Andy Lawrence
@e-astronomer.bsky.social
610 followers 110 following 810 posts
Active Galaxy Nut and Space Environmentalist. Read Losing The Sky at Amazon, Apple Books, or Google Play. More grooviness at https://andyxlastro.me
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e-astronomer.bsky.social
my pick would be Francesca Albanese, and that would be worth it for the look on Netanyahu’s face
e-astronomer.bsky.social
I had a lovely crowd at my Portobello Book Festival event on Sunday. Just got sent this picture. Thanks to @dougjohnstone.bsky.social for the conversation
Yours truly seated on a white chair, in front of a black curtain, smiling, and holding up a copy of my book "Losing The Sky"
e-astronomer.bsky.social
Scarecrow family, Dirleton. Creepy or what?
Wooden bench on grass with five scarecrow figures - Mum, Dad, child, baby and dog.
e-astronomer.bsky.social
celebrating 50 years since Martin Ward’s first paper
e-astronomer.bsky.social
Pluto remains a valued and loved member of the the solar system family, and doesn’t care much what label some twentieth century astronomers hung on it
e-astronomer.bsky.social
More office archaeology. My voting card from the Prague IAU, used for booting out Pluto #astronomy
Yellow card. Top right says “24th August 2006”. Middle says “VOTE” in large letters. Bottom says “IAU XXVIth General Assembly Prague 14-25 August 2006”
e-astronomer.bsky.social
@dougjohnstone.bsky.social is interviewing me at the Portobello book festival, Sunday Oct 5th 1030. Talking about Losing The Sky #astronomy Get tickets at the website portobellobookfestival.com
Portobello Book Festival
A book festival for local people, run by local people
portobellobookfestival.com
e-astronomer.bsky.social
Inspiring conversation between Sally Magnusson and Tim Berners-Lee @timbl.bsky.social at Assembly Rooms tonight. Closed with "practice creativity, practice collaboration, practice compassion". Maybe TBL should make that a T-shirt and include it with his book "This is for Everyone"
e-astronomer.bsky.social
Curmudgeon Time. I hate the fact that my Apple devices now always have to be in a chosen "focus". You can't choose "no focus". I created a new one called "none" just for a larf but it's not the same.
e-astronomer.bsky.social
I *think* my exhibition is still there..
caltonhill.bsky.social
NELSON MONUMENT REOPENS on Calton Hill. The reopening — expected in July — has at last happened.

And there are new charges for admission. £3 for the ground floor museum. £7.50 for tower & museum. £6.50 for concessions. £23 for a family of four.
Notice at the Nelson Monument, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 25 August 2025
e-astronomer.bsky.social
Eratosthenes, radius of Earth?
e-astronomer.bsky.social
From the ROE archives.. paper by Henderson dated Jan 3 1839 reporting the discovery of parallax, given to Captain Smyth. Henderson’s handwriting! #astronomy Take that, Friedrich Bessel
first page of paper by Thomas Henderson, dated Jan 3 1839. Titled “On the parallax of Alpha Centauri”. Handwring at top says “Capn Smyth RN from Th Henderson”
e-astronomer.bsky.social
except of course, Mike being Mike, yours features an Abell cluster as opposed to mine with an IRAS galaxy that looks like all the others. (Measuring the cD surface brightness profile perhaps?)
e-astronomer.bsky.social
The reception area of the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo featured a photo of an upside down Bronco just off the summit road on Mauna Kea. Is it still there? (The picture not the truck)
e-astronomer.bsky.social
plates on Mt Hamilton? When was that?
e-astronomer.bsky.social
ah… depends what we mean by “rock” possibly. 90s Britpop was good - Blur, Oasis, Coldplay, and American bands of similar era like Cake, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World. But I mean “good”. Not mind bendingly new like say King Crimson or Soft Machine or Zappa were in the 60s.