Laurence Datrier
@asleepywanderer.bsky.social
6.2K followers 560 following 1.4K posts
Astronomer, occasional artist, sometimes takes pictures (she/her)
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asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Since a bunch of new people now follow me thanks to my very musically talented cat, I figured it was time to post another intro.

Hi! I'm an astronomer who sometimes does various arts and crafts. I did my PhD in Physics&Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, where I was part of LIGO.

🧪🔭🐡
1/n
A photo of me in front of the LIGO Hanford sign, holding a plastic bird of prey An acrylic painting of a spiral galaxy A pencil drawing of Pluto on brown paper A digital painting of Thor's helmet nebula
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Found a legend in Walmart today

🔭
Cans of Ligo sardines
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
thisismyglasgow.bsky.social
Glasgow pubs can look very inviting on wet and windy nights like tonight. This particular one is the he Islay Inn on the corner of Argyle Street and Radnor Street in the West End of the city.

#glasgow #glasgowpubs #islayinn #argylestreet #architecture #nightphotography #glasgowatnight
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
(apologies to everyone who followed me for art and/or science and is instead getting the most mundane nonsense ever 8 days or so. It's been a busy year)
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Me to the pistacchio I didn't manage to pry open
Frodo saying "All right, then. Keep your secrets"
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
That brief feeling of complete calm when all the unit tests pass after a major update
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Back when we also all had to apologise to artists who worked on dystopian movies/video games/etc. because it turns out that yes, the graffiti really *is* that corny
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
mychal3ts.bsky.social
🎶 Take a look, it's in a book 🎶

🥹 After nearly 20 years... Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course... new books! Make sure to follow the rainbow 📚🌈

#FollowTheRainbow
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Mia, thank you for enchanting my timeline on so many platforms for so many years with your photos.

I love that fourth photo because it's so close to the actual colour of the auroras I've seen!

If you can, consider donating a coffee or two ☕
angrytheinch.bsky.social
Friends.
These are lots of my all-time favorite images. I'm letting them go, frankly out of desperation.
You can download them all and make prints or use as backgrounds on your devices.

Pay whatever you think they're worth ❤️
buymeacoffee.com/angrytheinch

drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
angrytheinch.bsky.social
Friends.
These are lots of my all-time favorite images. I'm letting them go, frankly out of desperation.
You can download them all and make prints or use as backgrounds on your devices.

Pay whatever you think they're worth ❤️
buymeacoffee.com/angrytheinch

drive.google.com/drive/folder...
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
Sharing with the #sciart feed!
🐡🔭
astronerdika.bsky.social
Mirror, mirror, reflecting our [LASER] beam...
What is the loudest [gravitational wave] signal that we've seen?

It’s #GW250114!

(Yes, it’s been two weeks since it was announced, but I can still celebrate! 🎉 )

#EinsteinWasRight #HawkingWasRight
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
An infographic created by @astronerdika titled “MIRROR, MIRROR, reflecting our LASER beam… what’s the LOUDEST signal gravitational wave we’ve seen?” explaining the gravitational-wave discovery GW250114 and how the observation confirms Hawking’s area law. The visual shows the mirrors in a gravitational-wave interferometer speaking about the loudest event they have seen. There are several illustrations as follows:

1. A simplified diagram of a laser interferometer. A red laser beam from a labeled “LASER source” hits a beam splitter, travels down two perpendicular arms, reflects off round mirrors, and recombines at a labeled “detector.” A label near the top-right mirror reads: “the DETECTOR, signal seen by LIGO Hanford & LIGO Livingston.”

2. An illustration of a binary black hole merger, with two black circles spiraling inward. They are labeled ~34 solar masses and ~32 solar masses. Surrounding spiral lines represent gravitational waves. A nearby caption reads: “the SOURCE, Discovered in 2025, on January 14, at 08:22:03 UTC.”

3. A prominent speech bubble with white text on a purple background states: “GW250114 is the loudest & clearest signal we’ve seen!” A smaller note below reads: “as of January 2025.”

4. Another speech bubble reads: “AND we saw that Hawking was right too!”

5. Visual explanation of Hawking’s Area Law. Two small circles labeled “this BH” + “this BH” are shown to the left of a “<” symbol, pointing to a larger circle labeled “the surface area of the merged BH.” Below there is the explanatory sentence: “GW250114’s remnant event horizon area is larger than the sum of the individual areas.”

6. A section titled “the PAPERS” lists two arXiv references: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08054 and https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2509.08099

Note: This infographic plays off the classic line from Snow White, “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” Here, the “mirrors” are the ones inside the laser interferometer, reflecting light to detect passing gravitational waves.
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
astronerdika.bsky.social
Mirror, mirror, reflecting our [LASER] beam...
What is the loudest [gravitational wave] signal that we've seen?

It’s #GW250114!

(Yes, it’s been two weeks since it was announced, but I can still celebrate! 🎉 )

#EinsteinWasRight #HawkingWasRight
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
An infographic created by @astronerdika titled “MIRROR, MIRROR, reflecting our LASER beam… what’s the LOUDEST signal gravitational wave we’ve seen?” explaining the gravitational-wave discovery GW250114 and how the observation confirms Hawking’s area law. The visual shows the mirrors in a gravitational-wave interferometer speaking about the loudest event they have seen. There are several illustrations as follows:

1. A simplified diagram of a laser interferometer. A red laser beam from a labeled “LASER source” hits a beam splitter, travels down two perpendicular arms, reflects off round mirrors, and recombines at a labeled “detector.” A label near the top-right mirror reads: “the DETECTOR, signal seen by LIGO Hanford & LIGO Livingston.”

2. An illustration of a binary black hole merger, with two black circles spiraling inward. They are labeled ~34 solar masses and ~32 solar masses. Surrounding spiral lines represent gravitational waves. A nearby caption reads: “the SOURCE, Discovered in 2025, on January 14, at 08:22:03 UTC.”

3. A prominent speech bubble with white text on a purple background states: “GW250114 is the loudest & clearest signal we’ve seen!” A smaller note below reads: “as of January 2025.”

4. Another speech bubble reads: “AND we saw that Hawking was right too!”

5. Visual explanation of Hawking’s Area Law. Two small circles labeled “this BH” + “this BH” are shown to the left of a “<” symbol, pointing to a larger circle labeled “the surface area of the merged BH.” Below there is the explanatory sentence: “GW250114’s remnant event horizon area is larger than the sum of the individual areas.”

6. A section titled “the PAPERS” lists two arXiv references: https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08054 and https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2509.08099

Note: This infographic plays off the classic line from Snow White, “Mirror, mirror on the wall…” Here, the “mirrors” are the ones inside the laser interferometer, reflecting light to detect passing gravitational waves.
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
ligo.org
Yesterday's Astronomy Picture of the Day #APOD featured #GW250114! This artwork imagines the ultimate front-row seat as two black holes spiral together on their way toward producing the strongest gravitational-wave signal we've detected so far

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25092...

🎨A Simonnet 🔭🐚
This artwork imagines the ultimate front-row seat for GW250114, a powerful collision between two black holes observed in gravitational waves by the US National Science Foundation LIGO. It depicts the view from one of the black holes as it spirals toward its cosmic partner.
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
The finished product!
As always, the most difficult part was knowing when to stop 😅
The same watercolour painting of a hobbit hole as the previous post, but with more depth and contrast
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
scixcommunity.bsky.social
A natural evolution of ADS, SciX brings its powerful capabilities into new domains. Expanded coverage, intuitive search, smart recommendations, and tools for collaboration. SciX makes research more discoverable, connected, and accessible than ever before. https://scixplorer.org/scixblog/scix-launch
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
scixcommunity.bsky.social
We have lift-off! Science Explorer, or #SciX to its friends, is excited to be your new home for open, connected, and trustworthy science. Explore. Share. Discover at scixplorer.org #OpenScience #ResearchInfrastructure #SpaceScience #EarthScience #PlanetaryScience
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
I remember buying the 25th anniversary edition of the DVD so I feel very attacked by this post
ptklein.com
The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened on US screens 50 years ago today. Initially a major box office bomb, cult cinema outsiders and queer audiences quickly took up the film’s mantle and turned it into a unique and exciting way of engaging with the movies. Remember kids, don’t dream it—be it!!
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
chanda.blacksky.app
I don't know about the rest of the book but I will confidently say that the ending of The Edge of Space-Time is actually pretty great and I am proud of it

Which is good because first pass pages are in, which means I have to read the book for the nth time

Please preorder!
The Edge of Space-Time by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein: 9780593701683 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A fresh, charming, socially conscious tour of the mysteries of space-time, from the award-winning author of The Disordered Cosmos In her highly acclaimed debut, distinguished cosmologist and particle...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
The finished product!
As always, the most difficult part was knowing when to stop 😅
The same watercolour painting of a hobbit hole as the previous post, but with more depth and contrast
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
I hadn't painted in a *while*, but here's a WIP of a birthday card for a friend!
A watercolour painting of a hobbit hole, with a separate "no admittance except on party business" sign
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
morgandenman.bsky.social
It’s almost time for the 2025 edition of the #SpacetoberChallenge! I haven’t created an account for the challenge here on this app yet, but please still share your art here with the hashtag. I would love to see all your cosmic creations! 🧡

#SciArt #SpaceArt
Graphic showing the Spacetober challenge prompt list for 2025. The background is an orange gradient with a black box on top, with the number of each day and the corresponding prompt for each in white text on top. 1: Launch, 2: Planet(s), 3: Space Weather, 4: Moon, 5: Voyager, 6: Constellation, 7: Space Agency, 8: Propulsion, 9: Nebula, 10: Artemis II, 11: Asteroid, 12: Eclipse, 13: Near or Deep Space Network, 14: Spacecraft, 15: Black Hole, 16: Parachute, 17: Historic Person(s), 18: Mars/Mars Mission, 19: Crew Capsule, 20: Telescope, 21: Star, 22: Lunar Landing, 23: Space Station, 24: Jet/Plane, 25: Historic Mission(s), 26: Earth, 27: Habitat, 28: Astronaut/Cosmonaut, 29: Orbit, 30: Galaxy, 31: Future
asleepywanderer.bsky.social
I hadn't painted in a *while*, but here's a WIP of a birthday card for a friend!
A watercolour painting of a hobbit hole, with a separate "no admittance except on party business" sign
Reposted by Laurence Datrier
whereisyvette.bsky.social
Hello, Eugene Oregon! Wanna listen to some FREE space talks by astronomers tomorrow? Come to the relaunched Universe on Tap to hear Ben Farr discuss black holes and @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social talk about the origin of elements- no prior knowledge assumed!

Claim 52 Brewing at 6pm, Sept 22

🔭🧪🎢
Universe on Tap logo, 6pm Monday Sept 22, Claim 52 Brewery, Eugene