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Dr. Nick Attree

@nickattree.eurosky.social
1.5K followers 720 following 1.1K posts

Planetary scientist @iaacsic.bsky.social, working on @esa.int Rosetta & @cometinterceptor.bsky.social (Nucleus WG chair). Prev @TU-Braunschweig.de, @LAM, @QMUL, @physicsuol.bsky.social 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇪🇺 sites.google.com/view/nickattree ORCID: 0000-0003-3344-6693

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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 3h
"In addition to the General Conditions of Participation... proposals need to: ... Not violate fundamental laws of physics ..." No perpetual motion machines? You got it boss!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 10h
Some impressive artwork here. Gonna have to up our game for my next ISSI Team! 🙂
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Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I hinted that there would be more images from the Juice flyby, so here is the timelapse of the full event! It's always amazing to get these views of our fragile Blue Marble from the spacecraft we send out to explore the solar system! 🔭🧪 #planetsci
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026
On my birthday! A good omen? 🤞
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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 28/09/2026
A successful Earth flyby improves Juice’s course to Jupiter Earlier today, Juice flew just 8640 km above the Indian Ocean and snapped these images with its onboard monitoring cameras. 1️⃣Africa, by Juice monitoring camera 2️⃣Madagascar, by Juice NavCam 3️⃣Moon, by Juice NavCam 🔭 🧪 #planetsci
Mostly black space, most of Earth visible at the top right of the image. Part of a spacecraft visible on the left.Part of the island of Madagascar in black and white.A crescent Moon, with about a quarter of the Moon showing. Many craters are visible.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
a collaborator told me about a useful statistical measure and I went to look it up on wikipedia to find it was "prompted by the problem of identifying the similarities of skulls based on measurements"... oh...umm... right...!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026
Fascinating thread on comparative planetology for rocky #planets, the results of an interesting sounding @issibern.ch meeting!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 22/09/2026
Yay (old) Hampshire! Also, New Zealand is biiiiig! Also, New Jersey... huh! Never thought about that
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Jasmine 🌌🔭 @astrojaz.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
these are cliffs on a comet that we landed a spacecraft on btw
Black-and-white view from the surface of a comet, showing rugged, dusty terrain in the foreground and a massive dark cliff-like wall rising across the upper half of the image. Bright, sunlit ridges and rocks contrast sharply with deep shadows.High-contrast black-and-white view of a comet’s rugged surface, with a towering, steep cliff on the right and a narrow, shadowed valley below. Jagged rock formations and scattered debris are illuminated against the blackness of space.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 17/09/2026
"Slurm keeps killing my children" #ThingsActualScientistsSay
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 16/09/2026
#Earthquake! Well I missed the big ones here in #Granada over summer, but I've definitely felt one now!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026
Glorious, as ever
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 06/09/2026
On my way to the #Netherlands 🇳🇱 for @europlanetmedia.bsky.social #EPSC2026! In true scientist fashion, I am working on two different proposals at #Malaga airport. Does this mean I've Made It as a researcher?! 😅 (Only the outcome of the proposals will tell!)
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026
where to look for "submoons" ("moonmoons" is funnier 😛) arxiv.org/abs/2609.03564 "Iapetus, Titan, Rhea, Phoebe, Callisto, and Ganymede are the most dynamically favorable submoon hosts"
arxiv.org
Dynamically favorable hosts for submoons around Jupiter and Saturn
The long-term stability of small bodies orbiting natural satellites (submoons) in the Solar System has been previously investigated using an analytical approximation of a three-body problem, focusing ...
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
This is like the ship from Futurama right? Instead of moving itself it moves the entire universe in the opposite direction 😅
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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Rough Draft vs Final Draft
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European Space Agency @esa.int · 03/09/2026
Mercury Transfer Module separation confirmed! 📡 ✅ Signal acquired via our Cebreros deep-space antenna confirms the spacecraft is healthy and operating as expected. The MPO and Mio spacecrafts are now on their way to Mercury orbit insertion on 21 November. Farewell, MTM. Mercury awaits. ☀️🛰️
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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 03/09/2026
Together, the stacked spacecraft travelled nine billion km, did 22 loops around the Sun and performed nine planetary flybys. MTM's propulsion system is dependent on Bepi's computer control, so after today, MTM will float around the Sun indefinitely. 🔭 🧪 #planetsci 2/3
BepiColombo appears to ‘hug’ Mercury in this image taken by the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission on 19 June 2023 as the spacecraft sped by for its third of three gravity assist manoeuvres at the planet. The back of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter’s high-gain antenna and part of the spacecraft’s body is visible in front of Mercury.Collage of images captured by BepiColombo’s monitoring camera during the Venus flyby on 15 October 2020. Two rows of four images each show parts of the BepiColombo spacecraft with planet Venus in the background.A view of Earth captured by one of the MCAM selfie cameras on board BepiColombo, as the spacecraft zoomed past the planet during its first and only Earth flyby on 10 April 2020.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 31/08/2026
Excited to announce I have joined the editorial board of @rasjournals.bsky.social techniques and instrumentation (RASTI)! Looking forward to contributing to this journal, which serves a really important, and often overlooked, part of our field of #astronomy! academic.oup.com/rasti/pages/...
academic.oup.com
Editorial Board
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 26/08/2026
just wrote 'sorry haters' in a draft presentation slide. Let's see if that stays in or not... 😅 #OverlyHonestMethods
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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
From NASA: It happened again! Here's Phobos passing in front of the Sun as seen by the Perseverance rover from the surface of Mars on Aug. 12. science.nasa.gov/photojournal...
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This is a pleasing factoid: the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is the same size and weight as a T-Rex! Countdown: 15 days to launch! 🚀 AUG 30, 2026 11:26 UTC ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/mission/roma...
A sketch of a T-Rex dinosaur (big feet, tiny hands) next to a sketch of the Roman telescope.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 13/08/2026
@themerl.bsky.social, I thought you might like to know; we travelled to Burgos to see the eclipse and there appears to be a mighty hög who lives nearby and goes for a little promenade every evening and morning. I hope he had some eclipse glasses for last night!
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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 12/08/2026
The good news? This isn't goodbye. Two more solar eclipses are heading for Europe: a total one in 2027, an annular one in 2028. That's right, it's #EclipsesOnTourInEurope. Start planning! #EuropeanSolarEclipse 🔭
A map of the Iberian Peninsula, showing where three solar eclipses will cross Spain and Portugal. A purple band marked ‘Total solar eclipse 12 August 2026’ curves from Spain's northwest to central east. An orange band marked ‘Total solar eclipse 2 August 2027’ covers Spain's southern tip and northern Africa. A green band marked ‘Annular solar eclipse 26 January 2028’ crosses the peninsula diagonally from southern Portugal to northeastern Spain.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 13/08/2026
Pictures from last night's #eclipse all now appearing 😀 guess the whole world was trying to upload last night 😛
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
Bluesky picked a great day to not correctly upload pictures for me! Can anyone see these?
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p.s @p-s-v.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The moon completely covers the sun during a total solar eclipse as seen from the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in in Arcos de las Salinas, near Teruel, Spain. 12.8.26 Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters www.reutersconnect.com/item/solar-e...
The moon completely covers the sun during a total solar eclipse as seen from the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in in Arcos de las Salinas, near Teruel, Spain.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
Incredible experience. Totality and then a partial #eclipse sunset from just outside #Burgos, northern #Spain. Spectacular! #IberianEclipse #Eclipse2026
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ESA Exploration @exploration.esa.int · 12/08/2026
🌘 What does a solar eclipse look like from space? The four Artemis II astronauts witnessed this stunning sight, and thanks to a camera on the spacecraft's European-built solar arrays, the rest of us can enjoy the view too 😎. 📸 NASA
The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse witnessed by the four Artemis II astronauts as they flew behind the Moon. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026
Arrived back in #Spain from a brief trip to #France, and now in #Burgos for the #eclipse... Where it is apparently customary to promenade your pig in the evening? 😂
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Astronomy Picture of the Day 🪐 @apod.shinyakato.dev · 11/08/2026
🔭 Six Moons of Saturn Image Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Trentini ap260811
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
the highest resolution version available.
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Europlanet @europlanetmedia.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
🎨 Europlanet is organising a planetary-science related art exhibition during #EPSC2026. The art exhibition will occur in Open Amare, the part of the conference center opened to the public: www.europlanet.org/epsc2026-art...
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 08/08/2026
This is literally the plot of one of my son's silly bedtime story books 😂
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 07/08/2026
My son's (aka eurobaby) one of these is way better tho! live in: 🇪🇸 born in: 🇩🇪 parents: 🇬🇧🇫🇷 etc. 😅
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 07/08/2026
live in: 🇪🇸 born in: 🇬🇧 parents: 🇬🇧🇬🇧 grandparents: 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇩🇪 great grandparents: 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇩🇪🇦🇹 been to: 🇦🇹🇧🇪🇨🇭🇨🇵🇩🇪🇩🇰🇬🇧🇬🇷🇭🇺🇮🇹🇳🇱🇺🇲🇪🇸🇵🇹🇫🇮🇭🇷🇭🇺🇸🇰🇪🇪🇱🇻🇮🇳🇲🇦🇹🇷🇻🇨🇻🇬🇦🇬
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Oxford Academic @academic.oup.com · 06/08/2026
🔭 Building the tools to discover life beyond Earth starts now. 📢 #RASTI Call for Papers: Habitable World Observatory Mission Concept Development—software, methodologies, and mission-planning innovations welcome. 🔗 oxford.ly/4egeHLI @rasjournals.bsky.social
RASTI call for papers on Habitable World Observatory mission software, tools and methods. Royal Astronomical Society. OUP
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p.s @p-s-v.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
From Jose Maria Madiedo: ''Our team at iaa_csic captured the impact on the Moon of the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. We attach a preliminary video showing the evolution of the ejected material. The black area corresponds to the lunar disk'' x.com/jmmadiedo/st...
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 31/07/2026
Paper submitted 🎉 #ScienceDancing Meanwhile, for a second paper I had hoped to submit before summer break, I just discovered something blindingly obvious 😅 Let this be a lesson to you...always plot your #orbits!
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p.s @p-s-v.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A rocket will hit moon on Aug 5 Falcon rocket will hit the moon on Aug 5 In Jan 2025, Falcon 9 rocket launched two missions toward moon: Blue Ghost and Hakuto-R. After the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket completed its boosting mission, it became just another piece of space junk.
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Juan Mentat @juanmentat.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
XKCD: Vera Rubin Observatory #xkcd #comic Link: xkcd.com/3278
'Spurious signals from the kitchen' is harder for an optical telescope than a radio one, but with enough determination and creativity, I believe it's possible.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 28/07/2026
Either side of Birmingham by the looks of it. Quite supportive of the idea of the midlands then!
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Melina Thévenot🏳️‍⚧️ @melina-iras07572.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Burned Area Detection (Sentinel 2) around NASA Deep Space Network Madrid (left) and ESA/ESTRACK Deep Space Antenna 2 (right). Images from yesterday browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=14&lat=...
NASA DSN Madrid. Showing that the area around the antennae burned.Image showing that the area around DSA 2 did not burn.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 23/07/2026
Leaves the office at nearly 8pm...surely it'll have cooled down a bit now? Boom 37 degrees...!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 23/07/2026
Autocorrect just somehow changed 'searching for funding' for 'swearing for funding', so there's that
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 22/07/2026
These would be cool! I want a deep space probe (rather than just 'satellite') though. Rosetta would make a good one obviously 😛
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International Space Science Institute (ISSI) @issibern.ch · 22/07/2026
Congratulations to the 33 newly selected International Teams in Space and Earth Sciences 2026 🔭 ➡️ www.issibern.ch/newly-select...
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ESA Space Transport @transport.esa.int · 21/07/2026
We might seem a bit biased but we think rockets are really cool. This is @esa.int's space transportation fleet from 2026, from left to right: Vega-C, a two-booster and a four-booster P160C-based Ariane 6, and Space Rider. Ariane and Vega rockets lift off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Artist's view of Space Transportation's major programmes from 2026 onwards.
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 20/07/2026
#Vamos #España!!! 🇪🇸 Absolute scenes here in the centre of #Granada Don't think I've ever cheared anything like that goal, and my team won the league this year!
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 18/07/2026
Watching *our* final 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇫🇷 Amazing from England! I think France have given up
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Dr. Nick Attree @nickattree.eurosky.social · 16/07/2026
Spacecraft names and mythology from @esa.int 🛰️
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