Aster Cowart
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terrasabaea.bsky.social
Aster Cowart
@terrasabaea.bsky.social
2K followers 210 following 200 posts
(she/her) Backseat driver for MSL Curiosity, Mars bit witch, amateur astronomer.
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terrasabaea.bsky.social
Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · Oct 17
I should probably introduce myself: I'm Aster Cowart, a transgender planetary scientist currently doing geological imaging science with the Curiosity rover (mainly with MAHLI). Also doing my small part to try to make peoples' lives here on Earth just a little bit better.
A MAHLI image of the Martian surface showing a tan rock with white splotches and dark nodular features.
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Peace and love from planet Mars (Curiosity NavCam imaging from the afternoon of Sol 4623, August 8, 2025)
A rounded area of sandy pits are intersected by rocky ridges to form a peace sign shape on the Martian surface.
August 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Would like to point out there's a section in the EO issued yesterday that might outright bar trans people from obtaining federal research grants.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
(ii) Discretionary awards shall not be used to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate: (A) racial preferences or other forms of racial discrimination by the grant recipient, including activities where race or intentional proxies for race will be used as a selection criterion for employment or program participation; (B) denial by the grant recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic;
August 8, 2025 at 2:57 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Spotted a cool rock on Mars on Wednesday
A monochrome photo of a rock. The rock contains several cross-bedded layers.
April 4, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
kaylaiacovino.com
Today’s moment awe: this actual photograph of Mars. This one particularly moves me. Somehow, the atmosphere and play of light and shadow on the surface make it look *real*. Like a place I could go to. And stand on. Not an abstract concept seen only through the eyes of robots. An actual *place*.
Argyre Basin and Thaumasia - Viking 1 11 frame color mosaic of the large impact basin Argyre and its surroundings, taken by Viking 1 during its 40th orbit of Mars, July 30, 1976. This image captures the area just after sunrise. Water condensate clouds are seen streaming over Thaumasia, while carbon dioxide hoarfrost fills the bottom of Argyre. Caption: Aster Cowart Image Credit: NASA / JPL / Viking Project / Aster Cowart
April 4, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
franceslarina.bsky.social
HHS intends to remove trans health care from the Essential Health Benefits of the ACA/Obamacare; insurers will no longer be required to provide coverage.

The public comment period ends April 11th; please help by leaving a comment against this change?

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
This proposed rule would revise standards relating to past-due premium payments; exclude Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from the definition of "lawfully present"; the evidentiary st...
www.federalregister.gov
April 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
operations.esa.int
The team at ESA mission control has initiated Gaia's final manoeuvre. The spacecraft is now moving away from the second Lagrange point to prevent it interfering with any current or future missions near this scientifically valuable point in space.
March 27, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
landru79.bsky.social
#NASA's #Mars #Perseverance rover

Mars Perseverance Sol 1457: Left Navigation Camera (Navcam)

mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mul...

NASA/JPL-Caltech/j. Roger
🔭
March 27, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
gccmars.bsky.social
I can never get tired of 3D outcrop models with the amazing MAHLI images onboard Curiosity! 😍
Here a small eroded surface revealing probable climbing ripples.
📸raw @NASAJPL archive
skfb.ly/puXww
@terrasabaea.bsky.social
Duna_Vista target (Mars) - 3D model by LPG-3D
This is a high-resolution Digital Outcrop Model of the Duna Vista MAHLI “dog’s eye” target in the sulfate unit of Gale crater, Mars. This model is made using only 15 photos taken by...
skfb.ly
March 24, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
madycast.com
The HHS rule banning trans care from many ACA plans is open for public comment now. Only 3 comments so far.

Embarrassing how the media is completely ignoring this. There's likely over 200,000 trans people on ACA plans (1% of 24 million)

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
March 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
ddavisspaceart.bsky.social
Sunset on the Moon, from a photo released today in the NASA/Firefly Aerospace press conference. I have color balanced the original to get rid of the green hue near the center, which is a camera artifact. We see the overexposed inner Zodiacal Light looming above the bright horizon 'rim lighting'.
This image shows the inner Zodiacal Light, a stable amorphous band of light brightest near the Sun. It is looming above the bright outlined Lunar horizon. This 'horizon glow' is still not settled in its origin. I think it is 'rim glow' from the barely hidden Sun shining through the 'fluffy' dust covering the surface. Some think it is actually levitated dust but I doubt that happens enough to look like this. The lighting I describe seems to me to be sufficient to explain what is seen.
March 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
billiejsweeney.bsky.social
You won’t see this in the nyt… At least 12 peer-reviewed studies that support gender care as safe and beneficial, and support trans inclusion in sports have been ignored by the nyt over the past year
assignedmedia.org Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · Mar 18
ABC [Mar 17] -- New study in JAMA of 3,592 trans adults over 4 years found that those on gender-affirming hormones had significantly lower rates depression. CDC has found that trans people in general are 2-3 times more likely to have depression.
[@rikiwilchins.bsky.social‬]
Gender-affirming care may lower depression risk, study finds, but many are losing access
A new study finds gender-affirming care may lower depression risk, as access to such care is diminishing.
abcnews.go.com
March 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
johnlees.bsky.social
The Cass Review only exists because transphobic politicians were angry that all the actual scientific studies kept on contradicting their ideology and commissioned a report specifically to get the outcome they wanted. Needless to say, that renders it, among other things, invalid as a study.
natacha.bsky.social Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · Mar 18
Further isolating Cass as a pseudoscience outlier European medical organisations confirm support for gender-affirming care for trans kids.
New report from European medical orgs declares unwavering support for gender-affirming care - LGBTQ Nation
The report also slammed the UK's controversial Cass Review.
www.lgbtqnation.com
March 18, 2025 at 12:14 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Had a wonderful time at the orchid exhibition last night! Super vibrant colors everywhere
An orchid planter with white, yellow, and red orchids set against a white wall. Gulal powder coats the plants.
March 15, 2025 at 4:56 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Hmm, this seems like one of the darker lunar eclipses I've seen
March 14, 2025 at 6:41 AM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
lol sounds like my attempt to present at my poster via livestream got shut down :(
March 14, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
landru79.bsky.social
Misson: #HERA
12 March 2025 gravity-assist
Target: #DEIMOS #MARS

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

ESA/JAXA/j. Roger
March 13, 2025 at 4:15 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
I couldn't write an #LPSCHaiku I was happy with within the 5/7/5 structure. So I borrowed the related tanka form (5/7/5/7/7) for a little more room to work.

In ancient rock slide: // Sulfur, in element form // encases rubble // and spreading atoms yonder, // clothes rocks in myriad forms.
terrasabaea.bsky.social Aster Cowart @terrasabaea.bsky.social · Mar 13
Interested in elemental sulfur on Mars? Check out my #LPSC2025 poster this evening, where I look at the deposit from scales small to big! I am not actually in person, but with the help of my friend Carlos Gary-Bicas, I'm hoping to have a virtual presence! Stop by and say hi if you get a chance!
A poster in the LPSC hall. The poster is titled "Textural Relationships Associated with a Martian Native Sulfur Deposit in Gale Crater". A context map shows the location of the deposit in Gediz Vallis. A large photo shows a zoned block with a tan interior and a gray, crusty rim. It is surrounded by MAHLI photos from the deposit, showing rock textures at micron to millimeter scales. The interior of the block has granular textures resembling typical Gale Crater bedrock. The outer zone has grayish and whitish coatings. Elemental sulfur stones scattered around the block have a smooth, light appearance. A wider view of a crushed elemental sulfur rock shows internal voids and possible crystal growths. Photos from various locations on the outcrop show a vertical drop-off in sulfur stone abundance and sulfur-rich alteration textures. Some observations also suggest that the elemental sulfur was emplaced within porosity existing within the upper Gediz Vallis ridge deposit. These suggest sulfur was emplaced primarily near the base of the channel, likely through a "bottom-up" mechanism.
March 13, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
jbenmenachem.com
“My ability to feed email text into LLMs is why I earn $6 million a year while adjuncts earn $35,000”
roxanneshirazi.bsky.social Roxanne Shirazi @roxanneshirazi.bsky.social · Mar 13
Oh, just reading about how this college president uses AI in academic leadership and wondering why, exactly, they need such salaries?
Screenshot from Inside Higher Ed article: Al also helped me manage my team. During a challenging period involving conflicting viewpoints among senior administrators, I fed anonymized email threads into an Al tool that summarized key positions and highlighted shared values we could build upon. This helped to provide clarity by distilling complex arguments into actionable insights. We were able to move forward with solutions that felt fair and aligned with our institutional mission. Encouraged, I expanded my use of Al into speechwriting. For convocation, l uploaded historical documents about our institution's 125-year history and outlined key themes I wanted to address. The Al suggested connections between past milestones and current challenges and helped me refine a narrative that celebrated resilience while inspiring hope for the future.
March 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
transmartian.bsky.social
If you need your cloud fix, you can head on over to my #LPSC2025 poster and hear about the newest addition to the Alex family of projects
A scientific poster titled 'Examining Martian Cloud Properties with TGO/CaSSIS'. The poster has several labeled CaSSIS images of clouds.
March 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
technology.esa.int
What would Deimos look like to an astronaut in space around Mars? None of Hera's instruments are equivalent to the naked human eye, but here is the science team's first attempt. The 'saddle' between two peaks of Deimos shows up as a shadow
False colour Asteroid Framing Camera image of Deimos ahead of Mars
March 13, 2025 at 11:22 AM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Ooh, this is a really neat presentation! It's mind-boggling to think there's a population of asteroids that are actually boulders blown off the Moon by impacts!
martinhajovsky.bsky.social Martin Hajovsky @martinhajovsky.bsky.social · Mar 13
Next up is Teddy Kareta @teddykareta.bsky.social on Lunar Ejecta (esp 2024 PT5) Among the Near-Earth Objects.

Abstract 2032: www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lps...

#LPSC2025
March 13, 2025 at 3:29 PM
terrasabaea.bsky.social
Interested in elemental sulfur on Mars? Check out my #LPSC2025 poster this evening, where I look at the deposit from scales small to big! I am not actually in person, but with the help of my friend Carlos Gary-Bicas, I'm hoping to have a virtual presence! Stop by and say hi if you get a chance!
A poster in the LPSC hall. The poster is titled "Textural Relationships Associated with a Martian Native Sulfur Deposit in Gale Crater". A context map shows the location of the deposit in Gediz Vallis. A large photo shows a zoned block with a tan interior and a gray, crusty rim. It is surrounded by MAHLI photos from the deposit, showing rock textures at micron to millimeter scales. The interior of the block has granular textures resembling typical Gale Crater bedrock. The outer zone has grayish and whitish coatings. Elemental sulfur stones scattered around the block have a smooth, light appearance. A wider view of a crushed elemental sulfur rock shows internal voids and possible crystal growths. Photos from various locations on the outcrop show a vertical drop-off in sulfur stone abundance and sulfur-rich alteration textures. Some observations also suggest that the elemental sulfur was emplaced within porosity existing within the upper Gediz Vallis ridge deposit. These suggest sulfur was emplaced primarily near the base of the channel, likely through a "bottom-up" mechanism.
March 13, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
esa.int
Just in! 📸 The first images from yesterday’s #HeraMission flyby of Mars and its moon Deimos. 👇 www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
March 13, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
spacewhalerider.com
My #LPSC2025 poster is up! If you're interested in the unusual geology of Umbriel, Uranus' coolest moon that you've never heard of, come on down!
A 42 by 42 in poster titled "Using the Wunda impact crater to assess the possibility for cryovolcanism on Umbriel." Poster is by the post author. There is a big picture of Umbriel, a very dark and heavily cratered moon of Uranus with a large, bright crater at the top, in the center. If you want to know more, email me and I will send a fully alt text version of the poster.
March 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Aster Cowart
ket.bsky.social
remember how i said self-styled sanctuary states need to be affirmatively passing laws committing step-in funding to trans and immigrant healthcare? surprised we got this before medicaid/medicare but here we go. put up or shut up.
www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe...
Public Inspection: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
www.federalregister.gov
March 13, 2025 at 2:03 AM