Dr. Craig DeForest ☀️
@craig.deforest.org
Dad, mountaineer, heliophysicist. I lead the PUNCH space mission and direct a team at SwRI. I like science, space, communication, humans, dogs, horses, puns. Lowering barriers and promoting open science are priorities. My personal account; my opinions.
Pinned
Dr. Craig DeForest ☀️
@craig.deforest.org
· Nov 20
I do heliophysics professionally, and geek about many subjects on my own time. Knowledge is power — it's also fun to create, have, and share. I run a #heliophysics feed on BSky. Elsewhere I lead the PUNCH mission to observe the #corona and #solarwind. Ask me anything, I'll probably have an answer.
Congratulations, @mathewjowens.bsky.social! Many thanks (again) for your longstanding support of #heliophysics!
Congratulations from the #SolarPhysics journal to our long-time Associate Editor @mathewjowens.bsky.social — well deserved!
The Chapman Medal has been awarded to Professor Mathew Owens, of the @uniofreading.bsky.social. 👏
The medal recognises investigations of outstanding merit in the science of the Sun, space and planetary environments or solar-terrestrial physics.
⤵️
The medal recognises investigations of outstanding merit in the science of the Sun, space and planetary environments or solar-terrestrial physics.
⤵️
January 9, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Congratulations, @mathewjowens.bsky.social! Many thanks (again) for your longstanding support of #heliophysics!
Technology quietly advances on all fronts. As a boy scout I carried 50ft of 300lb nylon paracord (~the size of a corn dog) in my pack: much better than bulky hemp rope. Today I carry 100ft of 500lb test kevlar line in my breast pocket - the size of a pack of gum. What's amazing is it's NBD to get.
9KM DWLIFE Kevlar Kite String, 500lb 300Ft, Braided Kevlar Line, Low Stretch, High Strength, Heavy Duty, Fishing Assist Cord, Camping, Hiking, Outdoor Survival Rope
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www.amazon.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Technology quietly advances on all fronts. As a boy scout I carried 50ft of 300lb nylon paracord (~the size of a corn dog) in my pack: much better than bulky hemp rope. Today I carry 100ft of 500lb test kevlar line in my breast pocket - the size of a pack of gum. What's amazing is it's NBD to get.
PUNCH sees the noontime sky as you've never seen it before! ☀️🔭🛰️🧪
NASA’S PUNCH Releases Refined Images of Eruptions from Sun
NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission has released processed images of huge eruptions from the Sun, known as coronal mass
science.nasa.gov
December 18, 2025 at 9:31 PM
PUNCH sees the noontime sky as you've never seen it before! ☀️🔭🛰️🧪
Here's a release that came out of @swri.org this morning. You'll want to click through and see our awesome movies of the inner solar system! We just presented them at the #AGU2025 meeting this morning. 🧪🛰️🔭☀️
SwRI-led PUNCH mission producing unprecedented images of Sun | Southwest Research Institute
NASA spacecraft also tracks space weather events, comets and more
www.swri.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This morning I had the singular pleasure of visiting the Lake Ponchartrain causeway (world's longest over-water causeway, I'm told) and examining it with binoculars. It was a cloudy, blustery day but I can confirm that, yes, the world is round.
December 15, 2025 at 5:24 AM
This morning I had the singular pleasure of visiting the Lake Ponchartrain causeway (world's longest over-water causeway, I'm told) and examining it with binoculars. It was a cloudy, blustery day but I can confirm that, yes, the world is round.
This is one of many reasons we launched the PUNCH mission (punch.space.swri.edu), which is studying whether we can track "Stealth" CMEs across the void between planets. ☀️🔭🛰️🧪
December 10, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This is one of many reasons we launched the PUNCH mission (punch.space.swri.edu), which is studying whether we can track "Stealth" CMEs across the void between planets. ☀️🔭🛰️🧪
Here's a little more info on the @swri.org team that tracked 3I/ATLAS using @punch-mission.bsky.social data! ☀️🔭🧪🛰️🚀
SwRI researchers use PUNCH to track interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS | Southwest Research Institute
SwRI-led spacecraft provides vital data while 3I/ATLAS is too close to the Sun for others to observe
www.swri.org
December 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Here's a little more info on the @swri.org team that tracked 3I/ATLAS using @punch-mission.bsky.social data! ☀️🔭🧪🛰️🚀
Here's a fun science nugget from @PUNCH-mission.bsky.social: a colorized polarimetric image of the extended solar corona, with bonus dust trails from a micrometeoroid impact! ☀️🛰️🔭
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Here's a fun science nugget from @PUNCH-mission.bsky.social: a colorized polarimetric image of the extended solar corona, with bonus dust trails from a micrometeoroid impact! ☀️🛰️🔭
PUNCH @punch-mission.bsky.social found out we are good at comet tracking, even as we calibrate/refine our solar wind imaging pipeline. In the last 3 months, we've tracked 3 notable comets with images every 4 min, around the clock: SWAN, Atlas, and Lemmon. PUNCH data are free to get and use. ☀️🛰️🧪🔭
NASA's PUNCH Tracks Comet Discovered by SOHO Spacecraft - NASA Science
From August to October, NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission tracked comet 2025 R2 (SWAN) — one of the thousands of comets
science.nasa.gov
December 3, 2025 at 6:02 AM
PUNCH @punch-mission.bsky.social found out we are good at comet tracking, even as we calibrate/refine our solar wind imaging pipeline. In the last 3 months, we've tracked 3 notable comets with images every 4 min, around the clock: SWAN, Atlas, and Lemmon. PUNCH data are free to get and use. ☀️🛰️🧪🔭
"There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a man" -- discovering my inner #TeddyRoosevelt. (#horses, #trailriding)
December 1, 2025 at 3:06 AM
"There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a man" -- discovering my inner #TeddyRoosevelt. (#horses, #trailriding)
Swiss Dawn from the 61C intercity Bern->Basel. Had a great week at ISSI, participating in the solar eclipse/middle-corona conference by day and PUNCH support by night.
November 21, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Swiss Dawn from the 61C intercity Bern->Basel. Had a great week at ISSI, participating in the solar eclipse/middle-corona conference by day and PUNCH support by night.
Now it can (finally) be told. We've been tracking Comet 3I more or less continuously with PUNCH. Everything is fine. 3I is definitely very interesting – but it is most definitely *not* an alien spaceship undergoing maneuvers, no matter what that Boston guy says. ☀️🛰️🔭🧪 #3I #comet #not_aliens
NASA’s PUNCH Spies Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS - NASA Science
NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its passage through the
science.nasa.gov
November 19, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Now it can (finally) be told. We've been tracking Comet 3I more or less continuously with PUNCH. Everything is fine. 3I is definitely very interesting – but it is most definitely *not* an alien spaceship undergoing maneuvers, no matter what that Boston guy says. ☀️🛰️🔭🧪 #3I #comet #not_aliens
Solar data analysis has changed so, so much since the late 1900s. We're working to calibrate out orbital-dependent variable stray light in PUNCH. I pulled 5 days of L0 data to play with, in my laptop, while traveling. The dataset includes 20,000 images, in 32 GB. ☀️ (punch.space.swri.edu)
November 19, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Solar data analysis has changed so, so much since the late 1900s. We're working to calibrate out orbital-dependent variable stray light in PUNCH. I pulled 5 days of L0 data to play with, in my laptop, while traveling. The dataset includes 20,000 images, in 32 GB. ☀️ (punch.space.swri.edu)
The Proba-3/ASPIICS paper just dropped on ArXiV! If you like heliophysics, the corona, or cool mission concepts, give it a read. ASPIICS is a coronagraph comprising two spacecraft in formation: a camera and a separate occulter. They're producing amazing images. ☀️🛰️🔭🚀 arxiv.org/abs/2511.01679
November 7, 2025 at 5:42 AM
The Proba-3/ASPIICS paper just dropped on ArXiV! If you like heliophysics, the corona, or cool mission concepts, give it a read. ASPIICS is a coronagraph comprising two spacecraft in formation: a camera and a separate occulter. They're producing amazing images. ☀️🛰️🔭🚀 arxiv.org/abs/2511.01679
Kevin Marvel is leaving AAS. ☀️🧪🔭
aas.org/press/aas-an...
aas.org/press/aas-an...
AAS Announces the Resignation of Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kevin B. Marvel | American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society today announced that Dr. Kevin B. Marvel, the Society’s Chief Executive Officer, will step down from his position effective 9 January 2026.
aas.org
November 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Kevin Marvel is leaving AAS. ☀️🧪🔭
aas.org/press/aas-an...
aas.org/press/aas-an...
This is exactly the reason every mission and scientist should have a wide-open data policy! PUNCH has specific science objectives (looking at the solar wind) – but in the right hands the data can reveal amazing things NOT part of our original science. Giving those hands access is best for all. ☀️🔭🧪
Interstellar comet 3I Atlas from all clear filter data from PUNCH's WFI3 satellite on October 29th. This is the combination of 134 separate images. It's again visible in single frames (moving coming next). Probably visual magnitude ~9.5ish.
October 31, 2025 at 3:50 AM
This is exactly the reason every mission and scientist should have a wide-open data policy! PUNCH has specific science objectives (looking at the solar wind) – but in the right hands the data can reveal amazing things NOT part of our original science. Giving those hands access is best for all. ☀️🔭🧪
Cluster is an amazing story: the initial flight build were all lost in the Ariane V launch – possibly from the most expensive one-line software bug ever (integer overflow in a guidance system, which caused the >$1B rocket to explode). Ultimately very successful despite that "little setback".
🔴 Live now: the premiere of 'Seas of the Sun: The story of Cluster' 🍿
Watch here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go_rve555TQ
Got questions? Use the live chat where our scientists and engineers, as well as @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social filmmakers are ready to answer.
🔭 🧪 ☀️ #ESWW2025
Watch here 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go_rve555TQ
Got questions? Use the live chat where our scientists and engineers, as well as @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social filmmakers are ready to answer.
🔭 🧪 ☀️ #ESWW2025
Seas of the Sun: The story of Cluster (Full documentary)
What began with tragedy ended in triumph. This is the untold story of the European Space Agency’s pioneering 25-year Cluster mission to study how invisible s...
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Cluster is an amazing story: the initial flight build were all lost in the Ariane V launch – possibly from the most expensive one-line software bug ever (integer overflow in a guidance system, which caused the >$1B rocket to explode). Ultimately very successful despite that "little setback".
We will greatly miss Al Nagler, founder of Tele Vue Optics (@televueoptics.bsky.social), who left us Monday. I was honored to know him: a brilliant man with a gentle and joyful disposition. Among many other accomplishments, he designed the Wide Field Imager optics in use on the PUNCH mission. ☀️🔭
Al Nagler (1935–2025)
Albert H. Nagler, a pioneer of telescope optics, passed away at the office of his company Tele Vue Optics on Monday, October 27th.
skyandtelescope.org
October 29, 2025 at 3:33 PM
We will greatly miss Al Nagler, founder of Tele Vue Optics (@televueoptics.bsky.social), who left us Monday. I was honored to know him: a brilliant man with a gentle and joyful disposition. Among many other accomplishments, he designed the Wide Field Imager optics in use on the PUNCH mission. ☀️🔭
I'm delighted to see that @swri.org has joined us here! Southwest Research Institute does a ton of interesting things, but of course #heliophysics is one of them. The outreach/social-media team are really great, give 'em a follow! You won't be sorry. 🧪
(bsky.app/profile/swri...)
(bsky.app/profile/swri...)
October 23, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I'm delighted to see that @swri.org has joined us here! Southwest Research Institute does a ton of interesting things, but of course #heliophysics is one of them. The outreach/social-media team are really great, give 'em a follow! You won't be sorry. 🧪
(bsky.app/profile/swri...)
(bsky.app/profile/swri...)
There's been a large uptick in the amount of AI slop lately on all topics in all venues, including #heliophysics here. I've been updating the feed regexps to remove certain keywords typical of "fake news" clickbait, so hopefully the news quality will remain high. Let me know if you see any issues. ☀️
October 22, 2025 at 12:54 PM
There's been a large uptick in the amount of AI slop lately on all topics in all venues, including #heliophysics here. I've been updating the feed regexps to remove certain keywords typical of "fake news" clickbait, so hopefully the news quality will remain high. Let me know if you see any issues. ☀️
Don't ever change, Apple Photos AI. You are very helpful. No, really. Without you, I might have confused this for a picture of a golden retriever.
October 21, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Don't ever change, Apple Photos AI. You are very helpful. No, really. Without you, I might have confused this for a picture of a golden retriever.
Sometimes we all need a little boddhi satva in our lives. Or a big one.
October 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Sometimes we all need a little boddhi satva in our lives. Or a big one.
Wow. It can be hard to remember: science in general and #NASA and #heliophysics in particular are still revered globally. This am in the security line in Delhi (coming home) I handed @punch-mission.bsky.social and NASA stickers to kids. They lit up so much at meeting a real live scientist. ☀️🛰️🧪
October 19, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Wow. It can be hard to remember: science in general and #NASA and #heliophysics in particular are still revered globally. This am in the security line in Delhi (coming home) I handed @punch-mission.bsky.social and NASA stickers to kids. They lit up so much at meeting a real live scientist. ☀️🛰️🧪