iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Here it is folks: the very first photons detected by NASA's newest space telescope!!! The Nancy Grace Roman telescope launched a couple weeks ago, and now that it's out in space en route to it's home at L2, the commissioning process has begun. 1/3 📸: NASA GSFC, T. Desjardins (STScI)

Three panels against a black background. In the top panel, 18 blue-purple squares are laid out in an array that slightly curves downward, representing the detectors from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Small green/teal specks are visible in the squares. The lower left panel zooms in on a square, where the specks are seen to take the shape of rings. The lower right zooms in on a ring, showing a more complex structure with light and dark patches radiating from the center.

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

If you’re following this account might I gently suggest you don’t…lots of fake images and images without credit. This one is absolutely not a real image from NASA-while there is a hexagonal storm on Saturn’s pole it does not look like this! 1/2

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

If you’re wanting my take on this whole Navier Stokes AI solution thing you’re gonna be waiting for a long time. I’m not touching this one 😅

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Guys my new office has TWO windows. My grad student office was interior and very dark so I am stoked about this

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Today is the first day of my postdoc! A new chapter is officially beginning 👀

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Time for a new introduction: Hi! I’m Dr. Skylar Grayson, an astrophysicist and science communicator ✨ I study how black holes impact the universe by comparing hydrodynamic simulations with observations of diffuse gas. On here I talk about space news, physics, astronomy, and life as a scientist! 🧪🔭

Photo of me, sitting on a blue chair in my marroon PhD regalia. Photo is taken from above, I have my feet up on a table, and a carpet with images of craters is visible

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Driving to visit family in San Diego this weekend and randomly caught a Starlink launch at sunset!

Horizon viewed just after sunset. Dark line of mountains with an orange-light blue gradient in the sky above. A white curve shows the path of a rocket headed up and left, broadening at the end

Windmills silhouetted against a gradient sky, with a white curvy line created by a rocket launch in the background

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Turns out I am not capable of simultaneously wrapping up a PhD, prepping for an international move, planning a wedding, AND posting regularly on here so the ball has been dropped a bit this summer 😅 I will be back to being active soon, just gotta get through this bonkers phase of life first

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

This is the best World Cup ever I’m losing my mind #worldcup

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

So in the month of May I had my bachelorette party, defended my PhD thesis, graduated, went to the UK for two weeks for a family wedding, and watched my team win the premier league. I’ll get back to science soon, I’m just…processing 😅

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS BABYYYY!!! And I’m actually in London for it this is the best month ever 🤯❤️🤍❤️

Me standing on a staircase, holding an arsenal scarf that reads champions in front of the Emirates stadium

Me at the celebration after Arsenal won the league last night. I’m facing the camera in a crowd that’s facing away, looking over a giant mass of people filling the streets

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Today I officially graduated with a PhD in astrophysics 🤯 Feeling very proud and very grateful

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Don’t mind me just obsessing over my grad photos 🤩 getting a PhD in astrophysics has never felt so glamorous ✨

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Little update to my bio…today I defended my PhD in astrophysics and I’m officially Dr. Skylar!!!!

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Y’all I want to talk about all the new Artemis images that just dropped but I am defending my PhD tomorrow so that’s gonna have to wait 😅

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

5 years of work and a 240 page astrophysics PhD dissertation explained in two minutes 😳: 🧪🔭

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Reposted by Dr. Skylar Grayson

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 27/04/2026

Not all galaxies wander space alone...and sometimes they're too close for comfort 😬 Galaxies can interact, collide, and merge. By studying snapshots of these interactions, scientists can gain insight into how galaxies evolve over billions of years⏳

A complex entanglement of three interacting galaxies, bright cores lined up left to right and connectied by spiderweb-like tendrils. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.

Two interacting galaxies, one larger and blue and the other smaller and more yellow. The background is sprinkled with stars and galaxies of varying colors and sizes.

Two interacting galaxies at center, bright cores lined up upper left to lower right and connected by spiderweb-like tendrils. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.

Two interacting galaxies at center, with cores and extended tendrils of stars in a thin horizontal line. The background is black, sprinkled with countless galaxies and stars of varying colors and sizes.

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

If you’re wondering what the big concerns are for astronomy from the White House budget request and what you can do about it, check out this article!!!

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

AHHHHH I just sent my PhD dissertation draft to my committee!! My defense is in exactly two weeks, it’s really happening!!!!!

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Currently planning for my PhD defense, graduation, sister’s wedding, international move, new job, and my own wedding. All amazing things but I am incredibly overwhelmed 🫠 send help

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

A week since splashdown and I’m thinking a lot about the motivations and legacy of Artemis II…🧪🔭

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Seeing this was the 273719th time I cried happy tears this mission 🥹

A screenshot from the NASA livestream showing the splashdown of the Orion spacecraft. Three red and white parachutes are visible crumpling up at various distances from the small metal craft, all against the deep blue of the ocean

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Guys I’m so emotional that they splashed down safely and successfully 😭 welcome home you amazing brave humans!!! 🔭🧪

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Peekaboo Obsessed with how cute our planet is in this picture, taken by the Artemis II astronauts as it sets behind the moon 📸: NASA 🔭🧪

Earth peeks above the lunar horizon, which takes up the bottom half of the image. The dark grey moon is covered in craters, and earth is a cloudy white with bits of blue peeking through

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Happy splashdown day!!!! The Artemis II astronauts are coming home and as always you can watch it happen live on NASA’s YouTube

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Alrighty so NASA (and me and a lot of other people) had a little goof. But I think it’s a great opportunity to remind people that sometimes mistakes can actually be pretty cool and lead to a lot of new perspectives and understanding! 🧪🔭

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Holy sh*t. A solar eclipse, seen for the first time by human eyes during a lunar flyby. The Earthlight illuminating the crescent of the moon and part of the spacecraft, the stars and planets in the background…I’m in tears 🤯 📸: NASA 🔭🧪

Image from the Artemis II mission taken from a camera on the solar array. The Orion spacecraft is visible in silhouette on the left, with the top part slightly illuminated. On the right, a solar eclipse, with the moon blocking out sunlight. The moon is surrounded by a faint haze, and a slim crescent is lit up on the upper left of the side facing the camera, illuminated by Earthlight

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Don’t mistake my excitement about Artemis as apathy towards what’s happening here on Earth. The behavior of the president is terrifying and despicable, literally threatening war crimes and crimes against humanity on social media.

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I’m seeing this picture going around today being dropped in with the other amazing Artemis II shots, but this is not an Artemis photo!!!! This was taken by the DSCOVR satellite in 2015, from a distance of a million miles from Earth. 🧪🔭 (1/3) 📸: NASA, NOAA

A high resolution image of earth fully illuminated. In the lower left region, the far side of the moon is lit up as it transits the earth, appearing about 1/4 the size of the planet

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Let’s talk about the iconic new images from Artemis II…and why they look a bit different from Apollo 8’s Earthrise!

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Hey if you see “pictures from Artemis” and you can’t find them on NASA’s website THEY ARE NOT REAL

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

I am begging you: take a couple minutes and look at the images from yesterday’s lunar flyby. They are absolutely incredible www.nasa.gov/gallery/luna...

nasa.gov

Lunar Flyby - NASA

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Oh my god this almost doesn’t look real 🤯 this is a solar eclipse-the moon blocking the sun-as seen by the crew on Artemis II during their lunar flyby yesterday. The haze is the sun’s atmosphere, only visible during eclipses. The illumination on the left of the moon is coming from Earth!!! 🧪🔭📸:NASA

The moon, almost completely in shadow, blocks out the sun in an eclipse. The suns atmosphere is a white haze extended out past the moon, and stars are visible in the background. The left side of the moon is slightly lit up due to light coming from earth

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Earth set and Earth rise from Artemis II. Views of our home humans haven’t seen since 1972. A generation defining moment. I just woke up and I am sobbing 🧪🔭 📸: NASA

Earth set: the illuminated crescent of earth is visible above the lunar horizon. Swirling clouds are visible over blue ocean (the Oceania region). The moon in the foreground is a grey brown and pockmarked with dozens of craters

Earth rise: the earth is a slim crescent with the right edge illuminated but partially blocked by the limb of the moon. The moon is completely dark, but rugged terrain is visible in its silhouette against the earth

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

This is the perfect video for this moment

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Reposted by Dr. Skylar Grayson

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 07/04/2026

I really appreciated this video by Kihana Wilson (who is not on Bluesky, alas) about the mixed feelings of #Artemis II. Follow her on Instagram (www.instagram.com/the_astro_st...) if you're over there!

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

The first image we get after comms come back is us. All of humanity is in this shot. And I’m crying again. 🧪🔭 📸: NASA, annotations by me

An image of the Orion spacecraft with the crescent earth in the background. Annotations labelling Orion “4 people” and earth “8.3 billion people”

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

From #ArtemisII right before they lost signal going behind the moon: “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still able to feel your love from Earth. And to all of you down there, on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the moon.” Godspeed Artemis 🫡 ❤️ 🔭🧪

Screenshot from NASA livestream showing the Orion spacecraft on the left, with a crescent moon in the foreground and in the distance on the right the crescent Earth

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Just announced that at closest approach #ArtemisII crew will be 4,067 miles above the moon, and max distance from Earth will be 252,756 miles. The crew did request these values in kilometers and parsecs but they didn’t get them so neither will you 😂🔭🧪

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

“There is so much magic in the terminator” -Victor Glover 🥺 📸: NASA (screenshot from Artemis livestream two minutes ago)🔭🧪

Screenshot from the Artemis II livestream showing the edge of the Orion spacecraft and a half moon. A red arrow points to the line that cuts the moon in half-the terminator

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

“Something that’s really awesome up here…We now have the moon and the earth in window 3 simultaneously. The moon is a gibbous and the earth is a crescent, and I’m guessing in about 45 minutes we’ll have two identical crescents as we change our position in the universe” - #ArtemisII crew 🔭🧪

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

If you’re watching the #Artemis II livestream you’re probably hearing the word “albedo” a lot, but what does it mean? It’s simply a measure of how reflective a surface is. If a surface absorbs all incoming radiation it has an albedo of 0, if it reflects all of it albedo is 1 (1/n) 🧪🔭

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

🔭🧪Just heard on the Artemis livestream: “We just realized we have…Earth out window 4 and Moon out window 3 and it just gives you the best idea of scale we’ve had yet…” -Reid Wiseman “Amaze amaze amaze” -Mission control 👎🥹

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

What my day looks like: watching humanity travel farther from Earth than ever before on one screen and wrapping up my PhD dissertation work on the other ☺️🧪🔭

Image of a desk, live footage of the Orion spacecraft shown on a laptop while a larger monitor shows code running on terminal. Lego T-Rex in the background

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

The Artemis II crew just officially passed the Apollo 13 distance record…they are the furthest from Earth any human has ever been! 🤯 🧪🔭

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

A bit of a personal announcement amid all the Artemis excitement…as of today I am one month away from defending my PhD so allow me to share what I’m doing next! 👀 (1/4)🔭🧪

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Can you image what it would be like to go from the first image to the second? To literally watch your home planet shrinking behind you until most of what you see is the emptiness of space? For every minute to further hammer in our insignificance against the vastness of the cosmos? (1/2)🧪🔭

A view of the interior of the Orion capsule. A window takes up most of the frame, through which Earth is visible. About 1/3 of the planet is shown, with cloud patterns over the ocean

A view out a window of the Orion spacecraft. Earth is visible as a slim crescent in the distance, with most of the field of view being black space

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

whERe aRe thE vIDeoS? Y’all you can literally go watch a livestream of the astronauts just chilling up there right now we are SPOILED for content it’s so much fun

Phone screenshot from YouTube live broadcast entitled “NASA’s Artemis II Live Mission Coverage”. Shows three astronauts adjusting various things and preparing for their day.

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Reposted by Dr. Skylar Grayson

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 04/04/2026

I highly recommend putting this NASA #Artemis II mission livestream on and just leaving it playing as you go about your weekend. Live views of the spacecraft, occasional visualizations of the current config, views of the control room, space-ground radio audio. www.youtube.com/live/m3kR2KK...

youtube.com

NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast)

YouTube video by NASA

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Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

NASA just dropped this image of Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch looking back at us. The first woman to ever see our planet in its entirety. I’m not crying you’re crying 🥹🔭🧪 📸: NASA

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