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astrogabe.bsky.social
Astro Gabe
@astrogabe.bsky.social
270 followers 110 following 180 posts
Your personal #astronomer
Co-owner of Star Party America #Cosmologist #Photographer
Former Director of Thomsen #Observatory
Ask your questions here!
Stay curious and keep looking up!
gabrielgsegura.com
Starpartyamerica.org
Instagram.com/gabe.segura
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astrogabe.bsky.social
The perseverance of human curiosity has prevailed! The star parties at flood-torn Hunt, Texas, have returned at #Worldmark #Stablewood Springs Resort. Here is my weekly setup with my tablets and 14" #Meade #SCT
Stay curious and keep looking up! 🧪🔭
Photo by me. #starparty 14" #Meade #LX200 #SCT #Hunttx #stablewoodsprings #worldmark
September 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Astro Gabe
astroroyalscot.bsky.social
While you are all enjoying the partial phase of the #lunareclipse a fun fact: you can use a lunar eclipse to calculate the radius of the moon, relative to the radius of the Earth. 🤓 🧪🔭
Using a Lunar eclipse to estimate the size of the moon: A diagram of a partial lunar eclipse 1) Follow the curvature of the shadow on the Moons surface to complete a the full circle of the Earth’s shadow 2)Estimate the size of the moon's radius 3)See how many moon radio fit into the Earth's shadow 4) Conclusion: The Earth is roughly 3 times larger than the moon
March 14, 2025 at 5:45 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
My photo of the 97% partial #lunar #eclipse on Nov 18, 2021, from the central Texas Hill Country with a 10" #Meade #lx200 #SCT #telescope and #NikonD810. I'm excited to repeat this with my 14" Meade lx200 SCT and #NikonD850 for the total #lunareclipse on Thu Mar 14, 2025! Stay tuned! 🧪🔭
Photo taken by me. My photo of the 97% partial lunar eclipse on Nov 18, 2021, from my property in the central Texas Hill Country with a 10" Meade lx200 SCT telescope and NikonD810. I'm excited to repeat this with my 14" Meade lx200 SCT and NikonD850 for the total lunareclipse on Thu Mar 14, 2025! Stay tuned!
March 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Beautiful day to walk down historic Main Street #Fredericksburg, #Texas
March 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
#Bumblebee! #Transformers
March 8, 2025 at 10:13 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
My series of the 97% partial #lunar #eclipse on Nov 18, 2021, from my property in the central Texas Hill Country with a 10" #Meade #lx200 #SCT #telescope and #NikonD810. Excited to repeat this with my 14" Meade lx200 SCT and #NikonD850 for the total #lunareclipse on Thu Mar 14, 2025! Stay tuned! 🧪🔭
Photo series taken by me. My series of the 97% partial lunar eclipse on Nov 18, 2021, from my property in the central Texas Hill Country with a 10" Meade lx200 SCT telescope and Nikon D810. Excited to repeat this with my 14" Meade lx200 SCT and Nikon D850 for the total lunar eclipse on Thu Mar 14, 2025! Stay tuned!
March 8, 2025 at 4:01 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
#SpaceX scrubs #Starship test flight 8 over unspecified ship issue. I was waiting with anticipation when they paused at T-40 seconds.
SpaceX Starship Flight 8 Launch Representational Image (Photo Credits: X/@ElonMusk)
March 4, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Astro Gabe
astroroyalscot.bsky.social
👇The Mars #EuropaClipper gravity assist is happening right now! Locate Mars to wave at Clipper as it flys by on its 5yr journey to Jupiter & the frozen ice moon of Europa.
At the moment Mars is an easy-to-spot triangle with the bright Gemini stars of Castor and Pollux! 🔭🧪🛰️
ℹ️ stellarium-web.org
A sky map showing the locations of Mars, Jupiter relative to the constellation of Orion in the South.
March 1, 2025 at 5:52 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
I miss #Saturn already. It sets before sunset now not to return to the evening sky until late summer. Here is a photo I took of Saturn at #opposition on July 20, 2020 at the #Thomsen #Observatory 🧪🔭
Photo taken by me at the Thomsen Observatory using the 2,268mm apo refactor in the main dome.
March 1, 2025 at 8:32 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
#NASA lowers #impact risk of 55 meter 'city-killer' #asteroid 2024 YR4 from a high of 1 in 32 to 1 in 360. This is a downgrade from 3 to 1 on the #Torino danger scale. It will likely be downgraded to 0 when more orbital data points are collected.🧪🔭

www.space.com/asteroid-202...
Torino Impact Hazard Scale The Torino Impact Hazard Scale is a means of assessing the level of public concern warranted by predictions of close encounters of asteroids and short-period comets with Earth. The value, an integer between 0 and 10, that can be assigned to an object is based on the object's probability of collision with Earth and its estimated kinetic energy. The value can change as probability and energy estimates are refined by additional observations and more-accurate orbital calculations. NASA/© 1999, 2004 Richard P. Binzel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
February 22, 2025 at 8:41 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Have you seen #Venus lately? Its beautiful crescent shines bright through the month of February as bright as mag. -4.53 on Valentine's Day. It is always in a crescent phase as it orbits closer to the sun than Earth. You should see it through this 25" #Obsession #Dobsonian !🧪🔭
Me viewing Venus before sunset through a 25" #Obsession #Dobsonian.
January 31, 2025 at 7:53 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
After the successful catch of #superheavy booster and loss of #starship during test launch 7, it appears the possible ship catch planned for test 8 is pushed down. This puts the kibosh for my trip. I plan to see the first booster and ship catch. Message and come with me for this attempt!🚀 ✨️
SpaceX’s Starship rocket tumbles out of control a few minutes after liftoff from Texas. Credit: Gene Blevins / LA Daily News
January 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Here are four of the many photos I captured of the #occultation of #Mars tonight from my property in central Texas. Zoom in to see the dark shield volcano Syrtis Major Planum and light polar ice cap. I used a #NikonD850 DSLR on a 14" f/10 #Meade #LX200 SCT. 1/250 sec, ISO 100.🧪🔭
Here are four of the many photos I captured of the #occultation of #Mars tonight from my property in central Texas. Zoom in to see the dark shield volcano Syrtis Major Planum and light polar ice cap. I used a #NikonD850 DSLR on a 14" f/10 #Meade #LX200 SCT. 1/250 sec, ISO 100. Here are four of the many photos I captured of the #occultation of #Mars tonight from my property in central Texas. Zoom in to see the dark shield volcano Syrtis Major Planum and light polar ice cap. I used a #NikonD850 DSLR on a 14" f/10 #Meade #LX200 SCT. 1/250 sec, ISO 100. Here are four of the many photos I captured of the #occultation of #Mars tonight from my property in central Texas. Zoom in to see the dark shield volcano Syrtis Major Planum and light polar ice cap. I used a #NikonD850 DSLR on a 14" f/10 #Meade #LX200 SCT. 1/250 sec, ISO 100. Here are four of the many photos I captured of the #occultation of #Mars tonight from my property in central Texas. Zoom in to see the dark shield volcano Syrtis Major Planum and light polar ice cap. I used a #NikonD850 DSLR on a 14" f/10 #Meade #LX200 SCT. 1/250 sec, ISO 100.
January 14, 2025 at 10:32 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
My poor Bugsy has feline stomatitis. Scheduled surgery on her mouth for Jan 21. Hope she can eat pain-free soon again. She has gone from 14.6 lbs. down to 7.6 lbs. today.
My kitty, Bugsy, this morning. Scared and in pain, but hopefully, she will be well soon. Vet Dr. Pilsner, administering pain and antibacterial injections to Bugsy.
January 13, 2025 at 8:00 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
SpaceX's Starship Flight 7 Is Delayed until Wednesday, Jan. 15, Potentially Due To Weather Concerns. Watch for booster catch!🚀 ✨️
wccftech.com/spacex-delay...
The Starship stack for Flight 7 during a wet dress rehearsal Jan. 11. Image: SpaceX
January 13, 2025 at 7:49 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Watch the #Mars #occultation by the Moon Tue, Jan 13 in Gemini.
It lasts about an hour starting 7:51 PM (CST) at my location in Central Texas. Other Mars ingress/egress times listed in link to International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA).🧪🔭
www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets...
This sequence of images shows the Moon occulting Mars on Sept. 6, 2020, from Brazil. Credit: Ricardo José Vaz Tolentino I plan on taking photos of this one coming up!
January 11, 2025 at 11:10 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
My heart goes out to the people in Los Angeles. I have beautiful memories of the Palisades. I have a cousin who says she is safe in Hawthorne, but the air is still heavy with smoke. Updated zoomable evacuation map in link. 💔
www.cnn.com/weather/live...
Live updates: Los Angeles wildfires kill at least 5, Palisades and Eaton fires raging on | CNN
Massive wind-driven fires in Los Angeles County have killed at least five people and left others with “significant injuries.” Follow for live updates.
www.cnn.com
January 9, 2025 at 5:29 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Originally thought to launch Jan. 11, then possibly Jan. 10, Spacex has announced that it is now targeting Mon., Jan 13, for test launch 7 of Starship. Ship will attempt to deploy 10 mock Starlink satellites.🧪🔭
www.space.com/space-explor...
(Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX's upper-stage Starship spacecraft inside a hangar at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas. SpaceX posted this photo on X on Jan. 8, 2025.
January 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
I am asked to do star parties rain or shine. Yes, you read that right. I've even done a star party in a Bortle 9 light pollution sky in the park across the street from the Texas Capitol building in Austin. I saw 4 stars, three of which were the summer triangle, and one was the Sun before sunset.🧪🔭
Screenshot on my phone using the Light pollution map app where I conducted a star party in a Bortle 9 sky. Light pollution map is a mapping application that displays VIIRS/World Atlas/Clouds/Aurora overlays and IAU observatories/SQM/SQC user measurements features over Microsoft Bing base layers (road and hybrid Bing maps). The primary use is to show VIIRS data in a friendly manner, but over time it also included some other interesting layers that concern light pollution like SQM/SQC, World Atlas 2015 zenith brigtness, clouds, aurora and IAU observatories Data credits: VIIRS: Earth Observation Group, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. Aurora 30min forecast: NOAA. Clouds: EUMETSAT, NOAA, MOSDAC/SAC/ISRO and CIRA. Observatories: Wikipedia (updated: 16.01.2021). World Atlas 2015: Falchi, Fabio; Cinzano, Pierantonio; Duriscoe, Dan; Kyba, Christopher C. M.; Elvidge, Christopher D.; Baugh, Kimberly; Portnov, Boris; Rybnikova, Nataliya A.; Furgoni, Riccardo (2016): Supplement to: The New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness. GFZ Data Services. http://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001 Falchi F, Cinzano P, Duriscoe D, Kyba CC, Elvidge CD, Baugh K, Portnov BA, Rybnikova NA, Furgoni R. The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness. Science Advances. 2016 Jun 1;2(6):e1600377. 
January 6, 2025 at 5:08 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
“We need to protect Earth” and “We need to go to #Mars” are not mutually exclusive, rather, are highly complementary endeavors. "It might at first seem counterintuitive, but the means to make things right here on Earth are perhaps largely found away from it."🧪🔭🎈
www.marssociety.org/red-planet-b...
Photo of me and by me in a Z-2 prototype suit. NASA is developing the next generation of spacesuit that will enable deep space exploration with improvements such as carbon dioxide removal systems and water evaporation systems for more efficient breathing and temperature regulation. Mobility and fit of the pressurized suit is important in maximum productivity for activities such as exploring, collecting samples, and maneuvering in and out of habitats and rovers. This is the Z-2 prototype suit of 2014. It is made of advanced materials to achieve a light-weight, high-durability suit that can withstand long duration missions in the harsh environment found on Mars. Engineering design continues on exploration suits.
January 4, 2025 at 7:35 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
When the Sun expands into a red giant, it will eventually overtake and engulf the inner planets despite their slow outward migration due to the Sun losing mass.🧪🔭🎈
Photo by me before a private star party at Redstone Ranch in Stonewall, TX, where President LBJ used to host private parties.
January 4, 2025 at 4:22 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Did you know we almost lost NASA's #Pioneer11 space probe as it nearly collided with #Epimetheus, a small moon of #Saturn, we didn't know was there?🧪🔭
Pioneer 11 during Saturn fly by CR: Erik Simonsen Art Collections
January 2, 2025 at 8:59 AM
astrogabe.bsky.social
Normal #intergalactic #matter (IGM) located in the space between galaxies far exceeds matter found within #galaxies themselves, due to vast volume of space between galaxies, even though density in that space is very low. I'm even excluding #DarkMatter!🧪🔭🎈
www.americanscientist.org/article/the-...
Evolution of the intergalactic medium begins shortly after the Big Bang, when the density of normal matter—protons, electrons, and photons—was oscillating under the competing influences of gravity and pressure. At the same time, dark matter was quietly assembling into a primitive cosmic web. About 380,000 years after the Big Bang, the protons and electrons combined to form neutral hydrogen gas (blue), which was quickly drawn into the existing lattice of dark matter by gravity. The gas and the dark matter continued to assemble in the cold darkness until the first stars were born in the highest-density regions of the intergalactic medium. The light from these stars eventually reionized and reheated the universe, probably within the first one billion years (pink). As the galaxies began to take shape, the cumulative production of heavy elements by the stars began to "pollute" the intergalactic medium (green). CR: Tom Dunne
January 2, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by Astro Gabe
peterwmurphy1.bsky.social
For Maths fans, 2025 is a square.
45² = 45 x 45 = 2025
Also,
9² x 5² = 2025
40² + 20² + 5² = 2025
My favourite?
1³+2³+3³+4³+5³+6³+7³+8³+9³ = 2025
#Mathematics #teaching #education
January 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
astrogabe.bsky.social
200 followers on Jan. 1. Thank you! We are just beginning, my friends. Let me know what YOU would like to know more about!🧪🔭🎈🌞
#STEM
#astronomy
#cosmology
#telescopes
#starparty
#astrophotography
#astrophysics
#observatory
#helioscience
January 2, 2025 at 5:55 AM