iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 27/09/2026

The roofs are closed at the moment, but I’m ready to take remote observing to a new personal height.

Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 26/09/2026

I’m unexpectedly taking off on a long long journey. Part of me knew this was coming, but I thought it was coming later. Can I get a “Fuck Cancer?” (I’m as healthy as I normal.)

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 25/09/2026

I voted. And wow our courthouse is decorated to celebrate.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 24/09/2026

I sub a variety of newsletters to try & keep up with space related science & aerospace news. Imma unsub from SkyTuned because they may be unverified AI. New Glenn is absolutely not launching today & I have no idea why they would say this. The story isn't at the top of their website skytuned.com

a screen capture of SkyTuned spae news comprehensive Daily News letter. It says: "Thursday, September 24, 2026 · Issue #90

🌌 Today's Lead
Blue Origin's New Glenn Returns to Flight Tonight — The Comeback Launch That Changes Everything
Blue Origin is targeting liftoff tonight from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for New Glenn's return-to-flight mission — the company's comeback after the launchpad explosion earlier in 2026 that set its program back months. The 322-foot rocket and its seven BE-4 engines will generate 3.85 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making this one of 2026's most anticipated launches. A successful mission restores Blue Origin's heavy-lift credibility and its standing as a serious launch competitor — arriving just four days before SpaceX attempts Starship Flight 14's historic first orbital insertion on September 28. Tonight, all eyes are on the Cape."

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 23/09/2026

I’m at Walgreens to get my flu and Covid vaccines, and I’m deeply regretting the fist full of garlic Triscuits I ate right before I put this mask on. #maskon #vaccinein #vampiresaway

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 18/09/2026

Timeline Cleanse Turtle TV has a particularly good episode on today, but Stella is making it hard to watch with all her nose prints.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 17/09/2026

Smart monitors are cheaper for reasons. Do you not like; do not want anymore.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 17/09/2026

I'm kind of obsessed with this picture I took this evening of the Milky Way while observing M22. These are the dark skies over starfront.space

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 15/09/2026

Ads are gone. We did it. And we believe that if we produce ad-free and science-rich content, you will support us. Here is the video @fcain.universetoday.com and I produced for @astronomycast.com Will you support us? patreon.astronomycast.com patreon.cosmoquest.org patreon.com/universetoday

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 15/09/2026

Over the years, I've done everything I can to keep @cosmoquest.org & @astronomycast.com funded. This year I'm doing something new - I'm saying no to money. Both programs are going ad-free under the same creative commons license. How? Patreon! patreon.astronomycast.com patreon.cosmoquest.org

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 13/09/2026

My problem is I both want to change the world and grow a basil plant ... and these desires are incompatible.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 11/09/2026

Somebody appears to have had fun

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 11/09/2026

I installed the Seestar App to use a Seestar 30pro at Starfront.space it is kind of amazing.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 09/09/2026

When the satellites say, “and F—- this image in particular.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 07/09/2026

We keep rediscovering that small particles destroy lungs. Is this our future? Death by what's hidden in the air? www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

3-Sep-2026

Patients diagnosed with lung cancer found to have more microplastic in their lungs
European Respiratory Society
Reports and Proceedings
People with lung cancer are more likely to have microplastics in their lungs and to have larger quantities of microplastics in their lungs, according to research that will be presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Researchers say their study adds to evidence that microplastics are entering our bodies via the air we breathe and suggests that there may be a link between microplastics and lung disease.

Meeting
European Respiratory Society Congress 2026

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 07/09/2026

Last night during our Seestar Star Party with Starfront Observatories, someone mentioned there's a bright supernova in NGC 7331. On a whim, I tried to image it with the 30mm Seestar. It worked! The dot right next to the nucleus, down and to the left, is a supernova!

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 03/09/2026

My idiot children like to howl with fire trucks (and my house is a wreck).

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 03/09/2026

This aside has me… concerned… about parchment. Like, is there some old manuscript in the Bodleian library that’s harbors the black plague in a potency not seen since the 1600s? I don’t want parchment to be good at preserving viruses. I want it to be good at preserving words & illustrations.

ET CETERA
A virus preserved on paper
Researchers have sequenced an ancient variant of sheeppox from a piece of medieval parchment, allowing them to estimate the virus first appeared about 5000 years ago. "It turns out parchment is an extremely good preserver of this type of biological data," one of the team noted.
SCIENCE ADVANCES PAPER | READ MORE AT NEWS FROM SCIENCE

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 03/09/2026

At 5:30am Central, the Moon will snuggle with the Pleiades. I have no idea if I can capture this wild combo of brightnesses. But... alarm clock willing... I'm going to try.

The Moon next to the Pleiades as shown in Stellarium

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 02/09/2026

I just got whiplash while reading headlines on @sciam.bsky.social . The AI folks need to read the room.

TOP STORIES
The backlash against screens in schools is escalating
School districts are banning Al, states are limiting educational technology in classrooms, and Meta will set new "school mode" restrictions - here's what to know
Allison Parshall

Alpha School wants Al to teach a billion kids. Should it?
The fast-growing private-school network is handing much of instruction over to artificial intelligence. Researchers say the science is far from settled
Mary Randolph

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 31/08/2026

Roman is ahead of schedule & on budget with cost savings thx to the donation of its Hubble-sized mirror. Yet, they tried to cancel it. I'm sad this last flagship astronomy mission is named for the woman who put NASA on the path to building great space telescopes. This should not be an ending.

Photo of Roman's golden hour launch Sunday morning with palm trees framing the rocket as it flies.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 26/08/2026

I'm giving a talk tonight over on the Starfront Observatories Discord. Join me to get the 411 on Supernova Remnants Discord Link: discord.gg/starfront Event Link: discord.com/events/12499... Tune in 9pm Boston / 8pm Starfront / 6pm Seattle

Title: Supernova Remnants
There is a picture that looks like blue and red paint has been thrown at a starfield.

Text: In the final moment of a large star's life, gravity wins and a nuclear-fusion-triggering collapse occurs. The resulting explosions are among the most influential events in both the evolution of the universe and the evolution of astronomy. Come learn about all the ways supernova remnants can be observed, the multiple triggers for their formation, and how new ones can be found!

Image Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 22/08/2026

Stella would like you to know she absolutely will not get out of the car and she is willing to go to extreme measures to stay put. Extreme. Measures.

A very intense dog stares into the camera with a look that says "fucking try me"

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 22/08/2026

Another day, another dog walk, this time with the entire crew.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 21/08/2026

Moth! There are several of these on my patio

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 21/08/2026

This deer. My elderly nearsighted dog completely failed to see this deer. Zephyr wished to eat this deer.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 17/08/2026

The moment you realize you've accidentally taught your dogs to stop barking when you say, "Can you not...?" That moment. Good dogs...

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 15/08/2026

My husband finally tested Covid negative last night. We’re waiting for a second test to see if it’s real. I think Stella may be the most grateful one in the house if we can stop this isolation.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 14/08/2026

ZOMG, I caught a meteor (not a satellite, THIS IS A METEOR) right next to Andromeda! I was using one of the starfront.space seestars in both telescope and wide angle mode.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 14/08/2026

May I recommend occasionally joining in when your dogs howl with the firetrucks.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 13/08/2026

During times of transition, I always think of the opening of Dune: "A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct." When I created this desert world, a drop of a more fertile future was added - a lake full of potential. #exoplanets from fiction #sciart

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 13/08/2026

AND here is another! Also with the Seestar 30pro (lower right hand corner)

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 12/08/2026

I think the Lions that caught it got a lot more coverage. Maybe cats get it easier? Like I said, it is rare. But my old man is old and everything.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 12/08/2026

The good folks at starfront.space are letting me borrow a Seestar 30pro. Last night I managed to catch at least one Perseid Meteor (I have like 500 more images to review...). If this looks like it worked, I'll stream tonight, weather and internet willing. TIL: Wide-field remote obs are my jam.

A bright meteor streaks past the Andromeda galaxy.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 11/08/2026

It is day 5 of isolating in my home office next to the back bathroom while my husband with Covid isolates in the bedroom and uses the front bathroom. His covid is still a thing. I am still clear but will retest tonight. He is still definitely sick. The dogs are unimpressed.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 05/08/2026

um.... "Centuries-old DNA that was found in these mummies belongs to an extinct viral lineage of smallpox that was brought across the Atlantic during European colonization of the Americas. www.scientificamerican.com/article/chil...

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 04/08/2026

That’s awesome! This was my holiday project

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 04/08/2026

Lego lets you do stuff like this

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 31/07/2026

I ❤️ planetarium. Go hug the sky with your brain.

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 27/07/2026

My Monday inbox includes email from the Royal Astronomical Society highlighting that Jodrell Banks is at risk of closure. This is both a historic site and a super important research facility. This is one of the few facilities capable of both radio astronomy and radar measurements of space objects.

Mike Peel; Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester.

Image shows a massive steerable radio dish on a sunny day with puffy clouds. This facility is so big there arew 5 stories of stuff attached to the pivot point!

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 26/07/2026

Alongside my multiple to be read piles, as a fiber hobbyest , I also have the to be wound pile. Anyone else have this kind of pile building up?

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Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · 09/07/2026

This Science news lede is brilliant. www.sciencenews.org/article/hobb...

Science news latest headlines:

There is a photo of a clay reconstruction of a homo floresiensis. Beneath it reads:

‘Hobbits’ likely scavenged dragons’ kills

When Bilbo first crept into Smaug’s cave in the Lonely Mountain, he helped himself to a cup that was part of the dragon’s hoard. Now, examinations of bones from a real-world cave in Indonesia suggest that our “hobbit” relatives also dared to pick at a dragon’s haul. Homo floresiensis was an ancient human relation that once lived on the Indonesian island of Flores. These small-bodied hominids shared the isle with oversized rats, miniaturized elephants and fierce Komodo dragons. As Jake Buehler reports, analysis of animal remains found with the hobbit fossils hints that our tiny kin were scavenging off prey taken down by the large lizards.

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