iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Real Santa Cruz sunset photo from last night, as the fog rolled in while the sun was setting..... Just crazy!!

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

As seen in Santa Cruz, vol. 232: $12 tortilla chips in a small bag. Are these like, MAHA chips!? Because seed oil is apparently the source of all the world's health problems, let's use *beef fat* instead. I've seen a lot of unusual foods at our local natural food stores, but this one takes the cake.

100

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The highlight (for me) was Prof. Andy Skemer's early rejection of a shot, followed by a Motumbo finger wag and strut. By the end we had no energy left for such antics.

static.klipy.com

Not In My House

ALT: Not In My House

020

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The first annual (?) faculty vs. "everyone else" basketball game in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, at UC Santa Cruz, resulted in 26-16 victory for the faculty team! This was every bit as physical as a Bulls-Pistons game, circa 1990.

1110

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The fact that this got zero traction means it was a good choice to not go for a Patty Duke-themed JWST proposal title. (They're cousins...identical cousins....)

221

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Andy Rivkin @asrivkin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

We _think_ there's over 2800 submitted so far, with a bit less than 5 hours to go. I hear that 2855 went in last cycle.

031

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Kelly Lepo @kellylepo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My first thought when looking at this: very cool, but what planet is it? It's the Earth🤦‍♀️ Why does the Earth look smooth and featureless, other than the auroral ring? It's because Smile is an ultraviolet telescope, and Earth's atmosphere is opaque at ultraviolet wavelengths shorter than ~300 nm.

3376

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

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

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

20684170

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Identical "cousin" planets?! Sounds like this JWST proposal needs a fun title based on the 60s sitcom the Patty Duke show?! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr8n... (My mom used to sing the theme song when I was a kid.)

youtube.com

Classic TV Theme: The Patty Duke Show

YouTube video by David Gideon

000

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

So this happened at our hybrid in person /zoom faculty meeting yesterday....

131

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

As seen in Santa Cruz, vol. 381. Note the bottom line. No going solo!

030

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"C'mon Jimmy, lets take a peek at the killing floor. Don’t let the name throw you, Jimmy. It’s not really a floor; it’s more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported."

060

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Yvette Cendes @whereisyvette.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

If @science.org is covering it, I guess I should share something here- we have for the first time definitively detected radio emission from a planet around another star! 🔭🧪🎢 What does this mean? Details in thread! (But TL;DR- still not aliens) 🧵 www.sciencenews.org/article/exop...

sciencenews.org

First radio waves seen from an exoplanet hint at otherworldly auroras

The gas giant Beta Pictoris b, about 63 light-years away, has the mass of 10 Jupiters and a magnetic field thousands of times as strong as Earth’s.

919365

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Well, it's done. 😢 Here we go!

040

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Julia Raifman, ScD @juliaraifman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Routine childhood vaccines have brought immense benefit to the US For children born 1994-2023: ⬇️ 32M fewer hospitalizations ⬇️ 1.129M fewer deaths ⬇️ $504B direct savings ⬇️ $2.7T indirect savings Both science & policy have been essential to achieving these benefits www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

cdc.gov

Health and Economic Benefits of Routine Childhood...

This report describes health and economic benefits from routine childhood vaccines among children born during 1994–2023.

12513

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Planetary Science Institute @psi.edu · 18/09/2026

PSI Co-founder William Hartmann is both a planetary scientist and accomplished space artist, using his scientific understanding to help bring other worlds to life. Explore some of his visions of the Moon. ⬇️ See some of these pieces in person at PSI 9/19! Details: buff.ly/Jg9CDTw #SciArt

196

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Bruce Macintosh @bmacastro.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Postdoc opportunity! I'm looking for a postdoc to work with me on coronagraph performance and modeling and science. The primary project is understanding Roman with an eye to HWO; secondary project could be a side order of GPI2. aas.org/jobregister/...

aas.org

Postdoctoral Scholar in Adaptive Optics & Coronagraphy | American Astronomical Society

The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California Observatories has an opportunity for a postdoctoral researcher working on analyzi...

093

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Textbook update: I just read the whole thing.....AGAIN. I'm doing some minor tweaks but within a month I hope it will be approved by the editorial board and moved onto production (still more to do then), meaning (hopefully) a Fall 2027 publication.

2110

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

The Onion @theonion.com · 16/09/2026

Gas Station Price Sign Using Scientific Notation

283657747

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Dr. Amber Straughn (she/her) @astraughnomer.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

WOW! “As a result of exquisite planning by our orbital dynamics team, brilliant execution by the operations team, and a precise launch from SpaceX, Roman has fuel for at least 22 years of potential science ops” science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/...

science.nasa.gov

Fuel Savings Double Potential Lifetime for NASA’s Roman Mission - NASA Science

The results are in: NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s very accurate first mid-course correction, along with other fuel savings, are expected to more

1216

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Current view just outside my office window...

160

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

American Astronomical Society (AAS) @aas.org · 14/09/2026

The American Astronomical Society today announced that Dr. Emily Levesque (University of Washington) has been confirmed as the next Editor in Chief of the AAS journals. 🔭https://aas.org/press/emily-levesque-named-editor-chief-aas-journals @publishing.aas.org

291570228

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Winner for the most "Santa Cruz" thing I saw this past week!

050

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Cesium reacts most explosively with water, so innately cool.

100

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

My wife, coming into the bathroom: "What's your favorite element"? Me, brushing teeth, mind racing!....so many choices!, maybe cesium? but just thinking, not talking.... Her, impatient: "The electrolyte drink flavors -- lemonade?" Me: "Oooh, yeah, sure. I was thinking of the periodic table. Her: 😑?!

380

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I was wondering why there was a beat....

010

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

We're threadin' the frickin' needle up here!!! 🧵😬🤯

150

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Always great to catch up with professor Eric Ford, at Penn State. We're like dinosaurs, having started our PhDs before there were *any* transiting exoplanets!

080

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"The undergrads at UCSC had at least some sense of style. The Penn State undergrads all just wear athleisure wear or oversized Penn State gear." --Postdoc

040

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

14 hours later, I'm at my hotel. Don't ask.... 🫤

100

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Mike Brown @plutokiller.com · 31/08/2026

um, no? calling it a planet in 1930 was the actual mistake. but we fixed it and are all good now thanks.

2354257

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Heading off to Penn State today for a 2-day visit and colloquium! Lotta exoplanet folks there!

170

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Saturday night at 9 PM. Are you *also* working on the last last changes to your draft textbook after 4 1/2 years....?

170

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Apologies if you've heard this story before but with tomorrow's launch of the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope I’m gonna tell it again. April 1997, I was a new postdoc at @carnegiescience.bsky.social 's Dept of Terrestrial Magnetism (now Earth & Planets Lab) and was asked to give dept seminar. 1/ 🔭

23514

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Yesterday was the last day of the 8th Other Worlds Laboratory exoplanet summer program at UC Santa Cruz, which brought 70 researchers to campus for stays of 1-3 weeks to build and foster research collaborations. As is customary, the last activity is the Monterey Bay sail!!

0110

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Campus wildlife are ready for the last day of OWL at UC Santa Cruz!

0101

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The end of OWL, week 2, Prof Andy Skemer's BBQ at Natural Bridges State Beach!

040

Reposted by Jonathan Fortney

Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The spacecraft that was hoped to boost Swift to a higher orbit has failed, and now the gamma-ray hunting space observatory is doomed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere later this year. Swift's an AMAZING mission, and I'm really sad to see it go. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-swift-... 🔭🧪

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

The Swift spacecraft reboost mission has failed

Swift has a few months at most before it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere

716146

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

A great pic by Zifan Lin of the UC Santa Cruz mascot, a Banana Slug, at the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) today. *On a redwood tree*, no less!!!

160

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

A big group for Week 2 at the Other Worlds Laboratory in Santa Cruz this week!

060