astrotomato
astrotomato.bsky.social
astrotomato
@astrotomato.bsky.social
I don't post much these days, but if I do it'll be about #writing #scifi #sustainability #ClimateChange #music // Left of centre

My books:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Graeme%20Maughan/author/B007904WIK
Reposted by astrotomato
This is NGC 1871, a super interesting structure in the LMC. This is a 2 panel mosaic taken on our 24" Planewave scope and Moravian C5 camera. Data acquisition credit is the SWOS team of Forman, Mazlin, Parker, Magill, and Hanson. Processing by me. 🔭 Thanks for looking!
December 15, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
Mystery solved! Probably! A weird oxygen gas cloud discovered in 2023 that's near the Andromeda Galaxy in the sky is actually a nebula inside our own Milky Way. This is super cool stuff.

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/mystery-so...

🔭 🧪
Mystery solved? Baffling huge nebula near Andromeda Galaxy is actually in our neighborhood
Weird arcing cloud of oxygen is most likely part of the Milky Way, not our giant neighbor
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
#APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day

Andromeda and Sprites over Australia

By JJ Rao naturebyjj.com

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25121...

Check out JJ's video on how this red sprite, a rare, luminous electrical discharge high above thunderstorms near the edge of space, was captured: youtu.be/XJWQhewM0C8 🧪🔭
December 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM
River
YouTube video by Joni Mitchell - Topic
music.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Awful news

BBC News - Hollywood director Rob Reiner and wife Michele found dead in LA home
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Rob Reiner: Hollywood director and wife Michele found dead in LA home
He directed classic films including The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap and When Harry Met Sally.
www.bbc.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Really enjoyed the Adrian Sherwood interview in this episode of (the best music) podcast What Goes Around

open.spotify.com/episode/78nq...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
Happy 100th birthday to Dick Van Dyke!
December 13, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Definitely when I went to see The Sixth Sense, which was all abuzz with a killer twist, and about 20 minutes in I whispered far too loudly to my friend, "They're not actually making the twist that he's dead, are they?"

Very unhappy audience around me 😂
Raising the always fun question: What are your most memorable theater-going experiences?

Mine also include The Matrix, Blair Witch, and being way too stoned in Belgium when Fellowship of the Ring was sold out so we sat in the back row for Mulholland Drive instead.
It was hands-down one of the most memorable theater-going experiences I can remember, a collective 30-minute butt-clench/armrest-grab for the final climb. And we knew he lived! Wild.
December 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
What an irony. Stephen Yaxley Lennon, in infiltrating the Church of England, is becoming a jihadist.
December 13, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Petition to stop use of the phrase "head canon" and restore the much more beautiful word "imagination"
December 12, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
I was in a supermarket and saw someone I knew. I waved and shouted out "Hiya" It was then that I realised I was looking in a large mirror. I'd said hello and waved at my own reflection.
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Talk about chucking a sausage up an alley

metro.co.uk/2025/12/10/s...
Sausage bandit dumps massive pile of weiners on Bristol footpath
'Some lucky fox is hitting the jackpot tonight by the looks of it.'
metro.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 10:50 PM
It's quite a while since I came to a Pizza Express and blimey it got expensive
December 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Stereolab at the Royal Festival Hall last night were in fine fettle.

The support band Mombojo were musically good, if not vocally so.
December 7, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Name a better Ian Fleming film, I dare you.
December 7, 2025 at 10:47 AM
This was the right time to publish this article *looks at FIFA*
FT Exclusive: US private capital group KKR is in talks to acquire Arctos Partners, one of the pioneers of the private equity industry's push into professional sports. on.ft.com/3XzZegz
December 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
December 5, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Although they are 4m long, the creatures are said to be 'armless.

BBC News - Mystery as remains of seven-arm deep-sea octopus wash up on beach
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Mystery as remains of seven-arm deep-sea octopus wash up on beach
Arms from the rarely-seen species were discovered at an Aberdeenshire national nature reserve.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Still just as funny and a hit with the 10yr old!
Watching Trains, Planes & Automobiles with my 10yr old. I don't think I've seen this since the 90s. Very surprised to see Kevin Bacon in the opening few minutes!
December 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Watching Trains, Planes & Automobiles with my 10yr old. I don't think I've seen this since the 90s. Very surprised to see Kevin Bacon in the opening few minutes!
December 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Sleepy kitteh
December 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by astrotomato
Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Well, it's about time they let Will do something
November 30, 2025 at 12:03 AM
It's that time again... 🎄
November 29, 2025 at 7:12 PM