Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
@palomarskies.bsky.social
Associate professor of astronomy at Palomar College, user of smart telescopes. 🔭 Blog: http://visiblesuns.blogspot.com/
Pinned
1:37:11 PM on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, over the North Atlantic Ocean.
"The world is still beautiful, even with all the traffic, the injustice, the noise, the wars. The world is still beautiful. It's all we have and we should celebrate it." - Film score composer Lionel Newman
I had lunch today with one of my former students who is now an engineer on the NASA Artemis mission to the Moon. It’s wonderful to see that he is doing wonderful things. He gave me two patches. One for the Orion spacecraft and a two sided patch for the Artemis II mission.
January 6, 2026 at 1:35 AM
I had lunch today with one of my former students who is now an engineer on the NASA Artemis mission to the Moon. It’s wonderful to see that he is doing wonderful things. He gave me two patches. One for the Orion spacecraft and a two sided patch for the Artemis II mission.
Misty Moon.
January 5, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Misty Moon.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
A back-to-work cartoon for @newscientist.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:32 AM
A back-to-work cartoon for @newscientist.com
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
If intelligent life does exist out in the cosmos, should we try to communicate with it? Scientists from SETI (The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and METI (Messaging Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) give their views:
Made in partnership with #BBCIdeas:
bit.ly/3YV83BZ
Made in partnership with #BBCIdeas:
bit.ly/3YV83BZ
Should we try to talk to aliens? | The Royal Society
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:00 PM
If intelligent life does exist out in the cosmos, should we try to communicate with it? Scientists from SETI (The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and METI (Messaging Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) give their views:
Made in partnership with #BBCIdeas:
bit.ly/3YV83BZ
Made in partnership with #BBCIdeas:
bit.ly/3YV83BZ
The Sun was out for the first time in a week so I foolishly thought I could capture a shot of it. 😢
January 4, 2026 at 7:07 PM
The Sun was out for the first time in a week so I foolishly thought I could capture a shot of it. 😢
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
An image of Gassendi and Mare Humorum taken on 30th December 2025. Numerous rilles are visible on the crater floor. #CFF160 🔭, #Televue 2.5x powermate, #Touptek 585M camera. Best 25% frames from 2500 frame video, stacked and sharpened in AstroSurface. #astrophotography
January 4, 2026 at 12:13 PM
An image of Gassendi and Mare Humorum taken on 30th December 2025. Numerous rilles are visible on the crater floor. #CFF160 🔭, #Televue 2.5x powermate, #Touptek 585M camera. Best 25% frames from 2500 frame video, stacked and sharpened in AstroSurface. #astrophotography
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Isaac Asimov
January 4, 2026 at 1:49 PM
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Isaac Asimov
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
"History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power have destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which truly belongs to us all. We must not let that happen again."
-Carl Sagan
#NASA #NASAGoddard #Goddard #WarOnScience
-Carl Sagan
#NASA #NASAGoddard #Goddard #WarOnScience
January 4, 2026 at 2:10 AM
"History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power have destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which truly belongs to us all. We must not let that happen again."
-Carl Sagan
#NASA #NASAGoddard #Goddard #WarOnScience
-Carl Sagan
#NASA #NASAGoddard #Goddard #WarOnScience
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Anyway, if you are just doing your best to try and exist, don’t forget that just doing your best to try and exist can still be enough to inspire others and still be enough to make the world a better place ❤️✊🐘
January 3, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Anyway, if you are just doing your best to try and exist, don’t forget that just doing your best to try and exist can still be enough to inspire others and still be enough to make the world a better place ❤️✊🐘
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
It's wild how one life dedicated to pursuing a dream in their heart can change the world.
Thanks Professor. Happy Birthday.
Thanks Professor. Happy Birthday.
January 3, 2026 at 7:21 PM
It's wild how one life dedicated to pursuing a dream in their heart can change the world.
Thanks Professor. Happy Birthday.
Thanks Professor. Happy Birthday.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
It's illegal for the president to relieve student loan debt. It's completely fine for the president to unilaterally decide to have the head of a foreign nation black bagged on foreign soil.
January 3, 2026 at 2:36 PM
It's illegal for the president to relieve student loan debt. It's completely fine for the president to unilaterally decide to have the head of a foreign nation black bagged on foreign soil.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Tonight, the President of the United States has launched an unconstitutional war of aggression, dooming another generation to spill their blood for oil, and lay waste to a sovereign nation.
I demand that Congress exercise its power, halt this conflict, and impeach this war criminal president.
I demand that Congress exercise its power, halt this conflict, and impeach this war criminal president.
January 3, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Tonight, the President of the United States has launched an unconstitutional war of aggression, dooming another generation to spill their blood for oil, and lay waste to a sovereign nation.
I demand that Congress exercise its power, halt this conflict, and impeach this war criminal president.
I demand that Congress exercise its power, halt this conflict, and impeach this war criminal president.
Happy Perihelion Day! Today Earth reaches the closest point to the Sun in its orbit. Here are two images I took of the Sun last year showing that the Sun does indeed look a bit bigger in January when we are closest to the Sun than it does in July when we are farthest. 🔭
January 3, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Happy Perihelion Day! Today Earth reaches the closest point to the Sun in its orbit. Here are two images I took of the Sun last year showing that the Sun does indeed look a bit bigger in January when we are closest to the Sun than it does in July when we are farthest. 🔭
What the hell are we doing? www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g...
U.S. hit Venezuela with 'large-scale strike,' captured Nicolás Maduro, Trump says
President Trump claimed overnight that the United States carried out airstrikes in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro.
www.npr.org
January 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
What the hell are we doing? www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g...
Happy Science Fiction Day!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
National Science Fiction Day - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 2, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Happy Science Fiction Day!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Happy new year! My all sky camera imaged the sky every 15 seconds and this picture shows what happened in the sky in 2025. It shows the length of the night and day with the hourglass shape, the monthly lunar cycle with the diagonal bands, the elevation of the Sun at local noon, and lots of clouds.
January 1, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Happy new year! My all sky camera imaged the sky every 15 seconds and this picture shows what happened in the sky in 2025. It shows the length of the night and day with the hourglass shape, the monthly lunar cycle with the diagonal bands, the elevation of the Sun at local noon, and lots of clouds.
Watching Cosmos on New Year’s Day.
January 1, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Watching Cosmos on New Year’s Day.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Some reflections on my personal 2025, which was frequently good despite the world being on fire, and some goals for 2026:
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/31/2...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/31/2...
December 31, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Some reflections on my personal 2025, which was frequently good despite the world being on fire, and some goals for 2026:
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/31/2...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/31/2...
The view during my morning walk. Yes, I got soaked.
January 1, 2026 at 5:09 PM
The view during my morning walk. Yes, I got soaked.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
The Library of Alexandria was burned. The Nazis burned books. Lenin destroyed Soviet science. This is no different.
Trump and the GOP are coming for both science and our libraries.
Trump and the GOP are coming for both science and our libraries.
January 1, 2026 at 4:01 AM
The Library of Alexandria was burned. The Nazis burned books. Lenin destroyed Soviet science. This is no different.
Trump and the GOP are coming for both science and our libraries.
Trump and the GOP are coming for both science and our libraries.
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
January 1, 2026 at 10:53 AM
Awesome!
This year, I set out to do something I’d never done: make every recipe in a cookbook. In 2025, I accomplished that goal, baking through “Comfort Bakes” from the Great British Baking Show. Here’s how it went….
January 1, 2026 at 4:55 AM
Awesome!
Reposted by Scott Kardel aka Palomar Skies
Jack Smith Deposition quotes
December 31, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Jack Smith Deposition quotes