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Kevin M. Gill

@kevinmgill.bsky.social
11K followers 503 following 3.1K posts

Engineer, data wrangler, and martian photographer at NASA-JPL, Los Angeles. Curiosity Rover ECAM PUL. Saturn native, commutes to Jupiter. USMC vet. Opinions are mine apoapsys.com

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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 17h
Oh, fun
A plume of smoke from up in Bouquet Canyon north of me. In the foreground is a baseball field.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 18h
Before and after 24 hours in white vinegar
A rockOther side of the rockThe rock. The dark angular clasts are still dark but the other stuff is now white and chalkyThe rock. The dark angular clasts are still dark but the other stuff is now white and chalky
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Some rocks from Palos Verdes. Breccia with (correct me if I'm wrong) chert, hydrothermal barite (massive, botryoidal or rosettelike) and diatomaceous shale / siltstone. flic.kr/p/2sEaPNH flic.kr/p/2sE3u8g flic.kr/p/2sE8JaD flic.kr/p/2sEaPMW
Breccia with veins of, I think, barite and/or calcite.Breccia with siltstone/shale and barite with some rosette-like crystals.A rock with some chert, barite, and maybe some diatomaceous shale/siltsone. Little weird pockets of maybe more barite, some of which have their own little weird pockets of a more translucent barite.Botryoidal barite(?) on shale/siltstone. Propped up on a greenish rock composed of, um, stuff.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Couple rocks in UV light. Two rocks from Palos Verdes (San Onofre Breccia?), and two sides of some volcanic ash from Santa Clarita (tuff beds in the Mint Canyon Formation). flic.kr/p/2sDUi5v flic.kr/p/2sDZwHM flic.kr/p/2sDZwJ3 flic.kr/p/2sE1mJ4
A rock in UV in which the lighter tones are a lot brighter relative to the darker areas than they are in normal light. Some bright colors from some minerals fluorescence.A light toned rock. Some bits fluoresce a bright orange.A flat rock that is otherwise bone white in normal light. Bright specks of fluorescent orange line it.A flat rock that is otherwise bone white in normal light. Bright specks of fluorescent orange and blue line it.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
150 Seconds of City Light - A stack of 10 images, 15 seconds each, taken by Anil Menon aboard the International Space Station on September 20th. flic.kr/p/2sDNZ95
Streaks of light from stars (above) and city lights (below). Steaks are interrupted periodically during breaks in the exposures. The atmosphere appears green. Some components of the ISS are seen at the edges.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Anil Menon/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You know that milky white rock you picked up when you were a kid and you thought you just picked up the awesomest rock ever and your friends were all gonna be super impressed? Yeah, that was quartz.
My daughter standing in a rocky stream bed alongside some brush and trees. She is holding an iron-stained chunk of milky quartz in front of her face. She is wearing her grandfather's old hiking hat and a tshirt from the Europa Clipper mission. This is part of the San Gabriel Anorthosite-Syenite-Gabbro Complex.A picture of a chunk of iron-stained quartz that I'm holding up. A rocky stream bed and some green brush is in the background. This is part of the San Gabriel Anorthosite-Syenite-Gabbro Complex.Me holding a chunk of quartz schist from the Pelona Schist formation north of Los Angeles, California.
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 28/09/2026
These are what the clouds on Jupiter look up close. The small patches of white are cloud tops, soaring above the main, colourful cloud layer. Image from NASA's Juno spacecraft during its 38th close approach to Jupiter on 29 November 2021, processed by Kevin Gill (@kevinmgill.bsky.social)
A complex, swirling pattern of lighter and darker clouds. One large system, angled to the upper left in this scene, is a tawny brown colour and is elongate. Another, more circular storm system is at lower centre, and is a grey–greenish colour. The background swirls are various shades of grey to blue; small, white features dot the scene.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Amazing sunset over Santa Clarita, California yesterday. flic.kr/p/2sDfY6t flic.kr/p/2sDfY6y flic.kr/p/2sDfsnP flic.kr/p/2sDgiy7
Dramatic sunset clouds over a hill. I promise you I didn't even touch the saturation or vibrance levels for these.Dramatic sunset colors beyond silhouetted treesBrilliant sunset cloudsKelvin–Helmholtz instability waves
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Bee still so I can take your picture! flic.kr/p/2sCZ8rj flic.kr/p/2sCZqP1 flic.kr/p/2sD1zJp flic.kr/p/2sD1zJ9
A bee walking on asphalt A bee walking on asphaltA bee walking on asphaltA bee walking on asphalt
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I got the Anthrax vaccine. I'm surprised I can hear them
Anthrax.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Small cactus in the desert. flic.kr/p/2sCw1JK flic.kr/p/2sCgZsQ
A small cactus alongside a firebreak trail. Strong sunglare obscures the top. Weeds stick up around the cactus.A small cactus alongside a firebreak trail. Strong sunglare obscures the top. Weeds stick up around the cactus.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The backstop ads are making games so annoying to watch. Do we really need six mastercard logos? @redsox.com
A baseball game. There are are five ads for Mastercard behind the batter. A sixth ad is on the pitchers mound.A baseball game. There are are five ads for whatever the hell CFP is behind the batter. A sixth ad is on the pitchers mound.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Closeup of a cluster of dark pebbles embedded in a rock surface. Image taken by the Mars Perseverance Rover on Sol 1982 (yestersol). flic.kr/p/2sBoAgx
A dusty rock. The left side has lighter bits in a gray matrix. The right side is much lighter with darker mottling and is closer to the camera and mostly out of focus. In the center is a cluster of dark pebbles that are somewhat embedded in the light toned rock. The cluster (and a few similar, but smaller clusters) seems to sit in a small pocket seeming to indicate that they are more resistant to erosion than the surrounding white matrix.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Jupiter - PJ25-24 - Detail - From Kevin M. Gill (kevinmgill.bsky.social) - flic.kr/p/2ivZQdX
JNCE_2020048_25C00024_V01

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Melina Thévenot🏳️‍⚧️ @melina-iras07572.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Proper Motion of stars in the galactic center with #JWST NIRCam F182M. programs: 1306, 4515 www.stsci.edu/jwst-program...
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New postcard from Curiosity using Navcams taken on Sols 5000 & 5003 science.nasa.gov/photojournal...
science.nasa.gov
Curiosity Postcard Celebrates Rover’s 5,000th Day on Mars - NASA Science
While parked at a sand ridge nicknamed “Chocolatal,” NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas at two times
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Actually able to photograph a dragonfly in flight. Again! Photos taken in Bakersfield, CA. flic.kr/p/2sB3H2Y flic.kr/p/2sB3tDK flic.kr/p/2sB3H34 flic.kr/p/2sAWFCR
A yellow and red dragonfly, possible a Wandering Glider. It has it's wings extended and is in flight. In the background and out of focus are trees.A yellow and red dragonfly, possible a Wandering Glider. It has it's wings extended and is in flight. In the background and out of focus are trees.A yellow and red dragonfly, possible a Wandering Glider. It has it's wings extended and is in flight. In the background and out of focus are trees.A yellow and red dragonfly, possible a Wandering Glider. It has it's wings extended and is in flight. In the background and out of focus are trees.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Early pre-dawn view of the city lights of Los Angeles, the rest of Southern California, and Northwest Mexico on September 8th, taken by Astronaut Jessica Meir aboard the International Space Station. flic.kr/p/2sB1uXM
An early morning view of the city lights of and around Southern California. Pre-dawn sunlight is filtering through the atmosphere. The Moon and Jupiter are at the top right. In the foreground, a solar panel of the ISS crosses the picture. Green aurora is faintly visible at the left. 

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Jessica Meir/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Nice little bits of epidote in this rock my daughter found today
Green epidote in white quartzLittle green bits of epidote in white quartz(may not be entirely quartz, I'm not sure).
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Steve says Hi
This is Steve. I call him that because I refuse to say his full name. Which is Montgomery Picklesnout the Great. See? I'm not typing all that out.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Photo of a bedrock exposure surrounded by sand and some light and dark toned granules. Taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover using MAHLI on Sol 5010 (yestersol) flic.kr/p/2sAdbou
A light brown bedrock exposure surrounded by sand and some light and dark toned granules. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Judy Schmidt @geckzilla.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Here's a big ol' Jupiter from JWST. Made specifically for a new exhibit opening at Chabot Space and Science Center next month. flic.kr/p/2szV9op
flic.kr
Big Jupiter
This is a new version of my JWST Jupiter image I did a few years ago when the telescope first started releasing data. Mason Hall, exhibit designer at Chabot Space and Science center in Oakland wanted ...
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Purple and green aurora photographed by Jessica Meir from the International Space Station on September 7th. flic.kr/p/2szQgJG
Purple and green aurora over the city lights of south central Russia near the border with Kazakhstan.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Jessica Meir/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Chunk of actinolite schist from nearby, cleaned and with some mineral oil applied*. Found in an abandoned talc/soapstone quarry. * Keeps anything asbestiform safe, and it looks pretty.
A green chunk of actinolite, a common metamorphic rock. It's composed of long needle-like crystals.A green chunk of actinolite, a common metamorphic rock. It's composed of long needle-like crystals.A green chunk of actinolite, a common metamorphic rock. It's composed of long needle-like crystals.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The workspace in front of the Mars Curiosity Rover following its Sol 5004 drive this week. The drive target was that little gray/blue rock in the center. flic.kr/p/2szd9j2
Rocks and sand. A small(ish) cobble is in the lower center.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Neat study out of Caltech that studies the structure and depths of the Los Angeles Basin and Moho (top of the lithospheric mantle) by combining a grid of seismic monitors and gravity measurements. The LA Basin has up to 10km of sediments, but interestingly, the Moho pokes up to 15km under downtown.
Map of residual Bouguer gravity anomaly across the Los Angeles Basin (LAB), with color indicating residual gravity values. The circles represent the temporary deployments and are colored by survey–red dots denote the LAB 2022 Survey while yellow dots represent the Los Angeles Syncline Seismic Interferometry Experiment Array (Ma & Clayton, 2016). The triangles represent the permanent broadband Southern California Seismic Network stations. Thin black lines represent Quaternary faults (Jennings & Bryant, 2010). The dashed black outline indicates the LAB's boundary polygon. The gray dashed line marks the boundary of the sedimentary basins in the northern part of Los Angeles. HF ‐ Hollywood Fault; SMF ‐ Santa Monica Fault; NIFZ ‐ Newport–Inglewood Fault Zone; PVF ‐ Palos Verdes Fault; WF ‐ Whittier Fault. The building symbol represents examples of major urban areas. DTLA ‐ Downtown Los Angeles; LB ‐ Long Beach; SM ‐ Santa Monica. The inset shows the regional setting of the LAB. The red line denotes the San Andreas Fault Zone. The black polygons show the major sedimentary basins in the greater Los Angeles. SFV ‐ San Fernando Valley; NLAB ‐ Northern Los Angeles Basins; LAB ‐ Los Angeles Basin. Three stars in the inset mark the teleseismic events used in this study: (1) Rat Island, 2022/06/04 (Mw 6.3, depth 106 km, 48.0° epicentral distance); (2) Peru‐Brazil, 2022/06/08 (Mw 6.5, depth 616 km, 61.8°); and (3) East Pacific Rise, 2014/10/09 (Mw 7.0, depth 16.54 km, 66.0°).3D Basin depth model for the Los Angeles Basin (LAB). The basin depth is interpolated between the stations (triangles). The dashed blue polygons outline the subregions in the LAB. The subregions in the LAB are the Northwestern
Block, Central Block, Western Shelf, and Southern Block.Cross‐sections across the Los Angeles Basin. The inset shows the basin‐depth map from Figure 5. Cross‐section A–A′ follows the West Array, B–B′ follows the East array, C–C′ follows the Los Angeles Syncline Seismic Interferometry Experiment Array, and D–D′ crosses the basin from northwest to southeast. The cross‐sections show the Moho geometry, crystalline crustal thickness, and stratigraphic intervals bounded by the interfaces mapped in this study: from the top of the basement to the base of the Mohnian, from the base of the Mohnian to the base of the Repetto, and from the base of the Repetto to the surface.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I'm from New Hampshire and I talk like I'm from New Hampshire. Wicked.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The most engagement I've ever gotten on Instagram is with a post a few days ago where I referred to Lake Ontario as Lake Ontario....
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
As a comparison, I did a quick & dirty processing of Saturn's south pole using Cassini RGB & nIR imagery taken during two observations on September 10, 2009. flic.kr/p/2syLnic flic.kr/p/2syEJdz
Saturn's south pole. Two pointings, map projected and stitched together. Minor contrast enhancement. Processed with red, green, and blue filters, but probably not true color (I didn't try). 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. GillSaturn's south pole. Two pointings, map projected and stitched together. Minor contrast enhancement. Processed with near-infrared methane absorption filtered images (CB3 & MT3). Contrast enhanced & false color.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It might be worth looking through Cassini ISS & VIMS imagery to see if this structure existed in some form then...
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Some shots of the Moon over the Earth's horizon from the International Space Station between August 30th and 31st. flic.kr/p/2syx4Rh flic.kr/p/2syz3FS flic.kr/p/2syHpCX flic.kr/p/2syDcv7
The Moon over the Earth's upper atmosphere. 

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. GillThe Moon over the Earth's upper atmosphere. 

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. GillThe Moon over the Earth's upper atmosphere. The Moon is warping due to atmospheric refraction.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. GillThe Moon over the Earth's upper atmosphere. The Moon is strongly warped due to atmospheric refraction.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. Gill
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
That's the first time that I am happy with my processed image of an observation of Neptune by Hubble, so I am sharing it here too! 🔭 This observation was done yesterday around 6pm UTC. The data come from the 17964 proposal led by Mariarosa Marinelli.
A picture of Neptune as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet appears in dark blue, with some storms near the poles and the equator looking like white spots and streaks.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Large dust devil near the Mars Perseverance Rover on Sol 1966 (yestersol). NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Easily one of the funniest things in the world is a dog burping.
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MLB @mlbbot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Payton Tolle is an absolute gem 😭
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Met this little critter this morning :-)
A lizard (western fence lizard) on the side of a house
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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Two weeks Two continents Two eclipses
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Right now, the Curiosity Rover is parked up next to a large sand ripple having just used the front right wheel to push in some sand to reveal layers below the grainy crust. Looks like Curiosity will spend Sol 5000 checking out that wheel scuff. flic.kr/p/2sxScRB
A black and white Navcam view of a large sand ripple. The ripple has a crust of grainy armor. A thin ridge of sand forms a "mohawk" along the length of the ripple. Around the ripple are loose rocks in sand. A butte with strata is in the background. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Dr. Scott Hartman - but not THAT kind of doctor @skeletaldrawing.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Have you ever wanted to visually compare the size of your favorite extinct animals? Now you can, as I'm launching an interactive size comparison tool on my website. Give it a try and let me know what you think: www.skeletaldrawing.com/compare/
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Abigail Fraeman @abbyfrae.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
A lucky break in the clouds provided views of the lunar eclipse over JPL 🌔 🌘 🌑
View of lunar eclipse over the Flight Project Center at JPL
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The clouds cleared just long enough to get a shot of tonight's lunar eclipse :-) flic.kr/p/2sxJtCP
The Moon in partial eclipse.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Sunlight glinting off of Lake Ontario caught by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on June 14, 2012, and May 29, 1999. flic.kr/p/2sxFSWs flic.kr/p/2sxH1fK
Bright sunlight reflecting off of Lake Ontario in the foreground and other lakes in the background.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. GillSunlight reflecting off of Lake Ontario.

NASA/ISS/JSC/ESRS/University of Texas at El Paso/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The workspace in front of the Mars Curiosity Rover following its Sol 4996 drive this week. flic.kr/p/2sxEq26
Rocks and sand.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Reposted by Kevin M. Gill
Ryan J Hollister @phaneritic.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I think this also speaks to the density of the debris flow being able to buoy a rock that size.
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Mars' moon Phobos captured by the Perseverance Rover using MastCam-Z on Sol 1961 (yestersol). flic.kr/p/2sxAFSx
A lumpy, pear-shaped gray moon. The sunlit side is a crescent with some higher terrains beyond that illuminated. The darker side has a faint reddish marsshine glow to it. That marsshine reveals a large depression at Phobos' top left which maaaaaaaaaaaaaay be the crater Stickney. 


NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The Moon tonight, wrapped in clouds
The effectively full Moon shrouded by cloudsThe Moon with cloudsThe Moon with cloudsThe Moon, but I waited for the dumb clouds to get out of the way (mostly)
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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
From NASA Running up that hill! Today, NASA’s Curiosity rover reached the pinnacle — so far — of its 14-year mission on Mars, when it marked an elevation gain of 1 kilometer in its ongoing journey from Gale Crater up the slope of Mount Sharp. go.nasa.gov/4d5tZlo
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A pocket of pebbles and sand in a bowl-shaped depression on one rock, and another with wind-blown nodules and weird little pits. Images taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover yestersol (Sol 4995) using MAHLI. flic.kr/p/2sxqsaN flic.kr/p/2sxqL82 flic.kr/p/2sxqsaT
Small pebbles and sand on a grainy rock surface. The camera is about 5cm offset from the pebbles.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. GillA pocket (25cm camera offset) of pebbles and sand on a grainy rock surface with a bowl-shaped depression. There are some small sand-filled pits. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
A view (25cm camera offset) of a flat rock surface. The surface is covered by nodules that are wind-eroded with tiny trailing ridges. There are some weird little sand-filled pits. A faint circle in the middle indicates that the DRT brush has been applied. 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
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Red Sox @redsox.com · 26/08/2026
JARREN DURAN GRAND SLAM IN THE 11TH!
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Nice greenstone of indeterminate type, found in Carlsbad, California, and polished.
A dark rock. Black matrix with light and dark green veining with quartz. The rock is smooth and shiny.A dark rock. Black matrix with light and dark green veining with quartz. The rock is smooth and shiny.
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