iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 29/07/2026

We are used to seeing weird shapes of small asteroids, but this is next level! look at the shape of 44 Nysa from Minker et al. This is 75 km volume-equivalent diameter object! Also it has a satellite! #planetSci 🧪

Residuals of R-band images of the Nysa system on 2026-
02-15 after processing with the blind deconvolution method of
Appendix A.3. The position of the satellite is marked with a pink
arrow. To improve the S/N, the deconvolution residuals were av-
eraged with a a ±5 frame sliding window. To provide scale, the
primary has been superimposed. An extended video version of
this figure and the same processing for the 2026-03-21 dataset is
available online.

Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.25786

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 16/07/2026

📢 Join my group at the @unibe.ch as a PhD student in #planetSci. Work on how impacts and sublimation shape comets and other icy bodies using experiments and numerical modelling. 📆 Start Date: Jan. 2027 or by arrangement ⏳ Apply by 30 Sept 2026: jobs.unibe.ch/job-vacancie...

Surface of comet 67P imaged by Rosetta's OSIRIS camera on 2016-05-03 12:45:20.101.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 10/07/2026

I love the tradition at #ACM of naming asteroids to honour members of our community for their contributions to the field. Congratulations to many of my friends and colleagues! The full list is here: www.wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bullet...

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 06/07/2026

Excited to be in beautiful Poznań, Poland, for Asteroids Comets Meteors (ACM), one of my favorite conferences 🤩 #acm2026

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 07/05/2026

Für alle im Raum Bern, welche morgen Freitag, 8. Mai um 16:30 noch nichts los haben, gebe ich an der @unibe.ch einen öffentlichen Vortrag über "die Lucy-Mission zu den Jupiter-Trojanern und was sie uns über die Entstehung des Sonnensystems sagen wird". Details: www.physik.unibe.ch/ueber_uns/ak...

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 09/02/2026

What was I looking down on here? A) clouds B) ocean C) snow dunes It was really quite the view 🤩

I don’t want to give it away here but will post it with proper alt text in one of the next posts.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 09/02/2026

Just arrived in Bremen, Germany, to go work on an ESA M8 mission proposal and the airport here has a beautiful model of the International Space Station (ISS) 🤩

Model of the International Space Station hovering above the entrance hall at Bremen airport.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 02/02/2026

It‘s a beautiful day here in Bern and my first day as a professor at the @unibe.ch. Excited but also humbled about what is to come. Wishing everyone a good start into this new week!

Man with brown glasses a beard, wearing a blue coat and scarf in front of an old University building.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 31/12/2025

As we embark on this new year, may it bring you joy, health and fulfillment. I wish everyone all the best for 2026 ✨

In the center of the image a man walking on a stony beach. On the right side waves are crashing onto shore and in the background buildings are lit up orange from a sunset.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 30/12/2025

Here is the full bracket of this year's competition. See you in 2026! ✨

Bracket for "BSky Planetary Science Image of 2025" contest, featuring small icons of 16 images grouped into four quarter-finals, four semi-finals, and one final. The winner is big in the centre. All is against a lunar surface backdrop.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 30/12/2025

Here are the full results: blueskypolls.xyz/results.php?...

Full results of the final are shown as a list with bars that extend to the respective percentage of votes. " Uranus as seen by JWST" got 63.1% (70 votes) and "Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the ISS" got 36.9% (41 votes). The bottom panel shows how the number of votes per day and total number of votes changed over time.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 30/12/2025

Congratulations also to our runner-up: ✨Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the International Space Station✨ *transient luminous event (Upper-atmospheric lightning/ionospheric lightning) Taken on: July 3, 2025 Credit: Nichole Ayers / NASA JSC / ESRS / @stim3on.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 30/12/2025

The winner of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025 ✨ is ✨Uranus as seen by JWST✨ Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ @esa.int /CSA/ @stsci.edu / @andrealuck.bsky.social Full resolution: www.flickr.com/photos/19227... 🧪⚛️

Image of Uranus taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, showing a whitish north polar region, vivid blue-greenish atmosphere and a few whitish elongated storms visible around the pole. The planet is surrounded by clearly defined ring system set against the black background of space.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/54879990600/

Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AndreaLuck CC BY

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 30/12/2025

And the winner, with 63.1% of the vote is 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 ✨Uranus as seen by JWST✨ Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ @esa.int /CSA/ @stsci.edu / @andrealuck.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 29/12/2025

Who will win ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025 ✨? Currently, Uranus is winning, but you still have time to vote for either finalist in this thread here until tomorrow, Dec. 30, at 3 p.m. UTC/4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST: bsky.app/profile/spac... 🧪⚛️

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 29/12/2025

Last year, this spectacular image of Jupiter's moon Io won the Planetary Science Image of the Year 🧪 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill, @kevinmgill.bsky.social Who will win this year? Vote here: bsky.app/profile/spac...

A true color image of Io as imaged by Juno on December 30, 2023 during its closest flyby. This is the closest a spacecraft got in the past 20 years. North is up and this side of Io faces Jupiter. The ↄ-shaped black spot is Loki Patera, to its north is the black spot Amaterasu Patera volcano and further north is the Dazhbog Patera also a black spot.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Io_imaged_by_Juno_spacecraft.png
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill, @kevinmgill.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 29/12/2025

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revolutionising our understanding of the universe. It's also doing it for the Solar System with spectacular data, such as that of Uranus here. If you like this image, you can vote for it here: bsky.app/profile/spac... 🧪⚛️ #sciComm #planetSci

Image of planet Uranus taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/192271236@N03/54879990600/sizes/o/
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AndreaLuck CC BY
Colourised image created processing data from: mast.stsci.edu

NASA/ESA JWST Webb Space Telescope

Instrument: NIRCAM
Title: CAL-NRC-421: NIRCam Linearity Characterization
Target: Uranus
Time: 2025-10-06
Filters: F150W2-F162M, F410M
Observation ID: jw08975-o001_t001_nircam_f150w2-f162m-sub320, jw08975-o001_t001_nircam_clear-f410m-sub320

Proposal PI: Varun Bajaj
PI Institution: Space Telescope Science Institute
Proposal ID: 8975 www.stsci.edu/jwst-program-info/program/?program=8975

Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AndreaLuck CC BY

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 29/12/2025

I find this image quite fascinating and beautiful. It's showing lightning discharging towards space. Astronaut Nichole Ayers took this image from the International Space Station on July 3, 2025. If you like it too, you can vote for it here: bsky.app/profile/spac... 🧪⚛️ #sciComm #planetSci

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 26/12/2025

2/2 Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the ISS *transient luminous event (Upper-atmospheric lightning/ionospheric lightning) Taken on: July 3, 2025 Credit: ISS, Simeon Schmauß, @stim3on.bsky.social 🗳️ vote link 1 posts down

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 26/12/2025

1/2 Uranus as seen by JWST Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY, @stsci.edu, @andrealuck.bsky.social 🗳️ vote link 2 post down #Uranus #GiantPlanets #IceGiants

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 26/12/2025

Final of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025 ✨ is here: Uranus vs. Earth or outer vs. inner Solar System 🗳️ The vote link is 3 posts down. Voting ends on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 3 p.m. UTC/4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST. 🧪⚛️

Bracket for "BSky Planetary Science Image of 2025" contest, featuring small icons of 16 images grouped into four quarter-finals. Then there were two semi-finals and the filled in spots of the final with Uranus on the left and a lightning into the Earths atmosphere on the right. There are winner placeholders is still just a question mark. All is set on a lunar surface backdrop.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 24/12/2025

We have our final matchup for #planetaryScience image of the year. It's Uranus vs. Earth. We'll take a short break before voting. The vote starts on Dec. 26 at 3:00 p.m. UTC. Uranus image: NASA/ESA/CSA/ @stsci.edu/ @andrealuck.bsky.social CC BY Earth image: ISS, @stim3on.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 24/12/2025

The second finalist is: Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the ISS *transient luminous event (Upper-atmospheric lightning/ionospheric lightning) Taken on: July 3, 2025 Credit: ISS, Simeon Schmauß, @stim3on.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 24/12/2025

Here are the full results: blueskypolls.xyz/results.php?...

Full results of the second semi-final are shown as a list with bars that extend to the respective percentage of votes. "Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the ISS" got 72.3% (34 votes), "Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and a meteor train" got 27.7% (10 votes). The bottom panel shows how the number of votes per day and total number of votes changed over time.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 24/12/2025

The results of the second semi-final are in and "Gigantic TLE above Mexico seen from the ISS" advances to the final with 72.3% of the vote (34 out of 47 votes).

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

2/2 Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and a meteor train Taken on: October 24, 2025 Credit: Massimo Penna 🗳️ vote link 1 post down

How many bright tails does Comet Lemmon have? Two. In the featured image it appears to have three, but why? The reason is that the zigzagging brown filament is a persistent meteor train that by luck appeared in front of the distant comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon). A meteor train is the hot gas and fine dust that remains in the Earth's atmosphere and disperses in the seconds after a bright meteor flashes by. The two bright tails are the blue ion tail stretching across the image, and the white dust tail nearer the green coma on the upper left. All real comet tails originate from the nucleus of the comet inside the coma. The image was captured from Manciano, Italy.
Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251027.html

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

1/2 Gigantic TLE* above Mexico seen from the ISS *transient luminous event (Upper-atmospheric lightning/ionospheric lightning) Taken on: July 3, 2025 Credit: ISS, Simeon Schmauß, @stim3on.bsky.social 🗳️ vote link 2 posts down

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

2nd semi-final of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025✨ This round features Earth vs. Comets 🧪⚛️ 🗳️ Voting ends on Wednesday, Dec. 24, at 3 p.m. UTC/4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST. Here are the two semi-finalists 🔽

Bracket for "BSky Planetary Science Image of 2025" contest, featuring small icons of 16 images grouped into four quarter-finals. There are finalist placeholders against a lunar surface backdrop.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

The first finalist is: Uranus as seen by JWST Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY, @stsci.edu, @andrealuck.bsky.social

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

Here are the full results: blueskypolls.xyz/results.php?...

Full results of the first semi-final are shown as a list with bars that extend to the respective percentage of votes. "Uranus as seen by JWST" got 66% (39 votes), "Dust devil on Mars seen by the Perseverance rover" got 34% (20 votes). The bottom panel shows how the number of votes per day and total number of votes changed over time.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

The results of the first semi-final are in and "Uranus as seen by JWST" advances to the final with 66% of the vote (39 out of 59 votes).

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 21/12/2025

🗳️ Four more hours to vote for your favourite semi-finalist (Mars vs. Uranus) for the Planetary Science Image of the Year. Vote link can be found in the thread here: bsky.app/profile/spac... 🧪 #SciComm #Mars #Uranus

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 19/12/2025

The first semi-final is super close (50%/50%) as of right now. Will Mars or Uranus reach the final? There is still time to vote in this thread: bsky.app/profile/spac...

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

2/2 Uranus as seen by JWST Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY, @stsci.edu, @andrealuck.bsky.social 🗳️ vote link 1 post down #Uranus #GiantPlanets #IceGiants

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

1/2 Dust devil on Mars seen by the Perseverance rover Taken on: May 29, 2025 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Martian-Observer @martian-observer.art 🗳️ vote link 2 posts down #Mars #Rover #Perseverance #NASA

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

1st semi-final of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025✨ This round features Mars vs. Uranus 🧪⚛️ 🗳️ Voting ends on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 3 p.m. UTC/4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST. Here are the two semi-finalists 🔽

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

The fourth semi-finalist is: Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and a meteor train Taken on: October 24, 2025 Credit: Massimo Penna

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

Here are the full results: blueskypolls.xyz/results.php?...

Full results of the first quarter final are shown as a list with bars that extend to the respective percentage of votes. "Comet Lemmon and a meteor train" got 38.8% (19 votes), "Asteroid Donaldjohanson seen by Lucy" got 34.7% (17 votes), " Spherules returned from asteroid Bennu" got 18.4% (9 votes), and " Spherules on Mars seen by Perseverance" got 8.2% (4 votes).

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 18/12/2025

The results of the 4th quarter-final are in and it was super close: "Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and a meteor train " advances to the semi-final with 38.8% of the vote (19 out of 49 votes).

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 17/12/2025

There is still time to vote for one of these four great images in the 4th quarter-final of #planetSci image of the year. Currently, it’s a tight race between asteroid Donaldjohanson and comet Lemmon. The vote can be found in this thread: bsky.app/profile/spac... #scicomm

The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.
Source: https://lucy.swri.edu/DonaldjohansonImageGallery.html
Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab

Unusual “witch hat” or “helmet-shaped” rock composed entirely of smaller spherules. The image was taken by the NASA rover Perseverance on Mars.
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/blog/shocking-spherules/
https://jackiebranc.site/nasas-perseverance-rover-journey/

The Bennu samples revealed magnetite (iron oxide) crystals less than 1 micrometer in size. The individual crystals included hexahedra (six-sided cubes) and octahedra (eight-sided polyhedra).
Rob Wardell/Tim Gooding/Tim McCoy/Smithsonian
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/29/science/asteroid-bennu-building-blocks-of-life

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 16/12/2025

What are asteroids made of? Among others, these tiny iron oxide crystals. These come from samples returned from Bennu by NASA's OSIRIS-Rex mission. This image is also up for the planetary science image of 2025: bsky.app/profile/spac... Credit: R. Wardell/T. Gooding/T. McCoy/Smithsonian #SciComm 🧪

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 16/12/2025

Unusual “helmet-shaped” rock composed entirely of smaller spherules. This image was taken by NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. This image is also up for the planetary science image of 2025: bsky.app/profile/spac... NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/ @jackiebranc.site #SciComm 🧪

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 16/12/2025

Here, comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) crosses behind a meteor train, which is hot gas and fine dust that briefly remains in the Earth's atmosphere after a bright meteor flashes by. This image is also up for the planetary science image of 2025: bsky.app/profile/spac... Credit: Massimo Penna #SciComm 🧪

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 16/12/2025

NASA's Lucy mission reached another milestone this year with the encounter with asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson. This image is also up for the planetary science image of 2025: bsky.app/profile/spac... Credit: NASA/Goddard/ @swri.org / @jhuapl.bsky.social / @noirlabastro.bsky.social #SciComm 🧪

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

4/4 Spherules returned by OSIRIS-REx from asteroid Bennu Published on: January 29, 2025 Credit: Rob Wardell/Tim Gooding/Tim McCoy/Smithsonian 🗳️ vote link 1 posts down #NASA #TeamAsteroid #SampleReturn

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

3/4 Spherules on Mars seen by Perseverance Taken on: August 5, 2025 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Jackie Branc, @jackiebranc.site 🗳️ vote link 2 posts down #Mars #Perseverance #Rover

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

2/4 Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and a meteor train Taken on: October 24, 2025 Credit: Massimo Penna 🗳️ vote link 3 posts down #TeamComet

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

1/4 Asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson seen by Lucy Taken on: April 20, 2025 Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab; @swri.org, @jhuapl.bsky.social, @noirlabastro.bsky.social 🗳️ vote link 4 posts down #NASA #TeamAsteroid

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

4th quarter-final of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2025 ✨ This round features mostly small bodies 🧪⚛️ 🗳️ Voting ends on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 3 p.m. UTC/4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST. 🔽 The voting can be found after the fourth image. Here come the next four quarter finalists ☄️

Bracket for "BSky Planetary Science Image of 2025" contest, featuring small icons of 16 images grouped into four quarter-finals. There are semi-finalists and finalist placeholders against a lunar surface backdrop.

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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 15/12/2025

The third semi-finalist is: Uranus as seen by JWST Taken on: October 6, 2025 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY, @stsci.edu, @andrealuck.bsky.social

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