Lisa Will
@dustchick.bsky.social
Astrophysicist, educator, geek. She/her. Professor, Physics/Astronomy, San Diego City College. Resident Astronomer, Fleet Science Center.
Reposted by Lisa Will
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
January 1, 2026 at 10:30 PM
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
Reposted by Lisa Will
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
January 1, 2026 at 11:07 PM
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
Reposted by Lisa Will
What are we doing?
NYT - Holdings from the library at the Goddard Space Flight Center, which includes unique documents from the early 20th century to the Soviet space race, will be warehoused or thrown out. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/cl...
www.nytimes.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:23 AM
What are we doing?
He isn't kidding about the pajama pants, by the way.
2025
Had a couple of stories come out.
Had cancer.
Spent most of November and December in pajama pants.
Wrote a graphic novel.
I’m proudest of the pajama pants.
Had a couple of stories come out.
Had cancer.
Spent most of November and December in pajama pants.
Wrote a graphic novel.
I’m proudest of the pajama pants.
December 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM
He isn't kidding about the pajama pants, by the way.
Posting this because of the discourse and because it is excellent.
It’s a section that appears on my syllabi. Here’s the version from an intro physics class this past semester.
December 31, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Posting this because of the discourse and because it is excellent.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Kudos to our project scientist who helps advocate for these every ~year when I think the view might work and we've got a little bit of energy and time spare in a plan. Doing the science on the day to day is important. Taking a moment now and again to do something just for art is important as well.
From NASA –
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
December 31, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Kudos to our project scientist who helps advocate for these every ~year when I think the view might work and we've got a little bit of energy and time spare in a plan. Doing the science on the day to day is important. Taking a moment now and again to do something just for art is important as well.
Reposted by Lisa Will
From NASA –
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
December 31, 2025 at 1:12 AM
From NASA –
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
Reposted by Lisa Will
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image shows the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our Milky Way 🧪🔭
🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
December 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image shows the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our Milky Way 🧪🔭
🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
Reposted by Lisa Will
Sunsets are good.
December 30, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Sunsets are good.
Reposted by Lisa Will
The #planet #Jupiter on December 28. Imaged with #Celestron C9.25 EdgeHD, #Televue 2.5x barlow and #PlayerOne Uranus C camera.
#astronomy #astrophotography #solarsystem #space
#astronomy #astrophotography #solarsystem #space
December 29, 2025 at 11:43 PM
The #planet #Jupiter on December 28. Imaged with #Celestron C9.25 EdgeHD, #Televue 2.5x barlow and #PlayerOne Uranus C camera.
#astronomy #astrophotography #solarsystem #space
#astronomy #astrophotography #solarsystem #space
Reposted by Lisa Will
Lick updates: We got a crane up there Friday and the winds dropped enough by Saturday to get the shutter off the roof.
December 29, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Lick updates: We got a crane up there Friday and the winds dropped enough by Saturday to get the shutter off the roof.
Reposted by Lisa Will
✨ Explore the deep cosmic fields from our Euclid space telescope with this video. 🧪🔭
youtu.be/rXCBFlIpvfQ?...
youtu.be/rXCBFlIpvfQ?...
Euclid's first deep dive into the Universe
YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 6:22 PM
✨ Explore the deep cosmic fields from our Euclid space telescope with this video. 🧪🔭
youtu.be/rXCBFlIpvfQ?...
youtu.be/rXCBFlIpvfQ?...
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
From fine china to model trains, millennials and Gen Xers stand to inherit much more than money.
Boomers Are Passing Down Fortunes — And Way, Way Too Much Stuff
As the $90 trillion Great Wealth Transfer begins, millennials and Gen X aren’t just inheriting money. They’re being buried under an avalanche of baseball cards, fine china and collections of all sorts.
bloom.bg
December 29, 2025 at 6:12 AM
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Reposted by Lisa Will
BIG new batch of images sent back by Perseverance! Took some work, and my laptop struggled, but what a wonderful view... Look at those beautiful dust dunes, sculpted by Mars' icy winds...
As they say, "Welcome to my world..." ;-)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson
As they say, "Welcome to my world..." ;-)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson
December 28, 2025 at 9:18 AM
BIG new batch of images sent back by Perseverance! Took some work, and my laptop struggled, but what a wonderful view... Look at those beautiful dust dunes, sculpted by Mars' icy winds...
As they say, "Welcome to my world..." ;-)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson
As they say, "Welcome to my world..." ;-)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson
Reposted by Lisa Will
Mars’s mysterious slope streaks aren’t signs of water after all! 🧪🔭
A study using machine learning and decades of orbital data revealed they are the result of dust sliding down steep terrain.
🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/05/Streaks_on_Mars
A study using machine learning and decades of orbital data revealed they are the result of dust sliding down steep terrain.
🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/05/Streaks_on_Mars
December 28, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Mars’s mysterious slope streaks aren’t signs of water after all! 🧪🔭
A study using machine learning and decades of orbital data revealed they are the result of dust sliding down steep terrain.
🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/05/Streaks_on_Mars
A study using machine learning and decades of orbital data revealed they are the result of dust sliding down steep terrain.
🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/05/Streaks_on_Mars
Winnie so often looks serious in photos, but I caught one of her more ridiculous faces.
December 29, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Winnie so often looks serious in photos, but I caught one of her more ridiculous faces.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing
The tl;dr before you get into this post is this: the SFWA came out, said that some AI usage was okay enough in books for the authors of those books to not to be disqualified from winning a Nebula a…
terribleminds.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Four giant stories in one frame! Each of these nebulae exists in different evolutionary stages and at different distances from us. Details in alt text.
Image credit: my tiny 2" telescope (and lots of patience)
#astronomy #science 👩🏾🔬🔭
Image credit: my tiny 2" telescope (and lots of patience)
#astronomy #science 👩🏾🔬🔭
December 28, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Four giant stories in one frame! Each of these nebulae exists in different evolutionary stages and at different distances from us. Details in alt text.
Image credit: my tiny 2" telescope (and lots of patience)
#astronomy #science 👩🏾🔬🔭
Image credit: my tiny 2" telescope (and lots of patience)
#astronomy #science 👩🏾🔬🔭
Reposted by Lisa Will
HiPOD: Honey, I Shrunk the Mesas
You can barely recognize that this is the same area! The high-standing mesas have shrunk to about half of their size in 2007, but the low areas between mesas have filled in with new carbon dioxide material.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_040566_0935
#Mars
You can barely recognize that this is the same area! The high-standing mesas have shrunk to about half of their size in 2007, but the low areas between mesas have filled in with new carbon dioxide material.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_040566_0935
#Mars
December 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
HiPOD: Honey, I Shrunk the Mesas
You can barely recognize that this is the same area! The high-standing mesas have shrunk to about half of their size in 2007, but the low areas between mesas have filled in with new carbon dioxide material.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_040566_0935
#Mars
You can barely recognize that this is the same area! The high-standing mesas have shrunk to about half of their size in 2007, but the low areas between mesas have filled in with new carbon dioxide material.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_040566_0935
#Mars
San Diego was extremely San Diego today.
December 28, 2025 at 6:12 AM
San Diego was extremely San Diego today.
Reposted by Lisa Will
In not-very-good news, extreme winds (114 mph gusts) on the early morning of the 25th caused significant damage to the 36" Great Refractor at Lick Observatory. Half of the main shutter broke off and landed on the main building.
December 27, 2025 at 1:00 AM
In not-very-good news, extreme winds (114 mph gusts) on the early morning of the 25th caused significant damage to the 36" Great Refractor at Lick Observatory. Half of the main shutter broke off and landed on the main building.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Awful news. The Lick Observatory is a gorgeous instrument.
Powerful Christmas Day winds gusting up to 114 mph severely damaged UC Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, forcing the nearly 140-year-old facility to close while officials headquartered at UC Santa Cruz assess structural damage and begin repairs expected to take months.
Christmas Day winds up to 114 mph damage UC Lick Observatory
Powerful Christmas Day winds gusting up to 114 mph severely damaged UC Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, forcing the nearly 140-year-old facility to close while officials headquartered at UC Santa Cruz assess structural damage and begin repairs expected to take months.
buff.ly
December 26, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Awful news. The Lick Observatory is a gorgeous instrument.
Reposted by Lisa Will
The first data from NASA's SPHEREx mission are out!
Check out this video, showing the entire sky in infrared light. The Milky Way runs as a band across the center. Each frame shows a different infrared wavelength, with light from stars, hot gas, and cosmic dust. 🔭🧪
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-s...
Check out this video, showing the entire sky in infrared light. The Milky Way runs as a band across the center. Each frame shows a different infrared wavelength, with light from stars, hot gas, and cosmic dust. 🔭🧪
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-s...
SPHEREx First All-Sky Map — Spectrum
YouTube video by JPLraw
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The first data from NASA's SPHEREx mission are out!
Check out this video, showing the entire sky in infrared light. The Milky Way runs as a band across the center. Each frame shows a different infrared wavelength, with light from stars, hot gas, and cosmic dust. 🔭🧪
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-s...
Check out this video, showing the entire sky in infrared light. The Milky Way runs as a band across the center. Each frame shows a different infrared wavelength, with light from stars, hot gas, and cosmic dust. 🔭🧪
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-s...
More people on my timeline are discussing a show based on Stucky fanfic than the Doomsday teaser, and I hope the studio is paying attention.
December 23, 2025 at 5:10 PM
More people on my timeline are discussing a show based on Stucky fanfic than the Doomsday teaser, and I hope the studio is paying attention.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Hubble has imaged the largest planet-forming disk ever seen! At 400 billion miles wide, it is roughly 40 times the diameter of our solar system. The disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, offering new insights into how planetary systems form: https://bit.ly/477sQ9b 🔭 🧪
December 23, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Hubble has imaged the largest planet-forming disk ever seen! At 400 billion miles wide, it is roughly 40 times the diameter of our solar system. The disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, offering new insights into how planetary systems form: https://bit.ly/477sQ9b 🔭 🧪