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Syd Andersen

@smandersen.bsky.social
98 followers 85 following 224 posts

(They/Them) Astronomy PhD Student || Opinions Are My Own

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Reposted by Syd Andersen
maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing -- just by accident.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The spectroscopy demo was chaotic but I think folks enjoyed it!
A nonbinary presenter stands next to a projection screen, smiling and posing before starting an outreach talk. The screen has a still from video instructions on building a spectroscope.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Of course the first question asked at my AoT talk was when our team’s instrument would be ready 😂
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
YOU - Who broke my heart? BEAUTIFUL NECKTIE - You both did, *bratan* — deep down, you know it was the both of you.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I got Clio (with Ourania and Polymnia)!
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart.
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing -- just by accident.
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
STEBAN, THE STUDENT COMMUNIST - “In dark times, should the stars also go out?”
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
“The worst picture day we ever had” per our driver on the Ring of Kerry tour 🥲
A picture of gray mist with a stone barrier at the bottom of the frame. A picture of a winding road next to a valley but most of the image is foggy.
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Runs with scissors in the dark @tevistickles.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
I hate this game!
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
KERRY WEAVER THEY COULD NEVER* MAKE ME HATE YOU
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
(Skipped like three seasons of live-skeeting and just sent unhinged thoughts directly to my mom)
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
We are once again at 0 seasons since an explosion and 0 seasons since a pregnancy storyline
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I need you to know that the shipping container into which the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was packed for transport to the launchpad is called the Chariot, and the barge pulling the container to Cape Kennedy is called the Pegasus. So yes, this is a picture of a Pegasus pulling a Roman Chariot.
Screenshot of a live shot of a river with a big grey and white barge followed by a little red tugboat.
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Sarah Tuttle @niais.cryptoanarchy.network · 13/06/2026
Grown out of pandemic shenanigans, our department has developed a tradition of making a parody music video for our graduates. youtu.be/8bwoPD1A0EU?... @jradavenport.com is the artistic genius behind the video, and @werkjess.bsky.social is our spectacular lyricist. I've been humming it for weeks
youtu.be
PAB - 2026 Astro Graduation Video
YouTube video by James Davenport
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
VOLITION - No. Not a disaster. Weave this into the story of you. Walk out of its *ruins*. Save those who still can be saved -- *I'm* on your side.
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Krista Langlois @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
"'Why do we do astrophysics?' Hogg offered an answer. It wasn’t to solve the cosmos but to grapple with it: a journey, not a destination." THIS, from @joshuasokol.bsky.social, gets at the heart of why I despise genAI: it assumes that writing is a product rather than an experience
science.org
Amid a flood of AI advances, astrophysicists are questioning the soul of their field
Researchers see enormous power in new tools—but also the potential end of astrophysics as a human endeavor
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Kerry Weaver, they could never* make me hate you
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Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
On a street there that flows like a muddy river in the snow, with fire traps rising on either side. A film rental opens its doors to the rain, an armoured motor carriage rushes past the corner where you used to walk together... Suddenly, the hair on your back rises. SHIVERS - YOU CANNOT RETURN
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Rebound is only working in my Python notebook if I have my screen on the active cell. It is Friday, this problem set is overdue, and I’m going to drop the moment I get home
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Katherine Alejandra Cross @quinnae.com · 18/05/2026
The Seattle Times published a full obituary for Juniper Blessing. It's a moving tribute to a life well-lived. May she rest in peace, and may UW honour and carry on her legacy. Scholarships named for her might be a good start.
seattletimes.com
UW student Juniper Blessing, 19, remembered as ‘full of life’
Those who knew Juniper Blessing, the 19-year-old trans woman killed in her off-campus housing building, said she had a powerful, moving voice.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Is answering the question “did you use an LLM on this?” with “no, I just talk like that — I’m autistic” socially acceptable? Asking for me.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
And Mark and Doug should kiss on the mouth
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Jeanie and Kerry should be allowed to hunt Mark for sport
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
(Watching ER! Came for baby Noah Wyle, stayed for the emotional connection with my mother who watched this show religiously my whole life — so I can keep texting her “these doctors are so fucking messy” at all hours of the day)
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I know I’m 30 years too late but Mark Greene moving into Susan Lewis’s apartment after she leaves for Arizona is clinically unhinged.
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Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Hacking canvas? What do they think this is, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in 1990.
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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/05/2026
I have a really nice (horrifying) image stack that one of my research team members made, that powerfully demonstrates what a huge problem satellite streaks are for wide-field imaging. This is a 3 hour stack of star-subtracted 5 minute exposures using the […] [Original post on mastodon.social]
A mosaic of a bunch of rectangles showing a huge image of a starfield.  It's a science image, so it's not very pretty. There are lots of long diagonal lines crisscrossing across the whole image, these are satellite streaks.  Wherever one of those satellites has flown through, we lost data.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Things are rough but I get to see this note every day and keep going 💖
A greeting card pined to a cork board. It reads:
Syd, We are so proud of you for taking this leap of faith and for following your dreams. We are so excited for the new experiences and adventures that you will get to have. We love you forever and for always. Good luck at U-Dub and go Huskies!! (And beat ND if they ever play!). Love Mom, Dad, and T
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 23/04/2026
It's estimated that these extreme cuts to NASA science would cancel more than 40 missions. That's lost science, lost discovery, lost innovation, and the end of careers. Some of these missions are already in space, doing good science, and would simply be abandoned. www.planetary.org/articles/82-...
planetary.org
84 NASA missions at risk under new proposal
Proposed NASA cuts would reduce NASA’s workforce by thousands and cancel over 50 space missions.
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Astrobites @astrobites.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
From @astrokat.bsky.social: For Earth Week 2026, we’re focusing on how astronomers can build more sustainable instruments. Dr. Laurane Fréour is working on just that! ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪 astrobites.org/2026/04/22/astrobites-x-earth-week-2026-freour/
astrobites.org
Astrobites x Earth Week 2026: How to build a telescope sustainably with Dr. Laurane Fréour
For Earth Week 2026, we're focusing on how astronomers can build more sustainable instruments. Dr. Laurane Fréour is working on just that!
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
❤️❤️❤️ love Astrobites
A screenshot from an Astrobites blog post. It says the following. 

This launch on April fool's day was no joke. It took years of hard work, dedicated researchers, and billions of dollars spent not just on the spacecraft but also the countless scientists behind this
effort. The real April fools joke came two days later, when the President's Budget Request (PBR) was released.
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 16/04/2026
Getting real tired of "AI will revolutionize your workflow!" I am a scientist! I do what I do because I want to dig into things myself. I don't want offload that labor onto a computer, and I don't need to accelerate the rate at which I work, because the point of the work is to learn.
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American Astronomical Society (AAS) @aas.org · 15/04/2026
Members of the AAS & the American Association of Physics Teachers are on the Hill today to advocate for science and STEM education funding! Join them by requesting a meeting with your local congressional office: aas.org/posts/news/2... #WeekofAction #SaveScience 🔭
AAS and AAPT members gather near the US Capitol to advocate for STEM funding.
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AAPTHQ @aapthq.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Members and staff of AAPT and AAS are on Capitol Hill today advocating for science and STEM education funding! Join them by requesting a meeting with your local congressional office: ow.ly/eiBR50YJTeh #WeekofAction #SaveScience 🔭 @aas.org
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Nice new (peer-reviewed) analysis of the impact of satellite constellations on ground-based astronomical observations. By Olivier Hainault from @eso.org 🔭https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.09427
arxiv.org
Large or bright satellite constellations: Effects on observations, including on the background sky brightness
This study evaluates the effect of proposed constellations -- ranging from current deployments to mega-constellations and very bright reflector concepts -- on direct trail losses, diffuse background, ...
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I come by my train-loving autism honestly
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Seattle’s Lightrail is slick but there’s almost nowhere to put luggage. SEPTA will always have my heart. DC Metro seems chill so far (and I remember it being decent when I visited ten years back. Excellent station architecture) 🚉💺🚅 public transit appreciation post 🚅💺🚉
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
web.archive.org/web/20070311... I'm sorry, this is so fucking funny. "...clearly the corrections were not sufficient" NO KIDDING
web.archive.org
The Barnard's Star Blunder :: Astrobiology Magazine ::
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
(Ok the reason they named it after him was a stipulation by who ever donated the money for the telescope. So not actually baffling. But I still want to fight them.)
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
(The man apocryphally told her she wouldn’t succeed in astronomy because she was a woman. Why Swarthmore chose to name their telescope after him will always baffle me.)
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
RIP Peter van de Kamp. You would have hated to see the Roman telescope launching this year.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
In retrospect, using a telescope named after a man who infamously did not detect an exoplanet to take transit measurements is — objectively — hysterical. I did not appreciate it at the time.
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Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Outstanding itemization of how the FY27 budget request for NASA, NSF, and DOE impacts astronomy by the @aas.org Policy Team, Colin Hamill and Roohi Dalal 🔭🧪: aas.org/posts/news/2...
aas.org
The FY27 President’s Budget Request: NASA, NSF, and DOE Details
We break down the details of the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) President’s Budget Request for NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy Office of Science, and highlight the signifi...
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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
The FY 2027 NASA budget request hides its science cuts by omitting mission names instead of explicitly zeroing them out. We did the work and found 54 missions cancelled in this proposal. This is another extinction-level event for NASA science. Full list: planetary.org/save-nasa-science
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wade of mutilation @waderockett.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
HORATIO: Look, my lord, it comes. HAMLET’S DAD’S GHOST: (rockets past at inconceivable speed) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
This is very very big. Like a big deal and massive cuts. These can’t even be seen as budgetary since you don’t get much savings in the context of trillions budget. They want the US out of R&D out of science research.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
The FY2027 budget requests $1.5 trillion for military spending and pays for it by gutting NOAA, FEMA grants, NIH, and fully eliminating programs that keep the lights on for struggling Americans.
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Syd Andersen @smandersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
(I am very aware one should not use parchment paper at high temperatures and definitely not when using the top rack and broiler. And, as I am now aware, if one chooses to do so, they need to set a timer for much much less than five minutes.)
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