Will Gater
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willgater.bsky.social
Will Gater
@willgater.bsky.social
440 followers 250 following 83 posts
Astronomer, author, astrophotographer. Former science journalist now working in the UK space sector to promote research, exploration & innovation.
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willgater.bsky.social
So long Comet Lemmon! Here’s a moonlit shot taken from Dartmoor tonight with the tail pointing straight up from the western horizon. Blustery up on the moor, so this is just a 5 second single exposure at high ISO, hence the noise.
A photograph of a comet over a rocky tor outcrop and moorland landscape lit by moonlight. The comet appears as a fuzzy spot of light two thirds of the way up the frame with a diffuse tail extending above it into a starry moonlit sky.
October 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Here’s a wider shot, taken with a 50mm lens, showing Comet Lemmon (along with numerous bright satellite trails) over Dartmoor tonight. #astrophotography
A photograph of a hillside in darkness with clouds billowing on the horizon and up to the centre of the frame. Above is a blueish twilight starry sky with a comet above centre. Numerous satellite trails appear as lines at various angles across the frame.
October 21, 2025 at 8:44 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Comet C/2025 A6 glowing through thin cloud tonight over Dartmoor National Park, Devon. Single 8s exposure at ISO2500. #CometLemmon
A photo of a comet against a starry twilight background that is speckled with innumerable stars. The comet appears as a bright swathe of light in the centre of frame and is composed of a bright turquoise green-white head and two tails - one whitish and curving slightly, the other pointing straight away from the comet’s coma. A handful of brighter stars in Bootes are visible near the comet.
October 21, 2025 at 8:39 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Lucky to get some brief glimpses of Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) from Dartmoor this evening around the end of astronomical twilight. This is a single 13s shot taken with a tracking mount at 135mm focal length.
Looked great in binoculars too with a grey-green coma and short section of the tail visible.
A long exposure photograph of a starry twilight sky with the blurred silhouettes of a treeline forming the foreground along the bottom of the frame. Above on the left hand side are the bright star Cor Caroli (shining through thin cloud giving it a misty appearance) and just above it Comet Lemmon. The comet has a bright greenish coma at its head and there is a faint, white, misty tail extending far across the frame up and to the right.
October 16, 2025 at 8:26 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Summer skies giving way to autumn as the the Great Cygnus Rift and the Milky Way dip toward the western horizon. Taken a few nights ago from Dartmoor National Park in Devon. #astrophotography
A photograph of a star filled sky over a silhouetted treeline. The trees fill the bottom third of the frame while above them the diffuse band on the Milky Way meanders through the star flecked background. A dark weaving band appears within the Milky Way - these are the dust clouds of the Great Cygnus Rift.
October 3, 2025 at 7:56 AM
willgater.bsky.social
☀️🛰️ Last week the NASA IMAP mission launched to study the heliosphere & make crucial space weather measurements.

But did you know one of the key science instruments on board was developed & built in the UK with @ukspaceagency.bsky.social funding?

Find out more at: www.gov.uk/government/n...
An artist’s impression of the IMAP mission against a stylised backdrop depicting the heliosphere as a bubble on a starry purple background with the orbits of the planets at centre. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton University/Steve Gribben. A photograph of the IMAP spacecraft and the MAG magnetometer in the clean room. The spacecraft is wrapped in various insulating/protective fabrics on the left of frame in a brightly lit, white-walled space. The MAG instrument extends from the side of the spacecraft across much of the centre and left hand side of the frame. An engineer sits working in a protective white suit at the bottom of the frame. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins/Princeton/Ed Whitman
September 29, 2025 at 4:39 PM
willgater.bsky.social
The umbral shadow slipping away as the Moon rises during tonight’s lunar eclipse. Photographed from Teignmouth, Devon. #lunareclipse
A photograph of the Moon rising over a seascape. A wave-filled horizon and a golden glitter path from the overexposed Moon fills the bottom two thirds of the frame. Above sits the Moon’s disc, itself above thin wisps of colourful clouds scattering its light. The coppery-red colour of the Earth’s umbral shadow appears on the right of the Moon’s disc while the overexposed portion of the disc on the left appears as a thick, glowing crescent.
September 7, 2025 at 8:47 PM
willgater.bsky.social
#NoctilucentClouds last night as seen from South Devon. Haytor on Dartmoor is visible silhouetted on the horizon.
A photo of noctilucent clouds over a silhouetted landscape. The background sky has a strong twilight gradient from yellow-orange near the horizon to pastel blue at the top. The noctilucent clouds stand out as bright white-blue tendrils. A photo of noctilucent clouds over a silhouetted landscape. The background sky has a strong twilight gradient from yellow-orange near the horizon to pastel blue at the top. The noctilucent clouds stand out as bright white-blue tendrils.
July 10, 2025 at 10:11 PM
willgater.bsky.social
A photo of the rear screen of a DSLR showing a noctilucent cloud display over a silhouetted countryside landscape.
July 9, 2025 at 10:29 PM
willgater.bsky.social
☄️ Analysis by UK Meteor Network experts suggests a bright fireball meteor dropped meteorites over the Scottish Highlands on Thursday night [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8ze2vnz38o.amp].

Here’s the UK Fireball Alliance guidance on what to do if you think you’ve found a meteorite:
An infographic titled ‘What to do if you think you’ve found a meteorite’. The text reads: First check to see if the object has a dark outer crust. If it does, it may be a meteorite. Please do not touch it with your bare hands as this may contaminate the sample. Do not touch the object with a magnet. Next, document the location of the object. You can use Google Maps on your phone to get your longitude & latitude. Record as many decimal places as you can. Make notes about each piece you find. Please take pictures of both the object and the area around it (ideally with a ruler in the image). Place the object into a clean, dry sandwich bag or clean aluminium foil, ideally using clean tongs. Close & seal the bag with sellotape. Then place this bag inside another sandwich bag. Keep the sample dry. Report the sample to the UK Fireball Alliance via www.ukfall.org.uk
July 5, 2025 at 1:36 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Last night we had a phenomenal display of noctilucent clouds over the UK with really striking structure & masses of embedded gravity waves. Grabbed these shots from a bedroom window with a DSLR & fast 135mm lens, which has ‘frozen’ a lot of the fine, filamentary, detail in the dynamic shapes/waves.
A photo of a noctilucent cloud display over silhouetted trees and rooftops. The NLCs appear as softly glowing blueish-white waves, filaments and bands filling the whole of the sky above the foreground. The embedded gravity waves have a delicate rippling appearance and cover much of the frame. A photo of a noctilucent cloud display over silhouetted trees and rooftops. The NLCs appear as softly glowing blueish-white waves, filaments and bands filling the whole of the sky above the foreground. The embedded gravity waves have a delicate rippling appearance and cover much of the frame. A photo of a noctilucent cloud display over silhouetted trees and rooftops. The NLCs appear as softly glowing blueish-white waves, filaments and bands filling the whole of the sky above the foreground. The embedded gravity waves have a delicate rippling appearance and cover much of the frame. A photo of a noctilucent cloud display over silhouetted trees and rooftops. The NLCs appear as softly glowing blueish-white waves, filaments and bands filling the whole of the sky above the foreground. The embedded gravity waves have a delicate rippling appearance and cover much of the frame.
June 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM
willgater.bsky.social
🪐🌍🛰️🗣️ Heads-up space communicators! The UK Space Agency External Affairs team are running another of our Space Communicators Networking Breakfasts at the UK Space Conference in Manchester.

📝 If you're interested in joining, you can sign up via the form here: forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Banner for a UK Space Agency Space Communicators Networking Breakfast and Workshop with Agency logo and astronomical image and stylised network of blue lines. Subtitle reads: UK Space Conference, 16th July 2025, Manchester Central.
June 10, 2025 at 2:57 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Great to see the new @nhm-london.bsky.social space exhibition last night. A superb exploration of the question “could life exist beyond Earth?” that takes you from our cosmic beginnings to asteroids, Mars & the icy moons via a driveway in Gloucestershire.
A photo of the Natural History Museum in London with large decorative models of planets on a stand as a crowd below watch a speech. A model of the ESA JUICE spacecraft suspended from a ceiling with blue lights illuminating the background. The spacecraft has a box like main structure with two plus-sign shaped solar panels attached either side. A communications dish and antennas/booms are visible sticking out from the main structure of the spacecraft. A photograph of a tiny black grain from the asteroid Bennu encased in a circular metal and glass case secured with numerous screws. A spherical projection of various microorganisms on a ball-shaped surface suspended above the museum exhibition space.
May 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
willgater.bsky.social
🌔 Last month, Firefly landed their Blue Ghost mission on the plains of Mare Crisium. But did you know that tech from a UK company was central to getting the lander safely to the lunar surface?

For the full story see this new @ukspaceagency.bsky.social blogpost: space.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/22/h...
A photograph taken by a lunar lander showing the lander’s own shadow on the undulating, cratered, surface of the moon. Half the frame is totally black and hanging in the sky above the horizon is the bright blue disc of the Earth. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
April 23, 2025 at 1:43 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Not sure why that GIF isn’t animating here, so here it is in video form.
April 16, 2025 at 11:39 PM
willgater.bsky.social
And here’s an animation of 13 frames from the substorm. #NorthernLights
An animation of pink, red, purple and green auroral rays dancing in a starry sky over a silhouetted hilly horizon. Clouds are drifting across the top of the frame.
April 16, 2025 at 11:28 PM
willgater.bsky.social
The Northern Lights photographed from Dartmoor, Devon, this evening. These were all taken during the brief substorm just after 10pm BST as Bz flipped north. At the display’s peak, the rays were clearly visible to the eye and had a hint of red/pink to them. #aurora #spaceweather
A photograph of the Northern Lights over a silhouetted, hilly, horizon. Rays of pink and purple light rise vertically into a starry sky from a diffuse green glow on the horizon. Grey clouds cross the frame and in places appear silhouetted by the aurora. A photograph of the Northern Lights over a silhouetted, hilly, horizon. Rays of pink and purple light rise vertically into a starry sky from a diffuse green glow on the horizon. Grey clouds cross the frame and in places appear silhouetted by the aurora. A photograph of the Northern Lights over a silhouetted, hilly, horizon. Rays of pink and purple light rise vertically into a starry sky from a diffuse green glow on the horizon. Grey clouds cross the frame and in places appear silhouetted by the aurora. A photograph of the Northern Lights over a silhouetted, hilly, horizon. Rays of pink and purple light rise vertically into a starry sky from a diffuse green glow on the horizon. Grey clouds cross the frame and in places appear silhouetted by the aurora.
April 16, 2025 at 11:22 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Back of camera shot from a few moments ago. Taken from Dartmoor, Devon.
A photo of a camera screen showing pink and green aurora above a silhouetted horizon.
April 16, 2025 at 9:18 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Faint aurora showing up on camera now from Devon, UK (50°N). Subtle vertical rays close to the horizon below a diffuse purple/pink glow. Nothing visually. #NorthernLights
A photo of a DSLR preview screen showing an image of an auroral display against a starry sky with clouds.
April 16, 2025 at 8:55 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Fascinating day at the Senedd for Aberystwyth Uni’s Pushing the Frontiers of Space event.

Really interesting to hear about the work being done at Aberystwyth, including on upcoming Mars science from the Rosalind Franklin rover.

That’s a full-size replica of the Enfys IR spectrometer in 2nd pic.
A photo of a person standing next to a replica of the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover A photo of a hand holding a scientific instrument package for the Rosalind Franklin rover comprising a rectangular box and lens with one side open showing the interior engineering and optics.
April 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
willgater.bsky.social
A montage of tonight’s wonderful occultation of the Pleiades star cluster by the Earthshine-lit Moon (before they both dipped behind some rooftops). #astrophotography
A time series of photographs showing the disc of the Moon passing in front of the stars of the Pleiades cluster
April 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Moments away from 3rd magnitude Maia being occulted. Bright stars Electra and Merope are now behind the lunar disc.
April 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Back of camera pic from a few moments ago. #Moon #Pleiades
A phone picture of the back of a DSLR display screen showing a photo of the crescent Moon with Earthshine and the stars of the Pleiades cluster.
April 1, 2025 at 7:51 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Tonight’s crescent Moon with the four large craters Furnerius, Petavius, Vendelinus & Langrenus sitting on the terminator. #astrophotography
A photo of a thin crescent Moon with numerous craters and mountains visible. Four large craters sit prominently near the centre of the crescent with their rims illuminated by the rising sun.
March 31, 2025 at 9:27 PM
willgater.bsky.social
Last night’s razor-thin crescent Moon, with Earthshine, setting over the high hills of Dartmoor. #astrophotography
A panoramic photo showing a thin crescent Moon setting in deep twilight over a silhouetted hill side. The lunar night side is visible lit by Earthshine.
March 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM