PUBLIC TALK: March 7, 2026, 7:30 pm

Black holes are some of the most extreme objects in the universe. They push the boundaries of our knowledge and hold many unsolved mysteries. Come learn about black holes from "small" to enormous. Natasha Abrams is a 5th year astrophysics PhD student at UC Berkeley and will discuss the techniques we use to discover and characterize black holes and explore the frontiers of astrophysics!

Sign up at our Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy/events/313432268/

#astronomy #space #science #bayarea

Images: (top right) Picture of black hole M87, which is ~6 billion times the mass of our sun. Credit: Event Horizon Telescope. (bottom) Artist depiction of an X-ray binary. Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

PUBLIC TALK: October 4, 2025, 7:30 pm

Our October meeting will be an opportunity for you to share your unique telescope builds, tell the story of your favorite astro-photos, pass on image processing tips, or brief astro-travelogues. This is a traditional activity that we haven’t done in a long time and so we’re going to take this opportunity to bring it back.

You are encouraged to attend whether you have something to share or are just interested in what your fellow association members have got up their sleeves.

Sign up at our Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/sj-astronomy/events/310987382/

#astronomy #space #science #bayarea #astrophotography #telescope

A very hungry planet! 🪐

That little dot is WISPIT 2b, a newborn exoplanet. About 5 times the mass of Jupiter, the planet is eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits the host star, a younger version of our Sun 🌞

Taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in #Chile, this image is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disc with multiple rings.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2534a/

📷 ESO/R. F. van Capelleveen et al.

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

"Why does it say the hospital is equipped for stroke emergency? We were there. They denied!"

"Maybe you should contact them that their website is wrong. This is dangerous."

"It wasn't on their website..."
*starts googling a specific question*
"Weird now it says no instead of yes."

I go to take a look and realise with horror, yes: Google AI summary.

Google AI summary made my parents-in-law visit the wrong, unequipped hospital for a potential stroke emergency. 🙃

i did not know about the hand signal for help me, and my stupid ass thought she was flirting.

The Signal for Help (or the Violence at Home Signal for Help) is a single-handed gesture that can be used over a video call or in person by an individual to alert others that they feel threatened and need help.[1] Originally, the signal was created as a tool to combat the rise in domestic violence cases around the world linked to self-isolation measures that were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

The signal is performed by holding one hand up with the thumb tucked into the palm, then folding the four other fingers down, symbolically trapping the thumb by the rest of the fingers.[3] It was designed intentionally as a single continuous hand movement, rather than a sign held in one position, so it could be made easily visible.

The Signal for Help was created by the Canadian Women's Foundation and introduced on April 14, 2020.[4] It soon spread via the TikTok social video platform and was adopted by the international Women's Funding Network (WFN). It received widespread praise from Canadian[5] and international[6][7] news organizations for helping provide a modern solution to the issue of a rise in domestic violence cases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_for_Help