iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I bought a bass guitar missing ...well, all the electronics. Seemed like a fun project. So far so good - pickup, pots/cap make it sound pretty nice. Need to work on the neck a bit and fret 2 on the low "E" strong either needs glue, or filing, or both, because that string buzzes when low F played.

An electric bass guitar with no electronics or pickup / pick guard. There are strings on the guitar. Color is a deep green.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

When you're casually walking around your property with the wife and you stop to see what the grey thing is in a bush and realize IT'S A BAT! (We think it was a hoary bat.) That was the highlight of my day, people. It was a good highlight, to be clear.

What appears to be a hoary bat hanging upside down in a bush.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

We also have sneezeweed on our property, which is native (yay!). Oddly enough, it doesn't have pollen that naturally floats through the air to make you sneeze. However, if you actively collect the pollen, grind it up and snort it, it will make you sneeze (which is apparently how it got its name).

A photo of sneezeweed, a yellow flowered prairie plant.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

We finally have big blue stem grass on our property! (It took 3 years to get that tall.)

A prairie space. The tall grass is big blue stem.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Got up to 94F (34C) today. That was a bit warm. A dip in the pool was refreshing. I'd like to take a moment to thank my wife for researching the pool, getting the pool installed and taking care of the pool (I do call it "her" pool).

Photo of a pool at night. A blue light shines in the pool, illuminating the water.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Maximum eclipse this evening. As long as compression doesn't squash them out of existence, at least three stars are visible in this image. The Moon did not look quite this red, but I boosted the brightness slightly so the southern portion could be seen better in the image.

A lunar eclipse showing the full Moon nearly in red, but the very top portion still in white where the Earth's shadow did not cover the lunar surface.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I think the camera and telescope are ready for tomorrow night's lunar eclipse. Who else will be watching it?

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

A lot of clouds so not much chance for meteors tonight. But I did see the Summer Triangle.

The stars of the Summer Triangle surrounded by puffy white cumulus clouds.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Well that was....not fun. 87 mph wind gust recorded about two miles away.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Went to my first ever drum lesson today and .... the instructor wasn't there. He had a gig. In New York. (I'm in Illinois.)

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

A storm or three strolled through today.

An image of a lightning bolt above a house. There is a purple leaf tree in the foreground and two green leaf trees to the left and right of the image.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Spent FOUR HOURS helping my daughter buy a car yesterday only to discover the dealer had fraudulently added $2,200 to the financing which my daughter CLEARLY had said "No" to, so I had to raise my voice at them and threaten to kill the deal before they updated the contract. So that was fun (not).

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

My lovely wife noticed a flower she didn't recognize on our prairie earlier this week. I took a photo and used Google Lens. Appears to be Rattlesnake Master, which would definitely be a first for our property.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Gotta love seeing fireflies in the backyard. I could even make them light up by flipping my hand over my phone's flashlight and flashing at them.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Restoring a bit of land to natural prairie is an exercise in immense patience. We planted a wide range of prairie seeds THREE YEARS AGO. Today, I finally saw FIRST THE FIRST TIME EVER on our property: Blazing star Yellow coneflower Purple coneflower (echinacea)

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Trailhead Jen @thjen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Two firsts: I'd never taken a truly satisfactory photo of a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth. Their unbelievably fast nectaring pattern has always made that challenging. But yesterday I did, for the first time, of the very first one I've documented on my property. #nature #moths #nativeplants #insects

A large-bodied moth hovers with its proboscis stuck into a light purple bloom of Bee Balm. The moth is olive green on the top half of its body, and a ruddy brown on the bottom.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Not mine. But my wife says she'll let me use it if I'm good. 🤪

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Because, as always, Mercury is a tough one to capture even in the best of circumstances (like tonight) here is Jupiter and Venus at upper left and Mercury at lower right with the arrow pointing to it.

Jupiter at left, and Venus to the right and above it. Mercury is to the lower right just above the second peak in the roof where the arrow is at.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My wife has wanted one for a while, and they were on sale, so .... She is now the owner of this 200mm / 8" Dob. 😁🔭 (She was ridiculously excited. She also was not fond of the photos I took with her in them so here's the scope by itself.)

A white 200mm diameter Dobsonian style reflector telescope on green grass in front of a pale blue shed.

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Rob Tilsley @stargazerrob.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Tonight's view of Jupiter and Venus from #Buckfastleigh

Monochrome landscape photo. Completely dark foreground, silhouette of hedgerow on the left, and trees on the right. Deep twilight adds light to the sky, although it is quite dark, with a number of stars scattered around. There is some distant cloud just above the horizon. Two very bright star-like objects are near the center, Venus the brighter, higher and to the right of Jupiter.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Seriously? Why. Just....why.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Wife, at 8:10 this evening: "The under sink hot water heater is leaking." A trip to Lowes, $213 and 90 minutes later, we have a new under sink hot water heater. I hate plumbing.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Got all four anchors for the shed into the ground, and the anchors attached to the shed. Then installed the exhaust fan for it to stay cooler in warmer months. Figuring out how to route the solar panel wire was a challenge, but got it all set up and working. Oh and the laundry is done too. Whew.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

All the different robots that companies are making are admirable, I suppose, but all I want is this one so my wife and I don't have to do laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. Is it just me?

An image of Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Aristarchus is a really freaking bright crater on the Moon. Last night I photographed it when it was just past the terminator on the lunar surface. Brought out a few subtle features in that area that can be harder to see most times. 102mm Explore Scientific refractor & Pixel 10 Pro as camera.

The crater Aristarchus (middle) and the surrounding area on the lunar surface.

A photo of a waxing gibbous Moon with the Aristarchus crater area circled in red.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Tonight's Moon. (Not through a Zeiss this time, but still pretty good.)

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

We got an offer on our other house we've had on the market for several months. Any and all good vibes, positive thoughts, etc. greatly appreciated because I reeeeeally need that house to sell.

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Season of Scaryanne Denton 🧡🎃 @mariannedenton.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Yesterday morning’s native bees for your Tuesday afternoon. All the purple pollen for these two. 1/6

Two small black greenish native bees collecting pollen inside a white wildflower. The wildflower has white petals with yellow coloration at the base fringed in purple. There’s six large stamens with dark purple pollen.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

What does the Moon look like through an 8" diameter ZEISS refractor lens? Pretty darn good, actually.

$A very long refractor telescope on a tall mount.$

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Our little prairie space was looking pretty nice today. The grasses are starting to grow after me having mowed a lot of them down last fall. It was a little breezy.

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Season of Scaryanne Denton 🧡🎃 @mariannedenton.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Three more pollinators from yesterday

A three panel photo of a bee, skipper butterfly and wasp. Each is on a white five petal flower with a light yellow cushion of stamens in the center. The flower is on a shrub in a park.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Date night last night with my lovely wife. The food was AMAZING. And I'm not even really a foodie-type person.

A flight of three small glasses of red wine in the foreground with a lovely blonde lady smiling behind them. There is some abstract art on the wall behind her.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

So, gasoline rising from $3.29 a gallon to $4.59 a gallon hasn't slowed people down on the highway yet. Just curious at what price it will slow them down.... Over $5.00? More? Perhaps people will keep driving just as fast and complain more instead of doing something they can control. Thoughts?

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🌬D a y d r e a m Astro 🌈⃤ @daydreamastro.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Needle Galaxy 🪡- a beautiful edge on spiral seen almost perfectly side on from our viewpoint here on Earth. That bright central bulge is packed with stars, while the thin dark lane is dust blocking the light behind it, giving it that striking needle like appearance. #astro

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I would simply like to point out that space science is quite literally ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ACTUALLY MAKES IS GREAT! Defunding it will make us, well... not so great anymore, which is dumb AF. (I say this notwithstanding all the other general stupidity floating around the White House.)

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

So we went to war - err...conducted a "military operation" - to degrade Iran's nukes and leadership. And the Iranians got/demand: A more hard-line leadership, Strait of Hormuz $2,000,000 per ship toll, all U.S. military leave region & no sanctions. That about right? And that's "winning"? Huh.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This bird looks like a real life Muppet to me.

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Mandy Daniels @mandydaniels.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

#Waxing #Gibbous #Moon Date: 2026 03 27 Time: 19:10:12 UTC Altitude: 56° 53' Distance: 371 130 km Phase: 72% Nikon Z8 iOptron Rumak 150 Exposure: f/12, 1/125s, ISO-400 Focal Length: 1800 mm #astronomy #astrophotography #craters

Waxing gibbous Moon in a black sky, leaning to the left at about 60°. Craters can be seen along the terminator.

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Mandy Daniels @mandydaniels.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

#Waxing #FirstQuarter #Moon Date: 2026 03 25 Time: 18:56:22 UTC Altitude: 63° 18' Distance: 365 549 km Phase: 50% Nikon Z8 Skywatcher 200P Exposure: f/5.9, 1/125s, ISO-100 Focal Length: 1200 mm #astronomy #astrophotography #craters

First quarter standing with the terminator almost vertical in a black sky. Many craters can be seen in detail along the terminator with long shadows falling across the crater floors.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Mare Crisium - the "Sea of Crises" - is a dark, oval basaltic plain in the Moon’s northeast. It formed from an ancient impact that then filled with darker lava. It is even visible naked eye from Earth! (Better thru a telescope.) The Luna 24 mission landed here, which returned lunar soil to Earth.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

NGC 2264, 90 minutes, Seestar S50. This region of sky contains what's known as the Christmas Tree Cluster, and if you flip this image upside down, the "cone nebula" is at the top of the "tree" and the bright star is kind of near the base. It's a star forming region about 2,500 light years away.

The star cluster and nebula of NGC 2264.

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Ernie Jacobs @astro716.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

M1 - The Crab Nebula. This is a composite of RGB data from 2026 plus Ha and Oiii data from 2024. To my surprise, the Crab Pulsar is visible in the image. Details in this blog post: astronomy716.blogspot.com/2026/03/m1-c... #space #astrophotography #astronomy

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Matthew Paulson @matthewpaulson.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Barred Owl Pair spending some quality time together away from the nest. This was shortly after the one on the right took a bath in the creek. Loved watching this pair this year. 🪶

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

I hope I continue to always be amazed at the images a mere $500 telescope can capture from my backyard in just a few hours of time. Set up my Seestar sometime after 8:30 pm last night. Carefully levelled, aligned, etc. Aimed at M42. Let it capture 1.5 hrs of data. A few editing tweaks & "Voila!"

The Great Orion Nebula (M42 & M43) taken with a Seestar S50 telescope. 90 minutes of data. Processed on a Google Pixel 7 pro.

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Kym @ The Evening Sky Map @skymaps.com · 19/03/2026

New Moon occurs at 1:25 UT (now) on 19 March 2026. Start of lunation 1277. 🌟 The next few days remain a great time for evening stargazing. Download The Evening Sky Map (PDF) (skymaps.com/tesm/) and enjoy exploring the Universe with your eyes, binoculars or a telescope! 🔭 #stargazing #space

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Naztronomy @naztronomy.com · 17/03/2026

Here's the other galaxy in my Askar 120APO first light image. Review of the scope: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-YX... This is a combination of H-alpha from a dual narrowband filter and RGB from uv/ir cut filter. #astronomy #astrophotography #space

~17 hours of M81, Bode's galaxy with the Askar 120APO.

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Reads the news. * waves hands vaguely around in all directions * [opens mouth to speak] [closes mouth] Sigh....

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Dave @astronomydave.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Well, we cancelled our solar eclipse trip to Iceland. I am disappointed, but in the big picture, it's a better decision for us not to go. Anyway, here's a photo from the 2024 eclipse.

The "Diamond Ring" effect during the April 2024 solar eclipse.

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