Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Marina Koren

UMD Science @umdscience.bsky.social · 3h

This month, skywatchers will have the opportunity to observe not one but two once-in-a-lifetime comets.

Astronomy's Quanzhi Ye shared some tips on how to locate and view comets A6 (Lemmon) and R2 (SWAN) with @marinakoren.bsky.social for @nytimes.com ☄️ 🔭

Two Comets Are Moving Into Your Night Skies in October: How to Watch

www.nytimes.com

4 10

Reposted by Marina Koren

David Dickinson @astrodave.bsky.social · 5d

We’ve got 2 good binocular comets this month. R2 SWAN is poised to pass 0.26 AU from the Earth on Oct 19th, while A6 Lemmon will put on its late October dusk encore performance, low to the west. Both could be Halloween sky treats if they hold up to expectations. www.universetoday.com/articles/new...

3 5

Reposted by Marina Koren

David Dickinson @astrodave.bsky.social · 5d

We were interviewed recently by science writer @marinakoren.bsky.social for the New York Times on the up and coming October comet parade: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/s...

Two Comets Are Moving Into Your Night Skies in October: How to Watch

www.nytimes.com

1 1 6

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · 5d

Have a little cosmic wonder with your spooky season: My first story for @nytimes.com, about a pair of once-in-a-lifetime cosmic visitors gracing the northern skies this month www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/s...

Two Comets Are Moving Into Your Night Skies in October: How to Watch

www.nytimes.com

3 10

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · 8d

🤯

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 9d

#NASAWebb has found the first direct evidence of potential moon formation around a giant exoplanet. The discovery is shedding light on how such systems evolve and why moons could be potentially habitable worlds: https://bit.ly/46xGodN 🔭 🧪

An illustration of a young planet with a surrounding disk of dust and gas potentially forming moons. The planet, which appears dark red, is shown at lower right, circled by a cloudy, clumpy reddish orange-colored disk. The host star appears at upper left, and glows yellow, with its own reddish disk of debris. The disk that surrounds the planet takes up about half the illustration. The black background of space is speckled with stars. At the bottom of the illustration, graphics of molecules are listed in the following order: Acetylene, Carbon Dioxide, Ethane, Benzene, Hydrogen cyanide. The words Artist’s Concept appear at upper right.

5 16

Reposted by Marina Koren

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 13d

If you liked my media hits in The New York Times, MSNBC and CNN and want to learn more about autism, I wrote a book about #Autism, #Neurodiversity and arguing we should stop trying to cure #ActuallyAutistic people and accept them. It's on sale for $15.19.
www.harpercollins.com/products/wer...

We're Not Broken

“This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It’s also...

www.harpercollins.com

20 47

Reposted by Marina Koren

Swapna Krishna @swapnakrishna.com · 13d

Meet Artemis II: the first mission to send humans around the moon since 1972. I’ll be covering this mission for National Geographic, so you’ll be seeing a lot from me about it, but here’s the first:

www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

NASA's Artemis II ushers in a new era of human exploration

NASA's Artemis II mission could happen as early as February. Here's why this flight will be one to watch.

www.nationalgeographic.com

6 33 130

Reposted by Marina Koren

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 13d

NEW

WIRED led the way in reporting on Elon Musk's efforts to dismantle the US government. My colleagues and I spoke to 100s of employees at dozens of agencies to understand what happened.

This is the definitive story of DOGE as told by those who experienced it

www.wired.com/story/oral-h...

The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers

WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.

www.wired.com

57 1.7K 3.9K

Reposted by Marina Koren

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 14d

Sagittarius B2 is the Milky Way galaxy’s most massive and active star forming cloud, producing half of the stars created in the galactic center region despite having only 10 percent of the area’s star-making material. (1/4) 🧵 🔭 🧪

A wide view of a region of space filled with stars and clumps of orange clouds.

1 26 120

Reposted by Marina Koren

Sarah Scoles @sarahscoles.bsky.social · 22d

Ever wonder what happened to that $100 million interstellar spaceship program? Me too. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

A $100-Million Mission to Another Star Just Disappeared

An abandoned plan to visit another star highlights the perils of billionaire-funded science

www.scientificamerican.com

2 22 57

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · 22d

An absolute banger of a story from @sarahscoles.bsky.social about Breakthrough Starshot and its dreams of interstellar travel, a decade after the big-deal project was announced, including what happened to that dazzling $100 million promise: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

A $100-Million Mission to Another Star Just Disappeared

An abandoned plan to visit another star highlights the perils of billionaire-funded science

www.scientificamerican.com

1 5 18

Reposted by Marina Koren

HiRISE Beautiful Mars (NASA) @uahirise.bsky.social · 22d

HiPOD: Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars

A field of sand dunes occupies this frosty 5-kilometer diameter crater in the high-latitudes of the northern plains of Mars. Some dunes appear to be climbing up the crater slope along a gully-like form.

uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_06...

#Mars #science #NASA

2 26 84

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · 27d

TIL that there's aluminum recovered from the Twin Towers on Mars: One piece on the Spirit rover, and another on Opportunity (both spacecraft are no longer operational) www.nasa.gov/image-articl...

Interplanetary Memorial to Victims of Sept. 11, 2001 - NASA

The piece of metal with the American flag on it in this image of a NASA rover on Mars is made of aluminum recovered from the site of the World Trade Center towers in the weeks after their destruction.

www.nasa.gov

1 4

Reposted by Marina Koren

Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 28d

Scientists just shared their best look to date at what might be the most tantalizing rock on Mars: 🧪 🛰️ www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-t...

This Martian Rock Might Be the Closest We’ve Come to Finding Alien Life

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet

www.scientificamerican.com

2 9 34

Reposted by Marina Koren

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Sep 4

What appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eaten away by the blistering winds and ultraviolet light of nearby, massive, infant stars. What else did #NASAWebb find in Pismis 24? https://bit.ly/4mr3cmt

A blue and black sky filled with brilliant stars covers the upper two-thirds of the vertical image. The stars are different sizes and shades of white, beige, yellow, and pale orange. Across the bottom third of the scene is a craggy, mountain-like vista of dust and gas with spire-like peaks and deep, misty valleys. The peaks appear in varying shades of orange, yellow, and brown. Above their soaring spires is a wispy, ethereal white cloud that stretches horizontally across the scene. What looks like steam appears to rise from the mountaintops and joins this cloud. At the top right corner, a swath of orange and brown structure cuts diagonally across the sky.

1 76 180

Reposted by Marina Koren

David Grinspoon @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social · Aug 27

And as the New York Times editorialized in response to the scientific reports, this marked “the beginning of the end of Mankind’s grand romantic dreams.”

3 7 23

Reposted by Marina Koren

Eos @eos.org · Aug 27

FEMA staff who signed their name to the recent Katrina Declaration were placed on administrative leave. The notice says the move is not punitive, but others call it illegal retaliation against whistleblowers. 🧪

eos.org/research-and...

FEMA Puts Dissenting Staff on Indefinite Leave - Eos

More than a dozen FEMA staff, all signatories of that Katrina Declaration, were placed on indefinite administrative leave.

eos.org

5 31 58

Reposted by Marina Koren

Loren Grush @lorengrush.bsky.social · Aug 27

Did a dive into the saga to transport a retired Space Shuttle to Houston. The story could have easily been twice as long, it's got so many wild parts www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Ted Cruz Wants a Real Space Shuttle in Houston, Not a Fake One

There’s money and desire to move a retired spaceship from Washington, but it’s a logistical nightmare.

www.bloomberg.com

3 5 24

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · Aug 27

"Live, laugh, launch" is pretty damn good www.space.com/space-explor...

Rocket Lab launches 5 satellites on mystery mission (video)

"Live, Laugh, Launch" was the 70th mission of Rocket Lab's Electron vehicle to date.

www.space.com

9

Reposted by Marina Koren

Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · Aug 27

I'm looking away from our world for a moment.

I'm looking at the little dot in this image.

It's a newborn planet, 5 times the mass of Jupiter, carving a path through the disk of dust around its star. This is the first time we've seen the process clearly. 🧪🔭

www.eso.org/public/image...

What appears to be a ripple in space, is today’s Picture of the Week depicting a newborn planet eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits its host star. This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disc with multiple rings.

These so-called protoplanetary discs surround young stars and appear as disc-shaped structures of gas and dust, often with rings like the one in this image. They are the birthplace of planets, and the rings are thought to indicate the presence of (hungry) planets in the disc. Initially, little particles in the spinning disc begin to accumulate and grow as gravity takes over, stealing more material from the native disc until they evolve into embryo planets.

2 56 200

Reposted by Marina Koren

NPR @npr.org · Aug 27

After a series of failures during recent test flights, SpaceX's massive Starship had a smooth ride for Tuesday's blast-off, and successfully deployed some fake satellites.

Starship's 10th flight breaks streak of misfortunes

After a series of failures during recent test flights, SpaceX's massive Starship had a smooth ride for Tuesday's blastoff and successfully deployed some fake satellites.

n.pr

37 13 120

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · Aug 25

Love that we're still finding new moons in our own solar system www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/s...

Uranus Was Hiding a Moon Outside Its Rings

www.nytimes.com

4

Reposted by Marina Koren

Julie Beck @julieebeck.bsky.social · Aug 14

I watched way too many "5 to 9 after 9 to 5" videos and became convinced that whether you "make the most" of your free time by being super productive or just try to relax and recover from your job, the ghost of work haunts most of our leisure
www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Logic of the ‘9 to 5’ Is Creeping Into the Rest of the Day

How free time gets conscripted into the service of work

www.theatlantic.com

2 1 6

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · Aug 12

"Not since the Red Scare .. has American science been so beholden to political ideology." I'm late to this brilliant @rossandersen.bsky.social piece, but it's a must-read (gift link): www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End

America’s run as the premier techno-superpower may be over.

www.theatlantic.com

2 12 27

Marina Koren @marinakoren.bsky.social · Aug 10

Another milestone in the era of space tourism: casually asking wealthy celebrities if they're thinking about going to space www.thecut.com/article/mari...

Mariah Carey Doesn’t See Any Reason to Go to Space

“I’ve done enough.”

www.thecut.com

1 11