Lyndie Chiou
@lyndie.bsky.social
Science writer | Scientific American | New Scientist | NYTimes | Quanta Magazine | #BlackInSTEM
Stories on physics, math, astronomy! Also plays trombone.
Stories on physics, math, astronomy! Also plays trombone.
Pinned
Hello BlueSky! This is the Christmas Tree Cluster. I color-mapped the heart of the nebula to tree-green to bring out the effect. Would you like this as a wallpaper? I'm happy to share for free: photos.app.goo.gl/e9LNThCC97NZ...
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
So exciting!! Last night's moonless, cloudless, freshly rain-scrubbed sky allowed me to pull out Leo, a tiny ghostly satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Its's the faint blob next to the much brighter star, Regulus.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hrs) -- 1/2
#science #astronomy 👩🏾🔬🔭
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hrs) -- 1/2
#science #astronomy 👩🏾🔬🔭
November 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
So exciting!! Last night's moonless, cloudless, freshly rain-scrubbed sky allowed me to pull out Leo, a tiny ghostly satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. Its's the faint blob next to the much brighter star, Regulus.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hrs) -- 1/2
#science #astronomy 👩🏾🔬🔭
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hrs) -- 1/2
#science #astronomy 👩🏾🔬🔭
Hello BlueSky! This is the Christmas Tree Cluster. I color-mapped the heart of the nebula to tree-green to bring out the effect. Would you like this as a wallpaper? I'm happy to share for free: photos.app.goo.gl/e9LNThCC97NZ...
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 16, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Hello BlueSky! This is the Christmas Tree Cluster. I color-mapped the heart of the nebula to tree-green to bring out the effect. Would you like this as a wallpaper? I'm happy to share for free: photos.app.goo.gl/e9LNThCC97NZ...
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
In anything less than true darkness, the "Phantom Galaxy" slips away like a ghost, its delicate light too faint for many amateur telescopes.
The core may harbor a rarity: an intermediate-mass black hole!
Image credit: my tiny telescope, about 4 hours of imaging.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
The core may harbor a rarity: an intermediate-mass black hole!
Image credit: my tiny telescope, about 4 hours of imaging.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM
In anything less than true darkness, the "Phantom Galaxy" slips away like a ghost, its delicate light too faint for many amateur telescopes.
The core may harbor a rarity: an intermediate-mass black hole!
Image credit: my tiny telescope, about 4 hours of imaging.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
The core may harbor a rarity: an intermediate-mass black hole!
Image credit: my tiny telescope, about 4 hours of imaging.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
A sparkling midnight rose, known as Caroline's Rose (or NGC 7789 if you prefer catalog names). This open star cluster is an anomaly among its peers due to its "straggler" stars which appear deceptively younger than their neighbors. 1/2
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 11, 2025 at 11:45 PM
A sparkling midnight rose, known as Caroline's Rose (or NGC 7789 if you prefer catalog names). This open star cluster is an anomaly among its peers due to its "straggler" stars which appear deceptively younger than their neighbors. 1/2
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 8, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 8, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I used a tool to remove the stars from this photo. So if you're sitting in a spaceship right next to it, this is what you would see. This is the "fossil footprint nebula" because it has 3 toes that look vaguely like a dinosaur footprint.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Amid all of yesterday's excitement, this was last night's "Beaver moon", named for the season when beavers feverishly prepare dams and lodges for winter. And especially cool is the "lunar halo" that encircled it (caused by moonlight refracting off of ice crystals in clouds).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 5, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Amid all of yesterday's excitement, this was last night's "Beaver moon", named for the season when beavers feverishly prepare dams and lodges for winter. And especially cool is the "lunar halo" that encircled it (caused by moonlight refracting off of ice crystals in clouds).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down...
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM
The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down...
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down...
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
November 1, 2025 at 11:04 PM
The cave nebula: a delicious interstellar cauldron of hot gas, baby stars, and organic molecules. Far too hot for life right now, but maybe after things have cooled down...
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
Yes, the core, where the sunlight-generating nuclear reactions, occur, is in the central ~25% of the Sun.
In fact, that makes the image even more amazing.
Not only are we seeing through 100% of the Earth but 75% of the Sun as well!
In fact, that makes the image even more amazing.
Not only are we seeing through 100% of the Earth but 75% of the Sun as well!
And in fact it’s not an image of the Sun, but of the Sun’s core — that’s where the neutrinos are created
Image of the Sun.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
November 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Yes, the core, where the sunlight-generating nuclear reactions, occur, is in the central ~25% of the Sun.
In fact, that makes the image even more amazing.
Not only are we seeing through 100% of the Earth but 75% of the Sun as well!
In fact, that makes the image even more amazing.
Not only are we seeing through 100% of the Earth but 75% of the Sun as well!
The Little Rosette Nebula began as a cloud of cold, dark gas. Over time, gravity transformed the center into a cradle, kindling newborns stars. These infant suns then poured their energy back into the gas, warming it into a stunning nebula.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 30, 2025 at 6:12 PM
The Little Rosette Nebula began as a cloud of cold, dark gas. Over time, gravity transformed the center into a cradle, kindling newborns stars. These infant suns then poured their energy back into the gas, warming it into a stunning nebula.
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Monday morning on Earth. Life first stirred on our planet 4.5 billion years ago. In another 5, the Sun will exhaust its hydrogen, swell into a red giant, and draw our small world into its fading heart. Our story -- whatever it is that you're doing today -- is at its midpoint.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Monday morning on Earth. Life first stirred on our planet 4.5 billion years ago. In another 5, the Sun will exhaust its hydrogen, swell into a red giant, and draw our small world into its fading heart. Our story -- whatever it is that you're doing today -- is at its midpoint.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
One of the biggest and most publicized disputes in stellar astronomy in recent decades centers on the distance to this star cluster, the Pleiades (the 7 Sisters).
Image credit: my tiny telescope (~4 hours)
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (~4 hours)
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 22, 2025 at 7:54 PM
One of the biggest and most publicized disputes in stellar astronomy in recent decades centers on the distance to this star cluster, the Pleiades (the 7 Sisters).
Image credit: my tiny telescope (~4 hours)
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (~4 hours)
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
This astronomical snake thing is my most distant observation to date! You're peering beyond our Local Group at the "Rose Galaxies", 350 million light years away.
Image credit: my tiny telescope plus 16 hours of photon collecting.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope plus 16 hours of photon collecting.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 18, 2025 at 1:24 AM
This astronomical snake thing is my most distant observation to date! You're peering beyond our Local Group at the "Rose Galaxies", 350 million light years away.
Image credit: my tiny telescope plus 16 hours of photon collecting.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope plus 16 hours of photon collecting.
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
Not many pulsars have been identified optically, but this one has. And you can actually hear the moment when the discovery was made.
Remarkably, they had a tape recorder running to help them track their data, so there is *audio* of Cocke and Disney making the first observation of an optical pulsar.
This is what a moment of discovery sounds like. Turn your sound on for this! 🧪 🔭 ⚛️ (2/n)
This is what a moment of discovery sounds like. Turn your sound on for this! 🧪 🔭 ⚛️ (2/n)
October 13, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Not many pulsars have been identified optically, but this one has. And you can actually hear the moment when the discovery was made.
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
I think I also caught the light from the surrounding nebula generated by the pulsar too, a while back! These are 10s integrations (so, not seeing it blink on/off) but rather the accumulated light over the course of an hour from pulsar effects.
Position is consistent with professional shot below!
Position is consistent with professional shot below!
Since I've been talking about the Crab Pulsar, here's my photo of the Crab Nebula where I think I caught the pulsar's effect (I think?!).
Position relative to surrounding stars is right when I compare it to this high-time resolved image which shows pulsar flickering.
📸 NA Sharp/AURA/NOAO/NSF 🔭🧪
Position relative to surrounding stars is right when I compare it to this high-time resolved image which shows pulsar flickering.
📸 NA Sharp/AURA/NOAO/NSF 🔭🧪
October 13, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I think I also caught the light from the surrounding nebula generated by the pulsar too, a while back! These are 10s integrations (so, not seeing it blink on/off) but rather the accumulated light over the course of an hour from pulsar effects.
Position is consistent with professional shot below!
Position is consistent with professional shot below!
Here are the remnants of a massive star that ignited in 1054. Ancient astronomers marveled at how they could see the supernova even during the day. All that's left today is the faint, colorful smudge called the Crab Nebula.
Image credit: my tiny telescope - only 2 hours!
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope - only 2 hours!
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 13, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Here are the remnants of a massive star that ignited in 1054. Ancient astronomers marveled at how they could see the supernova even during the day. All that's left today is the faint, colorful smudge called the Crab Nebula.
Image credit: my tiny telescope - only 2 hours!
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope - only 2 hours!
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
The "Pillars of Creation" lie deep in the heart of the Eagle Nebula. According to a 2025 paper, these pillars have a hue of red that is off from what we'd expect, hinting that the dust inside is anything but ordinary.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (8.5 hrs of observing).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (8.5 hrs of observing).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The "Pillars of Creation" lie deep in the heart of the Eagle Nebula. According to a 2025 paper, these pillars have a hue of red that is off from what we'd expect, hinting that the dust inside is anything but ordinary.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (8.5 hrs of observing).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (8.5 hrs of observing).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Reposted by Lyndie Chiou
Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
Fractal Chaos Discovered in Prime Numbers
Mathematicians have found a new way to predict how prime numbers behave
www.scientificamerican.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
Fractal Chaos Discovered in Prime Numbers
Mathematicians have found a new way to predict how prime numbers behave
www.scientificamerican.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Proven: strange patterns in the prime numbers that require chaos to understand. And a way to beat a 200 year old prime-hypothesis. My latest for Scientific American!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/math...
#Science #ScienceNews #Research #stem #ScienceWriting #Math #Discovery #BigIdeas 👩🏾🔬🧪
The Ghost of Cassiopeia nebula. Cassiopeia (the bright star) is an Ethiopian queen in Greek mythology. Her star illuminates nearby dust clouds, imparting a ghostly, ethereal appearance.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hours of light collecting).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hours of light collecting).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
October 5, 2025 at 12:32 AM
The Ghost of Cassiopeia nebula. Cassiopeia (the bright star) is an Ethiopian queen in Greek mythology. Her star illuminates nearby dust clouds, imparting a ghostly, ethereal appearance.
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hours of light collecting).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (about 4 hours of light collecting).
#science #astronomy 🔭👩🏾🔬
The Andromeda Galaxy, courtesy my tiny smart telescope. This galaxy is *very* close, only 2.5 million light years away. If someone in Andromeda is looking back at us right now (and can resolve Earth) they're watching early humans!
15 hours of 20s photos stacked
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
15 hours of 20s photos stacked
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
September 25, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The Andromeda Galaxy, courtesy my tiny smart telescope. This galaxy is *very* close, only 2.5 million light years away. If someone in Andromeda is looking back at us right now (and can resolve Earth) they're watching early humans!
15 hours of 20s photos stacked
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
15 hours of 20s photos stacked
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
When you have a moment -- take a look at this math story involving butterflies, fractals, Douglas Hofstadter, and patterns in irrational energy potentials! My latest for Quanta.
www.quantamagazine.org/ten-martini-...
#science #MathSky #math #physics ⚛️👩🏾🔬
www.quantamagazine.org/ten-martini-...
#science #MathSky #math #physics ⚛️👩🏾🔬
‘Ten Martini’ Proof Uses Number Theory to Explain Quantum Fractals | Quanta Magazine
The proof, known to be so hard that a mathematician once offered 10 martinis to whoever could figure it out, connects quantum mechanics to infinitely intricate mathematical structures.
www.quantamagazine.org
August 25, 2025 at 5:56 PM
When you have a moment -- take a look at this math story involving butterflies, fractals, Douglas Hofstadter, and patterns in irrational energy potentials! My latest for Quanta.
www.quantamagazine.org/ten-martini-...
#science #MathSky #math #physics ⚛️👩🏾🔬
www.quantamagazine.org/ten-martini-...
#science #MathSky #math #physics ⚛️👩🏾🔬
Remarkably, the central stars rotate one direction, while the stars in the hazy spirals go the opposite direction! Dark dust in the core gives the galaxy its name, the Black Eye Galaxy (magnitude 9).
Image credit: 20 hours of imaging on my tiny smart telescope.
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: 20 hours of imaging on my tiny smart telescope.
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
August 24, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Remarkably, the central stars rotate one direction, while the stars in the hazy spirals go the opposite direction! Dark dust in the core gives the galaxy its name, the Black Eye Galaxy (magnitude 9).
Image credit: 20 hours of imaging on my tiny smart telescope.
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: 20 hours of imaging on my tiny smart telescope.
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
The Trifid Nebula! A pretty stellar nursery being ripped apart by intense radiation from a nearby star (note the glaring crack through the middle).
Image credit: my tiny telescope (and about 5 hours of exposure).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (and about 5 hours of exposure).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
August 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The Trifid Nebula! A pretty stellar nursery being ripped apart by intense radiation from a nearby star (note the glaring crack through the middle).
Image credit: my tiny telescope (and about 5 hours of exposure).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Image credit: my tiny telescope (and about 5 hours of exposure).
#astronomy #science 🔭👩🏾🔬