Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · 7d

I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table reading about the first exoplanet discovery in 1992. Will never forget it. And look at us now!

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 7d

Thirty years ago Monday, astronomers announced the first planet around a Sunlike star. Since then they have cataloged more than 6,000 alien worlds.

I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours?

🧪 #astronomy

These alien planets are astronomers’ favourites: here’s why

Space scientists look back on 30 years of exoplanet discoveries — from rows of massive ‘super-Earths‘ to worlds with perfectly synchronized orbits.

www.nature.com

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · 10d

Article, please.

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 10d

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Jasmine 🌌🔭 @astrojaz.bsky.social · 13d

THIS NEW HUBBLE IMAGE LOOKS LIKE A GALACTIC PORTAL!!! 🌌

A galaxy seen face-on, with a slightly elliptical disk that appears to have a hole in the center like a doughnut. In the hole, the core is a brightly glowing point that shines light out beyond the edge of the disk. Around the hole is an inner ring of dust, and at the galaxy’s edge is a thicker outer ring of dust, with a swirling web of dust strands in between. Blue stars and red nebulae are visible behind the dust.

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 14d

"Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact."
-Carl Sagan

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · 21d

This fact always amazes me. How new our understanding really is, yet how far we've come to study these galaxies in such remarkable detail.

Universal-Sci @universal-sci.bsky.social · 21d

A detailed image of the galaxy cluster Abell 3827

Gazing at this vast collection of hundreds of galaxies, it’s remarkable to remember that less than a century ago, many astronomers thought the Milky Way was the only galaxy in existence.

(Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Massey)

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · 29d

I kinda dig gravitational waves.

www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Colliding black holes 'ringing' across space and time prove Hawking, Einstein theories right | CBC News

Two black holes collided 1.3 billion light years from Earth, creating a 'ringing,' which in turn allowed astrophysicists to test some theories. And it turns out, they were all correct.

www.cbc.ca

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · 29d

T. Ocellus is an agent of chaos.

Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Lisa Grossman @astrolisa.bsky.social · 29d

There's a NASA presser happening now in which acting admin Duffy said "This very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars." That doesn't mean it is a sign of life. We covered this cool rock in 2024, paper in Nature is out today: 🧪🔭
www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa...

NASA's Perseverance finds its first possible hint of ancient Mars life

The NASA Mars rover examined a rock containing organic compounds and “leopard spots” that, on Earth, are associated with microbial life.

www.sciencenews.org

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Sep 1

Woot! Got my advances! New title but same great content. Use it to plan for your 2026 night sky planning! @fireflybooks.bsky.social

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 14

And that’s what I saw last night! Was absolutely amazing! @billlongo.com

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · Aug 14

On the other side of the planet, we see the launch trajectory north from French Guiana over the Atlantic and Labrador, circa 0040 UTC, and then on the second orbit over Colombia, Cuba, the eastern US and Ontario circa 0225-0240 UTC. The deorbit burn was at 0235 UTC, 800 km above Lake Superior

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 14

So sorry. Just saw this now. 10:35 pm

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · Aug 13

There were a couple of launches today, but I'd need to know what direction you saw itmand what direction it's moving. I see other posts about it here too; it was seen from South Dakota.

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 13

Jonathan thinks it’s the Ariana launch, which makes sense.

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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · Aug 13

From Canada I think it's much more likely to be the Ariane 6 launch which was polar, rather that the Vulcan launch which was at 28 deg inclination and which is still on it way to GEO altitude.

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 13

I believe so.

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 13

Was it ULA’s Vulcan?

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 13

Okay. Was looking for Perseids, but caught this instead! From Toronto. Amazing! What rocket launch is this from? It’s going the wrong way! @philplait.bsky.social @planet4589.bsky.social

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · Aug 11

I bet it's been a while since you've had your mind vaporized by a JWST image so here's one of a cluster of galaxies so immense it's visibly warping space.

Bonus: I explain what you're seeing! Because that's kinda my thing!

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/an-incredi...

🔭🧪

An incredible JWST image of an immense city of galaxies

Abell S1063 is a jaw-dropping example of the power of the big telescope

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Aug 8

Meow.

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Aug 8

Did someone say it was #InternationalCatDay? Less than a month ago, the James Webb Space Telescope released an image of the Cat's Paw Nebula—focusing on a particular "toe bean." 🐾

Check it out! ⬇️

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Jul 10

Hooray for three years of paw-sitively amazing #NASAWebb science! To celebrate, the telescope examined a singular “toe bean” of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a massive star-forming region. Webb reveals gas, dust, and massive young stars: webbtelescope.pub/4khJK9T 🔭

Reply with an image of your pet’s paws! 🐾

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · Aug 7

🚨 Interstellar news!

☄️ The unexpected comet 3I/ATLAS has been captured in the sharpest picture yet by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Discover more about this visitor from outside our Solar System 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪

At the centre of the image is a comet that appears as a teardrop-shaped bluish cocoon of dust coming off the comet’s solid, icy nucleus and seen against a black background. The comet appears to be heading to the bottom left corner of the image. About a dozen short, light blue diagonal streaks are seen scattered across the image, which are from background stars that appeared to move during the exposure because the telescope was tracking the moving comet.

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · Aug 7

WHOA.

Astronomers may have found a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A, the closest sun-like star to the Sun! It's a binary system, too, so if this is confirmed it'll be an AMAZING discovery!

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-planet-f...

🔭🧪

A planet for Alpha Centauri A?

JWST spots what might be a Jupiter-sized world around the nearest Sun-like star

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jul 30

☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System!

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪

Interstellar Object Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory!

☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! Comet 3I/ATLAS is just the third interstellar object ever spotted in our Solar System. Rubin Observatory didn’t discover it, but…

youtu.be

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jul 29

Going stir crazy and need a screen-free activity?

Introducing the NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory coloring book! 🎨🌌

No screens, and no assembly required (unless you count crayons). Print one page or the whole book, and get coloring! 🖍️

🔗: ls.st/coloring-book 🔭🧪

Promotional graphic for the Rubin Observatory coloring book. The background is primarily teal with accents of yellow. On the right are some of the coloring book pages. On the left, text reads "NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory invites you to enjoy our free downloadable coloring book!"

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Nicole Mortillaro @nebulousnikki.bsky.social · Jul 24

OMG I love this so much!

In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · Jul 23

'Hello human, nice to meet you'

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Reposted by Nicole Mortillaro

Michele Bannister @astrokiwi.bsky.social · Jul 21

It's paper day! The first science paper with data from @vrubinobs.bsky.social's survey camera, the mighty LSSTCam, is a VERY quick turnaround of Rubin's observations thus far of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. ☄️
Chandler et al., submitted 🔭
A 🧵

NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1)

We report on the observation and measurement of astrometry, photometry, morphology, and activity of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, also designated C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), with the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin ...

arxiv.org

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