Lois M.
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ov099.bsky.social
Lois M.
@ov099.bsky.social
240 followers 260 following 670 posts
An astronomy, Star Trek/Star Wars, news/weather nerd; Rutgers 2017 BS Geology grad, research assistant, and foram picker extraordinaire.
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ov099.bsky.social
Lois M. @ov099.bsky.social · Oct 10
"A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." - Carl Sagan
🌋 📚 🔭 #LGM⚾️ #MayTheForceBeWithYou #LLAP🖖 🌔 🗻🔬
Reposted by Lois M.
purrinink.bsky.social
December 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
historyofgeology.bsky.social
"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” -
- Henry David Thoreau
The famous "Blue Marble" - a photograph of Earth - was taken on December 7, 1972 by the crew of Apollo 17
December 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Apollo 17 at Shorty Crater

Apollo 17 Crew, NASA

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
Fifty three years ago, in December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon exploring the Taurus-Littrow valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This snapshot from another world was taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the lunar valley's floor. The image shows Schmitt next to the lunar rover parked at the southeast rim of Shorty Crater. That location is near the spot where geologist Schmitt discovered orange lunar soil. The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites. And for now, Cernan and Schmitt are the last to walk on the Moon.
December 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 The Bipolar Jets of KX Andromedae

Image Credit & Copyright: Tim Schaeffer and the Deep Sky Collective

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
Blasting outward from variable star KX Andromedae, these stunning bipolar jets are 19 light-years long. Recently discovered, they are revealed in unprecedented detail in this deep telescopic image centered on KX And and composed from over 692 hours of combined image data. In fact, KX And is spectroscopically found to be an interacting binary star system consisting of a bright, hot B-type star with a swollen cool giant star as its co-orbiting, close companion. The stellar material from the cool giant star is likely being transferred to the hot B-type star through an accretion disk, with spectacular symmetric jets driven outward perpendicular to the disk itself. The known distance to KX And of 2,500 light-years, angular size of the jets, and estimated inclination of the accretion disk lead to the size estimate for each jet of an astonishing 19 light-years.
December 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Galaxies in the Furnace

Image Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi and the ShaRA Team

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
An example of violence on a cosmic scale, enormous elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 lies about 75 million light-years away toward Fornax, the southern constellation of the Furnace. Investigating the startling sight, astronomers suspect the giant galaxy of colliding with smaller neighbor NGC 1317 seen just right of the large galaxy's center, producing far flung star streams in loops and shells. Light from their close encounter would have reached Earth some 100 million years ago. In the sharp telescopic image, the central regions of NGC 1316 and NGC 1317 appear separated by over 100,000 light-years.Complex dust lanes visible within also indicate that NGC 1316 is itself the result of a merger of galaxies in the distant past. Found on the outskirts of the Fornax galaxy cluster, NGC 1316 is known as Fornax A. One of the visually brightest of the Fornax cluster galaxies it is one of the strongest and largest celestial radio sources with radio emission extending well beyond this one degree wide field-of-view.
December 4, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
esa.int
🆕 This NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope image shows two interacting galaxies: NGC 4490 (left) with NGC 4485 as a white glowing hue (top right). They are connected by a bright stream of red gas across the image. 🧪🔭

🔗 esawebb.org/images/potm2...

@science.esa.int @stsci.edu
December 2, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center

Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
A big beautiful sprawling spiral galaxy is shown. The galaxy has well defined spiral arms with bright blue star clusters and dark red dust. The center is a bright white. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
December 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
markgarlick.com
My artwork of a Sunset on Mars. Dust and small particles suspended in the Martian atmosphere scatter light in the direction of the Sun forward. This creates a blue halo around the setting Sun, rendering a Martian landscape quite different from its terrestrial equivalent.

#ArtAdventCalendar
#SciArt
Digital illustration of a barren, rocky Martian landscape. The sun is about to set (or just risen). Unlike on Earth, sunsets and sunrises on Mars can often appear blue, as here. Art copyright Mark A Garlick
December 1, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 3I ATLAS: Tails of an Interstellar Comet

Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25120...
A starfield is shown around a comet. The green coma of the comet is on the lower left. A meandering blue-tinted tail goes off to the upper right. A slight anti-tail is seen from the coma toward the lower left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
December 1, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
picardtips.bsky.social
Picard sanity tip: If there are four lights, say there are four lights.
November 30, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
andrealuck.bsky.social
1/n 🧵
Just released: NEW images of Phobos over Mars by @esa.int Mars Express 🔭🧪

This view shows Phobos above Olympus Mons!

Full-size (130MP) image & details: flic.kr/p/2rggHKy
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Andrea Luck CC BY

Captured on May 14, 2025 | Image ID: HQ967
Raw data from: psa.esa.int
A high-resolution color image of Mars with the small, dark, potato shaped satellite Phobos, seen in sharp contrast as it passes over the massive volcano Olympus Mons. Phobos appears irregular and shadowed against the softly rust colored Martian surface. In the distance, two other volcanic features Ascraeus Mons (upper right) and the flatter Alba Mons (upper left) are visible. Wisps of light clouds and the blackness of space frame the planet’s curved horizon.
July 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
furbyhancock.bsky.social
star at 3 billion years old: i have so much light and warmth to share

star at 12 billion years old: when i finally get to die im taking all of you with me
November 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
ov099.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving!
a cartoonish picture of a turkey in a pumpkin with the phrase Happy Thanksgiving up above him.
November 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM
ov099.bsky.social
Introduce yourself with four spaceships.
the Death Star. No, it's not a moon. Yes, it is a space station, but it can move across the galaxy, therefore, it is also a spaceship. exterior picture of the Star Trek USS Enterprise, NCC1701d from The Next Generation a launch pad picture of the space shuttle Discovery just taking off. the refitted version of the USS Enterprise from the first movie, so not the original series version of the ship, because, I don't like that one, but the first movie version before they changed it a bit yet again in Star Trek 2.
November 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Portrait of NGC 1055

Image Credit & Copyright: John Hayes

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But telltale pinkish star forming regions and young blue star clusters are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bulge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Globular Cluster M15 Deep Field

Image Credit & Copyright: Alvaro Ibanez Perez

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
A starfield is shown with thin wisps of gray and red running through it. In the center is an usual ball -- which is a globular cluster of stars upon closer inspection. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
picardtips.bsky.social
Picard management tip: One mission at a time.
November 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Comet Lemmon and the Milky Way

Image Credit & Copyright: Lin Zixuan linzx23 at mails.tsinghua.edu dot cn) (Tsinghua U.)

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
A night skyscape is shown over snowcapped mountains. On the left is the band of the Milky Way Galaxy, while on the right is a bright comet with two tails -- a white tail going up and trailing to the right and a longer blue tail going up and trailing off to the left. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 3I/ATLAS: A View from Planet Earth

Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
Now outbound after its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on October 29, Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to pass through our fair Solar System. Its greenish coma and faint tails are seen against a background of stars in the constellation Virgo in this view from planet Earth, recorded with a small telescope on November 14. But this interstellar interloper is the subject of an on-going, unprecedented Solar System-wide observing campaign involving spacecraft and space telescopes from Earth orbit to the surface of Mars and beyond. And while the comet from another star-system has recently grown brighter, you'll still need a telescope if you want to see 3I/ATLAS from planet Earth. It's now above the horizon in November morning skies and will make its closest approach to Earth, a comfortable 270 million kilometers distant, around December 19.
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka

Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right edge of this colorful starfield. The telescopic frame spans almost 4 degrees on the sky.
November 20, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
mandoverseupdates.bsky.social
Happy Life Day!

#starwars #TheMandalorian #ahsoka  #grogu #dindjarin #fennec #bobafett #bokatan #TheMandalorianAndGrogu
November 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
davidleavitt.bsky.social
It costs nothing for you to share this.

For every dollar you donate to your local food pantry you’ll be providing up to 10 meals to families in need this holiday season.
November 15, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Andromeda and Friends

Image Credit & Copyright: Piotr Czerski

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25111...
This magnificent extragalactic skyscape looks toward the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. It also accomplishes a Messier catalog trifecta by including Andromeda, cataloged as Messier 31 (M31), along with Messier 32 (M32), and Messier 110 (M110) in the same telescopic field of view. In this frame, M32 is just left of the Andromeda Galaxy's bright core with M110 below and to the right. M32 and M110 are both elliptical galaxies themselves and satellites of the larger spiral Andromeda. By combining 60 hours of broadband and narrowband image data, the deep telescopic view also reveals tantalizing details of dust lanes, young star clusters, and star-forming regions along Andromeda's spiral arms, and faint, foreground clouds of glowing hydrogen gas. For now, Andromeda and friends are some 2.5 million light-years from our own large spiral Milky Way.
November 15, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Lois M.
picardtips.bsky.social
Picard culinary tip: Tea, Earl Grey, hot.
November 13, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Lois M.
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Orion and the Running Man

Image Credit & Copyright: R. Jay Gabany

star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a...
Few cosmic vistas can excite the imagination like The Great Nebula in Orion. Visible as a faint, bland celestial smudge to the naked eye, the nearest large star-forming region sprawls across this sharp colourful telescopic image. Designated M42 in the Messier Catalogue, the Orion Nebula's glowing gas and dust surrounds hot, young stars. About 40 light-years across, M42 is at the edge of an immense interstellar molecular cloud only 1,500 light-years away that lies within the same spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy as the Sun. Including dusty bluish reflection nebula NGC 1977, also known as the Running Man nebula at left in the frame, the natal nebulae represent only a small fraction of our galactic neighbourhood's wealth of star-forming material. Within the well-studied stellar nursery, astronomers have also identified what appear to be numerous infant solar systems.
November 13, 2025 at 8:00 AM