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Thomas Boyd

@iprovosttom.bsky.social
1.9K followers 454 following 2.6K posts

30 years in higher ed: teaching, research, and admin. Retired. Loving life with my wife, my cat, the Big Lebowski, music, backyard astronomy, and bike racing. Proudly liberal. No DMs. Oh, and I swear - I mean like I swear a lot...

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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Seahorse Nebula (Barnard 150) in the constellation Cepheus. Image was created from 17 hours of data collected from my front porch in Boulder.
Seahorse Nebula.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
To Serve Man. My all-time favorite TZ episode. I even have the shirt:
T shirt. Kanamit's Drive-in Diner.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Count Orlok - Nosferatu
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Starting my October tradition of watch horror films early this year. By horror, I mean the horror that I grew up with: Hammer, Universal, API, etc. Tonight’s film, the Hammer film, Night Creatures…
Movie poster, Night Creatures
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Mine was Missile Command. A couple of semesters, was able to arrange my class schedule so on MWF I finished at 1 pm. Local bar offered all you could eat chili bar and discounted beers (Moose Head, local favorite). Spent entire afternoons eating chili, drinking beer, and playing Missile Command.
Video game: Missle Command
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Reminds me of Frank Zappa's stage shoes:
Frank Zappa's platform stage shoes.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Current work in progress, the Sea Horse Nebula (Barnard 15) in the constellation Cepheus.
Sea Horse Nebula (Barnard 150). A dark nebula in Cepheus.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Latest work in progress. The Flying Dragon Nebula (Sh2-114) in the constellation Cygnus.
Flying Dragon Nebula in Cygnus.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Because Trump is such an avid bowler? What, has he become the Dude?
Cast picture, The Big Lebowski.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Never had too much time for him, until I listened to this. Great vocalist:
Jeff Beck - Truth
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Final version of my image of DWB111, the Propeller Nebula - an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This is an SHO image constructed from 13.6 hours of observational data.
The Propeller Nebula in SHO.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Galaxy Quest - It's the simple things...
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Once Upon a Time in HollywoodThe Big LebowskiThe Chronicles of RiddickThe Burbs
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Does Donald know this?
Trump staring at eclipse
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A friend (@piratetodd.bsky.com) put this together 🤣
AI image of Trump cowering in a catering van...
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
He's become a Weeble:
A Weeble Wobble...
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
So did this one - 5 million sold - and it literally burst into flames if you rear-ended it:
Ford Pinto
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My cay in a box.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
My cat, Elvis, is currently channeling how I feel every time I hear Trump speak:
Elvis the cat sitting in a box and looking completely POed…
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Latest version of my image of the Propeller Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This image is an HOO image - still needs additional OIII data. And I plan on collecting SII data for a final SHO image of this target. But, as an intermediary image, it's starting to look pretty good...
HOO image of the Propeller Nebula in the Constellation Cygnus.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Chronicles of Riddick
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Agreed. We adopt older kitties. Below is our current kitty, Elvis. We adopted him a year ago, when he was 9. If you can't tell from the picture, he's a sweetheart...
Elvis the cat under a Christmas tree.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Bought a new astro camera. Decided to upgrade my camera from a one-shot-color camera to mono. Still waiting for some filters and clear nights, but my first night I collected 2 hrs of Ha data on the Propeller Nebula. So far, I like the results...
Ha image of the Propeller Nebula in Cygnus
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Who knew he was there in Canterbury in 1968 to help name one of my all-time favorite groups. Had no idea the Great Donald was a big prog rock fan. I'm clearly going to have to reconsider some of my life choices...
Album cover. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Trading Places meme - Looking good, Billy Ray!
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Most recent image, The Witch's Broom. Part of the Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The Veil Nebula is a supernova remnant of a star about 20 times as massive as our sun that exploded 10,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Witch's Broom Nebula. Part of the Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Archer - Do you want ants? This is how we get ants.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
From Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "And there was much rejoicing."
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Great Archer tie-in. Well played
Archer saying: “ Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants.”
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
And these guys made their debut:
King Crimson - Hyde Park
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Most recent image - Messier 92. A globular cluster of stars in the constellation Hercules. Globular clusters are actually outside, but orbiting our galaxy. This cluster is one of the oldest in our galaxy with an age of about 11 billion years.
Messier 92 - a globular cluster in the northern hemisphere.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Is it just me or is JD our reality's version of the sniveling ass kisser The Deep from The Boys? I will grant they are somewhat different; instead of fucking octopuses, Vance fucks couches:
The Deep from the series The Boys
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
And what could possibly go wrong?
Cybertruck
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Here's to hoping he chooses to play golf instead:
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Ad for Brawndo, it's what plants want, with US President Camacho...
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Hey, I just saw this on The Boys. Reality is getting stranger than fiction:
Still from The Boys. Dancers strutting to the glory of Homelander.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Just back from a quick vaca to western Colorado. One of the places we visited was the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Truly amazing. This is Painted Wall in the Black Canyon. The Wall is 2,300 feet tall and composed of rock that is close to 2 billion years old...
Painted Wall - Black Canyon of the Gunnison
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Hang on a second, wasn't he engaged to this monstrosity last year?
Kimberly Guilfoyle
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
The band Stillwater from Almost Famous
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Second image from Telescope Live. This is the core of the Running Chicken Nebula in the constellation Centaurus. Image is in SHO (I kept a lot of green, as I happen to like green). 9 hrs of data. A bit disappointed in the TL data for this target, a lot was unusable due to clouds. Expected better QC
Core of the Running Chicken Nebula in the constellation Centaurus. Image is in SHO palette.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Been cloudy and windy here, so opted to buy some data from Telescope Live. Can still up the game on my processing skills, and look at data I couldn’t collect from Boulder. This is NGC 1365. 20 hours of data were acquired in Chile at a dark sky site on a 24” scope!
NGC 1365
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Love Amost Famous. And if you haven’t already read Cameron Crowe’s book, The Uncool, I highly recommend…
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Picture of Elvis the wonder cat lounging in a chair…
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
But farmers are like:
Animal House meme; thank you sir, may I have another.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
My most recent image. This is of Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. Just under 10 hrs data. This includes a bit of Ha data to help better define the massive, red, Ha nebula in the galaxy.
Image of Messier 101, the Pinwheel Galaxy.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Republicans when asked about Trump's latest escapade...
Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Is it really any surprise that an idiot who wears this as their resting face would be slow on the uptake?
Portrait of Tucker Carlson showing his resting face.
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Thomas Boyd @iprovosttom.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Best Star Trek crew, wrong answers only
Cast of the movie Galaxy Quest
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