iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Thomas Carpentier

Melina Thévenot🏳️‍⚧️ @melina-iras07572.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

There are tools by Sky&Telescope: skyandtelescope.org/stargazing-a... I get Tethys, Dione and Rhea for the three other moons.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I struggled with the colors but I think this image turned out quite good 😶‍🌫️ 🔭 This is Saturn as seen by Hubble yesterday, and processed by me! While I am pretty sure the moon in the top left corner is Titan, I have no idea about the ones in the top right corner...

Saturn seen in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet itself is yellow-orange-ish with bright rings around it. Near the top left corner a huge moon, Titan, can be seen as a globe near the planet. In the top right corner, three small bright dots can be spotted. They also are Saturn's moons.

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Happy publication day morning to me!! Dear friend @chrislintott.bsky.social said on record that it was "Truly unique! Sparkling with charm and interest & uncompromisingly clear". In person he said "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but it was surprisingly good" 🥳 Major compliment! 🤗🧪

"Sparkling with charm and interest".
Chris Lintott present of The Sky at Night
Catherine's book is below it, looking dark and moody, but with peachy-pink tones.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Today was a great day for me on professional and personal levels, so I will share something even greater: a JWST observation of the centre of our galaxy! 🔭 This is Sagittarius B2, a molecular cloud a few hundreds light years away from SgrA*, as seen by MIRI and processed by me!

Observation of the Sgr B2 molecular cloud in mid-infrared by the JWST. The cloud appears mostly in red/orange and blue colors. In this wavelength, what is mostly appearing is the dust in the cloud, which is everywhere in the image. Some brighter spots can be seen, where new stars are located. Background and foreground stars can also be spotted as blue and bright dots.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

That's the first time that I am happy with my processed image of an observation of Neptune by Hubble, so I am sharing it here too! 🔭 This observation was done yesterday around 6pm UTC. The data come from the 17964 proposal led by Mariarosa Marinelli.

A picture of Neptune as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet appears in dark blue, with some storms near the poles and the equator looking like white spots and streaks.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Here's my go at the JWST's observation of the Kepler supernova! 🔭 The noise was difficult to deal with while not losing too much faint details of the remnant, but I think I've managed to produce a satisfying result. HD & credits: flic.kr/p/2sxV8Vi

Observation in mid-infrared of the remnant of a supernova, a massive star that exploded. This supernova was seen from Earth in 1604. The image itself is looking like an expanding orange bubble with filaments going in various directions. The background is full of small blue dots: stars and galaxies!

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 10/08/2026

#NASAWebb imaged the Lion Nebula in near- and mid-infrared light just in time for #WorldLionDay. The stellar core, looking like the lion’s “nose,” is responsible for sculpting the nebula’s complex gas and dust structures: news.stsci.edu/4x639kM

$Planetary nebula NGC 2392, the Lion Nebula, against the black background of space. The nebula is at center, circular in shape, and looks like a male lion’s head. In the very center is a small, pinkish-white circle with eight-point diffraction spikes, a white dwarf star. Surrounding the star are light purple-pink cavernous bubbles and shell-like rings. The bubbles and shells collectively form an oval with two small, wide arcs near the top, reminiscent of a lion’s face and its ears. What appears to be extended outward from the lion’s face is a thick ring of purple-blue material. The width of the ring is consistent throughout and resembles a mane. The area closest to the lion’s face looks cloudy, while the edges of the mane look like there are clumps of dust with comet-like tails and strands. In the background are distant galaxies and stars. Some galaxies appear as yellow and orange points of light and others with visible spiral structures. A couple of the stars have diffraction spikes.$

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A foretaste for what's to come tomorrow... 👀🔭 This is my processed image of the Eskimo Planetary Nebula (NGC-2392) using data from an old Hubble observation. We may hear more about this planetary nebula tomorrow hehe

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I never talk about football here, but today I received the new Barcelona shirts and I am so so happy with them (the away kit is a stunner!) 🥰

A picture of the front of the two new FC Barcelona shirts: the home kit on the left, with usual blue and red stripes; the away shirt on the right with black and purple colours

The back of the shirts: Pedri n°8 on the home shirt; Lamine Yamal n°10 on the away one

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ESO @eso.org · 28/07/2026

The conclusion of a century-long quest 😲 Our VLT obtained firm evidence that Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation and one of the most famous stars in the night sky, is not alone! 🔭 🧪 1/4

A collage of various astronomical images. The background image shows a wide view of a starry night sky, with blue lines connecting the stars of the Orion constellation. An inset image zooms into the star Betelgeuse, showing its orange surface. A second inset shows a bright companion next to the star. Image by ESO/M. Montargès et al. Background: N. Rissinger (skysurvey.org).

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Melina Thévenot🏳️‍⚧️ @melina-iras07572.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

The planetary nebula is known as a candidate background planetary nebula. Coordinates overlap with this in SIMBAD: simbad.cds.unistra.fr/simbad/sim-i... One paper from 2015.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The JWST will never cease to amaze me... 🔭 This is the HH-1019 region, in the Orion Nebula, and everything here is incredible! I suspect there even is a planetary nebula on this image, which looks amazing! (It really looks like NGC-6072 to me) HD: flic.kr/p/2sqVKuS

HH-1019 seen by the JWST/NIRCam. A huge orange gas cloud formation can be seen on the left part of the image, from where some smaller gas cloud are "ejected". Some objects looking like blobs can also be spotted: small gas cloud chunk from where stars are born! In the bottom middle part of the image, a planetary nebula can be seen: the remnant of a small/medium size star that died and slowly ejecting its outer layers.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

It has been a long time since I posted new pictures (who would've thought that doing a PhD was that time-consuming??), but here are two JWST pictures of Centaurus A! 🔭 A NIRCam picture of the full galaxy (you probably have seen the press release yesterday!), and a focus on the nucleus by MIRI

A vertical view of a lenticular or elliptical galaxy by the JWST in near-infrared wavelength. The gas structures are seen in red and orange colours, stretching from the top of the image to the bottom. In the middle lies the centre of the galaxy, looking really bright as this galaxy hosts an active galactical nucleus. Many nebulae of the galaxy can be spotted here and there, with stars in the galaxy appearing like small dots.

The centre of that same galaxy in mid-infrared wavelength as seen by the JWST. The gas in the galaxy appears like a fluffy ensemble in orange and yellow-ish colours. The AGN is appearing as bright as in the other picture.

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Wait everyone shut up for a second: the discovery of the Brachiosaurus holotype is at the exact midpoint between the founding of the United States and today (July 4, 1901)

Bearded guy in a hat lies next to recently uncovered sauropod humerus that is longer than him

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 30/06/2026

The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here… On June 29, 2026, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially began the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)! 🔭🧪☄️🌌 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/action-...

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 24/06/2026

No less than 60 million stars in one image. It's possible thanks to ESA's Euclid mission. For just one day, Euclid turned its gaze to the crowded heart of the Milky Way and captured the largest, most detailed photo ever taken of our galaxy's centre in visible light. Let's dive deeper 👇 🔭 🧪 ☄️ 1/8

A dense field of tiny stars fills this square image taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The lower and central areas are dominated by bright yellow and gold colours, forming a textured background similar to fine glitter or sand. Dark brown and black patches cut irregularly through the yellow regions, like ink stains or clouds of smoke. Toward the upper left, the colours shift to purple and reddish tones, blending gently into the surrounding star field. Small blue points of light are scattered across the image.

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 03/06/2026

STScI scientists using the Euclid space telescope made a discovery that provides clues to what’s happening deep within some stars’ interiors: news.stsci.edu/49x77d1 🔭

$This astronomical image is speckled with thousands of stars against the black background of space. Most stars are visible only as white pinpoints. The great majority of stars are crowding the center, which appears as an irregular round shape. Most stars in the center of this cluster are whiter, and those along periphery edges yellower. The stars across the entire image range in color from blue to white to yellowish red. A few of the stars appear a bit larger and brighter than the rest, with six diffraction spikes.$

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

How to describe this with words?.. 🔭 This is the W51A region, some 17,000 light years away from us, as seen by the JWST/NIRCam. I loved every second that I spent processing this image, and I think you can clearly see why! HD & credits: flic.kr/p/2sbFB4i

Infrared observation of a star forming region, full of gas. Most of the gases appear in red, orange, and yellow colours. Red stripes of gas appear in the forefront of the structure, while blue and white areas appear inside of it. Hundreds of stars can be seen in the background

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

🔊Calling UK science & physics teachers. Could you lend me your voice to help us fight the devastating funding cuts planned for UK astronomy and particle physics? Please sign this open letter, which we will be delivering to the UKGov next week. 🧪🔭⚛️🎢 #STFC ✍️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre... Thank you!

Dear Lord Vallance,

Cuts to funding for astronomy and space science

We are writing to you as physics teachers in secondary schools and sixth form colleges, to express our grave concern at the cuts to funding for astronomy and space science, and particle and nuclear physics, proposed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

As you know, these amount to 30% overall, and project groups have been asked to plan for budget reductions of up to 60%. We urge you to take prompt action to reverse these cuts, the scale of which are without precedent in modern times.

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Peter Grindrod @petergrindrod.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

There are 15 (!) PhD positions available to join the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission science team. Funded through the MSCA EXODOCS doctoral network: www.exodocs.eu Apply here: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/432752

exodocs.eu

EXODOCS

Are we alone in the Universe? The search for life beyond Earth is one of humanity’s most profound scientific quests. Mars, our closest planetary neighbour, offers unique conditions to explore this qu...

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Bona Diada de Sant Jordi a tothom! 🌹🐉 This is the best tradition in my own opinion: people gifting themselves roses and books, so much beauty into that! So here's my own-processed gift: a cosmic rose seen by Hubble, the well known Arp 273 merger! 🔭

Two galaxies merging looking exactly like a rose (the bottom galaxy being the peduncle, the upper one being the pistil and the petals) seen in visible light. Dozens of background galaxies can be spotted as well.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

My processed image of the JWST observation of Sharpless 305, a star-forming region inside our Milky Way! 🔭 This emission nebula is located ~14,000 light-years away, with several dozens of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) having been discovered inside this nebula. HD: flic.kr/p/2s5qkHF

A gigantic gas cloud seen in infrared spreading across the entire image. The gas appears mostly in orange, although a blue-ish veil can be spotted in the area where new born stars pushed the gas away. Hundreds of stars can be spotted as well, mostly appearing in blue. On the top-left corner, a huge star can be seen with gas probably being pushed away.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I welcome you to the heart of the Carina Nebula! 🔭 These are the HH1159-HH1164 protostars inside the Carina Nebula as seen by the JWST, using data obtained through the 5408 program led by Dr. Megan Reiter. These patches look like cosmic jellyfishes if you ask me! HD: flic.kr/p/2s3ieDg

Red patches of gas looking like jellyfishes seen in infrared light. A red and grey veil of gas can also be spotted in the entire image. The background is full of stars and galaxies.

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 07/03/2026

TODAY. Take Back our Science Rally. Don't take this administration's assault on science sitting down. Get to a rally: fight2win.standupforscience.... #StandUpForScience #March7 #Rally #science #savescience

TAKE BACK our SCIENCE RALLY TODAY.
DON'T TAKE THIS SITTING DOWN.
STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
standupforscience.net/march7

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Seeing this beautiful picture reminded me of an earlier JWST observation of the same nebula, during its calibration days in 2022. So I went on to combine the Euclid's VIS data with this single MIRI filter (F560W) to create this image! 🔭

The Cat's Eye Nebula picture combining Euclid/VIS (visible light) and JWST/MIRI (mid-infrared) data. At the very centre lies the dying star, appearing like a bright dot. The nebula itself looks, as its name hints, like an eye. The expanding gas is appearing brownish, orange and blue.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Fuck Trump. Fuck the puppeteers behind him. Fuck the GOP, especially congressional Republicans and quisling Democrats, who enabled him. Fuck the people who voted for this, and fuck the media for never reporting on him realistically. Fuck them all, for they have truly fucked us and the world.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I was waiting all day for the data release of those observations, I am clearly not disappointed!🔭 This is the Cranium Nebula, a planetary nebula, as seen by the JWST with NIRCam (l) and MIRI (r). Processing this data was so fun, this plan. nebula is incredible! HD: flic.kr/p/2rYiLSJ

The slow death of a star seen in infrared. The star is ejecting its outer layers at a slow pace, creating what looks like an expecting bubble of gas. The material ejected by the star is appearing as orange/red here, looking like a skull (hence its name). Dozens of stars in our galaxy and background galaxies can be spotted everywhere around it (and even behind it!).

The same planetary nebula seen in mid-infrared. The skull and the bubble are still clearly visible.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 10/02/2026

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

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European Space History @eurospacehistory.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

😎 This weekend, ESA marks 18 years of Europe’s Columbus laboratory in orbit, and we’ve got a couple of these epic ‘How Columbus Learnt to Fly’ books to give away! Just share this post for a chance to win!👍

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Emily Hunt @emily.space · 04/02/2026

Go read about star & planet formation on the shiny new website of The Star Formation Newsletter! It's back! 🎉

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LIRA astro @liraastro.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

🪐 LENS – LIRA | L’Encadré de la Semaine Première planète imagée grâce au coronographe français du JWST Découverte de TWA 7b, une jeune planète de masse comparable à Saturne, dix fois moins massive que les exoplanètes déjà imagées. Une première mondiale. 👉 urls.fr/v7Wrf-

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

This is one of my favorite JWST observation ever! 🔭 💙 This is HH288, a star heavier than the Sun being born in front of our eyes! The jets are the result of that process. There is even another star being born near it, as the perpendicular jets are showing. HD: flic.kr/p/2rUKqvx

$Two jets, appearing red and violet, being ejected by a central protostar, hidden behind gas. The jets are extending to the left and right parts of the image. Two perpendicular thinner jets can be seen as well, coming from another protostar. Hundreds of stars can be seen in the background of the image, appearing like bright dots with the JWST trademark diffraction spikes.$

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Clearly not as impressive as the images of Northern Europe, but still impressive to catch auroras in Fiesole/Florence, Italy 🔭 🥰 My very first auroras in 28 years, I'm really moved right now 🥺

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

It has been a long time since I posted a picture here, so here's one to make it up! 🔭 This is the PGC 50779 galaxy, also known as the Circinus Galaxy, located some 13 million light-years away from us. HD: flic.kr/p/2rS7tjZ

The centre part of a spiral galaxy where the middle is extremely bright, where the supermassive black hole is located. The middle is surrounded by rings of gas, appearing in darker coulours (mostly red and orange). Some blue gas part can be seen drifting away from the middle as the galaxy is ejecting waves of gas because of its activity.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

And now the MIRI version! 🔭 The observation was made during the night, and just like with NIRCam, the fragments and the tail are beautiful! HD: flic.kr/p/2rPp5EV

Another infrared observation of the C/2025 K1 comet, seen by the JWST/MIRI. On the left, the main part of the comet, seen as a bright dot, and its coma. On the right, two small dots which are fragments of the comet.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I am not really good with this kind of observation, but here's my processed version of the JWST observation of the C/2025 K1 comet, which was made today! 🔭 The multiple fragments are clearly visible there, in full beauty HD: flic.kr/p/2rPhQUz

An infrared observation of a comet, C/2025 K1, seen by the JWST. On the left, the main part of the comet, seen as a bright dot, and its coma. On the right, two small dots which are fragments of the comet.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Here's to celebrate the end of my first term as a PhD Researcher! 🔭 🎉 This is the Pismis 24 star cluster as seen by the JWST, processed by me! It is located some 6,500 light years away, and it's part of the NGC-6357 nebula. HD: flic.kr/p/2rMPcYg

A gas cloud seen in infrared light. Near the upper-centre part of the image, a pillar-like structure, just like a finger, can be seen, with a young star at the tip of it. The gas composing the cloud appears in red and orange colours. From top left to top right, a veil of gas can also be spotted, in beige and red colours. It is in the background of that cloud. Dozens of stars cna be spotted as well, with a big one on the centre-bottom part, carving around it the gas cloud thanks to its stellars winds.

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EUI Department of History @eui-history.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

📣 Applications for our fully-funded #PhD programme are still open 📣 ℹ️ Check the programme's webpage 👉 loom.ly/pvk17dc ⏰ and apply by 15 January 2026! 🎓 #PhDlife #academicsky #history #skystorians

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Andrea Luck @andrealuck.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

My version of the latest Saturn and Triton release by JWST Full size & more info: flic.kr/p/2rLJqnZ 🔭🧪 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AndreaLuck JWST/NIRCAM F150W2-F164N, F212N 2024-11-29 Proposal PI: Macarena Garcia Marin Proposal ID 9219

In this JWST image, Saturn appears as a pale gold/brownish sphere with horizontal bands, encircled by a bright whithish, thin oval ring system. The atmosphere is showing off a few circle whithish storm-like features. On the top left also its world Titan is visible as a gold glowing sphere.

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Dr. Ryan French @ryanjfrench.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Physics in action: a truly mesmerising #SolarFlare on the Sun last night, from the same region that produced strong flares and triggered widespread aurora back in mid-November. The flare gives a hypnotic example of how plasma and magnetic fields interact in the Sun’s atmosphere.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Putting a spiral galaxy in your TL just for the sake of it! 🔭 This is the NGC-4569/M90 galaxy as seen by Hubble and processed by me. It is located some 60M light years away from us! HD: flic.kr/p/2rJqjVV

A spiral galaxy seen in visible light. The centre is extremely bright, while the arms appear in red and orange. Inside the arms some blue areas can be spotted. These areas are clusters of stars! On the left part of the image, a part of one of the arms appears like going up.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Look what arrived today! 👀 🔭 This is the October 2025 issue of "Reflets de la Physique" with an image that I processed on its cover, and the book "Onbegrensd Universum" written by @govertschilling.nl with two images of mine inside! 😎

On the left handside: the issue October 2025 of the French journal "Reflets de la Physique" with a nebula picture on its cover.
On the right handside: the "Onbegrensd Universum" book, written by Govert Schilling.

Two images inside this book, processed by me 😎

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

A stellar nursery at its finest! 🔭 This is LHA120-N159 region in the LMC as seen by the JWST one year ago. It is home to MANY new born stars and many more to come! I was in awe with how beautiful this region is while I was processing these data earlier this morning! HD: flic.kr/p/2rGG32u

A large portion of a gas cloud seen in infrared light. Most of the cloud appears in red, orange and yellow colours. Some sort of cavities can be seen in the cloud, being brighter and in blue: this is where large stars being born have pushed away the gas around them. Hundreds of small dots can be spotted everywhere, being stars in the LMC galaxy around and in the observed region.

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Thomas Carpentier @thocarp.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

A few days before ESA's Ministerial, this is really huge! 🔭 In 2023, Canada's budget for ESA was €34M for instance. www.canada.ca/en/space-age...

November 18, 2025 - Longueuil
Quebec

Today, at the SpaceBound 2025
Conference, the Honourable Mélanie Joly
Minister of Industry and Minister
responsible for Canada Economic
Development for Quebec Regions, made
he historic announcement that Canada
will increase its investment to Europear
Space Agency (ESA) programs by
$528.5 million. This investment
represents a tenfold increase compared
to previous contributions and is set ta
advance research and development of
Canadian-made space technologies for
poth civilian and defence purposes. It wil
help build an industrial base that is ready
and capable of supporting Canada's
tommercial, defence and security needs.

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EUI Department of History @eui-history.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

🎓 📚 What could you do with us? Check our faculty areas of supervision 👉 loom.ly/3GVxVSU and apply for our #PhD programme by 15 January 2026! 🤔 Want to know more? Meet us at our: 🌐 Virtual Open Day - 2 Dec 2025 👉 loom.ly/sp5lOKM 📣 #skystorians #academicsky

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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 17/11/2025

Well, here's some very exciting news! I've been wanting to share this for a few months, but had to wait for the pre-print to drop. A NEW GLITCH ON A MILLISECOND PULSAR HAS BEEN OBSERVED! These events are extremely rare - only two others since MSPs discovered. 🔭🧪📡

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 14/11/2025

The brightest point in this Hubble image of FS Tau is a binary system, consisting of two stars orbiting each other, that have cleared much of its surrounding dust and gas away. Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Stapelfeldt (NASA JPL), G. Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America). 🔭 🧪

$A nebula that contains stars and protostars. To the right of center, there is a bright white point made up of two orbiting stars with a four-pronged diffraction pattern. At 2 o’clock from this star, there is another, smaller bright light, a protostar, surrounded by a dark, edge-on disk of matter, which appears as a vertical line. In the center of the image is a cavity where the clouds are thinner and background stars shine through. The stars and protostar are on the edges of this cavity and are surrounded by dark clouds that appear like thick smoke in the light. A thin, short blue jet of material extends roughly horizontally, emerging from both sides of the disk. The jet is interrupted by the cavity and then continues to the left, cutting through the center of the frame.$

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