Dr. Jillian Scudder
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jillianscudder.com
Dr. Jillian Scudder
@jillianscudder.com
5.8K followers 720 following 550 posts
Astrophysicist, author (40 Ways to Know A Star, Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries), artist, sewist, science communicator. English/Français/子供の日本語。Associate Professor. hEDS ♿️. She/her. 🏳️‍🌈. Opinions all mine.

https://www.jillianscudder.com/books
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Went outside in a severe cold weather advisory to check for the aurora and did not see the aurora but did see Orion looking stunning to the south 📷: iPhone w/quick edits for contrast. 🔭
An iPhone shot of Orion. The image has been roughly edited to get the sky to look blue black instead of gray. The constellation of Orion sits upright in the center of the frame.
January 20, 2026 at 4:26 AM
jillianscudder.com
Squinting at cleardarksky for the cloud cover forecast says mayyyyyybe around midnight we’ll have clear skies here to check for aurora.

However there is also this situation. (Celsius). If I turn off all my lights can I watch from inside?
Apple weather screenshot reading the current temperature as -13C. Feels like: -23C. Severe weather advisory (which is the cold causing a frostbite hazard).
January 19, 2026 at 11:21 PM
jillianscudder.com
Six skeins complete. 55in. 🧶
An intricately cabled project in gray wool next to an extensible tape measure. The working end reads 55in (4 ft 7 in).
January 14, 2026 at 12:54 AM
jillianscudder.com
My poor Teacup cat is now at rest. In the end, it seemed she had some kind of cancer, and she was in pain. I am devastated, but it was the only path that remained.

Since I adopted her, she went from scared of *everything* to sleeping deeply on my lap. What an honor to have the tiny cat trust.
A gray cat lays fully relaxed on a blue blanket, with hind legs stretched out into the air, and front paws loosely curled in the air. She has mashed one ear into the blanket.
January 7, 2026 at 2:53 PM
jillianscudder.com
The good news today is that The Belly made a reappearance.
A mostly gray cat looking exceptionally relaxed with both back legs stretched out, front paws relaxed, and fluffy belly on display. She’s on a blue down blanket, and a couple shaved patches (forelimb, back leg) are visible.
January 4, 2026 at 12:04 AM
jillianscudder.com
I choose to believe that I am the source of the peril and not the subject.
Screen grab of the Miriam Webster word gif, which reads “your 2026 word:” “perilous”
January 1, 2026 at 10:53 PM
jillianscudder.com
My tiny Teacup cat has been in cat ICU for two days, after abruptly becoming critically ill. She started to eat again this morning, finally. Her kidneys and pancreas were shutting down, for no obvious reason. She’s not out of the woods yet, but Death will have to fight me (& vets & science) for her.
A mostly gray cat with white toe tips and an orange stripe on her nose sleeps on her side, on my lap with her front paws pulled up close to her chin.
December 29, 2025 at 6:48 PM
jillianscudder.com
You can get my books for the space themed folks (deeply affectionate) in your life! Or maybe you are the space themed folk, in which case you can get them for yourself.

Milky Way: footnote jokes, 45 pgs of citations & silly line drawings.

40 Ways: beautiful diagrams on every page. 🧪🔭📚
A hardback copy of The Milky Way Smells of Rum and Raspberries, by Dr Jillian Scudder. The cover is a deep blue, and has a raspberry galaxy swirled into a martini glass. A hardback copy of 40 Ways to Know A Star, in tan with gold foil on the title. The cover art is an irregular galaxy overlaid with a spherical grid.
December 9, 2025 at 12:44 AM
jillianscudder.com
#ArtAdventCalendar, from 2022. This one took a while to render and I’m still proud of it. 🐡
A deeply rendered iris in shades of black, teal, and purple. In the black spaces, pinpricks of stars have been dotted in.
December 6, 2025 at 2:02 PM
jillianscudder.com
In honor of #ArtAdventCalendar, some old (2020) art I still enjoy. 🐡
An illustration of a comet over Stonehenge in flat colors against a gradient sky. The comet has a bright nucleus and the tail is stylized as a set of golden straight lines.
December 6, 2025 at 1:10 AM
jillianscudder.com
Also seen at OSU: a remarkably comprehensive aversion to the letter M.
A brick building with a fancy relief plaque reading “McPherson Chemical Laboratory”. Both of the letter M are crossed out with red tape.
December 5, 2025 at 1:54 AM
jillianscudder.com
Today I am at OSU’s Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics
giving a free public lecture tonight, and tomorrow a quick science chat plus a scicomm lecture tomorrow.

I have brought books to sell, and am excited to get to tell people silly space stories. 🔭📚
Poster for my public talk. It has a large picture of myself teaching, under the heading “CCAPP SPECIAL PUBLIC LECTURE”. 6-8:30 pm, with rsvp QR code. Three Sloan plug plates suspended in the air. A large window some distance behind them backlights the fiber optic cable holes.
December 3, 2025 at 8:38 PM
jillianscudder.com
I’m four feet and five skeins deep into this absurdly cabled project and officially halfway. 🧶
An oblique look at a gray scarf with four different cable patterns in it. A tape measure next to the body of the scarf reads 48 in (4ft) at the working edge.
December 3, 2025 at 3:46 AM
jillianscudder.com
I need you all to know about the long eared owl, which I learned about last night, and brings the biggest "cat with its ears back" energy to owlhood I've encountered to date 🦉

📷: Diego Delso, (delso.photo) CC BY-SA

Source: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B%...
a brown mottled owl with the biggest floof ears yet and wide open golden eyes, looking for all the world like a cat that's spotted something it philosophically disagrees with
November 26, 2025 at 5:24 PM
jillianscudder.com
This weekend also marks my transition into being able to (tax law compliantly) sell copies of my books directly, at in person events!

My desire to head to sci-fi/fantasy cons with a giant sign reading “GET YOUR SPACE FACTS HERE” is increasing.
A big box filled with paperback copies of The Milky Way Smells of Rum And Raspberries
November 18, 2025 at 11:29 PM
jillianscudder.com
Off we go! Time to sell books ✨📚🔭👍
A table covered in books - Astroquizzical The Illustrated Edition, 40 Ways to Know a Star, and The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries. Copies of Astroquizzical and 40 Ways are open to show full color illustrations and diagrams.
November 15, 2025 at 3:24 PM
jillianscudder.com
I’ve got weekend plans and books to sell ✨📚

And if you can’t make it, I’ve got links on where to find any of my books here: www.jillianscudder.com/books
Poster for Books By The Banks, the Cincinnati Regional Book Festival. Saturday, November 15, 10 am - 4 pm, at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library. Free to attend. “120+ authors, kids corner, author panels”. Promo photo of the book “40 ways to know a star”, written by the poster, against a star field background
November 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
jillianscudder.com
From spaceweather.com:

From me: booooooooooooo
🔭
Screen grab reading: “THE THIRD CME HAS ARRIVED (UPDATED): The highly-anticipated 3rd CME has arrived. It struck Earth's magnetic field at approximately 1917 UTC on Nov. 12th. Our first impression of the impact: It was not strong enough to cause a repeat of last night's extreme aurora display. We are downgrading our storm forecast from category G4 (severe) to G2/G3 (moderate/strong). Aurora alerts: SMS Text.”
November 12, 2025 at 11:17 PM
jillianscudder.com
Quick reminder, especially to men:

don’t do this!
Snippet of an email which reads, “Your quick wit and retorts to [redacted name]’s odd questions and your "alluring" voice were not what one expects from an astrophysicist. Very impressive! As a retired environmental scientist I…”
November 7, 2025 at 11:59 PM
jillianscudder.com
It’s book fair time! Looking forward to chatting about my books with folks here!

#BuckeyeBookFair 📚🔭
A book fair setup before the start of the day, with sparkly deep blue cloth, LED string lights, two copies of The Milky Way Smells of Rum & Raspberries, a small pile of Astroquizzical: The Illustrated edition on the left, and another pile of 40 Ways To Know A Star on the right. There is an open copy of both Astroquizzical and 40 Ways in the center, showing their illustrations and photos.
November 1, 2025 at 12:50 PM
jillianscudder.com
We’ve reached the 3ft mark of my overly complicated cabling project 🧶
Heavily cabled scarf in progress in gray wool. A tape measure is next to the top edge; the work is about 37 inches long.
October 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM
jillianscudder.com
250 rows of cabling. 🧶
A heavily cabled gray scarf in progress with loose ends in four places. It is about three feet long.
September 24, 2025 at 11:51 PM
jillianscudder.com
That moment when you find ✨Aesthetic✨™️ art at an art festival and the only question is which wall is it going on. 🐈‍⬛

Artist: borksbotanicalcreations.com
A block print in black ink on eggshell paper of a blob shaped cat about to knock over a vase with roses, sitting on a pile of books, with potions on either side and a mug of tea. One of the books reads “book of meowgic”. It is signed and marked 40/250.
September 17, 2025 at 12:14 AM
jillianscudder.com
Teacup the cat has not minded the extra company.
A mostly gray dilute calico sleeps contorted cat style with a hind leg under her head, which is rotated so her chin is in the air. Magnificent toe beans outstretched towards the camera
August 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
jillianscudder.com
I am in week 2 of recovery from a long awaited surgery (I am healing well) (it will be at least a month more before I’m fully recovered) (I am on medical leave, my email is being ignored).

Please appreciate my hard working cat as a timeline pause.
A mostly gray cat with white paw tips and back leg stretched out along the bottom of the image is extremely lazily partially curled on her side. Her belly is visible and she looks very relaxed on a pale blue blanket.
June 12, 2025 at 8:26 PM