Heute (17.03.2026) vor...
...60 Jahren, Missionsende von #Gemini 8
...90 Jahren, wurde Thomas Kenneth Mattingly geboren
...180 Jahren, starb Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel

Mehr https://astronomiemuseum.de/heute-vor
#Astronomiemuseum

Amazing discoveries we're making with the GAIA satellite data, witnessing colliding planets around a Sun-like star!

https://scitechdaily.com/astronomers-just-saw-two-planets-collide-around-a-distant-star/

#Exoplanets #Astrodon #Space #Astronomy

Equinox at the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Fedez

Explanation: To see the feathered serpent descend the Mayan pyramid requires exquisite timing. You must visit El Castillo -- in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula -- near an equinox. Then, during the late afternoon if the sky is clear, the pyramid's own shadows create triangles that merge into the famous illusion of a slithering viper. Also known as the Temple of Kukulkan, the impressive step-pyramid stands 30 meters tall and 55 meters wide at the base. Built up as a series of square terraces by the pre-Columbian civilization between the 9th and 12th century, the structure can be used as a calendar and is noted for astronomical alignments. The featured composite image was captured in 2019 with Jupiter and Saturn straddling the diagonal central band of our Milky Way galaxy. In a few days another equinox will occur -- not only at Temple of Kukulcán, but all over planet Earth.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260315.html #apod

Irregular reminder that https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/ exists, is well worth reading, and has recent Women In Astronomy newsletters at

https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2026/02/aaswomen-newsletter-for-february-27-2026.html

https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2026/03/aaswomen-newsletter-for-march-6-2026.html

Unfortunately they're not maintaining a presence in the fediverse, so as the next-best thing I've started following and will occasionally boost @womeninastronomy.blogspot.com

Of course, you can always sign up to their mailing list at
https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2026/03/aaswomen-newsletter-for-march-6-2026.html#item260306-12
https://lists.aas.org/

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #aaswomen #cswa #blog #rss #womenInScience #womenInSTEM

RE: https://mstdn.social/@ComicContext/116202288465898190

That feeling when you get the email saying your paper has been reviewed.

Two referee reports are attached.

Reflect Orbital wants to destroy the night sky to deliver "sunlight as a service". SpaceX wants to destroy Low Earth Orbit to launch one million "AI datacentres"

The only way to formally protest these two ideas is to file a comment with the US FCC, which is horribly complicated, but the American Astronomical Society has detailed instructions posted here: https://aas.org/posts/advocacy/2026/02/how-submit-comments-satellite-applications-fcc

Comments due March 6 for SpaceX and March 9 for Reflect Orbital. Write! Write! Write!

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/116053742685475452

Deadlines for comments on a million SpaceX "AI data centers" and a company that wants to deliver "sunlight as a service" are coming up soon. If you have time and energy, please write a comment! Instructions below.

(I heard a rumour that Reflect Orbital is on-track to have the most comments on an FCC filing ever. Seems like a good goal to beat the record writing responses to this incredibly fucking stupid idea)

Also instructions here: https://darksky.org/news/two-satellite-proposals-threaten-the-night-sky-the-window-to-act-is-now/

Schlappe für die Kommission: EU-Abgeordnete lassen Chatkontrolle durchfallen

Überraschende Wende im EU-Parlament: Der federführende Innenausschuss verweigert die erneute Verlängerung der freiwilligen Massenüberwachung privater Chats.

https://www.heise.de/news/Schlappe-fuer-die-Kommission-EU-Abgeordnete-lassen-Chatkontrolle-durchfallen-11197186.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#Chatkontrolle #Datenschutz #EU #Netzpolitik #Überwachung #news