Michael Busch
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michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Michael Busch
@michael-w-busch.bsky.social
2.8K followers 150 following 7.6K posts
Planetary astronomer, studying piles of rock in space. Reader of books. Drinker of tea. He/him. This is a personal account. To bigotry no sanction.
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michael-w-busch.bsky.social
I was reminded today of the logo for ESA's Planetary Defence Office.

I think it wins over the NASA Planetary Defense Coordination Office and JAXA Planetary Defense logos.
The logo of the European Space Agency's Planetary Defence office is a cartoon T-Rex distressed by the appearance of an impacting asteroid in a starry sky. Under the logo is written "Dinosaurs didn't have a space agency".
September 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
I have been once again asked to draw a planet that does not exist.

How is this planet different from Earth?

#FakePlanets
Sketch of a fictional planet. A dayside crescent is covered with land and water, with clear air at the sub-stellar point and extensive clouds away from it. An arc of the nightside is faintly illuminated, while numerous volcanoes are visible on the nightisde, concentrated in a longitude band running from near one pole to the edge of the visible disc.
July 15, 2025 at 12:22 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
I have just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's new novel "Shroud".

It is a pretty good alien world robinsonade and first contact story.

But, without spoilers, neither planetary atmospheres nor radio frequency interference work that way.
Cover of the 2025 paperback version of the novel "Shroud". The cover includes Adrian Tchaikovsky's name, a picture of a space capsule crashing into an abstracted dark landscape, and the phrase "They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back".
June 14, 2025 at 4:15 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Next on my reading list:

@moudhy.bsky.social 's "Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History", with thanks to the University of Minnesota library for getting a copy shipped over from the UK.

Public universities & public libraries are both wonderful things.
Cover of the 2025 book "Between Two Rivers" by Moudhy Al-Rashid. The cover art is rendered in gold-colored printing on blue, depicting rivers and motifs of dots and the stylized waves.
June 5, 2025 at 9:34 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Looks like they are trying to make a small cut to YORPD; but simultaneously cutting all of the telescope support from other programs.

This is a mess.
Planetary Defense budget request for NASA by the Trump administration; which is trying to destroy large parts of NASA science but which is sparing the associated research & analysis program by only have a cut from $41 million in 2025 to $38 million in 2026.
May 30, 2025 at 9:18 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Next on my reading list:

"The AI Con" by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social.

With thanks to my local public library.
Cover of the 2025 book "The AI Con" by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. There is no cover art, only the subtitle "How To Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create The Future We Want".
May 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
I have just finished reading John Green's "Everything Is Tuberculosis".

Green covers a lot of important history and vital current information.

But I was surprised he did not discuss COVID more; since COVID and TB are risk factors for one another - and both subject to social determinants of health.
Cover of the 2025 book "Everything is Tuberculosis" by John Green. The cover art is an artistic depiction of a microscope image of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, over written by the subtitle "The History And Persistence Of Our Deadliest Infection".
May 21, 2025 at 4:45 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Spotted today on the anthology shelf of my local public library.

Possibly as an antidote to the arrival of summer weather?

@tessafisher.bsky.social
Cover of the anthology "Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters" edited by Sarena Ulibarri. The cover art features wind turbines and futuristic plant-inspired buildings in a snow-covered landscape, with large white clumps of falling snow.
May 4, 2025 at 8:33 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Documentation of my representing the @setiinstitute.bsky.social at the @minicon-mnstf.bsky.social science fiction convention.
Image of a table with a black tablecloth with the SETI Institute logo and assorted science outreach supplies.
April 18, 2025 at 10:54 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
My reading for tonight:

Omar El Akkad's "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" - www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777485...

It is not an easy read, nor should it be. It is an important one.
Cover of the 2025 book "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This" by Omar El Akkad. The cover is red, with artwork of a young child holding flowers in one hand and raising the other as a missile falls.
March 30, 2025 at 4:45 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Today on the #arXiv:

I would like to know why the arXiv management decided to take money from the company "Hugging Face", producers of an automated plagiarism text generator.
Screenshot of an ad for part of the 2025 Giving Day fundraiser organized by Cornell University; labeled "Hugging Face: Making your gift to arXiv go above and beyond!" and describing matching donations by the software company Hugging Face in reaction to donations by others.
March 13, 2025 at 5:13 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
My daughter asked to me draw the Earth for comparison to #FakePlanets . So I drew the Earth.
Collage of the four fake planets featured earlier in this thread, one in each corner, with a sketch of the Earth during northern hemisphere winter and viewed from over the northern Pacific ocean in the middle for comparison.
December 12, 2024 at 2:01 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Seen today at my local public library:

@chrislintott.bsky.social 's "Accidental Astronomy".
Right after Nathalie Cabrol & @emsque.bsky.social.
Right before @astrokatie.com, @goastromo.bsky.social, @philplait.bsky.social, and @chanda.bsky.social.

I know a lot of people who have written books.
Cover of the 2024 book "Accidental Astronomy: How Random Discoveries Shape The Science of Space" by Chris Lintott. The cover art features abstract representations of comets and a protoplanetary disc in front of a star chart.
November 16, 2024 at 9:02 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
Next on my reading list, via my local public library:

"Wild Faith" by Talia Lavin ( @swordsjew.bsky.social ).

It remains far too relevant.

What are you all reading?
Cover of the 2024 book "Wild Faith: How The Christian Right Is Taking Over America" by the author Talia Lavin. The cover art features a serpent and a cross.
November 12, 2024 at 8:19 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
How is this planet different from Earth?

#FakePlanets
Sketch of a planet that does not exist. It has a small polar ice cap, a smaller portion of its visible surface is ocean than is the case on Earth, and morning and evening twilight are different colors.
November 11, 2024 at 3:12 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
How is this planet different from Earth?

#FakePlanets
Sketch of a fake planet with a large region of ice surrounding a section of ocean and land in the center of the day side.
November 10, 2024 at 6:20 PM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
How is this planet different from Earth?

The two moons are not the answer. That is just a different outcome of a collision like the Moon-forming impact* .
#FakePlanets

* For the non-planetary-scientists, refer to Erik Asphaug's "When the Earth Had Two Moons" www.harperacademic.com/book/9780062...
Sketch of a fictional planet with the equator entirely covered by clouds and clearer skies near the poles; where some land is visible in an ocean.
November 10, 2024 at 12:46 AM
michael-w-busch.bsky.social
How is this planet different from Earth?

#FakePlanets
Sketch of a fake planet showing two large landmasses with green areas; a blue ocean; a large ice cap; and white clouds.
November 9, 2024 at 10:17 PM