Mastodawn

This is an early birthday present I commissioned for myself from the learned and generous craftsman and all around gentle man James Edgar, who’s also btw I think still Editor of the Journal of the Canadian Royal Astronomical Society. This piece, at around 18cm on a side, depicts the northern circumpolar constalations, as indicated by grooves carved into the wood, and the stars within them that will, in a 26,000 year cycle, all take a turn as our North Star, resulting from the wobbling of the Earth’s axis. My mind was blown when I learned about this cycle, and I longed to feel the whole thing under my hands, and Mr. Edgar made it happen. We’re privileged to own several such carvings but this is already my favourite. It arrived a few days ago and James was kind enough to get on a video call with me and help me learn each constalation. I can name and trace them all, and I am immensely enriched!

The Invisible Universe Jan 19

SETI Institute Jan 7

#PPOD: What a wintery image: a red and white sphere that, if seen from a distance, resembles a festive decoration. The ‘bauble’ in question is actually the Manicouagan crater in the Canadian province of Quebec. Visible from space, this round structure was formed by a giant asteroid impact some 214 million years ago.

The anular reservoir, with René-Levasseur Island at its centre, is some 700 km north-east of Quebec City.

#earth #science #space

The Invisible Universe Jan 19

SETI Institute Jan 6

#PPOD: This view of a region called Syrtis Major is from the 100,000th image captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its HiRISE camera. Over nearly 20 years, HiRISE has helped scientists understand how the Red Planet’s surface is constantly changing. Shown here are plains and sand dunes within Syrtis Major, a region about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Jezero Crater, which the agency’s Perseverance rover is currently exploring.

#planetaryscience #space #science

The Invisible Universe Jan 19

Rob Tilsley Jan 5

Took a look at Jupiter this evening

#Astrophotography #Astrodon #Jupiter

The Invisible Universe Nov 13

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Prof. Sam Lawler Nov 13

More portal pictures for good measure. Though I suppose I should be careful not to give the techbros any more ideas about awful things to put in orbit...

(Everyone knows I'm kidding, right? I'm not pulling an Avi Loeb here. Auroras are AWESOME.)

The Invisible Universe Nov 13

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Prof. Sam Lawler Nov 13

Well, this is embarrassing. Looks like I finally cursed at Starlink enough that I managed to open up some kind of portal in VLEO right over my barn. Sorry everybody! I promise I'll help clean up.

The Invisible Universe Nov 13

cafuego 🔭🤦🏼‍♂️Nov 13

Dancing Lights 💃🏻🪩🕺🏻

I managed to snap about two hours of 10 second images from a dry lake last night, between 10pm and midnight.

This is all of them compressed into a time lapse, with the stars rotating around the south celestial pole.

Other than the horizon being weirdly bright and there being a *hint* of a vertical pillar from time to time, this was pretty much not naked eye visible.

Nikon D750, ISO8000, Nikkor 14-24 F2.8 lens at 24mm f/4, 553 x 10s.

#AuroraAustralis #astrophotography #astrodon #aurora