Thomas Connor
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thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Thomas Connor
@thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
17 followers 6 following 120 posts
Astrophysicist at Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics --- Runner --- Failed hipster --- Bad at Jokes

Personal Account. Alts:
ThomasConnor@astrodon […]

[bridged from https://mstdn.social/@thomasconnor on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
View from a residential street, under streetlights; short cell phone exposure, with common star field for reference.

It was a good one, #boston.

#northernlights #skygazing
A bold whisp of red dominating a light polluted night sky.
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 AM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
The fare gates have arrived at South Station (they just aren't activated yet).

@universalhub
#boston #mbta #publictransit #SouthStation
A row of slender dividers in the middle of a large, open concourse, each a few feet high. Retractable gates are visible, but all are locked in the open position, enabling unimpeded motion.
October 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Absolutely lovely weather on the Common today to hang out with tens of thousands of the good patriots of #boston

#nokings
A view looking over the heads of a large throng of people looking toward a stage with a jumbotron over it. Ayanna Pressley is on the screen. The surroundings of the photo are a blue sky and the early autumn colors of Boston.
October 18, 2025 at 9:48 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
#redline gives up at Harvard during Rush Hour,
Commuters find their prospects turn dour.

@universalhub
#mbta #boston #trainoutofservice
Lots of folks standing looking sad next to an out of service subway car View of a crowded subway platform seen from above.
October 9, 2025 at 9:48 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Well look at that, #cambridgema -- four cyclists, a dismounted fifth, and a sixth just behind on Garden St, but only one car. Maybe we should pull up that car lane since it isn't getting used.
A bike lane with four cyclists approaching and a fifth standing with his bike on the sidewalk. The adjacent car lane only has one car
September 4, 2025 at 1:03 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Absolute banger of a night in Boston, sitting outside watching the storm slip down to Rhode Island, lightning dancing in the distance as the heat breaks away.

#boston #bostonwx #Massachusetts #clouds
A thin vertical photo showing clouds; at the top, puffy edges of pink and orange meet a clear blue sky. Moving downward, fluffy gray edges emerge, turning to darker sheets, smearing across each other in tendrils, as shades of orange and gray fight over the sky.
August 15, 2025 at 2:36 AM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
[Boston politics, photo of Trump]

Ole Bobby Newport's mailer has big Schrodinger's fascist energy. Words? I'm opposed to him! Just the pictures? He's with me!

#boston
A generic looking white guy looking constipated toward the camera, with a mostly sepia photo of Donald Trump looming supportively overhead. The same photo, but now with words that make it seem like the generic guy doesn't like Trump written next to the photos.
July 26, 2025 at 6:07 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Massive flooding across Cambridge, if you believe the Blue Bikes map at least...
A map of Cambridgeport, with blue bike stations marked by pins. However, almost all non-road land is colored blue, as it would be if it were water.
July 25, 2025 at 6:09 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
The heat wave sure must make Keolis afraid
As South Station departures are all delayed
Cc: @universalhub
#mbta #boston
The departures board at South Station, with most upcoming and should have departed trains listed as "delayed"
June 25, 2025 at 10:39 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Not as hot as I've ever existed in, but might take the crown limiting myself to north of the Mason-Dixon Line... #boston
Weather bug on a cell phone home screen showing a current temperature of 106 degrees.
June 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Confirmed sighting of the new #amtrak #acela trainsets in #boston. There's still plastic wrap on the seats, and the old Acela in the background is the one running service today, but by God we might have the #avelialiberty running service soon enough!
#Railfan #passengerrail #trains #Rail
The front of a high speed train, with a sleek aerodynamic nose cone leading to a long set of rail cars. It is at station, and is styled in white and dark blue with red accents. Two tracks behind it is an older looking train of a comparable but more antiquated vintage.
June 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Wikipedia, in its strict adherence to citable facts, is meticulous enough to not assume the 400 year-old Virginia Dare has since passed.
#Wikipedia
Screenshot of the title and lede for the Wikipedia page on Virginia Dare. The lede reads: "Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587; presumed dead) was the first English child born in an American English colony."
May 18, 2025 at 2:27 AM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
#biketoworkday festival this morning in #boston. Lots of folks out enjoying the nice weather and the company (even if they, like me, added a few miles to their commute by coming downtown).
Moustachioed man with a red bike helmet and sunglasses standing in front of Boston City Hall among a crowd of people and bikes.
May 16, 2025 at 3:19 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
It's a day early (Hubble's birthday is April 25, 1990), but it's still a good day to celebrate Ole Aluminumsides. This mug is already 10 years old! Hubble had three servicing missions at that age. #hubble35 #hubble25 #hubblespacetelescope #sciencemugs
Close-in photo of a white mug filled with coffee. The mug has a decal reading "Hubble 25," with an icon of the Hubble Space Telescope.
April 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
They're overlooked and could use a good cleaning / replacement to LEDs, but it's worth noting that the lights over the Red Line in South Station are #swag. #mbta #boston #publictransitappreciation
A fluorescent light panel, dropping several inches (several times about two and half centimeters) from the ceiling. The edges of the panel are curved in a convex manner. They are white, with a crisp red line running horizontally along the center.
April 2, 2025 at 1:31 AM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
How I feel browsing the internet with uBlock
#lionelhutz
A draped table at a convention, with the table cloth reading AdNaNo -- the joke being it can be read as "Ad? Na, No" -- a question followed by a dismissal. Context around the image shows the booth is actually for UV thin film deposition tools.
March 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Train travel is just so much nicer than flying. Just, gosh.

(Two strangers photoshopped out with magic eraser)
#acela #amtrak #Railtravel #morricone
Uptown Manhattan seen through the RFK bridge seen through the window of a train. The sky is blue, the water of the East River calm, and the sun is shining. Two vaguely human shapes have been blended into the background inside the train for privacy.
January 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
thomasconnor.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
Doing great, Bob!
#mbta
Google maps departure board for MBTA red line showing 32 minute delays
December 16, 2024 at 4:26 PM