
on moor and lily-loch, on a frightened world –
on us, in a roofless shieling

with all our tat…

—Kathleen Jamie, “One of Us”
published in SELECTED POEMS (Picador, 2018)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/kathleen-jamie/selected-poems/9781509882953

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Perseids #astronomy #folklore

One of Us
by Kathleen Jamie

We are come in a stone boat,
a miracle ship that steers itself
round skerries where guillemots
and shags stand still as graves.
Our sealskin cloaks are clasped
by a fist-sized penannular brooch,
our slippers are feathery
gugas’ necks: so delicate
we carried them over the wracky shore,
past several rusted tractors. Truth:
this was a poor place, a
ragged land all worn to holes. No one,
nothing, but a distant
Telecom van, a bungalow
tied with fishing floats
for want of flowers.
That August night
the Perseid shower rained
on moor and lily-loch, on a frightened world –
on us, in a roofless shieling

with all our tat: the
golden horn of righteousness,
the justice harp; what folks expect.
We took swans’ shape
to cross the Minch, one last fling
with silly magic – at our first
mainland steps a dormobile
slewed into a passing place; cameras flashed.
So we stayed high, surprised
a forester making aeolian flutes
from plastic tubes,
he shared his pay. ‘Avoid
the A9. For God’s sake,
get some proper clothes.” We ditched
the cloaks, bought yellow
Pringle sweaters in Spean Bridge,
and house by safe house
arrived in Edinburgh. So far so
tedious: we all hold
minor government jobs, lay plans, and bide our time.

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74d

☄️ An asteroid may be a comet in disguise.

A newly discovered meteor shower has been linked to asteroid 2023 VN9. Its orbit—and the trail of meteoroids it left behind—suggest it may actually be the surviving remnant of a comet that broke apart long ago.

🔗 https://www.seti.org/news/new-meteor-shower-identifies-asteroid-as-a-cloaked-comet/

#Meteors #Comets #Astronomy

Faint point-like asteroid centered in red crosshairs against a noisy grayscale star field, with two diagonal streaks from other moving objects, observational stats in a black overlay at right, a north/east compass marker at bottom, and a zoomed inset of the target at lower-right. Credit: ESA PDO / M. Micheli.

Side-by-side star-field maps dated 16/7/26 and 17/7/26 showing many white point sources with blue and green clusters upper-left and a white arrow marking a newly discovered meteor shower.

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91d

Live stream of the partial solar eclipse as seen from Göttingen, Germany at https://live.gwdg.de/play/sofi2026 by the University of Göttingen's Institute for Astrophysics and Geophysics: watch starting from 19h MESZ if viewing conditions happen to be less favourable from where you are located.

@unigoettingen @thegoecampus @gwdg

#sofi2026 #Sonnenfinsternis #Sonnenfinsternis2026 #partielleSonnenfinsternis #solareclipse #solareclipse2026 #partialsolareclipse #Astronomie #astronomy #Astrodon #Sonnenuntergang #astrophotography #gwdg #Göttingen #Germany #livestream #live

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87d

A chance discovery in the solar eclipse videos: This is flight “BOX192,” an AeroLogic/DHL Boeing 777-F flying from Leipzig to Nottingham at an altitude of 36,000 ft, between Wesel and Xanten (Germany), in 49 km distance.

#solareclipse2026 #eclipse2026 #eclipse #astronomy #aviation #boeing777 #dhl #aerologic #space #mywork

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89d

Post-Perseids Sunrise At Raisting Earth Station (2026)

(Pictures from between 5-6AM this morning... I still need to process the meteor shower images from the hour before, but not holding my breath...)

#LandscapePhotography #RadioTelescope #Architecture #Space #Astronomy #RaistingEarthStation #Bavaria

A large radio telescope (with a ~25 meters diameter parabola) seemingly standing in a corn field (it's actually behind). Some faint mountains in the background, clear sky with a pink-blue gradient.

A large radio telescope (with a ~25 meters diameter parabola) seemingly standing in a corn field (it's actually behind). Layers of forest in the background, clear sky with a pink-blue gradient.

A group of radio telescopes of different sizes (from small to very large, ~25 meters diameter) seemingly standing next to a corn field and some trees. Clear sky with a pink-blue gradient. The rising sun is illuminating a part of the largest telescope's dish.

A large radio telescope covered with a ~50m diameter radome, illuminated by the warm morning sun and surrounded by a corn field. Some trees in the background, clear blue sky.

Edited 89d ago

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84d

How Old is the Universe? #space #universe

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OD080CO3NPM

This photograph is of the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) and contains about 10,000 galaxies.

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88d

What an amazing #SolarEclipse we witnessed this week! I photographed it from Peñafiel in the north of #Spain, home to a beautiful castle that provided the perfect foreground for the spectacular #eclipse. No picture can do it justice though: there's no substitute to actually seeing a total eclipse in person.

#astronomy #astrophotography #photography #eclipse2026 #SolarEclipse2026

$A photograph of a dimly lit castle silhouetted against the dusk sky. It's a combination of multiple exposures, with the Sun appearing as a sequence of discs crossing the sky diagonally above the castle. A progressively smaller fraction of the Sun is visible as the eclipse progresses. Right above the castle the eclipse reaches the total phase, with the Sun completely blocked by the Moon, revealing a fiery corona around it. The sequence continues towards the horizon, with the Sun progressively reappearing.$

Edited 88d ago

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