iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Aster Cowart

Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Hi everyone, I'm selling some 8x10" prints of some of my photography for $20/print + shipping costs. I also have 4x6" prints for $5/print. DM me if you're interested!

Wind turbines in front of a sunset orange cloudbank with a rainbow.

Wind turbines in front of a textured sunset cloudbank

A textured cloud deck with a headlight streak running through the foreground.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Hi everyone, I'm selling some 8x10" prints of some of my photography for $20/print + shipping costs. I also have 4x6" prints for $5/print. DM me if you're interested!

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Peace and love from planet Mars (Curiosity NavCam imaging from the afternoon of Sol 4623, August 8, 2025)

A rounded area of sandy pits are intersected by rocky ridges to form a peace sign shape on the Martian surface.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Would like to point out there's a section in the EO issued yesterday that might outright bar trans people from obtaining federal research grants. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

(ii) Discretionary awards shall not be used to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate:

(A) racial preferences or other forms of racial discrimination by the grant recipient, including activities where race or intentional proxies for race will be used as a selection criterion for employment or program participation;

(B) denial by the grant recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic;

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Spotted a cool rock on Mars on Wednesday

A monochrome photo of a rock. The rock contains several cross-bedded layers.

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Kayla "Iacovino with an i" @kaylaiacovino.com · 04/04/2025

Today’s moment awe: this actual photograph of Mars. This one particularly moves me. Somehow, the atmosphere and play of light and shadow on the surface make it look *real*. Like a place I could go to. And stand on. Not an abstract concept seen only through the eyes of robots. An actual *place*.

Argyre Basin and Thaumasia - Viking 1
11 frame color mosaic of the large impact basin Argyre and its surroundings, taken by Viking 1 during its 40th orbit of Mars, July 30, 1976. This image captures the area just after sunrise. Water condensate clouds are seen streaming over Thaumasia, while carbon dioxide hoarfrost fills the bottom of Argyre.

Caption: Aster Cowart
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / Viking Project / Aster Cowart

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Frances Larina @franceslarina.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

HHS intends to remove trans health care from the Essential Health Benefits of the ACA/Obamacare; insurers will no longer be required to provide coverage. The public comment period ends April 11th; please help by leaving a comment against this change? www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

federalregister.gov

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability

This proposed rule would revise standards relating to past-due premium payments; exclude Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from the definition of "lawfully present"; the evidentiary st...

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ESA Operations @operations.esa.int · 27/03/2025

The team at ESA mission control has initiated Gaia's final manoeuvre. The spacecraft is now moving away from the second Lagrange point to prevent it interfering with any current or future missions near this scientifically valuable point in space.

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Landru79 @landru79.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

#NASA's #Mars #Perseverance rover Mars Perseverance Sol 1457: Left Navigation Camera (Navcam) mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mul... NASA/JPL-Caltech/j. Roger 🔭

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mady castigan✨ 🏳️‍⚧️ @mady.cat · 20/03/2025

The HHS rule banning trans care from many ACA plans is open for public comment now. Only 3 comments so far. Embarrassing how the media is completely ignoring this. There's likely over 200,000 trans people on ACA plans (1% of 24 million) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

federalregister.gov

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability

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Don Davis @ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Sunset on the Moon, from a photo released today in the NASA/Firefly Aerospace press conference. I have color balanced the original to get rid of the green hue near the center, which is a camera artifact. We see the overexposed inner Zodiacal Light looming above the bright horizon 'rim lighting'.

This image shows the inner Zodiacal Light, a stable amorphous band of light brightest near the Sun. It is looming above the bright outlined Lunar horizon. This 'horizon glow' is still not settled in its origin. I think it is 'rim glow' from the barely hidden Sun shining through the 'fluffy' dust covering the surface. Some think it is actually levitated dust but I doubt that happens enough to look like this. The lighting I describe seems to me to be sufficient to explain what is seen.

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Billie Jean Sweeney @billiejsweeney.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

You won’t see this in the nyt… At least 12 peer-reviewed studies that support gender care as safe and beneficial, and support trans inclusion in sports have been ignored by the nyt over the past year

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John Lees @johnlees.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

The Cass Review only exists because transphobic politicians were angry that all the actual scientific studies kept on contradicting their ideology and commissioned a report specifically to get the outcome they wanted. Needless to say, that renders it, among other things, invalid as a study.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Had a wonderful time at the orchid exhibition last night! Super vibrant colors everywhere

An orchid planter with white, yellow, and red orchids set against a white wall. Gulal powder coats the plants.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Hmm, this seems like one of the darker lunar eclipses I've seen

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

lol sounds like my attempt to present at my poster via livestream got shut down :(

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Landru79 @landru79.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Misson: #HERA 12 March 2025 gravity-assist Target: #DEIMOS #MARS www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... ESA/JAXA/j. Roger

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

I couldn't write an #LPSCHaiku I was happy with within the 5/7/5 structure. So I borrowed the related tanka form (5/7/5/7/7) for a little more room to work. In ancient rock slide: // Sulfur, in element form // encases rubble // and spreading atoms yonder, // clothes rocks in myriad forms.

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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 13/03/2025

“My ability to feed email text into LLMs is why I earn $6 million a year while adjuncts earn $35,000”

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Alex Innanen @transmartian.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

If you need your cloud fix, you can head on over to my #LPSC2025 poster and hear about the newest addition to the Alex family of projects

A scientific poster titled 'Examining Martian Cloud Properties with TGO/CaSSIS'. The poster has several labeled CaSSIS images of clouds.

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ESA Technology @technology.esa.int · 13/03/2025

What would Deimos look like to an astronaut in space around Mars? None of Hera's instruments are equivalent to the naked human eye, but here is the science team's first attempt. The 'saddle' between two peaks of Deimos shows up as a shadow

False colour Asteroid Framing Camera image of Deimos ahead of Mars

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Ooh, this is a really neat presentation! It's mind-boggling to think there's a population of asteroids that are actually boulders blown off the Moon by impacts!

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Interested in elemental sulfur on Mars? Check out my #LPSC2025 poster this evening, where I look at the deposit from scales small to big! I am not actually in person, but with the help of my friend Carlos Gary-Bicas, I'm hoping to have a virtual presence! Stop by and say hi if you get a chance!

A poster in the LPSC hall. The poster is titled "Textural Relationships Associated with a Martian Native Sulfur Deposit in Gale Crater". A context map shows the location of the deposit in Gediz Vallis. A large photo shows a zoned block with a tan interior and a gray, crusty rim. It is surrounded by MAHLI photos from the deposit, showing rock textures at micron to millimeter scales. The interior of the block has granular textures resembling typical Gale Crater bedrock. The outer zone has grayish and whitish coatings. Elemental sulfur stones scattered around the block have a smooth, light appearance. A wider view of a crushed elemental sulfur rock shows internal voids and possible crystal growths. Photos from various locations on the outcrop show a vertical drop-off in sulfur stone abundance and sulfur-rich alteration textures. Some observations also suggest that the elemental sulfur was emplaced within porosity existing within the upper Gediz Vallis ridge deposit. These suggest sulfur was emplaced primarily near the base of the channel, likely through a "bottom-up" mechanism.

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European Space Agency @esa.int · 13/03/2025

Just in! 📸 The first images from yesterday’s #HeraMission flyby of Mars and its moon Deimos. 👇 www.esa.int/Space_Safety...

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 13/03/2025

My #LPSC2025 poster is up! If you're interested in the unusual geology of Umbriel, Uranus' coolest moon that you've never heard of, come on down!

A 42 by 42 in poster titled "Using the Wunda impact crater to assess the possibility for cryovolcanism on Umbriel." Poster is by the post author. There is a big picture of Umbriel, a very dark and heavily cratered moon of Uranus with a large, bright crater at the top, in the center. If you want to know more, email me and I will send a fully alt text version of the poster.

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Corinne Green @ket.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

remember how i said self-styled sanctuary states need to be affirmatively passing laws committing step-in funding to trans and immigrant healthcare? surprised we got this before medicaid/medicare but here we go. put up or shut up. www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe...

federalregister.gov

Public Inspection: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability

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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Just past sunrise on Sol 4476, the Mars Curiosity Rover used MastCam to take a large mosaic of the surroundings. Here’s my favorite part, looking towards the future drive path and boxworks. flic.kr/p/2qRrYD1

Rocks and sand. A shadow of a butte darkens the left. More buttes are in the distance; we’ll see more of them later.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Woah, Noam Izenberg showing a really neat flyby video of Venus with Parker Solar Probe's WISPR camera. Camera's bandpass is *just* sensitive to a surface emission window, but overlaps with oxygen airglow - needs processing to see the surface. #LPSC2025

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Julie Elliott @julieelliott.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

14 years ago today, the M9.1 Tohoku earthquake occurred offshore Sendai, Japan, devastating the region. It was the first great earthquake to occur in a area with a dense GNSS network, which provided an unprecedented view of deformation during the earthquake. (1/3) ⚒️ 🧪 youtu.be/1QCcVqZgNKw

youtu.be

Sendai / Tohoku-oki earthquake displacements from 0530 - 0630 UTC

YouTube video by rgrapenthin

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

I needed to step outside for a breather and saw Venus setting behind the trees across the street. Reminded me to try for seeing the crescent visually. Astigmatism made it hard, but the trick of closing one eye and hiding part of it behind a tree branch gave me the hint of a crescent's horn.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

I for one like calmly being told to "just breathe" while I'm being drowned in the bathtub

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Amanda Stadermann @stadermann.ooo · 11/03/2025

Also "we made it through hard times in the past" ignores all the folks who are now no longer part of that "we" And it will be a much smaller we on the other side

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JA Grier, Ph.D. @jagrier.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I’m glad my friends can gather at #LPSC2025 - again I wish I could join, but I and the rest of our trans colleagues could find themselves made literal felons in the middle of a TX conference. Not attending has not primarily been a boycott on my part, it’s been and remains a matter of safety.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 10/03/2025

The Moon is trans, this is known

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squawky.bsky.social @squawky.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Ok… assuming I did this correctly (!), a feed for LPSC2025 posts: bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

With #LPSC2025 about to start, it's time to share what I've been working on during the last months and will be presenting at the conference. This is a new high resolution 3D model of the Mont Mercou outcrop in Gale crater, that I made during my recent internship at LPG Nantes. #planetsci 🧵

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Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Sen. Mike Lee has introduced the SCREEN ACT, a bill that applies the "harmful to minors" standard used to ban LGBTQ+ books and resources in schools and libraries... and apply it nationally—to the internet. Under the guise of protecting kids from "pornography" www.lee.senate.gov/2025/2/senat...

goldrushcam.com

With Support from Heritage Action, Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee Introduces SCREEN Act for 119th Congress to Protect Children from Pornography Online

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

The new coronagraph on GOES-19 is pretty neat! The Earth pops in to say hi daily for a couple months around the equinoxes. Here's a partial eclipse from 615 GMT this morning with the Sun peeking over the Antarctic. The 100 km airglow shell, a few South American cities and fishing fleets are visible.

Coronagraph image of the sun. The sun is blocked by a black disk at the center of the image. Scattered light causes internal reflections. The Earth fills the upper half of the image, with cities and fishing fleets visible as bright spots visible on the bottom right part of the disk. Above the dark surface is a bright, thin band of light. Some stars and coronal streamers are visible in the bottom half of the image.

The same image with cites and fishing fleets labeled. Large cities, such as Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago, and Asuncion are identified.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

This one is a fun one. Can you figure out the direction the impactor came from?

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Gordan Ugarković @ugordan.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Rosetta view of Earth's nightside taken on approach during the 2nd Earth flyby. WAC red, green and UV375 filter composite. Green auroral glow visible at the northern latitudes. 2007-11-13 19:23 UTC Distance: 60 000 km Phase ange: 158 deg live.staticflickr.com/7168/6735852...

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Mallorie Malcontent ✨ @sweetbeanscomix.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

The anti-trans moral panic is out of control. Seriously cis people. Up your game. Get in their faces. Don’t defend us or try to get them to respect us. Ridicule them for being so deeply insecure over our existence.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

It's not totally lost on me that SpaceX boosterism — "Elon says this" reporting, FAA and EPA holdups "blocking progress", prima facie accepting failures as an outcome of experimentation — was a significant contributor to the belief that DOGE would have been anything different than what it is.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

The only acceptable royalty in this country are the amazing drag queens and kings who remind us of the social freedoms this country aspires to at its finest.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Between hostile state and Federal actions (ID validity concerns, federal bathroom bans, and an intensely anti-trans legislative session underway in TX), I decided travel to LPSC was too risky this year.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Hey all, if you have a moment, please use it to support non-binary/trans/intersex people by submitting a comment here on the X gender marker changes. Uncertainty around these rule changes, esp. coupled w/ possible capricious enforcement of ID validity, make it especially risky to travel.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

The Sol 148 video has a neat view of what looks like a Fujiwara interaction between dust devils, where the air flow around one starts to steer the other, and vice versa. You see the first dust devil suddenly reverse course as the second catches up, then rotate around and merge with it.

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Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

This is a mosaic from 11 Lander Vision System Camera images, taken at around 10 km above the ground. I colorized it using RDCAM images and @terrasabaea.bsky.social's Jezero Crater map. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Aster Cowart/Simeon Schmauß CC BY NC SA flic.kr/p/2qMvNak

Jezero Crater seen from 10km altitude. The image looks at an oblique angle with the heat shield falling away in the center of the image.
The Horizon is very hazy and has a very pale orange color. The ground below is a bit more clear, showing the fan from Jezero crater delta. A small area of sky is visible in the top left corner.

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Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

To those saying "this avoids a major funding loss", the entire point of government interference like this is to drive home to the target population (in this case, trans people) that "everyone" finds them disposable if the incentive is right.

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eva (^_^)/ @eva.computer · 18/02/2025

hello cis friends this is what people mean by trans genocide if a type of person does not officially exist, then any harm against them cannot be measured or reported this headline change isn't even being caused by an executive order it's simply the NYT editors deciding we don't deserve to exist

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