Dr. Kelley Hess
@khesser.bsky.social
Astronomer/Senior Researcher at Onsala Space Observatory/Chalmers University, Sweden; ultra runner, adventure racer, cyclist. Ironman WC 2012, 2014. Xterra World Champs 2014.
Pinned
Dr. Kelley Hess
@khesser.bsky.social
· Nov 14
What’s up new followers. Welcome to Bluesky! Tonight we had another amazing sunset at the Onsala Space Observatory (note the deer 🦌 !). I often tweet about telescopes and galaxies, with some running, bikes, and legos thrown in. I reskeet cool science, women’s sports, and other stuff.
Calling friends and fellow cyclists who know Perth, Australia: can anyone recommend somewhere to rent a bike for riding around the city and commuting? Thanks in advance! 🚲
November 23, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Calling friends and fellow cyclists who know Perth, Australia: can anyone recommend somewhere to rent a bike for riding around the city and commuting? Thanks in advance! 🚲
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
I started a new #Lego build just in time to leave the country: the Lucky Bamboo. Something else fun to look forward to when I’m back at the observatory again. The base was fun and I appreciate the little interior details (the decorated tile), even if they are hidden in the final assembly. 🪴
November 21, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I started a new #Lego build just in time to leave the country: the Lucky Bamboo. Something else fun to look forward to when I’m back at the observatory again. The base was fun and I appreciate the little interior details (the decorated tile), even if they are hidden in the final assembly. 🪴
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
A question for scientists (construed as broadly as you like) of BlueSky: What makes something data?
(Question inspired by a talk I listened to this morning, and of course I have thoughts, but I wanted to throw this out there first.)
(Question inspired by a talk I listened to this morning, and of course I have thoughts, but I wanted to throw this out there first.)
November 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A question for scientists (construed as broadly as you like) of BlueSky: What makes something data?
(Question inspired by a talk I listened to this morning, and of course I have thoughts, but I wanted to throw this out there first.)
(Question inspired by a talk I listened to this morning, and of course I have thoughts, but I wanted to throw this out there first.)
New gear day! Just in time for a six day trek across a bit of Tasmania (Dec) and a 60 km running race across a bit of Sweden (Jan). 😁
November 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
New gear day! Just in time for a six day trek across a bit of Tasmania (Dec) and a 60 km running race across a bit of Sweden (Jan). 😁
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
I had not! I love it when these stories are uncovered.
H/t @physgal.bsky.social who shares so much of this stuff with all of us. Give her a follow!
H/t @physgal.bsky.social who shares so much of this stuff with all of us. Give her a follow!
Have you ever heard of Betty Webster? I hadn't until recently, and she co-discovered the first black hole ever found! Here's her story, to honor her memory and fantastic accomplishment.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-woman-...
🔭 🧪
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-woman-...
🔭 🧪
The woman who discovered the first black hole
Betty Webster is a name to remember. Also: more rogue binary jovians
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I had not! I love it when these stories are uncovered.
H/t @physgal.bsky.social who shares so much of this stuff with all of us. Give her a follow!
H/t @physgal.bsky.social who shares so much of this stuff with all of us. Give her a follow!
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Absolutely awesome (and paid!) opportunity for writers ages 15-21 here. I'll be sharing this far and wide with young folks I know: "This call is for young adult writers, whose work I’d like to include in this anthology alongside some more familiar names."
I'm editing an anthology about unlikable characters and seeking work from younger writers, 15-21. If you know of one such writer who might want to submit their work for consideration, please share this call for submissions: audacity.substack.com/p/acquired-t...
Acquired Tastes: A Call for Submissions
For younger writers, ages 15-21
audacity.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Absolutely awesome (and paid!) opportunity for writers ages 15-21 here. I'll be sharing this far and wide with young folks I know: "This call is for young adult writers, whose work I’d like to include in this anthology alongside some more familiar names."
Första snön i Göteborg! ❄️
November 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Första snön i Göteborg! ❄️
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Millimeter-Wave Adaptive Optics could facilitate unprecedented levels of optical control for #AtLAST. This technology is currently being tested on the Nobeyama 45m Radio Telescope so experts from OHB Digital Connect took a trip to find out more! 📡
www.atlast.uio.no/news-and-eve...
www.atlast.uio.no/news-and-eve...
Learning Millimeter-Wave Adaptive Optics for AtLAST: Insights from Nobeyama
- AtLAST
Experts from OHB Digital Connect are collaborating with the Nobeyama team to investigate Millimeter-Wave Adaptive Optics (MAO), a promising technology that could facilitate unprecedented levels of opt...
www.atlast.uio.no
November 17, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Millimeter-Wave Adaptive Optics could facilitate unprecedented levels of optical control for #AtLAST. This technology is currently being tested on the Nobeyama 45m Radio Telescope so experts from OHB Digital Connect took a trip to find out more! 📡
www.atlast.uio.no/news-and-eve...
www.atlast.uio.no/news-and-eve...
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
authors you have the chance to do the funniest thing right now
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:35 AM
authors you have the chance to do the funniest thing right now
Yeah Sweden is dark, but this is the best time of year for telescope sunset photos at Onsala Space Observatory. And the deer have their impressive antlers on. 🔭 📡 🦌 🌅
November 17, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Yeah Sweden is dark, but this is the best time of year for telescope sunset photos at Onsala Space Observatory. And the deer have their impressive antlers on. 🔭 📡 🦌 🌅
Finished Ghostdrift by @zanzjan.bsky.social this weekend, and it was as amazing as all the other Finder chronicle books. It’s a series I would happily pick up and start from scratch again as soon as I’ve finished it, and recommend to all! ❤️
November 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Finished Ghostdrift by @zanzjan.bsky.social this weekend, and it was as amazing as all the other Finder chronicle books. It’s a series I would happily pick up and start from scratch again as soon as I’ve finished it, and recommend to all! ❤️
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Whooooaaaa, this is extremely neat!
And spectropolarimetry (which is the best, and what we used in my first paper too!) is at its core 💙
In a nutshell: astronomers used the polarization of light to study the shape of a supernova explosion before it interacted with surrounding material.
🔭🧪
And spectropolarimetry (which is the best, and what we used in my first paper too!) is at its core 💙
In a nutshell: astronomers used the polarization of light to study the shape of a supernova explosion before it interacted with surrounding material.
🔭🧪
For the first time ever, astronomers have unveiled the shape of a supernova explosion just a day after detection, as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface.
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
November 12, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Whooooaaaa, this is extremely neat!
And spectropolarimetry (which is the best, and what we used in my first paper too!) is at its core 💙
In a nutshell: astronomers used the polarization of light to study the shape of a supernova explosion before it interacted with surrounding material.
🔭🧪
And spectropolarimetry (which is the best, and what we used in my first paper too!) is at its core 💙
In a nutshell: astronomers used the polarization of light to study the shape of a supernova explosion before it interacted with surrounding material.
🔭🧪
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
this @katelynburns.com piece about the death of lia smith deserves your full attention
www.teenvogue.com/story/politi...
www.teenvogue.com/story/politi...
Politicizing Transgender Athletes Is Dangerous. Lia Smith Deserved Better.
"Let her passing be an inflection point for how you think about trans rights and trans people more generally."
www.teenvogue.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:39 PM
this @katelynburns.com piece about the death of lia smith deserves your full attention
www.teenvogue.com/story/politi...
www.teenvogue.com/story/politi...
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
As recently as the late 1980s, tuition at @uwmadison.bsky.social was <$1000/semester. In current dollars, that's about $2500/semester. There is one central reason for that: the . This was a choice. Other choices remain readily available.
November 9, 2025 at 9:26 PM
As recently as the late 1980s, tuition at @uwmadison.bsky.social was <$1000/semester. In current dollars, that's about $2500/semester. There is one central reason for that: the . This was a choice. Other choices remain readily available.
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Two panels about black GI’s who liberated the Netherlands disappeared in the Margraten War Cemetery.
This cemetery is both understated, solemn, and impressive and really drove home the steep price of a free country when I visited as a teen with my fellow “Bridge too far” interested friends.
This cemetery is both understated, solemn, and impressive and really drove home the steep price of a free country when I visited as a teen with my fellow “Bridge too far” interested friends.
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op de Amerikaanse begraafplaats in Margraten is het opeens stil geworden rond de zwarte Amerikanen die hielpen Nederland bevrijden. Twee panelen die hun bijdrage herdachten – én wezen op hun strijd tegen racisme binnen het leger – werden zonder toelichting verwijderd.
www.nrc.nl
November 8, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Two panels about black GI’s who liberated the Netherlands disappeared in the Margraten War Cemetery.
This cemetery is both understated, solemn, and impressive and really drove home the steep price of a free country when I visited as a teen with my fellow “Bridge too far” interested friends.
This cemetery is both understated, solemn, and impressive and really drove home the steep price of a free country when I visited as a teen with my fellow “Bridge too far” interested friends.
A cowardly betrayal of the ideals on which the university was founded.
Whhhhyyyy?
Whhhhyyyy?
BREAKING: Cornell caved.
Here is the settlement agreement, signed today by the university's president, Michael Kotlikoff: statements.cornell.edu/2025/documen...
Here is the settlement agreement, signed today by the university's president, Michael Kotlikoff: statements.cornell.edu/2025/documen...
November 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
A cowardly betrayal of the ideals on which the university was founded.
Whhhhyyyy?
Whhhhyyyy?
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
The world would be immensely better if more religions and their believers had even a tenth of the dedication the Sikhs do to doing good for people with no gatekeeping or expectations of anything other than "you are a fellow human in need and we can help you"
Folks, if you are hungry, please contact your local Sikh gurdwara. Or just show up for langar, which most gurdwaras do several times a week, for a free meal. Lots also do weekly or monthly drives giving out groceries.
No conversion necessary. Feeding anyone who is hungry is a key part of Sikhism.
No conversion necessary. Feeding anyone who is hungry is a key part of Sikhism.
A lady on TikTok has been calling churches pretending to be a mother with a baby who needs formula and several churches turned her away. But wouldn’t you know that when she called a Mosque (Islamic Center of Charlotte) they immediately said yes.
[Source: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMpoxsaW/ ]
[Source: www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMpoxsaW/ ]
November 8, 2025 at 4:42 AM
The world would be immensely better if more religions and their believers had even a tenth of the dedication the Sikhs do to doing good for people with no gatekeeping or expectations of anything other than "you are a fellow human in need and we can help you"
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
What is happening at Goddard is absolutely devastating. We are losing history. We are losing an incredible amount of human talent, skill, and knowledge. Rebuilding it will be impossible same for same. Industry can not absorb the people or the equipment. This is undoing space science in the US.
Goddard spacecraft engineer: "I think it just kind of speaks to the atmosphere of the agency and the nation, where people are like, 'Well, laws don't matter for the people at the top anymore.'"
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
What is happening at Goddard is absolutely devastating. We are losing history. We are losing an incredible amount of human talent, skill, and knowledge. Rebuilding it will be impossible same for same. Industry can not absorb the people or the equipment. This is undoing space science in the US.
@amtrak.com, this is your moment!
Looks like American air travel is already fucked and getting more so, in the wake of Duffy’s 10% reduction announcement. Hold onto your butts.
nasstatus.faa.gov
nasstatus.faa.gov
November 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
@amtrak.com, this is your moment!
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Uninstall Grammarly NOW. They've partnered with an AI company and actively scrape your writing to train its models.
HEAD'S UP FELLOW #CREATIVES!
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
If you haven't heard, #Grammarly is changing...and one change that doesn't pass the smell test is the incorporation of the ocean-boiling plagiarism machine that is #AI. 😒
I'm ditching Grammarly TONIGHT. #Writing #Writers #NoAI
www.grammarly.com/blog/company...
Grammarly Rebrands Company as Superhuman, Introduces Superhuman Suite and Superhuman Go
Superhuman Platform delivers proactive, context-aware AI agents that work in the flow of work, wherever people work Grammarly today announced it is changing its company…
www.grammarly.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Uninstall Grammarly NOW. They've partnered with an AI company and actively scrape your writing to train its models.
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Reposting to correct an error: trump admin is quietly gutting 13 buildings and about 100 laboratories at Goddard campus that has been instrumental to Hubble and James Webb telescope missions. Staff say they’ve be locked and told to move equipment. Anything left behind will be thrown away.
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear
(CNN) — Alarm is growing among federal workers at NASA’s iconic Goddard Space Flight Center’s main campus in Greenbelt, Maryland — the nerve center for groundbreaking missions like the Hubble
www.wkow.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposting to correct an error: trump admin is quietly gutting 13 buildings and about 100 laboratories at Goddard campus that has been instrumental to Hubble and James Webb telescope missions. Staff say they’ve be locked and told to move equipment. Anything left behind will be thrown away.
Good morning, Bsky! m.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqj...
The Rascals - It's A Beautiful Morning
YouTube video by mirrorro77
m.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Good morning, Bsky! m.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqj...
Reposted by Dr. Kelley Hess
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪