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
Beautiful graphic of the day (because that should be a thing: Our Solar System
By my data hero Eleanor Lutz
By my data hero Eleanor Lutz
January 16, 2026 at 2:12 AM
Beautiful graphic of the day (because that should be a thing: Our Solar System
By my data hero Eleanor Lutz
By my data hero Eleanor Lutz
Reposted by Lisa Will
Reposted by Lisa Will
Here’s an email exchange I had with Glen Wooten, the person in charge of SDCC’s Art Show. The previous language has been in place for a couple of years & was a compromise between himself & the higher ups. This whole ruckus convinced them that they needed more forceful language, so that’s great.
January 15, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Here’s an email exchange I had with Glen Wooten, the person in charge of SDCC’s Art Show. The previous language has been in place for a couple of years & was a compromise between himself & the higher ups. This whole ruckus convinced them that they needed more forceful language, so that’s great.
Reposted by Lisa Will
Now that I can take a breath, I'm SUPER EXCITED we can share that NASA's first Pioneer-class mission, Pandora, is launching this weekend, January 11, at 5:19am!!! I was the Mission Archive Scientist on the proposal, and the NASA Exoplanet Archive will host the mission data.
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14945/
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14945/
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | NASA’s Pandora Satellite to Explore Exoplanets and Stars
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Pandora mission, which will help scientists untangle the signals from exoplanets’ atmospheres — worlds beyond our solar system — and their stars.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space...
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov
January 9, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Now that I can take a breath, I'm SUPER EXCITED we can share that NASA's first Pioneer-class mission, Pandora, is launching this weekend, January 11, at 5:19am!!! I was the Mission Archive Scientist on the proposal, and the NASA Exoplanet Archive will host the mission data.
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14945/
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14945/
Reposted by Lisa Will
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
January 14, 2026 at 2:06 AM
over the course of 1871, congress held seven months of hearings on ku klux klan and other white vigilante violence in the south, they took detailed testimony from hundreds of black men and women attesting to klan terror. (1/?)
Reposted by Lisa Will
What are we looking at? 📡
Check out NRAO's Mission Control to see what's being observed by the #VeryLargeArray, #GreenBankTelescope and #ALMA in real time: https://public.nrao.edu/explore/mission-control/
* Current VLA Observation: VLA Survey of Supercluster Cores to Investigate Galaxy Evolution *
Check out NRAO's Mission Control to see what's being observed by the #VeryLargeArray, #GreenBankTelescope and #ALMA in real time: https://public.nrao.edu/explore/mission-control/
* Current VLA Observation: VLA Survey of Supercluster Cores to Investigate Galaxy Evolution *
January 13, 2026 at 8:59 PM
What are we looking at? 📡
Check out NRAO's Mission Control to see what's being observed by the #VeryLargeArray, #GreenBankTelescope and #ALMA in real time: https://public.nrao.edu/explore/mission-control/
* Current VLA Observation: VLA Survey of Supercluster Cores to Investigate Galaxy Evolution *
Check out NRAO's Mission Control to see what's being observed by the #VeryLargeArray, #GreenBankTelescope and #ALMA in real time: https://public.nrao.edu/explore/mission-control/
* Current VLA Observation: VLA Survey of Supercluster Cores to Investigate Galaxy Evolution *
Reposted by Lisa Will
It's "very unlikely" NASA will be able to recover the MAVEN Mars orbiter, NASA planetary science division director Louise Prockter says at the Small Bodies Assessment Group meeting this morning. Efforts to restore contact will resume Friday, after solar conjunction ends.
January 13, 2026 at 2:54 PM
It's "very unlikely" NASA will be able to recover the MAVEN Mars orbiter, NASA planetary science division director Louise Prockter says at the Small Bodies Assessment Group meeting this morning. Efforts to restore contact will resume Friday, after solar conjunction ends.
Reposted by Lisa Will
They are building this massive new data science and AI institute (that will house 100 faculty) next door to the department that studies climate change (which, checks notes, has 15ish faculty) in a building that is non-functional most days.
Which says just about every fucking thing about 2026.
Which says just about every fucking thing about 2026.
MORE TREE-CUTTING- the big oak trees on the site of Johns Hopkins’ Data Science and AI Institute (DSAI) are coming down now…..
January 13, 2026 at 8:57 PM
They are building this massive new data science and AI institute (that will house 100 faculty) next door to the department that studies climate change (which, checks notes, has 15ish faculty) in a building that is non-functional most days.
Which says just about every fucking thing about 2026.
Which says just about every fucking thing about 2026.
Reposted by Lisa Will
As the SOHO spacecraft imaged the #sun this morning, it caught this striking planetary parade of #Venus, #Mars and #Mercury all alongside our star! Mars is just emerging from behind the sun, having reached superior solar #conjunction on Friday.
Read today's sun news:
buff.ly/fAXY03R
📸 NASA/ SOHO.
Read today's sun news:
buff.ly/fAXY03R
📸 NASA/ SOHO.
January 13, 2026 at 9:00 PM
As the SOHO spacecraft imaged the #sun this morning, it caught this striking planetary parade of #Venus, #Mars and #Mercury all alongside our star! Mars is just emerging from behind the sun, having reached superior solar #conjunction on Friday.
Read today's sun news:
buff.ly/fAXY03R
📸 NASA/ SOHO.
Read today's sun news:
buff.ly/fAXY03R
📸 NASA/ SOHO.
And yet somehow I bet Federal income tax will still be coming out of my paycheck.
Trump: "Starting February 1, we're not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities"
January 13, 2026 at 8:39 PM
And yet somehow I bet Federal income tax will still be coming out of my paycheck.
Reposted by Lisa Will
57 ways of looking at a dying star.
The Alma Observatory tuned in to 57 different molecules pouring out of the star W Hydrae as it spills its guts into space. That material will later get recycled into the next generation of stars and planets.
www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...
The Alma Observatory tuned in to 57 different molecules pouring out of the star W Hydrae as it spills its guts into space. That material will later get recycled into the next generation of stars and planets.
www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...
January 13, 2026 at 5:47 PM
57 ways of looking at a dying star.
The Alma Observatory tuned in to 57 different molecules pouring out of the star W Hydrae as it spills its guts into space. That material will later get recycled into the next generation of stars and planets.
www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...
The Alma Observatory tuned in to 57 different molecules pouring out of the star W Hydrae as it spills its guts into space. That material will later get recycled into the next generation of stars and planets.
www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...
Reposted by Lisa Will
ICYMI, our VLT has discovered a mysterious type of shock wave originating from the interaction between a dead star and the surrounding interstellar gas.
This shock wave can’t be explained by any known mechanism.
Video summary 🎥 👇
Full story: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
This shock wave can’t be explained by any known mechanism.
Video summary 🎥 👇
Full story: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
January 13, 2026 at 9:22 AM
ICYMI, our VLT has discovered a mysterious type of shock wave originating from the interaction between a dead star and the surrounding interstellar gas.
This shock wave can’t be explained by any known mechanism.
Video summary 🎥 👇
Full story: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
This shock wave can’t be explained by any known mechanism.
Video summary 🎥 👇
Full story: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2601/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Reposted by Lisa Will
New infrared observations from Webb are changing how we see the material near the Circinus Galaxy’s supermassive black hole!
Read more 👉 esawebb.org/images/circi...
🔭🧪
Read more 👉 esawebb.org/images/circi...
🔭🧪
January 13, 2026 at 1:00 PM
New infrared observations from Webb are changing how we see the material near the Circinus Galaxy’s supermassive black hole!
Read more 👉 esawebb.org/images/circi...
🔭🧪
Read more 👉 esawebb.org/images/circi...
🔭🧪
She is RIDICULOUSLY cute.
January 13, 2026 at 5:46 AM
She is RIDICULOUSLY cute.
Reposted by Lisa Will
they abolished the department of education, we do not need a trojan horse to abolish ice we can just do it
January 12, 2026 at 8:42 PM
they abolished the department of education, we do not need a trojan horse to abolish ice we can just do it
Like, we all knew this administration was intentionally destroying the economy, but to have it confirmed is a whole other thing.
January 12, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Like, we all knew this administration was intentionally destroying the economy, but to have it confirmed is a whole other thing.
Holy shit.
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Holy shit.
Reposted by Lisa Will
I love a good neighborhood protest.
January 10, 2026 at 11:21 PM
I love a good neighborhood protest.
Our neighborhood protest was well attended (a few hundred people) considering how quickly it came together. The vast majority of passersby were supportive. The ones that weren't? Pretty easy to guess the demographic.
January 10, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Our neighborhood protest was well attended (a few hundred people) considering how quickly it came together. The vast majority of passersby were supportive. The ones that weren't? Pretty easy to guess the demographic.
Reposted by Lisa Will
15 ICE out protests in San Diego County this weekend.
January 10, 2026 at 2:29 AM
15 ICE out protests in San Diego County this weekend.
Reposted by Lisa Will
ICE OUT FOR GOOD
vigils, protests and other actions are being planned all weekend. Find one near you
Want to join me for this Indivisible event?
vigils, protests and other actions are being planned all weekend. Find one near you
Want to join me for this Indivisible event?
Ice Out For Good Pacific Beach, San Diego · Mobilize
Join us IN Pacific Beach on January 10 at 10am to say "ICE OUT OF SAN DIEGO! ICE OUT FOR GOOD!"
On Wednesday, January 7th, an American citizen was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ...
mobilize.us
January 9, 2026 at 3:31 AM
ICE OUT FOR GOOD
vigils, protests and other actions are being planned all weekend. Find one near you
Want to join me for this Indivisible event?
vigils, protests and other actions are being planned all weekend. Find one near you
Want to join me for this Indivisible event?
I took this photo last night before our planetarium shows. This area is usually full of people, even in the early evening. I fear this what the new parking fees for Balboa Park will mean: lower attendance for the museums, restaurants, and other spaces that should be free for public access.
January 8, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I took this photo last night before our planetarium shows. This area is usually full of people, even in the early evening. I fear this what the new parking fees for Balboa Park will mean: lower attendance for the museums, restaurants, and other spaces that should be free for public access.
Reposted by Lisa Will
We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.
Just days into 2026, the killing of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has sparked protests around the US.
If you’re planning to protest, here’s how to safeguard your digital security.
If you’re planning to protest, here’s how to safeguard your digital security.
How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance
Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest.
www.wired.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM
We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.
Reposted by Lisa Will
NEW from #AAS247: New Discovery Challenges Evolution of Galaxy Clusters
#ALMA detects the earliest hot intracluster atmosphere ever seen, revealing a huge thermal reservoir, and forcing astronomers to reconsider how galaxy clusters grew in the early Universe.
#AAS #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
#ALMA detects the earliest hot intracluster atmosphere ever seen, revealing a huge thermal reservoir, and forcing astronomers to reconsider how galaxy clusters grew in the early Universe.
#AAS #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
New Discovery Challenges Evolution of Galaxy Clusters - National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Peering back in time, around 12 billion years, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the...
public.nrao.edu
January 7, 2026 at 11:00 PM
NEW from #AAS247: New Discovery Challenges Evolution of Galaxy Clusters
#ALMA detects the earliest hot intracluster atmosphere ever seen, revealing a huge thermal reservoir, and forcing astronomers to reconsider how galaxy clusters grew in the early Universe.
#AAS #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
#ALMA detects the earliest hot intracluster atmosphere ever seen, revealing a huge thermal reservoir, and forcing astronomers to reconsider how galaxy clusters grew in the early Universe.
#AAS #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy