Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilPaul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 18/07/2026This is Comet Leonard during its approach to the Sun, imaged by Gerald Rhemann on Christmas Day 2021. The comet had been discovered earlier that year, and broke apart in 2022. This photo won the overall prize for Rhemann of the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022. 7803240
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilPaul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/06/20261) Open this image up 2) Find the small, blue feature in the very middle Congratulations, you've spotted the Perseverance rover on Mars, photographed from orbit! 3) Trace the rover tracks as they wend their way across the surface 411150388
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilChris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 22/06/2026New favourite paper title? IIb or not IIb: A Catalog of ZTF Kilonova Imposters in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific by Barna et al. 🔭 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... 5372
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilJohn Lewis @astrojthe3.bsky.social · 21/04/2026Excited the Nance Grace Roman Space Telescope is Complete!? Pan + Zoom see how much of your favorite object will be captured within a single Roman field of view projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvard.edu/roman-view-f... #astronomy #dataviz 071
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 19/02/2026Why do we need Roman if we already have Webb? ➡️https://science.nasa.gov/roman-and-webb/science.nasa.govRoman and Webb - NASA ScienceNASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will conduct rapid surveys of wide swaths of the universe, unveiling new worlds and clues to mysteries like 010
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 19/01/2026So glad all the trauma was worth it. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...nytimes.comHow Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little? 012
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilScientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 27/12/2025From the first sighting of a colossal squid in the wild to a seriously goofy octopus, 2025 delivered some astounding photos from the ocean’s depthsscientificamerican.com6 Otherworldly Deep-Sea Images from 2025From the first sighting of a colossal squid in the wild to a seriously goofy octopus, 2025 delivered some astounding photos from the ocean’s depths 9855202
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 19/12/2025Shout out to @chrislintott.bsky.social for teaching me what the thick disk is a few months ago. Now we included it in a new diagram of the Milky Way! nasa.tumblr.com/post/8033060...nasa.tumblr.comMilky Way AnatomyIf we could see our galaxy, the Milky Way, from the outside, it would look like an enormous, bedazzled pinwheel. Vast sprays of stars form spiral arms that curl outward from a bright center that... 020
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 06/11/2025Meet six new species of itty-bitty bats! They’re only about the size of a walnut and as light as a AAA battery, and their leaf-like wings help them blend right in with the trees. Researchers found them lurking in the shadowy forests of the Philippines. 110
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilScientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 03/11/2025An orca pod has been spotted for the first time repeatedly targeting and flipping young great white sharks onto their backs to paralyze and dismember themscientificamerican.comFirst-Ever Footage Shows Killer Whales Attacking Great White Shark NurseryAn orca pod has been spotted for the first time repeatedly targeting and flipping young great white sharks onto their backs to paralyze and dismember them 24410
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 27/10/2025For the first time, astronomers have confirmed a tidal disruption event, dubbed AT2024tvd, located outside its galaxy’s core. Now, astronomers are trying to understand what the black hole is doing 2,600 light-years from where they expected it to be. www.astronomy.com/science/blac...astronomy.comBlack hole caught snacking on star far from host galaxy’s centerAstronomers are wondering why a recently discovered supermassive black hole is some 2,600 light-years from where it’s supposed to be. 020
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 27/10/2025Check out the toads that transform from chocolate pudding brown to lemon meringue yellow, not to attract females but deter other males: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...nationalgeographic.comScientists reveal the secret of toads that can turn neon yellowThe color change, driven by hormones, seems aimed at preventing males from accidentally mating with each other. 000
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 13/10/2025@leebillings.bsky.social’s book Five Billion Years of Solitude has ruined science writing for me, because how is anything I write ever supposed to compare to this line? 🤩 020
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilDouglas Main @dmain.bsky.social · 30/09/2025new gecko just dropped via @ashleybvigil.bsky.social @andreatweather.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/six-...scientificamerican.comMildly Menacing Mating Calls Lead to Discovery of New Gecko SpeciesScientists found new gecko species hidden in plain sight in pristine deserts of southern Africa, thanks to their loud, barking mating calls 162
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 03/08/2025#askethan Would you consider pop II and I stars to be enriched or contaminated by metals? 110
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilNSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 23/07/2025Happy birthday, Vera Rubin! 🥳✨ What better way to celebrate than with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's view of galaxies SHE studied? NGC 4343, 4526, 4535, and 4378 are just a few gems from our Cosmic Treasure Chest. Explore them and more at skyviewer.app 🔭🧪 418253
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilScientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 20/07/2025The park’s newest hydrothermal feature has an otherworldly milky texture from dissolved silica spklr.ioNew Thermal Hole Opens at Yellowstone National ParkThe park's newest hydrothermal feature has an otherworldly milky texture from dissolved silica 05810
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 18/07/2025If some men feel like they’ve been “reduced to ‘walking wallets’ in romantic relationships,” perhaps they should consider bringing something more to the table. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...nytimes.com‘Who Killed Love?’ A Video Game Plays to Male Resentment in China. 031
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilCorey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 11/07/2025NASA's Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever studies of the Sun -- and got this unprecedented look at multiple solar eruptions piling up on top of each other. 🧪🔭 science.nasa.gov/science-rese... 310340
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilEthan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · 02/07/2025American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history The largest brain drain in history was when thousands of scientists left Nazi Germany; it became known as "Hitler's gift." America's current assault on science is set to surpass that. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #sciencebigthink.comAmerican science to soon face its largest brain drain in historyOver the first half of 2025, the USA has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science is a gift to the rest of the world. 87743
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilPhil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 26/06/2025Something lost a bit in the amazing images released earlier: Vera Rubin Observatory is a steely-eyed asteroid hunter! It's already found thousands of new ones in just a few nights, and is predicted to find *3.7 MILLION* more. THREE POINT SEVEN MILLION badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/vera-rubin... 🔭🧪badastronomy.beehiiv.comVera Rubin Observatory will find millions of asteroids. Millions.That’s a lot of space rocks. 524145
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o... 0378
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilJohn F Wu @jwuphysics.bsky.social · 23/06/2025My mind is absolutely blown by these stellar halos nearby NGC 4364! Left: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DR10) Right: Newly released @vrubinobs.bsky.social imaging!!! #AstroSci 🧪🔭 717851
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilJames Davenport @jradavenport.com · 03/06/2025Attn 🔭 fans: the Vera Rubin US Quarter is now available!! www.usmint.gov/american-wom...usmint.govAmerican Women Quarters 2025 Rolls and Bags - Dr. Vera Rubin | US MintCheck out our American Women Quarters 2025 Rolls and Bags - Dr. Vera Rubin and more from US Mint! 13211
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilAstronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 02/06/2025"For every $100 the US government spent, it put 40¢ in the bucket for NASA. And what do we get for that? ✨The Universe ✨" "One of these bills represents, to scale, the federal budget & the other with NASA’s total budget trimmed off the edges. Can you tell the difference?" @philplait.bsky.social 312159
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 30/05/2025From stargazer to storyteller ✨ www.nasa.gov/people/ashle... 050
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 27/05/2025Totalling around 120 hours of observing time, this is the longest the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has ever focused on a single target. The deep field aims to probe the Cosmic Dawn, when the Universe was only a few million years old. Read more 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪 ☄️ 331303232
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilPaul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 22/05/2025Saturn's icy moons Dione, against a backdrop of the giant planet itself, its rings, and tiny Enceladus at upper right. Goodnight, friends! 1053676
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 14/05/2025Late to the party, but astronomers might have (but probably haven’t) found Planet Nine out in the Kuiper Belt 🪨astronomy.comHave Astronomers Found Planet Nine?Old data may hint at a new world beyond Neptune — but not the one astronomers expected. 162
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 07/05/2025Exciting news! Roman is moving right along, with one half fresh out of a successful thermal vacuum test. We’ll have a complete observatory before the end of the year! www.nasa.gov/missions/rom... 192
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilSpace Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 07/05/2025Experience the Cosmic Cliffs like never before! #NASAWebb’s iconic image of dusty “mountains” and “valleys” is featured in a new 3D visualization from NASA’s Universe of Learning: webbtelescope.pub/4jRHIh9 🔭 🧪 11560108
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 26/04/2025A new study shows the Yellowstone supervolcano is bubbling, but not about to blow. Scientists mapped a “pressure relief valve” beneath Yellowstone that may be keeping the volcano calm www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵 194
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 26/04/2025Shout out to the @starxiv.bsky.social podcast, where I found out about this paper, and Yuanming Wang + @runningastronomer.bsky.social for the quotes! www.astronomy.com/science/astr...astronomy.comAstronomers find a strange pulsar blinking in slow motionPSR J0311+1402 flashes every 41 seconds — quite slow for a pulsar. It could help bridge the gap between fast- and slow-spinning radio sources. 12210
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilDaniel Pomarède @pomarede.bsky.social · 24/04/2025NASA’s Roman Mission Shares Detailed Plans to Scour Skies www.nasa.gov/missions/rom... 🧪🔭 #Cosmologynasa.govNASA’s Roman Mission Shares Detailed Plans to Scour Skies - NASANASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team shared Thursday the designs for the three core surveys the mission will conduct after launch. These observation 23911
Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Why do we need Roman if we already have Hubble? >> science.nasa.gov/roman-and-hu... 072
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilNadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 18/04/2025About the leaked NASA budget proposal that kills an almost-ready-to-launch flagship mission: "It sets back a program that is clearly the leading program in the world—in a historic fashion. You take that program and shoot it through the head." www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...scientificamerican.comNASA’s Next Major Space Telescope Is Ready to Launch. Trump Wants to Kill It and Other Vital ScienceAmid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope 1113370
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilLaura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 12/04/2025Just a reminder that Germany led the world in science until the Nazis came to power and fired, exiled, and/or killed all the non-Nazi scientists, which was most of the scientists 🧪 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...theguardian.comDocuments reveal Trump’s plan to gut funding for Nasa and climate scienceCritics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashed 271195496
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilAriel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 05/04/2025thinking about the amount of context necessary to explain to someone from 2010 what people are protesting with signs reading "cheap eggs not measles" or "tax the rich, not the penguins" 11290601640
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilPaul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 28/03/2025This is a stunning example of an Einstein ring. The bright, diffuse galaxy in the centre is closer to us—and it's so massive, it's bending spacetime itself, turning light from a far more distant galaxy behind it into a ring. It's bending the very fabric of the Universe. 1041381
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilDr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 28/03/2025"A riotous photography collection from a recent underwater mission off the coast of Chile shows new and fascinating deep-sea creatures." Good use of the word riotous. #deepsea #marinelife www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...scientificamerican.comMeet Some of the Strangest Deep-Sea Creatures, from ‘Sea Pigs’ to ‘Disco Worms’A riotous photography collection from a recent underwater mission off the coast of Chile shows new and fascinating deep-sea creatures—including a “mystery mollusk,” a bioluminescent jellyfish and a “s... 23918
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilAndrea Thompson @andreatweather.bsky.social · 24/03/2025In January, an iceberg broke off of Antarctica and some scientists happened to be right there and decided to go see what had been living below it. Kind of like turning over a rock to see what's wriggling underneath. (by @ashleybvigil.bsky.social) 🧪scientificamerican.comStunning Antarctic Sea Creatures Discovered after Iceberg Breaks AwayA calving iceberg exposed a region that never before had been seen by human eyes, revealing a vibrant, thriving ecosystem 8465133
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilKingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 18/03/2025Who wants some good news? The overwintering monarch population, which had plummeted last winter, has doubled this winter! www.worldwildlife.org/stories/east...worldwildlife.orgEastern Monarch Butterfly Population Nearly DoublesThe population wintering in central Mexico's forests occupied 4.42 acres, up from 2.22 acres during the previous winter. 305163434037
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilBethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 02/03/2025A perfect comparison from @drshepherd2013.bsky.social about the importance of meteorologists at NOAA. Saying you don't need them..."is like saying, “Why do we need potato farmers when I can just get fries at my fast food place?”" www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...forbes.com5 Essential Things To Know About Your Weather ForecastsWith recent cuts at the National Weather Service and NOAA, here are five things to know about your weather forecasts. 411647
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilOlivia Campbell @oliviacampbell.bsky.social · 26/02/2025Sound familiar?? From my shockingly relevant book, SISTERS IN SCIENCE. 021
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilMike Drucker @mikedrucker.bsky.social · 24/02/2025Government efficiency is when every federal agency has to send a daily emergency email to its workers telling them to ignore another daily email from a different department trying to fire them without knowing what their jobs are. 123127252766
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilMatt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 24/02/2025I can’t get over the fact that two separate people did Nazi salutes at CPAC and it’s so normalized at this point that it’s barely even notable on TV news. In any halfway normal era that shit would warrant wall-to-wall coverage. 582310443
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilKendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 23/02/2025You GUYYYYSSSSSSS The military choir sang Do You Hear the People Sing from Les Mis at the governor's dinner at the white house. Thanks to @beebrookshire.bsky.social for helping me fact check tihs one. As far as I can it's only "officially" been posted on Dan Scavino's FByoutube.com2025 Governors Ball US Army - "Do You Hear the People Sing" BRILLIANT TRUMP TROLLING!YouTube video by Anti Trump 7861281818
Reposted by Ashley Balzer VigilJennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Mapquest lets you "Name Your Own Gulf" boingboing.net/2025/02/20/m...boingboing.netMapquest lets "Name Your Own Gulf"While Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Bing have all caved and renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Mapquest has held fast, along with the Associated Press… 1021636