Mark McCaughrean

@markmccaughrean
5.7K Followers
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Adjunct scientist, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg / Former Senior Advisor for Science & Exploration at the European Space Agency / JWST Science Working Group Interdisciplinary Scientist / Co-founder Space Rocks / New worlds ahead / Opinions very much own 



Now living in a hilly part of Germany & very much missing regular cycling with the wide horizons & big skies of The Netherlands 😢🚴‍♂️

Personal websitehttp://www.markmccaughrean.net
Space Rockshttp://www.spacerocksofficial.com
111 Places in Space bookhttps://emons-verlag.de/p/111-places-in-space-that-you-must-not-miss-7517
Show threadMark McCaughrean2h ago

And entirely unsurpringly, I am far from the first person to have made this connection.

https://youtu.be/jyDHtJFJm-w?si=CcP48jHmxtc3QYz_

Cadbury Easter Aliens - Creme Eggs

YouTube
Show threadMark McCaughrean2h ago

I realise that this might be a particularly niche British joke, so for those of you wondering what on earth (or off it) I’m talking about, this picture should help.

I struggle to believe that I used to eat these things when I lived in the UK: the fondant filling is ridiculously sweet & frankly disgusting 🤢

Mark McCaughrean2h ago

Ever wonder where that weird slime in Weyland-Yutani screme eggs comes from?
🛸😱

#InSpaceNooneCanHearYouBarf
#SpaceRocks

Show threadMark McCaughrean17h ago

Second one's harder. A tiny black fly, likely in the subfamily Empidinae, the dance flies.

Nailing the species is tough – Wikipedia has an image of Rhamphomyia umbripennis which looks almost identical, but they're not common. There are few shots on iNaturalist, where they typically have redder eyes.

Do the feathery hind legs help narrow it down? 🧐

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Mark McCaughrean17h ago

A couple of bonus flies from the garden today – it was cloudy & dark, & while not cold, it wasn't warm either.

The first one seems fairly clear: it's a heleomyzid fly (🇩🇪 Scheufliege), Suillia variegata. Pretty patterns on the thorax.

First picture is a macro stack, while the second is a single image taken a bit closer, showing the compound eye nicely.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Show threadMark McCaughrean18h ago

This much smaller shield bug was perched on a nearby leaf at the same time, but fell off (!) when a gust of wind came by, meaning I didn't get such good pictures.

This one is a woundwort shield bug (Stagonomus venustissimus; 🇩🇪 Schillerwanze).

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Mark McCaughrean18h ago

Ok, it's time for Mark's "Fun with shield bugs".

It can be very confusing telling the many species apart, especially the nymphs, which change a lot as they mature.

But ... I think this large one is a northern fruit bug (Carpocoris fuscispinus; 🇩🇪 Nördliche Fruchtwanze), not C. mediterraneus (too far north) or C. purpureipennis (no black shoulders).

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Mark McCaughrean21h ago
Show threadAkaSci 🛰️1d ago

The Moon beckons!

Photo take by the GoPro camera, located on the tip of one of the 4 solar array wings, shows part of the Orion spacecraft with the Moon in the distance.

The ESA European Service Module (ESM) and its thrusters are clearly visible.

Camera: GoPro, HERO4 Black, 12MP
FocalLength: 3.0 mm
ISO 100
ExposureTime: 1/3900 s
CreateDate: 2026:04:03 14:21:47 UTC
Distance to moon: 238,900 km

Image and EXIF data at https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e004429
Another similar image at https://images.nasa.gov/details/art002e004411
43/n

Show threadMark McCaughrean21h ago

I also mentioned the inspirational effect, that many kids will be watching Artemis & some will be excited about careers in STEM, hopefully.

But it also illustrated the oddity of talk radio, inasmuch as while my bits were just kind of "statements", he was actually having more substantial to & fro discussions with the callers who came later.

Again, I suspect we agree on much more than was perhaps clear. Maybe we should do this again, in person, & with an hour to bounce things back & forth.

Show threadMark McCaughrean21h ago

But at least I got to explain that Europe & the UK are key players in Artemis, which he evidently didn't know, & that the lunar south pole is a scientifically interesting place given the water there in shadowed craters.

And I also explained that Artemis II is a lunar flyby test, Artemis III is a LEO docking test, & Artemis IV will be the first crewed landing, but he still seems to think that if you're going to the Moon now, why not just pop down to the surface for a stroll?