Rob Seaman
@robseaman.bsky.social
Data scientist, archivist, and temporal engineer with the Catalina Sky Survey. CSS has discovered about half of all known near-Earth asteroids, including several small impactors, many comets, and a couple of mini-moons. https://catalina.lpl.arizona.edu
Of course, this is still better than many humans manage.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Of course, this is still better than many humans manage.
Bad news, good news:
"The asteroid’s probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8% to 4.3%. In the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon’s orbit."
#PlanetSci #K24Y04R #LunarRealEstateValuations
"The asteroid’s probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8% to 4.3%. In the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon’s orbit."
#PlanetSci #K24Y04R #LunarRealEstateValuations
NASA’s Webb Observations Update Asteroid 2024 YR4’s Lunar Impact Odds - NASA Science
While asteroid 2024 YR4 is currently too distant to detect with telescopes from Earth, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope collected one more observation of the
science.nasa.gov
June 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Bad news, good news:
"The asteroid’s probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8% to 4.3%. In the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon’s orbit."
#PlanetSci #K24Y04R #LunarRealEstateValuations
"The asteroid’s probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8% to 4.3%. In the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon’s orbit."
#PlanetSci #K24Y04R #LunarRealEstateValuations
The 2025 Catalina Sky Survey Monsoon Workshop will be held in Tucson, August 1-5, as a splinter session of the ADASSx Summer Software Workshop, immediately following the Rubin Community Workshop.
Registration (free) and abstract submission are now open.
#PlanetSci #AstroMethods #PlanetaryDefense
Registration (free) and abstract submission are now open.
#PlanetSci #AstroMethods #PlanetaryDefense
Monsoon Workshop 2025 | Catalina Sky Survey
catalina.lpl.arizona.edu
May 19, 2025 at 3:45 AM
The 2025 Catalina Sky Survey Monsoon Workshop will be held in Tucson, August 1-5, as a splinter session of the ADASSx Summer Software Workshop, immediately following the Rubin Community Workshop.
Registration (free) and abstract submission are now open.
#PlanetSci #AstroMethods #PlanetaryDefense
Registration (free) and abstract submission are now open.
#PlanetSci #AstroMethods #PlanetaryDefense
Happy bee in a prickly pear bloom in the Sonoran desert. Not sure if either species is native.
#Pollinators #Insects #Angiosperms #Arizona
#Pollinators #Insects #Angiosperms #Arizona
May 14, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Happy bee in a prickly pear bloom in the Sonoran desert. Not sure if either species is native.
#Pollinators #Insects #Angiosperms #Arizona
#Pollinators #Insects #Angiosperms #Arizona
I wanted to call this "Agave and Adobe", but alas, the neighbor's house is stucco. The Century Plant, a rare modern example of truth in advertising, is a member of the Asparagaceae family.
#CenturyPlant #PatienceSometimesPaysOff
#CenturyPlant #PatienceSometimesPaysOff
May 14, 2025 at 1:01 AM
I wanted to call this "Agave and Adobe", but alas, the neighbor's house is stucco. The Century Plant, a rare modern example of truth in advertising, is a member of the Asparagaceae family.
#CenturyPlant #PatienceSometimesPaysOff
#CenturyPlant #PatienceSometimesPaysOff
Where's Kosmos 482? To put the current NASA shenanigans into perspective, this Venus lander outlasted the country that launched it, and is landing on another planet entirely.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
COSMOS 482 DESCENT CRAFT (ID 6073) | The Aerospace Corporation
aerospace.org
May 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Where's Kosmos 482? To put the current NASA shenanigans into perspective, this Venus lander outlasted the country that launched it, and is landing on another planet entirely.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
The future Leo XIV graduated with a BS in mathematics from Villanova, my alma mater, in 1977, the same year I matriculated with a joint major including math and astro/physics. VU math professors were some of the best I've ever had. (I ended up an agnostic with a math minor)
#LeoXIV #Villanova #Math
#LeoXIV #Villanova #Math
BREAKING: What we know about Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pope and a Villanova graduate.
What we know about Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pope and a Villanova graduate
Prevost, 69, is a Chicago native and a Villanova graduate. He said his chosen papal name would be Pope Leo XIV.
inquirer.com
May 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The future Leo XIV graduated with a BS in mathematics from Villanova, my alma mater, in 1977, the same year I matriculated with a joint major including math and astro/physics. VU math professors were some of the best I've ever had. (I ended up an agnostic with a math minor)
#LeoXIV #Villanova #Math
#LeoXIV #Villanova #Math
Here's a second glimpse at Murderbot from Apple. They appear to be steering the production in a direction that understands the character.
youtu.be/wSCDyYOQgQA?...
youtu.be/wSCDyYOQgQA?...
Murderbot — An Inside Look | Apple TV+
YouTube video by Apple TV
youtu.be
May 1, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Here's a second glimpse at Murderbot from Apple. They appear to be steering the production in a direction that understands the character.
youtu.be/wSCDyYOQgQA?...
youtu.be/wSCDyYOQgQA?...
"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable." – Aaron Copland
#peace #love #music
#Heraclitus_and_Parmenides_are_unit_vectors_of_philosophy
#peace #love #music
#Heraclitus_and_Parmenides_are_unit_vectors_of_philosophy
Playing For Change | Official Website
Playing For Change entire library of Songs Around The World, Live Outside, PFC Band, Mark's Park videos. Featuring artists like Slash, Carlos Santana, John Paul Jones, Keith Richards, Sara Bareilles, ...
playingforchange.com
April 19, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable." – Aaron Copland
#peace #love #music
#Heraclitus_and_Parmenides_are_unit_vectors_of_philosophy
#peace #love #music
#Heraclitus_and_Parmenides_are_unit_vectors_of_philosophy
The production team and a broad swath of projects supported by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office and the international near-Earth asteroid community did a great job with this documentary.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
Planetary Defenders (NASA+ Original)
YouTube video by NASA
www.youtube.com
April 16, 2025 at 10:53 PM
The production team and a broad swath of projects supported by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office and the international near-Earth asteroid community did a great job with this documentary.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
Starlink and other megaconstellations are photobombing ground-based telescopes. And they are photobombing remote-sensing Earth-imaging satellites in higher orbits.
#astronomy
#space
#downinfront
#privilegeknowsnobounds
#didanybodyfigureoutthisstuffbeforegrantingthemalaunchpermit
#astronomy
#space
#downinfront
#privilegeknowsnobounds
#didanybodyfigureoutthisstuffbeforegrantingthemalaunchpermit
Here’s how a satellite ended up as a ghostly apparition on Google Earth
Zoom in over rural North Texas for a spacey surprise.
arstechnica.com
April 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Starlink and other megaconstellations are photobombing ground-based telescopes. And they are photobombing remote-sensing Earth-imaging satellites in higher orbits.
#astronomy
#space
#downinfront
#privilegeknowsnobounds
#didanybodyfigureoutthisstuffbeforegrantingthemalaunchpermit
#astronomy
#space
#downinfront
#privilegeknowsnobounds
#didanybodyfigureoutthisstuffbeforegrantingthemalaunchpermit
Cautiously optimistic. Cast looks great. Hoping it's not a sitcom. No sign on IMDB that we meet ART in the first season. I think I see how they plan to minimize the first-person narrator. I don't think it can work if they create entirely new narratives.
#Pleasedonotmurdermurderbot #SanctuaryMoon
#Pleasedonotmurdermurderbot #SanctuaryMoon
April 10, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Cautiously optimistic. Cast looks great. Hoping it's not a sitcom. No sign on IMDB that we meet ART in the first season. I think I see how they plan to minimize the first-person narrator. I don't think it can work if they create entirely new narratives.
#Pleasedonotmurdermurderbot #SanctuaryMoon
#Pleasedonotmurdermurderbot #SanctuaryMoon
Observations from JWST and Cerro Paranal have narrowed the uncertainties for that pesky asteroid 2024 YR4 to hit the Moon on December 22, 2032. The estimated impact probability is now 3.8%. The risk for the Earth on the same date is now too low to report. Near Earth = Near Moon.
#PlanetSci #MoonSci
#PlanetSci #MoonSci
NASA Update on the Size Estimate and Lunar Impact Probability of Asteroid 2024 YR4 - NASA Science
Since near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 was first discovered in December 2024, NASA and the worldwide planetary defense community have continued to observe the asteroid, which was ruled out as a significan...
science.nasa.gov
April 3, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Observations from JWST and Cerro Paranal have narrowed the uncertainties for that pesky asteroid 2024 YR4 to hit the Moon on December 22, 2032. The estimated impact probability is now 3.8%. The risk for the Earth on the same date is now too low to report. Near Earth = Near Moon.
#PlanetSci #MoonSci
#PlanetSci #MoonSci
The Franklin Mint sold America in Space mini-coins in the 1970s. At the time, my father, Lew Seaman, was the Nimbus & Landsat Program Manager at the GE Space Technology Center. Dad managed four out of the 18 robotic missions in Series 2 & 3. All these spacecraft remain in orbit.
#Space #Satellites
#Space #Satellites
March 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
The Franklin Mint sold America in Space mini-coins in the 1970s. At the time, my father, Lew Seaman, was the Nimbus & Landsat Program Manager at the GE Space Technology Center. Dad managed four out of the 18 robotic missions in Series 2 & 3. All these spacecraft remain in orbit.
#Space #Satellites
#Space #Satellites
ESA's NEO Coordination Centre (NEOCC) computes impact probabilities (tmp link: neo.ssa.esa.int/-/latest-news) including animations of the uncertainty shrinking as more observations of 2024 YR4 were reported. Note the difference between missing along-track (Earth) and cross-track (Moon).
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
March 28, 2025 at 12:47 PM
ESA's NEO Coordination Centre (NEOCC) computes impact probabilities (tmp link: neo.ssa.esa.int/-/latest-news) including animations of the uncertainty shrinking as more observations of 2024 YR4 were reported. Note the difference between missing along-track (Earth) and cross-track (Moon).
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
"We now have the first outlines of a geologic map of the asteroid belt." – Peter Jenniskens
#PlanetSci #Asteroids #Meteorites
#PlanetSci #Asteroids #Meteorites
Meteorites and asteroids tracked back to their place of origin in the solar system
"This has been a decade-long detective story, with each recorded meteorite fall providing a new clue."
www.space.com
March 25, 2025 at 2:44 PM
"We now have the first outlines of a geologic map of the asteroid belt." – Peter Jenniskens
#PlanetSci #Asteroids #Meteorites
#PlanetSci #Asteroids #Meteorites
Earth's rotation is being slowed by the tides. Length of the day increases about one second every 50,000 years while the Moon recedes about a mile to carry off its angular momentum. Over human timescales, the Earth's rotation follows a random walk and sometimes speeds up.
#Astronomy #Science #Time
#Astronomy #Science #Time
March 23, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Earth's rotation is being slowed by the tides. Length of the day increases about one second every 50,000 years while the Moon recedes about a mile to carry off its angular momentum. Over human timescales, the Earth's rotation follows a random walk and sometimes speeds up.
#Astronomy #Science #Time
#Astronomy #Science #Time
The continuing saga of human (left) against robot (right). It is the robot who claimed I was lucky.
#DangerWillRobinson
#DangerWillRobinson
March 20, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The continuing saga of human (left) against robot (right). It is the robot who claimed I was lucky.
#DangerWillRobinson
#DangerWillRobinson
“Vast gravitational forces have rotated the planet Earth on an axis drawn through its north and south poles,” said Dr. Elena Bilkins of the National Weather Service. “The Earth is in actuality spinning uncontrollably through space.”
#YoureOnEarthTheresNoCureForThat #SamuelBeckett
#YoureOnEarthTheresNoCureForThat #SamuelBeckett
Rotation Of Earth Plunges Entire North American Continent Into Darkness
NEW YORK—Millions of eyewitnesses watched in stunned horror Tuesday as light emptied from the sky, plunging the U.S. and neighboring countries into darkness. As the hours progressed, conditions only w...
theonion.com
March 19, 2025 at 5:30 AM
“Vast gravitational forces have rotated the planet Earth on an axis drawn through its north and south poles,” said Dr. Elena Bilkins of the National Weather Service. “The Earth is in actuality spinning uncontrollably through space.”
#YoureOnEarthTheresNoCureForThat #SamuelBeckett
#YoureOnEarthTheresNoCureForThat #SamuelBeckett
Overview of the workflow of discovering NEOs from Mount Lemmon by my colleague David Rankin. The coordination among multiple teams funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is absolutely critical to the process. Discovery is also needed for science & future mining.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
Asteroid Hunters - The American Scholar
The scientists and engineers who defend our planet day and night from potentially hazardous space rocks
theamericanscholar.org
March 15, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Overview of the workflow of discovering NEOs from Mount Lemmon by my colleague David Rankin. The coordination among multiple teams funded by NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) is absolutely critical to the process. Discovery is also needed for science & future mining.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
Assuming we get past January 20, 2028, what happens on January 19, 2038?
Unix Time Stamp - Epoch Converter
Epoch and unix timestamp converter for developers. Date and time function syntax reference for various programming languages.
www.unixtimestamp.com
March 15, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Assuming we get past January 20, 2028, what happens on January 19, 2038?
On-sky plot (left) of NEOs discovered over 3 days in Oct 2022.
Table (right) of their various sizes and other properties.
A typical batch of discoveries. One PHA.
Big dots are discovery observations. NEOs move in all directions and rates, as shown, typically fading.
Comments for more.
#PlanetSci
Table (right) of their various sizes and other properties.
A typical batch of discoveries. One PHA.
Big dots are discovery observations. NEOs move in all directions and rates, as shown, typically fading.
Comments for more.
#PlanetSci
March 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
On-sky plot (left) of NEOs discovered over 3 days in Oct 2022.
Table (right) of their various sizes and other properties.
A typical batch of discoveries. One PHA.
Big dots are discovery observations. NEOs move in all directions and rates, as shown, typically fading.
Comments for more.
#PlanetSci
Table (right) of their various sizes and other properties.
A typical batch of discoveries. One PHA.
Big dots are discovery observations. NEOs move in all directions and rates, as shown, typically fading.
Comments for more.
#PlanetSci