Tim O'Brien
@proftimob.bsky.social
Astrophysics professor, Director Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement, exploding stars, science bluedot festival, red, two dogs rule the roost.
Very enjoyable evening last night @jodrellbank.bsky.social with @teresa-anderson.bsky.social and @hannahpeel.bsky.social discussing re-release of Hannah's Mary Casio and her new commission for BBC Radio 4 with BBC Philharmonic inspired by 80 years of Jodrell Bank.
October 31, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Very enjoyable evening last night @jodrellbank.bsky.social with @teresa-anderson.bsky.social and @hannahpeel.bsky.social discussing re-release of Hannah's Mary Casio and her new commission for BBC Radio 4 with BBC Philharmonic inspired by 80 years of Jodrell Bank.
...i am credited for supplying the pulsarenklänge 🫡
October 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
...i am credited for supplying the pulsarenklänge 🫡
Terrible events in US but this guy really needs to reconsider his approach
September 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Terrible events in US but this guy really needs to reconsider his approach
Anybody wondering about the reports that the day length has become a bit less than 24 hours could do worse than look at this figure I made last week for the Astronomy textbook I'm writing. Time is a lovely, but complicated, thing.
July 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Anybody wondering about the reports that the day length has become a bit less than 24 hours could do worse than look at this figure I made last week for the Astronomy textbook I'm writing. Time is a lovely, but complicated, thing.
Solsticial celebrations at Jodrell today! Cloudy at local noon so the meridian line not at it's best but we knew the Sun was there, behind the clouds, and we gave thanks 🌞
June 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Solsticial celebrations at Jodrell today! Cloudy at local noon so the meridian line not at it's best but we knew the Sun was there, behind the clouds, and we gave thanks 🌞
Very helpful of these satellites to mark my target galaxy with a X. Note to self, don't image at twilight. 🙄
April 29, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Very helpful of these satellites to mark my target galaxy with a X. Note to self, don't image at twilight. 🙄
Superb Lovell Lecture by Phil Diamond @jodrellbank.bsky.social this evening. Giving us the latest update on the SKA Observatory. Lovely night sky as well.
March 20, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Superb Lovell Lecture by Phil Diamond @jodrellbank.bsky.social this evening. Giving us the latest update on the SKA Observatory. Lovely night sky as well.
It's Mercury very low in the west
February 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM
It's Mercury very low in the west
In Salford 2 days running. Today bbc breakfast. More Asteroid chat. Managed to avoid explaining the Yarkovsky Effect but got mixed up on the age of the Solar System. I'm letting myself off though. Animation of changing impact uncertainty region (currently 0.2%) from blogs.esa.int/rocketscienc...
February 21, 2025 at 9:42 AM
In Salford 2 days running. Today bbc breakfast. More Asteroid chat. Managed to avoid explaining the Yarkovsky Effect but got mixed up on the age of the Solar System. I'm letting myself off though. Animation of changing impact uncertainty region (currently 0.2%) from blogs.esa.int/rocketscienc...
Just had a chat to BBC Radio Manchester about Asteroid 2024 YR4 (the one that has a 98% chance of missing the Earth on 22 Dec 2032). Image from ESA NEO orbit visualisation tool. It's just passed us and is heading off past Mars orbit. Returns in 2028, 2032 etc...
February 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Just had a chat to BBC Radio Manchester about Asteroid 2024 YR4 (the one that has a 98% chance of missing the Earth on 22 Dec 2032). Image from ESA NEO orbit visualisation tool. It's just passed us and is heading off past Mars orbit. Returns in 2028, 2032 etc...
Had Time for a coffee in @jodrellbank.bsky.social cafe whilst waiting to do a little interview about planet viewing for BBC Northwest Tonight
January 24, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Had Time for a coffee in @jodrellbank.bsky.social cafe whilst waiting to do a little interview about planet viewing for BBC Northwest Tonight
Giving a talk to a local astro soc tonight about GK Per (Nova Per 1901). Thought I'd take a quick photo of the sky where it is whilst it was clear last night. Handheld mobile phone so apologies for shakiness. I've added some labels to it to help orientation.
January 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Giving a talk to a local astro soc tonight about GK Per (Nova Per 1901). Thought I'd take a quick photo of the sky where it is whilst it was clear last night. Handheld mobile phone so apologies for shakiness. I've added some labels to it to help orientation.
Venus and Saturn looking good in southwest, Jupiter high and bright in southeast and Mars low down in east. Note ,Mars won't be through a tree for all observers.
January 15, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Venus and Saturn looking good in southwest, Jupiter high and bright in southeast and Mars low down in east. Note ,Mars won't be through a tree for all observers.
Down to -10C here in High Peak. Beautiful day, and our ASHP continues to do a sterling job of extracting heat from the 263K air and preventing us turning into icicles.
January 10, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Down to -10C here in High Peak. Beautiful day, and our ASHP continues to do a sterling job of extracting heat from the 263K air and preventing us turning into icicles.
January 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Happy Solstice everybody! #NewgrangeSolstice
December 21, 2024 at 9:12 AM
Happy Solstice everybody! #NewgrangeSolstice
Jupiter is shining brightly above Orion tonight. The other photo was my first attempt, not realising I had the phone in selfie mode because it was dark 😂
November 19, 2024 at 10:39 PM
Jupiter is shining brightly above Orion tonight. The other photo was my first attempt, not realising I had the phone in selfie mode because it was dark 😂
We have some beautiful old kit in the Physics teaching labs. Here's a resistance box by the Croydon Precision Instrument Company (Cropico). Beautiful comb joints in that wooden box! This link describes what seems like exactly these type of boxes.... www.richardsradios.co.uk/cropico1960....
November 17, 2024 at 7:40 PM
We have some beautiful old kit in the Physics teaching labs. Here's a resistance box by the Croydon Precision Instrument Company (Cropico). Beautiful comb joints in that wooden box! This link describes what seems like exactly these type of boxes.... www.richardsradios.co.uk/cropico1960....
Did a (slight) tidy of my office and found this thank you card from a primary school class I did a talk to a long time ago 😀 👽 yes that's me in the drawing
November 14, 2024 at 11:45 AM
Did a (slight) tidy of my office and found this thank you card from a primary school class I did a talk to a long time ago 😀 👽 yes that's me in the drawing
It's been a lovely day round these parts.
March 30, 2024 at 6:50 PM
It's been a lovely day round these parts.