David Dickinson
@astrodave.bsky.social
Writer, Space pundit, Skywatcher
Pinned
Top Nov Astro Events
1-Comet 3I/ATLAS (dawn)
5-Full Moon, closest 2025 perigee
6-Moon occults M45
13-Moon occults Regulus
17-Moon occults Spica
17-Leonids (-5% Moon, ZHR~10)
20-New Moon, farthestv2025 apogee
21-Moon occults Antares
21-Uranus at opposition
25-Mercury passes 1.0 degree N of Venus
1-Comet 3I/ATLAS (dawn)
5-Full Moon, closest 2025 perigee
6-Moon occults M45
13-Moon occults Regulus
17-Moon occults Spica
17-Leonids (-5% Moon, ZHR~10)
20-New Moon, farthestv2025 apogee
21-Moon occults Antares
21-Uranus at opposition
25-Mercury passes 1.0 degree N of Venus
A 1st ever detection of a coronal mass ejection from a red dwarf could have consequences for life on any nearby planets. This point was driven home by a recent detection from an M-class red dwarf star.
Read our post on the discovery for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/dev...
Read our post on the discovery for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/dev...
Devastating Stellar Storm Seen on Red Dwarf Star
On Earth, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) like the one we experienced earlier this month are aesthetic, even disruptive events, sending aurora southward and interrupting radio signals. But around other ...
www.universetoday.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:31 PM
A 1st ever detection of a coronal mass ejection from a red dwarf could have consequences for life on any nearby planets. This point was driven home by a recent detection from an M-class red dwarf star.
Read our post on the discovery for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/dev...
Read our post on the discovery for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/dev...
Tonight: Soyuz MS-28 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome early tomorrow at 9:27 UT/4:27 AM EST. On board are NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, and Roscomos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikayev, on a fast track to the ISS.
Watch live: www.youtube.com/live/gWhAbWn...
Watch live: www.youtube.com/live/gWhAbWn...
NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Soyuz MS-28 Launch
YouTube video by NASA
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Tonight: Soyuz MS-28 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome early tomorrow at 9:27 UT/4:27 AM EST. On board are NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, and Roscomos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikayev, on a fast track to the ISS.
Watch live: www.youtube.com/live/gWhAbWn...
Watch live: www.youtube.com/live/gWhAbWn...
Thanks honey!
Homemade maple-walnut-bacon #icecream and #boardgames with my man. Happy anniversary, @astrodave.bsky.social!
November 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Thanks honey!
Kinda wild to watch: NASA’s supersonic X-59 test aircraft recently took flight for the first time, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. This was a subsonic flight, meant to test flight characteristics. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5164...
NASA X-59 First Flight
YouTube video by SciNews
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Kinda wild to watch: NASA’s supersonic X-59 test aircraft recently took flight for the first time, from U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. This was a subsonic flight, meant to test flight characteristics. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5164...
Reposted by David Dickinson
In Saturn's upper atmosphere G is 1.07 Earth G - it's a great place for flying cities (as is the atmosphere of Venus, btw).
You owe it to yourself to imagine a city in the upper atmosphere of Saturn today.
You owe it to yourself to imagine a city in the upper atmosphere of Saturn today.
Saturn is currently the best place to set your space opera, according to science--it's got those gorgeous rings, and it also has a TON OF MOONS. @jdnicoll.bsky.social offers worldbuilding tips for Saturn-based stories!
Consider Setting Your Space Operas on Saturn - Reactor
...or more precisely, on one of its many, many moons!
reactormag.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:17 PM
In Saturn's upper atmosphere G is 1.07 Earth G - it's a great place for flying cities (as is the atmosphere of Venus, btw).
You owe it to yourself to imagine a city in the upper atmosphere of Saturn today.
You owe it to yourself to imagine a city in the upper atmosphere of Saturn today.
Here's another great recent photo of shattered comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS, courtesy of Eliot Herman -
www.flickr.com/photos/eliot...
www.flickr.com/photos/eliot...
Fragmenting Comet 2025 K1 on November 21 2025
Comet 2025 K1 continues to fragment and some of the previously bright fragments disintegrating. iTelescope T24.
www.flickr.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Here's another great recent photo of shattered comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS, courtesy of Eliot Herman -
www.flickr.com/photos/eliot...
www.flickr.com/photos/eliot...
Reposted by David Dickinson
The last few days Uranus has been at its brightest. Barely naked eye from a dark sky site. Possible to see its bluishness using Binoculars. Close to the Pleiades each night. 🔭 🧪
November 24, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The last few days Uranus has been at its brightest. Barely naked eye from a dark sky site. Possible to see its bluishness using Binoculars. Close to the Pleiades each night. 🔭 🧪
Tonight: China plans to carry out a rare uncrewed automated launch of a Shenzhou spacecraft, headed to the Tiangong Space Station. The launch is to replace the damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft currently at the station, allowing crew to return in early 2026.
nextspaceflight.com/launches/det...
nextspaceflight.com/launches/det...
Shenzhou 22 | Long March 2F/G | Next Spaceflight
CASC will launch a Long March 2F/G rocket with Shenzhou 22 from Site 901 (SLS-1) at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China.
nextspaceflight.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Tonight: China plans to carry out a rare uncrewed automated launch of a Shenzhou spacecraft, headed to the Tiangong Space Station. The launch is to replace the damaged Shenzhou-20 spacecraft currently at the station, allowing crew to return in early 2026.
nextspaceflight.com/launches/det...
nextspaceflight.com/launches/det...
Mercury passes perihelion today at 0.3075 AU from the Sun, and exits SOHO’s outer LASCO C3 field of view stage left; the hunt is now on to catch the innermost world low to the east at dawn, for its final apparition for 2025.
November 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Mercury passes perihelion today at 0.3075 AU from the Sun, and exits SOHO’s outer LASCO C3 field of view stage left; the hunt is now on to catch the innermost world low to the east at dawn, for its final apparition for 2025.
Our Sun may have left the nest when it was just 50 million years old - via @skyandtelescope.bsky.social - skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
The Sun Left Home in a Hurry
By exploring the edge of the solar system, astronomers have estimated how long our star stuck around its siblings after birth.
skyandtelescope.org
November 22, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Our Sun may have left the nest when it was just 50 million years old - via @skyandtelescope.bsky.social - skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
Wow. Michael Jaeger posted this amazing fragmentation sequence of Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS on Nov 20. Currently a month and a half past perihelion on October 8th, K1 ATLAS is a +10th magnitude comet now on its path outbound through the constellation Ursa Major. spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload...
November 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Wow. Michael Jaeger posted this amazing fragmentation sequence of Comet C/2025 K1 ATLAS on Nov 20. Currently a month and a half past perihelion on October 8th, K1 ATLAS is a +10th magnitude comet now on its path outbound through the constellation Ursa Major. spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload...
JWST peers way back into the early Universe:
petapixel.com/2025/11/19/w...
petapixel.com/2025/11/19/w...
Webb Found an Ancient, Greedy Black Hole Growing Too Fast
This supermassive black hole is growing unexpectedly fast.
petapixel.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
JWST peers way back into the early Universe:
petapixel.com/2025/11/19/w...
petapixel.com/2025/11/19/w...
No jokes… (which, of course will just invite jokes) The planet Uranus reaches opposition for 2025 today in the constellation Taurus the Bull, marking prime season to see the +6th magnitude ice giant with binoculars or a small telescope. Uranus displays a tiny 4” disk at opposition.
November 21, 2025 at 2:29 PM
No jokes… (which, of course will just invite jokes) The planet Uranus reaches opposition for 2025 today in the constellation Taurus the Bull, marking prime season to see the +6th magnitude ice giant with binoculars or a small telescope. Uranus displays a tiny 4” disk at opposition.
Reposted by David Dickinson
As far as the weather forecast goes, it looks like I only had one hour to try to get a pictures of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas.
And it worked!
Even the tail is faintly visible.
It looks like typical comet even with small equipment - Olympus E-M1II with 75-300 mm lens and Minitrack LX2 tracker.
And it worked!
Even the tail is faintly visible.
It looks like typical comet even with small equipment - Olympus E-M1II with 75-300 mm lens and Minitrack LX2 tracker.
November 20, 2025 at 11:27 PM
As far as the weather forecast goes, it looks like I only had one hour to try to get a pictures of interstellar comet 3I/Atlas.
And it worked!
Even the tail is faintly visible.
It looks like typical comet even with small equipment - Olympus E-M1II with 75-300 mm lens and Minitrack LX2 tracker.
And it worked!
Even the tail is faintly visible.
It looks like typical comet even with small equipment - Olympus E-M1II with 75-300 mm lens and Minitrack LX2 tracker.
Reposted by David Dickinson
The Meteor-Priroda No. 2-4 remote sensing satellite, launched by the USSR on 1981 Jul 10, reentered over Antarctica at 0918 UTC 2025 Nov 20 after 44 years in orbit
November 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
The Meteor-Priroda No. 2-4 remote sensing satellite, launched by the USSR on 1981 Jul 10, reentered over Antarctica at 0918 UTC 2025 Nov 20 after 44 years in orbit
Tonight: Io and Callisto both cast shadows on the cloud tops of Jupiter. The double-shadow event begins when 1:30 Universal Time (UT) when Io’s shadow joins Callisto’s, and ends when Io’s shadow quits Jove at 3:50 UT.
November 20, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Tonight: Io and Callisto both cast shadows on the cloud tops of Jupiter. The double-shadow event begins when 1:30 Universal Time (UT) when Io’s shadow joins Callisto’s, and ends when Io’s shadow quits Jove at 3:50 UT.
Reposted by David Dickinson
Launch of @rocketlabcorp.com #Electron rocket with #BlackSky satellite imminent. Watch live! #FollowMySpeed
'Follow My Speed' Launch
YouTube video by Rocket Lab
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Launch of @rocketlabcorp.com #Electron rocket with #BlackSky satellite imminent. Watch live! #FollowMySpeed
Here's another amazing capture of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, courtesy of astronomer Gianluca Masi and the Virtual Telescope Project: www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/11/19/i...
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (aka C/2025 N1 ATLAS) and its ion tail - 19 Nov. 2025. - The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS imaged on 19 Nov. 2025, while showing a nice ion tail and an anti-tail. Gianluca Masi, Virtual Telescope Project.
www.virtualtelescope.eu
November 20, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Here's another amazing capture of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, courtesy of astronomer Gianluca Masi and the Virtual Telescope Project: www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/11/19/i...
Reposted by David Dickinson
#3IATLAS update: NASA release various 🔭 images held up by the US government shutdown, confirming it is, and always has been, a comet.
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
View Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Through NASA’s Multiple Lenses - NASA Science
This article was updated to include the full range of dates from the SOHO image.
science.nasa.gov
November 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
#3IATLAS update: NASA release various 🔭 images held up by the US government shutdown, confirming it is, and always has been, a comet.
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Tomorrow: the Moon reaches New phase at 2:49 Universal Time (UT) marking the start of Brown Lunation Number 1273. The Moon also reaches the most distant apogee of 2025 three hours prior, at 406,692 kilometers distant.
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pa...
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pa...
Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator
Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator
www.fourmilab.ch
November 19, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Tomorrow: the Moon reaches New phase at 2:49 Universal Time (UT) marking the start of Brown Lunation Number 1273. The Moon also reaches the most distant apogee of 2025 three hours prior, at 406,692 kilometers distant.
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pa...
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pa...
Catch interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS live tonight, courtesy of astronomer Gianluca Masi and the Virtual Telescope Project: www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/10/31/i...
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (aka C/2025 N1 ATLAS), an exceptional object: online observation - 19 Nov. 2025. - The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0
See the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from the comfort of your home: join our exclusive live feed on 17 Nov. 2025!
www.virtualtelescope.eu
November 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Catch interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS live tonight, courtesy of astronomer Gianluca Masi and the Virtual Telescope Project: www.virtualtelescope.eu/2025/10/31/i...
ESA recently used interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS as a test case for planetary defense. The comet passed just 30 million km from Mars on October 3rd, and ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter used its CaSSIS instrument to nab the interstellar interloper:
www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
ESA pinpoints 3I/ATLAS’s path with data from Mars
Since comet 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object, was discovered on 1 July 2025, astronomers worldwide have worked to predict its trajectory. ESA has now improved the comet’s predicted locati...
www.esa.int
November 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
ESA recently used interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS as a test case for planetary defense. The comet passed just 30 million km from Mars on October 3rd, and ESA’s Trace Gas Orbiter used its CaSSIS instrument to nab the interstellar interloper:
www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
Got it. Though it doesn't look like much, I finally saw 3I/ATLAS (green dot, center) for m'self this AM, courtesy of the Dwarf3 smartscope. Checking 'interstellar comet' off of the observing life list.
November 18, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Got it. Though it doesn't look like much, I finally saw 3I/ATLAS (green dot, center) for m'self this AM, courtesy of the Dwarf3 smartscope. Checking 'interstellar comet' off of the observing life list.
Two NASA sub-orbital rockets are set to launch from Andøya Space Center in the Norwegian Arctic tonight with student experiments: the Rocket Experiment for Neutral Upwelling (RENU-3) & the Grand cHallenge mesOsphere STudent rocket (GHOST).
Article: andoyaspace.no/news-article...
Article: andoyaspace.no/news-article...
NASA ready with dual mission from Andøya Space
Two sub-orbital rockets from NASA Wallops have been installed on the pads at Andøya Space, ready for their launch campaign. Personnel from NASA and Andøya Space have been working hard the last few…
andoyaspace.no
November 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Two NASA sub-orbital rockets are set to launch from Andøya Space Center in the Norwegian Arctic tonight with student experiments: the Rocket Experiment for Neutral Upwelling (RENU-3) & the Grand cHallenge mesOsphere STudent rocket (GHOST).
Article: andoyaspace.no/news-article...
Article: andoyaspace.no/news-article...
Here's a great capture of this past week's aurora storm, courtesy of @failedprotostar.bsky.social -
www.flickr.com/photos/faile...
www.flickr.com/photos/faile...
Aurora, November 11, 2025 with iPhone.
iPhone photo of Northern Lights from just outside Ottawa, Canada.
www.flickr.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Here's a great capture of this past week's aurora storm, courtesy of @failedprotostar.bsky.social -
www.flickr.com/photos/faile...
www.flickr.com/photos/faile...