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Steve Desch

@deschscoveries.bsky.social
4.9K followers 234 following 704 posts

Professor of astrophysics / planetary science / meteoritics at Arizona State University.

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Reposted by Steve Desch
Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 12h
My Experience at Princeton and the Cornell Rape Case martinlongman.substack.com/p/my-experie... Some things never seem to change, or don't change enough.
martinlongman.substack.com
My Experience at Princeton and the Cornell Rape Case
As a teenage townie, I had a firsthand look at the culture of Ivy League all-male clubs.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
So happy the IAU approved my idea to name two asteroids for Tom Lehrer and “Weird Al” @alyankovic.bsky.social news.asu.edu/20260929-sci...
news.asu.edu
ASU astrophysicist instrumental in naming asteroids in honor of Tom Lehrer and 'Weird Al' Yankovic | ASU News
Thousands of asteroids have been named after people, but not just anyone can garner that honor.The International Astronomical Union (IAU) governs asteroid naming and sets the rules. The asteroid disco...
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#OTD in 1901, #EnricoFermi was born. His scientific work stands out for originality and range. He was an exceptional scientist, capable of lightning-fast intuitions, but also a tireless worker, deeply human towards colleagues, students, family, friends. A thread.⤵️ ⚛️🔭🧪 #HistSci #Physics
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🇨🇦 Dianne S @dfs-comedy.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026
Two of my musical heroes now have asteroids named after them. (14330) Tomlehrer and (14331) Alyankovic
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Andy Rivkin @asrivkin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Not even a Mars-crosser, so no worries about hitting any planets. Looks like a couple of kilometers in size, part of the Nysa-Polana complex which is a real mess in terms of sorting out histories, so tough to make an educated guess about composition.
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Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) @iaacsic.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Todo listo para la #NIGHTSpain 🩷
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
co-sign
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darren32359.bsky.social @darren32359.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
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Michele Bannister @astrokiwi.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Interested by ISOs like 3I/ATLAS? PhD opportunity in interstellar object observations, here in New Zealand. Join our Ōtautahi-Oxford group & the NZ Gravity collaboration. Start by March 1. ☄️🔭
gravity.ac.nz
PhD Scholarships – Statistics, Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitational Wave Astronomy | New Zealand Gravity
About us The NZ Astrostatistics and General Relativity Group (NZ Gravity) is a cross-institutional research team spanning astrophysics, cosmology, ma...
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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
And here are their orbits and where they both are today
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It’s me! I got the ball rolling a year ago. Tim McCoy was instrumental and Allison McGraw helped. We got two asteroids named, thanks to discoverer Bobby Bus: (14330) Tomlehrer and (14331) Alyankovic. Two of my musical heroes, as you can tell from the citations I wrote.
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René Duffard @reneduffard.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
El flash central de Plutón Un equipo francés estudió un fenómeno interesante observado en las ocultaciones estelares provocadas por Plutón y Tritón: la aparición de destellos centrales en la sombra. Este fenómeno conecta la física… todoastronomia.net/2026/09/20/el-fl…
todoastronomia.net
El flash central de Plutón
Un equipo francés estudió un fenómeno interesante observado en las ocultaciones estelares provocadas por Plutón y Tritón: la aparición de destellos centrales en la sombra. Este fenómeno conecta la física ondulatoria del siglo XIX con la atmósfera de estos cuerpos celestes, revelando propiedades luminosas que desafían nuestras expectativas.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Martin Longman sees further into the future than almost any other political prognosticator. He’s earned this birthday victory lap. Definitely worth following or buying a subscription! (HB Booman!)
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The Copernicus Marine Service @copernicusmarine.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
As the #Arctic loses its ice, it loses its inhabitants. With the Arctic warming, it has lost a third of summer sea ice since 1993, reducing the habitat availability for some of its most iconic species. #DataViz #OSR10 #CopernicusMarine
The infographic illustrates the decline of Arctic sea ice from 1993 to 2023 with graphs showing average sea ice extent and temperature changes. It highlights the impact on species like the Polar Bear, Pacific Walrus, Ringed Seal, and Ivory Gull, including statistics on their populations and ranges. The bottom section features a map of the Arctic region, emphasizing climate change's impact on ice loss.
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
For the 1st time, an extrasolar planet has left a radio fingerprint of its own, distinct from its star’s. 🔭 That fingerprint also tells us how strong its magnetic field is.⚛️ The planet is called β Pictoris b.🧪 Illustration Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org) #planetsci #astronomy
Artist’s impression (not a photograph) of the young giant planet β Pictoris b. A large, banded gas world fills the foreground, lit in warm orange-reddish and brown, with a bright young star  farther back against a starry sky. 
Artwork from 2014, made for the first measurement of the planet’s spin, not for the radio detection. 
 
Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1414a/
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Very informative explanation if what math AI did and did not do.
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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 16/09/2026
👀👀👀 First direct measurement of exoplanet magnetic field 🪐🧲 ECMI between exoplanet's magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction, with two bursts eight hours apart (rotation ~9 hours) And look at that Stokes V switching handedness as B_field orientation rotates! 🤩 Magnetic fields are the best!
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Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) @iaacsic.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
✔️  El telescopio espacial James Webb descubre que los invisibles anillos de Chariklo están cambiando 🌐 www.iaa.csic.es/noticia/jwst... @csic.es @csicandalucia.bsky.social
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Amateurs. If I fetishized death, I’d pick names from the *really* big killers, names like Plague, or Toxin, or Musk.
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Mike Okuda @mikeokuda.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Today, September 8, 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek’s premiere on American network television. From the beginning, there was something special about this show. >> [more]
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Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Maybe Trump No Longer Know What He Did On 9/11 martinlongman.substack.com/p/maybe-trum... Yeah, he was not pulled from the burning Twin Towers by firemen.
martinlongman.substack.com
Maybe Trump No Longer Know What He Did On 9/11
He’s told so many lies about that day, and for so long, that it’s possible that he can no longer distinguish the truth from his fabrications.
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...
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Astronomy 🔭 @astronomy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Scientists have mapped a route to chase down Halley's Comet and fly alongside it for months when it returns in 2061 Gravity assists from Jupiter and Saturn plus ion engines would match its backward orbit Launch has to happen before 2040 or the window closes
An artist's concept of a spacecraft with solar panels and glowing ion engines flying alongside a rocky, icy comet with a bright white tail against a starry space background.
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Daydream Believer @monkeesmemories.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
⭐️ Star Trek Day ⭐️ STAR TREK premiered 60 years ago today on September 8, 1966, just four days before the premiere of THE MONKEES on September 12!
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René Duffard @reneduffard.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Granada en la misión Comet Interceptor El Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA) participa activamente en la misión Comet Interceptor, liderada por la ESA. Aporta experiencia en instrumentos de imagen que estudian… todoastronomia.net/2026/09/05/grana…
todoastronomia.net
Granada en la misión Comet Interceptor
El Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA) participa activamente en la misión Comet Interceptor, liderada por la ESA. Aporta experiencia en instrumentos de imagen que estudian el cometa, analizan el entorno cometario y conectan observaciones terrestres con datos espaciales, contribuyendo al entendimiento de la formación de los planetas.
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
1/10 The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment — LZ — sits in a South Dakota mine. In the liquid xenon it caught one unusual flash. A hint of #darkmatter? It’s far too soon to celebrate. Here are the facts — with the caveats. ⚛️🧪🔭 newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/09/01/l... Image by M. Kapust / Sanford Research Facility
Technician in a white clean suit stands on a metal platform beside a large white cylindrical detector, several metres tall, with photomultiplier tubes around the top rim and bundles of copper cables at the base, inside a stainless-steel laboratory.
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René Duffard @reneduffard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Comet Interceptor La Agencia Espacial Europea está planificando la misión Comet Interceptor, que estudiará cometas completamente nuevos y potencialmente objetos interestelares. Lanzada en 2029, se ubicará en el punto L2 y esperará a… todoastronomia.net/2026/09/02/comet…
todoastronomia.net
Comet Interceptor
La Agencia Espacial Europea está planificando la misión Comet Interceptor, que estudiará cometas completamente nuevos y potencialmente objetos interestelares. Lanzada en 2029, se ubicará en el punto L2 y esperará a interceptar un cometa prometedor. Su enfoque innovador y flexible podría cambiar la exploración del Sistema Solar y permitir descubrir materiales primitivos.
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
1/12 Under Gran Sasso (Italy), a detector built for dark matter has seen the Sun’s faintest neutrinos: a very light knock on an electron (elastic scattering). It is the lowest energy threshold ever reached for detecting any #neutrino.⚛️🧪🔭 www.physics.columbia.edu/news/xenonnt... #physics
Illustration from the XENONnT paper.
 
From the left: the Sun, then a plot of the solar neutrino spectrum. The XENONnT tank sits in the middle, with two flashes labelled S1 and S2. Earth is over on the right. Dashed lines follow the neutrinos from the Sun into the detector and on toward Earth.
The new low-energy part of the measurement is drawn in red.

By XENON Collaboration, Figure 1
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The city of Tempe, Arizona, says it is ending its Flock program
Tempe, AZ - The City of Tempe has turned off its Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) system and will end its contract with the company. The cameras are no longer collecting license plate data and will be removed by Flock. The City will not seek another company to replace the system.
While the cameras have been a useful tool for Tempe Police, helping officers solve crimes, recent cases involving the misuse of automated license plate reader systems in Arizona and nationwide have raised concerns about the risks that come with the technology.Tempe Police has found no misuse of its own Flock system. The department audits its searches each month, and no improper use has been identified.
"These cameras have helped our police officers do their jobs, and we don't discount that," said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. "But the risk of misuse is too great. We have to be able to provide public safety in a way that maintains the trust of our community. For Tempe, that means taking these cameras down."
"Any law enforcement tool used by the City must not pose a risk of infringing on residents' civil liberties," said Tempe Councilmember Bobby Nichols. "We have a responsibility to ensure that these technolo- gies are only employed if they present a narrowly tailored solution to a compelling government interest. I'm grateful to the City staff for this quick action and responsiveness to constituents' concerns."Residents may continue to see Flock cameras in Tempe until the company removes its equipment. Data previously collected by the system is stored for 30 days and then automatically deleted unless it is connected to an ongoing case or investigation. In those cases, the data may be retained as needed for the investigation. No new license plate data is being collected now that the system has been turned off.
Ending the use of the Flock system will change how Tempe Police approaches some investigations. Officers will continue to use other investigative tools and law enforcement partnerships to prevent crime, solve cases and respond when the community needs
them.The decision follows steps Tempe took earlier this month in response to community concerns. On Aug. 10, the City stopped sharing its Flock data with other law enforcement agencies. Tempe Police also launched a public Transparency Portal so residents could see how the system was being used. The portal will be discontinued now that the Flock system has been turned off.
The City of Tempe remains fully committed to both community safety and transparency. Residents can continue to track Tempe's public safety performance through the City's Strategic Management Performance Measures.
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Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
When Texas Falls to the Dems, That’s the End of Modern Conservatism martinlongman.substack.com/p/when-texas...
martinlongman.substack.com
When Texas Falls to the Dems, That’s the End of Modern Conservatism
Long ago, I predicted this day would come in 2028, but it could come two years early.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Me encanta la intersección entre geología, astronomía, y las matemáticas!
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
1/9 #Gluons are the mediators of the strong force: they hold together the #quarks inside protons and neutrons. Unlike photons, however, they can stick together. This property has led researchers to search for nearly 50 years for a particle made only of gluons: a #glueball. ⚛️🧪 #physics #histsci
Scientific diagram comparing the decay patterns of the lightest 0^{-+} glueball and the ηc meson. The figure shows similar decay channels and branching ratios between the two particles, highlighting their resemblance.

Fig. 2 from: Shan Jin, “BESIII discovers a glueball-like particle X(2370) in J particle decays”, Nuclear Physics B 1028 (2026) 117495.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysb.2026.117495
(CC BY 4.0)
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 13/08/2026
The wealthiest man in human history—who clearly performed several Nazi salutes on Inauguration Day 2025—is directly responsible for the deaths of up to 14 million people, including 4.5 million children, by 2030. He's not "quirky" or "weird" or "awkward". He's a fucking monster.
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Anneli Jefferson @annelijefferson.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
In honour of Bonnie Tyler, I am posting this absolute banger - the literal version of total eclipse of the heart. Enjoy. youtube.com/watch?v=fsgW...
youtube.com
Total Eclipse of the Heart Literal Video Version
YouTube video by artistwithouttalent
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
If you’ve ever wondered why we can’t have nice things: r > g, so we will always have to suffer a stupid and selfish billionaire class imposing their will on us, even if by technological force. Brilliant thread.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Nice summary of fascinating work! I am amazed by the advances in our ability to map our Galaxy and our place in it.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
So much right in this article. And yes Robert Reich is a dawg!
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I honestly wasn’t expecting to run across this museum.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
no they don't
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xkcd Bot @xkcd-bot.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Antiques Roadshow xkcd.com/3281 (alt-text too long for a BlueSky message, see image alt-text instead) Explain xkcd: www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/…
The family lore was that we've had it ever since it was ejected from a star-forming gas cloud, but it seems more likely that my great-grandparents probably just bought it while on vacation in the galactic thin disk.
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
2/2 4. Short-Lived Radionuclides in Meteorites and the Sun’s Birth Environment (PP7) faculty.epss.ucla.edu/~eyoung/repr...
faculty.epss.ucla.edu
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
1/2 The four 2023 works by Desch et al. : 1. Statistical Chronometry of Meteorites. I arxiv.org/abs/2212.00390 2. Statistical Chronometry of Meteorites. II arxiv.org/abs/2212.00145 3. Origin of Low-²⁶Al/²⁷Al Corundum/Hibonite Inclusions arxiv.org/abs/2307.07750 🔭🧪⚛️ ⤵️
arxiv.org
Statistical Chronometry of Meteorites. I. The Pb-Pb age of the Solar System's t=0
We use rapidly cooled achondrites to test the assumption of 26Al homogeneity in the solar nebula, by checking if there is a single value of tSS, the absolute "Pb-Pb" age of the Solar System's t=0, tha...
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
1/11 #JWST has revealed something unprecedented about Neptune. For the first time we have spectra of three small inner moons (Larissa, Galatea, Proteus) and the rings. 🔭 Their composition is unique in the outer Solar System.⚛️🧪 www.caltech.edu/about/news/n... #planetsci #Astronomy #Science
Diagram showing the proposed origin of Neptune’s present-day small inner moons and rings. An earlier system of large moons is shattered when Triton, a captured Kuiper Belt object, arrives. The breakup exposes clay minerals from the deep interiors of those ancient bodies; a small fraction of the resulting debris later reaccretes into the moons and rings we see today. 

Credit: R. Davis
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
That’s bad right?
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Downplay a book or movie: Love in the time of a cold that’s going around
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Jodrell Bank is a piece of world radio #astronomy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site still leading research & training new astronomers🔭🧪⚛️ Shutting it down to save a tiny fraction of science budget is short-sighted. We can't let it become a rusting monument to discoveries never made. #SaveJodrellBank
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 25/07/2026
Admirable clarity @science.org
The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

That’s it. That’s the story
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Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · 24/07/2026
The claim “RFK Jr. does not fuck chickens” is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that RFK Jr. fucks chickens.
KEY POINTS
• The claim 'vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based
claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.
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Steve Desch @deschscoveries.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
TFW the first Viking images of the Martian sky should be red but you blue it.
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