iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Brian D. Wade

Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 16h

🎓 Interested in our new grant opportunities for HBCUs? Attend our informational webinar tomorrow: bit.ly/4zu6OdB We're committing $23M to fund new scientific centers and faculty fellowships at HBCUs across the country. LOIs due November 12th. #science #math #neuroscience #biology #physics

bit.ly

Apply Now: New Grants to Support HBCU Faculty and Research Excellence

Apply Now: New Grants to Support HBCU Faculty and Research Excellence on Simons Foundation

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

ESO @eso.org · 05/10/2026

A swirling galaxy! Captured by ALMA, this image of galaxy M83 depicts the light emitted by cold gas molecules, the ingredients of star formation. What secrets can images like these unlock? Find out: www.eso.org/public/images/potw2640a 🔭 🧪

Image of a galaxy made of two spiral arms connected at the centre, in shades of orange against a black background. Image by ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/J. Koda et al.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 04/10/2026

A photograph taken from the surface of an asteroid by a small robot in 2018.

The surface of asteroid 162173 Ryugu. Turns out it looks like a poorly illuminated crawlspace at night.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 04/10/2026

There's something almost haunting about seeing our planet through the window of a spacecraft. Such as this view, from the Artemis II Crew in April.

A crescent Earth hangs in the darkness. Part of the frame of the Orion capsule can be seen at upper right. Various imperfections, lens flares, and reflections from the cabin are seen on the glass.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 03/10/2026

This is a photo of some rocks and sand. It was taken earlier today, with a camera 247,000,000 km away. It was taken on Mars. And now you're looking at it on your screen.

Dusty, red rocks, and red soil. Darker soil in the middle of the image marks where one of the rocks has been displaced.

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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

150 Seconds of City Light - A stack of 10 images, 15 seconds each, taken by Anil Menon aboard the International Space Station on September 20th. flic.kr/p/2sDNZ95

Streaks of light from stars (above) and city lights (below). Steaks are interrupted periodically during breaks in the exposures. The atmosphere appears green. Some components of the ISS are seen at the edges.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Anil Menon/Kevin M. Gill

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Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 01/10/2026

We're committing $23M over 5 years to support research excellence at HBCUs through two new grants: the HBCU Centers of Excellence Program and the HBCU Faculty Fellowship Program. Now accepting applications: bit.ly/4zu6OdB #science #math #funding

bit.ly

Apply Now: New Grants to Support HBCU Faculty and Research Excellence

Apply Now: New Grants to Support HBCU Faculty and Research Excellence on Simons Foundation

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

ESO @eso.org · 01/10/2026

Plunge into a stellar ocean ✨ This is IC4701, a nebula twice as wide as the full Moon in the sky and located in the Sagittarius constellation. But what causes the intense reddish hue seen in this picture? Find out: www.eso.org/public/images/potw2310a 🔭

A densely packed star field glows against clouds of reddish-pink gas. Bright blue-white stars are scattered throughout the image. Image by ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 30/09/2026

Oh my. The aurora borealis, seen in ultraviolet light from space. Our planet, putting on a show ✨

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 30/09/2026

This is a photograph of the edge of one of Saturn's rings, looking down from above. Those spiky dark shapes are shadows. Shadows of giant towers of ice and dust grains clumped together that rise up to three *kilometres* above the 10-m thick rings.

A series of bands cross the image from left to right, brighter at the bottom and darkening towards the top. A band of empty space is at the top of the image. About a quarter down from the top is a complex pattern of jagged, spiky shadows cast onto the rings. The icy towers casting the shadows are seen here at a highly oblique angle.

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ESA Exploration @exploration.esa.int · 30/09/2026

Happy New Mars Year! 🥳 At exactly 10:16 CEST/08:16 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet begins a new orbit around our Sun. Join us in celebrating martian year 39 🎉

Infographic with facts and figures about New Mars Year 39.

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 29/09/2026

This is gravitational lensing. Where the a bunch of galaxies are so, so massive they distort the fabric of spacetime itself, and bend the light from background galaxies billions of lightyears more distant.

From the source: "A massive galaxy cluster, made of many golden elliptical galaxies with the largest, brightest one in the centre. Heavily distorted orange galaxies appear all around the cluster, the largest concentrated in a large arc around the cluster's centre; these are images of very distant galaxies, created by gravitational lensing. A few galaxies are large and bluish-white in colour; bright, nearby stars are the same colour."

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European Space Agency @esa.int · 29/09/2026

A little help from Earth 🌍 On 28 September, our Juice spacecraft flew by Earth, using our planet’s gravity to adjust its course towards Jupiter, increasing its speed by 3.5 km/s while using very little fuel. Next up: another Earth flyby in 2029, before Jupiter in 2031. 🔗 esa.int/Science_Expl...

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Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

New paper out with @kaylastoy.bsky.social: academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 28/09/2026

These are what the clouds on Jupiter look up close. The small patches of white are cloud tops, soaring above the main, colourful cloud layer. Image from NASA's Juno spacecraft during its 38th close approach to Jupiter on 29 November 2021, processed by Kevin Gill (@kevinmgill.bsky.social)

A complex, swirling pattern of lighter and darker clouds. One large system, angled to the upper left in this scene, is a tawny brown colour and is elongate. Another, more circular storm system is at lower centre, and is a grey–greenish colour. The background swirls are various shades of grey to blue; small, white features dot the scene.

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

ESO @eso.org · 28/09/2026

Dark clouds and a starry night sky ☁️ ✨ The gleaming Trifid and Lagoon nebulae can be seen between our New Technology Telescope (left) and the ESO 3.6-meter telescope (right) at La Silla. But where does their red colour come from? Find out: www.eso.org/public/images/potw2639a 🔭 🧪

Two white telescopes, on two hills on the bottom left and right of the frame. In the background, the night sky features a lot of stars, and, in the centre of it, a dark cloud, in tones of black and brown, that goes from top to bottom. In the bottom of this cloud, spots shining in red and pink, and some blue, appear. Image by J. Rodrigues/ESO.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 28/09/2026

This is a photo of our home planet taken only a few hours ago! So what? We have photos of Earth taken from space every day. Ah, but *this* photo was taken by a spacecraft ON ITS WAY TO JUPITER.

From the source: "Mostly black space, most of Earth visible at the top right of the image. Part of a spacecraft visible on the left."

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Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, we honor the mothers and families who have suffered an unimaginable loss in service to our country. We owe them our gratitude, our respect, and a commitment to always remember the sacrifice their families have made.

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Michigan Space Grant Consortium @mispacegrant.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Today is the LAST DAY to register for the MSGC Fall Conference on 10/31! Our annual Fall Conference is an opportunity to make connections in the MI space community, and where MSGC awardees can present the results of their research & the impact of their efforts. www.mispacegrant.org/2026-fall-co...

Fall Conference flyer that says "Last day to register!"

Fall Conference attendees at a poster session in a large, open atrium.

Fall Conference attendees listen to a talk in a large lecture hall.

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/09/2026

The @stsci.edu posted this JWST image from 2023 earlier today—and I had to do the same. This is only a portion (about 50 lightyears across) of the Milky Way's centre. In this view, there's an estimated half-million stars. In our night sky, at a dark site, humans can see ~2,000 stars unaided.

From the source: "In a field crowded with stars, a funnel-shaped region of space appears darker than its surroundings with fewer stars. It is wider at the top edge of the image, narrowing towards the bottom. Toward the narrow end of this dark region a small clump of red and white appears to shoot out streamers upward and left. A large, bright cyan-colored area surrounds the lower portion of the funnel-shaped dark area, forming a rough U shape. The cyan-coloured area has needle-like, linear structures and becomes more diffuse in the center of the image. The right side of the image is dominated by clouds of orange and red, with a purple haze."

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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Carl Sagan 🧵 "The Fermi paradox essentially says that if there's extraterrestrial high technology intelligence anywhere they should have been here because if they travel at the speed of light, the galaxy is 100,000 light-years across, it takes you 100,000 years to cross the galaxy.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 24/09/2026

This is a SMALL version of the largest JWST image released so far—of IC 348, a star-forming region about 1,000 lightyears away. Open up the image and marvel in the incredible beauty even in our galactic neighbourhood. This is what it looks like when stars are born.

From the source: "A star-forming region. It is blanketed in thick clouds of gas and dust, millions of kilometres across, that form swirling patterns. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the centre of the scene. Each is crowned with six long points created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors. In the upper right, a couple of hidden stars blast out long, glowing jets of material."

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The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

JAXA's Hayabusa2 flew within 400 meters (1,300 feet) of asteroid Torifune on July 5 and confirmed it's a contact binary, two lobes stuck together. Tune in to Planetary Radio to hear what it means for planetary defense. www.planetary.org/planetary-ra...

planetary.org

Hayabusa2 flies by asteroid Torifune

NASA Chief Scientist for Small Body Exploration at Johnson Space Center, Paul Abell, takes us inside Hayabusa2's flyby of asteroid Torifune and the…

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

ESO @eso.org · 24/09/2026

Cloudy with a chance of dust ☁️ This cloud-strewn image shows RCW 36, an emission nebula within a larger complex, the Vela Molecular Ridge. RCW 36 is one of the closest sites to our Solar System where certain objects are forming. Read more: www.eso.org/public/images/potw1949a 🔭

Colourful view of a nebula, filled with clouds of red, orange, blue and dark gas and dust. Bright stars shine through the clouds.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 23/09/2026

This is the Dragonfly spacecraft, ultimately destined for Titan, photographed in July during early construction at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The mission PI, Zibi Turtle, shared this image at the OPAG meeting today. Credit: NASA/JHU APL/Zibi Turtle

The Dragonfly spacecraft structure, showing the main chassis, the four struts to which the propellers will be attached, and various electrical and avionics boxes.

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Reposted by Brian D. Wade

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 23/09/2026

Another stunner from JWST—this time part of a *much* larger scene I'll post later. This portion is made up of stars and protostars in a cluster about 1,000 lightyears from Earth. The bright, multi-point features are nearby stars. The smaller features in the background are other galaxies.

From the source: "A star-forming nebula that contains young stars called protostars. Two of these protostars are shooting out long jets that are colliding with the nebula, creating glowing, colourful outflows. A few other protostars create orange and red areas in the nebula. Most of the image is covered by blue gas, with brighter areas, denser clouds and dark gaps; the bottom-left corner contains greenish-yellow gas."

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H. B. Beryl Rappaport @hbrappap.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Our description of fire amoeba, 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴, is now online at Cell! Thanks @oliverio.bsky.social and amazing team for questioning the limits of eukaryotes! 🔥 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

cell.com

A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes

The amoeba Incendiamoeba cascadensis demonstrates that eukaryotic life can withstand temperatures beyond what was thought possible and sheds light on molecular strategies for survival in extreme heat.

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