iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This week’s M. Monday: a rare transitional "I/G-type" cosmic spherule! Indeed, not all cosmic spherules fit neatly into the traditional S-, G-, and I-type categories. After analyzing thousands of samples, you’re bound to encounter a few oddballs that blur the boundaries! 😎☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

We are back with M. Monday! ☄️ This week’s sample is a rare *fossil* S-type (BO-subtype) cosmic spherule from the Chanxhe collection. While most S-types do not survive the fossilization process, this specimen still preserves part of its original silicate content, a rare find! @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: A polished section of a Porphyritic olivine (Po-type) cosmic spherule from the Sør Rondane Mountains (Antarctica), showing typical well-defined olivine crystals in a glassy matrix with scattered magnetite grains. ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: A polished section of a peculiar fossil I-type cosmic spherule from the Chanxhe collection (~380 Ma). Its unusual shape preserves an elongated cavity left by the ejection of a FeNi-metal bead during atmospheric entry! ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: a photogenic S-type cosmic spherule from the Atacama Desert. It's of the Porphyritic Olivine (Po) subtype, though quite rich in magnetite. Full view (left) and close-up (right), highlighting its pretty magnetite dendrites! ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: a nice S-type cosmic spherule from the Atacama Desert, of the cryptocrystalline (CC) subtype. This CC is more specifically of the “turtleback” variety, based on the characteristic “spiky” shape of its olivine crystals ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: a nice S-type cosmic spherule from the Atacama Desert, more specifically of the Porphyritic olivine (PO)-type. It shows characteristic equant olivine crystals set in glass, along with some pretty magnetite crystals! ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

This week’s Micrometeorite Monday: an S-type cosmic spherule (porphyritic olivine, PO) featuring a large chromite grain (light-grey inclusion). Extraterrestrial chromites are highly resistant to weathering, making them useful at reconstructing the past extraterrestrial flux! ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

How cool! Our team is posting weekly pictures of samples that we find! If you are interested or curious about micrometeorites, consider following them (us)! 😄☄️ #spacedust #micrometeorites

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

If we consider the “Eclipse Comet” X/1882 K1 to have had a luminosity comparable to C/2026 A1 (MAPS), then STEREO-A basically shared the same experience as observers on Earth had during the May 17, 1882 solar eclipse! ☄️

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

A nice new Kreutz-group comet (left) is plunging toward its demise! Although a bit smaller than C/2026 A1 (MAPS)(right), it's still brighter than the average Kreutz-group fragments that are routinely discovered. ☄️

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Today is finally the day! Will C/2026 A1 (MAPS) "survive" perihelion? The opinions are divided, as current estimations place the comet at the very limit of survivability*. If it makes it past the Sun, it may briefly become a cool headless comet (debris trail) as seen from the Sth. Hemisphere! ☄️

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

What's currently going on in the daytime sky? Well, quite a bit, as far as comets! Here’s a new blog post on the potential outlook for C/2026 A1 (MAPS), along with several other comets recently uncovered in space-based solar observations! 😀☄️

skyhuntblog.wordpress.com

Comets in the Sun’s Glare: Activity in the Daytime Sky!

Coronagraphs allow astronomers to observe regions of the sky extremely close to the Sun, revealing comets that would otherwise be lost in its glare. Most of these objects are intrinsically small, t…

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Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I wrote a thing! Rubin and LSST are not only going to find a kajillion asteroids, they'll get lightcurves and colors at the same time, and the science is going to be phenomenal skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

skyandtelescope.org

Rubin Observatory Detects Record-Breaking Asteroids

The Rubin Observatory has detected thousands of new asteroids, including several that spin a lot faster than expected for typical rubble piles.

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

The Moon recently passed through FOV of @noaa.gov's #CCOR-1 telescope, at about the same time as a (faint) coronal mass ejection! 😍

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

A nice little Meyer-group #comet was recently uncovered in data from the #CCOR-1 instrument aboard @noaa.gov's GOES-19 satellite! The animation below is that of the comet transiting the @esa.int/NASA SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV on March 6th, 2026. ☄️

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Reposted by Trygve Prestgard

The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Ever wondered what our #micrometeorites look like up close, in color? This composite shows optical close-ups of FLUX samples captured by Dr. Thilo Hasse from @mfnberlin.bsky.social! Thanks, Thilo & the MfN, for these amazing results! More of their work: www.micrometeorites.org @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

I can confirm: we were productive and had lots of fun! 😄

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Yaayy, more Raman spectroscopy on micrometeorites! ☄️

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

A great start to 2026 as seen from the spacecraft coronagraphs: a nice new #sungrazing comet discovery! It reached a peak magnitude of ~+5 mag on January 1st, before fading. #Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is also visible in the animation below. ☄️☄️ Credit: ESA/NASA SOHO/LASCO C3 #CometWatch

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

As I was scrolling through the DECaPS DR2 images for interesting objects, I came across this surprisingly bright star that didn't appear anywhere else. Turned out to be V* FM Cir (Nova Circini 2018)! 😀

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Was scrolling through the Digitalized Sky Survey plates and came across periodic comet 47P/Ashbrook–Jackson. The comet looks really nice in the blue plate! ☄️ #CometWatch

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 08/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 357 C/1956 R1 (Arend-Roland) 1956 Nov 8: Discovered by S. J. V. Arend & G. Roland (Belgium) at 10 mag. Predisc of Nov 7 from Japan. The comet reached 1 mag around perihelion (1957 Apr 8 at 0.32 au). Max tail 30° and 15° sunward tail! Last seen on Apr 11. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of C/1956 R1 by on 1957 Apr 27 by R. Waterfield, BAA Comet Section, https://britastro.org/cometobs/1956r1/1956r1_19570427_rwaterfield.html

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 16/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 365 C/1989 W1 (Aarseth-Brewington) 1989 Nov 16: Discovered by K. B. Aarseth (Norway) and H. J. Brewington (USA) at 8.5 mag. Prediscovery images of Sep 1. The comet passed perihelion on Dec 27 and reached 3 mag. It was last finally seen on 1990 Jan 31. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of comet C/1989 V1 (Aarseth-Brewington) of 1989 Dec 20, by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=8375

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Was going through my old laptop and found this animation of comet Kudo-Fujikawa transiting the SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV! The images are from January 2003. Enjoy! ☄️ #CometWatch #ESA #NASA

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is entering the STEREO/SECCHI HI1-A camera's FOV! So far, only low-quality data is available. ☄️ #CometWatch

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 07/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 356 C/2018 V1 (Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto) 2018 Nov 7: Disc by D. E. Machholz (visual), S. Fujikawa & M. Iwamoto (Japan) at 10 mag. It's the last visual comet discovery! Perihelion on Dec 3 at 0.39 au w/ 7-8 mag. Last seen on Dec 17, possibly disintegrated. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of comet C/2018 V1 on 2018 Nov 18, by Michael Jäger, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=20224

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 01/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 350 C/1948 V1 (Eclipse Comet) 1948 Nov 1: Disc on photographs taken during the total solar eclipse at 2° from the sun at maybe -3 mag. From Nov 5 seen from the ground. Max tail ~20°. Perihelion on Oct 27 at 0.14 au. Last seen 1949 Apr 3. ALT for image source. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of C/1948 V1 taken from an airplane, image from https://skyweek.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/es-geschah-vor-65-jahren-mysterium-um-die-luft-aufnahmen-des-letzten-finsterniskometen/ by @cosmos4u.bsky.social, also https://www.rocketstem.org/2020/05/16/ice-and-stone-special-topic-21/

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 06/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 355 17P/1892 V1 (Holmes) 1892 Nov 6: Disc by E. Holmes (England) at 4 mag while in outburst five months after perihelion (Jun 13 at 2.14 au)! The comet faded slowly while becoming larger and diffuse. 2nd outburst on 1893 Jan 16. P=6.90 y, recovery in 1899. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Development of brightness and size of comet 17P/Holmes during the ourburst of 2007 by Naoyuki Kurita, https://stellarscenes.net/comet_e/holmes_change.htm

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 05/10/2025

#bskycometography no. 323 C/1975 T1 (Mori-Sato-Fujikawa) & C/1975 T2 (Suzuki-Saigusa-Mori) 1975 Oct 5: Two comets discovered within 1 hour by numerous Japanese comet hunters! Mori found his two comets within 70 minutes! The comets reached 8 mag and 4 mag, respectively. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of comet C/1975 T2 (Suzuki-Saigusa-Mori) by Maurice Clark on 1975 Nov 4, http://www.phys.ttu.edu/~ozprof/ssm1.htm

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 02/11/2025

#bskycometography no. 351 C/1577 V1 1577 Nov 2: First seen from Peru at maybe -7 mag! Quickly seen world-wide. Perihelion on Oct 27 at 0.18 au, perigee on Nov 10 at 0.62 au. Used to prove for the first time that comets are outside of Earth's atmosphere. Last seen on 1578 Jan 26. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

C/1577 V1 over Prague on 1577 Nov 12, broadsheet, Von einem schrecklichen und wunderbarlichen Cometen so sich den Dienstag nach Martini dieses lauffenden M. D. LXXViJ. Jahrs am Himmel erzeiget hat. (Geschrieben von Peter Codicillus von Tulechova), Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Von einem schrecklichen und wunderbarlichen Cometen so sich den Dienstag nach Martini dieses lauffenden M D LXXViJ Jahrs am Himmel erzeiget hat - 000003593.jpg

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Cute! 😍 Yesterday a small Kreutz-group comet discovered in CCOR-1 was found to be "double" when it entered the SOHO/LASCO C2 FOV! Close sungrazer fragments are personally my favorite! ☄️☄️ #CometWatch #Sungrazer

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 14/09/2025

#bskycometography no. 302 C/1963 R1 (Pereyra) 1963 Sep 14: Discovered by Z. M. Pereyra (Argentina) at 2 mag. This member of the Kreutz group of sungrazing comets had passed perihelion already on Aug 23 at 0.005 au. Max tail length ~18°. The comet was last seen on Dec 18. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of comet C/1963 R1 as photographed from north of Los Angeles by Alan McClure on September 21, 1963. Photo copyright Alan McClure, https://www.rocketstem.org/2020/10/24/ice-and-stone-special-topic-44/

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The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

And also congratulations to our #post-doctorate members (Lisa, Samuele, and @trygveprestgard.bsky.social) for presenting their ongoing work on fossil micrometeorites! ☄️ @amgc-vub.bsky.social

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The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Lastly, the FLUX PhD and Post-docs wrapped up their week at the #EPSC with a few group photos! 📸 ☄️😀 @amgc-vub.bsky.social @fienjo.bsky.social @trygveprestgard.bsky.social

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 13/09/2025

#bskycometography no. 301 C/1996 R3 (Lagerkvist) 1996 Sep 13: Disc by K. I. Lagerkvist (Chile) at 18.5 mag. The comet was well past perihelion (1995 Jul 20 at 5.21 au) and did not become brighter. Last seen Oct 30. I was involved with orbit improvement (see link in ALT text). ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Discovery image of comet C/1996 R3, https://web.archive.org/web/20070611074815/http://www.astro.uu.se/~classe/comet/com2.html

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

About 37 years ago, the final moments of #comet C/1988 Q1 were captured by the Solar Maximum Mission. The below animation contains the only images of this sungrazer, which may have reached negative magnitudes prior to disintegrating! Image credit: The HAO/SMM C/P project team & #NASA #CometWatch

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Yesterday a fragment of Kracht-II group comet P/2002 R5 (SOHO) was reobserved! This periodic comet likely split in 2002 and was recovered as two fragments in 2008, then as four in 2014 and 2019! It was recovered in public data from the CCOR-1 telescope, but was also visible in LASCO. ☄️ #CometWatch

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 16/08/2025

#bskycometography no. 271 115P/1985 Q1 (Maury) 1985 Aug 16: Discovered by A. J. Maury (USA) on POSS plates at 16 mag. The comet was past perihelion (Jun 8 at 2.01 au) and did not become brighter. It was last seen on 1986 Jan 7. Period 8.84 years. The comet was recovered in 1994. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Image of comet 115P/Maury of 2020 July 19 by Michael Hauss, https://fg-kometen.vdsastro.de/pix/test/bild.php?nr=24422

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Today SOHO/LASCO C3 caught this cool image of a bunch of dust passing infront of the camera. It's likely the result of debris released by the spacecraft's insulation layers from a tiny micrometeorite impact. ☄️

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Nine years ago this beautiful Kreutz-group sungrazer (SOHO-3109) was plunging towards its demise! Likely reaching mag 0 at its brightest, it is one of the brightest SOHO-discovered comets ever observed! ☄️ #CometWatch

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RedSPMN @redspmn.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

WE PUBLISH: INTERSTELLAR VISITORS AND ELUSIVE EXTRASOLAR METEORITES to exemplify how Oort cloud objects gravitationally perturbed by stellar encounters can simulate interstellar visitors: www.astroscu.unam.mx/rmaa/RMxAC..... Based in our #Icarus journal paper:⤵️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Schematic illustration of a star penetrating the Oort cloud. Image adapted from Higuchi & Kokubo (2020)

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Maik Meyer ☄️ @comethunter.de · 02/04/2025

#bskycometography no. 136 C/1951 G1 (Groeneveld) 1951 Apr 2: Disc by I. Groeneveld (USA) as a 15 mag small diffuse object. Announced in 1954 as unconfirmed. Finally confirmed by G. W. Kronk & yours truly in further images of the same survey (Mar 31-Apr 7). Announced in 2023. ☄️🔭 #CometWatch

Composite of archival images of comet C/1951 G1 (Groeneveld), G. W. Kronk, images courtesy of the Yerkes Observatory, operated by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, these were found and measured by Gary Kronk and myself to allow naming of this comet

Ingrid van-Houten-Groeneveld, By Carl Koppeschaar, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40998748,

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Trygve Prestgard @trygveprestgard.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

How amazing! The Great Comet of 1744 appears to be periodic, with an estimated return in 2097! ☄️😀 #CometWatch

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The FLUX Team (ERC Project) @amgc-flux-team.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

We are happy to end this week with a "family photo" of most FLUX (and related) team members! Despite the Sun being absent, our smiles remained present! A big thanks to Jean-Guillaume Feignon for the photo 😄☄️

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