Justin Bartel
@cephalopernicus.bsky.social
#BetterKnowAnAsteroid has made it to the sky site, prepare for space rock news. Space wizard. Dog haver. Seasonal baker.
Oh boy, let's see how worked up the conspiracy-laden subreddits are getting now that one of their biggest complaints has an expiration date...
NASA to Share Comet 3I/ATLAS Images From Spacecraft, Telescopes - NASA
NASA will host a live event at 3 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 19, to share imagery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS collected by a number of the agency’s
www.nasa.gov
November 17, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Oh boy, let's see how worked up the conspiracy-laden subreddits are getting now that one of their biggest complaints has an expiration date...
Could someone let the potential head of NASA know that the answer to his question, “What is ‘built’ at JPL?”, is
Spaceships.
They build spaceships that explore other planets.
Seems like a good thing for NASA (and makes the country look extra rich and smart, if that moves the needle for you).
Spaceships.
They build spaceships that explore other planets.
Seems like a good thing for NASA (and makes the country look extra rich and smart, if that moves the needle for you).
A confidential manifesto lays out Isaacman's sweeping new vision for NASA
The former, and possibly future, nominee for the space agency said he did not intend for the document’s public release.
www.politico.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Could someone let the potential head of NASA know that the answer to his question, “What is ‘built’ at JPL?”, is
Spaceships.
They build spaceships that explore other planets.
Seems like a good thing for NASA (and makes the country look extra rich and smart, if that moves the needle for you).
Spaceships.
They build spaceships that explore other planets.
Seems like a good thing for NASA (and makes the country look extra rich and smart, if that moves the needle for you).
Reposted by Justin Bartel
Trump just continually shooting our country in the face. This unwarranted (and likely illegal) destruction of Goddard is madness. It jeopardizes the next several decades of space exploration.
Reposting to correct an error: trump admin is quietly gutting 13 buildings and about 100 laboratories at Goddard campus that has been instrumental to Hubble and James Webb telescope missions. Staff say they’ve be locked and told to move equipment. Anything left behind will be thrown away.
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear
(CNN) — Alarm is growing among federal workers at NASA’s iconic Goddard Space Flight Center’s main campus in Greenbelt, Maryland — the nerve center for groundbreaking missions like the Hubble
www.wkow.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Trump just continually shooting our country in the face. This unwarranted (and likely illegal) destruction of Goddard is madness. It jeopardizes the next several decades of space exploration.
Reposted by Justin Bartel
To any (mutual) space journos, I'm happy to answer a few questions about the 3I/Atlas images from Perseverance in the hope we can debunk some of the misinformation that is going around currently.
October 6, 2025 at 6:07 PM
To any (mutual) space journos, I'm happy to answer a few questions about the 3I/Atlas images from Perseverance in the hope we can debunk some of the misinformation that is going around currently.
If only there was a way to go pick up this rock sample so it could be studied more comprehensively on Earth...
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year - NASA
A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken
www.nasa.gov
September 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM
If only there was a way to go pick up this rock sample so it could be studied more comprehensively on Earth...
Reposted by Justin Bartel
Guys, I was wrong. Avi Loeb is an artistic genius.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
Stairways to Heaven
Mea culpa. I was wrong. Like Rolling Stone’s John Mendelsohn panning Led Zeppelin’s debut album, I couldn’t recognize it at first. Now I…
medium.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Guys, I was wrong. Avi Loeb is an artistic genius.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
It's very weird to me that they wrote this whole press release and didn't once use a word like "moon" or "satellite"
news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/gian...
news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/gian...
Giant free-floating planets may form their own planetary systems | University of St Andrews news
news.st-andrews.ac.uk
August 10, 2025 at 1:35 PM
It's very weird to me that they wrote this whole press release and didn't once use a word like "moon" or "satellite"
news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/gian...
news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/gian...
Reposted by Justin Bartel
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
This is not the quality of pseudoscience infotainment to which I have grown accustomed
Teasing the public with fraudulent or self-deluded promises of aliens used to mean something. It took work. It meant slapping together…
medium.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
Reposted by Justin Bartel
Two things:
1. Large language models like ChatGPT are statistically likely word generators; they don't have "expertise" in anything.
2. I have seen a team of PhD level experts fail to assemble a dresser from IKEA.
1. Large language models like ChatGPT are statistically likely word generators; they don't have "expertise" in anything.
2. I have seen a team of PhD level experts fail to assemble a dresser from IKEA.
OpenAI releases the newest version of the AI model that powers its popular ChatGPT chatbot, with CEO Sam Altman promoting it as like having a “team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket.”
OpenAI releases GPT-5, calling it a ‘team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket’
OpenAI says its latest version of the popular AI model is better at coding, more accurate and less deceptive than previous versions.
nbcnews.to
August 7, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Two things:
1. Large language models like ChatGPT are statistically likely word generators; they don't have "expertise" in anything.
2. I have seen a team of PhD level experts fail to assemble a dresser from IKEA.
1. Large language models like ChatGPT are statistically likely word generators; they don't have "expertise" in anything.
2. I have seen a team of PhD level experts fail to assemble a dresser from IKEA.
Reposted by Justin Bartel
So far, only 50% of claimed planets in the Alpha Cen system have turned out to be real.
Wait for more data.
Wait for more data.
As I figured would happen, I'm seeing a lot of headlines and posts saying JWST saw a planet around Alpha Centauri. But that's not the case: it saw a blob of light that MIGHT be a planet. It's not confirmed. It'll likely be next year before we know.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-planet-f...
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-planet-f...
A planet for Alpha Centauri A?
JWST spots what might be a Jupiter-sized world around the nearest Sun-like star
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
August 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
So far, only 50% of claimed planets in the Alpha Cen system have turned out to be real.
Wait for more data.
Wait for more data.
Reposted by Justin Bartel
I believe one of the new mRNA vaccines was expected to treat colon cancer, and another had the potential to keep pancreatic cancer from recurring. That’s what they’re taking away.
WHAT, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE DOING!!!
“Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news.” www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/m...
“Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news.” www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/m...
Health secretary RFK Jr. shuts door on U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research
Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news that RFK Jr. has shut the door in U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research.
www.statnews.com
August 6, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I believe one of the new mRNA vaccines was expected to treat colon cancer, and another had the potential to keep pancreatic cancer from recurring. That’s what they’re taking away.
Reposted by Justin Bartel
[I type “I’m sorry” on a typewriter]
“Holy shit my typewriter apologized!”
“Holy shit my typewriter apologized!”
July 21, 2025 at 1:09 AM
[I type “I’m sorry” on a typewriter]
“Holy shit my typewriter apologized!”
“Holy shit my typewriter apologized!”
Reposted by Justin Bartel
NPR photo editor choosing an unflattering photo of Democrat Chuck Schumer to illustrate their story about "the Senate" (actually only Republicans) zeroing out their own budget is such a perfect encapsulation of how we got here.
The Senate voted to approve a $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio and television — a major step toward winding down nearly six decades of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. https://n.pr/44QnXjT
Senate approves cuts to NPR, PBS and foreign aid programs
The Senate voted to approve a $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio and television.
n.pr
July 17, 2025 at 3:47 PM
NPR photo editor choosing an unflattering photo of Democrat Chuck Schumer to illustrate their story about "the Senate" (actually only Republicans) zeroing out their own budget is such a perfect encapsulation of how we got here.
I've long said the design should be on a knit beanie too, but these are pretty cool
Please help me bring back the #DareMightyThings umbrella inspired by the Perseverance rover parachute! 🪂🤖
Sold out, but I really want to reorder them. To do that we need 25 pre-orders! ✨
Pre-order yours here:
sciencesocks.co/prod...
Will you help me? Please like and repost! :)
🔭🧪🐡🎨
Sold out, but I really want to reorder them. To do that we need 25 pre-orders! ✨
Pre-order yours here:
sciencesocks.co/prod...
Will you help me? Please like and repost! :)
🔭🧪🐡🎨
July 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I've long said the design should be on a knit beanie too, but these are pretty cool
Pffft, only a Sagittarius would need 6 whole days to figure out the command to turn off the stars
Sagittarius: You will get trapped in the planetarium for 6 days and when you come out you will be able to make stars disappear just by looking at them.
July 14, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Pffft, only a Sagittarius would need 6 whole days to figure out the command to turn off the stars
Reposted by Justin Bartel
NEW: This is the inside story of how astronomers tracked down 2024 YR4, the most dangerous asteroid ever found, in the hope of working out whether it would strike Earth in a few short years. It’s Don’t Look Up, but everyone lives.
Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...
Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...
Inside the most dangerous asteroid hunt ever
As space rock 2024 YR4 became more likely to hit Earth than anything of its size had ever been before, scientists all over the world mobilized to protect the planet.
www.technologyreview.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:52 PM
NEW: This is the inside story of how astronomers tracked down 2024 YR4, the most dangerous asteroid ever found, in the hope of working out whether it would strike Earth in a few short years. It’s Don’t Look Up, but everyone lives.
Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...
Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...
Reposted by Justin Bartel
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
Reposted by Justin Bartel
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Launches Orbitviewer App
New 3D, interactive visualization of planets and minor planets in our Solar System lets you explore Rubin discoveries in real time. 🧪🔭 @vrubinobs.bsky.social
☑️ noirlab.edu/public/annou...
☑️ orbitviewer.app
New 3D, interactive visualization of planets and minor planets in our Solar System lets you explore Rubin discoveries in real time. 🧪🔭 @vrubinobs.bsky.social
☑️ noirlab.edu/public/annou...
☑️ orbitviewer.app
Orbitviewer
Explore the Solar System in 3D with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Orbitviewer. Watch objects move through time and learn about Rubin’s new discoveries, right in your browser.
orbitviewer.app
July 8, 2025 at 8:43 AM
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Launches Orbitviewer App
New 3D, interactive visualization of planets and minor planets in our Solar System lets you explore Rubin discoveries in real time. 🧪🔭 @vrubinobs.bsky.social
☑️ noirlab.edu/public/annou...
☑️ orbitviewer.app
New 3D, interactive visualization of planets and minor planets in our Solar System lets you explore Rubin discoveries in real time. 🧪🔭 @vrubinobs.bsky.social
☑️ noirlab.edu/public/annou...
☑️ orbitviewer.app
A lot of things could've made me give up on celebrating this supposed holiday, but I didn't think watching a car passenger throw an empty plastic cup out of their window onto the street while I biked behind then would be the thing
July 5, 2025 at 1:50 AM
A lot of things could've made me give up on celebrating this supposed holiday, but I didn't think watching a car passenger throw an empty plastic cup out of their window onto the street while I biked behind then would be the thing
Well, 249 years was a pretty good run I guess
July 4, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Well, 249 years was a pretty good run I guess
It's a stupidly low bar to clear... and I'll be shocked if they do
Jeffries: "16 members of the House Republican conference who just a few days ago made clear on the record that they will not support devastating cuts to Medicaid -- all we need are 4 Republicans from this group to join us and we can stop these devastating cuts to Medicaid. Join us!"
July 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
It's a stupidly low bar to clear... and I'll be shocked if they do
Reposted by Justin Bartel
FACT THREAD on New Interstellar Object #A11pl3Z
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
July 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
FACT THREAD on New Interstellar Object #A11pl3Z
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
This story unfolded pretty fast yesterday for a few reasons. The object was discovered on July 1st UTC by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS team. A #NASA funded survey at the University of Hawaii. atlas.fallingstar.com 🔭🧪
Happened to catch last night's chatter about #A11pl3Z, seemingly the third interstellar object found visiting the solar system, and added its trajectory into our planetarium software—I also uploaded it to a cloud server so that other users had immediate access. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
July 2, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Happened to catch last night's chatter about #A11pl3Z, seemingly the third interstellar object found visiting the solar system, and added its trajectory into our planetarium software—I also uploaded it to a cloud server so that other users had immediate access. #BetterKnowAnAsteroid
Reposted by Justin Bartel
UPDATE on our new interstellar friend #A11pl3Z:
Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope!
Now with 6 days' worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z's trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1!
... that's undoubtedly interstellar.
🔭☄️
Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope!
Now with 6 days' worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z's trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1!
... that's undoubtedly interstellar.
🔭☄️
July 2, 2025 at 2:37 AM
UPDATE on our new interstellar friend #A11pl3Z:
Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope!
Now with 6 days' worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z's trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1!
... that's undoubtedly interstellar.
🔭☄️
Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope!
Now with 6 days' worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z's trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1!
... that's undoubtedly interstellar.
🔭☄️