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Phil Plait

@philplait.bsky.social

79K followers 310 following 15K posts

Bad Astronomer (formerly @BadAstronomer), SciCommer, Dork. Crash Course Astronomy guy. He/him. Newsletter: badastronomy.beehiiv.com I'm self-employed so my opinions do in fact represent my company's.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · Oct 10

Pinned post:

Wanna know where all my stuff is? about.me/philplait

My book Under Alien Skies: underalienskies.com

My newsletter (Monday issues are free!): badastronomy.beehiiv.com

My fave post here on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/phil...

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 12h

Ah, the Laughably Obtuse Egotistical Bull scale

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 12h

If i were an interstellar comet I'd file a 50 AU restraining order.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 12h

It was! My friend who asked me the question just told me about that. 😄

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 13h

Oh gods what now?

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 13h

PUBLIC AWARENESS IS GROWING AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE TADPOLLING

Adam Selzer @adamchicago.bsky.social · 16h

The frogs have landed in Chicago!

Protestor in a frog suit and an anti-Ice sign with what I believe to be a Pokémon character on a street corner in Rogers Park.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 13h

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF ANTIFROG

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 1d

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 14h

It's been very clear for *months* that Trump is trying to play up the idea of violent protests to prime federal cops for a weaponized response, despite all the actual evidence that protests have been peaceful UNTIL the cops arrive.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 17h

EXCLUSIVE — DHS Acting General Counsel sent out a memo Wednesday to all Federal Protective Service staff (the sub-agency that guards federal buildings) letting officers know they could take any action necessary "in the vicinity" federal property to protect themselves.

The Handbasket reports:

DHS top lawyer says 'no legal barrier' to actions officers can take to defend federal property

In a memo obtained exclusively by The Handbasket, Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers were given free rein.

www.thehandbasket.co

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 15h

😄

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 20h

Here's a fun one: can you see Earth and the Moon together with your naked eye... from Mars?

I do the math!

www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-...

🔭🧪

What Would Earth and the Moon Look like from Mars?

If you pick the right time, our home world and our moon could be easily visible from the Red Planet

www.scientificamerican.com

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

So, a normal then

One of those carnival claw games with the name "Megamini". It's basically a box with plush toys inside you try to grab with a claw but you never can and it always makes kids cry.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

That's a lot of water

The Atlantic ocean at a beach in South Carolina. The sky is cloudy and some palms are in the foreground.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

So, yeah, a mind-vaporizingly huge explosion in space *may have been from a white dwarf ripped to shreds by a black hole*.

yeGADS

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-white-dw...

🔭🧪

A white dwarf may have been torn to shreds by a black hole

Just writing that sentence made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

I just signed this. I may write a letter to UVa as well.

P.S. *Always* investigate petitions before you sign. The group behind this, according to my own research, looks legit.

Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 1d

If you are an alum of:

Vanderbilt
UVA
UT Austin
U of Southern California
Dartmouth
Brown
MIT
U Penn
U Arizona

Your alma mater is RIGHT NOW weighing the costs and benefits of giving up its independence and abandoning academic freedom. SPEAK UP NOW:

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STAND WITH YOUR SCHOOL: Trump attacks 9 universities. Sign the alumni petition now.

Are you an alum from one of the 9 schools the federal government just attacked? Sign this alumni petition now to support your school, defend democracy, and build a grassroots movement for campus freed...

alumni.controlshift.app

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

Why have their been no recall pushes?

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

Let's just say not universally.

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

To phrase it extremely charitably, Loeb is wrong.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

The guy on the left wants to legalize incest, because if you're gonna screw people it might as well include your family

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

I am very happy to see this! The fed compact takes away the university's freedom and is a draconian, nay fascist attempt to control how people think.

The state senate is 21 to 19 Dem/GOP. *Elections matter*. And we have a big one in VA coming up.

Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 2d

I'll be updating next week's current-state-of-state-higher-ed-policy slides.

Left is an article about the VA senate dems telling UVA their state funding will be in question if they agree to that odious compact. On the right is the key part of the senate letter.

www.cbs19news.com/news/state-s...

Screenshot from the top of the article. Title is "State Senate Democrats tell UVA to not consider education compact." Published today.

Main text reads "RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The University of Virginia could lose state funding if it signs onto an education compact it received from the federal government last week."

Screenshot from the letter from VA dems which reads "Therefore, we call upon you to immediately cease all consideration of signing this compact.
Furthermore, we want to be explicitly clear: if the University of Virginia signs this compact, there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles. As the leadership of the Senate with responsibility for appropriations affecting higher education, we will work with our colleagues to ensure that the Commonwealth does not subsidize an institution that has ceded its independence to federal
political control."

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

I vehemently agree with half this list and give extreme side eye to the other half

The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 2d

☝️Is there a sci-fi movie that you defend tooth and nail, but you feel a little alone in loving it?

When you're sad because you spent three hours defending a movie and clearly you're the only person in the world who likes it.

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 1d

Congress had to swoop in and save a mission that could literally help save humanity, which of course Trump wants to cancel

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 1d

One NASA science mission saved from Trump’s cuts, but others still in limbo arstechnica.com/space/2025/1...

One NASA science mission saved from Trump’s cuts, but others still in limbo

“Damage is being done already. Even if funding is reinstated, we have already lost people.”…

arstechnica.com

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 2d

JFC

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 2d

"we are going to murder americans without due process"
~pam bondi, US attorney general

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 2d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Reposted by Phil Plait

🇨🇦 Zoë Keating @zoekeating.com · 2d

She lives in Canada, you wouldn’t know her

Schrödinger's Sneetch Belly @rtodkelly.bsky.social · 2d

"the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa"

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 2d

Congrats Morgan!

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 2d

Yup!

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 2d

Partial halo over the Sun today. I've written about these so many times! Search on Phil Plait ice halo and you'll find 'em.

Blue skies and feathery clouds, with an arc of rainbow colors near the top

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