Dr Robin George Andrews
@squigglyvolcano.bsky.social
Award-Winning Science Journalist | Volcanology PhD | Stories in
@nytimes @sciam @NatGeo etc | Author: SUPER VOLCANOES 🌋 and HOW TO KILL AN ASTEROID 🚀☄️💥☠️
@nytimes @sciam @NatGeo etc | Author: SUPER VOLCANOES 🌋 and HOW TO KILL AN ASTEROID 🚀☄️💥☠️
And then there were two! Another one caught last night as well. Two lunar impact events in a row caught by @dfuji1.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 11:17 PM
And then there were two! Another one caught last night as well. Two lunar impact events in a row caught by @dfuji1.bsky.social
Hey there astronomy community! If anyone has any information or new footage of that impact flash on the Moon, please let me know—I’d love to see it/hear about it.
📸: @dfuji1.bsky.social
📸: @dfuji1.bsky.social
November 1, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Hey there astronomy community! If anyone has any information or new footage of that impact flash on the Moon, please let me know—I’d love to see it/hear about it.
📸: @dfuji1.bsky.social
📸: @dfuji1.bsky.social
here's my contender
October 23, 2025 at 3:15 PM
here's my contender
BREAKING: ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (which is designed to look at Mars itself) turned to face interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS while it passed relatively close by, at a distance of 30m kilometres.
And it caught it! Look at that adorable little puffy coma.
More here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
And it caught it! Look at that adorable little puffy coma.
More here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
October 7, 2025 at 2:56 PM
BREAKING: ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (which is designed to look at Mars itself) turned to face interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS while it passed relatively close by, at a distance of 30m kilometres.
And it caught it! Look at that adorable little puffy coma.
More here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
And it caught it! Look at that adorable little puffy coma.
More here: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Oh and hey, my book about stopping killer asteroids was the runner-up in the NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards in the Books category! Thanks for the nod, @sciencewriters.org. :)
September 30, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Oh and hey, my book about stopping killer asteroids was the runner-up in the NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards in the Books category! Thanks for the nod, @sciencewriters.org. :)
NEW: Earlier this year, the volcanic island of Santorini was rocked by 28,000 quakes. It didn't end in an eruption—but it wasn't clear what was going on.
Now, in part thanks to AI, we know: two volcanoes were communicating using magma!
Me, for NatGeo. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Now, in part thanks to AI, we know: two volcanoes were communicating using magma!
Me, for NatGeo. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
September 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
NEW: Earlier this year, the volcanic island of Santorini was rocked by 28,000 quakes. It didn't end in an eruption—but it wasn't clear what was going on.
Now, in part thanks to AI, we know: two volcanoes were communicating using magma!
Me, for NatGeo. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Now, in part thanks to AI, we know: two volcanoes were communicating using magma!
Me, for NatGeo. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Petition for this to be the actual mission patch.
September 19, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Petition for this to be the actual mission patch.
One
Year
Ago
Today.
It was the best.
Year
Ago
Today.
It was the best.
August 1, 2025 at 11:31 PM
One
Year
Ago
Today.
It was the best.
Year
Ago
Today.
It was the best.
Very cool update on 3I/ATLAS: the Vera Rubin Observatory (which hasn’t even got its survey going yet) has found images of the interstellar object going back to June 21, clearly showing a coma (that’s also expanding over time).
There’s no doubt about it: it’s a comet. arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13409
There’s no doubt about it: it’s a comet. arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13409
July 21, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Very cool update on 3I/ATLAS: the Vera Rubin Observatory (which hasn’t even got its survey going yet) has found images of the interstellar object going back to June 21, clearly showing a coma (that’s also expanding over time).
There’s no doubt about it: it’s a comet. arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13409
There’s no doubt about it: it’s a comet. arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13409
Delighted and humbled to find out I’m a finalist in two categories for this year’s @absw.bsky.social science journalism awards! I’m in absolutely phenomenal company—best of luck to all the finalists. :)
May 19, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Delighted and humbled to find out I’m a finalist in two categories for this year’s @absw.bsky.social science journalism awards! I’m in absolutely phenomenal company—best of luck to all the finalists. :)
Really excited to see this one in @sciam.bsky.social print: a brand-new feature on spooky “dark comets”, objects in the solar system that seemingly speed up and slow down like spaceships but have no evidence of any sort of propulsion. What could they be? 👻 ☄️
April 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Really excited to see this one in @sciam.bsky.social print: a brand-new feature on spooky “dark comets”, objects in the solar system that seemingly speed up and slow down like spaceships but have no evidence of any sort of propulsion. What could they be? 👻 ☄️
April 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Remember 2024 YR4, the asteroid that used to stand a decent chance of impacting Earth? Some rather good telescopes got a good look at it, and…it looks like a hockey puck!
It also got thrown our way because Jupiter’s gravity yanked it out of the asteroid belt.
Jupiter sucks.
It also got thrown our way because Jupiter’s gravity yanked it out of the asteroid belt.
Jupiter sucks.
April 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Remember 2024 YR4, the asteroid that used to stand a decent chance of impacting Earth? Some rather good telescopes got a good look at it, and…it looks like a hockey puck!
It also got thrown our way because Jupiter’s gravity yanked it out of the asteroid belt.
Jupiter sucks.
It also got thrown our way because Jupiter’s gravity yanked it out of the asteroid belt.
Jupiter sucks.
🚨BREAKING SPACE NEWS🚀
Hera, ESA's planetary defense spacecraft heading to the asteroid Dimorphos (the one DART smashed into), flew by Mars yesterday for a gravity assist and to test its cameras.
It took images of Mars and the moon Deimos up close.
AND THEY ARE AMAZING 🤩
Hera, ESA's planetary defense spacecraft heading to the asteroid Dimorphos (the one DART smashed into), flew by Mars yesterday for a gravity assist and to test its cameras.
It took images of Mars and the moon Deimos up close.
AND THEY ARE AMAZING 🤩
March 13, 2025 at 11:06 AM
🚨BREAKING SPACE NEWS🚀
Hera, ESA's planetary defense spacecraft heading to the asteroid Dimorphos (the one DART smashed into), flew by Mars yesterday for a gravity assist and to test its cameras.
It took images of Mars and the moon Deimos up close.
AND THEY ARE AMAZING 🤩
Hera, ESA's planetary defense spacecraft heading to the asteroid Dimorphos (the one DART smashed into), flew by Mars yesterday for a gravity assist and to test its cameras.
It took images of Mars and the moon Deimos up close.
AND THEY ARE AMAZING 🤩
BREAKING PLANET NEWS 🪐
Rather hilariously, Saturn just got up to 128 new moons (thanks to some careful telescopic observations), bringing its total to…274? That’s just an absurd number of moons.
(Not the MPC bulletin I was expecting today…!)
Rather hilariously, Saturn just got up to 128 new moons (thanks to some careful telescopic observations), bringing its total to…274? That’s just an absurd number of moons.
(Not the MPC bulletin I was expecting today…!)
March 11, 2025 at 5:42 PM
BREAKING PLANET NEWS 🪐
Rather hilariously, Saturn just got up to 128 new moons (thanks to some careful telescopic observations), bringing its total to…274? That’s just an absurd number of moons.
(Not the MPC bulletin I was expecting today…!)
Rather hilariously, Saturn just got up to 128 new moons (thanks to some careful telescopic observations), bringing its total to…274? That’s just an absurd number of moons.
(Not the MPC bulletin I was expecting today…!)
I don’t have any cellular service where I am right now, but via WiFi: asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 3.1% chance of striking Earth in 2032.
That’s a new record for a dangerously sized asteroid! I prepped a story for this moment that should pop up soon.
That’s a new record for a dangerously sized asteroid! I prepped a story for this moment that should pop up soon.
February 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I don’t have any cellular service where I am right now, but via WiFi: asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 3.1% chance of striking Earth in 2032.
That’s a new record for a dangerously sized asteroid! I prepped a story for this moment that should pop up soon.
That’s a new record for a dangerously sized asteroid! I prepped a story for this moment that should pop up soon.
hey everyone, quick, let’s introduce a bill to rename a random place in America as “fart mountain”, quick!!
February 11, 2025 at 6:36 PM
hey everyone, quick, let’s introduce a bill to rename a random place in America as “fart mountain”, quick!!
It may be smaller, or larger. If it's too big, we may not be able to deflect it with one spacecraft. We'd need several to hit it perfectly, all without catastrophically breaking it.
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
It may be smaller, or larger. If it's too big, we may not be able to deflect it with one spacecraft. We'd need several to hit it perfectly, all without catastrophically breaking it.
Yes, it's smaller than Dimorphos (YR4 is 40-90m), meaning it would need less of a deflection than a larger asteroid. But we aren't going to see it again until another Earth flyby in 2028. So much could go wrong if we try and hit it with something like DART.
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Yes, it's smaller than Dimorphos (YR4 is 40-90m), meaning it would need less of a deflection than a larger asteroid. But we aren't going to see it again until another Earth flyby in 2028. So much could go wrong if we try and hit it with something like DART.
This is chaotic, potentially very destructive—and if DART hit Dimorphos a little harder, it would have broken that asteroid too. You have to be very sure that when you hit an Earthbound asteroid, you are deflecting it, not fragmenting it.
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
This is chaotic, potentially very destructive—and if DART hit Dimorphos a little harder, it would have broken that asteroid too. You have to be very sure that when you hit an Earthbound asteroid, you are deflecting it, not fragmenting it.
One of my favourite parts of the DART mission is that it knocked off so much debris from this asteroid that it created a 30,000km-long comet-like tail that persisted for many months after impact day.
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
One of my favourite parts of the DART mission is that it knocked off so much debris from this asteroid that it created a 30,000km-long comet-like tail that persisted for many months after impact day.
It's aim was to crash a van-size largely autonomous spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbited a larger asteroid named Didymos. Their aim was to "deflect" Dimorphos—in this case, by shrinking its roughly 12-hour-long orbit around Didymos by 73 seconds.
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
It's aim was to crash a van-size largely autonomous spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbited a larger asteroid named Didymos. Their aim was to "deflect" Dimorphos—in this case, by shrinking its roughly 12-hour-long orbit around Didymos by 73 seconds.
Hey asteroid 2024 YR4 watchers! I'm seeing a lot of people claim that, if it is going to impact Earth in 2032, we can use a DART-like spacecraft to ram it out of the way.
Well, not necessarily. The DART mission was fab, but might not be able to stop 2024 YR4.
Let me explain 👇
Well, not necessarily. The DART mission was fab, but might not be able to stop 2024 YR4.
Let me explain 👇
February 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Hey asteroid 2024 YR4 watchers! I'm seeing a lot of people claim that, if it is going to impact Earth in 2032, we can use a DART-like spacecraft to ram it out of the way.
Well, not necessarily. The DART mission was fab, but might not be able to stop 2024 YR4.
Let me explain 👇
Well, not necessarily. The DART mission was fab, but might not be able to stop 2024 YR4.
Let me explain 👇
One more thing to note:
2024 YR4 will very likely miss Earth. But you know how many asteroids of a similar size (~50m) exist and are on near-Earth orbits?
230,000.
And how many have been found?
7%.
We are going to see plenty more cases like 2024 YR4 in the coming years!
Back soon.
2024 YR4 will very likely miss Earth. But you know how many asteroids of a similar size (~50m) exist and are on near-Earth orbits?
230,000.
And how many have been found?
7%.
We are going to see plenty more cases like 2024 YR4 in the coming years!
Back soon.
February 9, 2025 at 1:40 AM
One more thing to note:
2024 YR4 will very likely miss Earth. But you know how many asteroids of a similar size (~50m) exist and are on near-Earth orbits?
230,000.
And how many have been found?
7%.
We are going to see plenty more cases like 2024 YR4 in the coming years!
Back soon.
2024 YR4 will very likely miss Earth. But you know how many asteroids of a similar size (~50m) exist and are on near-Earth orbits?
230,000.
And how many have been found?
7%.
We are going to see plenty more cases like 2024 YR4 in the coming years!
Back soon.