Eric Bellm
@ebellm.bsky.social
Astronomer at the University of Washington.
Building time-domain surveys (ZTF & Rubin Observatory) & looking for compact objects in our Galaxy.
Building time-domain surveys (ZTF & Rubin Observatory) & looking for compact objects in our Galaxy.
Reposted by Eric Bellm
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
My family policy of "no Roblox, ever, under any circumstance" is looking pretty solid.
I don't want to give you specific upsetting details about the kind of thing that goes on, because they are *very* upsetting, but like, I have been in Trust and Safety for almost 24 years now, and it is, hands down, *the* worst environment for child safety I have ever seen in all that time.
November 23, 2025 at 5:29 AM
My family policy of "no Roblox, ever, under any circumstance" is looking pretty solid.
I had to add pelvic floor stretches to my "getting older" regimen a few years ago, so this was very interesting to read.
I wrote this piece because I only learned about pelvic floors a few years ago, despite having had one all my life. And then it turned out to be where I store all my issues. And then that turned out to be true for a lot of people www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
The Pelvic Floor Is a Problem
Everyone’s suddenly obsessed with the pelvic floor—physical therapists, MAHA influencers, me. Could this deeply misunderstood body part really be the seat of so much modern dysfunction?
www.wired.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I had to add pelvic floor stretches to my "getting older" regimen a few years ago, so this was very interesting to read.
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Some false reports are circulating that Mt. Rainier is suddenly showing seismic tremor activity — this is not true. The signal being referenced is actually radio interference, most likely due to rime ice buildup on the antenna of one of our seismic stations.
November 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Some false reports are circulating that Mt. Rainier is suddenly showing seismic tremor activity — this is not true. The signal being referenced is actually radio interference, most likely due to rime ice buildup on the antenna of one of our seismic stations.
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Something’s a little sus… 👀
Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨
Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍
👉 zooniverse.org/rubin
Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨
Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍
👉 zooniverse.org/rubin
November 17, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Something’s a little sus… 👀
Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨
Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍
👉 zooniverse.org/rubin
Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨
Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍
👉 zooniverse.org/rubin
AAG submitted to sponsored research! This one has gone through the rock tumbler several times and is certainly polished; let's hope it's exciting enough to get over the hump this time.
November 12, 2025 at 1:59 AM
AAG submitted to sponsored research! This one has gone through the rock tumbler several times and is certainly polished; let's hope it's exciting enough to get over the hump this time.
Well, instead of going to San Diego to give a nice talk I'm going to stay in rainy Seattle and have COVID in the basement 😑
November 4, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Well, instead of going to San Diego to give a nice talk I'm going to stay in rainy Seattle and have COVID in the basement 😑
I'm still watching this four days later, it's weirdly compelling. 14 people have been doing a lap an hour every hour for the last 89 hours. Every X:55 they stagger in, grab a drink, and line up again...
www.youtube.com/@backyardult...
www.youtube.com/@backyardult...
October 22, 2025 at 4:27 AM
I'm still watching this four days later, it's weirdly compelling. 14 people have been doing a lap an hour every hour for the last 89 hours. Every X:55 they stagger in, grab a drink, and line up again...
www.youtube.com/@backyardult...
www.youtube.com/@backyardult...
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Because, look. Print order is a choice. No one obliges you to print a guy going “I like Bartletts for this” and then immediately, no space in between, have two other cooks going “if you don’t use Bosc pears you might as well piss in it”.
You choose to do that. And I’m very glad for it.
You choose to do that. And I’m very glad for it.
October 20, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Because, look. Print order is a choice. No one obliges you to print a guy going “I like Bartletts for this” and then immediately, no space in between, have two other cooks going “if you don’t use Bosc pears you might as well piss in it”.
You choose to do that. And I’m very glad for it.
You choose to do that. And I’m very glad for it.
There's a livestream! www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx7S...
October 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
There's a livestream! www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx7S...
Reposted by Eric Bellm
~ 1000 astro bachelors degrees given out last year, a new record, while most grad programs are planning to admit fewer students this year (due to reduced or uncertain federal funding).
September 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
~ 1000 astro bachelors degrees given out last year, a new record, while most grad programs are planning to admit fewer students this year (due to reduced or uncertain federal funding).
Wrapping up a very nice visit to the Yale Astronomy Department. Lots of lovely discussions about Rubin, ZTF, compact binaries, and much more!
September 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Wrapping up a very nice visit to the Yale Astronomy Department. Lots of lovely discussions about Rubin, ZTF, compact binaries, and much more!
Really stoked that dear family friend Steve Joo has been named one of @foodandwine.com's Best New Chefs for 2025. If you are in the Bay Area, check out www.joodooboo.co!
www.foodandwine.com/2025-best-ne...
www.foodandwine.com/2025-best-ne...
A Tiny Tofu Shop Is Serving Some of the Most Soulful Meals in America
2025 F&W Best New Chef Steve Joo's restaurant Joodooboo serves deeply personal Korean-Californian dishes — and the most thoughtful tofu you’ll ever taste — in Oakland.
www.foodandwine.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Really stoked that dear family friend Steve Joo has been named one of @foodandwine.com's Best New Chefs for 2025. If you are in the Bay Area, check out www.joodooboo.co!
www.foodandwine.com/2025-best-ne...
www.foodandwine.com/2025-best-ne...
Yes but I, personally, was young then
Weird fetishization of the 90s as a time before alienation and the destruction of third spaces when the 90s were a high crime decade with high rates of suburbanization where people spent the money they made at their suburban office park jobs on Applebees.
August 1, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Yes but I, personally, was young then
ZTF 🔭 is now shadowing the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Science Validation survey footprint with a daily cadence in gri! www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/a...
I made a "watchmap" for the Lasair broker that for all ZTF alerts falling in this region: lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/watchmaps/568/
I made a "watchmap" for the Lasair broker that for all ZTF alerts falling in this region: lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/watchmaps/568/
July 31, 2025 at 11:01 PM
ZTF 🔭 is now shadowing the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Science Validation survey footprint with a daily cadence in gri! www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/a...
I made a "watchmap" for the Lasair broker that for all ZTF alerts falling in this region: lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/watchmaps/568/
I made a "watchmap" for the Lasair broker that for all ZTF alerts falling in this region: lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/watchmaps/568/
So the Grand Canyon is on fire...
July 28, 2025 at 7:28 PM
So the Grand Canyon is on fire...
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Trump’s ‘Gold Standard’ for Science Manufactures Doubt - The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...
Trump’s ‘Gold Standard’ for Science Manufactures Doubt
By emphasizing scientific uncertainty above other values, political appointees can block any regulatory action they want to.
www.theatlantic.com
July 20, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Trump’s ‘Gold Standard’ for Science Manufactures Doubt - The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Yesterday, astrophysicist Eric Bellm told us about his involvement with the groundbreaking Vera Rubin Observatory, as well as the astonishing things this #telescope could achieve in the coming years. 🔭 Watch at buff.ly/RcmRZEy
July 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Yesterday, astrophysicist Eric Bellm told us about his involvement with the groundbreaking Vera Rubin Observatory, as well as the astonishing things this #telescope could achieve in the coming years. 🔭 Watch at buff.ly/RcmRZEy
Just finished rereading Jane Smiley's 1995 university satire "Moo." Highly recommended for academics looking for a diversion this summer.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168699...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168699...
Moo by Jane Smiley: 9780307472762 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes “an uproariously funny and at the same time hauntingly melancholy portrait of a college community...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
July 13, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Just finished rereading Jane Smiley's 1995 university satire "Moo." Highly recommended for academics looking for a diversion this summer.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168699...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168699...
July 9, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Eric Bellm
3I/ATLAS now recovered back to May 22 (mag 20.5 in g) in ZTF imagery, thanks Quanzhi Ye. In the latest MPEC
MPEC 2025-N51 : Comet 3I/ATLAS
We are the official body that deals with
astrometric observations and orbits of minor planets (asteroids) and comets.
minorplanetcenter.net
July 6, 2025 at 9:47 PM
3I/ATLAS now recovered back to May 22 (mag 20.5 in g) in ZTF imagery, thanks Quanzhi Ye. In the latest MPEC
Reposted by Eric Bellm
Build it!
Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like.
Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!
Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like.
Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!
July 3, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Build it!
Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like.
Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!
Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like.
Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!
Full house at @dirac-institute.bsky.social for our @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 sprint! 🔭
July 1, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Full house at @dirac-institute.bsky.social for our @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 sprint! 🔭
Reposted by Eric Bellm
We had a lot of fun last night with 500 of our friends and neighbors, celebrating the First Look images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social, and 20 years of vision and effort from our team at UW
June 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
We had a lot of fun last night with 500 of our friends and neighbors, celebrating the First Look images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social, and 20 years of vision and effort from our team at UW
🔭 Friendly advice for astronomers in the US and Chile--if you are excited to access @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 on Monday, request your account *now*--it has to get approved by a human. For best results use your university single-sign on, if available.
rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...
rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...
Getting an account on the RSP
Before getting started: Understand whether you have Rubin data rights.- Rubin data rights are required in order to hold an account in the Rubin Science Platform., All scientists and students affili...
rsp.lsst.io
June 27, 2025 at 12:06 AM
🔭 Friendly advice for astronomers in the US and Chile--if you are excited to access @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 on Monday, request your account *now*--it has to get approved by a human. For best results use your university single-sign on, if available.
rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...
rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...