David Rankin
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asteroiddave.bsky.social
David Rankin
@asteroiddave.bsky.social
Comet & Asteroid Hunter, Rockhound, Photographer / Storm Chaser, Flood Guru, Atheist.
Cutoff low moving across southern AZ today, bringing very moist air (200% of normal for time of year). Storms through midnight will produce heavy rain and hail in some areas. Isolated flash flooding possible. #azwx
November 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
"Housing Shortage"
A new study shows corporations now own 8.9% of residential parcels in 500 U.S. counties—roughly 1 in 11 homes.

In St. Louis, Harrisonburg, and Franklin County, OH, that share tops 20%.
November 22, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Not every day you get to watch an active stratovolcano possibly on the verge of a major eruption live. Semeru Volcano, Java Indonesia.
🔴 Live Now: 24/7 Erupting Semeru Volcano in Java, Indonesia in 4K Ultra HD (CAM A)
YouTube video by afarTV
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:55 PM
New paper on the major earthquake swarm around Santorini. 🧪
November 21, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Nice meteor west of Tucson this evening. 🔭

#meteor #tucson
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Professor Dave strikes with a gripping part 2 on grifting astronomers. 3I/Atlas is an exocomet, not aliens.
Avi Loeb is a Fraud Part 2: 3I/ATLAS Shrugged
YouTube video by Professor Dave Explains
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Picked up my 15th spaceberg last shift, C/2025 V2 (Rankin). This one has precoveries back to Nov 2024, indicating it was active at 8+AU out. Very hypothetical light curve assuming m1=8. Hopefully puts on a decent show in 2027. #cometwatch #comet
November 19, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Had a lot of fun hanging out with Cleo Abram for her new Huge If True episode on planetary defense. Check it out! 🔭
Humanity’s Real Plan to Stop This Asteroid (Feat. Mark Rober)
YouTube video by Cleo Abram
youtu.be
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Very bright #meteor / #fireball west of #Tucson AZ early this evening. 🔭
November 15, 2025 at 4:32 AM
One thing I take for granted on #BlueSky is running a search for something I need and not seeing 50 million related ads. Keep it classy BlueSky.
November 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Aurora popping off even from Southern AZ tonight. Shot from Mount Lemmon Observatory looking north.
#Aurora #Photography 📷
November 12, 2025 at 4:52 AM
For the folks that are still struggling with this. Here is a Venn Diagram.
#3I/Atlas #3I 🔭
November 11, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Reposted by David Rankin
I've summarized the truth about Loeb's 10 "anomalies" about 3I/ATLAS in one post.

Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft.  He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Picked up my 30th Potentially Hazardous Asteroid last shift. This one is interesting. In a retrograde comet-like orbit with a period around 26yrs but showing no activity at ~1 AU from the sun. Likely 1km + in size with Earth MOID = 0.0275 AU. Now published as 2025 VP.
November 9, 2025 at 12:24 AM
New morphology in the tail of comet 3I/Atlas will inevitably be spun by the quack Avi Loeb as some evidence of alien activity. This is nothing new, we've seen similar behavior in other comes including 17P, C/2016 R2, and C/1961 R1, and others. It's ionized carbon monoxide. #3I #3I/Atlas #Comet 🔭
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Brief but bright meteor west of #Tucson AZ this morning.

#meteor #space 🔭
November 7, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Nice meteor over Tucson AZ last night. 🔭
#Meteor #Tucson
November 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I think the whole "Trump sucks but dems are worse off" narrative just fell apart.
November 5, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Reposted by David Rankin
Fox News is really fun to watch tonight. All the hosts and guests have this queasy look, like they ate shrimp that had been sitting out for 2 weeks.
November 5, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by David Rankin
Obama: It is not as if we didn't see some of this coming. I will admit it is worse than even I expected, but I did warn you all. I did. You can run the tape.
November 1, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
This documentary debuted today. PBS NOVA...I am one of the featured scientists throughout.

Hope you check it out on PBS, streaming, etc.

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vi...
Superfloods
Find out why deadly flash floods are on the rise and how we can protect ourselves from them.
www.pbs.org
October 29, 2025 at 8:16 PM
This is how they deal with pedos in the UK. In the US, Christians make them POTUS.
October 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
From 1980-2002 THREE storms acheived extreme rapid intensification.
From 2003-2025 EIGHTEEN storms achieved extreme rapid intensification.
6X increase!
It’s not coincidence, it’s climate change!
(source of data Dr Kieran Bhatia x.com/bhatiakieran...)
October 29, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by David Rankin
October 29, 2025 at 6:39 PM