Syd Andersen
@smandersen.bsky.social
(They/Them) Astronomy PhD Student || Opinions Are My Own
Pinned
Reposted by Syd Andersen
"what are we going to do with 20,000 ICE agents if we abolish ice" well to start with I think we should all literally spit on them in public for the rest of their lives
January 7, 2026 at 10:24 PM
"what are we going to do with 20,000 ICE agents if we abolish ice" well to start with I think we should all literally spit on them in public for the rest of their lives
Reposted by Syd Andersen
if they can do that to a white woman driving away, just *imagine* what they've been doing to innocent refugees and immigrants in their camps.
we need to abolish ICE, now. we're already at the extermination stage.
we need to abolish ICE, now. we're already at the extermination stage.
January 7, 2026 at 10:05 PM
if they can do that to a white woman driving away, just *imagine* what they've been doing to innocent refugees and immigrants in their camps.
we need to abolish ICE, now. we're already at the extermination stage.
we need to abolish ICE, now. we're already at the extermination stage.
Reposted by Syd Andersen
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks https://theonion.com/nasa-discovers-distant-planet-with-conditions-that-could-sustain-rocks/
January 6, 2026 at 9:15 PM
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks https://theonion.com/nasa-discovers-distant-planet-with-conditions-that-could-sustain-rocks/
Reposted by Syd Andersen
The first two hours this morning
January 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
The first two hours this morning
Thank you again Ava for all of your coordinating and editing work 💖
Happy New Year! + happy (white) paper day!
arxiv.org/abs/2512.24465
Whether you're waiting for the ball to drop or looking to start 2026 off right, you can read about evidence-backed best practices for retaining talent in astrophysics, which came out of discussions at our March symposium :)
🧪🔭☄️👩🔬
arxiv.org/abs/2512.24465
Whether you're waiting for the ball to drop or looking to start 2026 off right, you can read about evidence-backed best practices for retaining talent in astrophysics, which came out of discussions at our March symposium :)
🧪🔭☄️👩🔬
January 1, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Thank you again Ava for all of your coordinating and editing work 💖
Reposted by Syd Andersen
You know what's good? Books.
December 29, 2025 at 6:35 PM
You know what's good? Books.
Reposted by Syd Andersen
Help us make sure we don’t have to start 2026 closed —> tinyurl.com/psafsupport
Palmetto State Abortion Fund: End-of-Year Fundraiser | Palmetto State Abortion Fund (Powered by Donorbox)
Give for freedom. Give for care. Give before December 31st.2025 tested us — and our community showed up.Because of people like you, the Palmetto State Abortion Fund helped more than 1,500 Southerners ...
tinyurl.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Help us make sure we don’t have to start 2026 closed —> tinyurl.com/psafsupport
Reposted by Syd Andersen
It’s that time of year…
December 25, 2025 at 1:17 AM
It’s that time of year…
Reposted by Syd Andersen
every step of human creation
is discovery
is expression
is connection
if it wasn’t created by humans with intent at every part of the process, it’s not art
and if it’s not art
why on earth would i have even an iota of interest in it?
is discovery
is expression
is connection
if it wasn’t created by humans with intent at every part of the process, it’s not art
and if it’s not art
why on earth would i have even an iota of interest in it?
December 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM
every step of human creation
is discovery
is expression
is connection
if it wasn’t created by humans with intent at every part of the process, it’s not art
and if it’s not art
why on earth would i have even an iota of interest in it?
is discovery
is expression
is connection
if it wasn’t created by humans with intent at every part of the process, it’s not art
and if it’s not art
why on earth would i have even an iota of interest in it?
Reposted by Syd Andersen
the day is finally here: you can order my debut non-fiction, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS: HOW THE DRAKE EQUATION REVEALS THE ODDS OF LIFE IN THE COSMOS from B&N!!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
December 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
the day is finally here: you can order my debut non-fiction, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS: HOW THE DRAKE EQUATION REVEALS THE ODDS OF LIFE IN THE COSMOS from B&N!!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
To my dismay, I will not be using the proposal for a 500m telescope + 20m-fiber-fed spectrograph from the 70s in my observing final project but it was very delightful to read
December 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
To my dismay, I will not be using the proposal for a 500m telescope + 20m-fiber-fed spectrograph from the 70s in my observing final project but it was very delightful to read
Wild to think I’m already a quarter into my program! My cohort is is very chill and funny about my age gap 💖They get to tell me about being in school during the pandemic and I get to tell them about… mostly 9/11
Turning 30 less than a month into my graduate program like
December 5, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Wild to think I’m already a quarter into my program! My cohort is is very chill and funny about my age gap 💖They get to tell me about being in school during the pandemic and I get to tell them about… mostly 9/11
Reposted by Syd Andersen
A note on learning physics ⚛️ for starting PhD students:
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
December 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
A note on learning physics ⚛️ for starting PhD students:
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
Reposted by Syd Andersen
As a bioethicist, I also feel the need to add that the central issue with eugenics is “it’s evil” not “it’s factually incorrect.” And if we finally learned that, maybe big name bioethicists wouldn’t publish “what if eugenics but hi-tech” every five years.
December 4, 2025 at 3:23 PM
As a bioethicist, I also feel the need to add that the central issue with eugenics is “it’s evil” not “it’s factually incorrect.” And if we finally learned that, maybe big name bioethicists wouldn’t publish “what if eugenics but hi-tech” every five years.
Reposted by Syd Andersen
Autism diagnosis quiz where the first question is "do you try to open the microwave at 1 second because you hate the beep" and if you say yes it just skips the rest of the quiz and says yeah
December 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Autism diagnosis quiz where the first question is "do you try to open the microwave at 1 second because you hate the beep" and if you say yes it just skips the rest of the quiz and says yeah
Reposted by Syd Andersen
the @pbs.org production of twelfth night (www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/t...) is super fun, and still streaming for free.
also now i need to plan on a nyc trip to see shakespeare in the park, because holy shit, the drone shots of the theater before it started were _stunning_.
also now i need to plan on a nyc trip to see shakespeare in the park, because holy shit, the drone shots of the theater before it started were _stunning_.
Twelfth Night ~ About | Great Performances | PBS
The Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identity starring Lupita Nyong'o, Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Junior Nyong'o and more.
www.pbs.org
November 30, 2025 at 7:19 PM
the @pbs.org production of twelfth night (www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/t...) is super fun, and still streaming for free.
also now i need to plan on a nyc trip to see shakespeare in the park, because holy shit, the drone shots of the theater before it started were _stunning_.
also now i need to plan on a nyc trip to see shakespeare in the park, because holy shit, the drone shots of the theater before it started were _stunning_.
Just paid $1k to learn she gives herself a heart murmur when she’s stressed (and she is stressed because the vet is trying to listen for a heart murmur)
November 19, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Just paid $1k to learn she gives herself a heart murmur when she’s stressed (and she is stressed because the vet is trying to listen for a heart murmur)
Reposted by Syd Andersen
only a little ways into Pluribus but this is the kind of screen that basically guarantees I will want to watch the rest of it
![A bunch of cars parked outside the Very Large Array. subtitles say "[astronomers clamoring]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sbbklyrrb5xfb43mfhypi2f7/bafkreibrtfclubrq7t2bgepd7th5dobllapyqxj57hzkddmn4a4szmavdq@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 6:02 PM
only a little ways into Pluribus but this is the kind of screen that basically guarantees I will want to watch the rest of it
Reposted by Syd Andersen
I think we've got a little aurora going on at APO (New Mexico) on the all sky cam:
mainapo.apo.nmsu.edu/mainpage/all...
mainapo.apo.nmsu.edu/mainpage/all...
Apache Point Observatory
Quick Peek Sky animation:
mainapo.apo.nmsu.edu
November 12, 2025 at 2:18 AM
I think we've got a little aurora going on at APO (New Mexico) on the all sky cam:
mainapo.apo.nmsu.edu/mainpage/all...
mainapo.apo.nmsu.edu/mainpage/all...
Reposted by Syd Andersen
Radicalizing the cat by explaining that dinner will be an hour late due to our government refusing to update outdated timezone protocol
November 2, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Radicalizing the cat by explaining that dinner will be an hour late due to our government refusing to update outdated timezone protocol
Beebs Please Go a Month Without a Health Problem Challenge
October 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Beebs Please Go a Month Without a Health Problem Challenge
Reposted by Syd Andersen
this was filmed april 4th 2025
October 29, 2025 at 6:56 PM
this was filmed april 4th 2025
Reposted by Syd Andersen
![Comic. Two-column table. Column A lists planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Column B has checkmark boxes for whether the planets have rings: the outer planets’ boxes are checked, and Earth has a red check. [Earth with a ring with an array pf points around it. An arrow labeled “Geostationary Satellite Bel”t points to the ring.] [caption] Astronomy fact: A century ago, Earth didn’t have rings, but we have one now! It’s where all the satellite dishes are pointed.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreifauh76r3os5nnzjvkcz5sl2pgx5iz4sgkxebqjw3aogjn6e677aa@jpeg)
October 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM