Kat Troche
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kuiperkat.org
Kat Troche
@kuiperkat.org
830 followers 1.3K following 270 posts
Professional amateur astronomer with astrosociety.org + aaa.org 💫
Have scope, will travel 🔭
Opinions are my own 👩🏻‍💻

linktr.ee/kuiperkat
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kuiperkat.org
Some scenes from the impromptu (do over) star party on the final night of #AAS247 ✨🔭

If you ever wanted to link up with your local astronomy club, nightskynetwork.org has you covered. Visit the link and find the organization closest to you - or get tips on how to start your own club!
People on a sidewalk looking through two telescopes People on a sidewalk looking through two telescopes A view of Jupiter and its four largest moons - Ganymede, Europa, Callisto and Io - through a telescope A woman taking a selfie next to a telescope that is pointed at Jupiter. There are palm trees and a large building in the background.
January 11, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
breeze420.bsky.social
"Sunset is still my favorite color, and rainbow is second"
-Mattie Stepanek

I hope you can find some peace
tonight💙 till next time
A few large trees silhouetted against a sunsset.
January 9, 2026 at 4:17 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
jfoust.bsky.social
I did not realize The Onion had a reporter at #AAS247 this week.
theonion.com The Onion @theonion.com · 5d
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks https://theonion.com/nasa-discovers-distant-planet-with-conditions-that-could-sustain-rocks/
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks
January 7, 2026 at 3:42 PM
kuiperkat.org
#AAS247 is coming to a close today and I always get a little bit sad about it.
A woman in black pants, black and white converse sneakers, and a blue and orange space shirt, taking a selfie in a bathroom mirror A large map of the Moon on the pavement, inside a park. A hand touching a tactile print of the planet Uranus. The rings and planet body are raised to give texture and depth. People inside a planetarium looking at an image of a starry background.
January 8, 2026 at 5:32 PM
kuiperkat.org
Who has two thumbs, two telescopes, and loves a good star party? 🔭 ME 🔭

Join @aas.org & @astrosociety.org for the #AAS247 star party at Heritage & Science Park, Phoenix, AZ! We will have solar and night observing, along with views from the Gemini South Observatory 🌌

Details: luma.com/jdajxuzd
AAS 247 Star Party · Luma
Join the AAS Education Committee and Shadow the Scientists, alongside local amateur and professional astronomers, for a free evening of exploration under the…
luma.com
January 6, 2026 at 8:31 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
sumrtime.bsky.social
Hey #AAS247! Super bummed I can't be there in person, but should you need an alternative to doomscrolling that:
1) is #allaboutthatspace, 🌌
2) supports @astrosociety.org, ✅
3) keeps $ away from Amazon, 💸

Check out www.asplibraryproject.com for an out of this world library for sale. 📚 🌟
Bookshelf with old books about space Stack of books about the moon and telescopes Stack of books about observatories, astronomers, and the night sky stack of books about astrophysics
January 5, 2026 at 3:58 PM
kuiperkat.org
Obligatory #AAS247 bathroom selfie. If you're around, find me and @shanilv.ca at the @astrosociety.org booth all week!
Woman wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans with a name badge that says Kat Troche she/her Astronomical Society of the Pacific. She is taking a photo using a full length mirror in a restroom.
January 5, 2026 at 3:16 PM
kuiperkat.org
Share a great female villain.
December 28, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
technogaijin.bsky.social
(Rocky Horror Audience Voice) Weisssssss...
December 27, 2025 at 7:50 AM
kuiperkat.org
Started making a New Year's resolutions list and it turns out I just want to be a functional adult 🫩
December 27, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
bgrueskin.bsky.social
Here’s a gift link to this stunner Washpost story, quoting the 60 Minutes correspondent on the CECOT story, who accuses Bari Weiss of spiking the piece all because the Trump Administration wouldn’t comment.

“Government silence is a statement, not a VETO.”

wapo.st/3YL4T3D
‘60 Minutes’ correspondent says CBS’s Bari Weiss abruptly pulled segment on Trump deportations
CBS News pulled a ‘60 Minutes’ segment about a prison in El Salvador one day before it was set to air because the Trump administration declined to participate.
wapo.st
December 22, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
flemtheparrot.bsky.social
Morning.
December 21, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
andrealuck.bsky.social
1/n

2 NEW epic images of Phobos over Mars just released by @esa.int Mars Express

This view is especially striking, with Phobos between the Tharsis volcanoes and Noctis Labyrinthus–Valles Marineris

Full resolution 300MP(!) & info on: flic.kr/p/2rMW4so
Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY 🧪🔭
A wide view of the planet Mars fills the frame, shown as a curved, rust-colored world against black space. The bottom edge fades into darkness, marking the planet’s night side, while the upper portion is brightly lit by sunlight. Near the right side are three large, round volcanic mountains of the Tharsis region, each with a wide circular base and a darker central caldera, resembling shallow craters pressed into the surface. North of these volcanoes, stretching almost vertically across the upper right half of the planet, lies Noctis Labyrinthus and Valles Marineris: an immense system of deep canyons and fractured terrain that appears as pale, branching scars and cracks, partly softened by hazy, cloud-like atmospheric features. Near the center of the image, positioned between the volcanoes and the canyon system, a small dark oval appears against Mars’s surface. This is Phobos, one of Mars’s satellites. Its tiny size stands out sharply against the vast scale of the planet below.
December 21, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by Kat Troche
timcarvell.bsky.social
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official
m.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Kat Troche
annabower.bsky.social
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
News Team, Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier. I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity. Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now-after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one. We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient. If the standard for airing a story becomes "the government must agree to be interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast. We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state. These men risked their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless. CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones. We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of "Gold Standard" reputation for a single week of political quiet. I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight. Sharyn
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
cait.bsky.social
actually I changed my mind, I love celebrity boxing matches now. I think everyone I hate should do them, because I'm really enjoying watching the worst people on earth get their shit rocked
December 21, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
g026r.leftblank.org
December 20, 2025 at 8:02 PM
kuiperkat.org
Baltimore, please be good to my son 😭 #PolarPete
a baseball player wearing a mets uniform and helmet is running on a field .
ALT: a baseball player wearing a mets uniform and helmet is running on a field .
media.tenor.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Kat Troche
sumrtime.bsky.social
Just added a bunch of photos to make the kids books easier to browse. Lots of goodies for tiny stargazers!
#ASPLibrary 🧪 📚 🔭
December 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Kat Troche
ourislanduniverse.space
Ready to go beyond imaging with your #Unistellar #telescope?

Join the @astrosociety.org’s live 5-session workshop and learn to analyze FITS data, build light curves, detect variable #stars + #exoplanets, & contribute to real citizen #science.

Starts Jan 21
Register → bit.ly/UnistellarWorkshop
Unistellar Telescope Training: Learn, Image & Do Real Science (Jan 21)
Master your Unistellar telescope and contribute to real astronomy. Five live online workshops start Jan 21. Early bird $199. Beginner-friendly.
bit.ly
December 9, 2025 at 2:37 AM
kuiperkat.org
You will be visited by three spirits
An image from Zelda: Ocarina of Time, depicting the creation of the Triforce by the three goddesses: Din, Nayru and Farore
December 9, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by Kat Troche
astrosociety.org
Giving a @unistellar.bsky.social #telescope? Pair it with the perfect gift — a workshop that teaches you to turn images into real #science.

ASP × Unistellar × @setiinstitute.bsky.social

Starts Jan 21 · 5 live #online sessions
Light curves, photometry, exoplanets + more.
👉 bit.ly/UnistellarWorkshop
Unistellar Telescope Training: Learn, Image & Do Real Science (Jan 21)
Master your Unistellar telescope and contribute to real astronomy. Five live online workshops start Jan 21. Early bird $199. Beginner-friendly.
bit.ly
December 7, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Kat Troche
egu.eu
Are you a #teacher looking for training opportunities in #geosciences or seeking #financial assistance for events that promote geoscience #education?

Apply now for the 2026 Field School for Teachers and Geoscience Education Event!
📆 31 December 2025: egu.eu/96EKUA

📸 Ole Zeising on #imaggeo
Image description: A woman wearing an orange jacket using a shovel on a snowy landscape with a tent and mountain in the background. Test reads: ' Apply for a Field School for Teachers, or Geoscience Education Event in 2026!'
December 7, 2025 at 11:35 AM
kuiperkat.org
Scrolled too fast and thought it was a pigeon
nadwgab.bsky.social Nadine, Hunter of Rocks 💎 @nadwgab.bsky.social · Dec 7
341 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️

Morenosite:
- A hydrated nickel sulphate mineral
- Forms in the oxidised zone of nickel-bearing hydrothermal mineral deposits
- Named after Señor Antonio Moreno Ruiz (1796-1852) a Spanish pharmacist and chemist #minerals
A pale bluish-green crust of morenosite on grey serpentine. From Riffelalp, Switzerland. Specimen on display in the Natural History Museum, London.
December 8, 2025 at 6:22 AM