Content Warning

Why do "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"?

In my new Invisible Universe column, I decode how the phrase that Carl Sagan made famous is routinely misunderstood & abused -- and how to use it as the BS detector it's meant to be.

https://invisibleuniverse.substack.com/p/why-do-extraordinary-claims-require #science #history #logic #philosophy

Content Warning

Wow – didn’t think I’d be in tears today, but this message sent home from Gaia as it was shut down forever today hits hard 😭

What you’re seeing is a map of the 106 CCD detectors that Gaia used to measure the positions of billions of stars in the Milky Way for the past 11 years 🛰️✨

They were turned off in a special sequence … 😕

#SpaceScience#Astronomy#Science

Content Warning

Tornadoes in space:

This new JWST image shows a jet shooting out from a newborn star; the colors indicate infrared emission from hydrogen, carbon monoxide & dust.

JWST is so sensitive that it also captured many distant background galaxies, including one at the tip of the tornado & others shining right through it.

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-112 #space #science #art

Content Warning

Webb unmasks true nature of the Cosmic Tornado

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured a beautiful juxtaposition of the nearby protostellar outflow known as Herbig-Haro 49/50 with a perfectly positioned, more distant spiral galaxy.

📷 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_unmasks_true_nature_of_the_Cosmic_Tornado

#JWST#Webb#Astronomy#Astrophysics #Astrodon #science #news #galaxy

Content Warning

We live in interesting times. Friend of mine is a scientist in France. He just got briefing on what to do when traveling to the US. He was told to use an empty, freshly installed laptop with nothing but his presentation on it. Uninstall all messengers and social media. If he has to surrender any of his devices even for a minute, he shall get it checked by the French secret service for back-doors and Trojans.

I guess I rather stay home than going to a conference in the US.
#science #usa

Content Warning

Whoa: The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft got a spectacular view of Comet ATLAS (C/2024 G3) as it passed close to the Sun. Look at that enormous, splintered tail!

This comet won't be seen again for another 600,000 years.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Solar_Orbiter #space #science #art

ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter caught an incredible view of a comet! Newly processed data from this January shows comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) in full glory as it flew by the Sun.

Content Warning

But seriously, one clever trick (among many) which astronomers use to determine the distance of an astronomical object is to make observations 6 months apart, when Earth is at opposite sides of its orbit around the Sun. The apparent change in position of the star relative to farther objects in the background (parallax) indicates how much the view was affected by the change in Earth's position. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_parallax #astronomy #science

Content Warning

It's been an exciting couple weeks for the exploration of planets around other stars.

A new report reveals that Barnard's star (closest single star to the Sun) has a whole system of planets.

People have been seeking planets there since the '60s. Now we've found them--four rocky worlds, 1/4 the mass of Earth, in tight orbits around their tiny red star.

https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2510/ #space #science #nature

This animation shows the orbital dynamics of the Barnard’s Star planetary system. For a century, astronomers have been studying Barnard’s Star in the hope of finding planets around it. First discovered by E. E. Barnard at Yerkes Observatory in 1916, it is the nearest single star system to Earth. Now, using in part the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered four sub-Earth exoplanets orbiting the star. One of the planets is the least massive exoplanet ever discovered using the radial velocity technique, indicating a new benchmark for discovering smaller planets around nearby stars.

Content Warning

#PPOD: Hubble has snapped a spectacular view of M66, the largest "player" of the Leo Triplet, and a galaxy with an unusual anatomy: it displays asymmetric spiral arms and an apparently displaced core. The peculiar anatomy is most likely caused by the gravitational pull of the other two members of the trio. Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration; Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin and Robert Gendler

#science #scicomm #space

Content Warning

Tomorrow could be a great day for space robots.

Intuitive Machines' Athena lander is set to touch down on the Moon carrying the "Grace" Hopper robot, Yaoki 360° rover, and MAPP prospecting rover.

Plus a micro-rover, AstroAnt, that will ride around on top of the MAPP rover!

https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-2 #space #science #nasa #tech

The AstroAnt robot will be operating on the top surface of the Lunar Outpost MAPP-1 rover, equipped with a thermopile on its bottom surface for contact-less temperature measurements of the MAPP-1 rover radiator. With mobility in the Lunar gravity environment, the robot can measure temperature from different positions on the radiator and help with monitoring the performance of the thermal system, which is one of the most crucial systems of the rover. Leveraging magnetic wheels, the robot can attach to and move along the top rover surface. The AstroAnt will be the first-ever miniature robotic mission on the Lunar surface.
The AstroAnt robot will be operating on the top surface of the Lunar Outpost MAPP-1 rover, equipped with a thermopile on its bottom surface for contact-less temperature measurements of the MAPP-1 rover radiator. With mobility in the Lunar gravity environment, the robot can measure temperature from different positions on the radiator and help with monitoring the performance of the thermal system, which is one of the most crucial systems of the rover. Leveraging magnetic wheels, the robot can attach to and move along the top rover surface. The AstroAnt will be the first-ever miniature robotic mission on the Lunar surface.
The AstroAnt robot will be operating on the top surface of the Lunar Outpost MAPP-1 rover, equipped with a thermopile on its bottom surface for contact-less temperature measurements of the MAPP-1 rover radiator. With mobility in the Lunar gravity environment, the robot can measure temperature from different positions on the radiator and help with monitoring the performance of the thermal system, which is one of the most crucial systems of the rover. Leveraging magnetic wheels, the robot can attach to and move along the top rover surface. The AstroAnt will be the first-ever miniature robotic mission on the Lunar surface.
The AstroAnt robot will be operating on the top surface of the Lunar Outpost MAPP-1 rover, equipped with a thermopile on its bottom surface for contact-less temperature measurements of the MAPP-1 rover radiator. With mobility in the Lunar gravity environment, the robot can measure temperature from different positions on the radiator and help with monitoring the performance of the thermal system, which is one of the most crucial systems of the rover. Leveraging magnetic wheels, the robot can attach to and move along the top rover surface. The AstroAnt will be the first-ever miniature robotic mission on the Lunar surface.