Michael Merrifield
@astromikemerri.bsky.social
Emeritus professor of astronomy at the University of Nottingham. Too frequent appearances on YouTube. All my own views.
New toy to play with. Ultimately planning to give my digital doppelgänger vision as well as hearing.
January 6, 2026 at 2:42 PM
New toy to play with. Ultimately planning to give my digital doppelgänger vision as well as hearing.
Garden camera update: all other living things had the sense to try and stay out of the cold.
January 6, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Garden camera update: all other living things had the sense to try and stay out of the cold.
For once, Avi may be right. It could be that the CIA consider the remote possibility of aliens because their impact would be so large in the unlikely event that they are real.
Which just makes his previous claim of 40% probability even more ridiculous. 🔭🧪
avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-...
Which just makes his previous claim of 40% probability even more ridiculous. 🔭🧪
avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-...
If 3I/ATLAS is a Comet, Why Would the CIA “Neither Deny, Nor Confirm” the Existence of Records on…
So far, 3I/ATLAS displayed a number of unexplained features relative to familiar comets — as I listed here. One could have hoped that…
avi-loeb.medium.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:25 AM
For once, Avi may be right. It could be that the CIA consider the remote possibility of aliens because their impact would be so large in the unlikely event that they are real.
Which just makes his previous claim of 40% probability even more ridiculous. 🔭🧪
avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-...
Which just makes his previous claim of 40% probability even more ridiculous. 🔭🧪
avi-loeb.medium.com/if-3i-atlas-...
A beautiful dusting of snow in my neighbourhood, but, from looking across to surrounding bare hills, it seems to have been very localised.
January 5, 2026 at 3:14 PM
A beautiful dusting of snow in my neighbourhood, but, from looking across to surrounding bare hills, it seems to have been very localised.
Garden camera latest: a dusting of snow, a bright-eyed fox, and a squirrel trying to keep all four paws off the ground.
January 5, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Garden camera latest: a dusting of snow, a bright-eyed fox, and a squirrel trying to keep all four paws off the ground.
Wallowing in one of my all-time favourite movies, Field of Dreams, having accidentally caught it on TV tonight.
I cannot imagine how anyone ever successfully pitched it, but it is lovely.
I cannot imagine how anyone ever successfully pitched it, but it is lovely.
January 4, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Wallowing in one of my all-time favourite movies, Field of Dreams, having accidentally caught it on TV tonight.
I cannot imagine how anyone ever successfully pitched it, but it is lovely.
I cannot imagine how anyone ever successfully pitched it, but it is lovely.
Garden camera catches a foxy visitor last night.
January 4, 2026 at 10:07 AM
Garden camera catches a foxy visitor last night.
The inimitable @michaelspicer.bsky.social nails the podocracy.
January 2, 2026 at 12:52 PM
The inimitable @michaelspicer.bsky.social nails the podocracy.
The latest haul from the garden camera: a waddling wood pigeon (maybe I should turn the trigger sensitivity down a bit!) and a fleeting fox.
January 2, 2026 at 11:17 AM
The latest haul from the garden camera: a waddling wood pigeon (maybe I should turn the trigger sensitivity down a bit!) and a fleeting fox.
Garden camera fooled into thinking there was big game visiting.
January 1, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Garden camera fooled into thinking there was big game visiting.
Taking the new soldering iron and new flux out for a test drive. Very happy with the results, but still don’t understand why my solder much prefers attaching itself to the iron instead of the components.
December 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Taking the new soldering iron and new flux out for a test drive. Very happy with the results, but still don’t understand why my solder much prefers attaching itself to the iron instead of the components.
i tawt i taw a puddy tat…
Checking out the garden camera’s video capture.
Checking out the garden camera’s video capture.
December 31, 2025 at 11:16 AM
i tawt i taw a puddy tat…
Checking out the garden camera’s video capture.
Checking out the garden camera’s video capture.
Hitting the big time in the alumni magazine!
December 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Hitting the big time in the alumni magazine!
I’m not usually a fan of “lessons learned” analyses, but surely someone should be asking how this institution’s governance allowed it to go from one of the most financially sound in the UK to this in less than a decade, with no-one held to account.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/staff-f...
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/staff-f...
Staff fear ‘catastrophic’ impact of Nottingham ‘consolidation’
Increases to staff-student ratios could send university into a ‘death spiral’, says union leader as vice-chancellor insists institution must act now
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 30, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I’m not usually a fan of “lessons learned” analyses, but surely someone should be asking how this institution’s governance allowed it to go from one of the most financially sound in the UK to this in less than a decade, with no-one held to account.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/staff-f...
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/staff-f...
A little 3D printing to keep me entertained.
December 29, 2025 at 4:53 PM
A little 3D printing to keep me entertained.
I’d love to believe that this Christmas upgrade will improve my soldering. But I’m not holding my breath!
December 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
I’d love to believe that this Christmas upgrade will improve my soldering. But I’m not holding my breath!
The only action on the garden camera yesterday was this action shot.
December 29, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The only action on the garden camera yesterday was this action shot.
RIP, Brigitte.
December 28, 2025 at 10:14 AM
RIP, Brigitte.
Starting to pick up a few day-time visitors with the garden camera.
December 28, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Starting to pick up a few day-time visitors with the garden camera.
Well, that was very satisfactory! Christmas present @naturespy.bsky.social camera set up in my back yard yesterday afternoon, and last night we had a couple of visitors:
December 27, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Well, that was very satisfactory! Christmas present @naturespy.bsky.social camera set up in my back yard yesterday afternoon, and last night we had a couple of visitors:
Reposted by Michael Merrifield
Following a post about about my wife’s delicious home-made Yule log, I was asked if there are any one-armed spiral galaxies.
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
December 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Following a post about about my wife’s delicious home-made Yule log, I was asked if there are any one-armed spiral galaxies.
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
Reposted by Michael Merrifield
A rare clear night to go after The Hidden Galaxy, IC 342. It is one of our nearish neighbours, and big — the third largest on the sky after M31 & M33. Only discovered in 1892, because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way, so heavily obscured. But imaged beautifully by Celestron Origin 🔭!
December 26, 2025 at 8:03 PM
A rare clear night to go after The Hidden Galaxy, IC 342. It is one of our nearish neighbours, and big — the third largest on the sky after M31 & M33. Only discovered in 1892, because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way, so heavily obscured. But imaged beautifully by Celestron Origin 🔭!
Following a post about about my wife’s delicious home-made Yule log, I was asked if there are any one-armed spiral galaxies.
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
December 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Following a post about about my wife’s delicious home-made Yule log, I was asked if there are any one-armed spiral galaxies.
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
So I pointed the 🔭 at NGC 1961, henceforth to be known as the Swiss Roll Galaxy!
(So rare that this “nearby” example is 170 million light years away).
A rare clear night to go after The Hidden Galaxy, IC 342. It is one of our nearish neighbours, and big — the third largest on the sky after M31 & M33. Only discovered in 1892, because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way, so heavily obscured. But imaged beautifully by Celestron Origin 🔭!
December 26, 2025 at 8:03 PM
A rare clear night to go after The Hidden Galaxy, IC 342. It is one of our nearish neighbours, and big — the third largest on the sky after M31 & M33. Only discovered in 1892, because it lies close to the plane of the Milky Way, so heavily obscured. But imaged beautifully by Celestron Origin 🔭!
The days between Christmas and New Year are the closest that working people can get to understanding what it is like to be retired.
December 26, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The days between Christmas and New Year are the closest that working people can get to understanding what it is like to be retired.