Tom Megeath
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megadeath.bsky.social
Tom Megeath
@megadeath.bsky.social
1.5K followers 3.3K following 290 posts
Astronomer studying the birth of stars, rust belt academic, connoisseur of beer inspired acronyms, closet Dadaist, & child of immigrant.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Tom Megeath
astrowright.bsky.social
I've summarized the truth about Loeb's 10 "anomalies" about 3I/ATLAS in one post.

Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft.  He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 12:22 AM
megadeath.bsky.social
Describe your cat‘s personality with one photo: leela
a tabby stretched out in sunlight looking at camera.
November 9, 2025 at 4:40 AM
megadeath.bsky.social
Describe your cat‘s personality with one photo: calvin
a cat lying on carpet, forelegs crossed, eyes shut.
November 9, 2025 at 4:38 AM
megadeath.bsky.social
The bust of Rosalind Franklin in the Library of Trinity College Dublin.
a bust of Rosalind Franklin
November 7, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
physgal.bsky.social
Dear Physicists and Physics fans,

I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th.

Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩‍🔬
WOMEN IN PHYSICS DAY! In honor of the pioneering women in physics who broke down barriers to do what they love, we celebrate Women in Physics Day on November 7th, the birthdate of both Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. Marie Skrodowska-Curie (1867-1934) Radioactivity pioneer, two-time Nobel laureate A giant of science, Marie Sktodowska-Curie conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, a term she coined. She discovered two elements, founded two medical research centres, won two Nobels, and invented mobile X-ray units (dubbed petites Curies), saving countless lives in World War Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Nuclear physicist When Lise Meitner was a teen, Austria restricted female higher education. She pursued physics anyway, and 25 years later became the first woman in Germany to hold a professorship in physics. She helped discover nuclear fission, but was contentiously not awarded the 1944 Nobel alongside collaborator Otto Hahn. NOVEMBER 7TH
November 3, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
barbylon.bsky.social
You've seen the news about issues at Goddard closing facilities and the culture of fear and intimidation. AGU has generated an email and a call script to contact your representatives. Please take a few minutes over your coffee this morning to send it. And thank you. agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...
Save NASA Goddard & JPL before it's too late
Firing huge swaths of workforce and now closing facilities--stop the dismantling of space science now
agu.quorum.us
November 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
garlab.bsky.social
Which ancient fish are you? #GarWeek

#Conservation #Garology #FishSciComm #SciComm #GarLab
November 6, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
Alarm Grows over Proposed Giant Mirrors in Orbit and Other Commercial Space Plans www.scientificamerican.com/article/alar...
Giant Mirrors, Orbital Data Centers and Space-Based Advertisements Could Soon Clutter the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing list of disruptive commercial activities in space
www.scientificamerican.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
glenpeters.bsky.social
Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions rise again in 2024, up 2.3%.

This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.

www.unep.org/resources/em...

1/
A figure showing all ghg emissions rising
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
climatebrad.hillheat.com
BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories).

Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
November 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
ioppublishing.bsky.social
Do #AI-generated videos obey physics laws? We present a simple, fun, and educational experiment that uses physics to distinguish an AI-generated video from a real one, using freely available online tools. Check it out: https://ow.ly/C26950XlcLl
#physicseducation #scienceexperiments
November 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
seanmcarroll.bsky.social
The laws of physics are always the first to go.
ioppublishing.bsky.social IOP Publishing @ioppublishing.bsky.social · 5d
Do #AI-generated videos obey physics laws? We present a simple, fun, and educational experiment that uses physics to distinguish an AI-generated video from a real one, using freely available online tools. Check it out: https://ow.ly/C26950XlcLl
#physicseducation #scienceexperiments
November 5, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
500womensci.bsky.social
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
VOTE!
a kermit the frog is holding a sign that says vote .
Alt: a kermit the frog is holding a sign that says vote .
media.tenor.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Venus - Akatsuki - From Aster Cowart (terrasabaea.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/DUVaRB
Venus as seen by Japan's Akatsuki space probe on September 5, 2016. At the time this photo was taken, Akatsuki was located approximately 60,000 km above the Venusian cloud tops. This image was assembled using near-UV and near-IR photos to create a pseudo-true color view. My procedure for creating this image exaggerates the coloration and detail visible in the clouds, which show very little detail in the visible portion of the spectrum. This photo has been further enhanced by showing the cloud patterns on the night side using an infrared image at 2.26 μm. This portion of the image uses a relative colormap to highlight some of the variation present. At 2.26μm, Venus' clouds are partially transparent, allowing heat from the lower portions of the atmosphere to radiate into space. Dark regions in this part of the image are, in effect, shadows of clouds in the upper atmosphere near the same level as the visible clouds. Image Credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Justin Cowart
November 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
newscientist.com
Tom Gauld on the Institute of Halloween Studies' latest creation
Tom Gauld on the Institute of Halloween Studies' latest creation
www.newscientist.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
space.com
#nasa is shuttering the Goddard #space #flight center in a move that may not be entirely legal, according to critics. For months, our #staff #writer @joshdinner.bsky.social interviewed NASA #employees, read #senate reports and more to give you the deepest dive yet.

www.space.com/space-explor...
October 31, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
astrodave.bsky.social
You might’ve heard the news: SpaceX just passed 10,000 Starlink satellites launched. And that number is already old news, as there’s now a new Starlink batch launched every other day. Here’s what that looks like in a short animation of Comet A6 Lemmon courtesy of Michael Jaeger:
October 28, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Two Tails of Comet Lemmon

Image Credit: Massimo Penna

star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a...
A dark sky shows bright comet with its tails extending diagonally from the lower left. Two tails are visible for the comet -- a long blue tail and a shorter wider white tail. Oddly, a wiggly tan stream appears to be a third tail -- but is actually the dust from a dissipated meteor. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
October 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
LDN 1641N Star Cluster - From Judy Schmidt (geckzilla.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/jLbQML
Here's another image from the extensive survey of protostars in Orion A. There are some interesting dynamics going on here and a number of stars shining on structures to provide insight into the three dimensional nature of the nebula. It's sometimes hard to get out of flatland when viewing these. I've put a few things of interest in some of the notes. Of particular interest is the butterfly-shaped flow in the lower-left quadrant. Make sure you hover the central star on that. There's more there but I'm about to fall asleep at my computer as I write this. All channels: WFC3 IR F160W North is NOT up. It is 26.3° counter-clockwise from up.
October 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
megadeath.bsky.social
I recommend “House of Dynamite”, Netflix’s film about the response to a single, presumably nuclear, missile launched at Chicago from somewhere in Asia. Fundamentally, the movie is about how the decision to launch a counterattack that will kill hundreds of millions is concentrated in a single person.
October 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
andrealuck.bsky.social
Fresh JWST view of Uranus taken Oct 6 2025 with NIRCam.

Full size & more info: flic.kr/p/2rByidu 🔭🧪
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY

Proposal PI: Varun Bajaj
Proposal ID: 8975
Filters: F150W2-F162M, F410M
Image of Uranus taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, showing a whitish north polar region, vivid blue-greenish atmosphere and a few whitish elongated storms visible around the pole. The planet is surrounded by clearly defined ring system set against the black background of space.
October 26, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
atomicanalyst.bsky.social
Tonight in 1962, as the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated toward direct confrontation, a sentry on patrol at Duluth Air Force Base in Minnesota thought he saw someone climbing the perimeter fence. He shot at the intruder and activated the base sabotage alarm, which by design automatically triggered ...
October 25, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
paparidesabike.bsky.social
#BikeChi is so beautiful.
Support Cycling x Solidarity.
Thank you for all of your awesome work!
cc: @sharrows.bsky.social

blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/17/c...
Chicago Cyclists Are Buying Out Tamale Carts To Keep Vendors Home And Safe From ICE
Cycling x Solidarity's latest mutual aid effort takes cyclists on group rides through Pilsen and other neighborhoods to buy out tamale vendors so they can stay home as ICE agents swarm the city. They ...
blockclubchicago.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
davidho.bsky.social
Ok, since many people are obviously not reading the article, here's a pertinent figure from it showing the top actions to reduce emissions.
A horizontal bar chart titled “19 climate-friendly choices, ranked” shows actions individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint, ordered from most to least impactful. The x-axis represents projected impact in tons of CO₂ equivalent per capita per year (tCO₂e/cap/yr), ranging from 0 to about 2.5. Each action is color-coded by sector: transportation (blue), energy (orange), and food (green). Go car-free – highest impact (blue bar extending to about 2.5 tCO₂e). Fly less (blue, about 1.5). Shift to renewable home energy (orange, about 1.4). Switch to EV or hybrid car (blue, about 1.2). Go vegan (green, about 1.0). Walk, bike, or take transit more (blue). Make energy-efficient renovations (orange). Use clean cooking equipment (orange). Go vegetarian (green). Shift driving habits (e.g., carpooling) (blue). Increase telecommuting (blue). Shift to regional/seasonal diet (green). Move to energy-efficient home (orange). Decrease food waste (green). Eat less meat (green). Use less energy at home (orange). Reduce packaged food, dining out (green). Use energy-efficient appliances (orange). Compost – least impact (green, under 0.1). A note clarifies that these are meta-analytic estimates of greenhouse gas reduction potentials, drawn from 659 estimates across 47 academic journal articles. The average person emits 6.28 tonnes of CO₂e per year, though this varies widely by income and country. Wealthier populations may emit up to 110 tonnes per year, while lower-income populations may emit as little as 1.6 tonnes. Source: WRI, based on data from Ivanova et al., 2020.
October 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Tom Megeath
drspacejunk.bsky.social
If you're horrified by this, complete the survey.
cc @niais.bsky.social
Thanks @dotsandlines.bsky.social for the HT
🧪 🔭
October 12, 2025 at 6:21 AM