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
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
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
Revised a bit for clarity.
March 23, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Revised a bit for clarity.
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
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
Data fusion comparing the period histogram of known NEOs brighter than H=22 (larger than ~140-m) versus the population model from NEO Surveyor, as well as NEOMOD3. This is only possible with contributions from multiple NASA-funded projects. (See alt text) Data from > a century's effort.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
March 9, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Data fusion comparing the period histogram of known NEOs brighter than H=22 (larger than ~140-m) versus the population model from NEO Surveyor, as well as NEOMOD3. This is only possible with contributions from multiple NASA-funded projects. (See alt text) Data from > a century's effort.
#PlanetSci
#PlanetSci
...and after the familiar Covid gap, 2024's Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 7 was the first hotwired meeting outside the U.S., hosted by the University of Toronto with its own revised robot poster.
www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/hotwired7/
www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/hotwired7/
March 7, 2025 at 2:34 PM
...and after the familiar Covid gap, 2024's Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 7 was the first hotwired meeting outside the U.S., hosted by the University of Toronto with its own revised robot poster.
www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/hotwired7/
www.dunlap.utoronto.ca/hotwired7/
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 5 was the final one in the original poster series. I had left NOAO by the time of the meeting in 2016, and NOAO was soon descoped & reorganized. The 5th workshop was the first organized by a university department, a model that continues.
(see comments)
#PlanetSci
(see comments)
#PlanetSci
March 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 5 was the final one in the original poster series. I had left NOAO by the time of the meeting in 2016, and NOAO was soon descoped & reorganized. The 5th workshop was the first organized by a university department, a model that continues.
(see comments)
#PlanetSci
(see comments)
#PlanetSci
Continuing with posters for the Hot-wiring the Transient Universe series, the 4th workshop was hosted by the Las Cumbres Observatory global network of telescopes. Discussions at these meetings have resulted in tools & infrastructure widely used by the community (lco.global/aeon/).
#astromethods
#astromethods
March 4, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Continuing with posters for the Hot-wiring the Transient Universe series, the 4th workshop was hosted by the Las Cumbres Observatory global network of telescopes. Discussions at these meetings have resulted in tools & infrastructure widely used by the community (lco.global/aeon/).
#astromethods
#astromethods
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 3 was hosted by Los Alamos. National Labs provide many services to the scientific community and the nation, far beyond their central remit. Workshops are one way academia and public institutions collaborate to magnify impact on science & engineering.
#astromethods
#astromethods
March 2, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 3 was hosted by Los Alamos. National Labs provide many services to the scientific community and the nation, far beyond their central remit. Workshops are one way academia and public institutions collaborate to magnify impact on science & engineering.
#astromethods
#astromethods
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 2 was in Santa Cruz in 2009. These meetings became a key forum for discussing software & hardware engineering & robotic operations needed to capture observations of rapid transient celestial events. The science of things that go boom in the night.
#astromethods
#astromethods
March 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Hot-wiring the Transient Universe 2 was in Santa Cruz in 2009. These meetings became a key forum for discussing software & hardware engineering & robotic operations needed to capture observations of rapid transient celestial events. The science of things that go boom in the night.
#astromethods
#astromethods
The first Hot-wiring the Transient Universe workshop was held at the University of Arizona in June 2007. This was a joint workshop of the VOEvent working group of the Virtual Observatory & the Heterogeneous Telescope Networks Consortium. Motivated attendees made the meeting a success.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 28, 2025 at 11:41 PM
The first Hot-wiring the Transient Universe workshop was held at the University of Arizona in June 2007. This was a joint workshop of the VOEvent working group of the Virtual Observatory & the Heterogeneous Telescope Networks Consortium. Motivated attendees made the meeting a success.
#astromethods
#astromethods
Where's 2024 YR4 now? Why, there it is! Over by Mars. Zoom & rotate & change time itself!
#PlanetSci
Scroll NEOfixer & open Orbit View tab:
neofixer.arizona.edu/site/500/K24...
Or enter any objects you want in Catalina Sky Survey's full orbit viewer app:
catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/css-orbit-view?
#PlanetSci
Scroll NEOfixer & open Orbit View tab:
neofixer.arizona.edu/site/500/K24...
Or enter any objects you want in Catalina Sky Survey's full orbit viewer app:
catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/css-orbit-view?
February 26, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Where's 2024 YR4 now? Why, there it is! Over by Mars. Zoom & rotate & change time itself!
#PlanetSci
Scroll NEOfixer & open Orbit View tab:
neofixer.arizona.edu/site/500/K24...
Or enter any objects you want in Catalina Sky Survey's full orbit viewer app:
catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/css-orbit-view?
#PlanetSci
Scroll NEOfixer & open Orbit View tab:
neofixer.arizona.edu/site/500/K24...
Or enter any objects you want in Catalina Sky Survey's full orbit viewer app:
catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/css-orbit-view?
Instant Bluesky experiment! Please "like" if you see this post.
I want to see if a Bluesky post gets more impressions than the same post on FB (with similar numbers of friends/followers).
Me sitting on a SnoCat headed to the Wyoming IR Observatory c. 1986.
#Tucker #WIRO #SaladDays
I want to see if a Bluesky post gets more impressions than the same post on FB (with similar numbers of friends/followers).
Me sitting on a SnoCat headed to the Wyoming IR Observatory c. 1986.
#Tucker #WIRO #SaladDays
February 24, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Instant Bluesky experiment! Please "like" if you see this post.
I want to see if a Bluesky post gets more impressions than the same post on FB (with similar numbers of friends/followers).
Me sitting on a SnoCat headed to the Wyoming IR Observatory c. 1986.
#Tucker #WIRO #SaladDays
I want to see if a Bluesky post gets more impressions than the same post on FB (with similar numbers of friends/followers).
Me sitting on a SnoCat headed to the Wyoming IR Observatory c. 1986.
#Tucker #WIRO #SaladDays
Jumping back in time, here is a pair of model robotic telescopes at the AAS in Jan 2008. I spent five days presenting my "rapid transient response with VOEvent and robotic telescopes" spiel. Extra credit if you recognize the notable I'm talking to.
#astromethods
p24 of noirlab.edu/public/media...
#astromethods
p24 of noirlab.edu/public/media...
February 22, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Jumping back in time, here is a pair of model robotic telescopes at the AAS in Jan 2008. I spent five days presenting my "rapid transient response with VOEvent and robotic telescopes" spiel. Extra credit if you recognize the notable I'm talking to.
#astromethods
p24 of noirlab.edu/public/media...
#astromethods
p24 of noirlab.edu/public/media...
Zooming in, the poster for IAU Symposium 285, New Horizons in Time Domain Astronomy, held later the same year (2011). On top, a model robotic telescope was a prop to discuss autonomous observing modes. Pamphlets & stickers & inexpensive candies to spark talking and standards adoption.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Zooming in, the poster for IAU Symposium 285, New Horizons in Time Domain Astronomy, held later the same year (2011). On top, a model robotic telescope was a prop to discuss autonomous observing modes. Pamphlets & stickers & inexpensive candies to spark talking and standards adoption.
#astromethods
#astromethods
Meetings have a long life. A typical booth in the exhibit hall at an astronomy conference. (VAO was an AURA center continuing the US National Virtual Observatory.) Demos and discussions occur, stickers are handed out, even books. New projects conceived. Communications continue after.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 21, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Meetings have a long life. A typical booth in the exhibit hall at an astronomy conference. (VAO was an AURA center continuing the US National Virtual Observatory.) Demos and discussions occur, stickers are handed out, even books. New projects conceived. Communications continue after.
#astromethods
#astromethods
How does a computer tell another an eclipse will occur or that a supernova already has? How do two telescopes talk? Academic meetings discuss esoteric topics no one company could pursue on their own. Government funding for research builds infrastructure to allow companies to profit.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 21, 2025 at 3:17 AM
How does a computer tell another an eclipse will occur or that a supernova already has? How do two telescopes talk? Academic meetings discuss esoteric topics no one company could pursue on their own. Government funding for research builds infrastructure to allow companies to profit.
#astromethods
#astromethods
Academic meetings provide a huge service to commercial vendors in free advertising, here for Google Sky and Microsoft's World Wide Telescope, and serve the scientific community in evaluating products without heed to commercial rhetoric. Extra credit if you recognize the event shown.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 19, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Academic meetings provide a huge service to commercial vendors in free advertising, here for Google Sky and Microsoft's World Wide Telescope, and serve the scientific community in evaluating products without heed to commercial rhetoric. Extra credit if you recognize the event shown.
#astromethods
#astromethods
Academic meetings provide a huge service to commercial vendors in free advertising, here for Google Sky & Microsoft's World Wide Telescope, and a service to the scientific community in evaluating these products without heed to advertising rhetoric. Extra credit to any who recognize the event shown.
February 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Academic meetings provide a huge service to commercial vendors in free advertising, here for Google Sky & Microsoft's World Wide Telescope, and a service to the scientific community in evaluating these products without heed to advertising rhetoric. Extra credit to any who recognize the event shown.
Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems meetings have been held since 1991. Sessions cover key topics like data compression. Pete Marenfeld of NOAO created this evocative poster. Science and engineering are at the core of what makes us human across all scales of the Universe.
#astromethods
#astromethods
February 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems meetings have been held since 1991. Sessions cover key topics like data compression. Pete Marenfeld of NOAO created this evocative poster. Science and engineering are at the core of what makes us human across all scales of the Universe.
#astromethods
#astromethods
The Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems conference has been held since 1991. Sessions touch on key topics like data compression. Pete Marenfeld of NOAO created this remarkable poster. Science and engineering are at the core of what makes us human across all scales of the Universe.
#ADASS
#ADASS
February 18, 2025 at 4:55 AM
The Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems conference has been held since 1991. Sessions touch on key topics like data compression. Pete Marenfeld of NOAO created this remarkable poster. Science and engineering are at the core of what makes us human across all scales of the Universe.
#ADASS
#ADASS