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Ned Wright

@mapping3k.bsky.social
529 followers 139 following 466 posts

UCLA astronomer working on space CMB and IR. On the COBE, WMAP, SIRTF and WISE missions. Asteroid (241527). See my cosmology tutorial at www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog…

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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So ESA's JUICE mission www.esa.int/Science_Expl... successfully executed a gravity assist flyby of the Earth today on its way to Jupiter. Congratulations! But why spend 8 years getting to Jupiter? The Hohmann transter only takes 2.6 years. Time is money after all.
esa.int
Juice
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Recently opened near me. Strangely enough I have nothing to do with it.
Brick building with a blue & green sign reading “Cosmo Prof”
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Back in LA but a rainy Labor Day weekend is a totally different place. Using my Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrored Room - “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” souvenir coffee cup.
Wet green background seen through picture windows and glass sliding doors with man holding coffee cup in foreground.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Back in LA after 6400 miles in a 2027 Bolt. Annoying that Tesla has some charging stations that are only for Tesla vehicles. SUPER annoying that GM includes these stations in their their route planning database! Nothing like arriving at a charger with low battery and not being able to use it.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
On the road again! Back to LA 2027 Chevy Bolt uses a Tesla charging port but the red superchargers with the hole has a cord too short to reach the Bolt port. So I have to hog two spaces But the new superchargers have longer cords.
Old supercharger with short cord New supercharger with loner cord
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Trump claims the US controls the Strait of Hormuz and that plenty of oil is getting through. But the price of gas is up 88 cents/gallon and diesel is up $1.90/gal. Conclusion: Trump is deliberately screwing over America! But more likely Trump is just lying about our "control". 1/3
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Lunar eclipse tonight peaking at 0012 EDT. Here’s a pic of the Moon rising over Water St a couple of nights ago.
Waxing gibbous Moon in a twilight sky with power lines and poles
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Revisiting what remains of the R/V Chain (just the nameplate hanging in the Captain Kidd) 57 years after I spent a week at sea on her during my gap year between college and grad school working at NRL.
Black painted board with CHAIN in gold letters and me wearing a white WISE cap and blue shirt.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Unfortunately the mission to reboost the Swift GRB mission has failed. This was an extremely ambitious project but it failed before it got to attempt the ambitious parts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_b...
en.wikipedia.org
Swift boost mission - Wikipedia
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Got a backstage tour of WHOI yesterday including the yard and lab where Ocean Observation Initiative moorings are refurbished. This is a surface float which has solar panels, wind turbines, satellite communications, and meteorological instruments.
20 foot tall buoy colored white, yellow, and blue with humans for scale on the right.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Went on a road trip to Hyannis today. Had lunch at Spanky’s Clam Shack and then a harbor cruise. Heard a lot about Hyannisport, Then the JFK Museum and JFK Memorial shown below.
JFK Plaque based on the half dollar behind a round fountain
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Beautiful morning for a race. Here’s the elite women on Nobska Rd, 2 miles into the race.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
More than 100 portapotties have sprung up in Woods Hole around the start with more along the race route. Over 11,000 runners registered. Wheelchair start 7:40 AM EDT Sunday 8/16/26. These are at WHOI’s Redfield Lab.
Red brick building with blue portapotties and a white tent.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The R/V Hugh R Sharp has left Woods Hole. The Falmouth Road Race is in 2 days, and the starting line in front of the Captain Kidd is freshly repainted.
Blue sky, 2 cedar shingled buildings, and a street crossed by a blue/white/red/white/blue line marked “ START”
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I got an E-mail announcing the Planetary Defense Conference 2027 exercise. These are always fun. See cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/pd/cs/pdc27/ The conference is May 3-7 2027 in Montreal, so of course the risk corridor goes through the Montreal area. Will humans be smarter than the dinosaurs? Wait and see,
cneos.jpl.nasa.gov
Planetary Defense Conference Exercise - 2027
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Jetty at the National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Woods Hole. Normally one can fish from the jetty but it’s awash under a high spring tide.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Sophisticated observation of the 15% partial eclipse. Left is during eclipse while right is before
Sun shining through holes in a strainer spoon during the eclipse.  Notch is at lower rightSun shining through holes in a strainer spoon before the eclipse
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The R/V Hugh R. Sharp is back at WHOI’s Smith Dock this morning - 8/12/26.
Partly cloudy skies over a ship with a blue, gold, and white hull.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Trump lies about vaccines to push an anti-vax agenda and kill kids. Remember that Trump fast tracked COVID-19 vaccine development with Project Warp Speed and pushed himself to the front of the line in Dec 2020 to get the approved shot.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A lot of the overgrown vegetation has been cleared from the Saturn sign.
Lush green vegetation beside the Shining Sea Bikeway with a sign depicting Saturn for the scale model Solar System
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Had fun at the Science Stroll today Lots of exhibits set up on Smith Dock, MBL, Waterfront Park, and the Fisheries No big R/V in today but here’s a photo showing a big ferry pulling in.
Smith Dock with the R/V Tioga on the left, exhibit tents in the middle, and the ferry Aquinnah behind.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Good bike ride this AM (8/6/26) up to the Sippewissett Marsh which is just past Uranus on the scale model solar sytem.
Large marshland with a distant house.Different angle on the marsh.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
At 6 PM on 8/5/26 both the Lynx and the Corwith Cramer have gone out.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This morning 8/5/26 the R/V Hugh R. Sharp was gone. The Corwith Cramer and the Lynx are still docked.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Shipping news: the Lynx, a topsail schooner that is a replica of a privateer from 1812, is tied up at Smith Dock. In the summer she sails daily with tourists out of Nantucket but maybe today’s weather is a bit too much, or she’ll be open during the Science Stroll
Two-masted tall ship tied up in Woods Hole.  Wooden hull painted black.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Shipping news: the R/V Hugh R. Sharp is back in Woods Hole, this time on the other side of Smith Dock so it’s closer to the Corwith Cramer.
Blue sky, wispy clouds, a big sailing ship on the left and a white and blue ship on the right
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The Eel Pond population of striped bass seems to be flourishing. These big guys were hoping I’d throw some dead squid culled from the MBL specimen holding tanks in the building behind me into the pond.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Ship news in Woods Hole: The Corwith Cramer is provisioning probablyto go out to sea.
Two-masted ship with a Sysco truck on Dyer’s Dock
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Yesterday 7/29/26 the visiting R/V Hugh R. Sharp from Delaware departed leaving the WHOI Smith Dock with just the small R/V Tioga. MBL’s R/V Discovery is tied up to the MBL dock.
Cloudy skies over the Smith Dock on the left and the MBL dock at right.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The Smith Dock at WHOI now hosts a visitor: the University of Delaware’s R/V Hugh R. Sharp. It’s a good bit smaller than the Atlantis.
Ship at dock with hull painted in blue, gold, and white with a big “University of Delaware” on the side.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The Atlantis went out this morning so Smith Dock looks empty. You can still see the masts of the Corwith Cramer behind though.
Smith Dock rather empty.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
The Corwith Cramer, a 134 foot steel brigantine, is back in port after a week out. It is run by the Sea Education Association.
White two masted ship tied up at a wooden dock with the bridge of the Atlantis visible behind.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The R/V Atlantis came in to Smith Dock at WHOI today presumably carrying the DSV Alvin.
Blue sky above a ship with blue hull and white superstructure and a building on the left
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
In Woods Hole thru August. Enjoying the Shining Sea bike path and the scale model Solar System. But the Earth sign was destroyed for a hyperspace bypass and the Saturn sign is way overgrown.
Me in front of Saturn in the scale model solar system which is barely visible to the left of my beardClose crop of the Saturn sign behind foliage
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
It's now 3.5 weeks after earliest sunrise in LA, and the sunrise is now 6.5 minutes later and getting later by 0.5 minutes per day. It's only a week since latest sunset though. Still the days are getting shorter. No morning low clouds and fog today.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
The cannonade has started and it’s not yet dark
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
4th on the pier which is under construction
Santa Monica pier from Seaside on the Pier rooftop
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Mission to reboost Swift launched! The race against drag is on. When we first proposed WISE, Swift and FAME beat us out. Swift has been a great success, while FAME (Full-sky Astrometric Explorer) could not meet the budget cap and was canceled. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/s...
nytimes.com
A Rescue Mission to Save NASA’s Swift Telescope Launches to Orbit
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
It's Asteroid Day! 118 years ago to the day an object banged into Tunguska in Russia knocking down trees over 2000 sq. km Probably close to a 10 Megaton blast, 20x bigger than Chelyabinsk in 2013. I'm working with an undergrad on applying the NEATM to rotating ellipsoids. First we visualize!
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Happy June solstice In the Northern hemisphere it’s the longest day In the Southern hemisphere it’s the shortest day
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I won an SDSS fiber plug plate for my axe throwing skills at #AAS248
Ned Wright holding a large aluminum disk with many drill holes.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Sunrise is very early In LA June 12th was earliest sunrise but also very foggy so here’s a picture from today The Sun is behind the big hill on the left In Pasadena for the AAS meeting next week the sunrise will be a minute earlier since it’s farther East
Sunrise sky but the Sun is hidden by the hills
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Trump likes to use non-standard percentage math to emphasize price declines. Trump also claims "a 100% approval rating among MAGA voters". But polls of American voters say Trump only has a 33% approval (AP-NORC), By Trumpian percentage math, that ls down 200%!
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
What's going wrong with @nytimes.com home delivery in LA? Got this message on Sunday and again today.
Error message from The New York Times:
We're sorry, but we're unable to deliver your paper today.  However, we'll redeliver it tomorrow.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
No traditional Memorial Day BBQ: Paella!
Weber kettle with flames Paella sitting on Weber kettle
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Another election checked off - voted early in the CA jungle primary Ballot was 8 pages!
Me wearing a WISE logo shirt with an “I VOTED” sticker.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
This AM I walked past this stub of Dellwood which is a staircase serving 2 houses off Quito.
Signpost at intersection of Dellwood and Quito
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Odd sight at UCLA: 6 Coco food delivery robots lined up by the chemistry building at 4:45 PM on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. Why?
 Brick building in background, then white pickup truck on left and tree on right, then sidewalk with a flock of robots, then road in foreground.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Me in front of the Metro D line station at Wilshire/Fairfax and the Petersen Museum
Me with Wilshire/Fairfax Metro station and Petersen Museum in background
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Went on a bird walk at the Ventura settling ponds this AM. Did see birds like this mama duck with 6 ducklings.
Mama duck with ducklings to the left on shoreMama duck and 6 ducklings swimming
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