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Misty Bentz

@astronomisty.bsky.social

5.9K followers 460 following 1.9K posts

Astronomer and Professor at Georgia State University. She/Her. Big fan of black holes, cats, and cross-stitch. Seestar smart telescope enthusiast. Novice gardener with a penchant for native plants.

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · Aug 21

Sitting outside at night with my little telescope and marveling at our universe. We are so lucky to be alive and witnessing these wonders, and we are also so small and alone, together, in a vast and empty space. It’s a good reminder that we MUST take care of each other; we are all we have.

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Reposted by Misty Bentz

Alyssa Harad @alyssaharad.bsky.social · 8h

And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

Adam Selzer @adamchicago.bsky.social · 11h

The frogs have landed in Chicago!

Protestor in a frog suit and an anti-Ice sign with what I believe to be a Pokémon character on a street corner in Rogers Park.

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 12h

Winter is on its way, because the eastern bluebirds are back. 🪶

An eastern bluebird takes flight from a feeder with its wings spread wide and the sun backlighting them. The feeder perch and bird seed is visible in the foreground, with trees and blue sky behind

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 2d

I used your beautiful photo as inspiration for a watercolor scene

Thank you for posting it!

A beginner’s attempt to use watercolors to paint a night sky illuminated by the northern lights. Green aurora blend into red and purple, with a few clouds and some stars peeking through

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 3d

Running away to the wilderness and being unreachable #AchievableGoals

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 3d

#Goals

“The Nobel Committee has been unable to contact one of this year's Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, Fred Ramsdell, who is reportedly ‘living his best life’on an off-the-grid hiking trip, said a spokesperson from his San Francisco-based lab, Sonoma Biotherapeutics.”

Screenshot of a post with the quoted texta above, and below is a Nobel Prize-style caricatured portrait of new laureate Fred Ramsdell superimposed on a black and white image of a hiker in the wilderness, with the headline “Nobel committee unable to reach medicine laureate ‘living his best life’ on hiking trip”

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 3d

I also experienced this last year when I watched DS9 for the first time… 😢

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 4d

Comet Lemmon

A mostly successful attempt to process and stack 10min of #Seestar S50 images 🔭 🧪 using Siril, Starnet, GraXpert, and GIMP

A greenish blue comet is superimposed on a black background dotted woth stars

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 4d

Hello! 🪶

An eastern phoebe, a small bird with a dark brown cap and tail and a pale yellowish underbelly, is perched on top of an iron shepherd’s hook and looking at the camera. A green “lawn” (of any green thing that will grow there) with a light layer of fallen leaves and a red brick retaining wall are in the background.

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 4d

Should I read this as meaning that teens and tweens are moody and are drawn to art that reflects that?

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 8d

That would be amazing 🤩

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 8d

Little pollinator friend helped me set up the telescope this evening so I could add to my stack of images on the Butterfly Nebula 🦋 🔭 🧪

A large maple spanworm moth is perched on top of my closed Seestar telescope. It is light brown and has squared-off edges to its wings and long white antennae.

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks!!

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 8d

Everything is still terrible, but I got up before dawn to share this cute comet with you!

C/2025 A6, Comet Lemmon
3min with my #Seestar S50 🔭 🧪
Lightly retouched and cropped jpg from the live stack

A small fuzzy green-blue blob with a long faint tail that stretches to the upper left, superimposed on a black background dotted with stars

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 9d

Everything is terrible, but look at this cute little nebula!

Caldwell 2, the Bow Tie Nebula
9min with my #Seestar S50 🔭 🧪
No processing, just a close crop of the live stack jpg

A small red nebula has a bright star at the center and a bright arc of red gas on either side, with fainter fuzzy gas filling in between. It somewhat resembles a bow tie. It is centered on a dark background that is dotted with stars

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 9d

😢

Vox @vox.com · 9d

Jane Goodall, one of the most influential environmental figures in human history, has died at 91 while touring the country to deliver an urgent message about nature and human existence.

“We’re destroying the planet,” she said last week during the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in NYC.

Listen to Jane Goodall’s final — and urgent — message

Her final interviews are essential listening for everyone.

www.vox.com

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 9d

I keep reading this as “Stinker” instead of “Snitker” …

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 10d

Please enjoy your break away from this particular nonsense, but I hope you come back when you are ready

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 10d

Watching the news (my husband’s choice) and I read a caption as “R.I.P. Currents” instead of “rip currents”

And, yeah, I guess that’s not wrong?

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 10d

I am learning to paint with watercolors and I tried to recreate something akin to your beautiful photo. Thank you for sharing it!

A beginner’s attempt at a watercolor painting of a colorful sunset sky above dark blue waters

Reposted by Misty Bentz

Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 11d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 11d

30% drop year over year!

Amid visa restrictions, international freshmen enrollment plummets at UW-Madison

This year’s number of international freshmen is the lowest recorded since at least 2015.

www.jsonline.com

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Reposted by Misty Bentz

👻SAAAAAAAAHHHHHHvik Ford 🎃 @saavikford.bsky.social · 11d

Note: you only have until tomorrow to submit a placeholder in APT if you are potentially impacted (click thru to read the rules):

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 11d

In the event of a U.S. government shutdown, STScI will extend the James Webb Space Telescope Cycle 5 proposal submission deadline for affected scientists. Details: https://www.stsci.edu/contents/news/jwst/2025/jwst-cycle-5-deadline-extension-in-case-of-government-shutdown #NASAWebb 🔭 🧪 ☄️

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 12d

This was a big project: the Cygnus Loop, with the Eastern Veil Nebula, Western Veil Nebula, and Pickering's Triangle + Fleming's Triangular Wisp. An ancient supernova remnant that covers ~3degrees on the sky.

25.8hrs, #Seestar S50 🔭 from suburbs of N. Atlanta
Siril, GraXpert, Starnet, GIMP

A black background dotted with stars. Two prominent nebula, in the top right and bottom left, show wispy and long, filamentary structure and slightly resemble very thin hamburger bun halves. Near the top right is a less prominent nebula with an acute triangular shape and a very long point.

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Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 12d

We do! I usually don’t indulge because I’m wearing a mask, but I made an exception for this oddity.

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 12d

Oh that sounds delicious!

Misty Bentz @astronomisty.bsky.social · 12d

😂