iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Wow impressive images of the Earth’s aurora taken by the recently launched SMILE mission 🤩🛰️

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Calling all #eclipse and geeky data science lovers! Check out this fantastic timelapse that displays the changing temperature relative to the %age of sunlight. I'm sure you'll all agree with me that this is <chef's kiss> marvellous! Bravo to Wayne!

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Well I would share my eclipse pictures but I don’t have any, unless you want pictures of cloud?! 🤣🌞🌚

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

6/ Finally please remember your eclipse glasses ⚠️ 👓 and solar filters on your telescope/phone. Other interesting ways to view the eclipse include a pinhole camera or a colander. Fingers crossed for clear skies 🤞

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

5/ To view the eclipse find somewhere that is open and/or on high ground and look to the west preferrably soemwhere cloud free.🌳🌊☁️ If it’s clear after dark, the Perseids meteor shower peak the same night too ☄️🌌✨

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

4/ The coverage and timings depend on your location. Coverage will range from ~90% in the north of the UK to ~96% in the south-west. The eclipse roughly starts 6pm, peaks 7:06–7:13pm, ends ~8pm depending on location. Sun will sit low in the west-northwest.

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

3/ But the Moon’s shadow is small and the path of totality is only around 100-200 km. Maximum duration for the total eclipse is 2 min 18 secs. Outside this path and you will be instead treated to a partial eclipse. However, in the UK 🇬🇧 we will still see the most significant eclipse until 2090 ‼️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

2/ A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting its shadow onto the Earth. The Sun is 400x bigger than the Moon & 400x further away, which is what makes total eclipses possible 🌗

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

1/ T-minus 1 day until the solar eclipse ‼️🌞🌑 Please remember to wear certified eclipse glasses not sunglasses! 😎 Greenland 🇬🇱, Iceland 🇮🇸, and Spain 🇪🇸 will see a total eclipse but UK will still see a 90+% partial eclipse, the most significant since 1999. More info below👇

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Met office cloud cover forecast for the partial #eclipse 12th Aug 😠 Still time for the weather Gods to change their minds, but if not it'll be a case of all the Northerners heading South for a day trip to Swansea. 🔭

A map of the UK with cloud cover for 19:00 on the 12th August. All of Ireland and Scotland are covered in cloud. The word BOO has been annotated over the clouds

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Agreed! Where I will be has an 80% chance of cloud 😭🤣

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

We're about to experience the most significant eclipse in the UK since 1999🌞🌚 On 12/08/2026 over 90% of the Sun will be covered by the moon. In Newcastle, 🕕 it starts around 6:10pm, 🌗 peaks at 7:07pm, 🕣 wraps up just after 8pm, with the Sun sitting low over the west-northwest horizon. Use eclipse 😎‼️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Recently got a Seestar S30 Pro and I am super chuffed with it. Haven't had much time to play around with it but I managed to capture this quick image of the Sun on Friday evening where you can see AR 14482 in the middle! 🌞😎

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Space weather update 🌞 Unsettled–active conditions possible 2 Jul as a CME from 27 Jun arrives. G1–G2 storm conditions likely by 3 Jul from the CME associated with the X1.1 flare on 30 Jun. Aurora chances rise for Northern UK, cloud/light permitting. 🛰️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I'm happy to share our Royal Society Theo Murphy special issue on solar atmospheric abundances is out in Phil Trans A 🌞 I wrote the intro — 16 papers, almost a third led by early-career scientists. Thanks to Guest Editors D. Long, D. Brooks & D. Baker! royalsocietypublishing.org/rsta/issue/3...

royalsocietypublishing.org

Volume 384 Issue 2323 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A | The Royal Society

Influential themed journal issues across the physical mathematical and engineering sciences.

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Peter Lewis @peterlewis55.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Today is the hottest day of the year, recorded in Suffolk (UK) from where I have just escaped to photograph the Sun. Mad dogs and Englishmen eh? #astronomy #astrophotography

AR4478 Sunspot group. It's a big one with lots of X flare potential.

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Catherine Ryan Hyde @catherineryanhyde.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Still watching this monster active region, now called AR4478. Not only is it huge, but it has the strongest magnetic complexity. Could be interesting. Unfortunately, this would be a bad time to watch aurora displays because the moon is so full. #astronomy #astrophotography

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

While we are currently being buffeted by high-speed solar wind from a coronal hole all eyes 👀 are on active region 14478 as it has developed into a complex region known as "beta-gamma-delta". These regions are often very flare productive and so it is worth watching as it rotates into view. 🌞💥

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Looks like the Sun has woken up again with more active regions on the disk. There is a complex active region 14478 that is rotating into view that we have been watching with Solar Orbiter, although it has been fairly quiet so far let's see what it has in store for us! 🌞🛰️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Some great news this morning! ESA has extended the Solar Orbiter mission‼️🌞🛰️ Solar Orbiter will continue to give us even better views of the Sun's poles as its orbital inclination increases. Plasma Observatory has been recommended as ESA's M7, with the formal decision expected in November. 🛰️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

☀️The Sun's at it again‼️A filament eruption + M-class flare from AR 4461 has launched a CME our way expected to arrive early on Mon 8 June. A G3 (strong) storm watch is in effect. Best aurora will be over Canada, US, and northern Scotland (limited by reduced darkness).

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

After multiple CME arrivals it seems Earth is now being buffeted with a high-speed stream from a coronal hole. There are no further Earth-directed CMEs forecast so for now we expect G1-G2 conditions at first, getting quieter later on. ⚡️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Looks like the Bz is finally shifting southwards, a moderate storm watch has been issued....🌞💨🛰️🌍️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Update: A CME did arrive early this morning so the forecasts were pretty accurate! However, the impact was relatively weak with a northward magnetic field, meaning no geomagnetic storm. Let's see how the situation evolves… 🌍🧲👀

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Thanks to active region 4455 multiple eruptions are now on their way to Earth. A G3 (strong) storm watch is now in effect with the eruptions set to arrive early on 5 June according to HUXt. Mid-latitude aurora possible, but you'll be competing with summer skies! 🌞💨🛰️🌍️

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I had a nice view of the blue moon 🌕

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Dr James O'Donoghue 🪐 @interplanetary.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

We have a PhD project opportunity starting in September 2026 led by @lukebarnard.bsky.social, supported by me and @mathewjowens.bsky.social It's on Solar Wind - Magnetosphere Coupling at the Giant Planets. Deadline is June 12th. You can apply here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

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Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

IOP President Paul Howarth and I have today written to Science Minister Lord Vallance calling for a full impact assessment of proposed STFC cuts to particle physics, astronomy and nuclear (PPAN) research.

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Beautiful Sun Halo! 🌞😇😍

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Prof Lucie Green @luciegreen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The four Artemis II astronauts are no longer orbiting Earth, but are now headed towards the Moon www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Artemis II blasts closer to the far side of the Moon

The mission's last, big push on its lunar journey takes humans out of the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972.

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Update: The CME has most likely already glanced us (see slight rise in EPAM) or it is a near miss, which could be due to the interaction with the coronal hole. G1-G2 still likely in the next few days due to the coronal hole influence 🌞💨🛰️🌍

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 31/03/2026

Everyone has a dark side, even the Sun... Introducing 'Inspector Smile', Chapter 1 ☀️ 🌬️ This comic strip recap brings you up to speed with the Smile mission, ahead of launch on 9 April. 🔭 🧪

Part one of the "Inspector Smile' comic strip introduces our life-giving star that has a dark side. For billions of years, it has been bombarding Earth with tiny particles. To protect us, Earth holds a giant shield, without which our thriving world would turn to wasteland.

Part two of the 'Inspector Smile' comic strip talks about the auroras we see as a result of the solar wind hitting our magnetic shield. However, when the Sun sends powerful blasts, satellites can be disrupted, communication can be down and power may go off. To protect our modern world, we need to understand this shield better. We need an Inspector.

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Definitely not for the faint hearted!

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Austrian Space Weather Office @aswogeosphere.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

#solarstorm modeling results - our ELEvo model predicts arrival at Earth of the large solar storm from earlier today around 12:17 UTC (±6.17h) on Mar 31. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide updates as new data comes in. 💫 #SpaceWeather

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Mathew Owens @mathewjowens.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

There's a fast Earth-directed CME with arrival predicted between late 31st and midday 2nd. Why such a huge window? Well, we now routinely run 6 ensemble forecasts (each with 500 runs) swxforecastlab.org/forecasts.html A person with a watch knows the time. A person with 3000 is never sure!

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Hence why we have launch windows rather than a single day. Hopefully should be fine 😂

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Very good question, possibly. I know that some of the previous launch attempts were also affected by high periods of activity (not just engineering issues)

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SolarSteph 🌞 @stephyardley.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

There was an X1.5 solar flare from AR 4405 this morning that is associated with an Earth-directed eruption. It looks like this eruption will be a glancing blow therefore a moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm watch has been issued. According to HUXt this CME will indeed hit Earth late on 31st. 🌞💨🛰️🌍️

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Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

"Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists". Op-ed in Research Professional News today by Mike Lockwood and me. #STFCcuts #SaveUKAstronomy www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

researchprofessionalnews.com

Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists - Research Professional News

UK will suffer lasting consequences from disrupted talent pipeline, say Mike Lockwood and James Wild

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Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Breaking: Looming physics cuts a ‘failure’, says science committee chair. Chi Onwurah says science minister and UKRI leadership must “bear responsibility” and “win back trust”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The Science, Innovation & Tech committee have written the most amazing letter to DSIT/UKRI/STFC: "What is clear is that, despite your assertions to the contrary... widespread cuts have been proposed before adequate consultation with those affected was undertaken. This is wholly unacceptable" 💪🔭⚛️🧪

The letter reads:

We were deeply concerned by what we heard, both from witnesses representing the PPAN community and those who contacted us in advance of the hearing.
It is not clear whether the current situation is the by-product of irresponsible financial management and inadequate governance; a conscious decision to set aside the 2009 ‘Drayson partitions’ in order to deprioritise a particular area of scientific research in favour of research facilities; an unintended consequence of wholesale, rushed reforms to the way the UK funds scientific research; or a combination of all three.
What is clear is that, despite your assertions to the contrary in evidence to my committee and our counterparts in the House of Lords, widespread cuts have been proposed before adequate consultation with those affected was undertaken.

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Posthuman Postma'am @chicagobowles.com · 03/03/2026

Full worm moon is WORMIN.

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Meg Schwamb @megschwamb.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Open Lecturer in Planetary Science position at UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory (Dorking) The successful applicant will be expected to perform research using data from the Rosalind Franklin Mission, but also other planetary bodies, such as the Moon and the Outer Planets icy moons. ☄️🔭🧪

ucl.ac.uk

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists 🔭👩‍🔬⚛️

Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing. At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.

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