alastairwilliams.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

An Eclipse of the Sun by the Earth, imagined from the lunar surface. James Nasymth, 1874 #art #historyofastronomy #space

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Irresponsible again. What happens when someone gets hurt?

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

"According to Simplicius, Diogenes the Cynic said nothing upon hearing Zeno's arguments, but stood up and walked, in order to demonstrate the falsity of Zeno's conclusions." Zeno was clearly wrong... or was he? #science #history #philosophy #math

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Seperation of the Ariane 6 first stage. Stunning views!

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

#nafplio #greece #photography #blue

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Guess who monitors the Sun for incoming solar flares? That's right - NOAA, and Musk has just decided to cut the staff who do that...

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Is Elon Musk capable of hearing disagreement without resorting to crude insults? I can hardly imagine an astronaut in any way qualifies as an "idiot" or any of the worse terms Musk is using. Rather, it tells me who the idiot in that exchange really is.

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Étienne Léopold Trouvelot made more than seven thousand astronomical drawings, covering everything from the planets to the coming of a solar eclipse. He drew this one, of Jupiter, in 1882. #art #historyofastronomy #space #theartofscience

submitted 22 days ago • 2 comments

Tidal tails are beautiful examples of what happens when you let gravity play with sparkling sand that isn’t held together by anything more than gravity.

submitted 24 days ago • 2 comments

In November of 1743 a comet appeared in the sky. Within weeks it had become one of the brightest of time. It had - for reasons still unclear - six dramatic tails sweeping out from its head. Image from A Popular Treatise on Comets, 1861 #historyofastronomy #art #science #astronomy #history

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

In this week's newsletter round-up: the risks of an asteroid impact, why the search of alien technology may come up empty handed, what OSIRIS-REx found on Bennu, and the discovery of a nearby super Earth. And all with the astronomical art of Étienne Trouvelot. 🧪 #space #science #seti #physics

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

#NASAWebb’s sunshield plays a vital role in protecting the telescope from light from the Sun, Earth, and Moon, which could overheat the mirror and its scientific instruments. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. 🔭 🧪

submitted 25 days ago • 2 comments

It is said the Pythagoreans once drowned a man for revealing the secrets of irrational numbers. Or maybe it was existence of the dodecahedron. Whatever it was, they clearly took their numbers seriously. But why? And who was this Pythagoras fellow anyway? 🧪 #science #history #pythagoras #math

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

Europe has plenty of big achievements in space over the past decade or so we should be shouting about.

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ESO has some fantastic images of comet C/2024 G3 from their observatory in Chile 🧪🔭 Credit for this one belongs to F. Millour/ESO

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Support Canadian alternatives!

submitted 34 days ago • 1329 comments

Canals on Mars? Lowell's 1908 map of the Martian Canals, from his book "Mars as an Abode of Life". #historyofastronomy #history #art #science

submitted 36 days ago • 1 comment

Traditionally, the story of science begins with Greek philosophy. And the Greeks, for their part, thought philosophy began with Thales. Of course, there are reasons to doubt both these things… #science #history #thales #philosophy

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

#photography #nature #birds

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

Why are there so many insane physics conspiracy theories? Today someone tried telling me comets are all about electric charge and that Venus once had a tail...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Are you tired of all the bad news from planet Earth? Why not distract yourself by reading about the terrible things happening elsewhere in the galaxy! This week's edition looks at the apocalyptic fate of two planets around nearby stars... 🧪 #space #astronomy #physics #news #science

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

Have you ever wondered why the minute has sixty seconds? Or why the day has twenty-four hours? Or why the week has seven days? The answers lie deep in the history of astronomy and have their origins more than three millennia ago... #space #historyofastronomy #science #history

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

The Babylonian star catalogues recorded sixty-six stars and constellations and were probably created around 1300 BC. This image was taken by the British Museum. #historyofastronomy #space #history

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

Apropos of nothing, Dr. Strangelove is a fantastic and faintly terrifying watch.

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

A while back I wrote a guide on breaking into the space industry as a career: #space #careeradvice #rockets #satellites

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Long ago the Babylonians started to record the risings of Venus, the phases of the Moon, and the coming of the solar and lunar eclipses. Eventually that would lead to astronomy - but in the beginning, it was all astrology. #science #space #historyofastronomy #astrology

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Honestly,I don't think it matters if the salute you give is Hitler's or Mussolini's. Either way, you are still a facist.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Last week I looked at whether timescapes can rid us of dark energy, NASA's plans to bring rocks back from Mars, the romantic origin of Pluto and Charon, and the success of the Parker Solar Probe! 🧪 #science #space #astronomy

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

This is important. A writer cannot please everyone. Better to write what you want and let your audience find you. Let people leave if they don't like what you have to say.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Humans have always been observant and curious. I like that fact.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

A throwback today: The constellation of Aquarius 🧪🐡 the water bearer is hand-printed in silver on handmade, blue, Japanese paper. This night sky scene includes the water flowing down to Piscis Austrinus, the fish, parts of the constellations of Capricornus, Pisces and Sculptor and the 🧵

submitted 49 days ago • 2 comments

US and Turks and Caicos to inquire into failed SpaceX launch leading to debris https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jan/17/turks-caicos-starship-spacex (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42746374)

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The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa records the risings of Venus thirty-seven centuries ago, during the reign of King Ammisaduqa of Babylon. #history #historyofastronomy 🧪🔭

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Proba-3 becomes two: satellites separated www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...

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