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Jason Nishiyama

@evilscientistca.bsky.social
435 followers 157 following 753 posts

Teacher, astronomer, political scientist and father. I wrote a book once: evl.link/df Alberta, Canada

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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 13h
IC 4593 is a planetary nebula located about 7900 ly away in the constellation of Hercules. The IC (Index Catalog) is a supplement to the 1888 NGC (New General Catalog) published in 1895 and 1908. Both list several thousand non-stellar objects and are still in use. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
M72 is a globular cluster located about 54.6 kly away in the constellation of Aquarius. Typical of globular clusters, it is old, on the order of 9.5 billion years. #astronomy
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
Astrogeo 🇨🇦🇺🇦🌻 @astrogeo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Today, Crew 13 arrived in Florida to start their final preparations before their launch on October 1. The crew consists of (L to R) Russian astronaut Sergiy Teteryatnikov, NASA astronauts Luke Delaney & Jessica Watkins (Commander) and from Canada, Joshua Kutryk.
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
M70 is a globular cluster located about 29.4 kly away in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is thought to have some blue stragglers near the core. Globulars shouldn't have blue stars as the clusters are too old. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
M8 - the Lagoon Nebula - is an emission nebula located about 4100 ly away in the constellation of Sagittarius. Home of active star formation, M8 contains many Bok globules, dark nebular blobs that contain areas where stars are forming. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
M7 is an open cluster located about 980 ly away in the constellation of Scorpius. It is the southernmost Messier object. This put it very low on the horizon for this image from the telescope's location. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
M34 is an open cluster located about 1500 ly away in the constellation of Perseus. It's age is estimated at about 250 million years. It does contain some white dwarf stars which implies it's heavier intermediate mass stars (~6 solar masses) have fully evolved. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
There was I time in my life where I could enjoy kamaboko without being pestered by cats…
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Canada and Denmark/Greenland should build a joint base on Hans Island...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
M103 is an open cluster located about 9400 ly away in the constellation of Cassiopeia. The stars in an open cluster were formed more or less at the same time which makes them great natural laboratories for understanding stellar evolution.
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As we enter the “I’m going to hold my breath until I die and you’ll all be sorry when I’m gone “ phase of the US presidency.
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NGC 40 is a planetary nebula located about 5300 ly away in the constellation of Cepheus. Quite visible is the central star of this PN. This star is the former core of the progenitor star. No longer undergoing fusion it will cool slowly over billions of years. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
M23 is an open cluster located about 2050 ly away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The very bright star in the upper right is a foreground star, only about 330 ly away. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
That's going to sting...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
M42 is an emission nebula/star formation region located about 1270 ly away in the constellation of Orion. The second image shows the nebula as seen through filters that show light from oxygen, hydrogen and sulfur. You can compare that to the first image which is regular RGB. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
M36 is an open cluster located about 4300 ly away in the constellation of Auriga. M36 contains many hot blue stars which means that it is a very young cluster, about 25 million years old. Not old enough for the blue stars to have evolved to their ultimate demise. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun in our solar system. It gets its red colouring from large amounts of iron oxides on its surface. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
NGC 4361 is a planetary nebula located about 3400 ly away in the constellation of Corvus. The central star is very hot, about 126000 K. Despite this temperature the star has already left the Asymptotic Giant Branch of the HR diagram so it is no longer undergoing fusion. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A little FU to Hegseth...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Albireo is a double star located between about 350 to 400 ly away in the constellation of Cygnus. A striking pair in a telescope, it is one of the few things in the night sky the human eye can detect colour in. One start is distinctly blue, the other a golden yellow. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
M93 is an open cluster located about 3400 ly away in the constellation of Puppis. It is a group of stars that formed together about 387 million years ago and are now moving through the Galaxy. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
M40 is an optical double star located in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is an optical double as the stars only appear together in our line of sight. In reality one star is 470ly away and the other 1013ly away. They are not gravitationally associated. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
One wonders why the Hegseth is scrolling through photos of teenagers...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
M105 (lower right galaxy in the triangle of galaxies) is an elliptical galaxy located about 37 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. Like many large galaxies, M105 is known to have a supermassive black hole at its centre. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
M17 is an emission nebula located about 5500 ly away in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is an HII region, that is a region containing large amounts of ionized hydrogen. Stars are being formed here. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
NGC 7662 is a planetary nebula located about 5700 ly away in the constellation of Andromeda. Though a type of dying star, these objects got their name due to William Herschel comparing them to the planet Uranus which he had discovered earlier. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
M46 is an open cluster located about 4900 ly away in the constellation of Puppis. The planetary nebula NGC 2438 appears to be in the cluster, but is a foreground object, being only about 1400 ly away from us. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
M95 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 33 Mly away in the constellation of Leo. Unlike normal spirals, barred spirals have a prominent bar of stars moving through their cores as seen in M95. Our own Galaxy is a barred spiral.
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Given the bluster coming from the Trump administration and the relative quiet from the Canada side, it's easy to figure out who's panicking about a lack of deal...
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
Luke Fevin @according2luke.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Would be a shame if someone turned off that tap...
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2026
Popping in from a social media break to say: Reflect Orbital still totally sucks! www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/21…
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
What was the US demanding? Control over our trade deals with other countries. But while demanding increased “sovereignty” for Alberta in Canada, Danielle Smith and the UCP would have had us stay at the table for that? #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Abell 2666 is a galaxy cluster located about 350 Mly away in the constellation of Pegasus. Galaxies tend to be found in clusters as minor fluctuations in the energy of the Big Bang caused mater to coalesce in regions around voids. #astronomy
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
Simon Oldridge @sioldridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Fed up with people shirking responsibility by arguing that the UK causes just 1% of emissions? Here are two fantastic analogies from a primary school teacher, Mark in Coventry, who called Sheila Fogerty on @lbc.co.uk - one involving dog poo 😆 Other arguments here: www.nebriefing.org/mp-dialogue
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Reposted by Jason Nishiyama
Astronomy Picture of the Day 🪐 @apod.shinyakato.dev · 17/08/2026
🔭 A Golden Corona Eclipse Image Credit & Copyright: Rui Santos (Living Impressions) ap260817
A total eclipse Sun is featured in the image center.
Around the Sun is a filamentary gold-hued corona flowing
out in all directions. 
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Yep, way to risk everyone's life just so you can be a couple of cars closer to the red light...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The double cluster is a pair of open clusters located about 7500 ly away in the constellation Perseus. Unlike most objects in space that appear close to each other but aren't, these two clusters are actually only a few hundred ly apart. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is a long period comet that passed through the inner solar system in 2023. The long period comets are thought to originate in the Oort cloud, a cloud of cometary bodies surrounding the solar system upwards of 1 ly from the Sun. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
M11 is an open cluster located about 6100 ly away in the constellation Scutum. An incredibly rich cluster, it is reasonably easy to find and looks good even in binoculars. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Ye olde Air Force survival instructor skills still occasionally come in handy….
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
M1, the Crab Nebula, is a supernova remnant located about 6000 ly away in the constellation of Taurus. M1 corresponds to the supernova of 1054 which we know of primarily due to Chinese records of that time. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
M24, the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, isn't a singular object, but a hole in the dust of our Galaxy that allows us to see 10 kly to about 15 kly deeper into the Galaxy than the surrounding sky. The cloud is just the untold millions of stars we see through the hole. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
M26 is an open cluster located about 5200 ly away in the constellation of Scutum. A relatively young cluster at about 85 million years old, it is a group of stars that were formed at roughly the same time and are now drifting off into the Galaxy. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
M30 is a globular cluster located about 27 kly away in the constellation of Capricornus. Its orbit is retrograde, that is opposite the orbits of the general galactic flow suggesting it was captured. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Am I the only one who gets the feeling the UCP are pushing mail in ballots for their referenda in order so they can claim the ballots are somehow corrupted if the referenda don't go the UCP's way?
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
NGC 6826 is a planetary nebula located about 2000 ly away in the constellation Cygnus. The two brighter parts coming from centre are FLIERs. Fast Low-Ionization Emission Regions are basically jets of fast moving gas moving from the centre of the nebula. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
This is cool - Betelgeuse has a companion: evl.link/tf
evl.link
Astronomers find strongest evidence yet that Betelgeuse has a companion - “The conclusion of a century-long quest”
At long last, astronomers have firm evidence that Betelgeuse, one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), a...
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
M109 is a barred spiral galaxy located about 67 Mly away in the constellation Ursa Major. Of the objects in Messier's catalog of non-comet fuzzy objects M109 is the farthest from Earth. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
NGC 2438 is a planetary nebula located about 1400 ly away in the constellation of Puppis. Though it appears in the open cluster M46, it is not a member of the cluster. It is considerably closer as the cluster is about 5000 ly away and so is a foreground object. #astronomy
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Jason Nishiyama @evilscientistca.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
M9 is a globular cluster located about 25.8 kly away in the constellation of Ophiuchus. Globular clusters orbit our Galaxy in its halo. They have also been detected orbiting other galaxies. #astronomy
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