Paul Leyland
@brnikat.bsky.social
General purpose scientist, amateur astronomer. Aspie into most anything technical.
Pedantry is something up with which I will always put.
Down, not across.
http://astropalma.com
Pedantry is something up with which I will always put.
Down, not across.
http://astropalma.com
Reposted by Paul Leyland
If not sited in Hawaii, the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma is a possible candidate for the location of the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) @iacastrofisica.bsky.social
iac.es/en/outreach/... 🔭🌌🧪 #exoplanet
iac.es/en/outreach/... 🔭🌌🧪 #exoplanet
The CCI supports the option for the TMT to be installed at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
Statement supporting the selection of La Palma for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) site:The Comité Científico Internacional (CCI) of the Canary Islands Observatories enthusiastically welcomes the pos...
iac.es
December 2, 2025 at 6:41 AM
If not sited in Hawaii, the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM) on La Palma is a possible candidate for the location of the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) @iacastrofisica.bsky.social
iac.es/en/outreach/... 🔭🌌🧪 #exoplanet
iac.es/en/outreach/... 🔭🌌🧪 #exoplanet
This stack shows the proper motion of Barnard's Star over the period 2019-25, or 5.96 years to be precise. My measurements give a proper motion of -0.603"/yr in RA and 10.503"/yr in Dec whereas Gaia DR3 has -0.80155 and 10.362394. Agreement is satisfactory IMO.
November 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This stack shows the proper motion of Barnard's Star over the period 2019-25, or 5.96 years to be precise. My measurements give a proper motion of -0.603"/yr in RA and 10.503"/yr in Dec whereas Gaia DR3 has -0.80155 and 10.362394. Agreement is satisfactory IMO.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
From Diana Solano-Oropeza @dsolanooropeza.bsky.social : Turns out there’s more than one way to “plate” a planet! 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/01/s...
astrobites.org/2025/10/01/s...
Super-Earth, Super-Tectonics?
Turns out there's more than one way to "plate" a planet!
astrobites.org
October 1, 2025 at 7:43 AM
From Diana Solano-Oropeza @dsolanooropeza.bsky.social : Turns out there’s more than one way to “plate” a planet! 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/01/s...
astrobites.org/2025/10/01/s...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
New evidence proves North Sea asteroid impact. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
New evidence confirms Yorkshire North Sea asteroid impact
Geologists say an asteroid hit the North Sea near Yorkshire more than 43 million years ago.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 20, 2025 at 9:48 PM
New evidence proves North Sea asteroid impact. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Sky & Telescope magazine are now charging to look at articles on their website. However this means I will no longer be posting any links to their site. A bit disappointed. I've enjoyed reading their articles and weekly sky guide. 🔭 🧪
September 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Sky & Telescope magazine are now charging to look at articles on their website. However this means I will no longer be posting any links to their site. A bit disappointed. I've enjoyed reading their articles and weekly sky guide. 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Cosmology: The Moon is our Future
The limits of cosmology, by Joseph Silk
arxiv.org/abs/2509.08066 🧪 #Cosmology
The limits of cosmology, by Joseph Silk
arxiv.org/abs/2509.08066 🧪 #Cosmology
September 11, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Cosmology: The Moon is our Future
The limits of cosmology, by Joseph Silk
arxiv.org/abs/2509.08066 🧪 #Cosmology
The limits of cosmology, by Joseph Silk
arxiv.org/abs/2509.08066 🧪 #Cosmology
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Thanks to @slavkobogdanov.bsky.social for pointing me to this really cool 🔭 history paper! arxiv.org/abs/2509.04127
New Arabic records from Cairo on supernovae 1181 and 1006
The remnant of the historical supernova SN 1181 is under discussion: While the previously suggested G130.7+3.1 (3C58) appears too old (3000-5000 yr), the unusual star IRAS 00500+6713 with a surroundin...
arxiv.org
September 6, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Thanks to @slavkobogdanov.bsky.social for pointing me to this really cool 🔭 history paper! arxiv.org/abs/2509.04127
Reposted by Paul Leyland
I hope everybody understands how f**king dangerous and terrifying this is.
Breaking: President Trump has signed an executive order to establish specialized National Guard units that will address "public order issues."
“Public Order” — we’ve heard this before.
“Public Order” — we’ve heard this before.
August 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I hope everybody understands how f**king dangerous and terrifying this is.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
August 27, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Many people don't much want to go to the US anyway. he dislike goes back a long way but the recent decision of USG to check every single visa holder for evidence of thoughtcrime on social media has only made things worse.
How to lose friends and influence people: www.bbc.com/news/article...
How to lose friends and influence people: www.bbc.com/news/article...
August 25, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Many people don't much want to go to the US anyway. he dislike goes back a long way but the recent decision of USG to check every single visa holder for evidence of thoughtcrime on social media has only made things worse.
How to lose friends and influence people: www.bbc.com/news/article...
How to lose friends and influence people: www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Paul Leyland
The Australasian Dark Sky Alliance have created a petition to get the Aust. Govt to create legislation that limits light pollution and preserve Australia's Dark skies. Important for human health, wildlife and #Astronomy!
Australians can sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
🔭☄️
Australians can sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
🔭☄️
e-petitions
e-petitions
www.aph.gov.au
August 25, 2025 at 5:15 AM
The Australasian Dark Sky Alliance have created a petition to get the Aust. Govt to create legislation that limits light pollution and preserve Australia's Dark skies. Important for human health, wildlife and #Astronomy!
Australians can sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
🔭☄️
Australians can sign here: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/...
🔭☄️
Reposted by Paul Leyland
what a fantastic discovery !!!
🧪☄️🔭
🧪☄️🔭
#PPOD: Astronomers using NASA’s JWST discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus in images taken by Webb’s NIRCam. This image shows the moon, designated S/2025 U1, as well as 13 of the 28 other known moons. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, M. El Moutamid (SwRI), M. Hedman (University of Idaho) 🧪 🔭
August 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
what a fantastic discovery !!!
🧪☄️🔭
🧪☄️🔭
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Gosh where to even start!
🤯Jupiter and Venus are very far away from Earth. They are definitely not shining in front of the moon! 😂
↙️ Yes Jupiter & Venus are close in the sky today if you're awake at ~4am, but tonight the moon is far off to the right.
🤓 On Aug 20th they'll be closer ↘️
📷:Stellarium 🔭🧪
🤯Jupiter and Venus are very far away from Earth. They are definitely not shining in front of the moon! 😂
↙️ Yes Jupiter & Venus are close in the sky today if you're awake at ~4am, but tonight the moon is far off to the right.
🤓 On Aug 20th they'll be closer ↘️
📷:Stellarium 🔭🧪
August 15, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Gosh where to even start!
🤯Jupiter and Venus are very far away from Earth. They are definitely not shining in front of the moon! 😂
↙️ Yes Jupiter & Venus are close in the sky today if you're awake at ~4am, but tonight the moon is far off to the right.
🤓 On Aug 20th they'll be closer ↘️
📷:Stellarium 🔭🧪
🤯Jupiter and Venus are very far away from Earth. They are definitely not shining in front of the moon! 😂
↙️ Yes Jupiter & Venus are close in the sky today if you're awake at ~4am, but tonight the moon is far off to the right.
🤓 On Aug 20th they'll be closer ↘️
📷:Stellarium 🔭🧪
Reposted by Paul Leyland
The appearance of large language models caused a drastic shift in the vocabulary of academic writing, according to an analysis in #ScienceAdvances of more than 15 million biomedical abstracts published from 2010 to 2024.
Learn more:
Learn more:
Delving into LLM-assisted writing in biomedical publications through excess vocabulary
Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can generate and revise text with human-level performance. These models come with clear limitations, can produce inaccurate information, and reinforce existing biases.
scim.ag
August 10, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The appearance of large language models caused a drastic shift in the vocabulary of academic writing, according to an analysis in #ScienceAdvances of more than 15 million biomedical abstracts published from 2010 to 2024.
Learn more:
Learn more:
Hilarious and devastating take down of Avi Loeb's tiresome "It's alien technology!" nonsense. 🔭 👽🛸
#astronomy #aliens #science #ufo #uap #skeptic
#astronomy #aliens #science #ufo #uap #skeptic
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
August 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Paul Leyland
August 3, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Reposted by Paul Leyland
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Please do stand up for science and add your name to the NASA Voyager Declaration - link below
And many thanks to Phil Plait for sharing my JWST image of Wolf-Rayet 112 in his Bad Astronomy Newsletter 🔭
And many thanks to Phil Plait for sharing my JWST image of Wolf-Rayet 112 in his Bad Astronomy Newsletter 🔭
HUNDREDS of NASA employees sign a declaration protesting the brutal attacks by Trump and his regime. I signed it too, as should you.
Plus: Incredible image of dusty spirals blasted out by a terrifying binary star.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/nasa-decla...
🔭🧪
Plus: Incredible image of dusty spirals blasted out by a terrifying binary star.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/nasa-decla...
🔭🧪
NASA declaration against Trump’s science attacks, more dusty WR star spirals
The Voyager Declaration takes a stand against budget cuts, and a gorgeous JWST image of Wolf-Rayet star dust expulsion
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
July 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Please do stand up for science and add your name to the NASA Voyager Declaration - link below
And many thanks to Phil Plait for sharing my JWST image of Wolf-Rayet 112 in his Bad Astronomy Newsletter 🔭
And many thanks to Phil Plait for sharing my JWST image of Wolf-Rayet 112 in his Bad Astronomy Newsletter 🔭
Someone please suggest ways in which the rest of the world may be able to help.
Also, I know that a lot of folks from the US in this field will be unable to share this post due to certain restrictions on what they can and cannot share online these days, so it is up to the rest of us to spread the word and help keep GBO going.
After the loss of Arecibo, GBO is critical!
🔭📡 🧪
After the loss of Arecibo, GBO is critical!
🔭📡 🧪
July 7, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Someone please suggest ways in which the rest of the world may be able to help.
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Reposted by Paul Leyland
The Palomar 8 Globular Cluster captured by Hubble, as part of a study intended to resolve individual stars of the entire globular cluster system of the Milky Way.
science.nasa.gov/missions/hub... 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/hub... 🧪🔭
July 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The Palomar 8 Globular Cluster captured by Hubble, as part of a study intended to resolve individual stars of the entire globular cluster system of the Milky Way.
science.nasa.gov/missions/hub... 🧪🔭
science.nasa.gov/missions/hub... 🧪🔭
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Reposted by Paul Leyland
Aww my first observing run…. I dug out the door through 6ft of snow so we could get in and check it was all ok. We didn’t open as the dome was frozen shut even after the snow had gone. 🔭🧪
June 29, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Aww my first observing run…. I dug out the door through 6ft of snow so we could get in and check it was all ok. We didn’t open as the dome was frozen shut even after the snow had gone. 🔭🧪